The Economist | Independent journalism
The future of combat | AI will transform the character of warfare
Technology will make war faster and more opaque. It could also prove destabilising
Middle East & Africa
Is a Palestinian state a fantasy?
Amid war in Gaza, the prospect is at once more relevant than ever and more distant
Leaders
Nigel Farage’s claim that NATO provoked Russia is naive and dangerous
It is also a wilful misreading of history
The world in brief
António Guterres, the UN’s secretary-general, expressed concern over growing tensions between Israel and Lebanon, warning that “one rash move” might “trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border”...
America’s Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to a federal law that bars people subject to domestic-violence restraining orders from owning guns...
Apple said it would not release its new artificial-intelligence features on iPhones in Europe later this year, when they are set to be launched in other regions...
Leading political figures in Britain have criticised Nigel Farage for comments he made on Friday about the war in Ukraine...
Wine collectors are at last taking champagne seriously
Prices have, in turn, been bubbly
Chaguan: China’s revealing struggle with childhood myopia
Anxious parents don’t want to let children play outdoors and do less schoolwork
Poll tracker: can Marine Le Pen’s hard-right beat Macron’s alliance?
The Economist is tracking the contest for the French parliament
In football “golden generations” often fail
All that glitters…
Video
World news
Are America’s leading presidential candidates up to it?
Americans are worryingly unconfident in the sanity of the two men
What taxes might Labour raise?
Growth alone will not fix Britain’s public finances
India should liberate its cities and create more states
It doesn’t need more government. It needs more governments
Javier Milei’s next move could make his presidency—or break it
Radical experiments with the currency could spell disaster
Business, finance and economics
Buttonwood: Think Nvidia looks dear? American shares could get pricier still
Investors are willing to follow whichever narrative paints the rosiest picture
European airlines are on a shopping spree
Lufthansa and IAG are pursuing big acquisitions
How to tax billionaires—and how not to
Closing loopholes would be a better bet than a levy on unrealised capital gains
Why house prices are surging once again
In America, Australia and parts of Europe, property markets have shrugged off higher interest rates
France’s snap election
Emmanuel Macron’s project of reform is at risk
A snap election in France reveals the flimsiness of his legacy
Macron faces heavy losses after a short campaign
The next French government may be led by the hard right or hard left
A hard-right 28-year-old could soon be France’s prime minister
Jordan Bardella is poised, social-media savvy and enigmatic
How political “cohabitation” works in France
Upcoming parliamentary elections could lead to a new period of political friction
America’s election
Lexington: Donald Trump has finally got it right about the January 6th insurrectionists
They were “warriors”—that’s the problem
Republicans are favoured to win the Senate. What would they do?
Congressional Republicans are already considering the art of the possible
Five months out, Donald Trump has a clear lead
America’s presidential race is no coin flip, says our forecast
In brief
Trump to get final word in debate
Our daily political update, featuring the stories that matter
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
Los Angeles is the capital of film noir
50 years after “Chinatown”, the city is still inspiring new takes on the genre
Britain’s election
Bagehot: The Conservatives are losing as they governed. Meekly
UwU Conservativism, and the end of smol government
The Tories rule the Thames Estuary. Not for long
Our constituency poll in Gillingham and Rainham shows Labour on track for a thumping win
Jeremy Corbyn wants more nice things, fewer nasty ones
The former Labour leader, and poet, goes canvassing
UK election 2024
General-election forecast: will Labour destroy the Conservatives?
Our seat-by-seat prediction for Britain’s next Parliament
The Israel-Hamas war
Is a Palestinian state a fantasy?
Amid war in Gaza, the prospect is at once more relevant than ever and more distant
Israel’s northern border is ablaze
Can it fight Hamas and Hizbullah simultaneously?
Hamas and Israel are still far apart over a ceasefire deal
For all America’s optimism, the two sides look fundamentally irreconcilable
Who is responsible for feeding Gaza?
Arguments fly over Israel’s duty to maintain aid
The war in Ukraine
Russia’s latest crime in Mariupol: stealing property
It is seizing homes in order to consolidate control
1843 magazine | “Monkeys with a grenade”: inside the nuclear-power station on Ukraine’s front line
Former employees say the plant is being dangerously mismanaged by the Russians
In Crimea, Ukraine is beating Russia
The peninsula is becoming a death trap for the Kremlin’s forces
Ukraine has a navy that needs no sailors
It does a surprisingly good job of destroying Russian vessels
Other highlights
Obituary: Birubala Rabha fought to end the stigmatisation of women
The intrepid campaigner against witch-hunting died on May 13th, aged 75
Back Story: What a row over sponsorship reveals about art and Mammon
It betrays childish misconceptions about money, morality and power
Why southern Europeans will soon be the longest-lived people in the world
Diet and exercise, but also urban design and social life
The secret to taking better penalties
Practise with an augmented-reality headset
Edition: June 22nd 2024
Dawn of the solar age
AI and war
The character of warfare is about to be profoundly changed by artificial intelligence
What taxes would Labour raise
Growth alone will not fix Britain’s public finances
Macron’s deepening mess
A snap election in France reveals the flimsiness of his legacy
The champagne boom
Wine collectors are at last taking champagne seriously
Special reports: May 11th 2024
Worlds apart
The American-led financial order is giving way to a more divided one
The global financial system is in danger of fragmenting
How crises reshaped the world financial system
The movement of capital globally is in decline
National payment systems are proliferating
The fight to dethrone the dollar
How the financial system would respond to a superpower war
Sources and acknowledgments
