Author: The Economist

America’s outgoing president is sticking with an insidious fiction, lashing out at those who deny it. That frustrates a stable handover of power—and will cost lives. Egypt has a long-standing problem with sexual harassment and abuse. A reckoning has begun this year, revealing some deeply conservative views among both men and women. And why streaming-era television programmes have got so long.

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Following a purge based on a harsh new security law, the territory’s Legislative Council lacks a single opposition voice. That will make the work of pro-Beijing lawmakers easier. As promising vaccines start to emerge, we examine the role of so-called T-cells in granting long-lasting immunity to the coronavirus. And why employers are relying more and more on psychometric tests.

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The chief aide to the prime minister had been a driving force in policy but a dividing force in government. What will happen now that he has stood down? We examine how Canada’s response to the pandemic has shielded its economy—so far. And lockdowns bring the market for pasta to a rolling boil. 

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The longest-running conflict in the Caucasus could well be over. We examine a peace deal that benefits outside powers and chips away at regional identities. The hipster aesthetic long ago permeated rich countries; our correspondent finds it creeping even into impoverished and war-torn corners of the world. And reflecting on the life of James Randi, a tireless debunker of charlatans.

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Jihadism is growing in a continent-wide strip of Africa, and the riskiest operations to contain it fall to French troops. Our correspondent witnesses a fraught and seemingly endless mission. Peru has ousted yet another president, at a woeful time: the pandemic is raging, the economy cratering and politics fracturing. And the movement to water down Sweden’s state monopoly on booze. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign had the environment front and centre. We analyse his pledges—and his prospects for implementing them. As the video-gaming industry releases its next round of consoles, it is eyeing a far larger prize: high-end gaming with no console at all. And the red poppy of Remembrance Day turns into something of an armistice race in Britain. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

A vaccine claimed to be 90% effective represents an enormous achievement. We discuss what questions remain and the regulatory and distribution challenges ahead. A string of recent African elections reveals strongmen bending democracy to stay in office; will upcoming polls break it altogether? And a moral crusade in India doesn’t fit the country’s chill relationship with weed. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

President Donald Trump will go, but Trumpism will remain. Our editor-in-chief considers how President-elect Biden can repair the divided country he will inherit. Denmark aims to cull 17m mink that could represent a reservoir of a mutated coronavirus—why didn’t it do so when other countries did? And the old-timey Korean music that might just challenge K-pop.  

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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has taken drastic steps to quieten a state stacked with trained militias. The conflict could draw in more states—or the whole of the Horn of Africa. China’s increasing push for self-reliance in a globalised economy has its complications—made clear by a vast influx of precision-bred super-chickens. And the macabre tale of books bound with human skin.

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As President Donald Trump’s re-election path slims, his pledges to fight the results in court are multiplying. We look at the cases that may eventually decide the election. Global crises tend to affect birth rates, and covid-19 is no different—but the effects are not evenly spread. And a suite alternative for business types tired of working from home. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer