Due to the fuel crisis in Mali, bus drivers (and other communal transit drivers) are striking.

Kenyans forced/conscripted into the Russia army to fight in Ukraine...after promises of paid work (explicitly NOT military) by Russian labor recruiters.

"Carbon stays abstract until it enters a farmer’s compound as a conversation about trees.

Worth a read:

Has there been a comparison among the most recent US presidents regarding the number of US drone strikes and their geographic proliferation to places that were are not "at war" with?

More than 200 people were victims of this landslide, including miners, children and market women," were killed at the Rubuya coltan mine. Franck Bolingo, an artisanal miner interviewed at Rubaya by AFP, said people were believed to be still trapped inside the mine.

For many..., the insurgency & violence have often served to unite Nigerians w/ different religious identities against a common enemy: the groups making their life a misery. The danger of T’s narrative of this being a war on Xians is that it could undermine such efforts to build cross-community trust

Goma, Bukavu, & the Rubaya mine all remain in the hands of M23. Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesman for Congo River Alliance (AFC), a coalition of rebel groups including M23, recently reiterated there are no plans to relinquish control of the 2 provincial capitals. (quoting African Insight substack)

"It was revealed on 3 February that US involvement is now deeper than previously thought, with the military announcing that a small number of troops with “some unique capabilities” have been deployed to assist Nigeria’s counterterrorism efforts." (quoted from African Insight substack)

There is a suggestion in this article that the US would leverage military aid for expelling Africa Corps from Mali.....

18 Senegalese fans were arrested & held after the AFCON final (18 jan). They have begun a hunger strike. "se plaignant d'avoir été interrogés par la police "en français et en arabe" alors qu'ils ne comprennent "que le wolof" ... Ils demandent qu'"au moins", on "écoute (leur) version des faits".

Even Senegalese politicians appear in the Epstein files!

The tirailleurs sénégalais' role in French conquest of Congo memorialized....& symbolized as deep historical ties between Senegal and RofC Faye will visit the de Brazza Memorial. This site commemorates the "collaboration" between de Brazza & Sergeant Malamine Camara in the colonization of the Congo

The multi-pronged strategy that Niger is taking with Orano and this uranium is fascinating....

So, some details regarding why Nick Checkers is in Mali..... Washington's primary objective is to revitalize counter-terrorism cooperation in the Sahel, specifically through potential intelligence sharing and joint operations with the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

Really? Wow.... "the Malian transitional authorities and state media have remained silent on the incident." at least 20 fuel tankers were destroyed and the teamsters were executed on the side of the road.... Mali is looking to neighbors to find another fuel route

France and Chad...."breaking up is hard to do"

That's quite the AI image.....it weirdly made me think of Scrooge McDuck. To the point of the article, the military juntas (among other West African countries) are introducing "reforms" into the artisanal gold sectors as well as renegotiating international agreements with large private corporations.

Before Traoré seized power in 2022, Burkina Faso had over 100 registered political parties, w/ most parliament seats held by the People’s Movement for Progress. Analysts believe this move will further limit separation of powers & restrict autonomy in civil and political spaces.

Why is it a morning show in France?

Given what we saw during Afcon...I was curious about the hydrological situation in Morocco....

Quite the eye-catching headline....there is no explanation for it in the text.

Connections between Senegal & the Republic of Congo go back to the 1870s, when Senegalese militiamen accompanied French-funded "scientific" missions up the Congo River... Senegal wants help with hydrocarbon tech/politics and Congo wants to send nationals to Senegal's universities...

Enforcing of article six of the US "peace" deal?

Réfugié au Tchad depuis le début de la guerre, il dit avoir voulu faire un aller-retour au Soudan pour aller livrer de la farine et du sucre à sa famille. "J'ai été attaqué par un drone".... Un fragment métallique de cinq millimètres vient de lui être retiré de son crâne enflé.

"Grok is alleged to have contributed to the dissemination of illegal content, including Holocaust denial material and sexually explicit deepfakes. Prosecutors say these concerns prompted investigators to expand the scope of their inquiries."

The president of the independent union of teachers is condemned to a year in prison (in Chad) for, "usurpation de titre, incitation à la révolte, rébellion et trouble à l'ordre public."

Who is Nick Checker? Why would Mali re-open relations with the US at this moment? What does this mean at a time when the US invaded Venezuela? "Nick Checker a tenu, lui, à rappeler le respect de son pays pour la souveraineté du Mali." A veiled threat?

France - Procès en appel des assistants FN : Le parquet requiert 4 ans de prison, dont un ferme, et 5 ans d’inéligibilité contre Marine Le Pen www.lemonde.fr/politique/ar...

The ways in which neighboring countries are involved in fighting in Sudan is frightening....

The first time that I've read that JNIM is systematically executing the teamsters driving the fuel trucks. The article calls it a "new intensification" and doesn't provide the nationality of the drivers--who were conveying fuel across the Senegal/Mali border.

The incomparable Awa Thiam....

CAN final--when I heard that Senegalese fans were entering the pitch, I vaguely thought---why only Senegalese fans and how are they identified? The pictures are something. The "A" in SENEGAL on the field brandishing a chair. This is now marketing for AFCON 2028...or African football generally?

A vision of a "Senegambian" watershed stretching from Mauritania to Guinea-Bissau. Boubacar Barry was correct. "Hydro-diplomatic" cooperation FTW?

"water bankruptcy" is a new to me phrase. Can a river file for state protections to prevent development that is net negative in water usage?

This article has quite the opening....

Fela Kuti to receive lifetime Grammy Award.....

It's like France and Chad can't muster a permanent breakup. Also, is this a dated photo? Where are Macron's aviators?

Facilitators from the African Union are doing their bit...? Le président de la République a échangé, jeudi 29 janvier, avec le panel de Facilitateurs de l’Union africaine sur les initiatives de paix en RDC et dans les Grands lacs.

Ibrahim Traore is not interested in democracy--esp. the press and political parties. After suspending all political parties in 2022, he has announced that they will be dissolved.

Dozens of fuel trucks destroyed in Mali....

These numbers are wild -- both fiscal penalties and suspended games.

First time I've read "remotely directed mercenary." Niger's forces responded to an attack (made up of mercenaires telecommandés/teleguindés) on an air base near Niamey.

A status change so that Burkina can develop nuclear futures with assistance from....ROSATOM

I can't tell if this is an ad for the company that built it or the investors? None of the reporting that I've seen speaks to ongoing conflict in Burkina about capturing resources. Won't JNIM see this as a potential chess piece? Where is the local context for this reporting?

Ghana is revising its mining code--and trying to regulate the artisanal and unregulated components of the industry.

The discourse (at least what I'm reading in FR/EN) is shifting from China to UAE in terms of expanding its presence in Africa. China seems far less interested in funding/fueling militarization and more interested in infrastructure. Whereas UAE is about ores, minerals, & military investment.

There have been several journalistic pieces like this recently...speculating about the vortex of violence in Sudan and how it is affected neighboring countries--I've even seen people concerned about whether the conflict will compare to that of "Africa's World War" (DRC, Rwanda, Uganda).

Former Oakland Athletic, Sean Doolittle....