LightNews LightNews
julianpecquet.bsky.social
@julianpecquet.bsky.social
220 followers 690 following 200 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
julianpecquet.bsky.social
With the Senate approving Trump's ambassador to #SouthAfrica last night, re-upping my November piece on Mandela critic and apartheid defender Brent Bozell:
www.theafricareport.com/399475/senat...
Senate panel approves critic of anti-apartheid struggle as US envoy to South Africa
US right-wing activist Brent Bozell long denounced Mandela and the ANC as pro-Soviet terrorists.
www.theafricareport.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
From language protecting the State Department Bureau of African Affairs & AFRICOM to reauthorization of the DFC, here are 10 things to know about #Africa in the $900b annual #NDAA defense bill.
My latest @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/402393/10-th...
10 things about Africa in the annual US defence bill
Africa bureau, DFC, Zimbabwe sanctions: Here’s what to know about the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA).
www.theafricareport.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:22 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
Time & again, the Trump admin's rush to get a deal (Congo "peace", minerals) w/out proper staffing/due diligence ends up crashing in #Africa
Today's court ruling suspending #Kenya's health pact over data privacy was fully predictable.
See:
www.theafricareport.com/401737/ameri...
‘America First’ health deals spark row over Africans’ medical privacy
Kenya and Rwanda signed a controversial bilateral health strategy with the US, receiving substantial funding but sparking debate over African health sovereignty and data privacy concerns.
www.theafricareport.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:17 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
As the fall of #Uvira lays bare the wishful - some would say magical - thinking behind Trump's #Congo peace plan, @sheriffb.bsky.social at The Africa Report has a must-read deep dive on what it means for the region :
www.theafricareport.com/401825/drc-w...
DRC: What Uvira’s ‘imminent’ fall means as M23 pushes south
As fighting closes in, the fate of the lakeside city could reshape military strategy across the Kivus, reroute regional trade and alter Kinshasa’s political fortunes.
www.theafricareport.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Reposted
ryanmusser.bsky.social
“Where does Africa rank as a strategic priority for the US? At the bottom. Literally. In a short, 33-page document written in large font, the continent merits just three paragraphs on the very last page,” writes @julianpecquet.bsky.social

www.theafricareport.com/401739/secur...
Security: 5 questions to understand Trump’s new Africa strategy
The United States’ new National Security Strategy treats the African continent as an afterthought.
www.theafricareport.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:47 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
BREAKING: House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith introduces 3-year #AGOA renewal bill, mark up scheduled for tomorrow Dec 10 !
Details on this week's mad lobbying scramble by #Africa diplomats and business interests @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/401858/congr...
Congress announces vote on AGOA renewal
The House trade committee has just released a three-year renewal of the duty-free trade scheme.
www.theafricareport.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:11 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
From its focus on oil, gas and nuclear energy to its retreat on human rights and democracy, here's what the Trump administration's diminutive National Security Strategy has to say about #Africa.
My latest for @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/401739/secur...
Security: 5 questions to understand Trump’s new Africa strategy
The United States’ new National Security Strategy treats the African continent as an afterthought.
www.theafricareport.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:13 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
#Africa watchers will want to follow MCC's 10 Dec. meeting for US position on Ivanhoe vs ArcelorMittal face off in #Liberia
And Congress takes up #NDAA defense bill, #Sudan & maritime security
My US-Africa Week Ahead, free @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report
www.theafricareport.com/401564/us-af...
US-Africa Week Ahead: MCC ‘given directive to enter the mining space’
The revived Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is eyeing investments in Liberia and Mozambique as its board meets on 10 December.
www.theafricareport.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:22 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
Trump hosts a half dozen African leaders tmw for "historic" #Congo peace deal while fighting rages on.
Here's what to expect, from White House meetings with Presidents Kagame & Tshisekedi to minerals MOUs w/#Rwanda & #DRC
My latest w/ @romaingras.bsky.social:
www.theafricareport.com/401032/tshis...
Tshisekedi and Kagame to sign ‘historic’ peace deal in Washington amid fresh fighting
Against a backdrop of combustible relations between the two leaders and a fragile military situation on the ground, the effectiveness of the peace agreement – to be signed on 4 December in the presenc...
www.theafricareport.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:56 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
Celebrate the season with our Black Friday deal !
Get the best of African business and politics for 50% off - just $64.50 for a full year of @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report.
Don't delay: Our holiday sale ends this Sunday.
www.theafricareport.com/subscribe/ch...
Unrivalled analysis, with a money-back guarantee
www.theafricareport.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:37 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
With the US taking over the G20 presidency today, re-upping my October piece on how #SouthAfrica and its allies hope to keep their development agenda alive through 2026.
www.theafricareport.com/395804/how-u...
How US risks being the third wheel during its 2026 G20 presidency
Behind South Africa’s push for a lasting African legacy, uncertainty over Washington’s 2026 agenda raises fears that the Trump-era ‘back to basics’ turn could derail years of Global South gains.
www.theafricareport.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:13 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
It's zero hour for the Trump/Boulos Congo peace plan as Presidents Tshisekedi & Kagame are due in DC to sign on the dotted line.
With #DRC compliance tied to #Rwanda's withdrawal, pitfalls remain
My #US-#Africa Week Ahead @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/400641/us-af...
US-Africa Week Ahead: Moment of truth for eastern Congo peace deal
The presidents of Rwanda and DRC are expected in Washington to sign the Congolese peace deal.
www.theafricareport.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:34 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
70 yrs ago, the US prioritized #Africa studies & languages to win the Cold War.
Today Trump is slashing those very programs as part of its crusade vs #DEI.
My @jeuneafrique.com The Africa Report piece from
@asanewsonline.bsky.social meeting in #Atlanta:
www.theafricareport.com/399826/afric...
‘Africa is DEI’: How Trump’s anti-diversity crusade is eroding US expertise
Cuts to higher education risk leaving America behind in the global race for influence on the continent. Africa programmes at colleges and universities across the US have lost tens of millions of dolla...
www.theafricareport.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
The Senate Foreign Relations panel has greenlit Brent Bozell to be Trump's envoy to #SouthAfrica, paving the way for confirmation of the vocal critic of the ANC and Nelson Mandela's struggle against apartheid.
My latest @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/399475/senat...
Senate panel approves critic of anti-apartheid struggle as US envoy to South Africa
US right-wing activist Brent Bozell long denounced Mandela and the ANC as pro-Soviet terrorists.
www.theafricareport.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:55 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
Trump may be motivated by his conservative religious base, but #Nigeria's Biafra secessionists are seizing on the Christian persecution narrative coming out of Washington to push their own agenda.
With Ayomide Adeleke for @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/399274/niger...
Nigeria’s Biafra secessionists seize on Trump’s Christian-persecution narrative
When Donald Trump named Nigeria a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ over the alleged killing of Christians – and threatened US military action – Biafran separatists celebrated.
www.theafricareport.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:49 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
US-#Africa Week Ahead: Congress tackles US policy on #Nigeria #SouthAfrica #minerals; State Dept touts lifesaving aid from America First Global Health Strategy; Trump talks #Sudan w/ #Saudi Crown Prince #MBS
My latest @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/398842/us-af...
US-Africa Week Ahead: Team Trump defends record on Nigeria, South Africa and global health
The US State Department briefs Congress on the campaign to ‘save’ Nigerian Christians.
www.theafricareport.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted
passblue.bsky.social
Peacekeeping in the Central African Republic Survives Washington’s Ax passblue.com/2025/11/13/p...
Peacekeeping in the Central African Republic Survives Washington’s Ax
passblue.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:45 AM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
President Trump's senior adviser for #Africa Massad Boulos has visited 11 countries on the continent since April.
Check out our interactive map of all his (public) high-level meetings @jeuneafrique.com / The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/398241/from-...
November 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
Trump's senior adviser for #Africa has been popping up all over the continent.
Can the "Forrest Gump of diplomacy" achieve lasting peace?
My portrait of Massad Boulos for @jeuneafrique.com / The Africa Report:
www.theafricareport.com/398241/from-...
From Congo to Sudan, time is running out for Trump’s Africa dealmaker Massad Boulos
The ‘Forrest Gump of diplomacy’ has been popping up all over the continent. Can he achieve lasting peace?
www.theafricareport.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:

- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
As a Black Hawk helicopter roared overhead, the slender, 28-year-old immigrant from Venezuela answered softly, his eyes darting to a television crew invited to film the raid. Next to Caicedo, masked Border Patrol agents inspected another man’s tattoos and asked him if he belonged to Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that the Trump administration has designated a terrorist group. Until that moment, Caicedo’s only interaction with law enforcement in his two-and-a-half years in the United States had been a traffic stop two weeks earlier for driving without a license or insurance, according to the records we reviewed. Chicago police had run a background check on him and found no prior arrests, no warrants and no evidence that he was in a gang. Caicedo said he had a pending asylum application, a steady job at a taco joint and a girlfriend whose daughter attended elementary school across the street. None of that mattered. The U.S. government paraded him and his neighbors in front of the cameras and called their arrests a spectacular victory against terrorism. But later, after the cameras had gone, prosecutors didn’t charge Caicedo with a crime. They didn’t accuse him of being a terrorist. And after a brief hearing in immigration court, the government sent him back to the country he had fled nine years earlier. “I lost everything,” he said in a phone interview from his mother’s home in the Venezuelan city of Valencia. “For those fools, everyone from Venezuela is a criminal.”
November 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
VP Vance skipping #G20SouthAfrica & his subsequent stop in #Kenya blows a rare chance for a high-level US visit to #Africa.
I talked to ex-diplomats Martin Kimani & Troy Fitrell about the wasted opportunity for @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report :
www.theafricareport.com/398288/us-bl...
US blows another chance to show up in Africa as JD Vance cancels trip
After Secretary of State Rubio, it’s Vice President Vance’s turn to ghost the continent.
www.theafricareport.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:19 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
I talked to the Pentagon's former top #Africa civilian Chidi Blyden on the risks and opportunities for #Nigeria to clean up its neighborhood as Trump weighs military action against jihadists.
My latest for @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report :
www.theafricareport.com/398063/ex-pe...
Ex-Pentagon official: Unilateral action in Nigeria ‘risky, counter-productive’
‘Talk of US military options is serious as pressure, not as policy,’ says Chidi Blyden. ‘Today’s crisis reflects more than security failure – it reflects political drift, diplomatic absence and erodin...
www.theafricareport.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:32 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
Forget US strikes: The real fight in #Nigeria is over sharia, with Trump allies seeking action against northern politicians who vow to resist US pressure.
My latest @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report, with Honoré Banda:
www.theafricareport.com/397963/us-ta...
US targets Nigeria’s sharia states with sanctions threats
Congress urges Trump to go after Nigeria’s northern governors.
www.theafricareport.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:56 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
Sec State Rubio has told US diplomats to stay silent on fraudulent elections in #Africa
Congress is filling the void: The leaders on Senate Foreign Relations Jim Risch & @shaheen.senate.gov say it’s time to reassess US ties w/ #Cameroon & #Tanzania
My latest:
www.theafricareport.com/397547/us-la...
US lawmakers slam ‘fraudulent’ Cameroon, Tanzania polls – as Trump stays silent
The top senators on foreign affairs say it’s time to reassess US ties with Yaoundé and Dar es Salaam.
www.theafricareport.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:54 PM
julianpecquet.bsky.social
Trump warned then-President Buhari in 2018 to protect Christians in #Nigeria
7 years later, Abuja finally got the message
With no ambassador or lobbyist in Washington, can President Tinubu salvage bilateral ties?
My latest @jeuneafrique.com's The Africa Report
www.theafricareport.com/397224/trump...
Trump wasn’t bluffing. What will Nigeria do now? - The Africa Report.com
Abuja thought it could ignore Washington’s warnings on Christian massacres. Not anymore.
www.theafricareport.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:01 PM