Continued... With this history in mind, perhaps this 100-per cent made in Africa tyre represents a stride toward greater sovereignty for African people.

Sources:
https://www.propublica.org/article/firestone-and-the-warlord-chapter-2

https://thestentornews.com/2024/08/28/burkina-faso-launches-first-tire-brand-manufactured-in-africa/

https://www.237online.com/burkina-faso-naissance-des-premiers-pneus-100-made-in-africa/

https://x.com/Joe__Bassey/status/1826624158299816082?t=YNyizI2nU2VnTYLZJkJ2UQ&s=19

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/11/06/liberia-firestone-rubber-capital-us-war-review-gregg-mitman/

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48533964

https://www.propublica.org/article/firestone-and-the-warlord-chapter-2

https://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin-articles/liberia-lawsuit-against-firestone-for-slavery-and-child-labor-on-rubber-plantations

https://lithub.com/how-heart-of-darkness-revealed-the-horror-of-congos-rubber-trade

WINNIE MANDELA: HEROINE OF
SOUTH AFRICA

On this day, 88 years ago, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the heroine of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, was born. She is affectionately known as the mother of the South African nation. She devoted herself to liberating her people from racist White apartheid rule. We examine why Winnie Mandela is considered one of Africa’s greatest freedom fighters and why she is still highly celebrated in her country, even more so than her more famous ex-husband, Nelson Mandela.

Happy birthday, Mama!

AT U.N., SOUTH AFRICA VOWS TO STAND WITH PALESTINE

South Africa reiterated its commitment to justice for Palestine in the face of Israel’s military onslaught that has k*lled more than 41,000 Palestinians in almost a year. Estimates from medical journal Lancet put the figure as high as 186,000.

In his recent address to the United Nations General Assembly's 79th session in New York, President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed not to be silent as Israel subjects Palestinians to apartheid. South Africa lodged a case at the International Court of Justice against Israel in December 2023, accusing it of gen*cide against Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa has received support and threats, with 13 countries expressing interest in joining the case or filing a declaration of intervention. On the other hand, Israel has lobbied the US Congress to pressure South Africa to drop the case.

Continued... Apart from the massacres in Gaza, multiple human-rights organisations have said Israel enforces an apartheid regime in the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. They say Israeli policies systematically promote Jewish supremacy over Palestinians through spatial, legal and political divisions.

All this has been possible thanks to the West’s diplomatic, financial, military and political support.

Sources:
SA case at ICJ
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/29/south-africa-files-case-at-icj-accusing-israel-of-genocidal-acts-in-gaza

Support for case
https://unric.org/en/south-africa-vs-israel-12-other-countries-intend-to-join-the-icj-case/

Israeli lobby against SA
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-lobbying-us-congress-south-africa-icj-genocide

US ‘meritless’ claim
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/09/us-slams-south-africas-meritless-israel-genocide-suit.html?os=vpkn75tqhopmkpsxtq

B’Tselem report on apartheid in Israel
https://thisisapartheid.btselem.org/eng/index.html#6

West complicity
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-has-undeniable-complicity-gaza-war-killings-say-former-us-officials-2024-07-03

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240913-wests-complicity-in-israel-crimes-goes-way-beyond-just-weapons-legal-expert/

Gaza number of dead
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/gaza-strip-palestinian-death-toll-in-gaza-rises-to-41-467/vi-AA1rakLc

Lancet report
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/8/gaza-toll-could-exceed-186000-lancet-study-says

KENYAN COPS FIRED LIVE AMMO AT PROTESTERS - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Amnesty International Kenya's executive director Irungu Houghton says Kenyan police unlawfully used lethal and non-lethal force during protests against IMF-backed tax proposals in July and August.

The rights group’s conclusions relate primarily to events on 25th June, when un-uniformed Kenyan officers without official identification fired live rounds at protesters at the country's parliament complex in the capital, Nairobi.

Amnesty says it reconstructed the day's events with five partners and interviewed 23 witnesses. It also analysed dozens of videos and photographs. More than 50 people were killed in months-long protests led by largely young demonstrators over a controversial finance bill. Pressure from these protests eventually succeeded in getting the legislation shelved.

Continued... Amnesty's report said images showed groups of men in civilian clothes carrying weapons and working alongside the police. Amnesty also said Kenyan police that day unlawfully fired tear gas and beat and arbitrarily detained peaceful demonstrators. In response, some protesters threw back tear gas canisters at officers, hurled stones, broke windows and took flags.

Sources:

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/kenyas-parliament-set-fire-protests-150335972.html

https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/national/kenyan-police-in-plainclothes-fired-on-protesters-amnesty-says/video/1d81c69bfe078bf3a392ccb4aaa831f0

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenyan-police-plainclothes-fired-nairobi-protesters-amnesty-says-2024-09-25/

SENEGAL DEFENDS PALESTINE AT U.N.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the president of Senegal, boldly defended Palestine at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. On 25 September, Diomaye Faye reminded listeners that Palestinians, including children, are living under oppression and war. As he mentioned, Senegal is the chair of the UN's Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

So far, Israel has k*lled more than 41,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israeli military and settler brutality have escalated in the West Bank. Multiple human-rights organisations have said Israel operates an apartheid regime between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Continued... The people of Senegal have come out to mobilise in defence of Palestine over the past year. Perhaps this pushed Diomaye Faye to speak openly in defence of Palestinian people, an intervention that will be received favourably back home. However, Senegalese protests have also called for the closure of French military bases. Diomaye Faye has not yet responded favourably to those calls.

Sources:

https://www.un.org/unispal/committee/bureau/

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-189913/

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/the-status-of-jerusalem/

https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/children-gaza-need-lifesaving-support

https://arabstates.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/peace-and-security-2/facts-and-figures-women-and-girls-during-the-war-in-gaza

https://apanews.net/senegal-activists-detained-over-ukraine-protest/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5EL0j2YeDc

https://www.africanews.com/2021/05/22/protesters-in-dakar-express-solidarity-with-palestinians

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/israel-attacks-west-bank-cities-amid-genocide-gaza

https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1588181/politique/au-senegal-bassirou-diomaye-faye-nenvisage-pas-de-rupture-brutale-avec-la-france/

https://thisisapartheid.btselem.org/eng/index.html#6

Continued... Williams, 55, had spent over 23 years on death row for the 1998 murder of a Missouri journalist. He faced legal battles, including two stays of execution in 2015 and 2017. Over time, he converted to Islam, became an imam in the prison and began writing poetry, including a recent one noscriptd, 'The Perplexing Smiles of the Children of Palestine.'

On Monday, the Missouri Supreme Court agreed with Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's rejection of Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell's attempt to bring a motion to commute Williams' death sentence to life without parole. On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court declined to intervene, leaving Williams to face death that evening.

A 2022 report by the US-based National Registry of Exonerations found 'Black people are about 7-½ times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder in the US than are whites, and about 80 per cent more likely to be innocent than others convicted of murder.' This indicates Williams' case is sadly all too common in the US context.

Williams' final statement read, 'All Praise Be to Allah in Every Situation!!!'

Sources:

The case of Marcellus
https://innocenceproject.org/who-is-marcellus-williams-man-facing-execution-in-missouri-despite-dna-evidence-supporting-innocence/

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/us/marcellus-williams-execution-missouri.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz9p518j0nqo

https://www.instagram.com/palestinianyouthmovement/p/DAUDsPZvg5X/?img_index=2

The case of George Stinney Jr
https://allthatsinteresting.com/george-stinney-jr

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/report-black-people-7-5-times-more-likely-to-be-wrongfully-convicted-of-murder-than-whites-risk-even-greater-if-victim-was-white

WHAT IS THE PHILADELPHI CORRIDOR AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Israel's seizure in May of the Philadelphia Corridor - that is, of Gaza’s border with Egypt - is reshaping relations with Cairo.

The move not only violates the 1979 Camp David Accords, under which the area is supposed to be demilitarised, it also makes it harder for aid to enter Gaza, with Tel Aviv now in control of the key Rafah crossing.

Additionally, it makes a ceasefire less probable, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu relying ever more on the far-right elements in his cabinet, which helped him authorise the seizure.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/what-is-the-philadelphi-corridor-israel-gaza-egypt-netanyahu

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gazas-philadelphi-corridor-its-importance-ceasefire-talks-2024-09-06/

https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-philadelphi-corridor-gaza.html

Open displays of racism from America’s politicians are becoming increasingly common - the latest being from Republican Congressman Clay Higgins, who lashed out at Haitians. In response to media reports that a non-profit organisation is pursuing criminal charges against Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance over racist and bogus claims about Haitians eating pets, he took to X to post this vile message.

There was an immediate backlash, including from members of the Congressional Black Caucus, prompting Higgins to delete his message hours later. However, the apparent change of heart was only momentarily as, not long after, the politician was on CNN defending his post, claiming everything he said was true and that he was merely exercising his freedom of speech.

It’s not the first time that Haitians have been targeted by Trump and his followers. In 2018, while serving as US President, he referred to Haiti and other African nations as 'sh*thole countries.'

Continued... What these racists fail to acknowledge, however, is the fact that most of the problems that the island nation faces today are a result of imperial exploitation by Western countries such as the US and France.  The US occupied and pillaged Haiti from 1915 to 1934.  Prior to that, the country was forced to pay France for the 1791 revolution that ended French slavery on the Island.  A 2022 report by the New York Times said the amount paid out was equivalent to $115 billion in today's money.

Before vomiting up racist diatribes against Haiti, the likes of Trump and Higgins should grab a book - but, of course, facts mean nothing to racists.

BURKINA FOILS ‘FOREIGN-BACKED COUP PLOT’

On 23 September 2024, Burkina Faso’s minister of security, Mahamadou Sa, said that the country had foiled another conspiracy to overthrow the government. This time, the plot allegedly involved former president Paul-Henri Damiba - working with terrorist organisations in the country, former ministers from previous administrations and elements from within Ivory Coast.

According to Burkina’s intelligence, the plotters met twice in Ghana (in the Achimota section of Accra as well as in Tamale) to discuss their plans - and intended to meet again in Nigeria. They communicated via WhatsApp in a group called ‘Ibrahim Traoré Dégage’ (Ibrahim Traoré Get Out).

Continued... Since president Ibrahim Traoré came to power in 2022, the West African state has charted a new path, a path away from Western domination and manipulation. One consequence seems to be that those who miss neo-colonialism will stop at nothing to restore the old order.

But Traoré enjoys widespread support across Burkina Faso. Organised citizens take to the streets regularly to defend and protect the revolution. This includes the Citizen's Night Watch (the Wayiyans), who stay up every night across all 13 regions of the country to serve as the eyes and ears of the revolution and prevent destabilisation efforts.

Sources:

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

https://www.yenisafak.com/fr/video/international/burkina-faso-les-wayiyans-la-garde-civile-du-capitaine-ibrahim-traore-24624

DAVID HUNDEYIN EXPLAINS U.S. ATTACK ON AFRICAN STREAM

To make sense of social-media giants Meta, TikTok and YouTube recently suspending African Stream and other alternative media outlets, Breakthrough News’ Eugene Puryear (@eugenepuryear) and Rania Khalek (@raniakhalek) spoke to Nigerian investigative journalist David Hundeyin (@davidhundeyin). However, at the time of this interview, TikTok had not yet permanently banned African Stream.

Hundeyin explained how the bans proves the point African Stream has long maintained: That the US is an imperialist power. With the flick of a finger, 1.5 billion continental Africans and 200 million in the diaspora lost access to a critical source of information that sought to build a Pan-African future that would help unify and build economic freedom for the continent. Hundeyin also laid out the historical context behind the seemingly incessant US desire to control the narrative.

Video credit: @BTnewsroom