Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi is a host and reporter for Planet Money, telling stories that creatively explore and explain the workings of the global economy. He's a sucker for a good supply chain mystery — from toilet paper to foster puppies to specialty pastas. He's drawn to tales of unintended consequences, like the time a well-intentioned chemistry professor unwittingly helped unleash a global market for synthetic drugs, or what happened when the U.S. Patent Office started granting patents on human genes. And he's always on the lookout for economic principles at work in unexpected places, like the tactics comedians use to protect their intellectual property (a.k.a. jokes).
Tens of thousands of people in the former Soviet republic of Georgia have been protesting a Russia-style draft bill they say will hurt free speech and democracy.
There is a split-screen of media coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli channels focus on the Oct. 7 attack, the soldiers and the hostages, while Palestinian media highlights daily suffering.
The latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks ended in Cairo. Meanwhile, Israel closed its main crossing point for delivering badly needed humanitarian aid for Gaza after Hamas attacked it.