Govt plans for early care must not be hijacked by opportunistic politicians. The government’s one-year pilot project to provide a baby-care package to the parents of each newborn, which was launched yesterday as part of efforts to improve children’s quality of life, is to be commended.

OVERDRIVE: Yuan revaluation sidesteps Thailand’s 1997 mistake

Finally, China has given in to pressure. Last week, it adopted a managed-float exchange-rate regime, effectively allowing the yuan to appreciate from 8.28 to 8.11 to the US dollar. By doing so, it parted with the fixed exchange-rate system that had served the Chinese economy so well over the past decade. As we all know, no system lasts forever.

Europe, thy name is Coward

The writer Henryk Broder recently issued a withering indictment: “Europe, your family name is Appeasement.” That phrase resonates because it is so terribly true. Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives, as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they realised that Hitler needed to be fought and defeated, because he could not be bound by toothless agreements.

Meritocracy creates great universities

It was possible once to distinguish between universities in terms of their culture and style. Take Britain’s Oxford and Cambridge universities. For centuries, their alumni were drawn from the same social class. And yet, as recently as 80 years ago, they were identifiably different.