South Africa’s embattled former leader will be imprisoned for failing to show up to trial—a sign that, for all the rot in South Africa, its Constitutional Court still has teeth. Our environment editor discusses the scope of heatwaves sweeping the northern hemisphere and cheap ways to lower their death tolls. And how a centuries-old rice dish has become politicised in India. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer ...
Jun 30, 2021•20 min
As both summitry and military near-misses proliferate, some want measured dialogue while others want markedly tougher talk. Our defence and Russia editors discuss world leaders’ diverging views on handling today’s Russia. South Korea’s new opposition leader is giving voice to many young men who rail against the country’s feminist values. And what lies behind professional footballers’ frequent, flashy haircuts. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here...
Jun 29, 2021•22 min
Hopes that the continent had escaped the worst of the pandemic have proved too hasty; our correspondent describes a slow-rolling tragedy with little hope of respite. Reading scores in America are shockingly low; many blame how the skill is taught. We examine one state’s experiment with a method known to work better. And how smartphones are changing the film industry. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted ...
Jun 28, 2021•21 min
With elections looming, there is an opportunity to remake a state ravaged by war and riven by power struggles. We ask how to take Iraq out of a hard place. Fires are raging again in the American West; a “ megadrought ” in the region may shape its future development. And the 175th anniversary of a foundational free-trade battle . For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...
Jun 25, 2021•22 min
The court’s term is not quite over, with contentious rulings still pending. We examine the latest decisions to gauge how its new conservative justices have affected its ideological bent. As a former Mauritanian president heads to jail we examine the country’s efforts to tackle corruption and bridge deep societal divides . And the long philosophical reach of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s only book . For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/i...
Jun 24, 2021•22 min
An admission that the country’s food situation is “tense” is a rare glimpse into the compounding effects of pandemic policies and crop failures. Adherents of wild conspiracy theories in America tend to be white, and often evangelical. But Hispanic Americans are getting conspiracy-curious too. And the moonshine that’s made from an Indian flower with a deep history. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on ...
Jun 23, 2021•19 min
The merest mention of future interest-rate rises from America’s central bank sent markets into a tizzy . We consider the merits and the effects of signalling early and often. Europe’s drug use dipped when the pandemic began, but soon rebounded ; we examine the rising potency of the continent’s drugs and drug syndicates. And data reveal what makes work-from-home productivity so low. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligen...
Jun 22, 2021•22 min
The northern region of Tigray, consumed by war and facing famine, will not vote today. It is all a far cry from what Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed once promised. Italy has piles of cash and a new ministry to guide it through a green revolution; we examine its plans and its challenges. And a rare conservation success off Australia’s coast. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...
Jun 21, 2021•21 min
The raid of an outspoken pro-democracy newspaper, carried out under the city’s newish security law, has further spooked its media outlets. We ask what remains of press freedom. Our correspondent visits Europe’s and Africa’s largest slums to see how a grinding pandemic has affected their residents. And how Somaliland’s curious, silent camel-trading method is changing. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted ...
Jun 18, 2021•23 min
The supreme leader is consolidating theocratic power and ensuring a hardline legacy. Voters know they have little meaningful choice; many will simply stay home. A trial shows the life-saving power of an antibody therapy for the most severe covid-19 cases—suggesting that seemingly failed earlier drugs need revisiting. And why a faded folk-music tradition in Norway is experiencing a revival . For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/i...
Jun 17, 2021•21 min
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin have much to hammer out today—but don’t expect it to be genial. We examine what is on the table , and how each president will be judged. Competition in the cryptocurrency world is mushrooming; we ask whether any contender might knock bitcoin off its top slot. And France’s curious sell-now, die-later property scheme . For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...
Jun 16, 2021•23 min
President Jair Bolsonaro campaigned on a promise to overturn the country’s political patronage, but as his popularity has slipped he has come to need it. The latest bids to return to commercial supersonic flight look promisingly quieter, cheaper and perhaps even more sustainable. And our correspondent reflects on the costs of having black hair in a white world. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Aca...
Jun 15, 2021•21 min
Where they are clear, the summit’s commitments do not add much to existing targets; mostly, though, they are woefully short on detail. We pick through the pledges. Germany is facing up to a colonial-era atrocity in modern-day Namibia, but a hard-won reparations deal will not quell controversy. And how Persian-music artists are upending the audio-streaming model. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Ac...
Jun 14, 2021•22 min
For the seven world leaders meeting in Britain the immediate crises are clear. But a broader question hangs over them : how can the G7 maintain its relevance? A ruling in Britain excites a debate that takes in free speech, trans rights and workplace policy . And “van life” keeps spreading but, as ever, not everything is as it seems on Instagram. Additional audio by Bryher's Boys, courtesy of Bryher’s Boys Publishing. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscri...
Jun 11, 2021•23 min
Air bases have been handed over; America’s remaining troops are shipping out and NATO forces are following suit. Can Afghanistan’s government forces hold off the Taliban? In parts of China, a playful wedding tradition goes a bit too far for Communist Party authorities’ taste. And a look at just how bad people are at coming up with accurate alibis. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast....
Jun 10, 2021•21 min
As governments across South-East Asia crimp online freedoms, the region’s healthiest democracy might have been expected to resist the trend. Not so . President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua is using a new law to detain more of his potential adversaries in November’s election—and is coming under international pressure. And how Jordan’s gas-delivery-truck jingles jangle nerves. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer H...
Jun 09, 2021•18 min
Piecemeal criminal-justice reforms following last year’s protests are coming up against hard numbers: violent crime is up. We ask what can, and should, be done . The man who led a coup in Mali last year has done it again; our correspondent considers how the tumult affects the wider, regional fight against jihadism. And the global spread of Japan’s beloved anime. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Ac...
Jun 08, 2021•23 min
The run-up to the country’s largest-ever election has been bloody; the aftermath will set the tone for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose record so far is woeful. Our analysis of listed green-technology firms reveals striking growth—but as with any tech-stock spike, it is worth asking whether it is all a bubble. And a look at two missions heading to Venus. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted o...
Jun 07, 2021•22 min
The Saudi-backed government is hobbled; separatism is spreading; a humanitarian crisis grows by the day. A rebel advance on a once-safe city will only prolong a grinding war. We look at the scourge of doping in horse racing ahead of this weekend’s Belmont Stakes. And the last surviving foreign fighter in Spain’s civil war was a revolutionary to the end . For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Acast. See...
Jun 04, 2021•24 min
The bloc seems at last to have a firm hand on inoculation and recovery—but efforts to engineer even progress among member states are not quite panning out. In recent years Bangladesh’s government has been cosy with a puritanical Islamist group; we ask why the relationship has grown complicated . And a genetic-engineering solution to the problem of mosquito-borne disease. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hos...
Jun 03, 2021•20 min
A walkout in the Texas legislature is just the most dramatic of broad efforts to restrict voting rights—in particular of minority voters. We examine the risks to America’s democracy. Changes in climate and populations are driving nomadic Nigerian herders into increasing conflict ; how to preserve their way of life? And a new kind of space race aims for the silver screen. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hos...
Jun 02, 2021•19 min
The only thing that unites the parties of a would-be government is the will to oust Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. What chance their coalition can secure political stability? A new report reveals where the gangsters of the Balkans are stashing their loot: in an increasingly distorted property market . And a look at the mysterious case of Canada’s hardened butter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted ...
Jun 01, 2021•21 min
Jacob Zuma, a former president, at last answers to decades-old corruption allegations. But graft still permeates his ANC party and government at every level. The pandemic’s hit to parents—particularly women—is becoming clear , from mental-health matters to career progression to progress toward gender equality. And the super-slippery surface that ensures you get the most from your toothpaste tube. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist...
May 31, 2021•22 min
Activist investors installed green-minded board members at ExxonMobil; Chevron’s shareholders pushed a carbon-cutting plan; a Dutch court ruled Shell must cut emissions. We examine a tumultuous week for the supermajors. After years of scant attention, Scotland’s drug-death problem is at last being acknowledged and tackled . And the Peruvian pop star boosting the fortunes of a long-derided indigenous language. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here ...
May 28, 2021•20 min
The suggestion that the virus first emerged from a Chinese laboratory has proved stubbornly persistent; as calls mount for more investigation, it has become a potent epidemiological and political idea. Latin America’s strict lockdowns have had the expected calamitous economic effects . We look at the region’s prospects for recovery. And the tricky business of artificially inseminating a shark . For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.c...
May 27, 2021•21 min
The regime got its quarry—a widely read, dissident blogger and his girlfriend—but faces international condemnation for its piratical means . How to pressure what is increasingly a pariah state? Our correspondent in the Democratic Republic of Congo surveys the damage from a sudden volcanic eruption ; another could come at any time. And why more music-copyright disputes are ending up in court. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/...
May 26, 2021•22 min
Protests have followed police killings in America with saddening regularity, but the scope of demonstrations following George Floyd’s murder may mark a turning point in how policing is monitored and regulated. We speak to Lee Merritt, an attorney for Mr Floyd’s family, and to our United States editor—asking how likely cultural and structural changes are to take hold. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted ...
May 25, 2021•20 min
Protests that began last month show no sign of abating; our correspondent speaks with Iván Duque, the country’s increasingly beleaguered president. Revelations about a blockbuster 1995 interview with Princess Diana cast a shadow over the BBC—when it already has plenty of fires to fight. And why it’s so hard to find an address in Costa Rica: there aren’t any . For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Acast...
May 24, 2021•21 min
After 11 days of fierce fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire beginning in the early hours of Friday morning. But will the quiet last? In July, China’s Communist Party will celebrate its centenary . But that requires airbrushing much of its history. And, we look back at the life of Asfaw Yemiru , an Ethiopian educator who transformed the lives of more than 120,000 children. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subscribe here www.economist.com/intelli...
May 21, 2021•24 min
The Tokyo Olympics are due to begin in just over two months. But with coronavirus cases climbing in recent months, 80% of Japanese people want the games to be cancelled. The navigation signals sent by satellites like America’s GPS constellation are surprisingly weak. What happens when they’re jammed—or tricked? And in America cicadas have emerged from their underground redoubts for the first time in 17 years, for a frenzied few weeks of mating. How do you study a species that emerges fewer than ...
May 20, 2021•19 min
