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

WHO’S BEHIND AFRICAN STREAM SMEAR PIECE?

A recent report accused African Stream along with five other media outlets of “disinformation targeted at Black voters.” We and others have already rebutted this allegation. But what’s the deal with the company behind the report? Called Onyx, it claims to have Black people’s interests at heart.

In this video, Intellectual XTREMIST host Rizza Islam (@rizzaislamix) - who was also singled out - takes a closer look at Onyx, and finds out something rather interesting about its CEO, Esosa Osa (@esosa_osa1). Apparently, she used to work as a portfolio manager for BlackRock, an organisation whose activities actively harm Black communities.

Continued…. When the 2008 financial crisis happened, the US government, with the help of companies like BlackRock, bailed out the big banks responsible for creating the problem. The crisis hit poor communities - and, disproportionately, Black ones - hard, with job losses, wider wealth inequality, reduction in social services and foreclosures.

By supporting the banks, not people, BlackRock was no ‘rock’ for Black people - but a rock in the face. And any portfolio manager there cannot be said to have had Black people’s interest’s at heart.

Video credit: @rizzaislamix

BELFAST RACE RIOTS: A COLONIAL HANGOVER?

It’s not just the English part of the UK that’s of ugliness. A man’s been hospitalised in a suspected hate crime attack, businesses have been vandalised and video has emerged of children hurling racist abuse in public. There was also a large anti-immigration rally on Saturday (4th) at which people chanted ‘Islam out!’. Remarkably, both unionists (who want to stay part of the UK) and nationalists (who see themselves as part of Ireland) took part - waiving their respective flags, but united (for once) in their racism.

Continued…..Continued…. In this video, ex-UK MP and broadcaster George Galloway gives an insight into why unionists in particular might be inclined towards the kind of shameful behaviour that’s been on display in Belfast. Along the way, he gives an account of their political incarnation, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), of the history behind certain unionist traditions - like burning effigies of their enemies on big bonfires every 11th July - and of what the unionists’ connection to America’s so-called hillbillies is.

Your thoughts, as always, are very welcome!

Video credit: RT America

MALI: ‘SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE IS SUPPORT FOR TERRORISM’

After Ukrainian officials publicly supported terrorist organisations fighting Mali’s army, the landlocked African country delivered a clear message: All diplomatic ties with Ukraine are over.

First, on 29 July, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry intelligence agency’s press representative, Andriy Yusov, stated on a Ukrainian television programme that the Eastern European country supported rebel movements fighting the Malian armed forces. Then, on 3 August, Senegal summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to Senegal, Yurii Pyvovarov, for reportedly posting a comment on the embassy’s Facebook video in favour of the terrorists. The Facebook page has since deleted the video in question.

As Malian spokesperson Abdoulaye Maïga (@Colonel_Maiga on X) mentioned in this clip, Russia has told the world that Ukraine has a neo-N*zi problem. One of the forces fighting Russia for Ukraine is the Russian Volunteer Corps, founded by neo-N*zi Denis Kapustin.

Continued….. According to 40-year-old militant, the Ukrainian defence ministry pays this white nationalist fighting force. Another white supremacist formation within Ukraine is the Azov Brigade, which has come under fire for its regular use of N*zi and white supremacist symbols.

Mali now views support for Ukraine as support for international terrorism.

If Ukrainian officials are willing to boast about aiding terrorists to crush Mali’s military, are the white supremacy allegations valid? And how should other African leaders respond to Ukraine’s admission that it backs terrorism on the African continent? Let us know in the comments.

Video credit: ORTM 1 (YouTube)

POLICE PROTECT FAR-RIGHT THUGS FROM PROTESTERS

Thousands of Brits have taken to the streets to protest against far-right riots that have rocked England and Northern Ireland.

This footage shared by TikTok user @talktoflorence shows eight men being shielded by police as anti-fascist crowds gathered to protect an asylum rights legal firm in Brighton. It’s reported around a dozen other counter-protests were held across the UK.

However, the clip has left people asking: where was the police protection when thugs terrorised migrant communities?

There’s been a week of violence since the killing of three girls in Southport by a knife attacker, initially misreported to be a Muslim immigrant.

Video credit: @talktoflorence

NIGERIA: ‘END BAD GOVT! PPL ARE SUFFERING!’

Here’s a powerful clip of a Nigerian protester explaining why people have hit the streets across the country, demanding an end to bad governance. In short, Nigerians are suffering while the country’s leaders appear to mock them. She says:

“You are approving budgets of billions upon billions. You are buying jets for the president, and people cannot afford transport fares. That is wickedness.”

The cost of living in Nigeria has soared, jobs are scarce and underpaid, and government corruption is rampant.

It’s a situation facing many Africans, not just Nigerians. Similar protests in Kenya have met with some measure of success, with the leadership there bowing to demands to scrap planned tax hikes - though not until numerous protesters lost their lives in a crackdown. Attempts to protest in Uganda, though, were quickly stifled.