‘I didn’t know how to shoot’: how African men have been tricked into fighting for Russia Exclusive: Lured by false job adverts, they are unknowingly enlisted on arrival and put in mortal danger

"I didn't know how to shoot" • How African men have been tricked into fighting for Russia.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Kigali faces mounting pressure in Washington as Trump's peace deal for eastern DR Congo falters, prompting bipartisan calls for sanctions and deeper scrutiny of Rwanda's role in the conflict.
www.theafricareport.com/406835/congr...

ANC succession: Why talk of Motsepe’s bid is growing – and why he matters Billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe’s campaign for the presidency of the African National Congress goes mainstream.

Speculation is growing around a possible ANC leadership bid by the billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe.

www.theafricareport.com/405718/anc-s...

Russia in Africa, an economic power in appearance only - The Africa Report.com While pushing hard on diplomacy and security in Africa, Russia is also using economics to entrench its influence. The results are mixed.

Though pushing hard on diplomacy and security, Russia is a Potemkin power in Africa.
www.theafricareport.com/395215/russi...

Murder and unemployment in South Africa are back to highs last seen at the end of apartheid.

Worried political and industry leaders are now blaming a lack of leadership and weakening institutions.
www.theafricareport.com/395056/south...

Uganda’s army chief and son of the president, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, may be sitting out 2026 elections but his Patriotic League is embedding loyalists across parliament, cabinet and the ruling NRM.
www.theafricareport.com/393706/ugand...

Roughly a third of the cocaine consumed in Europe transits through West Africa, where Balkan crime syndicates have embedded themselves in the region's maritime trade.

Exploiting weak controls, they move shipments to Europe by way of Dakar or Abidjan.
www.theafricareport.com/392915/the-b...

Two intelligence reports sent to the head of state warned of a “political coup” inside the RDPC.

Fearing an opposition victory, the services also set out ways to keep the anti-Biya camp fragmented.
www.theafricareport.com/392790/camer...

The $10bn ‘unseen market’ of food in West Africa - The Africa Report.com Almost 85% of West Africa’s regional food trade slips under the radar, an OECD report has found – yet informal trade is contributing to food and economic sovereignty across the region. An exploration ...

$10bn • The average annual value of intra-regional food trade in West Africa over the past decade.

www.theafricareport.com/391925/the-h...

How a little-known coup leader became a Pan-African hero The Post traveled to Burkina Faso to shed light on President Ibrahim Traoré’s remarkable reinvention — from obscure junta leader to political icon.

President Ibrahim Traoré is reshaping Burkina Faso. But critics say he’s used Russian disinformation and repression to solidify his authoritarian rule.

Blackwater’s Erik Prince Muscles Back Into the Mercenary Business Prince has a new guns-for-hire firm to take overseas security jobs the White House doesn’t want to pay for.

Erik Prince has a new firm to take overseas security jobs the Trump administration doesn’t want to pay for.

www.wsj.com/world/americ...

Don’t get too chummy with China: Five things Fitrell told US Congress on Africa - The Africa Report.com The acting US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs has cautioned African states that deepening ties with China, especially on security, could jeopardise their relations with the US.

The acting US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs has cautioned African states that deepening ties with China, especially on security, could jeopardise their relations with the US.
www.theafricareport.com/385509/dont-...

EU to Africa: No more free cash The European Commission wants to strengthen the link between foreign aid and domestic priorities like energy and migration.

Europe wants "to extract more value" from its foreign aid under a controversial plan being sketched out in Brussels.

The EU intends to add conditions to funds transferred to developing countries, such as the need to stem migrant flows www.politico.eu/article/eu-t...

‘Commerce, migration and peace’: US State Department’s Fitrell lays out Trump’s priorities for Africa - The Africa Report.com The acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs says ‘breaking glass’ at government agencies will ultimately improve US-Africa ties

Commerce, migration, peace: US State Department's Fitrell lays out Trump's priorities for Africa.

The acting US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs says "breaking glass" at government agencies will improve US-Africa ties.
www.theafricareport.com/383729/comme...

Pakistan Hails Role of Chinese Jets in Repelling India Strikes Pakistan said Chinese fighter jets were used to respond to military strikes by India and that it has kept Beijing fully informed of its action as tensions in the disputed Kashmir region escalate.

Best ad ever ? • Pakistan said Chinese fighter jets were used to respond to military strikes by India and that it has kept Beijing fully informed of its action as tensions in the disputed Kashmir region escalate.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Ibrahim Traoré: Inside the digital cult glorifying Burkina Faso’s military leader - The Africa Report.com As insurgency intensifies and civic space shrinks in the West African state, a different kind of battle is unfolding online where AI-generated images, deepfake anthems and algorithmic fervour have tur...

As insurgency intensifies and civic space shrinks in Burkina Faso, a different kind of battle is unfolding online.

AI-generated images, deepfake and algorithmic fervour have turned the country's young military leader into a digital messiah.
www.theafricareport.com/383198/ibrah...

Cross-Border Shuffle: Refugee Movement Between Lebanon and Syria after Assad The demography of both Lebanon and Syria is in flux, after the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Thousands of people are now on the move, inside

Finally got around to reading this excellent, deeply researched report on the refugee flows between Syria and Lebanon since the end of Assad’s regime, and on what conditions govern refugee return more generally. Highly recommended!

@abujamajem.com
@centuryintl.bsky.social

tcf.org/content/repo...

L'ONU prépare une réforme radicale de son fonctionnement face aux contraintes budgétaires L’ONU se prépare à une réorganisation majeure, selon un mémo qui a récemment fuité. Cette révélation inquiète tout le personnel des Nations unies, de New York à Genève, où 500 fonctionnaires ont même…

Une des options prévoit notamment que les opérations du PAM, de l'UNICEF, de l'OMS et du HCR soient fusionnées au sein d’une seule et même agence.

Washington (25 % du financement de l'ONU) a annoncé vouloir réduire sa contribution.
www.rfi.fr/fr/monde/202...

Video: Six Deadly Minutes: How Israeli Soldiers Killed 15 Rescue Workers in Gaza Israel’s military said it was reacting to an immediate threat when it killed 15 medics and first responders in Gaza in March. But eyewitness accounts and an analysis of videos, audio and autopsy repor...

Tsahal said it was reacting to an immediate threat when it killed 15 medics in Gaza in March.

An analysis of videos, audio and autopsy reports show that soldiers fired over the course of 6 minutes at unarmed emergency workers who never posed a threat. www.nytimes.com/video/world/...

Trump Says He Asked Mexico to Let U.S. Military In to Fight Cartels President Trump confirmed on Sunday that he had raised the idea with his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, who rejected it.

Trump confirmed that he had pressed Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to let U.S. troops into the country to help fight drug cartels, an idea she summarily rejected.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/u...

Trump drops African Development Bank, creating $500m funding headache - The Africa Report.com Donald Trump plans to axe America’s contribution to the African Development Fund, the concessional arm of the AfDB. The decision, announced just days before the bank’s annual meeting in Abidjan, could...

Trump plans to axe America’s contribution to the African Development Fund, the concessional arm of the AfDB.

The decision, announced just days before the bank's annual meeting in Abidjan, could have serious consequences.
www.theafricareport.com/382963/trump...

AGOA ‘on life support’ as US tariffs whiplash African economies - The Africa Report.com South Africa will probably get kicked out of a trade preference program that got a last-minute reprieve when Trump backed down on tariffs

AGOA "on life support" as US tariffs whiplash African economies.
www.theafricareport.com/381336/agoa-...

Boulos’ big adventure: What’s behind Trump envoy’s DRC mission - The Africa Report.com Trump ties, a West African business dynasty and an abandoned tin mine – what to know about Massad Boulos, the US president’s new Africa adviser.

What's behind Trump envoy's DR Congo mission?

Trump may be hoping the Lebanese-Nigerian family member who helped him clinch the presidency can do the same for a minerals deal in DR Congo.
www.theafricareport.com/380621/boulo...

‘Mission South Africa’: How Trump Is Offering White Afrikaners Refugee Status The United States has banned most refugees, including 20,000 people who were already ready to travel to the United States before President Trump took office. But Mr. Trump is making one exception.

The Trump administration has thrown open the doors to white Afrikaners from South Africa, establishing a program called "Mission South Africa" to help them come to the United States as refugees. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/u...

Annotated Text From Leaked Signal Group Chat With Top Trump Officials The chat’s contents, which were obtained by The Atlantic after its editor in chief was added to the Signal group, provide a revealing look at private conversations between top Trump administration off...

Excerpts of a Signal chat published by The Atlantic provide a rare and revealing look at the private conversations of top Trump administration officials as they weighed plans for US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Israel-Hezbollah: Cocaine, diamonds, money laundering… Africa’s hidden war - The Africa Report.com Mossad and the Lebanese Shia terror group have turned the continent into their covert battleground, locked in a conflict that has simmered out of sight for years. From Douala to Abidjan, through Bangu...

Cocaine, diamonds, money laundering ... Mossad and Hezbollah have turned Africa into their covert battleground.
www.theafricareport.com/379707/israe...

The Far-Right Group Building a List of Pro-Palestine Activists to Deport Betar U.S. said it has shared with the Trump administration a list of the “names of hundreds of terror supporters.”

Betar U.S. said it has shared with the Trump administration a list of the "names of hundreds of terror supporters"
theintercept.com/2025/02/06/b...

Islands of injustice: The Chagos displacement and fight for sovereignty - The Africa Report.com Decades of diplomatic efforts, after the forced deportation of 2,000 Chagos Islanders more than 50 years ago, seemed to be on track to a resolution after a deal to transfer sovereignty was announced i...

Internal dissensions among Chagos Islanders and fears of China maintaining a foothold are just some of the issues plaguing a deal to remedy the forced deportation of over 2,000 between 1967 and 1973, which left a legacy of trauma and displacement.
www.theafricareport.com/375849/islan...

Barrick’s worst nightmare: Who is Mamou Touré, the brains behind Mali’s mining shakeup? - The Africa Report.com A former employee of Randgold and co-founder of the consultancy Iventus Mining, Mamou Touré plays a key role in renegotiating Mali’s mining contracts. This go-between is at the centre of a stand-off p...

A former employee of Randgold and co-founder of the consultancy Iventus Mining, Mamou Touré plays a key role in renegotiating Mali’s mining contracts.

This go-between is now at the centre of a stand-off pitting his country against the multinationals.
www.theafricareport.com/375993/barri...

Pete Hegseth confirmé de justesse par le Sénat à la tête du Pentagone, malgré les controverses Cet ancien major de l’armée et ex-présentateur de Fox News va prendre, à 44 ans, la direction d’un ministère doté d’un budget pharaonique de 850 milliards de dollars annuels et employant quelque trois...

Pete Hegseth confirmé de justesse par le Sénat à la tête du Pentagone.

Cet ancien officier de l’armée - et ex-présentateur de Fox News - va prendre, à 44 ans, la direction de la 1ere armée du monde et d'un budget pharaonique de 850 milliards $ www.lemonde.fr/internationa...