People in Burkina Faso should forget about democracy, the military president, Ibrahim Traoré, told the country’s state broadcaster. "We must tell the truth, democracy isn’t for us.”

Uganda's foreign ministry confirms the arrival of eight African deportees from the US (not 12, as the Uganda Law Society said yesterday)

Madagascar prosecutors said 13 people, including a general and a colonel, have been arrested for a plot to assassinate the military president Colonel Michael Randrianirina

In case you were wondering: Yes, there is a Jonathan the Great Tortoise angle to the Pam Bondi firing news.

A deportation flight from the US carrying 12 people landed in Uganda yesterday, the first group of deportees sent there after the governments signed a deal in August. The Uganda Law Society said it "has reduced [the deported people] to little more than chattel”.

Lenacapavir is an injection that stops people getting HIV for six months. It is being touted as a "miracle drug". But in Eswatini there is not nearly enough of it available to make a dent in their HIV rates, the world's highest. Story by @katlay.bsky.social

Jonathan is still alive and going strong at 194 years old. I am obsessed with him.

Many valid criticisms have been made of Helen Zille, but she definitely doesn't lack commitment when it comes to viral campaign stunts. This week in her bid to become Johannesburg mayor, she snorkelled in filthy water from a burst pipe, while wearing lipstick.

In case it wasn't clear, I was inside the garage in my car at the time, having somehow managed to close it without noticing

Moving house and I have: - Smashed one (1) bottle of sesame oil - Reversed my car into a closed garage door (small dent ✅) - Pulled a glute (?), while having movers doing all the heavy lifting. Given my general scattiness, I'm counting this as a win for now.

"The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide if it meets a legal standard that few laws pass." Can anyone explain to me how likely it is that the law will be fully overturned? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

“An act of institutionalised discrimination and racist violence against Palestinians” - the Association for Civil Rights in Israel

Sigh. I grew up listening to Scott Mills on Radio 1. Has a 'which famous person has done which awful thing this time' inevitability about it (while obviously having no idea what he is alleged to have done).

The historic town of Graaff-Reinet has been renamed Robert Sobukwe, after the anti-apartheid activist who was born and buried there. But, with almost all Coloured and white people against the change, the renaming has inflamed racial tensions in this quiet corner of the Karoo.

Just watched last night's Drag Race episode and am fewmin' at who they sent home. With a track record like that??? I know the producers love to rig and love to send frontrunners home, but cmon. If there ever was a time for a double shantay, this was *it*.

"The trans athlete debate was always the canary in the coalmine, and that canary has been dead for awhile." Sad, but ultimately spot on from @katelynburns.com, who is one of the authorities on trans athletes and trans rights in general.

I know multiple people who were in grave danger in their home countries, who were only able to get to the UK because they were offered places to study. They were also genuine students. This is not a contradiction and refusing study visas to people from these countries is downright cruel.

A Mirror exclusive and no photo of the actual second home? We used to have real tabloid journalism.

If I find myself in Ahmedabad, the first place I'm going is Kitabi Angan, a feminist bookstore founded by my former Reuters colleague Bansari Kamdar

At least 28 civilians have been killed in two separate drone strikes in Sudan, according to health workers, as the civil war nears its fourth year

Just resisted the urge to tell a PR that I am highly sceptical of all things crypto, blockchain and "digital currencies".

Dave Grohl has truly shed the 'nice dad rocker' image. Lots of avoiding the questions in this great interview. Still love Foo Fighters. Their 'surprise' Glastonbury gig after Taylor Hawkins' death was incredibly emotional and probably in my top 10

The war in Iran could trigger a global food shock • More than 1.1mn tonnes of fertiliser and fertiliser inputs is currently stuck in the Gulf • Shortages are starting during northern hemisphere’s planting season, raising the risk of lower harvests for staples like rice www.ft.com/content/1054...

Basic economics and finance, including how government debt works, should be on every school curriculum globally.

40% corruption? Totally fine.

Madagascar’s military president says new ministers will have to pass lie detector tests, after he dismissed the prime minister and cabinet without explanation earlier this month. “We’re not looking for someone who is 100% clean, but over 60%. That way, Madagascar will finally be able to develop.”

'Circle of Life' composer Lebo M has filed a $27m defamation lawsuit against Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Jonasi. Jonasi said the Zulu lyric, "Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba. Sithi uhm ingonyama" means, "Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god," & laughed. Lebo M said that disrespected its royal context

Iran has knocked out 17% of Qatar's liquefied natural gas export capacity for up to five years, QatarEnergy's CEO told Reuters. The company has had to declare force majeure on five-year LNG supply contracts for Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China. Real, stark, potentially long-term impacts.

Remarkable story from Denmark's nat'l broadcaster. "When Danish soldiers were flown to Greenland in January...they brought explosives so they could destroy, among other things, the runways in Nuuk & Kangerlussuaq [to] prevent US mil aircraft from landing" www.dr.dk/nyheder/indl...

Malawi: "It is asking for financial support and technical assistance from local and international partners as search and rescue operations continue. The department says livestock and crops including tobacco have been washed away in some parts of the country." www.msn.com/en-us/weathe...

Not me feeling patriotic 🫠

Some good British news for once! A new footpath has been opened that stretches the entire coast of England. Eighteen years in the making, it's the longest managed coastal walking route in the world

“The only thing left for me was death.” Extraordinary interview by @benbloomsport.bsky.social with South African long jumper Luvo Manyonga who won Olympic silver in Rio, spiralled into meth addiction & returned from a 4 year absence in Dec 2024 to now competing at the World Indoors this week.

Claims of a "white genocide" in the UK being aired on GB News. For anyone in South Africa, this will feel very familiar

Excellent reporting by @direthoughts.com and @michaelgoodier.bsky.social.

congratulations to Viktor Orbán's father on his house, which raises no questions at all as.ft.com/r/e20a43e6-e...

Étienne Davignon, a 93-year-old ex-Belgian diplomat, should stand trial for alleged complicity in the 1961 murder of Patrice Lumumba, a Brussels court has ruled. He is the only person still alive among 10 Belgians the Lumumba family has accused of involvement in the killing

"The unexamined life is not worth living" - The Apology of Socrates, Plato, ~399 BCE

African countries are bracing themselves for yet another economic shock, as fuel and fertiliser prices climb due to the war in the Middle East

Because I have to make stories about me, I briefly dated a boy from Rendcomb, who cheated and then dumped me because he was too busy with swimming. I had a friend who left the state grammar we went to to go there and fwiw all her friends seemed pretty archetypal not-so-bright rich kids

It is the anniversary of the My Lai massacre today. I'd say that even more than most years, it's important to remember what happened. And the role Hugh Thompson, an active serviceman, played in both stopping and publicising it. Despite enormous military, political and public pressure to stay quiet.

Fascinating tale of two social media trends by Amy Hawkins. There's The Kill Line - a Chinese idea that the US is a capitalist dystopia, where you're either destitute or a step away from it. Then there's Chinamaxxing - Westerners on TikTok discovering the joys of mah jong and drinking hot water 🀄🍵

“I’m made by the community. I’m shaped by women, who are the forces in all that I do. I move with the community, with or without resources, with or without recognition... It never makes sense to me to be alone.” Zanele Muholi

The US, Iran and China are fighting a propaganda war with nostalgia, memes and AI slop. Good times. www.instagram.com/p/DVzYJfhgXT...

Senegal is doing its best to avoid defaulting on its debt, but these do not bode well: 'Senegal is falling behind on payments to other lenders such as France, Britain, Italy and Spain...' '...Senegal owes $9.7bn in interest and amortisation this year, $7.8bn in 2027 and $8.7bn in ​2028.'

Senegal is doing the grace period shuffle on bilateral creditors (France in particular) to keep paying its eurobonds. Go up to the 90 day limit as much as possible - try not to go over it. The bondholders are looking at their cross-default clauses to see if missed bilateral payments trigger it...

Last month, I spent time in three Cape Flats communities - Hanover Park, Manenberg and Wesbank. Almost everyone we spoke to had lost a loved one to gang warfare. We also met the most incredible people doing work for their communities, who won't give up trying to make life there better for everyone.

Senegal's parliament has passed a bill doubling the penalty for same-sex relations from five to 10 years. It now needs to be signed by the president. It outlaws "acts against nature", specifying these are homosexuality, bisexuality, "transsexuality", zoophilia and ​necrophilia

Two people who attacked and robbed two gay men in Kenya were sentenced to 15 years in prison last week. LGBT+ rights advocates say it's a rare example of justice being served for queer people in the country. Story by @sajajohnson.bsky.social