The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was, "deeply alarmed and profoundly shocked" by reports of "horrifying atrocities and immense suffering to which people from el-Fasher are being subjected."
Late Tuesday, Tedros called for the release of four doctors, a nurse and a pharmacist reportedly abducted from the hospital.
The massacre took place as the RSF took control of the city of el-Fasher after a brutal 18-month siege marked by mass starvation and heavy bombardment.
The European Union on Wednesday condemned Sudan's paramilitary RSF after the group captured the strategic city of el-Fasher in North Darfur.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement that civilians had been targeted based on ethnicity, underscoring the "brutality" of the RSF.
,,,
Sudan: WHO 'appalled' by RSF maternity ward massacre,
.@WHO is appalled and deeply shocked by reports of the tragic killing of more than 460 patients and companions at Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher, #Sudan, following recent attacks and the abduction of health workers.
to me this is personal: The communist insurgents killed a lot of my friends in the name of establishing a communist utopia in Zimbabwe. And later, the greedy soldiers did the same in Liberia, which later descended into a decade long civil war.
But no one cares.
there is an old book The Dogs of War, about how such things can happen: behind it is the search for mineral wealth. In that book, it is mainly western governments and businesses doing the dirty work of manipulating wars to put in governments that will let them get rich. Now it is more complicated as China and Russia are doing the same thing.
In the Sudan, the Wagner group were there to steal gold for Putin. That story was from 2022. But after the head of the Wagner group tried to overthrow Putin, they disbanded, but are still in the Sudan under a different name:
The ongoing murder of Christians by Muslims in Nigeria has gotten little press in the USA.
Much of it is by Islamicists of course (including Boko Harum) and some of it is the Muslim Fulani inspired by ISIS attacking farmers, and more recently, criminals who attack to steal stuff or kidnap clergy for ransom.
but although this has been covered in the Christian press, the dirty little secret is that it has been ignored by the US MSM
The good news: A famous comedian dared to mention it in his show,
Yet the MSM doesn't say Bill Maher rebukes the MSM for it's lack of coverage: The headline say he "gripes" about it,
Gripes? Why not use the word lament? Gripe usually implies complaining about a petty thing that annoys you, not horror and dismay about genocide.
But hey, he is Jewish and those he mentions are Christian and Muslim Africans.
On Friday night’s edition of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the interview guest was Aiden Walker, content creator, internet culture researcher, and author of the Substack newsletter “How To Do Things With Memes.”
The panel guests were Michael Smerconish, host of “Smerconish” on CNN and “The Michael Smerconish Program” on SiriusXM; and Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican congresswoman from South Carolina’s 1st district who also sits on the Armed Services, Veterans’ Affairs, and Oversight committees.
During the panel segment, Rep. Mace said the slaughter of Christians in Syria was ignored at the UN this week, and Maher interjected that the same is true for Nigeria. He diagnosed the apathy in relation to the situation in Gaza:
REP. NANCY MACE: We saw the world leaders come to New York this week, the UN summit, and we had the president of Syria, the prime minister of Syria there, and while he’s there speaking at the UN, speaking with world leaders, we gave him a visa to travel here. There were Christian villages in Syria that were being burned down.
BILL MAHER: And Nigeria.
REP. NANCY MACE: No, in Syria.
BILL MAHER: No, but both.
REP. NANCY MACE: In Nigeria, yes.
BILL MAHER: Nigeria, I mean, the fact that this issue has not gotten on people’s radar…
REP. NANCY MACE: Right, no one’s talking about it.
BILL MAHER: It’s pretty amazing. If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck. You are in a bubble.
And again, I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed… Over 100,000 since 2009. They burned 18,000 churches. This is so much more…
These are the Islamists, Boko Haram. This is much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.
They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. Where are the kids protesting this?
REP. NANCY MACE: Thank you. No one will talk about it, so thank you. Absolutely. It’s Africa. No one’s talking about it. And they should be. You can’t read about it on mainstream media. It’s sad. So thank you for bringing it up.
BILL MAHER: Well, because the Jews aren’t involved. That’s why. It’s the Christians and the Muslims who cares.
The persecution has been covered in various Christian news outlets however, and here is a dicussion on July 10 on EWTN (start at 35 minutes):
According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), at least 145 priests have been kidnapped, 11 have been murdered, and four remain missing since 2015. However, Intersociety claims the reality is much worse. According to its counts, at least 250 Catholic clergy have been attacked in addition to another 350 clergy from other denominations....
The phenomenon, according to the report, is due to a combination of attacks by jihadist groups and organized criminal gangs operating for profit. Priests have been victims of both violent ambushes and financial extortion.
“Many were kidnapped for ransoms reaching tens of millions of nairas [Nigreian currency] or thousands of dollars. In other cases, the attackers sought to seize luxury vehicles belonging to the clerics to sell them to criminal networks,” Intersociety details in the report.
...
Likewise, there have been systematic kidnappings of Christian children in eastern Nigeria who are sent to Islamic orphanages in the north for forced conversion to Islam, affecting Catholic schools and communities.
In Africa’s most populous nation, a deadly cycle of violence has unfolded for several years, with Christian clergy and laypeople as well as moderate Muslims falling victim to murder and kidnapping.
The Christian nonprofit Open Doors recently reported that in 2024 some 3,100 Christians were killed and more than 2,000 kidnapped in Nigeria.,,,, The violence is largely the work of two groups—the extremist Islamist militant Boko Haram and its splinter factions, and a range of militias or bandits linked to Fulani herders, Muslims who have waged a campaign of land grabs against Christian farmers in the fertile, and more Christian, “Middle Belt” of central Nigeria as the Fulanis’ grazing land has dried up over the past decades.
The attack comes as security firm, Vectus Global, owned by former US Navy Seal Erik Prince, is due to deploy nearly 200 people to Haiti as part of a one-year deal to quell gang violence.
The private contractors are expected to reinforce an underfunded and understaffed police department working with Kenyan police leading a United Nations-backed mission struggling to fight gangs.
BBC raticle about Kenya sending police to Haiti, dated 10 2023.
and this article from a Kenyan news source 23 Sept 2025 says they are due to come home but that the US is planning a large peace keeping force.
US Announces Plans For Bigger Security Force in Haiti Days Before Expiry of Kenya's Mission
The United States has pledged its support for the transition of the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission(MSS) in Haiti barely two weeks before its expiry on October 2.
Speaking during a high-level meeting on Haiti hosted by Kenya and the US on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday, the US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau confirmed that it had kicked off efforts to establish a larger force to continue the mission.
According to Landau, the US and Panama had worked with Haiti to introduce a UN Security Council resolution to establish a larger gang-suppression for.ce with a broader mandate and a UN support office for Haiti.
As such, the US had called on all its partners to join them in pressing for this critical resolution before the MSS mission mandate expired on October ... This new force would reportedly consist of 5,500 personnel, more than five times the size of the current MSS....All 32 members of the Organisation of American States have also signed onto a joint statement calling for the urgent passing of this resolution.”
years ago, I
spent ten days in eastern Zimbabwe when I was recovering from an illness, and behind the mission school the hillside was terraced with rock walls. But the priests didn't know why, except to say that they were familiar with mediterranean terraces so they doubted
the idea that these were ancient terraces by Mediterranean immigrants (which was a plot of one of Wilber Smith's novels).
I blogged about this before, and cited the book by Bryan Fagan Elixir about the water systems of eastern Africa is found in one hstorian's book. But today I ran across there is a new book about this (but one that I can't afford on my pension) so I decided to ask Grok to summarize the theories of who built the terraces and why:
### Overview of the Terrace Builders of NyangaL
The "Terrace Builders of Nyanga" refers to the ancient farming communities in the Nyanga region of eastern Zimbabwe, known for their extensive stone-built agricultural terraces and homestead ruins. These structures, dating from around AD 1300 to 1800, represent a sophisticated adaptation to the challenging highland environment and have been the subject of archaeological study for over a century. The phrase is also the title of a key book by archaeologist Robert Soper (published in 2006 by Weaver Press), which synthesizes research on these ruins.
### Why Did They Build the Terraces?
The terrace builders constructed these features primarily to create viable farmland in the rugged, hilly terrain of Nyanga, where steep slopes, thin soils, and high rainfall posed significant challenges to traditional agriculture. Here's a breakdown of the key reasons, based on archaeological evidence:
- **Soil Conservation and Erosion Control**:
The Nyanga highlands experience heavy seasonal rains, which quickly erode topsoil on slopes. The stone terraces acted as retaining walls to prevent soil loss, allowing for stable, level plots for crop cultivation. This was essential for maintaining fertility in an area with rapidly depleting soils.
- **Maximizing Arable Land**: By terracing hillsides, the builders converted otherwise unusable steep land into productive fields. This expanded the available growing area, supporting a growing population over five centuries. The terraces covered thousands of kilometers across over 5,000 square kilometers, integrating crop farming with livestock herding.
- **Integrated Agricultural System**:
terraces were part of a broader system that included water furrows (ditches for irrigation from streams), pit structures for livestock (to protect animals from predators and weather), and fallowing cycles (rotating fields to restore soil nutrients). This specialization allowed for mixed farming—growing crops like grains and vegetables on terraces while raising dwarf cattle in enclosures—sustaining the community in isolation.
- **Adaptation to Environmental Challenges**: Starting on high peaks around AD 1300, settlements expanded to lowlands by AD 1800, showing how the builders exploited varied micro-environments (highlands for cooler crops, lowlands for grazing). However, the system eventually declined due to over-specialization, soil exhaustion, or external pressures like climate shifts or invasions.
These innovations highlight the ingenuity of the Nyanga people, who were likely ancestors of the modern Manyika ethnic group. Early 19th-century reports speculated wildly about the ruins (e.g., as "forts" or "Phoenician relics"), but modern archaeology, including work by the University of Zimbabwe and British Institute in Eastern Africa, confirms their agricultural purpose.### Overview of the Terrace Builders of Nyanga
The "Terrace Builders of Nyanga" refers to the ancient farming communities in the Nyanga region of eastern Zimbabwe, known for their extensive stone-built agricultural terraces and homestead ruins. These structures, dating from around AD 1300 to 1800, represent a sophisticated adaptation to the challenging highland environment and have been the subject of archaeological study for over a century. The phrase is also the title of a key book by archaeologist Robert Soper (published in 2006 by Weaver Press), which synthesizes research on these ruins.
why Did They Build the Terraces?
The terrace builders constructed these features primarily to create viable farmland in the rugged, hilly terrain of Nyanga, where steep slopes, thin soils, and high rainfall posed significant challenges to traditional agriculture. Here's a breakdown of the key reasons, based on archaeological evidence:
- **Soil Conservation and Erosion Control**:
The Nyanga highlands experience heavy seasonal rains, which quickly erode topsoil on slopes. The stone terraces acted as retaining walls to prevent soil loss, allowing for stable, level plots for crop cultivation. This was essential for maintaining fertility in an area with rapidly depleting soils.
- **Maximizing Arable Land**: By terracing hillsides, the builders converted otherwise unusable steep land into productive fields. This expanded the available growing area, supporting a growing population over five centuries. The terraces covered thousands of kilometers across over 5,000 square kilometers, integrating crop farming with livestock herding.
- **Integrated Agricultural System**: The terraces were part of a broader system that included water furrows (ditches for irrigation from streams), pit structures for livestock (to protect animals from predators and weather), and fallowing cycles (rotating fields to restore soil nutrients). This specialization allowed for mixed farming—growing crops like grains and vegetables on terraces while raising dwarf cattle in enclosures—sustaining the community in isolation.
- **Adaptation to Environmental Challenges**: Starting on high peaks around AD 1300, settlements expanded to lowlands by AD 1800, showing how the builders exploited varied micro-environments (highlands for cooler crops, lowlands for grazing). However, the system eventually declined due to over-specialization, soil exhaustion, or external pressures like climate shifts or invasions.
These innovations highlight the ingenuity of the Nyanga people, who were likely ancestors of the modern Manyika ethnic group. Early 19th-century reports speculated wildly about the ruins (e.g., as "forts" or "Phoenician relics"), but modern archaeology, including work by the University of Zimbabwe and British Institute in Eastern Africa, confirms their agricultural purpose.
For a deeper dive, Soper's book *The Terrace Builders of Nyanga* provides detailed maps, sketches, and analysis—it's a concise 88-page read focused on the "eloquent witness" left by the landscape itself. If you're planning a visit, sites like those near Mount Nyangani showcase the terraces today.
For a deeper dive, Soper's book *The Terrace Builders of Nyanga* provides detailed maps, sketches, and analysis—it's a concise 88-page read focused on the "eloquent witness" left by the landscape itself. If you're planning a visit, sites like those near Mount Nyangani showcase the terraces today.
China Under Fire: Angola Riots Trigger Mass Exodus and Factory Closures
a taxi driver strike over high fuel prices has escalated into a protest against Chinese investments:
the anger is by unemployed youth and the unemployed against Chinese businesses, which were looted etc.
Over a thousand were arrested, and many Chinnese citizens are fleeing the country.
Over 250 thousand CHinese are estimated living there, embedded into the economy, but the gap between rich and poor has caused a simmering anger that is now erupting
"The fuel price issue is just the last straw that has reignited widespread public discontent... People are fed up. Hunger is rife, and the poor are becoming miserable," a prominent local activist, Laura Macedo, told the BBC....
The Conservativetreehouse blog has a long economic analysis here from a geopolitical standpoint, which is of course from a capitalistic conservative point of view.
But unlike the other articles he puts it into perspective of China's world wide trade network:
“One-Belt / One-Road” is essentially their ‘bully plan’ to ensure their supply chain and long-term economic viability.
essentially China is replacing colonial powers who were thrown out by the people:
and like the colonial powers, they are exploiting poor people as cheap labor in their factories etc. and stealing mineral and oil resources to get rich.
but as one Mashona co worker advised me years ago: People get mad.
And as the African proverb reminds one: Even a small snake has a fang...
Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Suppoort Forces (RSF) has unleashed a hellish vortex of starvation, violence, and disease upon tens of millions in Sudan.
The United Nations recently classified the situation in Sudan as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, but the international spotlight has rarely been focused on the issue due to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
25 million people, half of Sudan’s population, are currently experiencing famine conditions and acute food insecurity.
Food conditions for 8.1 million people are classified as Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and almost 700,000 as Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). Hunger levels for the same 25 million people are also considered at and above “Crisis” classification.
Famine and starvation are also used as military tactics by the SAF and the RSF, as blockades are built and crops are burned. In many areas, particularly Darfur, aid delivery is obstructed, pushing populations into full-scale collapse due to a lack of access to food.
Additionally, 12 million people have been internally displaced in the country, forced out of their homes and into refugee camps. These camps provide no real measure of security, however, as in April, the RSF murdered 300 people in two days at one such camp in Darfur.
I don't know about the Sudan except that I worked with a Christian refugee from what is now South Sudan, who became a doctor... and that was 45 years ago...
THe article points fingers at humanitarians whose aid gets ripped off to fight the war and the fact that the US is becoming isolationist.
This report is a more recent report on that confused but deadly war from last month from AlJezeerah:
BBC article from 2023 on the Russian mercenaries fighting in that war.
Winston Churschill had a book on an earlier fight: When the local Islamic extremists planned to throw out the Ottomans but the end result was the Brits got involved.
In mid-February, a firm representing a Democratic Republic of the Congo legislator contacted several U.S. officials. The recipients included Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The letter sketched a sub-Saharan version of President Donald Trump's Ukraine minerals peace initiative. Would the U.S. be interested in acquiring or investing in Congo's enormous and globally unique trove of critical and rare mineral resources?
The DRC has gold, copper, cobalt, tin, tantalum (coltan), lithium, gold and diamonds. The uranium for America's World War II atom bombs came from the then-Belgian Congo. Mobile phone and computer manufacturers need coltan (columbite-tantalite). Cobalt is a 21st-century treasure. Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt ore, a must-have for electric vehicles.
Beijing coveted the DRC's mineral trove -- a global position of immense economic import. In 2006 and 2007, Chinese front companies began buying DRC cobalt, copper and rare earth mineral operations. In 2008 and 2009, China signed the so-called China Deal of 2008 the DRC's Kabila dictatorship.
The overall deal was supposedly worth billions. China was supposed to build roads and other infrastructure. It built ... next to nothing.
Italics mine.
In 2021, Congo condemned China and began legal proceedings to end Beijing's fraud.
....
(by the way China pulled the same trick on Duterte, who thought all the anti China stuff was CIA trying to let the US take over our resources, but he got shafted by China and then stared to make nice with the USA).
strategy page has a long essay about Mozambique, including the ISIS types attacking their natural gas facilities in the north, and the generalized corruption.
July 12, 2025: In the southeast African nation of Mozambique there has been there have been a growing number of violent political demonstrations in the north since late last year. So far, the police have shot dead over 300 violent civilian protestors. The demonstrations have evolved into criminal activity like kidnapping for ransom. The kidnappings are made more painful because over a hundred children have been taken.
they then go on to explain how the Natural gas riches has not made locals rich: No locals were skilled enough to run the places, and the local politicians got rich instead of investing it to help the locals. Hence rebellion, and like in Syria, the best trained and most aggresive rebels were the ISIS trained ones.
one difference between the MSM coverage and SP is that StrategyPage gives the background, in this case the history going back before the Portuguese:
For over a thousand years Mozambique has, like many other parts of East Africa, consisted of coastal cities that prospered by serving as marketplaces where people from the interior could obtain all manner of foreign goods. Mozambique was part of a vast trading network using dependable seasonal winds to allow ships to move goods from East Africa to the Persian Gulf, India and Indonesia.
There is a recent book about how this monsoon trade and India have been ignored in the history books in favor of the more trendy Silk road with China ideas which are more trendy.
The problem now is that those with an education were thrown out with independence. then came civil wars, displacement of populations, death from famines, South African mercenaries,
A lot of people have left the country, including the educated Portuguese who fled with independence. But what about in recent years?
A lot of people of course have moved to nearby coutries for jobs in the mines etc.
Grok answer about local countries who have migrants:
**Migration to South Africa:**
- Mozambique has historically been a major source of migrants to South Africa, primarily for work in mining, agriculture, and informal sectors. A 2022 estimate suggests 462,000 Mozambicans were living in South Africa, though this includes pre-2000 migration. ,,,,-
Historical context: Between 1979 and 1992, 1.7 million Mozambicans fled to neighboring countries, including South Africa, due to civil war, but many returned post-1992. Since 2000, migration has been driven by economic factors rather than conflict. ...
One background is that USAID members who were fired now say on line openly that they plan to use their expertise in changing goverments to the US to get rid of Trumpieboy.
...
Not mentioned: That PEPFAR has had it's aim changed to prevention of HIV: BY pushing safe sex in high schools (read promiscuity) abortion, and gay rights (change laws that protect kids from pedophilia).
Summary:destigmatizing gay sex, promiscuous sex, and encouraging promiscuity by teaching that if you take these medicines it will keep you from getting pregnant or getting HIV
(and under USAID, PEPFAR was not just giving people with HIV medicine, but pushing anti family/pro promiscuity sex ed in schools and social media, including the gay rights agenda on conservative Catholic and Islamic countries but don't expect that to be reported, since the MSM sees conservative family customs in these countries as something to be destroyed, not encouraged)
Vice President JD Vance praised Trump's role, "If I think about what I know about these two countries, for 30 years, pretty much the entire time that I can remember these two countries being in the news, much of the story has been about them fighting one another, about them killing one another. And now, we can look forward to a future where my children will look at this moment as the beginning of a new story, a story of prosperity and peace."
President Trump welcomed the Foreign Ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Oval Office to sign a historic peace agreement, ending a 30-year conflict.
President Trump welcomed the Foreign Ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Oval Office to sign a historic peace agreement, ending a 30-year conflict.
"Today, the violence & destruction come to an end, & the entire region begins a new chapter of hope." pic.twitter.com/20P2SMBQiR
what might inspire people to visit was that Clarkson's Series the World Tour visited there last year.
and thre are a lot of videos on you tube highlighting that beautiful country, best known in the west for it's hyperinflation. Will things turn around and will the rourists come back?
African Plant Hunter has a series of videos on touing Zimbabe. Here is one:
I found his site when I was doing a blog post about the history of rice growig in South Carolina and was searching for information on the rice domesticated in Africa
The real shame is that most people who rely on the news don't even know war in the Congo has killed more people than any conflict since WW2.https://t.co/4FFzcOWDhp
as Wagner leaves, security advisers from the Africa Corps, a Kremlin-controlled paramilitary group, will remain in their place, ensuring a lingering presence of Russian forces.Mali’s government has, for decades, been embroiled in a conflict with ethnic Tuareg separatists in the Sahara Desert, as well as fighters affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda.
Previously, French forces assisted the Malian government, but they withdrew after a military coup in 2021. The latest round of fighting erupted in 2023 when Bamako’s military government mounted a new offensive against the rebels.
“The Malian junta invited Wagner and Russia to support them in Mali – this really stemmed from frustration with the [military] support provided by France and other Western partners,” Flore Berger, a senior analyst at the Global Initiative’s North Africa and Sahel Observatory, told Al Jazeera.
“They felt that, despite years of help, the security situation hadn’t improved, and Western countries kept pressuring them to return to civilian rule, organise elections, etc. Russia, through Wagner, on the other hand, offered support without those conditions. It was seen as a more respectful and reliable partner that wouldn’t interfere in Mali’s political choices.”
Heavy rains have triggered floods across central Nigeria, killing over 150 people and displacing thousands. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from the ground, where communities are trying to salvage what’s left of their destroyed homes. pic.twitter.com/XOZqSpCkio
“Africa’s mining industry faces complex and interlinked challenges.”
Claude Kabemba, CEO of Southern Africa Resource Watch, on the root causes of Africa’s mining tragedies and rising demand for its minerals after 260 miners were rescued in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/y9FAovtSLo
I have seen this pointed out elsewhere: The idea that raising prices for oil and other forms of energy lead to increased poverty.
the right wing conspiracy site Gateway pundit links to an article where Magette Wade lays out the details.
Wade highlights the hypocrisy of climate activists dictating restrictive energy policies from comfortable offices in Paris, London, and New York—policies that spur development in countries that haven't even had the chance to grow. “Africa remains poor because it lacks access to energy,” she explains. No energy means no industry. And no industry means no independence.
Most troubling, according to Wade, is that this system is enabled by African leaders themselves. “Why do the leaders of Senegal or Africa allow this to happen? For the same reason they allowed foreign aid to be the only relationship we had with the West,” she says. It’s a silent deal: African governments accept these imposed conditions and receive money, political favors, and international legitimacy—without ever being accountable to their people.
The latest form of this control is called “climate aid.”
A perverse twist on cooperation, climate aid tells African nations: “Don’t develop your own resources. Don’t use fossil fuels. And we’ll give you money.” But that money doesn’t create jobs or industry. It only finances bureaucracies and deepens dependency.
environmentalism is a two edged sword: as we see in the Philppines, the emphasis on organic farming (which is our business by the way) leads to healthier food, but it does mean a lower harvest and higher food prices. So they have to import food for the poor in the slums of Manila.
And stopping mining, which destroyed the environment because the mines were not forced to clean up their garbage, actually led to mom and pop mines, which were not reggulated at all and more prone to accidents and envirnomnetal destruction. Ditto for forestry: Stopping legal ways to harvest trees led to illegal cutting of trees (all it takes is a bribe to local authorities).
I suspect a similar problem in Africa, where those educated in the western mindset of environmentalism are unable or unwilling to see the big picture.
lots of bitterness because this has it's roots in the Rwanda genocide, that was not stopped by the UN peacekeepers, and one that happened in open sight but Europe and Clinton refused to send in a small force that could have stopped it (most of the murders were by low level thugs). The invaders who took over the cities in the eastern DRC are called the bad guys, but one of my human rights newsletters insist they were merely intervening to protect their people who were refugees there. Like most of the news we get, it is complicated, and has it's roots in colonialism (where Europeans ruled by setting tribes who had a long history of antagaonism against each other so they could take over) and pressure from population growth, degredation of the farm lands, and of course that lovely mineral wealth. Complicated by a volcano, and disease outbreaks.
Sigh.
Both Qatar and Trumpieboy are essentially business oriented, and of course they want to develop the local valuable mineral resources. China has tried to take these over, but had made itself unpopular because (like they did here in the Philippines with Duterte) they insisted they were going to do local development in exchange for their take over, but of course they did nothing.
One doubts the US will send in their own peacekeepers, but there are professional military in some African countries who could do this, and of course, mercenaries have a long history of training locals (see what the Russian merc group is doing in Sudan, and now in other Northern African countries who threw out the French peacekeepers).
The American people will not put up with US military there: But hey if they can cause peace, set up businesses, take a cut in the profits, and make everyone rich and happy, it could work.... if the locals could forgive each other for past atrocities. (don't think this is an African thing: Think Ireland).
comments are welcome: My African work was 40 years ago, and not in this area...
Power Africa’s $128B “investment” is a case study in bureaucratic bloat and misplaced priorities. The data doesn’t lie: 90% of Africa’s energy mix remains fossil fuels, with solar at a pathetic 0.6%. This isn’t progress—it’s a grift. The initiative funneled billions into gas and…
From one of the USAID pages: 128 billion invested in the African power sector, much of it in solar and other renewables.
In 20 years, the percent of Africans with access to electricity did rise from ~22% to ~43%. However, less than 1% of that is from solar and overall <10% from… pic.twitter.com/IpzYw6Wcuj
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) April 27, 2025
You want to learn a new fact from me: Nobody cares about Sudan, the truly large-scale humanitarian catastrophe right now. Nobody stands for the people of Sudan. #realpolitikpic.twitter.com/l4vu1KObR3
Sudan is living through one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as the war in the country enters its third year, and for millions, survival is all that’s left. pic.twitter.com/ud9J4qEtNY
Lassa fever killed 118 people in Nigeria in the first three months of this year, the West African country's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said. https://t.co/4gtF9vkZSMhttps://t.co/4gtF9vkZSM
I was pleased to attend the Peace celebrations in Yumbe District, commemorating 23 years since warriors chose peace over war in West-Nile.
The NRM consistently supports what is right and rejects revenge. We've never targeted communities based on past conflicts. Today, Uganda… pic.twitter.com/59mo8JjodG
it seems to rfer to this loan approved last week to Mozambique:
US approves $5 billion loan to TotalEnergies for Mozambique gas project
By Reuters
March 15, 202
So I asked Grok to summarize all the recent articles on what is going on:
The U.S. approval of a nearly $5 billion loan to TotalEnergies for its Mozambique gas project refers to a decision by the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) in March 2025 to reapprove funding for the long-delayed Mozambique LNG project.
This project, valued at $20 billion, is led by the French energy giant TotalEnergies, which holds a 26.5% operating stake.
The loan, initially approved in 2019 during Donald Trump’s first administration as a $4.7 billion commitment, required reapproval after construction halted in 2021 due to violent unrest in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado region, triggered by an insurgency linked to Islamic State militants.
so the project was not halted by the DOGE vs the French, but because terrorists were attacking it.
The halt led TotalEnergies to declare force majeure, freezing the project before any funds were disbursed.
The project aims to tap into vast natural gas reserves—estimated at 65 trillion cubic feet—in the Rovuma Offshore Area 1, positioning Mozambique as a major LNG producer.
Security improvements since 2021, bolstered by regional forces including Rwandan security guarantees, and renegotiations with contractors, paved the way for the EXIM board’s decision on March 13, 2025, to reinstate the loan.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne had anticipated this move, noting in February 2025 that U.S. financing was expected soon, with other export credit agencies (UK and Dutch) likely to follow. The project’s revival is seen as critical for Mozambique’s economic development, with its sovereign dollar bond rising over 2 cents after the announcement.
However, recent discussions about canceling this loan stem from geopolitical tensions in April 2025.
Posts on X and media reports suggest that Richard Grenell, a key Trump advisor, proposed scrapping the $5 billion loan in retaliation to French President Emmanuel Macron’s call to suspend future European investments in the U.S. Macron’s statement came after Trump imposed tariffs on April 2, 2025, prompting a tit-for-tat escalation. Grenell’s suggestion aligns with a broader push for U.S. energy dominance, arguing that funds should prioritize American LNG leadership rather than foreign projects like TotalEnergies’ in Mozambique.
Some X posts reflect sentiment that canceling the loan would signal U.S. resolve, though no official cancellation has been confirmed as of April 5, 2025.
so still only gossip and innuendo.
But what about attacks on the site? And is a lot of the money going to middle men and local corruption instead of actually drilling for gas? Nothing mentioned here, but much of the DOGE cancelations of foreign aide had more to do with middle men/NGOs siphoning off money and corruption that led to donations being diverted or stolen. But no information on this project.
The idea of cancellation remains speculative, driven by political posturing rather than finalized policy.
The loan’s status is still active per the latest reports from March 2025, and TotalEnergies continues preparations to resume construction, with commercial operations eyed for 2028 or later.
WTF: It is about global warming. I guess it's okay for folk in Mozambique to starve so the Euroweenies and their climate change gods can be obeyed.
Critics of the project, including environmental and human rights groups, have long opposed it, citing climate impacts—potentially 121 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually—and alleged abuses tied to the conflict zone, complicating the narrative around its funding.
that last part? well, remember that the human rights folks thought arresting Duterte for fighting the drug gangs who were causing chaos here in the Philippines was what should be done, Abuses in conflict zones are a real problem, but it is also easy for the bad guys and the partly bad guys to sort of lie about what is going on.
Whether the Trump administration will act on Grenell’s advice hinges on ongoing U.S.-EU economic frictions, but no concrete steps to cancel have been documented yet.
Have Trump’s tariffs killed US-Africa preferential trade?
they then go on to note:
The AGOA framework that saw African countries export duty free to the US is as good as dead, experts say.
...Donald Trump’s tariffs announcement on most trading partners, including several in Africa, will affect businesses and people across the continent and likely force more producers to trade with China, experts have warned....
Lesotho, the small Southern African country that Trump claimed “ no one has heard of” last month, was hit with the highest tariff rates at 50 percent.
then they repeat the lie that cutting USAID, the organization full of grift, kickbacks, and formenting revolutions, resulted in dead people.
The country, which carries the second-highest HIV burden of any other in the world, is still reeling from the shock of Trump’s sweeping aid cuts earlier that have gutted HIV response efforts across the region.
I suspect that the money for HIV drugs will be reintroduced, but that maybe all the money sent to push gay rights and encourage sex edcuation for promiscuity might have to be cut first (Biden's policy changed the aim of Pepfar from treatment to prevention, meaning push the safe sex agendan in the media and in schools, and protect minority rights, aka let the perverts and sex tourists seduce street kids of both sexes)
Other Southern African countries hit were: Madagascar (47 percent); Mauritius (40 percent); Botswana (37 percent); and Angola (32 percent).
I hate to say this, but this is about protecting US blue collar jobs, and bring them back to the USA. And two other factors: China was using the no tariff for their profit, not the profit of the locals, and of course corruption also was using these laws to divert money into the hands of the crooked businessmen and politicians.
Austin Bay, a military strategy writer on StrategyPage, has one of his syndicated columns discussing the story that the DRC asked Trumpieboy to rescue them
In mid-February, a firm representing a Democratic Republic of the Congo legislator contacted several U.S. officials... .
The letter sketched a sub-Saharan version of President Donald Trump's Ukraine minerals peace initiative.
what are they talking about?
Would the U.S. be interested in acquiring or investing in Congo's enormous and globally unique trove of critical and rare mineral resources?
The DRC has gold, copper, cobalt, tin, tantalum (coltan), lithium, gold and diamonds. The uranium for America's World War II atom bombs came from the then-Belgian Congo. Mobile phone and computer manufacturers need coltan (columbite-tantalite). Cobalt is a 21st-century treasure. Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt ore, a must-have for electric vehicles.
so why not ask China to do this? Their propaganda always assures us that they will be the macho guys to stop the bad guys in Africa etc? Well, as any Filipino could tell you, China Lies.
In 2006 and 2007, Chinese front companies began buying DRC cobalt, copper and rare earth mineral operations. In 2008 and 2009, China signed the so-called China Deal of 2008 the DRC's Kabila dictatorship.
The overall deal was supposedly worth billions. China was supposed to build roads and other infrastructure. It built ... next to nothing. In 2021, Congo condemned China and began legal proceedings to end Beijing's fraud.
peacekeepers also were no good.
But then the Rwanda connection:
The most effective militia is M23 - the March 23 Movement. Last time I looked, M23 had taken control of North Kivu's capital, Goma.
The DRC government calls M23 as a terrorist organization controlled by Rwanda in order to exploit Congolese mineral resources. Rwanda, currently led by a government dominated by the Tutsi tribe, says M23 is a Congolese Tutsi militia defending Tutsi rights.
One of my human rights newsletter points out they are just trying to protect their people, and warned me not to believe the MSM propaganda that they are bad.
Lots of analysis about this in the essay.
One doubts that the US wants to get involved: The mess should be handled by Europe, by France and Belgium and the UK who used to own these countries, not the US. However, China is trying to get rare earth minerals monopoly, and countering them might inspire Trumpiboy to do something.
And as you can see in the Ukraine, Europe is a paper tiger, and except for a small special forces types units are toothless. In contrast, the US has quite a few experienced combat soldiers.
, presently, there are 20,000 suspected Clade I/Clade II mpox cases, including 5,000 confirmed cases and 194 deaths, which have been reported across 15 African countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo accounts for most confirmed and suspected cases. The outbreak has been most severe in children under 15 years old due to low immunity and malnutrition, with mortality rates reaching up to 10% in this group.
March 24, 2025: The government is going after Chinese citizens who continue to use Nigeria as a base for economic crimes throughout Africa. The Chinese ambassador in Nigeria assured the locals that China was cooperating in identifying and prosecuting Chinese citizens based in Nigeria and committing crimes. China is Nigeria’s largest trading partner and that large volume of trade is what brought Chinese gangsters and independent criminal entrepreneurs to Nigeria. China is currently owed over $5 billion by various Nigerian businesses and individuals. Nigeria is the major African exporter of oil and Chine is one of the top ten buyers.
the rest of the article discusses tribal and religious feuds, and the problem of corruption...
“We are concerned that grants from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are used by nongovernmental organizations that promote abortions and push a radical gender ideology abroad. We urge you to ensure that any reauthorization of PEPFAR ensures that taxpayer money is not used for such purposes,” the pro-life groups said.
...The pro-life letter points out how many major PEPFAR grant recipients, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation, “publicly support abortion as a method of family planning” and recently complained about the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade as well as U.S. State laws against transgender bathroom and sports policies.
The letter also points out that the Biden administration has directed all federal agencies “to promote abortion and gender ideology abroad.”
...
The (Mexican city policy that forbad funding abortion) was revoked in the first week of the Biden administration.
For the last ten years, PEPFAR has been mostly focused on providing anti-retroviral drugs in poor countries, which accounts for its exorbitant expense. The drugs have made HIV/AIDS a manageable illness in industrialized countries, but their costliness combined with lack of health infrastructure in poor countries continues to make HIV/AIDS a deadly disease in poor countries in Africa and East Asia.
A report of the Heritage Foundation...argues that the program is bloated and mismanaged, and it questions the effectiveness of funding anti-retroviral drugs instead of more funding for health infrastructure to combat other deadly diseases that aren’t related to risky sexual behavior and that claim many more lives in poor countries.
The Heritage report also sheds light on how Democrats are making PEPFAR into the vehicle of “social priorities like abortion and promotion of LGBTI issues.”
T.b. rhodesiense is endemic in 13 countries.† Since 2011, reported rhodesiense HAT cases have been steadily declining, with only 24 cases reported in 2023...
Between this patient’s presentation in August 2024 and January 2025 three additional cases of rhodesiense HAT were reported to WHO in persons from nonendemic countries who were bitten by a tsetse fly while traveling in the Zambezi Valley.
The Zambezi Valley spans northern Zimbabwe and southern Zambia, where epidemiologic conditions are similar, and the parasite is endemic. These four cases are the first Zambezi Valley–associated cases reported since 2019, although Zambia has experienced human cases in other areas during this period....
In the 1980s and 1990s, great strides were taken towards the elimination of tsetse and animal African trypanosomiasis (AAT) in Zimbabwe. However, advances in recent years have been limited. Previously freed areas have been at risk of reinvasion, and the disease in tsetse-infested areas remains a constraint to food security. article
The patterns of tsetse and AAT distributions in Zimbabwe are shaped by a combination of bioclimatic factors, historical events such as the rinderpest epizootic at the turn of the twentieth century
the rinderpest killed a lot of the wild animals so the flies had nothing to bite; the white settlers kept the wild population down by hunting, and when I lived in Zimbabwe, there was a fenced off zone to keep animals and flies from migrating south from the Zambesi area, and extensive spraying to control flies was done. PDF.
and extensive and sustained tsetse control that is aimed at progressively eliminating tsetse and trypanosomiasis from the entire country.
The comprehensive dataset assembled in the atlas will improve the spatial targeting of surveillance and control activities. It will also represent a valuable tool for research, by enabling large-scale geo-spatial analyses....
The tsetse-infested area in Zimbabwe is currently estimated at 30,000 km2, which corresponds to 17% of the 180,000 km2 ecologically suitable area originally infested by tsetse [10]. In particular, tsetse distribution in Zimbabwe has always been restricted to the north, northwest, northeast and southeast of the country with the central highveld being ecologically unsuitable for the fly.
fake cows that smell like cows and attract the flies are one means of control....2001 article BMJ...
the cows were introduced into Zimbabwe in the mid-1980s, when thousands of cattle were infected with nagana, a disease equivalent to sleeping sickness in cattle. Cases of nagana in the country plummeted to almost zero and have remained at this low level for the past five years. A total of 60000 cows are now in use in Zimbabwe...
TED talk about genetically altering cattle to stop the disease
Few westerners were aware of this, until the book King Leopold's Ghost was published in 1998.
I am reading it on Everand which is a subscription book service, and their sistersite Scribd also has it... or you can download a pdf, from LINK, and I also found the audiobook in chapters on you tube LINK
