How Japan sees China
THE FIRST reliable records of an official mission from Japan to China date to 238AD, when Himiko, a Japanese queen, dispatched a delegation to China’s Wei kingdom, offering as tribute ten slaves and two 20-foot-long textiles. By the 7th century the Yamato, a clan that ruled much of Japan at the time, was regularly sending…
What real-time indicators suggest about Omicron’s economic impact
Jan 1st 2022WHAT IS THE economic impact of Omicron? The latest variant of the coronavirus has let rip at such a ferocious pace that forecasters are still catching their breath, and it will be some time before its economic effects become apparent in the official data, which are published with a lag. But a number…
Extreme weather in South-East Asia is a harbinger of worse to come
Jan 1st 2022MANILA AND SINGAPOREON DECEMBER 16TH Typhoon Rai made landfall in Siargao in the south-eastern Philippines. With sustained winds of 195kph and gusts of up to 240kph, the storm barged westward and slightly northward, the eye making eight more landfalls in the Philippine archipelago, where it is known as Typhoon Odette, before sweeping out…
Thai restaurants are cooking with cannabis
BAN LAO RUENG does not resemble a den of iniquity. A two-hour drive from Bangkok, the Thai capital, the restaurant caters to families and old folk. Gauzy curtains frame the windows and doilies decorate bags of cookies on sale at the counter. The menu features such classics as tom yum soup and khanom pang na…
Israel tightens its grip on the Golan Heights
MEVO HAMA has magnificent views of three countries. On its western side is a sheer cliff dropping down to the Sea of Galilee and northern Israel. To the south is another steep drop, into Jordan. And across the mountain plateau to the east is Syria (see map). The kibbutz was established shortly after Israel seized…
Omicron causes a less severe illness than earlier variants
Jan 1st 2022WITH ITS ability to escape immunity induced by past infections and vaccines, the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, first detected in South Africa on November 9th, has been tearing around the world, causing record numbers of cases of covid-19 as it does so. Australia, Britain, Denmark, France, Italy and South Africa are at the…
In 2022 a Moonrush will begin in earnest
Jan 1st 2022DURING THE cold-war space race between the Soviet Union and America, the latter’s Apollo Moon missions were mostly about making a political and technological point. Having made it, they duly ceased. Now, approaching half a century after astronauts last walked on the Moon, a new age of lunar exploration is dawning. This time…
New research counts the costs of the Sino-American trade war
Jan 1st 2022THE INITIAL two-year segment of the “phase one” trade deal between America and China comes to an end on December 31st. Neither country is in a mood to mark the occasion. Mutual antagonism is as fierce as ever; a new American law banning goods made with forced labour in Xinjiang is the latest…
Is a greener, faster and more decentralised alternative to Bitcoin possible?
Jan 1st 2022SAN FRANCISCOCRYPTO IS THE key to paradise, particularly the financial kind. That, at least, is what the fans argue. Greedy intermediaries, such as banks, will be replaced by smart contracts (self-executing rules) that run on blockchains (distributed databases). This will give rise to efficient and innovative financial services, collectively called “decentralised finance” (DeFi).Listen…
A presidential pardon catches South Korea by surprise
Dec 29th 2021OFFICE WORKERS around Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul breathed a collective sigh of relief just before Christmas. Ever since Park Geun-hye, a former president, was sent to prison for corruption and abuse of power in 2017 her supporters had been staging noisy protests in the middle of South Korea’s capital, calling for her…