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.

Many call Muhammad Daif the Phantom because he operates so effectively in the shadows.

He transformed Hamas from a cluster of terrorist cells into a force capable of invading Israel.

Our correspondent lays out what little more is known about him.

And there aren't many dinners more typically French than steak fleet.

The meat and potatoes par excellence.

Problem is jumping on steak in France is now all tied up with politics.

On bistro menus soon the steaks won't be high.

First up though.

Africa's Sahel region, a continent-spanning band to the south of the Sahara Desert,

has a large and growing problem with jihadist insurgencies.

But along with that threat, democracy itself has been under fire in the region in the past few years.

A string of coups has removed elected governments from power.

First it was Mali which had two of them in nine months, the first in August 2020.

Then Guinea in September 2021, then Burkina Faso in January last year, and again eight months later.

And in July this year, it was New Jersey's turn.

Senegal at the Sahel's western tip has, by contrast, long been a bastion of democracy in the region.

But it, too, now faces rising instability, with violent street protests ahead of presidential elections that are due in February.

For the incumbent president Mackie Sal, things look rocky both at home and across the wider Sahel region.

Our Africa correspondent Kinley Salmon went to meet him.

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