ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA SPAT: EGYPT WEIGHS IN - WHY?

Egypt’s president has publicly thrown his country’s weight behind Somalia after Ethiopia’s controversial deal with Somaliland to gain access to the Gulf of Aden was announced. African Stream’s Ahmed Ghoneim unpacks why the rumbles of war are sounding off again in the region in the latest episode of Africa in 90 Seconds.

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DISMANTLED: UK HOST TRASHING SOUTH AFRICA

Shocking UK TV host Julia Hartley-Brewer is at it again Only this time she has teamed up with the Israeli Defence Forces favourite British Journalist, Douglas Murray. After being slammed for a ‘racist’ interview with a Palestinian MP, she now says South Africa should deal with its own problems, before suing Israel for genocide at the UN’s top court. And, no, we are not exaggerating. That’s exactly what she said.

It exposes, yet again, a pervasive sense of superiority and disgust that an African country has the nerve to hold a Western one to account. Here’s part one of our take on her awful rant and the disturbing dogma it reveals.

Leave your comments below and catch the full episode on youtube channel.

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SUDAN CRISIS DEEPENS

As fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces has raged for close to 10 months, the humanitarian crisis has continued to deteriorate.

In this interview with US-based Breakthrough News, academic and Sudanese Communist Party’s Central Committee member Dr. Sidgi Kaballo discusses how the conflict has decimated the country’s vital infrastructure, leaving millions without access to water, electricity or health care.

Continued…..Dr. Kaballo, father of African Stream CEO Ahmed Kaballo, stayed in Sudan for 7-1/2 months during the war, so he gives a first-hand account of the misery that has been inflicted on civilians. He also explains how millions of Sudanese citizens have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries since April, while the international community has shown little to no concern about the plight of Sudanese citizens since the power struggle began between the army’s General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF’s Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or ‘Hemedti.’

Video Credit: @btnewsroom

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PLO LUMUMBA: SOUTH AFRICA ICJ PETITION COMMENDABLE

PLO Lumumba joined us to go over January’s biggest stories in Africa. In this clip, he thinks South Africa’s petition against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is worthy of praise. A lawyer himself, the Pan-Africanist scholar sees South Africa’s case as airtight on the charge that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has killed over 25,000 Palestinians in a little more than three months inside the 41-kilometre-long enclave. Gazans live under the Israeli blockade, with food and water hard to come by, forcing civilians to grind animal feed for flour. Now, 9 out 10 Gazans do not have enough to eat. The healthcare system is collapsing, with all 36 of the Gaza Strip’s hospitals no longer fully functional, due to Israel’s bombardments.

Continued….About 15 hospitals provide only limited care and have been overwhelmed with patients. Plus, a 300 per cent rise in miscarriages has been reported.

South Africa’s case has received support from other countries as well, including Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti, all of which had sought an ICJ investigation in November. Indonesia and Slovenia have announced plans to file a request for an opinion. Moreover, reports indicate Indonesia is set to be at the Hague on 19 February to present its perspective during a public hearing. Plus, Mexico and Chile filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court (distinct from the ICJ), asking for a probe into Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. Other countries that have expressed support for South Africa’s ICJ case include Cuba, Jordan, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan, Namibia, Turkey, as well as the 57-member Organization of Islamic Countries and the 22-member Arab League.

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PT. 3: EGYPTIAN COMEDIAN ON H*M*S’ GOAL

Here’s part 3 of Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef setting the record straight with PBD Podcast co-host Adam Sosnick. He had raised H*m*s had decapitated babies in October, even though the Israeli government refuted that claim.

Youssef reminded the co-host that terrorist groups wouldn’t shy away from showing their horrendous acts. He also shut down the co-host by saying respected Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that it was, in fact, Israeli soldiers who killed many Israeli concert goers and hostages on and after 7 October.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

Video credit: @valuetainment and @pbd.podcast

HAITIAN COUP LEADER APPEALS TO KENYANS

As the Kenyan government ramps up to deploy police officers to the Caribbean nation of Haiti, Guy Philippe, a controversial Haitian figure, recently made a passionate appeal to the Kenyan people to put pressure on their leaders to shelve the contentious plan.

Philippe said the move is part of a Western imperialist effort to continue to control a predominantly African country that had booted European slavemasters in 1804. Philippe remains a divisive figure in Haiti. He reportedly previously served as a police chief and founded the Front for National Liberation and Reconstruction (FLRN), one of the paramilitary organisations that participated in the 2004 US-orchestrated coup against Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the country's first democratically elected leader. In the years leading up to the coup, US Special Forces reportedly trained Philippe in Ecuador.

Continued….In the post-coup era, he is reported to have continued paramilitary activities before winning a senate seat in 2016. However, he shortly thereafter withdrew a government certificate indicating he had been elected. Then he was arrested in January 2017 on money laundering charges related to drug trafficking and served time in a US prison. Philippe was released and deported back to Haiti in late 2023, after serving less than seven years of a nine-year sentence that he obtained after cutting a deal with US prosecutors to avoid a life sentence.

Since his recent return to Haiti, he is said to have joined up with another militant group, while becoming a vociferous campaigner against the US-led plan to deploy Kenyan police officers to Haiti.

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PLO LUMUMBA: GERMANY HAS NO REMORSE FOR AFRICAN GENOCIDE

Germany is using Palestinians under Israeli assault to launder its conscience, and it’s not even doing that well, said Pan-Africanist PLO Lumumba. In this clip from our January monthly wrap-up, the scholar demonstrated Germany’s duplicity. The former coloniser attempted to pour cold water on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, prompting a clapback from Namibia, reminding Germany it had committed the 20th century’s first genocide against the Nama and Herero peoples.

Continued….Lumumba said reparations and a united African front are a must, as divided we are weak. For example, Germany has been paying Jewish holocaust survivors for over 75 years. Despite Namibians being aggrieved decades earlier, Germany pledged only a few years ago a measly $1.3 billion over the next two or so decades and only for specific Namibian development projects.

Catch the full interview on our YouTube channel. Otherwise, take a look here and let us know what you think.

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PRO-PALESTINE PROTEST IN KENYA TEARGASSED, SEVERAL ARRESTED

A group of Kenyans held a protest on 25 January at the German embassy in Nairobi to protest the former colonial power’s support of Israel as it bombards Palestinians in Gaza. Like clockwork, the police descended upon the peaceful event, lobbing teargas and making arrests. The organisers say a permit to protest had been obtained. This is not the first time a protest has been broken up. Police were caught on camera disrupting a pro-Palestine event held in October on private premises, where they made arrests.

Germany, like most Western countries, has refused to condemn Israel for killing more than 26,000 civilians in a little more than 3 months in a densely populated enclave, home to more than 2 million people.

Continued….Berlin recently approved a shipment of 10,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel, as it unleashes police on pro-Palestine protesters. The country has been accused of using its support for Jewish holocaust survivors in Israel to wash away its guilt. Meanwhile, Germany’s 1904-08 genocide in Namibia has not been fully redressed. Rather, Germany has offered 1.1 billion euros, but only for specific development projects.

Back in Kenya, the president issued a statement in support of Israel shortly after the 7 October escalation in the Palestine-Israel conflict. It diverged from the African Union’s position, which has placed the escalation in the context of decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine. Israel sells Kenya teargas, such as that used on protesters in this video. In 1976, Kenya allowed itself to be used as a launch pad for an Israeli operation into Uganda.

What do you think of this latest police action in Kenya? Let us know your thoughts.

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ANGRY CITIZENS STONE MALAWI PRESIDENTIAL MOTORCADE

The people, united, are unstoppable. And, one man can attest to this: Malawi's president, Lazarus Chakwera.

According to local media reports, funeral-procession mourners in the Ndirande Township, near the second-largest city, Blantyre, refused to give way on 19 January to Chakwera's motorcade. The president was on his way to Chileka International Airport for a flight to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The blockade reportedly led to a scuffle between security forces and the crowd, with a few stones apparently thrown at the convoy. Three people had been arrested, but Malawian Director of Public Prosecutions Masauko Chamkakala dropped the charges on 25 January. All three are now out of jail.

Continued….This incident has raised questions about Chakwera's popularity. The preacher-turned-politician was ushered into office in 2020 after defeating incumbent Peter Mutharika. He was elected on a wave of goodwill that has since crashed after his failure to deliver on campaign promises to end corruption and nepotism, as well as revitalise the economy.

Chakwera's term in office has been characterised by a myriad of economic and social challenges, such as rising unemployment and out-of-control inflation. In November, the country's currency was devalued by 44 percent, catapulting commodities prices.

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