Niger: Algeria unveils its interventionist doctrine

This weekend, four Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets landed at Niamey’s Diori-Hamani International Airport, accompanied by an Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft and an Il-78 in-flight refuelling aircraft. The detachment did not take part in any fighting, as the mutiny against General Abdourahamane Tiani’s junta had been quelled the previous day by the Presidential Guard, with decisive support from around 200 Russian fighters from the Africa Corps. The staging, however, was crystal clear: a statement from the Algerian Ministry of Defence, photographs of the aircrew being welcomed on the tarmac by the Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, and an official dispatch reporting Mr Tiani’s thanks to Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Algeria, which for a long time clung to anti-interventionist rhetoric inherited from its 1960s Third Worldism, now claims the right to provide military assistance to states it considers friends.

At stake is the regaining of influence lost in the Sahel. Since the Nigerien junta leader’s visit to Algiers in February, the two capitals have been warming up a relationship damaged by the rift of April 2025, when Niger joined Mali and Burkina Faso in recalling their ambassadors following the destruction of a Malian drone by the Algerian army. “Niger was the most accessible channel for re-establishing ties,” observes Ali Bensaâd, a lecturer at the French Institute of Geopolitics. Algeria’s ambitions are centred on two projects: the Bilma oil field in north-eastern Niger, and the 4,200-km-long trans-Saharan Nigeria–Niger–Algeria gas pipeline, which Morocco is countering with its own Africa–Atlantic undersea project.

The doctrinal shift dates back to the Constitution revised in 2020, which, for the first time since 1962, authorised the deployment of units from the People’s National Army abroad. The text does, however, set out conditions: the approval of two-thirds of each house of Parliament, and a peacekeeping mission in accordance with the principles of the United Nations, the African Union and the Arab League. Yet MPs were not consulted, and saving a regime threatened by mutineers is hardly consistent with peacekeeping. Le Monde

🇺🇳 UN • The United Nations Environment Programme states in a previously unpublished report that the 1.5°C warming threshold will not be met and that the challenge now is to manage the fact that this limit has been exceeded.

🇩🇪 Germany – 🇷🇺 Russia • Berlin has officially blamed Moscow for the attempted drone attack carried out in early August at Leipzig-Halle Airport, a hub for German and NATO military freight. Police investigations, modus operandi and intelligence point to Russian involvement, said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who described the operation as having been carried out by so-called “disposable” agents acting on the orders of state authorities. Germany will close its last Russian consulate, in Bonn, on 18 September, along with the Russian House in Berlin, and will propose new names for the European sanctions lists. The Russian ambassador dismissed these accusations as absurd and promised repercussions, whilst Vladimir Putin described them as a gross error. In Ireland, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, gave assurances that Europeans would not be intimidated by the wave of hybrid attacks, with the EU-27 discussing sanctions targeting some 1,600 Russian entities and individuals.

🇺🇦 Ukraine - 🇷🇺 Russia • Russian strikes on Kyiv have continued for the seventh consecutive day. Yesterday, a massive night-time attack killed at least 12 people in the capital and the surrounding region, including seven railway workers, whilst the Ukrainian Air Force announced it had intercepted 187 of the 218 drones launched. Two people were killed in Dnipro. Kyiv, running short of interceptors, is preparing for the campaign of massive strikes announced by Vladimir Putin against its energy network. On the Russian side, Ukrainian drones caused a fire in the port of Ust-Luga and resulted in one death in the Belgorod region.

Volodymyr Zelensky warned civil aviation authorities and Kyiv’s partners that the days of safety in Russian airspace were over, with Ukrainian drones targeting logistics depots, refineries and port facilities. He said he was prepared to suspend these attacks at specific times and for specific destinations, in the interests of diplomacy. Vladimir Putin responded by denouncing the statement as “state terrorism”.

🇩🇪 Germany • With Sunday’s regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt approaching, relations with Russia have emerged as a key campaign issue. Polls put the far-right, pro-Russian AfD party in the lead, and the party could come to power in a federal state for the first time. It is calling for an end to German support for Ukraine and the resumption of energy agreements with Moscow.

🇳🇴 Norway • King Haakon VIII was sworn in before the 169 members of the Storting in Oslo, pledging to reign in accordance with the Constitution. Having become sovereign in his own right upon the death of his father, Harald V, he will not be crowned, as Norway abolished this practice in 1908. Harald V’s funeral will take place on 9 September in Oslo.

🇩🇿 Algeria – 🇩🇪 Germany • The German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, said he hoped to secure part of his country’s gas supply from Algeria, as Germany requires long-term supply contracts. He described Algiers as a reliable partner and said he had received very positive responses from Algeria and Tunisia. German gas storage facilities are 53 per cent full, compared with an average of 65 per cent across the European Union.

🇨🇭 Suisse • The alleged perpetrator of Sunday’s shooting at a rave party in Aarau has admitted to the offence, the Aargau cantonal police have announced. The 43-year-old Swiss national turned himself in at a police station in Delémont the following day. A 22-year-old Italian woman was killed and six people were injured.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom • Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer is to give up his parliamentary seat for Holborn and St Pancras, in north London.

🇪🇺 Eurozone • The unemployment rate stood at 6.4 per cent of the labour force in July, according to data published by Eurostat.

🇨🇳 China – 🇳🇵 Nepal • The death toll from last week’s flooding in the Himalayas has exceeded 1,000, including 1,050 in Nepal and 16 in Tibet. More than 4,400 people remain missing, including hundreds of foreigners. Rescue teams are still searching the tunnels of dams where around 100 workers are believed to be trapped.

🇨🇳 China - 🇺🇸 United States • Beijing and Washington are preparing for the possibility of a conflict extending into space, according to a Reuters investigation based on patents, public procurement contracts and space tracking data. Chinese satellites have demonstrated their ability to manoeuvre in close formation, capture a decommissioned spacecraft and attempt in-orbit refuelling.

🇨🇳 China - 🇮🇷 Iran - 🇷🇺 Russia • The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, held in Kyrgyzstan, served as a showcase for the vision of a multipolar world championed by Moscow and Beijing. Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his solidarity with the Iranian people and held talks lasting an hour and a half with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The conflict in Ukraine was not publicly discussed. The organisation comprises ten states and accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s population.

🇺🇸 United States - 🇹🇭 Thailand • The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln docked today at Laem Chabang after 286 days at sea – a modern-day record – including several months in the Middle East. Its crew of some 5,000 sailors will spend five days on leave in Pattaya, where the authorities have mobilised 600 officers and banned certain venues and activities.

🇺🇸 United States - 🇮🇷 Iran • The US Central Command struck targets belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the second consecutive day, targeting air defence sites, radar stations, maritime installations and minefields. Iranian state media report at least 11 deaths, including four at a wedding in Sirik, which Tehran has described as a war crime. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at US interests in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, promising a new strategy designed to shatter the enemy’s foundations. President Massoud Pezeshkian had previously called on Washington to return to the memorandum of understanding signed in June, committing to reciprocal measures. Donald Trump ruled out any agreement and threatened to strike even harder. In the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Tehran, two oil tankers caught fire after striking mines.

🇮🇱 Israel - 🇵🇸 Palestine • On Tuesday, the Israeli army carried out air strikes on the Katiba neighbourhood in western Gaza City, where many displaced families live. At least five people were killed, including three children, according to the enclave’s authorities and rescue workers.

🇸🇾 Syria • Kurdish female fighters from the YPJ are negotiating their place within President Ahmed al-Charaa’s institutions, following the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces last week. Their commander, Nowruz Ahmed, says she was refused integration into the army as an autonomous brigade and is now in talks with the Ministry of the Interior regarding their incorporation into the special forces. The YPJ has more than 1,500 female fighters.

🇨🇦 Canada – 🇺🇸 United States – 🇷🇺 Russia • The presence of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at the G20 Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Asheville caused some unease, according to Canadian Minister François-Philippe Champagne. The Europeans secured his exclusion from the group photo. Scott Bessent stood by the invitation, believing it was important to speak to everyone in order to end the conflict. The final communiqué on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz was approved by all members except China.

🇨🇴 Colombia • A car bomb explosion near a police station in Los Patios, in the north-east of the country, left one person dead and 11 injured. The authorities attribute the attack to the ELN guerrilla group. It occurred on the same day that the army carried out its deadliest airstrike in recent years, killing 20 fighters in the Amazon region.

🇳🇮 Nicaragua • The National Assembly has unanimously approved a constitutional reform barring from elections anyone who participates in coup attempts, commits treason against the nation or seeks foreign military intervention. The presidential term has also been extended to seven years. The scope of the amendment remains largely symbolic in a country where opposition figures have been imprisoned or forced into exile.

🇨🇳 China – 🇪🇬 Egypt • Xi Jinping warned in Cairo against external interference in the Middle East during his first visit to Egypt in 10 years. The two countries signed an agreement launching the third phase of the Egyptian-Chinese industrial zone, which is already home to 200 companies. Beijing, a major buyer of Iranian oil, is seeking Cairo’s support at a time when Washington is imposing sanctions on Tehran’s trading partners. Egypt intends to demonstrate its strategic autonomy between the two capitals.

🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau • The ‘yes’ vote won with 70 per cent of the vote in this weekend’s constitutional referendum, according to provisional results from the National Electoral Commission. The new constitution replaces the semi-parliamentary system with a strong presidential system, allowing the head of state to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and to dissolve parliament. The opposition had called for a boycott. General elections are scheduled for 6 December.