“Such good English, where did you learn to speak so beautifully?” Trump asks the president of Liberia, whose official language is English

A pathologist report confirms that Albert Ojwang’, a teacher who was detained by the police for a social media post that allegedly insulted a senior police officer and later found dead in his cell, died from neck compression and with soft tissue damage all over his body. #Kenya

How Kenya sees the US

"Negotiators agree on binding treaty for future pandemics, after U.S. drops out" c/o @geoffreyyork.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Africans with #HIV facing new dangers, as Trump administration cuts aid, by @geoffreyyork.bsky.social, Jeffrey Moyo www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl... via @theglobeandmail.com #GlobalHealth #AIDS

“Canada believes Ethiopia has made “initial progress” on peace initiatives, human-rights accountability and transitional justice for atrocities in Tigray and in current conflicts in the Amhara and Oromia regions, the memo said.” Extraordinary, the alternative universe of Canadian diplomats.

After a three-year suspension, Canada is resuming its military collaboration with Ethiopia -- even as civilians continue to be killed in drone attacks by the Ethiopian army. My report: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

More than 90% of U.S. aid programs abruptly cancelled, jeopardizing lives, humanitarian groups say, by @geoffreyyork.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl... via @theglobeandmail.com #GlobalHealth

A first for me, I wrote a policy brief for the @ecfr.eu, addressing the proliferation of cheap drones across Africa, distributed by the likes of China, Türkiye & the UAE. They cause carnage, the erosion of democracy, but also a political realignment towards Moscow. I used Ethiopia as a study case.

A must-read piece of journalism on the quiet revolution that many Iranian women are bravely waging against hijab laws. @geoffreyyork.bsky.social’s observations track w/ what friends & students who’ve visited Iran this year have noted. Vibrant quotes & remarkable women in here:

“The police don’t have enough handcuffs for all of them." www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Bravo to the Globe for getting into Iran and reporting without the customary hyperbole or hysteria. @geoffreyyork.bsky.social

Canadian journalists are usually barred from entering Iran. The Globe's @geoffreyyork.bsky.social was able to visit recently. His article on the changes he saw since he last reported from this country years ago. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/c0f8440... gift link for first 20 readers

Keep a close eye on eastern DRC, everyone.

Canada withdraws its military officers from UN peacekeeping mission in eastern Congo due to "increasingly perilous security conditions," @geoffreyyork.bsky.social reports. "To withdraw Canadian military personnel now would be to abandon the county and the UN at the hour of greatest need."

Canada is withdrawing its UN peacekeepers from the rebel-held city of Goma, even as other UN contributors keep their troops on the ground. Canada's risk-averse government is abandoning the city at its time of need, critics say. www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Confirmation from the South African National Defence Force that nine South African soldiers have been killed in intense fighting against M23 over the past few days, and claiming that the group’s advance toward Goma has been halted.

In Tehran, there’s “a strange sense of optimism” that Trump’s second terms will bring better US-Iranian relations than the tumultuous first time around, @geoffreyyork.bsky.social reports www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Succinct illustration of how the audience for Africa topics and users from African countries are still on Twitter. @geoffreyyork.bsky.social posted the same article about Namibia on here - where it was shared 14 times - and on Twitter - where it was shared over 1,800 times.

Brilliant ceremonial outfits from the Vodun Days Festival I attended last week at Ouidah, in Benin. Credit Outlander Magazine.

In a Namibian town, a Canadian company has left a legacy of 300,000 tons of arsenic waste. Many townsfolk are getting sick. And tests show high levels of arsenic in the soil, in the plants -- and the people. Our report: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

The Rwandan-backed M23 militia fraudulently exported at least 150 metric tons of coltan from Congo to Rwanda last year, new UN report says. Meanwhile, Rwanda reports a huge surge in exports in the latest quarter, with 68% going to the UAE -- mainly gold and coltan. www.reuters.com/world/africa...

This feature article by Geoffrey York in the Globe dropped on Monday but I missed it till today. Extremely important update re unfinished accountability for what Canada did to detainees in Afghanistan and how both Conservative and Liberal governments went to great lengths to cover up. More to follow

A recently retired Canadian diplomat is alleging war crimes by the Canadian military, documenting its involvement in the disappearances of hundreds of Afghan detainees. Our exclusive: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

“The RSF doesn’t care about civilians and neither does the army,” says Mohamed Kandasha, medic treating survivors of a deadly SAF airstrike that killed 28 in Khartoum earlier this month. Seriously appreciated Mat's Sudan coverage in 2024 for @aljazeera.com. Worth your follow.

A recently retired Canadian diplomat is alleging war crimes by the Canadian military, documenting its involvement in the disappearances of hundreds of Afghan detainees. Our exclusive: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

At a popular Joburg park today, I watched 7 city police vehicles with sirens blaring, racing across the grass to tell peaceful picnickers to leave the park at 6 pm (an hour before sunset). This has been happening for years. Neighbourhood groups defend it, due to "litter."

The joy on the face of these Sudanese women who escaped war and reunited with their family members in Canada. They are the first significant group to arrive in Canada under a much-delayed government program launched last February. www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

My latest for @theglobeandmail.com, the Ethiopian army has repurposed a stadium in the country's Amhara region, as an artillery base to fire at rebel held villages. I documented the deaths of six civilians in two villages hit by shells in November. The 15 month old conflict rages on.

Good to see this Wash Post exposé of Rwanda's transnational repression. I've spoken to 100s of R exiles in recent years. Whether in the UK, US, Europe, Canada, Australia/NZ, so many are terrified of the consequences of speaking out for their families.1/2 www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

How a sports stadium in northern Ethiopia was transformed into a military base, where artillery guns rain death on Amhara villages. An investigation by @zekuzelalem.bsky.social, with evidence from satellite images and eyewitness testimony: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Amid drone massacres in Ethiopia's ongoing war with rebels in its Amhara region, the government has ordered locals to attend region wide pro government rallies. Letters like these warn of unspecified consequences for those who don't show up. Mandatory rallies: a time honored tradition in Ethiopia.

Over 2,500 homes were demolished for the expansion of Africa's biggest gold mine, the Canadian-owned Kibali mine in DRC. Civil society group PAX says thousands of lives were shattered without redress. Barrick says they were resettled fairly. Full report: paxforpeace.nl/news/dr-cong...

Barrick Gold, which employs 8,000 people in Mali, threatens to suspend operations if the military junta continues to block its gold shipments in tax dispute. Mali has imprisoned several of Barrick's senior managers and issued an arrest warrant for its CEO. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Review: The Shadow Scholars gives us a peek into the world of Kenyan college grads who are commissioned and paid by students in the most prestigious institutions in the western hemisphere to produce essays, papers, scholarly articles and graduate theses on their behalf.

In recent weeks, the Commonwealth has quietly pushed for Zimbabwe to be readmitted -- but Canada is voicing "serious concerns" at the process, which ignores the Commonwealth's own conclusion that Zim's 2023 election was neither free nor fair. My report: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Hoping Austin Tice is a free man somewhere in Syria this morning.

Scoop: The United Nations says the Kenyan government is blocking Western countries like Canada from resettling LGBTQ+ refugees. Those who fled violence in Uganda are languishing in dangerous refugee camps and safe houses in Kenya My fifth Travers report: www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/national/its...

Mali issues arrest warrants for Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow and the CEO of Barrick's gold mines in the country, accusing them of money-laundering and violating financial regulations. Four of Barrick's employees remain in jail in same dispute. My report: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Prof Nic Cheeseman on the trend we're seeing in African elections: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

High quality recent visuals from social media, of Amhara Fano rebel fighters in north western Ethiopia. Fano fighters are claiming to have seized the town of Shewa Robit from Ethiopian soldiers, after fierce fighting there yesterday. Ethiopian officials typically refuse to address such reports.

REVIEW: The British Museum is a cemetery, a place where human remains are kept. Bones, skulls and more, some local to the United Kingdom but much, much more from its former colonies says a new book by Noah Angell.

Thrilled to publish my Travers Fellowship series this week on what’s driving the anti-LGBTQ+ backlash across Africa, how it’s changing lives and what it means for Canada. My first of 8 articles + videos summarizes what I saw in Ghana, Cameroon and Kenya: www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/health/lgbtq...

1 day after Sudan's army reclaimed Sennar state's capital, Sinja (on Nov 23, see video), ending the deadly RSF occupation, displaced in Gadaref begun registering for a return. Enthusiasm is unmistakable. A million IDPs from Sennar might soon return. Probably the most optimistic moment of this war...

The Rory Peck Awards are on tonight. For nearly 30 years they’ve recognised the talent and dedication of freelance journalists and filmmakers. @zekuzelalem.bsky.social is a 2024 finalist! Good luck friend.

South Africa closely studied the "immunity" issue when it was considering whether Putin could enter the country for the BRICS summit. It ultimately decided that Putin did not have immunity and would have to be arrested. Now France is claiming Netanyahu would have immunity....

Barrick Gold confirms that 4 of its employees in Mali have been arrested -- the second wave of arrests of its staff in Mali since September. Barrick CEO Mark Bristow says the employees are "unjustly imprisoned" and the company is negotiating to "resolve all the claims" against it.

An accurate, validating, and utterly depressing article by @alexbozikovic.bsky.social A must-read for anyone wondering why the modern built environment in Canada looks the way it does. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e94a79c...

Covid vaccines saved millions of lives Millions more could have been saved if the vaccines had been equitably shared with Global South countries

Rwanda has said it would not arrest Netanyahu if he visited the country. A strange position to stake out - why announce it? - but Israel and Rwanda's militaries have long enjoyed close ties. Rwanda was an enthusiastic adopter of Pegasus spyware, made by Israel's NSO. twitter.com/FactsOnRwand...