Solving Murder

This week’s cover looks at murder in poor countries. In 2016, 68% of all violent deaths were murders; war caused just 18%. High murder rates have local roots, including drug crime and the prevalence of young men, but everywhere rapid, chaotic urbanisation makes things worse. Latin America, with 8% of the world’s people but 38% of its murders, shows what curbs the killing and what fuels it. The good news is that, though many of the emerging world’s problems are intractable, murder need not be one of them    Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief