Nov 9th 2019

“On the edge of a precipice”: Macron's stark warning to Europe

The world this week

Leaders

Europe alone

Assessing Emmanuel Macron’s apocalyptic vision

Europe is “on the edge of a precipice”, says France’s president. Is he right?

Squeezing the rich

Billionaires are only rarely policy failures

Indiscriminate attacks on the super-rich will do more harm than good

Words and weapons

How to stop Cameroon collapsing into a full-fledged civil war

Protests by English-speakers have morphed into a bloody conflict

Sex, lies and politics

Women in public life are increasingly subject to sexual slander. Don’t believe it

As deepfake technology spreads, expect more bogus sex tapes of female politicians

Designer babies by the back door

A new type of genetic profiling promises cleverer, better-looking children

What could possibly go wrong?

Letters

On the Bible, Greece, Congress, Chile, Syria, Canada, wind energy, Atlantic City, Thatcher

Letters to the editor

Briefing

Macron’s view of the world

Emmanuel Macron on Europe’s fragile place in a hostile world

In a blunt interview the French president laid out his thoughts on NATO, America and the future of the EU

United States

Warrencare

How would Elizabeth Warren pay for her health policy?

Knocking on Bevin’s door

The off-year elections were not a rejection of Donald Trump

Impeach cobbler

Gordon Sondland’s testimony forces Republicans to shift arguments

Lie-posting

Should Facebook run political adverts containing lies?

The silent minority

Milwaukee’s north side remains deeply troubled

Odessa on the Intracoastal

Russians have flocked to Donald Trump’s Florida

Lexington

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost most Americans nothing

The Americas

Bolivian battle

Evo Morales faces a long insurrection

Redemption song

Jamaica’s tumultuous relationship with the IMF has a happy ending

Asia

Spare wheel

Asia’s trade negotiators decide they can no longer wait for India

Container democracy

Religious protesters have put Pakistan’s government on the defensive

Three wheels v four

Bangladesh’s biggest city plans to ban cycle rickshaws

The eight-fold chin

Heavy Thai monks seek enlightenment

Wrong reaction

Was shutting Japan’s reactors deadlier than the Fukushima disaster?

Honey trap

China tries to deepen economic ties with Taiwan yet more

Banyan

Why politics in the south Pacific are so precarious

China

Black terror

Mainland Chinese are being attacked in Hong Kong

The first face-off

A lawsuit against face-scans in China could have big consequences

Chaguan

In China, capitalism breeds new respect for dialects

Middle East & Africa

A war of words

English-speaking villages are burning in Cameroon

Undone deal

Iran’s nuclear programme takes a dangerous step

180 feet under

How Jerusalem is dealing with a grave shortage

Thinking only positive thoughts

Saudi Arabia should listen to critics of its reform programme

Europe

Fourth time lucky?

Spain goes to the polls for the fourth time in four years

The Camry in the gold mine

The sudden popularity of a Russian mayor who lives modestly

Naked untruth

How women are singled out for vile abuse for political ends

The nick of time

Estonia has a new way to stop speeding motorists

Charlemagne

How genocide denial warps Turkish politics

Britain

Swing seats: the Tory tipping point

The Conservatives are struggling to win a crucial Midlands marginal

Joining forces

Northern Irish parties form new pacts to unseat their enemies

Ill-gotten gains

Tories promise more police—having earlier cut their number

Stirring the tea leaves

How Britain’s pollsters have changed their methods

Speakers’ Corner

The best quotes from the second week of Britain’s election campaign

A warmer climate

Climate change looms larger than in any past British election

A new order

Don’t expect MPs to make less trouble under Lindsay Hoyle

Bagehot

Security questions for Jeremy Corbyn

International

Broad-banned internet

Countries are increasingly willing to censor speech online

Business

Diversity memo

How to make your firm more diverse and inclusive

Too much lovin’

McDonald’s fires its boss over a workplace romance

On edge

A postcard from Hong Kong

Sparks fly

A three-way battle over control of PG&E

TikTok time-bomb

TikTok’s silly clips raise some serious questions

Bartleby

Take the money and run

Neighbourly love-in

Japan Inc has thrived in China of late

Schumpeter

Hard times for SoftBank

Finance & economics

State of the union

Revisiting the euro’s north-south rift

Phase one, scene two

China tries to squeeze more out of a small trade deal with America

Vultures v zombies

Distressed debt funds are waiting for a downturn

The lives of the 0.0001%

Have billionaires accumulated their wealth illegitimately?

Buttonwood

What is the illiquidity premium?

Life after neoliberalism

Mexico’s radical president serves up economic mediocrity

Counter-terrorists win

Financial crime through video games is on the rise

Get the third party started

Litigation finance faces ethical quandaries

Free exchange

Belligerent unions are a sign of economic health

Science & technology

The new genetics

Modern genetics will improve health and usher in “designer” children

Books & arts

History wars

An imperial palace, a prison—and now a symbolic museum

Forgotten histories

A century ago America saved millions of Russians from starvation

The lap of luxury

Palm Beach and the rise of American celebrity

I, me and they

The slippery talent of Emmanuel Carrère

Death in Venice

The art and loves of George Eliot

Economic & financial indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Graphic detail

Festival of darkness

India’s toxic smog is a common affliction in middle-income countries

Obituary

Giant of the Chinese avant-garde