The world this week

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


NATO
Caught between Putin and Trump
Russian aggression and American wavering reveal how ill-equipped Europe is

Held in suspense
Do not expect America’s interest rates to fall just yet
The risk of a second wave of inflation remains too great

Weapons of misconstruction
Sanctions are not the way to fight Vladimir Putin
There is no substitute for military aid to Ukraine

Let them dig
The world needs more critical minerals. Governments are not helping
Just obtaining a permit takes a remarkably long time

Stop the war
How to prevent another catastrophic regional war in Congo
The world needs to press Rwanda to pull back its forces

Letters

On HS2, data centres, Vladimir Putin, the FHLB, academic research, the Holocaust, prosthetic limbs, animals on a plane
Letters to the editor
By Invitation


The Middle East
Oman’s foreign minister calls for an emergency peace conference
Artificial intelligence and copyright
Don’t give AI free access to work denied to humans, argues a legal scholar
Briefing


Present at the destruction
Can Europe defend itself without America?
It would need to replace military aid, a nuclear umbrella and leadership
Asia


Uncharitable India
India’s civil society is under attack
Feral ponies
How wild horses sparked a culture war in Australia
Gender relations
Japanese men have an identity crisis
Thai politics
Thaksin Shinawatra joins Thailand’s establishment
Banyan
How independent is India’s Supreme Court?
China


America’s election, viewed from Beijing
How scared is China of Donald Trump’s return?
Science fiction
Why fake research is rampant in China
Enter the loong
A nationalist effort to rebrand the Chinese dragon
Chaguan
Xi Jinping plays social engineer
United States


The Trump trials
Why those who wish to see Trump jailed soon will be disappointed
Voters’ views
How might Donald Trump’s trials sway voters?
From sand to sea
Does the American army’s future lie in Europe or Asia?
Counting canines
These American cities are obsessed with dogs
Lexington
The flaws that China’s chief ideologue found in America

Middle East & Africa


On the brink
Congo’s M23 rebellion risks sparking a regional war
Pub brawl
The booze industry reveals a lot about Kenya
A boost to democracy
Senegal’s judges stand up for the constitution
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox
Ultra-Orthodox Israelis’ refusal to fight is a growing problem for Netanyahu
Gaza’s devastated health system
The wrecking of Gaza’s health system goes beyond its hospitals
Saudi’s booze-free bars
Bar culture has arrived in Saudi Arabia, albeit without the booze
The Americas


Lessons from Lima
What Javier Milei could learn from Peru’s economic successes
Ongoing injustice
Jovenel Moïse’s widow is accused of being party to his murder
Europe


Two years on
Vladimir Putin has been fighting not just Ukraine, but his own people
War-weary
After two years of war, Ukrainians are becoming pessimistic
The Kremlin’s cross-hairs
Towns in eastern Ukraine fear they will be Russia’s next target
Ploughshares into swords
How Boris Pistorius is transforming the German armed forces
Charlemagne
Europe’s generosity to Ukrainian refugees is not so welcome—in Ukraine
Britain


Lifting sands
Can run-down Blackpool turn itself around?
Tax advice
A memo to Britain’s chancellor, Jeremy Hunt
Higher education and race
Some British universities have become remarkably racially diverse
Look north
A northern mayor’s left-wing challenge to Labour
Refurbished
How working from home is reshaping Canary Wharf
Bagehot
Sir Keir Starmer: bureaucrat first, politician second
International


From Russia without love
Russian spies are back—and more dangerous than ever
1843 magazine


Russia
Life and death in Putin’s gulag
Business


In a hole
Why the world’s mining companies are so stingy
Through the looking glass
The world’s biggest maker of spectacles wants to be a tech firm
Flagging business
Why does landlocked Eswatini have a ship registry?
Bartleby
The making of a PowerPoint slide
Silicon Valley sobriety
The age of the unicorn is over
A tale of two chip factories
TSMC is having more luck building in Japan than in America
Schumpeter
Is running a top university America’s hardest job?
Finance & economics


Gaps in the fence
Russia outsmarts Western sanctions—and China is paying attention
Pick your poison
Europe faces a painful adjustment to higher defence spending
Buttonwood
Should you put all your savings into stocks?
In the nick of time
As the Nikkei 225 hits record highs, Japan’s young start investing
Time to splurge
Gucci, Prada and Tiffany’s bet big on property
Free exchange
Trump wants to whack Chinese firms. How badly could he hurt them?
Science & technology


PINS and needles
Long covid is not the only chronic condition triggered by infection
Sweet science
New treatments are emerging for type-1 diabetes
Echoes of the past
Radio telescopes could spot asteroids with unprecedented detail
Spoiler alert
The challenges of steering a hypersonic plane
Culture


The war score
How Ukraine’s fortunes have ebbed
Flower power
The history of the opium trade helps explain the modern world
Aural history
Podcasts got their name 20 years ago this month
The lives of others
Is everything you assumed about the Middle Ages wrong?
Escape to “Dalifornia”
Growing numbers of Chinese are escaping urban life for rural peace
Good optics
Refik Anadol’s use of AI has made him the artist of the moment
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary


Better Russia, where are you?
Alexei Navalny didn’t just defy Putin—he showed up his depravity