On July 18, "bandits" shot down a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet in northern Nigeria on the border between Zamfara and Katsina states. The pilot successfully ejected from the aircraft and avoided capture by the "bandits" using his "survival skills" until he reached an army installation. While NAF planes have crashed in the past—including earlier this year when a plane crash killed Chief of Army Staff General Ibrahim Attahiru—this is apparently the first time a jet has been brought down by enemy fire.

As external actors seem to lessen pressure on West Africa’s juntas, Guineans register their discontent with military governance.

Last weekend, as Americans pondered how our election cycle will proceed in the midst of the constraints and disruption necessitated by the coronavirus, the people of Guinea found themselves deciding whether or not to venture out and vote in both a highly controversial referendum and legislative elections.

The small West African country of Guinea has become the latest in sub-Saharan Africa threatened by third termism. President Alpha Condé’s second term ends in 2020, and the current constitution prevents him from seeking a third. So, last month, the eighty-one-year-old set to work drafting a new constitution, one that could allow him to remain in office indefinitely. 

Numerous countries will hold elections in 2020. Here are ten to watch. 

As violence escalates in Israel’s struggle with Hamas, the potential for hate-based violence in the United States grows, too. American leaders need to step in to defuse tensions.