This article's focus on Trump and MAGA is inevitable, I guess, but this new facility is also opening up thousands of "sock puppet" troll accounts run by Rwanda's dictatorial regime to public scrutiny - finally. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This a good time for those who have been systematically harassed/abused for criticising the Rwandan regime to check out where those trolls are based. The answer, in many cases, will be "Rwanda". Which is amusing when they are pretending to be Austrlian surf babes. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

By God, it would be nice to see British academic institutions showing just a hint of spine on this issue. www.thetimes.com/article/4b37...

The Miles Morland Foundation today announced the four winners of its year-long scholarship for African writers: authors from Nigeria, Cameroon and Kenya. Judges were Muthoni Garland, Chuma Nwokolo and Goretti Kyomuhendo. Congratulations to all. milesmorlandfoundation.com/morland-writ...

I've bought the book - haven't yet read it. Interesting interview and review. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Sports clubs are, at the end of the day, answerable to their supporters. Fans of all the other teams helping Rwanda sportswash its reputation should take their cue from the Gunners For Peace. www.instagram.com/p/DRPGbqHjNZw/

Really good to see this shabby deal ending. Congratulations to the fans who campaigned against it. Let's hope the many other Western sports teams helping Rwanda sportswash its image while occupying eastern Congo will do the same. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

Now the hard part starts: x.com/BBCAfrica/st...

Je suis actuellement à Kinshasa et j'ai enregistré cette interview avec Radio Okapi hier soir. www.radiookapi.net/2025/11/16/a...

This is so desperately sad. And it's an incredible tribute to a writer's impact that one can mind their passing despite never having met or communicated with them. She was very, very good at what she did. www.thetimes.com/uk/obituarie...

The one good thing to emerge from Tanzania's brutal elections: African election observers are no longer turning a blind eye to abuses committed right under their noses. dailyfriend.co.za/2025/11/08/t...

I contributed a few suggestions to the Spectator's yearly roundup of recommended reading: www.spectator.co.uk/article/book...

Excellent article from Charles Onyango-Obbo on how the recent bloody election debacle marks the definitive, and overdue, end of Tanzania’s perceived exceptionalism. nation.africa/kenya/blogs-...

There's too much video evidence of excessive police and army brutality in Tanzania circulating now to pretend this was a normal or remotely credible election. Al Jazeera's report. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIWq...

What happened to the Mail&Guardian? If they had published an article dictated word for word by Kagame's press spokeswoman, it would still have constituted better journalism than this. Context-free, stunningly-awful reportage. mg.co.za/africa/2025-...

Bravo to Lindsey Hilsum and C4 for highlighting the shocking violence that has accompanied these Tanzanian elections. www.channel4.com/news/tanzani...

Tanzania's election has been shockingly violent and the result does not deserve to be recognised abroad. www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

The cartoonist Gado, on the recent elections in his country of birth:

President Samia Suluhu Hassan's electoral "victory" in Tanzania (97.66 per cent) is in the same laughable ball park as Paul Kagame's electoral "wins" in Rwanda. Can't they see what a joke this makes them in their contemporaries' and subjects eyes? www.france24.com/en/africa/20...

Great article on the crumbling city of Johannesburg. In Zaire, these coping strategies were memorably dubbed "Article 15" (Fend for Yourself) - www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...

Tanzania goes to the polls, with the main opposition candidates either in jail or disqualified from running. This seems an appropriate read: www.theafricareport.com/394722/in-th...

The headline no African leader should aspire to. www.ft.com/content/ce09...

Just finished this. Gerard Prunier in characteristically provocative mode, going for the jugular of the French state and its history of African intervention. It helps to have some grounding in French politics of the last 50 years to fully appreciate the book. www.hurstpublishers.com/book/colonia...

This is the best analysis I've yet read on Raila Odinga's style of politics. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2025...

Presidential immunity is such a convenient thing. canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...

My old friend Daniel Simpson interviewed me about working with John le Carré on "The Mission Song", his novel on eastern DRCongo, for his podcast. ancientfutures.substack.com/p/le-carre-m...

A Rwandan newspaper is reporting that Kigali will apply for Red Notices against 25 individuals it named as "terrorists". Sadly, Rwanda's past abuse of the Red Notice system has not passed unnoticed by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Good luck with that. occrp.org/en/investiga...

Reveal's podcast is a follow up to last week's coverage of the phone tracking technology being sold by a company called First Wap to dictatorships (including Rwanda) to track dissidents. revealnews.org/podcast/cell...

Rwanda recently published a list of 25 supposed "terrorists" abroad. Many were once Kagame's most trusted colleagues - wonder what changed?😁 Slapping the "terrorist" label on any critic or dissident is a well-recognised form of transnational repression. youtube.com/watch?v=LvmOfRRN30c

The shortlist of African writers in the running for the Miles Morland Foundation scholarships is announced: milesmorlandfoundation.com/morland-afri...

Part 3 of The New Humanitarian's reportage from eastern DRCongo. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature...

Raila Odinga finally quits the scene, upending Kenyan politics. www.reuters.com/world/africa...

No one familiar with Paul Kagame's methods will be surprised to learn Rwanda was a client of First Wap, a company which - in contrast to NSO - operated for years under the radar, selling phone technology which could be used to track down dissidents abroad. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

What life is like for those living in the swathe of DR Congo captured by the Rwandan-backed M23. Excellent reportage by The New Humanitarian. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature...

I would challenge the notion the rivalry between the TPLF and Isaias is rooted in the 1998-2000 war. It predated and exacerbated it. But good to see a mainstream publication like the Economist drawing attention to rising tensions in the Horn. www.economist.com/middle-east-...

I was reflecting with a friend that Jane Goodall managed to reach the grand age of 91 with - if her public interviews were anything to go by - the engaged, questing mind of a youngster. And she wore her (deserved) fame lightly. It was never about her. theconversation.com/jane-goodall...

I was interviewed by Jan Antonissen ahead of the cycling championships in Rwanda. Striking how many media outlets doggedly gloss over this event's political aspects, despite the fact Rwanda already politicised it by banning a Belgian journalist. www.humo.be/nieuws/wk-wi...

If you're a control-freak police state, best not volunteer to host global sports events which attract hordes of journalists. Annoying, disobedient, disrespectful things, journalists. Rwanda should never have been allowed to host these cycling championships. cyclinguptodate.com/cycling/cont...

This is exactly what happens when a sports organisation gets in bed with a dictatorship. As many of us pointed out at the time, the UCI should never have chosen Rwanda as a venue for world championships. What the **** did they expect? www.belganewsagency.eu/belgian-jour...