Rebels fighting Myanmar’s junta are doing better than expected
Oct 30th 2021THE BOYS from Pale should be dead by now. Armed with little more than homemade rifles, in June the group of some 2,000 fighters, most of them farmers unversed in war, began attacking soldiers in their rural township in Sagaing state, in north-west Myanmar. The army they were up against, known as the…
Netanyahu’s shadow starts to recede in Israel
THE PARALLEL-UNIVERSE politics that played out in Jerusalem this month were unusual, even for a holy city full of surprises. In the real Jerusalem on October 10th, Naftali Bennett, Israel’s prime minister (pictured), was glad-handing Germany’s outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, by welcoming her to a special session of his cabinet. In the otherworldly Jerusalem, Mr…
How UN staff are reshaping African cities
Oct 30th 2021NAIROBI AND DAKARA SPECIAL ECONOMY emerges around any big UN office in the developing world. Other international bodies cluster around it. Expatriates move into the safe, pleasant neighbourhood where it is located. Local suppliers vie for contracts to sell fresh produce, stationery and other staples to all these organisations. Unskilled workers get jobs…