Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Paulmark.

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

The internet has become the second most popular way for Americans to meet a mate, and the

digital dating market is far more efficient than the offline kind. But it comes with its own

protocols and pitfalls. And there's something not quite right about a video that India's

Railways Minister posted of the country's new high speed train.

But first, it's been called the final battle.

In a province of eastern Syria, Islamic State is clinging on. A group that once counted 10

million people in its caliphate and controlled a border spanning area roughly the size of Britain

is now confined to a tiny pocket of land. It's surrounded. After a four-year operation, American

backed Kurdish forces expect victory to come in days, not weeks. And when the fighting is over,

American troops will leave. We've been fighting for a long time in Syria. I've been president for

almost two years and we've really stepped it up. And we have won against ISIS. We've beaten

them and we've beaten them badly. We've taken back the land. And now it's time for our troops to

come back home. The decision to withdraw has been questioned by the Pentagon's own internal

watchdog, which has cautioned that without sustained pressure, Islamic State could resurgence

in Syria within six to 12 months. The days of grandeur have well and truly over. The caliphate,

which spanned the territory from the Iranian border all the way over to the Mediterranean,

and its peak has shrunk to a square mile. Nicholas Pellum is our Middle East correspondent.

There's a village on the banks of the northern bank of the Euphrates close to the Iraqi border,

where Islamic State and its remnants are hemmed in, they're surrounded on all sides,

and a few hundred fighters, perhaps 500, 600, are fighting on. You've got intense American aerial

...