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Middle East & Africa

Beirut after the blast: the crunch of glass, acrid smoke and stairs slick with blood

Lebanon was in a mess even before the explosion, thanks to a squabbling, inept government

Related

From the archive: Lebanon’s political system leads to paralysis and corruption

Leaders

Forced sales are the wrong way to deal with Chinese tech

America needs to sort out its own data-privacy regime

Highlights
The Americas

Argentina reaches a deal with its foreign creditors

That is good news. It will take much more to overcome the economic and health crises

Britain

John Hume’s vision of peace in Northern Ireland is only half-fulfilled

He did more than anybody else to end the bloodshed, but mutual respect between Catholics and Protestants remains elusive

From our columnists
Asia

Banyan: Even in death, Lee Teng-hui is helping shape Taiwan’s identity

He oversaw Taiwan’s democratisation and in death is riling China again

Daily chart

The Beirut explosion is the latest tragedy linked to ammonium nitrate

Dangerous handling of the chemical, used as a fertiliser and in bombs, has killed thousands of people around the world

Moreover
Books & arts

The benefits of learning an instrument in lockdown

Today’s music students have access to past and present masters online

The Economist’s coverage of the coronavirus

Read now

Weekly edition

Locked out: When and how to let migrants move again

August 1st 2020
The Economist cover image for the August 1st 2020 edition
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Readers’ favourites

Europe

Curbing the covid-19 comeback in Europe

United States

Lexington: Why Americans should stop harking back to the 1950s

International

For those affected by dementia, the pandemic has been especially grim

Graphic detail

Twitter’s algorithm does not seem to silence conservatives

The platform’s recommendation engine appears to favour inflammatory tweets

Podcasts

Sound reasoning on current affairs, business and finance, science and technology, and global issues.

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In context: Moving beyond oil

Middle East & Africa

The end of the Arab world’s oil age is nigh

Pain will be felt across the region

Finance & economics

Investment in oil supply has collapsed. It may not roar back

Plunging investment, a battered cartel and a new fight over oil supply

Leaders

With oil cheap, Arab states cannot balance their books

Business

Oil companies’ diversification into petrochemicals may not go to plan

Special report: The Midwest

A region with outsized punch

America’s Midwest matters out of proportion to its size, says Adam Roberts

The urban prairie

For the region to prosper, its bigger cities must flourish

Separate, downtrodden

The region has particular problems with segregation and policing

America’s Mittelstand

Advanced manufacturing can thrive, as Grand Rapids shows

From rustbelt to brainbelt

How higher education can drive prosperity

Read full report

Economist Films

Authoritative insight on news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them.

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