I love this profile of a thriving Chinatown in Bamako by @rchason.bsky.social. The presence of ordinary Chinese entrepreneurs across Africa is always so much more grassroots and diverse than people might think if they only read 'Belt & Road' coverage

Mali has grown used to crises amid a 13-year insurgency. But residents, officials & experts say what’s happening now is different. We reported from Bamako on how JNIM pulled off a fuel blockade that has crippled much of Mali and now threatens the government: wapo.st/3IVCrIp

NEW: The U.S. has ramped up intelligence-sharing with Mali’s repressive military-led gov, officials say, as it targets al-Qaeda & Islamic State affiliates wreaking havoc in W. Africa That’s part of a broader Trump admin push for re-engagement on the Sahel, despite Mali’s work w/ 🇷🇺 wapo.st/4n3cKEi

In just the past few months, JNIM has overrun cities & military bases in Burkina Faso & Mali; waged the deadliest attack in the history of Benin’s military and expanded its hardline rule across the region. Our @washingtonpost.com story, with @adrianblancoramos.bsky.social: wapo.st/3FGnzMi

Israel's anti-war protests have largely avoid what's happening in Gaza, instead focusing on bringing the hostages home & anger at Netanyahu. After Israel ended the ceasefire, a group of Israeli women decided to change that.... Free link to full story: wapo.st/3GicwsA

🎸🇲🇱 A tribute to Amadou Bagayoko of Amadou & Mariam, featuring his childhood friend, mentor, and son. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/w...

For those needing a fun news break, I present: The meteorite hunting herders of the Sahara Meteorites fall with the same frequency around the world, but are especially easy to spot in some places. Mauritania is one of them With @guypeterson.bsky.social Free link: wapo.st/4j9Md6i

In the past few days, there’s been a deluge of letters from Israelis — including from those on the frontlines of the war — calling for the hostages to be brought home and the fighting in Gaza to stop. Our @washingtonpost.com story on the growing anger: wapo.st/4idILqd

“Mali was really a black box,” said Lou Osborn, the founder of All Eyes on Wagner. “The images we saw of Wagner in the country were not from Russians. Now Russians are communicating.” Latest from @rchason.bsky.social & I www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Across the Sahel, juntas are limiting freedom of speech. Journalists, activists & politicians have been arrested, disappeared and even sent to fight Finding examples wasn’t hard but finding people who still dared speak was Mohamed Attaher was clear—he wanted his story told…

DEATH IS OUR BUSINESS launches today! Grounded in my five years working in CAR, Mali, Libya, Ukraine, and Syria. Featuring interviews with 40 #Wagner mercenaries, executives, and affiliates. www.amazon.com/Death-Our-Bu...

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...

On today's @lawfare.bsky.social podcast @rchason.bsky.social & @johnalechner.bsky.social help us understand forces that have converged in the Sahel over the past couple years through a series of portraits, including a militia commander, coup leader, defiant broadcaster, Russian mercenary, and more.

Suppressing reports that show severe harm. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

This past weekend, @washingtonpost.com published our 16-page special section on the Sahel — a region of the world that over the past decade has been transformed by conflict. A thread below of reporting highlights from 12+ trips to the region & each of the stories in 📰

Pick up @washingtonpost.com's Sunday paper, where @rchason.bsky.social's profiles from the Sahel get the full insert they deserve. Was honored to contribute with the interview with "Nazar," a Wagner mercenary who fought in Mali from 2021 - 2022.

Massive change is underway in the Sahel, where extremism is soaring; democracy declining & Russia rising. Over the past year, I've spoken to those shaping this history, including a jihadist; coup leader; mercenary & more. Our @washingtonpost.com series: wapo.st/4gSNEnM

President Trump’s sweeping freeze on U.S. foreign assistance has threatened programs intended to counter al-Shabab bombmakers, contain the spread of al-Qaeda across West Africa and secure Islamic State prisoners in the Middle East. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Read this from @khoureld.bsky.social, who reported from the frontlines of Puntland’s fight against the Islamic State. “Puntland’s soldiers are now locked in a grinding fight — one with major international implications, but without Western support.” www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Trump’s decision to suspend or cancel billions of dollars’ in foreign aid is deepening humanitarian crises and putting untold lives at risk, recipients and aid workers tell @khoureld.bsky.social in Nairobi and @rchason.bsky.social in Mauritania www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union had far less than the West to offer in development aid. So one of the ways it gained influence was through grants for students, said @ulflaessing.bsky.social Our @washingtonpost.com story in print today on the role of those students now: wapo.st/42aGp6Q

For Sahel/Russia in Africa watchers, some more details from our recent reporting in Burkina Faso on the role that former students in the USSR + Russia have played in Russia’s current outreach efforts in West Africa. Gift link: wapo.st/3BRYe05 + some fun tidbits not in the story threaded below:

In Burkina Faso, I met a half dozen former students — now doctors, engineers and businesspeople — who’d studied in the then USSR. Now, they’re integral to Russia’s influence operations in this part of West Africa. Our @washingtonpost.com story: wapo.st/3DKMug9

“Their existence contradicts its official narrative: that security is improving and people are safely returning home.
Those who fled to Ouagadougou…find fear instead of respite” Read @monikapronczuk.bsky.social reporting from Burkina on the IDPs: apnews.com/article/burk...

Awesome reporting from @schmidtsam.bsky.social, Arturo Torres and @anthonyfaiola.bsky.social on the Albanians role in a booming cocaine tracking industry, including record seizures in Africa www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

For much of last year, Gambia was debating a bill to roll back a ban on female genital cutting The effort failed, but something that kept coming up as we reported there was women opening up about one of the most common, and usually least discussed, repercussions of FGM — loss of sexual pleasure…

"More than 100,000 Palestinians have been driven from the affected areas over the last 11 weeks, according to the UN." Israel is demolishing northern Gaza and fortifying military positions. New from Miriam Berger @imogenpiper.bsky.social Hazem Balousha @evanhill.bsky.social 🎁 wapo.st/4gFoSrO

Despite the failure of international plans to cut plastics pollution, the Gambia is redoubling its efforts. A new bold roadmap hopes to eliminate plastic over the next decade. As experts believe the world will soon be “unable to cope” with the volume of plastic waste. My latest @theguardian.com ⬇️

When Israel ordered citizens to evacuate border regions more than a year ago, it allowed poor migrant farmworkers, most of them from Thailand, to stay put — to water crops, prune trees and harvest fruit as rockets fell around them. Six have died this year. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Russia has excelled at marketing itself in Africa. “They are much better than the Europeans or Americans at selling themselves. The West funds 90% of development needs, but you never hear about that,” says Ulf Laessing of Konrad Adenauer Foundation www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

No shortage of devastating stories. But this one, for me, was wrenching to report: Asian farmworkers are being killed in Israel's borders, dying in a war a world away from home. Their governments are desperate for this to stop. In @washingtonpost.com today: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

#Niger 🇳🇪

Hi! My name is Rebecca and I cover Southeast Asia for The Washington Post, with occasional stints elsewhere. I’ve reported from nickel mines in Indonesia, rebel command centers in Myanmar, and loads of places in between. Follow along for stories on (imo) the most interesting place in the world 🌅

French uranium giant Orano says it has lost the "operational control" of its branch in Niger (which must be an equivalent for "coup" in corporate language, I guess)

In the paper today, our @washingtonpost.com story about efforts by Africa Initiative to boost Russia’s popularity in Burkina Faso, where many say they’re desperately looking for allies as they confront soaring violence. Free link: wapo.st/3OBH4Xf

Africa Initiative in Burkina Faso was clear on their soft power efforts on the ground — book deliveries, sports competitions, movie showings and raffles among them — but *much* less clear about its relationship with Russia… Free link to the @washingtonpost.com story and a thread: wapo.st/4gbItPX

Promoting favorable views of Russia in the post-Prigozhin era - an interesting case of an effort called Africa Initiative in Burkina

Trump’s win has emboldened West Bank settlers wapo.st/3D4ECpp

“The Russian and Burkinabe people need each other.” Shifting dynamics in the Sahel are not just military. The African Initiative is one group helping to boost the Kremlin's image. As Russia increases effort to garner soft power in the region. Fascinating report from @rchason.bsky.social ⬇️

The African Initiative is part of an opaque network of groups that Western officials and analysts say the Kremlin uses to boost Russia’s image — and tarnish that of Western countries — as it seeks to restore its influence in Africa.

Last month in Burkina Faso, I met the president of Africa Initiative, who let me spend a few days with the group — giving a window from the ground into one of Russia’s main conduits for soft power in the region Free link to the story here & will thread some reporting highlights: wapo.st/4gbItPX

#Mali Diphtheria, Malaria, the aftermath of horrendous flooding, drone strikes by government forces, and control by Tuareg rebels, Tinzaouaten near the Algerian border is in a dire state. www.reuters.com/world/africa...

"L’incendie et la peur nous ont fait déguerpir comme des animaux": dans les camps de réfugiés en #Mauritanie, @liberation.fr a rencontré des Maliens qui racontent les exactions des mercenaires de #Wagner, alliés de l'armée malienne.📸@dcoreraphotography 👇 www.liberation.fr/internationa...

Interesting analysis. I would also like to note the number of countries in the region now signed up to the Trump-led pro-life/anti-abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, including Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Senegal www.christianpost.com/news/global-...

Hey all 👋🏼 I love covering West Africa, which recently has meant a lot of trips to the Sahel and stories about the changes underway there. It’s also meant finding the unexpected gems, like this dance troupe competing in Burkina Faso A free link to one of my favorite stories: wapo.st/4i7p4kO

Here's a starter pack to follow the @washingtonpost.com's international journalists go.bsky.app/M6MFQsC