Leaders
Big, beautiful…bonkers
Trumponomics 2.0 will erode the foundations of America’s prosperity
The Big Beautiful Bill is symptomatic of a wider malaise
The tragedy of Labour
Sir Keir Starmer is rapidly losing his authority
As well as his hope of achieving much in office
Surveillance state
China is building an entire empire on data
It will change the online economy and the evolution of artificial intelligence
Wrong direction
William Ruto is taking Kenya to a dangerous place
The president’s authoritarian instincts are propelling a spiral of violence
The new star power
How A-listers are shaking up the consumer-goods business
Hailey Bieber, Rihanna and Ryan Reynolds are among a new cohort of celebrity entrepreneurs
Letters
A selection of correspondence
Manufacturing remains a core driver of economic growth
By Invitation
Central-bank independence
The best check on Fed politicisation is fear of being judged a failure, says Richard Clarida
The future of warfare
This is Europe’s Manhattan Project moment, argues a tech boss
Briefing
The inglorious Fourth
The big beautiful bill reveals the hollowness of Trumponomics
Republicans mark America’s birthday with a profligate but insubstantial law
Fiat lex
The obscure Senate functionary whose word is law
Elizabeth MacDonough does more to shape legislation than most congressmen
Asia
Mapped, monitored and manipulated
China’s bid to influence the Philippines heats up
Missiles and waterslides
Welcome to North Korea’s Benidorm
Statues in the Stans
Central Asia still has a complex relationship with Russia
China
Big data will see you now
China’s giant new gamble with digital IDs
Peruse at your peril
Beware tomes of Chinese political gossip!
United States
Speedy justices
The Supreme Court keeps helping Donald Trump
Shari’s gambit
Will bowing to Trump win Paramount its merger?
Welcome to Trader Zoh’s
Should cities run their own supermarkets?
Unhappy birthday
On its tenth birthday, gay marriage in America is under attack
The Americas
Don’t believe the numbers
Cuba’s leaders fiddle the figures
Middle East & Africa
The future of political Shiism
Iran’s “axis of resistance” was meant to be the Shias’ NATO
A never-ending conflict
Israel’s weird war clock: 12 days for Iran, 21 months in Gaza
A stubborn status quo
The Israel-Iran war has not yet transformed the Middle East
A downward spiral
Kenya’s president is bad news for Kenya and Africa
Nice deal, on paper
A peace agreement in Africa that will probably not bring peace
Europe
Inside Russia
In Putin’s Moscow, a summer of death and distraction
Trump’s turn to Tayyip
Turkey’s strongman is becoming Donald Trump’s point man
Gap on the right wing
Germany’s Bundestag bars AfD MPs from its football team
Britain
One year of Labour
Starmer’s wasted first year
The British economy
Labour is bungling its growth “mission”
Our Starmer tracker
Measuring Sir Keir Starmer by what people actually care about
Hot protest summer
Britain’s draconian approach to pro-Gaza activism is likely to backfire
Schools in cities
A quiet education revolution in England’s secondary cities
The Shipping Forecast at 100
Britain’s least controversial national treasure
International
Nuclear power for civilian use
Putin’s radioactive chokehold on the world
Business
Fame and fortune
Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds and the age of the celebrity brand
Tragedy, then farce
A Wall Street wheeze makes a surprising comeback
A fruity business
Would you pay $19 for a strawberry?
A developing divide
Superstar coders are raking it in. Others, not so much
Bartleby
Are startup founders different?
Finance & economics
Involutionary road
Xi Jinping wages war on price wars
The tariff show
How to strike a trade deal with Donald Trump
Fiscal foie gras
Big, beautiful budgets: not just an American problem
First-class mess
Can Trump end America’s $1.8trn student-debt nightmare?
Copper-bottomed
Vanguard will soon crush fees for even more investors
The bomb squad
Inside Iran’s war economy
Free exchange
India’s Licence Raj offers America important lessons
Science & technology
The new nanotech
AI is helping to design proteins from scratch
Kleptoplasty
How sea slugs give themselves superpowers
Well informed
Is being bilingual good for your brain?
Culture
Fatal attraction
The TV shows people risk death to watch
Fair use on the internet
A YouTuber kicks up a stink over a flatulent “reaction” video
Dastardly, deadly and digital
Hollywood’s new favourite villain
Take their word for it
Before there was Oprah’s Book Club, there was the Book Society
Brothers in arms
Inside the uneasy, incongruous coalition of the Big Three
Please, brother, take a chance
Stop crying your heart out—for Oasis have returned to the stage
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary
Ice cream: good or bad?