Last week, China’s top media regulators rolled out a directive prohibiting “sissy idols and other deformed aesthetics.” Their targets were the highly stylised, gender-bending young men who’ve defined Chinese pop culture for more than a decade. In the eyes of President Xi Jinping, these celebrities pose a threat to the masculine revitalisation of the Chinese nation. Like cram schools, celebrity ...

The surreal nature of international travel in the Covid era was beamed live around the world last weekend. In the opening minutes of a soccer match in Sao Paolo between Brazil and Argentina, play ground to a halt when public-health officials walked onto the field to remove several Argentine athletes over an apparent breach of a 14-day quarantine (mandatory for ...

Nothing says the European summer is over and business is restarting like a blowout sovereign bond sale. The inaugural green bond launch for the Kingdom of Spain certainly fits that bill. The 5 billion-euro ($6 billion) 21-year deal received orders well over 10 times what was on offer. Investors just cannot greenify their portfolios quickly enough. But this is just ...