West Africa
EUROPE
Côte d’Ivoire Tells French Army to Leave
French soldiers will withdraw from Côte d'Ivoire by February, ending a 60-year military presence as the country moves towards full independence, following a broader trend across West Africa.
BUSINESS
Three Military-Led States Leave ECOWAS
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger's exit from ECOWAS reveals deep fractures over leadership, security, and regional independence in West Africa.
Popular
Anti-Bardella Performative Resistance Falls Short
Culinary protests splatter and legal verdicts land; Jordan Bardella rides economic fatigue to dismantle the cordon sanitaire shielding the French presidency.
Meloni in Manama: The Sakhir Declaration and Gulf Security
Missiles over Doha have turned the Sakhir Declaration from standard diplomacy into a survival blueprint, pushing the Gulf toward self-reliance and Europe ties.
The Rome-Moscow Connection: How Italy and Kyrgyzstan are Keeping Russian Trade Alive
While Europe builds a wall of sanctions against Russia, Italy has found a backdoor, shipping goods through the mountains to Kyrgyzstan.
EU-US Trade Talks: Price of Sovereignty on the Factory Floor
Brussels rejects trading digital sovereignty for tariff relief, leaving European steel workers to bear the heavy cost of a deepening transatlantic deadlock.
The Pope’s Turkey Visit: Eastern Mediterranean as Christianity’s Foundation
Pope Leo XIV's first papal journey to Turkey from 27-30 November 2025 placed the eastern Mediterranean once again at the centre of Catholic imagination, inviting Europe to reconsider how geography shaped its tradition.
