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The Economist todayFriday, August 7th 2020

News analysis

Covid-19 will be painful for universities, but also bring change

They need to rethink how and what they teach

The world is spending nowhere near enough on a coronavirus vaccine

Far better to spend far too much

Highlights

A big blast should lead to big change in Lebanon

It is past time to reform the broken state

Nvidia tries to get its hands on Arm

The deal would create a chipmaking potentate

From our columnists

Lexington: The meaning of One America News Network

The president’s new favourite network reveals more about America than it intends

Daily chart

European banks expect fewer bad loans than their American rivals

It may be a sign of weakness rather than optimism

Moreover

Ronald Searle created his own style of graphic art

A hundred years after his birth, he remains Britain’s greatest modern cartoonist and illustrator

Weekly edition

The Economist cover image for the August 8th 2020 edition

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Readers’ favourites

Microsoft’s proposed purchase of TikTok would be its biggest yet

India’s ruling party replaces a mosque with a Hindu temple

Finance & economics

Official economic forecasts for poor countries are too rosy

Graphic detail

Covid-19 seems to have changed lifestyles for good

Google search traffic for cooking, exercise and crafts remains above normal levels

In context: The airline industry

Airlines have a chance to emerge from the crisis leaner and greener

But that will require governments to reduce the power of incumbents

Air travel’s sudden collapse will reshape a trillion-dollar industry

The pandemic has knocked the airline-industrial complex harder than it has most sectors

Airlines blame covid-19 for rowing back climate commitments

Virgin looks for help

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

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