A new human species may have been identified
Jul 1st 2021TWO NEW studies add further pieces to the jigsaw puzzle that is human evolution. One reports a potential extra member of the genus Homo. The other casts light on possible interbreeding between three human species in the Middle East.Listen to this storyYour browser does not support the element.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on…
Virtual clinical trials are on their way
Jul 1st 2021CLINICAL TRIALS are expensive, time-consuming and risky for those taking part. The hunt is therefore on for computer models good enough to replace warm bodies for at least the preliminary phases of trials. In a paper in Nature Communications, Alejandro Frangi of the University of Leeds, in Britain, and his colleagues have published…
Stubborn optimism about China’s economy after a decade on the ground
Jul 3rd 2021PICTURE THE moment of confusion in a taxi in Guiyang, a city in south-western China. Your columnist had asked the driver to go to the new district. “The new new district or the old new district?” he asked. It was, it emerged, the old new district—a place that seven years ago, on an…
The return of the carry trade
Jul 3rd 2021I F YOU LIKE a central bank that responds to inflation surprises by—and here’s a retro touch—raising interest rates, then the Banco de México might be the one for you. On June 24th it surprised the markets by increasing its benchmark rate from 4% to 4.25%. Although it said in its statement that…
Malaysia’s democracy gets a boost from an unlikely quarter
Jul 3rd 2021THE LAST time Malaysia’s Parliament convened was in December, when Muhyiddin Yassin, the prime minister, squeaked through a budget with the narrowest of majorities. Since January a state of emergency to combat the covid-19 pandemic has given Mr Muhyiddin a convenient excuse to shut down the legislature. The ostensible reason is that many…
Kim Jong Un rediscovers his love of central planning
Jul 3rd 2021THE NORTH KOREAN dictator’s love of high-end products from evil capitalist countries is well documented. The import of luxury goods into North Korea has been banned by UN sanctions since 2006. Yet Kim Jong Un parades around Pyongyang in a million-dollar Maybach car, drinks rare whiskies and has a magnificent yacht moored off…
Why is it so hard to find local fare in the Gulf?
A VISIT TO the Middle East can feel like one endless lunch. Lebanon offers no end of delicacies. Tour guides in Egypt take their charges for koshari, a bowl full of carbs topped with tomato sauce. A trip to Baghdad requires a stop for masgouf, a beloved platter of grilled carp (American troops found Saddam…
Egypt’s dictator is aiding Gaza and boosting his image
AT FIRST SIGHT one might have thought Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was running for president of Palestine. Dozens of billboards (one is pictured) appeared overnight in Gaza this May, each bearing the face of the Egyptian president and an emphatic quote. “The Palestinian cause is the central issue for Egypt,” read one. Main roads were lined with…