The case for a further narrowing of euro-zone bond spreads
Jul 31st 2021IT WAS BUSINESS as usual at the European Central Bank (ECB). At the press conference on July 22nd that followed its regular monetary-policy meeting, Christine Lagarde, the bank’s boss, might have been hoping for a few plaudits. The ECB had recently announced that it was changing to a symmetric inflation target, bringing it…
Why have some places suffered more covid-19 deaths than others?
Jul 31st 2021SEVENTEEN MONTHS into the covid-19 pandemic, plenty of questions about the catastrophe remain unanswered. It is still unclear how SARS-CoV-2 originated, for instance. Another puzzle is why some areas have had less destructive epidemics than others. Why has Florida had fewer deaths per person from covid-19 than the American average, even though restrictions…
The Pegasus revelations cast doubt on the health of Indian democracy
Jul 31st 2021IN ANCIENT HINDU lore a winged horse emerges from the milky churn of primeval oceans to become the trusted mount of Indra, king of the heavens. A later tradition says it was instead Mahabali, lord of the demons, who rode the fabulous stallion. Both versions picture a creature strikingly like Pegasus, the flying…
Samoa’s rightful government takes office at last
IT TOOK THREE and a half months and a constitutional crisis, but Samoa at last has its first change of governing party in 33 years, as well as its first female prime minister. On July 23rd the country’s court of appeal ruled that Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s FAST party, which narrowly won an election in April,…
In Ethiopia’s civil war, Tigrayan forces take the offensive
THE STREETS of Dessie, in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, are loud and bustling. So are its restaurants and bars. But as Ethiopia’s civil war edges closer, the mood is darkening. In the past week military-training camps have sprung up. Outside a hospital a tent has been erected; wounded soldiers lie on stretchers. Through mountain fog come…
A tangy Nigerian cooking ingredient is cheering the diaspora
THE FERMENTED African locust bean, known in Yoruba as iru, has an unmistakable cheesy tang that hits you before you see it. “Iru isn’t just a flavour on the tongue,” says Ozoz Sokoh, a food blogger. After an elaborate process of fermentation, the smell is essential to its flavour. Iru is further enriched once tossed…
Data don’t lie, but they can lead scientists to opposite conclusions
Jul 28th 2021ONE OF THE biggest concerns in science is bias—that scientists themselves, consciously or unconsciously, may put their thumbs on the scales and influence the outcomes of experiments. Boffins have come up with all sorts of tactics to try to eliminate it, from having their colleagues repeat their work to the “double blinding” common…
Propellers make a comeback on a new type of aircraft engine
Jul 28th 2021WHEN A MODIFIED MD-80 airliner flew at the 1988 Farnborough air show in Britain, it was supposed to represent the future of air travel. One of its rear-mounted jet engines had been replaced with an unusual form of propulsion. This consisted of two rings of short propeller-like blades mounted in the open air,…