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.

House prices have been going through the roof. Many people want roomier homes and have

sucked away the cash to buy them. But there's reason to believe that prices won't come

down when the stimulus programs and supply chain problems end. And as a child, April Ashley

prayed to wake up as a girl. Years later, she answered her own prayers with surgery. She

danced with Elvis, she adored champagne, then a tabloid splash ended the glamour. Our

obituary's editor remembers Britain's first transgender activist.

But first, this week civil unrest has gripped Kazakhstan. What began on Sunday as limited

protests against fuel prices escalated and fast. As the week wore on, the demonstrations

grew more widespread and more violent with attacks on government buildings and infrastructure.

Dozens of people have been killed and thousands detained.

Protesters called for the entire political system to go. By Wednesday Kazakhstan's president

Kasim Jomart Tokayev had sacked his cabinet and the Prime Minister. And he called for backup.

This today forces led by Russian troops arrived to help quell the violence. Overnight

president Tokayev claimed that order had been restored. He's due to address the nation

later today. But with a media blackout, it's hard to know just how ordered things are

and whether this is the end of or just a pause in and uprising.

This all began when the price of fuel rocketed in Kazakhstan, particularly in one particular

region after the government ended subsidies on a particular type of gas that is used by

many people in Kazakhstan to run their cars. And that's what sparked the protests.

Joanna Lillis writes about Central Asia for the economist and is based in Almaty in Kazakhstan.

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