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.

The United Kingdom isn't always as united as the name suggests. Back in 2014, a referendum

on Scotland's independence failed by just a few points. Now there are signs that nationalism

in Wales is on the rise, and a decades-old bit of graffiti provides a clue.

And our correspondent finds himself in a Chinese factory that makes chairs, but not just

any chairs. These beefy seats are to be found in every one of the country's halls of power,

and it turns out that how they're arranged in a room is an indication of how negotiations

will play out. But first, my colleague Ann McElvoy has been looking into the news from the weekend.

After a year of talks, America and the Taliban seemed on the verge of making peace. Last week,

an American envoy said a deal had been struck, and both sides were waiting for President Trump

to approve it. The deal would have seen American soldiers leaving the country in exchange

for the Taliban reducing violence and refusing assistance to al-Qaeda. But over the weekend,

President Donald Trump abruptly halted the negotiations. Tweeting that he'd called

off a planned secret meeting with Taliban leaders and the Afghan President at Camp David,

he cited a recent bombing by the group that had killed 11 Afghans and won American soldier.

The American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo re-emphasized that withdrawal from Afghanistan

remains a priority for the Trump administration.

The $30 plus billion a year that we're spending there is not a sustainable model,

and he wanted to reduce that.

The President campaigned on a promise of getting American forces out of the country.

It's a huge priority for him to get out of Afghanistan. It's popular, there's elections

...