Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali have launched joint battalion aiming to bolster sovereignty after group booted out France, US.
Published On 24 Dec 202524 Dec 2025
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Burkina Faso’s interim leader, who is part of a regional alliance of military-led countries that includes Mali and Niger, has announced “large-scale” joint operations against armed groups in the coming days.
Captain Ibrahim Traore’s comments came as the three countries, allied under the banner of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), held a joint summit that concluded on Tuesday, days after the launch of a joint military battalion aimed at fighting groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
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Newly installed as AES chief, Traore provided no further details on the actions planned by the three countries, which have all experienced coups in recent years and have withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc to form the AES in 2024. The three pledged at this week’s summit to deepen their security and economic ties.
The military leaders of the three nations have kicked out longtime security partners France and the United States, turning instead to Russia as an ally in their bid to advance regional sovereignty, with this week’s launch of the 5,000-strong AES Unified Force (FU-AES) seen as a key milestone for the bloc.
General Omar Tchiani, leader of Niger’s military government, said at the summit that the AES had “put an end to all occupation forces in our countries”.
“No country or interest group will decide for our countries any more,” he said.
Burkina Faso’s Traore warned of looming destabilisation in West Africa, which he termed the “Black Winter” – a phase of external threats, violence, and economic pressure aimed at undermining Sahelian sovereignty.
At the summit, the three states launched a joint broadcaster called AES Television, with Malian President General Assimi Goita describing it as a strategic tool “to break disinformation campaigns and hostile narratives targeting our states”.
On security, Goita reported positive operational outcomes, claiming that “several terrorist bases” had been destroyed.
On the economy, he rejected narratives portraying the Sahel as structurally poor, lauding the bloc’s “immense mining and agricultural potential”.
The second annual AES summit shows growing collaboration among the three countries, despite fractured relations and coup-related sanctions from global partners, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
The alliance “enjoys popularity among citizens of the three countries” and is trying to keep momentum going by deepening cooperation beyond cross-border military operations, Laessing told The Associated Press news agency.
Christmas is a time when families get together if they can – and, until this year, the Murdochs were no different. With members of the media dynasty spread across the globe, full family gatherings were rare, although in 2008, according to biographer Michael Wolff, the Murdochs spent the festive season together on a flotilla of private yachts.
But more often in recent years it was Rupert – for many decades the most influential media titan in the world – and his daughter Elisabeth who would make time for each other.
She would certainly have room this year to host her father at the luxurious home she has renovated on the edge of the Cotswolds. But after a bruising closed-court battle in Nevada that became public and an eventual agreement that shut Elisabeth and two of her siblings out of the family firm for good, relations are likely still too strained for even the Murdoch family peacemaker to suggest communal tree-decorating.
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Elisabeth Murdoch and two of her siblings, James and Prudence, have been cut out of the family firm
Rupert’s eldest child by his second wife, Elisabeth is the co-founder and executive chairman of the production company, Sister, which is behind hit television series, including Black Doves, The Split and This is Going To Hurt. In my experience, she is generous, intelligent and hard-working.
Friends are fiercely loyal and protective of her privacy. Nobody I have spoken to has a bad word to say about her. Many acknowledge, though, that it has been an incredibly testing year on the family front – even if Elisabeth, her younger brother, James, and elder half-sister, Prudence, are each around a billion dollars richer.
Money doesn’t compensate for a father who, in his mid-90s, decided to rip his family apart because he believed it was in the interests of his business. The Murdochs have never been a traditional family – one reason why their story is said to have inspired the power struggles and backstabbing in the acclaimed TV drama, Succession. But this time, the schism feels more permanent. And as one person put it to me, the TV show concluded too early by killing off Logan Roy: there was more drama to come.
‘James and Rupert will never patch up differences’
James Murdoch’s relationship with his father and older brother Lachlan appears irreconcilable. Earlier this year, he described his dad as a “misogynist” in an interview in US magazine The Atlantic, and referred to some of Rupert’s behaviour in the courtroom fight as “twisted”.
He is known to feel betrayed and angered by Rupert’s decision to force him, Elisabeth and Prudence formally to cut ties with Fox Corp and News Corp. Driven by fears over the more liberal direction they might want the companies to take after his death, the media mogul tried to change the terms of a trust that gave his four oldest children equal control when he dies.
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James Murdoch’s relationship with his father Rupert and older brother Lachlan now appears irreconcilable (L-R, James Murdoch, Anna Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch)
Lachlan, who Rupert had already chosen to run the business, is now – definitively – the only one who will take the reins after his father’s demise.
Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch actually lost the first round of their court fight. The trust had been set up in 1999, when Rupert divorced Anna, the mother of Lachlan, Elisabeth and James.
The judge ruled that changing it was in bad faith. But behind the scenes, the warring sides eventually came to an agreement. James, Elisabeth and Prudence agreed to sell their shares. They have accepted terms that include not being allowed to buy any equity in the family company in future.
“It’s a sad ending,” Claire Atkinson, whose biography of Rupert Murdoch will come out next year, told us on The Media Show.
“These kids worked in the business, they grew up in the business, and the press release said, ‘You can’t buy shares in this company,’ and effectively said, ‘Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.'”
She also told me: “This break is extremely permanent. It feels like James and Rupert will never patch up their differences.”
Lachlan Murdoch has been quoted as saying that the resolution is “good news for investors” and “gives us clarity about our strategy going forward”.
Ironically, his successful leadership of Fox Corp, where he’s been CEO since 2019 (he became chairman of Fox and also News Corp in 2023 when his father became chairman emeritus), made the deal more costly.
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Media journalist Claire Atkinson says the family rift involving Lachlan (left), Rupert (centre) and James (right) feels “permanent”
Fox Corp has seen its share price double under Lachlan and the Trump presidency has brought a ratings bonanza. It raised the amount he had to pay his siblings to get them out – a presumably unwelcome side effect.
Despite the payout, Atkinson says, “There is a fracture in the company and a fracture in the family.”
So where do the Murdochs go from here, privately and corporately?
Court battles, rifts and an ageing patriarch
Elisabeth and her half-sister Prudence are said to be concentrating on moving on.
Their father turned 94 in March, with the court battle in full swing. The sisters are mindful that he won’t be around forever and I am told they are hoping at some point to repair the rift.
Reuters
Prudence Murdoch and her half-sister Elisabeth are said to be focused on moving on from the dispute
However much they have felt betrayed by him (and there is no doubt, they have felt it, very painfully), there’s an understanding of the dwindling number of years he has left.
But Christmas may still be too soon for reconciliation. Lachlan hosted his annual party for the Australian elite at his harbour-side Sydney home earlier this month. Fox Corp may operate out of the US, but he is said to prefer the laid-back nature of Australian life, even if the trade-off is business calls in the middle of the night because of the time difference, as well as a lot of flights.
Atkinson says he is popular and well-liked within the business. “The difficulty that Lachlan has is that he’s been in charge for years, but everybody is always going to project that every decision is Rupert’s. He’s never going to want to say, ‘Hey, that’s me,’ and so I think it’s a little hard to come out from Dad’s shadow.”
At the same time, Rodney Benson, professor of media, culture, and communication at New York University, says that while Rupert remains a presence in the company “what’s really unique about Lachlan’s approach, or what will be unique about his approach, won’t fully emerge”.
Lachlan’s ‘business over politics’ strategy
Fox News is the financial cash cow, which may explain Rupert Murdoch’s concerns that his children might have wanted to change its political affiliations.
Under Lachlan, there’s been a successful strategy to expand into digital and streaming, most notably the ad-supported video-on-demand service, Tubi.
In September, US President Donald Trump said Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch were expected to be part of a group of investors trying to buy TikTok in the US. On Thursday, TikTok parent company ByteDance announced to staff that it had signed an agreement to sell a portion of TikTok to a group of mostly US based investors. Lachlan and Rupert were not named as part of the deal.
Reuters
Under Lachlan Murdoch’s leadership, the company has pursued a strategy centred on digital and streaming growth
Presenting the Fox Corporation’s results for July to September, Lachlan said Tubi had achieved rapid revenue growth and growth in view time, confirming its position as the top premium advertising-based video-on-demand platform in the US.
“And I’m happy to say Tubi reached profitability this past quarter,” he added. “It’s a great milestone.”
He also said Fox News had maintained strong ratings throughout the quarter, cementing its status as the most-watched cable network in prime time, and leading to the highest advertising revenue for July-September quarter in Fox’s history.
Rupert Murdoch’s 70-year career saw him as “both an interventionist editor-in-chief figure and a political kingmaker”, according to Paddy Manning, an investigative journalist who wrote The Successor: The High-Stakes Life of Lachlan Murdoch. But he adds, “Lachlan is less of the journalist and powerbroker than his father, and more of a businessman.
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Author Paddy Manning says Lachlan is “less of a journalist and powerbroker than his father, and more of a businessman”
“If you look at the signature deals that Lachlan has made over his career, they have not been designed to increase his political influence. From digital real estate to sports betting to commercial radio to Tubi, Lachlan’s investment decisions are focused on the bottom line, not burnishing his political credentials.”
But Prof Benson suggests the significant debt the Murdoch businesses have taken on as part of the settlement with Lachlan’s siblings increases pressure to make profit, and therefore to pursue “politically sensationalistic… outrage journalism”.
“The proven way to be profitable in cable/streaming news is not by becoming more centrist and civil, it’s by becoming more extreme, more polarising, and more willing to stir outrage,” he says.
Rupert has had a hotline to major political figures for decades. In September he was on President Trump’s guestlist for the state banquet at Windsor Castle. I’m told he spent nearly two weeks in London and was in the News UK office most days.
While Lachlan now runs the company, his father is still very much involved. Rupert’s been described to me, at 94, as still “the sharpest person in the room” and a “phenomenon who loves papers and has ink in his veins”. His voice may be a little softer, but he is mentally as strong and influential as ever, I’m told.
AFP via Getty Images
Rupert Murdoch recently attended a state banquet at Windsor Castle as a guest of US President Donald Trump
At one point the editor of the Times introduced Rupert to a slightly startled young journalist on the newsdesk and asked him to show the boss the paper’s recently launched Live app and what it showed around reader engagement on specific stories.
Rupert also spoke to Fraser Nelson, the former Spectator editor now Times columnist, who usually sits at the open plan table in the office. They discussed the company’s pivot to video and the work Nelson had been trialling around short form video. Rupert also wanted to talk to his paper’s new star about whether Nigel Farage would end up in government.
A family ‘deeply divided’
Three months on from the family trust dispute settlement, Mr Manning claims that the Murdochs are “deeply divided”.
“While Lachlan works closely with his father, I understand he remains estranged from his elder siblings,” he alleges.
Rupert Murdoch and his children Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence were all approached for comment.
Presciently, Anna Murdoch – Lachlan, James and Elisabeth’s mother – predicted much of the fallout back in the 1980s.
In her novel Family Business, Anna, a journalist and author, wrote about the rise of a fictional newspaper dynasty and explored sibling rivalry, jealousy and how parental power can negatively impact family relationships. The plot of the book, published while her children were in their teens, follows how a newspaper owner’s children are shaped by a parent who turns them into competitors in a power struggle.
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Anna Murdoch, the mother of Lachlan, James and Elisabeth, warned that family divisions could emerge (L – R, Lachlan, James, Rupert, Elisabeth and Anna)
A decade after it was published – by which time the pair had divorced and Rupert had married third wife Wendi Deng – Anna gave an interview to an Australian women’s magazine, during which she was asked which of her children would be best suited to take over from her ex-husband.
“Actually I’d like none of them to,” she said. “I think they’re all so good that they could do whatever they wanted really. But I think there’s going to be a lot of heartbreak and hardship with this [succession]. There’s been such a lot of pressure that they needn’t have had at their age.”
The family trust, agreed between Rupert and Anna as part of their divorce settlement, was her way of safeguarding her children’s futures, by ensuring they had equality after Rupert’s death. But that blew up – through a court fight in Nevada and a settlement.
And with that, relations with three of his six children may have blown up too – perhaps for good.
Top picture credits: Getty Images and Reuters
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A financier has been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States to face allegations that he cheated investors who were promised monthly 10% gains in what was actually a Ponzi scheme, authorities said.
Matthew Melton, 61, of Boulder, Colorado, has remained jailed at a federal lockup in Brooklyn after appearing in court Saturday to face securities fraud and wire fraud charges. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Authorities said Melton falsely told at least 20 investors that his investment fund, Price Physics, used a proprietary trading algorithm to invest in futures contracts and produce record returns.
But U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said Melton was not doing anything groundbreaking or cutting-edge in the scheme, which he used to fund a luxurious lifestyle from 2018 to 2020.
“In reality, Melton was allegedly operating one of the oldest scams around, taking new investors’ money to pay old investors and pocketing funds for himself along the way,” Clayton said in a statement.
Melton is alleged to have used some of the nearly $3.4 million he brought in to pay his mortgage and for sailing excursions.
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The United States has imposed visa bans on five Europeans, including a former European Union commissioner, accusing them of pressuring tech firms to censor and suppress “American viewpoints they oppose”.
In a statement on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterised the individuals as “radical activists” who had “advanced censorship crackdowns” by foreign states against “American speakers and American companies”.
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“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” he said on X.
“The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” he added.
The most prominent target was Thierry Breton, who served as the European commissioner for the internal market from 2019-2024.
Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary for public diplomacy, described the French businessman as the “mastermind” of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a landmark law intended to combat hateful speech, misinformation and disinformation on online platforms.
Rogers also accused Breton of using the DSA to threaten Elon Musk, the owner of X and a close ally of US President Donald Trump, ahead of an interview Musk conducted with Trump during last year’s presidential campaign.
‘Witch hunt’
Breton responded to the visa ban in a post on X, slamming it as a “witch hunt” and comparing the situation with the US’s McCarthy era, when officials were chased out of government for alleged ties to communism.
“To our American friends: Censorship isn’t where you think it is,” he added.
The others named by Rogers are: Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organisation, and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index (GDI).
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot “strongly” condemned the visa restrictions, stating that the EU “cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them”. He stressed that the DSA was “democratically adopted in Europe” and that “it has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States”.
Ballon and von Holdenberg of HateAid described the visa bans as an attempt to obstruct the enforcement of European law on US corporations operating in Europe.
“We will not be intimidated by a government that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who stand up for human rights and freedom of expression,” they said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the GDI also called the US action “immoral, unlawful, and un-American”, as well as “an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship”.
The punitive measures follow the Trump administration’s publishing of a National Security Strategy, which accused European leaders of censoring free speech and suppressing opposition to immigration policies that it said risk “civilisational erasure” for the continent.
The DSA in particular has emerged as a flashpoint in US-EU relations, with US conservatives decrying it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation Brussels denies.
The legislation requires major platforms to explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and grant researchers access to study issues such as children’s exposure to dangerous content.
Tensions escalated further this month after the EU fined Musk’s X for violating DSA rules on transparency in advertising and its methods for ensuring users were verified and actual people.
Washington last week signalled that key European businesses – including Accenture, DHL, Mistral, Siemens and Spotify – could be targeted in response.
The US has also attacked the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, which imposes similar content moderation requirements on major social media platforms.
The White House last week suspended the implementation of a tech cooperation deal with the UK, saying it was in opposition to the UK’s tech rules.
Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.
YMCA National Championships finalist Kaliyah Hinson has announced her verbal commitment to swim for Howard University in Washington, DC, beginning in the fall of 2026.
“I am proud to announce my academic and athletic commitment to Howard University! I want to thank my family, friends, and coaches for their support, and a special thank you to Coach Nic for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. Howard felt like the perfect fit for me, both academically and athletically, and I’m thrilled to join a program that’s not only growing but making history. I can’t wait to contribute to the team and be part of the Howard Swimming legacy. GO BISON!!!”
A senior at Spring Grove High School, the Pennsylvania native has been a member of her school’s varsity swimming and diving team for the past two years, starting as a junior. She currently trains year-round with York YMCA, where she primarily specializes in free and back, as well as some fly and IM.
Hinson turned in a series of top performances at the 2024 YMCA Short Course National Championships, earning a second swim in two individual races and logging new best times in two events. She placed 13th in the 50 free (23.72) and 28th in the 100 back (57.26 – PB). Hinson also helped her team to a 3rd-place finish in the 200 free relay, 6th-place finish in the 200 medley relay and 9th-place finish in the 400 medley relay. She posted a lifetime best time of 23.56 in the 50 free as the leadoff on the 200 free relay during prelims, and she further improved her best time in the 100 back as the leadoff on the 400 medley relay with a time of 57.08.
At the 2025 YMCA Short Course National Championships, Hinson once again delivered top performances for her team on the relays. She helped York to a 4th-place finish in both the 400 free relay and 400 medley relay, a 7th-place finish in the 200 medley relay and a 10th-place finish in the 200 free relay. She also contested the 50 free (24.15), 100 free (52.58), 100 back (58.12) and 200 back (2:04.85 – PB).
Hinson competed at the PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association) 3A State Championship in March, where she earned a second swim in one event. She placed 12th in the 50 free (24.21) and 17th in the 100 back (58.16).
Best Times SCY
50 free – 23.56
100 free – 52.13
200 free – 1:53.70
100 back – 57.03
200 back – 2:04.85
A Division I Mid-Major program, Howard competes in the Northeast Conference against the likes of Central Connecticut State, Saint Francis (PA )and Wagner. Howard’s women’s team earned a second straight runner-up finish at last season’s Northeast Conference Championships.
Based on the results from the 2025 conference championships, Hinson would have landed in the ‘A’ final in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 100 back and 200 back, setting her up to be a key contributor for Howard right from the start.
Hinson will be joined by fellow 2026 commits Victoria Williams and Amira Washington next fall, who should make for strong training partners over the next four years.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.
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The next transformative phase of weight-loss medication is upon us, with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approving Novo Nordisk’s highly anticipated oral GLP-1 drug – with a starting dose available in early January for US$149.
The once-daily oral semaglutide pill (Wegovy) has won the race to be first to launch, following strong results out of a six-week trial in which more than 300 participants lost an average of 16.6% of their bodyweight – a similar amount to the injectable version that launched in 2021.
“The pill is here,” said Mike Doustdar, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, in a statement announcing the approval. “With today’s approval of the Wegovy pill, patients will have a convenient, once-daily pill that can help them lose as much weight as the original Wegovy injection.”
The pill has several advantages over the injectable versions – it doesn’t require refrigeration and it does away with the injections. Side-effects from the oral Wegovy were in line with those on existing GLP-1 medications. It’ll also have a starting dose of 1.5 mg, while the injectables are 2.4 mg.
“As the first oral GLP-1 treatment for people living with overweight or obesity, the Wegovy pill provides patients with a new, convenient treatment option that can help patients start or continue their weight loss journey,” Doustdar said. “No other current oral GLP-1 treatment can match the weight loss delivered by the Wegovy pill, and we are very excited for what this will mean for patients in the US.”
The drug is expected to be on pharmacy shelves in early January, with the 1.5-mg dose available for $149 a month when bought through these outlets or selected telehealth sites.
Meanwhile, US drugmaker Eli Lilly has just released its positive results of its Phase 3 trial for the oral pill orforglipron, and an FDA approval is imminent. We previously predicted it’d be available in 2026, and at this point it should be sooner rather than later in the year.
At least two people have died and several others were injured after an explosion and fire at a Pennsylvania nursing home caused a partial collapse of the building.
Emergency crews were called to the Silver Lake Nursing Home in Bristol at about 14:00 local time (19:00GMT) on Tuesday after receiving reports of a gas odour. When crews arrived, the building exploded causing a massive fire, authorities said.
Five people were still unaccounted for, but officials said they were unsure if those people were in the building.
Responders pulled residents out of windows, stairwells, and elevators and carried them to safety, fire chief Kevin Dippolito told reporters.
“There was one police officer who literally threw two people over his shoulders and ran” with them towards medical staff, he said.
Several people were trapped in the basement of the collapsed building but were rescued, Dippolito said.
“We’re still in rescue mode. We have not transitioned into a recovery mode,” he said.
Emergency crews were still working to rescue people who may be stuck in the building, the fire chief said.
Governor Josh Shapiro said the exact number of injuries was not yet known, and the cause of the blast remained under investigation.
Images and videos posted on social platforms by local media outlets show a partially collapsed building with massive flames billowing out of it.
Shapiro praised the support from authorities around the region who rushed to offer assistance, and said that the residents living near the nursing home were “outstanding”.
“We had residents coming out of their houses offering to help us,” he said. “This is the Pennsylvania way: neighbors helping neighbors in a moment of need.”
