The world this week

Politics
Business
KAL’s cartoon
This week’s cover
Leaders


America v China
Why the China-US contest is entering a new and more dangerous phase
Chinese officials rage at what they see as American bullying

Green revolution 2.0
How to fix the global rice crisis
The world’s most important crop is fuelling climate change and diabetes

Constitutional crisis
Out of crisis, Israel has the chance to forge a new constitution
The government’s retreat has pulled Israel back from the brink. But its people remain deeply divided

Undead finance
America risks propping up zombie banks
The banking crisis may have calmed, but only because of a government backstop

Secession, season 1
The Scottish National Party’s limitations have been laid bare
Will Humza Yousaf learn the right lessons?

Letters

On colonialism, planting trees, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, megaprojects, the Moon, Bibi
Letters to the editor
By Invitation


Pakistan and the IMF
Politicians and the IMF are failing Pakistan’s most vulnerable, laments Murtaza Syed
Briefing


A daunting arsenal
America’s commercial sanctions on China could get much worse
And China could retaliate in kind
Asia


Agriculture in Asia
The global rice crisis
Rahul Gandhi
The world’s biggest democracy is becoming less free
So long, farewell
Middle-class Sri Lankans are fleeing their country
Banyan
In much of Asia, race is just too hard to talk about
China


The Sino-American cold war
Can America and China avoid another diplomatic crisis?
Getting out
Many wealthy people are considering leaving China
Sea-cucumbers and fragrant harbours
Chinese nationalists are annoyed about colonial-era place names
Chaguan
Joe Biden attempts to defang the Chinese tiger
United States


China in your hand
Both America’s political camps agree that TikTok is troubling
Mistrust, don’t verify
Perils grow as America and Russia stop sharing data on nukes
Hogwarts and all
School-voucher schemes are spreading across America
Care for a shot of Malört?
Chicago tries to export its most unpleasant drink
Full-court press
Why winning a Wisconsin Supreme Court race matters so much
Lexington
How to write the perfect 2024 campaign book

Middle East & Africa


Holy land, unholy mess
Israel’s government is still in a bind
No to number-plates
Why Lebanon’s drivers can’t be legal
Hunger in the Horn
Drought killed 43,000 people in Somalia last year
Zimbonomics 101
Zimbabwe wants to come in from the cold
The Americas


Paying back
Mexico now receives more remittances than China
Oily business
Venezuela’s autocrat launches a massive corruption probe
A stricter welcome
Refugee-friendly Canada tightens its border with the United States
Europe


Election economics
Ahead of a critical election Turkey’s economy is running on borrowed time
Vestigial network
Why Russian oil and gas is still flowing through Ukraine
Meet the hackers
Belarus’s beleaguered opposition is flirting with violence
Stranded assets
What to do with Russia’s abandoned luxury yachts?
Impasse
More strikes and demonstrations against French pension reform
No good options
A surge of migrants is reaching Italy
Charlemagne
Europe is unprepared for what might come next in America
Britain


Slowing the centrifuge
Under Humza Yousaf the forces that polarised Scotland are weakening
Accident zone
Can London stop deaths and serious accidents on its roads?
Nanny state
What child-care reforms say about Britain’s welfare state
National treasures
The battle to keep “Portrait of Omai” in Britain
Neighbourhood watch
Britain announces another crackdown on anti-social behaviour
The great train robbery
Britain is still marked by the mistakes of the Beeching Report
Drip, drop, tick, tock
Fixing Britain’s national water supply will be a marathon
International


Asia’s greatest race
Which will grow faster: India or Indonesia?
Business


Mastering the machine
Big tech and the pursuit of AI dominance
Peak Pablo
The market for Picassos may be about to turn
A six-way bet
Alibaba breaks itself up in six
The sack of Silicon Valley
Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?
Bartleby
A zero-tolerance approach to talented jerks in the workplace is risky
Schumpeter
Copper is the missing ingredient of the energy transition
Finance & economics


Dime turners
Will the recent banking chaos lead to an economic crash?
The next shoe to drop
Commercial-property losses will add to banks’ woes
Credit where it’s dull
European banks and the price of safety
Buttonwood
Did social media cause the banking panic?
Funding conflict
Western lenders may regret forcing Ukraine to turn to the IMF
Neon lights, shining bright
How rare-gas supply adapted to Russia’s war
Losing its bite
Which countries have escaped the middle-income trap?
Free exchange
China is now an unlikely safe haven
Science & technology


Hyperspectral camouflage
Better camouflage is needed to hide from new electronic sensors
Cyber-warfare
Russian hackers are preparing for a new campaign in Ukraine
Botanoacoustics
Gene-editing has created a generation of musical crops
The hygiene hypothesis
More evidence that animals reduce childhood allergies
Culture


The evolution will not be televised
Why gradualists are usually right and radicals are wrong
Entertaining lives
“Masquerade” depicts the darkness behind Noel Coward’s frivolity
Margaret Thatcher and the IRA
“Killing Thatcher” tells the full story of the Brighton bombing
Laughter in the dark
In exile from Egypt, Bassem Youssef is still making people laugh
Johnson
ChatGPT is a marvel of multilingualism
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Graphic detail


Political movements
America’s other great migration
The Economist explains


The Economist explains
Is your money safe in American banks?
The Economist explains
Who is Alvin Bragg, the district attorney taking on Donald Trump?
Obituary


A world built on sand
Gordon Moore’s law was the spur that drove the digital revolution