Sep 23rd 2023
The world this week
Leaders
Ukraine
Ukraine faces a long war. A change of course is needed
Its backers should pray for a speedy victory—but plan for a long struggle
From Asia to Asia
What Asia’s economic revolution means for the world
Links between the region’s countries are getting stronger. But America’s loss is not entirely China’s gain
Death in Vancouver
If India ordered a murder in Canada, there must be consequences
Western countries have for too long acquiesced to the Indian government’s abuses
Beyond the hype
ChatGPT mania may be cooling, but a serious new industry is taking shape
Three forces will shape the business of generative AI
How to beat HIV
To end AIDS, high-risk countries will need to jab schoolgirls
Injections that could keep a generation virus-free are on the horizon
Uninsurable America
Climate change is coming for America’s property market
Insurance is supposed to signal risk. Policymakers should let it
Letters
On nuclear weapons, business agglomerations, Germany, heat pumps, the EU’s Council of Ministers, inoculations, headline wordplay
Letters to the editor
Briefing
The battle within
To endure a long war, Ukraine is remaking its army, economy and society
The improvisation and decentralisation of the early part of the war will no longer suffice
A lean patch
Western help for Ukraine is likely to diminish next year
There is a shortage of weapons and munitions—and, in some quarters, goodwill
United States
Uninsurable America
Parts of America are becoming uninsurable
Diplomacy in the new cold war
Biden, alone at the top table as the UN withers
Blocking manoeuvres
America’s states are trying to set rules for the internet
The Americas
Sertanejo swagger
Brazil’s hinterland now resembles Texas
Asia
Asia’s new aid diplomacy
China isn’t the only country giving out goodies in Asia
Rebuilding Tokyo
Demolishing one of Babe Ruth’s last stadiums
Murder in the suburbs
A devastating accusation by Justin Trudeau against India
China
Xi’s troubled coterie
The disappearance of China’s defence minister raises big questions
Claims on the past
How China uses UNESCO to rewrite history
Middle East & Africa
Making sex safer again
Is the end of AIDS in sight?
Hostages and a fortune
Iran’s $6bn hostage deal is part of a broader diplomatic strategy
Prison blues
Lebanon’s prison inmates are running short of food
Never let a crisis go to waste
Khalifa Haftar will use Libya’s floods to deepen his control
Europe
Energie-wander
Angst mounts over Germany’s green transition
Geopolitical monster v Brussels effect
Why the EU will not remain the world’s digital über-regulator
Britain
Panicky policymaking
Rishi Sunak’s anti-green turn on Britain’s climate targets
A shot in the arm
Britain’s war on drugs enters a new phase
Inflation and wages
What supermarkets reveal about Britain’s economy
Brits in Paris
France rolls out the red carpet for Britain
Scary mutts
A fight over dangerous dogs in Britain
A year after the disastrous mini-budget
The legacy of Liz Truss
Pollution in Northern Ireland
The largest freshwater lake in the British Isles has been poisoned
International
Young guns
Meet the world’s new arms dealers
Business
Smart money
Could OpenAI be the next tech giant?
Can Falcon soar?
Abu Dhabi throws a surprise challenger into the AI race
Emissionary zeal
California cracks down on carbon
Strike while the engine is hot
America’s big car firms face lengthy strikes
Missile stockpiles
Big pharma can’t get enough of one class of cancer drugs
Bartleby
Friendships in the office
Finance & economics
The price battle
Why aren’t more people being sacked?
Financial innovation
Macau offers a new way to get rich
Buttonwood
How to avoid a common investment mistake
Rod stewards
Why uranium prices are soaring
Free exchange
Renewable energy has hidden costs
Science & technology
Creation and destruction
A chunk of asteroid is coming to Earth
Godforsaken rocks
Finding alien life may require finding new sorts of planets
Culture
Tok of the town
TikTok is changing the way books are recommended and sold
Books and bobs
Publishing used to be packed with parties and punch
Where the wild things are
From myth to art, bears have long captivated people
Here, there and almost everywhere
The British Empire peaked 100 years ago this month
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Graphic detail
China’s demography
China’s “demographic dividend” appears to be a myth
The Economist explains
The Economist explains
Why Poland is halting its supply of weapons to Ukraine
The Economist explains
What is Khalistan, the independent homeland some Sikhs yearn for?
Obituary
On a spear’s edge