Jun 4th 2022

A new era

The world this week

Leaders

The war in Ukraine

A new nuclear era

With his threats to use the bomb, Russia’s president has overturned the nuclear order

The coming downturn

A recession in America by 2024 looks likely

It should be mild—but fear its consequences

Into the unknown

Two erratic presidential candidates put Colombia at risk

In a run-off in June voters will choose between an ex-guerrilla or a TikTok populist

Coral reefs

Those in peril in the sea

A mix of natural resilience and human ingenuity can save endangered ecosystems

Put out more bunting

The significance of the Platinum Jubilee

The celebrations are absurd, but the queen represents continuity and consensus

Letters

On electoral reform, wearable devices, India, business and pleasure

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

Russia and Ukraine

Recep Tayyip Erdogan on NATO expansion

Germany and Ukraine

The German chancellor may be turning a corner, says Thorsten Benner

Briefing

Armageddon used to this

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has eroded the nuclear taboo

This war is unlikely to go nuclear. But it is increasing the risk that future conflicts will

United States

American supermarkets

Why Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

Mall makeovers

Changing shopping habits are transforming America’s malls

Hey, big spender

LA’s mayoral race may reveal the limits of progressive politics

Pro-choice priests

The many clergy in America who support abortion rights

Alternative narratives

Gun groups have their own ideas for preventing mass shootings

Policing differently

Since George Floyd’s murder, new ways of policing have been spreading

Lexington

The zombie nuclear deal

The Americas

Fight the power company

A Peruvian farmer takes on Germany’s largest electricity firm

The great rain robbery

Why Peruvian villagers tore down a flood-warning system

A change is gonna come

A leftist ex-guerrilla and a populist face off for the Colombian presidency

Asia

Another long march

Imran Khan is jeopardising Pakistan’s attempts to fix its economy

The rights of one man

Kazakhstani voters may revoke their ex-president’s vast privileges

Powering up

China’s e-sports players are challenging South Korea’s dominance

Knock-on effects

Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war pushed poor families deeper into penury

Steaming ahead

Vietnam is leading the transition to clean energy in South-East Asia

Banyan

The luxury of Asia’s malls is no substitute for genuine public spaces

China

Not so spooky

China’s spies are not always as good as advertised

Treasured islands

China’s interest in the Pacific islands is growing

Down with the tyrants

China’s war over sand

Chaguan

Xi Jinping bans grumbling inside the Communist Party

Middle East & Africa

Better luck this time

Somalia’s new president vows to beat back jihadists, then talk to them

Roads to hell

Men with guns disrupt a plan to link Congo to east Africa

Bail for the rich, jail for the poor

How Kenyan courts benefit the mighty and punish the needy

More than just business buddies

Israeli firms and tourists are piling into Morocco

Europe

Fighting in Donbas

Russia threatens to capture Severodonetsk

Tragedy on Shakespeare Street

How war has changed Ukraine’s second city

Weapons upgrade

America sends advanced missiles to help Ukraine fend off Russia

Germany and Ukraine

Olaf Scholz’s dithering is damaging Germany’s international image

For hedgehogs, not road hogs

France is building overpasses to reduce roadkill

Charlemagne

Europe is squabbling—but remains united where it really matters

Britain

Separation anxiety

Britain’s Supreme Court takes a conservative turn

What changed?

Boris Johnson’s position is looking precarious

Architecture and commerce

The fall and rise of the British market hall

A criminal form of justice

An 18th birthday is bad news for children awaiting trial

Gridlocked

Britain’s overstretched electricity grid is delaying housing projects

Business as flusual

What if the flu were treated more like covid, not the other way round?

International

Survival of the bookish

Climate change is harder on less educated people

Business

On her CEO’s secret service

Corporate espionage is entering a new era

Patent aggression

Has Russia legalised intellectual-property theft?

Leaning out

Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s second-in-command, leaves the embattled firm

The movies

“Top Gun” flies high, sparking hopes of a theatrical recovery

Hire hurdles

Is big tech’s red-hot jobs market about to cool?

Bartleby

Do not bring your whole self to work

Schumpeter

Why Proxy advisers are losing their power

Finance & economics

The shape of things to come

What America’s next recession will look like

Crude calculations

Why the oil price is spiking again

Growth v debt

China’s dilemma over a curious breed of financial firm

Balance of payments

The changing American consumer

Buttonwood

The return of the inventory cycle

Free exchange

Should China spend more on infrastructure?

Science & technology

Coral conservation

Corals are threatened by global warming

Testosterone and family life

Fatherless sons have more testosterone

O for the wings of an albatross

Borrowing tricks from birds may result in smoother flights

Conserving amphibians

The health-giving benefits of Jacuzzis—for frogs

Culture

The new ventriloquists

ABBA and the rise of the work-from-home rock star

Stuck in the middle with you

The problems with complex supply chains

New American fiction

“Nightcrawling” is a gritty, accomplished debut novel

Home Entertainment

Arthur Russell was an indecisive, brilliant composer

Banishment

The story of three 19th-century dissidents sent into exile

Johnson

Some languages pay closer attention to family ties than others

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Graphic detail

Beating the bounds

America’s congressional maps are a bit fairer than a decade ago

The Economist explains

The Economist explains

Why this Atlantic hurricane season is predicted to be unusually stormy

The Economist explains

Why fertiliser prices are soaring

Obituary

To ride, to win