The Economist

Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist.

And I'm Rosie Bloor.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

We've been tracking the growing jihadist threat in the Sahel region for years.

It's growing fastest in Burkina Faso, where the ways and means of the charismatic president's crackdown have just been labeled war crimes.

And if you're drinking less alcohol than you used to,

you may still find that at the end of the day you want to kick back

and have a relaxing drink of something.

Our correspondent finds his glass half empty and looks for an appropriate replacement.

But first... Talks between America and Iran over the weekend could have reshaped a relationship defined by

almost half a century of hostility. More realistically, some hoped that at least they'd come up with a

deal to buy time and stave off a renewal of fighting. Instead, it ended with a three-minute press

conference and no deal.

Though the conflict hasn't resumed yet, America has now embarked on a new strategy,

a blockade of ships using Iranian ports and coastal areas.

When America and Israel launched their war on Iran back in February,

most observers expected Iran would choke off shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

I think very few people expected that less than two months later,

Donald Trump would essentially do the same thing himself.

Shashank Joshi is our defense editor.

I think Trump hopes that economic strangulation of Iran is going to work where bombardment has

...