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Niger's military leader, speaking alongside the junta chiefs from Mali and Burkina Faso, has said they are "irrevocably" turning their backs on the wider West African bloc, Ecowas.

The three men are meeting together for the first time to cement an alliance created in the face of opposition from neighbouring countries.

Soldiers took power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023.

All three countries – which now form the Alliance of Sahel States - have been affected by jihadist violence, in part a reason given for the army takeovers.

In January, they all announced a plan to leave Ecowas, which is holding its own summit on Sunday.

Speaking at Saturday’s meeting in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, the country's leader, Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani, said that in the place of Ecowas, the junta chiefs wanted to build a community of sovereign peoples "far from the control of foreign powers. A community of peace, solidarity, prosperity based on our African values.”

Gen Tchiani is hosting the talks with Burkina Faso’s Capt Ibrahim Traoré and Mali’s Col Assimi Goïta.

In a message on X, external, the Burkinabé leader said that "together, we will consolidate the foundations of our true independence".

Speaking at the summit, Capt Traoré went on to say that "this continent has suffered and continues to suffer from the fire of the imperialists. These imperialists have only one cliché in mind: 'Africa is the empire of slaves'."

Security co-operation is high on the agenda, but the alliance, known by its French acronym AES, will also look towards forming closer economic ties, including the aim of creating a common currency. This would be a rejection of the France-backed CFA Franc, which is used in many states across the region.

All three countries have expelled French soldiers who were there as part of an anti-jihadist mission and turned towards Russia for military assistance.

Calls for greater sovereignty and a rejection of the former colonial power have been a key part of the rhetoric coming from the junta leaders.

The countries have also resisted calls from Ecowas for a rapid return to civilian rule.

Capt Traoré arrived in Niamey a day ahead of the meeting and was welcomed with an enthusiastic reception. Television pictures show cheering crowds waving Nigerien and Burkinabé flags.

Among them was Sidi Mohamed, the head of the National Youth Council.

"Today, as Africans, we are very proud to see a summit where it's an African summit, a summit where states have decided to pool their energies, to pool their forces to create an alliance for their development, without any foreign stakeholders, without any counterparts from the powers that are used to ruling over us,” he told journalists.

Col Goïta arrived on Saturday.

The presidents of the wider West African bloc will have their chance to respond at a heads of state meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Sunday.

They are also due to announce the activation of a standby force to fight regional insecurity.

Over the past decade, the Sahel has become an increasing focus of Islamic State militant activity, creating insecurity and instability.

The juntas in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have so far failed to quell the violence.

TLDR:

• they basically met in person for the first time at a summit (as the Alliance of Sahel States)
• they are activating their own standby force
• they are looking towards closer economic ties and a common currency

Image 1: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/protesters-make-signs-with-their-arms-in-front-of-kenya-news-photo/2157587094
Image 2: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/protesters-chant-anti-government-slogans-during-a-news-photo/2157587157
Image 3: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/protesters-hold-a-kenyan-flag-outside-the-kenyan-parliament-news-photo/2158620244

maybe there are better images online but gettyimages tend to look pretty good

for context, a finance bill was brought by Ruto's government to bring in austerity measures, mainly by increasing taxes - initially including 16% sales tax on bread and 25% duty on cooking oil - to reduce national debt with notable pressure from the IMF.

protestors have been notably agitated as Ruto was voted on a platform of increase the wealth of the poor, leading to relatively large protests in Kenya and especially in Nairobi.

I don't even know where to begin with this. I've had relatives reaching an almost rage state because I was wearing a keffiyeh. I've gone to charity walks and some random uncle asks me where I'm from (basically trying to interrogate whether I'm Muslim or "from Pakistan"). I've seen a temple that I've gone to many times suddenly allow a BJP overseas group to rent their hall. At that same event I just happened to walk in, so I took some shots with my camera only for some thug to try to physically remove my phone from my hand and push me back to the exit/door with the help of his buddies. They immediately were like "why are you wearing Muslim thing?" because I was wearing a keffiyeh (nevermind the fact that I was wearing a regular indian kurta, etc., it was even their "favorite color" orange lol).

These guys are totally foaming from the mouth hindu nationalists (actually fascists is more appropriate) and they're not just in India, they're in the US as well. I've never had any white person say anything to me when I wear a keffiyeh. In fact I've had ppl low key give thumbs ups or say "nice" but with these fucking uncles (and yes they are always middle-aged indian uncles) it's like a coin toss. Some think it looks cool (and have no idea what it means), whereas others see it and immediately think I'm some sort of terrorist. And btw my family is moderately high caste Hindu, and I think caste is complete bullshit, but I only mention it because if these fucking fash uncles don't know that ahead of time, they'll immediatley think you're Muslim/Pakistani/terrorist by the things you wear. I'm going to continue rocking the keffiyeh but fuck these fucks.

Comrades, keep an eye out for these shitheads.

Also would love to hear any sort of stories from other comrades about family/friends/etc who have hindu nationalist views and how you dealt with it.

hey yall! how we doin? im feeling pretty great, got some positive life developments, and im going to the aquarium tomorrow! come chat, vent, or joke!

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2828077

The Patriotic Liberation Front, which is fighting for the release of former president Mohamed Bazoum, who was overthrown in a coup last July, said it was behind the attack earlier this week.

anyone heard of the "Patriotic Liberation Front"? i can't find them anywhere and my general assumption for random armed groups with no prior info is that this is a Western-backed op

That's all...

hey yall, hows it going. come chat, vent , joke around! em poc only!

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2777622

piped: https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=E_AdBqXbbXs

very good playlist

have it on loop rn

so sorry for the delay yall. ive been touching tons of grass lately. how about yall, whats going in in the real world? ive been doing org, stuff, jobs stuff, reading stuff, friends stuff, and concert stuff. lots of stuff but somehow at the same time not enough stuff. you know when you come out of a depression and you wanna overload yourself? anyway how the heck are ya? em poc only

how are yall doing this week? ive been pretty stressed myself but good things are around the corner. come chat, vent and joke! em poc only thread.

With this month being pride month and my partner's birth month, I've been thinking a lot about celebrations, but there's also another one I want to acknowledge as well: Caribbean American Heritage Month.

My Afro-Caribbean family has definitely shaped me with a lot of the cultural considerations of where they come from. Although I've had a rocky path with many of my family members and in the way their culture gets them to think about queer people, I don't want to feel shame in it.

As I'm learning while still struggling to move toward a path of self-love for myself in all respects, as hard as it's been as of late, I don't want to forget about including all respects. Accepting myself as black is one thing, but acknowledging how my family and heritage has shaped me is another. I have a long history of wanting zero to do with my cultural upbringing, even to a point where I upset my uncle one time by being ashamed of saying that my folks hail from Trinidad and Tobago, and as I lessen my internalized racism more and more, I hope to not only overcome shame in my skin color but also acknowledge that Caribbean culture and people can be beautiful as well.

i live in a predominantly white area so i get some racially-motivated and provocative comments from time to time

i just ignore them with a clear look of disapproval (+ sometimes a side-eye) because i don't have the time to educate every single random stranger and it's just not something i want to bother myself with (though i know i should to an extent).

i feel like replying with an insult that they won't understand would make it very clear that i take offence with that they said/did without them reacting to what i actually said and would make me feel better that i retaliated rather than keeping quiet.

(plus responding to an ignorant comment with something they'll be ignorant of feels pretty retaliatory to me)

so what are some non-English (or obscure English) retaliatory insults? ideally they should be a common insult (though it's optional ig), short and should sound like an insult to an English speaker

EDIT: to clarify, i'm not concerned about further escalations as virtually all of these exchanges happen in passing where no one is able to continue the conversation (which is why i'm okay with responding in a potentially rude way).

but maybe ignore the last point about the insult sounding like an insult. saying an unknown phrase in a different language should be enough to suggest my disapproval

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2653829

instead of usb booting a custom Tails instance every time to defend their glorious revolution

SO SORRY FOR POSING LATE FOLKS, the 3 day weekend threw me off. yall got today off? if so what are ya up to? come chat, vibe. vent. as usual no crackers, em poc only

this was an interview between contributing editor Ann Garrison and Execute Director of Friends of the Congo Maurice Carney.

on May 19, 2024, he [Christian Malanga] died in a quixotic coup attempt involving a force of some 50 armed men and lasting for all of three hours in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa. Reports are that three of his men and two Congolese police officers were also killed, and that the rest of the men were arrested.

On the same day, in a more serious and significant undertaking, two Morehouse College professors [Samuel Livingston and Cynthia Hewitt] held up a Congolese flag behind President Joe Biden as he addressed the 2024 graduating class.

how is everyone doing this week? im ready for it to be June already. come chat, vent, joke around. also, what is your personal song of the summer so far? for me its still alter ego by doechi.

hey yall, how are yall doing this week? sorry for the late post i was up past 5 am talking to my friends. whats new with yall?

GUYS! THE KENDRICK DRAKE BEEF IS INCREDIBLE I THOUGHT THAT MEGAN V NIKKI WAS GONNA BE THE BEST BEEF ALL YEAR BUT NOOOO. i hope drake is over over. also if kenny doesn't get megan on a track what are we even doing here. come chat, vibe vent about what ever!

hey yall! come chat vent vibe! yall know the drill, how was your week? em poc only!

weekly thread yall, whats up whats new? come chat, vent, vibe

Very good article from a very good website

come vent, chat, celebrate, share a life update, and complain about the crackers. EM POC ONLY.