Leaders
Instant economics
A real-time revolution will up-end the practice of macroeconomics
The pandemic has hastened a shift towards novel data and fast analysis
The crime scene at the heart of Africa
Insurgency, secessionism and banditry threaten Nigeria
Africa’s biggest nation faces its biggest test since its civil war 50 years ago
Don’t jump the gun
The Bank of England should not raise interest rates until 2022
But Britain may need tighter money sooner than America
An October revolution
At last, a backlash against bad government in Eastern Europe
The EU’s battles with Poland and an opposition alliance in Hungary are overdue signs of change
Be swift, be bold
The geopolitics of money is shifting up a gear
If Western countries and firms want to stay in charge of global payments they have to modernise how they happen
Letters
On Pakistan, the American navy, management, the Peshtigo fire, Ethiopia, learning classics, God
Letters to the editor
Briefing
Europe
Winter is coming
Ukrainians are coping stoically with Russian aggression
The unexpected challenger
A small-town mayor takes on Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban
Liberty lady
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the new hope of Spain’s right
Trouble and knife
Europe is in a muddle over ritual slaughter
Charlemagne
In the EU, every leader becomes a monarch
Britain
Ready for a leap in the dark
Why the Bank of England is looking unusually hawkish
Making a pig’s ear of it
The British government belatedly tries to prevent a porcine tragedy
Decarbonising Britain
Britain has ambitious climate-change plans—and two problems
Doffing the cap
The government wants pension funds to help with levelling up
Railing against modernity
A plan to revive Britain’s rural railways gathers steam
Call in the troops, again
The British state is becoming worryingly reliant on its armed forces
Middle East & Africa
When things fall apart
How kidnappers, zealots and rebels are making Nigeria ungovernable
Capital cities
Three places that dream of becoming Africa’s Singapore
Probing too deep
How an investigation led to a gun battle in Lebanon
Andy Warhol and the ayatollahs
Iran’s impressive collection of Western art
United States
Considering the lobster
Maine relies on its marine life, but climate change will alter what that means
Toying with the nanny state
California’s approach to gendered toys says a lot about the state’s political direction
Devious licks
TikTok and toxic memes
Lexington
Reconstructing America
The Americas
Jobs for the comrades
Pedro Castillo, Peru’s new president, tries to seem less left-wing
President anti-vaxxer
Jair Bolsonaro is accused of crimes against humanity in Brazil
Not ageing gracefully
As Mexico ages, public services are not keeping up
Asia
From gulag to ordinary grumbles
Uzbekistan’s president abolished slave labour. What next?
Extremists v ultra-extremists
The Taliban find themselves on the wrong side of an insurgency
China
Poetry from the gulag
In Xinjiang, officials are trying to stamp out Uyghur identity
Glide and seek
China’s test of a hypersonic missile worries America
International
A reckoning in Glasgow
Broken promises, energy shortages and covid-19 will hamper COP26
Business
There is gas in them hills
All manner of industries are piling into the hydrogen rush
Chinese business
Zhongwang, a Chinese aluminium giant, resists American pressure
Finance & economics
From the sublime to the subpar
A triple shock slows China’s growth
Evergrande plans
Time for orderly resolution for Evergrande is running out
Go with the float
What to make of the new bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund
Hawk descending
Jens Weidmann steps down from the Bundesbank
Message in a battle
The race to redefine cross-border finance
Buttonwood
Why it matters when trades settle
Science & technology
Inside the garage of the future
Servicing and repairing electric cars requires new skills
Hands off the wheel
The hard job of teaching autonomous cars to drive
Evolution in action
The Mozambique civil war created tuskless elephants
Culture
Entertainment in the Arab world
Streaming services are helping Arab producers liven up television
Endangered foods
Human diets are becoming less diverse, a new book warns
The coast of dystopia
A cautionary tale from the streets of San Francisco
Spies and the stage
A new book explores the symbiosis of espionage and entertainment
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Graphic detail
Strictly come jabbing
The impact of vaccine mandates is modest, but potentially crucial
Obituary
A soldier in Washington