Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm your host, Patrick Lane,

filling in for Jason Palmer. Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events

shaping your world. For decades, China's one child policy was

police through forced abortions and heavy fines. Now the government wants women to have

more children, so it's beginning to adopt new tactics. And in India, millions of devotees

are enthralled to self-professed saints. We hear about the billion dollar businesses and

questionable motives of the so-called Godmen and Godwomen.

First up though.

On Monday, Ethiopians Prime Minister Arby Ahmed was sworn in for a new five-year term

after winning what he said was nearly 90% of the vote in controversial elections held

earlier this year.

He pledged to work with other political parties to overcome the country's political and

economic problems.

But for many Ethiopians, Arby's promise rang hollow. Much of the opposition boycotted

the vote. About a fifth of constituencies were not able to take part at all. That's

because the country is in the midst of a bloody civil war, which started a year ago and

shows no sign of abating. In the north of the country, the federal government is fighting

the Tigray people's liberation front. Our East Africa correspondent Tom Gardner recently

returned from a trip to the region.

So I went to visit China, which is in Amhara region, that's in the north near Tigray.

And the first thing that strikes you when you arrive there is it's an adilic scene. You

see yellow daisies which blossom after the long rains in Ethiopia.

...