Our analysis suggests that Iran will be able to weaponise Hormuz for some time—and monetise it. Want our take on it? Register to read for free

How long can Iran weaponise Hormuz?

Longer than the world hopes, according to our Hormuz dependency dashboard

bit.ly

Today on “The Intelligence”: a less-reflective Earth will mean a hotter one, a rising cocaine trade through west Africa and the stubborn scarcity of female breadwinners

Taking the shine off: albedo and global temperatures

Also on the daily podcast: the rising cocaine trade through west Africa and the stubborn scarcity of female breadwinners

bit.ly

Voters are dissatisfied with America’s two main political parties, with net favourability for Democrats near a 35-year low. That is inspiring a new generation of independents

Americans are sick of Republicans and Democrats. Can Independents win?

Senate campaigns in Montana and Nebraska offer a test

bit.ly

“A global game needs a strong centre—but also rules strong enough to constrain whoever controls it,” writes the head of Belgium’s top football league in a guest commentary

FIFA needs a constitution for the commercial age

Football can’t rely on a revolt every time its governing body goes too far, argues Lorin Parys, the head of a European league

bit.ly

Investors may now be entertaining the idea that America has too many data centres. But China, for all its admirable restraint, may not have enough to take full advantage of its AI stars’ innovations

How China gets better bang for its buck than America in AI

Its investment lags far behind America’s. Its models do not

bit.ly

“Supporting refugees closer to their countries of origin is not charity; it is enlightened self-interest rooted in human solidarity,” writes the UN’s refugees commissioner in a guest essay bit.ly/4hPJxwQ Illustration: Dan Williams

How do Iran’s leaders want the war to end? On Inside Geopolitics, our geopolitics editor is joined by a pair of renowned Iran watchers to examine the thinking inside Tehran

What does Iran want? | The Economist Insider

America and Iran appear to be sliding back towards war. The two sides are stuck in a cycle of fighting: threats are issued, then rescinded; strikes are halted, then resumed. Diplomats—still hoping to close this doom loop—tout compromises, but their chances of brokering peace look slim. What does Iran want from this war? And how does it want it to end? David Rennie, The Economist’s geopolitics editor, and a pair of renowned Iran watchers examine the thinking inside Tehran. They ask if the country’s leadership is more hardline than ever, discuss the incentives that could yet bring it to the table and consider whether—for a regime rooted in resistance—it is peace, not war, which is most dangerous of all.

bit.ly

Where is the least liveable city in the world? One region’s score has taken a bigger fall than any other, according to the EIU’s annual index. Find out here

The world’s most, and least, liveable cities in 2026

See how 173 cities compare in EIU’s annual ranking

bit.ly

A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist

AI fuels small businesses in America

A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist

bit.ly

“Humanitarian aid saves lives in emergencies, but it cannot be a substitute for a future,” says Barham Salih in a guest essay. “The vast majority of refugees do not seek dependency; they seek the chance to rebuild”

To save the asylum system, reform it

Policies can be reworked to help manage borders and protect those in genuine need, says Barham Salih, the UN’s refugees commissioner

bit.ly

Football can’t rely on a revolt every time its governing body goes too far, argues Lorin Parys, the head of a European league

FIFA needs a constitution for the commercial age

Football can’t rely on a revolt every time its governing body goes too far, argues Lorin Parys, the head of a European league

bit.ly

Sweden and other European countries are shaking up their intelligence operations. The reason is not just Russian aggression, but also concerns about their dependency on America

Sweden is launching its own MI6

Memories of a big mistake still spook Europe’s spies

bit.ly

In May, for the first time, South Africa replaced Spain as the world’s largest exporter of citrus fruit. Citrus has been the country’s most valuable agricultural export, and recently has earned more than is earned through diamond exports

Forget gold and copper. Africa’s latest boom is in blueberries and oranges

A surge in fruit exports shows how high-value agriculture can spur industrialisation

bit.ly

Japan’s sprawling sex industry is thought to be worth ¥2trn-5trn ($12bn-31bn) a year. Lately a debate has raged over how the work is policed

Sex tourists fuel outrage about vice in Japan

The debates do not have women’s interests at heart

bit.ly

Wildfires are to natural disasters what ballistic missiles are to human weaponry—able to kill from hundreds or thousands of kilometres away. Our charts show how smoke from wildfires in North America has spread further than smoke from those in Europe

Our estimated death toll for this year’s wildfires

The blazes in North America have claimed 10-80 times as many lives as those in Europe so far

bit.ly

A groundbreaking series of studies in recent years has transformed scientists’ understanding of the condition. Register for free to learn how researchers are continuing to discover new risk factors

The world is making heady progress in the fight against dementia

Incidence among the elderly is falling fast

bit.ly

Ozgur Ozel’s new opposition caucus has welcomed a wave of defections from his former party since its launch last week. Some put its support at over 30%, ahead of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party

A new party breathes life into Turkey’s opposition

An end-run around a court ban gives Recep Tayyip Erdogan a strong challenger

bit.ly

The Nordic fine dining restaurant hopes to reinvent its kitchen culture. But can the cordial environment last bit.ly/3RSB1m9 Photo: Joachim Ladefoged/VII/Redux/Eyevine

Last December Ukraine and the EU signed a ten-point plan in which Kyiv would implement certain reforms, including provisions on the rule of law, democracy, corruption-fighting and public administration. Negotiations on these only opened in June

Ukraine needs the EU to force it to reform

The government is shirking the work required for membership

bit.ly

Couples in which women earn around three-quarters of household income are also around 30% more likely to split up than those where both partners earn similar amounts, according to estimates from a recent French study

The stubborn scarcity of female breadwinners

Wives who outearn their husbands remain rare in America

bit.ly

This year may be especially unusual because of El Niño, a climate pattern that affects weather. But the trend is well-established. Across India, rain is coming harder and in shorter spurts

India’s monsoon is getting weirder

Expect more extreme weather

bit.ly

Elon Musk claims that his dismantling of the world’s biggest foreign-aid agency cost “zero” human lives. That is plainly wrong. But so are estimates of millions of additional deaths

How many people are dying as a result of USAID’s demise?

Fewer than academics imagine, but more than Elon Musk will admit

bit.ly

America’s ambassador to Italy has spent much of the summer hosting parties on his $450m superyacht. That has some critics questioning whether displays of fabulous wealth make for good diplomacy

In Italy, America does business on the ambassador’s yacht

A billionaire diplomat’s floating statecraft

bit.ly

Since the start of 2021 the share price of Embraer has risen roughly ten-fold, far outpacing those of Airbus or Boeing. What is behind its ascent?

Forget Airbus and Boeing. Embraer is soaring

Its boss has ambitious plans for the future

bit.ly

Pretty and generous, Alice Guo was a beloved mayor in the Philippines. Register for free to learn how she ended up in jail for fraud and human-trafficking

The mayor of Scamtown

People thought Alice Guo was a Chinese spy. The truth was much darker

bit.ly

As technological change forces workers to switch jobs more often, many Americans may need to retrain several times. Yet those who lose their jobs receive little help doing so

Can America retrain workers before AI leaves them behind?

Success will require investing in employees as seriously as America invests in chips

bit.ly

In 2026 Chinese tech titans are forecast to invest less than a tenth as much in data centres as their American counterparts. Their models appear only fractionally less powerful owing to this frugality

How China gets better bang for its buck than America in AI

Its investment lags far behind America’s. Its models do not

bit.ly

Why can China get away with investing so much less than America for what appears to be comparable AI results? Register for free to read what factors explain the trend bit.ly/458aTXx Photo: Alamy

Here is a thought to chill the blood of President Donald Trump: he would be in a far better place today if he had followed the foreign-policy advice of Barack Obama. Register for free to learn why bit.ly/3SevbvF Illustration: Chloe Cushman

In a new paper, China’s commerce ministry has sought to rebut the accusations of industrial excess levelled by many foreign governments and economists. It is both rigorous and disingenuous

China won’t apologise for overcapacity

Its industrial policy rests on a simple principle: might makes right

bit.ly