Новости за 07.05.2020

IN NORMAL TIMES Chris, a social worker in a north London borough, visits the homes of vulnerable children, checking the fridge for food, looking for evidence of drugs or excessive drinking and otherwise being the eyes of the state. Now he has to try to gauge the condition of a household over a ropy internet connection. “It’s been an extraordinarily steep learning curve,” he says. “When you’re relying on a video call, things can easily be hidden.” A child who appears to be alone may not be. A violent partner may just step outside. Читать дальше...

AFTER WEEKS of criticism of the government’s failure to organise enough personal protective equipment for health workers, a plane from China touched down at Heathrow Airport on April 28th with 20 tons of the stuff. But these were not government-ordered supplies; the consignment had been arranged by the Daily Mail, a newspaper that ministers have long credited as the authentic voice of Middle England. “Touchdown for Mail Force One,” roared the paper, above pictures of its precious cargo. More supplies... Читать дальше...

IF A COMMITTEE were to design a policy with the aim of offending the Conservative Party, it might come up with something resembling Britain’s lockdown. In its bones the party believes that law-abiding Britons should be free to go for an evening walk without explaining themselves to a police constable, or downloading a surveillance app on their mobiles. Public health is a matter for citizens’ good judgment, not bossy officials. The state should not, as a rule, negotiate with trade unions to pay wage subsidies... Читать дальше...

WATCHING THE great and good trip up is a popular British spectator sport, and the lockdown offers a variety of banana skins which may bring eminent people down. First to tumble was Catherine Calderwood, who resigned as Scotland’s chief medical officer after twice breaking restrictions to visit her second home. This week it was the turn of Neil Ferguson (pictured), an epidemiologist whose bleak modelling spurred on Britain’s lockdown. He will no longer advise the government after flouting the rules by having his lover visit. Читать дальше...

HE LIVES WHERE most Americans live—in suburbia. His house sits on a plot that is 50 feet wide and 100 feet deep. In front is a pavement, four feet wide, then a strip of green containing a tree, seven feet, then a road, 40 feet. His neighbours’ houses look much the same. At six per acre, homes are close enough for arguments to be overheard, but only if you pay attention. They are close enough for comfort.

THE LIGHTS are off in many Florida businesses. But after dark, the glow of the Ocala Drive-In’s 90-foot screen can be seen from a quarter of a mile down the highway. With half the parking spaces in its seven-acre plot fenced off to allow for social distancing, the Ocala has room for 240 vehicles—and it is full every night. “We’re the only thing going right now,” says John Watzke, the owner. Families sit out in deckchairs or perch beneath open tailgates to see a double-bill of “Trolls World Tour”... Читать дальше...

Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife. By Bart Ehrman.Simon & Schuster; 352 pages; $28. Oneworld; £20. 

Inventory. By Darran Anderson.Chatto & Windus; 416 pages; £16.99. To be published in America by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in August; $27. 

Conjure Women. By Afia Atakora. Random House; 416 pages; $27. Fourth Estate; £14.99. 

The Price of Peace. By Zachary Carter.Random House; 656 pages; $35 and £25. 

STEP INSIDE most modern cars and instead of all the dials and switches that used to clutter the dashboard you are likely to find it dominated by a touchscreen. Often there is more than one screen, and some are bigger than those on a laptop. But, though touchscreens provide a convenient way to operate a multitude of controls and settings, the latest research shows they can also be dangerous distractions.

Editor’s note: The Economist is making some of its most important coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. For our coronavirus tracker and more coverage, see our hub

THE NEXT ten months will see a new race to the Moon played out on Earth, as three groups vie to construct a successor to the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) which took the astronauts of the Apollo project there half a century ago.

Editor’s note: The Economist is making some of its most important coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. For our coronavirus tracker and more coverage, see our hub

Editor’s note: The Economist is making some of its most important coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. For our coronavirus tracker and more coverage, see our hub

THEY ARRIVED together. The first issue of Vedomosti, Russia’s leading business newspaper, appeared in September 1999, a month after Vladimir Putin was appointed prime minister and anointed as future president. It was half pink and half white, a tribute to its foreign co-founders and shareholders: the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal.

IN THE NASTY, brutish and short life of an Italian prime minister, an interview with a mid-market Dutch newspaper is not usually a high priority. Yet when faced with the worst health crisis in a century and the prospect of economic meltdown, Giuseppe Conte took time to speak to De Telegraaf about the crisis. In it, Mr Conte addressed the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, in front of his voters: “Mark, help us now.”

Suffer the children

You looked at how covid-19 will affect the mental health and psychosocial well-being of vast swathes of society (“Only connect”, April 4th). However, you barely mentioned children and their caregivers. For most children there is no school, no meet-ups, no sports activities. Many also have to live through the severe distress of parents losing jobs, getting sick and feeling helpless. Even without a pandemic, 10-20% of children and adolescents worldwide experience mental disorders... Читать дальше...

SINGING WAS something Willie Levi loved to do. When he was at the state school in Mexia, Texas, he belonged to a choir called the Sunshine Singers. They would tour round with a repertoire of hymns: “The Old Rugged Cross”, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. He sang more in church on Sundays: “Surely Goodness”, “Amazing Grace”. Along with the hymns he liked to shake his tambourine, to keep the beat. He could get music out of almost anything. If you gave him a comb, he could play it. And somewhere... Читать дальше...

ON A SMARTPHONE screen Rob (not his real name) looked good. Twenty-four years old, classically handsome, with a job on Wall Street, he was an attractive prospect on dating apps. Shepherding women from bar to bedroom was easy. Sex was on tap. Then in March covid-19 struck New York City and shut off the mains.

EVEN BEFORE covid-19 began to spread, domestic abusers often tried to isolate their victims so as to exert physical and psychological control over them. Lockdowns have magnified their ability to do that. Those at risk—be they partners, children or parents—can no longer escape, even briefly, to school or work. To help them, policymakers, social workers and campaigners are having to innovate.

IT IS A truth universally acknowledged that inequality in the rich world is high and rising. Or, at least, it used to be. A growing band of economists are challenging the received wisdom, pointing out that trends in the distribution of income and wealth may not be as bad as is often thought. Two recent studies focus on wealth inequality in America, providing further ammunition to the dissenters.

WHEN CONDUCTING war games between China and America, David Ochmanek of RAND Corporation, a think-tank, worries most about an invasion of Taiwan, the security of which is implicitly guaranteed by America. In one scenario the red team unleashes a “joint firepower strike” on Taiwan’s defence forces and on American forces, bases and command-and-control nodes in the Pacific, including on Okinawa and Guam. Many of the blue team’s planes are destroyed on the ground, and its runways disabled. China severs... Читать дальше...

STREAMING SERVICES have replaced the cinema. Online shopping is standing in for the high street. Restaurant food is being home-delivered. And the ol’ Horse and Groom has become the Horse and Zoom, as people take to video-chatting with friends while sipping from a can of lager. It is, pub-goers have discovered, a poor substitute for the real thing. As Nick Mackenzie of Greene King, which runs 2,700 pubs, puts it: “The point of the pub is to socialise.”

ON MAY 10TH Boris Johnson, the prime minister, is expected to outline the beginning of the end of lockdown. Non-essential shops will start to reopen and factories will gradually get back to work, while maintaining sensible distancing.