Jan 9th 2016

Saudi Arabia: The regime’s blueprint for survival

The world this week

Leaders

Saudi Arabia

The Saudi blueprint

The desert kingdom is striving to dominate its region and modernise its economy at the same time

North Korea’s nuclear weapons

Another bombshell

After Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test, China must change its tune towards its outrageous ally

China’s market meddling

The control quagmire

A desire to limit volatility is giving rise to even bigger risks

Puerto Rico

The bill will come due

Congress should allow Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy

The EU’s rotating presidency

Stop the music

Every six months the Council of the European Union gets a new president. This is a recipe for dysfunction

Letters

On the death penalty, Italy, Myanmar, capitalism, antiques, RCTs, South Africa, SuperBosses, populism

Letters to the editor

Briefing

Saudi Arabia

Young prince in a hurry

Muhammad bin Salman gambles on intervention abroad and radical economic change at home. But forget about democracy

Saudi Aramco

Sale of the century?

A possible IPO of Saudi Aramco could mark the end of the post-war oil order

United States

Puerto Rico defaults

When the salsa stops

Gun laws

Talking up arms

The Oregon stand-off

They the people

Floods in the Midwest

Disaster foretold

Police in schools

Arresting developments

Lexington

Franklin Graham’s promised land

The Americas

Venezuela

The coming confrontation

Millennials in Canada

First, the good news

Crime in Mexico

Death and the mayor

Asia

Politics in Taiwan

A Tsai is just a Tsai

The war in Afghanistan

A bloody year of transition

Tsukiji, the world’s biggest fish market

So long, and thanks for all the fish

Banyan

Modi-fied but not transformed

China

Hong Kong-mainland relations

Publish and be abducted?

Liberal economists

Three wise men

Middle East & Africa

Politics in the Middle East

The Arab winter

South Africa’s next president

After Zuma, another Zuma?

Nigeria’s federation

A house divided

Electricity in Africa

Power hungry

Europe

France’s fight against terror

Après Charlie

Bavaria’s Christian Social Union

Kabuki in the Alps

Sexual assaults in Cologne

New year, new fear

Italy’s economy

Mezza mezza

European nightlife

Less than ecstatic

Charlemagne

Early adopters

Britain

The Church of England

Resurrection?

Global Anglicanism

Rowing, not rowing

The Labour Party

Trident wars ahead

Foreign aid

Strings attached

Statues and racism

Running out of Rhodes

Household debt

Down to earth

Jobs and ethnic minorities

Irish lessons

Bagehot

Battlefields of the mind

International

Racial segregation

The great melting

London's population

White shuffle, not white flight

Business

The future of personal transport

The driverless, car-sharing road ahead

VW's scandal

The cost of cheating

Biotechnology

Cutting remarks

Facebook in India

Can’t give it away

Off-price fashion retailing

To the Maxx

Jollibee

Acquired tastes

Startups in Australia

From lucky to plucky

Japanese entrepreneurship

Thinking inside the box

Schumpeter

Toy story

Finance & economics

The Big Mac index

After the dips

Retail banking

Blunt elbows

Oil benchmarks

Crude measure

Buttonwood

Loathe thy neighbour

The market for economists

The right match

Banking for immigrants

Far-sighted

Room rentals v hotels

Buffett’s revenge

Free exchange

A mean feat

Science & technology

Astronomy

Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky

The search for ET

Cluster analysis

A real hoverboard

Skating with McFly

Bugs from the belfry

Zoonotic disease

The Richard Casement internship

Books & arts

American economic history

G force

Understanding Africa

Clear-sighted

Britain and America

The slog of war

20th-century history

The cold war’s first chill

Mathematics

The master of them all

Illustrations from the edge

When anger turns to ink

Economic & financial indicators

Interactive indicators

Output, prices and jobs

Trade, exchange rates, budget balances and interest rates

The Economist commodity-price index

The Economist poll of forecasters, January averages

Markets

Obituary

Obituary: Lemmy