Jul 9th 2022

Clownfall: Britain after Boris

The world this week

Leaders

Britain after Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson should go immediately

Britain is in a dangerous state

Social media and security

Who’s afraid of TikTok?

The world’s most exciting app is also its most mistrusted

After Roe

America’s new exceptionalism

America has a set of laws on important subjects that do not reflect the views of Americans

Crisis in the classroom

Governments are ignoring the pandemic’s disastrous effect on education

Neglected pupils will suffer for the rest of their lives

Private equity

Why leveraged buy-outs are in trouble

This downturn won’t be like the last one

Magna mistake

Voters should reject Chile’s new draft constitution

It is a fiscally irresponsible left-wing wish list

Letters

On justice services, abortion, Africa, car dealers, Turkey, BTS, technology at work

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

Russia and Ukraine

Boris Bondarev on Vladimir Putin’s craven diplomats

Finance

The global economy needs to be better prepared for the coming storm, says Kathryn Judge

Finance and economics

Brad DeLong asks what America can learn from its past bouts of inflation

Briefing

The all-conquering quaver

As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

The Chinese app is bringing competition—and security fears—to social media

Essay

An anatomy of erasure

How a free and open Hong Kong became a police state

United States

A Washington army in waiting

In preparation for power, America’s new right builds new institutions

Zygote rights

A push to recognise the rights of the unborn is growing in America

Command and control

The Pentagon sharpens its cultural sword to win future wars

Ceci n’est pas une carpe

To hook American diners, an invasive species of carp gets a new name

No, no se puede

Democrats have a Hispanic problem

Lexington

High noon for Liz Cheney

The Americas

Hearts, not minds

Chile’s new draft constitution would shift the country far to the left

Find works; insert spanner; repeat

Argentina’s economy minister resigns because of political infighting

Rafting with rebels

Some ex-FARC guerrillas have become tourist guides in Colombia

Asia

Cold comfort

South Korea and Japan have a rare chance to make friends

Bureaucratic nightmare

“I’m from the Taliban and I’m here to help”

Shinde shindig

India’s ruling party wins control of its richest state

Bridges to liberty

New transport infrastructure helps South Asian women into work

Banyan

What pandemic border closures say about Japan’s view of outsiders

China

Building blocs

The G7 at last presents an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Above the water line

Fewer people are dying in floods in China

Hacked

A huge data leak in China was not unexpected

Having a larp

China’s Communist Party cracks down on larping

Middle East & Africa

Either ore

How the world depends on small cobalt miners

Where was the goalie?

Two stupendous football scores raise questions in Sierra Leone

Lapid response

Israel’s new leader, Yair Lapid, has four months to prove himself

Paving paradise

Historic houseboats fall victim to Egypt’s addiction to cement

The latest railway bazaar

A new web of Arab railways could transform the Middle East

Europe

Heading south

Ukraine prepares a counter-offensive to retake Kherson province

Fate unknown

Russia is disappearing vast numbers of Ukrainians

Explosive growth

Weapons shipments turn a Polish city into a boom town

From bad to worse

Polish-German relations have gone sour

Minority report

France’s President Emmanuel Macron decides to go it alone

The defiant one

Alexei Navalny’s jailers are tightening the screws

Charlemagne

Travel chaos in Europe is a glimpse of a future with few spare workers

Britain

The wreckage he will leave behind

A monstrous in-tray awaits Boris Johnson’s eventual successor

The rift with Rishi

Many British Conservatives now prefer tax cuts to balanced budgets

Pestminster, a history

The House of Commons has a long history of sexual misconduct

A nation of backlogs

Britain’s labour market is straining to recover from the pandemic

Britain’s growth crisis

Britain wants to shake up adult education

Chinese espionage

Britain and America sound a joint alarm over China

Bagehot

The toxicity of Boris Johnson

International

Wasted minds

Covid learning loss has been a global disaster

Business

PE lesson

Private equity may be heading for a fall

Business in Poland

Business in Poland faces strong headwinds

Venture capitalism in Europe

How sturdy are Europe’s tech unicorns?

Bartleby

Reading corporate culture from the outside

Schumpeter

What does the future hold for Reliance, India’s biggest firm?

Finance & economics

Tougher than tariffs

America rethinks its strategy for taking on China’s economy

Helter skelter

Do cheaper commodities herald a recession?

Case closed

What a tycoon’s trial says about the rot in China’s financial system

Buttonwood

Crypto’s last man standing

Bills, bills, bills

As interest rates climb and the economy cools, can companies pay their debts?

Free exchange

Are central banks in emerging markets now less of a slave to the Fed?

Science & technology

Beyond the Standard Model

Ten years on from the Higgs boson, what is next for physics?

Culture

The Torlonia Marbles

A legendary collection of classical statuary is at last on view

To be a pilgrim

Gaming the haj, from the comfort of home

World in a dish

A Chinese-flavoured challah tells a timeless human story

Perfidious Albion

The diaries of the last British governor of Hong Kong

Hide and seek

Peter Higgs and his boson have both been “Elusive”

Back Story

The many lives of Volodymyr Zelensky

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Graphic detail

It could have been worse

Covid-19 vaccines saved an estimated 20m lives during their first year

The Economist explains

The Economist explains

Why is Georgia struggling to join the EU?

The Economist explains

Why are cluster munitions so dangerous?

Obituary

The mystic of the stage