Those who worry about CO2 should worry about methane, too
Apr 3rd 2021POLITICS, OTTO VON BISMARCK is supposed to have said, is the art of the possible. And one of the most depressing features of discussions about global warming is their tendency to take place in a fantasy land of the politically impossible. Few people in those parts of the world made rich by carbon-dioxide-emitting…
How has the IMF fared during the pandemic?
Apr 3rd 2021WASHINGTON, DCA YEAR AGO, crisis gripped the global economy. The world’s multilateral lender of last resort swung into action. Speaking ahead of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, which start on April 5th, Kristalina Georgieva, the fund’s managing director, hailed its “unprecedented” actions, including new financing for 85 countries and…
What 100 contracts reveal about China’s development lending
WHAT DO THE following have in common? Subway cars in Argentina; digital TV in the Republic of Congo; thermal power in Kyrgyzstan; turboprop planes in Vanuatu; and the Queen Elizabeth II quay in Sierra Leone? All have benefited from Chinese lending, which has helped finance transport, power and telecommunications projects across the developing world.China insists…
Malaysians are fighting one another over the word “Allah”
Apr 3rd 2021THE FIRST tenet of Islam is La ilaha ill’ allah—“There is no deity but God.” Allah is simply the word for God in Arabic and several other languages, including Malay. But Malaysia’s home ministry decreed in 1986 that the word Allah, among others, would henceforth be reserved for the exclusive use, in print…
Myanmar’s military coup has riven the Buddhist monkhood
ONE WOULD never guess, reading the Global New Light of Myanmar, a state newspaper, that more than 500 people have been killed by the army amid protests against a military coup on February 1st. Its pages are filled with pictures of generals shaking hands with foreign dignitaries, attending meetings and making obeisance to Buddhist monks.…
Tanzania’s new president surely can’t be worse than the old one
TANZANIA’S NEW president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, vows to continue where her predecessor left off. Pity the country if she keeps her promise. John Magufuli, whose death was announced on March 17th, was a covid-denying populist who ran a ruthless authoritarian regime. Many believe that the virus killed him.For the moment liberal Tanzanians are surprisingly upbeat,…
Clubhouse gives Arabs a space to speak freely
THE CONVERSATIONS can feel almost rebellious. Drift through the rooms and you hear heated talk of politics, business and religion. There is a frisson of flirtation too, with discussions about sex veiled in thin metaphors. And every so often someone stops to wonder when the police will crash through the door.Clubhouse, a buzzy social-media app…
Aircraft-carriers take to the air
Mar 25th 2021AIRCRAFT-CARRIERS are juicy targets. They are also increasingly vulnerable ones. Like medieval castles in the age of the cannon, technological advance threatens to make them redundant. Satellites and over-the-horizon radars mean pinpointing their locations is easier. And a single well-aimed, well-armed missile may be enough to render a carrier useless, even if one…
The jam in the Suez canal highlights Egypt’s taste for mega-projects
The money would be better spent on other thingsLIKE A HOUSE guest who refuses to leave, the Ever Given is still lingering in the doorway. On March 29th, after six days of blocking a vital trade route, the skyscraper-size ship was set right and sailed north under its own power. It has not sailed far.…
Lady Gaga’s dog walker celebrates leaving hospital with mushy IG post
Lady Gaga’s dog walker officially left the hospital today, and to celebrate, he shared an emotive IG post of him getting his dance-on.Roughly a month ago, Ryan Fischer was shot while walking Gaga’s three French Bulldogs. Two of the pets were pilfered though ultimately found their way back home, leaving the celebrity dog walker in…