A number of startups are allowing couples having children via IVF to assess embryos based on their genetic risk of diseases such as breast cancer and diabetes. Some venture further into science-fiction territory, providing scores for IQ and height, or even eye and hair colour. Critics level that fertility entrepreneurs could be this century’s eugenicists. Our leader argues there is an important difference.

The world’s biggest fast-food chain is not McDonald’s; it’s not even American. Until now it has made money from bubble tea and ice cream. Soon its servers will be pulling pints, too.

What to expect in the week ahead:

▸ Investors will get a snapshot of how American consumers are feeling this week, as Walmart, Target and Home Depot report earnings. When consumers are stressed about the economy, spending on household goods and clothes are among the first things they shelve. America’s war with Iran has pushed up prices, especially of petrol, hurting the wallets of even prosperous consumers.

▸ Japan publishes GDP data for the second quarter on Monday. The government’s official growth forecasts were lowered recently because of soaring energy prices. This adds to the country’s economic woes: the yen recently hit its lowest level in four decades. America swooped in to help stabilise the currency, but the intervention brought only a temporary reprieve. 

▸ On Tuesday Floridians will vote in the state’s primary gubernatorial elections. Voters will decide which Democrat and Republican will battle to become governor in November. Byron Donalds, a Republican congressman, is expected to win his party’s nomination handily, and polls predict he’ll become governor. Florida was once a quintessential swing state—but it has become a bastion of Republican power.