The US Authorizes a Short Extension to a Longstanding African Trade Agreement

By GERALD IMRAY

7:22 AM EST, February 4, 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has extended a 26-year-old free-trade agreement with African countries that was left in doubt last year when his administration allowed it to expire while enforcing his policy of reciprocal tariffs.

Trump on Tuesday signed into law an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

But the extension is short-term, lasting only until Dec. 31. The trade office said the agreement, which gives eligible sub-Saharan African nations duty-free access to the U.S. market for some products, would be modified to account for tariffs the U.S. has imposed on other countries as part of the Republican president’s America First policy.

The agreement is key to many African countries that feared it would be another economic blow following the new tariffs and cuts to U.S. aid under Trump.

Here is what to know.

Trade agreement allowed to expire

AGOA was introduced in 2000 under former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Only some nations are eligible, and the U.S. can remove countries that fail to meet requirements including establishing market-based economies or upholding democratic standards and human rights. The East African nation of Uganda was removed in 2024 by the Biden administration for enacting a strict anti-gay law that the U.S. called a human rights violation.

The agreement allows some 1,800 products to be exported to the U.S. duty-free, including crude oil, cars and car parts, clothing, textiles and agricultural produce. It drives much of the trade between the U.S. and Africa, which was valued at more than $100 billion in 2024 by the U.S. trade office.

AGOA included 34 African countries when the Trump administration allowed the expiration at the end of September, with many businesses in those nations claiming the end of the deal would endanger tens of thousands of jobs.

Renewal has a short timeline

The extension until the end of 2026 is short compared to the 10-year extension agreement when it previously came up for renewal in 2015.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement Tuesday that the Trump administration would work with Congress “to modernize the program to align with President Trump’s America First trade policy” without giving details of possible changes.

South Africa, the continent’s most advanced economy and one of the biggest beneficiaries of AGOA, said it welcomed the renewal but was concerned by the short-term nature of the extension. Minister of Trade and Industry Parks Tau told South African news outlet News24 that he hoped the U.S. would soon “provide certainty” of the AGOA details.

US pressures Africa’s big economies

The Trump administration has applied political pressure on sub-Saharan Africa’s two biggest economies, South Africa and Nigeria, leaving them uncertain where they might fit into a renewed form of the agreement that is highly important to both nations.

Trump has criticized the South African government as anti-American and made baseless claims that a white minority group in the country is being violently persecuted. The U.S. has applied 30% tariffs, among the highest in the world, raising fears that its biggest African trade partner would be removed from AGOA due to the diplomatic fallout.

Similarly, U.S. ties with Nigeria have been strained over Trump’s allegations that Christians are being persecuted in Africa’s most populous country, claims officials say are inaccurate.

America First is difficult for Africa

Trump’s America First policy has been especially hard on Africa by cutting billions of dollars for the now-dismantled United States Aid Agency while imposing tariffs on small or struggling economies. Some African countries such as Lesotho have said the double blow has been almost impossible to bear.

The U.S. has moved to renegotiate assistance methods for Africa, including a series of bilateral health agreements announced in recent months. The pledges of assistance also commit African nations to invest in their own health systems, which the Trump administration says will improve self-sufficiency and cut waste.

The U.S. has called on African nations to remove trade barriers to American imports. The U.S. trade office said AGOA would follow the America First policy and “must demand more from our trading partners.”

The aggressive trade policies have pushed some African nations to enhance ties with other countries or regions, especially China, which is already the continent’s largest trading partner.

Muammar Gaddafi’s Son, Saif al-Islam, Killed in Libya

Saif al-Islam, who had ambitions to lead Libya, was killed by gunmen in his home in Zintan

By MEE staff

4 February 2026 01:28 GMT

Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, the oldest son of the former long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed, his political advisor said on Tuesday.

Saif’s French lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that he “was killed today at 2:00 pm [1200 GMT]... in Zintan in his home by a four-man commando”. 

Speaking to local television, his political adviser, Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, said that four unidentified assailants disabled security cameras in Saif’s home before killing him. 

Ceccaldi said Saif had been warned by those close to him in recent days that there was a problem with his security. 

Saif, 53, had lived in the city of Zintan for a decade since his release from prison after being pardoned in 2017. He had been detained since he was captured during the imperialist-engineered counter-revolution in Libya in 2011, which ultimately saw his father killed. 

During his father’s reign, he was widely seen as the next in line to rule.

Saif posited himself as a reformist and even led negotiations that led to Libya’s ultimate abandonment of its nuclear programme.

Saif received a PhD from the London School of Economics. 

He was defiant when speaking to Reuters in 2011, as the Libyan counter-revolution against his father began. 

"We fight here in Libya, we die here in Libya,” he said. 

Saif ended up with an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest in 2011 over the torture of protesters and dissidents. 

But in 2015, it was agreed that Libya would try him for war crimes. He was convicted in absentia.

There has been no government statement yet on his death.

Libya is divided into two parts, with an internationally recognised government in Tripoli, headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, and a government in the east led by Khalifa Haftar.

Dbeibah became prime minister in 2021 with a mandate to usher in democratic elections in  Libya, but the process has stalled with his government forging ties with militias and competing with Haftar for access to oil revenue.

Earlier this month, the Tripoli-based government signed a 25-year oil development agreement with France's TotalEnergies and the US’s ConocoPhillips that could more than double the output of the state oil company to 850,000 barrels per day.

Libyan Prosecutors Open Probe into Killing of Gaddafi's Son Saif al-Islam

Africa

Libyan prosecutors said on Wednesday they will investigate the death of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the country's longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was shot dead in his home in the city of Zintan on Tuesday. Saif al-Islam's lawyer said he had been killed by a "four-man commando" group who stormed his home.

 04/02/2026 - 11:26

04/02/2026 - 14:54

By FRANCE 24

Seif al-Islam Kadhafi looks on during a ceremony in the southern Libyan city of Ghiryan on August 18, 2007

Libyan prosecutors said Wednesday they were investigating the killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of slain ruler Muammar Gaddafi, in the city of Zintan.

The public prosecutor's office said forensic experts had been dispatched to Zintan in northwest Libya, where he was shot dead, adding that efforts were underway to identify suspects.

"The victim died from wounds by gunfire," the office said in a statement, adding that investigators were looking to "speak to witnesses and anyone who may be able to shed light on the incident".

A lawyer of Saif al-Islam, Marcel Ceccaldi, said he was killed by an unidentified "four-man commando" who stormed his house in Zintan on Tuesday.

Son of Libya's late dictator Gaddafi killed in Zintan city

The head of the Presidential Council, a transitional body supposed to represent all of divided Libya under a UN agreement, urged "political forces, the media and social actors to show restraint in public statements and to avoid incitement to hate".

"We call on all political forces to wait for the results of the official investigation," a statement by Mohamed al-Menfi said, referring to Seif al-Islam as a "presidential candidate".

The younger Gaddafi, 53, had been seen by some as his father's successor.

Menfi added that escalation could "undermine efforts at national reconciliation and the holding of free and fair elections".

Libya has struggled to recover from profound instability that erupted after a NATO-backed counter-revolution in 2011 overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.

Libya remains divided between a UN-backed government based in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by CIA asset Khalifa Haftar.

Saif al-Islam was arrested in November 2011 in southern Libya following a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity.

A Tripoli court later sentenced him to death in 2015 after a speedy trial, but he was granted amnesty.

In 2021 he announced he would run for president, but the elections were indefinitely postponed.

No information has been released on his burial, but his adviser Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim told Libyan media that an autopsy had been completed and he could be buried in Bani Walid, south of the capital Tripoli.

Moussa al-Kouni, vice-president of the Presidential Council who represents Libya's Fezzan region, wrote on X: "No to political assassinations, no to achieving demands by force, and no to violence as a language or a means of expression."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Who is Behind the Assassination of Seif al-Islam, Heir Apparent to Martyred Pan-Africanist Revolutionary Leader Muammar Gaddafi

Tripoli – Seif al-Islam, the son of Libya's slain longtime Pan-Africanist revolutionary ruler Muammar Gaddafi and once seen by some as his likely heir, has been killed.

04/02/2026 - 16:55

Seif al-Islam Gaddafi was seen by some as a reformer and moderniser until the US-backed counter-revolution in 2011, when he became one of the most hardline supporters of the Socialist Jamahiriya

Targeted by a warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, and still a player in Libya's turbulent political scene, the 53-year-old was no stranger to violence.

But his sudden assassination has raised many questions:

Who is behind it?

Very little has emerged about the identity or motives of the assailants.

Seif's lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, told AFP he was killed by an unidentified "four-man commando" who stormed his house on Tuesday afternoon in the city of Zintan, western Libya.

His adviser, Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, told Libyan media the four unidentified men had stormed the home before "disabling surveillance cameras, then executed him".

Libyan prosecutors said Wednesday they were probing the killing after establishing that "the victim died from wounds by gunfire".

Why now?

Claudia Gazzini, a senior Libya analyst at International Crisis Group, described the timing of Seif's death as "odd".

"He had been living a relatively quiet life away from the public eye for many years now," she told AFP.

Seif had announced his bid to run for president in 2021. Those elections were indefinitely postponed, and he had barely made any major public appearances since.

His whereabouts had been largely unknown. Aside from a small inner circle -- and probably the Libyan authorities -- few people knew he lived in Zintan.

Ceccaldi said "he often moved around" but "had been in Zintan for quite some time".

Anas El Gomati, head of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said the timing was "stark".

His death came just "48 hours after a US-brokered Paris meeting between Saddam Haftar and Ibrahim Dbeibah", respectively the son of eastern Libya's military strongman Khalifa Hafter and the nephew of the Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.

Libya has remained divided between the UN-backed Tripoli government and its rival administration in the east.

What Seif al-Islam represented

Experts differ over the extent of Seif's political influence. But there is broad agreement on his symbolic weight as the most prominent remaining figure associated with pre-2011 Libya.

"Seif had become a cumbersome actor" in Libyan politics after announcing his bid for office in 2021, said Hasni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Centre for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World.

His killing "benefits all political actors" currently competing for power in the North African country, Abidi said.

For Gomati, his death "eliminates Libya's last viable spoiler to the current power structure".

"He wasn't a democrat or reformer, but he represented an alternative that threatened both Haftar and Dbeibah," Gomati added. "His removal consolidates their duopoly ... The pro-Gaddafi nostalgia bloc now has no credible leader."

Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui offered a more cautious assessment, saying Seif's death was "no major upheaval".

"He was not at the head of a unified, cohesive bloc exerting real weight in the competition for power, rivalries, or the allocation of territory or wealth," Harchaoui explained.

Still, "he could have played a decisive role under specific circumstances", Harchaoui said, arguing that his mere name on a presidential ballot would have had a substantial impact.

How has the public reacted?

Among the public, speculation is rife.

Some have suggested the involvement of a local Zintan-based armed group that may no longer have wanted Seif on its territory.

Others suspect foreign forces may have been involved.

"The operation's sophistication -- four operatives, inside access, cameras disabled -- suggests foreign intelligence involvement, not militia action," said Gomati.

Saif Gaddafi, Son Of Libya's Former Pan-Africanist Revolutionary Leader, Was Killed Inside His Home

Despite holding no official position, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was once seen as the most powerful figure in the oil-rich North African country after his autocrat father Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled for more than four decades.

(with inputs from agencies)

Feb 04, 2026 09:40 am IST

Saif al-Islam shaped policy and mediated high-profile, sensitive diplomatic missions.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, has been killed in an attack carried out by four assailants, according to Saudi-owned publication Al Arabiya. The 53-year-old was killed in the town of Zintan, 136 kilometres (85 miles) southwest of the capital, Tripoli.

Attackers shot Saif al-Islam in the garden of his residence before fleeing the scene on Tuesday evening, a source close to the Gaddafi family told the publication. Reports claimed gunmen disabled security cameras at Gaddafi's house and shot him after a confrontation. He was killed at around 2:30 am (local time).

Details about the circumstances of the incident that claimed his life have not been fully disclosed, but one of Saif al-Gaddafi's close associates described it as an "assassination."

Abdullah Othman, who was a member of the political team (2020-2021) and one of Saif Gaddafi's political advisers, confirmed his death in a Facebook post. "We belong to God, and to Him we return. The mujahid Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is in God's care," he wrote.

Saif al-Islam has remained a prominent political figure since the collapse of his father's rule in a NATO-backed counter-revolution in 2011.

The Life and Times of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi went from his notorious father's heir apparent to a decade of captivity and obscurity in a remote hill town before launching a presidential bid in Libya that helped derail an attempted election. Despite holding no official position, he was once seen as the most powerful figure in the oil-rich North African country after his autocrat father, Moammar Gaddafi, who ruled for more than four decades.

Saif al-Islam shaped policy and mediated high-profile, sensitive diplomatic missions. He led talks on Libya abandoning its weapons of mass destruction and negotiated compensation for the families of those killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.

Determined to rid Libya of its pariah status, Saif al-Islam engaged with the West and championed himself as a reformer, calling for a constitution and respect for human rights. Educated at the London School of Economics and a fluent English speaker, he was once seen by many governments as the acceptable, Western-friendly face of Libya.

But when a rebellion broke out against Gaddafi's long rule in 2011, Saif al-Islam immediately chose family and clan loyalties over his many friendships to become an architect of a brutal crackdown on rebels, whom he called rats.

Speaking to news agency Reuters at the time of the revolt, he said, "We fight here in Libya, we die here in Libya."

After rebels took over the capital, Tripoli, Saif al-Islam tried to flee to neighbouring Niger dressed as a Bedouin tribesman. The Abu Bakr Sadik Brigade militia captured him on a desert road and flew him to the western town of Zintan about one month after his father was hunted down and summarily shot dead by rebels. 

He spent the next six years detained in Zintan, a far cry from the charmed life he lived under Gaddafi when he had pet tigers, hunted with falcons and mingled with British high society on trips to London.

Human Rights Watch met him in Zintan. At the time, Saif al-Islam was missing a tooth and said he had been isolated from the world and that he did not receive visitors.

In 2015, Saif al-Islam was sentenced to death by firing squad by a court in Tripoli for war crimes.  

He spent years underground in Zintan to avoid assassination after he was released by the militia in 2017 under an amnesty law. In 2021, wearing a traditional Libyan robe and turban, he appeared in the southern city of Sabha in 2021 to file his candidacy for the presidential elections. 

He had been expected to play on nostalgia for the relative stability before the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled his father and ushered in years of chaos and violence. However, his candidacy was controversial and opposed by many of those who had suffered at the hands of his father's rule. Powerful armed groups that emerged from the rebel factions that rose in 2011 rejected it outright. 

As the election process ground on in late 2021 with no real agreement on the rules, Saif al-Islam's candidacy became one of the main points of contention. He was disqualified because of his 2015 conviction, but when he tried to appeal the ruling, fighters blocked off the court. The ensuing arguments contributed to the collapse of the election process and Libya's return to political stalemate. 

Seif al-Islam, Son of Muammar Gadhafi, is Killed in Libya

By SAMY MAGDY

11:39 PM EST, February 3, 2026

CAIRO (AP) — Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son and one-time heir apparent of Libya’s late Pan-Africanist statesman Moammar Gadhafi, was killed in the northern African country, Libyan officials said Tuesday.

The 53-year-old was killed in the town Zintan, 136 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of the capital, Tripoli, according to Libyan’s chief prosecutor’s office.

The office said in a statement that an initial investigation found that Seif al-Islam was shot to death, but did not provide further details about the circumstances of his killing.

Khaled al-Zaidi, a lawyer for Seif al-Islam, confirmed his death on Facebook, without providing details.

Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, who represented Gadhafi in the U.N.-brokered political dialogue which aimed to resolve Libya’s long-running conflict, also announced the death on Facebook.

Seif al-Islam’s political team later released a statement saying that “four masked men” stormed his house and killed him in a “cowardly and treacherous assassination.” The statement said that he clashed with the assailants, who closed the CCTV cameras at the house “in a desperate attempt to conceal traces of their heinous crimes.”

Born in June 1972 in Tripoli, Seif al-Islam was the second-born son of the longtime dictator. He studied for a Ph.D. at the London School of Economics and was seen as the reformist face of the Gadhafi government.

Moammar Gadhafi was toppled in a CIA-Pentagon-NATO-backed counter-revolution in 2011 after more than 40 years in power. He was killed in October 2011 amid the ensuing fighting that would turn into a civil war. The country has since plunged into chaos and divided between rival armed groups and militias.

Seif al-Islam was captured by fighters in Zintan late in 2011 while attempting to flee to neighboring Niger. The fighters released him in June 2017 after one of Libya’s rival governments granted him amnesty. He had since lived in Zintan.

A Libyan court convicted him of inciting violence and murdering protesters and sentenced him to death in absentia in 2015. He was also wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity related to the 2011 defense against the western-backed counter-revolution.

In November 2021, Seif al-Islam announced his candidacy in the country’s presidential election in a controversial move that was met with outcry from anti-Gadhafi political forces in western and eastern Libya.

The country’s High National Elections Committee disqualified him, but the election wasn’t held over disputes between rival administrations and armed groups that have ruled Libya since the bloody ouster of Moammar Gadhafi.

Data Center Boom, Corporate Extraction, and the Obfuscation of the Land Question in the U.S.

Originally published: Black Agenda Report  on January 28, 2026 by Austin Cole (more by Black Agenda Report)  |  (Posted Feb 03, 2026)

The years 2024 and 2025 saw a massive upswing in the number of data centers planned and constructed in the United States and globally as part of the race to develop computing infrastructure for “Artificial Intelligence” technologies. 2025 also witnessed a massive increase in protests, lawsuits, and movements against data center construction throughout the U.S., with at least 25 data center projects cancelled across the United States (four times the number in 2024) in 2025, and up to 25 more canceled in the first three weeks of 2026.

Communities, organizations, and movements of all forms and demographics have risen up to fight the imposition of hyperscale data centers in their neighborhoods and municipalities. These struggles have largely focused on opposing the depletion of water resources, pollution of air and land, increase in strain on electrical utilities and costs of electricity and water, as well as the granting of tax exemptions to corporate entities who already pay small amounts or nothing at all despite their large profits. Most of these projects were stopped or delayed through municipal processes based on zoning laws, “community benefit” agreements, or local legislative body votes (e.g. city councils). These developments have been unambiguously positive and progressive, but they have two major weaknesses.

First, corporate actors and the U.S. government are intent on building data centers and accompanying energy infrastructure. Denying them in one municipality typically only motivates those charged with developing the sites to search for less politically powerful or organized, more economically vulnerable communities to choose as their targets. These tend to be areas with more Black/African, working class, poor, and immigrant populations, and/or rural and post-industrial cities, towns and neighborhoods. In short, people and places already facing environmental and economic injustice become targets for extractive capitalist projects.

Second, and the focus for the rest of this piece, is that this reactive fight against individual data center construction takes as a given the political, economic, and social status quo around land use, and ignores questions of economic democracy and popular self-determination. Instead of understanding the fight against booming data center construction as one of widespread local frustrations and tinkering with municipal codes or tax incentives, we must embrace this local, regional, and national crisis as one about land and collective self-determination. Doing so would allow the working classes and oppressed peoples in the United States to not only fight against violations of their self-determination and human dignity but also make strides toward resolving more fundamental forms of social, political, and economic oppression that have long denied us the realization of our human rights and the promise of legitimate democracy.

Data Centers & The Land Question

In a recent article entitled “The Land Question,” Panashe Chigumadzi describes how in post-apartheid South Africa, the crimes of apartheid are recounted in the mainstream as racial discrimination and segregation, instead of the more violent truth of “the historical crime of settler colonialism, indigenous land dispossession, and the loss of sovereignty.” The implication of this in modern South Africa, and neighboring other nations, is that liberal solutions focused on overcoming “racism” have won favor in mainstream politics but left the material impacts of white supremacy and colonial relationships in place. Similarly, in countries such as Brazil, local and national movements like MST (the Landless Workers Movement) have long understood the struggle against state and corporate land grabs as one for land and popular sovereignty, against colonial forms of domination and extraction.

This should sound familiar in the U.S., as the legacies of genocide and displacement of Indigenous peoples, enslavement of kidnapped Africans, betrayal and dismantling of Radical Reconstruction, the establishment of Jim Crow and accompanying white supremacist terror and discrimination nationwide had everything to do with land, popular sovereignty, and collective self-determination; or rather, the denial of these to African/Black, Indigenous, and all oppressed peoples in the U.S. As worker-organizer-intellectual Harry Haywood laid out in Negro Liberation (1948), the question of racism and the subjugation of African/Black people in the U.S. has been seen as primarily a social one, when in fact it has always been intimately tied up in the issue of land, the persistence of plantation economies, and the failure to undertake radical agrarian and land reform. In the intermittent 78 years, the question of land and freedom for oppressed peoples in the U.S. has only become more complex, but that complexity cannot continue to obscure the reality that resolving the question of community control over land and collective economic self-determination remains a core challenge of justice, democracy, and liberation for all oppressed peoples in the United States.

Enter the data center boom. Though data centers have been a necessary digital infrastructure, the recent surge is propelled by Big Tech companies who will use the data center largely as capacity for the infrastructure of the so-called ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution‘ that focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Big Data, and other “advancements” in digital technologies. Also cashing in on this trend are investment and asset managers (like banks, hedge funds and private equity companies), utility companies and energy providers, and construction firms and real estate developers—most of whom are also dedicated to the continuation of a destructive fossil fuel-driven economy and energy system. Aggressive estimates expect investment in global data center construction to be as high as between $3 trillion and $6.7 trillion over the next five years (Moody’s, McKinsey).

The battle around accelerating data center construction and similar large-scale projects revolves not around municipal codes but the long-unresolved land question. A.I. and hyperscale data centers, as well as quantum computing centers and similar mega-project developments, have been proposed across the country and featured as key fissures in some of 2025’s state and local elections, most prominently in Virginia’s race for governor. These projects typically take away hundreds of acres that could be used for growing food, building housing, developing local environmental resilience, or other socially beneficial activities, with little to no benefit for the local communities. They also require massive water and electricity inputs, produce limited numbers of permanent jobs (normally less than 200-250, and even fewer ‘good jobs’), and contribute to air, noise, and light pollution. This is a part of a relatively consistent pattern of large-scale capital-intensive projects being forced or coerced onto communities based on the interests of monopoly capital. This process is not new or unique to data centers, but rather the status quo of “economic development” across the nation, particularly in municipalities outside of the largest, wealthiest metropolises that are told they must compete for the possibility to escape economic stagnation. These are neocolonial patterns of domestic occupation, extraction, and divide-and-rule.

When communities do fight against such developments, they are inevitably encouraged to seek zoning reforms that can deny industrial projects in certain areas, create “community benefits” agreements that extract concessions from corporate actors, or push local governments to veto individual projects. The current local and national pushback against such megaprojects is well-meaning but ultimately unsustainable against the force of monopoly capital. We already see certain corporate actors trying to maintain their ability to construct data centers as they see fit, with Microsoft recently releasing a “Community-First” AI plan that co-opts social justice language and makes data center construction seem inevitable.

Make no mistake, this is no more than an attempt to cheaply buy off communities and organizers. Microsoft is not incorrect in naming that data centers are a fundamental infrastructure required for the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, but given the conditions of the U.S., that “revolution” is set to almost exclusively benefit the class of already wealthy and powerful corporate, political, and military elites. This is the story of most corporate economic development and accompanying “benefit” promises. Microsoft is not the first and will not be the last—we need only remember the frenzy around Amazon HQ 2.0 that became a race to the bottom for competing municipalities and further entrenched Amazon’s growing monopoly power. What makes this repeated pattern possible is a complete lack of democratic community control of land and resources, a denial of our rights to collective self-determination that is baked into local, state, and national economic and environmental policymaking in the U.S..

The connection between data center construction and territorial sovereignty also extends globally. In Latin America, such construction is increasing rapidly, deepening existing patterns of displacement, resource scarcity, and corporate capture of politics. In Ethiopia, the newly inaugurated “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” directs much of its energy production toward cryptocurrency mining and other computing processes, instead of community needs. And in Greenland, the Trump administration and Big Tech corporate vultures have set their sights on the territory to build data centers and create a libertarian “AI hub”.

Such land grabs and corporate subversion are possible because of an uninterrupted history of “Western” capitalist ruling class occupation and control of land and resources. Thus, understanding the data center boom and the struggles against it as inherently a result of the unresolved land question in the U.S. and ongoing global (neo)colonialism allows us to see that our movements and policy fights must center around struggling for urban and rural land reform, community control over economic development and land use, and climate and environmental liberation. All of this must be part of a broader social revolution and radical reconstruction.

Organized Popular Resistance

In the face of this land question and the specter of further corporate occupation and extraction against our livelihoods and community resources, what is to be done? In his 1967 speech against the “Three Evils of Society” in the United States, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. recalled the hypocritical legacy of the U.S. that provided land, employment, and public benefits to European settlers of the Midwest, West, and South, while denying formerly enslaved Africans rights to land or employment after Emancipation. For King, undoing this and other injustices required a “revolution of values”; the “transfer of power and wealth into the hands of residents of the ghetto so that they may in reality control their own destinies”; and the defeat of the evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism.

Today, we might refer to King’s message as being one rooted in people(s)-centered human rights (PCHRs), “those non-oppressive rights that reflect the highest commitment to universal human dignity and social justice that individuals and collectives define and secure for themselves and Collective Humanity through social struggle.” These are rights that are won through coordinated, bottom-up, grassroots struggle of oppressed peoples, not granted (and applied arbitrarily) by liberal political institutions who have no desire to see true democracy and self-determination of all peoples. Fulfilling these PCHRs means developing solutions rooted in grassroots organization and popular power for the most oppressed in society. It means renewing and creating approaches rooted in a radical praxis that refuse co-optation by the ruling class and that commit to building sustained organized resistance to corporate extraction, capitalist exploitation, and imperialist domination.

We see examples of such approaches in grassroots coalitions fighting data centers like in Prince George’s County, Maryland and Memphis, Tennessee; in struggles that are connecting data center occupation to the broader fight for tribal sovereignty, Land Back for Indigenous peoples and the development of data sovereignty in service of the people; and in the many Southern-rooted organizations, like the Lowcountry Action Committee in South Carolina, which are building off of the legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, the Freedom Farms Cooperative, and the African/Black working class-led freedom struggle in Mississippi that aimed to put plantation farmland under democratic community control. These struggles must also commit to radical internationalism and support national liberation struggles against monopoly capital, in particular throughout the Americas, which the current Trump administration and corporate ruling class want to turn into a fortress for the U.S.-led imperialist capital.

To begin to address the land question inherent in the battle around the data center boom, these and other forms of resistance should be coordinated locally, regionally, and nationally and encouraged to develop forms of grassroots economic and environmental planning that can birth alternatives based in self-determination, human dignity, and climate and environmental liberation. Without such coordination and anti-imperialist grassroots organization, we will never move toward resolving the land question in a manner that supports the livelihoods of the masses of oppressed peoples in the United States, and we will doom ourselves to a legacy of pyrrhic victories in the face of neo-fascist, imperialist domination domestically and globally.

Fortunately, in the case of opposition to the data center boom, there is momentum, but we cannot allow it to be suppressed or co-opted by the corporate and political classes that care little for our collective well-being. The time is now to strike a blow against capitalist-imperialist domination, connect our local-national-global struggles against Big Tech’s neocolonial impositions, and fight for our land and freedom.

Austin Cole is an organizer, writer, and community planning practitioner currently focused on food systems and energy democracy. He serves as a National Co-Coordinator for the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and co-coordinates BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team, which helped to launch the collective Campaign for a Zone of Peace in Our Americas in 2023. His people come from the Mississippi Delta and Alabama, and he is currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Newly Released Epstein Files Reveal Further Ties to Israel

The release of more Jeffrey Epstein files reveals further connections between the late, convicted sex criminal and the state of Israel.

By Michael Arria  

February 3, 2026  

Photo released by House Democrats on the Congressional Oversight Committee on December 12, 2025, showing Jeffrey Epstein and Alan Dershowitz. (Photo via House Oversight Democrats)

The release of more than 3 million new files connected to the late Jeffrey Epstein reveals further connections between the convicted sex criminal and the state of Israel.

Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister, is mentioned numerous times in the files, with him and his wife seemingly maintaining a close relationship with the financier long after he plead guilty of sex crimes in 2008.

In a September 2016 email sent amid the presidential race, Barak informs Epstein that Democratic nominee Hilary Clinton was set to be interviewed by Israel’s Channel-2 and wonders if Epstein could inquire whether eventual President Donald Trump would have interest in being interviewed by rival station, Channel-10.

Barak tells Epstein that the Trump interview would attract a “huge percentage of Israelis and most U.S. citizens in Israel.”

The Department of Justice also released audio of a February 2013 conversation between the two men, in which Epstein tells Barak to “check out” the controversial analytics company Palantir.

“I’ve never met Peter Thiel,” Epstein tells Barak, referencing the right-wing billionaire who founded the company. “And everybody says he sort of jumps around and acts really strange, like he’s on drugs,” Epstein tells Barak of the co-founder of Palantir, with the former Israeli prime minister agreeing.”

“However, he has a company called Palantir… so he thought that Peter would put you on the board of Palantir… he’s going to come here next week so I wanted to talk to him, if I talk to you,” he continues.

Another email reveals that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought Epstein’s advice on arranging a diplomatic trip to Israel in 2017.

“Modi’s highly publicized visit to Tel Aviv—featuring unusually warm personal interactions with Israeli leaders—was widely read as a signal that India was openly embracing a U.S.–Israel–India strategic axis, particularly in defense, technology, and intelligence cooperation,” notes Drop Site News.

Epstein’s intervention had been requested by Indian billionaire and Modi ally Anil Ambani. Ambani told Epstein that leadership was requesting meetings with members of Trump’s inner circle, including Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon, ahead of the Modi meeting.

After the visit, Epstein emailed an individual he referred to as “Jabor Y” about the visit. “The Indian Prime minister modi took advice. and danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US president. they had met a few weeks ago.. IT WORKED. !,” he wrote.

The same day he wrote to Ambani, “Your guys performance was both clever and executed well. Good work.”

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs dismissed Epstein’s analysis in a statement.

“Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister’s official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt,” said spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Another document seemingly reveals a plot to seize Libya’s frozen assets, months after Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in a NATO-backed coup. The Epstein associate who sent the email suggests seeking support for the endeavor from MI6 and Mossad agents.

The email states that roughly $80 billion in Libyan funds were believed to be frozen, including nearly $33 billion in the U.S.

“And it is estimated that the real number is somewhere between three to four times this number in sovereign, stolen and misappropriated assets,” reads the email. “If we can identify/recover 5 percent to 10 percent of these monies and receive 10 percent to 25 percent as compensation we are talking about billions of dollars.”

“But the real carrot is if we can become their go-to guys because they plan to spend at least $100 billion next year to rebuild their country and jump start the economy,” it continues.

Pro-Israel U.S. groups also make appearances in the newly released files.

These include Harvard University’s Hillel group, which sought donations from Epstein in 2010 and 2011. In May 2010, then-Hillel president Bernie Steinberg wrote Epstein a letter thanking him for his “support of Harvard Hillel and the Harvard Jewish community during this important moment in history” and asked him to make additional contributions.

“The emails add to a growing paper trail linking Epstein to organizations and individuals connected to Harvard beyond the point at which the University said it cut financial ties,” notes the Harvard Crimson.

In recent months, multiple reporters have uncovered links between Israel and Epstein, including an ongoing Drop Site News series that focuses on his connections to Israeli intelligence. However, these facts are often omitted from mainstream coverage of the disgraced financier.

In December, Mondoweiss founder Phil Weiss wrote about a lengthy New York Times investigation on Epstein’s rise that ignored Israel’s role.

“Love of Israel was a lead criterion for inclusion in Epstein’s circle,” wrote Weiss. “I don’t think Epstein’s ‘marks’ were even fooled by him. They knew he was a conman who played fast and loose. But they also knew that the Israel lobby has a need for charmers who break the rules, so they looked the other way.”

Palestinians Allowed into Gaza and Patients are Evacuated to Egypt as the Rafah Crossing Reopens

By SAMY MAGDY and JOSEF FEDERMAN

8:25 PM EST, February 2, 2026

CAIRO (AP) — A dozen Palestinian returnees were allowed into Gaza from Egypt late Monday after the long-awaited reopening of the Rafah border crossing was marred by delays. Their arrival came hours after a small group of medical evacuees was ferried from the territory into Egypt.

The reopening of the crossing marked a key step in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire but mostly a symbolic one, with few people allowed to travel and no goods allowed to pass through. The limitations were apparent Monday as crossings fell well short of the 50 people officials had said would be allowed to move in each direction.

About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care hope to leave the devastated territory via the crossing, according to Gaza health officials. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter and return home.

The crossing had been closed since Israeli troops seized it in May 2024. The number of travelers is expected to increase over time if the system is successful. Israel has said it and Egypt will vet people for exit and entry.

Ambulances queued for hours at the border before ferrying patients into Egypt, the state-run Al-Qahera News satellite television channel showed. Just before midnight, a bus arrived in Gaza carrying Palestinian returnees who had fled the fighting early in the war. As the vehicle entered the compound of a hospital in Khan Younis, a girl wearing barrettes and an older woman stood just inside the front door, waving to relatives anxious for their return.

Tracking the Gaza ceasefire

Keeping track of the status of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for a ceasefire that would end Hamas’ rule in Gaza and rebuilding the territory after a devastating war.

Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing for people moving in and out of Gaza. The territory’s handful of other crossings are all shared with Israel. Under the terms of the ceasefire, which went into effect in October, Israel’s military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live.

Violence continued across the coastal territory Monday. Gaza hospital officials said an Israeli navy ship had fired on a tent camp, killing a 3-year-old Palestinian boy. Israel’s military said it was looking into the incident.

Egypt prepares to receive the wounded

Rajaa Abu Mustafa stood outside a Gaza hospital where her 17-year-old son Mohamed awaited evacuation. He was blinded by a shot to the eye last year as he joined desperate Palestinians seeking food from aid trucks outside the southern city of Khan Younis.

“The health ministry called and told us that we will travel to Egypt for (his) treatment,” she said.

About 150 hospitals across Egypt are ready to receive patients evacuated from Gaza through Rafah, authorities said. But the isolated crossing is separated from Cairo by a six-hour drive. The Egyptian Red Crescent said it has readied “safe spaces” on the Egyptian side of the border to support those evacuated.

More than 10,000 patients have been evacuated from Gaza since the war began, according to the World Health Organization. But Israel’s seizure of the Rafah crossing brought the pace of evacuations to a crawl, with an average of 17 patients a week leaving for most of the time since.

Israel has banned sending patients to hospitals in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem since the war began, cutting off what was previously the main outlet for Palestinians needing medical treatment unavailable in Gaza.

U.N. officials on Monday called on other countries to take in more patients from Gaza “so that everyone receives the treatment they need.”

With the crossing reopened, Gaza residents looked forward to the return of family members who fled earlier in the war.

“This time it’s real,” said Iman Rashwan, anticipating the arrival of her mother and sister. They left Gaza a year ago when her mother’s heart condition worsened and she was referred for treatment in Egypt.

“They called us yesterday and said they received news that they will leave,” Rashwan said. “We have been waiting for it for too long.”

The Rafah crossing will be supervised by European Union border patrol agents with a small Palestinian presence. Historically, Israel and Egypt have vetted Palestinians applying to cross. Fearing that Israel could use the crossing to push Palestinians out of the enclave, Egypt has repeatedly said it must be open for them to enter and exit Gaza.

Palestinian toddler killed by Israeli fire

A 3-year-old Palestinian was killed when Israel’s navy hit tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, Palestinian hospital authorities said. According to Nasser hospital, which received the body, the attack happened in Muwasi, a tent camp area on Gaza’s coast.

Also on Monday, Israel’s military said it killed four Palestinians in northern Gaza who approached troops near the line marking Israeli-controlled territory, “posing an imminent threat to them.”

More than 520 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire went into effect on Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s health ministry. They are among the over 71,800 Palestinians killed since the start of the war, according to the ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians.

The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas-led government, keeps detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

Rafah’s opening represents ceasefire progress

Israel had said seizing the Rafah crossing in May 2024 was part of efforts to combat arms-smuggling by the Hamas militant group. The crossing was briefly opened for the evacuation of medical patients during a ceasefire in early 2025.

Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza cleared the way to move forward.

The reopening is seen as a key step as the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement moves into its second phase.

The truce halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas that began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Its first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in badly needed humanitarian aid and a partial pullback of Israeli troops.

The second phase of the ceasefire deal is more complicated. It calls for installing the new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and taking steps to begin rebuilding.

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Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Wafaa Shurafa in Khan Younis, Gaza and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Pakistani Forces Kill 177 Baloch Militants in 48 Hours, the Highest Toll in Decades

By ABDUL SATTAR and MUNIR AHMED

11:44 AM EST, February 2, 2026

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani security forces killed about two dozen militants overnight in multiple raids in the insurgency-hit southwest bordering Afghanistan, raising the militant death toll to 177 in the past 48 hours, officials said Monday. The announcement follows a wave of coordinated insurgent attacks that killed 50 people, mostly civilians, including women and children.

Police backed by the military have been conducting raids in several areas against members of the outlawed separatist Baloch Liberation Army since early Saturday, after nearly 200 militants in small groups carried out simultaneous suicide bombings and gun attacks on police stations, civilian homes and security facilities across Balochistan province.

Analysts say the scale of militant deaths in the past 48 hours is the highest in decades.

The militant attacks have drawn widespread condemnation from political leaders across Pakistan, including members of the party led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

On Monday, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said the weekend attacks claimed by BLA killed 33 civilians and 17 security forces. He cited higher civilian casualties from the attacks during a speech to parliament.

Asif ruled out any possibility of talks with the BLA, saying no talks would be held with “terrorists” who killed civilians, including women and children, when they attacked residences of Baloch laborers in the port city of Gwadar on Saturday.

On Monday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in a statement praised the security forces for killing an additional 22 insurgents. He described those killed as “Indian-backed terrorists.” However, he offered no evidence of Indian involvement, and there was no immediate response from New Delhi.

Though it is Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan is its least populated, made up largely of high mountains. It’s also a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. That has fueled a separatist insurgency demanding independence. Islamic militants also operate in the province.

Authorities said normalcy was largely returned to the province on Monday, but the train service between Balochistan and the rest of the country remained suspended for a third consecutive day. Provincial authorities suspended train service following the attacks, citing security concerns, and the suspension remains in effect.

In March, at least 31 people were killed when BLA militants attacked the Jaffar express train carrying hundreds of people in Balochistan, taking passengers hostage before security forces launched a rescue operation. All 33 assailants were killed, and the passengers were freed.

The BLA, which is banned in Pakistan, has carried out numerous attacks in recent years, frequently targeting security forces, Chinese interests and infrastructure projects. Authorities say the group has operated with support from the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad.

Pushing for Trade, Preparing for War: A Document Reveals Vietnam’s Dual Approach Toward the US

By DAVID RISING and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL

9:29 PM EST, February 2, 2026

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A year after Vietnam elevated its relations with Washington to the highest diplomatic level, an internal document shows its military was taking steps to prepare for a possible American “war of aggression” and considered the United States a “belligerent” power, according to a report released Tuesday.

More than just exposing Hanoi’s duality in approach toward the U.S., the document confirms a deep-seated fear of external forces fomenting an uprising against the Communist leadership in a so-called “color revolution,” like the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, or the 1986 Yellow Revolution in the Philippines.

Other internal documents that The 88 Project, a human rights organization focused on human rights abuses in Vietnam, cited in its analysis point to similar concerns over U.S. motives in Vietnam.

“There’s a consensus here across the government and across different ministries,” said Ben Swanton, co-director of The 88 Project and the report’s author. “This isn’t just some kind of a fringe element or paranoid element within the party or within the government.”

‘The 2nd U.S. Invasion Plan’

The original Vietnamese document titled “The 2nd U.S. Invasion Plan” was completed by the Ministry of Defense in August 2024. It suggests that in seeking “its objective of strengthening deterrence against China, the U.S. and its allies are ready to apply unconventional forms of warfare and military intervention and even conduct large-scale invasions against countries and territories that ‘deviate from its orbit.’”

While noting that “currently there is little risk of a war against Vietnam,” the Vietnamese planners write that “due to the U.S.'s belligerent nature we need to be vigilant to prevent the U.S. and its allies from ‘creating a pretext’ to launch an invasion of our country.”

The Vietnamese military analysts outline what they see as a progression over three American administrations — from Barack Obama, through Donald Trump’s first term, and into Joe Biden’s presidency — with Washington increasingly pursuing military and other relationships with Asian nations to “form a front against China.”

Vietnam balances diplomatic outreach with internal fears

In his term, Biden in 2023 signed a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” with Vietnam, elevating relations between the nations to their highest diplomatic level on par with Russia and China as “trusted partners with a friendship grounded in mutual respect.”

In the 2024 military document, however, Vietnamese planners said that while the U.S. views Vietnam as “a partner and an important link,” it also wants to “spread and impose its values regarding freedom, democracy, human rights, ethnicity and religion” to gradually change the country’s socialist government.

“The 2nd U.S. Invasion Plan provides one of the most clear-eyed insights yet into Vietnam’s foreign policy,” Swanton wrote in his analysis. “It shows that far from viewing the U.S. as a strategic partner, Hanoi sees Washington as an existential threat and has no intention of joining its anti-China alliance. ”

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry did not answer emails seeking comment on The 88 Project report or the document it highlighted.

The U.S. State Department refused to comment directly on the “2nd U.S. Invasion Plan,” but stressed the new partnership agreement, saying it “promotes prosperity and security for the United States and Vietnam.”

“A strong, prosperous, independent and resilient Vietnam benefits our two countries and helps ensure that the Indo-Pacific remains stable, secure, free and open,” the State Department said.

Documents offer a window into internal thinking

Nguyen Khac Giang, of Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute research center, said the plans highlighted tensions within Vietnam’s political leadership, where the Communist Party’s conservative, military-aligned faction has long been preoccupied with external threats to the regime.

“The military has never been too comfortable moving ahead with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the United States,” Giang said.

Tensions within the government spilled into the public realm in June 2024, when U.S.-linked Fulbright University was accused of fomenting a “color revolution” by an army TV report. The Foreign Ministry defended the university, which U.S. and Vietnamese officials had highlighted when the two countries upgraded ties.

Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, said the Vietnamese military still has “a very long memory” of the war with the U.S. that ended in 1975. While Western diplomats have tended to see Hanoi as most concerned by possible Chinese aggression, the document reinforces other policy papers suggesting leaders’ biggest fear is that of a “color revolution,” he said.

Further undermining trust between the U.S. and Vietnam were cuts made to the U.S. Agency for International Development by President Donald Trump’s administration, which disrupted projects such as efforts to clean up tons of soil contaminated with deadly dioxin from the military’s Agent Orange defoliant and unexploded American munitions and land mines.

“This pervasive insecurity about color revolutions is very frustrating, because I don’t see why the Communist Party is so insecure,” said Abuza, whose book “The Vietnam People’s Army: From People’s Warfare to Military Modernization?” was published last year.

“They have so much to be proud of — they have lifted so many people out of poverty, the economy is humming along, they are the darling of foreign investors.”

While China and Vietnam have been at odds over territorial claims in the South China Sea, the documents portray China more as a regional rival than a threat like the U.S.

“China doesn’t pose an existential threat to the Communist Party (of Vietnam),” Abuza said. “Indeed, the Chinese know they can only push the Vietnamese so far, because they’re fearful that the Communist Party can’t respond forcefully to China (and will) look weak and it will cause a mass uprising.”

China is Vietnam’s largest two-way trade partner, while the U.S. is its largest export market, meaning Hanoi needs to perform a balancing act in keeping up diplomatic and economic ties, while also hedging its bets.

“Even some of the more progressive leaders look at the United States, saying, ‘Yes, they like us, they’re working with us, they are good partners for now, but given the opportunity if there were a color revolution, the Americans would support it,’” Abuza said.

Trump’s second administration softens some concerns, but raises more

Under Vietnamese leader To Lam, who became Communist Party general secretary at around the same time the document was written, the country has moved to strengthen ties with the U.S., especially under Trump, Giang said.

Lam was reappointed general secretary last month and is expected to also assume the presidency, which would make him the country’s most powerful figure in decades.

With Lam at the helm, Trump’s family business has broken ground on a $1.5 billion Trump-branded golf resort and luxury real estate project in northern Hung Yen province. The Vietnamese leader almost immediately accepted Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, which Giang said was an unusually swift decision given that foreign policy moves are typically calibrated with close attention to Beijing’s possible reaction.

But Trump’s military operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro have given Vietnamese conservatives fresh justification for their unease about closer ties with Washington. Any U.S. military action involving Hanoi’s ally Cuba could upset Vietnam’s strategic balance, Giang added.

“Cuba is very sensitive,” he said. “If something happens in Cuba, it will send shock waves through Vietnam’s political elites. Many of them have very strong, intimate ties with Cuba.”

Overall, the first year of Trump’s second term is likely to have left the Vietnamese happy about the focus on the Western Hemisphere but wondering about other developments, Abuza said.

“The Vietnamese are going to be confused by the Trump administration, which has downplayed human rights and democracy promotion, but at the same time been willing to violate the sovereignty of states and remove leaders they don’t like,” he said.

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Rising reported from Bangkok.

Blue Nile: From the Margins to the Center of Sudan’s War

28/01/2026 15:39 BLUE NILE

Area of attacks in Blue Nile state (Google Maps)

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) has stated that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) decision to push the battle to the Blue Nile is crucially aimed at reigniting the competition for control of central Sudan – Khartoum, Sennar, and Gezira. If the RSF seize the Blue Nile, it will open routes towards Sennar, which has been under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since early 2015.

On Sunday, the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) forces led by Abdelaziz El Hilu launched an attack on the areas of Maklan and El Silak western Blue Nile state, but the SAF said they repelled the attack. The attack displaced hundreds of residents of the El Silak area, creating dire humanitarian conditions.

The ACLED Project explained that the recent attack, in which forces crossed from South Sudan, places the Blue Nile region at the centre of the Sudanese conflict.

 The report explained that if the RSF were to gain control of the Blue Nile region, it could open a gateway to central Sudan. However, the mass mobilisation of Sudanese army forces in central Sudan over the past two years presents significant complications to any RSF efforts to replicate their earlier successes at the start of the Sudanese conflict.

Background of the attack

The Baw locality lies between the state capital, Damazin, and the Kurmuk region, which includes the Yabus area, a stronghold of the SPLM-N led by El Hilu, and borders South Sudan. These attacks mark the first direct confrontation between the two groups since the SAF accused the RSF in recent months of using neighbouring countries, particularly Ethiopia, to train and mobilise fighters.

The SAF, RSF, and allied groups have increased their deployment in Blue Nile state since at least mid-December 2015, when the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) publicly accused Ethiopia of providing military support to the RSF. The latest campaign in Blue Nile began in earnest on January 11, when the Sudanese Air Force (SAF) conducted airstrikes on a convoy in Yabus, killing an unspecified number of people. The SAF claimed the convoy was carrying foreign mercenaries trained in Ethiopia to reinforce the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). The SPLM-N countered that the strike killed civilians returning from markets and workplaces. Airstrikes by the SAF continued on January 22 in the Yabus and Bilel areas.

Blue Nile state is central to the push of the new RSF towards central Sudan.

From the margins to the centre

Blue Nile state was previously on the periphery of the war, but it has become a focal point in the Sudanese conflict. The current campaign by the RSF and the SPLM-N (El Hilu faction) is likely a reaction to recent offensive operations by the SAF against the two groups in North and South Kordofan, creating another front in the conflict with the SAF.

Since December 2025, airstrikes and drone attacks in South Kordofan—the main stronghold of the SPLM-N led by Abdelaziz El Hilu—have quadrupled, while the conflict for control of North Kordofan continues. Since the beginning of this year, the SAF have recaptured at least twelve locations in South and North Kordofan. Meanwhile, since February 2025, the RSF and the SPLM-N have besieged two major cities in South Kordofan: Kadugli—the state capital—and Dilling. The SAF managed to break the siege of Dilling two days ago. The SAF has been attempting to break the siege and link these cities to North Kordofan. Until the first quarter of 2025, the RSF controlled central Sudan, having previously forced the SAF-led government out of the capital, Khartoum, and relocated to Port Sudan. However, a series of RSF attacks between September 2024 and May 2025 brought about a dramatic shift, and the RSF completed its takeover of central Sudan by May 2025. The SAF subsequently re-established their government headquarters in Khartoum on January 11, 2026.

Exclusive Interview: Former Sudan PM Hamdok in Europe ‘to Rally Support for Peace’

01/02/2026 10:44 THE HAGUE

Abdallah Hamdok interviewed by Radio Dabanga in The Hague on Jan 27, 2026 (Photo: Radio Dabanga / Andrew Bergman)

Amid the ongoing war that has displaced millions of Sudanese and caused widespread collapse of the foundations of life, Radio Dabanga’s Editor in Chief Kamal Elsadig spoke to Dr Abdallah Hamdok, former Prime Minister of Sudan and head of the Civil Democratic Alliance for Revolutionary Forces (Somoud) in The Hague, the Netherlands, in a lengthy interview that addressed developments in Sudan, the objectives of his European tour, his vision for stopping the war and addressing the roots of the crisis, and the role of civil forces and the international community in achieving sustainable peace and a civilian democratic transition.

In the interview, Hamdok said that his current presence in Europe, specifically in the Netherlands after visiting France, is part of a tour aimed primarily at rallying support for peace in Sudan. He explained that the tour includes five countries: France, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, and concludes in the United Kingdom.

Our European tour aims to rally international support to end a war that has created the greatest humanitarian tragedy in Sudan…

He told Radio Dabanga that the aim of this visit is to make the world feel the true magnitude of the Sudanese crisis, at a time when Sudan has become part of what he described as forgotten conflicts, even though what is happening there today represents the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, and even surpasses other crises that receive wider coverage and attention. He said that this tour came in response to the suffering of the people of Sudan, citizens who are suffering from the fires of displacement and refuge, and who are deprived of shelter, food, water, education and health services, at a time when the world’s capabilities have declined compared to what was previously available, which requires making a greater effort to reach the largest possible number of actors.

Specifically addressing the international community via Radio Dabanga, Hamdok says: “We are embarking on a visit to Europe, starting in France, then Netherlands, Norway, Germany, United Kingdom, and we have been talking to the regional and international community in various places, whether it’s the US, Canada, our region, the institutions like the United Nations, the Arab League, the African Union, IGAD, the European Union. What we would like to see from our partners and friends in all these institutions, countries, organizations, we would like you to remember there is a country called Sudan which is passing through the most catastrophic and humanitarian crisis in the world today, larger than Gaza and Ukraine combined.

We’d like you to help our people through humanitarian assistance and all that. We do appreciate so many of you, particularly the neighbouring countries, who received with open arms, our refugees, They are sharing with them the meagre resources they have, but we would like their plight, their issues, their sufferings to be addressed. Beyond this, we would like our partners and friends to help us and work with us to address the Sudan peace through a credible, comprehensive political process led by the Sudanese with the support of our friends and partners.”

He noted that their meetings in Europe included government officials, opinion-forming institutions, research centres, media outlets, and civil society organisations, stressing that the main focus of all these meetings was the suffering of the Sudanese citizen, and that the goal was to mobilise support for the people in these harsh circumstances, so that the world would feel the magnitude of the tragedy and realise that the Sudan crisis cannot be ignored.

Regarding questions raised by Sudanese people about how to stop the war given that civilian forces do not possess weapons, Hamdok told Radio Dabanga that they are part of the civilian sphere that constitutes the vast majority of the Sudanese people, and that although they do not possess guns, they possess the power of their people and the broad street, which is a proven weapon that brought down dictatorships in 1964, 1985 and 2019. He added that when Sudanese people unite and have a loud voice, they are capable of achieving something akin to miracles.

A delegation from Somoud, headed by Dr. Abdalla Hamdok, in the centre, alongside Emmanuel Blatmann, Director General for African Affairs at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following talks held by the delegation in Paris on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 (Photo: Supplied)

Paths to resolving the crisis

He explained that the “Steadfastness” coalition presented its vision for resolving the crisis through three integrated tracks. The first track is a ceasefire, because the continuation of the war and the exchange of fire prevents any meaningful progress. The second track is the humanitarian track, emphasising that human life is paramount and that this is the fundamental basis for any solution. The third track is the political track, for which the coalition proposed a mechanism called the Round Table.

Hamdok stated that this dialogue is based on the readiness of the Somoud Alliance to meet with all civilian forces, including the Founding Alliance, the Democratic Bloc, and other groups outside these frameworks, such as Abdel Wahid Mohamed Nour, the Popular Congress Party, and the Ba’ath Party, to form a preparatory committee representing all these parties. He explained that the committee’s task would be to arrange the conference agenda, agree on its issues, develop a draft peace agreement for Sudan, and reach a consensus on the structure and form of the transition. Following this, a Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue conference would be convened to ratify these issues, after which the transition process would commence.

Civilian ranks are fragmented

He acknowledged that the civilian forces in the current situation are fragmented among various groups, including Somoud, the Founding (Tasees) movement, the Democratic Bloc, radicals, Islamists, and civil society organisations, lacking a unified vision, which has weakened the civilian presence. However, he emphasised that what is needed is not complete unity, as that is impossible, but rather reasonable unity or broad coordination under a single umbrella, where fundamental issues are agreed upon. This is not difficult and has been achieved more than once in Sudan’s history.

He added that this type of coordination creates a strong voice capable of putting pressure on both sides of the war, noting that positive results have begun to emerge, such as the Nairobi Declaration, which brought together the Somoud alliance with the Abdul Wahid Muhammad Nour Movement, the Baath Party, the Popular Congress, as well as the Cairo Charter. Hamdok considered these steps to be a good start towards unifying the civilian forces.

He told Radio Dabanga that Sudan is facing a real existential crisis, warning that continued disputes could lead to the loss of the country itself, and calling on Sudanese to agree on commonalities first to save the homeland, and then leave the field open for political competition later.

Exception to the dissolved National Congress

He explained that the only exception to the principle of political openness in Sudan remains the forces that “destroyed the country,” referring to the National Congress Party, which was legally dissolved during the transitional period, and the Islamist movement associated with it. In an interview with Radio Dabanga, he indicated that the goal is to replace the one-party state with a nation-state that is inclusive of all, emphasising that this is the foundation for any genuine political settlement.

He added that Sudan is a Muslim-majority country and there is no threat to Islam or fear for it, noting that the civilian forces are working regularly with factions within the Islamic movement, most notably the Popular Congress, which he said deserves credit for its complete break with coups and dictatorships and its clear support for civilian rule, which opens the way for a different Sudan.

Arranging the situation in Sudan

Regarding the role of the international community, Hamdok stated that Sudan’s situation cannot be resolved without the Sudanese voice, and that any initiative that does not incorporate the Sudanese perspective is meaningless. He emphasised that the war was started by Sudanese hands within Sudan, and that its fundamental solution must come from Sudanese civilians, with the role of the region and the international community limited to support and assistance.

In the interview with Dabanga, Hamdok addressed the sharp division left by the war within Sudanese society and even within the same household, explaining that this division is not new, but rather was deepened by the war, and that its roots go back to a long history of marginalisation and mismanagement of diversity.

He stated that the current war presents Sudanese people with only two options: either to restructure the country and build a new, different Sudan based on a new social contract, or to continue down the path of failure that has plagued the state for over seventy years. He explained that the fundamental issues at stake include the relationship between religion and the state, equal citizenship, and the role of the military—issues that must be at the heart of any comprehensive constitutional conference.

No partnerships with the military

Regarding talk of new military partnerships during the transitional period, Hamdok admitted in his interview with Dabanga that he had previously been a strong believer in civilian-military partnerships, promoting them as a Sudanese model, hoping that after decades of rule, the military would learn that military rule only leads to crises. However, he acknowledged that practical experience had proven this approach wrong, and that there was no justification for repeating the same experiment.

He stressed that any new peace equation must establish a clear and specific role for security institutions, ensuring their professionalism and keeping them away from politics and the economy, while acknowledging their important role in protecting society and the constitution.

He praised the Quartet initiative, which put forward clear principles, a roadmap and timelines, and stipulated a complete civilian transition, security and military reform, and the exclusion of forces that destroyed political life, considering that it is consistent with the vision of the Somoud Alliance.

A new social contract and equal citizenship

In diagnosing the reasons for Sudan reaching this stage, Hamdok told Radio Dabanga that the state failed to be reconciled with itself and its citizens, failed to manage diversity, and failed to build unifying ideas, which created the phenomena of centre and periphery and unbalanced development, and drove many on the periphery to take up arms since the 1950s.

He added that the old social contract had failed, and that Sudan needed a new social contract and a constitution drafted with the participation of all, addressing issues of identity, cultural and religious diversity, the distribution of wealth and power, and the building of a national army in which all Sudanese see themselves reflected. He said this was the essence of what he called ‘The New Sudan’ – a Sudan built on different foundations. In a final message via Radio Dabanga, Hamdok appealed to Sudanese people to unite to end the war and put aside their differences, stressing that Sudan’s greatest achievements were accomplished through unity, from independence to uprisings and revolutions, and that the time has come to end the suffering of millions and stop this war.

Abdallah Hamdok inteviewed by Radio Dabanga Editor in Chief Kamal Elsdig in The Hague on Jan 27, 2026 (Photo: RD / Andrew Bergman)

* The Civil Democratic Alliance for Revolutionary Forces (Somoud) is a broad coalition that brings together political parties, trade unions, professional associations, resistance committees, and civil society organisations, united by a shared commitment to end the wars ravaging Sudan—most urgently the ongoing conflict that began on April 15, 2023, the deadliest in the nation’s modern history.

“This war has triggered an intricate regional crisis, where political, economic, social, and geopolitical factors converge. It represents a deliberate effort to crush the December Revolution and prevent the establishment of a democratic state founded on freedom, justice, peace, and accountability. Our mission includes dismantling the remnants of the former Islamic regime and eradicating systemic corruption deeply rooted in both military and civilian institutions.” – (Source: Somoud.net)

Sudan’s War-torn Capital Sees Second Commercial Flight Land Since Conflict Began

12:50 PM EST, February 1, 2026

CAIRO (AP) — A commercial flight landed in the Sudanese capital Sunday for the second time since a devastating war broke out in the northeastern African country nearly three years ago.

The domestic flight, operated by the national flag carrier SUDANAIR, landed at the Khartoum International Airport Sunday afternoon, according to the state-run SUNA news agency.

The flight took off Sunday morning from the eastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan, which had served as an interim seat for the government until the administration moved back to Khartoum earlier this year, SUNA said.

The reopening of the Khartoum International Airport was a crucial step in the government’s efforts to normalize life in the capital, which has been wrecked during the ongoing war between the military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Sunday’s flight was the second commercial flight to arrive in Khartoum since a flight operated by the privately owned Badr Airlines landed in the airport in October last year. At the time the RSF launched drones at the airport to disrupt the government’s efforts to reopen the facility. The miliary retook Khartoum from the RSF earlier last year.

The war in Sudan began in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. The airport was severely damaged in the first weeks of the war.

A Sudanese doctor recount

The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. It fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.

Mass Evictions in Lagos Displace Thousands Including Baby Twins Now Living in a Canoe

By OPE ADETAYO

2:06 AM EST, February 1, 2026

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Victor Ahansu was barely awake with his wife and baby twins before the grinding sound of bulldozers woke them. It was all the warning the family had, he said, before fleeing mass evictions in their historic community of Makoko in Lagos. Their house was demolished on Jan. 11, one of thousands taken down by the ongoing operation.

Now the 5-month-old twins and their parents live in a wooden canoe, with a woven plastic sack for shelter from the rain. The thump of hammers fills the air as other residents of Nigeria ’s largest city break down homes and salvage what they can.

“I have not even been able to go to work to make money, because I don’t want to leave my wife and children, and the government comes again,” Ahansu, a fisherman, told The Associated Press.

For decades, tens of thousands of people have lived in homes on stilts above the lagoon in Makoko, one of Africa’s oldest and largest waterfront communities.

To many Nigerians, Makoko has long been distinctive. To nonprofit organizations, it has been a testing ground for ideas like floating schools. But to some developers and authorities, it’s valuable waterfront property in the hands of some of the megacity’s poorest people.

More than 3,000 homes have been torn down and 10,000 people displaced in this latest wave of demolitions that began in late December, according to a coalition of local advocacy groups. Makoko’s residents have lived here legally, but Nigeria’s Land Law allows the government to take any land it deems fit for public purpose.

There is a long history of such mass evictions in the rapidly developing city of an estimated 20 million people on the Gulf of Guinea. Advocacy groups estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes since 2023, when the current state government took office.

On Wednesday, hundreds of people protested the mass evictions across Lagos. Police dispersed them with tear gas.

Population pressures

As Lagos’ population increases, people in low-income communities like Makoko have been caught in the line of fire amid government efforts to develop the megacity.

Residents told the AP that the Lagos state government in this case asked people to move 100 meters from an electricity line, but then the demolitions just kept going.

Officials at the state’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development declined to answer questions about the Makoko demolitions and residents’ allegations that there had been little or no warning before they began on Dec. 23.

The officials, however, pointed to recent comments by Lagos Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who defended the evictions and cited safety risks, saying communities had spread close to critical infrastructure.

Residents say that space in the Makoko area had been allotted to a private construction company, one of many in a city where waterfront space is often prized for luxury and other properties. The AP couldn’t verify that allegation.

“I think that when (the government) is looking for centrally located land and since other places are filled up, there is the idea that you can come and clear away communities because they are less privileged and you can come up with some justification,” said Megan Chapman, co-director for the Justice and Empowerment Initiatives, an advocacy group for displaced communities in Lagos.

High rents

Makoko, established in the 19th century, has survived past attempts at demolition, usually when there’s a public outcry. Life meanders through narrow streets and waterways in the community nicknamed the “Venice of Africa” by outsiders. There are few public services like electricity or waste management.

Those being displaced say they have few options. Lagos has some of Africa’s highest rents. A room in a tenement house where dozens of people share bathrooms can go for 700 thousand naira annually (around $500) in a city where the minimum wage is 77,000 naira ($55).

Basirat Kpetosi sat atop the ruins of her waterfront home in Makoko, frying dough in sizzling oil for sale. She was resigned to her loss.

Kpetosi said that she woke to the sound of bulldozers on Jan. 9, when her house was torn down. Now she and her five children are left with no shelter.

Kpetosi, from a family of fishermen, said that she built the home on the lagoon — two rooms on stilts made of bamboo and aluminium sheets — last year.

She said they received no compensation for its destruction, and the government is making no plans for their resettlement, even though the law requires it. In a 2017 ruling by the Lagos High Court seen by the AP, the judge ruled that mass eviction without resettlement violated the “fundamental right to protection from cruel and degrading treatment.”

“We sleep in the open,” Kpetosi said. “When it rained, it rained on my children and me.”