The electric-car boom sets off a scramble for cobalt in Congo
ON THE STREETS of Kolwezi, a mining city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, huge billboards advertise “executive” mobile-phone-data packages, a few gigabytes for a few dollars. They are popular not just with the suited types shown on the hoardings; they also sell to more roughly dressed men who work in crude “artisanal” mines, who…
America rediscovers its alliance with Japan
IT IS CUSTOMARY for new American presidents to lavish attention on their closest neighbours, Canada and Mexico. But since Joe Biden took office a much more distant country has hogged the limelight: Japan. At the first international summit hosted by the president, a virtual gathering of a club called the Quad—America, Australia, India and Japan—Japan’s…
What the enthusiasm for funding startups means for the VC world
Mar 31st 2021FINANCIAL MARKETS are fuelled by stories, and the most skilful storytellers are found in venture capital. For a start, venture capitalists have to listen to a lot of fairy tales from the would-be entrepreneur. “The world will look different in a decade,” he says. “My startup will be the leading business in a…
What if Europe’s fiscal largesse were as generous as America’s?
Mar 31st 2021IT CAN BE easy to forget that Europe might reasonably be expected to outperform the American economy. True, population growth in the former is slower. But because Europe remains far less integrated than America—politically, economically and culturally—it has room to exploit efficiencies that the latter has already realised. And because parts of Europe…
ASEAN will lose relevance if it ignores the coup in Myanmar
Mar 31st 2021THE GENERAL who led a coup against Myanmar’s elected government two months ago celebrated Armed Forces Day in late March with a parade followed by a lavish dinner, fireworks and drones configured to create a night-sky portrait of himself. His junta had gone all out to make the day a triumph, including warning…
South Koreans see politics as a choice between two bad options
Mar 31st 2021BUSAN and SEOULOUTSIDE YEONGDEUNGPO market in southern Seoul, a campaign truck awaits the arrival of Park Young-sun, a former local MP and the mayoral candidate for the ruling Minjoo party. Campaign aides in sky-blue windbreakers are awkwardly trying to engage stallholders in conversation. In a small restaurant inside the market, patrons are digging…
The complicated dance to unseat Binyamin Netanyahu
THE BLUE and white balloons that had been prepared for Likud’s victory celebrations remained in the netting on the ceiling. Israel’s ruling party had emerged from the parliamentary election on March 23rd still the largest party in the 120-member Knesset (Israel’s parliament), but its leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, has only a slim chance of controlling a…
The pandemic is a gift to poachers in Africa
Mar 31st 2021OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY AND LOWER ZAMBEZI NATIONAL PARKNAJIN AND Fatu roam the Kenyan savannah with a heavy gait, stopping intermittently to burrow their horns into tall grass or scratch their backs against wooden posts. At Ol Pejeta Conservancy, where they live, the last two northern white rhinos on Earth are known as “the…
Cows Are Being Equipped With VR Goggles to Upsurge Milk Production
Cows at RusMoloko dairy farm are being fit with VR goggles to help them unwind by providing them views of green pastures packed with sunshine.The VR goggles aren’t movie props, though. According to a press release from Moscow’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the VR headsets have been exclusively designed for these dairy cows to…
Why is ‘Asian Hate’ Getting Less Attention than BLM
Published on Mar 31, 2021 by AnneAsian hate is a new word, but racial violence against the Asian community is not new. In the past year, Asians have been experiencing a sudden wave of racial violence, the biggest ever in the US. Over the course of the last few weeks, more and more people from…