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.

Senegal is known as one of West Africa's most stable countries, but not in recent days.

Protests exploded after the last plausible opposition figure was detained.

It's not just anger about politics that's spilling out into the streets, though.

And there was a time when mobile phone owners could express their individuality through the medium of ringtones.

Song snippets and viral clips were big business, yet no one thinks about them now.

We investigate a sharp change in tones.

But first, this week, America's House of Representatives will vote on a sweeping COVID relief bill.

It's the final hurdle before the $1.9 trillion piece of legislation ends up on President Joe Biden's desk.

Everything in this package is designed to relieve the suffering and to meet the most urgent needs of the nation.

In its final form, the bill follows the White House's wish list pretty closely, $1,400 checks

for most Americans, and billions of dollars in funding for vaccines, testing, and reopening

schools. White House Press Secretary Jen Saki said funds would be sent out swiftly.

We expect a large number of Americans to receive relief by the end of the month.

The vote in the House is expected to be an easy one. The tricky part was getting the bill

through the Senate, which

happened over the weekend. There, Democrats have the thinnest possible majority, a diverse caucus,

and painstaking parliamentary rules to follow. And the particulars of the bill's passage are an

indication of the coming political combat in Washington. Republican senators tried to limit the bill a bit.

Idris Kaloon is the economist's Washington correspondent.

So they forced a reading of the entire bill on the Senate floor.

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