One mightily damaging backstory: 1MDB

As attention has focused on war in Iran, Israel sees an opportunity to crush a weakened Hizbullah in Lebanon. Our correspondent says it would be far better for the Lebanese state to do so. As south-east Asia is modernising, Islam is counterintuitively gaining greater primacy in c ...  Show more

A rash entry into a war of choice exposes President Donald Trump in a number of ways—and he may prove more dangerous as he becomes weaker. Turkey’s foreign entanglements mask the democratic backsliding at home; that is bad news for an opposition figure whose trial just began. And ...  Show more

Najib Razak, prime minister during the massive 1MDB scandal in which billions went missing, <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/08/23/malaysias-disgraced-former-prime-minister-is-going-to-prison?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm ...  Show more

Narendra Modi’s reputation for prosperity is likely to propel him to a third term. But for India’s economic successes to last, the country needs a set of new <a href="https://www.economist.com/special-report/2024-04-27?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=t ...

 Unicorns are becoming a common sight in China. In 2022 there were more than 300 private firms valued at more than $1bn—more than double the number from just five years ago. Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Don Weinland, our China business and finance edi ...  Show more

In five days OpenAI’s boss was fired by its board; hired by Microsoft, the startup’s biggest investor; and returned to his post at OpenAI. Yet things cannot be as they were: the shuffle will have consequences for the darling of the artificial-intelligence community and for the ...