Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

The Continent @thecontinent.org · 1d

For five months after Israel’s war on Gaza began, Sherif Naim couldn’t open his laptop. Now, he runs Taqat — a solar-powered co-working hub helping 700+ freelancers survive war. Others like Gaza Talents are doing the same: rebuilding, even under bombardment.

Employment is resistance in Gaza

Remote-work platforms take root in Palestine as freelance tech and creative workers navigate the wartime economy.

continent.substack.com

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 2d

So many stories of suffering in Africa are told by others; so few by the people living them. 'The World Was In Our Hands', an oral history of people living through the Boko Haram conflict, aims to correct this. @hararereview.bsky.social has the review.

Review: Victims of a terrorist insurgency talk back

So many stories of suffering in Africa are told by others; so few by the people living them. An oral history of people living through the Boko Haram conflict aims to correct this.

continent.substack.com

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Nanjala @nanjala.bsky.social · 2d

Just seen video that Cameroonian President Paul Biya (96) who is running for office again, and his wife Chantal, could not attend a campaign event in Cameroon due to ill health so they sent literal puppets instead.

What a news cycle to be offline @thecontinent.org 😂

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Duncan Money @mininghistory.bsky.social · 2d

Beautiful bit of stratigraphy on the cover as well. What's not to love.

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Duncan Money @mininghistory.bsky.social · 2d

The people behind @thecontinent.org have launched a new paper focused on South Africa called @thefridaypaper.bsky.social and the cover story is about gold and Johannesburg's new gold mine.

You can read it for free here: www.thecontinent.org/_files/ugd/2...

Front cover of a newspaper called "The Friday Paper". The cover image is a drawing of the central Johannesburg skyline showing skycrapers and beanth the skyscapers are horizontal layers of pastel-coloured rock.

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 3d

Deep and dapper: An Isicathamiya group performs at a competition in Durban, South Africa. Isicathamiya – isiZulu for ‘to walk on tiptoes’ – is an acapella soulful, choral style developed by Zulu migrant workers.

Photo: Rajesh Jantilal

A group of sharply dressed men in matching royal blue suits stride in unison down a corridor, their movements precise and graceful. They wear pink polka-dot ties, red lapel flowers, and white gloves, exuding both confidence and elegance as they prepare to perform.

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 4d

This week, The Continent is on a break (until 18 Oct) — but we’ve been busy creating something new: a pilot edition of @thefridaypaper.bsky.social, a new South African newspaper. 🇿🇦

If you’re South African (or just love the place), this one’s for you.

Welcome to The Friday Paper.

Subscribe - at no cost, and with no passwords - to South Africa's newest national newspaper.

thefridaypaper.co.za

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WhoKnowsWhatTiger @shonatiger.bsky.social · 5d

It's arrived! Congratulations to @thecontinent.org

The Continent @thecontinent.org · 11d

📰 We’ll be back on 18 Oct — with a new member of the family.

The Continent is launching a South Africa–focused sibling. We need your help choosing its name. Cast your vote here 👇

Help us name a new SA newspaper.

South Africa needs a new national newspaper. Help us name it.

tally.so

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 4d

Follow @thefridaypaper.bsky.social 🎉

WhoKnowsWhatTiger @shonatiger.bsky.social · 5d

It's arrived! Congratulations to @thecontinent.org

The Continent @thecontinent.org · 11d

📰 We’ll be back on 18 Oct — with a new member of the family.

The Continent is launching a South Africa–focused sibling. We need your help choosing its name. Cast your vote here 👇

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 6d

The value of diamonds was always partly about their scarcity. Owning a large transparent rock that has no purpose beyond looking beautiful is one of the ultimate status symbols – unless everyone else has one. Their scarcity, however, is not a natural phenomenon, writes @mininghistory.bsky.social.

The dark side of the sparkling stones

Botswana may soon own the company that kept diamonds out of African hands.

continent.substack.com

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 7d

On the night of 30 January 1985, Anna Ndebele’s husband Cephas was taken in for questioning by state agents in Silobela, in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province, along with 10 other men. They were never seen again. Thirty years later, the 74-year-old still doesn’t know where the remains of her husband lie.

Gukurahundi’s horrors obscured by ‘dignity’

Zimbabwe is once again trying to reach for reconciliation and healing, but authorities don’t want anyone looking too closely.

continent.substack.com

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 8d

Zimbabwean authorities took farmlands back from white farmers in the early 2000s to redress colonial imbalances. Two decades later, in lithium-rich areas, land is parceled off again – this time to Chinese miners.

Zimbabwe's lithium boom uproots locals

Chinese mining concessions force families from land they have farmed for generations.

continent.substack.com

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Marc Riera @mrcasals.bsky.social · 9d

Joder, els idiomes són una cosa preciosa

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Marc Riera @mrcasals.bsky.social · 9d

"It rains so little in Botswana that the country’s people revere precipitation. The Setswana word for rain – pula – also means wealth or blessing, and lends its name to the country’s currency."

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯❤️

The Continent @thecontinent.org · 12d

All Protocol Observed.

Welcome to Issue 215 of The Continent.

Egypt’s bid to stamp out dissent has created a screen-to-prison pipeline. Children lured through gaming are jailed without trial — on terror charges.

Read it here: bit.ly/TC_215

This is the cover for The Continent, dated 27 September 2025, Issue 215.
At the bottom, in the center, there is a young man standing inside a cage made of iron bars, symbolizing imprisonment. He faces forward, holding onto the bars, with a barren desert landscape stretching behind him. Oil rigs and a windmill are scattered in the background.
Above his head, glowing in pink and purple tones, are two giant screens resembling video game interfaces. They show cartoonish avatars, guns, and reward icons like coins and badges, with the word “REWARDS” prominently displayed. One line of text on the screens reads: “Complete missions to get rewards!”
The overall effect links video gaming and digital rewards with imprisonment, echoing the cover story’s title printed at the bottom:
“Egypt’s screen to prison pipeline.” It is illustrated by Wynona Mutisi.

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Duncan Money @mininghistory.bsky.social · 9d

Diamonds are only really valuable when scarce and I've written in @thecontinent.org about what the industry did historically to African societies to keep them scarce.

My article and the whole issue is free to read: bit.ly/TC_215

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 9d

Djibouti drones killed eight people on the other side of its border with Ethiopia. Djibouti claimed they were terrorists. Ethiopia said nothing. This investigation found that some of the dead were Ethiopians, revealing another episode in Addis’s tendency to let its neighbours kill its citizens.

The Djiboutian massacre Ethiopia won’t acknowledge

Djibouti drones killed eight people on the other side of its border with Ethiopia. Djibouti claimed they were terrorists. Ethiopia said nothing.

continent.substack.com

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 10d

At least three African countries that have accepted people expelled by the United States are now facing pressure from lawyers and campaigners.

Trump’s deportation diplomacy triggers domestic headaches

Campaigners and people deported to African shores are suing participating countries and demanding answers.

continent.substack.com

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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 11d

All of the eyewitness accounts made it clear: only civilians died, & the strike took place on the Ethiopian side. Eventually, the Djiboutian Human Rights League, an exiled org that investigates abuses, produced a list of victims, & also stated the strike happened on the Ethiopian side of the border.

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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 11d

Between March & May, I spoke at length with eyewitnesses, two survivors, and people familiar with the Afar region. While the strike wasn't caught on camera...a day after it happened, locals went back to collect bodies that were left behind in the panic. Some took cameras & caught scenes like this.

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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 11d

If there's one thing that genocide in Gaza taught me about media, it's that narratives can be buried in headlines, selective quoting, & how deep past the lede you place it. Major intl coverage buried doubts of civilian suffering. Until recently, Chatgpt depicted the strike as an act of self defense.

AFP story: Djibouti drone attack killgs eight rebels: Govt

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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 11d

International media coverage of the strike was woeful. The likes of the now defunct VOA, and French state backed @afp.com and @rfi.fr simply quoted the Djiboutian Presidential advisor, or the Djiboutian government's communique, making no effort to communicate with victims. Here's a sample story:

Attaque de drones à Djibouti: huit «terroristes» tués, selon les autorités

À Djibouti, les autorités ont mené une attaque de drones et annoncent avoir tué huit terroristes. Selon un communiqué du ministère djiboutien de la Défense rendu public dimanche 2 février, cette opéra...

www.rfi.fr

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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 11d

But suspiciously silent was a party who could have cleared everything: the Ethiopian government. Addis Ababa never acknowledged the strike, with officials seemingly ordered to stay mum on the affair. This while gruesome images of dead women & children cast doubt on the Djiboutian version of events.

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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 11d

The facts weren't immediately clear. The areas along the border are porous, underdeveloped with much of it inaccessible by road. Djibouti was adamant that the strike took place at Addorta, a village 6km from the Ethiopian border. The Ethiopian press rubbished this account.

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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 11d

Meanwhile, on the exact same day...media in Ethiopia reported the exact opposite: citing eyewitnesses, they reported that the strike actually happened in Ethiopia, and targeted unarmed civilians from the Afar ethnic group, a mostly pastoralist community inhabiting both states.

Drone attack in Ethiopia's Afar region kills more than eight; residents accuse Djiboutian gov't - Addis Standard

Drone attack in Ethiopia's Afar region kills more than eight; residents accuse Djiboutian gov't Addis Standard News -

addisstandard.com

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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 11d

The "terrorists," are the FRUD (Front pour la restauration de l’unité et la démocratie), are a rebel group at war with the Djiboutian state since the 90ies. The statement admitted that some civilian "collateral damage" was caused, promised an investigation & said affected people were being tended to

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