text:  You're listening to the World Service of the BBC. The coup leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will launch a new regional bloc today. It's called the Alliance of Sahel States and is really an alternative to the long-standing ECOWAS regional grouping, which you'll have heard us talking about many times over the years. The military governments have expelled French and American forces fighting violent jihadists and are forging closer links instead with Russia.