Ballot from the blue: will Ukraine hold a poll?

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.com/privacy for more information.

10 Kesä 202121min

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

9 Kesä 202118min

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 Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8 Kesä 202123min

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 on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

7 Kesä 202121min

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 acast.com/privacy for more information.

4 Kesä 202123min

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 Kesä 202120min

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Kesä 202119min

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 on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Kesä 202120min