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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 6d

I would challenge the notion the rivalry between the TPLF and Isaias is rooted in the 1998-2000 war. It predated and exacerbated it. But good to see a mainstream publication like the Economist drawing attention to rising tensions in the Horn. www.economist.com/middle-east-...

Africa’s most secretive dictatorship faces an existential crisis

Eritrea’s sovereignty is under threat from an expansionist Ethiopia

www.economist.com

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 7d

I was reflecting with a friend that Jane Goodall managed to reach the grand age of 91 with - if her public interviews were anything to go by - the engaged, questing mind of a youngster. And she wore her (deserved) fame lightly. It was never about her. theconversation.com/jane-goodall...

Jane Goodall, the gentle disrupter whose research on chimpanzees redefined what it meant to be human

Without formal scientific training, Goodall upended the study of animal behavior. She also inspired countless people to protect nature.

theconversation.com

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 7d

www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Inside the meticulous, marvellous mind of John le Carré

A new exhibition opens up the spy writer’s sprawling literary archive to shed light on his idiosyncratic creative process. Katie Rosseinsky explores how he brought George Smiley and co to life

www.independent.co.uk

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 14d

edition.cnn.com/2025/09/22/a...

Two countries signed a peace deal in Washington. On the ground, little has changed | CNN

In the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, new recruits are being trained for battle – and US President Donald Trump’s claimed peace deal for the nation feels like a distant dream.

edition.cnn.com

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 15d

www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Cycling Event Can’t Override Rwanda’s Abuses

Kigali is hosting the International Cycling Union Road World Championships. But the celebration of international cycling’s flagship event cannot cover up Rwanda’s abusive human rights record.

www.hrw.org

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 17d

I was interviewed by Jan Antonissen ahead of the cycling championships in Rwanda. Striking how many media outlets doggedly gloss over this event's political aspects, despite the fact Rwanda already politicised it by banning a Belgian journalist. www.humo.be/nieuws/wk-wi...

WK wielrennen in Rwanda: ‘Met dit WK steunen we een regime dat massale wreedheden begaat’

Op zondag 21 september begonnen de wereldkampioenschappen wielrennen in Rwanda. De kans is groot dat het in het land van de duizend heuvels een nieuwe triomftocht wordt voor klimmer en hardrijder Remc...

www.humo.be

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 18d

If you're a control-freak police state, best not volunteer to host global sports events which attract hordes of journalists. Annoying, disobedient, disrespectful things, journalists. Rwanda should never have been allowed to host these cycling championships. cyclinguptodate.com/cycling/cont...

Controversy erupts in Rwanda as Belgian journalist barred from flight after criticising government: “That speaks volumes about the authoritarian nature of the regime”

With the UCI Road World Championships not yet even underway in Rwanda, the spotlight has already abruptly shifted from cycling to censorship. Belgian journalist Stijn Vercruysse, a veteran Africa corr...

cyclinguptodate.com

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 19d

This is exactly what happens when a sports organisation gets in bed with a dictatorship. As many of us pointed out at the time, the UCI should never have chosen Rwanda as a venue for world championships. What the **** did they expect? www.belganewsagency.eu/belgian-jour...

Belgian journalist denied entry to Rwanda for World Cycling Championships

Belgian journalist Stijn Vercruysse, from Flemish public broadcaster VRT, has been denied entry to Rwanda to report on the World Cycling...

www.belganewsagency.eu

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 20d

Trump's peace deal for eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is in trouble: www.reuters.com/world/africa...

www.reuters.com

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 23d

Talking about Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, iconic hotels and the joy of storytelling on "Start the Week" this morning. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 4 - Start the Week, Afghanistan and the DRC

Lyse Doucet, Michela Wrong and Ashleigh Percival-Borley talk to Shahidha Bari.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 23d

It was a privilege to be on the BBC's "Start the Week" this morning discussing war, iconic hotels and the joy of story-telling with what we belatedly clocked to be an all-woman panel: veteran Lyse Doucet, military historian Ashleigh Percival-Borley and presenter Shahidha Bari.

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 23d

www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

DR Congo: Militias, Army Threaten South Kivu Civilians

Congolese military forces and a coalition of abusive militias are threatening the security of civilians in Uvira, South Kivu province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

www.hrw.org

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 24d

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Inside the world of Kenya’s ‘shadow scholars’ paid to write essays for UK students

Highly educated Kenyans working for essay mills ghostwrite academic work that students pass off as their own

www.theguardian.com

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 27d

I'd not heard of Critical Threats before, but this is a strong report detailing the administrative structures being put in place by the Rwandan-backed M23 as it attempts to create a protectorate in eastern DRC. Rwanda is in it for the long haul this time. www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/m23...

M23’s State-Building Project: Africa File Special Edition

Rwandan-backed M23 has launched a systematic state-building project to translate its military gains in the eastern Democratic Republic of...

www.criticalthreats.org

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 28d

Sadly (or not so sadly, I guess), yes. We are old, Father William...

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 28d

The 25th anniversary edition of "In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz", my account of Mobutu's rise and fall, comes out tomorrow. Back when it was first published, I never dreamed it would still be selling all these years later. Funny. It has a new afterword and updates throughout.

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Sep 8

My copies of “Tradecraft”, the collection of essays by people who helped John le Carré research his novels, has arrived. Contains one chapter about the week Jason Stearns and I spent with the author in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Sep 7

I just realised that the BBC "play again" facility actually divides the Weekend programme into two episodes. Here's the first of the two, which features an item on the outbreak of ebola in DRC: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Weekend - Israel destroys high-rise building in Gaza - BBC Sounds

Residents of Gaza City are urged to leave as the Israeli army continues its attacks

www.bbc.co.uk

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Sep 7

The wheels of justice grind slowly, but.... www.thetimes.com/article/5338...

Arrest warrant for Marie Colvin’s killing rattles Assad’s gilded cage

France seeking Bashar al-Assad, the former Syrian dictator, and his henchmen. But how long can they hold off justice from under Putin’s protection?

www.thetimes.com

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Sep 7

For those who missed it, I was just on the BBC World Service Weekend, alongside Der Spiegel's Steffen Lüdke, chatting with Julian Worricker about Ebola, women in WW2, the upcoming John le Carre "Tradecraft" book/exhibition and dementia....
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Weekend - Vatican to canonise first millennial saint - BBC Sounds

Carlo Acutis, an Italian who died of leukaemia at 15, will be canonised on Sunday

www.bbc.co.uk

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Sep 5

This is very sad news. I met Congolese journalist and writer Deo Namujimbo in Paris a few years back. A feisty, articulate, committed activist. rsf.org/fr/rsf-salue...

RSF salue la mémoire de Déo Namujimbo, son ancien correspondant en RDC

De Goma à Kinshasa et de Lubumbashi à Matadi, la nouvelle de la mort à Paris, le 31 août 2025, du journaliste et écrivain congolais Déo Namujimbo a été un choc. Reporters sans frontières (RSF) rend ho...

https://rsf.org/fr/rsf-salue-la-mémoire-de-déo-namujimbo-son-ancien-correspondant-en-rdc

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Sep 5

The military cemetery in Kigali, Rwanda, keeps growing in size, peace negotiations notwitstanding. An excellent investigation by Human Rights Watch. bsky.app/profile/hrw....

Human Rights Watch @hrw.org · Sep 4

NEW: HRW geospatial analysis shows a large increase of graves in Kanombe Military Cemetery in Kigali, Rwanda since the M23 armed group and Rwanda Defence Force offensive on Goma and Bukavu in eastern DR Congo in Jan 2025. 1/12🧵⤵️

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Aug 30

It's gratifying to feature in this article by Stephen Smith about the writers and researchers who helped David Cornwell, better known as John le Carré, on his novels. With me, it was for work on "The Mission Song". observer.co.uk/style/featur...

John le Carré’s shadow world of secret informers

Long after he’d given up his intelligence career, the author remained at the centre of a web of contacts who played a key role in his writing. Now they’r...

observer.co.uk

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Aug 26

cf Page 179 of my book "Do Not Disturb" - "Kagame, appointed major, was director of finance and administration in the new military intelligence department set up by General Mugisha Muntu."

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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · Aug 26

Good overview, but the correspondent fell for that old canard that Kagame was head of military intelligence in Uganda. Which will be a surprise to those who actually held that job. On Rwanda, wikipedia can't be trusted. www.wsj.com/world/africa...

Decades After Genocide, Rwanda Emerges as Aggressive Regional Power

The tiny country has evolved from an object of sympathy into a controversial and feared powerhouse.

www.wsj.com

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