WITH AN AIR of efficiency Judge Amy Page moves through the day’s docket. Defendants stand sheepishly before her to face their charges: assault and battery, stalking, larceny, drunk driving.
TopWhy Olaf Scholz hesitates to send Ukraine heavy weapons
ON FEBRUARY 27th, three days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Olaf Scholz delivered a speech to Germany’s parliament that astonished even his close political allies.
TopFighting has intensified in the Donbas region
Now Mr Putin is throwing a large portion of his weary army at eastern Ukraine in the hope of salvaging something from his war. The coming weeks are likely to see the bloodiest battles since Russia first invaded the Donbas region in 2014.
Why the Federal Reserve has made a historic mistake on inflation
CENTRAL BANKS are supposed to inspire confidence in the economy by keeping inflation low and stable. America’s Federal Reserve has suffered a hair-raising loss of control. In March consumer prices were 8.5% higher than a year earlier, the fastest annual rise since 1981. In Washington inflation-watching is usually the preserve of wonks in shabby offices.
Macron still leads a tightening presidential race
“I WANT IT to be less like a rally,” declares Emmanuel Macron in an electoral clip, as he strolls around the empty indoor arena west of Paris in an overcoat and scarf, scouting out the venue: “I want something more like a sporting event.”
TopProtests and politics will dominate this year’s Biennale
NO NATIONAL PAVILION in the latest Venice Biennale, which opens on April 23rd, will make such a brave and unambiguous statement as Russia’s. Its airy spaces will be empty, the curator and two artists chosen to represent Russia having withdrawn on February 28th in protest at the invasion of Ukraine.
TopBritish academics are seeing their retirement benefits cut
MANY ACADEMIC fights involve hostile questions at conferences and cutting footnotes. But a dispute over pensions has sent scholars to the picket lines.
TopAround the world, people like (and dislike) the same scents
TO THE SWEDES, there are few odours more delectable than the scent of surströmming, a type of fermented herring.
TopChina says imports are causing outbreaks of covid-19
IT STARTED WITH Norwegian salmon. Chinese officials blamed the frozen fish for a surge of covid-19 cases in Beijing in 2020. Later they claimed to have found the virus on crabs from Chile and shrimp from Ecuador.
TopHow balls of blackworms avoid the knotty step
MANY ANIMALS find safety in herds, colonies, schools or swarms. But few species opt for the technique of the stringy, water-dwelling blackworm Lumbriculus variegatus, a creature that at a few centimetres in length is far longer than it is wide.
TopMaking money from Nelson Mandela’s name
One room is named “Rolihlahla”, his forename at birth. Another is “46664”, his prison number on Robben Island. A third is “Madiba”, his clan name. And the most luxurious suite? That is simply “Mr President”.
TopIndian cows (and buffaloes) are going online
SIX COWS munch on dry grass in a barn in Vajeghar, a village some five hours from Mumbai. Ajay Shilimkar, a dairy farmer, beams as he introduces them to your correspondent. One, named Laali, is his most recent acquisition.
TopCalifornia wants to lead the world on climate policy
In addition to releasing 1m barrels of oil a day from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Interior Department will resume new lease sales for oil and gas drilling on public lands, reneging on Mr Biden’s campaign promise to end the practice.
TopWhy Egypt isn’t open for business
EGYPTIANS OFTEN complain that their country produces little of value. Juhayna, the country’s largest dairy and juice maker, has been a notable exception. Its red and blue cartons are a staple in Egyptian homes. Its milk and yogurt are sold across the Middle East and Africa.
TopSongbirds get more colourful the closer they live to the equator
WHEN THE Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt arrived in South America in 1799, the colours astonished him. “Look at the blossoms, the birds,” he wrote. “Even the crayfish are blue and yellow.”
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