The Economist | Independent journalism
Abortion | The pro-choice movement that could help Joe Biden in November
A backlash against abortion bans is energising the middle ground in America
Middle East & Africa
Who is responsible for feeding Gaza?
Arguments fly over Israel’s duty to maintain aid
Leaders
Incompetence or opacity: the choice facing British voters
The first week of the election campaign points to a failure of political competition
Business
Can Elon Musk’s xAI take on OpenAI?
It has some advantages. But it is entering a crowded field
The world in brief
Fourteen pro-democracy activists and politicians were found guilty under Hong Kong’s national-security law...
Israel’s army took control of the “Philadelphi Corridor”, its term for a buffer zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt...
Early results in South Africa’s election suggested that the ruling African National Congress was on track to lose its parliamentary majority...
Unemployment across the euro area fell to 6.4% in April, from 6.5% in March, reaching the lowest level since 1999...
Is your rent ever going to fall?
Too often politicians tout awful solutions for helping tenants
Bagehot: The British election is becoming an episode of mob justice
A punishment beating is on the cards for the Conservatives
Hong Kong convicts 14 pro-democracy activists
The ruling acts as a warning: dissent and pay the price
Bullfighting is under attack
It reveals a lot about politics and attitudes towards Spain
Business, finance and economics
ExxonMobil rediscovers its swagger
The bad boy of big oil goes after its shareholders
Baby-boomers are loaded. Why are they so stingy?
The mystery matters for global economic growth
Japanese businesses are trapped between America and China
Could geopolitics kill off an incipient corporate revival?
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
America’s election year
In brief
Jury deliberates in Trump trial; Alito refuses to step aside
Our daily political update, featuring the stories that matter
Why America is vulnerable to a despot
Its democratic system is not as robust as it seems
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
Video
Britain’s election
UK election 2024
General-election forecast: will Labour destroy the Conservatives?
Our seat-by-seat prediction for Britain’s next Parliament
UK election 2024
Can you build a British voter?
Explore the groups driving Britain’s political shifts using our interactive tool
Bagehot: Rishi Sunak’s snap election is odd and illogical—much like him
Whether an act of political genius or lunacy, Britons should welcome it
Sir Keir Starmer meets the public. Sort of
The Labour leader is better than he was at campaigning but that is not saying a lot
World news
Chaguan: How China uses Russia as a wrecking ball
As Russia threatens to paralyse the UN Security Council, China stands back
Ukraine’s desperate draft-dodgers drown in the river of death
Thousands of military-age Ukrainians are risking their lives by swimming across treacherous waters
Hordes of cicadas are emerging simultaneously in America
The ancestors of these two neighbouring broods last met in 1803
As the Euro-elections loom, Giorgia Meloni guards her right flank
Matteo Salvini looks like being Italy’s big loser
The Israel-Hamas war
How many people have died in Gaza?
The fog of war may be thick, but some figures are solid
The ICJ orders restraint from Israel in Rafah
But the court has no way to enforce its judgment, and there is no chance Israel will heed it
What does it mean to recognise Palestinian statehood?
Ireland, Norway and Spain will be the latest to do so
Powerful states are finding it harder to dodge legal challenges, says Marc Weller
The law professor believes the ICC’s creeping jurisdiction is part of a broader trend
South Africa’s election
How to save South Africa
The rainbow nation needs an alternative to decline under the ANC
South Africa election poll tracker, results and guide to the parties
Who will form the next government?
How a Russia-linked mine may keep the ANC in power
South Africa’s ruling party was broke a few months ago, but its fortunes are changing
How South Africa has changed 30 years after apartheid
Poverty is rife and inequality still starkly racial
Pro-natalist policies
Why paying women to have more babies won’t work
Economies must adapt to baby busts instead
Can the rich world escape its baby crisis?
Governments are splurging on handouts to avert catastrophe
Shrinking populations mean less growth and a more fractious world
Politicians must act now to avert the worst
Some good news about America’s fertility problem
Part of the decline in births should be celebrated
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
1843 magazine | Trump’s charm offensive in the Bronx
Can boasts of past glories win over a tough crowd?
The war in Ukraine
There is an explosive flaw in the plan to rearm Ukraine
Europe lacks TNT and other propellants for shells and missiles
Ukraine’s desperate struggle to defend Kharkiv
It is holding off Russia’s attack — for now
A Russia-linked network uses AI to rewrite real news stories
CopyCop churned out 19,000 deceptive posts in a month
Russia is ramping up sabotage across Europe
The Kremlin believes it is in a shadow war with NATO
Other highlights
There is more to breasts than meets the eye
A new book offers a cultural history of mammary glands
Footballer, broadcaster, podcast mogul: the career of Gary Lineker
And what it says about modern Britain
How the NFL keeps fans transfixed even when there are no games
The show must go on
Canadians are taking dramatic steps to avoid more ruinous firestorms
The focus is as much on mitigation and preparation as on suppression
Weekly edition: May 25th 2024
Cash for kids: Why policies to boost birth rates don’t work
Where next for Iran?
The death of the president changes the power dynamic
Meet Nvidia’s challengers
A new generation of AI chips is on the way
How to save South Africa
The rainbow nation needs an alternative to decline under the ANC
Britain’s election surprise
Rishi Sunak’s election call makes no sense, but is good news
Special reports: May 11th 2024
Worlds apart
The American-led financial order is giving way to a more divided one
The global financial system is in danger of fragmenting
How crises reshaped the world financial system
The movement of capital globally is in decline
National payment systems are proliferating
The fight to dethrone the dollar
How the financial system would respond to a superpower war
Sources and acknowledgments
