The 25th anniversary meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in the Kyrgyz capital may offer a glimmer of hope that international relations do not need to be defined by endless confrontation, writes KENNY COYLE
IN Illness as Metaphor, Susan Sontag wrote: “Any disease that is treated as a mystery and acutely enough feared will be felt to be morally, if not literally, contagious.” Although the Covid-19 situation is changing rapidly by the day — at the time of writing, five people have died in Britain and there are 319 confirmed cases — the disease has not yet truly arrived.
Normal life continues, nervously. For most people, Covid-19 remains a mystery and the main contagion is fear. So far, the government has held off putting in place drastic public health measures. Major disruption has not yet arrived. But with evidence from the spread elsewhere, it is certain that it will, and soon.
Poverty, refugee displacement, child labour and militia violence are exacerbating the challenge of health workers to limit this deadly contagious disease. CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA and MARK BANCHEREAU report
Climate extremes are becoming our new normal, says CHLOE BRIMICOMBE
Rising temperatures and human activity are making life far harder for these vital pollinators. ALEX DITTRICH explains



