Illuminating fishing nets may reduce by-catch
Jan 22nd 2022SMALL-SCALE fisheries supply many people with food. Almost all of those who ply them rely on gillnets to trap their prey. But gillnets trap other things, besides: endangered animals such as turtles; dangerous ones, such as Humboldt squid; and ones that are both endangered and dangerous, such as several types of shark. Everyone…
Why the bias for debt over equity is hard to dislodge
Jan 22nd 2022THE NICETIES of corporate finance rarely attract the attention of activists. It is rarer still that those at either end of the political spectrum agree on the need for change. When it comes to the tax system’s preferential treatment for debt over equity, however, both the left-wing Tax Justice Network and the fiscally…
America’s labour shortages have done little to boost perks for workers
Jan 22nd 2022THE PANDEMIC has fundamentally transformed the American workplace. More people than ever are working from home. Meetings have moved from offices to screens. Employees are quitting their jobs in droves, pushing job vacancies to record highs. Amid widespread labour shortages, firms are handing out pay rises and bonuses to attract workers. But what…
Novak Djokovic’s deportation from Australia sets a troubling precedent
IT DREW A bigger crowd than can sit in the centre court at the Australian Open. On January 16th more than 80,000 people tuned in to a live feed from the federal court to see whether, after a lengthy scuffle with Australia’s government, Novak Djokovic would be allowed to stay in the country. It was…
Asia’s holiday spots are missing Chinese visitors
Jan 22nd 2022GIANT RED lanterns and long streamers adorn the foyers of Phuket’s resort hotels: the upcoming Chinese (lunar) new year is not to be marked by half-measures. Thailand’s paradise island on the edge of the Andaman Sea went out of its way to reopen to foreign holidaymakers—tour parties of mainland Chinese, above all. Last…
Nigeria’s conservative north is overflowing with aphrodisiacs
BESIDE THE food-sellers at a street market in Abuja, a man in a flowing white kaftan holds a brown leather bag in one hand. In the other, well, is a baby crocodile, which he holds out to a potential customer. “Do you want to touch it?” he asks in Hausa, a language spoken in northern…
South Africa, the world’s coal junkie, tries to quit
Jan 22nd 2022JOHANNESBURGTRAVEL EAST from Johannesburg—South Africa’s economic capital—and dusty industrial towns line the road to the city of Emalahleni (“place of coal” in the local language, Tswana). The flat veld is dotted with mines and the smokestacks of coal-fired power stations.This is South Africa’s coal belt. Here, miners dig up about three-quarters of the…
Omicron latest: China stands alone in its attitude towards the pandemic
Jan 18th 2022IF THERE IS one lesson the covid-19 pandemic has taught the world, it is that acting early pays off. So when news emerged on November 25th in South Africa of a worrying new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, countries immediately began scrambling to tighten the rules on international travel. By November 29th suspected…