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An election in the Solomon Islands on Wednesday will determine whether the Pacific country continues its hard tilt towards China. After the previous vote in 2019, Manasseh Sogavare, the prime minister, switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. In 2022 he signed a secretive security deal with the country. China has since sent police and a flurry of aid and investment to the islands, triggering alarm bells in the West.

Opposition leaders have pledged to curb China’s growing influence. So Australia, fearing a Chinese military base to its north, hopes for a change of guard. Ordinarily there would be one: no prime minister in the Solomon Islands has been re-elected for consecutive terms in office. But opposition figures suggest that Chinese money has helped Mr Sogavare buy political support (he denies that China has undue influence). The election will be followed by weeks of horse-trading, as MPs align behind a prime minister. The incumbent—and China—may emerge victorious.

ASML, which sells chipmaking gear, is Europe’s most valuable technology company with a market capitalisation of nearly $400bn. On Wednesday the Dutch firm announced results for the first quarter. The numbers came in lower than last year because the semiconductor industry is in one of its cyclical downturns. Revenues were $5.62bn, lower than estimates of $5.73bn and around 22% lower than in the first quarter of 2023.

But in the longer term analysts are extremely bullish, which explains why ASML’s market capitalisation is up 32% since the start of the year. Without its cutting-edge lithography machines, chipmakers could not produce the most fine-grained processors, the transistors of which are measured in a few nanometres. They go into smartphones and, more recently, data centres that train and run the artificial-intelligence models that power generative-AI services such as ChatGPT. Demand for these AI chips will probably keep going up for some time.

Data released on Wednesday show Britain’s inflation rate slowed to 3.2% in March, down from 3.4% in February. That is the lowest level since September 2021, but still higher than analysts had predicted. Inflation remains well above the Bank of England’s 2% target. Further declines are expected over the next few months.

The release capped a week of mixed macroeconomic data. On Friday GDP numbers for February suggested that Britain had edged out of recession, but growth remains tepid. On Tuesday labour-market data pointed to rising unemployment and faster wage growth than expected. That all raises the spectre of stagflation. But serious questions remain about the reliability of Britain’s economic data, following a collapse in survey response rates after the pandemic.

The Bank of England’s monetary-policy committee next meets on May 9th. Markets expect an interest-rate cut at some point between May and September, but are unsure of the exact timing.

Last year Columbia University’s president was asked to attend a congressional hearing about antisemitism at American colleges. She had a prior commitment. That may have been lucky: two of her counterparts, at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, resigned in its aftermath, owing to their overly cautious, legalistic answers. On Wednesday Minouche Shafik will appear for her rescheduled hearing.

Jewish students recently filed two lawsuits against Columbia, alleging that it tolerates a “hostile environment” towards Jews. Other top-tier colleges have been sued, too. Yet administrators and lawyers are grappling with how even to define antisemitism in a way that does not curtail legitimate criticism of Israel. Columbia’s task-force has declined to produce a definition. UC Berkeley has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit over its refusal to discipline pro-Palestinian student groups, citing its obligations to protect free expression. At her testimony Ms Shafik will try to tread a fine line—and risks satisfying no one.

On Wednesday Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (better known as Lula), will open one of the biggest events on Latin America’s literary circuit in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. The city’s 36th international book fair is devoted to the relationship between literature, nature and culture. The two-week programme of 2,000 events will encompass editors, publishers and bookworms from more than 25 countries. They will discuss how authors from the region consider the relationship between humans and the wilderness; chronicle the destruction of ecosystems; and eulogise about the lungs of the Earth.

The focus on eco-criticism is well timed. Deforestation in the Amazon dropped significantly last year on the watch of Colombia and Brazil’s green-minded presidents. In October Colombia will also host a UN biodiversity summit. Lula’s presence in Bogotá shows how the two biodiverse countries are bonding over the environment—pleasing bibliophiles in turn.

China’s economic data were encouraging in the first two months of the year. Both inflation and exports were stronger than forecast. Indeed China’s trade surplus has fanned fears about its industrial overcapacity. On Monday Janet Yellen, America’s treasury secretary, warned during a trip to Beijing that flooding the global market with “artificially cheap Chinese products” could put the “viability” of foreign firms into question.

Can China’s upturn last? The data for March will provide some clues. Figures released this week showed that consumer prices rose by only 0.1% compared with a year earlier, suggesting the rise in inflation earlier in the year was largely a result of the Chinese new year holiday. Trade figures released on Friday are also likely to be weak in comparison with last year, when China’s ports enjoyed a post-pandemic boost. If the data are disappointing, China can at least claim that its export machine is not as scary as its critics think.

Kishida Fumio, Japan’s prime minister, received a pomp-filled welcome in Washington this week. Nippon Steel has faced a far frostier reception in the Capitol since the Japanese steelmaker struck a deal to buy US Steel, America’s third-largest producer of steel, for $15bn in December. On Friday US Steel’s shareholders will vote on the aquisition. They will probably approve the agreement, but staunch political opposition to the transaction could still cause it to fall apart.

Last month President Joe Biden said the steelmaker should remain domestically owned, joining Donald Trump and the union representing steelworkers in calling for the deal to be scrapped. Nippon is yet to throw in the towel, though the transaction now faces scrutiny from America’s investment-screening watchdog and antitrust authorities. Markets do not rate Nippon’s chances of success—shares in US Steel currently change hands at around a 25% discount to Nippon’s all-cash offer.

Three of America’s biggest lenders—Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo—will report first-quarter earnings on Friday. Investors will be watching for signs of trouble. Data released on Wednesday showed a bigger rise in the consumer price index than expected, suggesting that inflation is yet to be vanquished. Interest rates may remain higher for longer than bankers expected.

That has upsides for lenders (more interest income) but also risks. It will keep up the pressure on their borrowers, who might struggle with repayments. Commercial-property losses have piled up at smaller banks, while consumers have been falling behind on auto and credit-card loans. Bankers’ interest costs have been climbing, too, as customers take advantage of high-yield savings accounts.

Shareholders will be watching Citi especially closely, after it completed an overhaul of its business at the end of March. The bank laid off 5,000 people, including 1,500 in management roles. Its earnings should reveal the cost of the transition.

Between 1999 and 2015 almost 1,000 sub-postmasters in Britain’s Post Office were wrongfully convicted for theft and other charges owing to a faulty online payments system. For decades, the scandal was under-reported. The company insisted the system worked, while campaigners strove to prove otherwise. The arguments were technical and a little dull: neither politicians, nor the public, paid much attention.

That all changed in January, when a hit television series dramatised the affair. Politicians promised exoneration and compensation. Some suggested executives should hand bonuses back or be criminally prosecuted. Paula Vennells, the Post Office’s former chief executive, returned her CBE, a national honour. A public inquiry that will last months is now hearing from many of those involved. On Friday Alan Cook, another former executive, will face questioning. He has said he will “never forgive himself” over the scandal. It is unlikely that others will be ready to forgive either.

In 2011 Amy Winehouse, a British singer, died, aged 27. She was a figure about whom fans knew everything and nothing. Each salacious detail of her chaotic life was exposed in the media glare. But the reality of what made her—and her music—tick was more obscure.

Alas, a film biopic, “Back To Black”, released in Britain on Friday, offers few insights. It focuses on Winehouse’s troubled marriage and her time in the public eye. The narrative of a tragic celebrity addict overshadows the impact of her work, which was not only thrilling in its own right but also defined a style of pop music. One artist after another has vied for her vacant throne as the queen of dramatic retro soul. None has yet claimed it. But the breakout success of Raye—a record winner at this year’s Brit Awards—could change that. And prove that Winehouse’s musical legacy is greater than her tabloid legend.

In February Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s deputy prime minister, warned that inflation in the city-state remains high. He announced a package of handouts to help Singaporeans cope with rising prices, after the country raised its goods and services tax to 9% in January. Data released on Monday justified the assistance. The core inflation rate, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose by 3.6% year on year in February, up from 3.1% in January and the fastest pace in seven months. The jump was partly caused by an increase in consumer spending over the lunar new year.

Singapore expects output to grow by 1-3% this year, but the government warns of “significant” global risks. An important one for the trade-dependent city-state is further disruption to supply chains, given the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Nonetheless, experts surveyed by Singapore’s central bank have raised their GDP forecasts for the year, mostly because of faster-than-expected growth in manufacturing and construction.

On Monday America’s vice-president Kamala Harris will welcome Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala’s newly inaugurated president, to the White House to talk about Central American migration. The Arévalo administration is trying to re-engage in international diplomacy and work with officials in the United States to improve economic conditions at home so fewer feel compelled to leave.

When Ms Harris was tapped to be Joe Biden’s border czar three years ago she was tasked with tackling the “root causes” of migration in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras. But as the number of border crossings has since swelled to record highs, she has consequently garnered immense criticism for that narrow focus. Migrants from the Northern Triangle make up a much smaller share of arrivals than they used to. In December the US border patrols intercepted roughly 60,000 migrants coming from there—from elsewhere the number was up to 190,000. The changing nature of America’s border crisis makes the Biden administration’s job of defending its policies on the campaign trail even harder.

On Monday Belarusians mark Freedom Day. The unofficial holiday commemorates the day in 1918 when the first independent Belarusian state emerged from under 150 years of Russian occupation. It is rejected by President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. Celebrating it has thus become a way for his critics to show defiance.

Few in the country will openly disobey him. The Belarusian strongman has clamped down on dissent and locked up some 1,500 political prisoners, according to Human Rights Watch. And with a presidential election coming next year, Mr Lukashenko is curbing civil society.

Instead, Freedom Day will be marked by the growing number of Belarusians who have fled the country—roughly a tenth of the population since Mr Lukashenko came to power in 1994. The opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, herself in exile, encourages them to write to political prisoners and fly Belarusian flags. That is no substitute for freedom itself.

As Africa’s digital economy expands, the continent’s network providers have been on a roll. Smartphone use continues to grow, and businesses and consumers demand faster mobile internet. All this has seen Africa’s major telecoms providers enjoy sales growth of 29% over the past five years, despite pandemic-related setbacks, according to Bloomberg. The Johannesburg-based conglomerate MTN, Africa’s biggest telecoms firm by revenues, reports its financial results on Monday.

They will be watched closely. For all its recent success, MTN has problems. Its largest user base is in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, which is in the grip of a crippling currency crisis after a series of devaluations. MTN’s Nigerian subsidiary, which is responsible for up to a third of the company’s earnings, has reported foreign-exchange-linked losses of $570m. Group-wide headline earnings per share (a measure of profitability) are expected to fall by over 60%. It is a worrying signal.

German electronic-music giants Kraftwerk fantasised about a “Trans-Europe Express” as far back as 1977. On Monday Europe finally gets the real thing: a 15-and-a-half-hour overnight service linking Brussels to Prague. The 720km-journey is already covered by several daily flights, which take around 14 hours less than the train. But planes are out of favour with those mindful of their carbon footprints (and trains retain a romantic appeal for many).

Leaving in the early evening three times a week, the train will putt-putt its way through Antwerp, Rotterdam, Berlin, Dresden and a dozen other stops before arriving in Prague just before 11am. Sleeper carriages, inevitably stuffed with snoring fellow travellers, are available.

Cheap air travel saw off once-common night trains in Europe. But they are enjoying something of a renaissance, thanks in part to public money. A Paris-Berlin service was launched last year, and a train linking Amsterdam and Barcelona is planned for 2025.