The Weekend Intelligence: The hope and the heartbreak of IVF

The pandemic has been a giant experiment in working from home. We examine whether workers are happier and more productive using Zoom in their pyjamas than commuting in a suit. In the southern hemisphere, the seasonal flu seems to have faded, as a happy byproduct of lockdown and social distancing. And an obituary for one of Pol Pot’s murderous lieutenants. 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 Sep 202021min

Relentless climate change will make devastating blazes more likely; urbanisation in woodland areas will make them more costly. Prevention measures could help—if updated and widened. “Anti-vaxxers” may undermine coming covid-vaccination efforts; we examine the history of a baseless and dangerous movement. And things turn nasty among the biker gangs of northern Europe. 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.

11 Sep 202021min

Two Burmese soldiers have described in harrowing detail what has long been alleged: that the army targeted Muslim-minority Rohingya in a programme of ethnic cleansing. America’s Department of State has been hollowed out and wholly demoralised—and that has dire implications for global diplomacy. And a wildly popular Chinese television show reveals shifting mores for thirty-somethings.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 Sep 202022min

Sanctions are tightening around the Chinese province amid suspicions of forced labour. Western firms that are reliant on the region’s cotton and other commodities are in a bind. The pandemic has shown the merits of some governments’ digitised bureaucracies, but rushing the digital shift comes with risks. And how Canada’s border closures threaten a tiny town in remotest Alaska. 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 Sep 202021min

A hurried lockdown early in the pandemic has cratered the country’s economy, and infection rates are now shooting up. More suffering lies ahead, on both counts. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has failed for 20 years running, and now there is pressure for it to decamp. And the transatlantic tale of the baked bean.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 Sep 202020min

Negotiations on Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with Europe were floundering—even before revelations it may essentially rewrite parts of the last pact it struck. Since the space race’s early days, satellites have been involved in defence. Now a new threat looms: armed conflict between the satellites themselves. And a card game reveals the Lebanese people’s resilience and dark sense of humour.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 Sep 202020min

Alongside a green-minded, 100bn-euro stimulus, President Emmanuel Macron’s recovery plan borrows ideas from the post-war past to imagine a post-covid future. The mysterious arrest of Paul Rusesabagina, hero of the film “Hotel Rwanda”, shows just how far the country’s leaders will go to suppress dissent. And a careful, revealing study of nappy prices across Europe. 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 Sep 202022min

The outcome of Jamaica’s election isn’t much in doubt. What’s uncertain is how the wider Caribbean can handle rock-bottom tourism and looming hurricane risks amid the pandemic. North Korea’s leadership at last admitted to the hardships of covid-19; the coming human cost could rival that of the famine in the 1990s. And why African countries put out so many unlikely stamps.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 Sep 202021min