Pleased to share this piece written with @james-barnett.bsky.social and Murtala Ahmed Rufai on the Sadiku group, a branch of #BokoHaram #JASDJ which has been growing roots in Northwestern Nigeria for some years now. Open Access, too... www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The Politics of Jihadist Expansion: Sadiku and “Boko Haram” In Northwestern Nigeria

Formed in 2020–2021, the Sadiku group is the extension to northwestern Nigeria of the jihad waged in the country’s northeast by Jama’at Ahl al-Sunna li-Da’wa wal-Jihad (JASDJ), the outfit created b...

tandfonline.com

"A military intervention premised on the wrong diagnosis would not save Nigerian Christians," @james-barnett.bsky.social writes. https://wapo.st/3LPioMs

Opinion | Nigeria’s crisis runs deeper than just a war on Christians

The Trump administration is dangerously misreading the conflict and its causes.

wapo.st

On a deadly serious note, the President cannot rely on external, private sources to fund spending as an end-run around Congress’ constitutional power of the purse. If he can, we no longer have a republic.

The scorched-earth tactic has been used as a war tactic since ancient times. And it is still used in modern warfare. Senior Researcher at DIIS, Peer Schouten, has just received a grant from the Independent Research Fund Denmark to map how the tactic is used today in a three-year project 🎉

#UK removes Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham from terrorist organisation list

Diarra will comply. This is the power of embargoes: not just an instrument of warfare but also a massively effective instrument of governance. We have a major bus company accepting the ruling of a jihadist group, making wonder who governs Mali

News on Trump boat bombings --> Now that SouthCom Commander Alvin Holsey has resigned, likely over the bombings, ranking Armed Services Dem Adam Smith tells me committee Ds will demand Holsey's sworn testimony and press Rs to join them. Smith spoke to us on the pod: newrepublic.com/article/2019...

Trump Boat Bombings Take Darker Turn as Top Official Suddenly Resigns

As the head of the military’s Southern Command steps down, Adam Smith, the top Armed Services Committee Democrat, sheds new light on the departure—and on Trump’s appalling secrecy about the bombings.

newrepublic.com

New Jihadology Guest Post: Who Are Nigeria’s “Newest” Jihadist Militants? by @james-barnett.bsky.social and @vincentfoucher.bsky.social jihadology.net/2025/10/15/g...

It’s the 111th anniversary today of the birth of Harry Rée, who was a teacher and conscientious objector when the Second World War broke out, and by the time it ended, when he was 31, had invented ‘blackmail sabotage’ and got a DSO, an OBE, a Croix de Guerre, and a Medaille de la Resistance

Breaking News: Raila Odinga, a former prime minister and a towering figure of Kenyan politics, died at 80. Read more: nyti.ms/42D5BT9

The new pope is quoting Hannah Arendt. www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

cbsnews.com

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

The deportation order derives from the crime of which he has now been exonerated. www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

miamiherald.com

Fukuyama debunks the AI abundance myth: we can't feed or clothe all not due to a lack of smarts, but priorities and resources. The world simply can't sustain the abundant lifestyle AI proponents promise, lacking even the electricity to run the very AI they favor.

What a story

Restitution row: how Nigeria’s new home for the Benin bronzes ended up with clay replicas

The public display of artefacts looted by British colonial forces at the new Museum of West African Art was supposed to be the crowning glory of a decades-long restitution effort. What went wrong?

theguardian.com

George was just trying to get to work. ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process. This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.

The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 10mo ago

"They put me on suicide watch and they put me in the cell, I'm naked, in like a hospital dress and just a concrete bed with like a mattress, like a thin mattress and, they leave the light on 24/7." @timmiller.bsky.social talked to a veteran who ICE wrongly detained and brutalized

The anguish of migration is the context of Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, but in the foreground is a breathless sequence of shoot-outs, rooftop flights and car chases, powered by a fiery soundtrack

“One Battle After Another” wins the war

Paul Thomas Anderson gives a masterclass in making a political film

econ.st

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violet allen@blipstress.bsky.social · 10mo ago

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

Here’s the term card for the Northeast Africa Forum in Oxford, a research seminar focused on the broader East Africa region. We meet on Tuesdays at 4 p.m., and most sessions are also held in hybrid format. @jasonmosley.bsky.social @mwangimwaura.bsky.social @terrefebiruk.bsky.social

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

If U.S. states have any degree of sovereignty, if there’s any states’ rights at all, it is the right not to be invaded by the armed forces of another U.S. state.

Over the weekend, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller repeatedly attacked judges, calling them part of an "organized terrorist attack" on the US government.... On Saturday, the home of a judge who ruled against Trump, went up in flames time.com/7323442/sout...

House of South Carolina Judge Criticized by Trump Administration Set Ablaze

Authorities are investigating a fire at the home of a South Carolina judge who had reportedly received death threats in what could be the latest incident of political violence across the country.

time.com

🚨 #MOGADISHU Al-Shabaab militants stormed Godka Jilicow, a high-security spy agency prison near #Somalia's presidential palace. The attack began with car bomb, followed by gunmen. Reports say 8 attackers: 4 killed, 4 still fighting inside. Elite Gaashaan forces deployed.

I spoke to a Venezuelan woman who was arrested in this raid and later released with her 4yo son. She said agents broke down their door, pointed guns at them and made sexualized remarks about Venezuelan women. When she returned to her apartment it was boarded up and all her possessions were gone.

Ted Hesson@tedhesson.bsky.social · 10mo ago

US Border Patrol raid sweeps in citizens, families as Chicago crackdown intensifies, w/ @reneehickman.bsky.social @kristinacooke.bsky.social www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...

🚨 #SOMALIA President Hassan and Jubaland leader Ahmed Madobe are set to meet in Kismaayo, even as courts in Mogadishu & Kismaayo pursue treason cases against both. Neither case has been dropped — underscoring how Somalia's judiciary is used as a political tool.

Russian drones struck two passenger trains in northern Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and injuring dozens of others in the region of Sumy, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian Drones Hit 2 Passenger Trains, Ukraine Says

The drone strikes killed at least one person and injured dozens of others, officials said. The attack came amid rising alarm about the status of a nuclear plant relying solely on generators.

nyti.ms

This is an administration that does sizzle reels of ICE abusing communities. They want the visuals of dominance, regardless of the law.

Anna Bower@annabower.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I don’t understand the supposed legal basis for this. DOJ requested a summons—*not* an arrest warrant—under Rule 9 of the FRCrP. Are they going to go back to the magistrate and ask for a warrant, even though Comey hasn’t failed to appear? If not, what’s the exigency for a warrantless arrest?

ICE lied about the person it shot, claiming he was a "criminal," but NBC finds that he had no criminal history whatsoever. Not even traffic tickets in 12 years! It also lied about the extent of the injuries to its agents....

Surreal moment for America. Needless to say, if the normal police ever pulled something like this — pulling every single person out of an apartment building and handcuffing them to run warrant checks — they would be sued into oblivion. Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.

Walter Olson@walterolson.bsky.social · 11mo ago

“ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later….’They was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other.’” It can’t happen here, you say. But it is happening.

My thoughts on the Quantico meeting

Trump’s Speech to Generals Was Incitement to Violence Against Americans

Military leaders’ quiet professionalism offers hope amid a maelstrom.

foreignpolicy.com