Precious joules: a fusion-energy result
Scientists have reported a long-awaited nuclear-fusion breakthrough, using lasers to ignite hydrogen-isotope fuel in a self-sustaining burn. But that marks just one step on a long, uncertain road to c...
14 Dec 202229min
Continental drift: Europe’s challenges
A pair of crises will bedevil Europe, starting with crippling energy prices in the short term. And American protectionism threatens a longer-term dent in the continent’s green-industry ambitions. A vi...
13 Dec 202227min
Zero to sickly? China’s covid climbdown
With astonishing speed, the machinery of testing, tracing and lockdowns is being dismantled. We examine the risks that will pose to a country that is not prepared for big outbreaks. A winemaker’s laws...
12 Dec 202227min
Second time as farce: Peru’s president falls
Perhaps Pedro Castillo thought he could repeat the coup staged by his predecessor, Alberto Fujimori, in 1992. He did not, and is now behind bars. We ask how his fitful presidency fell apart so suddenl...
9 Dec 202224min
Like biding a Reich: Germany’s alleged coup plot
Raids across the country netted 25 far-right extremists suspected of trying to overthrow the government. We look into what is known about a hare-brained plan to dissolve the republic and restore a kin...
8 Dec 202225min
Pastor present: Georgia’s Senate runoff
Democrats will have a bit more breathing room in the Senate, with an outright majority provided by Reverend Raphael Warnock’s win. We ask what the state-level victory reveals about national politics. ...
7 Dec 202228min
Suspension of this belief? Iran’s morality police
The enforcers of the hardliners’ mores may have been disbanded; it is hard to know if the regime is bending to protesters or sowing confusion. Either way the disquiet looks set to continue. We take a ...
6 Dec 202224min
The for-sixty-dollar question: a cap on Russian oil
Shippers and insurers of Russian crude are now subject to a $60-per-barrel price cap. That may spark Russian production cuts—or an oil-market realignment that undercuts the cap. Senegal might be out o...
5 Dec 202222min
