It’s official: coronavirus puts off the Tokyo Olympics
Postponement, long inevitable, suits Japan’s prime minister better than cancellationMar 24th 2020Editor’s note: The Economist is making some of its most important coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. “THE PREPARATIONS for the games are, as we have repeatedly stated, making…
Japan’s cherry blossoms in a time of coronavirus
Hanami parties celebrate the beauty, and fragility, of lifeMar 23rd 2020EVERY MARCH and April trees along the banks of the Meguro river in Tokyo fleetingly erupt with fat pink and white cherry blossoms, heralding the arrival of spring. For a few glorious weeks, millions of people across the city flee the drudgery of the office…
The Maldives is threatened by jihadism and covid-19
THE ARRIVAL of covid-19 in the Maldives was hardly surprising, since 1.5m tourists from all around the world visit the Indian-Ocean archipelago every year. By March 18th 13 foreigners had been declared infected, although there have not yet been any confirmed cases among locals.But a no less dangerous contagion—Muslim extremism—is also afflicting the islands. On…