Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso junta chiefs mark divorce from ECOWAS The military regimes of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso marked their formal separation from the rest of West Africa on Saturday, with Niger’s ruling general announcing that the junta-led countries have “turned their backs on” the regional bloc. The leaders of the three countries are attending the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), established after their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier this year. “Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS,” Niger’s...