Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Patrick Lane.

Filling in for Jason Palmer this week, every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on

the events shaping your world.

In Uganda and politics, the Race for Votes runs through its recording studio. Pop stars

are also leading political figures. The president, you wear E. M. Seventy, faces a challenge

from the self-style ghetto president, a musician called Bobby Wine.

And turtles have an unfortunate habit of eating plastic, discarded by us humans that ends

up in the oceans. Why do they do it? It could be because to a turtle, plastic smells like lunch.

But first.

In the coronavirus pandemic, Japan has seemed to be an outlier. Compared to its neighbours,

the country has reported relatively few cases of COVID-19, around 1900. There has been

optimism about its ability to contain the virus. But that optimism may have been misplaced.

Over the weekend, there was a rise in infections. Tokyo saw a record 63 new cases on Saturday,

and even more 68 on Sunday. The government has now banned people from America, China, South

Korea, and most of Europe from entering the country. The total number of cases and deaths

is still low compared with many other countries, yet the increase at the weekend is raising concern

that Japan is set for a second wave.

Saturday, the Prime Minister, Arby Shinzo, warned the nation that Japan is in a precarious

situation and just about holding up. He promised one veil an economic package of unprecedented

scale within 10 days to mitigate the impact. The Prime Minister had been accused of complacency

over the virus, even insisting until last week that the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead

as planned. But after this sudden rise in cases, the country will be on higher alert.

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