Indonesia’s president has a new rival
ANIES BASWEDAN was spoiling for a fight. Indonesia’s first case of covid-19 had been confirmed on March 2nd, and for weeks the…
Infections are rising fast in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan
Jun 6th 2020DELHI AND ISLAMABADOVER THE past week Bangladesh, India and Pakistan have largely lifted nationwide lockdowns intended…
African governments face a wall of debt repayments
Jun 6th 2020IT IS ALMOST a law of nature. Just as the female praying mantis eats her mate after copulation, so too can borrowers…
Covid-19 quietly sweeps across Yemen
Editor’s note: Some of our covid-19 coverage is free for readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. For more stories…
Covid-19 spurs single Japanese to look for love
Jun 6th 2020SUZUKA, MIE PREFECTUREHE HAD ALWAYS imagined he would get married someday. Then covid-19 hit. Yuto (not his real name),…
The Thai government tries new ways to curb online critics
RUNNING A COUNTRY is much easier if you can silence naysayers. Just ask Thailand’s prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha. Having…
Standoffish North Korea discovers the limits of self-reliance
THE ECONOMY was not on the agenda when Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s dictator, appeared at a party meeting on May 23rd after his…
Military tensions mount on the India-China border
Reports of Chinese incursions into India raise tensions between the nuclear-armed neighboursMay 29th 2020WHEN INDIAN and Chinese…
Australia’s foreign-student bubble has burst
AUSTRALIA’S OLDEST university campus should be heaving on a sunny autumn afternoon. Before the pandemic, the University of Sydney…