Bhutan vaccinated almost all adults against covid-19 in a week
WHEN INDIA presented Bhutan with a generous gift of covid-19 vaccines in January, the neighbouring kingdom made an unusual choice. Rather than rush to inoculate all 800,000 of its citizens, the government sought advice from the Zhung Dratshang, a body of Buddhist monks. The stars were not auspicious, they ruled. Better to wait two months,…
Benin’s democratic beacon dims
“WE ARE NOT in a democratic country any more,” says Rogatien Biaou, a former minister turned opposition figure in Benin, which will hold presidential elections on April 11th. This is not hyperbole. Almost all opposition leaders have been blocked from standing. Others are in exile. Reckya Madougou, a high-profile would-be candidate, is behind bars. As…
How Egyptian entertainment has changed under military rule
HESHAM ASHMAWY was executed twice. Egypt’s most wanted man, an army-officer-turned-jihadist, was hanged in March 2020, out of public view. Two months later, millions of Egyptians watched the “execution” of an actor playing him on “The Choice”, a television show about terrorism, produced by state intelligence. To promote the episode, the spy agency leaked videos…