The Intelligence from The Economist

A vote with no confidence: Ethiopia’s untimely election

<p>The northern region of Tigray, consumed by war and facing famine, will not vote today. It is all a <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/06/16/ethiopias-flawed-elections-risk-dividing-the-country-further?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">far cry</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/06/12/italy-has-a-tough-task-ahead-on-climate-change?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">its plans</a> and its challenges. And a rare conservation <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/05/27/australian-whales-are-breeding-like-rabbits?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">success</a> off Australia’s coast.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Press to exit: Hong Kong’s media arrests

<p>The raid of an outspoken pro-democracy newspaper, carried out under the city’s newish security law, has further <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2021/06/19/hong-kongs-liberal-media-are-under-pressure?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">spooked</a> its media outlets. We ask what remains of press freedom. Our correspondent <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2021/06/19/economically-covid-19-has-hit-hard-up-urbanites-hardest?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">visits</a> Europe’s and Africa’s largest slums to see how a grinding pandemic has affected their residents. And how Somaliland’s curious, silent <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/13/why-camel-traders-are-getting-the-hump?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">camel-trading method</a> is changing.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

A hardline act to follow: Iran’s presidential election

The supreme leader is <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/06/10/iran-has-rigged-its-election-to-favour-ebrahim-raisi-a-hardliner?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">consolidating</a> theocratic power and ensuring a hardline legacy. Voters know they have little meaningful choice; many will simply stay home. A <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/06/16/a-life-saving-new-drug-for-covid-19-is-found?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">trial</a> 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 href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/05/29/norwegian-folk-music-is-worth-preserving-says-the-un?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a revival</a>. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Present, tense: Biden and Putin meet

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin have much to hammer out today—but don’t expect it to be genial. We examine what is <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/06/15/a-summit-with-vladimir-putin-tests-joe-bidens-new-foreign-policy?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">on the table</a>, and how each president will be judged. <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/06/10/cryptocoins-are-proliferating-wildly-what-are-they-all-for?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Competition</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/05/27/the-pandemic-revives-interest-in-a-morbid-french-financial-scheme?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">property scheme</a>. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Patrons’ taint: Brazil’s pork-barrel politics

President Jair Bolsonaro campaigned on a promise to overturn the country’s political patronage, but as his popularity has <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/05/29/brazils-president-jair-bolsonaro-is-under-siege?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slipped</a> he has come to need it. The <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2021/06/12/will-commercial-jets-break-the-sound-barrier-once-again?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">latest bids</a> to return to commercial supersonic flight look promisingly quieter, cheaper and perhaps even more sustainable. And our correspondent reflects on the <a href="https://www.economist.com/1843/2021/05/27/i-spent-thousands-on-chemical-straightening-the-price-of-having-black-hair-in-a-white-world?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">costs</a> of having black hair in a white world. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Promises, promises: the G7’s fuzzy climate pledges

Where they are clear, the summit’s commitments <a href="https://espresso.economist.com/f1017c1c7ca672a0b82961a6d2c5bab8?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">do not add much</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/05/22/germany-is-apologising-for-crimes-a-century-ago-in-namibia?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">deal</a> will not quell controversy. And how Persian-music artists are <a href="https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2021/05/29/niche-services-are-connecting-iranian-artists-and-listeners?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">upending</a> the audio-streaming model. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Staying powers? The G7’s changing role

For the seven world leaders meeting in Britain the immediate crises are clear. But a broader question <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/06/09/who-gets-to-be-in-the-g7?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hangs over them</a>: how can the G7 maintain its relevance? A ruling in Britain excites a debate that takes in free speech, trans rights and <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2020/02/27/companies-are-increasingly-worried-about-what-their-employees-say?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">workplace policy</a>. And “van life” keeps <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/06/05/the-pandemic-pushed-more-americans-to-try-out-van-life?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">spreading</a> 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 <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

An exit wounds: America’s Afghanistan retreat

<p>Air bases have been handed over; America’s remaining troops are shipping out and NATO forces are following suit. Can Afghanistan’s government forces <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/06/06/can-afghan-forces-hold-off-the-taliban-after-american-troops-leave?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hold off</a> the Taliban? In parts of China, a playful wedding tradition goes a bit <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2021/05/27/china-wants-to-curb-an-old-custom-the-hazing-of-wedding-couples?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">too far</a> for Communist Party authorities’ taste. And a look at just <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/06/03/testing-alibis-is-not-as-straightforward-as-it-seems?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">how bad</a> people are at coming up with accurate alibis. </p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

You don’t say: Indonesia joins Asia’s digital censorship

As governments across South-East Asia crimp online freedoms, the region’s healthiest democracy might have been expected to resist the trend. <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/06/05/indonesia-adds-another-weapon-to-its-speech-suppressing-arsenal?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Not so</a>. 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/06/05/jordanians-wake-to-an-irritating-tune-blared-from-gas-trucks?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">jingles</a> jangle nerves. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Criminal proceedings: America’s spike in violence

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, <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/06/05/violent-crime-is-rising-in-american-cities-putting-criminal-justice-reform-at-risk?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">be done</a>. The man who led a coup in Mali last year has done it again; our correspondent considers how the tumult <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/25/the-leaders-of-malis-coup-last-august-do-it-again?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">affects</a> the wider, regional fight against jihadism. And the global <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2021/06/05/streaming-and-covid-19-have-entrenched-animes-global-popularity?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">spread</a> of Japan’s beloved anime. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Ballots and bullets: Mexico’s elections

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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/05/27/voters-should-curb-mexicos-power-hungry-president?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">record so far</a> is woeful. Our analysis of listed green-technology firms <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/05/17/green-assets-are-on-a-wild-ride?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reveals</a> 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 <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Peace out: from bad to worse in Yemen

The Saudi-backed government is hobbled; separatism is spreading; a humanitarian crisis grows by the day. A <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/08/houthi-rebels-look-to-take-marib-prolonging-yemens-war?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rebel advance</a> on a once-safe city will only prolong a grinding war. We look at the <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/06/05/horseracing-the-sport-of-kings-needs-more-punters-and-fewer-drugs?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">scourge</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/obituary/2021/06/05/josep-almudever-died-on-may-23rd?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">to the end</a>. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Catch-up mustered: Europe’s vaccination drive

The bloc seems at last to have <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/06/01/europes-vaccination-campaign-has-gathered-pace-though-not-everywhere?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a firm hand</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/05/29/bangladeshs-government-cracks-down-on-a-big-islamist-group?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">grown complicated</a>. And a genetic-engineering <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/05/26/genetic-engineering-may-help-control-disease-carrying-mosquitoes?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">solution</a> to the problem of mosquito-borne disease. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Swiping rights: Republicans’ vote-crimping bids

A walkout in the <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/05/29/in-texas-the-most-conservative-legislative-session-in-a-generation-is-wrapping-up?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Texas legislature</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/22/a-nigerian-plan-to-reconcile-farmers-and-herders-is-not-working?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">increasing conflict</a>; how to preserve their way of life? And a new kind of space race <a href="https://espresso.economist.com/b9cc29ff23a908aaf7f741dabbe5b0f6?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aims</a> for the silver screen. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Bibi, it’s cold outside: Israel’s improbable coalition

The only thing that unites the parties of a <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/30/israels-opposition-has-finally-mustered-a-majority-to-dislodge-binyamin-netanyahu?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">would-be government</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/05/22/balkan-money-laundering-is-booming?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">property market</a>. And a look at the <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/05/29/canadians-are-in-a-flutter-about-butter?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mysterious case</a> of Canada’s hardened butter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

From the head down: rot in South Africa

<p>Jacob Zuma, a former president, at last <a href="https://espresso.economist.com/541cf8e1355332b5f4bf6d96aca9b925?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">answers to</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2021/05/22/how-the-pandemic-has-upended-the-lives-of-working-parents?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">clear</a>, from mental-health matters to career progression to progress toward gender equality. And the super-slippery <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/05/20/how-to-get-all-the-toothpaste-out-of-the-tube?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">surface</a> that ensures you get the most from your toothpaste tube.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Caught in the activists: oil majors’ shake-ups

<p>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 href="https://www.economist.com/business/2021/05/23/what-a-proxy-fight-at-exxonmobil-says-about-big-oil-and-climate-change?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a tumultuous week</a> for the supermajors. After years of scant attention, Scotland’s drug-death problem is at last being acknowledged and <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/04/24/scotlands-drug-death-crisis-is-in-need-of-a-fix?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tackled</a>. And the Peruvian pop star <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/05/22/renata-flores-a-peruvian-singer-embraces-her-quechua-heritage?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">boosting</a> the fortunes of a long-derided indigenous language.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

On the origins and the specious: the SARS-CoV-2 lab-leak theory

<p>The suggestion that the virus first emerged from a Chinese laboratory has proved stubbornly persistent; as calls <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2021/05/26/joe-biden-orders-his-intelligence-agencies-to-investigate-the-origins-of-covid-19?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mount</a> for more investigation, it has become a potent epidemiological and political idea. Latin America’s strict lockdowns have had the expected calamitous economic <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/05/13/why-latin-americas-economy-has-been-so-badly-hurt-by-covid-19?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">effects</a>. We look at the region’s prospects for recovery. And the tricky business of artificially inseminating a <a href="https://espresso.economist.com/9379ffb164c5becfb0a55e1c0c2f6d37?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shark</a>.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

From out of thin air: Belarus dissidents' fates

<p>The regime got its quarry—a widely read, dissident blogger and his girlfriend—but faces international condemnation for its <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/05/23/outrage-mounts-at-belaruss-use-of-air-piracy-in-aid-of-repression?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">piratical means</a>. How to pressure what is increasingly a pariah state? Our correspondent in the Democratic Republic of Congo surveys the damage from a sudden volcanic <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/23/a-frightening-night-in-goma-under-its-erupting-volcano?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">eruption</a>; another could come at any time. And why more music-copyright <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2021/05/15/why-american-songwriters-are-suing-each-other?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">disputes</a> are ending up in court.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

To protect and serve: police reform one year after George Floyd

Protests have followed police killings in America with saddening regularity, but the scope of demonstrations following George Floyd’s murder <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/05/22/race-in-america?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">may mark</a> 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 <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

From a tax to attacks: Colombia’s unrelenting unrest

Protests that began last month show <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/05/22/the-riots-in-colombia-hint-at-deep-problems?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">no sign</a> 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: <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/05/15/why-it-is-easy-to-get-lost-in-costa-rica?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">there aren’t any</a>. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

The dust settles: ceasefire in Gaza

After 11 days of fierce fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to a <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/05/20/even-with-a-ceasefire-israel-and-hamas-will-not-stop-fighting-each-other" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ceasefire</a> beginning in the early hours of Friday morning. But will the quiet last? In July, China’s Communist Party will celebrate its <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2021/04/17/maos-revolution-becomes-a-lesson-about-conformity" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">centenary</a>. But that requires airbrushing much of its history. And, we look back at the life of <a href="https://www.economist.com/obituary/2021/05/22/asfaw-yemiru-died-on-may-8th" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Asfaw Yemiru</a>, an Ethiopian educator who transformed the lives of more than 120,000 children. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Game on: the Tokyo Olympics

The <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/05/19/the-tokyo-olympics-are-safe-and-secure-insist-japanese-politicians?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tokyo Olympics</a> 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 <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/05/06/satellite-navigation-systems-such-as-gps-are-at-risk-of-jamming?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">navigation signals</a> sent by satellites like America’s GPS constellation are surprisingly weak. What happens when they’re jammed—or tricked? And in America <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/05/12/why-do-brood-x-cicadas-have-such-a-strange-life-cycle?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cicadas</a> 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 six times in a century? For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Populists poised: Italian politics

<p>Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, has been cheered by the markets since taking on the job in February. But a coalition of right-wing populists are waiting in the wings should he falter. <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/04/29/mexicos-president-is-giving-the-armed-forces-new-powers?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mexico’s army</a> hasn’t ruled the country since the 1940s. But the generals are now running everything from building sites to the border. And even during a pandemic, British medical students are struggling to get their hands on suitable <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/05/08/the-pandemic-has-caused-a-shortage-of-cadavers?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">corpses</a>.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Hot air: emissions reduction

The International Energy Agency has published a report explaining what needs to happen if the world is to get to net zero emissions by 2050. It points to a transition away from fossil fuels on an epic scale. Today <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/08/somaliland-an-unrecognised-state-is-winning-friends-abroad?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Somaliland</a> celebrates its 30th anniversary. It has been a quiet success story in a sea of instability. But what it craves is international recognition as a state. And soaring <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/05/07/why-did-berkshire-hathaways-share-price-threaten-nasdaq?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">share prices</a> are normally cause for cheer—unless your computers can’t keep up. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Feast and famine: vaccine supply

Though over 10bn doses of covid-19 vaccine may be produced this year, much of the poor world will see little of them. The <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2021/05/15/how-can-more-covid-19-vaccines-be-made-available?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">supply</a> of vaccines is much tighter than it ought to be. Our correspondent in New Delhi offers a personal <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/04/30/indias-second-wave-of-covid-19-feels-nothing-like-its-first?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reflection</a> on India’s spiraling epidemic. And even as British museums re-open today, their future is looking <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/04/24/british-museums-have-suffered-particularly-badly-during-covid-19?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shaky</a>. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Home front: Israel’s war within

<p>As Israel's war with Hamas has intensified, mob violence <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/14/israel-bombards-gaza-as-it-confronts-mob-violence-at-home?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">between Arabs and Jews</a> within the country has made a tricky situation even more difficult. Is the <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/05/13/consumer-price-inflation-in-america-jumps-up-to-42?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rising price</a> of everything from airline tickets to used cars in America a transitory phenomenon or a sign of overheating? And is pineapple and ham on pizza an inspired <a href="https://www.economist.com/1843/2021/05/10/perfection-or-perversion-why-hawaiian-pizza-is-the-polarising-issue-of-our-times?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">combination</a>—or a culinary war crime? </p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Purged: Liz Cheney’s sacking

Liz Cheney had been a rising Republican star. Now the staunch conservative has been <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/05/09/liz-cheney-a-republican-critic-of-donald-trump-has-lost-her-job-in-house-leadership?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">purged</a> by her own party. Her removal shows that, even in defeat, Donald Trump retains an iron grip on the Republicans. Denmark has taken in thousands of Syrian refugees over the past decade, but its welcome has <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/05/01/denmark-wants-to-send-syrian-asylum-seekers-home?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes%5C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">waned</a>. The Danish government says that Damascus is safe enough for many to return. And, we explain why companies are paying more attention to the curves and curls of their <a href="https://www.economist.com/1843/2021/05/07/how-the-pandemic-made-fonts-friendlier?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fonts</a>. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Baby bust: China’s census

<p>China just <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/05/11/chinas-census-shows-its-population-is-nearing-its-peak?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">unveiled</a> the results of its first census in over a decade. The results are striking, if not surprising: the world’s largest country will soon stop growing. Yet if a greying population causes economic headwinds, Chinese officials also have reason for cheer. With digital currencies in vogue, central banks want to get in on the action. The rise of “<a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/05/08/the-digital-currencies-that-matter?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">govcoins</a>” could transform monetary policy and expand access to bank accounts. But it could also destabilise private banking. And <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/05/06/roadkill-provide-a-novel-way-to-sample-an-areas-animals?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">roadkill</a> isn’t just an unsightly nuisance. It also offers a way of counting elusive species.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Rockets over Jerusalem: Israeli-Palestinian violence

Tension in the holy city of Jerusalem has been rising for weeks, amid the attempted eviction of Palestinians and a march by Jewish nationalists. Yesterday it <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/10/israel-exchanges-fire-with-hamas-as-tensions-in-jerusalem-boil-over" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">erupted</a> into the worst violence in years, as Hamas rockets fired at Israel from Gaza prompted retaliatory air strikes. A cyber-attack that shut down one of America’s largest fuel pipelines reflects the growing problem of <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2021/05/06/new-technology-has-enabled-cyber-crime-on-an-industrial-scale?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ransomware</a>. And in China, authorities are clamping down on a spurt of grave robbing. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>