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.

This week, Peru's Congress booted out its president, again. For decades, the country has

lurched from one leader to another, often amid graphed allegations. Now, with the pandemic

raging and a fragmented political scene, stability looks ever more distant.

And in Sweden, booze is only sold in government-run shops. Until recently, no one mind it, thanks

to a strong temperance movement. But small producers are itching to sell directly to tourists,

and the state monopoly may not pass go.

First up, though.

Jihadists are entrenching themselves ever further in the Sahel, a continent-wide strip of

semi-arid land just south of the Sahara Desert. There are former Islamic state fighters

ousted from the Middle East, Al-Qaeda associates, and a number of ethnic militias. The Sahel's

hinterlands are far from any city. State laws don't hold. Public services barely exist.

Last year, nearly 5,000 people died in battles or acts of terror in the region, a six-fold

increase on 2016. An estimated four million people have fled their homes.

This week, 60 world leaders are among those who have gathered online for the Paris Peace

Forum, where the crisis is being discussed.

A United Nations peacekeeping force has a remit to patrol and to help rebuild the

embattled region. But most combat missions against the Jihadists are led by several thousand

French troops, some of whom are based in the city of Gau in Mali.

Well we arrived in Gau by plane, but then took a French military helicopter, which flew

at low altitude, extremely fast, for about an hour to get to this advanced base that

...