Briefing

Last-minute reprieve

America’s $61bn aid package buys Ukraine time

It must use it wisely

Emptying and fuming

America is uniquely ill-suited to handle a falling population

Which is a worry, because much of it is already shrinking

Risk of subsidence

Homeowners face a $25trn bill from climate change

Property, the world’s biggest asset class, is also its most vulnerable

Nuclear weapons

America and its allies are entering a period of nuclear uncertainty

And it means the balancing act is getting harder

Stranger danger

How to predict Donald Trump’s foreign policy

He may be inconsistent, but his advisers offer some clues

No winners

The war in Gaza may topple Hamas without making Israel safer

It will end up even more deeply mired in the conflict that is the main threat to its security

Who’s afraid of Wile E. Coyote?

America’s economy has escaped a hard landing

But there are still pitfalls ahead

Spoilers

Third-party candidates could be decisive in America’s election

But they have to get on the ballot first

Relentless reaper

America’s ten-year-old fentanyl epidemic is still getting worse

The government is spending record amounts, just to slow its growth

Present at the destruction

Can Europe defend itself without America?

It would need to replace military aid, a nuclear umbrella and leadership

The burning question

First electric cars. Next, electric factories?

They could be a major new way to slow global warming

Nationalists of the world, unite!

“National conservatives” are forging a global front against liberalism

The alliance may be incoherent, but that does not make it harmless