Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

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

The global discussion about racism sparked by George Floyd's murder in America has made its way around the world,

including to the Middle East, where many countries have black minority populations, each of which faces discrimination and worse.

And the solution to a 150-year-old mystery. A plague of bugs wiped out most of Europe's vineyards in the 1860s,

but it was never clear how they made their way to the continent, until now.

First up, though. First up, though.

The squeeze on political freedoms in Hong Kong is ramping up and fast.

On Friday, the Territory's chief executive, Kerry Lamb,

announced that September's planned elections would be postponed for a year.

In the past seven months, I've always had to make difficult decisions.

But then the announcement I have to make today is the most difficult decision that I have to make in the past seven months.

Mrs. Lam insisted the delay was only to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

The decision to postpone the 2020 electoral election has nothing to do with politics, has nothing to do with the likely outcome of this round of elections.

But pro-democracy parties had hoped for success in the poll,

riding a wave of discontent at Beijing's recent imposition

of a sweeping national security law.

The legislation broadly defines and harshly punishes

subversion, sedition, or collusion with foreigners.

Nathan Law, one of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy activists, recently spoke with

our sister podcast, The Economist, asks.

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