May 25th 2024

Cash for kids: Why policies to boost birth rates don’t work

The world this week

Leaders

Cash for kids

Why paying women to have more babies won’t work

Economies must adapt to baby busts instead

July 4th celebration

Rishi Sunak’s election call makes no sense, but is good news

Whether an act of political genius or lunacy, Britons should welcome it

Lawfare v warfare

The war-crimes case against the leaders of Israel and Hamas is flawed

Politics and diplomacy, not courts, are the key to ending violence and starting two-state talks

Security alert

Hacking phones is too easy. Time to make it harder

Regulators have avoided the problem for too long

30 years after apartheid

How to save South Africa

The rainbow nation needs an alternative to decline under the ANC

The new brains trust

What India’s clout in white-collar work means for the world

In time its tech firms could be as formidable as China’s manufacturers

Letters

On disinformation, digital payments, South-East Asia, Italy, Ravel’s “Boléro”, Tesla cars

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

Israel, America and the ICC

Powerful states are finding it harder to dodge legal challenges, says Marc Weller

European security

Olaf Scholz on why Vladimir Putin’s brutal imperialism will fail

Briefing

Dawdling and decay

Why this is South Africa’s most important election since 1994

It may force the country’s indecisive leader to make a fateful choice

United States

The country road to the White House

Rural white voters in Wisconsin could decide America’s election

Corruption trials

What the cases of Robert Menendez and Henry Cuellar have in common

Off-season offence

How the NFL keeps fans transfixed even when there are no games

The FAFSA foul-up

Time is running out to fix America’s student-aid mess

A migration merry-go-round

Fewer migrants are crossing America’s southern border

U bet

Some would-be American immigrants are paying to get robbed

Lexington

Politics is the law in Texas

The Americas

The villains are thriving

Criminal gangs are showing their muscle as Mexico’s elections loom

Lessons learned after Canada’s Frankenfires

Canadians are taking dramatic steps to avoid more ruinous firestorms

The vote bank in the United States

Mexico’s mighty diaspora punches below its weight in elections

Asia

New Caledonia, Old Tensions

Geopolitics helps reignite New Caledonia’s anti-colonial unrest

All-consuming fires

Vietnam’s ruling communists rush to fill the country’s top jobs

Bangsamoro’s moment

In the Philippines a decades-long conflict nears its endgame

An unruly corner

India’s YouTubers take on Narendra Modi

Banyan

Lai Ching-te aims to strengthen Taiwan but maintain the status quo

China

A tale of two Chinas

Even Xi Jinping is struggling to fix regional inequality

Study buddies

The number of American students in China is going up again

One way to stay spry

Why Hong Kong is sending its old people to Guangdong

Middle East & Africa

The battle for control of Iran

The death of the president changes the power dynamic in Iran

Succession

A death, an illness, and an uncertain Middle East

The Israel-Hamas war

The revolt against Binyamin Netanyahu

Deaths in Gaza

How many people have died in Gaza?

Israel and Hamas in the dock

The ICC’s threat to arrest Binyamin Netanyahu has shocked Israel

The coup will not be televised

A live-streamed attempted coup in Congo shakes the region

Arms for Africa

Chinese weapons are taking over in Africa

Europe

Pragmatist or pasionaria?

As the Euro-elections loom, Giorgia Meloni guards her right flank

Who hates whom?

How the hard right both reflects and creates prejudice

Charlemagne

The fight over meat-free meat pits Europe’s traditionalists against foodie innovators

European Parliament elections

Le Pen’s hard right looks set to crush Macron’s centrists

A city under threat

Ukraine’s desperate struggle to defend Kharkiv

Britain

Paranoid android

Could the Labour Party blow its big opportunity?

Wiggly wormageddon

What’s behind Britain’s earthworm cataclysm?

Blood, debt and tears

“A day of shame” for the British state

A system under strain

The sorry story of children in care in England

Alcoblocks

When is a non-alcoholic drink alcohol-free?

Bagehot

Rishi Sunak’s snap election is odd and illogical—much like him

A permanent home

The world’s first museum of homelessness

International

An interview with Rafael Grossi

Iran’s new leaders stand at a nuclear precipice

Business

Think different

Can Nvidia be dethroned? Meet the startups vying for its crown

Big game

Africa Inc is ready to roar

The world’s office

Global firms are tapping India’s workers like never before

Pits and bits

Americans are fretting over their body odour

The adman of Arkansas

Walmart’s latest product? Its customers

Bartleby

The Economist’s agony uncle returns

Schumpeter

Can anyone save the world’s most important diamond company?

Finance & economics

Trade wars

Brazil, India and Mexico are taking on China’s exports

An aid to digestion

How the Chinese state aims to calm the property market

Soft launch

At long last, Europe’s economy is starting to grow

Buttonwood

Boaz v BlackRock: Whoever wins, closed-end funds lose

Free exchange

Shrinking populations mean less growth and a more fractious world

The pro-natalist turn

Can the rich world escape its baby crisis?

Science & technology

Easy breezy

A new age of sail begins

Marine technology

The AirFish is a fast ferry that will fly above the waves

Charging ahead

A promising non-invasive technique can help paralysed limbs move

Cyber security

It is dangerously easy to hack the world’s phones

Culture

The art cop

Meet the man causing cracks in the antiquities trade

A modern Orwellian tale

What if calling someone stupid was a crime?

Back Story

Jürgen Klopp’s masterclass in how to win—and lose

The spice of life

Spices have their own riveting, piquant history

Heavenly hosts

The controversial cult of the host club in Japan

The “Bridgerton” effect

The hit series “Bridgerton” has set off a string-quartet boom

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

The Economist explains

The Economist explains

What does it mean to recognise Palestinian statehood?

Obituary

Morality and butchery