Leaders
America and the world
America’s allies should share the burden with Joe Biden
The Biden administration could do with a little more help from its foreign friends
Suddenly, hope
The promise of the new covid-19 vaccine is immense
But don’t underestimate the challenge of getting people vaccinated
America’s economy
President Joe Biden will face two extraordinary economic challenges
He must both fight a crisis and prepare for transformative change
The Mugabe model
How to stop Zambia from turning into Zimbabwe
Neighbours and creditors should resist its slide into autocracy and economic collapse
Letters
On transgender sports, diplomacy, Facebook, management, Armenia, avatars, Brazil
Letters to the editor
Europe
Peace, for now
A peace deal ends a bloody war over Nagorno-Karabakh
Judge not, that ye be not judged
Ukraine’s constitutional court attacks anti-corruption laws
Turn on the spigot
The EU’s €750bn recovery plan comes one step closer
Mission impossible but necessary
France’s thankless war against jihadists in the Sahel
Briefing
The technology of hope
An effective covid-19 vaccine is a turning point in the pandemic
It is a breakthrough for the history books. But a lot still needs to be done
Diminishing value
Value investing is struggling to remain relevant
The main reason is the inexorable rise of hard-to-analyse intangible assets
Britain
Foreign direct investment
The law on foreign takeovers is being tightened
Brexit and Biden
Biden puts pressure on Johnson to do a deal with the EU
Public spending
Boris Johnson’s profligacy problem
Phone-hacking
Why the phone-hacking story won’t go away
Chain reaction
Britain’s nuclear industry faces a do-or-die moment
London calling, at last
Rishi Sunak pitches the City to the world
Middle East & Africa
Ace in the hole
The arrest of Ace Magashule is good news for South Africa
The wheels come off
Zambia is starting to look like Zimbabwe, the failure next door
Rebelling against rape
Egyptian women speak up about sex crimes
A negotiator in winter
Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian who talked to Israel, dies of covid-19
United States
Transmission and the transition
What the Biden administration would do differently on covid-19
Nothing to see here
The Republican Party and Donald Trump’s alternative election fantasy
Going, going, Pentagone
Another Defence Secretary is sacked, most likely for insufficient subservience
Where the wild things are
America’s answer to the Serengeti is spreading in Montana
The city and the hills
Our analysis of the election results suggests that 2020 accelerated a long-running trend
Lexington
A Democratic defeat in victory
The Americas
Asia
A crowd-sourced commander-in-chief
Is Kyrgyzstan’s president saving or smashing the rule of law?
Down under and out
China is curbing imports of more and more Australian goods
Against daunting odds
Despite the pandemic, India’s ruling party triumphs again
Mother Suu does it again
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party claims victory in Myanmar’s election
China
Leaving in despair
Hong Kong’s legislature has been stripped of a vocal opposition
Highly effective people’s republic
Why self-help books are so popular in China
International
Predictability, for a start
What the world wants from Joe Biden
Special report
Asset management
The money doctors
Index funds
Passive attack
Agency problems
Double trouble
Capital allocation
Stewards’ inquiry
Private markets
Taking back control
Venture capital
Frogs and princes
China
The Shanghai Open
The end-game
Doctor’s prescriptions
Business
Blown off course
China takes aim at its entrepreneurs
The streaming kingdom
Disney strikes streaming-TV gold
Recipe for success
Stockpiling pasta boosts Italy’s foodmakers
Finance & economics
Amber wave
Demand for American grain is surging
Comings and goings
Will Turkey’s new economic officials win over investors?
Smooth shopping
Klarna, a Swedish payments unicorn, wants to conquer America
Science & technology
Dealing with the pandemic
Fast tests for covid-19 are coming
Planetary science
Is there really phosphine on Venus?
Materials science
Better disposable coffee cups
Culture
The human stain
The myth and reality of Britain’s role in slavery
Fashion statements
On the catwalk in San Francisco’s Chinatown
Film and fiction
Billy Wilder is ready for his close-up
Economic & financial indicators
Graphic detail
Déjà vu all over again
Once again, less-educated whites spurned America’s Democratic nominee
Obituary
The woo-woo catcher