Feb 24th 2024

Is Europe ready?

The world this week

Leaders

NATO

Europe is caught between Putin and Trump

Russian aggression and American wavering reveal how ill-equipped Europe is

Held in suspense

Do not expect America’s interest rates to fall just yet

The risk of a second wave of inflation remains too great

Weapons of misconstruction

Sanctions are not the way to fight Vladimir Putin

There is no substitute for military aid to Ukraine

Let them dig

The world needs more critical minerals. Governments are not helping

Just obtaining a permit takes a remarkably long time

Stop the war

How to prevent another catastrophic regional war in Congo

The world needs to press Rwanda to pull back its forces

Letters

On HS2, data centres, Vladimir Putin, the FHLB, academic research, the Holocaust, prosthetic limbs, animals on a plane

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

The Middle East

Oman’s foreign minister calls for an emergency peace conference

Artificial intelligence and copyright

Don’t give AI free access to work denied to humans, argues a legal scholar

Briefing

Present at the destruction

Can Europe defend itself without America?

It would need to replace military aid, a nuclear umbrella and leadership

United States

The Trump trials

Why those who wish to see Trump jailed soon will be disappointed

Voters’ views

How might Donald Trump’s trials sway voters?

From sand to sea

Does the American army’s future lie in Europe or Asia?

Counting canines

These American cities are obsessed with dogs

Lexington

The flaws that China’s chief ideologue found in America

The Americas

Lessons from Lima

What Javier Milei could learn from Peru’s economic successes

Ongoing injustice

Jovenel Moïse’s widow is accused of being party to his murder

Asia

Uncharitable India

India’s civil society is under attack

Feral ponies

How wild horses sparked a culture war in Australia

Gender relations

Japanese men have an identity crisis

Thai politics

Thaksin Shinawatra joins Thailand’s establishment

Banyan

How independent is India’s Supreme Court?

China

America’s election, viewed from Beijing

How scared is China of Donald Trump’s return?

Science fiction

Why fake research is rampant in China

Enter the loong

A nationalist effort to rebrand the Chinese dragon

Chaguan

Xi Jinping plays social engineer

Middle East & Africa

On the brink

Congo’s M23 rebellion risks sparking a regional war

Pub brawl

The booze industry reveals a lot about Kenya

A boost to democracy

Senegal’s judges stand up for the constitution

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox

Ultra-Orthodox Israelis’ refusal to fight is a growing problem for Netanyahu

Gaza’s devastated health system

The wrecking of Gaza’s health system goes beyond its hospitals

Saudi’s booze-free bars

Bar culture has arrived in Saudi Arabia, albeit without the booze

Europe

Two years on

Vladimir Putin has been fighting not just Ukraine, but his own people

The Kremlin’s cross-hairs

Towns in eastern Ukraine fear they will be Russia’s next target

Ploughshares into swords

How Boris Pistorius is transforming the German armed forces

War-weary

After two years of war, Ukrainians are becoming pessimistic

Charlemagne

Europe’s generosity to Ukrainian refugees is not so welcome—in Ukraine

Britain

Lifting sands

Can run-down Blackpool turn itself around?

Tax advice

A memo to Britain’s chancellor, Jeremy Hunt

Higher education and race

Some British universities have become remarkably racially diverse

Look north

A northern mayor’s left-wing challenge to Labour

Refurbished

How working from home is reshaping Canary Wharf

Bagehot

Sir Keir Starmer: bureaucrat first, politician second

International

From Russia without love

Russian spies are back—and more dangerous than ever

1843 magazine

Russia

Life and death in Putin’s gulag

Business

In a hole

Why the world’s mining companies are so stingy

Through the looking glass

The world’s biggest maker of spectacles wants to be a tech firm

Flagging business

Why does landlocked Eswatini have a ship registry?

Bartleby

The making of a PowerPoint slide

Silicon Valley sobriety

The age of the unicorn is over

A tale of two chip factories

TSMC is having more luck building in Japan than in America

Schumpeter

Is running a top university America’s hardest job?

Finance & economics

Gaps in the fence

Russia outsmarts Western sanctions—and China is paying attention

Pick your poison

Europe faces a painful adjustment to higher defence spending

Time to splurge

Gucci, Prada and Tiffany’s bet big on property

Free exchange

Trump wants to whack Chinese firms. How badly could he hurt them?

In the nick of time

As the Nikkei 225 hits record highs, Japan’s young start investing

Buttonwood

Should you put all your savings into stocks?

Science & technology

Sweet science

New treatments are emerging for type-1 diabetes

Echoes of the past

Radio telescopes could spot asteroids with unprecedented detail

Spoiler alert

The challenges of steering a hypersonic plane

PINS and needles

Long covid is not the only chronic condition triggered by infection

Culture

Flower power

The history of the opium trade helps explain the modern world

Aural history

Podcasts got their name 20 years ago this month

The lives of others

Is everything you assumed about the Middle Ages wrong?

Escape to “Dalifornia”

Growing numbers of Chinese are escaping urban life for rural peace

Good optics

Refik Anadol’s use of AI has made him the artist of the moment

The war score

How Ukraine’s fortunes have ebbed

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Obituary

Better Russia, where are you?