Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist.

In London, I'm Jason Palmer.

And in New York, I'm John Fassman.

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

In some places, school meals are free for the most needy.

In others, they're free for every child.

We look at the evidence that the meals provide much more than just calories and consider

what can be learned in places that are expanding access to free meals.

And Indians have long tended to prefer having sons to daughters.

That led to an unusually large imbalance in the number of boys to girls being born.

That gap appears to be narrowing, which is good news, even if it's not quite clear

why it's happening.

But first, here we come.

He's riding a motorcycle.

The president has arrived on a motorcycle.

His wife, Michelle, is behind him on another motorcycle.

He's waving.

And he's going to give us speech.

Before this, there was an air show with planes doing loops in the sky.

Sarah Masslin is our South Polo Bureau Chief.

And yesterday, she was at Brazil's Independence Day celebration.

I'm standing near the military forward at the end of Copacabana Beach in a sea of yellow

...