SOUTH SUDAN’S BASKETBALL MASTERMIND

South Sudan’s Bright Stars certainly lit up the basketball at the Olympics. And their achievement at reaching their first-ever Games has been largely credited to one man, Luol Deng. The former NBA star is the president of the Basketball Federation for the world’s youngest country. And, like many of his players, he fled a civil war and grew up as a refugee.

In this clip he’s interviewed by South Sudan forward Nuni Omot, who says ‘we’ve been through a lot to get to this point’.

That’s an understatement. Deng was born in what’s now South Sudan, before its people voted for independence in 2011 after decades of repression from the Islamist government of Omar al-Bashir.

Continued….. Deng’s family fled to Egypt during the second Sudanese civil war, before finding asylum in the UK. In his teenage years he headed to the US to pursue his dream of playing professional basketball, and represented Britain at the 2012 Olympics. In early 2011 he set up South Sudan’s national basketball team, using his skills, influence and resources to bring the ‘village’ along with him to the international stage. The result, the Bright Stars made an impressive Olympic debut, just missing out on a quarter-final spot.

As you’ll see from this interview done just before the Games, he’s got big hopes for a team that’s only played professionally since 2020!

TALE OF TWO PROTESTS EXPOSING BRITAIN'S CONTRADICTIONS

We can’t help but notice the shocking contrast in some British media coverage of racist protests currently gripping the UK, and pro-Palestinian marches a few months before.

Remember the headlines when a peaceful demonstrator held a placard depicting as coconuts the then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his home secretary. Marieha Hussain was lambasted for racism and police launched a social media campaign to find and arrest her. She's defended her actions, saying: ‘I was under the belief, and still am, that I have full ownership of that word, as each culture has their own language used to hold to account people of ethnic origins who use their positions of power to push White supremacy ideals, narratives and policies.’

Continued…. Compare that to the headlines we’re seeing now, as mobs target migrants and people of colour across Britain. Some outlets have attacked Prime Minister Keir Starmer for calling rioters ‘far-right’ thugs. He’s even been accused of ‘not reading the room’ after a police crackdown aimed at restoring order. How can media not show disgust at widespread racist violence, but huge revulsion at a placard held by a peaceful protester?

COULD SAHEL’S REVOLUTIONARY ‘PILL’ CURE CONGO?

The revolutions in the Sahel have inspired many Africans. The case of Niger is particularly striking. Since showing the door to French and US soldiers and ripping up exploitative mineral deals, Niamey’s registered 12.8% growth (says the World Bank) - making it the third most rapidly expanding economy on the planet, and Africa’s fastest growing. Many are now thinking: why don’t countries like the DRC - one of the mineral-richest and most exploited of African nations - ‘do a Sahel’?

It’s a question we put to one of our recent guests - Petna Ndaliko (@petna_ndaliko_katondolo, https://www.alkebu.org/), a Pan-Africanist educator and co-founder of Yole! Africa (a cultural centre that focuses on social innovation through art).

Continued….. His answer was a lesson from history, and not exactly encouraging: remember what they did to Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s visionary Pan-African leader? He had every intention of using the nation’s estimated $24-trillion in mineral wealth for the benefit of the Congolese and African people, but foreign interests - coveting those same riches - orchestrated his assassination, leading to the DRC’s long decline.

Given how so much modern tech relies on minerals extracted using essentially slave labour in the Congo, do you think those same ‘foreign interests’ would again move against any progressive leader who emerged in the DRC, be it through coup or election? Let us know below.

ESCAPING CONGO TO AVOID BECOMING CHILD SOLDIER

There’s probably no more heart-wrenching symbol of war than a child soldier. Thousands of children are fighting on front lines across the world, but there are few areas where the problem is more pronounced than the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the first and second wars, all sides actively recruited or connoscripted child soldiers, known locally as ‘kadogos,’ which is a Swahili term meaning little ones.

Last year, activist, filmmaker and @FocusCongo founder @pappyorion spoke to African Stream about his tragic childhood journey, where he fled his home to avoid connoscription by armed groups. He vividly narrates how, prompted by his father’s insistence, he made his escape on foot from the Congo to Rwanda, on to Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia - all the way down to South Africa in search of safety and a better life.

Continued….. In 2003, it was estimated that up to 30,000 children were used as soldiers in the DRC, with minors making up up to 40 per cent of some militias, many of them orphans who were forced to join.

Today, children continue to be recruited and used by numerous armed groups. Girls are often used as ‘wives’ and are s*xually abused by their commanders and other soldiers.

Can you imagine anything worse for a child to have to endure?

With far-right riots rocking the UK, this cartoon is a timely reminder that the country is also a major arms exporter. Countless British - as well as European and US - weapons have been used in wars that have created refugee crises around the world. The arms industry is one reason so many people globally have been turned into asylum seekers, forced to ask for safety abroad. Of course, many also remain trapped and become internally displaced.

In Gaza, 9 out of 10 people - or 1.9 million - have been displaced, many multiple times, by Israel’s destructive military assault. Between October 2023 and May 2024, over 100 new licences allowing UK companies to sell arms to Israel were issued.

The US, meanwhile, accounts for more than 40% of the planet's weapons exports, earning it 100-200 billion dollars a year.

The cartoon was created by Erl. Their work can be found at:

https://www.toonpool.com/artists/Erl_64

Here’s a clue that the racism seen on Britain’s streets exists at the very highest levels. Suella Braverman, who was the country’s Home Secretary until November 2023, had a fit of rage when pro-Palestinian rallies were being held in London - branding them ‘hate marches.’ Fast-forward to now, when actual hate marches are happening, and what does she say? Nothing. Total silence. And despite no longer being Home Secretary, she’s still very much in the public eye. Until recently, she was in the race to be the opposition Conservative party’s new leader. And there’s talk she may now defect to the anti-immigrant, right-wing Reform party. In fact, she may well be one of the reasons racist extremists in the UK have felt emboldened. She frequently resorted to divisive and inflammatory rhetoric when in office, calling irregular migration an ‘invasion’ and insinuating that Islamists were running Britain.

FAR-RIGHT BRIT PROVES HE’S CLUELESS! 🤣

Even dark times can produce fits of laughter. Here’s a far-right Brit trying to use his clearly non-existent logical skills to explain why he has an issue with Muslim immigration to Britain. Have a watch, have a chuckle, then let us know.

Video credit: @ilmfeed

Continued…. Undeterred and with a year to go to the Olympics, Kaylia applied to represent Algeria, where her father was born. That was initially blocked by the French Gymnastics Federation, which only backed down after pressure from the French Sports Minister and an online petition.

Kaylia’s performance in Paris was nothing short of historic. Competing for Algeria, the 17-year-old dazzled the world with her skill and resilience, scoring a whopping 15.7 on the uneven bars on Sunday. Not even China’s reigning world champion Qiu Qiyuan could compete with that.

Overcoming the odds in the face of adversity, it’s quite a tale. So, how long before the film comes out?

MUSK EXPOSED BY DAUGHTER

Elon Musk’s estranged daughter has blasted her father with this damning social media post. Among the accusations is that he’s not a Christian or a ‘bastion for equality and progress.’
Vivian Jenna Wilson’s outburst comes after the billionaire owner of X suggested they had a happy relationship. But putting family disputes aside, she has a point.

Continued…. Musk splurged $44-billion on twitter amid claims he was a defender of free speech. Since then, Palestinians have cited censorship on the platform, while there’s been an uptick in far-right sentiment. Musk himself has been an eager contributor. Just recently he attacked Algeria’s Olympian boxer Imane Khelif and wrongly suggested she’s a man. He’s also blamed the far-right riots in Britain on migrants. His daughter’s post also accuses him of calling Arabic ‘the language of the enemy’ and highlights multiple lawsuits for discrimination. SpaceX, the aerospace firm founded by Elon Musk, paid a flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual misconduct claim against Musk in 2018.

Actions like these don’t portray a man destined to ‘save the planet’. Let us know if you agree.

U.S. SENATOR’S FREUDIAN SLIP ON AFRICAN MINERALS?

Looks like a US senator had a Freudian slip, a psychological term for an unintentional error that reveals subconscious thoughts.

During a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on ‘strategic competition’ with China on 30 July, Todd Young referred to the need to ‘exploit’ Africa’s minerals. He later corrected himself, saying, ‘exploring.’ US tech companies rely on minerals such as cobalt and coltan to power the batteries in electric vehicles and devices like smartphones.

We know the West relates to our resource-rich continent as up for grabs for their advancement and at the expense of Africans.

Continued….. No one has compensated those who survived the Congolese gen*cide in the late 1990s as foreign entities continue to exploit the Congo for its rich minerals. Today, the resource conflict continues to k*ll thousands and internally displace around 7 million, making it one of the largest displacement crises in the world. The UN has cited the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s neighbours—also Western allies—as players in the almost 30-year conflict. Plus, the US is allegedly trying to remove sanctions off Israeli business magnate Dan Gertler in exchange for certain other Western companies taking over his mining operations in the Congo. Meanwhile, lawsuits against US corporations profiting from the resource conflict have failed.

Video credit: @Forbes

CUBAN WRESTLER WINS FIFTH OLYMPIC GOLD

What a way to go out. Cuban wrestler Mijaín López Núñez has become the first-ever Olympian to win five consecutive golds in one event.
He took the 130kg noscript in Greco-Roman wrestling in Paris and then left his shoes on the mat to signify his retirement.

You can’t argue with that, and you certainly wouldn’t want to.
Mijaín’s fondly known as ‘El Terrible’ due to his immense size, and no one has beaten him at the Olympics since he won his first gold in Beijing in 2008.
If you want to be picky, there are two wrestlers that have won six Olympic noscripts in the same event, but that was 2,500 years ago. Apparently Milon of Croton and Hipposthenes of Sparta were the ones to beat back then.

Continued…. And before you reel off other athletes that’ve won more Olympic golds, none have done it consecutively in the same event.

Also, we want to give a little nod to Cuba. Sport is huge on the Caribbean island. Under revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, it was considered ‘the right of the people, not the right of the wealthy.’ In modern Cuban society, sports and physical education begin when a child is only 45 days old. Mothers are taught to exercise their children's limbs and massage their muscles to keep them healthy. Children are taught at a later age to play games that involve physical exercise. Maybe that’s the secret of Mijaín’s success?

Chime in with your shout-outs for Cuba's Olympic legend!

@mijainlopez

RADIO HOST OWNS RACIST U.K. CALLER

Here’s someone who’s been involved in racist riots sweeping England, revealing why he’s taking part. In a call to London’s LBC radio, he says it’s because ’95 per cent of Black and Asian people are problematic.’

Far-right bigots, like Gary, are not renowned for being intelligent or reasonable. They are more known for their consumption and production of half-baked propaganda. It’s a trait that’s come to the surface during the grotesque violence rocking England and Northern Ireland. Not only did disinformation spark the riots, it’s also been the fuel that’s kept them going.

Video credit: LBC Radio