The Economist is the premier source for the analysis of world business and current affairs, providing authoritative insight and opinion on international news, world politics, business, finance, science and technology, as well as overviews of cultural trends and regular Special reports on industries and countries.

The world this week

The future of global e-commerce • Retailers everywhere should look to China

Infrastruggles • Every country wants to build more bridges, roads and renewable-power grids. It won’t be easy

The tunnel gets darker • Mutations are making the covid-19 virus more infectious

Online onslaught • Few reforms would benefit Japan as much as putting government services online

Britain’s place in the world • “Global Britain” is a fine idea, but it requires hard choices and re-engagement with Europe

Letters

Amazing journey? • Outside the European Union Britain must find the right balance between ambition and realism. That calls for a clear strategy

Update required • TOKYO

A big beautiful wall • KABUL

Hamper scamper • TAKEO

Unwanted, dead or alive • COLOMBO

Dazed and Confucius • An ancient philosophy becomes a political punchbag

The fruits of growth • ZIYUN

Jailed for virus vlogging

Folk dances and labour camps • How China uses mass tourism to stifle Xinjiang’s religious and cultural traditions

A hairy moment • WASHINGTON, DC

Looking the other way • The Feds sue Walmart for prescribing opioids without due care

All the president’s pardons • NEW YORK

Start spreading the dues • NEW YORK

The great slowdown • CHICAGO

Play it again, Lamar • The Senate will be worse off without the veteran Tennesseean dealmaker

Insecure • MEXICO CITY

No source for soy • VANCOUVER

Sputnik’s orbit • BUENOS AIRES

Label your libation with loving lustre • SANTIAGO

The widening war • ADDIS ABABA

Wheels of injustice • Jail for a campaigner to allow women to drive

An undemocratic vote • The government is trying to crush the opposition ahead of elections

Sa’ar wars: a New Hope • JERUSALEM

Home at last • CAIRO

Tough act to follow • BERLIN

How was it for EU? • For Europe, the deal makes the best of a bad business

Caught with their pants down • Alexei Navalny exposes the agents who tried to kill him

Canning’s law • The long tradition of snarking in France’s general direction

Britain’s Swiss role • The UK-EU trade agreement means more red tape and an eternity of negotiations

No longer in Rome • What Britons lose after Brexit

The Irish Sea widens • BELFAST

Now for the rocket boosters • The approval of AstraZeneca’s vaccine will greatly accelerate the roll-out

When the music stopped • How Britain went from enthusiastic commitment to the EU to an acrimonious departure on unfavourable terms

No time to give up • Laws to punish human-rights abusers are growing teeth

The great mall of China • The next big thing in retail comes with Chinese characteristics

Mo money, Ma problems • HONG KONG

The $90bn prize fight • NEW YORK

Sound investments • The expensive battle to be the Netflix of audio

Tough breaks • Unused holidays are a problem for employers and employees alike

In the works • Governments and investors hope to stoke a global infrastructure boom, but they are terrible at making projects happen. Can that change?

Speed limits • Will enduring unemployment slow America’s economic recovery?

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