Full print edition
Full print edition
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Clarification: Treatment of drug addiction
An article in the issue dated October 18th (Treatment on a plate) described a nutritional approach to the treatment of drug addiction. Part of the article was reported from a conference, one of whose organisers is a nutritionist with a commercial interest in the relationship between diet and brain f ...
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The Russian enigma
Russia is not the Soviet Union, but what is it? A recovering world poweror a corrupt oligopoly with a market economy of sorts? Arkady Ostrovsky (interviewed here) explains why it is bothON DECEMBER 25th 1991 the Soviet flag above the Kremlin was lowered for the last time and the last president of th ...
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Face value: From bad to great
Lee Scott is stepping down having revived Wal-Marts share priceand its reputationONLY last year it seemed increasingly likely that Lee Scotts reign as chief executive of Wal-Mart would end soon, in disappointment and against his will. The worlds largest retailer was suffering from slowing sales and ...
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Russia's legal system
Russias legal system is deeply flawedDESPITE Mr Putins promise to establish a dictatorship of the law, the judiciary in Russia is far from just. At least that is the view of Sergei Pashin, a former judge and now a law professor. He should know: in 2000 he was dismissed after supporting a young man w ...
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Russian corruption
Bribery and corruption have become endemicRUSSIA may not have democratic elections or the rule of law, but it does have one long-standing institution that works: corruption. This has penetrated the political, economic, judicial and social systems so thoroughly that is has ceased to be a deviation fr ...
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The Mumbai attacks: Terror in India
A dangerous new front-line in the global war against terrorismTERROR has stalked Mumbai, Indias commercial capital, all too many times before. In 1993 more than 250 people died in a series of bomb attacks, seen as reprisals for the demolition by Hindu fanatics of the mosque at Ayodhya. In 2003, more ...
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Russia's dangerous future
A cornered Russia could pose greater risksTHE magic word during Vladimir Putins eight years as president was stability. The social contract between the Kremlin and the people was based on rising incomes and private freedoms. Most people happily signed up to this. According to Boris Dubin, a leading ...
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French banking: Bad harvest
Big banks eye the retail deposits of Frances accident-prone mutualsOVERALL, French banks have had a good credit crunch. No French institution has had to be rescued by the state. There has been one big bail-out, of Dexia, a Franco-Belgian lender, but Frances finance minister, Christine Lagarde, was q ...
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Bank of International Settlements
A Spanish boss for the BISAs accolades rain down on the Bank of Spain for its deft touch in the run-up to the credit crisis, Jaime Caruana, a former governor of the central bank, has been named as the next general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). He will take over the Basel-b ...
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AIDS: The ideal and the good
Deploying the drugs used to treat AIDS may be the way to limit its spreadIT HAS become a cliche among doctors who deal with AIDS that the only way to stop the epidemic is to develop a vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes it. Unfortunately, there is no sign of such a thing becoming available so ...
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Pharmaceuticals: Absence of evidence
Do drug firms suppress unfavourable information about new products?RICHARD FEYNMAN, a Nobel-prize-winning physicist, declared in a speech in 1974 that science requires a kind of utter honesty. He insisted that researchers must publicise all the outcomes of their work, and not just the information th ...
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Conservation: Tuna in trouble
Anger that the catch will still be too bigACCORDING to conservationists it is a disaster for the bluefin tuna, but as far as the European Commission is concerned it is a landmark decision to try to conserve their stocks. These are the opposing views of the outcome of a meeting this week in Morocco t ...
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Aerodynamics: Blowin' in the wind
Flapping flags may shed light on how fish school and birds flockOFTEN it pays not to be leader of the packjust ask a racing cyclist or a Formula One driver. Conserving energy by following the leader, a trick known as slipstreaming, can give a rider or driver that extra bit of juice to pull ahead at ...
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Boris Fyodorov, a Russian economic reformer
Boris Fyodorov, a Russian economic reformer, died on November 20th, aged 50MOST of Russias super-rich spend their summer holidays on yachts in the sunny Mediterranean. Boris Fyodorov preferred visiting English country churches, the older, the better. The buildings, and especially the gravestones, fa ...
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Transport in Africa: On your bike
A scheme to encourage cheap transport on two wheelsPEDAL power has never really taken off in Africa. Cycling enthusiasts blame the sweltering heat, potholes, and the dumping of Chinese bikes unsuitable for glutinous dirt roads for the ascendancy of belching minivans, even over short distances. Still ...
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Swaziland: It's good to be king
Despite its new constitution, the Swazi monarchy still looks absoluteWHILE Zimbabwe is roundly condemned by all and sundry, the nearby tiny kingdom of Swaziland, tucked between South Africa and Mozambique, has largely escaped scrutiny. After elections in September that few considered free or fair, t ...
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Ghana's election: Hold your breath
The country considered one of Africas biggest recent successes is going to the polls. The handling of the election matters for the whole continentLAST year oil was found off the coast of Ghana. There was rejoicing, of course. But the mood was tempered by the knowledge of how oil has polluted the nea ...
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Dubai: Has the bubble burst?
As the sheen comes off glitzy Dubai, the other Gulf states are getting nervous tooTHEY said you couldnt create islands in the middle of a city, shouts a property advertisement over a jammed Dubai motorway. We said, whats next? The range of answers has become gloomier by the week, as the debate moves ...
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Israel: The fading of Labour
The party of the old establishment is dying under Ehud BarakI AM not perfect, acknowledged the leader of Israels Labour party, Ehud Barak in a recent internet interview. With elections ten weeks away and Labour, a junior partner in the present coalition government, below 10% in all the polls and fal ...
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Policy in Europe: Those reluctant Germans
Europe is struggling to put in place even a conventional fiscal stimulusIF THE worst fears of a severe global recession are realised, historians may look back and wonder why the region with the most scope to allay a downturn seemed unable to exploit it. The euro areas collective budget deficit was 0 ...
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