The haunting

The world this week

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


The sick factor
How to fix the NHS
Money will help. But a radical shift in focus is more important

America’s presidential race
Donald Trump is very likely to be the Republican nominee
So his chances of re-entering the Oval Office are uncomfortably high

Carry on Kyriakos
A stunning election result for Greece’s prime minister
Kyriakos Mitsotakis deserves his unexpected triumph

End of the peace dividend
How to get more bang for the buck in Western defence budgets
Lessons from the war in Ukraine

Seize the day (and the board)
Activist investors are needed more than ever
Low rates, passive investing and ESG have left opportunities for active shareholders

Letters

On international aid, inflation, Britain’s royal family, walking, bacteria, Liz Truss
Letters to the editor
By Invitation


Data protection
Don’t be fooled by Meta’s fine for data breaches, says Johnny Ryan
Financial crime
A forensic-accounting expert on how to treat the fraud epidemic
Briefing


A bungled coup
Ron DeSantis has little chance of beating Donald Trump
Hopes of depriving the former president of the Republican nomination are fading
Asia


Surviving the dragon
Australia has faced down China’s trade bans and emerged stronger
An interview with Bangladesh’s prime minister
Sheikh Hasina is Asia’s iron lady
Up and away
Japan’s ageing society is finding creative ways to dispose of its dead
Banyan
America is lavishing attention on Pacific island states
China


A toe-hold in Europe
Hungary is becoming more important to China
Surfin’ again
Small-town Chinese officials are making money with music festivals
Dog’s dinner
China’s cancel culture is nationalist, not woke
Chaguan
Why the Communist Party fears gay rights
United States


Tribulations and trials
How Donald Trump’s trials and the Republican primary will intersect
Solidarity snips
Vasectomies rose by 29% in the three months after the end of Roe
The doom loop
Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point
Drug pricing
The push to bring insulin prices down in America
The too few and the less proud
American policing has changed since George Floyd’s murder
Lexington
DeSantis is a truer believer, if a lesser politician, than Trump

Middle East & Africa


Downhill from rainbow nation
Business leaders fear that South Africa risks becoming a failed state
My ratings are better than yours
African governments say credit-rating agencies are biased against them
Waiting for God’s choice
Who will be Iran’s next leader?
A wishful wedding
Can Jordan fall in love with Saudi Arabia?
The Americas


The race to succeed AMLO
Mexico could elect its first female president next year
A power struggle
Lula wants to purge Brazil of Jair Bolsonaro’s influence
Europe


Electric cars
Electric cars could be crucial for the EU to meet its climate goals
Raid on Belgorod
Who are the militias raiding Russia’s Belgorod region?
French unions
Women take over France’s powerful trade unions
Charlemagne
Europe has shaken off Putin’s gas embargo
Britain


Ward mentality
To survive, Britain’s NHS must stop fixating on hospital care
Dear as chips
Britain’s semiconductor strategy shows the bind the country is in
Best supporting actor
With Hollywood on strike, foreign shows enjoy the limelight
Bittersweet
Britain’s economy may grow by more than expected, but inflation is stickier
Bagehot
British voters want more immigrants but less immigration
International


Farewell, peace dividend
The cost of the global arms race
Business


A giant sucking sound
Can carbon removal become a trillion-dollar business?
Deutsche Bahn
It will take years to get Deutsche Bahn back on track
Muscle and memory
Asian businesses are being dragged into the chip war
Reactivated
Why activist investors are going to have a busy year
Zell-side analysis
What properties would Sam Zell invest in next?
Fine and dandy
Meta gets whacked with a €1.2bn penalty
Bartleby
Why are corporate retreats so extravagant?
Schumpeter
The tech giants have an interest in AI regulation
Finance & economics


The nightmare scenario
What happens if America defaults on its debt?
Xi v Putin
China and Russia compete for Central Asia’s favour
Quite a coup
China’s state capitalists celebrate their soaring shares
Buttonwood
The American credit cycle is at a dangerous point
Love and conflict
What would humans do in a world of super-AI?
Free exchange
What performance-enhancing stimulants mean for economic growth
Science & technology


Neuroscience and AI
Artificial brains are helping scientists study the real thing
Recycling old tyres
Old tyres can become a climate-friendly fuel
Helicopter beetles
Parenting can be bad for the kids
Saving Venice
Why Venetians are pondering raising their entire city
Culture


The robotic school
Art made by artificial intelligence is developing a style of its own
Contemplative spy fiction
In Javier Marías’s final novel, an agent confronts his conscience
Social psychology
“The Perfection Trap” decries what it calls a “hidden epidemic”
Great-power decline
Rome fell. Will the modern-day West follow suit?
Johnson
As it spreads across the world, who owns English?
American drama
August Wilson was and remains a bard of black life in America
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Graphic detail


The new normal
Our model suggests that global deaths remain 5% above pre-covid forecasts
Obituary


L’enfant terrible
Martin Amis was the lurid chronicler of a whole generation
The Economist reads


Spies and scribes
The spy who read me: authors under surveillance