Continued…….. Sources

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/11/18/women-blacks-ordered-freed-in-iran/66947cbd-c9b1-4933-ac10-0e400c67e215/

https://www.britannica.com/event/Iran-hostage-crisis/Conflict-and-resolution

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/in-first-cia-acknowledges-1953-coup-it-backed-to-overthrow-leader-of-iran-was-undemocratic

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/students-iran-hostage-crisis/

https://apnews.com/general-news-6149da2418b140c2b1d5b0ca5779bac5

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/iran-hostage-crisis

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/20/archives/iranians-who-seized-us-embassy-release-4-women-and-6-black-men.html

GEORGE GALLOWAY: 'THE WORLD IS LARGER THAN THE WEST, PIERS!'

In this recently aired episode of ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ (@piersuncensored on X), while speaking on the support Iran has in its response to Israel's attacks and aggression, George Galloway (@GeorgeGalloway on X), leader of the Workers Party of Britain, delivered a searing reality check to the British journalist, exposing the arrogance of Western-centric worldviews.

Galloway boldly challenged Morgan's presumptuousness in arbitrarily deciding which countries deserve legitimacy. Western hegemony, relentlessly propagated by figures like Morgan, shamelessly romanticises Western leadership, arrogantly positioning it as superior to the voices and sovereignty of the Global South. Yet, as Galloway aptly pointed out, this narrative is a dangerous illusion.

Continued……. Western powers such as the US and the UK cloak themselves in the façade of civilisation and democracy, all the while propping up, funding, and enabling brutal regimes. Israel being the largest recipient of US foreign aid since World War II despite Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is a glaring example.

Furthermore, the West's self-proclaimed status as the bastion of freedom and human rights has been exposed as a grotesque hypocrisy. Since Israel's siege of Gaza began on 7 October 2023, the world has witnessed how its allies have systematically silenced dissent through the arrests of activists like US legal resident Mahmoud Khalil, as well as the UK and Austria’s detention of journalists, such as Richard Medhurst, for speaking out against Israel's devastating assault. This blatant suppression of free speech contradicts Western claims of moral superiority. It reveals a ruthless double standard designed to protect their geopolitical interests at the expense of justice and truth.

It’s no wonder that the Global South and Russia support Iran, as it represents the fight against imperial forces.

Video credit: @piersuncensored on X

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrCACy3fExk

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgj5nlxz44yo

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/13/nx-s1-5432706/judge-orders-release-of-columbia-activist-mahmoud-khalil-detention

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/05/16/aefh-m16.html

https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/07/uk-sent-israel-thousands-of-military-items-despite-export-ban-study-finds

https://apnews.com/article/iran-explosions-israel-tehran-00234a06e5128a8aceb406b140297299

https://www.pressenza.com/2025/06/iran-is-not-alone-this-war-is-a-historic-moment-for-the-global-south-to-end-imperialism/

On 21 May, Uganda's parliament approved a bill permitting military tribunals for civilians if they are found with military equipment, such as guns or uniforms, just months after the Supreme Court deemed such trials unconstitutional. Yet on 16 June, President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law. 

Following the parliament's approval, army spokesperson Colonel Chris Magezi posted on the X platform, asserting that the law ‘is a reaffirmation of our military’s time tested, successful, and revolutionary disciplinary processes. The law will deal decisively with armed violent criminals, deter the formation of militant political groups that seek to subvert democratic processes, and ensure national security is bound on a firm foundational base. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ The same colonial logic used by British, French, and Belgian regimes to criminalise resistance and label revolutionary leaders as “armed criminals.”

Continued……However, human-rights defenders say the government will use this law to persecute dissidents in a country where Museveni has reigned for almost four decades.

In January 2025, the Supreme Court ruled civilian tribunals unlawful, stating that military courts lacked the impartiality and competence necessary for proper judicial functions. Museveni openly dismissed this ruling, while opposition leaders accused him of leveraging the bill to suppress dissenting voices ahead of the upcoming presidential and legislative elections next year. 

In November 2024, opposition politician Kizza Besigye and his aide Obeid Lutale were arrested in Nairobi and transported to Kampala, where they faced charges before a military tribunal for illegal possession of pistols, attempting to buy weapons abroad, threatening national security and treason. They denied guilt, claiming the charges were politically motivated. After a 10-day hunger strike, Besigye's case was moved to a civilian court. 

Since 2002, over 1,000 civilians have been prosecuted in Ugandan military courts.

Sources

https://www.citizen.digital/news/museveni-signs-law-reintroducing-military-trials-of-civilians-n364739

https://nation.africa/africa/news/museveni-signs-law-allowing-military-courts-to-try-civilians-5083690

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r1rrjzpllo?at_link_type=web_link&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_link_id=BF862314-4ABE-11F0-9C8B-886F67FE9F30&at_campaign_type=owned&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_medium=social&at_link_origin=BBCAfrica&at_format=image

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/01/uganda-opposition-accuses-president-military-courts-quash-dissent

https://x.com/ChrisOMagezi/status/1924860018790183265

IS SUDAN A FACTOR IN ICJ JUDGE'S RESIGNATION?

On 11 June, Somali-born International Court of Justice judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, who dissented from the court’s recent decision to dismiss Sudan’s g*nocide case, tendered an early resignation, effective 30 September. His term would have ended on 5 February 2027.

Many have speculated that the court's ruling led to his decision.

Since the outbreak of Sudan’s proxy war on 15 April 2023, overwhelming evidence has implicated the United Arab Emirates as primarily backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, who stand accused of g*nocide.

Among the mounting pieces of evidence are on-the-ground findings of weapons marked as originating from Abu Dhabi in recaptured RSF-occupied areas, alongside a New York Times investigative report that used satellite images to track arms shipments allegedly disguised as humanitarian aid from the UAE through the Chadian border.

Continued……. Sudan’s military government accused the UAE of enabling the RSF to commit g*nocide against the indigenous non-Arab peoples of Darfur. However, it is worth noting many have accused both warring parties, the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), of committing atrocities against civilians.

The foreign-backed proxy war has led to the collapse of the country’s social fabric and infrastructure, triggering one of the 21st-century’s worst humanitarian and displacement crises, according to the UN. The proxy war has k*lled as many as 150,000, per former US envoy Tom Perriello. Over 30 million people, or 65 per cent, now face ‘acute hunger.’ 

Do you think the ICJ’s ruling influenced Yusuf’s decision?

Sources

https://www.icj-cij.org/node/205545

https://allafrica.com/stories/202506120120.html

https://www.caasimada.net/judge-abdulqawi-ahmed-yusuf-to-resign-from-icj/

https://www.icj-cij.org/case/197

https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/a-manifest-lack-of-justice-the-icjs-decision-in-sudan-v-united-arab-emirates/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/10/sudan-rsf-tried-to-polish-its-image-but-its-crimes-are-being-recognised

https://www.ejiltalk.org/judicial-restraint-and-jurisdictional-clarity-decoding-the-icjs-decision-in-sudan-v-united-arab-emirates/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/5/icj-dismisses-sudans-genocide-case-alleging-uae-backing-of-rsf-rebels

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/world/middleeast/un-court-sudan-genocide-uae.html

https://www.ftlsomalia.com/somali-judge-abdulqawi-yusuf-resigns-early-from-icj/

https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/press-releases/0/000-20250611-pre-01-00-en.pdf

Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane, an icon of Mozambique's independence movement, was born on this day in 1920 in the Mandlakazi district of what was then Portuguese East Africa.

Like many children of his time, he spent his early years helping look after the family's livestock. He only began his primary education at the age of 12. He completed his secondary education in neighbouring South Africa, where he went on to enrol at Johannesburg's Witwatersrand University in 1948.

Continued………But he only lasted a year there as the apartheid system kicked in the following year. Consequently, he was forced to move to Portugal and enrol at the University of Lisbon in 1950, later transferring to Oberlin College in Ohio, US, to study anthropology and sociology. He graduated in 1953.

In 1957, he began working for the United Nations, which provided him with the opportunity to travel extensively across Africa and witness first-hand the impact of colonialism on the continent. While working for the UN, the Portuguese government head-hunted him for a position in colonial administration in his homeland of Mozambique. He turned down the offer as his loyalty lay with the country's emerging independence movements.

He left the UN in 1961, as he felt that it restricted his participation in politics. The following year, he was elected leader of the newly formed Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO).

In 1963, he moved to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where FRELIMO had set up its base. He not only turned FRELIMO into a formidable guerrilla organisation but also played a key role in ensuring that it became a democratic-socialist organisation.

By the late '60s, FRELIMO had liberated most parts of northern Mozambique from the colonial authorities. This put Mondlane in the crosshairs of the Portuguese government. He was killed on 3rd February 1969 in Dar es Salaam by a bomb that had been concealed in a book sent to him. However, what Mondlane's killers could not do was destroy his dream of a free Mozambique, as six years after his assassination, the country broke the yoke of Portuguese colonialism.

CHRISTIAN ZI*NISM IN AFRICA

Why do many Christians, especially in Africa, ardently support the settler-colonial ideology of Zi*nism, despite living on a continent still reckoning with the legacy of colonialism?

The reason is mainly due to the faulty interpretation of Biblical texts, particularly in the US, where evangelical Christians influence African churches and US foreign policy to justify unwavering support for Israel.

Continued……For instance, US Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz on X), a staunch Israel supporter, said in an interview hosted by US-based journalist Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson on X) that the Bible commands Christians to support Israel, citing a verse he could not locate in the holy book.

For more insight into this phenomenon, we spoke with Stephen Sizer, a retired Anglican minister and the founder and director of Peacemaker Trust. He is an author and scholar with papers and books on the interconnection between Christianity and Zionism, including his influential work, 'Christian Zionism: Road-map to Armageddon?'

Sizer unravelled the complex link between African churches and Christian Zionist benefactors from the 'Bible Belt,' a region of the southern United States where socially conservative Protestantism reigns.

He explained how foreign funding forces African churches to align their doctrines with these Christian Zionist patrons. As a result, many African Christians defend Israel, believing they are supporting 'God's chosen people.'

However, South Africa's g*nocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stands out as an embodiment of African solidarity with Palestine, even though a few governments, such as Ghana under former President Nana Akufo-Addo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo under Felix Tshisekedi initially sided with Israel shortly after 7 October 2023.

Rather than mandating unquestioning support for the illegal settler state of Israel in Palestine, the Bible urges Christians to return to the authentic faith initiated by the anti-imperialist Jesus Christ, that of being peacemakers, not widow-makers.

Sources

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/12/black-zionists-israel/ https://www.southworld.net/israel-africa-relationship-at-risk/

https://stephensizer.com/about/

https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-statement-standing-with-israel-after-prime-minister-netanyahus-address-to-congress

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1155861

https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114702

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8605/25372

https://www.theracialequityinitiative.org/anti-black-racism-in-israel/

https://www.blackagendareport.com/why-africans-black-folks-should-oppose-zionism-some-aspects-racist-imperialist-ideology-africa-and

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/3/29/black-lives-do-not-matter-in-israel

https://thepanafrikanist.com/leaving-christian-zionism-i-was-blind-but-now-i-can-see/

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/14/israel-hamas-war-why-is-africa-divided-on-supporting-palestine

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/19/world-court-finds-israel-responsible-apartheid#:~:text=%22In%20a%20historic%20ruling%20the,finding%20Israel%20responsible%20for%20apartheid.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/1992/01/why-christians-supported-slavery/

https://www.southworld.net/israel-africa-relationship-at-risk/

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-is-firm-in-support-for-Israel-Ukraine-Akufo-Addo-declares-in-US-1861289

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/10/15/voim-o15.html

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/africa-israel-gaza/

The US Department of Defense dismissed Colonel Nathan McCormack from the Joint Chiefs of Staff over a series of posts criticising Israel.
The posts in question had called Israel a ‘death cult’ and suggested US foreign policy was undermined by unconditional support for Israel. The intolerance of anti-Israel voices comes at a time when the US is preparing to join Israel’s offensive against Iran under the guise of Iran being at the threshold of acquiring nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump has admitted that the US is involved in the Israeli attacks against Iran, which started on 13 June. 

Continued……. Why is Israel so important to warrant the US sacrificing one of its officials? The pro-Israel US lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) enjoys influence along US corridors of power, successfully funding numerous elected candidates. Trump received $100 million from US-based Israeli billionaire Miriam Adelson.

Beyond buying politicians, Israel plays a vital role for the US as an ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier,’ according to former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig (1924-2010). Israeli politicians, such as President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have alluded as much, calling the defence of Israel necessary lest the West falls. With Israeli involvement, the US has intervened in countries like Iraq to depose leaders, struck the Ansar Allah movement (known as the Houthis) governing most of Yemen, and is renewing its sights on Tehran.

Sources

Sources
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/pentagon-removes-joint-staff-officer-over-anti--israel--post

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4343274-israels-president-defends-ongoing-war-if-it-werent-for-us-europe-would-be-next

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-iran-strike-conflict

https://www.timesofisrael.com/miriam-adelson-gives-100-million-to-trump-campaign-making-good-on-reported-pledge

https://www.aipacpac.org/winning-candidates-2024

https://www.wionews.com/world/israel-iran-war-netanyahu-says-us-must-back-israel-or-face-iran-s-wrath-next-1750096841984

https://shoaibsultan.substack.com/p/israel-and-the-petro-dollar

https://trump-yemen.airwars.org/operation-rough-rider

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdj9vj8glg2o

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4343274-israels-president-defends-ongoing-war-if-it-werent-for-us-europe-would-be-next

NATURE IS ANTI-ZIONIST

Even nature is tired of Israel. Watch as a bird takes the Israeli flag off a pole in this 2023 viral video, a lighthearted moment amidst the escalating geopolitical tensions in the region. Middle East Eye reported the incident occurred at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

It reflects the frustration of many worldwide as Israel becomes increasingly belligerent. In the past two years, Israel has militarily attacked Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran as it continues its onslaught on Gaza, ongoing since 7 October 2023.

Continued……And for more than seven decades before that, it was occupying Palestine and imposing what many human rights organisations call ‘apartheid.’

The US appears willing to get even more involved than it has been following Israel’s 13 June strike against Iran, k*lling at least 639. Washington’s insistence that Iran should not acquire a nuclear weapon, despite its ally, Israel, possessing an undeclared amount, is hypocritical. What’s worse is the US is the only country to have dropped nuclear weapons on civilians. 

Critics have pointed to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea possessing nuclear weapons as the reason the US has not invaded it and that Libya giving up its nukes left it open to the 2011 US-led NATO invasion.

What should Africa take away from the recent events in the region?

Sources
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/29/israel-bombs-dozens-of-targets-in-lebanon-after-nasrallahs-assassination

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/12/11/israel-attack-syria-explainer

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/15/world/iran-israel-nuclear/israel-bombs-yemen-targeting-a-top-houthi-military-leader

https://apnews.com/article/mossad-iran-israel-weapons-missiles-a504ee31c70857c8d86a0d066997e344

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-east/israel-intensifies-attacks-gaza-hospitals-rcna208741

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-east/live-blog/live-updates-israel-iran-reactor-hospital-rcna213904

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/world/middleeast/israel-nuclear-weapons.html

https://www.newsweek.com/kim-jong-un-north-korea-nuclear-program-uranium-enrichment-complex-iaea-2087711

https://medium.com/twenty-tales/atomic-bombings-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-1945-ff5ea5c232c0?ysclid=mc4gmp8hdp439545906

On 10 June, Zimbabwe announced that it would ban exports of lithium concentrates starting in 2027 to retain more profits from its rich mineral deposits through at least two firms with $1 billion in Chinese investment willing to turn raw lithium into battery-grade lithium for electric vehicles and portable devices.

This move follows a 2022 ban on exports of lithium ore (the raw mined material), part of a broader crusade to benefit Zimbabwe’s economy and a trend amongst mineral-rich African states aiming to move beyond raw material exports.

For example, Namibia halted exports of unprocessed lithium and rare earths in 2023 to drive domestic processing. In 2021, the Democratic Republic of the Congo tightened controls on cobalt and copper concentrates to encourage in-country refining.

Continued…….. However, probably the most famous examples include those of the Alliance of Sahel States, comprising Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. These three countries ousted Western-aligned leaders in recent years and have embarked on a decolonisation process that includes reclaiming natural resources from foreign hands.

Returning to Zimbabwe, the country boasts Africa's largest lithium reserves and is among the world's top lithium producers.

Back in 2023, Zimbabwean Mines Minister Winston Chitando said that Zimbabwe needed to ‘move up the value chain.’ The government had required producers to submit plans by March 2024 for local processing.

Quartz reports, ‘Battery makers anticipate that lithium-ion batteries will keep dominating the industry as they are now 30 times cheaper than when they first came to the market in the early 1990s.’

Sources

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/zimbabwe-ban-export-lithium-concentrates-2027-2025-06-10

https://qz.com/why-zimbabwe-has-banned-the-export-of-raw-lithium-1849918099

https://english.news.cn/africa/20250611/343b90a958ad45bba322346e56569616/c.html#:~:text=The%20minister%20urged%20lithium%20producers,to%20boost%20value%2Dadded%20production

https://www.esi-africa.com/business-and-markets/zimbabwe-lithium-exports-soar-as-chinese-projects-take-off/#:~:text=Chinese%20firms%2C%20including%20Zhejiang%20Huayou,to%20China%20for%20further%20processing.

https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/ad952-zimbabweans-grow-increasingly-dissatisfied-with-governments-provision-of-electricity/

https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/gia/article/the-nickel-gamble--indonesia-s-quest-for-rapid-industrial-development#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20Indonesia%20banned%20raw,1

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-bans-bauxite-exports-in-latest-protectionist-move#:~:text=The%20President%20said%20the%20bauxite%20ban%20aimed,mostly%20from%20China%2C%20to%20build%20local%20smelters

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/namibia-government-bans-unprocessed-critical-minerals-export/#:~:text=The%20southern%20African%20country%20has,and%20rare%20earth%20projects%2C%20respectively

https://www.mining.com/drc-bans-export-of-cobalt-copper-concentrate-fastmarkets/

https://practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/mining-2025/bolivia/trends-and-developments#:~:text=Law%20No%20928%20of%2027,lithium%20production%20chain%20in%20Bolivia

https://aida-americas.org/en/press/court-decision-stops-new-lithium-mining-projects-argentine-salt-flat-sets-regional-precedent#:~:text=On%20March%2013%2C%20the%20Supreme,Atacame%C3%B1os%20del%20Altiplano%20Indigenous%20Community

WORLD REFUGEE DAY

A staggering 123-million people around the world are recognised by the UN as forcibly displaced - by war, violence, persecution and human rights abuses. Today is World Refugee Day 2025.

According to the 2024 UN Refugee Agency’s annual Global Trends Report, 37% of the forcibly displaced people in the world are in Africa. In 2024, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned that refugees in Africa remain the most neglected by the international community. According to the NRC, 9 out of the 10 most neglected displacement crises are in Africa.

In this video, we look at why millions of Africans have been forced to seek refuge, both within their own countries and abroad.

Continued……Sources

https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2025/06/20/default-calendar/world-refugee-day-2025

https://www.unhcr.org/where-we-work/countries/democratic-republic-congo#:~:text=Internally%20Displaced%20Persons%20(IDPs)%20and,the%20largest%20in%20the%20world.

https://www.nrc.no/news/2025/february/eastern-dr-congo-hundreds-of-thousands-displaced-in-wave-of-extreme-violence#:~:text=5.6%20million%20Congolese%20are%20internally,was%20covered%20(OCHA%20FTS).

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/3/more-than-four-million-people-have-fled-sudan-amid-war-un-says