Oct 21st 2023

Where will this end?

The world this week

Leaders

The Middle East

Only America can save Israel and Gaza from greater catastrophe

Iran, Russia and China are profiting from the mayhem

Speaking of goat rodeos

America’s Republicans cannot agree on a speaker. Good

How the GOP could yet, inadvertently, further the national interest

At last, good news

Poland shows that populists can be beaten

A victory for the rule of law in the heart of Europe

A brush with Basel

Why America’s banks need more capital

Though imperfect, regulators’ plans are necessary to keep the system safe

Polishing the crown jewels

How to make Britain’s health service AI-ready

The NHS should clean up and open up its data. Patients will benefit

Letters

On life sciences, motorists, invisible spouses, wealth management, longevity, Nobel prizes, brevity

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

The Israel-Hamas conflict

Naftali Bennett argues that Israel’s future depends on striking fear into its enemies’ hearts

How wars are fought

David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts on Ukraine and the future of warfare

Prosecuting war crimes

Amal Clooney and Rupert Skilbeck on why Britain fails to hold war criminals to account

Briefing

No place for a war

As Israel’s invasion of Gaza nears, the obstacles get more daunting

It must avoid a second front, protect civilians and save hostages while fighting at close quarters

Israel’s war on Hamas

Mapping the destruction in Gaza

At least 4.3% of the enclave’s buildings appear to have been destroyed

When the shooting stops

Israel’s four unpalatable options for Gaza’s long-term future

The path to Israel’s preferred outcome is littered with obstacles

The coming ground invasion

Is Israel acting within the laws of war?

Even lawful evacuations and attacks on Hamas will exact a heavy civilian toll in Gaza

Maelstrom in the Middle East

The Arab world thinks differently about this war

But Israel’s evidence about a hospital strike still carries little weight

Tunnel vision

Hamas tunnels under Gaza will be a key battlefield for Israel

Underground warfare is terrifying, claustrophobic and slow

Asia

Japanese geography

How remote islands underpin Japan’s maritime power

India and free love

Social-media influencers are battling to educate young Indians about sex

Don’t rely on the courts

India’s Supreme Court refuses to recognise same-sex marriage

No special measures

Has Australasia lurched right on race?

Lucky but sooty

Australia’s energy transition is in trouble

Chipping away

South Korean chipmakers get a reprieve

Banyan

India-Pakistan relations are becoming more marginal and worse

China

Women’s rights

Chinese feminists are rebuilding their movement abroad

Training days

China is educating engineers around the world

Property in Hong Kong

A landslip in Hong Kong fuels resentment of the rich

Chaguan

Xi Jinping wants to be loved by the global south

United States

From tents to hospitals

American states wrestle with how to treat severe mental illness

Hail McHenry

How the Republican civil war in the House could end

End times

Part of Donald Trump’s base thinks he is fighting a spiritual war

Roe, your own way

Anti-abortion campaigners try to break their losing streak

The empire strikes back

Americans are discovering the joy of a true pint of beer

Algebra and pistols

One response to school shootings in America: arm the teachers

Lexington

Joe Biden has shown a steady hand in the Gaza crisis

Middle East & Africa

From bullets to ballots

How Liberia and Sierra Leone ended their cycles of violence

Sudan’s agony

After six months of civil war, little remains of Khartoum

No miracles required

How to save the lives of 200,000 women a year

The Americas

The radical option

Can Argentina’s next president fix the economy? Don’t count on it

Democratic display

Bernardo Arévalo is still battling to become Guatemala’s president

Blowout

Joe Biden lifts sanctions on Venezuela, but not without conditions

Europe

Tusk’s triumph

Poland gives pro-European liberals a big win

From corruption to production

How a 31-year-old hopes to fix Ukraine’s state-owned defence giant

Legal vacuum

Alexei Navalny’s lawyers are arrested

Europe’s populists

Marine Le Pen poses a greater threat than Giorgia Meloni

High tension

Paris and Berlin compromise on reform of the electricity market

Charlemagne

The EU’s response to the crisis in Israel exposes its limits

Britain

Sickness service to health service

The world’s largest health-research study is under way in Britain

Joining up the bots

Britain’s NHS is trying once again to collate patients’ data

Nevereverendum

Scottish independence has become a long game

Food for thought

Despite Brexit and the government, British manufacturing is doing well

Garden of England

The rise of English viticulture

Park life

Britain’s national parks are not protecting nature

Bagehot

How rationing became the fashion under the Tories

Business

Control shift

Are America’s allies the holes in its export-control fence?

Bartleby

How big is the role of luck in career success?

Thrivers in India

Meet India’s mega-wealthy

Lithography lessons

Canon tries to break ASML’s grip on chipmaking tools

Spread bets

Why big oil is beefing up its trading arms

Schumpeter

Are America’s CEOs overpaid?

Finance & economics

War by other means

Israel turns to financial weapons as well as military ones

Peak disappointment

China’s economy may be growing faster, but big problems remain

Nasty headache

China’s banks may be loaded up with hidden bad loans

Crypto’s future

Will Binance come over to the light side?

Buttonwood

Why it is time to retire Dr Copper

Not so civil anymore

How free-market economics reshaped legal systems the world over

Free exchange

Do Amazon and Google lock out competition?

Science & technology

Unrolled at last

AI could help unearth a trove of lost classical texts

The weather underground

What a Serbian cave tells you about the weather 2,500 years ago

Sleep tight!

It’s not just Paris. Bedbugs are resurgent everywhere

News you can use

How to predict the outcome of a coin toss

Culture

Ill liberals

How to cancel “cancel culture”

Movie marathons

Why films have become so ridiculously long

Back Story

David Beckham’s guide to celebrity

Spirituality

Where to look to find enlightenment

When the music stops

“Here We Are” and the question of what to do with unfinished art

War in the Middle East

The Israel-Palestine conflict: a reading list

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

The Economist explains

What is Palestinian Islamic Jihad?

The Economist explains

How China’s Belt and Road Initiative is changing

Obituary

Life on the edge