The Economist is a global weekly magazine written for those who share an uncommon interest in being well and broadly informed. Each issue explores domestic and international issues, business, finance, current affairs, science, technology and the arts.
Coronavirus briefs • To 6am GMT February 11th 2021
The world this week
How well will vaccines work? • They will not simply eradicate covid-19. Governments need to start thinking about how to live with the virus
Inflategate • How higher inflation could disrupt global economic policy
How to talk about Xinjiang • “Genocide” is the wrong word for the horrors China is inflicting on the Uyghurs
An end to exceptionalism • The White House and a prominent Republican senator propose to follow European schemes
Alien dreams • The search for ET may soon yield an answer
Letters
Obstacle course • The race between vaccines and variants is heating up
Broken arrow • Some people are unwilling to be vaccinated. That will be a problem
Swing voters • WASHINGTON, DC
Likes and protein spikes • DALLAS
Count-22 • NEW YORK
The shrining • CHICAGO
Trail blazers • Oregon decriminalises drugs for personal use
Genocide aside • NEW YORK
Lexington Speak easy • After decades of undue pessimism, civil libertarians should be moderately concerned
Practically perfect • CARACAS
Activists amid anarchy • BOGOTÁ
Ecuador’s politics of the negative • Anti-incumbency versus anti-correismo
Olympic gory • TOKYO
Don’t putsch me • SINGAPORE
Cool it or blow? • Joe Biden has two months to decide what to do about Afghanistan
Wallets at the ready • The government has bought soldiers’ loyalty, at a high price
Hell is other people • SEOUL
Palm-fringed fury • WELLINGTON
Accept these gifts, or else • As in Xinjiang, China is tightening its grip in Tibet
Suddenly, space for free-thinkers • HONG KONG
Working together, but in parallel • China and America talk of reviving climate-change co-operation. It will not be easy
New sheriff in town • DUBAI
Fourth time lucky • Can a new administration reunite war-torn Libya?
Adding to the chaos • Gulf rivalries are spilling into north-eastern Africa
The president pounces • KINSHASA
Flower power • TIMAU
A tale of two colleges • AMSTERDAM
The president’s dilemma • PARIS
Canine crushes • BERLIN
Lesbian, gay, bi and terrorist? • ISTANBUL
No time for foot-Draghing • ROME
They told you so • The European Union must face up to the real Russia
Hands on • The first major reform of the health service in a decade seeks to reduce competition and give politicians more control over it
Going underground • A secret world of illicit fun is developing
The price of acceptance • The British establishment is one of the most open in the world—for a consideration
Inconvenient truths • Governments keen to muzzle journalists are abusing laws against “fake news”
Harbingers of boom • NEW YORK
Labour coders • An old force takes root in a younger industry
From bad to wurst • BERLIN
Flogging the family lead • The state promises to unload its dusty companies. For real this time
Diary of a plague year • A columnist confronts the pandemic
Alpha pipers • The cult of an Elon Musk or a Jack Ma has its perks—but also perils
Come out, come out, wherever you are! • If life exists beyond Earth, science may find it soon
Some pleasant...