World News
Traoré: The Unyielding Voice of Africa’s Awakening
Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) :- Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France, Former MD, SRBC Mr. Qamar Bashir analysis : Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation in West Africa with a population of over 22 million, has long been a battleground for competing global interests. Rich in gold, copper, and other minerals, yet plagued by poverty and conflict, the country has struggled to assert control over its wealth. In September 2022, a bold new leader emerged—Ibrahim Traoré, a 34-year-old army captain—who seized power in a military coup, vowing to reclaim Burkina Faso’s sovereignty from foreign exploitation. Traoré has since become a symbol of resistance, not just for Burkina Faso, but for an entire continent, as he challenges the Western narrative that has long defined Africa’s story.
In a world long manipulated by Western narratives, where the lens of global media has distorted the true image of Africa, a single voice has risen to shatter the illusion—a voice that echoes the suppressed struggles and stolen dreams of an entire continent. That voice belongs to Ibrahim Traoré, the young, fearless leader of Burkina Faso, who is shaking the foundations of global power and calling out the hypocrisy of the so-called saviors of humanity.
It was a fine day when I stumbled upon Traoré’s powerful speech—an unfiltered exposure of the Western media’s stealthy agenda in shaping global perceptions. He spoke not as a polished politician but as a son of Africa, a man who had seen his homeland reduced to a caricature of poverty and despair. Traoré laid bare the ugly truth: for decades, Africa has been portrayed through a narrow, oppressive lens—of starving children with swollen bellies, of violence, corruption, and hopelessness—while the West parades as a benevolent savior, offering aid and charity to uplift the helpless.
But the real story, as Traoré thundered, is one of theft—of minerals, of wealth, of sovereignty. In the name of development, Western corporations and governments have plundered Africa’s rich resources—cobalt, copper, gold, oil—filling their coffers while leaving Africans in abject poverty. He exposed the billion-dollar profits that flow from African soil to Western boardrooms, while African streets remain lined with hunger and neglect. Traoré’s words were not mere rhetoric—they were a battle cry, a call for Africans to reclaim their dignity, to rise as equal partners on the world stage.
His message resonated far beyond Burkina Faso. Traoré has become a symbol of Africa’s collective awakening—a young, enterprising leader who uses every available platform—be it speeches, videos, or direct outreach to global media elites—to amplify the voice of a continent no longer willing to bow to the West. He has called out France, the UK, and the USA for their centuries of exploitation, exposing, in a stunning episode, how the French ambassador to Burkina Faso was caught fleeing with billions in cash, gold, weapons, and detailed maps of the nation’s mineral wealth. The deals struck with Burkina Faso, it turns out, were a sham—showing the government a fraction of the true value, while the real riches were siphoned away in secret.
Traoré also lifted the veil on how foreign journalists, stationed in Africa under the guise of reporting, were in fact spies—embedded agents gathering intelligence for Western corporations and military establishments, ensuring the cycle of plunder and poverty continued uninterrupted. The story of Africa, as dictated by the West, is a lie—a narrative designed to keep the continent weak, dependent, and submissive.
But Traoré is not a man to be silenced. His vision is radical, yet profoundly logical: Africa must control its own resources, build its own industries, and develop its own human capital. He has rejected token gestures of aid—famously turning down an offer from the Saudi king to build 200 mosques in Burkina Faso, saying, “If Gazans can pray without mosques under bombardment, we too can pray without them. What we need are schools, hospitals, laboratories, and technology to feed and empower our people.” His refusal was not an act of defiance against faith, but a statement of priorities: Africa needs tools, not symbols.
Traoré’s stance has made him a target. Western powers are scrambling to understand the implications of his words—how this single voice, carried on the wind across the continent, is stirring a consciousness long suppressed. His message is simple yet revolutionary: Africa will no longer be a playground for foreign interests. It will rise as a dignified, sovereign continent, guided by its own aspirations and led by its own people.
Traoré understands that Africa’s wealth is meaningless without the capacity to harness it. He has called on the African diaspora—doctors, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, who have thrived abroad—to return home, to lend their expertise and build the foundations of an independent Africa. He knows that extracting resources requires technology, capital, and skilled human resources—assets that have long been controlled by Western corporations. But he is determined to forge new partnerships—with China, Russia, the Muslim world—based on mutual respect and shared progress, not exploitation.
Burkina Faso, under Traoré’s leadership, is no longer content to be a passive supplier of raw materials. The vision is clear: build the refineries, the factories, the universities, the research centers. Educate the youth, empower the women, and create an economy that serves the people, not foreign shareholders. Traoré’s fight is not just for Burkina Faso—it is for Africa. It is for every nation that has been told its place is at the bottom of the global ladder, for every community robbed of its future, for every family left hungry while their soil enriches others.
In Traoré’s eyes, the future of Africa is not one of handouts and dependency. It is a future of self-reliance, dignity, and justice. He is a man who refuses to be a pawn in the global game—a man who stands tall against the tides of history, declaring that Africa’s time has come, and it will no longer be silenced.
The world may not yet fully grasp the power of Ibrahim Traoré’s vision, but one thing is certain: a storm is brewing in Africa, and it carries the name of a young captain from Burkina Faso who dares to dream of a continent free from chains.
The commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces has warned Russian activity is increasing around the key frontline town of Pokrovsk, saying “the situation is difficult”.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi admitted Russian infantry was massing in the area and said he had visited the frontline himself for talks with key commanders.
But he said reports that Ukrainian troops had been “blockaded” there by Russian forces was “untrue” propaganda.
There have been growing reports of Russian advances around the strategic town in the Donetsk region in the east of Ukraine. It forms a key transport and supply hub and its capture could unlock Russian efforts to seize the rest of the region.
In a statement on Telegram, General Syrskyi said: “In Pokrovsk, enemy infantry, avoiding combat, is amassing in the urban area and changing locations, so the primary objective is to identify and destroy them.”
He added: “The situation is difficult, but Russian propaganda claims about the alleged ‘blockade’ of the Ukrainian Defence Forces in Pokrovsk, as well as in Kupiansk, are untrue.”
He said commanders were having to maintain “a reasonable balance between goals and capabilities.”
“The main priority is preserving the lives of our soldiers,” he added.
Russian forces have been trying to seize Pokrovsk for more than a year. Taking it would give them a path towards taking the two biggest cities still controlled by Ukraine in the region – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s chief of general staff, Gen Valery Gerasimov, claimed earlier this week Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk had been surrounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Pokrovsk was “the main target” for Russia whose forces there, he said, outnumbered Ukrainians by eight to one.
He told reporters Russia wanted to take the town to convince the United States that Ukraine was on the run.
“They do not have a result they can ‘sell’ to the Americans. We understand why they need Pokrovsk. They need it only to claim that Ukraine withdraws from the east and gives everything else they want,” Zelensky said.
In its latest assessment, the defence intelligence firm, Sybelline, said the battle for Pokrovsk “has entered a highly dynamic and intense phase, as the Russian forces intensify their efforts to infiltrate the city and encircle Ukrainian defenders”.
Deepstate, a Ukrainian monitoring group, said Russian forces were “gradually engulfing” Pokrovsk “with [their] sheer number of personnel”.
It said Russian troops were infiltrating deeper into the town and disrupting Ukrainian supply routes.
“The situation in Pokrovsk is on the brink of crisis and continues to deteriorate, to the point where it may be too late to fix everything,” the group concluded.
Romania says a Russian drone has breached its airspace – the second Nato country to report such an incursion.
Romanian fighter jets were in the air monitoring a Russian attack in Ukraine on Saturday and were able to track the drone near Ukraine’s southern border, the defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the incursion could not be a mistake – it was “an obvious expansion of the war by Russia”. Moscow has not commented on the Romanian claims.
On Wednesday, Poland said it had shot down at least three Russian drones which had entered its airspace.
In its statement, Romania’s defence ministry said it detected the Russian drone when two F-16 jets were monitoring they country’s border with Ukraine, after “Russian air attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure on the Danube”.
The drone was detected 20km (12.4 miles) south-west of the village of Chilia Veche, before disappearing from the radar.
But it did not fly over populated areas or pose imminent danger, the ministry said.
Poland also responded to concerns over Russian drones on Saturday.
“Preventative operations of aviation – Polish and allied – have begun in our airspace,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a post on X.
“Ground-based air defence systems have reached the highest state of readiness.”
Earlier this week Russia’s defence ministry said there had been “no plans” to target facilities on Polish soil.
Belarus, a close Russian ally, said the drones which entered Polish airspace on Wednesday were an accident, after their navigation systems were jammed.
On Sunday, the Czech Republic announced it had sent a special operations helicopter unit to Poland.
The unit consists of three Mi-171S helicopters, each one capable of transporting up to 24 personnel and featuring full combat equipment.
The move is in response to Russian’s incursion into Nato’s eastern flank, the Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said.
In response to the latest drone incursion, President Zelensky said the Russian military “knows exactly where their drones are headed and how long they can operate in the air”.
He has consistently asked Western countries to tighten sanctions on Moscow.
US President Donald Trump also weighed in on airspace breach earlier this week, saying he was “ready” to impose tougher sanctions on Russia, but only if Nato countries met certain conditions, such as stopping buying Russian oil.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been making slow progress in the battlefield.
Trump has been leading efforts to end the war, but Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin returned from a summit with Trump in Alaska last month.
World News
French President Emmanuel Macron appoints Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu as new Prime Minister
Paris ( Imran Y. CHOUDHRY):- French President Macron late Tuesday appointed Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu as France’s new prime minister, the country’s fourth in about a year.
Lecornu, 39, is the youngest defence minister in French history and architect of a major military buildup through 2030, spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A former conservative who joined Macron’s centrist movement in 2017, he has held posts on local authorities, overseas territories and during Macron’s yellow vest “great debate”, where he managed mass anger with dialogue. He also offered talks on autonomy during unrest in Guadeloupe in 2021.
His rise reflects Macron’s instinct to reward loyalty, but also the need for continuity as repeated budget showdowns have toppled his predecessors and left France in drift.
There were celebrations across France after Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a vote of confidence in the National Assembly on Monday. MPs ousted Bayrou by 364 votes to 194 over his austerity budget, which aimed to cut €44 billion to reduce the country’s national debt. ‘Farewell drinks’ for the prime minister were held in several cities, with many happy to see the back of a prime minister widely seen as having little popular mandate. However, there was concern in other quarters over France’s growing political instability.
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