Lock step: England to shut down, again
Prime Minister Boris Johnson all but ruled out a second lockdown, but his hand has been forced by England’s caseload. What are the political costs of his U-turn? Myanmar’s coming election will almost ...
2 Nov 202020min
Net losses: plunder of the oceans
The staggering extent of illegal fishing, and its human and environmental costs, are only just becoming clear. We ask how to put a shadowy industry on a more even keel. The old guard likes to mock mil...
30 Okt 202021min
What Xi said: China’s five-year plan
The party’s Fifth Plenum sets out a five-year vision; we mine the plan for clues about how China views itself in the world—and how long Xi Jinping intends to lead. The pandemic has the rich world thin...
29 Okt 202021min
Stumbling bloc: Europe’s second wave
Across the continent, covid-19 cases are rising steeply and containment measures are still divergent. We look at the challenges of finding policies that are efficacious and sustainable. Tanzania’s ele...
28 Okt 202019min
Chagrin, and Barrett: America’s Supreme Court
Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation marks the first time since the 1930s the court has leaned so conservative, and has stoked another partisan battle that may further reshape the court. Following the ann...
27 Okt 202022min
Coming write-up: Chile votes to overhaul its constitution
The country has roundly rejected its dictatorship-era charter and mapped out how to fashion a new one. What do Chileans stand to gain—and to lose? Rising populations of the elderly in the world’s pris...
26 Okt 202021min
Civil proceedings: America's presidential debate
America’s final presidential debate had less noise and more substance. But polls seem immovable and nearly 50m Americans have already voted; will the race change? South Korea’s population-boosting eff...
23 Okt 202020min
Pandemic power-grabs: autocrats’ covid opportunism
As it has with so many other trends, the pandemic has hastened the decline of democracy and human rights; covid-19 provides autocrats with perfect cover. The plummeting price for the cobalt that power...
22 Okt 202020min
