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Finance & economics

The international role of the euro gets a boost

The EU's bonds may yet rival American Treasuries as safe assets of choice

International

Covid-19 has stymied governments’ efforts to collect data

But the pandemic may spur innovation, too


United States

Democrats in New York choose a mayoral candidate in a tight race

Besides the candidates, ranked-choice voting is on trial




The world in brief

The World Health Organisation warned that COVAX, its vaccine-sharing programme, is running out of supplies...

India administered 8.6m doses of covid-19 vaccines yesterday, doubling a record set in April before its second wave rolled in...

The European Union opened a formal antitrust investigation into allegations that Alphabet abused its market power in the advertising-technology sector...

Meanwhile, the European Court of Justice found that YouTube is not liable for copyright-infringing videos uploaded by users insofar as it merely hosted them...


After Brexit, devolution in Northern Ireland is in a parlous state

The defenestration after just three weeks of a Unionist leader reveals just how parlous

Free exchange: Is the pandemic accelerating automation? Don’t be so sure

The pessimists could, of course, eventually be proven right

The pandemic cut annual FDI flows by one-third

They fell furthest in rich countries, but the poorest may suffer most

Thoroughbred horses are increasingly inbred

Since its origins in 18th-century England, the industry has prized purity over diversity

Most read by subscribers

  1. Global markets adapt to a change in the Federal Reserve’s tone

Graphic detail

Crypto-miners are probably to blame for the graphics-chip shortage

Secondhand graphics-card prices move nearly in lockstep with those of Ethereum

Technology Quarterly: Protecting biodiversity

Loss of biodiversity poses as great a risk to humanity as climate change

Technology has a growing role to play in monitoring, modelling and protecting ecosystems, writes Catherine Brahic

All kinds of new technology are being used to monitor the natural world

Smartphone components have made sensors cheaper, and machine learning can help analyse the resulting data

The sequencing of genetic material is a powerful conservation tool

You can learn a lot from the faeces, skin cells and other traces that animals leave behind

How volunteer observers can help protect biodiversity

Uploading your holiday snaps can make a difference, too

Compared with climate, modelling of ecosystems is at an early stage

But it will help sustain biodiversity when more mature

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