Public-information films Don't stop, don't look, don't listen Scary adverts don't work, yet they are everywhere CHATTERING schoolchildren don colourful anoraks; clutching hands, they depart for a woodland picnic. Elsewhere a young man leaps into his...
Air pollution The big smoke Britain needs to do more to clean up its dirty air VISITING Oxford Street, a road teeming with tatty shops and overcrowded with people, is plainly a trial. Less plainly, levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a noxious gas, hav...
The new Congress Construction above, obstruction below The 114th Congress may be more productive than its predecessorjust VIEWED from a distance, the scaffolding on the Capitol's dome makes the building seem perpetually out of focus. The intentions o...
Hungary Viktor goes to war The Hungarian leader squabbles with some in his party and with America THE new year has not started well for Viktor Orban, Hungary's pugnacious prime minister. Support for his ruling right-wing Fidesz party is sliding. A re...
Inner-city gentrification So long, Soho London's seediest district hints at some of the ways the capital is changing IN 1847 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels earnestly debated the failings of capitalism in rooms above a pub at 20 Great Windmill Street,...
Indonesia's anti-poverty plans Full of promise Cutting fuel subsidies makes space for an ambitious income top-up scheme BARACK OBAMA signed his health-care programme into law 427 days after taking office. Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president, took just...
Berlin's image Losing its cool The German capital, famous for its edgy urbanity and quality of life, looks tired A disappointing missed opportunity? WHEN a magazine proclaims on its cover that a city is the world's coolest, it is often a sign that it...
Argentina's debt Let's not make a deal Argentina may spurn a chance to settle with its creditors WHEN Argentina defaulted on its debt for the second time in 13 years last July, the government blamed a pesky clause in its contracts with bondholders. T...
