Israel and Hamas have something in common
DIPLOMACY is often the art of kicking the can down the road. That was always the case with the truce between Israel and Hamas...
Paying teenagers to go to school was a bad idea
Andy burnham was unhappy. The government was “kicking away the ladder of opportunity”, he argued in January 2011. Mr Burnham,...
Prabowo Subianto takes a chainsaw to Indonesia’s budget
On the campaign trail last year Prabowo Subianto, a former general with a sketchy human-rights record, pledged to give every ...
Swedish businesses are being bombed
Odakra, a sleepy village in southern Sweden, offers little excitement on a typical weeknight. But at 3am on January 28th resi...
The Economist’s office agony uncle is back
Dear Max, I am hiring for an open position on my team. We are having trouble finding good candidates, and my boss just came i...
The bravest woman in Latin America?
It is not unusual for Diana Salazar, Ecuador’s attorney-general, to be followed by unfriendly compatriots. Her security retin...
The election in Tajikistan is unlikely to be democratic
On March 2nd Tajiks will vote in a general election. The exercise is unlikely to be a democratic process; rather, it will pro...
The matadors’ last stand in Colombia
Bullfighting, like boxing, once offered young men a path out of poverty. Take César Rincón, Colombia’s champion matador. From...
The sea is swallowing an African island
Standing on the shores of Nyangai, a small island off the coast of Sierra Leone, Melvin Kargbo points to his old football fie...
The trouble with ancient Indians
A BABY BORN on the same day as the Indian republic—January 26th 1950, when the constitution went into effect—probably would n...