The world this week

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


The Chinese EV onslaught
An influx of Chinese cars is terrifying the West
But it should keep its markets open to cheap, clean vehicles

Red Sea, Black Sea, South China Sea
America fights back
The war against the Houthis is part of an escalating struggle for the seas

The hole at the heart of the old continent
Why Olaf Scholz is no Angela Merkel
Germany is unable and unwilling to lead Europe

Business and the culture wars
How to cut through the cacophony over DEI
Outrage on right and left obscures both the costs of DEI and the benefits of diversity

Just sign the cheque
“No-strings giving” is transforming philanthropy
The rich can donate their money quickly and wisely

Letters

On America’s media, behavioural economics, Azerbaijan, London, military beards, forecasting
Letters to the editor
By Invitation


Taiwan’s election
Questions about China dominate Taiwanese elections, says Nathan Batto
Briefing


The car east
Western firms are quaking as China’s electric-car industry speeds up
Expertise in batteries and a vast domestic market give Chinese firms an edge
Asia


Beyond infrastructure
South-East Asia learns how to deal with China
Thumb on the scales
Women’s (in)justice in India
Beach bummer
India bridles at China’s growing presence in South Asia
Sheikh, rattle and roll
Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, wins a fifth term
Banyan
The favourite in Indonesia’s presidential election has a sordid past
China


Getting soft
Xi Jinping is struggling to stamp out graft in the PLA
Trading threats
China heaps pressure on Taiwan ahead of a big election
No laughing matter
A comical effort by China’s intelligence agency
Chaguan
Nostalgia for China’s boom years drives a TV hit
United States


First dance, and maybe the last one too
Donald Trump’s Iowa operation suggests his campaign will be formidable
Fed herring
The US Supreme Court is primed to recalibrate government power
Hospital pass
Joe Biden’s disappearing defence secretary
NRA on trial
A lawsuit in New York may shake things up at the NRA
Ya got trouble
Broadway is struggling to find its rhythm after the pandemic
Lexington
Ron DeSantis has some lessons for America’s politicians

Middle East & Africa


Inside the strip
Just how bad is it in Gaza?
The hub that once was Gaza
Under a real peace deal, Gaza could be an intercontinental crossroads
The dilemmas multiply
Israel has yet to destroy even half of Gaza’s tunnels
Struggling comrades
South Africa’s support for the Palestinian cause has deep roots
Blight of the Satellites
Can satellite cities help solve Africa’s urbanisation challenges?
The Americas


Cocaine-fuelled chaos
How Ecuador became Latin America’s deadliest country
Dire straits
The dwindling of the Panama Canal boosts rival trade routes
A new model for Central America?
Guatemala’s new president promises a better sort of government
Europe


A new pecking order
Who is in charge of Europe?
Meet a mini-Macron
The president appoints modern France’s youngest prime minister
Red, black and kaleidoscopic
Germany’s new party on the far left may eat into the far right
Laughter and fear
Ukrainian stand-up comedy has seen a renaissance during the war
Charlemagne
How the spirit of Jacques Delors might be rekindled
Britain


Rest in pieces
The housing ladder, 1950-2005
Hush-hush
A typically British way to smooth handovers of power
Justice in the mail
Britain’s worst miscarriage of justice sparks outrage at last
The Notional Health Service
Britain’s health-care system looks rather as it did in the 1930s
Cymrunavia
Wales wants to be more like Scandinavia
This sectored isle
Counting Britain’s beauties and leech-bleeders
Bagehot
Keir Starmer, Reform UK and Britain’s populist paradox
International


Gun, boat, diplomacy
Welcome to the new era of global sea power
Special report


Move fast and mend things
The super-rich are trying new approaches to philanthropy
Power to the people
No-strings philanthropy is giving charities more decision-making power
Cut out the middle man
GiveDirectly does what it says on the tin
Giving it away
A growing industry is emerging to make philanthropy simpler
Asian values
Philanthropy in Asia is becoming more professional
Nerds and cool kids
The “effective altruism” movement is louder than it is large
A mixed bag
The future of philanthropy will involve a mix of different approaches
Philanthropy
Sources and acknowledgments
Business


Silicon lowlands
Does Europe at last have an answer to Silicon Valley?
Labour’s love lost
German farmers and train drivers are scaring the country’s bosses
The other Saudi gold
Saudi Arabia wants to be the Saudi Arabia of minerals
Negative spillovers
Is Harvard Business School too woke?
Can’t exit emergency
Faulty door plugs open old wounds at Boeing
Bartleby
When your colleagues are also your rivals
Schumpeter
AI can transform education for the better
Finance & economics


Steel yourself
Xi Jinping risks setting off another trade war
Changes unseen
A guide to the Chinese Communist Party’s economic jargon
Bottle job
Will spiking shipping costs cause inflation to surge?
Buttonwood
Bill Ackman provides a lesson in activist investing
Doesn’t compute
What happened to the artificial-intelligence investment boom?
Free exchange
Has Team Transitory really won America’s inflation debate?
Science & technology


Slippers in the Oval Office
Heart attacks, strokes, dementia—can Biden and Trump beat the odds?
Power prose
Simine Vazire hopes to fix psychology’s credibility crisis
Climate change
2023 was the hottest year ever
Sharing the skies
Wind turbines are friendlier to birds than oil-and-gas drilling
A lift off and a loss
An American rocket has a fine debut; not so the Moon lander on board
Culture


Treasure quest
Inside the hunt for Ukraine’s stolen art
Classical music and conflict
Two Arab-Israeli musical initiatives reckon with the war in Gaza
Mighty minnows
What adroit small countries can teach the rest of the world
Earthly powers
A new book paints a damning portrait of America’s evangelicals
Superhero films
Marvel seems to be losing its powers
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
The Economist explains


The Economist explains
How the Iowa caucuses are changing in 2024
The Economist explains
Can Ukrainian drone attacks hurt Russia?
Obituary


Wind, sand and stars
Mike Sadler guided the first SAS raiders through the North African desert