How AI is revolutionising science

2024-10-05

One evening, Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, grabbed a late dinner in Beijing with his partner. When they arrived back at his apartment, men in black were waiting for them. Mr Kovrig was pushed into a waiting SUV. Handcuffed and blindfolded, he was driven to a detention centre in southern Beijing that would be his home for the next 1,019 days. September 24th 2024 is the third anniversary of Mr Kovrig’s release. And now he is ready to talk publicly about his ordeal.

On the Weekend Intelligence, we bring you the first in a two-part series from Drum Tower, our weekly podcast on China. David Rennie, The Economist’s geopolitics editor, speaks with Mr Kovrig about the night he was seized, and how his detention was part of a far bigger geopolitical game.

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2024-10-02

A second Trump presidency would leave a much greater mark on America than the first. Adam O’Neal, our Washington correspondent, explains why.

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What J.D. Vance is learning from Donald Trump: https://econ.st/4dtJeSM

What will happen if America’s election result is contested?: https://econ.st/3BwJPWA

2024-09-26

For now, Israel’s moves (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/09/25/hizbullah-seems-to-have-miscalculated-in-its-fight-with-israel?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) seem to be posturing, a means to intimidate Hizbullah into backing down. But there remains a prospect of a ground invasion—and another pointless war. Our swing-state series starts with a state that only recently became swing-y: North Carolina

2024-09-20

After Israeli fires rockets (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/09/18/israel-has-bloodied-hizbullah-but-is-stuck-in-a-war-of-attrition?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) into Lebanon and Hizbullah warns of “red lines” crossed, the Middle East is braced for further attacks. As the planet warms, sport is getting harder (https://www.economist.com/international/2024/09/12/sport-is-getting-hotter-harder-and-deadlier?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) – and deadlier (6:32). And celebrating Francisco Lopera

2024-08-02

The biggest exchange of prisoners (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/08/01/the-deal-that-freed-evan-gershkovich-was-not-just-a-prisoner-swap?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) between Russia and the West since the Cold War included opposition leaders, journalists and prisoners of conscience. Our correspondent accompanies America’s defence secretary on a tour of Asia designed to bolster military alliances (https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/07/27/america-recreates-a-warfighting-command-in-japan?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners)

2024-07-25

Anyone hoping to glean hints of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s plans for the Gaza war and its aftermath will have been disappointed: it was a political speech aimed at Israelis. Nigerians spend more than anyone on food, as a fraction of income. We look at the factors making the squeeze even tighter (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/07/11/soaring-food-price-inflation-is-hurting-nigerias-poor?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) (11:44). And Starbucks franchises as community-level drivers of innovation

2024-07-11

Democrats’ worried murmurs have become public statements. Polls give Donald Trump a widening lead. Why won’t President Biden make way (https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/07/10/joe-biden-is-failing-to-silence-calls-that-he-step-aside?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) for a younger successor? Off Colombia’s coast a shipwreck bursting with treasures is about to be plundered, but who owns that loot is hotly contested

2024-07-07

Why are two old, unpopular men the main candidates for the world’s most demanding job? It’s the question John Prideaux, The Economist’s US editor, gets asked the most. And the answer lies in the peculiar politics of the baby boomers.

The generation born in the 1940s grew up in a land of endless growth and possibility, ruled by a confident, moderate elite. But just as they were embarking on adult life, all that started to come apart. The economy faltered, and the post-war consensus came under pressure from two sides: from the radical right, who hated government moves on civil rights – and from the ‘New Left’, as boomers rebelled against their parents’ generation and its war in Vietnam.

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