Decades of scientific research into Alzheimer’s have failed to find a cure. Little is known about the degenerative brain disease—but this may be about to change. Click here to subscribe...

What are the stories set to shape 2024? From the biggest election year in history, to how to control AI and even taxis that fly, The Economist offers its annual look at the world ahead. 00:00...

Decades after the worst industrial accident in India s history, many residents of Bhopal feel they were abandoned to suffer its toxic effects after tge Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984. Click here...

Liberalism has been the dominant political philosophy in the West for more than 200 years. Populists say liberals are too elite and are out of touch with ordinary people. Here s what you need...

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The world s population has more than doubled since the 1970s. But a booming population is only part of the story—in some places populations are in decline. Click here to subscribe to The...

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Where should you look to invest in 2019? Our capital-markets editor John O Sullivan suggests the best strategy for the year ahead. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ...

With a dangerous Brexit deadline looming, our cartoonist KAL contemplates the British Prime Minister s next move. Is this one power struggle Theresa May is destined to lose? Click here to...

Islamist terrorism has fractured relations between Islam and the West. Robert Guest, our foreign editor, explains how Western Muslims are gradually becoming more liberal. Click here to subscribe...

Scientists believe there are oceans buried under thick crusts of ice on the moons of Saturn and Jupiter. Sampling them would raise hope of life beyond Earth https://econ.st/2WDdEe5 Click...

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Joe Biden currently stands a good chance of winning the presidency. He is a lifelong centrist, but could turn out to be the most ambitious Democratic president in generations. Read more here:...

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ISIS fighters are returning home to Europe. In Britain, half of the 850 citizens known to have joined ISIS have already come back. As France marks the two-year anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack on its soil, governments have to decide what to do with returning foreign fighters. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.st/2zC9F9M Many Europeans have gone to fight for ISIS, close to 6000 of them and those are just the ones we know about. With the caliphate crumbling, many of these foreign fighters are heading home. But what should be done about them? On November 13th, 2015, eight suicide bombers and a gunman attacked Paris, killing 130 people and injuring more than 400. The attackers were French and Belgian nationals, six of whom had returned from Syria where they had been fighting with ISIS, also known as ISIL or Islamic State What to do when fighters return is a major concern for western governments. One solution is to make sure they never come back. Many foreign fighters have been killed on the battlefield. James Mattis, the American Defence Secretary, says his aim is to make sure the rest won’t survive the fight to come home. Those who do survive will face legal obstacles. A number of governments, including Britain’s, have passed new laws to try to prevent fighters from returning. According to one security think tank, of the 850 of the British citizens known to have joined ISIS, half are already home. Around a third of German, and a quarter of Belgian fighters have also returned. And in France, the Western European country with the most foreign fighters, 271 have come back. Government’s have to decide what to with them. Even going to live in ISIS territory is a crime under EU law. Locking up returning fighters demonstrates a tough stance from government, and reassures the public. But prison poses its own risks. Many jihadists had previously been in jail before committing attacks. Convicted terrorists should be behind bars. But not all returning fighters fall into this category. Usama Hasan took part in jihad in the 1990s when Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan. Many foreign fighters travelled to Syria long before ISIS emerged and the brutality and beheadings began. They went to defend fellow Muslims in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Others went to live in the newly declared Islamic State, in search of a more pious life. Vera Mironova spent 7 months embedded with the Iraqi Special Operation Forces in Mosul, trying to understand what makes ISIS fighters tick. Many who went to live under ISIS have seen and done terrible things. Those who felt the caliphate did not live up to the utopian propaganda wanted out, but faced imprisonment if they went home. Not many governments are willing to offer returnees a second chance, but in Denmark they’re giving it a try. Instead of prison sentences, some get counselling and help finding jobs and housing. The aim is combat the root cause of terrorism. With ISIS almost defeated on the ground, it may seek to step up terrorist attacks around the world. The Danish authorities hope that former fighters reintegrated back into society will feel less alienated and disillusioned, traits that ISIS recruiters prey upon. But critics cite a lack of hard evidence that the Danish model is working, and rehabilitation is a hard policy to sell. It only takes one or two determined individuals to carry out an atrocity, so close surveillance of returning fighters is essential. Even those in prison may eventually be released. But keeping a close watch on just one person, long-term, takes a lot of manpower. So governments face the difficult decision of who to watch and who to ignore. Daily Watch: mind-stretching short films throughout the working week. For more from Economist Films visit: http://econ.st/2zC9FGO Check out The Economist’s full video catalogue: http://econ.st/20IehQk Like The Economist on Facebook: http://econ.st/2zC9GdQ Follow The Economist on Twitter: http://econ.st/2zDd4oI Follow us on Instagram: http://econ.st/2zBCuDh Follow us on LINE: http://econ.st/1WXkOo6 Follow us on Medium: http://econ.st/2zCUk8R

Democracy is in danger around the world. Perhaps for this reason, political engagement is at an all-time high. Robert Guest, our foreign editor, examines this year s Democracy Index, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Find out where your country ranks on the Democracy Index: http://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/01/08/the-retreat-of-global-democracy-stopped-in-2018 Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ.st/2xvTKdy The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index seeks to measure the health of democracy in pretty much all the countries around the world. It breaks this down into five categories: the electoral process, the functioning of government, civil liberties, political participation, and political culture. The scores range from Norway, which we rate as the most democratic country on earth, all the way down to North Korea a hereditary communist monarchy, which is by far the least. Although the world has obviously gotten a lot more democratic over the past century and the past thirty years since the end of the Cold War, since the EIU started measuring it which was in 2006 things appear to have regressed somewhat. Today, roughly half the world s people live in some form of democracy but by our rather strict measurements only about 5% live in what we call a full democracy, and a good third also live in solid authoritarian regimes with a big portion of that in China. One of the less gloomy findings is the political participation seems to be up - this is probably related to a widespread feeling in a lot of countries that democracy is under threat. The threats of fake news subversion by foreign powers such as Russia and the rise of authoritarian leaders from Hungary to Poland to all kinds of places means that people can t take democracy for granted anymore, and so you see a lot more people demonstrating in the streets, getting out to vote and organizing online. The most improved indicator was to do with women s participation in politics. Partly that reflects a genuine improvement in the status of women and the increased likelihood that voters are prepared to vote for them. Alas it also represents a certain amount of gaming the system - particularly by authoritarian regimes. Rwanda for example has a majority female parliament which sounds great until you realize that the parliament has no power whatsoever and the president is very much male. It might seem like a paradox that even as democracy retreats around the world political participation has gone up but it s not - it s a reaction against the fact that more and more people are aware that they are in danger of losing some of their democratic freedoms and they re not prepared to take that lying down. They re getting out there, they re voting more, they re organizing online, and sometimes they re demonstrating in the streets The biggest election in 2019 will be in India. As always it will be the biggest election held anywhere, ever. The fact that we don t know who s going to win - maybe the incumbent party, maybe the opposition, give you a sense that it really will represent roughly the will of a billion people. Another big one to watch is Nigeria that will be incredibly corrupt and quite a few people will get killed - but it s worth remembering that only a couple of decades ago in Nigeria was the dictatorship. That s not true anymore and despite the absence of a dictator, Nigeria has held together despite all predictions. It s another fine example in fact of how democracy does have the ability to hold disparate countries together because it reflects the will of the actual voters. A final big election to watch is for the European Parliament. Here we don t even know which countries are going to participate because we don t know whether Britain s going to be part of it or not so all eyes are going to be watching. Will the European Union hold together? Will the rise of the populist and the Nationalists continue? And my guess is that actually they ve peaked and this could be the start of their retreat. For more from Economist Films visit: http://films.economist.com/ Check out The Economist’s full video catalogue: http://econ.st/20IehQk Like The Economist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist/ Follow The Economist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theeconomist Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theeconomist/ Follow us on Medium: https://medium.com/@the_economist

Between 1969 and 1972 six Apollo missions returned to Earth with Moon rocks. It was hoped that they would unlock lunar secrets but they also ended up teaching scientists more about the creation of the Earth and the universe beyond. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ.st/2xvTKdy These have been described as the most expensive rocks in the world. Until NASA’s Apollo moon missions they’d laid on the lunar surface for millions of years undisturbed by humans. From 1969 to 1972 there were six Apollo missions which returned to Earth with samples. It was hoped they’d uncover secrets about the Moon - they ended up teaching scientists a lot about the Earth too. Nine containers of lunar samples were brought back to Earth. Scientists studying the rocks learnt a great deal about the many impacts early in the Moon’s development. These created huge craters - some the size of large countries. Ancient volcanic eruptions then filled some of these basins with vast plains of lava, creating the dry seas that can be seen by humans on Earth billions of years later. But the moon rocks also revealed the biggest impact was the one that created the Moon itself. Scientists found the Moon rocks to be surprisingly, perhaps disappointingly, like those on Earth. It turns out that the Earth and the Moon are chemically very similar indeed, as if twins. It was this revelation that led to a game-changing idea - The giant impact theory. The latest version of this theory involves the new idea of a synestia. In this theory the impact fills nearby space with a doughnut of hot vapour. Both the Moon and Earth are formed from the magma rain that resulted. The gravitational pull which binds the Moon and Earth to each other became the main cause of the rise and fall of the Earth’s ocean tides. Scientists believe these tides could have been crucial for the evolution of animal life on Earth by offering a route from under the sea to above it. For almost 50 years no human has returned to the Moon. Now missions are being planned to its unexplored territories. The hope of the next generation of scientists is that by studying new samples of rock they can unlock many more of the Moon’s secrets - and even some of the Earth’s. For more from Economist Films visit: http://films.economist.com/ Check out The Economist’s full video catalogue: http://econ.st/20IehQk Like The Economist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist/ Follow The Economist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theeconomist Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theeconomist/ Follow us on Medium: https://medium.com/@the_economist

El Salvador, Venezuela and Guatemala have the worst gun violence in the world. America s lax firearm laws are adding to their problems. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ.st/2xvTKdy Since 1990 the number of gun deaths worldwide has reached 6.5 million. Three quarters of gun deaths occur in just 15 countries. Latin America is home to some of the world s most violent countries by murder rate. El Salvador, Venezuela, and Guatemala are the top three countries for deaths caused by guns per population. These Latin American countries are marred by corruption, organized crime, and a dysfunctional criminal justice system that further fuels the problem. The availability of guns in the United States is another concern for these countries. An estimated 200,000 guns a year, that were first sold in the United States, are smuggled over the southern border and used in violent crimes in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the United States the constitutional right to bear arms has led to looser regulations and easier access to firearms. This contributes to the 30,000 men women and children who were killed with guns each year. Mass shootings attract their headlines but in fact these make up only 0.2% of gun deaths. 60% of gun related deaths are in fact suicide. America s suicide rate increased by 25% between 1999 and 2015 - with nearly 45,000 taking their own lives in 2015 alone. Half of these suicides were carried out with guns. Though guns aren t the most common method of suicide they are the most lethal. Other wealthy countries have far lower rates of gun violence. In Japan if you want to own a gun you must pass a written exam and a shooting range test, alongside a series of mental health, drug, and criminal record tests - it has virtually eradicated gun crime. After a mass shooting in 1996, Australia introduced an effective buyback scheme of firearms. In the 20 years following the ban there was an accelerated decline in total gun deaths. But in America the House of Representatives has not voted on a single measure to prevent gun violence and in some states such as Texas, where students at public colleges can now carry concealed handguns, the law has actually loosened. Easy access to firearms will continue to be the main driver of America s gun deaths. Daily Watch: mind-stretching short films throughout the working week. For more from Economist Films visit: http://films.economist.com/ Check out The Economist’s full video catalogue: http://econ.st/20IehQk Like The Economist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist/ Follow The Economist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theeconomist Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theeconomist/ Follow us on Medium: https://medium.com/@the_economist

The impeachment hearings have raised yet more questions about Donald Trump s conduct in office. The Democrats are hoping impeachment will undermine support for the president, but could it have the opposite effect? Read more here: https://econ.st/2OHB5Ro Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ.st/2xvTKdy For more from Economist Films visit: http://films.economist.com/ Check out The Economist’s full video catalogue: http://econ.st/20IehQk Like The Economist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist/ Follow The Economist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theeconomist Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theeconomist/ Follow us on Medium: https://medium.com/@the_economist

The cost of health care is unaffordable for many in the developing world. But while universal health care may sound like an impossible dream, it’s more achievable than you might think. Film supported by @bainandcompanyinsights 00:00 – The argument for universal health coverage is clear 00:57 – Thailand’s path to universal health coverage 03:31 – Universal health care around the world 04:48 – How to finance universal health coverage? 05:30 – Rwanda: from genocide to public health exemplar 07:19 – What is a pooling finance system? 08:01 – Which services make the cut? 11:17 – The economic benefits of UHC 12:23 – Could covid-19 be a catalyst for reform? Sign up to our daily newsletter to keep up to date: https://econ.st/3n3kIjj Read our special report on universal health care: https://econ.st/3gRa5QP Universal health coverage is in reach – here’s why: https://econ.st/3Fk09d8 How the coronavirus pandemic could reform care? https://econ.st/3gNRVjc America is the only developed country without universal health insurance: https://econ.st/3fbn2oa View all of The Economist’s coronavirus coverage: https://econ.st/3U5ZeB9 Why rich and poor countries can reap the benefits of universal health care: https://econ.st/3gEbKJu Why has Mexico s road to UHC been rocky? https://econ.st/3gIMlOR Why health services priorities must adapt to meet citizens needs: https://econ.st/3szum07 Covid-19’s legacy for public health: https://econ.st/3sDC35u Why more spending on mental health matters: https://econ.st/3gMr7zF Cutting edge – why improving access to surgery is important: https://econ.st/3DEKzHC