Militants are targeting Hindu and Sikh civilians in Kashmir
Oct 21st 2021DELHI AND SRINAGARSANJAY TICKOO fidgets in a small, yellow-walled room at a secret location surrounded by concertina wire and military patrols. The security forces tell Mr Tickoo that his confinement is for his own good, and he believes them. He is a Pandit, born to one of the 800-odd Hindu families in Kashmir…
Time for orderly resolution for Evergrande is running out
HOMEBUYERS, investors and analysts have been waiting for months for a peep from China’s regulators on a plan for Evergrande, a massive homebuilder on the brink of collapse. But when the central bank at last chimed in on October 15th to say that the risks were controllable, few took comfort.Listen to this storyYour browser does…
What to make of the new bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund
Oct 21st 2021CRYPTO SEASONS are not what they used to be. In 2017, just as bitcoin was nearing $20,000 for the first time, a regulatory crackdown triggered a crypto “winter”—a period of depressed prices—that lasted nearly three years. In May this year frost set in after China clamped down on crypto transactions, bringing bitcoin down…
Singapore is cracking down on foreign political interference
Oct 23rd 2021PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE in Singapore, which has been governed by the same political party since 1959, usually makes for snoozy viewing. Not on October 4th. The bill under discussion was to give the government sweeping powers to curb foreign influence in local politics. Legislators agreed that the government needed tools to strike back at…
Uzbekistan’s president abolished slave labour. What next?
THE SCREENS of the digital billboards illuminating the streets of Tashkent flip between the faces of politicians who are running in a presidential election on October 24th. Shop windows display posters of the five candidates lined up side by side. Newspapers plastered in press kiosks grant equal space to all contenders. Uzbekistan is engaged in…
Three places that dream of becoming Africa’s Singapore
SMALL, LANDLOCKED and with few natural resources, Rwanda lacks an obvious route to riches. But a new international financial centre in Kigali, its capital, offers a clue to the government’s strategy. It has passed new laws to encourage investment and signed agreements with financial centres as far afield as Morocco and Belgium. The idea is…