How to improve the search for aliens
May 25th 2022 (Updated May 26th 2022)For decades, astronomers searching for life beyond humanity’s home planet have had a simple strategy: follow the water. Water is the sine qua non of terrestrial life and as thousands of new planets have been discovered orbiting faraway stars, the greatest levels of excitement have usually been reserved for those…
Carbon markets are going global
Carbon markets, for years short of puff, have at last become one of the most widespread tools in the fight against climate change. By the end of 2021 more than 21% of the world’s emissions were covered by some form of carbon pricing, up from 15% in 2020. Ever more businesses have to pay regulators…
The credit market hasn’t cracked yet
At their best, capital markets hold up a mirror to the real economy. They rise and fall in tandem with companies’ fortunes, encouraging investors to direct money towards the firms most likely to make a return on it. But the arrow of causality can also fly the other way. A dysfunctional market can choke off…
Abe Shinzo in his own words
ABE SHINZO served longer as prime minister than anyone in Japan’s history, holding the office from 2012-2020. He stepped down because of a chronic illness, but quickly returned to his Diet seat. He remains a formidable presence in Japanese politics. He commands the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many of his…
Abe Shinzo still looms large over Japan
The menus during President Joe Biden’s visit to Tokyo this week reflected the tastes of Japan’s prime minister, Kishida Fumio, whose family is from Hiroshima. There were Hiroshima beef fillets, Hiroshima vegetables and Hiroshima lemon sodas. The agenda, however, owed more to Abe Shinzo, a former prime minister who led the country from 2012 to…
The UAE’s new sheikh may jolt both succession and federation
Transitions do not get much easier. On May 13th the United Arab Emirates (uae) announced the death of its president, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Though he had held the job since 2004, a stroke in 2014 pushed him largely out of the public eye. Running the country fell to his half-brother, Muhammad bin Zayed,…
How e-commerce looks different in Africa
May 26th 2022 | Tatu CityTo the untrained eye Wakulima market in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, looks like pandemonium. Scores of workers push handcarts laden with fruit and vegetables, jostling past heaving crowds. Buyers and sellers loudly debate the quality of a papaya or the merits of an onion. It seems chaotic. But not to James.…
Business
Glencore, a Swiss-based commodities company, resolved various long-standing corruption allegations against it. In America it pleaded guilty to wide-ranging graft that the Justice Department described as “staggering”, involving hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to officials in numerous countries, and to running a scheme to manipulate oil prices. In Britain it indicated it would…
Politics
An 18-year-old gunman murdered 19 young children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas. After a stand-off with law-enforcement officers he was shot dead by a border-patrol agent. Parents were asked to provide dna samples to help identify the children’s bodies. The perpetrator had a semi-automatic rifle and wore body armour, as did…
Follow These Tips If You Want to Quickly Recover From A Car Crash
No one ever expects to be in a car crash, but it happens all the time. If you find yourself in this situation, it is important to know how to recover and quickly get back on your feet. Depending on the severity of the crash, it may take some time for you to recover. This…