Winter of despair

Even as Nepal faces another wave of infections, leaders continue to slug it out.

Many countries across the world, including neighbouring India, have begun to roll out Covid-19 vaccines—a sign of hope for the world that is desperate to get back to normal. However, several countries are reporting the spread of a new and more active variant of the coronavirus—a sign that we are in for some more months of despair. It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, to rephrase the famous phrase used by Charles Dickens in his novel A Tale of Two Cities.