The Economist Continental Europe Edition August 20, 2022

Liz Cheney lost her battle to stay in Congress as Wyoming’s representative in the House, when Republicans in the state voted heavily against her in a party primary. Ms Cheney is one of the few outspoken Republican critics of Donald Trump, warning of the damage to democracy from his lies about a “stolen” election. Mr Trump made it his mission to kick Ms Cheney out after she supported his impeachment in 2021. The winner of the primary, Harriet Hageman, is a former Never Trumper who now thinks he is the best president of her lifetime. In Alaska’s primary election, Sarah Palin was one of the candidates to make it through to November’s mid-terms, where they will vie for the state’s single congressional seat in the House. Ms Palin, John McCain’s running-mate…

Britain’s annual inflation rate, as measured by the consumer-price index, jumped to 10.1% in July, the first time the country has hit double-digit inflation since 1982. Higher energy costs were the main factor behind rising prices, but transport and food also added to the squeeze on household bills. Calls to freeze the price cap on domestic energy are growing louder. An average household is expected to see its annual bill double to over £4,300 ($5,200) by January. On account of the cost-of-living crunch, real wages fell by 3% between April and June, the most since records began in 2001. Britain’s economy was moribund in the second quarter, shrinking by 0.1% over the previous three months. Workers were given an extra day off in June to celebrate the queen’s jubilee, though the…

Liz Cheney lost her battle to stay in Congress as Wyoming’s representative in the House, when Republicans in the state voted heavily against her in a party primary. Ms Cheney is one of the few outspoken Republican critics of Donald Trump, warning of the damage to democracy from his lies about a “stolen” election. Mr Trump made it his mission to kick Ms Cheney out after she supported his impeachment in 2021. The winner of the primary, Harriet Hageman, is a former Never Trumper who now thinks he is the best president of her lifetime. In Alaska’s primary election, Sarah Palin was one of the candidates to make it through to November’s mid-terms, where they will vie for the state’s single congressional seat in the House. Ms Palin, John McCain’s…

Britain’s annual inflation rate, as measured by the consumer-price index, jumped to 10.1% in July, the first time the country has hit double-digit inflation since 1982. Higher energy costs were the main factor behind rising prices, but transport and food also added to the squeeze on household bills. Calls to freeze the price cap on domestic energy are growing louder. An average household is expected to see its annual bill double to over £4,300 ($5,200) by January. On account of the cost-of-living crunch, real wages fell by 3% between April and June, the most since records began in 2001. Britain’s economy was moribund in the second quarter, shrinking by 0.1% over the previous three months. Workers were given an extra day off in June to celebrate the queen’s jubilee, though…

THEY ARE the questions hanging over America and, thus, the West. Will the man who tried to overturn the results of the presidential election in 2020, threatened to disband the world’s most powerful military alliance and played footsie with Vladimir Putin, decide that he wants to run again? If so, can he be stopped? It may seem premature to ask. But the first primary of 2024 is closer in time than the last general election, 94 weeks ago. And, despite his poor record in office and his unconscionable behaviour after America’s voters kicked him out, Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party has strengthened. The thumping defeat of Liz Cheney in her Wyoming primary this week matters, because it robs Congress of a brave, principled conservative, and because it fits a…

THEY ARE the questions hanging over America and, thus, the West. Will the man who tried to overturn the results of the presidential election in 2020, threatened to disband the world’s most powerful military alliance and played footsie with Vladimir Putin, decide that he wants to run again? If so, can he be stopped? It may seem premature to ask. But the first primary of 2024 is closer in time than the last general election, 94 weeks ago. And, despite his poor record in office and his unconscionable behaviour after America’s voters kicked him out, Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party has strengthened. The thumping defeat of Liz Cheney in her Wyoming primary this week matters, because it robs Congress of a brave, principled conservative, and because it fits…