Leaders
The alternative world order
The war in Ukraine will determine how China sees the world
And how threatening it becomes
The world economy
Confronting Russia shows the tension between free trade and freedom
Liberal governments need to find a new path that combines openness and security
Tilting at windfalls
Windfall taxes on energy companies are a bad idea
Governments should not seize the energy industry’s profits
Pacifist no more
A big defence budget shows Germany has woken up
Olaf Scholz is serious about helping Europe face down Vladimir Putin
Trans women in sport
Sports should have two categories: “open” and “female”
Biology doesn’t always matter. But sometimes it matters a great deal
Letters
On the war in Ukraine, bald eagles, leadership
Letters to the editor
By Invitation
Russia and Ukraine
Mikhail Khodorkovsky on how to deal with the “bandit” in the Kremlin
Russia and Ukraine
Daniel Yergin on Russia losing its status as an “energy superpower”
Briefing
What’s the worst that can happen
The risk that the war in Ukraine escalates past the nuclear threshold
Disaster does not seem imminent but it does seem disturbingly possible
Europe
Ploughshares to swords
A risk-averse Germany enters an age of confrontation
The cats and dogs of war
Europe is bending immigration rules for pets from Ukraine
Britain
Homes for refugees
Britain finally comes up with a scheme to help Ukrainian refugees
Life in a cold climate
Chilly British homes are likely to get chillier
Middle East & Africa
Dhow or don’t
The Gulf states are an economic lifeline for Iran
Message by missile
With America distracted, Iran hits Iraq’s Kurds
Behind by a country vial
Africa has plenty of covid doses, but it lags in jabs
United States
Prison conditions
Debate over air conditioning in American prisons will heat up
Trans women in sport
How swimming became the centre of the trans-sports debate
Abortion laws
The race to undermine reproductive rights in America
Schools and the weather
Some districts opt for remote learning instead of snow days
Puerto Rico’s finances
Puerto Rico’s future is looking brighter
Lexington
The embarrassing Mrs Thomas
The Americas
Can’t grow, won’t grow
Why Mexico’s economy underperforms
Planes, a train and automobile fuel
Mexico’s new megaprojects may do more harm than good
Asia
Mr $700m is back
Malaysia’s disgraced former prime minister is popular again
Into the ground
Sri Lanka’s government is stoking inflation and indignation
China
Testing the “limitless”
The friendship between China and Russia has boundaries
Business
Value-chain reaction
Russia’s war is creating corporate winners and losers
Good news and bad news
CNN+ enters the streaming business at a newsy moment
Should I stay or should I go?
Western firms’ thorny Russian dilemmas
Tonal language
Is this the beginning of the end of China’s techlash?
Bartleby
Why loafing can be work
Finance & economics
Economic freedom v political freedom
Globalisation and autocracy are locked together. For how much longer?
Everywhere, a Russian phenomenon
The inflationary consequences of Russia’s war will spread
When China met the free market
A nickel-trading fiasco raises three big questions
Science & technology
Armoured vehicles
Russian tanks in Ukraine are sprouting cages
The Chernobyl Research Initiative Lab
War in Ukraine threatens an intriguing piece of wildlife science
Chemical warfare
How to tweak drug-design software to create chemical weapons
Additive manufacturing
A new type of 3D printing may bring it into the mainstream
Culture
In the line of fire
Vladimir Putin’s war endangers Ukraine’s cultural heritage
A Ukrainian reading list
Six books that explain the history and culture of Ukraine
British fiction
A swashbuckling smuggler’s tale
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Graphic detail
Another vaccine victory?
Squashing malaria could save as many lives as covid-19 has taken
Obituary
The star in a bulletproof vest