China’s covid failure

The world this week

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Leaders

China and the pandemic

Xi Jinping’s zero-covid policy has turned a health crisis into a political one

Caught between raging disease and unpopular and costly lockdowns, he has no good fix

The Nordmarlin, a crude oil tanker operated by Nord Group, anchors off the coast of Southwold, U.K., on Friday, May 15, 2020. Nine tankers carrying about 5.58 million barrels of North Sea crude that loaded in April are floating off U.K. ports, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Will the cap fit?

The West’s proposed price cap on Russian oil is no magic weapon

The global energy system is far more flexible than you think

An employee tests a version of Call of Duty on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, at Activision Blizzard, Infinity Ward Division, in Woodland Hills, Calif. Call of Duty has been one of the best-selling video games for the past decade-plus, and is at the heart of the developing antitrust fight over whether Microsoft will be able to acquire Activision Blizzard. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner)

CoD and chips

Trustbusters should let Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard

Blocking the deal is as likely to harm consumers as it is to protect them

Lessons from the cyber-front

Why Russia’s cyber-attacks have fallen flat

Ukraine benefited from good preparation and lots of help

The wounds of silence

Sexual problems can wreck lives. Yet remedies are often simple

Doctors and schools should be franker about pleasure

Letters

On Qatar and the World Cup, Ukraine, Elon Musk, Janet Yellen, “Peanuts”

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

Briefing

A worker in personal protective equipment (PPE) keeps warm by a heater near a residential area under lockdown due to Covid-19 coronavirus restrictions in Beijing on November 29, 2022. (Photo by Noel CELIS / AFP) (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

China v covid-19

China’s failing covid strategy leaves Xi Jinping with no good options

Loosen up and deaths soar. Clamp down and the economy swoons

International

Economic & financial indicators

The Economist explains