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

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

European Union countries love to poke fun at their neighbors, relying on national stereotypes.

But our correspondent was surprised to find how commonly that typecasting happens in Brussels,

the Union's administrative heart.

And you might think that all sand is the same, and that it's easily available all over the world.

You'd be wrong. Smugglers are making a fortune mining the most useful stuff.

But this gritty trade has serious environmental costs.

First up, though.

The US and Russia have a historic perspective.

Yesterday's State of the Union speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin started with some

unsurprising bread and butter chat about the country's declining population and its social safety net.

But then he dropped a bombshell.

Mr. Putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes that could extend his time in power.

Hours later on State Television, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that he and the entirety

of the cabinet were resigning. To give Mr. Putin the opportunity to make all the necessary decisions

to push those constitutional changes through.

As it stands, Mr. Putin is due to step down in 2024 when his second consecutive term ends.

But he's engineered ways to stay in power for 20 years already.

And it seems that now he's found another.

Vladimir Putin has stunned everybody by announcing firstly a complete revision of the Russian Constitution,

quite what the details of that are going to be a complete Yubtskyo, and secondly firing the government in effect.

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