The Drums Are Beating

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have formed the Alliance of Sahel States, on the principle that, "Any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracted parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties."

Meanwhile, there are reports that a coup is underway in the Republic of the Congo, otherwise known as Congo-Brazzaville, such that an official denial has had to be issued by the regime in that member of OPEC.