Covid-19 vaccines saved an estimated 20m lives during their first yearTheir impact in poor countries depends on how effectively governments prioritised recipients The development of covid-19 vaccines was a scientific triumph. Converting it into medical benefits has required getting shots into the arms of as many people as possible, a process fraught with political and logistical hurdles. Nonethele

Politicians cannot bring back old-fashioned factory jobsThey don’t make ’em like that any more THE vices are what strike you. The Mercedes AMG factory in Brixworth, a town in England’s midlands, is a different world from that of the production line of yore. Engine making was once accompanied by loud noises and the smoke and smells of men and machinery wrestling lumps of metal. Here things are quie

Yes, I’d lie to youDishonesty in politics is nothing new; but the manner in which some politicians now lie, and the havoc they may wreak by doing so, are worrying WHEN Donald Trump, the Republican presidential hopeful, claimed recently that President Barack Obama “is the founder” of Islamic State and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, the “co-founder”, even some of his supporters were perp

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders will face trial for hate speechThe anti-Muslim populist called for “fewer Moroccans” in the Netherlands GEERT WILDERS, a far-right Dutch politician who wants to shut down the country’s mosques and withdraw from the European Union, is doing well in the race for the country’s general elections in March. Depending on which poll you consult, he and his Party for Fr

THE debate over Scottish independence sometimes resembles a duel between accountants, so keen is each side on flinging numbers at the other. That is especially true when it comes to the oil and gas industry—a crucial earner for a new Scottish state. But nationalists and unionists hold to entirely different views of the future riches of the North Sea (see chart). What accounts for the disparity?

Ideas coming down the trackTransport: New train technologies are less visible and spread less quickly than improvements to cars or planes. But there is still plenty of innovation going on, and ideas are steadily making their way out onto the rails

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