The world this week
The world this week
Politics
6 min read
The world this week
Business
4 min read
The world this week
The weekly cartoon
1 min read
Leaders

Our cover
The World Cup paradox
How the rules of both entertainment and soft power are being rewritten
5 min read
President Donald Trump looking isolated in shadows
Dire strait
Donald Trump’s least bad option in Iran
He must swallow his pride and accept a deal worse than the pre-war status quo
3 min read
Photomontage of Kevin Warsh with blue and black squares.
When the facts change
The Federal Reserve must soon give Donald Trump bad news
Kevin Warsh, the unlucky new chairman, has seen his case for lower interest rates disintegrate
4 min read
Workers at a construction site in Liangping High-tech Zone in Chongqing, China
China’s concentration risk
For its own sake, China should change its growth model
It is suffering economic costs for its industrial dominance
4 min read
Collage of De Tocqueville on a red background, with a map of the United States and blue stars.
In praise of road trips
The best way to celebrate America at 250 is to get behind the wheel
Preferably with our new podcast series for company
3 min read

Letters
This illustration depicts the Grim Reaper holding a red-and-white striped plastic straw instead of a scythe, symbolizing death being used as or acting as a gatekeeper.
A selection of correspondence
What can you learn from the Premier League?
Also this week, school meals in Indonesia, commuting, Barney Frank, MAGA tax, condoms
6 min read
By Invitation

AI-men to that!
Silicon Valley needs to get God
Tech must reorient towards moral purpose for it—and humankind—to flourish, argues Glen Weyl
5 min read
Gianni’s end?
This may just be the last World Cup
5 min read
Briefing
Photo collage featuring South African and Brazilian singers, Danish musicians, and Polish, Korean and Japanese TV series
Music, TV and video games
Forget the World Cup. Culture is becoming more fragmented
Farewell to the monoculture
14 min read
Britain
Blue-green algae infest the water on the shores of Lough Neagh, in Northern Ireland
The nationalisation dead end
Britain’s privatised utilities are a mess
But public ownership is a red herring
6 min read
Blow the whistle
Britain’s rail nationalisation is going full steam ahead
3 min read
Playground politics
A kids’ social-media ban would be a bad parting gift from Keir Starmer
4 min read
Belfast burning
A frenzied knife attack by a refugee has put Northern Ireland on edge
3 min read
King and “Country Life”
A posh and peculiar British magazine is thriving
5 min read
Bagehot
British politicians are racing to the hard right
5 min read
Europe
Tangled arrows bearing the EU flag and Chinese flag face off in the centre of the image
Trade trap
A trade war between the EU and China seems inevitable
Europe sees Chinese subsidies, China sees European weakness
5 min read
In the gang
Why Turkey likes NATO again
5 min read
Moving Kramatorsk
Ukraine is transplanting its industrial heart to the west
4 min read
Hitting the hinterland
Ukrainian strikes are inflicting pain deep inside Russia
1 min read
Pressure failure
Armenia’s election is a setback for Vladimir Putin
5 min read
Charlemagne
Ukraine’s war is now longer than the first world war
5 min read

United States

Pleasantvilles
America’s quintessential places are getting old, fast
Welcome to the greying suburbs
6 min read
Arch enemies
The ageing protesters trying to topple Washington’s “ego arch”
3 min read
Catholics and confession
Should priests have to report child abuse disclosed in confession?
4 min read
Amok on TikTok
Social media is behind both “teen takeovers” and the outrage they fuel
3 min read
Votes and likes
America’s mayors join the scrabble to become influencers
2 min read
Tik-Tocqueville
On America’s 250th, go back to “Democracy in America”
10 min read
Lexington
The Knicks represent New York—and capitalism—at its best
5 min read
Essay

America at 250
From morning in America to endless conflict
12 min read

America at 250
How the war on terror primed America for autocracy
The road from 9/11 leads directly to January 6th, writes Rosa Brooks
5 min read
Middle East & Africa
An Iranian woman walks past a wall painting of Iranian women soldiers on a street in Tehran
Rolling the dice
Iran has lost its fear of war
A once-cautious regime is making a risky bet on low-level conflict
5 min read
A growing dilemma
How Israel is frustrating Donald Trump’s Iran plans
5 min read
All at sea
The first-ever robotic rescue at sea is a milestone
2 min read
A rare winner
Syria is an unexpected beneficiary of the Gulf war
4 min read
Dilemmas in the horn
Could Eritrea come in from the cold?
4 min read
No, he won’t go
Fighting in Mogadishu risks making a weak state weaker
3 min read
The Americas
A member of the Jalisco State Security Secretariat conducts a helicopter patrol in Guadalajara, Mexico, over the stadium.
An ugly game
The World Cup will test Mexico’s control over its territory
Donald Trump, who says the government is too weak to combat the drug gangs, will be watching
5 min read
Dead heat
What happens when a presidential vote is a drawn-out contest?
4 min read
Castles made of sand
Techno-libertarians are flocking to the Caribbean
4 min read
Asia
Illustration of Lee Jae Myung
Back in the Blue House
An interview with South Korea’s president
Lee Jae Myung has put his country on track again, but challenges loom
6 min read
A chicken and egg problem
Asian activists say too much egg production is cruel
3 min read
Pest control
Can India’s cockroach party become a political movement?
2 min read
The other parent
Japan is rethinking its divorce laws
3 min read
Ashoka
Money troubles are driving India’s states to drink
4 min read

China
Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang
A Kim-Xi summit
Nukes were off the agenda as Xi Jinping visited North Korea
China is wary of Russian influence and another Trump-Kim summit
6 min read
Fewer and smarter?
China’s notorious university-entrance exam is changing
4 min read
Driving at the limits
In China ride-hailing work is a last resort for rural labourers
3 min read
Chaguan
A dropout-turned-influencer shakes up Chinese science
5 min read
International
Illustration of three official looking men of different nationalities playing Subbuteo
Of trophies and melting pots
How to win the World Cup
Being rich helps, but being open to immigration works best of all
6 min read
Poisoned chalice
The World Cup has always been beset by scandal and strife
5 min read
The Telegram
Why strongmen are wrong to loathe Europe
5 min read
Business
A stylized illustration of Bigfoot walking near a city skyline and bridge. It contrasts a mythical creature with a modern urban setting, highlighting the legend's larger-than-life presence.
Artificial intelligence
Fear of the SaaSpocalypse is tormenting techland
Software once ate the world. Now it is in danger of eating itself
5 min read
Rich pickings
The world’s wealthy are migrating like never before
4 min read
Pavement pioneers
Robots could soon be delivering your pizza
2 min read
A second bite
Apple’s new Siri is a dark horse in the AI race
3 min read
No golden ticket
Another new boss aims to fix the world’s biggest chocolate-maker
3 min read
Bartleby
Too many people are shockingly bad at prioritisation
4 min read
Schumpeter
American capitalism is run by millionaires, not billionaires
5 min read
Finance & economics
Illustration of two chinese dragons whose bodies are shaped like graph lines facing off
A game of two halves
China is innovative. Its economy is a mess. Which matters more?
A question that will define the 21st century
9 min read
Three measures of the new three
How big are China’s emerging industries?
4 min read
Investing by numbers
Stears wants to be Africa’s Bloomberg terminal
3 min read
Timeless fashion
A bidding war erupts for the world’s oldest bank
2 min read
Hoard behaviour
The world’s strategic oil reserves are running out fast
5 min read
Buttonwood
Wall Street’s undignified SpaceX mania
4 min read
Free Exchange
How to share AI riches
5 min read
Science & technology
illustration of a circle of robotic hands placing a puzzle piece into a matching robotic hand. The interconnected arrangement forms a continuous loop.
Over and over
How artificial intelligence got better at building itself
What does “recursive self-improvement” mean for the technology?
9 min read
Lung-range forecast
New techniques can predict and prevent lung cancer
3 min read
Doctors with borders
Too much Chinese science is ignored by the West
3 min read
Well Informed
The chemicals that reduce wrinkles
3 min read

Culture
Argentina's Diego Maradona celebrates holding the World Cup trophy aloft as he is carried off the field after Argentina won the World Cup Final
Fantasy football
Who should win the World Cup?
It’s a better question than “Who will win?” It tells you what the tournament is for
6 min read
Blood, sweat and jeers
The most hated countries at the FIFA World Cup
3 min read
Back Story
Steven Spielberg has more to say about aliens
4 min read
To high heaven?
Saint or sinner: Antoni Gaudí’s polarising style
4 min read
What’s yours is mine
The people behind the largest art heist in history
3 min read
Slaying the game
What “Backrooms” and “Obsession” reveal about Gen Z’s fears
2 min read
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary
Still from "Persepolis" showing Marjane Satrapi smoking
Veil and beard and nuclear weapon
Marjane Satrapi set out to correct the West’s views of Iran
The author of “Persepolis”, an international sensation, died on June 4th, aged 56
5 min read