Jul 3rd 2021

The real risk to America’s democracy

The world this week

Leaders

After the disease

The long goodbye to covid-19

The pandemic is still far from over, but glimpses of its legacy are emerging

Elections

The real risk to America’s democracy

Partisan election administration is a greater worry than voter suppression

Mercury rising

The danger posed by heatwaves deserves to be taken more seriously

They will become more frequent and deadly in the years to come. What can be done?

Code red

Hong Kong’s regulator rightly resists the bad habits of mainland finance

A new code of conduct would help preserve best practices in share and bond sales

A vote of confidence

Britain should encourage Europeans keen to settle to become citizens

They are young, well-equipped to work—and keen to do so

Letters

On Afghanistan, Tesla, UNESCO, Brazil, Geordies

Letters to the editor

Briefing

Coats of many colours

The unvaccinated are at risk as evolution accelerates the covid-19 pandemic

Research is unravelling the virus’s deep secrets

United States

Razing Arizona

State-level Republicans are “reforming” how elections are administered

Border disorder

A Trump edict that shut America’s borders may soon be lifted

Stranger things

America’s government comes clean on UFOs

Lexington

There goes the neighbourhood

The Americas

Serve the people

Cuba is facing its worst shortage of food since the 1990s

Searching for the truth

More graves are found at Canadian schools for the indigenous

Bello

Latin America’s national identities are being questioned

Asia

Taking back control

Kim Jong Un rediscovers his love of central planning

The Dravidian Stalin

Tamil Nadu’s leader offers something India’s does not: competence

Bath variations

Japan’s dying sento are becoming cool again

Schrödinger’s government

Malaysia’s democracy gets a boost from an unlikely quarter

Banyan

Indians of different religions are more alike than they may think

China

Carry that weight

China’s next aircraft-carrier will be its biggest

Giving up, lying down

China urges its people to struggle. Some say no

Chaguan

Xi warns against Western “bullies”, to argue for one-party rule

Middle East & Africa

Third time unlucky

Africa’s latest wave of covid-19 could be its worst yet

Another kind of capture

The meaning of Jacob Zuma’s 15-month prison sentence

Defeat in the mountains

Tigrayan forces have routed the Ethiopian army

Sisi sees an opportunity

Egypt’s dictator is aiding Gaza and boosting his image

Kitchen inconsequential

Why is it so hard to find local fare in the Gulf?

Europe

Shifting the balance

German submarines are giving Turkey an edge over Greece

Unsustained development goals

Foreign-aid champion Europe is giving more than ever

Darkness shrouds the mountain

Montenegro’s government totters

Mr Europe

Dick Leonard remembered

Charlemagne

Euro 2020: politics by other means

Britain

Applying for settled status

Britain is much more European than anybody thought

Opposites attract

The anti-lockdown movement is still going strong

Economic statistics

Statisticians make Britain’s productivity slowdown look less dramatic

Helping handout

Post-Brexit, state aid will be more flexible and less bureaucratic

Pet theft

Dastardly crimes such as dog-napping are on the rise

Suiting up

It’s a great time to be a City lawyer

Dealing, with stress

Drug-dealers are finding the always-on culture a chore

Bagehot

Sajid Javid replaces the hapless Matt Hancock as health secretary

International

Home entertainment

As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

What If?

Freedom to tinker: October 2029

What if biohackers injected themselves with mRNA?

The other epidemic: June 2025

What if America tackled its opioid crisis?

A tale of two cities: June 2041

What if a deadly heatwave hit India?

You are what you eat: January 2035

What if everyone’s nutrition was personalised?

iHealthy: September 2028

What if smartphones became personal health assistants?

Mrs Chippy’s benediction: February 2055

What if marmosets lived on the Moon?

Novel treatments: August 2050

What if dementia was preventable and treatable?

Rage against the machine: December 2036

What if an AI won the Nobel prize for medicine?

Germ of an idea

What if germ theory had caught on sooner?

Business

After the exodus

Office re-entry is proving trickier than last year’s abrupt exit

Edifice complexities

The future of Silicon Valley headquarters

The defining issue of the day

Is Facebook a monopolist?

Bartleby

The perils of PR

Curtain-raiser

Cannes kicks off a brighter blockbuster season

Schumpeter

Do the costs of the cloud outweigh the benefits?

Finance & economics

Lives v livelihoods

How to assess the costs and benefits of lockdowns

On the simmer

Does America’s hot housing market still need propping up?

Culture clash

Hong Kong’s regulators try to push back against Chinese market practices

Buttonwood

The return of the carry trade

Free exchange

Stubborn optimism about China’s economy

Science & technology

Urban environments

Could miniature forests help air-condition cities?

Medical testing

Virtual clinical trials are on their way

Palaeoanthropology

A new human species may have been identified

Books & arts

The settlement of the Pacific

In the sweep of history, the Pacific is far from remote

Home sweet home

A quest for stability and identity in “Three Rooms”

Memory and mourning

An exhibition at Stanford explores its startling origin story

The future of war

A thought-provoking reflection on how AI will change conflict

Johnson

Culture-war terms can compress complex ideas in an unhelpful way

Economic & financial indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Graphic detail

Back to the future

Our normalcy index shows life is halfway back to pre-covid norms

Obituary

Running as religion