The Sicilian capital of Palermo came to a standstill in early June, when hackers shut down the municipal computer network in a ransomware attack. Aside from reporting the incident, local officials have offered scant details. …

One year after the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack — which shut down fuel supplies on the East Coast for five days — the US Senate has released a damning 50-page report on how the federal government handles ransomware and related cryptocurrency issues. …

A strange thing happened in Afghanistan this month. The Taliban outlawed poppy cultivation. On the surface, that decision would appear to be a bold, counter-narcotic move. Many argue that the policy will send the fragile Afghan economy further down the drain. Or will it? The breadseed poppy (papaver somniferumis) is…

The war in Ukraine has jolted Colombia, at least economically. We are struck by news that Bogota is trying to accelerate coal output, as well as identify mining surpluses, to fill at-hand and oversized shortfalls in Europe, including Ukraine. Colombia is one of the world’s top-ten producers of coal. …

The existential threat to Egypt that is harbored in higher food prices is more than a topic for debate. Abu Dhabi just announced that it is backstopping Cairo with some $2 billion in investment, an approach that seems more palatable than a hastily-assembled aid package. …

In financial lore, IPOs are supposed to be a risk-free investment, especially in India. Strong stock-market momentum after the Covid-induced collapse of early 2020 attracted fresh institutional interest. Many of India’s startup jewels are replicas, up to a point, of successful tech companies elsewhere. The Indian heritage of using frugality…

Before the pandemic, venture capitalists largely ignored trends in farm technology. A common view was that the sector did not lend itself to the sort of monetization framework seen in ride-hailing or e-commerce businesses, among other ideas. That convention may finally be a Silicon Valley relic. Crunchbase reports that agtech…

China has a healthcare-infrastructure problem. Its workforce of doctors and nurses, as well as its network of clinics and hospitals, are woefully inadequate for a population of 1.4 billion. The state aims to avoid the upheaval associated with a rampant, nationwide Covid-19 outbreak, whether sparked by Omicron or a now-unknown…

Billionaire Mark Cuban announced the roll-out of his self-branded Cost Plus Drug Company this week. In the United States, the firm operates as an online distributor for prescription medications at a flat mark-up over manufacturers’ cost. Customers pay out-of-pocket; no insurance is accepted. Why would a billionaire aim to upend…