The Economist: The week ahead

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.

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.

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.

Millions of schoolchildren are heading back to classes, many of them online. We examine the evidence on virtual learning and how it deepens inequalities. Dubai is a glittering financial hub, connecting the Middle East, Asia and Europe—but to keep its position it will have to shed its dirty-money reputation. And why the pandemic has readers pulling weighty classics from shelves.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.

Five years ago, a vast wave of migrants and refugees began to spill into the country. We examine their fates amid a tangle of bureaucracy. Even for the uninfected, the coronavirus has caused widespread “collective trauma”; we ask about its effects and how to heal from it. And Palestinians sneak to the beach as security forces look the other way.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 longest-serving prime minister leaves behind a mixed bag of policy successes and shortcomings. We examine his legacy and ask what his successor faces. The annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole—online, of course—revealed research suggesting today’s economic woes will ring down for decades to come. And the curious appeal of in-flight meals eaten on terra firma.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.

Another shooting of an unarmed black man by police has reopened wounds still not healed after George Floyd’s killing—and, like all else, the unrest is being politicised. Montenegro’s president is Europe’s longest-serving leader, but anti-government sentiment has mounted ahead of Sunday’s election. And a look back on the life of Julian Bream, who restored the reputation of the classical guitar.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.

American officials hope more Arab states will follow the United Arab Emirates in normalising relations with Israel; the groundwork for that has been quietly laid for years. Not every expectant mother wants all those doctors and nurses fussing over them; we take a look at the increasing politicisation of childbirth. And a step change for robots that can walk. 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 former head of the state-owned oil firm has presented stunning claims of high-level graft. Are they credible, and will the president pursue them? Museum curators usually try to add to their collections, but a new generation steeped in the restitution debate is doing just the opposite. And a data-led analysis of the suggestion that Twitter suppresses conservative views. 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.

Doctors believe Russia’s opposition leader was poisoned, and suspicion naturally falls on the Kremlin. Why might the country’s leadership have taken such a risk? For LGBT people coming out is, in many places, far easier and more commonplace than it once was—thanks in part to the internet. And why a younger generation is shunning Laos’s traditional ant-egg soup. 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 considerable oil and gas reserves beneath the eastern Mediterranean have sparked Turkey’s interest—as well as a number of disputes in the region and beyond. China’s leaders like to say their country has history’s longest-surviving civilisation; now a new archaeological site allegedly offers some proof. And the grave risk to the world’s tallest trees. 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 military has again ousted the president, after months of protests and years of ethnic violence. Fresh elections or no, whoever comes out on top faces a tough job. We survey the pandemic-era dining-out landscape, finding that restaurants are about so much more than the food. And the Chinese trawlers that are stripping the rich waters of the Galapagos. 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.

Huge protests following a rigged election reveal that the people have had enough of “Europe’s last dictator”, Alexander Lukashenko. How long can he hang on? Indonesia’s leaders risk repeating an environmental disaster on Borneo, allegedly in the name of food security. And checking the writing chops of the world’s best-read artificial intelligence. 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.

For 15 years, the truck-bomb killing of a former prime minister went unpunished. But an even more devastating recent blast overshadowed a court’s ruling on the culprits. Chinese students hoping to study in America have been caught in the middle of the countries’ rising animus—not for the first time. And the origins of all the hair in Nigeria’s wildly popular wigs.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.

Mexico’s new top cartel, led by a kingpin called El Mencho, has taken the country’s shocking violence to a terrifyingly brazen new level. In Tunisia, ten years after a self-immolation sparked the Arab Spring, voters are disillusioned with democracy and even nostalgic for the old days. And reflecting on the pianist who lost the use of his right hand, and reinvented his playing around his left. 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 US Postal Service is one of America’s most popular and necessary public institutions. Now it is at the centre of a battle over November’s election. The growth of microfinance in Cambodia has been for the most part positive, but the pandemic is posing challenges to its sustainability. And if you want to buy a used Airbus A380, it’s a buyer’s market. 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.

Recent reports paint a dark picture, from heatwaves to hurricanes to high-water marks. But some promising trends—and pandemic-era economics—provide reasons for hope. We examine the night-time economy of the very swankiest parties, discovering a kind of beauty brokerage at work behind the scenes. And what baseball season reveals for other sports that yearn for a return. 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.

Joe Biden’s choice of running mate is simultaneously groundbreaking and conventional, and reveals much about the state of the Democratic party. In China, a surprise court ruling draws attention to the plight of oft-overlooked LGBT people in the workplace. And Japan’s broad push for self-driving ships. 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 dramatic arrest of Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy newspaper owner, reveals just how enthusiastically Beijing’s new security law will be deployed to quash any dissent. A reservoir is filling behind an enormous new dam in Ethiopia—and that has soured relations with Egypt downriver. And why Britain’s “urban explorers” may soon have far fewer derelict buildings to conquer.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.

As clinical trials progress, policymakers must determine how heavily to fund the pre-emptive manufacture of candidate vaccines, and how to distribute the successful ones. Given Britain’s bungled pandemic response, the separatist mood in Scotland has surged to record levels. And travel tips from the vloggers of illegal migration.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.