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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
Business
Big tech’s great AI power grab
Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are on the hunt for new energy sources
United States
America’s federal district courts may soon be harder to manipulate
For once Democrats and (some) Republicans see eye-to-eye on judicial reform
Special report
The global financial system is in danger of fragmenting
The American-led financial order is giving way to a more divided one
The world in brief
Negotiators for Hamas left Cairo after a second day of peace talks with Israel...
Meanwhile Israel’s cabinet voted to suspend the local operations of Al Jazeera, a news agency based in Qatar, according to Israeli press reports...
Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, held an enormous roadshow in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh as voting continued in the country’s general election...
Russia launched strikes on targets in eastern and southern Ukraine...
Why are Arab armed forces so ineffective?
Governments are splashing the cash, but that may do little to burnish their armies’ reputations
Bartleby: How not to work on a plane
Hours without interruption and work to do. What could go wrong?
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
Archaeologists identify the birthplace of the mysterious Yamnaya
The ancient culture, which transformed Europe, was also less murderous than once thought
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
Chaguan: China and America trade blame for a world on fire
A global contest is under way to recruit like-minded countries as supporters
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
In English local elections Labour won where it needed to
And even in places where it did not
Disinformation
The truth—and lies—behind Olena Zelenska’s $1.1m Cartier haul
The anatomy of a disinformation campaign
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
The vocabulary of disinformation
From AI-generated news to verification
Business, finance and economics
America’s fiscal outlook is disastrous, but forgotten
On the campaign trail, both main candidates largely ignore the problem
Buttonwood: What campus protesters get wrong about divestment
Will withdrawing money hurt Israel?
China mulls a bold test of taxation without representation
With revenue declining, its leaders must figure out how to collect more money
Questions grow over the future of the London stockmarket
More than 20 listed companies are facing bids. Others are mulling their options
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
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
Espionage scandals are hurting Germany’s far right
Charges of Chinese and Russian influence mar Alternative for Germany’s European campaign
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
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
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
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
A surprising Japanese presence in a traditional American craft
Quilting connects continents
Other highlights
For a colossal challenge, try tower-running
The sport, which involves hurrying up high-rises, is ascendant
The Philippines bans some genetically modified foods
But golden rice could help thousands of nutrient-deficient children
Japan and South Korea are struggling with old-age poverty
Their problems may be instructive for other countries
Seaport Tower shows New York’s fight between housing and heritage
Can the city build its future without destroying its past?
Why China’s companies are recruiting their own militias
Officials want to keep things calm in an era of slowing growth
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
