Category Archives: World

25Oct/26

Where Foreign Influence Becomes Illegal

October 25, 2026PoliticsBenjamin Netanyahu, Buckley, Computer security, Cyberwarfare, David Friedman, Donald Trump, Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service, Espionage, Israel, Jared Kushner, Mass surveillance, Matthew Cole, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National security, National Security Agency, Prevention, Robert Mueller, Ron Wyden, Rostov, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Security, the bank of israel, Trump family, U.S.C., United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Statesadmin

Allegations, Cyber Surveillance, and Denials: The Conflict Over Jared Kushner’s Middle East Financial Dealings

Sat Oct. 24, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — An excerpt published by Vanity Fair from journalist Matthew Cole’s book Princes and Thieves alleges that former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner had access to undisclosed foreign bank accounts holding up to $2 billion supplied by Gulf leaders during Donald Trump’s first presidential administration. According to these claims, Dutch military intelligence (MIVD) intercepted Kushner’s personal smartphone activity starting in 2018 after discovering device screenshots stored on a Russian military intelligence (GRU) server in Rostov. Spies reportedly observed Kushner accessing Account Alpha at First Abu Dhabi Bank—which contained roughly $750 million under the cover of an Emirati charitable foundation with funds routed via Azerbaijani banks—as well as Account Beta, an estimated $1 billion repository at the Bank of Israel reportedly subject to transaction oversight by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Continue reading →

24Oct/26

Zambia Erases Former President Edgar Lungu

October 24, 2026PoliticsAfrica, Countries, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, Edgar Lungu, Hakainde Hichilema, Ngwira, Presidents of Zambia, Thabo Kawana, Zambiaadmin

Labour Activist Calls for Professionalism and National Unity Following Independence Day Controversy

Sat Oct. 24, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Labour activist and salary wages advocate Trust Ngwira has questioned Permanent Secretary for Information Thabo Kawana and the Zambia Daily Mail regarding the omission of Zambia’s sixth President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, from an Independence Day publication. Describing the incident as deeply unfortunate, Ngwira highlighted that Independence Day is a national occasion meant to symbolise love, peace, unity, and respect for the country’s history. He urged individuals in positions of responsibility to carefully weigh the consequences of their actions and statements to avoid creating unnecessary public controversy that could put Republican President Hakainde Hichilema in an embarrassing position. Continue reading →

24Oct/26

Zambia’s Rule of Law Paradox

October 24, 2026World1, 2, Abuse, Afghanistan, Angola, Anti-corruption, Argentina, Articles, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, canada post, China, Colombia, Congo, Corruption, Nigeria, Philosophy of law, Political corruption, Political philosophy, Political terminology, Politics, Rule of law, World Justice Project, Zambia, Zimbabweadmin

Beyond the Composite Score: Bridging the Implementation Gap in Zambia’s Legal System

Sat Oct. 24, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — In the 2026 World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index, Zambia registers an overall composite score of 0.44 on a scale from 0.00 to 1.00, placing it 108th globally out of 143 surveyed countries. This performance marks a single-position drop in global standing and a minor 0.01 score contraction from the 0.45 baseline maintained between 2022 and 2025. Regionally, Zambia ranks 19th out of 34 Sub-Saharan African states, placing its score slightly below the regional benchmark of 0.45 and well beneath the global average of 0.55. Despite this global deficit, Zambia maintains a solid standing within its lower-middle-income cohort, outperforming regional neighbors such as Nigeria (120th) and Zimbabwe (122nd). Historically, Zambia reached a decade-high score of 0.48 in 2016 before political polarization eroded it to 0.44 in 2021; while the peaceful transfer of power in late 2021 stabilized scores at 0.45 through 2025, administrative bottlenecks led to the slight 2026 contraction. Continue reading →

23Oct/26

How Failed US-Iran Talks Triggered War

October 23, 2026Conflict and WarAbbas Araghchi, Ali Khamenei, Ali Larijani, Ali Shamkhani, Countries, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Fordow, Foreign relations of Iran, France, Geography of Asia, Iran, Iran–United States relations, Isfahan, Islamabad, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Jared Kushner, Masoud Pezeshkian, Natanz, Nuclear energy in Iran, Nuclear program of Iran, Opposition to military action against Iran, Pakistan, Pete Hegseth, Qatar, QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY, Saudi Arabia, Stephen Miller, Steve Witkoff, Strait of Hormuz, Switzerland, Tehran, U.S. Domestic Impact, United States, Washington, Western Asiaadmin

Losing the Coalition: How Domestic Immigration Raids and Foreign Conflicts Alienated Key Voters

Fri Oct. 23, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — The Republican Party faces an intensifying political and governance crisis heading into the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, driven by President Donald Trump’s career-low approval ratings between 32% and 35%. Broad public disapproval stems from an unfulfilled campaign promise to avoid endless foreign conflicts and lower consumer prices. Instead, the ongoing war with Iran—now in its seventh month despite initial predictions of a four-to-five-week duration—has combined with a persistent domestic affordability crisis to severely weaken GOP majorities in Congress. Continue reading →

23Oct/26

The Rothschild Weather Control Conspiracy

October 23, 2026EnvironmentCloud seeding, Conspiracy theories in the United States, Contents, General Electric, Haiti, High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, Jérôme Kasparian, Laos, Los Angeles, Luke, Matthew, Meteorology, Milton, national science foundation, Physical geography, Project Stormfury, Savannah, Sixbert Sangwa, St. Louis, Tropical cyclone, United States, Vortices, Weather, Weather hazards, Weather modificationadmin

From STORMFURY to HAARP: Unpacking the Physical Limits of Geoengineering and the Spread of Weather Disinformation

Fri Oct. 23, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — The viral “THRONE CLIMATE” narrative functions as a grand super-conspiracy, falsely alleging that a secretive elite connected to the Rothschild family operated a worldwide network of 22 weather modification stations for 47 years to manufacture catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. This online legend adapts 19th-century antisemitic tropes regarding Jewish financial control to modern anxieties about emerging geoengineering technologies, echoing recurring claims made by political figures regarding atmospheric manipulation and space-based weapons. To create false plausibility, the narrative relies on capability substitution—taking bounded, real-world technologies like localized cloud seeding and misrepresenting them as total atmospheric command—alongside pseudo-technical jargon and institutional scapegoating to offer simplistic explanations for complex global market and weather events. Continue reading →

23Oct/26

How War and Climate Break Supply Chains

October 23, 2026EnvironmentArticles, Brazil, Brent Crude, Colombia, eastern energy, Economics, Economy, Ecuador, El Niño, Energy crisis, Energy economics, Ghana, Goldman Sachs, India, Indonesia, Inflation, Iran, Kenya, Panama, Peak oil, Petroleum, Philippines, Price of oil, Pricing, S&P 500 INDEX - CBOE, Thailand, the world meteorological organization (wmo), Vietnamadmin

Global Economic Impacts of the 2026–2027 Super El Niño

The Severity of the Climate Shock in a Fragile Macro Context

Fri Oct. 23, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — The 2026–2027 El Niño climate event is developing into one of the most severe episodes on record, with equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperature anomalies projected to exceed +2°C to +3°C. Meteorological authorities assign a greater than 90% probability to a very strong event, with a 75% likelihood of exceeding the intensity of historical benchmarks recorded since 1950. Unlike previous cycles, this climate phenomenon collides with an exceptionally fragile macroeconomic environment characterized by historically elevated public debt, high interest rates, ongoing geopolitical tensions, and pre-existing supply chain frictions. Continue reading →

23Oct/26

Why Modern Election Polls Fail

October 23, 2026PoliticsAlfred Landon, Andrew Gelman, Articles, Charles Franklin, Donald Trump, Empirical, Error, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gallup, George, John Curiel, Margin of error, Nigel Marriott, Opinion poll, Participation bias, Political science, Psychometrics, Public opinion, Research methods, Sampling, Shirani-Mehr, Survey methodology, Total survey error, United Kingdom, United States, US Dollaradmin

The Mirage of Precision: How Partisan Nonresponse and Evolving Electorates Reshaped Election Polling

Fri Oct. 23, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Modern pre-election polling has encountered severe structural challenges over recent presidential election cycles, primarily driven by partisan nonresponse bias rather than declining response rates alone. Across three consecutive presidential contests in 2016, 2020, and 2024, public polls systematically underestimated Republican vote shares relative to Democrats, producing signed errors that overstated Democratic margins by 3.1, 4.6, and 2.7 percentage points, respectively. While response rates dropped below five to ten percent across the industry, lower participation only generates systemic error when nonresponse correlates with political behavior. Voter cohorts exhibiting lower levels of institutional and social trust—disproportionately conservative, working-class, and rural populations—have increasingly opted out of survey research, creating persistent coverage gaps in raw polling samples. Continue reading →

22Oct/26

Why Machiavelli Believed Rulers Need Dirty Hands

October 22, 2026PoliticsAcademic disciplines, Articles, Berlin, Cesare Borgia, Ch, Discourses on Livy, Florence Geis, France, Germany, Isaiah Berlin, Italian writers, Italy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Livy, Machiavelli, Machiavellianism, Niccolò Machiavelli, Political philosophy, Realism, Republic, Richard Christie, Rome, The Prince, Virtù, William Shakespeareadmin

Power, Virtù, and Human Nature: A Multidisciplinary Synthesis of Machiavellian Pragmatism

Thu Oct. 22, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Niccolò Machiavelli’s foundational political thought, articulated in The Prince (1513) and the Discourses on Livy (1517), marks a radical shift from classical teleological ethics and medieval Christian scholasticism toward empirical political realism. Rejecting idealized imaginary republics, Machiavelli sought the “effectual truth” of human behavior, asserting that effective governance must be guided by strategic necessity (necessità) and the preservation of state stability (ragione di stato) rather than abstract moral pieties. He redefined virtù not as moral goodness, but as the dynamic capability, drive, and tactical agility—symbolized by combining the courage of the lion with the cunning of the fox—required to master unpredictable circumstances (fortuna). Although critics historically viewed The Prince as an autocratic handbook and the Discourses as a defence of republican liberty, scholars emphasize that these works are complementary: princely authority is often necessary to establish order in a corrupted state, whereas a mixed republican constitution preserves long-term security, popular freedom, and civic vitality. Continue reading →

21Oct/26

Art Law and the Architecture of Violence

October 21, 2026Conflict and WarAcademic disciplines, Articles, Bertolt Brecht, Capitalism, Chicago, Crime, Das Buch, Das Buch Franza, Epic theatre, Evgeny Pashukanis, Gestus, Hollywood blacklist, Ingeborg Bachmann, Joe Fleischhacker, Karl Korsch, Malina, Market, Marxian economics, Marxism, Marxist theorists, Marxist theory, Materialism, Philosophical theories, Philosophy, Social philosophy, Socialism, Soviet law, Violenceadmin

The Monopoly on Force: Why the Legal Order Prohibits Daggers but Legalizes Poverty

Systemic Violence, Patriarchy, and Bourgeois Law

Wed Oct. 21, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — In Me-ti: Buch der Wendungen, Bertolt Brecht exposes a fundamental contradiction in how state jurisprudence defines and penalizes violence. Brecht observes that while the state strictly outlaws direct, interpersonal physical assault—such as stabbing someone with a dagger—it routinely permits, legalizes, and institutionalizes indirect, systemic forms of destruction, including economic starvation, medical neglect, hazardous housing, lethal workplace exploitation, and imperialist war. Though all these mechanisms produce identical fatal outcomes by destroying human life, bourgeois law selectively criminalizes only direct physical trauma. This selective prohibition occurs because overt individual violence threatens public order, disrupts commodity exchange, and challenges the state’s monopoly on legitimate physical force. Conversely, systemic socio-economic lethality is mediated through market contracts, real estate commodification, and state bureaucracy, allowing the legal system to mask systemic mortality as “perpetratorless” or natural market outcomes. Continue reading →

18Oct/26

How Zambian Music Became the New Parliament

October 18, 2026PoliticsAfrica, Alec Mugala, amnesty international, Angola, Callen, Choklet Roy Kazembe, Countries, Danny Kaya, Daputsa Nkhata, Dawson Lupunga, Edgar Lungu, Frank Talk, Frederick Chiluba, FreePalestine, Fumba Chama, In the Ghetto, Levy Mwanawasa, Lungu Anabwela, Lusaka, Mad President, Maiko Zulu, Michael Somanje Zulu, Monk Square Revolution, Mozambique, Mulenga Kapwepwe, Mutinta Mwanza, Mwanajiti, Mwiza Zulu, Nashil Pitchen Kazembe, PilAto, Presidents of Zambia, Pressure, Roy Clarke, South Africa, the southern african development community, TheRevolutionWontBeTelevised, Thomas Muchimba, Thomas Muchimba Buttenschøn, Tyler Q. Rosen, Uganda, Wezi Mhone, Zambia, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, Zuluadmin

Sun Oct. 18, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Maiko Zulu has used conscious reggae music, public demonstrations, institutional leadership, and independent political campaigns to challenge political authority and demand structural justice in Zambia. Continue reading →