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The rise of the dinosaurs: Pardon! (21 July 07:31 pm)

A geological burp may have led to the dinosaurs’ dominationTHE dinosaurs, famously, went out with a bang. Some 65.5m years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, the Earth collided with an

Letters: On Google, aeroplane emissions, food, Libya, skinheads, phone-hacking, James Baldwin (21 July 04:54 pm)

Letters are welcome via e-mail to letters@economist.comSIR – Your article on the antitrust issues facing Google glossed over the fact that the online marketplace sees itself as under attack from

South African politics: A muddy few months ahead (21 July 04:54 pm)

The government is facing its biggest crisis in years following a string of criminal allegationsTHE chief of South Africa’s police, General Bheki Cele (pictured above), has been accused of

New fiction: Tower block (21 July 04:54 pm)

Aravind Adiga pulls it offLast Man in Tower. By Aravind Adiga. Atlantic Books; 419 pages; GBP17.99. To be published in America in September by Knopf; $26.95. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukTHE

Reinhold Niebuhr: Ideas man (21 July 04:54 pm)

One of President Obama’s favourite philosophersWhy Niebuhr Now? By John Patrick Diggins. University of Chicago Press; 152 pages; $22 and GBP14. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukAFTER years in

Working-age population (21 July 04:54 pm)

Demography may not quite be destiny, but it makes a big difference to countries’ economic prospects. Many emerging economies are in the sweet spot of a demographic transition, where the share of

Syria's third-largest city: Laying waste to humble Homs (21 July 04:54 pm)

The embattled regime’s use of violent gangs is stoking sectarian fearsREVOLUTIONARY fervour in Syria has shifted back from Hama—last week’s hotspot—to neighbouring Homs. At

Syria's third-largest city: Laying waste to humble Homs (21 July 04:54 pm)

The embattled regime’s use of violent gangs is stoking sectarian fearsREVOLUTIONARY fervour in Syria has shifted back from Hama—last week’s hotspot—to neighbouring Homs. At

Yemen's economy: Up the spout (21 July 04:54 pm)

How turmoil is ruining an already rocky economy“IT’S shit, the situation in Yemen,” says a skinny man in a bakery in the old quarter of Sana’a, the capital. “Shit,”

Contemporary art in China: Chinese checkers (21 July 04:54 pm)

The wild, wild world of the Chinese contemporary-art marketBUYING Chinese contemporary art is not for the faint-hearted. There are no museums in China to offer the validation that contemporary-art

Israeli settlers on the West Bank: Might some stay? (21 July 04:54 pm)

It is conceivable that some Jewish settlers could remain in a Palestinian stateEVERY Friday and often after school on other days, Israeli soldiers fire tear-gas and sonic bombs at the Palestinian

Latin American politics: Lulismo v Chávismo (21 July 04:54 pm)

Even before his cancer, Hugo Chavez’s political project was dyingCANCER is a personal tragedy. Even his bitterest foes should wish Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez, a speedy recovery

Contemporary art in China: Chinese checkers (21 July 04:54 pm)

The wild, wild world of the Chinese contemporary-art marketBUYING Chinese contemporary art is not for the faint-hearted. There are no museums in China to offer the validation that contemporary-art

China's family planning: Illegal children will be confiscated (21 July 04:54 pm)

The one-child policy is not just a human-rights abomination; it has also worsened a demographic problem“BEFORE 1997 they usually punished us by tearing down our houses for breaching the

Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation: Last of the moguls (21 July 04:54 pm)

Rupert Murdoch is the last member of a dying breed. Time for him to step backIT HARDLY seemed possible that the man had held sway over politics and media for so long. Appearing before a parliamentary

Financial markets: When devils strike (21 July 04:54 pm)

Explaining how banks lost so much money is easier than why they didMinding the Markets: An Emotional Finance View of Financial Instability. By David Tuckett. Palgrave Macmillan; 256 pages; $40 and

Women in the boardroom: The wrong way to promote women (21 July 04:54 pm)

Mandatory quotas do more harm than good. But firms should make work more family-friendlyWOMEN are half the population but only 15% of board members at big American firms, and 10% in Europe. This

Israeli settlers on the West Bank: Might some stay? (21 July 04:54 pm)

It is conceivable that some Jewish settlers could remain in a Palestinian stateEVERY Friday and often after school on other days, Israeli soldiers fire tear-gas and sonic bombs at the Palestinian

Markets (21 July 04:54 pm)

Trade, exchange rates, budget balances and interest rates (21 July 04:54 pm)

Letters: On Google, aeroplane emissions, food, Libya, skinheads, phone-hacking, James Baldwin (21 July 04:54 pm)

Letters are welcome via e-mail to letters@economist.comSIR – Your article on the antitrust issues facing Google glossed over the fact that the online marketplace sees itself as under attack from

Africa's infrastructure: A road to somewhere (21 July 04:54 pm)

What do Africans need most—aid or infrastructure?WHETHER it is taking vegetables to market, getting water from a tap or turning on the lights, almost everything is slower, less reliable or more

Reinhold Niebuhr: Ideas man (21 July 04:54 pm)

One of President Obama’s favourite philosophersWhy Niebuhr Now? By John Patrick Diggins. University of Chicago Press; 152 pages; $22 and GBP14. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukAFTER years in

New fiction: Tower block (21 July 04:54 pm)

Aravind Adiga pulls it offLast Man in Tower. By Aravind Adiga. Atlantic Books; 419 pages; GBP17.99. To be published in America in September by Knopf; $26.95. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukTHE

India's economy: The half-finished revolution (21 July 04:54 pm)

India’s liberalisation began with a bang in 1991, but two decades on the unreformed parts of the economy are becoming a drag on growth. Time for another bangIN A strange reversal of the norm