The Economist | Independent journalism
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Café Europa newsletter
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Dateline quiz
Test your knowledge of Iwo Jima, Bitcoin and “Grease”
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A to Z of international relations
Geopolitics terms, from “Abraham accords” to “zero-sum game”
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United States
Kamala Harris makes Donald Trump look out of his depth
The presidential debate was a success for the vice-president
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Business
AI will not fix Apple’s sluggish iPhone sales any time soon
The technology is not yet ready for prime time on phones or other devices
Leaders
Mario Draghi’s best ideas are those Europe finds least comfortable
The danger is that it picks the easy ones
The world in brief
In a fiery presidential debate, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump exchanged personal attacks and sparred over their visions for America...
America, Britain, France and Germany imposed new sanctions on Iran, including a ban on its national airline’s flights to Europe...
Mr Blinken condemned the “not acceptable” shooting of an American-Turkish woman by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank last week and called for “fundamental changes” in the Israel Defence Forces’ operations in the territory...
Volkswagen, a German car giant, told staff that it would end a decades-old job-security agreement, paving the way for possible job cuts...
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The scary new map of the South China Sea
Fresh fights over reefs and shoals test America’s credibility
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Welcome to India, where the streets have four names
Constantly renaming cities, roads and stations is pointless and counterproductive
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The harmony between Labour and Britain’s trade unions
They agree on the labour market above all
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Why many French have come to like “Emily in Paris”
Even if they may not want to admit it
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Café Europa newsletter
Sign up for analysis of European politics, business and finance
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Dateline quiz
Test your knowledge of Iwo Jima, Bitcoin and “Grease”
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A to Z of international relations
Geopolitics terms, from “Abraham accords” to “zero-sum game”
Video
Monster vehicles
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What to do about America’s killer cars
The country’s roads are nearly twice as dangerous as the rich-world average. It doesn’t have to be that way
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Americans’ love affair with big cars is killing them
New analysis shows that the heaviest vehicles kill more people than they save in crashes
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Why American cars are so big
A regulatory loophole that incentivised sales of big vehicles is about to be tightened
A farewell to small cars, the industrial icons that put Europe on wheels
Why a continent with ever-smaller families is driving ever-bigger automobiles
China goes dark
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The real problem with China’s economy
The country risks making some of the mistakes the Soviet Union did
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The Chinese authorities are concealing the state of the economy
But the Communist Party’s internal information systems may also be flawed
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China is suffering from a crisis of confidence
Can anything perk up its economy?
Liberalism is far from dead in China
Despite an intense clampdown, it may even be drawing more adherents
Europe and the hard right
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How to deal with the hard-right threat in Germany
As extremists win more votes across Europe, forming moderate and effective governments is getting harder
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Germany’s party system is coming under unprecedented strain
Forming governments after the eastern state elections looks nightmarish
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Charlemagne: Europe must beware the temptations of technocracy
Experts are increasingly crowding out flailing politicians
Europe’s lefties bash migrants (nearly) as well as the hard right
Xenophobia is crossing the political spectrum
City liveability
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What makes Europe so liveable?
Insights from the city liveability index
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What is the least liveable city in the world?
It has ranked at the bottom of the EIU index for 11 years
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The world’s most liveable cities in 2024
Our sister company has rated the best, and worst, cities in which to live
Which countries have the best, and worst, living standards?
Data show progress worldwide may have suffered a permanent setback
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
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Back Story: “The Perfect Couple” and the new map of Moneyland
Depictions of the super-rich on screen reflect the times
World news
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Antony Blinken swoops into a violent hotspot close to home
In Haiti a new security force is aiming to suppress gang violence
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Britain’s submarines are at sea for too long—or not at all
No sunlight or fresh food for months
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A make-or-break moment for Mexico
In America’s biggest trading partner the rule of law and democracy are under attack
Turmoil awaits Michel Barnier, France’s new prime minister
The left rages that the recent parliamentary election has been stolen
Business, finance and economics
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Can anything spark Europe’s economy back to life?
Mario Draghi, the continent’s unofficial chief technocrat, has a plan
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Is the era of the mega-deal over?
Nippon’s acquisition of US Steel is not the only mega-merger falling apart
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American office delinquencies are shooting up
How worried should investors be?
Bartleby: The mystery of the cover letter
Why do recruiters still ask for them?
The war in Ukraine
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Danger in Donbas as Ukraine’s front line falters
Russian fighters are trying to encircle the defenders
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As his popularity fades Volodymyr Zelensky culls his cabinet
He has reshuffled his team and concentrated power
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American restrictions on hitting Russia are hurting Ukraine
The Biden administration’s justifications keep changing
1843 magazine | “I use anti-tank mines for weightlifting”: meet Ukraine’s Paralympians
The war-wounded join forces with soldiers on leave in the pursuit of sporting success
America’s economy
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America has a huge deficit. Which candidate would make it worse?
Enough policies have been proposed to make a call
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American office delinquencies are shooting up
How worried should investors be?
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What to make of America’s topsy-turvy economy
Don’t panic just yet
America’s recession signals are flashing red. Don’t believe them
We assess a range of measures
Israel’s wars
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A narrow corridor in Gaza has become an obstacle to a ceasefire
Binyamin Netanyahu says the presence of Israeli troops is crucial. His generals disagree
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The one thing Israelis agree on: rescuing the hostages
Bibi’s failure to do so has prompted huge protests
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Israel and Hizbullah play with fire
They both attempt escalating attacks that fall short of all-out war
Have Israel’s far-right religious nationalists peaked?
They wield great power but schisms within the movement are deepening
Digital twins
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Digital twins are fast becoming part of everyday life
Welcome to the mirror world
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Digital twins are speeding up manufacturing...
Makers of Formula 1 cars and jet engines are leading the way
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...enabling scientific innovation...
They are being used to simulate everything from bodily organs to planet Earth
...and making companies more efficient
They will also help them reap the benefits of advances in AI
AI schools briefs
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A short history of AI
In the first of six weekly briefs, we ask how AI overcame decades of underdelivering
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AI firms will soon exhaust most of the internet’s data
Can they create more?
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How AI models are getting smarter
Deep neural networks are learning diffusion and other tricks
LLMs will transform medicine, media and more
But not without a helping (human) hand
Edition: September 7th 2024
America’s killer cars
Why is Starmer so timid on Europe?
The prime minister is trapped by the mindset of the post-Brexit years
America’s killer cars
The country’s roads are nearly twice as dangerous as the rich-world average. It doesn’t have to be that way
Germany’s radicals rise
As extremists win more votes across Europe, forming moderate and effective governments is getting harder
Where Elon Musk is right
Free expression has become a culture war, and those who should defend it are staying quiet