Leaders
The pandemic
How well will vaccines work?
Covid-19 may become endemic. Governments need to start thinking about how to cope
The persecution of the Uyghurs
“Genocide” is the wrong word for the horrors of Xinjiang
To confront evil, the first step is to describe it accurately
An end to exceptionalism
Reducing child poverty in America
The White House and a prominent Republican senator propose copying a European scheme
Life, the universe and everything
The search for ET may soon yield an answer
Whether there is intelligence out there is a different matter
Letters
On Scotland, GameStop, Jack Dorsey, markets, innovation, primaries, baseball, Rizlas
Letters to the editor
Briefing
Vaccine efficacy
When covid-19 vaccines meet the new variants of the virus
A lot depends on blocking transmission, not just disease
Fear, uncertainty and doubt
Vaccine hesitancy is putting progress against covid-19 at risk
If the world is to tame the virus, the doubts will need to be fought
Europe
A tale of two colleges
Covid-19 school closures are widening Europe’s class divisions
The president’s dilemma
France’s Emmanuel Macron must decide how to fight next year’s election
University challenged
Turkey’s president scapegoats gay-friendly students
No time for foot-Draghing
Mario Draghi is set to become Italy’s next prime minister
They told you so
The European Union must face up to the real Russia
Britain
Rule-breaking
A secret world of illicit fun
Sino-UK relations
Britain’s hardening stance on China
Exporting vaccine
Britons are keen to share their vaccine supplies
Firm footing
British business is in surprisingly good shape
No place like home
Migration between England, Scotland and Northern Ireland is falling
Middle East & Africa
New sheriff in town
Joe Biden looks to end the war in Yemen
Fourth time lucky
Can a new administration reunite war-torn Libya?
Adding to the chaos
Gulf rivalries are spilling into Africa’s Horn
The big men still eat
Congo’s president cuts free of his would-be puppetmaster
Roses rise again
Kenya’s floral exports are blooming once more
United States
Swing voters in the Senate
What are the prospects for bipartisanship?
Likes and protein spikes
Facebook tries to pre-empt regulation by squeezing anti-vaxxers
The shrining
America’s strange presidential museums
Trail blazers
Oregon decriminalises drugs for personal use
The Americas
Practically perfect
Cuba and Venezuela open up, hesitantly, to the market
Activists amid anarchy
Why Colombia’s social leaders are being murdered
Asia
Don’t putsch me
Myanmar’s generals face growing protests against their coup
Wallets at the ready
Bangladesh’s government lavishes money on the army
Hell is other people
South Koreans are being driven mad by noisy neighbours
Palm-fringed fury
A Zoom call sets off a diplomatic dust-up in the Pacific
China
Accept these gifts, or else
As in Xinjiang, China is tightening its grip in Tibet
Suddenly, space for free-thinkers
People from China flock to Clubhouse to enjoy calm, open debate
International
Inconvenient truths
Censorious governments are abusing “fake news” laws
Special report
The age of the wheelie-bag
What will travel look like after the pandemic?
No heads in the clouds
Could covid-19 shake up air travel for the better?
Emission days
How today’s reviled airlines could become greener
Video-conferencing rules
Business travel may never fully recover from covid-19
Well travelled
New health and other apps may make travel easier
The holiday only just began
Tourism will rebound after the pandemic
Business
Harbingers of boom
America Inc has survived the oddest year in modern times. What next?
Flogging the family lead
Narendra Modi promises to privatise Air India
Anglo-German business ties
For Deutschland AG, Brexit goes from bad to wurst
Bartleby
Diary of a plague year
Finance & economics
Some pleasant fiscal arithmetic
Should governments in emerging economies worry about their debt?
Picking up pace
Inflation will rise in the coming months
Fresh blood
European banks need new chiefs
Rinse and repeat
Washing machines reveal how trade and competition are linked
Science & technology
Both ends against the middle
Microbial ecosystems in the mouth and gut are linked to many ills
Green construction
Building sustainable cities with wooden skyscrapers
Silicon chats
Conversational computers have come a long way
Culture
Black-sky thinking
A distinguished astronomer sees evidence of extraterrestrial life
Renegade tycoons
The rise and falls of Robert Maxwell
Graphic detail
Jabs and jab-nots
There will be enough vaccines for all—if rich countries share
Obituary
Seer of the Anthropocene