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.

Climate debates tend to be dominated by talk of big countries and big carbon emitters,

but the world's thousands of tiny islands which climate change might swallow whole have

banded together to form a potent negotiating force.

And India produces some of the world's finest scientists and engineers. Earlier this month

its space agency very nearly pulled off an incredible low budget moon landing. So why does so much

of Indian science funding involve mysticism and Kaodong?

But first, much of Donald Trump's tenure as president has been marked by slow motion

drip feed scandals, allegation, denial, investigation and then a slow fade from the news.

But the controversy surrounding his phone call with Ukraine's president Vladimir Zelensky

is unfolding like a pacy thriller. Today the acting director of National Intelligence,

Joseph McGuire, will be grilled by a whistleblower's report of the call. For months talk of

impeachment hasn't risen above a murmur. This week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a

change of heart.

I'm announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.

The president must be held accountable. No one is about to fall.

Mr. Trump has admitted that he spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart about investigating Joe Biden

his probable rival in next year's election. The question now is whether the president

used hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid as leverage to get his bidding done.

A majority of the House seems to think so. In the Senate, so does top Democrat Chuck Schumer.

To any of my Republican colleagues think this phone call reflects a president pursuing

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