BREAKING:
China has officially surpassed the United States in overall research and development spending, investing about $1.03 trillion in technological advancement.
US had led global research and development spending for decades before being overtaken by China.
Human rights are under full-scale attack around the world. It's happening in plain sight & often led by those with the greatest power.
But human rights are not a slogan for good times.
They are a duty at all times.
We must stand up for them even when it is difficult & costly.
Especially then.
a) As a Zambian, i pay $20 visa to enter DRC. A citizen of Belgium pays nothing to enter DRC
b) A DRC citizen pays $20 to enter Zambia. A British citizen pays nothing to enter Zambia.
Africans charge each other to enter our own countries, then we let Europeans come in freely !!
The Fall of the Emperor:
The Collapse of the Gaddafi Dynasty A Story of Blood and Exile After 42 Years of Bloody Rule
Imagine a man ruling an oil-rich nation with an iron fist for over four decades: Muammar Gaddafi, the "Brother Leader," who built an empire of fear and tribal loyalties. Luxury palaces, loyal brigades, and immense wealth,but in 2011, the revolution erupted like a desert storm.
Supported by NATO airstrikes, everything collapsed in mere months. Was his fall inevitable? Or does absolute power always sow the seeds of its own destruction?
On October 20, 2011, in the dark drainage pipes of Sirte, Gaddafi was captured. "Don't shoot!" he cried, but bullets ended his life in a brutal manner, broadcast to the entire world. A bloody end to a bloody era... and the beginning of a family tragedy that scattered its members between graves and exile.
The Sons of Destruction – Those Who Fell in the Flames of Revolution
Three sons fell victim to the chaos within a few months, as if fate was avenging an entire dynasty:
Mutassim-Billah: The fourth son and National Security Advisor who led brutal crackdowns. He was killed with his father in Sirte; his body was displayed in the streets as proof of the empire's fall.
Saif al-Arab: The sixth son, aged 29, perished in a NATO airstrike on the Bab al-Azizia compound in April 2011. An explosion that rocked Tripoli and turned a palace into ashes.
Khamis: Commander of the elite brigades, the "monsters" who crushed protesters. He was killed in fierce battles near Tripoli in August 2011, leaving behind legends of his charred body and undisclosed secrets. Their blood stained the sands of Libya, turning the revolution into a family massacre.
Saif al-Islam – The Successor Who Became a Ghost
Saif al-Islam (53) was the shining star: a PhD from London, Western friendships, and promises of reform. But in 2011, he delivered a famous speech: "We will fight until the last drop of blood!", transforming himself from a "reformer" into the architect of oppression.
He was captured in November 2011 while attempting to escape to Niger, losing fingers in the conflict, and was imprisoned in Zintan for six years. Sentenced to death in absentia in 2015, he was released in 2017 under an amnesty law.
He returned like a ghost from the past, announcing his presidential candidacy in 2021, exploiting the nostalgia for "the old stability" amidst the chaos of a divided Libya.
But fate struck him cruelly: On February 3, 2026, unidentified gunmen stormed his home in Zintan, shooting him to death. His body was moved to Bani Walid for burial tomorrow (February 6). The last political hope for the dynasty has been extinguished, leaving Libya in an even deeper vortex of chaos.
The Survivors – Between Prison Chains and the Bitterness of Exile
Those remaining live in the shadows, scattered like leaves in a storm:
Muhammad Gaddafi: The eldest son, a former businessman, fled to Algeria in 2011 before receiving asylum in the Sultanate of Oman. He lives quietly, away from the spotlight.
Hannibal Gaddafi: The "troubled son," known for international incidents. He was detained in Lebanon in 2015 over the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr and was released in November 2025 on a massive bail. His current location remains mysterious, but he is outside Libya.
Saadi Gaddafi: The former footballer and military commander. Imprisoned in Libya for years, he was released in 2021 and is believed to be in Turkey (Istanbul).
Ayesha Gaddafi: The only daughter and lawyer who defended her father in international courts. She fled to Algeria in 2011 and then to Oman under political asylum.
Safia Farkash: The matriarch who raised the dynasty. She moves between Oman and Egypt under heavy guard, watching from afar a homeland that has become a stranger.
From a Throne of Sand to the Dust of Memories
A family that ruled Libya with swords and gold... ended in fragments: blood in the streets, dark cells, and cold exiles. No palaces remain, no brigades, only the echoes of speeches and buried secrets. With the killing of Saif al-Islam, the last bridge to the past has collapsed. Absolute power does not last, and thrones are built on shifting sands.
If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie & $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don't tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff.
Democracy dies in oligarchy.
The Greenland crisis holds lessons for all countries. America’s friends need to prepare for a world in which they are alone and NATO is no more: https://t.co/dnnHOYfk6m
🇸🇳 🦁 Sadio Mané is officially UNSTOPPABLE!
🏆 Second AFCON crown in the bag !
🌟 From Austrian fields to African glory — this man is a walking trophy cabinet!
🏆 AFCON 2025
🏆 AFCON 2021
🏆 German Bundesliga 2023
🏆 Arab Club Champions Cup 2023
🏆 FA Cup 2022
🏆 League Cup 2022
🏆 DFL Supercup 2022
🏆 Premier League 2020
🏆 Champions League 2019
🏆 UEFA Super Cup 2019
🏆 FIFA Club World Cup 2019
🏆 Austrian Bundesliga 2014
🏆 Austrian Cup 2014
🌍 🦁 The TRUE Legend of African Football
Starmer on international law
1. Gaza: "I don't see a problem with this daily mass murder"
2. Venezuela: "I don't see a problem with kidnapping the leader of a foreign country"
3. Greenland: "NO! You cannot do that! What about international law!?)
Anyone see the problem here?
AU observers in Uganda: "Reports of intimidation, arrest and abductions of opposition leaders, candidates, supporters, media and civil society actors by security forces instilled fear and eroded public trust in the electoral process."
https://t.co/m7PTRicviC via @RFI_En
There is a persistent myth that peace is naïve.
That the only ‘real’ politics is the politics of self-interest & force.
But the founders of the @UN were not untouched by reality.
They had seen war & they knew:
Peace, justice & equality are the most courageous, the most practical, the most necessary pursuits of all.
Donald Trump’s tariffs against the U.K. and other allies for their position regarding Greenland is without a doubt his most reckless assertion as President to date.
https://t.co/SoYsSWff03
VIDEO:
Abate Pambo Martini Mkorwe (OSB) wa Abasia ya Kibenedikiti Mvimwa amesema kuwa Waumini wa Kanisa Katoliki wanapaswa kuendelea kujivunia utambulisho wao unaojengwa juu ya urithi wa imani na urithi wa kiliturujia.
Amesema Ukatoliki unao utambulisho wake unaoonekana wazi kupitia namna Waumini wanavyoimba na kusali, akibainisha kuwa mambo hayo yanapaswa kuendelezwa na kuenziwa.
“Namna Mkatoliki anavyoimba, anavyosali inajieleza wazi. Na hilo lidumishwe na kuenziwa sana. Wimbo wa Mkatoliki utamtambulisha, huwezi kuimba chochote tu. Sisi tunayo ya kwetu,” amesema.
Aidha, Abate Mkorwe ameeleza kuwa Wakatoliki wana urithi wa nidhamu unaoonekana hata katika mavazi, hasa kulingana na eneo au hadhi ya mtu anayekwenda kumuona. Amefafanua kuwa Wakatoliki huzingatia “dresscode”, akisema ni urithi muhimu wa kudumishwa.
Ameongeza kuwa ni wajibu wa Waumini kuendelea "kuuenzi, kuulinda na kuudumisha urithi wa imani na urithi wowote ambao Mama Kanisa Mtakatifu kwa namna mbalimbali ametupatia kama kitambulisho chetu, kama vinasaba vya maisha yetu wakatoliki.”
Abate Mkorwe amesema hayo katika Adhimisho la Misa Takatifu ya Kumbukumbu ya Mashahidi wa Pugu na Kufunga Mwaka wa Jubilei Kuu 2025, lililofanyika katika Kituo cha Hija cha Pugu, Jimbo Kuu Katoliki Dar es Salaam, leo Jumamosi Januari 10, 2026.
BREAKING: Uganda's National Drug Authority has just approved Lenacapavir, a twice-yearly dose PrEP manufactured by Gilead, a USA based company! This is a game-changer for HIV prevention, especially for those at high risk. This is great step towards ending AIDS by 2030.
Former President of Poland Lech Walesa wrote the following letter to Trump.
Your Excellency, Mr. President,
We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s russia.
We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this.
Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated in the same manner.
The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resolved that the war to defend America must be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe, in alliance with the nations under attack by the Third Reich.
We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and America’s financial commitment, the collapse of the Soviet empire would not have been possible. President Reagan recognized that millions of enslaved people suffered in Soviet russia and the countries it had subjugated, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their defense of democratic values with their freedom. His greatness lay, among other things, in his unwavering decision to call the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and to fight it decisively. We won, and today, the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.
Mr. President, material aid—military and financial—can never be equated with the blood shed in the name of Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the entire free world. Human life is priceless; its value cannot be measured in money. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and their freedom. This is self-evident to us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet russia.
We call on the United States to uphold the guarantees made alongside Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for its relinquishment of nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—there is no mention of treating such assistance as an economic transaction.
Signed,
Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland
Napenda jinsi unavyo behave Mh Kikwete. Honestly, ukiangalia movement zako unaweza kudhani wewe bado ni sitting president.Kama hii si impunity, basi the level of confidence is presidential deluxe, hadi Katiba inaweza kuwa inasema kimoyo moyo “hold on, who’s in charge ? 😂
Statement from the Prime Minister of Denmark 🇩🇰:
“I must say this very clearly to the United States:
It makes absolutely no sense to speak of any necessity for the United States to take over Greenland. The United States has no legal basis to annex one of the three countries of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The Kingdom of Denmark — and thus Greenland — is a member of NATO and is therefore covered by the Alliance’s collective security guarantee. We already have a defence agreement between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States that grants the U.S. broad access to Greenland. In addition, the Kingdom has made significant investments in security in the Arctic.
I therefore strongly urge the United States to cease its threats against a historically close ally, and against another country and another people who have stated very clearly that they are not for sale.”
Mette Frederiksen
Prime Minister of Denmark