The Week Unwrapped: Nigerian gas, female exercise and a new Saudi city

Arion McNicoll and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.

You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped wherever you get your podcasts:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• Global Player

In this week’s episode, we discuss:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Nigerian gas

As Europe prepares for a winter without Russian gas, the EU is investigating whether Nigeria could help to fill the gap. The largest oil producer in Africa is planning to re-open a long-distance pipeline next month which could make that possible. But safety and security in the Niger Delta are likely to remain a major obstacle to reliable gas exports.

A city in the desert

Saudi Arabia has announced ambitious plans to build a brand new city in the desert. The unique settlement, intended to house nine million people, will consist of a single, mirror-clad building more than 100 miles long and taller than the Empire State Building, yet only 220 yards wide. It will also run entirely on solar energy. Is this a bold new approach to sustainability from the oil giant? Or a mere PR exercise?

Women and exercise

This week marked the release of a survey commissioned by the gym chain Nuffield Health which found that almost half of women in the UK have done no “vigorous exercise” – such as running, swimming, aerobics or gymnastics – in the past 12 months, compared with just over a third of men. What roles have both the pandemic and the patriarchy played in creating this so-called “gender fitness gap” – and what can be done to encourage more women to get moving?