Global news and current affairs from a European perspective. Best downloaded on Friday mornings (GMT) Articles in this issue: Politics this week Business this week KAL's cartoon Russia and the world: The triumph of Vladimir Putin Barack Obama’s state-of-the-union speech: Deal or no deal? Emerging markets: Don’t panic Thailand’s political crisis: A way out Tax rates in Britain: François Miliband Letters: On climate change, Turkey, housing, hospices, Asia, sex and public life, renewable energy, Spain, marijuana Putin’s Russia: Sochi or bust Barack Obama: The state of the president The Republican response: More than a mom Class in America: Mobility, measured Utah’s dirty air: In the bleak midwinter Pete Seeger: Bolshie with a banjo Pete Seeger: Old Mexico lives on The cadaver market: Death, where is thy bling? Lexington: Heads and hearts Venezuela and Argentina: The party is over Bello: Relearning old lessons Canada’s Liberal senators: Kicked out Chile, Peru and the ICJ: A line in the sea Afghanistan’s uncertain future: Playing with fire Thailand’s political crisis: The show staggers on Japanese politics: The odd couple A peace agreement in Mindanao: A fragile peace Australia and asylum-seekers: Go north, young man Nauru: Aussies out! Western Australia: The Devil in the deep blue sea Banyan: Snarling, not pouncing The cost of medicine: Physician, heal thyself Environment: Browner, but greener Not thanking the motherland: Free spirit South Africa: Jacob Zuma and his ailing alliance Saudi Arabia: No satisfaction Sudan: Downhill Sudan's borderlands: Restless Yemen and al-Qaeda: An island prison? Israeli politics: Waiting on the right wing Ukraine’s protests: Praying for peace Hungary and the Holocaust: Statue of limitations Turkey: Madness on the Bosphorus The German mentality: Hail, the Swabian housewife Paris’s mayor: An all-female race Charlemagne: The euro’s hellhound Charlemagne: Correction: Milagros Morago Scottish independence: Ayes to the left Politics: The Mili-plan Interest rates: Fear of heights Religion in Northern Ireland: Staging the scriptures Law and order: What do the police do all day? Self-storage: The final frontier Politics of conservation: Damp rising Renewable energy: Little wonders Bagehot: Parliamentary jousting Teaching mathematics: Time for a ceasefire Measuring health care: Need to know Braille: Joining the dots Walmart: Less amazing than Amazon Turkish conglomerates: Too big to fail, but in a good way European chemicals: Fixing a flat M-health: Health and appiness Machine learning: Don’t be evil, genius Schumpeter: We want to be your friend Emerging markets: Locus of extremity Buttonwood: The coin has two faces ICBC and Standard Bank: Limited partnership Shadow banking in China: Credit paroled Bitcoin: Bitten Safeguarding European banks: Volcker plus Microfinance: Poor service The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Caveat vendor Free exchange: The price of getting back to work Human evolution: Kissing cousins Melting ice shelves: Filmy firn Preventing anaphylaxis: Not a nutty idea Moths and sloths: Slow food movement Creativity and cheating: Mwahahaha… The search for neutrinos: Digging deep New American fiction: From near and far Social mobility: Have and have not A South African childhood: Call of the wild Russia and America: Testy relations New cinema: The weird world of Lars von Trier Claudio Abbado Output, prices and jobs Trade, exchange rates, budget balances and interest rates The Economist commodity-price index Global smartphone shipments Markets