Mar 3rd 2022

The horror ahead

The world this week

Leaders

The invasion of Ukraine

When Vladimir Putin escalates his war, the world must meet him

Muttering nuclear threats, Russia’s president vows to prevail in Ukraine whatever it takes

The world economy

A new age of economic conflict

The West has used crushing sanctions on Russia. The implications are huge

War and price

Central banks should ignore soaring energy costs

But they must continue fighting home-grown inflation

Macron, and on

France needs a proper debate ahead of its presidential election

But time is running out

Climate change

Climate change must be adapted to as well as opposed

Efforts to reduce its impact on lives and ecosystems are falling ever shorter

Letters

On Vladimir Putin, Canada, vaccines, roadkill, Wordle

Letters to the editor

Briefing

Fearful symmetry

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is wrecking two countries

It is a tragedy, and it is a catastrophe

The economic weapon

Western sanctions on Russia are like none the world has seen

But they may weaken the system they are meant to defend

The post-post-cold-war world

The war in Ukraine is going to change geopolitics profoundly

Some bits will look familiar, some will look unprecedented

Asia

Offshore Beijing

China-watchers are fleeing the country for other Asian hubs

Crime and no punishment

Singapore’s high court retains an anti-gay law

An unedifying campaign

South Korea’s presidential election springs a last-minute surprise

Liberty bale

Uzbekistan has succeeded in abolishing forced labour

Banyan

Ukraine has changed how Taiwanese see themselves

China

Bullying a Balt

Lithuania sees threats from two big powers: Russia and China

Immunity with Chinese characteristics

Foreign embassies in China puzzle over a diplomat’s detention

Chaguan

Vladimir Putin is an imperialist, but China does not care

Jobs at The Economist

We’re hiring a China-focused data journalist

United States

State of the union

Joe Biden’s state-of-the-union address fails to impress

Gas tax

The debate over suspending America’s petrol tax

Little Odessa and Ukraine Village

America’s Ukrainians rally and mobilise

Carbon trackers

Carbon-footprint calculators and their lessons

Climate control

The Supreme Court may throttle Joe Biden’s plans to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions

Transgender rights

Don’t mess with minors’ sex in Texas

Lexington

The end of the Putin delusion

The Americas

South America’s rust belt

Why industrial decline has been so stark in Brazil

Parks and wrecking

Nicolás Maduro lets miners trash Venezuela’s forests

Honk for impunity

Bolivia is awash with contraband cars from Japan

Middle East & Africa

The parallel state

South Africans are building alternatives to public services

Class struggle

The need to pay for education draws Africans into the market

Fear moves south

The world’s centre of terrorism has shifted to the Sahel

General engineering

Egypt’s President Sisi wants to reshape its cities

Message in a bottleneck

Israel hopes new data cables can make friends of former enemies

Europe

Exodus, again

A new refugee crisis has come to Europe

Unloved, but respected

Emmanuel Macron bids for re-election as war roils Europe

Magnum castellum

A Roman fort in Holland is linked to the conquest of Britain

A colossal task

Rome’s new mayor tackles his predecessors’ mess

Charlemagne

With war at its doors, Europe discovers a capacity for action

Britain

Peak Nat

The fight over Scottish independence appears to be deadlocked

Attitudes to immigration

When it comes to refugees, Britons are both harsh and liberal

SEND help

England’s special-education system is on its knees

Economic warpath

Britain is severing financial links with Russia at a blistering pace

Indecent proposals

The age of marriage is being raised in England and Wales

Trojan Horse rides again

“The Trojan Horse Affair” reignites a row over radicalisation in schools

Bagehot

The rise and fall of Londongrad

Business

How to escape the bear market

Europe reconsiders its energy future

The exodus

Western businesses pull out of Russia

Advancing on all fronts

Russia’s attack on Ukraine means more military spending

Tesla in Germany

Will Elon Musk change Germany?

Bartleby

Company or cult?

Schumpeter

How Europe’s commodities traders took a gamble too far on Putin’s regime

Finance & economics

The other crisis

China scrambles to prevent property pandemonium

The world economy at war

War and sanctions means higher inflation

Shock, stocks and barrels

The war in Europe is a triple whammy for emerging markets

Nyet interest

European banks have most to lose in Russia

Kindred Seoul

South Korea’s economy threatens to become like Japan’s

Buttonwood

Investors are terrible at forecasting wars

Free exchange

Vladimir Putin’s Fortress Russia is crumbling

Science & technology

Climate change

The latest UN climate report is gloomy, with some sunny patches

Atolls as power stations

How to power Pacific islands

Science, diplomacy and the war in Ukraine

What future is there for Russia’s foreign science collaborations?

The origin of covid-19

More evidence that covid-19 started in a market, not a laboratory

Culture

American politics

A history of the Democratic Party offers lessons for leaders today

American fauna

A new book charts the changing fortunes of America’s national bird

World in a dish

Ukraine has a glorious cuisine that is all its own

Behind the veil

An anthology by female writers shows a different Afghanistan

Back Story

In a resonant staging of “Henry V”, war is murder in uniform

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Graphic detail

The bear’s market

Western sanctions have rocked Russia’s financial system

Obituary

Last of the line