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.

As the use of capital punishment has receded in much of the world, more and more people are sentenced to life in prison instead.

We look at how that affects the lives of juveniles with no prior record, and the elderly with no prospects of reoffending.

And in a little town of 1,500 people, the ways of the old Russia are still strong.

Agrarian, deep-running faith, conservative.

But San Javier is a town in Uruguay.

First up, though, Over the weekend, Afghanistan's acting interior minister warned citizens not to fall prey to Taliban propaganda, assuring them that the capital

Kabul would be safe. But it was not safe. Kabul was the last bastion of government control,

and any pretense that the government had any, disappeared as reports emerged that President Ashraf

Afghani had fled the country.

Afghanistan is now squarely under Taliban rule, just as it was 20 years ago when America

invaded.

This morning, the Taliban released a video claiming a great victory,

congratulating the people of Kabul on their new leadership

and claiming now is the time to give serenity to the nation.

Serenity is distant.

Crowds continued together at Kabul Airport, hoping to hitch rides on the evacuations

being haphazardly arranged by Western powers.

There was always a risk that as American forces and NATO allies withdrew from Afghanistan,

that the Taliban would surge. But with three times the troop numbers, no one predicted the Afghan

...