Imran Khan is jeopardising Pakistan’s attempts to fix its economy
Once or twice a year, the approaches to Islamabad, Pakistan’s staid, leafy capital, start to resemble a jumbled cargo port. Piles of shipping containers sprout up at motorway junctions on the outskirts of the city and at strategic crossroads inside it. Lines of riot police stand guard. Residents grumble, knowing traffic will get choked, schools…
Vietnam is leading the transition to clean energy in South-East Asia
South-east asia is among the parts of the world most vulnerable to climate change. Yet this smoke-belching region seems uninterested in forsaking fossil fuels. Vietnam is a bright spot on an otherwise soot-black map. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.Your browser does not support the element.Save time by listening…
Israeli firms and tourists are piling into Morocco
In a railway carriage heading towards Marrakech four Moroccan women, all strangers to each other, talk about Israel. “They’re so much more welcoming than the racist, superior French,” says a Moroccan tour guide, recounting her experiences of passport control. An events organiser shares videos of her raves for Israelis in a farm outside Marrakech. A…
How Kenyan courts benefit the mighty and punish the needy
Fighting an election campaign is a time-consuming business. Prudent candidates therefore like to rid themselves of distractions well beforehand. Aisha Jumwa, an mp running to become a county governor in Kenya’s general election on August 9th, is a model of efficiency in this regard. On April 5th, after a judge ruled that prosecution evidence had…
Politics
Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.Your browser does not support the element.Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskRussian forces captured parts of Severodonetsk, a town in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Some Ukrainian defenders were holding on, but many of the 10,000 thought to have been…
Business
Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.Your browser does not support the element.Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThe euro zone’s annual inflation rate leapt to 8.1% in May. The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade…
The health-giving benefits of Jacuzzis—for frogs
Captivity is a cushy number compared with the rigours of the wild. No predators. Little risk of disease. And a guaranteed food supply that you don’t have to work for. But that makes you soft. And if the purpose of your captivity is eventual reintroduction into a natural habitat, because you are a member of…
Borrowing tricks from birds may result in smoother flights
While chatting to a customer in the family bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur Wright was idly twisting a piece of cardboard that had once contained an inner tube, when he came up with an idea. The “semi-rigid” way in which the cardboard could be deformed yet still retain its stiffness might, he considered, provide…
What America’s next recession will look like
Jun 1st 2022 | WASHINGTON, DCThese days it is hard to turn a corner without bumping into predictions of an American recession. Big banks, prominent economists and former officials are all saying that a downturn is a near certainty as the Federal Reserve wrestles inflation under control. Three-quarters of chief executives of Fortune 500 companies…
Fatherless sons have more testosterone
Most males in the animal kingdom do little parenting. Their strategy is simple: inseminate as many females as possible and hope for the best. Sometimes, though, parental investment by a male pays off. Songbird chicks are usually tended by both mother and father. Wolf packs see alpha males and females collaborate to raise the cubs.…