A surprising outcome of the failed coup against Niger's military junta on Aug. 29 was the arrival, a day later, of an Algerian air detachment, including four SU-30 fighter jets. The powerful deployment was a clear signal that Algeria is breaking from its non-interventionist traditions and wanted its troubled southern neighbors in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger—to take note. Algeria was not involved in the quashing of the putsch against Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani by disgruntled soldiers angered by command failings in the war against jihadist insurgents. That win was down to the presidential guard, backed by Russia's paramilitary force, the Africa Corps. But Algeria does fear state collapse in the Sahel amid Islamist insurgencies that have their roots in its own internal violence of the 1990s. Algeria's new-found interest also coincides with the start of construction on a Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline that will stretch from Nigeria to the Mediterranean coast.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher on Aug. 29 warned that the recent rise in the use of drones poses a risk for aid operations in multiple conflicts around the world. He emphasized that international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacks on humanitarian workers and civilians, continues to apply to drone warfare regardless of how sophisticated or autonomous the weapons become.

A Russian court sentenced politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in a penal colony on charges of "discrediting" the Russian military and spreading "false information," Amnesty International said Aug. 17. Marie Struthers, Amnesty's Eastern Europe director, called the charges "blatant reprisals for exercising his right to freedom of expression to call for peace," and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.

A Damascus criminal court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia Aug. 11 after convicting him of murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity. This was the first judgment issued by Syria's own courts against the head of a government that ruled the country for decades and put down a 2011 uprising with a wave of harsh repression, sparking a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

The United Nations reported on Aug. 7 that the cost of key foods increased in July as a result of searing heatwaves and ongoing geopolitical instability, which have affected crop yields and global energy prices amid persistent hunger risks in multiple countries.

Remnants of the Russian mercenary group Wagner apparently not integrated into Moscow's new Africa Corps have effectively gone rogue in the Central African republic, financing their operations through narco-trafficking. According to a Wall Street Journal Report of July 11, the mercenaries are running an opioid empire, supplying tramadol to the national army, local militias, their own forces, and workers in gold mines the group operates. A painkiller in normal doses, tramadol acts as a stimulant in higher doses that can reduce fear, exhaustion and hunger in users. Proceeds from tramadol distribution, including exports, have helped the Wagner remnants in CAR maintain independence from Moscow. The rogue remnant force is said to be led by Pavel Prigozhin, son of the late Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. (TNH, United24)

The US will launch a diplomatic campaign aimed at dismantling the International Criminal Court, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced July 6. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Rubio wrote that the US will work alongside allied governments to take the Court apart "brick by brick, if necessary," using all tools at the government's disposal. He said the campaign's message to other governments will be a choice of "sovereign states over globalism," and pledged that the administration will protect US service members from ICC jurisdiction.

Amnesty International on July 2 warned that the recent move by Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to submit formal notifications of withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) paints a bleak future for thousands of conflict survivors, threatening their right to truth, justice and reparations.