There is no “i” in team. But there is one in “autopilot”. ⁠ ⁠ Despite the growing importance of teamwork in organisations, the processes used to manage employees are carrying on much as before. ⁠ ⁠ Bosses may wax lyrical about collaboration, but the way they reward, review and recruit has not caught up.⁠ ⁠ Tap on the link in our bio to read how to build and manage successful teams. ⁠ ⁠ Illustration: @paulyblow

During the last week of October, Delhi’s air quality began its seasonal shift from unpleasantly foul to sickeningly filthy. ⁠ ⁠ As temperatures dropped and clouds heavy with brown particulate matter drifted in from neighbouring states, the official rating of air quality in India’s capital went from “poor” to “very poor” and then “severe” in places. ⁠ ⁠ This means that Delhi’s air, the most polluted of any big city, is now hazardous to breathe even for healthy people. It is likely to remain so for much of the next three months.⁠ ⁠ The average resident of Delhi loses up to 12 years of life to air pollution, according to a recent study. Yet to read why a political row is hampering change, click on the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ Photo: Getty Images

Latin America’s murder map is being redrawn. The region’s homicide rate has been falling since 2017, although countries such as Mexico and Brazil are still home to some of the cities with the highest murder rates on Earth. ⁠ ⁠ But in previously safe countries murder rates are hitting record levels, including Ecuador, Costa Rica and Chile. Call it the new narco network: a cocktail of drugs, guns and migration is fuelling gang violence across the region.⁠ ⁠ What does this new narco network mean for the countries that were once among the region’s success stories? ⁠ ⁠ Many citizens will vote with their feet. Tap the link in our bio to discover why those who stay at home may turn to more extreme solutions.⁠ ⁠ Photo: Victor Moriyama/The New York Times/Redux/Eyevine

When you’re dealing with a shadowy group like Hamas, David Meidan explains, finding the right channel of communication is everything. “You have to find the right mediators. You have to gain their trust.” ⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in our bio to meet Israel’s top hostage negotiator, who believes it is the state's moral duty to get its citizens back. ⁠ ⁠ Photos: Adas Parush, Getty, Ilya Malinkov/Ynet, GPO⁠ Illustrations: Michelle Thompson⁠

Swipe to learn more ➡️ On October 7th, Israel and Palestinians had roughly equal shares of support on social media. ⁠ ⁠ By October 19th pro-Palestinian posts were 3.9 times more common than pro-Israeli ones. ⁠ ⁠ But tap the link in our bio to discover why this online trend might not reflect overall public opinion.

When people start out in adult life, they are, on average, pretty cheerful. Things go downhill from youth to middle age until they reach a nadir commonly known as the mid-life crisis. So far, so familiar. ⁠ ⁠ The surprising part happens after that. ⁠ ⁠ Although as people move towards old age they lose things they treasure—vitality, mental sharpness and looks—they also gain what people spend their lives pursuing: happiness.⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in our bio to learn how this curious finding has emerged from a branch of economics that seeks a more satisfactory measure than money of human well-being.

Israel’s ground offensive is entering a dangerous new stage. On November 5th the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) unleashed a series of devastating air strikes in and around Gaza city. ⁠ ⁠ The goal was to damage Hamas’s tunnel networks; now Israeli troops are advancing into the city centre where they believe Hamas’s underground headquarters is located.⁠ ⁠ In horrific scenes more than 10,000 Palestinians have already been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.⁠ ⁠ As the number of civilian casualties soars, Israel’s “window of legitimacy”, as Israeli officials describe it, is fast closing in the eyes of the rest of the world. ⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in our bio to read why international pressure will only increase as fighting intensifies inside Gaza city.⁠ ⁠ Photo: AP

“I will not be relaxed until we have a ceasefire”—we spoke to Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Click the link in our bio to read more about his peace plan for Gaza #Lebanon #Israel #Palestine #Gaza

During the past year Shein and Temu, two ultra-fast-fashion upstarts with Chinese heritage, have waged an internecine legal battle in America. ⁠ ⁠ Singapore-based Shein accused Temu, which has invaded its territory in America, of stealing its trademarks and using social-media influencers to disparage it. Then, at the end of October, Reuters reported that the firms had suspended hostilities.⁠ ⁠ To observers in the West these goings-on might once have seemed like an entertaining sideshow. But they illustrate that the cut-throat drama of Chinese e-commerce has now arrived in America.⁠ ⁠ No one likes to say this out loud, but for all the talk of Chinese-American decoupling, China-linked e-commerce platforms are muscling into American business with the same shock-and-awe tactics that TikTok used to besiege social media. Tap the link in our bio to read why American tech giants are in a new world order.⁠ ⁠ Illustration: @brett.ryder.illustration

Amid the bloody struggle in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, a potentially more dangerous contest looms between America and Iran.⁠ ⁠ Joe Biden’s administration had abandoned the Trump-era approach of “maximum pressure”, and in recent months had quietly sought to reduce tensions. ⁠ ⁠ Today, however, not only has Iran celebrated Hamas’s attacks and, through its proxies, threatened American interests. It also appears to be acting with the tacit co-operation of Russia, and even China, in a loose grouping of autocracies.⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in our bio to read about the grave questions this raises for the American president.⁠ ⁠ Image: AFP

Foreign news usually gets short shrift in India. ⁠ ⁠ Yet for the past month the country’s television channels have been dominated by wall­-to-­wall coverage of events in Israel and Gaza, mostly from Israel’s perspective.⁠ ⁠ The media’s fascination with Israel’s plight and retribution coincides with a marked shift in the Indian government’s stance on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.⁠ ⁠ It has moved from backing the Palestinians to more or less unqualified support for Israel.⁠ ⁠ To learn what this pivot reflects, click on the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ Illustration: @samislandart

Sequels are never as good as the original. And when the original was terrible, there is even more reason to dread the next episode. ⁠ So it is with “Tariff Man Part Two”. In the White House, Donald Trump put more new tariffs on American imports than any president in nearly a century. His thinking was simple: “I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so.”⁠ ⁠ Mr Trump’s protectionism made America poorer, did little to help exporters and fed the inflation that the country is still struggling with. If he wins the Republican presidential nomination and goes on to win the election, he has vowed to ramp up things. ⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in our bio to read why that is a terrible idea.⁠ ⁠ Illustration: @anthonywgerace