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The Economist

Hello and welcome to the The Economist.

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. In China, the number of protests seems to be on the rise, but what's changing most is how and why demonstrations happen.

Our correspondent looks at a complex loop of social media and the diaspora that magnify simple pocketbook issues.

And if it's widely accepted that messing around on your phone screen while driving is a bad idea, why should the car's touch screen be any different? As buttons and switches disappear, we examine the dangers of the tap, tap, tap. First up, though.

The European Union has been absolutely hammering Russia with packages of sanctions since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Recently, the European Commission's boss Ursula von der Leyen proposed another.

Again and again President Putin has escalated and in response, Europe is increasing its pressure.

This is why today I'm presenting the 19th package of sanctions.

Meanwhile, America has targeted thousands of Russian individuals and entities with sanctions.

Yet the day before Ms. von der Leyen's announcement,

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed a recession is a long way off,

talking up what he called his country's historic low unemployment.

So it's time to ask Callum Williams, our senior economics writer,

...