The Economist | Independent journalism

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

Culture

Is the New York Times bestseller list politically biased?

Our investigation suggests it is


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

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

Interactive 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




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


Podcast 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



Sign up for our US in brief newsletter

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


Interactive 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

A triumph for Indian democracy

Edition: June 8th 2024

A triumph for Indian democracy