Editor’s Picks: April 5th 2021

As temperatures climb, mosquitoes will migrate to places where natural resistance to malaria is lower. More and more severe natural disasters will make for more breeding grounds. How to stop a deadly disease getting deadlier? In China’s cut-throat food-delivery war, absolutely no ... Show More

Less than nine months after Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled, the honeymoon is over. How is the new regime responding to rising dissent? Introducing Britain’s revolutionary retirees: why pensioners increasingly dominate political protest. And celebrating the life of o ... Show More

Intel was once synonymous with chip-making, but in recent years it has fallen behind. Now the Trump administration may become its biggest shareholder. A political assassination in Colombia raises fears about a return to violence. And what an annual snail race tells us about rural ... Show More

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why only America can save Israel and Gaza from a greater catastrophe. Also, the recent election in Poland offers a lesson in how to push back on populism (10:30) and the resurgen ... Show More

Melting ski slopes, floods and droughts are enraging the continent’s citizens, but not quite enough for them to consider voting differently. Our correspondent explains what the electorate is weighing up. The world’s largest maker of glasses is branching out into tech (10:41). And ... Show More

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, as the death toll climbs in Israel’s war on Gaza, we argue that the country looks deeply vulnerable. Plus, we consider Britain as an unexpected beacon of immigration. And finally ... Show More

On our website and in our app, “The Economist explains” is one of the best-read features. Today we invite a few of their authors to keep explaining. What is tranq dope? Why did France get so het up about bedbugs (06:48)? Can superstars’ stadium shows actually affect inflation (11 ... Show More

What can A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke tell us about AI? Does Shakespeare's Othello contain a warning for the 2024 US presidential election? Our journalists (and our listeners, too) recommend books that might help us better understand our times. Sign up for a free trial of E ... Show More

Hardened war-zone doctors say the situation in Gaza is the worst they have witnessed—and that will cost lives long after the current conflict is resolved. Numbers from America’s tight labour market suggest that long-standing gaps between black and white workers are narrowing (09: ... Show More

Ahead of a general election in July, we reflect on 14 years of Conservative rule. It’s not a great record, but will the prime minister be able to spin it on the campaign trail? Latin America is still being torn apart by some of the world’s worst gang violence. Why aren’t counterm ... Show More

America’s upbeat assessment of a ceasefire deal masks deep divides that may not, in fact, be bridgeable. There are nevertheless reasons for optimism. Our data team digs into the accusation that the New York Times’s bestseller list is biased against conservatives (10:58). And why ... Show More

Hard-right parties did well in Europe's parliamentary elections—so well in France that President Emmanuel Macron called a risky snap election. Elsewhere, though, the political centre held. We examine the policies that are getting America’s many chronically truant students back in ... Show More