The Economist - October 4 2025

Год выпуска: October 2025

Автор: The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group

Жанр: Экономика/Политика

Издательство: «The Economist Newspaper Ltd»

Формат: PDF (журнал на английском языке)

Качество: OCR

Количество страниц: 80

RUSSIA TESTS THE WEST

• The Kremlin’s grey-zone campaign is designed to corrode NATO from within. The alliance must resist— calmly but firmly: leader, page 11.
• Russia’s micro-aggressions against Europe are proliferating: briefing, page 17.
• It is time to relearn the cold-war arts of escalation management: The Telegram, page 53.
• NATO navies are struggling to contain a new danger on the seas, page 51.

Cheer the Gaza peace plan

• A White House plan resets expectations: leader, page 12.
• Donald Trump reaches for “eternal peace”, page 38.
• A big majority of Israelis support the plan but the far-right hates it, page 39.
• Lessons from Kosovo: By Invitation, page 16.

Hard truths about high drug prices

• The Trump administration’s proposed cure is worse than the disease: leader, page 12.
• It misdiagnoses what is wrong, page 54.

Why wealth taxes make no sense

• Even the most sophisticated arguments in favour are flawed: Free exchange, page 66.

Anti-ageing light masks

• Used properly, the right ones can help combat the signs of ageing: Well informed, page 70.

The world this week Politics

• Donald Trump announced a 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. Along with Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, Mr Trump committed to a ceasefire proposal that was endorsed by many Arab and Muslim countries. Under the scheme the war would end, Hamas would release its remaining hostages and Israel would allow aid into Gaza without limits. Hamas would disarm, Israeli troops would withdraw in phases and an international stabilisation force would take responsibility for security. A “technocratic apolitical Palestinian committee” would take over the civil government. Mr Trump would lead a Board of Peace to oversee reconstruction.
• Sweeping sanctions were reimposed on Iran ten years after they were lifted. Britain, France and Germany, the three European partners to the JCPOA, the multinational deal meant to restrict Iran’s nuclear programme, activated the “snapback” mechanism, accusing Iran of “continued nuclear escalation”. Iran suspended inspections of its nuclear sites after America and Israel bombed them in June.
• Protesters in Madagascar demonstrated against persistent power cuts, water shortages and rampant corruption and called for the resignation of Andry Rajoelina, the president. In response Mr Rajoelina sacked his cabinet, imposed a curfew and deployed his security forces against the crowds. At least 22 people were killed.
• Joseph Kabila, a former president of Democratic Republic of Congo, was sentenced to death in absentia by a military court in Kinshasa, the capital. He was found guilty of colluding with rebels and complicity in war crimes. Mr Kabila has denied any wrongdoing and says his successor is using the court for political gains.
• America’s relations with Colombia worsened, when the State Department revoked the visa of Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s leftist president, after he took part in a pro-Palestinian rally outside the UN in New York. At the rally Mr Petro called on American soldiers to “disobey the orders of Trump”, and for the creation of a worldwide army to aid Palestinians. His comments were described as “reckless and incendiary” by the State Department.
• An American proposal to double the size of the international security force in Haiti was backed by the UN Security Council. Criminal gangs have de facto control of the country and the current international force led by Kenya has not curtailed the violence. China and Russia abstained from the UN vote, claiming the new force could be used by America to further its aims in the region.
• Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s autocratic president, was preparing to strengthen his powers over the security forces and declare a state of emergency, as speculation about an American invasion gripped the country. America’s military has struck alleged Venezuelan drugtrafficking boats in the Caribbean and it is stepping up its navy’s presence in the region.
• Mr Trump criticised Venezuela at a rare gathering of America’s senior generals and admirals. The main purpose of the meeting was for Pete Hegseth, the “secretary of war”, to reiterate that the woke era is over. Mr Hegseth blamed woke policies for deteriorating standards, including fitness, and for making the top brass walk on “egg shells” over claims of discrimination. Any officer who disagrees should resign, he said.
• Government services in America were left without funding after a spending bill was held up in the Senate over a row about health-insurance tax credits. Although it has come close in recent years, this is the first federal government shutdown since 2019.
• Eric Adams pulled out of New York’s mayoral election. Mr Adams, the incumbent mayor, was running as an independent after a slew of scandals. His departure is unlikely to alter the dynamics of the race much. Zohran Mamdani, the official Democratic candidate and a socialist, is far ahead in the opinion polls.
• In India police opened an investigation into the deaths of at least 40 people who were crushed during a political rally for Vijay, an actor turned politician. Investigators are considering whether charges of negligence and homicide should be brought against senior figures from Vijay’s party who organised the event in Tamil Nadu. Around 20,000 people turned up at a location that was meant to accommodate half that number.
• An earthquake in the Philippines killed at least 72 people. Aftershocks hampered rescue efforts in central Cebu province, which bore the brunt of the quake.
• South Korea’s president, Lee Jae-myung, announced an 8.2% increase in the defence budget, the biggest rise since 2008. Mr Trump has been pressing Asian allies to spend more on defence. Mr Lee remarked that this is an era “where it’s every man for himself’.
• Internet services started to gradually resume in Afghanistan, after the Taliban government briefly shut it down across the country claiming it was promoting immorality. The internet blackout had affected airports’ it systems and operations.
• The pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity won a parliamentary election in Moldova with 50% of the vote. The pro-Russian Patriotic Block took just 24%, confounding opinion polls that had projected a higher share. Russia has been accused of interfering in the election campaign. The Kremlin denies this, and claimed that Moldova had provided only two polling stations for the hundreds of thousands of Moldovans who live in Russia in order to suppress their vote.
• J.D. Vance, America’s vice-president, suggested that the Pentagon could provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, signalling the White House’s annoyance with Russia for ignoring Mr Trump’s attempts to de-escalate the conflict. Russia warned that America would risk a direct confrontation by supplying Tomahawks, which have a range of 2,500km (1,550 miles). Russia continued to pound Ukraine with drone attacks.
• Sir Keir Starmer, Britain’s prime minister, tried to stanch the haemorrhaging of support in the polls for his governing Labour Party. In a speech to flag-waving party members Sir Keir insisted he was overseeing “national renewal” and fighting “for the soul of our country”, pitching his address to “working people”. He said the populist Reform UK was his party’s main threat and that immigration policy was a pressing issue, but he claimed Reform’s plans to remove non-citizen migrants were “racist”.

The world this week Business

• A consortium of investors led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced a buy-out of Electronic Arts, the video-game maker behind such hits as “Battlefield”, “EA Sports FC” and “Madden NFL”. At $55bn it is the world’s biggest-ever leveraged buy-out. Affinity Partners, an investment firm founded by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, is part of the consortium. The deal is a bet that artificial intelligence will enhance players’ interactions with EA’s games, and also cut its operating costs.

Trying to figure it out

• The White House pulled its nomination of E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Donald Trump had nominated Mr Antoni, currently the senior economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, after sacking the previous head of the BLS for allegedly manipulating jobs figures to make the government look bad (for which there is no evidence). Mr Antoni’s nomination had run into a wall of opposition in the Senate over his suitability for the job.
• Brian Quintenz acknowledged that he is no longer the White House’s nominee to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, after the Senate held up his confirmation process. Mr Trump wants the CFTC to expand its remit in cryptocurrencies. Mr Quintenz has accused Tyler Winklevoss, the founder of a crypto exchange and supporter of Mr Trump, of trying to derail his nomination.
• Analysts estimated a big increase of sales in electric vehicles in America as people rushed to claim tax credits on EV purchases before the programme ended on September 30th. “It’s been bonkers,” said a director at TrueCar, a retailing website, describing the dash to buy a car. Sales are expected to slow in the coming months.
• The British government handed Jaguar Land Rover a £1.5bn ($2bn) loan guarantee, as the carmaker struggles to restart production following a cyberattack on August 31st. JLR is having to rebuild its IT systems to pay suppliers, deliver vehicles to dealers and send out spare parts. The disruption to its supply chain could continue for months.
• Nike said it now expects costs from tariffs to reach $1.5bn in its financial year, as it reported a 31% drop in quarterly net profit, year on year. Revenue grew by 1%. Sales were up in North America by 4%, thanks to clothing and equipment; sales from footwear in the region were flat. Overall sales dropped by 10% in China.
• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was reportedly ready to secure a deal to buy Occidental’s petrochemical division for $iobn. Berkshire is Occidental’s largest shareholder and backed the energy giant’s takeover of Anadarko in 2019. Occidental has struggled with the huge debts it incurred as a result of that takeover and other acquisitions.
• Another blockbuster deal was taking shape, as Global Infrastructure Partners, owned by BlackRock, was said to be close to buying AES, a utility that owns and operates power plants, in a deal worth around $38bn. GIP’s other assets include stakes in London’s Gatwick airport, renewables and big pipeline projects.
• The planned merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to create America’s first coast-to-coast freight operator continued to reverberate throughout the industry, as CSX, another railway company, ousted its chief executive. Ancora Holdings, an activist investor, had pressed csx to appoint a new boss who is more amenable to a takeover offer, potentially from BNSF, in order to compete with the new freight giant.
• California’s governor signed the first bill into law in America that compels companies to reveal their safety standards for AL Gavin Newsom wants the legislation to lay the foundations for a national AI safety act. The bill is less expansive than a previous version that was dropped last year amid intense opposition from the likes of Meta and OpenAL
• A study from the Budget Lab at Yale University countered the idea that Al is already disrupting jobs, concluding that the effects on American labour markets are “largely speculative”. Looking at the 33-month period since the release of ChatGPT, the report found that Al is changing the occupational mix among tech workers, but not in the wider economy. Your job is not safe yet; the study also argues that the impact of Ai on the occupational mix is bigger than it was for computers or the internet at the same stage in the cycle.

Strictly ballroom

• YouTube agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump for blocking his content after his supporters attacked Congress on January 6th 2021. The bulk of the 524.5m settlement will go to the Trust for the National Mall, which is helping finance a new White House state ballroom.

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