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Our latest newsletter covers a complex and consequential region
The US in brief
Mike Johnson unveils foreign-aid bills; Senate dismisses Mayorkas impeachment
Subscriber event
The situation in the Middle East. April 18th, 4pm BST, 11am EDT
Leaders
America’s interest rates are unlikely to fall this year
That will squeeze financial markets and the world economy
International
Would you really die for your country?
Military conscription is on the agenda in the rich world
The world in brief
America imposed new sanctions on Iran in response to the Islamic Republic’s drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13th...
America’s House of Representatives will vote on additional aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan on Saturday...
German authorities arrested two men on suspicion of plotting bombings and arson attacks on behalf of Russia...
Blackstone, a private-equity titan, said that its distributable earnings—those used to pay dividends to shareholders—rose by 1% on the previous year in the first quarter...
Israel should not rush to strike back at Iran
Instead it should try a novel response to Iran’s missile attack: restraint
Charlemagne: How a conservative conference morphed into a crisis of liberalism
A Brussels hard-right confab descends into a mix of farce and petty tyranny
Bagehot: Local British politics is a mix of the good, the bad and the mad
Devolution is messier—and weirder—than people think
Radio Modi: How India’s prime minister sweet-talks the nation
We analysed hundreds of Narendra Modi’s broadcasts. They reveal a meticulously cultivated image
Sign up to Middle East Dispatch
Our latest newsletter covers a complex and consequential region
The US in brief
Mike Johnson unveils foreign-aid bills; Senate dismisses Mayorkas impeachment
Subscriber event
The situation in the Middle East. April 18th, 4pm BST, 11am EDT
This week
The most important political stories this week
Iran launches a direct attack on Israel, the criminal trial of Donald Trump begins—and more
The most important stories in the business world this week
Britain’s annual inflation rate slows to 3.2%, retail sales grow rapidly in America—and more
KAL’s cartoon
A lighter look at this week's events
Letters to the editor
On China, WEIRD countries, nuclear weapons, software engineers, banlieues, uniforms
Strife in the Middle East
Iranians fear their brittle regime will drag them into war
Ultra-religious hardliners are gaining power and yearn for confrontation
A trauma surgeon on why Gaza is the worst of war zones
It is like stepping back into the 19th century, says David Nott
Will Israel retaliate against Iran, or hold back?
America urges restraint after Iran’s large but futile bombardment of Israel
Iran and Israel’s shadow war explodes into the open
But the Islamic Republic may have miscalculated
The war in Ukraine
As Russia’s attacks step up, Ukraine fears waning Western support
An interview with the country’s new national security chief
Ukrainian drone strikes are hurting Russia’s oil industry
The world’s third-largest producer is now an importer of petrol
How Ukraine is using AI to fight Russia
From target hunting to catching sanctions-busters, its war is increasingly high-tech
Russia is sure to lose in Ukraine, reckons a Chinese expert on Russia
Feng Yujun says the war has strained Sino-Russian relations
America’s election year
True swing voters are extraordinarily rare in America
We have found some
In brief
Republicans threaten Johnson’s job; seven Trump jurors sworn in
Our daily political update, featuring the stories that matter
US election 2024
Can you build a Trump voter?
Try our tool—and see which attributes make voters more likely to pick one candidate over the other
Trump v Biden: who’s ahead in the polls?
The Economist is tracking the race to be America’s next president
Business, finance and economics
Generation Z is unprecedentedly rich
Millennials were poorer at this stage in their lives. So were baby-boomers
Bagehot: Local British politics is a mix of the good, the bad and the mad
The country’s leaders are too complacent about deflation
America hits Chinese biotech—and its own drugmakers
A sweeping bill in Congress could cost patients at home
Generative AI is a marvel. Is it also built on theft?
The wonder-technology faces accusations of copyright infringement
World news
After a year of war, Sudan is a failing state
Half a million may starve without urgent help
Why most people regret Brexit
A majority of British voters now believe the split was a mistake
Elon Musk is feuding with Brazil’s powerful Supreme Court
The court has become the de facto regulator of social media in the country
South Korean voters—and spring onions—rebuke the president
The failure of Yoon Suk-yeol’s party in parliamentary elections will make his last three years hard
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
Where are all the British robots?
Firms’ small size is the biggest barrier to automation
Other highlights
Bees, like humans, can preserve cultural traditions
Different colonies build in competing architectural styles
1843 magazine | Robert F. Kennedy junior doesn’t care if he condemns America to Trump
He’s a tree-hugging conspiracy theorist – and he’s running for president
The rights and wrongs of assisted dying
Britain’s next great social reform is coming. Here’s how it should work
Dateline: The Economist history quiz | April 12th edition
Can you guess when these extracts were published?
Transgender care
America should follow England’s lead on transgender care for kids
Its approach is neither as harsh as in red states nor as lax as in blue states
The Cass Review damns England’s youth-gender services
A new report urges big changes
What America has got wrong about gender medicine
Too many doctors have suspended their professional judgment
Britain tries to correct the treatment of gender-dysphoric kids
But puberty blockers are still available from private providers
China’s economy
China’s high-stakes struggle to defy demographic disaster
The Communist Party puts its faith in robots, gene-therapy and bathing services
Xi Jinping’s misguided plan to escape economic stagnation
It will disappoint China’s people and anger the rest of the world
How Xi Jinping plans to overtake America
Digital twins, nuclear fusion and the small matter of fixing China’s economy
The spread of AI
Artificial intelligence is taking over drug development
Regulators need to up their game to keep up
How to define artificial general intelligence
Academics and tech entrepreneurs disagree. A court may soon decide
A new generation of music-making algorithms is here
Their most useful application may lie in helping human composers
Just how rich are businesses getting in the AI gold rush?
Nvidia and Microsoft are not the only winners
India’s election
Gandhi v Modi: crunch time for Congress as India prepares to vote
The Economist joins the most prominent opposition politician on the campaign trail
How India could become an Asian tiger
The world’s most selective bureaucracy is struggling to make it happen
Narendra Modi’s secret weapon: India’s diaspora
Migrants help campaign for the prime minister at home and lobby for the country abroad
Yamini Aiyar laments the damage done to Indian democracy under Narendra Modi
Toxic majoritarianism is just part of the story, says the policy scholar
Visual storytelling
Vladivostok is a window into wartime Russia
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is transforming the far-eastern city
Joe Biden’s weakness among Latinos threatens his re-election
In Arizona, a growing Hispanic electorate should help Democrats. Yet Donald Trump is gaining ground
Can you build a British voter?
See how Britons might vote in the next election
How cheap drones are transforming warfare in Ukraine
First-person view drones have achieved near mythical status on the front lines
Weekly edition: April 20th 2024
Reasons to be cheerful about Generation Z
Is generative AI built on theft?
The wonder-technology faces accusations of copyright infringement
How to counter Iran
Israel should try a novel response to Iran’s missile attack: restraint
Musk v Brazil’s supreme court
The court has become the de facto regulator of social media in the country
Shrinking America
America is uniquely ill-suited to handle a falling population
Technology Quarterly: March 30th 2024
A new prescription
AIs will make health care safer and better, reports Natasha Loder. It may even get cheaper too
