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News analysis
China

Jimmy Lai’s arrest in Hong Kong is the latest blow to free speech

The newspaper tycoon has long been a thorn in China’s side

Related

Under a new national-security law, Hong Kong is already a changed city

Europe

Lukashenko tries to crush protests against his rigged “victory”

Europe’s last autocrat will not give up power in Belarus quietly

Highlights
Middle East & Africa

After the devastating explosion, Lebanon’s prime minister quits

But his departure may do little to shake up the corrupt political system that caused the disaster

Schools brief

What more should antitrust be doing?

The first of a series on areas where economists are rethinking the basics

From our columnists
Finance & economics

Free exchange: Dollar dominance is as secure as American global leadership

The currency’s wobbles have fed fears that a reckoning looms for the world’s economic hegemon

Daily chart

Joe Biden’s vice-presidential pick is unlikely to sway very many voters

This is especially true of Kamala Harris, who is leading the pack

Moreover
Books & arts

Lee Conell’s debut novel is a gripping tale of class and privilege

“The Party Upstairs” focuses on the tenants of one building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side

The Economist’s coverage of the coronavirus

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Weekly edition

The absent student: How covid-19 will change college

August 8th 2020
The Economist cover image for the August 8th 2020 edition
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Readers’ favourites

Leaders

Forced sales are the wrong way to deal with Chinese tech

Briefing

Covid-19 could push some universities over the brink

Science & technology

A new AI language model generates poetry and prose

Graphic detail

Covid-19 seems to have changed lifestyles for good

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

Podcasts

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

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In context: Covid-19 vaccines

Leaders

The world is spending nowhere near enough on a coronavirus vaccine

Far better to spend far too much

Finance & economics

Hard questions as scientists and governments seek covid-19 vaccines

They must work out how much to invest, and how best to distribute the goods

Science & technology

Trials of a vaccine and new drug raise hopes of beating the disease

Briefing

Can the world find a good vaccine quickly enough?

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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