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Europe

Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan have formed a brotherhood of hard power

But the bond is brittle

Related

Conflict in the Caucasus: when the soldiers are younger than the war they are fighting

Finance & economics

Tether is fined by regulators in New York

A “stablecoin” is branded anything but, adding to jitters in crypto-markets

International

Covid-19 has persuaded some parents that home-schooling is better

Some plan to carry on even after the pandemic

United States

Texas’s big freeze may not bring the reforms it showed are needed

The state’s aversion to big government and regulation runs deep

Graphic detail

The benefits of acing China’s most important academic exam

High scorers in the gaokao go to better universities and earn higher wages

Asia

Banyan: As Malaysia’s politicians bicker, its royals gain authority

Nine hereditary rulers take turns to be king—and kingmaker

1843 magazine

The barber cutting through vaccine scepticism

Some African-Americans are reluctant to get the covid jab. Near Washington, DC, one man is trying to change people’s minds

Decarbonisation

Leaders

How America can rid itself of both carbon and blackouts

This is the moment for an ambitious attempt to deal with climate change

Briefing

Joe Biden’s climate-friendly energy revolution

What it will take to fight rising temperatures

Britain

How Britain decarbonised faster than any other rich country

That was the easy bit. Now the hard stuff starts

Finance & economics

What is the cheapest way to cut carbon?

Bill Gates is the latest to grapple with a thorny question

Weekly edition

America’s better future: No carbon and no blackouts

February 20th 2021
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Readers’ favourites

Science & technology

Parents of daughters are more likely to divorce than those with sons

But the difference only emerges when the children are teenagers

United States

America’s ICBMs are ageing. Does it still need them?

Joe Biden has vital decisions to make about the future of America’s nukes

Business

Duty-free retail is finding new ways to grow

The pandemic is pushing the industry further away from cigarettes, booze and airports, and towards China

Graphic detail

Data on inbred nobles support a leader-driven theory of history

The Habsburg noble family were the kings and queens of much of Europe—and of inbreeding

Podcasts

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

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Financial-market fashions

Leaders

The Spactacular boom on Wall Street

Are SPACs a useful innovation, a mania, or both?

Finance & economics

What the SPAC craze means for tech investing

Signs of the craze are as common as sightings of unicorns in Silicon Valley

Finance & economics

Bitcoin crosses $50,000

The Economist explains

What is the fuss over central-bank digital currencies?

Special report: The future of travel

What will travel look like after the pandemic?

Covid-19 has brought international travel to a standstill. But it will recover and may even become a better experience, says Simon Wright

Could covid-19 shake up air travel for the better?

Governments’ re-entry into airlines may spur more competition

How today’s reviled airlines could become greener

The pandemic has drawn attention to the environmental damage caused by air travel

Business travel may never fully recover from covid-19

Business class was late to the game. It might be early to leave too

The pandemic has hurt corporate jets less than commercial ones

The wealthy are not bound by airline schedules

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