Continued….. The scepticism toward foreign aid programmes may stem from Western countries’ historically using them as instruments to advance their geopolitical interests. Many have criticised institutions like the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for covertly advancing US intelligence objectives during the Cold War, including allegations of training operatives and torturers. Similarly, the United States established the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to carry out what was once the CIA’s covert work, with its founding president openly acknowledging that. Further, Vincent Crouzet, a former French intelligence officer, admitted that the African Sahel region’s instability offers opportunities for ‘secretive’ destabilisation operations.

Continued……SOURCES

News
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/eu-recalls-envoy-niger-after-junta-accuses-it-mismanaging-aid-2024-11-23/?taid=674221844dd3f40001cfb853

https://www.barrons.com/news/niger-says-requests-replacement-of-eu-ambassador-amid-aid-row-89e7fcc1

USAID connection to US intelligence
https://archive.ph/5EUEQ#selection-1973.0-1973.77

NED and the CIA
https://mondediplo.com/2007/08/04ned
https://countercurrents.org/2022/05/the-national-endowment-for-democracy-a-second-cia/

French opportunities for destabilization
...

This Washington Post Editorial Board headline says everything one needs to know about the hypocrisy of the West, including that of so-called human-rights advocates.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, for 'crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.’

The editorial board claims that instead of going after Netanyahu, whose government has killed at least 186,000 people as of early July in Gaza, according to the Lancet medical journal, the ICC should pursue suspects in places such as Russia, Sudan, Syria and Myanmar.

Continued………In other words, the board is saying what many of us have suspected for decades: The ICC was created only to prosecute suspects from the Global South.

The court has long been accused of being a tool for Western imperialism, as seen in its selective application of justice. Its 68 defendants overwhelmingly have not been white, with the exception of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commission Maria Lvova-Belova, as well as Serbia's Slobodan Milošević, who died before sentencing, and three South Ossetian officials.

Source;

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/24/israel-hamas-gaza-icc-arrest-warrants-international-criminal-court

FAMILY OF MALCOLM X FILES $100M LAWSUIT FOR KILLING


Ahead of the 60th anniversary of Pan-Africanist Malcolm X’s assassination, Dr Ilyasah Shabazz, his third daughter, said at a New York City press conference on 15 November that the family had filed a $100 million lawsuit against the US government. 

Speaking at the Malcolm X & Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in Manhattan, previously the Audubon Ballroom where her father was shot on 21 February 1965, @ilyasahshabazz (X) said they have engaged legal experts to seek justice and ensure ‘the truth will be recorded in history.’ 

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump will lead the lawsuit. The five sisters want answers and accountability from the New York Police Department (NYPD), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for what they allege was a conspiracy to assassinate Malcolm X (1925-65).

Continued…….. Disclosures from a documentary series, ‘Who Killed Malcolm X?’ (2020), and the 2021 exonerations of two men jailed for allegedly shooting Malcolm X—Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam—revived public interest in the unresolved assassination. A New York judge dismissed their convictions following a re-investigation, with the city of New York agreeing to pay the men $26 million and the state settling on $10 million.

Malcolm X founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity to bring together the African diaspora in the Americas in the struggle for liberation. He traveled to numerous countries to promote African liberation, attempting to internationalise a human-rights case on behalf of Black people suffering in the US to be brought before the United Nations.

Video credit: @attorneycrump (IG)

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/nyregion/malcolm-x-killing-exonerated.html

https://www.si.edu/object/malcolm-xs-daughters%3Anmaahc_2021.33.4

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/31/1132757141/the-men-exonerated-in-the-malcolm-x-killing-will-receive-36-million

https://abcnews.go.com/US/malcolm-xs-family-files-100-million-wrongful-death/story?id=115894702

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2509842/malcolm-xs-daughters-accuse-cia-fbi-and-nypd-of-concealing-knowledge-of-assassination

https://theshabazzcenter.org/about

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/national/unpublished-black-history/malcolm-xs-home-firebombed-in-queens-1965-racism

https://nycaribnews.com/justice-delayed-justice-pursued-malcolm-xs-daughters-demand-accountability

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/31/1132757141/the-men-exonerated-in-the-malcolm-x-killing-will-receive-36-million

https://www.passblue.com/2020/06/16/the-human-rights-council-confronts-racism-in-the-usa

KENYA PAYS $16M FOR BELEAGUERED HAITI MISSION

Despite earlier assurances that taxpayers would not fund the operation, Kenya's government has allocated $16 million to support the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.

The mission, launched in June, faces criticism for appearing to be a continuation of US intervention in Haiti. About 1,000 Kenyan troops are on the ground.

The government initially said the United Nations (UN) and the United States’ $300 million in promised funds would cover the mission's costs. However, with it remaining underfunded and underequipped, Kenya and the US have sought to shift responsibility to the UN Security Council, with a proposal in September for a UN peacekeeping mission. However, two UN Security Council members—China and Russia—expressed hesitancy, arguing that a UN mission is too soon to call for and that peacekeeping would require peace already be in place.

Continued……They said such a mission would not effectively address Haiti's challenges, citing past UN peacekeeping failures, including cholera outbreaks, s*xual exploitation and civilian deaths.

Russia's opposition to international interventions in Haiti dates back to 2022, with the Russian representative emphasising the historical roots of Haiti’s instability, such as foreign interference, the Haitian government removing fuel subsidies, and the influx of smuggled US weapons.

Sources
News
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kenyas-haiti-mission-hit-with-mysterious-ksh21-billion-payment/ar-AA1urljq

Russia China against UN peacekeeping op in Haiti
https://apnews.com/article/un-haiti-gangs-kenya-multinational-force-peacekeeping-bab6d3c545c6f2558fd5c45d00b07f55

BLUMENTHAL: PETE HEGSETH LEADS TRUMP'S EXTREME NOMINEES

It is now clear that warmongers, xenophobes, white nationalists, and far-right provocateurs will fill the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

It's pretty difficult to identify the worst cabinet pick. However, in this video, The Grayzone's (@thegrayzonenews) founder and editor-in-chief, @maxblumenthal, gave that noscript to Trump's Defense Secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth.

Aside from being a Zi*nist who has justified the 76-year Israeli occupation of Palestine, Blumenthal said Hegseth seems to be competing to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 'Shabbos Goy,' a non-Jew who works on Sabbath on behalf of an observant Jew.

Hegseth has also defended US soldiers' war crimes against civilians where the US military has occupied, such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

Continued….. In his 2020 book, ‘American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free,’ Hegseth stated that 'Next to the communist Chinese and their global ambitions, Islamism is the most dangerous threat to freedom in the world. It cannot be negotiated with, coexisted with, or understood; it must be exposed, marginalised, and crushed.'

Considering all this, it becomes increasingly clear why Hegseth may be Trump's worst cabinet pick.

Video credit: @thegrayzonenews

Sources;

https://www.newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-defense-secretary-white-supremacist-trump-1986435

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/us/politics/pete-hegseth-defense-department.html

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hesgeth-tattoo-trump-administration-b2648147.html

https://www.jns.org/trumps-nominee-for-secretary-of-defense-once-suggested-a-temple-could-be-built-on-temple-mount/

Nelson Amenya (@amenya_nelson on X) woke up to an avalanche of plaudits from around the globe the day after Kenyan President William Ruto cancelled a proposed $1.84 billion airport takeover deal with India-based Adani Group and a $736mn deal with Adani to construct and operate the electricity infrastructure.

In July, the 30-year-old exposed documents detailing negotiations between Ruto's government and tycoon Gautam Adani's company for a 30-year lease on Kenya's main airport.

The proposal for Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) included a clause allowing Adani to retain an 18 per cent equity stake in the airport’s business dealings starting at $46.3 million following the 30-year lease, plus an additional 10 per cent every five years in perpetuity.

Continued……. Some suggested the airport be renamed after Amenya, pursuing a master's degree in business administration at École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris—better known as HEC Paris—while others said he deserves protection for spearheading robust citizen activism against corruption in Kenya.

Sources:

https://www.livemint.com/news/world/whistleblower-nelson-amenya-celebrated-as-a-hero-for-exposing-the-secret-adani-deal-for-kenyas-airport-11732214923169.html

https://x.com/amenya_nelson/status/1811458518861644006

https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/104690-treasury-cs-mbadi-flags-unusual-speed-adanis-jkia-proposal-clearance-suspects-foul-play

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/kenya-airport-whistle-blower-nelson-amenya-fears-for-his-life/article68704848.ece

https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/who-is-nelson-amenya-whistleblower-who-exposed-the-jkia-adani-deal-in-kenya-646522.html

https://nairobiwire.com/2024/10/despite-living-in-france-adani-jkia-whistleblower-doesnt-feel-safe.html

Continued……https://www.adaniwatch.org/furore_over_adani_s_pitch_to_revamp_nairobi_airport

https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/adani-fights-back-on-jkia-leasing-deal-4766340

Page 10, point no. 14:
https://khrc.or.ke/storage/2024/09/KHRC-and-LSK-v-KAA-and-Adani-Application-for-Judicial-Review.pdf   

https://khrc.or.ke/case/khrc-lsk-sue-to-block-adanis-30-year-jkia-lease/

https://nation.africa/kenya/business/high-court-halts-proposed-leasing-of-jkia-to-adani-4755544 [paragraph 13]

The people have spoken, and Zambia's star striker Barbra Banda is the 2024 BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year.

The striker, who plays for the United States National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) 2024 champions, the Orlando Pride, received the most football-fan votes, beating four others who made the shortlist compiled by global football experts, including coaches, administrators and sports journalists.

The award is among the accolades the football star has bagged in the last few years, cementing her place among the sport's greatest. Banda’s stellar performance as the Zambian national team’s captain and striker has helped turn the country into a powerhouse for women's football.

The 24-year-old arrived on the global stage during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where @BarbraBanda11 scored hat tricks (three goals in a match) in back-to-back group games,  becoming the first footballer—man or woman—in Olympic history to score two hat tricks in the same Olympic tournament.

Continued……. In March, Banda became the second-highest compensated women's footballer in history when Florida-based football team Orlando Pride signed her for $740,000. She previously played for the Chinese Women's Super League.

The run-up to the victory was not easy for Banda as she faced opposition over alleged high testosterone levels. In October, the United Kingdom-based Women's Rights Network (WRN) condemned Banda’s nomination for the BBC award, describing it as bringing women's sport into ‘disrepute.’ WRN insinuated Banda should not be allowed to compete in female sports due to 'questions' over her 'sex.' It cited the now-debunked claim that the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) disqualified the Zambian star after failing a gender test conducted by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the governing body for African football. However, at a July 2022 media conference, CAF said no such test was ever conducted. 

Such rows have affected several African female athletes in recent years. In August, Algeria's Olympic boxing champion, Imane Khelif, filed a criminal complaint in France against X owner Elon Musk and British author JK Rowling for alleging online that she was a man. In 2021, Namibian sprinters Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi were forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics over 'elevated blood testosterone levels.'

Sources:

https://olympics.com/en/news/the-future-is-now-for-zambia-s-star-barbra-banda

https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/who-is-barbra-banda-get-to-know-uswnts-biggest-worry-ahead-of-zambia-showdown-at-2024-paris-olympics/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13963931/fury-bbc-womens-footballer-year-barbra-banda-gender-row.html

https://x.com/WomensRightsNet/status/1846240186935451986

https://www.facebook.com/SmartEaglesZambia/videos/we-dont-know-who-disqualified-barbara-banda-caffaz-knows-something-about-this-so/843053303765934/

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c8jypk4xz7xo

https://app.asana.com/0/1202659536484511/1208071545632989

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/03/sport/christine-mboma-beatrice-masilingi-ruled-ineligible-testosterone-spt-intl/index.html

As the phrase widely credited to Guinean Pan-Africanist first president, Ahmed Sékou Touré (1922-84), goes: 'When you are praised by the colonist, it means that you are bad for your people. When they say you are bad, it means that you are good for your people. The day they say I'm good, that'll mean I betrayed you.'

In this carousel, we present moments that should raise questions about four African leaders whom Western leaders have praised. But why might the West favour them?

Let’s start with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, who recently claimed terrorism has only heightened since Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger booted French troops, even though the Global Terrorism Index reports a stark increase in terror-related deaths in Africa's Sahel region once Western military occupations began following the 2011 NATO invasion of Libya.

Continued……Some have accused Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of being a CIA asset after US government agencies refused to remove redactions from documents on alleged drug trafficking and money laundering, admitting doing so could expose Tinubu or others as US intelligence assets. After becoming chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Tinubu declared coups d’état would no longer be tolerated and unsuccessfully attempted to impose sanctions on Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger following their withdrawal from the Western-aligned ECOWAS.

Continued….. https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2024/04/22/rwanda-bill-kigali-is-safer-than-london-claims-deputy-foreign-secretary/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/26/un-report-rwanda-congo-hutus

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/gangs-police-haiti/

https://jacobin.com/2024/05/us-kenya-haiti-intervention

https://www.blackagendareport.com/kagame-murderer-millions-congo-and-rwanda

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/608962-we-will-not-tolerate-coups-in-west-africa-tinubu.html?tztc=1

https://ituc-africa.org/African-workers-Welcome-ECOWAS-Revocation-of-Sanctions-on-Burkina-Faso-Niger.html

https://x.com/african_stream/status/1858902469016723619 

https://www.theafricareport.com/353594/tinubu-eyes-second-term-as-ecowas-chairman-despite-turbulent-tenure 

https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/tête-à-tête/20241005-ghana-president-akufo-addo-security-sahel-worsened-french-troops-left

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/burkina-faso-ap-wagner-group-united-states-ghana-b2246156.html

https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/GTI-2022-web-09062022.pdf