Why is it so hard to map the ocean floor? | The Economist

2026-04-25

While the world’s eyes are on Iran, Israeli settler violence in the West Bank is rising. The Economist analyses how settlers are annexing more territory, empowered by tacit and explicit support from Binyamin Netanyahu’s government.

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2026-04-20

The Economist’s Latin America correspondent travels to the South American country, three months on from President Trump’s daring raid, and meets activists and investors. And in Washington, DC, he speaks with the opposition leader-in-exile María Corina Machado.

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2026-03-03

Our editors unpack the preparation that made the operation to kill Iran’s supreme leader possible and how Ali Khamenei’s death could shape the regime’s future.

2026-03-02

Will the Iranian regime collapse? Shashank Joshi, The Economist’s defence editor, and Rosie Blau, co-host of The Intelligence podcast, examine what the death of Iran’s former supreme leader Ali Khamenei means for the country’s leadership and security apparatus. They also explore how Israel and America’s motivations during the conflict might differ over regime change and how recent developments are increasing the risk of broader regional conflict.

00:00 – Khamenei is dead – what now?
01:13 – Is this really about regime change?
03:42 – What about Iran’s nuclear programme?
05:14 – How strong is Iran’s retaliation?
07:12- Is this becoming a regional war?
08:32 – Are there any paths to de-escalation?

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2026-01-14

Donald Trump has said America is “screwed” if the Supreme Court rules that his tariffs are illegal. With a ruling expected to arrive as soon as today, the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, tells The Economist’s Geopolitics editor, David Rennie, about the administration’s plan B.

2026-01-10

Why is Sherlock Holmes a gay icon in China? Jiehao Chen, co-host of the Drum Tower podcast, and Joel Budd, our senior affairs editor, discuss the famous detective’s popularity among Chinese women and what his prominence in slash fiction reveals about deeper anxieties surrounding love, marriage, and gender roles in contemporary China.

00:00 – Why are Chinese tourists visiting London for Sherlock?
01:13 – How did Sherlock become more popular than classic British literature in China?
02:25 – Why do Chinese fans see Sherlock and Watson as a love story?
03:26 – What does Sherlock fan fiction reveal about love and marriage in China?

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Asian tourists are returning to Britain. But they look different: https://econ.st/4hv0wlY
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2025-11-26

Donald Trump is trying to create his own police force.

The federal crackdown in Chicago was officially to arrest and deport dangerous foreign criminals. In practice it looks like a blueprint for a new force answerable to the president as Aryn Braun, our West Coast correspondent, explains.

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?

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