Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

New York City has picked its Democratic candidate for mayor from a crowded field.

The election was a high-profile trial run for ranked choice voting,

which went off almost without a hitch.

It was also assigned for Democrats elsewhere not to veer too far left.

And life for gay people is notoriously difficult in the Middle East,

where homosexuality is often criminalized.

But a close look at past scholarship and literature suggests the region once had

far more fluid attitudes towards sexuality.

First up, though.

The president of Haiti was assassinated in his home early Wednesday morning.

The country's interim prime minister has declared a state of emergency in the country.

He said an armed commando group shot and killed Jovenel Moise and injured his wife.

Last night, police said they had killed four of the people responsible and arrested two others.

Foreign leaders have condemned the assassination.

Today, the UN Security Council will hold a closed door meeting about it.

Mr. Moise had plenty of enemies and detractors.

For months, protesters had been calling for his resignation.

They argued his term was up, but he cozyed up to gangs that he had his hands in the country's till.

In recent weeks, gangs have had the upper hand.

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