Wednesday Briefing: Coups and conflict in West Africa

Good morning.

We’re covering what the coup in Niger means for West Africa and Japan’s anger over “Barbenheimer.”

Plus: The murky supply chains for solar panels.

What another coup means for West Africa

Nearly a week after a military takeover in Niger, there’s still uncertainty about who is truly in charge there. Hundreds of European nationals gathered yesterday at the airport in the country’s capital for an evacuation flight, as the coup threatened to set off a regional conflict.

For more, we turned to Declan Walsh, The Times’s chief Africa correspondent.

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What is the latest on what’s happening in Niger?

The leaders of Mali and Burkina Faso on Tuesday backed the soldiers who claimed to be in charge in Niger. They have much in common: The leaders of Mali and Burkina Faso also seized power in military coups, which led to their suspension from the Economic Community of West African States, a regional union. That bloc threatened on Sunday to lead a military intervention in Niger unless the ousted president was returned to office.

It’s unclear if either side is serious about going to war, but this signals how divided West Africa is.

What are the stakes of the coup in Niger?

At worst, it could cause a regional war in a country with thousands of Western soldiers on the ground and present another opportunity for the Wagner mercenaries in Russia to extend their presence. It’s unclear if any side is willing to go that far. But for the West, Niger is one of the last bastions of the fight against Islamist militants in the region.

There are 1,500 French troops and 1,100 American troops in Niger; what happens to them is at the heart of Western calculations over the crisis.

The region has seen a number of coups in the past few years. What’s driving them?

The coup in Niger completed a band of African countries, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, now ruled by military juntas that seized power in the last three years.

Different factors lie behind the coups. In Mali, corruption and militants were a factor. In Sudan, it stemmed from rivalries inside the military. But there are some common threads: Many are weak states that have failed to provide much for their citizens, especially young people, while Islamist insurgencies have eroded public confidence in struggling democracies.

Solar supply chain grows more opaque

Global supply chains for solar panels have begun shifting away from a heavy reliance on China, in part because of a recent ban on products from Xinjiang, a region in which the U.S. government and the U.N. have accused China of committing human rights violations. But a new report found that a vast majority of solar panels made globally continue to have significant ties to China and Xinjiang.

Details: The report said the world’s five biggest solar manufacturers — all with headquarters in China — had “high” or “very high” potential exposure to Xinjiang. Even within “clean” supply chains set up to serve the U.S. or Europe, many companies still appear to be getting raw materials from suppliers that have exposure to Xinjiang.

Sectarian violence flares in India

On Monday, a police officer on a train bound for Mumbai fatally shot his superior and then killed three unarmed Muslim passengers. On the same day, a march by a Hindu nationalist organization through a Muslim-majority district dissolved into a riot that spread toward Delhi, killing at least five people, the police said.

The unrelated incidents underscore the way the partisan stances of India’s top Hindu leaders have given license to chaotic elements in the country. The rising violence has emerged at an awkward time for the country, as India prepares to host the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi in September.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

In Japan, ‘Barbenheimer’ isn’t funny

In the U.S., “Barbenheimer” — the simultaneous release of the “Barbie” movie and the biopic “Oppenheimer” — has been a cause for celebration, with fans enjoying double features and online mash-ups of Barbie’s pink fantasia with images of nuclear explosions. It has prompted a very different reaction in Japan: anger.

In a country still scarred by the nuclear bombings by the U.S. military during World War II, which killed hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there’s little room for such carefree associations. In Japan, Twitter users have spread the hashtag #NoBarbenheimer and have shared photos of the bombing victims.

“Barbie” is set to open in Japan in August, but “Oppenheimer” doesn’t have a release date there yet, leading to some speculation that the movie may not be shown at all in the country, to avoid offending local sensibilities. But an official ban seems unlikely: Japan has robust freedom of speech, and previous American movies touching on war-era subjects have played to modest audiences in the country.

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Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Justin and Lynsey

P.S. Blake Wilson is Well’s new editorial director.

We’d like your feedback! Please email thoughts and suggestions to briefing@nytimes.com.

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