Mar 21st 2020

Closed

The world this week

Leaders

Closed by covid-19

Paying to stop the pandemic

The struggle to save lives and the economy is likely to present agonising choices

The world economy

How to prevent a covid-19 slump, and protect the recovery

Governments need to be able to dial financial support up and down for people and firms

China v America

Expelling journalists is no way to fight a pandemic

In a crisis, reporting is more valuable than ever

Petro power struggle

Guyana’s dodgy poll is all about oil

If the election is stolen, the windfall will surely be squandered

The game’s the thing

As covid-19 causes sports cancellations, what can be done?

Exhibition matches? All-star games? A solution may be needed to maintain morale

Letters

On coronavirus and business, central banks, Hong Kong, data

Letters to the editor

Briefing

The lockdown and the long haul

In Europe, and around the world, governments are getting tougher

But what happens when restrictions slip?

Experimental treatment

Governments are spending big to keep the world economy from getting dangerously sick

The help is targeted at companies and individuals. More will be needed

United States

Responding to covid-19

American life has been transformed in a few short weeks

Census and sensibility

Coronavirus disruption risks damaging the 2020 United States census

Electoral distancing

Joe Biden builds an insurmountable lead

Little gay house on the prairie

Rural, gay Americans have more children

A load of old cobblers

The Bible museum’s fake scrolls

Lexington

Covid-19 is exposing America’s resilience—and vulnerability

The Americas

Burning leaves, spurning leavers

A tale of two crises in Colombia

Bello

Venezuela’s political quarantine

A little lichen relief

Canada’s quest for a national lichen

Asia

The billion-person question

If covid-19 takes hold in India the toll will be grim

Banyan

Even tiny Pacific islands cannot escape covid-19

Up, up, up and down

Covid-19 will end Australia’s 28 years of unbroken growth

Many plagues

The Maldives is threatened by jihadism and covid-19

Sperm wail

Japan tries to stop foreigners copying its cows

China

The blame game

Amid the pandemic, Sino-American relations are worsening

A frosty welcome

China worries about infections by travellers from abroad

Chaguan

How the virus kills dreams for Chinese teens

Middle East & Africa

Onslaught in Oromia

A hidden war threatens Ethiopia’s transition to democracy

Double trouble

Africans with disabilities are at higher risk of HIV

Coping with covid-19

How prayer is changing as a result of covid-19

Croc in the pot

The toils and spoils of Congo’s crocodile-killers

Crisis, opportunity

Binyamin Netanyahu vows to protect Israel from the virus

Europe

A gathering catastrophe

Italy is overtaking China as the country worst-hit by covid-19

Sánchez’s big test

Spaniards are uniting against covid-19

Frontier theatre

Why Europe’s new border controls won’t help much

The virus and the vote

France suspends local elections because of covid-19

Deplinthing a potentate

The tricky politics of tearing down statues of Alexander the Great

Another president for life

Some Russians are resisting Putin’s power grab

Charlemagne

More Europe or less?

Britain

Government

The virus means the big state is back

Out, out, brief candle

The closure of London’s theatres

Trains

A bailout for Britain’s railways?

Retail

How panic buying is affecting supermarkets

Demography and COVID-19

In Britain, old people already practise social distancing

Life under lockdown

Slices of British life under coronavirus

Crises collide

Covid-19 is delaying Brexit negotiations

Digital infrastructure

The internet’s resilience to mass homeworking

Bagehot

Spirit of the Blitz

International

Mid-term break

How covid-19 is interrupting children’s education

Business

Covid carnage

Much of global commerce has ground to a halt

Flight risk

Airlines are running out of cash

My iron lung

Companies are scrambling to build more ventilators

Very golden oldiest

Berkshire Hathaway has America Inc’s oldest board

Bartleby

How corporate leaders should act in a crisis

Schumpeter

How Visa became the top dog in global finance

Finance & economics

The cash crisis

Why America’s financial plumbing has seized up

Buttonwood

The agonies of stock-picking in a falling market

Multi-coloured swap shop

The dollar is in high demand, prone to dangerous appreciation

Two versions of reality

Exchange-traded fundamentals

Closing stock exchanges

Venues may close. Trading should remain open

Free exchange

Economies can rebound quickly from massive GDP slumps—but not always

Science & technology

The coronavirus pandemic

Developing and deploying tests for SARS-CoV-2 is crucial

Sentimental journey

A new way to review scientific literature is being tested

Palaeontology

Another ancient bird skull is another bit of avian history

Books & arts

Ghetto blasters

Uganda’s pop stars are enlivening political campaigns—and launching them

The prince

A biography of Saudi Arabia’s Machiavellian ruler

Brave new world

How Shakespeare’s plays reflect America’s preoccupations

He said, she says

Kate Elizabeth Russell’s debut novel is an unsettling tale of abuse

Johnson

A tribute to the original Johnson columnist

Economic & financial indicators

Economic and financial indicators

Graphic detail

Ending the nosedive

As Western flights shut down, Chinese routes are opening again

Obituary

The throw of the dice