From the head down: rot in South Africa

The worst predictions for costs have not come to pass, partly because Russia is selling plenty of wheat. But plenty of food-price woe may still await. We examine the curious re-appearance of the polio...

5 Sep 202224min

After a five-month hiatus, violence has returned to the northern region of Tigray—but that is just one of the conflicts threatening to pull the country to pieces. China’s Belt and Road Initiative has ...

2 Sep 202224min

The long-trailed counter-offensive to retake the Russian-occupied regional powerhouse and symbolically powerful provincial capital has begun. But Ukraine’s forces are in no hurry. Visa and Mastercard ...

1 Sep 202224min

The leader who oversaw the Soviet Union’s collapse had only intended to reform it. But the propaganda and repression he abhorred were what held it together. A speed bump lies ahead for electric vehicl...

31 Aug 202226min

As interest rates rise, lots of pandemic-era property trends are fading—but not every market is equally vulnerable as the boom peters out. Generals have long avoided fighting in cities: it is messy an...

30 Aug 202223min

Our correspondent reports from Somalia, which stands on the brink of famine thanks to a drought, soaring food costs and infrastructure destroyed by decades of fighting. Old Hollywood studios are wagin...

29 Aug 202225min

America’s federal government will spend hundreds of billions of dollars cancelling student-loan debt—fulfilling a long-standing progressive wish. But while it may be good politics, the policy rational...

26 Aug 202223min

Najib Razak, prime minister during the massive 1MDB scandal in which billions went missing, lost his final appeal against corruption convictions. We ask what that means for Malaysia’s politics. Many A...

25 Aug 202222min