Where next for global jihad?
The world this week
Leaders
A rock in a hard place
The mess in Afghanistan exposes Britain’s foolish security policy
The time is long past for Britain to repair relations with its European neighbours
Following the Taliban
After Afghanistan, where next for global jihad?
The biggest danger is in poor, unstable states where insurgents already control territory
The Powell punt
Despite his shortcomings, Jerome Powell should be reappointed Fed chairman
It would be a bad time to cast any doubt on the Fed’s independence
Apple’s next decade
Apple exemplified an era of global capitalism that has passed
Tim Cook has to adapt to a new age of tech and globalisation
In praise of physics
Fundamental physics is humanity’s most extraordinary achievement
It sees worlds in grains of sand and infinities in hours
Letters
On refugees, Bolivia, Primrose Hill, Pacific island nations, Monty Python
Letters to the editor
Briefing
Good news for global jihad
America’s flight from Afghanistan will embolden jihadists around the world
Even if the Taliban do little to help other fighters, their success is an inspiration
Europe
Saxon Switzerland
A visit to a stronghold of the AfD, Germany’s far-right party
What a time to be Olaf
The Social Democrats’ surge upends Germany’s election campaign
Not yet out of the woods
Employment is growing strongly in the euro zone
Britain
The special relationship
The Afghanistan debacle has weakened ties between Britain and America
No sex please, we’re skittish
OnlyFans U-turns on its porn ban
Pheasants revolt
Britain has an enormous number of pheasants
Not even past
How German bombs shape London’s gangs
Light at the end of the tunnel
Crossrail, London’s new train line, is almost finished
Bagehot
What Tony taught Boris
Middle East & Africa
Not above the law
Kenya’s judges do their duty. A pity about its politicians
Death of a dictator
Chad’s former strongman, Hissène Habré, dies of covid-19
Retirement home for exiles
Why Afghan officials have washed up in the United Arab Emirates
Extra-virgin territory
The global ambitions of Lebanon’s hard-pressed olive-oil makers
United States
The left-behind
America’s rush for the exit in Kabul
Infrastructure month
September will be the most crucial month of Joe Biden’s presidency
Signs of vitalism
Improved technology collides with religious beliefs at the ICU
Lexington
The trials of Gavin Newsom
The Americas
Joe Biden’s other headache
Democracy is quickly eroding in Central America
A palaeontological paradox
Bolivia has thousands of dinosaur footprints, but few bones
Asia
Nation-gilding
The Afghan government was undone by its own corruption
Covid how much?
Australia is ending its zero-covid strategy
I want to break free
Singapore’s thirty-somethings are leaving home
China
A pig of a problem
African swine fever is spreading rapidly in China, again
One more thought
Research centres promoting Xi Jinping’s ideas are proliferating
International
New frontiers
Climate change will alter where many crops are grown
Special report
A misshapen square
Why the Arab world has an identity crisis
The resistance axis?
Iran scores a pyrrhic victory in its cold war with Saudi Arabia
A farewell to arms
The Palestinian cause no longer binds the Arab world
Business
Gone today, here tomorrow
India’s government wants to monetise state-owned assets
Bartleby
Why women need the office
The great successor’s second act
Apple has had a successful decade. The next one looks tougher
Finance & economics
The fight over the Fed
The new Powell doctrine
Disappearing incentives
Ending pandemic unemployment aid has not yielded extra jobs—yet
Bright SPARC
Out of Bill Ackman’s SPAC woes comes innovation
Schools brief
Biology brief
On the origin of “species”
Science & technology
Life, the universe and everything
Physics seeks the future
Culture
Covid and the world economy
Adam Tooze’s new book documents the economic impact of the pandemic
Fireworks and feminism
The first full retrospective of Judy Chicago’s career
Economic & financial indicators
Graphic detail
The font’s the thing