SARS-CoV-2 is following the evolutionary rule book
Jan 2nd 2021NATURAL SELECTION is a powerful force. In circumstances that are still disputed, it took a bat coronavirus and adapted it to people instead. The result has spread around the globe. Now, in two independent but coincidental events, it has modified that virus still further, creating new variants which are displacing the original versions.…
Going viral
Covid-19 dominated the scientific news. But other stories mattered, tooDec 31st 2020ON JANUARY 19TH 2019 The Economist published a story about plans that were being laid for a rapid response to “Disease X”. The idea was to develop a technological platform which could be tailored quickly to the specifics of any as-yet-unknown pathogen, in order…
Is an infrastructure boom in the works?
Jan 2nd 2021IN THE 1920S the Lambert Flying Field in St Louis, Missouri, was a hive of innovation and celebrity. It became the first airport with a traffic-control system, waving flags at pilots. Charles Lindbergh flew airmail from it before making the first solo flight across the Atlantic. Today the airport is old, obscure and…
The pandemic plus lockdown added up to deep recessions
Loose policy staved off financial panic, but the effects will be felt for yearsDec 23rd 2020WHEN COVID-19 first began to spread around the world in the spring of 2020, a health emergency risked triggering an economic and financial crisis. America’s financial plumbing seized up as companies scrambled for cash, dumping even their holdings of usually…
Confucianism has become a political punchbag in South Korea
Jan 2nd 2021“CONFUCIAN LAND” is a cultural exhibition in the South Korean city of Andong. It first asks visitors to reflect on the horrors of contemporary society, including war, consumerism and sexual licence. It then invites them to travel through a “tunnel of time” to 16th-century Korea, when Confucianism was the official philosophy of the…
Sri Lanka is forcibly cremating Muslims who die of covid-19
OUTSIDE A HOSPITAL in southern Sri Lanka on December 22nd, a handful of Muslim men bowed their heads against the rain, chanting prayers as an unpolished coffin was loaded into an ambulance. They were given just minutes to pay their respects to the deceased, who, doctors said, had tested positive for covid-19. But that was…
After 34 years, Uganda’s president has no intention of retiring
THE POLICE vans on the ferry were a bad sign. On December 30th Bobi Wine, a pop star who is running for the Ugandan presidency, was campaigning on an island in Lake Victoria. Police and soldiers were waiting for him. They stopped his convoy and arrested members of his entourage. They threw tear gas grenades…
Jail for a Saudi woman who said women should drive
Jan 2nd 2021IF LOUJAIN AL-HATHLOUL is guilty of trying to harm national security and advance a foreign agenda, as a Saudi court found on December 28th, then what about Muhammad bin Salman? For Ms Hathloul merely campaigned to end the ban on woman drivers in Saudi Arabia. Prince Muhammad, its de facto ruler, actually lifted…
Rapper Banned From JetBlue Airline For Life For Refusing to Wear Mask
Rapper Lil Pump has been banned from JetBlue for life after he refused to put on a mask on a flight on Tuesday. According to a statement from JetBlue — which does not name Gazzy Garcia, the 20-year-old hip-hop star, though corroborates that he was the subject of the altercation — the Gucci Gang singer…
Guy walks circumference of earth without leaving home city
Without leaving his home city Vinod Bajaj, a retired business consultant, has wandered the equivalent of the perimeter of the Earth. The 70-year-old walked nearly 41,000 kilometers over the past four years in the west of Ireland. He has urged others to remain active in the midst of the outbreak. Bajaj, who has resided in…