On any given day in 2021, an estimated 7 million men, women, and children were living in modern slavery in Africa, a prevalence of 5.2 people in modern slavery for every thousand people. Africa had the fourth highest prevalence of modern slavery among the five regions of the world, following the Arab States (10.1 per thousand), Europe and Central Asia (6.9), and Asia and the Pacific (6.8). Forced labour was the most common form of modern slavery in the region, at a rate of 2.9 per thousand people, while forced marriage was at 2.4 per thousand.

When considering the total number of people in forced marriage worldwide, 13 per cent (3.2 million) were in Africa, second to Asia and the Pacific, which at 65 per cent has by far the highest share of the world’s forced marriages. Fourteen per cent of all people in forced labour were in Africa (3.8 million), the third highest behind Asia and the Pacific (55 per cent) and Europe and Central Asia (15 per cent).

The countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery in Africa are Eritrea, Mauritania, and South Sudan. The countries with the lowest prevalence of modern slavery in Africa are Mauritius, Lesotho, and Botswana.

Nearly 4 million men, women, and children experience forced labour in Africa, particularly in the mining, agriculture, fishing, and domestic work sectors.1 African job seekers misled by traffickers with false promises are subjected to forced labour abroad, such as in the Gulf states.2 Children are also exploited in their pursuit of education. For example, under the confiage (trust) system in Togo, children from rural areas are sent to cities to complete their education and live with relatives, who may force them into domestic servitude.3 Nigerian girls seeking employment as domestic helpers to help pay for schooling are also subjected to domestic servitude.4 In Senegal, talibe (student, seeker) children in Quranic schools are forced to beg.5

In Africa, forced marriage particularly impacts women and girls. One in every 300 females in the region was in a forced marriage compared to one in every thousand males.6 In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of child marriages increased in Sudan, Egypt,7 and parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),8 and they nearly doubled in communities across Senegal and Uganda.9 Women and girls living in conflict zones also experience forced and child marriage, including as a negative coping mechanism by families to protect them from further violence10 and by fighters who abduct, marry, and exploit women and girls as domestic and sexual slaves.11 Forced commercial sexual exploitation of women and girls is used as a weapon of war by both state and non-state groups, reportedly in the Central African Republic, the DRC, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan,12 and by both parties to the civil war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.13

Global Slavery Index  Africa Walk Free 

 

Commonwealth Heads of Government  CHOGM

 

The leaders of Commonwealth states meet every two years in a celebration of links representing mostly former colonies of the colonialist British Empire. Among the 56 Commonwealth member-states, mostly from the British Empire, the summit has presented as opportune time to press Britain for reparations reflective of its role in the transatlantic slave trade. About a dozen former colonial British nations that include Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda, are relentless in their demands for billions in compensation owing to them.

 

The Commonwealth Heads of Government met in Antigua and Barbuda on Monday and although expressing deep regret on the part of Britain for their role in the slave trade, their tendency is to avoid the issue with no intention of responding positively to the demands for financial reparations. "Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the  transatlantic slave trade", responded Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK Conservatives. 

 

"If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?", she demanded to know. African nations themselves were warmongering slave owners and traders. Arab and Persian Islamic slave traders were responsible for forcibly bringing both Black and White slaves into their service in the Middle East and Turkey. This was (and remains) legal under Sharia law. Only non-Muslims could be legally held as slaves by Islamic tradition.

 

King Charles and Andy Burnham at Chogm in Antigua on Tuesday. The government is reducing aid to countries it judges rapidly developing, such as Antigua and India. Photograph: Chris Jackson/PA

 

In the world view of activists for reparations it is Europeans alone who are held responsible for slavery. The wealth that was acquired through the use of slave labour in Europe and the Americas motivated the racist predation of Blacks, those dedicated to forcing white guilt to acknowledge a responsibility to pay back the wealth accumulated by their ancestors through slave labour to now share it with those whose ancestors they had enslaved, are adamant in their reasoning.

 

A United Nations resolution earlier this year demanding western nations agree to "reparatory justice" was supported by the African Union. No explanation of what has happened to the $2trillion in aid in the past five decades handed over to African nations from the West. While the current office holder at 10 Downing Street has expressed his revulsion over Britain's role in the slave trade, as did his Royal Majesty, neither contemplate the possibility of responding in the affirmative to the demands. Prime Minister Burnham was applauded for Commonwealth leaders, nonetheless for an "essential first step" by stating his country should spend more on foreign aid. 

 

Between the beginning of the fifteenth century and the end of the eighteenth, millions lived and died as slaves in African Muslim societies. From the Mediterranean coast to the grasslands of West Africa, in the Nile Valley and the Horn, and all along the Indian Ocean littoral, Muslims predominated or exercised great influence. In all these regions slavery was economically, socially, and politically important, and its scale increased throughout our period before reaching wholly unprecedented levels in the nineteenth century. Islamic principles and practices shaped the nature of slavery in Muslim societies, but they did so in uneven and contingent ways. In this chapter, we will examine the ways in which Islamic ideas about slavery were negotiated in the historical experience of Muslim Africans. There are three major components of any system of slavery: reduction of human beings to servitude, distribution of the enslaved within and between societies, and the nature of servitude within a society. These categories are utilitarian, not absolute. Biological reproduction of slaves belongs in categories one and three. Category three implies the continuous reproduction of the meanings of category one without the initial act of capture or birth. Examples could be multiplied. The categories are heuristic aids, not precise hermeneutical tools. In these sections we will survey Islamic legal, intellectual, and moral discourses on slavery in relation to the historical record. This initial discussion will treat themes common to all of Islamic Africa, providing a necessary context. 

The History of Slavery, Part 3: Christian Slaves and Muslim Masters—Barbary Pirates in the Mediterranean, 1500-1800

Enslavement was a real possibility for anyone who traveled in the Mediterranean or who lived along the shores in places like Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, and even as far north as England and Iceland. For example, in 1632, pirates captured the Irish city of Baltimore. They and others were snatched from their homes, taken in chains to the slave markets of Algiers and sold to the highest bidder. Some spent the rest of their lives rowing galleys. Others toiled in quarries or on farms. Attractive women were sent to harems and became a pasha’s concubine.

This episode looks at a little-known chapter in the history of slavery. Although few know the stories of these captives, the threat of piracy on the Mediterranean had a huge impact on the Western World. Thomas Jefferson developed the U.S. navy to eliminate the Barbary Threat. Miguel de Cervantes spent years in North Africa. Even John Smith of Pocahontas fame was a slave in Istanbul.

History on the Net 

 

"The injury tore off half of my foot, so a lot of blood was lost already."

"I think if that incredible little bird hadn't flown in, well, getting out from there would have been unrealistic."

"From the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful that they actually flew in and picked me up."

"I think this needs to be developed and expanded because we have a lot of guys who cannot get out of the situations they find themselves in."

"Having to walk very many kilometres with that level of shelling that is going on, whether walking yourself or carrying a wounded person -- let's just say making it out of there is not very likely"

24-yr-old Ukrainian serviceman with call name of 'Izyum' 

Izyum being helped to the drone.  Courtesy of SkyFall

 

Ukrainian technology company SkyFall developed a drone intended to reduce rescue times from hours to minutes on the battlefield. Drones capable of reaching hard-to-access combat zones where unmanned ground vehicles are currently in use. The drone in question was designed for the specific purpose of evacuating injured soldiers from high-risk areas where heavy artillery fire and hostile drone activity guarantees dangerous rescue operations.

 

These specialized serial rescue drones for the evacuation of wounded battlefield soldiers are now in use by the Ukraine military. So far, in two instances representing a rescue rehearsal in real time, two stranded troops were  brought to safety from near the Russian border in the initial operation to test the utility of these specialized drones. Both were resounding successes. 

 

Up to the present, Ukrainian ingenuity in technical design and production has seen the world introduced to drone warfare where these products have been refined, their purpose more specific and elaborate, for communication, dropping food, medicine, and ammunition to awaiting recipients, taking real-time videos to relay back to command posts, and as lethal weapons dropping explosives on enemy positions. Now that entrepreneurial genius has produced life-saving evacuation drones.

 

StarGate is a heavy hexacopter developed by SkyFall.  Courtesy of SkyFall

 

The new StarGate drone is a six-rotor aircraft fitted out with an enclosed evacuation capsule. According to the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, two separate missions in the past week proved the successful design will be a true life-saving addition to the Ukrainian counteroffensive against the Russian invaders. Izyum had been wounded and then had no option but to wait for two days for an evacuation. Unable to walk the 20 kilometres from the combat zone, he was the second drone rescue. 

 

Landing in a field with tall grass tangled with fibre-optic spool cable, the drone with its orange-and-black cigar-shaped stretcher could have become entangled and immediately put out of commission. That scenario did not develop, however, and the rescue mission succeeded; a flight that lasted under 15 minutes before the soldier was brought to safety and medical attention. 

 

The soldier rescued in the first mission, who goes by his call sign Kolobok, crawls to the drone.  Courtesy of SkyFall

 

The drone had been tested for several weeks before being deployed to the battlefield by the 475th regiment, known as Code 9.2. Both rescued men had sustained "severe limb injuries and were at positions in the grey zone, approximately five kilometres from the state border with Russia", a strip of territory that separated Ukrainian and Russian forces. 

 

The drone is capable of carrying 330 pounds, equipped with signal jammers and autonomous navigation to counter Russian electronic warfare systems, according to its manufacturer. SkyFall has plans to design and produce a dedicated unit for the rescue drones, and with it, providing pilots and deployment specialists. "Service members who weren't sure if they would ever make it out of the positions are now able to return home and hug their children", a SkyFall representative explained. 

 

Ukrainian forces used the new StarGate drone to pull off two daring rescue missions in October. Courtesy of SkyFall

  

"[H]alf of registered voters say the economy and health care are extremely important to their vote, and 47 percent say the same thing about Iran."

"Roughly four in ten rate income and wealth distribution (44 percent), gas prices (42 percent), immigration (40 percent) and abortion (38 percent) as extremely important." 

Gallup poll

 

"The ongoing development of the Democratic Party as a party not of labour but of socioeconomic elites, and the ongoing development of the Republican Party as a party not of business but of working class social conservatives represents a major, perhaps the major American political development of the 21st century."

Eitan Hersh, Tufts University, Sarang Shah, University of California-Berkley 

"I think we're going to do great -- but if we didn't win, I veto everything."

"I'll be vetoing, vetoing. And then they'll come along and we'll probably make some deals along the way."

"[Democrats are] extreme and dangerous radicals [who will] steal your wealth [and let in migrants to] ransack, rape and plunder." 

U.S. President Donald J. Trump 

Democratic and Republican observers review ballots during midterm elections at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Fairburn, Georgia, US, November 3, 2026. REUTERS/Edgar Su

 

Polls in the United States indicate that Democrats are poised to seize the House of Representatives and if that were not enough, they're within reach of he Senate, with today's vote representing President Trump's waking nightmare. A record 54 million Americans chose to cast their ballots early. A number of citizens so anxious to have their say that it surely bodes ill for the current administration in the White House. 

 

A truly divided nation, caught between an incumbent whose impulsive decision-making has made life an suspense of mercurial decision-making, an economic straitjacket, as opposed to a competing aspirant to the White House whose previous administration was no beacon of light before being ousted and is now flirting with deep-left socialism brought to the fore by the Democratic Socialists of America, arguably the Democrats' latest flirtation with a system of governance foreign to the U.S.

 

This midterm election is the most tense of any in living memory; the U.S. two-party-rule of Republican and Democrat where each now sits firmly on the fulcrum of extremism, worrying to an electorate in the middle, in a fierce battle for dominion. Neither party is exceptionally a firm choice by Americans, their loyalties have been burdened by the fundamentalist hardening of attitudes on either side. The situation is one of distaste for both parties, a desire to rid the White House of the current office holder whose abuse of office has aroused fed-up anger, while at the same time knowing the alternative is likely no improvement.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured in Washington, D.C. The U.S. midterms happen on Tuesday, Nov. 3, when all 435 members of the House and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election. As well, there will be state-level elections. The U.S. midterms are seen as a referendum on Trump's leadership and will determine who takes control of Congress.Photograph courtesy of the White House/Daniel Torok

 

For the past several decades U.S. elections have been based on a kind of musical chair performance, where an incumbent government has grown stale long before its administrative time has elapsed, leading voters to welcome the alternate party, an exchange that has become predictably routine as neither party has been willing to embrace the moderation of inclusive governance in preference to fiercely promoting their ideological positions as immutable, the scaffold on which their administration bases all their legislative decision-making.

 

The only enthusiasm most of the voting public displays now is to vote to rid themselves of the current office holders and hold their collective breath in the hope that the opposite player will hold off for a tolerable period from promoting and acting on decisions that echo those they replaced in reverse-mode: party-first, national interests trundling along behind. Sending the Republicans a stout message that the governing style of an egocentric, mercurial, personal-profit-oriented president is not to be repeated by either party.  

 

The mild socialism that the Democratic party has developed has devolved from its moderate view of a regulated capitalist economy, with the state involving itself in welfare issues and supporting tolerant social mores is now represented at the common level with underemployed urban socialists finding dissatisfaction with their opportunities and unmet aspirations, whose resentments have found solace in the uptake of discovering the source of world conflict and economic downturns through antisemitism.

 

Still from video   Global News

 

"[T]oo many Democrats are noticeably and shamefully silent with antisemitism comes from the far left", observed Democratic New Jersey member of Congress Josh Gottheimer. In the same token a rise of bigotry has arisen on the far-right membership-flank of the Republicans, deplored by GOP Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Republicans have also embraced a steep level of trade protectionism, a favourite whipping-target of their president who initiated a wholesale tariff war on enemies and allies alike as soon as he resumed office.

 

Can getting out the vote on this critical shape-shifting dual-role, intermittently exchanged style of government drive a new, more internally and globally appreciated direction for a nation whose wealth and power have monumental international influence, and repair both the internal hostility engendered by the parties' divisions and derision-propelled opponent-status, and the confusion abroad caused by a president who has spoken of foreign allies and global democratic institutions in the most derogatory of terms? 

 

Still from video   Global News

  

Ivan Zalisko of Ukraine celebrates his bronze-medal win against Islam Aslanovitch Kazharov of Russia in the74-kilogram freestyle division at the U20 world wresting championship August 23 in Bratislava Slovakia.

 

"Athletes can only inspire us if they are able to compete." 

"They can only do so if we keep sport strictly neutral ground, if politics does not take over on the field of play."

IOC president Kirsty Coventry

 

"Any conversation about returning Russian athletes to the international arena can only happen after the war ends, a just peace is established, every single abducted Ukrainian child is returned home, and international law is fully restored."

"Until that moment, isolation is not political -- it is a matter of basic human decency."

Ukraine Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi

 

"The boycott agenda of the '80s very nearly destroyed the Olympic movement."

"Eventually, the politicians began to understand that maybe it was a good idea for the world to come together through sport."

"Over the last decade, politicians have again turned to using sport as a tool to sanction, declaring who can and who cannot participate."

"I have argued in my book Fast Tracks and Dark Deals, that the biggest single threat facing the future of sport is the growing political weaponization of sport." 

Michael Payne former IOC marketing chief  

According to IOC president Kirsty Coventry, "politics does not take over on the field of play". Ukraine has other ideas. Along with former IOC executives who feel that politics and sport, on the record, remain inseparable. In the Youth Olympics that began Saturday in the Senegalese capital Dakar, Ukrainian and Russian athletes competing against one another may test Coventry's stated direction. Is it not political, after all, when 13 Russian athletes parade with the national flag and their national anthem is played at an Olympic event for the first time in six years? 

 

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) officially opened on Saturday 31 October 2026, marking the first Olympic sporting event ever held on the African continent.  Sport Europe

 

Ukraine has chosen not to boycott sporting events that Russia has competed in, choosing instead to meet their Russian opponents straight on during sport events that see them competing against one another. The idea is to challenge their Russian competitors on the field of sport just as their Ukrainian military counterparts meet their Russian opponents on the field of conflict, knowing that all things being equal their chances of overcoming the adversity that the Russians represent are magnified by their emotional 

response to the violence imposed upon them by a traditional Russian warmonger.

 

There was a hugely successful boycott when the 1975 Montreal Games highlighted a multilateral campaign to isolate apartheid South African from world sport. It was the Canadian Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney that brought the matter of South African apartheid to a head, campaigning against that most basic corruption of human rights. The time had long passed when a European country could with impunity occupy another less-economically-developed nation and rule it as they saw fit, declaring he indigenous population inferior and reaping the benefits of natural resources not their own. 

  

Ukrainian Ivan Zalisko became the bronze medalist of the U20 World Cup in freestyle wrestling

 

The ideal of sports bringing countries together as one huge family celebrating athletics and competition whereby those that excel in their techniques, athleticism, performance level and professional expertise to be declared champions, does have expectations that enthusiasm for sport can overcome national hostilities. The very fact that North and South Korea, even while technically at war paraded in unison at the Sydney Games in 2000, fielding a joint ice hockey team at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang was enlightening entertainment, but once the festivities were concluded, the divided states were no closer to peace than previously.

 

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whose standards are clearly not that of the IOC's Coventry,  stands accused of crossing the line in sport and national neutrality given his personal alliance with U.S. President Donald Trump, awarding him the FIFA Peace Prize. "It was a fake award with no public criteria, jury or process. I think that changed the perception of FIFA from working with a political leader to endorsing one. That's not neutrality", observed former IOC marketing executive Terrence Burns. 

 

Perhaps it was that very close relationship with President Trump, and his soft spot for Russia, refusing to condemn Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine and causing over a million conflict deaths among Russian servicemen alone in the process, that convinced Infantino to open FIFA completely to Russia where it is competing at the under-15 football world cup this month. The ban on the country, he stated. has not "achieved anything, it has just created more frustrations and hatred". 

 

Olga Kharlan won Ukraine's first medal at the Paris Olympics. "It's special because it's for my country. It's for people in Ukraine, it's for defenders [soldiers], it's for athletes who couldn't come here because they were killed by Russia."

"[Globally speaking,] sport has never been separate from politics."

"When I heard anyone use that phrase it sounds naive at best and cynical at worst."

"The real principle is neutrality. The Olympic movement only works if it stays independent of governments."

"Sport opens doors but it can't make anyone walk through them. Still, I think an open door is worth a great deal when every other one is shut." 

"The lesson is that a boycott works when it is sustained, collective, and aimed squarely at the wrongdoer." 

Former International Olympic Committee marketing executive Terrence Burns 

"[The attacks ​are] very cruel [and] deliberate when everyone expects de-escalation steps."

"[Ukraine had intelligence] about ⁠preparations by the Russians of new ballistic missile strikes. We need the means ‌to take out all this Russian evil. We are expecting relevant decisions."

"A horrific Russian attack on Dnipro train station. The Russians used a drone to attack a platform where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing."

"How many such terrorist attacks has Russia carried out on our people after lifting sanctions on some Russian oligarchs and energy companies instead of de-escalating."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

 

"It was hell. The train stopped at night somewhere in central Ukraine. I don’t even know the name of the town. Half asleep, I just heard the conductor say ‘evacuation’. We took only our personal belongings and valuables with us. It was raining outside. Thank you to the conductors for handing out blankets."

"That’s how we held out for two hours. While kamikaze drones were buzzing overhead, we crawled under a goods wagon. The last carriage in the train was full of children. They were being taken back from hospital. They were crying in their sleep. I thought I’d ended up in some sort of horror film. But no, this is our life."

Ukrainian journalist Tetiana Zaiets 

Boryspil, in the Kyiv region. Trains were evacuated and travellers stranded during Russia’s days-long air assault on Kyiv

 

"The enemy has chosen our passenger services as a target", commented Oleg Golovashchenko, head, state operator passenger company, Ukrainian Railways. Drone attacks have forced Ukraine to institute a safety process, now routine, of evacuating trains when danger of a drone attack seems imminent. Passenger trains are typically paused for as long as it takes for the danger to pass. Passengers are escorted off the trains to ensure they will not become trapped in any that are struck by explosives.

 

These massive and increasingly frequent attacks on trains, train stations and railway infrastructure have made any kind of journey potentially dangerous undertakings. Mass transit use in Ukraine is an absolute necessity for any number of reasons, from short trips to and from a place of employment, to longer business trips between cities, and trips for family reunification, brief or prolonged. There are no longer trips taken casually with the impulse for a trouble-free, pleasant outing.  

 

Emergency employees work at a railway station hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Thursday. (Reuters)

 

Ukraine's skies have for years been closed to passenger flights; the only planes are those of the Ukrainian military or those of the Russian military's 'special military operation' in the beleaguered country's airspace. Train travel is the only option in a country where suddenly missiles and drones erupt on missions of destruction of civilian infrastructure, not excluding schools, hospitals, shopping centers, apartment blocks. There are no international rules of warfare protecting civilian enclaves that Moscow respects.

 

Reliance on trains in Ukraine has become a mainstay of travel, from short trips to lengthy travel plans. Through 2026 alone, Russian aerial attacks targeting rail lines have resulted in damage to 4,856 railway facilities, among which are 380 locomotives out of commission and 146 carriages destroyed, according to Ukrainian Railways. At least 50 railway personnel have lost their lives. Those attacks have made it compulsory that when attacks appear imminent, trains must pause and passengers evacuated.

 

Daily, there are one hundred to two hundred evacuations, resulting in widespread delays lasting hour after hour across the country. Some 30 kilometres from the Russian border, trains chugging to and from the north-eastern terminus stop frequently in response to attack threats on the Kharkiv-Kyiv route, Ukraine's largest, most populous cities. 

 

A Ukrainian railway carriage that was attacked by a Russian drone on Jan. 27, 2026, is displayed at the Kyiv central train station on Feb. 23, 2026. | Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

 

Departing Kharkiv overnight, passengers making sleep preparations are given warning their rest could be rudely interrupted through the necessity of an emergency evacuation. "We brought them aboard the train, we must get them to their destination alive", explains 50-year-old train attendant Mykola Kryvenko. Mere  hours into the journey the night-time silence in the carriage is disturbed when the sound of hurried footsteps break out and there are compartment door knocks. "Evacuation, evacuation", the rudely awakened passengers hear the train attendant's call. The sounds of nearby Russian drones clear drowsy heads.

 

The platform swiftly fills with people intently aware of sounds in the sky. Attendants urge passengers to place some distance between themselves and the emptied carriages, as the sounds of approaching drones increase in volume. Suddenly the sky is lit with explosions in the near distance, and passengers pick up a running pace to separate from the train while others quietly edge further and then further again from direct proximity to the stilled train. 

 

Refugees arriving in Lviv on evacuation trains from Kharkiv and Kryvy Rih make their way through the train station. Photograph: Jelle Krings

 

 Once the sounds of explosions fade and danger seems to have passed, the passengers soon re-embark when the crew announces an all-clear, and the journey continues. But Ukraine's winter is approaching and uppermost in mind is the fear that this winter will be harsh and train travel will become even more fraught with danger. Should potential disruptions take place to electricity, water and heating resulting from Russian attacks on energy infrastructure intensify, the near future is one of anxious apprehension.

Frequent train pauses and the evacuations that accompany them will become all the more difficult with the onset of freezing temperatures, snowfall and deadly interruptions. Plans are underway at Ukrainian Railways to allow passengers to remain on board paused trains at preventative stops. Golovashcenko, head of the passenger company, adds that blankets and heating pads will be on hand with the new preparations to ensure that people keep warm in harsh winter conditions  

 

Pixabay.com via Defence24

Xi's Campaign to Eliminate Rivals

Chinese Communist Party confirms expulsion of 33 officials   NHK World News

 

"[The Central Committee], with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core [has eliminated serious hidden dangers within the Party, the state and the military."

"[The Party had been guided by the sense of mission that] we would rather offend thousands [ejected from the CCP] than let down 1.4 billion people [the unwitting population]."

Zhang Fuhai, deputy secretary, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) 

 

Security personnel gather by Jingxi Hotel as China’s Communist Party leaders open the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee behind closed doors in Beijing, China, October 26, 2026. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

 

When China's President Xi Jinping first attained to his supreme post, he pledged to root out corruption in the Chinese Communist Party. This became a first priority and meetings of the Central Committee where such announcements of names and dismissals have been periodically revealed have become a routine part of the president's administrative processes. Woe betide any of the powerful politicians and military men whose influence and power has aroused the suspicion of a president whose word is law and whose wary eye can linger on any from whom a whisper of potential challenge can be envisaged.

 

"Serious hidden dangers" lurk within the Communist Party and the Chinese military and any that are detected must, above all, be eradicated. Authorities confirmed having carried out the expulsion of a record number of officials, previously in good standing at the elite level of government and the military. In a decade's time, President Xi has put into motion a grinding series of identified 'threats' to China through suspicious activities on the part of dozens of members of the powerful Central Committee and top military officers. In the process, thousands have been eliminated.

 

Thursday saw a four-day plenum of the Central Committee complete their work confirming that 33 additional dignitaries had been ejected. Included among them former Politburo member Zhang Youxia, whose successful military career had allowed him to rise to the very top, as China's highest-ranking general. The plenum's consensus was to adopt a decision on "advancing full and rigorous governance of the party", reducing corruption among cadres included, according to state news agency Xinhua. 

 

Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia arrives for a group photo session before the opening ceremony of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao, Shandong province, China April 22, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo

 

Beijing-watchers in analyzing these events interpret them as President Xi maneuvering events to pave the way for extending his leadership administrative rule in the second half of 2027, at a Party Congress. Supporters of the process claim that the purge of corrupt politicians and military advances clean governance. Zhang Youxia, at the time the highest-ranking general, had been removed previously in the wake of a months-long graft investigation. His expulsion from the party was confirmed on Thursday. 

 

Another former top Xinjiang official -- Ma Xingrui -- whose removal was also confirmed, had been removed from all his posts previously, over corruption allegations, with the inclusion of nepotism, bribery and paying for sex. According to the CCDI's Zhang Fuahi, discipline inspections and supervisory arms of the government had, since 2012, seen 7.9 million people punished for similar identified criminal activity.

 

Zhang Shengmin, who spearheaded the anti-graft campaign within the military, serving as President Xi's No.2 in the Central Military Commission, was promoted this week to the Politburo, the CCP's elite decision-making body. He will doubtless enjoy the privileges, prestige and respect that come with that position -- until his time comes when charges of graft and corruption come his way, and he is removed as another potential risk to the presidency. 

 

A meeting communique called for the adoption of "a holistic approach" combining severe punishment, targeted remedies and effective prevention to carry the fight against corruption"through to the end." President Xi emphasized political loyalty and heightened supervision of officials. Ten alternate Central Committee members were elevated to full membership, thus eliminating some of the vacancies of previous removals.

 

Police officers guard in Tiananmen Square as China’s Communist Party leaders open the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee behind closed doors, in Beijing, China, October 26, 2026. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

 

"[Efforts to weed out corruption will be] deepened, [particularly in sectors] characterized by the concentration of power, large amounts of funds and rich resource."

"We will prioritize the investigation of issues where political and economic problems are intertwined, collision between government and business, and the infiltration of capital into the political sphere."

"We will thoroughly investigate new forms of corruption and hidden corruption, and routinely address misconduct and corruption affecting the public at the grassroots level."

Zhang Fuhai, deputy secretary, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection 

"The Taliban have real leverage, and the European Union is quite powerless."

"European countries are under so much pressure that they are ready to do almost any deal to remove criminal refugees."

Conrad Schetter, director, Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies, Germany 

 

"The question is if it is indeed safe to return anyone to Afghanistan under the Taliban rule."

"No-one should be deported to Afghanistan given the dire human rights and living situation there."

"This is a fundamental principle of international refugee law, the non-refoulement principle."

Law professor Lena Riemer, Central European University, Vienna

 

"This was a historic visit as first time ever that delegation from Islamic Emirate visited the EU and held talks with member states in Brussels."

"[They spoke about] restarting broad-range consular services for Afghans in EU zone, including need for trust-building measures, consular presence and dignified return process."

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson, Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs  

Kabul airport after the Taliban takeover of power in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, credit: Belga

 

"Any engagement with the Taliban needs to prioritize protecting human rights and accountability — not deporting people to danger there."

"EU countries are undermining their credibility by condemning Taliban abuses and pursuing accountability on one hand, while cooperating with the Taliban to forcibly return Afghans on the other."

Fereshta Abbasi, researcher, Human Rights Watch 

 

"Belgium cannot confer legitimacy on a regime accused of serious human rights violations."

"Making a meeting possible in the framework of our host-state policy does not amount to recognition, does not amount to legitimacy, and does not constitute an invitation by the Belgian government [but it is prepared to comply with EU requests for visas for Afghans]."

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot  

Germany leads European push to expand Afghan deportations through Taliban deals / CC: VOA

 

Europe's governments, in condemnation of the Taliban restrictions on women and girls have long shunned the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Under pressure, with the migration epidemic flooding the continent, those same governments have been deporting refugees back to Afghanistan, in the process negotiating with the Taliban government. Over 20 European officials met in Brussels with five Taliban representatives in late June to discuss deportations.

 

According to three participants in the talks, the European side made no mention of human rights abuses. The focus was strictly on an agreement to be reached with Afghanistan accepting the return of their nationals. One of the major sources of migrants -- leaving Afghanistan for refuge in Europe -- the talks were meant to be viewed as technical, limited to expulsions, but have led to condemnation by human rights groups warning that the deportations risk the lives of those forced to return to their country of origin.

 

"The European Union cannot credibly condemn the Taliban's systematic repression while engaging with them to deport Afghans into the very abuses they claim to oppose", charged Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch. Russia remains the sole country in the world that formally recognizes the Taliban as a legitimate government. 

 

From the Taliban's perspective the view is that engaging positively on deportation represents an opening to advance acceptance of their rule as a recognized reality. Taliban officials have been permitted by Germany to operate in the Afghan diplomatic missions in Berlin and Bonn, a de facto recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate government. To do likewise is being considered by France. Greece, Austria, Poland and Norway are among representatives from 15 other European countries who have met the Taliban delegation in Brussels. 

 

For their part, the impoverished Taliban have requested wider access to Afghan missions from European governments, along with financial support to manage the reintegration of expelled Afghans. Broader economic assistance -- a red line for European governments which have limited their assistance to humanitarian aid -- is also among their quid pro quo expectations. European governments view development assistance as literally financing the Taliban government, which could be of benefit to officials under international sanctions.

 

450,000 Afghans have been expelled from Pakistan since 1 November 2022. OCHA/Sayed Habib Bidell

 

 Germany has pledged to aggressively deport migrants with criminal records, and has been leading the movement of expelling Afghan migrants. German officials in late 2025 struck  an agreement with the Taliban government to permit direct deportations of unauthorized Afghan migrants, rather than routing returnees through third countries.

 

A pact that "creates a reliable basis for direct and permanent deportations to Afghanistan", stated Alexander Dobrindt, German interior minister. More latterly, federal officials have embarked on a plan to speedily deport Afghan migrant men without criminal records, while women remain shielded from the effort. Close to 95 percent of Afghan women who applied for German asylum were granted protection, the first half of 2026. 

 

Pascal Confavreux, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, informed a news briefing that the purpose of the discussions was to "facilitate the removal of Afghan nationals who are in the country illegally and who pose a national security risk". Along with Britain keeping tabs on developments in the EU, several other European countries are considering direct agreements with the Taliban. 

 

The Taliban ambassador to Qatar, Suhail Shaheeen, informed European diplomats they should provide economic assistance to Afghanistan. Should they not, he warned, numbers of migrating Afghans reaching Europe is bound to increase. "If there is unemployment and an economic crisis in Afghanistan, Afghans will go like a flood to Europe".    

"Criminals must leave our country."

"That is one of the reasons why deportations to Afghanistan are a regular and reliable part of our migration policy."

"Our course is clear: control, consistency, and a state governed by the rule of law that enforces its decisions."

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt   

The German Interior Ministry said 303 Afghan men had been deported since the start of the current legislative term | File Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa/picture alliance

 

 

"Hello!!"

"I'd like to come try the food but I'm mindful where I spent my money these days."

"I saw your restaurant on the boycott list but I wanted to confirm with you what your views are about the genocide in Palestine [as the boycott lists might be misinformed]."

"Look forward to hearing back."

"Thank you!" 

Enquiry on Instagram by prospective diner

 

"Are we serving politics with a side of pancakes now?"

"There's a boycott list that's been going around since October 7. I don't think I can do anything about it. I think no matter what you do, people will assume a lot of things about you and your policies and your politics."

"I've been very adamant about not discussing politics, I definitely don't want that to define us. I just thought it was interesting that we were receiving that line of questioning, and I was fairly certain that other fellow restaurateurs were not receiving the same line of questioning."

"I don't hide the fact that I'm Jewish, right? I don't think I should have to. Absolutely not. No. But I also don't think I need to discuss foreign policy in order to conduct business in Montreal, Quebec."

"We all just want to make great food, feed our families, go home."

Raegan Steinberg, chief, restaurateur, Montrealer 

Is this normal? Is this the new normal?, Chef Raegan Steinberg asks in a social media post. nationalpost.com 

 

A fourth generation Canadian, Raegan Steinberg was inspired by her father whose influence on her future profession led to her pursuing culinary training at the Art Institute of Vancouver, on her professional journey to becoming an acclaimed chef. When she returned to Montreal, she began her adventures in creative cuisine by taking employment at the well-known Joe Beef establishment. 

 

After receiving that enquiry through Instagram recently, she gave thought to why she was being queried in such a manner, and how she should proceed. Those thoughts prompted her to reach out to others in the profession in the city. She spoke in turn with a number of fellow Montreal restaurateurs and chefs, the majority of whom hadn't been tasked to respond to such questions as a preliminary to hosting a potential client who prior to committing themselves to a meal demanded to be informed of their possible relationship with Israel.

 

"Jewish restaurants were definitely a higher percentage of the few people that I spoke to", she explained in an interview, "but I think that some Jewish restaurants are more targeted than others". Possibly as a result of those that are targeted being known for their popularity reflecting the quality of their menu choices and expert food preparation. Ms. Steinberg is referred to as "a top chef" by Tastet, a Canadian restaurant guide.

 

fplmtl  Filipinos for Palestinian Liberation

 

🫒🇵🇸 Before you go out to eat in Montreal, make sure the owner doesn’t support a military regime responsible for the genocide of tens of thousands of Palestinians 😵‍💫 Many of these restaurants also claim to serve “Israeli” food and wine.

 

She is, as well, the operator of three popular restaurants in the Montreal area: Arthurs Nosh Bar in Saint-Henri, Dirty Greens and Arthurs Nosh Bar at Le Cathcart, as well as Romies located in Old Montreal.  Perhaps being associated with those well-known and successful  enterprises might lead those who look to punish entrepreneurs whose expert skills make them public figure of note in their professions, should they be rash enough to risk all by publicly stating an allegiance to Israel.

 

She and her partner opened Back of House Catering as a preliminary to opening their first Arthurs Nosh Bar in 2015 which became a Montreal brunch staple on Notre-Dame Street West. The restaurant named after her father as a tribute to him, offering Jewish cuisine seen through a Moroccan gustatory lens. 

 

That successful venture was followed by Dirty Greens at Le Cathcart where gourmet salads are featured. Raegan and partner Alexandre Cohen opened Romies in 2024, a contemporary American bistro, That was followed by Arthur's Dinette in the NDG neighbourhood in 2026.  Well and truly established. Truly successful ventures by food-adventurous and food-knowledgeable professionals whose services to the public rewarded them amply.

 

Chef Raegan Steinberg filming an Instagram reel in one of her Montreal restaurants. Photo by Instagram

 

"I don’t think there’s like a negative stain on us or anything like that."

"We’re very happy, you know. I just think it’s important for people to know what goes on behind the scenes sometimes."

Chef Raegan Steinberg  

While nothing could quite prepare them and other Jewish-owned businesses from the malevolently ignorant harassment and poisonous charges of 'genocide' that accompany Jews in Canada living out their lives in the years since Palestinian terrorists launched a horrific maelstrom of mass rape, savage murder and hostage-taking of Israeli children, teens, elderly, foreign farm workers and members of the IDF, kept in inhumane conditions in Gaza, tormented by their captors while awaiting eventual release from captivity. 

 

Arthurs Nosh Bar, Tripadvisor