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US in brief

Biden condemns campus violence; Stormy Daniels’s former lawyer testifies

Dateline

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Britain's general election

Explore The Economist's forecast for Britain's looming election

Briefing

America’s fiscal outlook is disastrous, but forgotten

On the campaign trail, both main candidates largely ignore the problem

Britain

In English local elections Labour won where it needed to

And even in places where it did not


Science & technology

The truth—and lies—behind Olena Zelenska’s $1.1m Cartier haul

The anatomy of a disinformation campaign




The world in brief

Peace talks between Israel and Hamas resumed in Cairo...

Police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters at several college campuses as disruption seen at American universities spread around the world...

The Labour Party’s Sadiq Khan was elected to a third term as mayor of London, comfortably holding off the Conservatives’ Susan Hall...

Authorities in Canada arrested three Indian nationals in connection with the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist activist who was shot in Vancouver in June...


True tales of secrecy, opacity and outright thievery in art

Two outsiders tried to crack the art business. They did not like what they found

Will America’s class of ’24 turn out like the boomers?

Our weekly newsletter on American politics

1843 magazine | Rahul Gandhi is on the march. But where is he heading?

He wants to be the champion of Indian liberalism. First he needs to save his party from irrelevance

Dateline: The Economist history quiz

Can you guess when these extracts were published?

US in brief

Biden condemns campus violence; Stormy Daniels’s former lawyer testifies

Dateline

Try The Economist's history quiz

Britain's general election

Explore The Economist's forecast for Britain's looming election

World news

Emmanuel Macron’s urgent message for Europe

The French president issues a dark and prophetic warning

1843 magazine | “It’s been a very long two weeks”: how the Gaza protests changed Columbia

The camp has been cleared. But the faculty of the Ivy League university remains deeply divided


Why South Africans are fed up after 30 years of democracy

After a bright start the ANC has proved incapable of governing for the whole country



Disinformation

How disinformation works—and how to counter it

More co-ordination is needed, and better access to data

Disinformation is on the rise. How does it work?

Understanding it will lead to better ways to fight it


Fighting disinformation gets harder, just when it matters most

Researchers and governments need to co-ordinate; tech companies need to open up


The vocabulary of disinformation

From AI-generated news to verification


Business, finance and economics

America’s reckless borrowing is a danger to its economy—and the world’s

Without good luck or a painful adjustment, the only way out will be to let inflation rip

Why does BHP want Anglo American?

Its $39bn takeover offer is the latest in a string of mining mega-mergers


Free exchange: Working from home and the US-Europe divide

Americans are no longer the rich world’s great office drones


Chinese EV-makers are leaving Western rivals in the dust

They have shone at Beijing’s car jamboree


Video

The war in Ukraine

A fresh Russian push will test Ukraine severely, says a senior general

An interview with Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence

Russia’s gas business will never recover from the war in Ukraine

Hopes of a Chinese rescue look increasingly vain


Who is supplying Russia’s arms industry?

New research traces the origin of crucial imports


Ukraine’s draft dodgers are living in fear

Ever more conscripts are needed against Russia’s offensive


India’s election

Even disillusioned young Indian voters favour Narendra Modi

They worry about their future, but do not blame the BJP

How strong is India’s economy?

It isn’t the next China, but it could still transform itself and the world


Radio Modi: How India’s prime minister sweet-talks the nation

We analysed hundreds of Narendra Modi’s broadcasts. They reveal a meticulously cultivated image


Five charts that show why the BJP expects to win India’s election

Narendra Modi’s party is eyeing another big victory


Strife in the Middle East

University protests about Gaza spread to the Middle East

But Arab students are looking to America for inspiration

Israel’s prime minister does not know where to go

Binyamin Netanyahu may be losing the plot


How much do Palestinians pay to get out of Gaza?

Middlemen are profiting from Gazans’ desperation


The Middle East has a militia problem

More than a quarter of the region’s 400m people live in states dominated by armed groups


America’s election year

Joe Biden is practising some Clintonian politics

But he needs to do more than crack down on “junk fees” to woo swing voters

In brief

Police enter UCLA encampment; Arizona Senate repeals abortion bill

Our daily political update, featuring the stories that matter


Interactive US election 2024

Can you build a Trump voter?

Try our tool—and see which attributes make voters more likely to pick one candidate over the other


Trump v Biden: who’s ahead in the polls?

The Economist is tracking the race to be America’s next president



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Weekend reads

Is there more or less sex on screen?

New data reveal a change in the amount of sexual content in top films

Eleanor Coppola recorded how a cinematic triumph almost came unstuck

The documentary-maker and wife of Francis Ford Coppola died on April 12th, aged 87


Many mental-health conditions have bodily triggers

Psychiatrists are at long last starting to connect the dots



Other highlights

Why China’s companies are recruiting their own militias

Officials want to keep things calm in an era of slowing growth

The Philippines bans some genetically modified foods

But golden rice could help thousands of nutrient-deficient children


Seaport Tower shows New York’s fight between housing and heritage

Can the city build its future without destroying its past?


Gulf governments are changing, but not how they talk to citizens

Rumours about downpours in Dubai and rosé in Riyadh stem from a lack of trust


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Featured read

Chaguan: China and America trade blame for a world on fire

A global contest is under way to recruit like-minded countries as supporters

Europe in mortal danger: An interview with Emmanuel Macron