Ecowas commission president Omar Alieu Touray: "In the event the authorities’ demands are not met within one week, take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. Such measures may include the use of force."
youtube.com/live/aYw-yOjDf… "To this effect, the chiefs of defense staffs of Ecowas are to meet immediately."

American media never reckoned with the disastrous effects of the 2011 Libya intervention, which is part of the reason Tony Blinken, Susan Rice, Samantha Power and Michèle Flournoy never faced any consequences for their actions and are poised to lead the US war machine again The war in Libya was disastrous on so many levels. It never actually ended and has morphed into a protracted civil war that has killed 10s of thousands and become a proxy for fighting between France, US, Turkey, Russia, UAE, Qatar and Egypt

Update: the 50 or so African detainees at Pine Prairie who protested their conditions started a hunger strike on Thursday. Some of them were beaten by ICE guards after they refused to eat their food and tried to exit the cafeteria to go back to their dormitories

https://twitter.com/joepenney/status/1290361394999721985

Here are two Cameroonian detainees showing their arms in makeshift slings. They said at least 8 guards attacked them as they tried to leave the cafeteria without eating, kneeling on their necks and dislocating two of their shoulders

One overlooked aspect of the way imperialism worked and why reparations from Europe make sense for African countries is how the current currency systems were implemented in the first place. When British and French (+other) colonial troops illegally took over a region for colonial administration, they forced an extractive poll tax on residents in that region. They collected that poll tax in currencies that they set up from banks that they controlled.

Just got to Sochi to cover the Russia-Africa summit for @pass_blue and I see Erdogan’s plane making a dramatic landing Dozens of heads of state are here for this summit, including pretty much all the big names. On the table are huge military and economic deals, especially in nuclear energy. Nigeria expected to buy weapons for Boko Haram fight, Rwanda to ink deal for nuclear power plant

Why did the U.S. and its allies bomb Libya? I wrote about how illicit funds Sarkozy is said to have received from Gaddafi in the run-up to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election influenced France's decision to intervene in 2011: interc.pt/2jdu2jZ The story of Sarkozy’s strange relationship with Gaddafi begins in 2003, when the United Nations lifted harsh sanctions against Libya that were imposed in the wake of the Lockerbie bombing. France was also developing a close business and intelligence relationship with Libya. 2/