Leaders
The age of chaos
Trump’s incoherent trade policy will do lasting damage
Even after his backtracking, the president has done profound harm to the world economy
The campus counter-revolution
MAGA’s remaking of universities could have dire consequences
For higher education, innovation, prosperity and freedom
Talking nuclear
Donald Trump’s oddly sensible move: seeking a deal with Iran
The world should welcome America’s planned talks, even if the results are modest
Friend, not foe
How AI could help the climate
The technology could help decarbonise the industries that have proved the hardest to clean up
Letters
A selection of correspondence
Marine Le Pen’s future, and more
By Invitation
Foreign trade, national power
Trump’s approach to geoeconomics carries dark echoes, writes Maurice Obstfeld
Briefing
Besieging the ivory tower
Donald Trump is battling America’s elite universities—and winning
The Ivy League sees little point in fighting the federal government in court
Cash poor
Why can’t stinking rich Ivies cope with losing a few hundred million?
Their huge endowments are not easy to cash in
Asia
Asia reels—will China pounce?
Xi Jinping may try to woo the victims of Donald Trump’s tariffs
A sticky situation
Japan faces a reckoning over rice
Democracy rising
South Korea’s democracy has passed one big test
China
Reweaving the Silk Road
To secure exports to Europe, China reconfigures its rail links
Soldiers of misfortune
Why are Chinese soldiers fighting in Ukraine?
A load of cobblers
China’s shoemakers seem more sanguine than its politicians
United States
Grumbling, not governing
With tariffs paused, Republicans dodge a fight with Trump
Burn the tapes
DOGE is coming for American officials’ magnetic tape
Failing the test
Texas looks set to pass America’s biggest school-voucher scheme
The Americas
The neighbour less beggared
Can Mexico make hay after avoiding the reciprocal-tariff tantrum?
Amazon deliverance?
Negotiators must prepare for a chaotic COP in Brazil
Carbon contradictions
The green promises of Colombia’s president ring ever more hollow
Middle East & Africa
No end in sight
Israel is intent on destroying Gaza
Back to the 80s
Meet Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso’s retro revolutionary
Europe
Less bold than promised
Germany’s new centrist government is reassuring but bland
Trade-fight club
The EU’s response to Donald Trump’s tariffs seems to work
Advantage, defence
Ukraine thinks it can hold off Russia as long as it needs to
Made in Ukraine
How Europe hopes to turn Ukraine into a “steel porcupine”
The nameless dead
Spanish morgues are straining to identify migrants
Britain
Your super soaraway Starmer
How the British government sounds like a tabloid
The flat bit
The most conservative place in Britain
Locke, Stock and both barrels
The philosopher changing free speech in Britain
International
Humans in the loop
There is a vast hidden workforce behind AI
Business
Once bitten, twice shy
Despite the rally, Apple still faces a trade-war nightmare
Bags of money
How Hermès defied the luxury slump
The clock is ticking
TikTok’s bizarre sale process gets even weirder
Bartleby
Biohacking in the office
Finance & economics
The T-day landing
Can China fight America alone?
Trump’s U-turn
The tariff madness of King Donald, explained
Courting chaos
How to charm Donald Trump
Science & technology
Unclean thoughts
The tricky task of calculating AI’s energy use
Factory reset
AI models are helping dirty industries go green
Greening the grid
AI models can help generate cleaner power
Cyber in space
Could data centres ever be built in orbit?
Culture
Oh, grow up
Too many adults are absolutely clueless
Masterpiece theatre
Would you turn your home into a museum?
He said, they said
Pronouns have become extremely divisive
Don’t stop believin’
Why you should believe in God. Or Allah. (But not Baal)
Parallel logic
Nvidia and Jensen Huang are a study in contradictions
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary
Secrets within secrets