Musings From Abroad

Saudi Arabia beheads 81: Social media not happy with Boris Johnson, Joe Biden… here’s why

Published

2 years ago

March 13, 2022

Reactions from across the world have been trailing news that Saudi Arabia in what is the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in modern history executed 81 men over the past 24 hours.

News of the execution broke on Saturday with victims reported to be seven Yemenis, one Syrian national and the rest Saudi Arabians.

According to news agency Saudi Press Agency, the victims were executed on charges that include “allegiance to foreign terrorist organisations” and holding “deviant beliefs”.

Some observers on social media have viewed the development in contrast with the recent announcement by the United Kingdom to seize all assets of Chelsea Football Club owner – Roman Abramovich on the account of being one of seven oligarchs seen as allies of Vladimir Putin and in connection with the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Accusations of double standards are also levelled against the United Kingdom government on the ground of its past and recent relations with the Saudis despite age long report of human right violations but swift to ground Putin’s allies’ assets.

We're praising ourselves for stopping buying Russian fuel because they're bombing Ukrainian civilians.

MEANWHILE…

We're not only buying fuel from Saudi Arabia while they're bombing Yemeni civilians, but we're giving them the bombs to do it.

But ALL lives matter, right?🤮

— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) March 9, 2022

Another Twitter user argued that if Putin disqualifies Roman Abramovich from owning assets in the UK, the same standard should mean Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is also not qualified to own Newcastle Football Club.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, 36-year-old Mohammed bin Salman is believed to be behind the Saudi Public Investment Fund who recently bought Newcastle Football Club.

Saudi Arabia beheaded 81 people today. Now tell me again why MBS is considered a fit person to own Newcastle United.

— David__Osland (@David__Osland) March 12, 2022

Saturday
– Roman Abramovich disqualified after being sanctioned by the UK government
– Saudi Arabia executes a record 81 men in one day

Sunday
– Chelsea v Newcastle

No need to whatabout me. These are just remarkable facts for a game of football.

— Paul Hayward (@_PaulHayward) March 13, 2022

Reports from the United Kingdom on Sunday says Prime Minister Boris Johnson is poised to travel to Saudi Arabia next week for talks on oil as he attempts to move the UK away from dependence on energy supplies from Russia.

We never did find out if Saudi Arabia or the UAE ever ended up returning Joe Biden's phone calls.

I still never thought I'd live to see the day foreign leaders ghost the President of the United States.

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) March 13, 2022

The United States has also been called out amidst the development.

“Hello from 🇬🇧, which allowed Putin to infiltrate and subvert our entire democracy. Now we’ve realised that regime is awful, we’re off to Saudi Arabia tomorrow to get them to pump more oil, even though they executed 81 people yesterday and bomb Yemen with weapons we sold them.”

— Brendan May (@bmay) March 13, 2022

Poland refuses to send Jets, Saudi Arabia hasn't answered any of our calls, and Iran just bombed our consulate in Erbil.

But at least we got equity training in our military.

The Biden presidency

— Josh Barnett for Congress (AZ-01) (@BarnettforAZ) March 13, 2022

Musings From Abroad

Uganda turns to China for $150 million loan after World Bank halts funding

Published

3 hours ago

November 29, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

East African country, Uganda will now seek to borrow $150 million from China’s Export-Import Bank (Exim), following lending restrictions by the World Bank for its anti-homosexuality law.

The action highlights the country’s growing dependence on Chinese lenders after the World Bank’s decision earlier this year stopping all new loans to the country.

Uganda is negotiating a loan to finance the construction of a pipeline to help export its crude oil to foreign markets with the Chinese export credit organisations SINOSURE and Exim Bank.

The money, the finance ministry says, is “to finance the supply, installation, commissioning, and support of the national data transmission backbone infrastructure.”

A law prohibiting LGBTQ was passed by the Ugandan legislature in May. Several stringent regulations were incorporated into the legislation, which drew strong criticism from the international community, including the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and major corporations like the World Bank.

Before lending to Uganda was suspended by the World Bank, it was the country’s largest development partner.

The Anti-Homosexuality Act imposes severe penalties, including death, for a variety of homosexual offences.

Musings From Abroad

Russia’s free grain to hit 6 African countries this week

Published

3 days ago

November 26, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s promise to send free grain to six African countries in July, Russian shipments of donated grain are due to begin landing in Africa within days.

The supply will give fresh impetus to Russia’s bid to bolster its influence on the continent after criticism over its invasion of Ukraine and withdrawal from a deal that facilitated the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea linked to pushing up global food and fertilizer prices.

The Russian Agriculture Ministry stated earlier this month that the shipments would amount to 200,000 metric tonnes by the end of the year, with Somalia and Burkina Faso scheduled to be the initial recipients. According to Putin’s July statement, Zimbabwe, Mali, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic are also expected to receive between 25,000 and 50,000 metric tonnes of grain each.

Two of the top exporters of grain and vegetable oil worldwide are Russia and Ukraine. Russia’s bombardment of Ukrainian ports and stores has affected the world’s supply of both commodities during the war. Russia in July also quit a year-old agreement that had allowed Ukraine to ship grain from its Black Sea ports, which, according to a study by a South African agency, helped feed about 95 million people but fell short in ensuring that fertilizer-originating from Russia could flow freely to global markets. Had that happened, food could have been produced to feed about 199 million people.

However, Putin, in order to fulfil what he claimed was Moscow’s crucial role in ensuring global food security, stated that Russia was prepared to replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa on both a commercial and assistance basis.

While most African countries have adopted a non-aligned posture in the war, Russia’s influence in the continent has been on the rise lately, particularly with regard to defence relations.