Tuesday, March 19, 2024

‘New Rules of Engagement’ – Yemeni Armed Forces Carry out Drills Simulating US, UK Invasion

March 18, 2024

The Yemeni Armed Forces carry out military training exercises that simulate confronting a potential American and British invasion of the country. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The military maneuvers reportedly lasted more than two hours with the participation of a thousand fighters from the region.

The Yemeni Armed Forces, affiliated with the Ansarallah group, have carried out military training exercises that simulate confronting a potential US and British invasion of the country.

According to the Yemen News Agency, SABA, units of the Special Forces of the Central Military District carried out one of its largest combat training and military maneuvers entitled ‘The Promised Day Maneuver’ on the outskirts of the capital, Sana’a.

It “simulated violent and widespread confrontation operations against enemy forces after it carried out parachute landings on some Yemeni areas and infiltrated some areas.”

“The maneuver simulated violent and widespread confrontation operations against enemy forces after it carried out parachute landings on some Yemeni areas and infiltrated some areas,” the news agency said on Friday.

The military maneuvers, which took place according to a scenario of complex fire clashes on different terrain, lasted more than two hours with the participation of a thousand fighters from the region, as well as engineering, anti-tank, sniper, artillery, and all kinds of vehicles.”

‘Price Will be Paid’

In a speech delivered during the exercise, Yemeni Minister of Defense, Major General Nasser Al-Atifi affirmed Yemen’s capability to defend itself and “deal with an international community that respects only the strong.”

He added, “Yemen’s engagement in the battle against the hateful and usurping Zionist entity and its maritime blockade is not a luxury but a sovereign, national, Islamic, and humanitarian decision.”

Al-Atifi further stated: “We will enforce new rules of engagement forcefully, and the price will be paid dearly by the American, the British, and the Zionist and those in their orbit. The battle of The Promised Conquest and the Sacred Jihad in support of Al-Aqsa Flood will triumph and inevitably lead to geopolitical changes in line with a new world order.”

“We will make Washington, London, and their allies realize the non-negotiable sovereignty over our seas and territorial waters.”

The drill comes amid ongoing airstrikes by the US and Britain in response to the armed forces’ naval operations against Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea, in support of the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza against Israel’s genocidal assault on the enclave.

SABA reported that the “American-British aggression” launched an airstrike on Sunday on the Al-Ta’aziyah District of the Taiz province.

It came hours after airstrikes were conducted against the strategic province of Hudaydah, reported the Middle East Monitor (MEMO).

Maritime Blockade

On Friday, spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces Yahya Saree reportedly announced that they “carried out three operations against three Israeli and American ships in the Indian Ocean with a number of appropriate naval missiles and drones, and the three operations successfully achieved their goals.”

The announcement came a day after the leader of the Ansarallah movement, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, declared that operations targeting ships in the Red Sea – Bab al-Mandab and the Arabian Sea – in support of the resistance in Gaza will continue and will extend to prevent Israel-linked ships from even passing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope route.

He said 73 ships have been targeted since the start of operations, including 12 last week alone.

Al-Houthi vowed to expand the range of attacks to “an extent not expected by the enemy”, saying that Ansarallah operations last week were carried out using 58 ballistic missiles and drones.

The leader of the Yemeni group announced that 34 members of Ansarallah had been killed since the start of operations targeting ships linked to Israel.

Al-Houthi denounced the continuation of the Israeli war on Gaza, saying that Israel is carrying out the “crime of the century” with the participation of Americans, Western and even Arab countries.

(PC, MEMO)

Resistance Uses Malyutka Guided Missile to Strike Israeli Targets in Gaza

March 18, 2024

An Al-Quds fighter prepares a Malyutka guided missile. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, released a video showing its fighters targeting the locations of Israeli occupation soldiers in the central Gaza Strip.

The fighters were using a Malyutka guided missile and mortar shells, which, according to the footage, resulted in casualties among the Israeli soldiers. 

The first scene showed the process of monitoring the movement of Israeli forces in an agricultural area in an unspecified location in central Gaza. It was followed by another scene where fighters were preparing the Malyutka guided missile, before launching it towards occupation soldiers.

More footage showed a number of Al-Quds Brigades fighters firing mortar shells towards Israeli soldiers and vehicles. According to the video, moments later Israeli helicopters began transporting the dead and wounded.

Despite repeated Israeli assurances that they have pacified or are in control of certain areas inside the besieged Gaza Strip, daily videos by the Resistance indicate that the battles are still raging in all areas inside the Strip, including the north and center. 

US Weighing Options in Africa After Niger Government Orders Departure from Key Imperialist Base

BY TARA COPP AND MATTHEW LEE

3:50 PM EDT, March 18, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is working with Niger officials, seeking a way for U.S. troops to stay in the country — a key base for counterterrorism operations in sub-Saharan Africa — following a weekend directive that they leave.

Last week a high level-delegation of U.S. officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander and the head of U.S. Africa Command Gen. Michael Langley, traveled to Niger to meet with members of the military junta.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday the U.S. officials had “lengthy and direct” discussions with the junta officials that were also in part spurred by concerns over Niger’s potential relationships with Russia and Iran.

“We were troubled on the path that Niger is on,” Singh said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. was “closely monitoring the Russian defense activities” there in order “to assess and mitigate potential risk to U.S. personnel, interests and assets.”

On Saturday, following the meeting, the junta’s spokesperson, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, said U.S. flights over Niger’s territory in recent weeks were illegal. Meanwhile, Insa Garba Saidou, a local activist who assists Niger’s military rulers with their communications, criticized U.S. efforts to force the junta to pick between strategic partners.

“The American bases and civilian personnel cannot stay on Nigerien soil any longer,” he told The Associated Press.

Singh said the U.S. was aware of the March 16 statement “announcing the end of the status of forces agreement between Niger and the United States. We are working through diplomatic channels to seek clarification. These are ongoing discussions and we don’t have more to share at this time.”

State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said the discussions were prompted by Niger’s “trajectory.”

“We are in touch with transition authorities to seek clarification of their comments and discuss additional next steps,” Patel said.

The junta has largely been in control in Niger since July when mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president and months later asked French forces to leave.

The U.S. military still had some 650 troops working in Niger in December, largely consolidated at a base farther away from Niamey, Niger’s capital. Singh said the total number of personnel still in country, including civilians and contractors, is roughly 1,000.

The Niger base is critical for U.S. counterterrorism operations in the Sahel and has been used for both manned and unmanned surveillance operations, although Singh said the only drone flights being currently conducted are for force protection.

In the Sahel the U.S. has also supported local ground troops, including accompanying them on missions. However, such accompanied missions have been scaled back since U.S. troops were killed in a joint operation in Niger in 2017.

—-

Christopher Megerian contributed from Washington, D.C.

Israel Urges UN Court to Reject South Africa’s Request for More Emergency Orders in Genocide Case

BY MIKE CORDER

11:53 AM EDT, March 18, 2024

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Israel has urged the top U.N. court to reject the latest request by South Africa for interim orders to prevent starvation in Gaza as part of a case accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention with its military offensive against Hamas.

In a written response published Monday by the International Court of Justice, Israel said that claims by South Africa in its request filed earlier this month are “wholly unfounded in fact and law, morally repugnant, and represent an abuse both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court itself.”

Israel’s response was published on the day that the U.N. food agency said that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza, where 70% of the remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger, and that a further escalation of the war could push around half of Gaza’s total population to the brink of starvation.

The food agency’s statement came less than two weeks after South Africa urged the world court “to do what is within its power to save Palestinians in Gaza from genocidal starvation.”

Israel fervently denies that its military campaign in Gaza amounts to a breach of the Genocide Convention. It acknowledged in its written response to South Africa’s request that there are “also tragic and agonizing civilian casualties in this war. These realities are the painful result of intensive armed hostilities that Israel did not start and did not want.”

Israel also said in its response that it is “doing a great deal to alleviate such suffering in these very challenging circumstances.”

No date has been set for judges to rule on the South African request.

At hearings in January, lawyers for Israel argued that the war in Gaza was a legitimate defense of its people and that it was Hamas militants who were guilty of genocide.

After the hearings, the court ordered Israel in late January to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive triggered by the deadly Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel by Hamas.

Israel said that South Africa has presented no reason to change that so-called provisional measures order.

“South Africa’s request of 6 March 2024 shows nothing more than a continuation of elements already considered by the Court when issuing the Order of 26 January 2024,” the Israeli response said.

The court last month rejected an earlier request by South Africa for more provisional measures to safeguard Rafah, but also stressed that Israel must respect the earlier measures that imposed at a preliminary stage in the landmark genocide case.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Monday that impending famine in Gaza was “entirely man-made” as “starvation is used as a weapon of war.”

“Trucks are stopped. People are dying, while the land crossings are artificially closed,” he said. 

South Sudan Shutters all Schools as it Prepares for an Extreme Heat Wave

FILE - People stand by their houses in Juba, South Sudan, on Feb. 5, 2023. South Sudan’s government is closing down all schools starting Monday as the country prepares for a wave of extreme heat expected to last two weeks. The health and education ministries advised parents to keep all children indoors as temperatures are expected to soar to 113 Fahrenheit, in a statement late Saturday. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

BY DENG MACHOL

10:22 PM EDT, March 17, 2024

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan is closing all schools starting Monday in preparation for an extreme heat wave expected to last two weeks.

The health and education ministries advised parents to keep all children indoors as temperatures are expected to soar to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).

They warned that any school found open during the warning period would have its registration withdrawn, but the statement issued late Saturday didn’t specify how long schools would remain shuttered.

The ministries said they “will continue to monitor the situation and inform the public accordingly.”

Resident Peter Garang, who lives in the capital, Juba, welcomed the decision. He said “schools should be connected to the electricity grid” to enable the installation of air conditioners.

South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, is particularly vulnerable to climate change with heat waves common but rarely exceeding 40 C (104 F). Civil conflict has plagued the east African country which also suffered from drought and flooding, making living conditions difficult for residents.

The World Food Program in its latest country brief said South Sudan “continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis” due to violence, economic instability, climate change and an influx of people fleeing the conflict in neighboring Sudan. It also stated that 818,000 vulnerable people were given food and cash-based transfers in January.

Top Senegal Opposition Leader Vows to Help Win March 24 Election, Speaking Out After Prison Release

BY BABACAR DIONE AND JESSICA DONATI

9:39 PM EDT, March 15, 2024

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Top opposition leader Ousmane Sonko vowed Friday to help his team win Senegal’s March 24 presidential election even though he is barred from the ballot, jumping into the campaign in his first public address since being freed from prison a day earlier.

Ousmane Sonko’s release late Thursday after months behind bars triggered a mix of jubilation and political uncertainty on the streets of the capital, Dakar. Thousands took to the streets in celebration, reinvigorating enthusiasm for the election that will decide whether the West African country can remain a stable democracy in a region that has experienced a wave of coups and attempted coups.

A charismatic former tax collector and mayor of the southern city of Ziguinchor, Sonko is seen as the main challenger to President Macky Sall’s governing party.

His key ally, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was also freed from prison late Thursday, has been named the opposition’s presidential candidate. Their release follows Sall’s decree to exonerate political prisoners, including hundreds arrested in the violent protests last year.

“The message will be short. The important thing is our candidate. We have an election to win. Every hour counts. We have lost a lot of time. We will be on the ground for the victory of our candidate,” Sonko said at a news conference.

In his brief message, Sonko restated some of the key tenets of his campaign: the need to fight corruption in the government and to protect Senegal’s economy from the influence of foreign powers.

The protests have once again rocked Senegal’s image as a pillar of stability in West Africa. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, it has held regular elections and never experienced a coup, unlike many other nations in the Sahel region.

Following Sonko’s release Thursday night, Dakar was thronged with thousands of people singing and dancing as convoys of supporters drove around tooting horns and young people piled onto motorbikes and trucks.

Fresh graffiti on Dakar streets Friday morning rallied in support of Sonko. On their way to work, Senegalese speculated about how the turn of events might affect the vote later this month.

Presidential spokesman Yoro Dia said a court decision barring Sonko from the election could not be appealed.

The latest twist in Senegal’s election saga follows Sall’s attempt to postpone the election until the end of the year, announcing his decision just weeks before it was to take place on Feb. 25. His announcement plunged Senegal into uncertainty and drew protesters to the streets.

The country’s Constitutional Council subsequently rejected Sall’s postponement and ordered the government to set a new date as soon as possible. Political analysts said Sonko’s return to the playing field would boost his ally’s campaign.

This “is clearly a political, democratic and electoral turning point that could bring a new generation to power,” Alioune Tine, the founder of the Senegalese think tank Afrikajom Center, told The Associated Press.

Tochi Eni-Kalu, Africa analyst at the Eurasia Group, said Sonko’s release likely won’t change expectations that the vote is probably headed for a runoff, with no candidate winning more than 50% of the vote. Neither will Sonko be allowed into the race at this late stage, he said.

“For Sonko specifically, there remains some uncertainty over the terms of his amnesty and whether he will immediately regain his political rights,” the analyst said. “But he won’t be on the ballot on the 24th.”

In a separate decision Friday, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Karim Wade, an opposition leader and son of former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, against the decision to rule him off the ballot because he holds dual citizenship. Wade said he has renounced his French citizenship.

Sonko’s presidential bid has faced a prolonged legal battle that started when he was accused of rape in 2021. He was acquitted of the charge but was convicted of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison last summer, which ignited deadly protests across Senegal.

In January, he was disqualified from the ballot because he faces a six-month suspended sentence following his conviction for defamation, Senegal’s highest election authority, the Constitutional Council, said at the time.

Sonko’s supporters maintain his legal troubles are part of a government effort to derail his candidacy. His Patriots of Senegal party was also dissolved last summer.

Senegal’s 19 approved candidates have started rallying ahead of the vote, expected to be the most tightly contested race since the country gained independence more than six decades ago.

At Least 100 Villagers are Kidnapped in the Latest Mass Abduction in Northern Nigeria

BY CHINEDU ASADU

1:29 PM EDT, March 18, 2024

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Armed gangs attacked two villages in Nigeria’s northwest over the weekend and seized at least 100 people from their homes, residents and a state official told The Associated Press on Monday, in the latest mass abduction in the region.

The gunmen attacked communities in Kaduna state’s Kajuru council area on Saturday and Sunday, said Usman Dallami Stingo, who represents Kajuru in the state legislature.

Kaduna state is where nearly 300 schoolchildren were abducted less than two weeks ago. The latest kidnappings, like the previous one, have been blamed on bandit groups known for mass killings and kidnappings in Nigeria’s northwestern and central regions. Most of the bandits were previously herders in conflict with local communities.

The kidnappers attacked the Dogon Noma community early Saturday and abducted 14 women, then attacked the Kajuru-Station community on Sunday night and seized 87 people, Stingo said.

“There is no presence of security nearby,” he said, echoing concerns about the absence of security forces in remote villages across the region where arrests are rare.

At least eight of those abducted in the latest attacks were relatives of Madaki Tanko Aridu in Dogon Noma, who lamented the lack of response of security agencies.

“Up till now, no force man has reported there,” he said.

Security forces, meanwhile, are yet to provide any public update on the rescue operation for the schoolchildren abducted earlier this month in Kaduna’s Kuriga town. The children are thought to be held hostage in the vast forests that connect most states in the troubled region.

President Bola Tinubu, elected to lead the country of more than 210 million people last year, has ruled out the payment of ransoms — as is often done — in the operation to free the children.

Tinubu’s government did not immediately comment on the latest attacks.

Monday, March 18, 2024

The UK’s Contentious Plan to Send Asylum-seekers to Rwanda is Close to Clearing Parliament

Jill Lawless reporter the Associated Press posed photo at AP Europe in London, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

BY JILL LAWLESS

6:21 PM EDT, March 18, 2024

LONDON (AP) — The British government hopes one last push can revive its stalled plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A bill aimed at overcoming a U.K. Supreme Court block on deportation flights returns to the House of Commons on Monday and could be passed into law within days.

That would be a boost for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is facing disquiet from fellow Conservative lawmakers as the party lags in opinion polls ahead of an election due this year.

Britain and Rwanda signed a deal almost two years ago that would see migrants who cross the English Channel in small boats sent to the East African country, where they would remain permanently. So far, no migrant has been sent to Rwanda under the agreement.

Lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday rejected changes made to the Safety of Rwanda Bill by Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords. The Lords inserted a series of amendments designed to water down the legislation.

All 10 amendments, backed by opposition members of the Lords, were removed by lawmakers in the Commons, where the Conservatives have a majority.

The votes will trigger a back-and-forth tussle with the upper house in the coming days, a process known as parliamentary ping-pong. The Commons is almost certain to prevail because the unelected Lords can’t overrule the elected lower house.

Once the bill becomes law, it could be weeks before any flights to Rwanda take off, as people chosen for deportation are likely to lodge legal appeals.

Sunak said Monday that he was sticking to a previous promise that flights would start “in the spring.”

The plan is key to his pledge to “stop the boats” bringing unauthorized migrants to the U.K. Sunak argues that deporting unauthorized asylum-seekers will deter people from making risky journeys and break the business model of people-smuggling gangs.

Just under 30,000 people arrived in Britain in small boats in 2023, many of them not from the African continent at all.

“We need to make it clear that if you come here illegally, you won’t be able to stay and we will be able to remove you. That is the only way to properly solve the issue of illegal migration,” Sunak told reporters.

Britain has promised Rwanda at least 370 million pounds ($470 million) as part of the deal, whose cost is rapidly rising.

The agreement faced multiple legal challenges.

In November, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that the Rwanda plan was illegal because the nation wasn’t a safe destination for asylum-seekers. For decades, human rights groups and governments have documented alleged repression of dissent by Rwanda’s government both inside the country and abroad, as well as serious restrictions on internet freedom, assembly and expression.

In response to the top court’s ruling, Britain and Rwanda signed a treaty pledging to strengthen protections for migrants. Sunak’s Conservative government argues the treaty allows it to pass a law declaring Rwanda a safe destination.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill pronounces the country safe, making it harder for migrants to challenge deportation and allows the British government to ignore injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights that seek to block removals.

Human rights groups, refugee charities, senior Church of England clerics and many legal experts have criticized the legislation. A parliamentary rights watchdog said last month that the Rwanda plan is “fundamentally incompatible” with the U.K.’s human rights obligations.

Immigration Minister Michael Tomlinson disagreed, telling lawmakers Monday that “there’s nothing in the bill that requires any act or omission which conflicts with our international obligations.”

He added that “the government’s approach is tough but fair and lawful.”

___

Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

JILL LAWLESS

Lawless is an Associated Press reporter covering U.K. politics and more. She is based in London.

Spanish Police Arrest 3 People Over the Deaths of 5 Migrants Forced Out of a Smugglers’ Boat


FILE - Migrants are rescued by locals on the shore of a beach, close to the southwestern city of Cádiz, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. Spanish police say they’ve arrested three people for the deaths of five migrants who were forced to jump off the boat they were traveling in with dozens of other migrants. A police statement on Monday, March 18, 2024 said the five died late last November off the southern coast of Cádiz. (AP Photo/Jorge Gonzalez Casares, File)

9:03 AM EDT, March 18, 2024

MADRID (AP) — Spanish police have arrested three people for the deaths last November of five migrants who were threatened with a machete and forced to jump off the boat they were traveling in with dozens of other migrants, authorities said Monday.

According to a police statement, the five died on Nov. 29 off the southern coast of Cádiz. The police said two men and a woman were arrested earlier this month but gave no further details.

The people smugglers had threatened the five with a machete and forced them to jump into the Atlantic Ocean despite the strong currents and cold temperatures.

Thirty-seven migrants had traveled in the boat from Kenitra, Morocco. The statement said the migrants had paid between 3,000 euros ($3,270) and 12,000 euros ($13,000) for a place in the boat.

Video images in November showed many of the other migrants being forced out of the vessel closer to land, before the smugglers sped off in the powerful boat. Police said they found the boat and some documents later, which helped in tracking down the three suspects.

Four of the bodies were recovered within hours and a fifth was found days later. The migrants were identified with the help of DNA samples from a family in Morocco.

Tens of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan countries try to reach Spain each year in large open boats launched from northwest Africa. Most go to the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, while others from Morocco, Algeria and Middle Eastern countries try to cross the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean to mainland Spain.

Several thousands die making the hazardous journey.

Gambia Lawmakers Refer the Debate on Female Genital Cutting to More Committee Discussions

BY ABDOULIE JOHN AND JESSICA DONATI

5:06 PM EDT, March 18, 2024

SERREKUNDA, Gambia (AP) — An attempt to repeal a 2015 ban on female genital cutting in Gambia was sent for further committee discussions by lawmakers on Monday.

Gambian activists fear the passage of the bill would overturn years of work to better protect girls and women. The legislation was referred to a national committee for further debate and could return to a vote in the weeks and months ahead.

Activists in the largely Muslim country had warned that lifting the ban would hurt years of work against a procedure often performed on girls under age 5 in the mistaken belief that it would control their sexuality.

The procedure, which also has been called female genital mutilation, includes the partial or full removal of external genitalia, often by traditional community practitioners with tools such as razor blades or at times by health workers. It can cause serious bleeding, death and childbirth complications but remains a widespread practice in parts of Africa.

Jaha Dukureh, the founder of Safe Hands for Girls, a local group that aims to end the practice, told The Associated Press she worried that other laws safeguarding women’s rights could be repealed next. Dukureh underwent the procedure and watched her sister bleed to death.

“If they succeed with this repeal, we know that they might come after the child marriage law and even the domestic violence law. This is not about religion but the cycle of controlling women and their bodies,” she said. The United Nations has estimated that more than half of women and girls ages 15 to 49 in Gambia have undergone the procedure.

The bill is backed by religious conservatives in the nation of less than 3 million people. Its text says that “it seeks to uphold religious purity and safeguard cultural norms and values.” The country’s top Islamic body has called the practice “one of the virtues of Islam.”

Gambia’s former leader, Yahya Jammeh, banned the practice in 2015 in a surprise to activists and with no public explanation. Since the law took effect, enforcement has been weak, with only two cases prosecuted.

On Monday, a crowd of men and women gathered outside Gambia’s parliament, some carrying signs protesting the bill. Police in riot gear held them back.

Gambia’s parliament of 58 lawmakers includes five women. If the bill eventually passes through parliament, President Adama Barrow is expected to sign it into law. He has not spoken publicly about the legislation.

The United States has supported activists who are trying to stop the practice. Earlier this month, it honored Gambian activist Fatou Baldeh at the White House with an International Women of Courage Award.

The U.S. Embassy in Gambia declined to say whether any high-level U.S. official in Washington had reached out to Gambian leaders over the bill. In its emailed statement, Geeta Rao Gupta, the top U.S. envoy for global women’s issues, called it “incredibly important” to listen to the voices of survivors like Baldeh.

The chairperson of the local Center for Women’s Rights and Leadership, Fatou Jagne Senghore said the bill is “aimed at curtailing women’s rights and reversing the little progress made in recent years.” The president of the local Female Lawyers Association, Anna Njie, said the practice “has been proven to cause harm through medical evidence.”

UNICEF said earlier this month that some 30 million women globally have undergone female genital cutting in the past eight years, most of them in Africa but some in Asia and the Middle East.

More than 80 countries have laws prohibiting the procedure or allowing it to be prosecuted, according to a World Bank study cited this year by a United Nations Population Fund Q&A published earlier this year. They include South Africa, Iran, India and Ethiopia.

“No religious text promotes or condones female genital mutilation,” the UNFPA report says, adding there is no benefit to it.

Girls are subjected to the procedure at ages ranging from infancy to adolescence. Long term, it can lead to urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, pain, decreased sexual satisfaction and childbirth complications as well as depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder.

___

Jessica Donati reported from Dakar, Senegal.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Sun. March 17, 2024

Listen to the Sun. March 17, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

In order to hear the full podcast of this episode go to this link: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/17 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our ongoing focus on International Women's History Month with segments on veteran civil rights organizers Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Sat. March 16, 2024

Listen to the Sat. March 16, 2024 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this episode go to the following link: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/16 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the release of a Senegalese opposition leader who will stand for presidential elections in April; Egypt is emerging as a mediator for resolving the internal conflict in the Republic of Sudan; the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has reinstated the death penalty; and a Somalian hotel was retaken by the National Army from rebels. 

In the second and third hours we continue our focus on International Women's History Month with segments on journalist Alice Dunnigan, activist Rosa L. Parks and Pan-African scholar Shirley Graham Du Bois. 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Imperialists Continue Bombing of Yemen as Famine Spreads in Gaza

Washington’s plan to establish a pier to supply assistance ridiculed by Palestinians and observers around the world

By Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Friday March 15, 2024

Geostrategic Analysis

Warplanes from the United States and the British Royal Air Force (RAF) once again launched a series of airstrikes against the people of Yemen in several locations on March 14.

Statements to the media by White House spokespersons for President Joe Biden claim that the bombing operations are designed to degrade the military capability of the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) led by Ansar Allah resistance movement which controls large swaths of territory in the country designated as the least developed in West Asia. 

This is not the first time that Washington has taken aggressive actions against Yemen. Prior to 2015, Pentagon troops were present and carried out regular airstrikes and targeted assassinations against those deemed as terrorists. Then after the early months of 2015, the administrations of former Presidents Barack Obama and later Donald Trump continued to back the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as they launched large scale bombings and ground operations.

Ansar Allah, the Yemeni resistance movement, was falsely accused of being proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran therefore providing a rationale for an imperialist-engineered war to displace them from the capital of Sana’a and other regions of Yemen. A rival political grouping was armed and financially supported by the U.S. and Britain through the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which was headed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Realizing that Ansar Allah could not be militarily defeated, peace talks resulted in a truce between the resistance and the western-backed forces. 

The war waged against the people of Yemen brought about the worst humanitarian crisis internationally. A cholera epidemic and the systematic targeting of national infrastructure created the conditions for thousands of preventable deaths, particularly among children. 

Since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Storm on October 7 and the subsequent genocidal war against the people of the Gaza Strip, the Yemeni resistance has attempted to impose a blockade of the ports servicing the State of Israel. Numerous vessels linked to Tel Aviv and its backers have been targeted by the YAF prompting seizures and the sinking of a ship owned by British interests. 

Biden’s hastily convened coalition of imperialist states and allies known as “Operation Prosperity Guardian” (OPG), have continued to engage in airstrikes against Yemen under the guise of keeping the shipping lanes open within the Arabian and Red Seas through the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab straits. Yet the bombings by the U.S. and Britain have targeted civilian areas and transportation hubs. 

A report on the March 14 airstrikes by a Lebanon-based television network said that:

“Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that the American-British aggression launched 11 airstrikes on Hodeidah Governorate, west Yemen, during the past hours. According to our correspondent, the joint aggression targeted the areas of al-Jah, al-Faza, Ras Issa, and Hodeidah Airport. He indicated that the American-British aggression targeted al-Jah with four airstrikes, Hodeidah Airport with one airstrike, al-Faza with two airstrikes, and Ras Issa with four. Later, Al Mayadeen correspondents reported that the joint aggression carried out two airstrikes on the Abs District in Hajjah Governorate, northwest Yemen.” (https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-uk-forces-launch-11-airstrikes-on-yemen-s-hodeidah-in-pas)

These airstrikes by London and Washington on March 14 came in the immediate aftermath of the declarations made by Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi to expand the military operations against Israeli interests in solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine as a whole. Obviously, the White House and 10 Downing Street are quite nervous about the overall impact of the Yemeni resistance in redirecting shipping vessels, the higher costs of maritime trade and the lack of security. 

The attacks on shipping have coincided with the operations by allied resistance forces in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Zionists and imperialists are being militarily engaged from Palestine to the Red Sea.

In another article published by Al Mayadeen it emphasizes:

“Meanwhile, the United States and other Western countries are not ‘ashamed of providing weapons to the Israeli enemy to pursue its crime of genocide in Gaza,’ Sayyed al-Houthi confirmed. ‘The Israeli occupation is carrying out the crime of the century, with American participation and contributions from Western and some Arab countries, he said.’… He added that the deception and maneuvering methods practiced by the United States are ‘part of the aggression against the Palestinian people.’ Regarding the U.S. aid airdrops, which led to the martyrdom of several people in Gaza, Sayyed al-Houthi confirmed that the real intent behind them is ‘to insult the Palestinian people,’ explaining that the occupation is trying to sideline the official mission regarding the distribution of aid and its supervision in Gaza.” (https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-houthi--our-ops--hit-indian-ocean--to-be-expanded-to-cape)

U.S. Plans to Address Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Ridiculed

Not only has the Biden White House’s announcements about airdrops of food and the proposal to construct a makeshift pier to facilitate aid distributions to the people in Gaza been denounced by people across the globe these measures are being advanced absent of the halting of weapons supplies to Tel Aviv and the blocking of numerous ceasefire resolutions before the United Nations Security Council. The first logical policy decision would be aimed at ending the IDF aggression against Gaza. 

The posture of the White House makes it quite clear that the administration does not want any of the political objectives of the Palestinian people realized. Biden and his cabinet along with Pentagon officials are continuing to call for the elimination of Hamas and other resistance movements in Gaza. 

In response to the White House plans for the temporary pier, the Russian Foreign Ministry on March 13 described the proposal as absurd. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a press conference held in Moscow referred to the Pentagon pier proposal as “dances on bones.”  

Palestine Chronicle noted in relation to the Russian Foreign Ministry assessment:

“Russia on Wednesday called the United States-led initiative to build a pier off the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid ‘dances on bones,’ Anadolu news agency reported. Responding to a question at a press briefing in Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova questioned the validity of building infrastructure in a war-torn region. ‘These are dances on bones, mocking people, because now, when civilians are dying there every day, we need to talk about their destinies, and not about some illusory future projects that in the first place, need peace to be implemented, otherwise we perfectly understand how all this will end,’ Zakharova reportedly said. ‘When a country does not even want to hear — I am now talking about the United States of America — about even formulating a call for a cease-fire, how can we treat initiatives to build civilian infrastructure where they do not want a cease-fire?’” (https://www.palestinechronicle.com/building-a-pier-off-gaza-is-dancing-on-bones-russian-foreign-ministry/)

Many Believe Biden Plan Will Facilitate Genocide and Forced Removals

At present there are documented cases of starvation in the Gaza Strip. Due to the massive bombing and ground operation in Gaza, aid has been reduced substantially. The attacks on a warehouse utilized by the UN Refugee Agency for Palestine, UNRWA, killed one staff person and wounded 22 others on March 13.

Reports indicate that the idea being pushed by Biden had been suggested several months ago by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden disclosed that security for the aid corridor would be provided by the IDF. Consequently, there is extreme skepticism on the part of Palestinians and others throughout the region that these plans will only worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

An analytical review by Tamara Nassar published by Electronic Intifada on March 14 reveals the level of suspicion among Palestinians over the Biden plans:

“Palestinians in Gaza received the news about the planned port with fear and suspicion.

Analysts have speculated that this could be a ploy to eliminate Egypt as an outlet between the Gaza Strip and the rest of the world and sever the coastal enclave’s reliance on Egypt economically and politically by way of the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing – the sole point of exit and entry for most people in Gaza. This would ostensibly complete Israel’s control of the Gaza Strip without dependence on Egyptian cooperation, reliable as it may have been. Abdel Bari Atwan, a Gaza-born world-renowned Palestinian journalist, invoked the U.S.-facilitated evacuation of thousands of Palestinian guerilla fighters of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Beirut in 1982 as an insight into what these plans could possibly suggest. Palestinian fighters were transferred by US warships off the Beirut coast to Cyprus and eventually to Tunisia. Atwan indicated that the maritime corridor would create a pathway for the forcible evacuation of Palestinians by sea. Other analysts have expressed similar fears.” (https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/whats-real-purpose-bidens-gaza-port)

Biden is attempting to make it appear as if his administration is concerned about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. The White House is worried that the failure to shift its policy on Palestine could very well cost the Democratic Party another term of office in the executive branch. 

Palestine solidarity activists in the U.S. must remain vigilant in their demands for an immediate ceasefire, the halt to arms shipments to Tel Aviv, the banning of all assistance to the apartheid Israeli regime and the rapid transition to the creation of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

Shifting Rhetoric Cannot Conceal Genocidal Policy on Gaza

From Selma to the State of the Union address, underlying platitudes are calls for elimination of the resistance and the maintenance of the settler-colonial state

By Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Tuesday March 12, 2024

Geostrategic Analysis

One of the critical historical conjunctures within the mass Civil Rights Movement took place in Selma, Alabama during the early months of 1965. 

Although local activists and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had been active in the area for several years prior, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the rising tide of expectations among African Americans created the conditions for 1965 to be an explosive year.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., co-founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), entered the fray in Selma prompting the city, county and state authorities to step-up their repressive mechanisms which had kept the overwhelming majority of African Americans off the voter registration lists throughout Alabama. The March 7, 1965 attack by a combined police force from the state, county and city of Selma, would draw the outrage of people around the U.S. and internationally.

Consequently, it was a moment of irony when United States Vice-President Kamala Harris stood on a platform in Selma on March 3 evoking the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement while calling for what appeared to be a ceasefire in Gaza. Yet, if one listened carefully, it revealed the consistent policy of the U.S. towards the Palestinian question. 

Although Harris received her loudest applause when she uttered the word “ceasefire”, she then went on to uphold the right of the Israeli settler-colonial state to defend itself and to continue its existence as a racist entity. The Vice-President then declared that Israel was justified in its attempts to eliminate Hamas as a resistance movement. 

Since October 7, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Hospitals, neighborhoods, schools, mosques, churches, medical facilities and marketplaces have been targeted for destruction by Tel Aviv. Hundreds of thousands have been wounded, injured, traumatized and dislocated. Famine is spreading throughout the Gaza Strip as IDF personnel fire weapons into crowds of people standing in line to receive food rations. 

Obviously, Harris was telling African Americans and their allies what they wanted to hear. Most people within Black communities across the country are in favor of a permanent ceasefire, not the six-week pause advanced by Harris on behalf of the administration of President Joe Biden.

Thousands of leading African American clergymen acting independently or within the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) along with other denominations, have put distance between themselves and the administration. In several Democratic Party primary elections, such as Michigan, where over 101,000 people voted “uncommitted”, has sent a definite message to the White House regarding its prospects for re-election in November.

State of the Union: More Imperialist Rhetoric from the White House

A few days before the State of the Union Address by Biden, he was seen over national television eating ice cream saying he had been told by his national security advisor that a ceasefire was imminent by the end of the week. Such optics infuriated many people in the U.S. and around the world. This ceasefire has not yet materialized while the IDF continues its bombardments and the blocking of much-needed humanitarian assistance. 

During the speech by the president, he pleaded for the Congress to provide additional aid to the Ukrainian government to continue the war which Kiev is losing. He said that if the House would pass a “border bill” he would be able to end the crisis of migration which is a major concern of the electorate from both dominant parties.

In regard to Palestine, the president said that more aid needed to be delivered to Gaza to address the humanitarian crisis. He never accepted the fact that the crisis was engineered by the Israeli regime with the backing of Washington. Despite this reality, there was no direct call for a permanent ceasefire or negotiations for the creation of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. 

Overall, there was no mention of any fundamental shift in policy towards Tel Aviv. The weapons and other material assistance flowing into the settler-colonial state will not be interrupted. He reiterated the tone set by Harris earlier in the week when the president said categorically that the White House would not abandon the Israeli state. 

Airdrops of meals ready to eat have already caused the deaths of several people. Biden announced at the State of the Union before the full Congress that the Pentagon had plans to build a temporary port in the Eastern Mediterranean to deliver food and supplies to residents of Gaza. He emphasized that no U.S. troops would enter the besieged territory in these aid deliveries. 

These statements by Biden and his administration functionaries are clearly for the consumption of the public in this election year. The entire tone of the State of the Union speech was that of a campaign rally. 

However, the widening regional war in West Asia was never assessed. To reveal the actual magnitude of the crisis would further expose the failures of the White House foreign and military policies in West Asia as well as Eastern Europe and the African continent.

Regional Resistance Determined to Continue Attacks Against Israel, the U.S. and its Allies

In addition to the underwriting and logistical support for the genocide in Gaza, the West Bank and throughout the Israeli Occupied Territories (IOT), the Biden administration has engaged in bombing operations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Biden during the State of the Union alluded to his objective of keeping the shipping lanes open in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. What he did not say was that despite the mobilization of the British Royal Air Force along with its U.S. counterparts, they have not been able to halt the attacks on shipping interests in the region carried out in solidarity with Palestine.

The actions of the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) are not taking place within a vacuum. Southern Lebanon, which shares a border with the north of the IOT, has been the scene of some of the most intense fighting against Tel Aviv in many years.

In a report on March 11 published by Al Mayadeen Television, it notes:

“The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah carried out several operations on Monday, in support of the resilient people of Gaza and its Resistance against Israeli sites, soldier gatherings, and equipment along the Palestinian-Lebanese border. On March 11, 2024, the Islamic Resistance conducted eight operations against the Israeli occupation, confirming direct hits….

Earlier on Monday, the Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, affirmed that the Resistance was prepared to counter any expansion in aggression, emphasizing that it is most ready to support Gaza until the Israeli aggression on the Strip ceases. In his speech during the memorial ceremony of three martyrs from the southern Lebanese village of Blida, Sheikh Qassem said Hezbollah is not concerned with any Israeli statement regarding a ground invasion of Lebanon, be it an exaggeration or a declaration. He stressed that the Resistance remains defensive, supportive, and determined to defy Israel, affirming that it will not be intimidated.” (https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-conducts-four-simultaneous-operations-against--isr)

The pledge to shutdown shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden which supports the economic interests of Israel by the Yemeni Ansar Allah, has won a tremendous propaganda victory in favor of the anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist forces in the region. These solidarity efforts are drawing the Pentagon towards military strikes which only increase the resentment and hatred towards the U.S. government.

Al Mayadeen pointed to a U.S. media outlet, the Atlantic, which wrote an evaluation of the situation involving the status of Yemen throughout the region, saying that:

“Previously, a piece published on The Atlantic magazine's news website suggested that Yemeni Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi ‘may now be the most popular public figure in the Middle East.’ The piece pointed out that since the Yemeni Armed Forces began their operations in the Red Sea in November in support of the Palestinian people, Sayyed al-Houthi ‘has been treated like a latter-day Che Guevara, his portrait and speeches shared on social media across five continents.’ It emphasized that although it remains challenging to assess the consequences of the attacks, the Yemeni operations created a gap in the global economy. The operations, according to the piece, turned the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement into ‘heroes for Arab and Muslim youths who embrace the Palestinian cause,’ and even influenced Western progressives. Elsewhere, the piece indicated that the U.S.-British aggression did not deter the Yemeni Armed Forces, adding that ‘since staking claim to the Palestinian cause,’ the Yemeni forces ‘have come to seem unstoppable.’" (https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/how-ansar-allah-are-schooling-the-west-on-the-battlefield--b)

Even though the U.S. corporate and government-controlled media regurgitates the political line of the Biden administration which attributes the military capacity of the resistance forces from Hamas and the other nine brigades fighting the IDF in Gaza, to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in Iraq and the anti-occupation groupings in Syria, to assistance provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran has denied providing military support to these groupings although it is in political agreement with the war against the IDF and its imperialist allies.  

Biden has failed to effectively deflect the attention of millions of people in the U.S. from the siege on Gaza and the expanding regional resistance to Zionism and imperialism. If these militarist adventures by the White House are not brought to a halt, it could very well result in the ascendancy of another administration led by former President Donald J. Trump. 

African Union Summit Condemns Israeli Genocide in Gaza

55 member-states representing 1.3 billion people wants the bombing and occupation to end

By Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Friday March 8, 2024

Geostrategic Analysis

In opening up its proceedings for the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in mid-February, the continental organization denounced the ongoing genocidal onslaught by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip.

The deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians, the injuring of many more along with the dislocation of the entire 2.3 million people living in the Gaza Strip, has enhanced the solidarity movement around the world. 

For weeks observers, journalists and medical experts have warned that the people of Gaza are facing the potential for famine. A series of cynical campaign maneuvers involving the dropping of meals ready to eat over Gaza has done nothing to improve the humanitarian crisis created by the State of Israel and its supporters in Washington, London, Paris, Brussels and Berlin.

This organization, which was founded as the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, having changed its name to the AU in 2002, has followed the political direction of the Republic of South Africa being one of the most outspoken critics of the Zionist state internationally. Pretoria has taken Tel Aviv to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) charging the government with violating the provisions of the Genocide Convention. 

South Africa’s ruling party for the last 30 years, the African National Congress (ANC), is a longtime ally of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the overall struggle of the people against national oppression and the apartheid system in the Occupied Territories. President Nelson Mandela, who was elected in the first democratic elections in 1994, noted that South Africa will not be completely free until the Palestinian people gain their freedom. In the aftermath of the events of October 7, known as the Al-Aqsa Storm, when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) began their blanket bombing, shelling and later ground offensive in Gaza, the current Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr. Naledi Pandor, demanded that the people of South Africa, the continent and the world take practical action in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

A Nigerian newspaper said of the recent AU Summit that:

“The African Union has expressed its full support for Palestine in the ongoing Middle East conflicts, asking member states to sever ties with Israel. The AU gave ‘full support for the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle against the Israeli occupation, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas, in order to restore their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, return of refugees and independence in their State of Palestine, existing side by side with the State of Israel.’… It expressed outrage at what it described as a humanitarian catastrophe occurring in the Gaza Strip caused by Israeli forces. The AU expressed concerns about the possibility of the ongoing conflict spreading to Lebanon, other neighboring countries and the Middle East region.” (https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/671145-african-union-declares-support-for-palestine-request-member-states-to-cut-ties-with-israel.html)

Since the AU Summit, another statement has been issued in response to a recent massacre of over 100 Palestinians while they lined up seeking much-needed food rations. The IDF in typical fashion, blamed the oppressed Palestinian masses saying they engaged in an unprovoked stampede causing the deaths. 

The rationale of the Israeli state and their backers in Washington and London for the killing of 30,000 people over a period of five months is that Hamas and the other resistance movements in Gaza are the source of the security problems. Nonetheless, the real issue underlining the continuing Palestinian crisis is the occupation of their homeland which has continued for nearly 76 years.

The Middle East Monitor news website reported on the AU response to the March 1 massacre in Gaza City noting:

“Chairperson of African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has ‘strongly’ condemned the recent Israeli attack in which scores of Palestinians were killed trying to access food aid in Gaza on Thursday, Anadolu reports. In a statement on Friday, the chairperson called for an international investigation into the incident to bring the perpetrators to account. He also reiterated the African Union’s call for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire in the Gaza Strip ‘to stop the ongoing and increasing State of Israel’s assault against the lives and means of survival of the Palestinian people.’ Mahamat called on the international community and major world powers to ‘assume their responsibilities to urgently impose peace and guarantee the rights of the Palestinian people.’” (https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240302-african-union-chairperson-condemns-killing-of-palestinians-seeking-food-aid-in-gaza/)

Africa, Palestine and the regional states in West Asia have a shared history of colonial, semi-colonial and imperialist domination. The brutality of the Israeli state and the funding and enabling of their genocidal policies by Washington and the other imperialist centers, has alienated and angered billions around the globe. 

The Status of U.S.-Africa Relations

Although Africa in general remains in a disadvantageous situation in relations to the western industrialized states, many on the continent within and outside of government are looking for alternative alliances which are not controlled by imperialism. The BRICS plus inter-governmental organization has attracted broad support from those wanting to join the alliance which has recently established a New Development Bank (NDB). 

Since the BRICS 15th Summit hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during August 2023, many other countries have been admitted to the alliance including Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia. These countries bolster the populations of the existing memberships of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

At present, the BRICS organization represents approximately 36% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This exceeds the G7 which encompasses about 31% of the GDP. The number of people living in the BRICS plus states constitute 46% of the world's population, whereas the G7 has around 10%. 

Within the context of the AU there is “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want”, which sets forth a series of goals aimed at deeper unity and robust economic development. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was founded in 2018 with a positive view towards achieving the objectives stated clearly within the AU Charter and Agenda 2063. 

On the AU website it emphasizes:

“AGENDA 2063 is Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future. It is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance. The genesis of Agenda 2063 was the realization by African leaders that there was a need to refocus and reprioritize Africa’s agenda from the struggle against apartheid and the attainment of political independence for the continent which had been the focus of The Organization of African Unity (OAU), the precursor of the African Union and instead to prioritize inclusive social and economic development, continental and regional integration, democratic governance and peace and security amongst other issues aimed at repositioning Africa to becoming a dominant player in the global arena.” (https://au.int/en/agenda2063/overview)

However, these important goals for the African continent to be achieved will require a frontal assault on the current neo-colonial arrangements still impacting the capacity of the AU member-states to achieve genuine independence and sovereignty. Pentagon troops remain in various geo-political regions of the continent through the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). 

During 2023, there were threats leveled against African states by the Pentagon as well as the French government. President Emmanuel Macron of France along with the White House sought to build a coalition of West African military forces to invade Niger after the seizure of power by the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) administration in Niamey on July 26. Fortunately, opposition to this scheme from the workers, farmers, youth and many political officials throughout the Sahel and other states, which was designed to further ensnarl the Sahel within the web of imperialism, prevented a potentially disastrous outcome in the West Africa region. 

In South Africa, due to its positions on the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine and the IDF siege upon Gaza, the administration of President Joe Biden had falsely accused the ANC government of selling arms to Moscow while elements within the Congress are calling for a downgrading of Washington’s diplomatic relations with Pretoria. The South African government has demanded that Kiev and Washington agree to talks aimed at ending the war. This same administration is playing an important role within the BRICS Plus Summit along with other important inter-governmental organizations to achieve sustainable economic development and an equitable form of international relations.  

With the AU Commission openly disagreeing with the imperialist foreign policy of maintaining the State of Israel as a settler-colonial outpost in West Asia and on the border with North Africa, further efforts to destabilize South Africa and other AU member-states will be inevitable. Consequently, Africa must remain vigilant and work towards the building of a world where the majority are able to determine their own destinies. 

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Fri. March 15, 2024

Listen to the Fri. March 15, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this episode go this link: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/15 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The episode features our regular PANW report with dispatches continuing Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) operations in solidarity with the people of Gaza; a Hamas representative was interviewed by a leading Lebanese television network; the Russian Federation has launched 50 attacks against Ukraine; and the European Union (EU) is threatening more sanctions against Moscow. 

In the second and third hours we focus on International Women's History Month by an examination of the journalistic contributions of Ida B. Wells-Barnett and musician, radio, film and television sensation Hazel Scott.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Thurs. March 14, 2024

Listen to the Thurs. March 14, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To listen to the podcast of this episode go to this link: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/14 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

This episode features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the Russian Foreign Ministry assessment of the Pentagon plan to build a pier off the coast of Gaza to provide humanitarian assistance; more Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank during the Ramadan season; the South African Foreign Minister Dr. Naledi Pandor says that anyone found to be aiding the IDF will be arrested; and Kenya is being frustrated in its agreement with the United States to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti. 

In the second and third hours we listen to a panel discussion on the current situation in Palestine and the West Asia region.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Tues. March 12, 2024

Listen to the Tues. March 12, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the entire podcast of this episode click on the following link: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/12 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

This episode features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the claims by the African National Congress (ANC) government in South Africa that Israel is violating the International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders handed down in Jan. in regard to the lawsuit filed charging genocide in Gaza; France is bolstering its military presence in Chad; Ethiopia is considering withdrawal from its port agreement with the breakaway territory of Somaliland; and Kenya has come under additional pressure to deploy its police force to Haiti amid the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. 

In the second and third hours we continue our commemoration of International Women's History Month with a focus on the role of women in the abolitionist movement and during the United States Civil War. 

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Sun. March 10, 2024

Listen to the Sun. March 10, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the full podcast of this episode click on the following URL: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/10 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)  

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the often-overlooked plight of Palestinians in the West Bank; the White House has not fundamentally altered its policies towards Gaza despite the rhetoric to the contrary; a former cabinet minister from the West African state of Gambia has accused the Swiss Court of racism and lies; and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is releasing $120 million to the East African state of Uganda. 

In the second and third hours we continue our focus on International Women's History Month with features on the legendary vocalist Ruby Elzy and the role of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) during the early 20th century.

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Sat. March 9, 2024

Listen to the Sat. March 9, 2024 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the podcast of this program go to this link: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/09 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

This episode features our PANW report with dispatches on the continuing resistance efforts by Palestinians in Gaza; liberal feminism has been criticized over the failure to express solidarity with Palestine; demonstrations were held across the world on International Women's Day; and violence continues in the Caribbean nation of Haiti. 

In the second and third hours we present our latest installment on International Women's History Month with a review of the life, times and contributions of Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964).

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Fri. March 8, 2024

Listen to the Fri. March 8, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the podcast of this episode go to the following URL: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/08 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

The episode features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the silence within the western media on the plight of Palestinian women on International Women's Day; Yemen leaders have condemned the United States for supplying negligible aid and tons of weapons to bomb Gaza; 25% of African American women in a recent poll say that reproductive rights are a major issue; and there are problems in the implementation of the redistricting legislation for Alabama upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

In the second and third hours we will focus on recent developments in Palestine.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Thurs. March 7, 2024

Listen to the Thurs. March 7, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

The podcast of this episode can be accessed at the following link: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/07 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the request by the Republic of South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the situation in Gaza; Iraqi resistance forces pledge to continue attacks until a ceasefire; the current negotiations on a ceasefire is being delayed due to the intransigence of Tel Aviv; and the West African state of Senegal has set a date for the national elections. 

In the second and third hours we continue our International Women's History Month program with features on June Milne, the longtime research assistant, editor and publisher for Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Lucy Parsons, militant labor and anti-racist organizer during the late 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Tues. March 5, 2024

Listen to the Tues. March 5, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

This podcast can be heard at the following link: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/05 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the opposition by the Rwanda government on the deployment of Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops to neighboring eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Yemen is continuing its solidarity efforts in support of the Palestinian people; the Gaza resistance has reported on attacks against the IDF; and additional sanctions have been leveled against the Republic of Zimbabwe by the administration of United States President Joe Biden. 

In the second and third hours we move forward with our International Women's History Month programming featuring segments on Fannie Berrier Williams and Hallie Quinn Brown.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Sun. March 3, 2024

Listen to the Sun. March 3, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this episode go to the following link:  Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/03 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the continuing resistance to the Israeli occupation of Gaza; South Africa has accused the western states of being complicit in the genocide in Palestine; Ethiopia and Tanzania have signed a trade deal; and the Caribbean nation of Haiti is facing the threat of another coup. 

In the second and third hours we move forward in our International Women's History Month programming examining the role of African women in the Civil War and in the labor force.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, for Fri. March 1, 2024

Listen to the Fri. March 1, 2024 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of the program go to this URL: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 03/01 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza waiting for assistance from humanitarian organizations; talks have stalled on a ceasefire in Gaza; Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of grave consequences if NATO deploys troops into Ukraine; and Haiti is being threatened with another coup. 

In the second and third hours we begin a series in honor of Women's History Month with a focus on Eliza Mary Church Terrell.