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Russia’s president menaces his people and neighbours

The West should raise the cost of his malign behaviour

Biden’s earth summit may not restore America’s climate credibility

Co-operation from the president’s adversaries in Congress and from Beijing may not be forthcoming

Finance & economics

Sanctions are now a central tool of governments’ foreign policy

The more they are used, however, the less effective they become

At last, German voters will get a proper choice in a national election

The ruling Christian Democrats and the Greens offer distinct visions and contrasting personalities

Americans support ending the war in Afghanistan

More than a third of adults believe the war cannot be won

The reasons behind the covid-19 spike in India

Also on The Intelligence: the worrying death of Chad’s president and a deep dive on the sea-cucumber trade

Huawei and other non-carmakers invade Auto Shanghai

The live trade show is back—with a new guest list

Daily briefing

Take five minutes to catch up on today’s essential news.

Companies and politics

The political CEO

Business and politics are growing closer in America, with worrying consequences

Sherrilyn Ifill on the moral responsibility of business in politics

Companies have a stake in good governance. They must add democracy to the corporate social responsibility agenda to safeguard voting rights and more

CEO activism in America is risky business

Firms used to keep politics at arm’s length. What went wrong?

Will Facebook’s “Supreme Court” reinstate Donald Trump’s account?

A landmark test for the social-media giant’s experiment in content moderation

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Readers’ favourites

Derek Chauvin is found guilty of murder

Police officers who kill while doing their work are rarely charged with crimes, let alone convicted

How Joe Biden is reshaping America’s global role

His foreign policy isn’t Donald Trump’s. Nor is it Barack Obama’s

Chaguan: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

The country’s leaders see their moment, and are seizing it

Graphic detail

Better days lie ahead for the underachievers of English football

Long trophy droughts like Tottenham’s do not predict future disappointment

Podcasts

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

The threats to the United Kingdom

From United Kingdom to Untied Kingdom

The bonds that hold England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together are weaker than at any time in living memory

Brexit has reinvigorated Scottish nationalism

It has also shown up some of the difficulties of secession

Northern Ireland’s unhappy centenary

The Unionists have damaged their cause more in five years than the nationalists have in 50

Welsh nationalism is stirring

In Wales, Labour is caught between nationalists and Conservatives. Can it survive?

Special report: The future of work

A bright future for the world of work

Workers the world over have had a torrid year. But the future is bright, argues Callum Williams

Labour markets are working, but also changing

Labour markets have coped with covid-19 better than expected. But they have changed

The biggest losers from covid-19

Covid-19 is a disease of the poor and the powerless

The rise of working from home

The shift to a hybrid world of work will have a big impact on managers

Robots threaten jobs less than fearmongers claim

Recessions and pandemics accelerate automation. Yet warnings of a jobless future are overblown

The Economist explains

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