Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm your host Jason Palmer.

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

In principle, British law allows for children with severe epilepsy to receive medical cannabis.

In practice, only a handful of patients have received it. We ask why a proven treatment

isn't being given to those with the most need.

And alcohol has long been illegal in Saudi Arabia, but under a reformist crown prince exceptions

keep multiplying. This weekend a new booze you can use question. Will the winner of a

formula one race in Jeddah celebrate with champagne?

But first more peacekeeping troops are being sent to the Solomon Islands following an outbreak

of deadly violence. Troops from New Zealand are joining an Australian-led mission deployed

after protests calling for the removal of the islands by minister. Demonstrators tour

through the capital, Honyara last week, ransacking businesses and burning buildings leaving

three people dead. The string of Pacific islands is no stranger to ethnic unrest, but

this time it's got a worryingly international dimension to it.

The Solomon Islands is a tiny state. It's a scattering of islands with only 700,000

people. Don Exegler writes Banyan, the economist's column covering the Asia-Pacific region.

There are dozens of language communities scattered across those islands, and there have been

long-standing tensions between some of those. Those tensions have been exacerbated by a

geopolitical struggle that is taking place across the Indo-Pacific region between China

and the United States.

OK, so help me understand the source of the tension now. What's going on in terms of

the disputes on the islands?

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