The Economist: The week ahead

Amid a flurry of conflicting information over the weekend, details of Donald Trump’s progress and prognosis remain worryingly unclear. How will this brush with the virus change the campaign, or the president? Asia’s migrant workers had difficult, precarious lives that the pandemic made even worse; only now are matters improving. And the perplexing preponderance of Albanian pop stars. 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.

Unexpected defeats at rebels’ hands, a cratered economy, a hungry citizenry and a runaway covid-19 epidemic: can anything unseat Bashar al-Assad? When Germany reunified, many worried it would upset the balance of Europe; 30 years on and if anything the country must wield more of its power. And celebrating the centenary of Agatha Christie’s most beloved detective, Hercule Poirot. 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.

The region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been the subject of dispute and skirmishes for decades—but the current conflict threatens to draw in both Turkey and Russia. Rule changes accelerated by the pandemic have revealed a better way to handle early-stage abortions. And, unravelling the mystery of the funnel-web spider’s deadly bite. 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.

America’s first presidential debate was unmitigated chaos, revealing little more than the rancour between the candidates. In Chicago a newish musical genre called drill has a strong relation to the city’s gang violence; we ask whether it is a causal one. And amid a global rise in hand-washing, we look at the fascinating, fragrant history of soap.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.

Just ahead of the first presidential debate, a trove of tax documents suggests the president has some staggeringly loss-making businesses and a staggering amount of debt coming due. We examine China’s pledge to become carbon-neutral by 2060 and what it will have to do to get there. And why a Swiss referendum campaign involved a giant game of pick-up-sticks.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.

On gun rights, abortion policy and health care Amy Coney Barrett, the seemingly unstoppable successor to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, will shift the court’s balance for decades. In China, the visually impaired are usually shuffled off to the massage industry; we meet blind students with greater ambitions. And tracing the origins of the boring supermarket spud. 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.

A grand jury’s decision has re-energised months-long protests. We ask how much another tragic death at the hands of police may spur meaningful reforms. A once-fringe movement to “re-wild” the Highlands of Scotland is gaining momentum. And how the promising German startup incubator Rocket Internet left shareholders on the launchpad.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.

Soon the pandemic will have claimed a million lives. We take a broad look at what has been learned—and the deadly mistakes still being made. Our correspondent visits Wuhan, site of the first known outbreak, to find a city that beneath the surface has much healing yet to do. And a close look at New York’s much-loved, much-derided accent.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.

Congressional elections will decide the direction of America’s governance irrespective of the presidential pick; we reveal our statistical model of the Senate races. Tesla steals the headlines in the electric-vehicle stakes, but a vast, global industry is nipping at its heels. And remembering the astrophysicist who explained the celestial light show of the aurorae.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.

The Trump administration’s bid to block the Chinese app has been stymied—for now. The tussle reflects a change in how America does business, and how the internet itself may evolve. Migration in the Mediterranean is picking up again; the pandemic is making it even more perilous and political. And Japan’s canned-coffee obsession steams ahead in foreign markets.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.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a liberal icon. Her death last week opens a Supreme Court vacancy for Donald Trump to fill, which could tip the court further right ahead of what might be a legally fraught election. And there is nothing that Democrats can do about it. The majority of land in Africa is neither mapped nor documented. People who can’t prove that they own their land, cannot unlock its value. That is holding back the continent’s economies. And Japan may be famous for its slick and speedy bullet trains. But the country’s rural railways have reached the end of the line. 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.

Thailand is bracing for a large anti-government protest, with some of the anger directed at the usually-revered monarchy. Some fear that the establishment’s patience will snap, with bloody results. Freemasonry has been one of the most contagious ideas of the modern age, spreading to every corner of the world. But the number of masons is shrinking. And in Britain, social distancing may have shut nightclubs. But many ravers don’t tech-no for an answer. 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.

More than a million former felons in Florida regained the right to vote in 2018. Last week, many of them lost it again. We look at the barriers to voting in America. Colombia’s militarised police force are khaki-klad, poorly paid and heavy-handed. A case of police brutality has now provoked big protests and calls for reform. And in the Netherlands, covid-carrying Minks have been spared the slaughterhouse. 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.

Belarus dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, has travelled to Sochi amid major protests at home to ask Vladimir Putin for help. We examine whether he will get it—and what the price might be. The possible discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus could be a tantalising hint of life beyond Earth. And K-Pop, marred by sexual abuse scandals, is shedding its misogynistic image. 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.

Japan’s new prime minister will be Yoshihide Suga, the son of a strawberry farmer from the country’s rural north. We look at whether he can step into the shoes of Abe Shinzo and revive Japan’s troubled economy. America may be leaving the World Health Organisation, but the institution has handled the pandemic well. And the standing of dogs in Islam is hounding clerics. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.