Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have introduced a 0.5% import duty on goods from Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member nations, further straining relations between the three junta-led nations and the regional bloc they exited earlier this year.

The three countries, now part of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), initially formed a security pact in 2023 but have since expanded their cooperation into economic and military affairs. In a joint statement last week, the AES announced that the levy, which took effect on Friday, is intended to generate revenue for the alliance’s activities. The tax applies to all imports from ECOWAS nations, except for humanitarian aid.

This move effectively disrupts the free trade system that once connected West African economies under ECOWAS and marks a further shift away from regional integration. Economists warn of potential consequences, including higher consumer prices, supply chain disruptions, and increased economic instability in the region.

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, among the world’s poorest countries, have been grappling with a decade-long Islamist insurgency linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, which has killed thousands and displaced millions. The juntas in these nations accused ECOWAS of failing to provide adequate security assistance and have sought to strengthen their own economic and military alliances instead.

ECOWAS, which had imposed political and financial sanctions to push the juntas toward a return to constitutional rule, has kept diplomatic channels open despite announcing their permanent expulsion from the bloc earlier this year. The regional body has signaled that discussions will continue until July in an effort to prevent further division in West Africa.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia pounds Kharkiv for second night in row, Ukraine says

Russia has attacked the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine for a second consecutive night, injuring three people, sparking fires at industrial buildings and damaging two kindergartens, Ukrainian officials said early on Monday.

The attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, lasted most of the night and hit the city's largest and oldest district, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

"Five industrial buildings of one of the research and production enterprises were damaged," Terekhov said on Telegram.

Emergency crews said they battled a large fire which spanned 3,900 square meters after the strike. The drone assault on the city also damaged 11 apartment buildings, Terekhov said.

The attack came a week after a U.S.-brokered partial ceasefire on strikes on energy and Black Sea infrastructure. Both sides have accused each other of breaking the moratorium.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 57 of 131 drones launched by Russia during the overnight attack that also used two Iskander-M ballistic missiles.

Another 45 drones did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic countermeasures, it said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russia had fired more than 1,000 drones over the past week and he called for a response from the U.S. and other allies. Russia said Ukrainian drones attacked its energy facilities last week.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has waged a bloody and brutal three-year war. Both sides deny targeting civilians, saying their attacks are aimed at destroying each other's infrastructure crucial to war efforts.

Over the weekend a Russian drone strike on Kharkiv killed two people and wounded 35, a Ukrainian official said.

Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said on Monday that the overnight attacks followed a Sunday guided aerial bomb strike on the city of Kupiansk that left five injured and damaged an apartment building.

Kupiansk, east of Kharkiv, was seized by Russia early in the invasion of Ukraine and recaptured by Ukrainian troops later that year. It has now come under new, intense Russian pressure.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the attacks.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine again violated energy strike ceasefire – Russia

Ukraine has again violated the moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure by launching two attacks on the power grid in Russia’s border Bryansk Region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days following a phone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump earlier this month, an agreement later confirmed by Kiev.

Moscow, however, accused Ukraine of violating the ceasefire almost immediately, with several similar breaches occurring in the following days.
In a statement on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry signaled that Kiev did not change its approach to the moratorium. “Over the past 24 hours, despite the Kiev regime’s statements about not striking energy facilities, the Ukrainian armed forces continued to attack Russia’s energy infrastructure.”

One attack, which took place on Sunday evening, targeted a facility in Bryansk Region and involved an artillery shelling of a branch of energy company Rosseti Centre – Bryanskenergo, the ministry said. “Due to a break in the wire on the support, the high-voltage line was disconnected, and household consumers in the Suzemsky district were cut off from the energy supply.”

Less than half an hour later, a Ukrainian drone attacked an electricity substation in the same area, also leading to energy disruptions, officials added.

“The continued deliberate attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russian energy facilities indicate the complete inability of the Kiev regime to abide by any of its obligations regarding the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine,” the ministry stressed.

While Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of violating the moratorium on energy strikes, it has signaled that it intends to uphold its end of the bargain because the deal serves as a sign of progress in improving US-Russian bilateral relations. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned, however, that Moscow may retaliate symmetrically for Kiev’s violations.

Reuters/RT

Fuel stations across Lagos and surrounding areas have increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly called petrol, to between N930 and N970 per litre, up from the previous N865 per litre rate.

On Sunday morning, BusinessDay observed that numerous filling stations throughout Lagos had adjusted their pump prices upward. Concurrently, depot prices rose to between N890 and N900 per litre, marking an increase from below N850 per litre just two weeks ago.

Industry experts attribute this price hike to recently reported increases in petrol landing costs, which oil marketers say have jumped by N88 per litre in a single week, alongside growing import volumes.

BusinessDay confirmed an AP filling station on Admiralty Road in Lekki Phase 1 selling fuel at N930 per litre, while other Lagos outlets priced petrol between N930 and N935 per litre. Further afield, stations in Abuja and Magboro, Ogun State have set prices between N960 and N970 per litre.

This represents the first petrol price increase of 2025, following several price reductions earlier in the year during heightened competition between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Dangote Refinery.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN in Benue State has raised the alarm over the alleged poisoning and rustling of members’ cattle by criminal elements in Agatu Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state.

The Chairman of MACBAN in the state, Risku Muhammed who raised the alarm weekend said over 20 cows belonging to Fulani herdsmen were Saturday poisoned at Ucha village in Agatu.

He explained that aside the poisoned cattle, “over 200 cows were last Thursday also rustled by the criminals but for the prompt intervention of security operatives who arrested one of the rustlers while others escaped.”

Mohammed alleged that a farmer in Ucha community, name withheld, poisioned the cows with the chaff of rice after he invited a herder to feed his cows with it leading to the death of 13 of the cows while seven others thar survived were undergoing treatment.

He said, “I got report from my members in Agatu LGA that a criminal who had laced rice chaff with poison invited one of our members to come and graze on the rice chaff, unfortunately, 13 cows died instantly while seven are being treated by a veterinary doctor.”

He commended the Local Government Council Chairman, Melvin Ejeh for promptly responding to issues concerning the herders and communities in the area saying “the Local Government Chairman with some Non Governmental Organizations working in the LGA have several times paid for cows killed by these criminals.”
He disclosed that herders had at one time or other lost several cows to criminals in Olegodege, Utigologwu, Egwuma, Akele, Okwtanobe and now Ucha through rustling and killing.

Contacted, Chairman of Agatu LGA, Melvin Ejeh acknowledged receipt of the complaint from MACBAN, assuring that the matter was being investigated though a farmer had been arrested in connection with the poisoned cows.
He noted that Agatu had enjoyed relative peace in recent time following the help from the state government and security operatives deployed to the area.

The Council Chairman said: “We have received complaints from Miyetti Allah and investigation is going on about the incident. Agatu has been enjoying peace and this is as a result of the Peace Committee that was set up and on daily basis we review the peace process.

“It is unfortunate that some criminal elements are bent on instigating crisis and destroying the peace process but government will not fold its arms and allow that to happen.”

The Chairman who lauded the state government for ensuring peace in Agatu appealed for the deployment of more security operatives to the LGA.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene who confirmed the development said “I have a briefing this morning (Sunday) about dead cows said to have been poisoned, investigation is ongoing and a suspect has been arrested over the matter.”

Anene also confirmed the existence of a Peace Committee working tirelessly in the area to ensure sustainable peace in the communities of Agatu LGA.

Vanguard

Israeli PM Netanyahu vows to pressure Hamas after ceasefire proposal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated a demand on Sunday for Hamas to disarm and for its leaders to leave Gaza as he promised to step up pressure on the group while continuing efforts to return hostages.

He said Israel would work to implement U.S. President Donald Trump's "voluntary emigration plan" for Gaza and said his cabinet had agreed to keep pressuring Hamas, which says it has agreed to a ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Netanyahu's comments were a recipe for "endless escalation" in the region.

Netanyahu rejected assertions that Israel, which has resumed its bombardment of Gaza after a two-month truce and sent troops back into the enclave, was not negotiating, saying "we are conducting it under fire, and therefore it is also effective".

"We see that there are suddenly cracks," he said in a video statement issued on Sunday.

On Saturday, Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group had agreed to a proposal that security sources said included the release of five Israeli hostages each week. But he said laying down its arms as Israel has demanded was a "red line" the group would not cross.

On Sunday, the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, health authorities in Gaza said at least 24 people, including several children, had been killed in Israeli strikes. Nine were killed in a single tent in the southern city of Khan Younis, they said.

Later on Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Service said it had finally been able to get access to search for rescue teams that had come under Israeli fire during a rescue mission in western Rafah, a week after the attack.

It said it had recovered 13 bodies from the scene, seven of them were Palestinian Red Crescent members, another five were from the Gaza Civil Emergency Service, and another was a United Nations worker. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

Since Israel resumed its attacks in Gaza on March 18, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate areas in northern Gaza where they had returned following the ceasefire agreement in January.

Netanyahu said Israel was demanding that Hamas lay down its arms and said its leaders would be allowed to leave Gaza. He gave no detail on how long Israeli troops would remain in the enclave but repeated that Hamas's military and government capacities must be crushed.

"We will ensure general security in the Gaza Strip and enable the implementation of the Trump plan, the voluntary emigration plan," he said. "That is the plan, we do not hide it, we are ready to discuss it at any time."

Trump originally proposed moving the entire 2.3 million population of Gaza to countries including Egypt and Jordan and developing the Gaza Strip as a U.S.-owned resort. However, no country has agreed to take in the population and Israel has since said that any departures by Palestinians would be voluntary.

EID IN GAZA

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after a devastating Hamas attack on Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023 that killed some 1,200 people, according to an Israeli tally, and saw 251 abducted as hostages.

The Israeli campaign has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities, and devastated much of the coastal enclave, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in tents and makeshift shelters.

Sunday's strikes took place as Palestinians celebrated the Eid holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"We are here to celebrate the rituals of God amid the destruction and the sounds of cannons," said Minnatallah Al-Far, in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, where most of the area has been laid waste by Israeli bombardment.

"In Gaza, our situation is very difficult. Other people are celebrating these rituals in peace and safety, but we do them amid destruction and bombardment," she said.

In Israel, Netanyahu has faced a wave of demonstrations since the military resumed its action in Gaza, with families and supporters of the remaining 59 hostages joining forces with protesters angry at government actions they see as undermining Israeli democracy.

On Sunday, he rejected what he described as "empty claims and slogans" and said military pressure was the only thing that had returned hostages.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

'Pissed off' at Putin, Trump threatens tariffs on Russian oil if Moscow blocks Ukraine deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was "pissed off" at Russian President Vladimir Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump told NBC News he was very angry after Putin last week criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's leadership, the television network reported, citing a telephone interview early on Sunday.

Since taking office in January, Trump has adopted a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that has left Western allies wary as he tries to broker an end to Moscow's three-year-old war in Ukraine.

His sharp comments about Putin on Sunday reflect his growing frustration about the lack of movement on a ceasefire.

"If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault ... I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.

“That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”

Trump later reiterated to reporters he was disappointed with Putin but added: "I think we are making progress, step by step."

Trump said he could impose the new trade measures within a month.

There was no immediate reaction from Moscow. Russia has called numerous Western sanctions and restrictions “illegal” and designed for the West to take economic advantage in its rivalry with Russia.

Trump, who spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, told NBC News he planned to speak with Putin this week. The two leaders have had two publicly announced telephone calls in recent months but may have had more contacts, the Kremlin said in video footage last week.

The White House had no immediate comment on when the call would take place, or if Trump would also speak with Zelenskiy.

Trump has focused heavily on ending what he calls a "ridiculous" war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but has made little progress.

Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections that could push out Zelenskiy.

Trump, who himself has called for new elections in Ukraine and denounced Zelenskiy as a dictator, said Putin knows he is angry with him. But Trump added he had “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly ... if he does the right thing.”

GROWING PRESSURE TO END WAR

Trump's comments followed a day of meetings and golf with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Saturday, during Stubb's surprise visit to Florida.

Stubb's office on Sunday said he told Trump a deadline needs to be set for establishing a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire to make it happen and suggested April 20 since Trump would have been in office then for three months.

U.S. officials have been separately pushing Kyiv to accept a critical minerals agreement, a summary of which suggested the U.S. was demanding all Ukraine's natural resources income for years. Zelenskiy has said Kyiv's lawyers need to review the draft before he can say more about the U.S. offer.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One he thought Zelenskiy was "trying to back out of the rare earth deal.... if he's looking to renegotiate the deal, he's got big problems." Trump also told reporters that Ukraine would never be part of NATO.

Trump's latest tariff threats would add to the pain already facing China, India and other countries through trade measures imposed during his first two months in office, including duties on steel, aluminum and cars. More duties on imports from the countries with the largest trade surpluses are slated to be announced on Wednesday.

William Reinsch, a former senior Commerce Department official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the haphazard way Trump was announcing and threatening tariffs leaves many questions unanswered, including how U.S. officials could trace and prove which countries were buying Russian oil.

Trump set the stage for Sunday's news with a 25% secondary tariffimposed last week on U.S. imports from any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela.

His remarks to NBC suggest he could take similar action against U.S. imports from countries that buy oil from Russia, a move that could hit China and India particularly hard.

The U.S. has not imported any Russian barrels of crude oil since April 2022, according to U.S. government data. Before that, U.S. refiners bought inconsistent volumes of Russian oil, with a high of 98.1 million barrels in 2010 and low of 6.6 million in 2014, according to a review of EIA data since 2000.

India has surpassed China to become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude, which comprised about 35% of India's total crude imports in 2024.

Trump on Sunday also said he could hit buyers of Iranian oil with secondary sanctions if Tehran did not reach an agreement to end their nuclear weapons program.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Intel sharing and ‘boots on the ground’: Takeaways from NYT investigation into ‘secret’ US-Ukraine partnership

A New York Times investigation has found that the administration of former US President Joe Biden provided Ukraine with support that went far beyond arms shipments – extending to daily battlefield coordination, intelligence sharing, and joint strategy planning that were indispensable in Kiev’s fight against Russia.

The report, which was prepared based on more than 300 interviews with Ukrainian and Western government and military officials, takes a deep dive into the cooperation between Washington and Kiev from the early days of the conflict through late 2024.

Attempt at Vietnam rematch

Following the outbreak of the hostilities in February 2022, the US and Ukraine gradually moved towards an “extraordinary partnership of intelligence, strategy, planning and technology” that became Kiev’s “secret weapon” in fighting Russia, the investigation said.

The outlet noted that Washington’s campaign to support Ukraine reached such a scale that it became “a rematch in a long history of US-Russia proxy wars – Vietnam in the 1960s, Afghanistan in the 1980s, Syria three decades later.” 

'Points of interest,' not 'targets'

The US Army garrison in Wiesbaden, Germany, became the nerve center of the cooperation, according to the report. American and Ukrainian officers worked jointly each day to select Russian targets – although they avoided using the phrase, using instead the euphemism “points of interest” out of fear that the phrase could be deemed too provocative. Intelligence flowed from satellite imagery and intercepted communications directly into Ukrainian targeting decisions.

Since mid-2022, Ukraine heavily relied on US data to attack Russian command and control centers and other high-value targets. Targeting sheets contained dozens of objectives listed in order of priority, the NYT said.

Some of the massive strikes made using Western-supplied long-range missiles were aimed at targets in Crimea, including Russian warships. Some of the strikes have resulted in civilian casualties.

One unnamed European official told the paper that he was shocked by the extent of the involvement. “They are part of the kill chain now,” he was quoted as saying.

‘Boots on the ground’ after all

While early into the conflict the Biden administration promised that the US would not “put boots on the ground” in Ukraine, the cooperation in Wiesbaden ended up leading to an easing of this prohibition, the report claims.

Under Biden, the US “authorized clandestine operations,” and “American military advisers were dispatched to Kiev and later allowed to travel closer to the fighting,” NYT said, estimating their number in the dozens.

Walking over ‘red lines’

As the conflict progressed, the Biden administration gradually relaxed the self-imposed restrictions on supplying Kiev with arms, particularly long-range missiles. In 2024, the US extended its permissions to allow Ukraine to carry out limited long-range strikes using American-supplied weapons into internationally recognized Russian territory while providing Kiev with the relevant targeting data.

Tensions over strategy

While cooperation with the US provided Ukraine with invaluable data and resources to fight Russia, the sides at times had major disagreements over strategy and objectives, the NYT noted.

“Where the Americans focused on measured, achievable objectives, they saw the Ukrainians as constantly grasping for the big win, the bright, shining prize,” the report said.

The contradictions became particularly apparent during Ukraine’s botched counteroffensive in the southern sector of the front in the summer of 2023. The Ukrainian leadership was split between competing objectives – pursuing an assault toward Melitopol, and prioritizing the area of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).

What now?

While describing the cooperation as a “secret weapon” in Kiev’s arsenal, the NYT noted that the arrangement now “teeters on a knife edge”as US President Donald Trump is pushing for talks with Russia and seeking to end the conflict.

“For the Ukrainians, the auguries are not encouraging… the American president has baselessly blamed the Ukrainians for starting the war, pressured them to forfeit much of their mineral wealth and asked the Ukrainians to agree to a ceasefire without a promise of concrete American security guarantees,” the outlet summarized, adding that Trump has already started to wind down some elements of the partnership.

Reuters/RT