Leaders
The centre cannot hold
Macron has done well by France. But he risks throwing it all away
After the election, populists of the right and left could hobble a centrist president
Governing America
What to make of Joe Biden’s plans for a second term
His domestic agenda is underwhelming, unrealistic and better than the alternative
Global warming
Simple steps to stop people dying from heatwaves
As much of the world roasts, don’t despair
Pointers for the plenum
A pivotal moment for China’s Communist Party
Will Xi Jinping keep ignoring good advice at the party’s third plenum?
Can you make this clearer?
LLMs now write lots of science. Good
Easier and more lucid writing will make science faster and better
The British election
Keir Starmer should be Britain’s next prime minister
Why Labour must form the next government
Letters
On software attacks, lab-grown meat, the pop industry, Iraq, the Moon, breasts
Letters to the editor
By Invitation
The French election
A hard-right government might disrupt France’s relations with Europe
Business and the American election
A business leader on why he’s backing Donald Trump
Briefing
The trouble with sequels
What would Joe Biden actually do with a second term?
He has a domestic agenda, but no easy way to bring it about
Europe
France’s parliamentary election
Emmanuel Macron’s centrists are facing a disastrous first-round vote
Getting them while they’re young
Finland’s shrinking high schools are importing pupils from abroad
Britain
The Starmer method
What the remaking of Labour reveals about Sir Keir Starmer
Lettuce pray
On shame, Liz Truss and the turnip Taliban
Bicester and Woodstock
The British election is not close. But the race in Bicester is
The Public Duty Cost Allowance
The cost of Britain’s cast of ex-prime ministers is mounting
Britain’s unwanted house guest
Julian Assange’s plea deal: a suitable end to a grubby saga
Middle East & Africa
Extreme weather
The “Venice of Africa” is sinking into the sea
Surrounded by trouble
Mauritania is a beacon of stability in the coup-prone Sahel
Breaking the budget
A new breed of protest has left Kenya’s president tottering
United States
The enthusiasm gap
Young voters strongly favour Joe Biden, but will they turn out?
Push and Pulaskix
Przekrój, an iconic Polish magazine, relaunches in America
Marking their own homework
Research into trans medicine has been manipulated
The Americas
Chaos in the Andes
An apparent coup in Bolivia founders, but the country remains in trouble
Canada’s overdose capital
Vancouver pioneered liberal drug policies. Fentanyl destroyed them
Mission impossible
A Kenyan-led security mission finally starts to arrive in Haiti
Asia
Rebels without much cause
Meet the incels and anti-feminists of Asia
Beginner’s luck?
Casinos are booming in South-East Asia
China
International
Extreme temperatures
The rise of the truly cruel summer
Business
Keeping the lights on
Is the revival of Paris in peril?
Thinking fast and slow
A new lab and a new paper reignite an old AI debate
Move over, big dirt
Why big oil is wading into lithium
Full steam ahead
Boom times are back for container shipping
The baijiu mystery
Who shaved $250bn from Kweichow Moutai’s market value?
Finance & economics
Industries of the future
Will services make the world rich?
The Tijuana two-step
How Chinese goods dodge American tariffs
Rock steady
Is coal the new gold?
Free exchange
The economics of the tennis v pickleball contest
Science & technology
High alert on high
The race to prevent satellite Armageddon
Large language models
At least 10% of research may already be co-authored by AI
Culture
Regional inequality
What ails Britain’s left-behind places?
Putin’s delusions, Ukrainians’ pain
A clear-eyed account of Ukraine under siege
World in a dish
The döner kebab has a meaty role in German society
Stringing along
How Kronos became the world’s most innovative string quartet
Frequent travellers
Why travel guidebooks are not going anywhere
The Economist reads
The Economist reads
Books (and films) about the joy and pain of music festivals
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary
Just keep having fun