Hey, this is Sham, your very own news curator.
In issue #326, I focus on the outcome of the elections in Nigeria (the tension is high) and anti-Black sentiments growing in Tunisia. Plus, some culture and sports news from Africa like Burkina Faso's film festival or the Tour de Rwanda, new historic discoveries in Chile and Egypt, a fascinating read on blockchain technology in Bangladesh, Vietnam's pop star TRONG's Eurovision Song Contest song, and so much more.
If you like this newsletter, yay! If you have any feedback or comments, I'm always happy to connect; just reply to this mail. These lengthy emails take me hours and hours to write, research and make fun-to-read. If you would like to support me on a regular basis, you can do so by becoming a Patreon subscriber or by buying me coffee now and then on PayPal.
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Tunisia is becoming a far-right country – and very dangerous for Black people
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President Kais Saied is one of the reasons why anti-Black sentiment is growing in Tunisia, as he has launched dangerous, unfounded attacks against migrants in an address to his National Security Council on February 21. (New Lines Magazine)
Why this matters: Tunisia, with a population of about 12 million, is home to an estimated 20,000 Black migrants, many of whom crossed from Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea or the Ivory Coast into Tunisia illegally for jobs that citizens often reject. Others work or study legally. The president's attack also target the country's Black citizens; basically, anyone Black.
What did he say?
"Hordes of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are still arriving, with all the violence, crime and unacceptable practices that entails," the president said a couple of weeks ago, calling on security forces to "quickly put an end to this phenomenon." He continued to claim that Tunisia’s greatest threat comes from a "criminal arrangement" to "change the demographic composition of Tunisia" by flooding the country with refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. (The New York Times)
Oh... that sounds very similar to the far-right in Europe.
Yup. President Saied has also offered no evidence for this claim, which echoes the so-called "Great Replacement Theory" conspiracy theory, popular among far-right and white supremacist movements in Europe and North America. His political allies, the far-right Tunisian Nationalist Party, use the term ajasiyin – derived from the Arabic for ‘Africans south of the Sahara’ – as an insult. For them and for the president’s other supporters, "to be Tunisian is to be Arab and Muslim, all of which are antonymous to being African," writes Shreya Parikh in the Review of African Political Economy. "By extension, to be Tunisian is to not be Black."
Oh...
Yeah, oh. "Saied’s scapegoating statement ... has opened a floodgate of racialized terror and violence in Tunisia that previously bubbled just beneath the surface," reported New Lines Magazine. "Reports filled social media and private WhatsApp groups of the targeting of Black people – whether from sub-Saharan countries or black Tunisians – with verbal and physical abuse." As part of Saied’s campaign, Tunisian police have arrested more than 500 immigrants in raids in recent days. (New Lines Magazine) Some migrants have reported being fired from their jobs, and at least 1,000 have been kicked out of their homes. Hundreds of people have sought protection outside the Tunis embassies of Ivory Coast, Guinea and Mali, and the office of the International Organization for Migration. Various African states are chartering flights home for their citizens. (The Continent, issue 118)
What do Black people in Tunisia say?
Yasin Ahmed, a refugee from Darfur who lives in Tunis, told The Continent that the country had, overnight, become dramatically more hostile to black people. "Yes, being black, you feel fear always, especially at night," he said. "Some people throw stones at you, sometimes they call you a monkey. My friends have been beaten. There is a lot of discrimination, and I can’t describe it all to you because I can’t stand it when I talk about it." (The Continent, issue 118)
Has Tunisia always been racist?
Huda Mzioudet, a Black Tunisian rights activist and scholar, said the country's racism has been long-standing. Yes, Tunisia has abolished slavery a long, long time ago (in the 1840s), but Black citizens and those from elsewhere on the African continent have been treated poorly in the decades since. "Part of the problem is Tunisians’ denial, rejection and minimizing of the issue of racism," Mzioudet said to New Lines Magazine's Erin Clare Brown. Mzioudet founded the Black rights activist group Adam in the years following the 2011 revolution.
Tell me more about Saied
Saied was elected president in 2019, and in 2021 he suspended the parliament and seized what are effectively dictatorial powers. In the past weeks, these powers were used to arrest some of Tunisia’s most prominent politicians, journalists, activists, judges and others who have failed to bow to his wishes, accusing them of conspiring against the state. (Bloomberg, Al Jazeera)
What else is going on in Tunisia?
"The political witch-hunts and racist manhunts are two sides of the same coin: a new, dangerous, and highly destabilizing dictatorship is consolidating itself in Tunisia," said Monica Marks on Twitter and to The Continent. Marks is a professor of Middle East politics at New York University, Abu Dhabi. "Saied has no economic plan, and Tunisians’ standard of living is in free fall. So, he’s scapegoating journalists, judges, lawyers, political critics, and the bodies of the most vulnerable – including Black immigrants and refugees."
Is everybody on board with this?!
Not everybody is buying what the Tunisian president is selling. Civil society groups have condemned the president’s anti-African rhetoric, and mobilized to support migrants in need of assistance. Last Saturday, hundreds of protesters marched through central Tunis chanting "no to racism" and "Down with fascism, Tunisia is an African country". (The Guardian) Maha Abdelhamid, an organiser with the Tunisian collective Voix des Femmes Tunisiennes Noires (Black Tunisian Women's Voices), called on Black Tunisian women to share photos of themselves with their Tunisian identity cards. (France24)
Did you know that, in 2018, Tunisia introduced a landmark law that criminalized racial discrimination? It still exists today. Back then, it was the first of its kind in the Arab world.
Btw, I've cited quotes that use the term "Sub-Saharan Africa". Some critics call the term racist and outdated. (Quartz)
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The presidential election in Nigeria is over. What now?
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Bola Tinubu was elected President of Nigeria, with just 37% of the vote. As you can imagine, not everybody is happy with this outcome. (BBC News)
Why this matters: Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, with an estimated 216 million people. It is also the continent's largest economy and one of the continent’s top oil producers. In short, it matters who is calling the shots here.
Tell me more
Tinubu won 8,794,726 votes under the All Progressives Congress to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party who had 6,984,520 votes and Peter Obi of the Labour Party who had 6,101,533 votes. The opposition says it will challenge the result in court, and in a joint press conference last week, asked the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission to step down. (Punch) They claimed the process was neither free nor fair. The African Union is like, 'chill though', and urged all candidates and parties to maintain peace and order. (Vanguard) But experts like Idayat Hassan, Director of the Center for Democracy and Development, were basically like, 'there were so many issues with the election process. What are you talking about?' (Deutsche Welle)
Like what?
For example, in the run-up to the election, 87 million of them held the voter identity cards that permitted them to take part. But of these, just under 25 million Nigerians actually voted last week. That made it the lowest-ever turnout in a Nigerian presidential vote. (Deutsche Welle)
What do people in Nigeria think?
The Continent in issue 118 asked some of its Nigerian correspondents for their thoughts on the prospect of a Tinubu presidency:
- "This was the worst possible outcome for anyone hoping for some kind of progress following the disastrous years of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency," writes Wilfred Okiche is a film critic and reviewer for The Continent.
- "With Tinubu emerging as the winner, I sincerely hope to see him work on the security infrastructure. I have covered areas affected by insecurity for the past five to six years and hope that during Tinubu’s administration, those who have been displaced will have a chance to return to their homes and live without fear," writes Justina Asishana is the Niger State correspondent for The Nation based in Minna.
- "If you think Nigeria can’t get worse than Buhari, think again. With Tinubu, a new vulture circles Nigeria, laying bare not a country, but a carcass," writes Socrates Mbamalu, a political analyst and the editor-in-chief of Aso Times.
- "It is a scary prospect, but one that might be softened with the hope that perhaps he will put quality people in his cabinet who will do good work in certain areas. I am not optimistic," writes Anita Eboigbe is the Operations Lead for Big Cabal Media.
Who is Tinubu again?
Bola Ahmed Tinubu was elected as a senator in 1992, later taking up pro-democracy activism. In 1999, he became the governor of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos State, and has been a prominent figure in Nigerian politics ever since; some even call him a 'kingmaker'. He earned this reputation by helping many into office, including the outgoing president, Muhammadu Buhari. Also, Lagos is doing well economically, and many believe this is because of him.
- Quote: "I will ... dedicate this day and record it as the moment that we vowed to come together to make Nigeria stand, shining forth as the beloved and brave republic that God created for all of us," he said in a speech after the election commission gave him a certificate confirming he was president-elect. (AP)
To be continued.
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More you might have missed
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Iran: Schoolgirls are being poisoned. And nobody knows who and why. (CBS)
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Brazil: Another news headline that confirms that, yes, modern slavery exists... Over 200 people were rescued from vineyards in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. They reported grave human rights violations, like 18-hour workdays, physical violence, delayed and low payments, and that they were coerced to remain on site. (G1, Portuguese)
Fair Planet writes, "In Brazil alone, the Ministry of Work and Social Security reports that there were 462 operations of this kind in 2022, leading to the rescue of 2,575 workers in slave-like conditions."
- Zoom out: Globally, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 27.6 million people were under forced labor in 2021. (ILO)
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Burundi/DRC: Burundi deployed 100 troops to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to help the country fight insurgencies by militias, including M23. (AFP via The East African)
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Romania: Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă unveiled an AI-run "honorary advisor" named Ion, which will synthesize submissions by Romanians relating to their "opinions and desires". Ciucă says that this makes Romania the first country in the world to have an AI government advisor. (Politico.eu)
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Egypt: Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry visited Syria and Turkey in the first official state visit by Egypt in more than 10 years amid strained relations with both countries. (AFP via France 24)
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United Kingdom/Argentina: The two countries are talking about the Falklands again, and whether it is British or Argentinian territory. (AP)
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Egypt: Scientists discovered a mysterious corridor in the Great Pyramid of Giza. (Reuters)
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Vietnam: The National Assembly of Vietnam elected Võ Văn Thưởng as the country's new president, succeeding Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. (Nikkei Asia) He is the youngest person to serve in this position since the republic's founding in 1945.
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United States: Hah! I talked about this last week... A two-year investigation by seven U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that it is "very unlikely" that Russia or another country was responsible for the "Havana syndrome" that affected U.S. diplomats and spies. Instead, "medical, environmental and social factors can explain" many symptoms. (Reuters)
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Turkey: Belgian law firm Van Steenbrugge Advocaten (VSA), Belgium-based NGO Turkey Tribunal, and European judges association Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés (MEDEL) announced at a press conference in The Hague that they were filing a complaint against Turkey at the International Criminal Court for "crimes against humanity". The lawyers estimate that 200,000 persons were tortured, disappeared, or incarcerated and convicted without due process in Turkey. Crimes were not only committed in Turkey but also in other territories, and notably Belgium. (Euractiv)
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Chile/Polynesia: A new moai has been discovered on the remote inhabited volcanic Easter Island situated in Polynesia. "For the Rapa Nui people, it's [a] very, very important discovery," Hito told Good Morning America through a translator at the site. "Because it's here in the lake and nobody knows this exists -- even the ancestors, our grandparents, don't know [about] that one." There are nearly 1,000 moai on Easter Island made from volcanic tuff, which were created by the early Rapa Nui people.
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Rwanda: Tour du Rwanda, one of Africa's better known cycling tournaments, ended this week with Eritrea's Henok Mulubrhan claiming the victorious Yellow Jersey after 8 stages through Rwanda’s scenic "thousand hills". Cycling is the most popular sport in Eritrea and an established part of national identity among young people. (Quartz)
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Greece: Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned in response to the train wreck in Tempi that killed more than 50 people. (ABC News)
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Australia/Mexico: The Australian government handed back a 100-year-old painting and a miniature copper bowl, estimated to be up to 800 years old. The objects were bought by private collectors in Australia from a company in the United States. But the items were seized by the Australian Border Force, the Australian Federal Police and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade when they arrived in Australia and questions were raised about their origins. Mexican Ambassador to Australia Eduardo Peña Haller was given the artifacts at a ceremony at the Mexican Embassy in Canberra on Monday, and said the "illicit trafficking of cultural arts" was something that could "destroy culture". (ABC News)
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Burkina Faso: Moviegoers are in West Africa for the 28th Ouagadougou Film and Television Festival, a biannual gathering of Africa's creative industry for five decades. It features 100 films from 35 African countries and the diaspora. Almost half of the selections this year are directed by women. (AP)
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Podcast: "Death of An Artist" about Ana Mendieta, a Cuban-American artist and the cause of her mysterious and sudden death
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Pushkin's series Death of An Artist investigates the story of Ana Mendieta, a Cuban-American artist who died in 1985 after falling from the window of a New York apartment. Her husband Carl Andre, a sculptor and darling of the SoHo arts scene, insists she jumped, but podcast host and curator Helen Molesworth has her doubts.
"Was the famous sculptor Carl Andre involved in the death of his up-and-coming artist wife Ana Mendieta? For over 35 years, accusations of murder shrouded one of the art world’s most storied couples," says the podcast description on Apple Podcasts.
Listen to the first episode here.
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Article: "Where does Bangladesh stand on adopting Blockchain technology?" by Sabyasachi Karmaker
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Did you know that In 2016, hackers from North Korea stole US$81 million from Bangladesh Bank? It's known as 'the Lazarus Heist,' and it is the largest cyber heist in the world till date.
In a piece for The Business Standard, writer Sabyasachi Karmaker wrote in detail about how Bangladeshi companies are using blockchain technology today (most are on a pilot basis or single-case use), and what the future possibilities are (for example, making it much easier for relatives in Malaysia to send remittances back to their families in Bangladesh).
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Netflix: "金玉滿堂 / 金玉满堂" or "The Chinese Feast" tells the story of a failed cook in Hong Kong
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I haven't watched it myself, but this newsletter Gold to Green by Thị Minh Huyền Nguyễn recommended it and the IMDb description fits what I'm currently looking for:
"Kit is a gangster looking to start a new life as a chef in Canada, so he can be closer to his girlfriend. But in his struggle to learn the fine art of cuisine, he runs across a red-headed beauty who will change his plans, and soon finds himself off in search of the retired master who can teach him how to win in the ultimate cooking challenge."
It's an older movie (1995), and Leslie Cheung is starring in it. He was the only openly-queer superstar in the '90s. GQ has an amazing profile on his queer legacy.
For my German and French speakers, The Chinese Feast is available to stream for free on ARTE here.
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Newly discovered chemicals in Germany are so deadly to fungi they were named after Keanu Reeves. Looks like these researchers watched "John Wick" and "The Matrix." (CNN)
Btw, the study was published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, if you want to read more about it.
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That's it from me.
Have you checked out this newsletter's very own Spotify playlist Go Global Weekly yet?
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