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 shaping your world.

Some things gone very wrong at Wirecard, the German digital payments firm.

A couple billion dollars seemed to be missing.

The warning signs were there, in particular short sellers betting big against it.

But only now are the details spilling out.

And a study of African football suggests that when a country's national team wins a big match,

national unity and trust among ethnic groups goes up.

The feeling seems to have lasting effects too.

Sometimes violence is measurably down even months later.

First up though.

In Afghanistan, there are some signs of progress towards a long-d for and elusive peace.

The Afghan government and Taliban militants are set to begin peace talks in Qatar as early as this month.

The weight in negotiations was paved in February when America and the Taliban signed a peace agreement

with the goal of a near total withdrawal of American troops.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum earlier this month,

American General Kenneth Mackenzie expressed cautious optimism.

So I think the government of Afghanistan is poised to begin those intra-Afghan negotiations.

That is going to be a key event.

That's days in the future.

And that's going to be a hinge moment, I think, in the future of Afghanistan.

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