Belarusian roulette: a mutiny’s aftermath

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time since July 2023. For the central bank’s new chair Kevin Warsh, that decision was a test both of monetary policy and politics. A governor’s election in Okinawa is a boon to Japan’s military ambitions. And why summer ...  Show more

Is artificial intelligence becoming uncontrollably powerful? Our correspondent analyses whether a pause to breakneck development is possible or feasible. We have entered the new age of the orator. And why cheese is getting more popular in India. Guests and host:Alex Hern, AI writ ...  Show more

Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group fighters are said to be welcome in safe-haven Belarus. We ask how Aleksandr Lukashenko, the country’s puppet president, ended up in the role of <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/06/26/alexander-lukashenko-is-the-clearest-bene ...

Ben and Tommy talk about the extraordinary failed coup attempt against Vladimir Putin by Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner mercenary group in Russia. They cover the infighting that got Russia to this point, what it means for Putin’s image and power, the amnesty deal that ended the ...  Show more

The decision by Belarus to divert a plane to Minsk to arrest a dissident journalist was intended to send a message to opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko, whose 27 years in office have seen him dubbed Europe’s last dictator. However, the act has renewed international c ...

For three decades, President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, a former Soviet nation in Eastern Europe, ruled with an iron fist. But pressure has mounted on him in the past year and a half. After a contested election in 2020, the European Union enacted sanctions and refused to ...