How AI can revolutionise science

The world this week

Politics
Business
KAL’s cartoon
Leaders


The real threat from Europe’s hard right
A fresh wave of hard-right populism is stalking Europe
In Germany, the AfD are weaponising climate change

When robots do research
How artificial intelligence can revolutionise science
Consider the historical precedents

One country, 28 systems
Modi’s “one India” goal is good for the economy, but not for politics
In the next decade regional tensions will build in India

When Kim met Putin
The dangers posed by a deal between Russia and North Korea
It would make life harder for Ukraine—and heighten nuclear risks in Asia

Incentives matter
Why are so many Britons not working?
Don’t blame covid or NHS waiting lists. The problem is the welfare system

Letters

On Germany’s economy, Gandhi, the slave trade, attacking the Assad regime, the hobby lobby
Letters to the editor
By Invitation


Israel and the Palestinians
Martin Indyk reflects on the Oslo accords, 30 years on
Germany’s economy
Robert Habeck responds to The Economist’s “sick man of Europe” cover
Briefing


Swell of pride
The hard right is getting closer to power all over Europe
It does not need to join governments to affect policymaking
Asia


One nation under Modi
Narendra Modi is widening India’s fierce regional divides
Otterly loriculus
Hornbills, otters and even a tapir: Singapore is rewilding
Desperate despots
Why is Vladimir Putin looking to North Korea for arms?
Banyan
How to unite India, Bollywood-style
China


Assimilation game
China’s push to create a single national identity
Singing in the ruin
A Chinese opera star’s ode to Russia—from a Ukrainian bomb site
Shock and awe
China’s government launches a campaign against medical corruption
Chaguan
Xi Jinping builds a 21st-century police state
United States


Striking times
Joe Biden’s love of unions runs into a giant strike
More smoke
Hunter Biden’s woes, and a new impeachment saga, will go on and on
Raising the alarm-clock
America’s school day starts too early. That’s beginning to change
A Prozac moment?
Drugs to treat alcohol addiction are underused
Crypto cowboys
Wyoming wants to become America’s crypto capital
Before the firing squad
Texas Republicans may oust Ken Paxton, one of their own
Lexington
Why some GOP candidates don’t act as aggrieved as Donald Trump

Middle East & Africa


Earth and water
The lethal negligence of politicians in Morocco and Libya
A court of their own
The judge and the attorney-general fighting for Israeli democracy
Long road to nowhere
The Oslo accords were always doomed to fail
Kenya, Africa’s climate laboratory
Kenya wants to pioneer a new African approach to global warming
Snarling or smiling
Kenya’s president, William Ruto, shows two sides
The Americas


Southern spooks
Latin America remains a playground for Russian intelligence
Rio roulette
Short of cash, Brazil’s government may end its gambling prohibition
Europe


Staying the course
Donald Trump will “never” support Putin, says Volodymyr Zelensky
Not so Nazi
Ukraine’s small Jewish community is thriving
Help wanted
Italy needs more migrants, but has trouble admitting it
Running with wolves
Germany’s rampant hard-right AfD puts other parties in a fix
Charlemagne
Meet Matus Vallo, Bratislava’s hipster mayor-architect
Britain


Welfare
Why Britain has a unique problem with economic inactivity
Britain and China
A spy for China in Britain’s Parliament?
Local government crisis
Why more English councils will go bust
Prisons in Britain
The (not so) great escape
New universities
Britain’s surprising, upstart universities
Doomsday
How to get ready for the end of the world
Bagehot
Centrists need to stop worrying and learn to love politics
International


Counsels of war
Are Ukraine’s tactics working?
Business


Survival guide
The plucky firms that are beating big tech
Search in the dock
A showdown between the DoJ and Google begins
Bartleby
Who is the most important person in your company?
New battlegrounds
Apple is only the latest casualty of the Sino-American tech war
Inspecting under the bonnet
Chinese carmakers are under scrutiny in Europe
Swap teams
Electric two-wheelers are creating a buzz in Asia
Schumpeter
The Mittelstand will redeem German innovation
Finance & economics


Keep digging
How to avoid a green-metals crunch
Buttonwood
Why diamonds are losing their allure
Upwards
India’s property market is ready for take-off
Tuition drag
The resumption of student-loan payments will hit American growth
Whatever it wants
Has the European Central Bank become too powerful?
Free exchange
Does China face a lost decade?
Science & technology


AI Science (1)
How scientists are using artificial intelligence
Robot scientists
Could AI transform science itself?
Culture


Scare-brained
How fear has shaped human affairs
Of ties and lies
Conspiracy theorists are obsessed with the Rothschild family
Johnson
The importance of handwriting is becoming better understood
Rough waters
A history of solitary sailing asks why people seek out its danger
Forget me not
“North Woods”, a new novel, explores the limits of memory
Messiah, menace or both?
Impulsive and self-destructive: Elon Musk as depicted in a new book
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Graphic detail


Measure for measure
Global democratic backsliding seems real, even if it is hard to measure
Obituary


Rules in the millions
Douglas Lenat trained computers to think the old-fashioned way