Rise of the superhuman
The world this week
Politics
Business
The weekly cartoon
This week’s cover

Leaders

Humanity 2.0
How to enhance humans
Finding ways to live much longer—and better—shouldn’t be left to the cranks

Russia and America talk
The trap Vladimir Putin has set for Donald Trump
The Russian president wants to suggest that Ukraine is just a detail in a wider relationship
Salvadoran police officers hold down an alleged member of the Tren de Aragua gang, on his way to the Terrorism Confinement Center prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 16th 2025
Gangster law
The judges Trump scorns should stand their ground
The rule of law is at stake

Rent, killed
If you can’t find a place to rent, blame the government
Foolish crusades against landlords have made housing shortages worse
Pedestrians pass a job centre plus
Working it out
Britain at last takes aim at worklessness
But Labour’s other economic policies risk undermining its efforts

Letters
A selection of correspondence
Cuts to foreign aid will harm Africa’s future
By Invitation

He alone can’t fix it
Donald Trump’s unwillingness to heed allies’ advice is foreign-policy folly, writes Gary Bass
Briefing
An illustration showcasing human enhancement, featuring zoomed-in sections highlighting enhanced body parts and their corresponding treatments.
Cyborgs, superhumans and cranks
Dreams of improving the human race are no longer science fiction
But the “enhancement” industry is still hobbled by out-of-date regulation
Asia
Illustration of a group of shadowy people working on glowing screens while the shadow of Kim Jong Un looms over them
Hermit hackers
Why are North Korean hackers such good crypto-thieves?
Bait and switch
North Korea is remarkably entrenched in global supply chains
Beyond the bromance
Why the Indian diaspora has not yet embraced Donald Trump
Reams of red tape
India is obsessed with giving its people “unique IDs”
The enemy within
Taiwan’s president takes on alleged Chinese infiltration
Banyan
China’s cynicism offensive in Asia
China
A Chinese flag is seen in front of containers at the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, Shanghai
Pass the port
Why China hates the Panama Canal deal, but still may not block it
The curse of 35
Ageism is rampant in Chinese companies
On the beach
China is developing some startling new kit in its quest to reclaim Taiwan
United States
A photo montage of the USA flag with the top of the Kremlin on it.
To Russia with love
The American and Russian right are aligning
Blue-state blues
The pandemic hit pupils hardest in America’s Democrat-leaning states
Cambridge yimbies
Cambridge yimbies
Not so bullish
America is facing a beef deficit
Worth a shot
Why America has not passed a law to treat addiction better
Christian Vegas
What a Christian theatre town can teach Trump’s Kennedy Centre
Lexington
Donald Trump is testing more than America’s Constitution

The Americas
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, greets supporters.
Power play
Will Donald Trump shape the Mexican president’s domestic agenda?
Go north, if you can
Donald Trump has reshaped one of the world’s most important migration routes
The disputed definition of a doctor
How Cuba competes with Uncle Sam in the Caribbean islands
Middle East & Africa
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis
War in Gaza
Israel’s strikes may be only the start of a new offensive in Gaza
The Houthis’ resilience
America’s strikes on the Houthis could whip up a regional tempest
Playing with fire
A coup attempt in Tigray raises tensions in the Horn
Hostile environment
Nigerian politics is a nasty place for women
A quiet renaissance
The success of Ivory Coast is Africa’s best-kept secret
Europe
People gather outside the City Hall to protest the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey
Discarding democracy
Erdogan arrests the candidate who could beat him
Peace by piece
Putin woos Trump with a partial ceasefire and big geopolitical deal
Rollback
Ukraine’s army escapes from Kursk by the skin of its teeth
Raising the boom
Europe’s armsmakers have ramped up capacity
Goodbye debt brake
The Bundestag approves the biggest fiscal expansion in post-war history
Charlemagne
Europe needs to spend more on defence, not just pretend to
Britain
Illustration of an eye with the british crest in the middle of it, on a green background with a digital looking texture
Tinker tailor investor spy
Why British spooks are reaching out to the private sector
Work to welfare—and back again?
The thinking behind Labour’s benefits cuts
Gut feelings
ZOE, a British personal-nutrition app, is growing fast
Basket case
Comparing apples and oranges. And also small caged mammals
War and peace
A Northern Irish factory has a deal to make missiles for Ukraine
Training and skills
Why apprenticeships are so rare in Britain
Bagehot
The British state has a bad case of long covid
International
Illustration of massive spy with glowing red eyes and an American flag patch has his hands around a group of four tiny spies in hats
MAGA and espionage
Donald Trump v the spies of Five Eyes
Voicelessness of America
Donald Trump shoots his own global mouthpiece
The Telegram
The right way to fight nativists
Business
A red model shipping container on fire
Burning the boats
Will Trump’s tariffs turbocharge foreign investment in America?
Boom time
East Asia’s armsmakers are on the rise
For all they care
How hospitals inflate America’s giant health-care bill
Couture consolidation
The luxury industry is poised for a deal wave
Bartleby
The horrors of shared docs
Schumpeter
Should BHP, Rio Tinto and Vale learn from Chinese rivals?
Finance & economics
Illustration of American flag balloon floats between tall green cacti against a soft pink sky
Prickly situation
The Trump administration is playing a dangerous stockmarket game
Everyone’s a loser
Even the Trumpiest stocks are suffering
Hammer and sickie
Can anything get China’s shoppers to spend?
Charging ahead
Where will be the next electric-vehicle superpower?
Buttonwood
Beneath investors’ feet, the ground is shifting
Housing problems
Why rents are out of control
Free exchange
America’s Democrats should embrace “abundance liberalism”
Science & technology
An illustration of the profile of a woman with virus shapes around her. This is about the link between Alzheimer's and viruses.
Going viral
Do viruses trigger Alzheimer’s?
Deep dives
Why don’t seals drown?
Hear no evil
Rumours on social media could cause sick people to feel worse
Debunkology
Can people be persuaded not to believe disinformation?
Well informed
What is the best way to keep your teeth healthy?
Culture

The importance of being Ernest
What baby names reveal about American and British society
World in a dish
Why everyone is harping on about Guinness
Down in the dumps
What really happens to everything you recycle
Back Story
At 100 “The Great Gatsby” is as urgent as ever, old sport
The Economist reads
The best novels of the year so far
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary
Richard Fortey with a fossil
A gaze across millennia
Richard Fortey remade the world with fossils