The Intelligence from The Economist

As the country celebrates its secular constitution, we examine the rising bigotry of Hindu nationalists—at best tolerated and at worst encouraged by the ruling party. China’s propagandists are onto something: after years of dull jingoism, the entertainment they put out now is glossy, big-budget and ever more watchable . And why South-East Asia’s obsession with otters poses a threat to them. For fu...

More Russian troops piling in . Embassy staff pulling out. American forces on alert and sober diplomacy still on the docket. We examine Vladimir Putin's ways, means and motivations. The Omicron variant is making its mark in Mexico, a place that our correspondent says never really shut down. And considering the merits and the risks of work-related drinks . For full access to print, digital and audi...

This week’s secretive votes will determine the next president and the current prime minister looks to be a favourite. But that move would be bad for Italy. Many African countries that are rife with resources remain persistently underdeveloped ; we dig into the reasons. And we meet the chefs bringing unsung Native American cuisine to the table. For full access to print, digital and audio editions o...

The Omicron variant is destined to test the limits of a policy that has already proved costly: consumption, growth and confidence are all flagging . The effects of Russia’s gulag did not stop when the labour camps closed: there appear to be long-term benefits for nearby areas. And why cycling in the Arab world is on the rise . For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist ,...

Shoppers across the developed world face sharply rising prices, and leaders are reaching for all manner of remedies —but that’s what central banks are for. Behind the story of Myanmar’s brutal military leadership is a slow stream of defectors ; our correspondent meets the support network they rely on. And cover songs muddle the notion of who can call it their tune. For full access to print, digita...

America’s biggest oil firm has long been recalcitrant on climate matters, so its new net-zero targets may seem surprising. We examine the substance of its pledges—and motivations . For an economist, tipping is an odd practice; whether you love it or hate it may be a question of control . And how unusual Novak Djokovic’s refusenik vaccine stance is among elite athletes. Additional audio courtesy of...

Austria is set to enact a bold policy of levying fines on the unvaccinated. We look at what is driving governments to such measures, and whether they will work. Japan’s shift in thinking about its growing elderly population holds lessons for countries set for a similar demographic shift. And why the Mormon church is struggling to retain its foreign converts. For full access to print, digital and a...

Democrats will spend the week battling for a tightening of laws on casting votes; that will overshadow Republicans’ worrying push into how those votes are counted and certified. Earthquakes remain damnably unpredictable, but new research suggests a route to early-warning systems. And why hammams, the declining bathhouses of the Arab world, will cling on despite even the challenge of covid-19. For...

The queen’s second son has been stripped of his titles—an apparent bid to insulate the crown from his legal troubles. But dangers to the prince and to the monarchy remain . A blockade of Mali, intended to force a return to democratic order, may worsen security and entrench foreign influences . And the genre of “eco-horror” evolves alongside environment-driven anxieties. For full access to print, d...

While Britons followed covid strictures, the prime minister’s residence hosted boozy gatherings; widespread fury hints that his prevarications this time may be his last as leader. Religious institutions struggled during the pandemic, as all businesses did—so they are selling assets and courting new customers in innovative ways. And road rage is common, but in America it is getting decidedly deadli...

The country’s children have missed more in-person learning than those in most of the rich world— to their cost . We ask why battles about schooling rage on. Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine president, came to power on big promises; few were fulfilled. We ask about the skimpy legacy he leaves behind. And a look at the metaverse’s red-hot property market . For full access to print, digital and audio...

This week’s flurry of diplomacy aims to address what Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, says he wants . He cannot get it. Does an invasion of Ukraine hang in the balance? At an annual jamboree of economists our correspondent finds an unusual focus on the future—in particular the future of home working. And why Cuba has an enormous trade in grey-market garlic. For full access to print, digital and...

The country has the world’s worst estimated covid-death total—but as another variant takes hold there are reasons for optimism . Mexico’s president has some old-fashioned notions about energy, and his pet legislation would make it both dirtier and costlier. And the Orient Express was itself a murder victim , just one line in a continent-spanning rail network that may yet be revived. For full acces...

What started as a fuel-price skirmish has engulfed the entire country; now Russian-led troops have been summoned to help. How did things escalate so quickly? The spike in global house prices has several pandemic-related causes —but do not expect them to fall much when those factors fade. And our obituaries editor reflects on the life of Britain’s first transgender activist.  For full access t...

The insurrection’s horrors might have marked a turning point for Donald Trump’s supporters and enablers. Not so; the people and the politics remain as divided as they were one year ago. We examine why, despite the rampant uncertainty that should lift it, gold had a terrible 2021. And London’s farcical attempt to draw consumers to a famed shopping district. For full access to print, digital and aud...

The closure of two independent, Chinese-language media outlets all but completes the push to silence pro-democracy press; we ask what is next for the territory. Sudan’s military seems as uninterested in civilian help with governing as legions of protesters are in military leadership. What could end the standoff? And why sanctions on Iran are affecting the purity of saffron.  For full access t...

Elizabeth Holmes has been found guilty of fraud. We ask what lessons her downfall holds for Theranos’s high-profile backers—and for a startup culture of hype before science. As Apple crosses a $3trn valuation we examine the motives for its stop-start forays into the competitive streaming-video business. And what lies behind the curious resurgence of syphilis. For full access to print, digital and...

Trade is down, red tape is up, details of regulatory harmony are still being hammered out. Britain may be less divided about it, but the benefits of the divorce are still to be seized. For the clinically vulnerable, covid restrictions go beyond government mandates; our correspondent shares a personal view. And a visit to mainland Singapore’s last rural village. For full access to print, digital an...

From Prince Philip to Desmond Tutu , from an anti-racism campaigner and member of the Auschwitz Girls’ Orchestra to a war surgeon focused on civilians to an impoverished Ethiopian whose school for the poor educated 120,000 students: our obituaries editor reflects on the famed and the lesser-known figures who died in 2021.  For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist...

Each year The Economist selects its country of the year: a place that has improved the most. Improvement, though, was damnably rare in 2021. We run through our nominations and the shortlist, and take a close look at why the winner won . And we examine what has gone on in South and South-East Asia, which offered no contenders whatsoever. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The E...

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s idea for saving the lira by backing deposits with dollars means the Turkish taxpayer will end up bailing out the Turkish depositor. Our correspondent finds striking insights in 40 years’-worth of humdrum submissions to a unique sociology project. And Saudi Arabia’s multi-billion-dollar push into the cinema industry it outlawed for decades. For full access to print,...

The lightning-fast spread of a seemingly milder coronavirus variant may represent a shift from pandemic to endemic; we ask how that would change global responses. Concern about video-game addictiveness is as old as video games themselves—but the business models of modern gaming may be magnifying the problem . And newly publicised photographs shed light on Bangladesh’s brutal war for independence....

The security situation is hopeless, following violent unrest and a presidential assassination—as one family’s epic and ultimately failed attempt to leave reveals. The sum total of the missing banknotes in the world is staggering, but what is worrying is that no one seems interested in finding it all. And meeting the man who unwittingly became Sherlock Holmes’s secretary . For full access to print,...

The flood of people out of cities is unlike anything since the suburbanisation of the 1950s; we examine the inevitable economic and political consequences. After years of reporting our correspondent concludes that the mutual disdain of a country’s northern and southern halves is a curious human universal . And a sojourn to fact-check Julius Caesar’s accounts of his triumphs in France. For full acc...

In recent years the country has found itself in a sharply different geopolitical environment, responding by building bases and security-partner ties as never before . Our correspondent meets perhaps the last living offspring of an American slave, whose stories paint a picture of the civil-rights movement right up to today. And Thailand’s changing cannabis policy, best seen through its restaurants’...