The world must try to break a vicious cycle of insecurity

2024 promises to be a make-or-break year for the post-1945 world order. The fragility of the Western coalition is a crucial weakness

The unseen costs of dirty work

Work confers dignity. But some jobs are also a source of stigma

Ukrainian cities are suffering internet blackouts

Damage to infrastructure plays a part. So do cyberattacks

Why the West is reluctant to deny Russian banks access to SWIFT

Despite its punitive appeal, disconnection from the global messaging system may not have the intended effect

Child marriage in America has fallen sharply—but not far enough

Resistance to reforms comes from both left and right

The technology of seeing and shooting your enemies

War among the sensors poses new challenges, says Shashank Joshi

The true cost of empty offices

Property investors are sitting on big losses

Russia is trying to build its own great firewall

Can its tech industry separate from the West’s?

Disney, Netflix, Apple: is anyone winning the streaming wars?

Investors are terrified that the prize may not be worth it

Metamorphosis: Facebook and big-tech competition

Why the technology-industry narrative of the 2010s no longer stacks up

A young Afghan woman on breaking free of the burqa

It was dehumanising to grow up in Afghanistan under a veil. I escaped but others are now ensnared, says Sultana

What Spotify should learn from the Joe Rogan affair

The content-moderation wars have come to audio

How Apple’s privacy push cost Meta $10bn

A change to iOS has made it harder to sell ads on Facebook and Instagram

After more than two decades, Britain is finally rid of termites

Globalisation makes infestations more likely

A prison battle in Syria was a disaster long foretold

Hundreds of jihadists were left in a poorly guarded prison. What could go wrong?

How will Europe cope if Russia cuts off its gas?

Better than you might think

How Chinese propaganda films became watchable

Patriotic blockbusters are so entertaining people willingly buy tickets

What America’s largest technology firms are investing in

Their focus is on the metaverse, cars and health care

Big tech’s supersized ambitions

From metaverses to quantum computing

The video-game industry has metaverse ambitions, too

Where the tech titans have money, the games industry has experience