Toussaint L’Ouverture, who helped to lead Haiti to independence in 1804.  France forced the new country to pay reparations for destroyed property until 1947.  (Image source)

• Enough about aid — let’s talk reparations.  Shashi Tharoor on this subject is also supposed to be quite good

• Outside of the headlines, Ethiopia hosts thousands of refugees from regional wars

• The Independent has been providing excellent coverage of the runup to Uganda’s 2016 elections.  Several good pieces on why the NRM may continue to use violence, the creation of opposition coalitions, and the politics of crowds

• Finland will give every citizen a basic income of €800 per month

• Fascinating piece on the feminist republic of Rojava in northern Syria

• Next June is a good time for interesting conferences and short courses.  In Dakar, there’s a conference on “Innovation, transformation and sustainable futures in Africa” co-sponsored by AAS, ASA, CODESRIA and WARA.  The Brown International Advance Research Institutes include courses on post-conflict reconstruction, governance and globalization, ethnic conflict, and climate change.  And IDS is running a short course on social protection.  Funding sources for conference travel are listed here

• Song of the week: I can’t stop listening to Nakhane Touré’s stunning new song The Plague