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Economist
The election of Kais Saied gives Tunisians something to cheer
IT HAS BEEN a difficult eight years since Tunisia toppled its dictator and embraced democracy in 2011. The economy remains stagnant, corruption is still endemic, terrorism is a problem and…
Greta Thunberg accuses rich countries of “creative carbon accounting”
IT IS 5 AM, and New Covent Garden Market is in full swing. On its swarming 57-acre site in Battersea, wholesalers are flogging fruit, vegetables and flowers to London’s greengrocers and…
Any deal struck between Britain and the EU should be put to voters
AS WE WENT to press on October 17th Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, announced that a Brexit deal had been reached. Any…
David Cameron’s alternative memoirs
A FRIEND ONCE asked Margaret Thatcher what she would do differently if she had her time again. After a pause for thought, she replied: “I think I did pretty well the first time.” I don’t…
The climate issue
FROM ONE year to the next, you cannot feel the difference. As the decades stack up, though, the story becomes clear. The stripes on our cover represent the world’s average temperature in…
Why the Fed was forced to intervene in short-term money markets
THE FEDERAL RESERVE had plenty to fret about as it prepared to discuss policy interest rates on September 17th and 18th. Trade tensions and wilting global growth have seen businesses cut…
Even in death, Robert Mugabe worries his successor
ROBERT MUGABE had been out of power for nearly two years when he died on September 6th (see Obituary). He had been far away and sick since April, so you might think his death would not…
A singular opportunity
EVERY FIVE years the appointment of a new team at the European Commission is a chance to steer the European Union (EU) in a fresh direction. On September 10th Ursula von der Leyen, the…
Xenophobic violence flares in South Africa
WAVING FIGHTING sticks, improvised spears and shields, they advanced like an army through the streets of central Johannesburg, chanting and singing in Zulu: “Foreigners must go back to where…
Philip Morris and Altria want to merge
ADECADE AGO Altria, which makes Marlboros, span off its non-american business, Philip Morris International (PMI). The split was driven partly by Altria’s share price, which had been…