Potemkin polls: Russia’s elections

Sanctions are tightening around the Chinese province amid suspicions of forced labour. Western firms that are reliant on the region’s cotton and other commodities are in a bind. The pandemic has shown...

9 Sep 202021min

A hurried lockdown early in the pandemic has cratered the country’s economy, and infection rates are now shooting up. More suffering lies ahead, on both counts. The United Nations peacekeeping mission...

8 Sep 202020min

Negotiations on Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with Europe were floundering—even before revelations it may essentially rewrite parts of the last pact it struck. Since the space race’s early days, ...

7 Sep 202020min

Alongside a green-minded, 100bn-euro stimulus, President Emmanuel Macron’s recovery plan borrows ideas from the post-war past to imagine a post-covid future. The mysterious arrest of Paul Rusesabagina...

4 Sep 202022min

The outcome of Jamaica’s election isn’t much in doubt. What’s uncertain is how the wider Caribbean can handle rock-bottom tourism and looming hurricane risks amid the pandemic. North Korea’s leadershi...

3 Sep 202021min

Millions of schoolchildren are heading back to classes, many of them online. We examine the evidence on virtual learning and how it deepens inequalities. Dubai is a glittering financial hub, connectin...

2 Sep 202021min

Five years ago, a vast wave of migrants and refugees began to spill into the country. We examine their fates amid a tangle of bureaucracy. Even for the uninfected, the coronavirus has caused widesprea...

1 Sep 202022min

Japan’s longest-serving prime minister leaves behind a mixed bag of policy successes and shortcomings. We examine his legacy and ask what his successor faces. The annual meeting of central bankers in ...

31 Aug 202019min