Good, bad and ugly: the Taliban and Afghanist...

In recent weeks, AI has solved hundreds of previously unanswered maths problems. Our correspondents ask if machines can do the same in other areas of science and what role human researchers may play. Why crisps are getting chunkier and chocolate chewier. And celebrating the life ...  Show more

Their struggles to get jobs or buy homes once propelled political movements. Now many millennials are out-earning their parents and in positions of power. Our correspondent explains the transformation. Sophisticated tech tools are being used to sway voters in Israel. And why you ...  Show more

Their return to rule is unequivocally bad for the country’s women and girls. But wholesale collapse has not come and some aspects of government have <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/05/01/life-under-the-rule-of-the-taliban-20?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podc ...

A strategy approved today peels back some of the country’s constitutional pacifism; in large part that is because of its tense relationship< ...

When the Taliban resumed power, there were hopes that women might not be as excluded, repressed and abused as they were previously. Those hopes <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/04/02/the-taliban-are-pushing-females-out-of-public-life?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio ...  Show more

Abiy Ahmed is sworn in again as prime minister, even as continuing strife increases the country’s isolation. Our correspondent witnesses the gruesome aftermath of a telling battle. China once encouraged, even forced abortions. Now, as it frets about declining birth rates, it’s ...