COP out: the UN climate talks

Angry protests following an alleged police killing continue, even after a hated police unit was shuttered. That exposes far-deeper discontent. Banks’ earnings this week show that belt-tightening earlier in the year has held them in good stead. What to do with the growing cash-pile? And misguided infrastructure plans have many Egyptians in a roads rage.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.

15 Loka 202022min

Rhetoric and sabre-rattling from mainland China are rapidly ramping up; we examine the risk of an invasion that would have global consequences. A decision by World Rugby to ban trans women from the women’s game stokes a notoriously ill-tempered debate. And listening to an album built entirely from the songs of endangered British birds.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.

14 Loka 202023min

The country yet again faces widespread starvation as a civil war grinds on, and both sides are to blame for the misery visited upon civilians. With the stroke of a pen, Argentina recently doubled in size—setting a precedent with big diplomatic and resource-extraction implications. And remembering the man who set hundreds of thousands of Indians free from indentured servitude.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.

13 Loka 202022min

By the numbers to date, Sweden's light-touch covid-19 measures may not seem successful. But its pragmatism takes an instructively long view of the pandemic. China’s high-level party machinery brooks no political dissent; among street-level functionaries, stories of disobedience and tolerance are far more nuanced. And a devilishly clever way to stem the poaching of endangered turtles’ eggs.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.

12 Loka 202023min

Citizens are furious after a poll seemingly tainted by vote-buying; its annulment leaves a power vacuum that may yet draw in China and Russia. An author’s journey through the history of America’s racist militias, including the Ku Klux Klan, starts with his own family tree. And why not everyone is happy with Europe’s “golden passport” schemes. 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 Loka 202021min

That a housefly could steal the show at America’s only vice-presidential debate is telling, but a discussion with more substance than bombast was a welcome respite. Cuba is experiencing its worst food crisis in decades, and that at last may spur changes to its confused and market-distorting dual-currency system. And geopolitics sticks its beak into an enormous annual bird migration.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 Loka 202023min

A pilgrimage that is sure to become a covid-19 hotspot is a sign of how much the country’s government is losing legitimacy to its clergymen and tribal leaders. Social-media giants’ efforts to scrub violent content from their platforms simultaneously hobbles efforts to bring war criminals to justice. And why south-west England may soon be reviving its long-lost mining industry. 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 Loka 202019min

Britain’s prime minister will outline big wind-energy plans at his party’s annual conference, even as the pandemic and Brexit blow his government off course. The sombre tone at a thanksgiving festival in Ethiopia reveals how the country’s largest ethnic group is not getting the reforms it was promised. And a carcinogenic nut that remains wildly popular in China.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.

6 Loka 202022min