Briefing

The SpaceX Super Heavy booster rolls past the production facility toward launch pad 2 ahead of the 12th test flight of the Starship spacecraft in Starbase, Texas

Out of this world

Elon Musk is going all-in on an unproven technology

What lies behind the world’s biggest public offering

13 min read

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto makes a speech in fron the stacks of rupiah banknotes

Archipelagoing fast

Indonesia’s president is jeopardising the economy and democracy

Prabowo Subianto is too spendthrift and too authoritarian

13 min read

A photo collage featuring a map of Taiwan, Xi’s portrait, and images of fighter jets, illustrating the security tensions surrounding Taiwan.

Pacific insecurity

China is pushing Donald Trump for Taiwan concessions

Some in Taipei and Washington fear he may give ground

6 min read

A photo collage featuring portraits of Trump and Xi, alongside images of container ships, medicines, and computer circuit boards, illustrating the economic relationship between the U.S. and China.

Summit in Beijing

Trump and Xi will struggle to strike a major economic deal

Just avoiding a renewed clash will count as success

7 min read

An illustration of an hourglass filled with oil, with the lower half cracked so the oil leaks out

Nothing in the tank

The crisis in oil markets will get bigger before it goes away

As stocks dwindle, further price rises are inevitable

13 min read

An illustration of Donald Trump running off with a ballot box, as if stealing it.

Congressional elections

Might Donald Trump try to rig the midterms?

We assess America’s democratic defences

14 min read

A woman painted in the colors of the Venezuelan flag participates in a workers' protest demanding higher wages in Caracas, Venezuela

Hype but also hope

Venezuela is not the triumph Donald Trump claims, but it’s improving

Economic growth may accelerate and the regime has become less repressive

14 min read

An Iranian national flag is placed on the debris of a damaged building after an airstrike in Tehran

With a whimper

America’s war on Iran has changed the Middle East—for the worse

This week’s ceasefire leaves the region less secure than when the war began

19 min read

A black plume of smoke rises from a warehouse at the industrial area of Sharjah City in the United Arab Emirates

Truce and consequences

With the ceasefire looking shaky, the Gulf questions its future

Even as America and Iran pause, the war reveals how exposed the region has become

8 min read

Article Media - Data InteractiveDamage report

The war was steadily spiralling in scope and destruction

America, Israel and Iran were striking a widening array of targets across an expanding area

2 min read

A photo collage featuring portraits of Viktor Orbán, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Steve Bannon.

The Tisza is flooding

Might Hungary’s election sweep away MAGA’s favourite foreign leader?

Whether Viktor Orban wins or loses, the world’s populists and their opponents are watching

14 min read

An illustration of multiple safes arranged in a circle, toppling into one another like dominoes, with banknotes spilling out as they fall.

Private-equity firms

A guide to the private-credit crisis

Why some panicky investors are running for the exit

14 min read