The world this week

Politics
Business
The weekly cartoon
This week’s covers
Leaders


Iran, Israel and the Palestinians
The year that shattered the Middle East
Kill or be killed is the region’s new logic. Deterrence and diplomacy would be better

Too soon to party
Don’t celebrate China’s stimulus just yet
It will take more than a spectacular stockmarket rally to revive the economy

Ishiba Shigeru, gadfly-turned-leader
Socially liberal and strong on defence, Japan’s new premier shows promise
But he must ditch his more eccentric ideas if he is to control his party

Shake up, not break up
Dismantling Google is a terrible idea
Despite its appeal as a political rallying cry

Know a fly, know thyself?
A map of a fruit fly’s brain could help us understand our own
A miracle of complexity, powered by rotting fruit

Letters

On the Cayman Islands, Afghanistan, Turkey, blood donations, private tutors, Britain, sex and Christianity
Letters to the editor
By Invitation


One year of war in Gaza
Philippe Lazzarini says the blows to humanitarian law in Gaza harm us all
Mexico
Ernesto Zedillo says AMLO has left Mexico on the verge of authoritarianism
Briefing


On many fronts
The bloodshed in the Middle East is fast expanding
Israel seems certain to retaliate to Iran’s missile attack

The great mistake
What Hamas misunderstood about the Middle East
A war meant to draw in the militant group’s allies has instead left them battered

No common purpose
A year on, Israeli society is divided about the lessons of October 7th
Hawks and doves, religious and secular, right and left—all the old cleavages are resurfacing

The Palestinians’ future
Has the war in Gaza radicalised young Palestinians?
After Gaza, how will the Palestinians try to build their state?
Asia


The outsider otaku
Japan’s new prime minister is his own party’s sternest critic
An interview with Admiral Hua Tang
China is using an “anaconda strategy” to squeeze Taiwan
Putting the AI in Mumbai
India has a unique opportunity to lead in AI
No longer showing up
America is losing South-East Asia to China
China


The fear of falling
Worries of a Soviet-style collapse keep Xi Jinping up at night
Making a sPLAsh
A missile test by China marks its growing nuclear ambitions
Udder pressure
Why China is awash in unwanted milk
United States


Voting and victimhood
Crypto bros v cat ladies: gender and the 2024 election
October surprise
A ports strike shows the stranglehold one union has on trade
Running mate
Tim Walz is the most popular candidate on either ticket
Taking the initiative
Many Americans can decide their own policies. What will they choose?
Washed away
Hurricane Helene was America’s deadliest storm in nearly two decades
Reinventing the army
The US Army’s chief of staff has ideas on the force of the future
Lexington
The vice-presidential debate was surprisingly cordial

Middle East & Africa


Looking for trouble
A dangerous dispute in the Horn of Africa
The Americas


A long shadow
Jair Bolsonaro still shapes Brazil’s political right
World’s end
Peruvians are debating how to protect isolated tribes
Everyone’s a winner
Why is football in Latin America so complex?
Europe


Not wholly in power
Pedro Sánchez clings to office at a cost to Spain’s democracy
Austria’s election
Why the hard-right Herbert Kickl is unlikely to be Austria’s next chancellor
Hoping for better
Ukraine’s Roma have suffered worse than most in the war
In the Wildersness
The Netherlands’ new hard-right government is a mess
Sexual violence
A harrowing rape trial in France has revived debate about consent
Charlemagne
How the wolf went from folktale villain to culture-war scapegoat
Britain


Tory Benn
Britain’s Conservatives adopt the bad habits of the Labour left
Party time
Why on earth would anyone go to a British party conference?
A wartime diaspora
Ukrainians are settling down in Britain. That creates a problem
Blyth spirit
Gigafactories and dashed dreams: the parable of Blyth
The wheels of justice
The scourge of stolen bikes in Britain
Burning ambition
Britain’s last coal-fired power station closes
Bagehot
How British-Nigerians quietly made their way to the top
Business


Changing the program
AI and globalisation are shaking up software developers’ world
Pound of flesh
Will America’s government try to break up Google?
If the face is fit…
Workouts for the face are a growing business
Road trip
Transit vans are the key to Ford’s future
Instantaneous consumption
India’s consumers are changing how they buy
Bartleby
What makes a good manager?
Schumpeter
The future of the Chinese consumer—in three glasses
Finance & economics


Good-vibes rally
Xi Jinping’s belated stimulus has reset the mood in Chinese markets
Economic decoupling
Why is Canada’s economy falling behind America’s?
Unaccountable accounts
A tonne of public debt is never made public
Buttonwood
Can Andrea Orcel, Europe’s star banker, create a super-bank?
Block party
The house-price supercycle is just getting going
Free exchange
Why economic warfare nearly always misses its target
Science & technology


On the fly
An adult fruit fly brain has been mapped—human brains could follow
So much hot air
Why it’s so hard to tell which climate policies actually work
Island life
Isolated communities are more at risk of rare genetic diseases
Sound of mind
AI offers an intriguing new way to diagnose mental-health conditions
Culture


The stickiness factor
The Malcolm Gladwell rule: how to succeed while annoying critics
Money matters
The best new books to read about finance
Revisiting history
Was Abraham Lincoln gay?
No passing fad
Fashion photography is in vogue
The next big thing
Turn down the K-pop and pay attention to K-healing
Back Story
Roald Dahl was a genius—and a shocking bigot
The Economist reads


The Economist reads
Books that probe the secrets of the Mossad
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary


Obituary
Maggie Smith, the dowager countess of comic timing