BILLIONAIRE  BASKET CASE ECONOMY

US national debt exceeds $40 trillion for first time amid rising borrowing

The US gross national debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, Treasury data showed on Wednesday, exceeding earlier forecasts as borrowing, interest costs and long-term obligations rose. Total public debt reached $40.05 trillion on Tuesday, above a Congressional Budget Office forecast of $39.4 trillion by end-fiscal 2026.


Issued on: 20/08/2026 
By: FRANCE 24

The National Debt Clock is displayed, Monday, April 7, 2025, in New York

 © Yuki Iwamura, AP


The US gross national debt has surged past $40 trillion for the first time, government data showed Wednesday, outstripping earlier forecasts at a pace fuelled in part by President Donald Trump's invalidated tariffs.

The uptick in borrowing comes as longer term US obligations linked to social security and health care have been growing, while interest payments have climbed as well.

Total public debt outstanding stood at $40.05 trillion at the close of business Tuesday, according to data released Wednesday by the Treasury Department.

This stands in contrast to an earlier forecast by the Congressional Budget Office that overall borrowing would hit $39.4 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2026.

Rising US debt comes as concerns over inflation, war in the Middle East and government spending have been driving investor worries, and the cost of borrowing has grown.

Yields on long-term Treasury bonds rose Tuesday to the highest level since 2007, reflecting growing price pressures due to war on Iran and anxiety over US deficit spending.

The increase forces the US government to refinance debt at the highest rates since before the 2008 global financial crisis.

But the US Treasury Department moved to steady the long-term bond market early Wednesday, sending yields lower.

The federal government operates at a deficit and borrows money to help cover its obligations, including its war spending and tax cuts.

"It's been well known for a while that the United States government was on a pretty unsustainable path with deficits," said Jessica Riedl, a budget and tax fellow at the Brookings Institution.

"Over the last few years, the United States has moved into roughly $2 trillion deficits, even during peace and prosperity," she added.

While deficits of three percent to four percent of GDP used to worry financial markets, she noted that levels are closer to six percent to seven percent of GDP now.

"That has made markets more nervous," she said.

As inflation pushed interest rates higher, interest costs on the debt have risen as well, and costs linked to an ageing population are pushing up deficits.

Risks ahead

Analysts note that there is no debt-to-GDP level that automatically triggers a crisis.

Although the gross debt marks a symbolic threshold, many economists consider debt held by the public to be the most economically meaningful measure.

"But psychologically, these are the landmarks that warn financial markets that they need to take another look at rising debt," Riedl said.

Federal borrowing surged during the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and increased following the government's response to the downturn triggered by Covid-19, said Caleb Quakenbush, director of fiscal policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

But he told AFP that the trajectory of US budget spending has not been addressed by Congress or US administrations in a "meaningful or durable way."

He warned of uncertainty surrounding the "unprecedented levels of borrowing that we're seeing now."

Bond markets could face steep challenges in a crisis scenario, he noted.

But even outside that situation, the United States could see higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, squeezing the economy.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had previously set a goal of cutting the US deficit to three percent of GDP.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Angélique Kidjo says Hollywood star is 'for Africa, but also for France'

Singer Angélique Kidjo has become the first black African performer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – telling RFI the honour represented “a door opening” at a time of global turmoil.


Issued on: 19/08/2026 - RFI

The five-time Grammy winner unveiled her star on Tuesday at a ceremony in Hollywood attended by film stars and music industry figures.

“I never imagined I'd be here – never,” the 66-year-old Beninese-born singer told RFI's Clothilde Hazard after the ceremony.

“In this moment of chaos we're living through, moments like this give me hope, a reminder that when we work together and set aside the rhetoric of hatred and division, we create beauty everywhere.”

Kidjo has built an international career spanning more than 40 years and 18 albums. She has also been named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people.

She said she felt "a huge amount of emotion, and disbelief" on receiving the star.

"If anyone had told me one day I'd have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I'd never have believed them,” she said. “That's the power of music. Music takes you to unexpected places, makes things happen.”

Kidjo sings after receiving a Grammy award in 2020 – one of five in her more than 40-year career. AFP/Archivos

Angélique Kidjo and the women of Africa

Africa's gift to the world

The singer used the occasion to underline the influence of African music around the world.

“We Africans don't know what we've given to the world,” she told the crowd at the ceremony. “Without us, there's no music possible on this planet.”

After thanking her team and family, Kidjo broke into song.

Harvey Mason Jr of the Recording Academy described her as a “rare artist” and said her work had helped build connections across the global music community.

“This star is a permanent symbol; it's not going anywhere, and it's a symbol of your achievements,” he said. “But your legacy, it lives in the people that you've touched, that you've inspired, the barriers that you've broken, the connections you've created all around the world.”

Actor Willem Dafoe also praised Kidjo's energy on stage and her humanitarian work through the Batonga Foundation, which supports the education of girls and young women in Africa.

A tribute to France

Kidjo joins white South African actor Charlize Theron in representing the continent on the Walk of Fame, among more than 2,700 other stars.

She said the honour belonged not only to Africa and Benin, but also to France, where she restarted her career after arriving in 1983, citing oppression from the country's then communist government.

“This star isn't just for Africa and my country – it's for France too, because I've spent so much time there, and I married a Frenchman,” she told RFI.

“French culture has also shaped my inspirations in various ways – through songwriters like [Claude] Nougaro and [Charles] Aznavour. There were so many artists I listened to as a child who've stayed with me in the work I do. So really, this star is for everyone.”

New opportunities

Kidjo said young African musicians now had opportunities that were not available when she began her career.

“With the internet, young people today can find success instantly,” she said. “And that's a good thing, because they get to be exactly who they want to be, without carrying the weight I had to carry.”

African pop and the Afrobeats movement has gained global recognition thanks to a younger generation of artists including Nigeria's Burna Boy, Ayra Starr or Wizkid – with whom Kidjo has recorded duets.

Asked whether she'd helped in changing perceptions she said: “Probably – through the work I did before them, and because they grew up listening to my music.

"I think it gave them a work ethic too.”

 

Beninese-French singer Angélique Kidjo makes history as first Black African to get Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Copyright AP Photo

By David Mouriquand

Published on 19/08/2026 -  EURONEWS

“By becoming the first African artist to receive this global honour, the Beninese icon has etched her name into history and raised the rhythms, creativity and dignity of our entire nation to the highest level," said Benin’s President Romuald Wadagni.

"We Africans don't know what we've given to the world. Without us, there's no music possible on this planet."

Powerful words from five-time Grammy winner, actress and activist Angelique Kidjo, who has built an international career spanning more than 40 years and 18 albums.

She has now made history by becoming the first Black African to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The ceremony, which took place yesterday in Los Angeles, marked a milestone for African music and saw several film and music stars attend to celebrate the triumph of the 66-year-old Beninese-French singer.

Angelique Kidjo during a ceremony honoring her in Los Angeles - Tuesday 18 August 2026 AP Photo

Harvey Mason Jr. of the Recording Academy hailed Kidjo as a "rare artist."

"Your example has elevated our global music community, and your work continues to remind us that music is more than entertainment,” he said. “It’s connection.”

"This star is a permanent symbol; it's not going anywhere, and it's a symbol of your achievements,” added Mason Jr. “But your legacy, it lives in the people that you've touched, that you've inspired, the barriers that you've broken, the connections you've created all around the world."

Her achievement was also recognised by Benin’s President Romuald Wadagni, who wrote in a Facebook post: “By becoming the first African artist to receive this global honour, the Beninese icon has etched her name into history and raised the rhythms, creativity and dignity of our entire nation to the highest level.”

As for celebrated actor Willem Dafoe, he praised Kidjo's energy on stage.

"The first time I saw Angelique perform live, I thought her music, her dancing, her commitment were incredible," said Dafoe. "She is, without a doubt, the hardest-working woman in show business.”

Guest speaker Willem Dafoe at the ceremony honoring Angélique Kidjo AP Photo

Dafoe also mentioned Kidjo's humanitarian commitment and her dedication to the Batonga Foundation, which strives to empower and educate young women in Africa. Kidjo invented the word "Batonga" as a child as a response to those who told her that girls did not belong in the classroom.

"This is not a token celebrity involvement,” said Dafoe. “It is an extension of what she does with her music. She stirs us, lifts us up, and reminds us that we're all connected, and that love and understanding is the way."

Angelique Kidjo with guest speaker Willem Dafoe AP Photo

Kidjo has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002 and is a regular at international summits, such as the Davos Forum, where she promotes the work of her charity.

She has sung at the United Nations General Assembly, was named as the spokesperson for the AFAWA initiative (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) at the G7 Summit in 2019, and performed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

Angelique Kidjo AP Photo

As well as being named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2021, Kidjo has also been nominated as one of Africa’s 50 most iconic figures by the BBC, and one of the 100 most inspiring people in the world by The Guardian.

Angelique Kidjo's star AP Photo

Kidjo's latest album, her 19th studio LP, 'HOPE!!' was released in April 2026.

REST IN POWER

OBITUARY

France's pioneering women's rights minister Yvette Roudy dies aged 97

Yvette Roudy, France's first women's rights minister and a leading figure in the country's feminist movement, has died at the age of 97.

Issued on: 19/08/2026 - RFI

Yvette Roudy (right) with French film director Agnes Varda on 17 November, 1981, shortly after being appointed France’s minister for women’s rights. ASSOCIATED PRESS - Herve Merliac

Roudy died on Tuesday in a medical care facility in southern France, where she had lived for the past three years, her nephew Jean-Pierre Saldou told the French news agency AFP.

From 1981 to 1986, under Socialist President François Mitterrand, she headed France's first fully fledged ministry dedicated to women's rights, giving the issue an unprecedented place in government.

Her time in office brought major changes, including legislation providing for abortion costs to be reimbursed through the national health insurance system and she lent her name to a 1983 law on professional equality between men and women.

She also secured official recognition of 8 March as International Women's Day in France.

French parliament unanimously exonerates women punished for abortion

A life of activism

Born Yvette Saldou on 10 April 1929 in Pessac, near Bordeaux, Roudy left school early and worked as a typist in a fish-canning factory before returning to education.

She became involved in feminist and socialist activism in the 1960s, joining the Mouvement Démocratique Féminin (MDF) in 1964. A year later she founded and edited a fortnightly journal, La Femme du XXe Siècle.

In 1971, she signed the "Manifesto of the 343", a public declaration supporting abortion rights, and joined Mitterrand at the Socialist Party's Épinay Congress. She was elected to the European parliament in 1979, where she founded its women's rights committee.

Her political career continued after she left government. Roudy served as a member of parliament for Calvados from 1986 to 2002 and was mayor of Lisieux from 1989 to 2001.

She continued to campaign for equal pay, anti-discrimination measures and greater representation of women in politics. She was also one of the driving forces behind a 2000 law requiring political parties to field equal numbers of male and female candidates.

Roudy remained outspoken about inequality in later life. Reflecting in 1996 on plans to reserve 30 percent of constituencies for women candidates, she asked: "30 percent of what, exactly – token candidacies with no real chance of election, or a genuine push to get women into the National Assembly? That ambiguity is precisely what needs resolving."

Roudy (second left), alongside then prime minister Laurent Fabius, gives a press conference on 8 March, 1985 in Paris to mark International Women's Day, which Roudy helped establish in France. AFP - MICHEL CLEMENT

'Women's rights are never won'

Her feminism extended beyond French politics. Speaking after returning from the United Nations Conference on Women in Nairobi in 1985, Roudy argued that women in both rich and poor countries faced forms of invisibility, including sexual and sexist violence that went largely unseen.

She also challenged traditional ideas about women's place in society. Discussing a 2001 law on surnames, she argued that generations of laws had erased names passed down through mothers and said that the authority men had been given under Napoleon would have to be shared.

Her death prompted tributes from the political left, with the Socialist party hailing a minister who "brought about historic advances" and "helped to permanently change women's lives".

Former president François Hollande praised her as a "woman of conviction" who "never stopped defending her ideas".

Socialist senator Laurence Rossignol wrote that while Roudy was gone, so much of her endured: state-funded abortion, the feminisation of professional titles, equal pay, parity in politics – all, she said, bore her stamp.

President François Hollande presents Roudy with the title of ‘Officer of the Legion of Honour’ at the Élysée Palace on 26 November 2013. © Christian Hartmann / AFP

French language authority finally gives thumbs up to feminise job titles

Aurore Bergé, France's incumbent minister for gender equality and against discrimination, said Roudy had remained "a demanding, independent and tireless campaigner" until the end of her life.

"She had to persuade, challenge and fight for progress at a time when women's rights still had to force their way into the halls of power," Bergé said.

(with newswires)

Liberia to take in up to 1,200 US deportees within a year

Liberia has announced it will receive up to 1,200 foreign nationals deported from the United States – one of the largest known deals struck with African countries as part of President Donald Trump's unprecedented bid to drive out undocumented migrants.


Issued on: 19/08/2026 - RFI

US Border Patrol agents detain an unidentified man of Somali descent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 8 January, 2026. AFP - OCTAVIO JONES

"Liberia intends to accept up to 1,200 persons to be transferred from the United States of America within a year," the West African country's government said in a statement.

A first group of 20 deportees are due to arrive Thursday, it said, adding that they were "free to depart the country when they so desire" or apply for asylum.

The Trump administration has said it wants to send to Liberia the Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia who became a symbol of mass deportations after he was wrongfully expelled to El Salvador last year, The New York Times reported.

Married to an American, Garcia has since returned to the United States and has taken legal action to be able to remain.

The Trump administration is seeking to send Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, wrongly sent back to El Salvador, to Liberia, according to the NY Times. © Murray Osorio PLLC via AP

Deals and coercion

Elsewhere on the African continent, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea have become key transit points in the US immigration crackdown – despite the fact authorities there quickly send people onwards to their home counties.

Since returning to the White House last year, the Trump administration has signed so-called third country removal agreements with dozens of countries to accept migrants who, under previous administrations, held legal protections allowing them to live and work in the US to avoid, for example, persecution back home.

Washington's position is that while it may not be able to deport such people back to their country of origin, they can be sent to third countries instead.

A report by the US Senate's foreign relations committee in February claimed the Trump administration had "expanded and institutionalised a system in which the United States urges or coerces countries to accept migrants who are not their citizens, often through arrangements that are costly, wasteful and poorly monitored".

According to The New York Times, the administration has offered a range of incentives, including paying for foreign security forces and offering to ease visa restrictions or tariffs, reported.

'Entirely humanitarian' arrangement

“Liberia has not demanded or received any compensation or promise of reward in exchange for its consent to participate in the programme,” the government said in its statement.

“Liberia will receive support to help manage the programme and strengthen its migration system more broadly,” as part of what it described as an "entirely humanitarian" partnership.

The US State Department refused to comment on the scheme.

Liberia as a nation was founded in the early 19th century by a society which advocated for the return of former slaves and freeborn African-Americans from the United States.

One of the world's poorest nations, the UN estimates more than half of the country's population of 8.8 million live in "multidimensional poverty".

According to Amnesty Interntional, at least 30 countries have signed removal agreements with the US, including 12 African states.

(with newswires)

Monoskop.org

https://monoskop.org/images/9/95/Hardt_Michael_Negri_Antonio_Empire.pdf

EMPIRE - Monoskop 

4.3 The Multitude against Empire. 393. Notes. 415. Index. 473. Page 11. PREFACE. Empire is materializing before our very eyes. Over the past several decades, as ...

Rebels-library.org

http://rebels-library.org/files/multitude.pdf

MULTITUDE - Rebel Studies Library 

Page 1. MULTITUDE. WAR AND DEMOCRACY. IN THE AGE OF EMPIRE. MICHAEL HARDT ... Empire calls on war for its legitimation, the multitude calls on democracy as its ...

Newleftreview.org

https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii120/articles/empire-twenty-years-on.pdf

EMPIRE, TWENTY YEARS ON | New Left Review 

Just as today's. Empire was formed in response to the insurgencies of the multitudes from below, so too, potentially, it could fall to them, as long as those.

ECOCIDE

Twenty years after Probo Koala, Africa still grapples with ‘waste colonialism’

Twenty years after toxic waste from the cargo ship Probo Koala was dumped across Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, the disaster remains an open wound for many victims and a symbol of wealthy countries sending unwanted waste to Africa.


Issued on: 19/08/2026 - RFI

The Probo Koala carried the toxic waste that was dumped around Abidjan in August 2006. The ship is pictured arriving in Tallinn on 27 September 2006, just over a month after the illegal dumping. AFP - RAIGO PAJULA

On 19 August 2006, more than 500 tonnes of harmful substances unloaded from the ship were dumped at 18 sites around Côte d'Ivoire's economic capital. The fumes spread a foul smell across parts of the city, killing 17 people according to the official toll and leaving tens of thousands suffering symptoms of poisoning.

Akouédo, a village of the Ebrié people in the Cocody district, was among the places affected.

The night the waste arrived is still vivid for William Akessé, who was 26 at the time and is now spokesperson for the village chief.

"That night, my wife had had a caesarean section," Akessé said. "I had only just returned from the hospital with her, and it was that very same night that the waste was dumped. We couldn’t even breathe – the stench was terrible. My child died."

Contested settlement

The disaster eventually led to an agreement between the Ivorian government and Trafigura, the commodities trading company implicated in the case.

In 2007, Trafigura agreed to pay €152 million to help clean up affected sites and compensate victims. In return, legal proceedings brought against the company in Côte d’Ivoire were withdrawn.

For victims’ organisations, however, the settlement remains deeply controversial.

Denis Yao Pipira, president of the Federation of Associations of Victims of Toxic Waste in Côte d’Ivoire, shows the sacks of contaminated soil. (Photo : N. Navarro/RFI)

The agreement prevented victims from pursuing the company through Ivorian courts, said Denis Yao Pipira, who represents victims' associations.

"What the government did was sign an agreement that grants Trafigura immunity," Pipira said. "That made it difficult for us to take legal action against Trafigura. It was not possible to do so in our courts. The government simply took a few banknotes and then abandoned the victims."

Legal efforts later continued outside Côte d'Ivoire.

In the Netherlands, Trafigura was ordered by the Court of Cassation to compensate victims. In 2023, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that Côte d'Ivoire's compensation arrangements were insufficient and ordered the creation of a fund to repair the harm caused.

Victims are still waiting for that fund.

The Ivorian authorities maintain that all polluted sites have been fully cleaned up since 2015.

Trafigura could face two million-euro fine for Côte d'Ivoire toxic waste

Ongoing cost

Two decades after the Probo Koala disaster, environmental organisations say the underlying problem has not disappeared.

They describe it as "waste colonialism" – the practice of wealthier countries or companies sending waste to poorer countries where disposal and treatment are cheaper, even when those countries may not have the infrastructure to manage it safely.

In the Probo Koala case, Amnesty International said Trafigura declined to dispose of the toxic liquids in the Netherlands, where the ship had stopped before sailing to Côte d'Ivoire, because the operation would have cost about $620,000.

Instead, it contracted the Ivorian company Tommy, which offered to handle the material for just $17,000. Some of the waste was subsequently dumped in and around Abidjan.

NGOs say poorer communities often bear the consequences, particularly people living near landfill sites or working in waste collection and recycling.

“Our environments, our communities and workers in the informal waste sector are forced to bear a burden that is not theirs,” the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and Break Free From Plastic said in May.

A woman and her child walk past employees of a company attempting to clean up the area affected by the toxic waste spill from the Probo Koala, near Abidjan. AFP / Issouf Sanogo
Changing waste streams

The nature of waste arriving in Africa has changed over the years. Electronic waste, textiles and plastics are now among the most common categories.

The flow increased after 2018 when China banned imports of many categories of solid waste. Until then, the country had received almost half of the world's waste.

Western countries, still lacking enough processing and recycling capacity, began looking for alternative destinations, particularly in Asia and Africa.

Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya are regularly cited among African countries receiving large quantities of imported waste, including textiles.

Much of the second-hand clothing sent to Africa is resold in major markets such as Kantamanto in Accra, providing jobs and affordable clothing.

But a significant share cannot be used.

Greenpeace estimated that 30 to 40 percent of second-hand clothing imported into Kenya in 2019 was worthless because garments were damaged, badly stained or unsuitable for local weather and customs.

Those clothes can end up in landfill sites, waterways or on streets, adding pressure to waste-management systems.

New restrictions

Growing criticism of such practices has led to tighter regulation.

The European Union adopted new waste shipment rules in 2024, including tougher restrictions on plastic waste exports.

From 21 November 2026, EU countries will generally be prohibited from exporting plastic waste to states that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), unless the receiving country has been granted an exemption.

Countries seeking exemptions will have to show that they can process imported waste in an environmentally sound way.

The rules are intended to reduce the risk that European waste is exported to countries without adequate facilities, while encouraging more recycling and treatment closer to where the waste is produced.

Waste treatment and recycling have also become important economic sectors in some African countries, supporting businesses and workers.

Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia and Togo are among the African states seeking exemptions that would allow them to continue importing certain plastic waste from the EU.

This article was adapted from the original version in French by RFI's Abdoul Aziz Diallo and Tangi Bihan

Belonging Is Our Test – OpEd

August 19, 2026

By Dr. Fr. John Singarayar

Key Takeaways:

Global problems such as climate change, AI, and war expose a moral lag: our systems are international while our instincts and loyalties remain local and tribal.

Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas insists that human dignity is non-negotiable and that no economy, technology, or state may treat people as disposable tools.

Lasting solutions require expanding local loyalties into wider responsibility so that we recognize one another as belonging to the same human story and act accordingly.

(UCA News) — The world is beginning to feel like a crowded room with too many alarms sounding at once. The heat rises, the machines learn faster than our laws, and wars that begin in one place quickly send their tremors everywhere.

Yet our minds still tend to break the world into small, manageable pieces, as if the border on a map could contain what is now clearly shared.

That is the great strain of our time. The problems before us are global, but our instincts remain local, tribal, and defensive. We know more than ever about one another, yet we trust less. We live in closer contact, yet often with less fellow feeling.

The result is a kind of moral lag: our systems have become international while our hearts remain provincial.

Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas speaks directly into that gap. The encyclical insists that the human person cannot be reduced to function, output, or algorithmic value. That is not a pious reminder added to modern life from the side. It is a correction to the logic of the age itself.

If human dignity is real, then no economy, no state, and no technology may treat people as disposable material.
What we share

The most basic truths are often the hardest to keep before us. Every person wants safety. Every person wants meaning. Every parent hopes their children will inherit a world with some measure of peace, justice, and possibility.

These are not the possessions of one culture or one religion. They belong to the human condition.

Christian faith gives that shared reality a deeper name. It says that every person bears the image of God. That claim does not erase differences. It does something subtler and stronger: it places a sacred limit on how we may treat one another. No one may be judged only by usefulness. No one may be dismissed because of nationality, class, or weakness.

 No one falls outside the reach of moral concern.

That is why Magnifica Humanitas matters. It refuses the modern habit of measuring human worth by speed, efficiency, or profit. It returns us to a simpler and harder truth: people are not tools, and systems exist for people, not the other way around.
Where ideas fail

Of course, everyone says they believe in human dignity. The trouble is that our public life often contradicts our private convictions. We praise cooperation and then reward rivalry. We speak of the common good and then retreat into fear the moment sacrifice is required. We honor compassion in speech and ignore it in practice.

Climate change exposes that contradiction with painful clarity. The atmosphere does not belong to one nation, and the consequences of warming do not stay put. Rising seas, drought, fire, and displacement will touch the vulnerable first, but they will not stop there. If we approach the crisis as a contest of interests, we will continue to lose time. If we approach it as a shared wound, we may finally begin to heal.

Artificial intelligence presents a different challenge, but the same moral test. It can expand learning, improve medicine, and make work more efficient. It can also magnify surveillance, spread falsehood faster than truth, and deepen the gap between those who shape the future and those who must live in it.

Magnifica Humanitas is right to insist that technology must remain answerable to human dignity. The question is not only what AI can do. It is what kind of people we become while building it.


War drives the lesson home in the harshest way. Violence in one place rarely stays there. It unsettles economies, uproots families, and poisons trust far beyond the battlefield. Peace, then, is not a passive condition. It is the demanding discipline of refusing to dehumanize even those we oppose. Once a person becomes a category, peace begins to fail.

Loyalty without smallness

None of this requires abandoning family, nation, or local identity. Those loyalties are real, and in the best cases they teach us how to care faithfully. The danger comes when they become the ceiling of moral imagination instead of its starting point.

Local love should enlarge us. It should train the heart for wider responsibility. If it does not, it shrinks into suspicion. That is why the deepest religious and ethical traditions never stop at the household or the homeland. They move outward, asking us to see in the stranger not an interruption but a neighbor in another form.

This is also one of the quiet strengths of Magnifica Humanitas. It does not flatten difference or pretend that all conflicts disappear if we speak softly enough. It asks for something more demanding: a civilization in which reverence for people shapes how power is used. That is not sentimentality. It is sanity.

The measure ahead

We do not need more slogans. We need habits: in classrooms, in parliaments, in churches, in families, and in the daily ways we decide who matters. A livable future will not come from louder declarations about unity. It will come when unity becomes visible in the way we build, govern, teach, and forgive.

The test before us is not whether we can agree on everything. We cannot. The test is whether we can still recognize one another as belonging to the same human story. That is where theology meets reality. That is where moral life begins.

In the end, belonging is not a soft idea. It is the hardest work of our century. And if we fail it, no technology will save us, no border will protect us, and no ideology will excuse us. But if we learn it in time, we may yet discover that the future was never asking us to be identical. It was asking us to be responsible for one another while we still could.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.

About Dr. Fr. John Singarayar
Dr. Fr. John Singarayar, SVD, is a member of the Society of the Divine Word, India Mumbai Province, and holds a doctorate in Anthropology. He is the author of seven books and a regular contributor to academic conferences and scholarly publications in the fields of sociology, anthropology, tribal studies, spirituality, and mission studies. He currently serves at the Community and Human Resources Development Centre in Tala, Maharashtra.
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Russia Expresses Readiness In Normalizing Relations Between ECOWAS And The Alliance Of Sahel States – OpEd

 August 19, 2026

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

Key Takeaways:

• Russia and Ghana have agreed on measures to help normalize relations between the Alliance of Sahel States (AES: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) and ECOWAS after the three countries withdrew from the regional bloc.
• Moscow positions itself as a facilitator of “African solutions to African problems,” offering security partnership and support while insisting Africans should lead conflict resolution without external imposition.
• Russia is expanding its influence in the Sahel through military-technical assistance, upcoming ministerial consultations, and a planned memorandum with ECOWAS, framing the partnership as mutual and sovereignty-focused.

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, and Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel O. Ablakwa, after an intensive strategic consultation aimed at raising bilateral relations from vision to commitment, have agreed on a pack of measures for normalising relations between the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The three Francophone West African States, have been facing serious security and development issues, and desperately turned for military-technical assistance from Moscow, after breaking with France and other Western allies.

In remarks at the joint media conference, it was underlined that it was necessary to ensure continuity with relations between Confederation of Sahel States (AES) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). On the understanding that Ghana as historically one of the most important players in the West Africa. Undoubtedly, President John Mahama continues to promote a unifying agenda on the African continent, in the African Union and also in the in world affairs. Critically assessing the current situation especially in West Africa, a multitude of crises continue there in spite of the efforts of ECOWAS, the African Union and international community.

Regarding the regional issues, this of course, bothers on security and counterterrorism on the African continent, with a focus on the situation in the vast Sahara-Sahel region. This affects Ghana and other West African countries. “We are ready to provide necessary support to Africans, including in normalising relations between members of ECOWAS and the three countries of the Alliance of Sahel States, which have withdrawn from ECOWAS but remain neighbours. We are interested in normalising these relations, as well as the relations of the Sahel three within the framework of their participation in the African Union,” Lavrov said.

Notwithstanding the complexities, Moscow characterises its collaboration with the Sahel states as a security partnership. Lavrov articulated, in comprehensive and candid terms, that West Africa should engage to reinforce its own collective security, primarily against terrorist threats. It is universally acknowledged that this endeavour necessitates the concerted efforts of all states within the region, encompassing both the existing members of ECOWAS and the countries comprising the Alliance of Sahel States, according to Lavrov.

Moreover, Russia’s stance is entirely aligned with this approach. During Lavrov’s working visit to Africa in mid-July – both in discussions with the leadership of the African Union and in talks with the foreign ministers of the Alliance of Sahel States – the officials advocated the imperative of overcoming difficulties that are, in many respects, artificially contrived, and of establishing constructive and positive engagement around a mutually advantageous agenda. This encompasses all the countries including Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin, as well as with the leadership of ECOWAS. 

Incidentally, Russia will soon sign a memorandum on collaboration with ECOWAS, including in the sphere of security. There is a discernible interest in this matter. Therefore, it has become imperative of ensuring the security of populations in West African countries – to build bridges and implement practical measures between ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States. And Russia stands ready to facilitate this process in question

Russia’s Leadership Messages

Beyond that, Russia has established comprehensive positions within the framework of bilateral cooperation to pursue AES in resolving conflicts, more importantly, that crisis situations on the continent should be solved according to “the principle of African Solutions to African Problems.” 

According reports monitored during Lavrov’s mid-July trip to Africa, primarily spotlights that principle and possibility to take an unwavering commitment in achieving the security and development goals set by Africans themselves. For academics who also unequivocally argued that the leaderships of both the African Union and ECOWAS have to pursue a policy of consolidation rather than division within the continent. This serves the interests of all African countries without exception. As a result, Russia only stands firmly for Africans to come to terms among themselves, with external actors merely facilitating the process by providing financial support for peacekeeping initiatives or encouraging the African countries to reach agreements among themselves.

Lavrov unreservedly underscored the primacy of political and diplomatic means of conflict resolution across the African continent, emphasising that Africans themselves should play the leading role, with the support of the international community. Given the circumstances, Africa has to strengthen confidence-building measures for undertaking the main tasks in the contemporary world.

As notably seen, Russia has placed special emphasis on Africa, where pockets of instability persist, focusing primarily on the vast Sahara-Sahel region. Russia’s common view is that regional crises and the changes that are taking place in the countries of the region must be addressed by African states themselves, without attempts to impose external solutions on them. In this context, Russia firmly reiterated its support for any efforts to normalise relations between the Economic Community of West African States, on the one hand, and Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, on the other hand. 

AES Experiencing Economic Difficulties

Basic research shows that besides instability, these three Sahel countries are engulfed with various socio-economic development problems, primarily due to their own poor and uncoordinated policies toward economic development. The UN Development Report ranks the three Sahel States in the lowest category in its index in the world. Perhaps, AES remains symbolic but faces unprecedented obstacles in economic transformation, and in building their collective security architecture. At least, Russia has supported in uprooting French domination and pledged tremendous partnership assistance to reshape their economy.

Analysts, however, interpreted Russia’s courtship is a larger push to raise and consolidate influence across Africa, leveraging anti-Western sentiments to build alliances and access strategic natural resources. The AES have battered their resources for military weapons and for necessary military-technical support and capacity-building in their armed forces as they move towards strengthening diplomatic relations with Moscow. Following Soviet’s collapse, Moscow presents itself as a reliable friend and a partner for ensuring Africa’s political and economic sovereignty.

The Confederation of Sahel States  (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) was created, in September 2023, and formalized as a Confederation in 2024, emerged after a string of military coups. Withdrawal from ECOWAS has sparked reactions and criticisms. The AES aims at forging integration and tackling existing diverse obtacles while navigating further for strategic external collaboration. Later, Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry launched what is referred to as “Russia-AES Ministerial Consultations” that focuses on regular annual political dialogue, reviews counterterrorism issues and coordinates on bilateral investment plans in the Sahel region in West Africa. The AES security matters will be at the centre of the deliberations at the forthcoming  Russia-Africa Summit scheduled for late October 2026.

About Kester Kenn Klomegah

Kester Kenn Klomegah is an independent researcher and a policy consultant on African affairs in the Russian Federation and Eurasian Union. He has won media awards for highlighting economic diplomacy in the region with Africa. Currently, Klomegah is a Special Representative for Africa on the Board of the Russian Trade and Economic Development Council. He enjoys travelling and visiting historical places in Eastern and Central Europe. Klomegah is a frequent and passionate contributor to Eurasia Review.

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