The Economist Asia Edition January 15, 2022

Politics Boris Johnson looked wobbly as more evidence emerged of Downing Street’s disregard for stringent restrictions introduced early in the pandemic. In an excruciating appearance before the House of Commons the British prime minister struggled to explain why he attended a bring-your-ownbooze get-together in Number 10’s garden in May 2020, when people were allowed to meet only one other person outdoors. He described it as a “work-related” event. Some MPs in his Conservative Party called on him to resign. Negotiations between Russia and America over the future of Ukraine and NATO were inconclusive. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has demanded a veto over future NATO expansion, and an end to NATO military aid to countries such as Ukraine, which he currently threatens. America refused, but offered to talk about arms control.…

THE RELATIONSHIP between governments and businesses is always changing. After 1945, many countries sought to rebuild society using firms that were state-owned and -managed. By the 1980s, faced with sclerosis in the West, the state retreated to become an umpire overseeing the rules for private firms to compete in a global market—a lesson learned, in a fashion, by the communist bloc. Now a new and turbulent phase is under way, as citizens demand action on problems, from social justice to the climate. In response, governments are directing firms to make society safer and fairer, but without controlling their shares or their boards. Instead of being the owner or umpire, the state has become the backseat driver. This bossy business interventionism is well-intentioned. But, ultimately, it is a mistake. Signs of…

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT shared their own and their constituents’ tragic stories: separation from loved ones in their final hours; illnesses suffered in solitude; mourning alone at gravesides. On January 12th, after days of junior ministers being shoved in front of microphones to defend the indefensible, Boris Johnson at last apologised to Parliament. What brought him to this point was the latest in a string of lockdown breaches by the prime minister and his allies: an impromptu party for 40 in the garden of Number 10. It was held on May 20th 2020, when Britons could go out only for essential work and solitary exercise; or to meet just one person, socially distanced and outdoors. Mr Johnson’s apology was carefully worded to suggest that, monk-like and ascetic, he never comprehended that…

OVER THE past two years America’s children have missed more time in the classroom than those in most of the rich world. School closures that began there in early 2020 dragged on until the summer of 2021. During that time the districts that stayed closed longest forced all or some of their children to learn remotely for twice as long as schools in Ireland, three times longer than schools in Spain and four times longer than in France. In recent weeks American schools have started closing once again, as the Omicron variant of covid-19 has brought a fresh wave of infections. About 5,000, equivalent to roughly 5% of schools, were shut for part or all of the first week in January. Sometimes that was because staff had been forced into…

ANOTHER WEEK, another setback for freedom and democracy in the former Soviet Union—and another show of force from Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president. That is one way to read recent events in Kazakhstan, and there is some truth to it. When gripes about rising fuel prices escalated into broader protests against a corrupt autocracy, and then erupted into mob attacks on government buildings, the authorities violently suppressed the unrest. They not only ordered the security services to shoot rioters without warning, but also turned to Russia, allowing Mr Putin to send in a squad of paratroopers to help restore order. The rights of ordinary Kazakhs, already circumscribed, have been ferociously trampled, and Mr Putin has once again affirmed his status as the region’s kingpin. He even crowed that he would not…

“ALL HINDUS must pick up weapons and conduct a cleanliness drive,” bellowed a Hindu priest at a three-day “religious parliament” in north India last month. Another speaker fired up the large crowd even more crudely: “If a hundred of us become soldiers and kill two million of them, we will be victorious.” By “them”, she meant India’s 200m Muslims. Those priests baying for blood are not isolated bigots. Under the Hindu-nationalist government of Narendra Modi, the world’s most populous democracy has seen a growing wave of intolerance (see Asia section). In Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi, Muslims have been denied the use of open space to pray because it “offends sentiments”. They have also been denied permission to build mosques. Elsewhere Muslims accused of transporting cattle for slaughter, or…