The Economist this week | | Highlights from the latest issue | | |
| Our cover this week focuses on the universe of viruses , a form of life stripped down to the essentials of information and reproduction. Viruses have caused a litany of modern pandemics, from covid-19 and HIV/AIDS to the influenza outbreak of 1918-20. Before that, the colonisation of the Americas by Europeans was abetted by epidemics of smallpox, measles and influenza. Yet the influence of viruses on life on Earth goes far beyond the tragedies of a single species, however pressing SARS-CoV-2 is today. Recent research puts viruses at the heart of the strategies of genes. It is becoming clear how viruses represent the blind, pitiless power of natural selection at its most dramatic. They have shaped the evolution of organisms of all types since the very beginnings of life. For humanity they present a heady mix of threat and opportunity. | | |
 | Zanny Minton Beddoes
Editor-In-Chief | | |
Editor’s picks Must-reads from the current edition | | |
| Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, continued to cling to power despite large demonstrations and strikes, after he fraudulently claimed victory in an election on August 9th. The European Union’s leaders have refused to recognise the result, and vowed to enact sanctions against officials involved in ballot fraud and in brutal attacks on demonstrators by Belarusian police. | | |
| The Trump administration issued an edict tightening the embargo on Huawei. The measure prevents anyone from supplying semiconductors to the Chinese maker of network equipment if they are made using American technology. It is the biggest blow the American government has yet landed on Huawei, which will now tap the stockpile of chips it has accumulated to cover such an eventuality. China said America’s action contravened international trade rules. | | |
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