Drew Ddembe

24.5K posts

Drew Ddembe

Drew Ddembe

@ddembe

I am a #Ugandan primarily interested in #social and #political issues relevant to Uganda. I have been providing #sociopolitical #commentary since 2004

Everywhere Katılım Temmuz 2009
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Drew Ddembe retweetledi
Steve Howell
Steve Howell@FromSteveHowell·
Keir Starmer claims "freedom of navigation" is a "fundamental principle" to justify joining the war against Iran. But, for nearly three months, he's been totally silent about the US blockading Cuba and stopping oil tankers reaching the island.
Drop Site@DropSiteNews

🇨🇺 Cuba’s second nationwide blackout this week as U.S. blocks fuel for over 3 months Cuba’s 11 million people were plunged into a second nationwide blackout this week after the U.S. blocked nearly all oil shipments to the island since January, leaving the country without fuel for more than three months. Tanker traffic has nearly stopped under Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign, with all major shipments intercepted, delayed, or forced to reroute. The last confirmed delivery was January 9: ~85,000 barrels from Mexico. ➤ Fuel shipments blocked or diverted: 🔹 Ocean Mariner (mid-Feb): carrying Colombian fuel oil; intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard roughly 70 miles off Cuba, preventing delivery 🔹 Gas Exelero (Feb): spent five days attempting to secure fuel in Curaçao but failed to obtain cargo and left empty 🔹 Sea Horse (March): Hong Kong-flagged tanker carrying ~190,000–200,000 barrels of Russian-origin diesel loaded via ship-to-ship transfer in the Mediterranean; idled in the Atlantic for weeks before diverting toward Trinidad 🔹 LNG tanker: carrying ~27,000 metric tons of gas; rerouted away from Cuba to Venezuela to avoid U.S. sanctions ➤ Vessels now attempting to reach Cuba: 🔹 Anatoly Kolodkin: sanctioned Russian tanker carrying ~730,000 barrels of crude; currently ~3,000 nautical miles out in the Atlantic; expected early April; could provide only short-term relief if delivered 🔹 Escort presence: the tanker is accompanied by a Russian naval destroyer, underscoring the geopolitical stakes as Moscow tests U.S. enforcement 🔹 Russian naval oiler: traveling with the flotilla; U.S. officials say its cargo is too limited to significantly ease shortages ➤ Impact of fuel collapse: 🔹 Multiple nationwide blackouts in March, including the second this week 🔹 A 29-hour grid collapse earlier this week left millions without power 🔹 Airports ran out of jet fuel by mid-February, grounding most international flights 🔹 Trash collection has largely stopped in Havana as diesel supplies ran out

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Charles Onyango-Obbo
Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria Early African Winners as They Harvest Windfall from the Misery of US–Israel vs Iran War As the world reels from the escalation of the US–Israel vs Iran war that erupted on 28 February, the humanitarian suffering is profound. Yet in the realm of global commerce, a quieter upheaval is underway. With the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz rendered near impassable – shipping traffic down by 90% – Africa has emerged as the world’s most vital logistics corridor. •In KENYA, the once-forgotten LAMU PORT has roared to life. Long dismissed by critics as a white elephant, it has seen a 974% surge in volume. Ultra-large vessels, too deep for Mombasa and too exposed for Gulf waters, now dock at Lamu’s 18-metre natural depth. •ETHIOPIA'S national carrier Ethiopian Airlines has seized the moment. With Dubai and Doha mostly paralysed by airspace risks from Iranian missile and droke strikes, Addis Ababa has become the continent’s primary air-bridge. Cargo revenue is up 14%. High-value goods – electronics, pharmaceuticals, perishables –are now routed through Bole International, bypassing the 40-day sea detour. •NIGERIA is counting its crude. Brent prices hit $120 per barrel in March. Against a budget benchmark of $64.85, daily revenues have doubled. The government has stumbled into an unexpected multi-billion dollar fiscal cushion. •DURBAN, South Africa’s main port, has shed its reputation for congestion. It is now clocking 28 crane moves per hour, processing thousands of ships rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope with a rare level of precision. •MOROCCO'S Royal Air Maroc has moved swiftly. Ten new international routes –including Los Angeles and Beirut – have siphoned off transit passengers who once relied on Middle Eastern hubs. Casablanca traffic is up 12%. •WALVIS BAY in Namibia has become the first reliable refuelling station for ships emerging from the South Atlantic. Bunkering demand is up 30%. •The DANGOTE Petroleum Refinery has in Nigeria, is cashing in. In March, it issued an export tender for 84,000 metric tonnes of jet fuel and diesel. It is no longer just a domestic project – it is replacing Persian Gulf supplies for the continent. •MOZAMBIQUE'S $20 billion LNG project has been fast-tracked. TotalEnergies resumed operations in early 2026. Over 4,000 workers are racing to meet an accelerated production date. Iranian gas is out. Mozambican gas is in. •At Mozambique's PORT of MAPUTO, volumes grew by 16% in the weeks following the war’s outbreak. Chrome and coal exporters have abandoned northern routes in favour of the safer Indian Ocean–Cape corridor. •MAURITIUS, ever shrewd, has leveraged its mid-ocean position into a 15% revenue increase. High-end logistics and emergency repair services are now its bread and butter. But no doubt, the most intriguing twist is the Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) revolution in Lamu. Manufacturers are using RoRo ships – where vehicles are driven on and off via ramps – to offload thousands of cars. These are then ferried to the Gulf on small, low-risk boats to avoid the $200,000+ war risk insurance premiums slapped on large carriers entering the Strait of Hormuz. To protect this windfall, Kenya and Ethiopia have launched joint military operations along the once-languishing Lamu Port–South Sudan–Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor. This unprecedented coordination is designed to ensure that the new “safe harbour” of Lamu remains shielded from regional spillover. And because the closure of the Strait of Hormuz marooned shipping containers, an emergency air-bridge has formed. Nairobi and Addis Ababa are now the primary transit points for consumer electronics flown from Asia to Europe—bypassing the the 17,700KM sea detour. US leader Donald Trump despises Africa, once labelling its countries "sh*thole", but while many of them will be hit hard by rising energy and fertilisers from America and Israel's attack on Iran, several of them will get a bounty he would never have wished for them.
Charles Onyango-Obbo tweet media
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Ollie
Ollie@0lliOlli·
@DropSiteNews We don't need Tucker, we've got Ta-Nehisi
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The Decoder
The Decoder@thedecoderx·
5 stars for Tucker. He got an Israel defender to say after the UN founding in 1945, nobody can take land by force! Beautiful. That means instead of going to the 1967 borders (giving Palestinians only 22% of the land), we should go to the UN defined 1945 borders (giving Palestinians 44% of the land). Somebody prepare the peace papers. The Palestinians and every Arab and Muslim country will sign in a heartbeat. Let's see which party really wants peace!
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Disciple
Disciple@AmericaIsFinite·
@DropSiteNews Now this is an excellent response. It doesn’t get bogged down like whatever Tucker is doing.
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Drop Site
Drop Site@DropSiteNews·
Tucker Carlson challenges The Economist’s editor-in-chief to define Israel’s “right to exist”
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Mick Wallace
Mick Wallace@wallacemick·
"Every country that condemned Iran after an Israeli-US aggression hosts an American Military Base on its soil. They are not Sovereign countries" and they've abandoned International Law at the behest of the lawless US + Israeli Regimes...
sarah@sahouraxo

American Professor Jeffrey Sachs: “Every country that condemned Iran after an Israeli-U.S. aggression hosts an American military base on its soil. They are not sovereign countries. They dare not speak. They host the U.S. military. They host the CIA. They watch their backs.”

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Steve Hanke
Steve Hanke@steve_hanke·
Former US Ambassador Chas Freeman on the war in Iran: “This is an illegitimate war authorized by Benjamin Netanyahu, not the US Congress, as the Constitution requires. It was supported by the Zionist lobby, not by the American people.”
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Ounka
Ounka@OunkaOnX·
Qatar's PM: "This war needs to stop immediately. Everyone knows who the main beneficiary of this war is." Qatar's PM told the world, this war serves someone's interests. And that someone is not in Tehran, Washington, or Doha — it's in Tel Aviv.
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AJ+
AJ+@ajplus·
An Israeli developer is building vacation homes and luxury amenities on land in Kenya, which he hopes will draw both Kenyans and Israelis. But many Kenyans are outraged. @Dena explains why.
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Zarah Sultana MP
Zarah Sultana MP@zarahsultana·
Classic Keir Starmer - condemns Iran while ignoring Israel’s strike on the world’s largest gas field at South Pars, which triggered the escalation. What a pathetic excuse of a Prime Minister.
Keir Starmer@Keir_Starmer

I condemn in the strongest terms the overnight Iranian strike on a Qatari gas facility. We are working towards a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East, in the best interests of the British people – because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.

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duchess carolyn🪬
Looked around my flat and wondered what I would carry with me if I was told to evacuate with an hour’s notice. Packing up a whole life in an hour and finding a place to stay? How is this not a war crime?
The Associated Press@AP

An Israeli airstrike struck an apartment building in central Beirut, on Wednesday. The Israeli army had warned residents to evacuate about an hour before completely flattening it as day broke.

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Afshin Rattansi
Afshin Rattansi@afshinrattansi·
Want to know what will happen to Iran’s sovereignty after a US🇺🇸 regime change war? Just look at Iraq🇮🇶: Since the 2003 illegal invasion, Iraq’s oil revenues were placed into the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. For years, Washington sent Baghdad pallets of cash on cargo flights derived from the oil sales. To this day, custody of oil revenues at the New York Fed remains in place today as an account of the Central Bank of Iraq and gives Washington the ability to essentially control Iraqi politics and the economy. Just in the last week, the US has threatened to stop Iraq from receiving its oil revenues if parties it considers ‘pro-Iran’ are included in the new Iraqi government, despite the fact the formation of a new government is based on a democratic election which took place in November 2025. When the US claimed it would bring ‘democracy’ to Iraq, it was code word for total domination and disaster capitalism.
Afshin Rattansi tweet media
Going Underground@GUnderground_TV

On this day in 2003, the US🇺🇸 and UK🇬🇧 illegally invaded Iraq after lying to the world about Iraq possessing WMDs and having ties to Al Qaeda. While many know the statistic of 1 million deaths as a result of the war, here are some stats you may not know: -The US occupation privatised 200 Iraqi state-owned companies and allowed foreign firms to have 100 ownership of Iraqi assets -After an initial half a million Iraqi citizens abruptly lost their jobs, over 50% of the workforce became unemployed -Not only did the US military-industrial complex make huge profits from the war, US corporations profited from reconstruction: during the first year of occupation, approx. $50 billion of reconstruction contracts were commissioned to various US corporations, including Halliburton, which Vice President Dick Cheney was the CEO of before he stepped down to assume office. Only 2% of contracts were given to Iraqi firms -By 2007 85% of Iraqi households lacked a stable source of electricity and nearly 70% of households struggled with getting rid of garbage -By 2007, a third of Iraqis lived in poverty Remember this as the Trump Administration prepares to deploy boots on the ground in Iran to ‘liberate’ the Iranian people.

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Idris
Idris@7signxx·
"In front of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Hong Kong MP Dominic Lee made a shocking statement: “The West talks about human rights, but lets Israel get away with committing genocide.” “The blood of Palestinians and Iranians is on their hands.” “What moral credentials does America have? A country ruled by Epstein’s followers!” ©prinzchal
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Drop Site
Drop Site@DropSiteNews·
🇩🇪 New: Germany officially withdraws support for Israel in legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against accusations of genocide brought by South Africa in December 2023. Germany announced in early 2024 that it would intervene as a third party in the case, formally rejecting South Africa’s claims as "baseless" and "political instrumentalization" of the Genocide Convention. Berlin argued that Israel has been exercising its right to self-defense following the October 7 attacks.
Tilo Jung@TiloJung

Im Video: Die Bundesregierung springt Israel beim Genozid-Verfahren vor dem Internationalen Gerichtshof nun doch nicht juristisch zur Seite. Die einst großspurig angekündigte "Nebenintervention" der Ampel-Regierung wird es nicht geben, teilte das @AuswaertigesAmt heute mit.

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Arnaud Bertrand
Arnaud Bertrand@RnaudBertrand·
I was, unfortunately, in the right ballpark: Qatar Energy just announced they may have to declare Force Majeure on long-term contracts **FOR UP TO FIVE YEARS**. As I wrote, we're deep into worst-case scenario territory.
Arnaud Bertrand tweet media
Arnaud Bertrand@RnaudBertrand

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if infrastructure like this 👇 gets blown up, as of this moment it will take at least a decade to recover from this war - and the truth is that the world's energy picture is probably changed forever. This single facility 👇produced roughly 20% of global LNG supply (aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/18…) and, as of 2011, had taken $70 billion to build (energyintel.com/0000017b-a7be-…). What makes this even worse is that Iran's strike on this was retaliation after Israel attacked their South Pars gas field which draws from the same natural gas reservoir, which is the world's largest by far (9,700 km² - about the size of Qatar itself). Heck, on the list of the 25 largest natural gas fields (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_n…) this single reservoir holds roughly 40% of their combined recoverable reserves - and is nearly 6 times bigger than the 2nd biggest field in the world. And, unlike many of the others on the list, it's only at 10% depletion (meaning 90% of the gas is still there). Which means that, probably for many years, a huge share of the gas from the world's largest reservoir simply won't be extractable, as infrastructure on both sides - Qatar's and Iran's - has now been blown up. From a global energy supply perspective, we're deep into worst-case scenario territory.

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