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The US in brief
Another legal setback for Trump
Subscriber event
A talk about battlefield tech, tactics and power. Sept 5th, 4pm BST
Finance & economics
As stock prices fall, investors prepare for an autumn chill
Markets are in a very different place to earlier in the year
Britain
A tardy, scathing report on the Grenfell Tower fire in London
Blaming lots of people slows things down
The world in brief
The share price of US Steel fell by more than 17% after reports emerged that President Joe Biden was preparing to block the steelmaker’s takeover by Nippon Steel, a Japanese firm...
Job openings in America unexpectedly fell to their lowest level since January 2021...
A long-awaited report said the Grenfell Tower fire in London that killed 72 people in 2017 was the result of “decades of failure”...
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, resigned as part of a government shake-up...
The one thing Israelis agree on: rescuing the hostages
Bibi’s failure to do so has prompted huge protests
Bagehot: Why are Remainers so weak in post-Brexit Britain?
The European cause is hugely popular. Its proponents are strangely ineffective
Volodymyr Zelensky culls his cabinet as his popularity fades
He has reshuffled his team and concentrated power
Simon Verity believed in working the medieval way
The stonemason and grotto-builder died on August 11th, aged 79
Café Europa newsletter
Sign up for analysis of European politics, business and finance
The US in brief
Another legal setback for Trump
Subscriber event
A talk about battlefield tech, tactics and power. Sept 5th, 4pm BST
Video
World news
American restrictions on hitting Russia are hurting Ukraine
The Biden administration’s justifications keep changing
The hard right takes Germany into dangerous territory
The parties in Olaf Scholz’s coalition are crushed in state polls
Nicolás Maduro digs in with the help of a pliant Supreme Court
His inner circle is another barrier to compromise
Americans’ love affair with big cars is killing them
New analysis shows that the heaviest vehicles kill more people than they save in crashes
America’s elections
Kamala Harris has revealed only the vaguest of policy platforms
Her record suggests she would be a pragmatist
Kamala Harris has good vibes. Time for some good policies
Steven Teles, a political scientist, on the three Ps that the Democratic nominee should focus on
Our presidential-election forecast
Kamala Harris has put the Democrats back in the running
Donald Trump v Kamala Harris
Who’s ahead in the polls?
Sudan’s catastrophic war
Why Sudan’s catastrophic war is the world’s problem
It could kill millions—and spread chaos across Africa and the Middle East
Anarchy in Sudan has spawned the world’s worst famine in 40 years
Millions are likely to perish
The ripple effects of Sudan’s war are being felt across three continents
It is a sign of growing global impunity and disorder
“Hell on earth”: satellite images document the siege of a Sudanese city
El-Fasher, until recently a place of refuge, is under attack
Business, finance and economics
Clean energy’s next trillion-dollar business
Grid-scale batteries are taking off at last
Will interest-rate cuts turbocharge oil prices?
As policymakers prepare to ease policy, traders (and presidential candidates) hold their breath
The Onion’s cutting edge: paper
A new era dawns for America’s self-declared finest news source
Bartleby: Four questions for every manager to ask themselves
Prompts for bosses
City liveability
What makes Europe so liveable?
Insights from the city liveability index
What is the least liveable city in the world?
It has ranked at the bottom of the EIU index for 11 years
The world’s most liveable cities in 2024
Our sister company has rated the best, and worst, cities in which to live
Which countries have the best, and worst, living standards?
Data show progress worldwide may have suffered a permanent setback
Israel’s wars
Israel and Hizbullah play with fire
They both attempt escalating attacks that fall short of all-out war
Have Israel’s far-right religious nationalists peaked?
They wield great power but schisms within the movement are deepening
The Middle East’s bizarre waiting game: ceasefire or Armageddon?
Israel accepts a proposal to pause fighting but Hamas’s hardliners may not
How vulnerable is Israel to sanctions?
So far, measures have had little effect. That could change
The war in Ukraine
Even as it humiliates Russia, Ukraine’s line is crumbling in the Donbas
The shock raid inside Kursk has not distracted the Kremlin from advancing
The Kremlin is close to crushing Pokrovsk, a vital Ukrainian town
Even as Ukraine raids Russia, it is losing another key battle
1843 magazine | “I use anti-tank mines for weightlifting”: meet Ukraine’s Paralympians
The war-wounded join forces with soldiers on leave in the pursuit of sporting success
Tracking the Ukraine war: where is the latest fighting?
Our satellite view of the conflict, updated daily
Digital twins
Digital twins are fast becoming part of everyday life
Welcome to the mirror world
Digital twins are speeding up manufacturing...
Makers of Formula 1 cars and jet engines are leading the way
...enabling scientific innovation...
They are being used to simulate everything from bodily organs to planet Earth
...and making companies more efficient
They will also help them reap the benefits of advances in AI
America’s economy
What to make of America’s topsy-turvy economy
Don’t panic just yet
America’s recession signals are flashing red. Don’t believe them
We assess a range of measures
Will America’s economy swing the election?
It is not entering recession, but it is slowing down. That is bad news for Kamala Harris
Can Kamala Harris win on the economy?
A visit to a crucial swing state reveals the problems she will face
Recent highlights
Chaguan: China’s new age of swagger and paranoia
It wants to be a “strong tiger” not a “fat cat”
The noisome economics of dung beetles
They are worth millions a year to cattle ranchers
How fashion conquered television
More and more shows celebrate fancy clothes. Often brands call the shots
What Texas’s oldest motel reveals about the rural South
From joyrides and drugs to economic dynamism
AI schools briefs
A short history of AI
In the first of six weekly briefs, we ask how AI overcame decades of underdelivering
AI firms will soon exhaust most of the internet’s data
Can they create more?
How AI models are getting smarter
Deep neural networks are learning diffusion and other tricks
LLMs will transform medicine, media and more
But not without a helping (human) hand
Stories most read by subscribers
Featured read
Azerbaijan’s government turns on its critics at home
The war with Armenia has ended in victory, so the regime needs another target
Edition: August 31st 2024
Sudan: Why its catastrophic war is the world’s problem
How to fix social care
Before reform and money comes courage
In praise of digital twins
Welcome to the mirror world
Nvidia envy
Two contradictions could stymie the AI chipmaker-in-chief
Time to pay for blood plasma
Shortages are hampering the production of essential medicines
