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Middle East & Africa

Joe Biden puts Saudi Arabia on notice

The kingdom's war in Yemen will be harder to wage without American arms

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Joe Biden and the new art of world leadership

1843 magazine

Myanmar: “A coup is worse than covid. I’ve lived through three”

Voices from the streets of Yangon as the generals seize control again


Business

Kuaishou’s shares surge on the video app’s stockmarket debut

The firm is taking on TikTok and its Chinese sibling

United States

Republicans test the precise meaning of Joe Biden’s talk of unity

The president has ten GOP votes in the Senate for a sizeable stimulus. Does he want them?


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Why women are less likely than men to die from covid-19

For the same reasons that women live longer: booze, bravado and biology


Finance & economics

Free exchange: How should economists think about biodiversity?

A new report for the British government lays out a framework

Readers’ favourites

Business

Can Amazon’s next boss fill Jeff Bezos’s supersized boots?

Andy Jassy will take over a firm on a roll. That does not make dilemmas in his in-tray any easier to deal with

Europe

How Europe dodges responsibility for its vaccine fiasco

When something goes wrong, the blame gets passed around

Graphic detail

Global democracy has a very bad year

The pandemic caused an unprecedented rollback of democratic freedoms in 2020

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What the favourite stocks of r/wallstreetbets have in common

Call-option volume, not short interest, is the best indicator of popularity on Reddit


Podcasts

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Navalny v Putin

Special report: Generation Xi

Young Chinese are both patriotic and socially progressive

That mix is already changing their country, says Stephanie Studer, our China correspondent

The gap between China’s rural and urban youth is closing

But it remains large, even as more youngsters return home to the countryside

How nationalism is shaping China’s young

They feel more defensive than ever of their country’s achievements

How to rebel in China

The alternatives are rave or pray

As attitudes to the West sour, China’s students turn home

They think China is best served by picking aspects of Western culture that suit it

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