Sep 28th 2024

Crunch time for Ukraine

The world this week

Leaders

Starmer’s woes

The sinking feeling caused by Labour’s clumsy start

Britain’s new government is paying for the sins of the election campaign

Zelensky in Washington

The war is going badly. Ukraine and its allies must change course

Time for credible war aims—and NATO membership

Leash the dogs of war

An Israel-Hizbullah war would be a disaster for both

Both must find a way to step back

The case for taxing consumption

If you must raise taxes, raise VAT

Taxing consumption is economically efficient and politically possible

Anura Kumara Dissanayake

How worried should Sri Lanka be about its ex-Marxist president?

He is not as bad as he sounds. But the risk of disappointment is high

The future of television

YouTube’s do-it-yourself brigade is taking on Netflix and Disney

Legions of self-taught film-makers are coming for the television industry

Letters

On car safety, the UN and Palestinians, Chinese data, leaving work, museums

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

The drugs don’t work

Ara Darzi on why antibiotic resistance could be deadlier than cancer

COP29

COP29 is greenwashing a dictatorship, writes Azerbaijan’s main opposition leader

Briefing

A widening breach

Ukraine is on the defensive, militarily, economically and diplomatically

Russian advances, fatigue among its allies and political divisions at home leave it in a bind

Asia

All change

An upset in Sri Lanka propels an outsider into power

Tailored solutions

How India can compete in labour-intensive manufacturing

Going soft

Has the Quad lost its way?

Banyan

Who will become Japan’s next prime minister?

China

Looking up in frustration

A new class struggle is brewing in China

Hate thy neighbour

Another attack on a Japanese local points to a big problem in China

Brains-trust blues

Xi Jinping wants to stifle thinking at a top Chinese think-tank

United States

Money for nothing

Kamala Harris is outspending Donald Trump. Will it matter?

Hizzoner and dishonour

Eric Adams, New York’s mayor, is indicted on bribery charges

Campaign calculus: mini-landslides

Recent special elections bode well for Democrats

A little secret, the Robinson affair

Mark Robinson has hijacked his own campaign in North Carolina

Direct democracy

Kamalamania and the drive for abortion rights are a potent mix

Hard cell

America’s growing row over policies for transgender prisoners

Lexington

What J.D. Vance is learning from Donald Trump

Middle East & Africa

History repeating

Hizbullah seems to have miscalculated in its fight with Israel

The view from Beirut

The flight from southern Lebanon has been swift

Iran’s calculations

Iran’s damage-limitation efforts may not go to plan

Second time as farce

Tunisia’s strongman president looks set to win another term in office

Let the sunlight in

Building an African multinational

Protecting wildlife

Can shooting some elephants save many others?

The Americas

Evelyn Matthei

The woman who will lead Chile’s counter-revolution

Remote workers

Digital nomads are a force for good in Latin America

Mexican politics

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is militarising public security

Europe

Giant steppes

Turkey and Central Asia are riding together again

Building Fortress Austria

Austria’s xenophobic right edges towards victory

French evolution

France’s new coalition yanks the country a step to the right

A worrying turn

Turkey wants the EU to regulate the döner kebab

OK boomer

American long-range missiles are coming back to Europe

Charlemagne

A banking raid in Europe kicks up an unseemly nationalist defence

Britain

Sir Unclear Starmer

What is Britain’s Labour government for?

Loosening the chains

Britain’s budget choices are not as bad as the government says

The right reaction

Much keener on Trump, less sure about Charles III

The gravest questions

Why did Mohamed Al Fayed escape scrutiny?

Help yourselves

The self-help book began in the land of the stiff upper lip

A healthy balance-sheet

Should Britons’ health be considered a national asset?

Bagehot

Inside the chaos machine of British politics

International

Autocratic alliances

A new “quartet of chaos” threatens America

Business

Old v new media

YouTubers like MrBeast are coming for Hollywood

Electric shock

Northvolt announces more cuts, worrying investors

Star-crossed

The curse of the Michelin star

Barbell effect

The rise of the $40,000 gym membership

Silicon sally

Can dealmaking save Intel?

Bartleby

The hell of the sandwich lunch

Schumpeter

Is a Nike lifer the best person to revive the swoosh?

Finance & economics

Political economy

Governments are bigger than ever. They are also more useless

No rush

China’s central bank tries to save the economy—and the stockmarket

International debt

How lower American interest rates will boost Africa

Financial conflict

Can Israel’s economy survive an all-out war with Hizbullah?

Fuel to the fire

Is the world sleepwalking into another gas crisis?

Buttonwood

A Wall Street state of mind has captured America

Free exchange

Why the Federal Reserve is split on the future of interest rates

Science & technology

CAR-T therapy

Immune therapy shows promise for asthma, heart disease—and even ageing

Water, water everywhere

New technologies can spot pesky leaks in water pipelines

VIPER

NASA is selling a brand-new Moon rover

Extra extra mature

The world’s oldest cheese sheds light on ancient Chinese culture

Culture

The edifice complex

What “supertall” skyscrapers reveal about the countries that build them

Rocket management

The SpaceX guide to exceptional engineering

Bad boys

An Indian hijack drama, “IC 814”, dares to portray terrorists as human

Back Story

Sally Rooney shows how to escape the trap of success

The centre did not hold

Understanding the Republican Party’s rightward march

The Economist reads

The Economist reads

An introduction to Lebanon, perhaps the next front in a wider war

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Obituary

The storyteller of Beirut