| Biden's Infrastructure Boom Risks Adding to Immigration Woes
The administration's infrastructure plan and recent $1.9 trillion Covid relief package are aimed at turbocharging the U.S. economy. But Joshua Green notes the expected boom may exacerbate a key challenge for Biden: handling the rising number of migrants crossing the southern border.
Macron's Bravado Belies the Far-Right's Advance in France
A year from now French voters will cast their verdict on President Emmanuel Macron's performance amid mounting evidence his displays of self-confidence are a turn-off. Ania Nussbaum explains the contrast with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has worked hard to broaden her appeal and is striking a humble tone.  Le Pen at a news conference to launch a new political movement called 'Avenir Francais' (French Future) on March 22. Photographer: Chesnot/Getty Images Europe One of Taiwan's Allies Weighs Embracing China for Vaccines
As poorer nations struggle to access Covid-19 vaccines, one South American country finds itself caught in tensions between the U.S. and China. Ken Parks explains how Paraguay's 63-year-old alliance with Taiwan is under pressure as it seeks more doses, including potentially from China. How a Chip Shortage Snarled Everything From Phones to Cars
Semiconductors have gone from little-understood workhorse in powerful computers to the most crucial and expensive component under the hood of modern-day gadgets. Ian King, Debby Wu and Demetrios Pogkas set out the supply shock now triggering an unprecedented global chip shortage.  Source: Bloomberg Black CEOs Condemn Voter Curbs, Urge Peers to Fight Back
Black executives across the U.S. have joined a call for corporations to oppose voting-rights legislation being advanced by Republicans in at least 43 states that's seen as an effort to limit participation by ethnic-minority voters. Carolina Gonzalez and Riley Griffin detail the open letter that has garnered the signatures of 72 Black leaders.  An unexpected detractor of the long-awaited joint WHO-China report on a scientific trip to Wuhan was Tedros himself, who said the theory that Covid-19 escaped via a laboratory leak — a hypothesis vigorously denied by Beijing — needed further investigation.
How the Tokyo Olympics Risks Becoming a Superspreader Event
The Tokyo Summer Olympic Games have survived being postponed, a mountain of scandal and bad publicity. Lisa Du and Michelle Fay Cortez lay out the challenge of pulling off the world's biggest sporting event safely in the middle of a pandemic.
Mexico's AMLO Uses Energy Nationalism Card Ahead of Key Vote
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is trying to scrap a policy that opened up Mexico's energy sector. Max de Haldevang, Amy Stillman and Justin Villamil explain how that feeds into Lopez Obrador's efforts to keep control of congress in midterm elections just two months away.  An International Women's Day protest in Puebla on March 8. Lopez Obrador's party, which in 2018 promised a new start for a country beset by corruption and violence, is under attack for backing a candidate who has twice been accused of rape. Photographer: Koral Carballo/Bloomberg China's Rebound Edges It Closer to Overtaking U.S. Economy
The recovery in the Chinese economy from the pandemic has sped up this century's most significant economic shift — its rapid catch-up and likely toppling of the U.S. as the world's biggest economy. As Jin Wu and Tom Hancock note, some now predict China will overtake the U.S. by 2028, two years earlier than previously forecast.
India States 'Scare' Investors With Laws to Force Local Hires
A slowing economy and dearth of jobs have led the north Indian state of Haryana to implement a law that limits private companies from hiring workers from other states. Bibhudatta Pradhan explains that such laws are quickly becoming popular with other states.  Russia Wants to Keep a Stricter Eye on Its Anti-Putin Youth
The Kremlin is seeking to counter what it sees as foreign influence on Russia's increasingly rebellious youth with a law aimed at tightening state control over out-of-school activities. Jake Rudnitsky and Irina Reznik dissect the push for patriotic education.
Rich Brazilians Urge Government to Let Them Buy Vaccines
As Brazil struggles to get its Covid-19 vaccination program off the ground, the man behind Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands in the country thinks he can do better. Felipe Marques and Martha Beck report on Carlos Wizard Martins' push for businessmen to purchase vaccines themselves to help.
And finally ... Countries in Asia are trying everything from fertility tours to baby bonuses to spur population growth in an aging world. Not so in Indonesia, where officials want to convince people to have fewer children. The world's fourth most-populous country is promoting later marriages, family planning and contraception, amid concerns that overcrowding could mean fewer job opportunities and strains on government services.  A baby's weight is measured following an examination to prevent Covid-19 transmission in Jakarta in August. Photo credit: Barcroft Media
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