World News

THE 21st century, in one way at least, will be African. In 1990 sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 16% of the world’s births. Because African birth rates are so much higher than elsewhere, the proportion has risen to 27% and is expected to hit 37% in 2050. About a decade later, more babies will be born…

PEOPLE living on opposite sides of the planet have in recent days felt the disastrous consequences of distant rumblings in the deep ocean. In America, they are still suffering the devastation left by Hurricane Florence, which made landfall in North Carolina on September 14th. Less than 12 hours later super-Typhoon Mangkhut tore into the Philippines,…

Enlarge / The Hayabusa2 spacecraft spies its shadow Thursday night as it descends toward Ryugu to deploy two small rovers. JAXASaturday update: More than 24 hours after they were released by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to fly down to the surface of the asteroid Ryugu, the Japanese Space Agency has finally provided an update on the…

OF THE various things Britain’s government has got wrong in its Brexit negotiating strategy, perhaps the most enduring is the belief that it could drive a wedge into the ranks of the remaining 27 members of the European Union. A favourite early mantra of Brexiteer MPs was that German carmakers would pressure Angela Merkel to…

It’s easy to lose the larger narrative of the Trump-Russia story given the relentless pace and complexity of the news. Stepping back to view the timeline from beginning to end reveals how these parallel threads — contacts, hacking and social media fraud — often crossed during the election. Campaign aides who denied knowledge of Russian…

TEN YEARS AFTER the weekend that upended the financial world, its most important lessons lie not in what has changed, vast and profound though that is, but in what hasn’t changed. The main causes of the last crisis—human self-delusion and irrationality—will be the main causes of the next one. If that seems unbearably depressing, cheer…

“GOD is Brazilian,” goes a saying that became the title of a popular film. Brazil’s beauty, natural wealth and music often make it seem uniquely blessed. But these days Brazilians must wonder whether, like the deity in the film, God has gone on holiday. The economy is a disaster, the public finances are under strain…

Indictment of Internet Research Agency operatives Indictment of Russian intelligence officers Each box represents one Trump tweet calling the Russia investigation a “witch hunt,” or a “hoax,” or mentioning “collusion.” April July Oct. April July Jan. 2017 Jan. 2018 Each box represents one Trump tweet calling the Russia investigation a “witch hunt,” or a “hoax,”…

ANOTHER week, a further ratcheting up of trade tensions between America and China. On September 17th President Donald Trump announced that he had approved another wave of tariffs on Chinese imports. From September 24th, imports of products which in 2017 were worth as much as $189bn, including furniture, computers and car parts, will be hit…

RUSSIA has long feared a Chinese invasion of its sprawling far east. Large Russian armies regularly drill in southern Siberia. This year the exercises are the largest since the cold war. But what is striking is not just the scale of “Vostok-2018” (see article), but the fact that thousands of Chinese soldiers will take part…