![]() Subjects topical and timeless, profound and peculiar, explained with The Economist's trademark clarity and brevity |
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Myanmar’s rapidly changing civil war, in maps and charts
Ethnic militias and pro-democracy groups are scoring victories against the governing junta |
Who will be Kamala Harris’s running-mate?
She is reportedly vetting a dozen options. These are the top four |
Why have so few American presidents been from the West?
Kamala Harris’s nomination would be a milestone for the region |
Why the Olympics still has a doping problem
Cheating with drugs has again become an organised affair |
Why some Russian athletes will be eligible to compete at the Paris Olympics
Despite antipathy between the Russian government and the International Olympic Committee a handful will compete |
Why did the Secret Service fail to protect Trump from being shot?
Lawmakers want an accounting for mistakes that nearly resulted in Mr Trump’s assassination on July 13th |
What is the Chinese Communist Party’s third plenum?
Hundreds of the party’s senior members gather in Beijing amid hopes they will speed up economic reforms |
Who might Donald Trump pick as his running-mate?
The Republican nominee has a number of hopefuls to pick from |
Why Finland and others are vaccinating people against bird flu
The virus is spreading undetected in mammals |
Ten plausible contenders to replace Joe Biden
The Democrats have a deep bench of talent |
How will Democrats replace Joe Biden as their candidate for president?
And who could replace him on the ticket? |
Why football might (just) be coming home, to Austria
The modern game was created in the coffee houses of Vienna |
Why North Korea is sending its rubbish to the South
Trash balloons are a sign of growing tensions on the peninsula |
What is the “duck curve”?
An avian graph shows the challenges facing burgeoning solar power |
How political “cohabitation” works in France
Upcoming parliamentary elections could lead to a new period of political friction |
How America’s presidential debates are changing this year
Will the Trump-Biden showdowns be an institution’s last gasp, or a new start? |
What are MRP polls and can they predict election results accurately?
How a novel technique to predict Britain’s general election works |
Ukraine has a navy that needs no sailors
It does a surprisingly good job of destroying Russian vessels |
How powerful is the European Parliament?
Upcoming elections show its growing clout |
How lab-grown meat became part of America’s culture wars
Conservatives have beef with petri-dish steaks |
Who is Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court?
He has applied for an arrest warrant for Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister |
What does it mean to recognise Palestinian statehood?
Ireland, Norway and Spain will be the latest to do so |
Why Julian Assange’s extradition case is taking so long
The WikiLeaks co-founder is granted a new appeal against being sent to America |
What are the Russian “turtle tanks” seen in Ukraine?
Wrapping vehicles in corrugated metal might protect them from drone attacks |
The tawdry history of “catch-and-kill” journalism
Testimony from Donald Trump’s trial highlights a practice that is normally hidden |
Why India’s election is the most expensive in the world
It is not just because of its size |
Could the International Criminal Court indict Binyamin Netanyahu?
Rumours abound that an arrest warrant is imminent for Israel’s prime minister |
The vocabulary of disinformation
From AI-generated news to verification |
What are the rules governing protests on American campuses?
They vary, and are hard to enforce |
Who is jamming airliners’ GPS in the Baltic?
Russia seems to be the culprit, but it may be inadvertent |
What are the obligations of Israel and Hamas to protect civilians?
International Humanitarian Law creates obligations—but contains numerous caveats |
Why is so much of the internet’s infrastructure run by volunteers?
Malware smuggled into XZ Utils software highlights a bigger problem |
The growing role of fighting robots on the ground in Ukraine
Drones already fill the skies. Now uncrewed vehicles are heading to the front lines |
Why do cicadas have such a strange life cycle?
Two broods will soon emerge simultaneously for the first time in 221 years |
How a home-improvement subsidy is wrecking Italy’s public finances
Government largesse is costing taxpayers |
What is geoengineering?
Deliberately cooling the climate is an unsettling idea |
Why are embassies supposed to be inviolable?
Ecuador’s raid on a Mexican embassy challenges a central principle of diplomacy |
What are “golden visas”?
And why they are so controversial |
Why the Moon needs its own time
The seconds really do pass more quickly up there |
Why it is so rare to see a total solar eclipse
The Great North American eclipse should be cherished, because total eclipses will not happen for ever |
How to define artificial general intelligence
Academics and tech entrepreneurs disagree. A court may soon decide |
Gaza could face a famine by May. What does that mean?
Some parts of the strip are already experiencing “catastrophic hunger” |
What is the Islamic State Khorasan Province?
The group that claimed responsibility for the Crocus City Hall attack is a growing threat to Russia—and the West |
Will Texas succeed in enforcing its own immigration law?
The state’s latest challenge to the federal government’s powers, SB4, is in limbo |
Might Russia run out of big guns?
Its armed forces may be out-shelling the Ukrainians—but they are wearing out their artillery |
How can democracies respond to rigged elections?
A host of Western countries reject the results of Russia’s sham election |
What is photo retouching and when is it permissible?
The edited photo of Kate Middleton shows what a minefield it can be |
Who is Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, Haiti’s most prominent gang leader?
The warlord is one of the country’s most powerful men—for now |
Why Germany is reluctant to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine
Olaf Scholz seems determined to defy pressure from Germany’s allies and domestic opposition |
Why American cars are so big
A regulatory loophole that incentivised sales of big vehicles is about to be tightened |
What is Hindutva, the ideology of India’s ruling party?
It seeks to equate Indianness with Hinduism |
Does generative artificial intelligence infringe copyright?
Several lawsuits, one brought by the New York Times, could soon answer the question |
Why do Nvidia’s chips dominate the AI market?
The firm has three big advantages |
Can transgender women breastfeed?
Biological males may have a latent capacity to produce small amounts of milk |
Why is Nikki Haley losing to Donald Trump on home ground?
The former governor of South Carolina is set to lose a primary showdown in her state on Saturday |
What is Russia’s mysterious new space weapon?
Theories include a space-nuke or a nuclear-powered jammer |
How Ukraine sank the Caesar Kunikov—and is beating Russia at sea
It is the fourth landing ship Ukraine has taken out in the Black Sea in seven months |
Who is Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s probable next president?
The former general appears to have won the election, after rebranding himself as a cuddly character |
How Donald Trump’s re-election would threaten NATO’s Article 5
And thus play into Russia’s hands |
How to know when the world has passed 1.5°C of global warming
We explain in four charts |
A history of settler violence in the West Bank
The number of attacks by Israelis on Palestinians has risen since October 7th |
Why has The Economist changed its typeface?
Keen-eyed readers will have noticed that our website, app and print edition look different |
What is an atmospheric river?
The storm systems battering California have a global reach |
Why is there so much violence in Balochistan?
Militant groups in the region are a common problem for Iran and Pakistan |
Can anyone do anything about Viktor Orban?
Hungary’s prime minister is blocking EU aid for Ukraine. Other governments are at their wits’ end |
Did an Israeli hospital raid breach the laws of war?
Disguising a soldier as a doctor can be an act of “perfidy” |
What on earth is happening in Poland?
The new government is aggressively undoing years of illiberal rule. The upshot is a constitutional mess |
Why execution by nitrogen gas is so controversial
The new method of killing may amount to torture |
The factions at the heart of a scandal in Japan’s ruling party
Promises to disband them may turn out to be hollow |
What is prompt-engineering for artificial intelligence?
Effectively interacting with large language models is a valuable skill |
Why have the Democrats changed their primary calendar?
New Hampshire is in open revolt |
Will Republicans strike a border deal?
Lawmakers in the House and Senate are divided |
Why a new temple to Ram in Ayodhya matters so much to Indians
For Hindus it fulfils a centuries-old desire. Its opening will burnish Narendra Modi’s image |
How viable is Arctic shipping?
Russia is investing in the region |
What is the point of coming second to Donald Trump?
Whatever happens in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley has boosted her political career |
Why is America’s Congress being briefed on UFOs?
Lawmakers want to know more about the government’s classified files |
How the Iowa caucuses are changing in 2024
Five decades of tradition have been overturned by the Democrats |
Who is Lai Ching-te, the leader in Taiwan’s presidential race?
He may be softly spoken, but his words often anger China |
Can Ukrainian drone attacks hurt Russia?
The country is stepping up its strikes on enemy bases, and on Crimea |
How sanctions on Russia will change the diamond trade
New rules add up to the biggest shakeup of the industry in decades |
How art is used against artists, like Young Thug, in court
The lyrics of rap music are regularly used as evidence in criminal trials |
Could the Democrats replace Joe Biden as their presidential candidate?
Worries about his chances of re-election are growing |
Why the price of olive oil is soaring
Climate change, export controls and soaring fertiliser costs leave a bitter taste |
Who are the Houthis, the group attacking ships in the Red Sea?
The Yemeni rebel group is operating on the fringes of the Israel-Hamas war |
What is krav maga?
More people are learning the Israeli self-defence technique |
How Nayib Bukele is breaking presidential term limits in El Salvador
He subverts the system, but remains popular |
How Israel is using drones in Gaza
They help keep troops out of the line of fire—but can pose a risk to civilians |
What is antisemitism—and why do differences in interpretation matter?
Across the world, reports of the age-old prejudice have surged |
What does it take to expel an American congressman?
George Santos has joined a select group |
Why “offshoring” asylum-seekers rarely works
As caseloads rise in rich countries, governments are tempted to ship claimants abroad |
Who are the Palestinians in Israel’s prisons?
Hamas hopes to swap more for Israeli hostages |
Who is Geert Wilders, the surprise winner of the Dutch election?
The anti-Muslim populist has had a long career, but this is his best result yet |
The A to Z of the Arab-Israeli conflict
From “Abraham accords” to “Zionism” |
Was Israel’s attack on al-Shifa hospital justified?
Israel has so far offered little evidence that it was. More may yet turn up |
What is Iran’s axis of resistance?
The country’s Middle Eastern network of allied militias has grown more powerful |
The difference between a “ceasefire” and a “humanitarian pause”
And why it matters |
What is Israel’s Iron Beam?
Deployment of a new laser system for air defence is being accelerated |
How the term “genocide” is misused in the Israel-Hamas war
South Africa accuses Israel of committing the heinous crime |
What is the American State Department’s “dissent channel”?
A 50-year-old system allows diplomats to criticise their bosses |
Why covid-19 did not harm rich economies as badly as first thought
Britain and Italy have revised data for GDP during the pandemic |