The Intelligence from The Economist

The state’s all-postal primaries vote could be seen as a trial run for November’s presidential election. Might voting by mail be the least-bad option? The BBC’s canny response to covid-19 has quietened its critics, but bigger problems await after the pandemic. And how a few once-feuding families are pushing Bolivian wine onto the world stage. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of...

The country is aiming for complete elimination of the coronavirus; so far, so good. But renewed freedom within its borders requires that virtually no one cross them. Restrictions in Europe on movement of agricultural labour could leave crops to rot in the fields. And why cologne is the hand-sanitiser of choice in Turkey. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist , subsc...

Some governors are co-ordinating mutual lockdown plans, others are already reopening their states. That haphazardness bodes ill in the absence of widespread testing and tracing. The pandemic is kicking an industry that was already down: newspapers’ readerships are up, but profits are through the floor. And, reflecting on the life of a saintly obstetric surgeon in Ethiopia. For full access to...

The Rohingya genocide was just one of many sectarian flashpoints in Rakhine state; now a slick separatist insurgency is getting the better of Myanmar’s army. America is floundering in its bid to win the 5G mobile-technology race; we ask what options it has. And denying locked-down Sri Lankans booze has driven them to home-brewing. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economi...

Even before the pandemic, companies were accused of returning too much money to shareholders. As a recession looms, dividends and share buy-backs should be cut—but not everywhere. Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef is more widespread than ever, and each event makes a full recovery less likely. And the animals are out to play as humans are locked away. For full access to print, digital and a...

Authorities have re-ignited tensions by arresting some of the democracy movement’s most prominent figures—and Beijing seems to be piling more pressure on. Shortages of protective equipment are not just about supply; we look at the global scramble for kit. And Brazil’s universally beloved “telenovelas” are on hold; how will they eventually deal with covid-19? For full access to print, digital and a...

Non-essential businesses are opening; schools soon will be, too. The country’s fortunes are down to a mix of science-minded leadership, functional federalism and a bit of luck. Saudi Arabia has halted its brutal air campaign in Yemen, ostensibly for humanitarian reasons; there is more to it than that. And a look at the wave of female avengers in drama. For full access to print, digital and audio e...

The covid-19 pandemic has caused the country’s first GDP dip in more than four decades. What struggles still lie ahead for the world’s second-largest economy? Decisive action to help the homeless amid the crisis offers hope for what comes after it. And a look back at the life of Joseph Lowery, a firebrand preacher and rhyming civil-rights activist.  For full access to print, digital and audio...

The prime minister is still convalescing; Parliament is still finding ways to meet virtually. Meanwhile questions are growing about how the government has handled the pandemic. In China authorities are promoting unproven traditional remedies to treat covid-19—treatments they would love to export. And the role that animals play in making wildfires worse, and in preventing them. For full access to p...

Today’s legislative elections in South Korea are the world’s first to take place amid the covid-19 crisis. How have masked campaigners managed, and how are masked voters likely to respond? “Contact tracing” is crucial in following the coronavirus’s progression; we look into nascent technological approaches to the task. And a look at whether the pandemic will give way to a baby boom. For full acces...

We speak to Albin Kurti, a reformist prime minister, after his ouster—and ask how American officials may have played a role in his downfall. Gloomy forecasts will dominate this week’s virtual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, with more countries than ever begging for financial help. And the connection between Instagram, Indonesian lovers and conservative Islam. For full access to print, digi...

This week, some European countries are beginning to switch their economies back on, but leaders face a grim trade-off between economic health and public health. Meanwhile, bids to finance Europe’s fiscal-stimulus programmes re-ignite old debates on financial interdependence. And why a bad-boy Belgian is making chocolate in Congo. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economis...

Many have forgotten that, even after the second world war, a fascist movement held sway in Britain. Our culture editor recounts the tale of the group that quashed it. Leonora Carrington was an adventurous and pioneering Surrealist artist; our correspondent explores deepest Mexico to discover what inspired her. And the wizard industry that is casting a spell over Myanmar. For full access to print,...

Under Hungary’s shape-shifting prime minister the country has essentially become a dictatorship—and it seems there is little the European Union can do about it. We examine the serious mental-health effects the covid-19 crisis is having—and will have in the future. And Japan’s #KuToo movement aims to reform some seriously sexist dress codes at work. For full access to print, digital and audio...

People are spilling from the Chinese metropolis where the global outbreak took hold. But controls actually remain tight, and authorities’ attempts to spin pandemic into propaganda are not quite working. Mozambique’s rising violence threatens what could be Africa’s largest-ever energy project, in a region that has until now escaped widespread jihadism. And “geomythologists” may have uncovered human...

President Jair Bolsonaro still dismisses the disease as “just the sniffles”, so state and local authorities—and the country’s vast slums—have taken matters into their own hands. The physical and mental needs of the world’s locked-down populations are driving a boom in online wellness. And we look back on the life of the French chef who revolutionised English fine dining. For full access to print,...

To keep track of the spread of covid-19, some governments are turning to digital surveillance, using mobile-phone apps and data networks. We ask whether this will work—and examine the threat to privacy posed by a digital panopticon. Britain’s Labour Party has a new leader. We ask in which direction Sir Keir Starmer will lead the opposition. And we report on the northern hemisphere’s winter that wa...

The coronavirus pandemic has sent America’s mighty jobs machine into screeching reverse. How bad might the labour market get? Covid-19 is just one reason why Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, is finding 2020 to be a much harder year than he’d hoped. And we report on the fight to save a 44,000-year-old cave painting. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Econom...

Cruise ships had been enjoying a golden era—until covid-19 came along. The pandemic has been a catastrophe for the industry. Stranded passengers have taken ill and even died, ships have been banned from ports, and revenue has collapsed. But lawmakers are unlikely to bail it out. In Sweden, daily life has been pretty normal, despite the coronavirus, but can that continue? And we report on Dutch dis...

The Trump administration makes Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro an offer he seems sure to refuse: an end to sanctions in return for power-sharing and elections. The coronavirus pandemic has crushed oil prices at the same time a price war is raging: the industry has never seen anything like it. And as videoconferencing brings your workmates into your home, we suggest how to create the right impression. F...

New York is at the centre of America’s—and the world’s—coronavirus crisis. The metropolis has also been caught in a damaging three-way political division, involving three of its native sons. In the Middle East and north Africa, governments have imposed unusually harsh covid-19 crackdowns, but will the authoritarians let up afterwards? And we report on a golden age for African art. For full access...

Japan has reported a relatively low number of coronavirus cases. But concern is growing. The Olympics have at last been postponed and infections are on the rise. Uganda’s president faces a challenge from a pop star—and has his own backing group. And turtles have a deadly appetite for plastic. To them, it may smell like lunch. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist ,...

Outbreaks among inmates are all but inevitable. Efforts at prison reform that were already under way will get a boost, because now they will save lives. We examine the international variation in what are considered “essential industries” and “key workers”. And, what our editors and correspondents are doing to pass the time in lockdown. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Ec...

Governments across the continent have had a head start, but that will not address some worrying systemic problems many of them share. Ventilators are now a bottleneck in critical covid-19 care; we ask how many there are, and whether many more would help matters. And voting closes for the enthusiasts nominating a national lichen for Canada.  For full access to print, digital and audio editions...

As American lawmakers reach a deal on the country’s largest-ever rescue package, we examine how planners are balancing the health of their citizens and that of their economies. China’s lockdown came in the midst of the spring planting season; what can other countries learn about how to keep food flowing? And the increasingly perilous lives of crocodile hunters in the Congo River basin. For full ac...