The Intelligence from The Economist
Episodes
Cereal numbers: the fall in food prices
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The worst predictions for costs have not come to pass, partly because Russia is selling plenty of wheat. But plenty of food-price woe may still await....
No quiet on any front: Ethiopia’s clash of conflicts
02 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a five-month hiatus, violence has returned to the northern region of Tigray—but that is just one of the conflicts threatening to pull the coun...
Ready, steady, slow: Ukraine’s bid for Kherson
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The long-trailed counter-offensive to retake the Russian-occupied regional powerhouse and symbolically powerful provincial capital has begun. But Ukra...
Iron Curtain call: Mikhail Gorbachev
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The leader who oversaw the Soviet Union’s collapse had only intended to reform it. But the propaganda and repression he abhorred were what held it t...
Home truths: a global property wobble
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As interest rates rise, lots of pandemic-era property trends are fading—but not every market is equally vulnerable as the boom peters out. Generals ...
The third horseman: famine stalks Somalia
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent reports from Somalia, which stands on the brink of famine thanks to a drought, soaring food costs and infrastructure destroyed by de...
Them that’s got shall have: student-debt relief
26 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America’s federal government will spend hundreds of billions of dollars cancelling student-loan debt—fulfilling a long-standing progressive wish. ...
Cell-by date: Malaysia’s ex-PM is jailed
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Najib Razak, prime minister during the massive 1MDB scandal in which billions went missing, lost his final appeal against corruption convictions. We a...
Putin on the fritz: Six months of war in Ukraine
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin expected to seize Ukraine easily. Instead he met fierce resistance. Ukraine has fought bravely, Russia poorly. We ...
How the father figures: a mysterious Moscow killing
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Speculation is rampant as to who killed Darya Dugina, the pundit daughter of a Russian ultra-nationalist. We ask how the murder will be spun in the ab...
Plant of attack: Ukraine’s occupied nuclear-power station
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tensions are rising at Zaporizhia, which Russian forces are using as a military base. We ask what the risks are, and whether they can be headed off. B...
Debtor luck next time? Meeting Sri Lanka’s new president
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We pay a visit to the presidential offices just weeks after protesters stormed them. Things seem calm and the new leader has clear plans; can the coun...
Tax brakes: Britain’s PM contenders on the economy
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a clear lead hardens and the appointment of a new prime minister looms, both contenders are making noises about cutting taxes. But would either hav...
The WY and the wherefore: Liz Cheney’s loss
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Wyoming’s sole representative in the House, once a Republican leading light and now a pariah for her views on Donald Trump, has been ousted from Con...
Class action: Kenya gets a new president
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The names are familiar but the establishment-choice and rabble-rouser roles are reversed. That the vote was along class lines rather than ethnicity ma...
Poorer, hungrier, safer? Afghanistan one year on
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rights for women and girls have regressed by decades; the economy is cratering. Yet, for many rural Afghans, things are actually better than they were...
Crimea punishment: A Russian airfield in ruins
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The airbase in Crimea lies in ruins. Ukraine hasn’t claimed credit, many suspect they carried out the daring attack more than 100 miles behind enemy...
Teflon Don: Trump’s legal woes
11 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump endured an FBI raid, questioning in a civil lawsuit and an adverse court ruling, all in 48 hours. But at least in the short-term, he’s ...
Latin-ex Democrats: Republicans and Hispanic voters
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our series on America’s mid-term elections begins with a visit to a citizenship class in Doral, Florida, given by Republicans. We examine how ...
Strike repose: Hamas sits out Gaza violence
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A ceasefire is holding after a weekend of deadly strikes. We ask why Hamas, the Palestinian movement that controls Gaza, did not get involved. As Gene...
Greenlighted: American climate legislation
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On Sunday America’s Senate passed the most-ambitious climate legislation in the country’s history, giving Democrats and President Joe Biden a huge...
Our summer special: a despot, a magic trick and a star
05 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a bumper episode, we highlight a summer’s-worth of deeply reported stories from 1843, our sister magazine: we profile Muhammad bin Salman, the de...
Real rate of return: Ukraine’s Kherson bid
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As Russia’s campaign in the eastern Donbas region loses steam, our correspondent finds Ukraine’s efforts to recapture Kherson are gaining momentum...
Nancy meeting you here: a tetchy Taiwan trip
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The visit of America’s speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has Chinese tempers flaring. We ask what the trip suggests about America...
Not-so-safe house: America kills al-Qaeda leader
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For decades Ayman al-Zawahiri was the chief ideologue of the terrorist group. We ask what his death in Afghanistan means for the broader jihadist move...
Blistering pace: monkeypox spreads
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the first fatal cases outside Africa are reported, we investigate the response to the disease, and the parallels with the early days of HIV. Nuclea...
Deus ex Manchina: American climate legislation’s revival
29 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Biden’s climate legislation stalled, in large part because Joe Manchin, West Virginia’s senior senator and a Democrat, had reservations. But M...
Getting more interesting: the Fed raises rates
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America’s central bank has raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point—its fourth rise this year. It is walking a fine line betw...
Kicking the canister down the road: EU energy policy
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia cut the gas flowing through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by half in what many see as retaliation for Europe’s support of Ukraine. EU energy min...
Two to make a quarrel: the battle to be Britain’s PM
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The campaigning is a bit nasty, by British standards, as Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak vie to become Conservative Party leader and thus prime minister. Wh...
With the grain, assault: Ukraine’s iffy deal
25 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Missile strikes on the port of Odessa have dimmed hopes for a UN-brokered deal to get Ukraine’s grain on the move. We ask what chances it may still ...
Duty unbound: the January 6th hearings
22 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last night, the committee investigating the events of January 6th 2021 said that Donald Trump’s failure to stop his supporters’ attack w...
Knock-down, Draghi-out fight: Italy in turmoil
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For the second time in a week, Prime Minister Mario Draghi has tendered his resignation as his motley coalition government splintered further. The uph...
Variable-fate mortgage: China’s protests
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Property developers are going belly-up, home-buyers are not paying mortgages, protests after a banking scandal have been quashed. We ask about the ins...
To a greater degree: widespread heatwaves
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vast stretches of the temperate world are baking or burning, and as climate change marches on widespread heatwaves will only grow more intense and mor...
Steal girders: Brazil’s fraught coming election
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
President Jair Bolsonaro, an unabashed fan of Donald Trump, is telegraphing that he may not accept a loss in the October election—there is too much ...
Jeddah mind trick: Joe Biden in Saudi Arabia
15 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Biden lands in Saudi Arabia this morning, having spent two unremarkable days in Israel and the West Bank. As president, he has been unusually dise...
A bird out of hand: Elon Musk and Twitter
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk wants out of his deal to buy Twitter for $44bn. Twitter wants the Delaware chancery court to hold him to the deal. But the company faces an ...
Bravery behind bars: Alexei Navalny imprisoned
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, has been transferred to a brutal prison. Other Kremlin opponents have been imprisoned or ...
Field work: The race to succeed Boris Johnson
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The race to succeed Boris Johnson begins today. Numerous Conservative MPs have thrown their proverbial hats into the ring; they are fighting on ground...
Gota goes: Sri Lanka’s president resigns
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s president, announced he will step down on Wednesday after protestors occupied Colombo, the country’s capital, over...
Tragedy in Japan: the killing of Abe Shinzo
08 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Japan’s prime minister from 2006-07 and 2012-20 died after being shot at a campaign event. Our Tokyo bureau chief analyses the implications for the ...
Send out the clown: Boris agrees to go
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Boris Johnson is standing down as Britain’s prime minister. We consider his legacy and impact on British politics. Public attitudes on LGBT rights i...
Rishi, you were here: Boris Johnson’s woes
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, Britain’s finance and health ministers respectively, resigned yesterday; other officials soon followed suit. Once again...
Pressure gauged: the road to recessions
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hints are turning to hard data: economic slowdowns are coming. We ask about the threat of recessions in different regions and about the effects they m...
Southern strategy: the coming bid to retake Kherson
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The city remains Ukraine’s only provincial capital to be taken by Russian forces—can Ukraine overcome its shortages of manpower and firepower to r...
Power strip: SCOTUS’s environmental ruling
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America’s Supreme Court has essentially shorn the Environmental Protection Agency of its agency in making national policy. We ask what that means fo...
Son rise: the Philippines’ next President Marcos
30 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It is a remarkable turnaround for a notorious family: the late dictator’s son just took the reins. But how will he govern? Scotland’s separatist p...
Uprising tide: the coming inflation-driven unrest
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a global period of belt-tightening, popular anger will spill over. Our correspondent visits places where powderkegs seem closest to being lit; our ...
A force awakens: NATO’s new game plan
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
War in Ukraine has stiffened the alliance’s spine; leaders meeting this week will refashion troop-deployment plans reflecting a vastly changed secur...
Comings to term: America’s abortion-rights rollback
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court ruling has convulsed the country; passing the question of abortion rights to the states will divide America yet further. We ask what...
Shooting from the hip: The Supreme Court expands gun rights
24 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday, America’s Supreme Court issued its most important Second Amendment ruling in more than a decade, striking down a New York law that tightl...
Pride and prejudice: China’s LGBT crackdown
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In much of the world, things are improving for sexual minorities. The opposite is true in China, where authorities are cracking down on the LGBT commu...
Eastern encroaches: Ukraine’s losses in Donbas
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia is making steady, piecemeal gains in the region; Ukrainian forces are simply outgunned. That disparity defines the war’s progression—for no...
Estranged bedfellows: Israel’s government collapses
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A motley collection of parliamentarians, now without its whisper-thin majority, has crumbled. That will force the country back to the ballot box—and...
Stuck in the middle with few: Macron’s parliamentary pasting
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
resident Emmanuel Macron has lost his majority in France’s National Assembly as voters flooded both to the far right and far left. A second term fil...
Menace to democracy: The January 6th hearings
17 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In its third public hearing yesterday, the committee investigating the January 6th Capitol insurrection detailed the pressure put on Mike Pence to ove...
Powell to the people: The Fed raises rates
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America’s central bank raised rates by .75% yesterday—the biggest increase in almost 30 years. Whether that will help tame rising prices without t...
Planes have changed: Britain’s controversial asylum policy
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The European Court of Human rights foiled Britain’s plans to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda yesterday by holding that British courts must first find ...
No magic bullet: a Congressional agreement on guns
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mass shootings in Buffalo, Tulsa and Uvalde appear to have broken a longstanding impasse over federal gun laws. A bipartisan group of senators has lai...
Nyet effects: Russia’s resilient economy
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Western sanctions are intended to starve Russia’s economy and hinder its ability to wage war in Ukraine. And while the long-term outlook remains gri...
Revolting: The January 6th committee’s public hearings
10 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The committee investigating the Capitol attacks of January 6th 2021 held the first of several public hearings last night, having gathered evidence for...
Second time’s the charm? Somalia’s new president
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is Somalia’s first-ever reelected president. In an interview with our correspondent, he lays out his second-term ambitions for...
The wrath of Khan: Pakistan’s turbulent spring
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pakistan’s government faces an unpleasant choice between doing what’s popular and what is economically necessary, as Imran Khan, the former prime ...
After the party, the hangover: Boris survives, barely
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, narrowly survived a no-confidence vote last night. As he limps on, the informal contest to succeed him will...
A farewell to arms control? Ukraine and nuclear weapons
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For almost 80 years, the world has refrained from using or, for the most part, even seriously pondering the use of nuclear weapons. Russia’s invasio...
Hide, park: Russian money in London
03 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Britain’s capital is packed with foreign capital, in particular the Russian kind. We ask what it is about London that attracts—and protects—the ...
Press clipping: Ethiopia’s media crackdown
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has expelled our correspondent. Abiy’s proxies at home and abroad are helping a propaganda push that is ...
The diet is cast: a coming food catastrophe
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
War and blockades in Ukraine are the largest but far from the only problems squeezing the global food system—and with prices already way up, a catas...
Bear traps: Russia’s push in eastern Ukraine
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russian forces are having some successes in eastern Ukraine; our defence editor discusses the situation on the ground and what may tip the balance in ...
Base motives? China in the Pacific
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The country has just one foreign military base, but there are fears it wants to dot the Pacific region with more—and that is, so far, proving tricky...
Take the first left? Colombia’s election
27 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
POLLS SUGGEST // Polls suggest the country might get its first-ever leftist leader. Whatever the outcome, a fresh outbreak of violent protest may awai...
Let’s get the parties charted: the Partygate report
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A long-awaited inquiry into lockdown gatherings on Boris Johnson’s watch reveals lurid details of brash bashes. Yet the prime minister will be able,...
Active shooters, inactive politics: America’s latest school massacre
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After 19 children and two adults were gunned down in Texas, we ask why gun laws are actually loosening in many states and why even moderate gun contro...
The city that never slips: Beijing and covid
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
China’s Communist Party leaders have painted themselves into a corner: they cannot be seen to put the capital into lockdown, but permitting covid to...
Labor’s day: Australia’s election
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Albanese, the first Labor prime minister in a decade, has pledged to do far more on climate change. His party’s slim win shows how Australia...
Straight out of Orwell: Russia’s propaganda machine
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Kremlin’s propaganda machine ensures that Russians have a much different view of the war in Ukraine than the rest of the world. Our corresponden...
Pestilent peninsula: covid in North Korea
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
North Korea’s zero-covid strategy appears to have failed. The country has officially acknowledged 162 cases; the true number is probably orders of m...
It’s his party: American primaries
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Five American states held primary elections yesterday. The most important were in Pennsylvania, where a Trump-backed candidate won the Republican gube...
Luna landing: Crypto chaos
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stablecoins are essential to the financial plumbing of the cryptocurrency world. They’re pegged to a real-world asset, usually the dollar. But when ...
Not stuck in neutral: Sweden, Finland and NATO
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Neither Finland nor Sweden ever joined NATO, the Western military alliance formed in 1949: Finland for pragmatic reasons and Sweden for ideological on...
Arm Scandi: Britain’s mutual-defence pact
13 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s collective-defence deal with Swedish and Finnish leaders represents a shift in the European order—and Britain’s p...
Entrenched: stalemate in Ukraine’s east
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s bid to conquer the eastern region of Donbas is proceeding at a snail’s pace. All over Ukraine resistance continues and a grinding, prolon...
It’s a family affair: Sri Lanka’s protests turn deadly
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Demonstrations that eventually ousted the prime minister have cost lives, but the protest mood is not fading: many want every member of the storied Ra...
Out like a Lam: Hong Kong’s new leader
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
John Lee, the successor to Chief Executive Carrie Lam, won by a predictable landslide: he is just the sort of law-and-order type party leaders in Beij...
Under-armed sweat: America’s “arsenal of democracy”
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America accounts for the lion’s share of weaponry sent to Ukraine. But that may leave it short of arms in onward conflicts; boosting production is n...
The son shines: elections in the Philippines
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Voters in the Philippines choose a new president on Monday. The likely winner is a scion of one of the country’s most controversial families. Exxon ...
Powell’s points presentation: the Fed raises rates
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Prices in America are rising faster than at any time in the past 40 years. In response, the Federal Reserve has made its steepest interest-rate hike i...
Stormont weather: elections in Northern Ireland
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Voters in the UK head to the polls for local elections tomorrow. In Northern Ireland, a party that does not want the country to exist appears poised t...
Roe-ing away: Abortion rights in America
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A leaked draft opinion shows America’s Supreme Court is ready to let states outlaw abortion. We explore the implications for American politics, and ...
ROC and a hard place: Taiwan’s lessons from Ukraine
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Much like Ukraine, Taiwan has a well-armed neighbour that does not think it exists as a state: China. We ask what both sides are learning from Russia’...
General disarray: Russia’s military failures
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s armed forces were believed to be lean, modern and fighting fit. We ask why they have performed so poorly. A...
Pipe down: Russia cuts gas to Poland and Bulgaria
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By shutting off gas to Poland and Bulgaria, Russia has made an aggressive move that may draw yet more European sanctions. How might the escalation end...
Strong suits: climate litigation
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Activists are tired of waiting for governments and companies to act on climate change. So increasingly they’re taking the matter to court—with suc...
A bird in the hand: Elon Musk buys Twitter
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s richest man now has the keys to one of the most influential social-media platforms. Can it be the free-speech wonderland he is aiming fo...
Le Pen pusher: Macron wins again
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Emmanuel Macron’s re-election is historic and, for many, a relief. But, as we discuss in the final instalment of our French-election series, the cam...
Rwanda-on-Thames: Britain’s asylum proposal
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
BRITAIN’S GOVERNMENT has proposed sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The plan has been widely criticised as expensive and ineffective—but the great...
Knocking on hell’s Dvornikov: the battle for Donbas
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered a new phase, and its forces in Ukraine have a new commander—one with a history of targeting civilians. Th...
Sana’a sunrise: A ceasefire in Yemen
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Yemen, fighting between Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Recently, a ceasefire has taken hold —...
In neither camp: Neutrality and war
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
ONE-THIRD of the world’s population lives in countries backing neither Russia nor Ukraine. The Biden administration has tried to persuade them off t...