The Economist | Independent journalism
“Dateline” history quiz
This week: Challenger explodes; Greta goes on strike; and more
US election 2024
Who’s ahead in the polls?
The Intelligence
This weekend: Portrait of the Proud Boys
Finance & economics
Vladimir Putin spends big—and sends Russia’s economy soaring
How long can the party last?
International
Can Donald Trump’s Iron Dome plan keep America safe?
In a dangerous world, cutting-edge missile defence is all the rage
Europe
Ukraine’s shock raid deep inside Russia rages on
The surprise attack comes as Ukraine is under pressure in the Donbas
The world in brief
Vice-President Kamala Harris condemned the loss of life caused by an Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza, saying that “yet again, far too many civilians have been killed” and reiterating calls for a ceasefire...
The governor of Kursk, a Russian region under attack by Ukrainian troops, ordered authorities to speed up the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians...
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said its internal communications had been hacked by “foreign sources hostile to the United States” and suggested Iran was to blame...
Bangladesh’s chief justice, Obaidul Hassan, resigned under pressure from protesters...
Reality TV was the first draft of the internet
A new history argues that there is more to the format than meets the eye
Bartleby: What can Olympians teach executives?
Citius, altius, spurious
Would building 1.5m homes bring down British house prices?
Answer: Not by much
Plankton are much more interesting than you might think
The world’s longest-running marine survey is based in Devon
“Dateline” history quiz
This week: Challenger explodes; Greta goes on strike; and more
US election 2024
Who’s ahead in the polls?
The Intelligence
This weekend: Portrait of the Proud Boys
America’s economy
Will America’s economy swing the election?
It is not entering recession, but it is slowing down. That is bad news for Kamala Harris
Can Kamala Harris win on the economy?
A visit to a crucial swing state reveals the problems she will face
Swing-state economies are doing just fine
They would be doing even better if the Biden-Harris administration had been more cynical
America’s “left-behind” are doing better than ever
But manufacturing jobs are still in decline
The war in Ukraine
Ukraine surprises with a high-stakes raid into Russia
The second battle of Kursk is raging
How much of a difference will Ukraine’s new F-16s make?
Too few to beat Russia’s air force, but a strong symbolic start
Amid the bombs, Ukrainians rediscover the beach
Odessa gives itself permission to tan again
How Ukraine’s new tech foils Russian aerial attacks
It is pioneering acoustic detection, with surprising success
Riots in Britain
How to respond to the riots on Britain’s streets
The violence demands robust policing, but it also requires cool heads
The evolution of Britain’s extreme right
White nationalism has become more amorphous and more online
Are Britain’s rioters representative of views on immigration?
Young men chuck bricks, but the old have the sharpest views
What is “two-tier” policing?
The conspiratorial belief has spread online, fuelling disorder in Britain
Business, finance and economics
How Chinese shoppers downgraded their ambition
The trend will dismay the country’s policymakers
A global recession is not in prospect
That will be a relief to investors everywhere
The stockmarket rout may not be over
As investors pause for breath, we assess what could turn a correction into a crash
Why people have fallen out of love with dating apps
Tinder and Bumble are struggling as singles refuse to pay up
Bangladesh
Bangladesh has ousted an autocrat. Now for the hard part
A caretaker leader, Muhammad Yunus, must try to rebuild democracy
Bangladesh has achieved its second liberation, says Muhammad Yunus
The interim government’s new leader argues for releasing political prisoners and holding a free election
Can hope beat hatred in Bangladesh?
Domestic politics and great-power rivalries will make transitioning to democracy hard
Muhammad Yunus, a microcredit pioneer, is Bangladesh’s interim leader
His experience, popularity and international reputation offer new hope for a democratic future
World news
Why the war on childhood obesity is failing
Sugar taxes and obesity drugs will not be enough
How the mad, bad Maduro regime clings to power
Behind-the-scenes negotiations seek to ease him out of office
South Africa’s foreign minister wants better relations with the West
Ronald Lamola’s view counts: he may be the next president
Thailand’s top court tramples over the country’s democracy
Pita Limjaroenrat and his Move Forward Party have been banned
Israel’s wars
Israeli aircraft buzz Beirut as the drums of war bang loud
As Iran and Hizbullah threaten retaliation for Israeli assassinations, Lebanon is in the firing line
Hamas’s pick of Yahya Sinwar as leader makes a ceasefire less likely
The appointment of the architect of October 7th ties the group closer to Iran
The Middle East braces for wider war as Iran weighs its response
After Israeli strikes, America is rushing troops to the region and airlines are steering clear
The Middle East must step back from the brink
That still means starting with a ceasefire in Gaza
America’s election
How the Trump campaign has become more professional
In Pennsylvania at least, it has upped its ground game
Tim Walz’s life story is appealing, but his record is complex
Kamala Harris’s running-mate is hard to categorise
The wisdom in calling Donald Trump weird
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are trying to make Democrats normal again
Is Tim Walz the right vice-presidential running-mate for Kamala Harris?
Progressives like him, but the presidential candidate will need to find ways to win over moderates
Summer food
Tinned fish is swimming against the tide
Once a staple of wartime diets, it is now a social-media phenomenon
How Provençal rosé became the summer tipple par excellence
When temperatures rise, wine-drinkers think pink
The world’s best summertime drink relies on nature’s magic
Making tepache, like any other fermentation project, is a lesson in co-operation
When it comes to ice cream, the instinct to innovate is misguided
Forget flavours like ketchup, pickle and blood. It’s best to keep it vanilla
Video
Travel
Why travel guidebooks are not going anywhere
Despite predictions that the internet would kill them
We enjoyed reading these books on holiday. You might, too
A selection of titles chosen by The Economist’s journalists
What the war on tourism gets wrong
Visitors are a boon, if managed wisely
Novels set on holiday
Some of these fictional holidays aren’t fun, but they might enhance yours
The Paris Olympics
Paris’s stunning vision for the Olympics wins a gold medal
It marks a shift away from sporting gigantism
Would legal doping change the Olympics?
The impact would be smaller—and worse—than proponents of drug-taking claim
What led to the bitter controversy over an Olympics boxing match?
A mighty punch by an Algerian boxer has revived a politically charged dispute
Slow down: longer races offer fans more than sprints do
Middle- and long-distance races have a drama that short ones cannot match
Summer reads
“Deadpool & Wolverine” is revolting, but popular
The film has had the highest-grossing opening of an R-rated film
How long would it take to read the greatest books of all time?
The Economist consulted bibliophile data scientists to get an answer
History podcasts are booming
Why listening to stories about the past are a present pastime
Somaliland’s camel herders are milking it
Commercial dairies are scaling up an old trade
Our summer issue
1843 magazine | How to get rich (Taylor’s version)
Think you know the story of how Taylor Swift took on the music industry? The reality is more complicated
1843 magazine | How the Proud Boys are prepping for a second Trump term
They led the charge on the Capitol. What next?
1843 magazine | Marwan Barghouti, the world’s most important prisoner
There’s one Palestinian who could help end the conflict. He’s in an Israeli jail
1843 magazine | The cruise that will get you chased by the Chinese coastguard
China is bullying its rivals in the South China Sea. For some tourists, that makes it a perfect holiday destination
Recent highlights
How to reduce the risk of developing dementia
A healthy lifestyle can prevent or delay almost half of cases
Is the big state back in Britain?
The risk is not too much interventionism, but too little audacity
The demise of an iconic American highway
California’s Highway 1 is showing the limits of mankind’s ingenuity
A moving memoir probes the contradictions of modern China
Edward Wong narrates his father’s journey from servant of the party to escapee
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
How to reduce the risk of developing dementia
A healthy lifestyle can prevent or delay almost half of cases
AI schools briefs
A short history of AI
In the first of six weekly briefs, we ask how AI overcame decades of underdelivering
AI firms will soon exhaust most of the internet’s data
Can they create more?
The race is on to control the global supply chain for AI chips
The focus is no longer just on faster chips, but on more chips clustered together
How AI models are getting smarter
Deep neural networks are learning diffusion and other tricks
Edition: August 10th 2024
Will the economy swing the election?
America’s economy and the election
What does a slowing economy mean for Kamala Harris?
Bangladesh begins again
A caretaker leader, Muhammad Yunus, must try to rebuild democracy
Out of love with dating apps
Tinder and Bumble are struggling as singles refuse to pay up
How to prevent dementia
A healthy lifestyle can prevent or delay almost half of cases
