All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 235 of The Continent In South African politics, Gayton McKenzie is a larger-than-life character who leans into his criminal past and blends populism, and a striking disregard for the rule of law. Remind you of someone? bit.ly/235_TC

Short thread containing satellite imagery of Emirati weapons smuggled to the genocidal RSF militia in Sudan, with accompanying file photos. Snapped at a secret RSF logistics base in western Ethiopia (10°05'55.5"N 34°34'50.9"E). Wednesday marked 3 years since the start of Sudan's brutal civil war.

My latest for Middle East Eye: satellite imagery analysis reveals that an Ethiopian army base in western Ethiopia is being used as a weapons & logistics hub by Sudan's UAE backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to launch cross border attacks on Sudanese army positions from Ethiopia.

"A former Ethiopian government adviser told MEE that “many in Ethiopia’s foreign ministry and elsewhere believe the UAE has been calling the shots in Ethiopia in regard to the Sudan government, RSF and Eritrea over the port of Assab for at least two years”. ✍️ @zekuzelalem.bsky.social + Oscar Rickett

BAGHDAD (AP) — American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad last week, has been released, an Iraqi official says.

Ouch. Looks like his highness Pahlavi bout to get hit with the Maria Corina Machado treatment.

I hate how many journalists descend on Beirut when there is war. Yes, it needs covering and some people know the city and do it really well. But still, many come in and repeat problematic western-centric narratives. I understand this is the type of reporting that makes careers and pays bills

Operation "Shock and awe," Baghdad, March 2003. That's what comes to mind. That operation led to at least 6,000 civilian deaths per Iraq Body Count. How many will die this time?

Appeared on Deutsche Welle TV, to dissect possible war in the Horn. Among points I make: Iran bombing the UAE could affect Emirati East Africa operations, possibly delaying a push to war by its client state Ethiopia & hampering operations of its proxy, the genocidal RSF in Sudan. Starts at 12:24.

Victims in our countries seldom get profiled and humanised in Western media. This is a portrait of a life cut short. What a tragedy. "Saleh Ahmed (55) lived in the UAE as an expat for 25 years, sending under £500 per month in earnings to Bangladesh for his wife and four children."

Was on the Global Dispatches podcast last week with Mark Leon Goldberg, to discuss the complexities of brewing conflict in the Horn, & the vested interest many Gulf powers have. Recorded just before all hell broke loose in the Middle East. Will have a follow up addressing more recent developments.

The last photo of Mikaeil Mirdoraghi, a third-grade student killed in the reported U.S./Israeli strike on a primary school in Minab, Iran. He is waving goodbye to his mother.

Today the Israelis ordered the evacuation of the southern suburbs of Beirut. This included a couple Palestinian refugee camps. People who were displaced during the Nakba or in 67, settled in Beirut and now their grand/great grandchildren are once again displaced.

This is a introspectional must read especially for journos. It dissects how a series of investigative stories on a trove of leaked docs containing data & gruesome photos of Syria's forcibly disappeared, ended up retraumatizing families. Critical reflection on the duty to inform, & minimizing harm.

“No front-page stories in NYT, WSJ, WaPo. No mention on NBC and CBS Sunday Shows. No stand alone segments on Evening News shows. A death count on par with the OKC bombing is relegated to the back page.” www.columnblog.com/p/corporate-...

Follow Justin, for updates and his top top Al Jazeera coverage from Beirut, as Lebanon endures the umpteenth Israeli bombing campaign of the country in barely three years. The frequency of IDF airstrikes in Lebanon swings up & down, but airstrikes never completely stopped despite the 2024 ceasefire.

I really do feel for Iranians, coming from a region that is harmed by both the "anti imperialist left" and the right. The former teams up with our genocidal governments as long as they say they're against the US, the latter wants us bombed into oblivion and prevented from immigrating.

Woke up to a dozen messages of friends in Beirut saying Israel bombed

The Tasnim and Fars news agencies are confirming the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 🔴 LIVE updates: aje.news/9i4fmn

If you missed it when it aired on the weekend, this is my TV production debut, for @aljazeera.com's The Listening Post. We investigated Israeli gov efforts to whitewash genocide in Gaza for African audiences, using journalists & Christian influencers. Fellow "journos" were held to account.

THREAD: A first for me: I've co-produced an episode of Al Jazeera's The Listening Post, and it airs tomorrow! Outrage over genocide in Gaza has led to Israel losing the streets & the campuses of the western world. So, Israel has recently decided to try selling its narrative...to Africans.

I cover the Horn. Reporting on 🇵🇸🇮🇱 is generally not part of my mandate. But the beats have aligned. Six months of work later, this weekend I'll have an investigation go live & it addresses Israel's genocide in Gaza and the African continent. Coming to @aljazeera.com, hope you'll tune in. 🇰🇪🇿🇦🇪🇹

This is *so* important.

Wrote for @theglobeandmail.com: I spent months hearing from African survivors of Myanmar scam camps, where trafficking victims are forced to run scams targeting westerners. Chinese criminals & at least one pro-junta militia cooperate to dish out horrific abuse against migrants to ensure compliance.

My latest: Without anti-authoritarianism, 'anti-imperialism' is just conservatism with left-wing aesthetics www.hauntologies.net/p/iranian-pr...

On the rank tankie-ism that @timnitgebru.bsky.social and @zekuzelalem.bsky.social have been calling out on the American anti-imperialist "left", with regard to Iran, Tigray, Bosnia, and so many others. bsky.app/profile/timn...

The government knew the news of Li's death would lead to an uproar. So they did one of the most shameful things ever. They would not announce his death. They pretended he was still alive. State media statements that Li had passed away were wiped. But this photo was posted. And then we all knew.

it's so annoying how much American websites assume any traffic from Africa is fraud 😭 once my apartment building blocked all traffic from the page where I'd pay rent like wtf

With the industry in the hands of wealthy moguls and governments who don't share the interests or the same passion for the craft as chronically underpaid muckrakers, journalism was always doomed. It's at the mercy of people who we are mandated to hold to account, a terrible setup from the get go.

I will never cancel R Kelly. He devoted decades of his life to producing great music. His impact on that front is immeasurable. /s

Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed answered questions in parliament today. Loosely addressing recent clashes & his gov's fallout with neighbouring Eritrea. When asked what was behind the feud with Eritrea, he stated that things began to unravel when Eritrean soldiers massacred civilians during the Tigray war.

Demonstrations were held in parts of Ethiopia yesterday, not far from where clashes between Ethiopian forces & Tigrayan rebels went on for 5 days. Protesters called for an end to fighting & for the rebels to vacate the area. Following calls from the international community, fighting has halted.

Weekly-ish reminder that an easy way to support my work is through ko-fi.com/eliaayoub I know these are difficult times, so no worry if you can't

At this time of uncertainty in the Horn of Africa, I really didn't think the Epstein files would trend in the region, but they are. Ethiopia's Minister of Education was the subject of emails exchanged in 2009 between Epstein & Henry Jarecki, wealthy entrepreneur dogged by allegations of SA as well.

Three days into conflict in Tigray, the warring factions are either silent, or issuing vague statements. Following a call for restraint by the African Union, the chairman of the TPLF, under whose command Tigrayan rebels are fighting, responded expressing a willingness to engage in dialogue.

51 year old heir apparent, famous for drunken twitter escapades & resulting diplomatic incidents, is head of Uganda's national army, appointed by his father who has ruled the country since 1986. Get to know General Muhoozi Kainerugaba better! The BBC have profiled the eccentric nepo baby today.

UPDATE: as fighting breaks out in Tigray, and drone strikes are reported...Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has state media cameras on him, while he walks the streets of Jijiga in Eastern Ethiopia, accompanied by the Presidents of neighbouring Somalia and Djibouti. No mention of the fighting in the north.

UPDATE: according to reports from Tigray regional state television, drone strikes targeted trucks in two north-east Tigray towns at 4AM local time. A driver was killed, another is injured. These would be the first civilian casualties of drone strikes in Tigray, since the Tigray war ended in 2022.

3.5 years after a ceasefire ended a brutal Ethiopian civil war that killed hundreds of thousands in two years...Ethiopian forces and Tigrayan rebels clashed on Thursday, marking the most serious fighting since the war ended. Ethiopian Airlines has suspended all flights to Tigray.

"The Hamas led Health Ministry." Beyond casting doubt on well corroborated reports of mass slaughter, the expression doubled as justification for killings of health workers, implying that they were all an extension of the armed wing. Some of our colleagues in the field have a lot to answer for.

I downloaded the Upscrolled app. Just saw that the official accounts of the founder & even the app itself follow Greyzone "journalists" infamous for war crimes denialism everywhere that isn't Gaza. Hard pass. Another app that tells me African lives don't matter. That's just Meta with a 🇵🇸 flag.

I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work. I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.

Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire 'gradually' being implemented, says China reut.rs/49lcSJB

This article was published a whole three weeks before US forces invaded Venezuela and abducted the country's leader. Some legacy that FIFA Peace Prize is going to have. Giving the Nobel Peace Prize a run for its money.

🇻🇪 Si l’arrestation du président vénézuélien Nicolás Maduro, samedi 3 janvier, a été rapide, le pays, sous le choc, semble hésiter entre le silence et la peur des lendemains incertains.

China urges US to ‘stop toppling’ Venezuelan government, release Maduro https://aje.io/y1mso8

The great isolationist ‘America First’ GOP President Donald Trump has in less than a year in office declared himself the ‘owner’ of Gaza and the ‘ruler’ of Venezuela.

There has been genocide in each year of the 2020ies so far, what a cursed decade. A decade we kicked off with a deadly pandemic, lest we forget. Here's to bucking the trend in 26. Wishing you a happy new year friends.

THREAD: on Friday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would recognize Somaliland, an autonomous breakaway republic in northern Somalia, as an independent state. This makes Israel the first state to officially recognize Somaliland, since it's 1991 declaration of independence.

Merry Christmas friends. Remember those struggling to celebrate, reeling from the trauma of war, displacement and the targeted bombings of churches. From the Middle East Eye, 25/12/25.