2026-01-20
23 分钟The Economist.
Hello and welcome to The Intelligence from The Economist.
I'm Jason Palmer.
And I'm Rosie Blau.
Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.
In the books about long-ago pirates on the high seas, anything goes.
Turns out it's the same story for fishermen today.
There just hasn't been a workable international treaty to protect the high seas and their fishy bounty.
Until now.
And just in case your New Year diet involves drugs too, you'd better listen to this one.
The rise of weight-loss medicines has led some fancy restaurants to offer tiny meals at fancy prices.
Sounds like an unhappy meal to me.
But first.
Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is taking a gamble.
Yesterday, less than a hundred days into her term, she called a snap election.
Parliament will be dissolved on Friday, and elections for the powerful lower house held on February the 8th.
That makes it the shortest campaign in Japan's post-war history.
And it comes little more than a year after the previous poll.
Since becoming Japan's first female prime minister, Takaichi's approval ratings have been consistently high.
Less so the group she heads, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party or LDP.