Half the world has had elections so far this year

The rulers of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are growing worryingly close

Russia and China are riding a surge of support for the Palestinians since the Gaza war started

As players vomit and boil, even John McEnroe reckons “it is not humane”

And why governments want to wrest back control

Polarisation makes it harder to adapt to climate change

A booming middle class, budget flights and Bollywood

In a dangerous world, cutting-edge missile defence is all the rage

Sugar taxes and obesity drugs will not be enough

The games will test the success of new solutions to old bugbears

The speed and intensity of prospective conflicts could test the laws of war

The undersea cables that connect the world are becoming military targets

Threats to Western alliances lie both within and without the club

Deadly heat is increasingly the norm, not an exception to it

Will rich countries welcome them the way they did Chinese students?

Big powers are preparing for wartime sabotage

Too often politicians tout awful solutions for helping tenants

The world’s atomic watchdog fears a terrifying regional arms race

But China’s bullying of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines risks an explosion

Human-rights lawyers are trying to save laws meant to tame violent rulers