Month: June 2022
Dead Nuclear Deal
Four months ago the Biden administration appeared to have decided it was now or never for Iran’s blighted nuclear-containment deal. Negotiated under Barack Obama then abrogated by Donald Trump, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action needed to be salvaged as the administration hoped it would be or else abandoned. Because time-limited, the strictures that the
Spending more on infrastructure in China
China is renowned for creating “ghost cities”: new, sparsely populated districts that gradually come to life as people move into them. Shanghai’s lockdown reversed this process, turning a lively metropolis into something undead. During Shanghai’s long lockdown, which mercifully eased this week, the city’s impressive infrastructure stood in splendid isolation from most of the citizens
European Unity
Europe has more potential rift lines than national dishes. To oversimplify, in past crises the division has often been between flinty northerners who resent being made to pay for ever more costly European schemes bail-outs, stimulus packages and so on and spendthrift southerners. Over Ukraine, by contrast, the main fissure has been between east and
The rise and fall of the Derby Market hall
Derby put on an impressive show at the opening of its market hall in 1866.Derby Market Hall is spectacular. It has a vast roof of glass and wood, with iron supports. It looks a little like St Pancras Station in London, which is not a surprise—the engineer Rowland Mason Ordish worked on both. Derby Council
A recession in America
There is no escaping the squeeze ahead for America’s economy. Surging food and petrol prices are eating into people’s spending. In April consumer prices were 8.3% higher than a year earlier. Even excluding food and energy prices, annual inflation is 6.2%. Supply-chain problems could flare up for as long as war rages in Ukraine and
Protecting Chinese Economy from the West
President Xi Jinping shared his ambitions for the industry. Young workers should advance the cause of Chinese self-reliance, he said, following in the footsteps of their predecessors who developed a home-grown nuclear weapon, missile and satellite, with little help from outsiders, in a campaign in the era of Mao Zedong called “Two bombs, one satellite”.
Gun regulations in the United States
A different sort of self-defence is on the minds of some gun enthusiasts, who are feeling besieged by efforts to regulate firearms. The National Rifle Association met three days after an assailant in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school. It was the most lethal school shooting since six- and
Destabilizing the economy of Pakistan
The interfering ex-prime minister is distracting the government with his constant threats. 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
intellectual-property theft
Russia has decided to amend a section of its civil code. The world took little notice of decree number 299, which authorised the use of patented inventions, including in medicine and digital technology, from “unfriendly countries” without asking the owner for permission or paying any compensation. Unsurprisingly, Ukraine, which Russia invaded, is deemed “unfriendly”. So
A new nuclear era
With his threats to use the bomb, Russia’s president has overturned the nuclear order.One hundred days ago Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine by warning of a nuclear strike. Having exalted Russia’s atomic arsenal and promised Ukraine’s subjugation, he threatened countries tempted to interfere with consequences “such as you have never seen in your