Arab governments are doing too little to end honour killings
Feb 4th 2021KUWAIT’S NATIONAL assembly is so rowdy that debates sometimes descend into fisticuffs. But on one issue, at least, the MPs have little to say. Sheikha al-Ajmi, a parliamentary employee, was killed by her brother in December. Some say he didn’t like her working as a security guard; others say he was angry that…
A new epoch for retail investors is just beginning
FOR NEARLY a fortnight, the world was mesmerised by the fortunes of GameStop. Shares in the beleaguered brick-and-mortar purveyor of video games soared from a few dollars in 2020 to above $480 on January 28th, before sinking as low as $81 on February 2nd. A firm that was worth $200m in April last year was…
High-frequency traders are in the spotlight
They are the stockmarket’s new intermediariesFROM ONE perspective, retail stock traders have never had it so good. There is fierce competition among brokers, including the likes of Charles Schwab and Fidelity, for their business. This broke out into an all-out price war in 2019 when these firms cut stock-trading commissions to zero, four years after…
Africa’s recovery from covid-19 will be slow
Feb 6th 2021DAKAR, JOHANNESBURG AND NAIROBIAT FIRST GLANCE, sub-Saharan Africa appears to have avoided the worst of the pandemic. It has 14% of the world’s population but, even as it is drenched by a second wave, just 3% of known cases and deaths. In 2020 its economy shrank by less than the global average, estimates…
John Krasinski’s Controversially Political, yet Hilarious, SNL Hosting Gig
Published on Feb 3, 2021 by Anne For the first episode of 2021, The Office’s John Krasinki hosted Saturday Night Live. This is Krasinski’s second time on the show, proving that he has great talents in comedic hosting. Although it had average viewer ratings, he sure brought back the same hilarity and energy similar to his first time…
The New Celebrity Limited Edition Range from McDonald’s… Kinda
McDonald’s has recently collaborated with rapper Travis Scott’s record label Cactus Jack to create the Travis Scott Burger. The month-long twist on the fast-food titan’s staple meal adds lettuce and bacon to the classic Quarter Pounder meal. Scott is known for his love of the McDonald’s meal so we’re sure it was especially fun for…
Why the WallStreetBets crowd are able to profit from predatory trading
Textbooks say it can’t happen. But there are times when front-running distressed traders pays offFeb 2nd 2021“THERE ARE no loyalties on Wall Street. When you smell blood in the water, you become a shark.” The sentiment—or lack of it—would not look out of place on r/wallstreetbets, the locus for a new breed of stockmarket hammerheads,…
Celebrating Black History Month on Twitter
Published on Feb 1, 2021 by Anne It’s the first day of Black History Month and the excitement is contagious! Celebrations are being held everywhere both IRL and virtually (while following COVID-related health restrictions, of course) and everyone is ecstatic for all the festivities. So much has happened in the last year and anti-racism protests…
How the GameStop saga threatens Robinhood
FROM THE kerb it does not look like much. The low-slung terracotta building is a far cry from the futuristic spaceship-style campuses favoured by tech firms down the road in Palo Alto, or the gleaming skyscrapers that house most powerful financial institutions in New York. The insides of the headquarters in Menlo Park, California, of…
Aung San Suu Kyi is arrested as Myanmar’s generals seize power
The army’s motives are unclearWHEN MYANMAR’S army ended nearly 50 years of military rule in 2011, making way for a civilian government, many were suspicious about its willingness to relinquish power. It initially tried to exclude the country’s most prominent democracy activist, Aung San Suu Kyi, from government; it handed authority instead to a party…