Discussed drone diplomacy with Belgian @MO* Magazine & the devastation caused by cheap Turkish UAVs across Africa. Story comes months after Belgian Queen Mathilde visited the facility of Turkiye's Baykar drone manufacturer as part of a Belgian trade delegation & exchanged pleasantries with its CEO.

MO*Magazine@mondiaalnieuws.bsky.social · 3w ago

Tijdens de Belgische handelsmissie naar Turkije in mei ging veel aandacht naar de groeiende drone-industrie. Het land is inmiddels een van de grootste exporteurs van militaire drones, die door hun lage prijs en geavanceerde technologie wereldwijd worden ingezet.

My latest for the Middle East Eye: a recent deal by a Canadian mining company to sell a stake in its assets grants a Chinese state company with UAE state shareholders partial ownership of an Ethiopian gold mine near Sudan's warzone. Emirati gold smuggling has fueled RSF bloodshed in Sudan for years.

UAE-backed Chinese company acquires stake in Ethiopian gold mine near Sudan war zone

Deal between Canada's Allied Gold and China's Zijin includes gold site on Sudan-Ethiopia border

middleeasteye.net

There's a journo who produced like 8 bodies of work: podcasts, print investigations, all dedicated to Jason Arday during the 1st week of Aug alone. And those of us spending August on human trafficking or war crimes are supposed to refer to those like him as "colleague" or comrade of the pen. Yeah.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won a landslide victory in last month's elections. I went on the Proximities podcast with the one and only @barrymalone.bsky.social couple of weeks ago, to discuss Ethiopia's democratic backsliding, the threat of war & the geopolitical chaos in the region.

Ethiopia: What happened to Abiy Ahmed? | Proximities

YouTube video by The Proximities Podcast

youtube.com

Africa's* youngest world cup goalscorer of all time, and the fourth youngest in history, 18 years and 143 days. Take a bow kiddo.

Zecharias Zelalem@zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Mbappe becomes France's all time greatest goalscorer seconds after Mbaye becomes Senegal's youngest ever world cup goalscorer. 3-1 France 98'

My primary school teachers in Addis Ababa gave us the day off decades ago, to let us watch Senegal take on France in the 2002 World Cup opener. Senegal defeated the heavily favoured defending champions, a shining moment in African football history. Will a Papa Bouba Diop emerge in 2026? HT: 🇸🇳0-0🇫🇷

One injured as Israel hits southern Lebanon with air raids, artillery https://aje.news/lqe78r

French journalist expelled from Ethiopia "She traveled this month to Tigray. During the visit, the Ethiopian Media Authority told her to return immediately to Addis and criticized her for reporting from an area of political and security instability." www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...

This was rumoured for a while, but hard to verify, but weeks later my old newsroom has finally certified the news: Sudan's Armed Forces launched a deadly drone strike in neighbouring Ethiopia, killing 8 civilians including an IOM aid worker on April 29th. Sudan had warned attacks were imminent.

N.B...especially relevant for my American friends here. And if you're American & a journalist covering foreign affairs/Iran...the Ciham story shouldn't be left out. Especially when the Trump administration officially announces it's rapprochement with Eritrea, which could be any day.

Zecharias Zelalem@zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 4mo ago

THREAD: So you may or may not recognize this little girl, but it's timely to learn about her now, as Iran's Hormuz deadlock is pushing desperate regional & global powers towards alternative trade corridors. This is Ciham Ali Abdu, an American citizen. She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.

THREAD: So you may or may not recognize this little girl, but it's timely to learn about her now, as Iran's Hormuz deadlock is pushing desperate regional & global powers towards alternative trade corridors. This is Ciham Ali Abdu, an American citizen. She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.

Sudan openly lashed out at Ethiopia, accusing the country of allowing Emirati backed RSF forces to use Ethiopian airbases as launching pads for drone strikes. No evidence was provided, but the accusation isn't outlandish & could be accurate. Sudan has hinted that it may retaliate. @aljazeera.com

Sudan accuses Ethiopia, UAE of being behind recent drone attacks

YouTube video by Al Jazeera English

youtube.com

I'm way out of my league with this high caliber lineup of trailblazing women, but we're still gonna give it our best shot later today. Wish me luck✌🏿

Centre for Information Integrity in Africa (CINIA)@infointegrity.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Rising Threats to Media Freedom and Strategies to Push Back. Join the M20 and CINIA for a live webinar on Tues. 28 April (13:00 GMT / 15:00 CAT) on challenges to press freedom. More information below. Watch live on the M20's social media platforms, or via: www.youtube.com/live/wN9w3Ik...

In this video explainer produced by @thetimes.com, I provide analysis on how conflict in East Africa is being inflamed by geopolitical rivals in the Gulf, who are carving the region apart. The race for the Bab El Mandeb oil corridor pits 🇦🇪 on one side & 🇸🇦 🇪🇬 on the other, but fuels 🇪🇹 🇸🇩 🇪🇷 wide tension

Is This Africa's Next Big Conflict?

YouTube video by Times Originals

youtu.be

Wow. Just wow.

Clara Jeffery@clarajeffery.bsky.social · 4mo ago

People here are being really shitty, including at fellow journalists who've been traumatized, and you will regret those posts. Or should. Also this does not help your political cause, whatever that might be.

The Public Source produce deep dives and essays that really acquaint you with Lebanon. Read this indepth sit down they had with the late Amal Khalil back in January. Che Guevara-esque, a fearless warrior of a journo, chasing the eye of the storms of war since 2006.

Amal Khalil’s Two Decades of Militant Journalism

Journalist Amal Khalil, who stayed on the frontlines throughout the Israeli war on Lebanon, reflects on her experience, work ethic, labor, and politics of journalism.

thepublicsource.org

Next level depravity. Blunt, unapologetic justification for the murder of Lebanese journalists, and a promise to kill more. Rest in power Amal.

IDF Hannibal Brigade@hannibalbrigade.biz · 4mo ago

Before she was murdered, Amal Khalil was sent a threat on WhatsApp by somebody with an Israeli number. Journalist Jeremy Loffredo then reached out to that number and the individual was unsurprisingly unapologetic about murdering journalists.

I wrote about Israel’s forced evacuation, what happens to those who leave and those who stay behind www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

To stay or to go? No good options for Lebanon’s displaced

Residents of southern Lebanon face a stark choice: stay home and risk being killed, or flee and risk deepening poverty.

aljazeera.com

Lebanese francophone outlet L’Orient Le-Jour: the Nakba of South Lebanon. We Lebanese are calling it for what it is: a continuation of the 1948 Nakba. The photo shows a Lebanese village with an Israeli flag on it, planted by the genocidal army.

Thinking of friends in Lebanon, and all Lebanese who have hopes pinned on another "peace deal" being implemented by parties, with a track record of invading territories and violating ceasefires at will with no repercussions whatsoever.

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.

Exclusive: The Ethiopian army base covertly supporting Sudan’s RSF

Satellite imagery collected since December reveals a base at Asosa, connected to UAE supply lines, facilitating the Rapid Support Forces

middleeasteye.net

"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

Exclusive: The Ethiopian army base covertly supporting Sudan’s RSF

Satellite imagery collected since December reveals a base at Asosa, connected to UAE supply lines, facilitating the Rapid Support Forces

middleeasteye.net

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.

Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول@faredalmahlool.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Trump on the Iranian leadership: They talk about the son of the Shah... But, you know, he hasn't been there in many, many years.

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?

Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول@faredalmahlool.bsky.social · 6mo ago

BREAKING: US-Israeli airstrikes target oil and fuel depots in Tehran

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.

Ethiopia-Eritrea tensions: Renewed war in the Horn of Africa? | DW News

YouTube video by DW News

youtu.be

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."

'An Iranian missile landed on him': Sky News speaks to son of expat who died in United Arab Emirates

Saleh Ahmed, 55, was delivering drinking water when he was fatally struck by debris after a missile attack on the first day of the war. His son tells Sky News he does not believe his father knew the c...

news.sky.com