The Economist | Independent journalism
The US in brief
Stormy Daniels testifies in Trump trial
Dateline
Try The Economist's history quiz
Britain's general election
Explore The Economist's forecast for Britain's looming election
Asia
An interview with Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s next PM
He will be just the fourth person to hold that position
Finance & economics
How Ukrainians are using the cover of war to escape taxes
“Black grain” infuriates exporters playing by the rules
United States
Plenty of circumstantial evidence at Donald Trump’s trial
But prosecutors will need Michael Cohen to seal the deal
The world in brief
Israel and Hamas reported fighting in eastern Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than 1m displaced Palestinians are sheltering...
Russia bombed energy facilities across Ukraine...
Sweden’s central bank cut its main interest rate for the first time in eight years, from 4% to 3.75%...
Parliamentary and presidential elections began in North Macedonia...
The movement of capital globally is in decline
Geopolitics is altering its trajectory
How countries rank by military spending
Our analysis shows how NATO allies match up against their rivals
How the chilli pepper has set fire to the internet in China
Thanks to Mao, the once-derided pepper quietly revolutionised Chinese palates
The US in brief
Stormy Daniels testifies in Trump trial
Dateline
Try The Economist's history quiz
Britain's general election
Explore The Economist's forecast for Britain's looming election
World news
Charlemagne: Europeans lack visceral attachment to the EU. Does it matter?
In search of the missing European demos
Why the Biden administration is rushing to produce regulations
An obscure law creates pressure to issue rules that can’t be undone in a hurry
Visiting Europe, Xi Jinping brings up an old grievance
In marking the bombing of China’s embassy in Belgrade, Mr Xi is sending a message to America
Emmanuel Macron’s urgent message for Europe
The French president issues a dark and prophetic warning
Strife in the Middle East
Israel and Hamas are not that far from a ceasefire agreement
But does Israel’s prime minister actually want to reach a deal?
Why are Arab armed forces so ineffective?
Governments are splashing the cash, but that may do little to burnish their armies’ reputations
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
Business, finance and economics
Schumpeter: Does Perplexity’s “answer engine” threaten Google?
Taking aim at one of the best business models of all time
Big tech’s great AI power grab
Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are on the hunt for new energy sources
The movement of capital globally is in decline
Geopolitics is altering its trajectory
Bartleby: How not to work on a plane
Hours without interruption and work to do. What could go wrong?
Video
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
Why Beethoven’s ninth appeals to democrats and despots alike
Since its first performance 200 years ago, few pieces of music have won such varied devotees
The war in Ukraine
How Ukrainians are using the cover of war to escape taxes
“Black grain” infuriates exporters playing by the rules
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
Disinformation
The truth—and lies—behind Olena Zelenska’s $1.1m Cartier haul
The anatomy of a disinformation campaign
How to counter disinformation
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
The vocabulary of disinformation
From AI-generated news to verification
India’s election
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
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
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
Stormy Daniels testifies in Trump trial; Greene and Johnson meet
Our daily political update, featuring stories that matter
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
Other highlights
These books reveal why the brain is the biggest mystery of all
Eight of the best books on brains and consciousness—human, octopus and other
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
Jeremy Clarkson, patron saint of the Great British bore
He who speaks for the bore speaks for Britain
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
Weekly edition: May 4th 2024
Europe in mortal danger: An interview with Emmanuel Macron
The new science of disinformation
More co-ordination and better access to data are needed to fight lies
Uncle Sam's fiscal profligacy
America’s reckless borrowing is a danger to its economy—and the world’s
Conflicts on campus
Should American universities call the cops on protesting students?
Feeling horny: dragons meet erotic fiction
Novels starring hot fairies are selling millions of copies
Special reports: May 11th 2024
Worlds apart
The American-led financial order is giving way to a more divided one
The global financial system is in danger of fragmenting
How crises reshaped the world financial system
The movement of capital globally is in decline
National payment systems are proliferating
The fight to dethrone the dollar
How the financial system would respond to a superpower war
Sources and acknowledgments
