Hello and welcome to the intelligence from the economist.

In New York, I'm John Fassman.

And in London, I'm Jason Palmer.

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

The Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian folk rap group won this year's Eurovision contest.

But instead of displaying their trophy, they auction it off to buy drones for Ukraine's

Army, just one of many examples of crowdfunding in this war.

And only the most accomplished pianists tackle the works of Rachmaninoff.

And only the more daring of those would pick piano concerto number three.

Yet an 18-year-old Korean virtuoso has found new deaths in it during the prize-winning

recent performance.

But first, after weeks of will she won't she, the speaker of America's House of Representatives

Nancy Pelosi, second in line to the presidency arrived in Taiwan yesterday.

Today, she met with President Tsai Ing-wen.

Today, our delegation, which I'm very proud, came to Taiwan to make unequivocally clear.

We will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, and we will proud of our enduring friendship.

It was the highest-level visit from an American official in a quarter century.

As promised, China, which claims sovereignty over the island, reacted furiously to the

visit, positioning amphibious tanks on a beach facing Taiwan even as Ms. Pelosi arrived.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the visit an outright farce.

For the guys of democracy, he said the US is infringing on China's sovereignty.

Beyond the rhetoric, China lined up plenty of economic sanctions and military plans, including

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