Elon Musk’s efficiency drive
The world this week
Politics
Business
The weekly cartoon
This week’s covers

Leaders

Efficiency drive
Is Elon Musk remaking government or breaking it?
So far, there is more destruction than creation

A perilous path
Israel’s expansionism is a danger to others—and itself
It risks turning hubris into disaster
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan makes statements at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on March 24th 2025
Dark times
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is throttling Turkey’s democracy
But no one outside Turkey seems to care
A US cargo container blocking containers on the left and dollar signs on the right
The cost of uncertainty
The unpredictability of Trump’s tariffs will increase the pain
Businesses are struggling to adjust
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves carries a folder as she walks in Downing Street ahead of presenting the Spring Statement to Parliament, in London, Britain, March 26th 2025
Not too late
Labour can still rescue Britain’s growth prospects
But after a messy Spring Statement, the window of opportunity is narrowing
A nurse prepares to administer a malaria vaccine to an infant at the health centre in Datcheka, Cameroon, January 22nd 2024
Prioritising foreign aid
First, jab more babies
As aid shrinks, donors and recipients should focus more on health

Letters
A selection of correspondence
Trying to define a “labour shortage” in economics
By Invitation

Rethinking trade
The global trading system needs new rules, not tariffs, say Wally Adeyemo and Joshua Zoffer
Turkey’s political crisis
Ekrem Imamoglu’s wife on how his arrest has turned a mayor into a movement
Briefing
A photo collage with a triumphant-looking Netanyahu at the center, surrounded by images of Israeli bombings in Gaza and Lebanon, refugees, grieving victims, and figures like Trump, Khamenei and al-Sharaa.
Living by the sword
An unrestrained Israel is reshaping the Middle East
Its quest for hegemony will strain domestic cohesion and foreign alliances
Asia
A bilboard of MK Stalin in with background with supporters walking past
Seating plans
Why India’s south is fighting plans to overhaul parliament
Droning on
Myanmar’s battered junta embraces drone warfare
India’s history wars
Riots over a dead Muslim ruler put Narendra Modi in a tight spot
A new era for salarymen
Japanese people are starting to quit their jobs
Banyan
How a year of tremor and terror transformed Japan
China
An illustration of a computer monitor with an eye in the centre, displaying binary code in its pupil. The monitor has a red background with symbols: a Chinese flag, an email "@" sign, a folder, and a cursor. The monitor is connected to circuit-like arms en
Tracking the hacking
Chinese hackers are getting bigger, better and stealthier
Shakedown
The Chinese government is cracking down on predatory law enforcement
Unreal estate
Estate agents in China are trying everything to sell flats
United States
A Tesla on the lawn of the W\hite House, with mud flying everywhere.
Cyber muck
Elon Musk is powersliding through the federal government
Re-education classes
MAGA is already rewiring American education
Bayou boundaries
America’s Supreme Court tackles a thorny voting-rights case
2 fast 2 furious
Texas troopers are in more and more lethal car chases
Lexington
The cover-up is worse than the group chat

The Americas
People wait in Ouanaminthe, Haiti to cross into Dajabon, Dominican Republic
Hispaniola
One island, two worlds
Just one big question
Mark Carney calls a snap election in Canada
Disappearances in Mexico
A newly discovered killing site shocks Mexico
Middle East & Africa
A child receives a shot during the launch of the extension of the worlds first malaria vaccine
A shot of hope
A faster rollout of malaria vaccines would save many lives
Troubled Rivers
Nigeria’s president pushes the limits of his power
My enemy’s enemy
Israel courts the Middle East’s minorities
The Jewish diaspora
The war in Gaza has unsettled the Jewish diaspora
Europe
Protest in Istanbul against the detention of Istanbul mayor Imamoglu, Turkey
Dictatorship’s edge
Protests are the last thing keeping Turkey’s democracy alive
Adrift
Russia plays for time in Ukraine ceasefire talks
Draining brains
Trump is driving American scientists into Europe’s arms
The longer they stay
Ukrainian refugees may be in Europe for good
Vowing not to be silent
A fight over a cloister in tourist-filled Florence
Charlemagne
The prospect of war has turned Europe into a continent of preppers
Britain
Rachel Reeves takes questions during a press conference after the Spring Statement
Events, Keir boy
Britain’s wimpish effort to balance its books
Calendar quirk
Why does the British tax year end on April 5th?
Meta data
New data show that the class divide in Britain may not be so wide
Critical infrastructure
Heathrow’s outage raises questions about Britain’s resilience
Draught-dodgers
Can Britons be enticed to fix their draughty homes?
Hospital pass
What is the future of British hospitals?
Bagehot
Who will speak for Henry?
International
President Donald Trump stands on red carpeted stairs as he talks to the media in the Grand Foyer during a tour at the John F. Kennedy Center, Washington DC, USA.
Trumplash
Donald Trump is affecting politics everywhere
Wing women
Trump is a problem for Europe’s most important hard-right leaders
The Telegram
Europe will have to zip its lip over China’s abuses
Business
An illustration of Elon Musk as a Napoelan-style bust statue.
An X on his back
Musk Inc is under serious threat
Swamp creatures
Lobbyists hope that Trump will produce a bonanza
New chapters
Barnes & Noble, a bookstore, is back in the business of selling books
Spit take
How safe is your DNA in a bankruptcy?
The chips are down
ASML’s boss has a warning for Europe
Bartleby
Teams and extremes
Schumpeter
Big law’s capitulation to Donald Trump may be bad for business
Finance & economics
A $100 bill with 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN' cut out of it, placed on a red background with letter fragments scattered below
Will he? Won’t he?
Trump’s tariff pain: the growing evidence
Spoiler power
How Europe can hurt Russia’s economy
Mo’ problems, mo’ money
Live music seems recession-proof. Thank ticket scalpers
Sitting on a…
The surging gold price is boosting Central Asia’s economies
A Latin American fintech star
Nubank has conquered Brazil. Now it is expanding overseas
Buttonwood
Can foreign investors learn to love China again?
Free exchange
Even priests need the free market
Science & technology
Image of Mars sent by Hope Probe.
Don’t stop him now
Can Musk put people on Mars?
Hunt for the red-hot October
Climate change may make it harder to spot submarines
Well informed
How harmful are electronic cigarettes?
Culture
Golden trophy made from TV's
Television’s most valuable player
How Shonda Rhimes became a billion-dollar asset for streamers
The debt sealing
Transatlantic fights over war budgets are nothing new
Let’s air this out
Five years after covid, have scientists learned their lesson?
Unhappily ever after
What the controversial new “Snow White” can teach Hollywood
Zuckraking
How not to handle a corporate kiss-and-tell book
Back Story
Why “Adolescence” has become a global smash hit
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary

To Finland in a car boot
Oleg Gordievsky worked for both sides in the cold war