The Intelligence from The Economist

Despite the opposition’s lead in the pre-election polls, the incumbent president seems to have performed better than expected. What does a run-off mean for the nation? The mental health of teenage girls is plummeting and according to our data, social media might be to blame. And, have you ever wondered what it takes to be a spy? Start with our reading list. 

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The past few years have proved tumultuous both for American consumers and for retailers selling to them. The end result is a curious slump for middle-of-the-road brands. Artificial intelligence like ChatGPT stands to disrupt everything from art to coding; we self-interestedly explore probable effects on journalism. And remembering Ranajit Guha, a historian who saw a different India by looking bottom-up. 

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It is probably this year’s most important election—and for the first time in a long time, the country’s strongman leader has a plausible adversary. Our correspondent heads along to the Hollywood writers’ strike, finding an age-old conflict centred on the technologies that shape the film-and-television industry. And the books to read to become a better home bartender.

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A jury unanimously found Donald Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation. We examine his first major legal loss. Thailand’s opposition looks set to prevail in this weekend’s election—whether it ends up in office is another matter. And, Ukraine is blowing up tanks, but not in the way you might think; we explore the battlefield value of inflatable decoys.

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Our Russia and defence editors travelled to the capital, finding a city largely back to normal. They ask both civilians and the country’s top brass about Ukraine's position—and its future. China’s population-control measures worked perhaps too well, yet even an incipient labour-market crisis is not changing resistance to immigration. And the issues with America’s springtime rattlesnake round-ups.

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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 improved; it turns out threats of grotesque violence change behaviours. We investigate the curious case of Morocco’s absent king—and his unlikely mixed-martial-artist pals. And how the mobile phone has shaped cinema for half a century.

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He has been king since September; now it is time for the pomp. We examine the modern monarchy—and the ancient frippery of coronations. Despite prior reluctance to do much about climate change, America is set to become a clean-energy superpower. And reflecting on the life of Carolyn Bryant, whose testimony led to a lynching that set off America’s civil-rights movement.

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Florida’s governor has made a headline-grabbing rightward lurch as part of a presumed bid for the White House. But both Mr DeSantis’s critics and his donors are starting to think he has overplayed his hand. Our correspondent finds that jihadist violence has, as was long feared, come to Burkina Faso. And rural America’s love affair with Japan’s tiny Kei trucks.

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Geoffrey Hinton, a legend of artificial-intelligence research, wants to be able to speak his mind about the technology’s risks. We ask whether those steeped in a field are best-placed to judge it. It has long been clear Ukraine needs more fighter jets; we look at the ones it may get at last. And the first video game about the Holocaust. 

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Criminal networks have had to reorganise since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with knock-on effects from Afghanistan to the Andes. We take a look at the scourge of abductions in Nigeria, and what is being done for the families of the missing. And Scotland’s Campbeltown whisky is enjoying a long-awaited resurgence.

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