Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm Edward McBride, filling in for Jason Palmer.

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

American diplomats have been fighting corruption in Eastern Europe for a long time.

But the impeachment hearings in Washington are undermining their work

by creating the impression that America's politicians behave just like their Eastern European counterparts.

And Jerusalem's cemeteries are running out of plots

since both Jews and Muslims typically prefer to be buried rather than cremated.

The answer, one Israeli company believes, is to build a huge catacombe 18 stories underground.

But first.

For nearly six months, anti-government protests have raged in Hong Kong, becoming ever more violent.

This weekend, the push for change on the streets was echoed at the ballot box.

Hong Kongers came out in record numbers to vote in local elections.

The vote was widely seen as a referendum on the protests and on the administration of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Pro-democracy campaign has made unprecedented gains, sending a clear signal to the Hong Kong government

and to the Chinese authorities in Beijing.

Yesterday, there were local elections in Hong Kong which normally are a small scale affair,

but the outcome I think surprised everybody.

Dominic Ziegler is our senior Asia correspondent, based in Hong Kong.

The vote was very, very firmly for the Democratic camp that has been behind nearly six months of protests.

Last time around of the 18 district councils in Hong Kong, the Democrats controlled none.

As of now, they control 17 of those 18. It's an extraordinary result.

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