African audiences' responses to our “Elections Circus” publication — which detailed how more than €100 million of EU taxpayers' money, earmarked for free and fair elections, has largely benefited ruling elites rather than supporting meaningful democratic change — have been overwhelming. Hundreds of readers accessed the online link as soon as it went live, and print copies sold in significantly higher numbers than usual. In Côte d'Ivoire, three online media outlets and one print newspaper published all five country chapters, while on the day of publication, the government also disbanded its electoral commission. In Kenya and Nigeria, high-quality independent media co-published the work, reaching millions. Even Mozambique, which was not included in the project, chose to publish it. In contrast, the EU has remained silent throughout. EU delegations did not respond to NAIRE journalists' requests for comment; the EU in Brussels did not respond to emailed questions; and no response was provided after publication.

Following Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's resignation in response to mass Gen Z-led protests, Nepal goes to the polls on 5 March. Some 19 million people — including 837,000 new voters — will choose from 120 registered parties. With unemployment and governance failures eclipsing traditional ideological debates, anti-corruption and inclusion demands have dominated the campaign.

« Je ne savais pas encore que j'étais devenu un objet. Je me découvrais objet au milieu d'autres objets », écrit Frantz Fanon en 1952. Le 17 mars 2026, Apolline de Malherbe reprend une fake news d'extrême droite en interrogeant Bally Bakayoko, élu maire de Saint-Denis : il aurait appelé celle-ci « ville des Noirs ». Fanon savait.

A genocide in Gaza that the world watched and allowed to happen. The Epstein files. Parliamentary scandals. Corruption so deep nobody can see the bottom. A war on Iran launched days after a peace deal was within reach. Most of us have lost faith in the people running things. And that loss of faith is opening the door to something we should all be watching closely: the steady transfer of decision-making power to algorithms and AI systems that are not neutral, not accountable, and not safe.