Peptides are not a miracle drug | The Economist

2026-03-07

Internet blackouts are making it hard to know what is going on inside Iran. Nicolas Pelham, The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, reports from the Iranian border with Iraq on whether there could be a Kurdish uprising.

#iran #iraq #kurdistan

Read more: https://econ.st/4b9AyBA
Subscribe to The Economist: https://econ.st/3Mia0pz
Download The Economist app: https://econ.st/4qdVVaA

Follow us on X: https://x.com/TheEconomist
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theeconomist
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist

2026-03-05

Donald Trump once promised no more wars. Now he’s launched one most Americans didn’t want. It’s a big gamble—if the war starts to feel like a bust, will Trump cut his losses or double down?

#uspolitics #iran #iranwar #trumpiran

Read more: http://econ.st/40C4K3w
Subscribe to The Economist: https://econ.st/3Mia0pz
Download The Economist app: https://econ.st/4qdVVaA

Follow us on X: https://x.com/TheEconomist
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theeconomist
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist

2026-02-27

President Trump has amassed his forces around Iran and across the Middle East, in an effort to pressure the country’s leaders to limit its nuclear programme. Negotiators from Washington and Tehran have been meeting in an attempt to avert conflict.

On Insider this week, our deputy editor Edward Carr and a panel of our journalists assess the president’s aims.

00:00 – Mapping the military build-up
02:34 – What America’s aims could be from a strike on Iran
05:13 – Donald Trump’s objectives in negotiations

#iran , #donaldtrump , #alikhamenei , #nuclearweapons , #diplomacy

Watch the full show: https://econ.st/4bdDLRX
Sign up to the Insider newsletter: https://econ.st/4nOyzIb

Subscribe to The Economist: https://econ.st/3Mia0pz
Download The Economist app: https://econ.st/4qdVVaA

Follow

2026-01-14

Israel is bitterly divided ahead of this year’s elections. But one of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s main political opponents, Naftali Bennett, says he can unite the country. Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, and Edward Carr, deputy editor, travelled to Tel Aviv to ask Mr Bennett how he would restore Israel’s reputation abroad and counter the threat of Hamas.

00:00 – What’s at stake in Israel’s election?
01:10 – How Bennett believes he differs from Netanyahu
01:40 – Can only Netanyahu guarantee Israel’s security?
02:42 – The decline of international support for Israel
03:36 – What Bennett would do to change Israel’s standing abroad
04:11 – Bennett on ending the war in Gaza
06:51 – Bennett’s view on Palestinian statehood

Watch the full show:

2026-01-12

Could Iran’s protests spark another war with Israel? Anshel Pfeffer, our Israel correspondent, and Jason Palmer, co-host of The Intelligence podcast, discuss how unrest inside Iran could spill over and seriously ramp up tensions with Israel.

00:00 – What are the Iranian protests, and why do they matter to Israel?
01:10 – Why would Iran retaliate when it is facing serious problems at home?
04:02 – Could Israel use this moment to strike Iran again?
07:25 – How might Israel hope to benefit from Iran’s instability in the long run?

Listen to the full episode: https://econ.st/49wuqT9
Israel hopes for regime change in Iran: https://econ.st/4jyCiZ0
Sign up to our weekly newsletter: https://econ.st/3J0xzBr

#TheEconomist #Iran #Israel

2026-01-07

Following his dramatic intervention in Venezuela, President Trump has set his sights on another target: Greenland. He claims America needs the remote island in the Arctic for national security. Why? And how could he try to take the territory?

2025-11-18

What does Sheikh Hasina’s conviction mean for Bangladesh’s future? Vishnu Padmanabhan, our Asia correspondent, and Rosie Blau, co-host of The Intelligence podcast, discuss how the former prime minister’s death sentence could reshape the country’s politics—and whether India will hand her over to authorities in Dhaka

00:00 – How was Sheikh Hasina sentenced?
00:34 – What caused last year’s protests?
01:45 – What has Sheikh Hasina been found guilty of
02:42 – How has the verdict been received in Bangladesh
03:36 – Was it a fair trial?
04:18 – What happens next for Bangladesh?
05:38 – How will this test India-Bangladesh relations?

Listen to the full episode: https://econ.st/4o8cnrT
Sign up to our weekly newsletter: https://econ.st/3J0xzBr
Sign up to our world in brief newsletter:

2025-11-16

People are smoking less so why are cigarette companies’ profits soaring? Jason Palmer, co-host of The Intelligence podcast, and Callum Williams, our senior economics writer, discuss why the tobacco industry is thriving despite the number of American adult smokers falling by around 20m people in the past decade.

00:00 – The economics of smoking
00:13 – Less people are smoking
00:52 – Why are tobacco shares thriving?
02:31 – Will cigarettes keep getting more expensive?

Listen to the full episode: https://econ.st/3LABV3i
The counterintuitive economics of smoking: https://econ.st/488Y41i
What nicotine does to your brain: https://econ.st/484bJH3
How harmful are electronic cigarettes?: https://econ.st/49eNgjw
Sign up to our weekly newsletter: https://econ.st/3J0xzBr

#economics #health