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News analysis
Essay

Viruses have big impacts on ecology and evolution as well as human health

They are ubiquitous, diverse and very powerful

Related

How viruses shape the world

Leaders

Dealing with a dangerous dispute in the eastern Med

Turkey and Greece must be encouraged to exchange views, not blows

Highlights
Middle East & Africa

Iran’s clerics argue over how to hold the festival of Muharram

Social distancing doesn’t appear to be on the cards

Business

Tencent Video battles iQiyi in China’s streaming wars

But the two big Chinese streaming platforms may one day settle into a cosy duopoly

From our columnists
Finance & economics

Free exchange: America’s fiscal federalism is less superior than you might think

Europe’s federation has been surprisingly effective

Daily chart

Week in charts: A world full of viruses

Tech’s new wave of flotations • A coup in Mali • Trouble in the Med • Britain’s looming job test

Moreover
1843

Hands up: coronavirus has made touch my enemy

Gloves used to be a symbol of primness. In a world with covid-19, they are the first line of defence

The Economist’s coverage of the coronavirus

Read now

Weekly edition

The aliens among us: How viruses shape the world

August 22nd 2020
Read full edition

Readers’ favourites

Leaders

Xi Jinping is reinventing state capitalism. Don’t underestimate it

Leaders

What Kamala says about Joe

Schools brief

What harm do minimum wages do?

Graphic detail

A rift in democratic attitudes is opening up around the world

People from weak democracies are increasingly likely to support autocrats

Podcasts

Sound reasoning on current affairs, business and finance, science and technology, and global issues.

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In context: Kamala Harris

United States

Why Kamala Harris was a good choice for Joe Biden

Groundbreaking and predictable, just the ticket

Podcasts

Why Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris

Our weekly podcast on democracy in America

Leaders

What Kamala says about Joe

United States

Meet Kamala Harris

Special report: The Midwest

A region with outsized punch

America’s Midwest matters out of proportion to its size, says Adam Roberts

The urban prairie

For the region to prosper, its bigger cities must flourish

Separate, downtrodden

The region has particular problems with segregation and policing

America’s Mittelstand

Advanced manufacturing can thrive, as Grand Rapids shows

From rustbelt to brainbelt

How higher education can drive prosperity

Read full report

Economist Films

Authoritative insight on news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them.

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