Will Sudan be seen as a pawn in a regional deal with U.S., Arab allies?
Recently, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met to consider actions on the war in Sudan. According to the Sudan Tribune, it has been mostly women and children who have been caught in the crossfire between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia which is supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Noting that both...
‘Big red flag’: Gates Foundation gets diplomatic immunity in Kenya
Under the new status, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its employees are exempt from legal action for acts performed in Kenya as part of their official foundation duties. Will the move set a precedent for other billionaire philanthropists? by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D. The Defender This article was published on The Defender—Children’s Health Defense News & Views Website on October...
Africa historically takes a back seat in U.S. foreign policy
The U.S. just ended its November 5 presidential race with a win for Donald Trump. This matters for just about every region on earth. But, unintended consequences, including Israel’s expanding genocidal war in the Middle East and Russia’s war with Ukraine, may relegate Africa to taking a back seat. In fact, according to a recently released report by the Washington,...
Presidents of South Sudan and Kenya push for a resolution in stalled peace talks
JUBA, South Sudan—South Sudan peace talks, previously held in neighboring Kenya, will resume under a directive from President Salva Kiir and his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, who met Nov. 6 and directed the mediation team to reconvene and resolve all outstanding issues within two weeks. The talks had stalled after Kiir’s former rival, Riek Machar’s party, withdrew in July, citing plans by the...
Africans observing, monitoring U.S. presidential election
Political analysts and observers in Africa are monitoring the 2024 U.S. presidential election and understand regardless of the outcome, many of America’s foreign policies are viewed with trepidation. “While most Africans on the continent lean towards Democrats, they are very well aware that American policy is driven more by corporate financial interest and lobbying groups like the American Israel Public...
African defense chiefs meet to discuss rising tensions
African defense ministers met in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, for a conference on security and peace at a time when several of the continent’s countries are embroiled in conflicts. The three-day event, the first organized by the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense, commenced on Oct. 15. Representatives of regional organizations, senior military officers, military attachés in Addis Ababa, and researchers engaged...
World maps distort true size of the African continent
Since the colonial period, maps of Africa served two main purposes: to identify the demarcation of European colonies and to falsely show the continent’s size compared to other global land masses. According to Daily Express reporter Grace Piercy, a graphic by Design 109 “shows Africa is larger than the land masses of the U.S., China, India, Mexico, Peru, France,...
Western powers use debt to hold sway over their former colonial empire
The tragic history of being saddled with debt repayments has meant African nations are encouraged and are often forced to “prioritize debt repayments over important investments, affecting their progress toward achieving sustainable development goals.” This is according to the October 8 edition of Business Insider Africa. Achim Steiner is head of the United Nations Development Program. He recently spoke at...
Solar power companies are growing fast in Africa as 600 million still lack electricity
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone—Companies that bring solar power to some of the poorest homes in Central and West Africa are said to be among the fastest growing on a continent whose governments have long struggled to address some of the world’s worst infrastructure and the complications of climate change. The often African-owned companies operate in areas where the vast majority of...
The dangers of Western plans to extract Africa’s raw mineral reserves
In a piece in the November/December 2024 edition of Foreign Affairs, headlined, “America’s Strategy of Renewal: Rebuilding Leadership for a New World,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken defines what he considers “a new age in international affairs.” True to American foreign policy form, he takes Russia, Iran, North Korea and China to task. While claiming that “their forms of...