How to bring peace to Libya
IT IS BY FAR the preferred jumping-off point for migrants hoping to reach Europe. Jihadists use its ungoverned spaces to train and plot attacks at hom…
Libya’s feuds cross the Mediterranean
FOR ONCE Italy’s populist government will be pleased to see a group of Africans cross the Mediterranean. On November 12th the leaders of Libya’s warri…
Africa’s growing cities are inspiring protest and opposition parties
“FREE BOBI WINE!” say the graffiti outside his recording studio in Kamwokya, a poor district of Kampala, Uganda’s capital. On August 13th the pop star-turned-politician (pictured above) was arrested and, he says, beaten and tortured by soldiers. Thou…
China is struggling to explain Xi Jinping Thought
THE INSTITUTE of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era occupies several rooms in the Marxism department of Renmin…
Uzbekistan tries to end the use of forced labour in the cotton fields
IN SOME WAYS, there is nothing surprising about the videos that have been doing the rounds on social media in Uzbekistan. In one, farmers and local of…
Japan is both obsessed with and resistant to robots
HOTEL RECEPTIONISTS are rarely this intimidating. Yellow eyes glare as the room number is snarled through razor-sharp teeth. The mechanical T-Rex behind the counter is one of nine types of robot whirring and clicking through the building, from the si…
New Zealand agonises about Chinese meddling
“WE ARE FREE from political interference,” protests New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. A scandal in the National Party, the main opposition…
Vietnam is getting old before it gets rich
AS DAWN BREAKS in Hanoi the botanical gardens start to fill up. Hundreds of old people come every morning to exercise before the tropical heat makes s…
Japan pampers its pets like nowhere else
print-edition iconPrint edition | AsiaNov 3rd 2018 | TOKYOA FEW LAPS of the pool can help prevent diseases in later life, stave off obesity and maintain ageing joints—for dogs as well as humans, claims Wanwan (“Woof-woof”) Fitness, a sports club for…
How 500 Yemeni refugees in a Korean resort sparked protests
“DEPORT FAKE refugees”, read the signs held up by protesters in central Seoul in late October. The object of their ire was a group of 500-odd Yemenis …