Skin in the Games: Beijing’s nervy Olympics

Air strikes and border raids have turned cross-border tensions into hot conflict. We ask what raised the temperature, and whether the Iran war may act to lower it. Meanwhile that war’s oil shock brings with it fears of rising inflation; we examine how recent disruptions might inf ...  Show more

As the war in Iran progresses, none of the options available to Donald Trump looks good. We examine each of them. Thailand’s Buddhist monks are implicated in lots of lawless and dodgy behaviour—but clearing out the bad apples is more complicated than it seems. And gene-editing co ...  Show more

Our correspondent describes the fraught effort to attend the opening ceremony. It is a pageant <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/02/03/beijings-winter-olympics-symbolise-a-world-divided?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_ ...

Grief about the deaths of more than 150 people in a crush has turned to anger, and the investigation into what actions were taken—or not taken—<a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/11/03/when-a-disaster-shakes-a-country-political-leaders-face-peril?utm_campaign=a.io&utm ...

Voting begins today in an <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/03/12/russians-go-to-the-polls-in-a-sham-election-for-their-president?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_ar ...

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party represents a growing <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/01/21/germany-strikes-a-brave-new-deal-on-immigration?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr ...