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.

For decades, Democrats and Republicans fought hard and relatively evenly for rural voters.

But recently, rural America has grown solidly Republican.

The next episode of our midterm series heads to Maine to see how Democrats are fighting

back.

And much of archaeology pushes back the first known date of some activity by a little bit.

But on the island of Borneo, an incomplete skeleton reveals a shocking discovery,

providing the first known instance of surgery by 24,000 years.

But first, Russia is escalating its war in Ukraine.

To tell of his address this morning, President Vladimir Putin announced Russia's largest

military mobilization since the Second World War.

In the pre-recorded speech, originally planned to air last night, Mr. Putin raised the

specter of nuclear weapons, warning the West against what he called nuclear blackmail.

He also spoke about plans announced earlier this week to hold referendums in Russian

back regions of Ukraine.

For Russians who saw the speech, the prospect of being pressed back into military service

will bring the war, worryingly, close to home.

Well, it means that the Russian army can now call up for military service, citizens who

are in the armed forces reserved.

Shashank Joshi is the economist defense editor.

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