Leid Stories – Benjamin Netanyahu Trolls Africa for Big-Money Deals and Old ‘Friendships’; Obama, Biden Hit the Road (at Taxpayer Expense) for Hillary – 07.05.16

Starting with Uganda—where, 40 years ago, his older brother Yonatan was killed in an Israeli Defense Forces-led commando raid on the airport at Entebbe to free hostages being held by pro-Palestinian hijackers–Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday began a foray into East Africa that also will include scheduled trips to Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia and include summit meetings with leaders from South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

Netanyahu said that his trip to the region, the first in 30 years by an Israeli prime minister, is meant to indicate a renewed interest in forging bilateral economic and strategic ties with old friends. But new fears and suspicions abound in the African world about Israel’s ramped-up foreign-policy push on the continent. Abayomi Azikiwe, editor in chief of Pan-African Newswire, discusses Netanyahu’s historic visit to East Africa.

Both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are hitting the road this week as pitchmen for Hillary Clinton. Obama makes his debut today at a rally in Charlotte, N.C.; Biden goes a-stumping Friday in Scranton, Pa., his hometown.

Leid Stories explains says that it isn’t so much a testament of Clinton’s clout and firepower that the Top Two are campaigning for her, but yet another indication of her political vulnerability as a distrusted candidate who will be the party’s nominee later this month.

Leid Stories – Water Shutoffs Add to School Shutdowns in Detroit; Election 2016: The Indiana Primaries: – 05.03.16

For the second day, most all of Detroit’s 97 public schools remain closed—the result of a sickout by teachers whose salaries are not guaranteed beyond June 30, when the state’s largest school district runs out of money. About 46,000 schoolchildren remain home today. Abayomi Azikiwe, editor in chief of Pan-African News Wire and a co-founder of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shutoffs, reports that the misery index goes several notches higher for many of their parents; more than 20,000 households face water shutoffs today.

Voting is brisk in Indiana, where Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls are duking it out for decisive delegate wins to assure nomination or for badly needed voter boosts to flagging campaigns. Leid Stories discusses the Indiana primaries.

Leid Stories – 03.07.16

Untied Tongue: Trump Speaks American Ugly With A French Accent

Democrats Troll Flint: Misery Serves As A Political Backdrop

Donald Trump, the frontrunner among Republican candidates in the 2016 presidential race, has an admirer in Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the far-right, trenchantly racist National Front party in France. Gilbert Mercier, editor in chief of News Junkie Post, draws parallels between the ascendancy and growing appeal of Trump and that of LePen.

At the urging of Hillary Clinton, Sunday night’s CNN-hosted Democratic “debate” with fellow contender Bernie Sanders was held in the beleaguered city of Flint, Michigan, which remains mired in a public-health disaster as the city concedes responsibility for exposing tens of thousands of residents to lead poisoning and bacterial infections from its water system. Abayomi Azikiwe, a Detroit organizer for the Workers World Party and editor in chief of the Pan-African Newswire, says Flint served as a convenient political backdrop, but substantive issues affecting its residents went missing.

Abayomi Azikiwe – China-Africa Cooperation: Economic and Geopolitical Implications

Beijing and African Union states to enhance ‘win-win’ partnerships A recently-held gathering on December 5-6 of African Union (AU) member-states and the People’s Republic of China under the banner of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has placed strong emphasis on greater collaboration between the two regions based on mutual benefit. This meeting was held in Johannesburg, South Africa under …

Abayomi Azikiwe – Behind the Obama Visit to East Africa. Imperialism with a “Human Face”, Outright Militarization of the African Continent

Also the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, came to the United States the previous week and held high-level meetings with Obama along with other officials in the State Department and the Pentagon. Obama’s term ends next year and many have criticized him for not visiting the country where his father was born since he was elected …

Leid Stories – 05.06.15

Struggling Detroiters Repel New Taxes
The High Cost of Police ‘Reforms’
Struggling Detroiters Repel New Taxes
The High Cost of Police ‘Reforms’

Still under the yoke of bankruptcy, Detroiters yesterday voted down a measure by the city to offset corporate tax breaks with new taxes for residents. Proposal 1 went down in flames, but the city continues to bank empty lots and foreclosed homes for future sale to real estate interests, and 25,000 homeowners face water shutoffs this month.
Abayomi Azikiwe, our correspondent in Detroit, reports.

It’s routine now, especially in the aftermath of particularly egregious conduct by police officers, for public officials and advocates alike to call for “reforms.” But the evidence is showing little, if any, movement on what is widely acknowledged as a national crisis.
Meanwhile, the toll climbs, and African American and Latino communities inordinately bear the brunt of the lethal consequences of police misconduct and excessive use of force.
Leid Stories says these targeted communities not only must press their demands, they should play a leading role in defining and deciding what “reform” means.