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US in brief
Primaries in a swing state
Dateline
Try The Economist’s history quiz
The Modi Raj
A new podcast series about the world’s most successful elected leader
Leaders
Emmanuel Macron wants a snap election to get him out of a deep hole
But he’s taking a big risk
Finance & economics
China is distorting its stockmarket by trying to prop it up
State purchases of shares are bad enough, but other measures are far more destructive
The world in brief
Apple unveiled several generative AI products and services, including a plan to integrate ChatGPT into its devices and partner with the chatbot’s creator, OpenAI...
The UN Security Council backed an American plan for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas...
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced his new cabinet...
France’s left-wing parties—the Socialists, the Greens, as well as others on the far left—agreed to form an alliance ahead of the snap legislative election that President Emmanuel Macron called on Sunday...
Who are the main contenders to be Iran’s next president?
After the death of the puritanical president, Iran’s reformists hope to win a portion of power
Free exchange: Why global GDP might be $7trn bigger than everyone thought
The discovery has perturbed Chinese officials
The most Tory place in Britain
It isn’t that posh but its population is old
Like people, elephants call each other by name
And anthropoexceptionalism takes another tumble
US in brief
Primaries in a swing state
Dateline
Try The Economist’s history quiz
The Modi Raj
A new podcast series about the world’s most successful elected leader
World news
Joe Biden leaked Israel’s first plan to end the war in Gaza
But hardliners in Israel and Hamas may yet scupper it
Rohingya are being forced to fight in Myanmar’s civil war
The army that used to massacre them is now press-ganging them
Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s leftist mayor, is struggling
Incompetence rather than ideology is what’s hurting him
Banyan: Want to stop a third world war? Pick up the phone
America’s and China’s defence ministers will meet in Singapore. They need to talk more
Video
EU elections
The three women who will shape Europe
At a crucial moment they encapsulate the dilemma of how to handle populism
European elections 2024
European Parliament elections tracker: results and guide to the vote
The hard right has made some gains, but the centre-right EPP remains the largest group
Seven memoirs help explain Europe past and present
Their authors are very different, but the continent’s tumultuous history has shaped them all
How powerful is the European Parliament?
Upcoming elections show its growing clout
Business, finance and economics
Bartleby: Is it better to be an early bird or a night owl?
The promise and perils of waking before sunrise
The war for AI talent is heating up
Big tech firms scramble to fill gaps as brain drain sets in
Schumpeter: Lessons in capitalism from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s
How to build businesses that last
European banks are making heady profits in Russia
But for how much longer?
Modi’s humbling
A triumph for Indian democracy
The shock election result will change the country—ultimately for the better
Narendra Modi could respond to disappointment in two different ways
He could become more moderate and focus on the economy, or double down on Hindu nationalism
The people and places that turned away from the BJP
The heartland, and especially lower-caste voters, have soured on Narendra Modi
The Modi Raj
The Modi Raj: Episode 1
Born in a small town in Gujarat, Narendra Modi is looking for a way to escape. He finds it in the Hindu-nationalist RSS
50:36
America’s election year
America’s billionaires should resist the urge to support Donald Trump
A Trump victory would reward them. But not enough to justify the risks
American business should not empower a criminal, says Reid Hoffman
No rational CEO would want a capricious strongman in the White House, argues the entrepreneur
What Donald Trump’s 34 convictions mean for the presidential election
Come election season, it could be Hunter Biden’s trial that hogs the headlines
Biden’s border order: impractical policy, pragmatic politics
The president tries to address one of his biggest electoral liabilities
Britain’s election
How the Labour Party could end Britain’s stagnation
Even if the economy peps up, taxes will have to rise
Bagehot: Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer fight for a poundshop presidency
The general election reveals the absurdities of Britain’s presidential turn
Can Britain’s economy grow as fast as it needs to?
Labour is banking on a big upswing in growth. It will struggle to get one
UK election 2024
General-election forecast: will Labour destroy the Conservatives
Our seat-by-seat prediction for Britain’s next Parliament
The Israel-Hamas war
Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot leave Israel’s war cabinet
Will this force Binyamin Netanyahu at last to decide to push for a ceasefire?
Talk of war between Israel and Lebanon is growing
Israel and Hizbullah would still prefer to avoid one, but that is getting ever harder to do
Joe Biden leaked Israel’s first plan to end the war in Gaza
But hardliners in Israel and Hamas may yet scupper it
Who is responsible for feeding Gaza?
Arguments fly over Israel’s duty to maintain aid
The war in Ukraine
In Crimea, Ukraine is beating Russia
The peninsula is becoming a death trap for the Kremlin’s forces
Russia’s explosion of a huge Ukrainian dam had surprising effects
A year after the blast and flood, Ukrainians disagree over whether to rebuild Kakhovka
Tracking the Ukraine war: where is the latest fighting?
Our satellite view of the conflict, updated daily
Ukraine’s desperate struggle to defend Kharkiv
It is holding off Russia’s attack — for now
Other highlights
1843 magazine | Can fasting help you live to 100?
An Italian doctor thinks it can – and he’s got a diet to sell you
Zany ideas to slow polar melting are gathering momentum
Giant curtains to keep warm water away from glaciers strike some as too risky
What the left and right get wrong about imperialism
As accounts from Ukraine and Indonesia show, it is not just a Western sin, but it is a sin
How to hire a spy
Puzzles, games and free thinking are key to codebreaking
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
The National Basketball Association is making a big bet on Africa
The world’s second-favourite sport is taking off on the fastest-growing continent
Edition: June 8th 2024
A triumph for Indian democracy
Billionaires’ bad bet on Trump
A Trump victory would reward them. But not enough to justify the risks
Where Ukraine is beating Russia
Crimea is becoming a death trap for the Kremlin’s forces
When to buy expensive stocks
A new paper considers the question
From chatbots to robots
There is more to AI than ChatGPT
Special reports: May 11th 2024
Worlds apart
The American-led financial order is giving way to a more divided one
The global financial system is in danger of fragmenting
How crises reshaped the world financial system
The movement of capital globally is in decline
National payment systems are proliferating
The fight to dethrone the dollar
How the financial system would respond to a superpower war
Sources and acknowledgments