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'Gateway to Congo Basin' - Pres Nguesso pitches Pointe-Noire port as regional logistics superhub as he seeks a fifth consecutive term

'Gateway to Congo Basin' - Pres Nguesso pitches Pointe-Noire port as regional logistics superhub as he seeks a fifth consecutive term

"82-year-old President Denis Sassou Nguesso kicked off his election campaign on Saturday in Brazzaville, as he is running for a fifth consecutive term under the banner of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) and a coalition of nearly 20 parties known as the 'Presidential Majority.' Footage filmed on Saturday shows Nguesso addressing supporters during the election rally. "The infrastructure that will be put in place will boost a significant part of the economic activity of the Congo Basin toward the port of Pointe-Noire. Pointe-Noire will thus experience real growth," Nguesso told supporters. In his election campaign, Nguesso pitched Pointe-Noire as the Congo Basin's 'gateway,' framing the port and its special economic zone as the centrepiece of a push to move Congo-Brazzaville beyond oil. The expanded hub can draw foreign investment, generate transit revenue by serving landlocked neighbours and deliver jobs in the country's economic capital, while positioning Congo to tap into wider regional projects and 'green growth' supply chains. Supporters of the ruling Congolese Labour Party (PCT) expressed confidence in Nguesso. "This morning, we received one single instruction from our great comrade Denis Sassou Nguesso, presidential candidate. He said this: on March 15, from 8 am, everyone must be at the polling station. By 12 noon, we will have finished voting," a PCT supporter said. Nguesso's campaign is built around 'stability, continuity and wisdom,' casting his long rule as a safeguard against the wave of coups and instability seen in other African countries. The presidential election is taking place in a particularly tense political climate, as the opposition condemns Nguesso's 40 years in power. The Constitutional Court cleared seven candidates to run for presidency, including Nguesso. Among the challengers are Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou and Anguios Nganguia Engambe, both veterans of previous election races. On February 5, Nguesso officially announced his candidacy for the Congolese presidential elections, with the first round scheduled to take place on March 15, 2026."

'Great loss for us all' - Massive crowds gather in Beirut to condemn assassination of Khamenei

'Great loss for us all' - Massive crowds gather in Beirut to condemn assassination of Khamenei

"Thousands of people gathered in Ashura Square in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday to condemn the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the joint US-Israeli strikes on Tehran. Footage shows protesters holding up pictures of Khamenei, waving Iranian and Hezbollah flags, and chanting slogans such as "We will never submit to humiliation" and "America, you are the Great Satan." "Yes, we lost him, but he is now with the Imams and with Sayyid Hassan (the former Secretary-General of Hezbollah). Congratulations to him. God willing, we will triumph, and we will trample the heads of those who gloat over us," a protester remarked. "The death of Sayyid Ali (the Supreme Leader) is a very great loss, for he is a father to all and a father to the nation. And if God willed martyrdom for him, then our resolve will only grow stronger and more steadfast," another added. In a statement issued on Sunday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem mourned the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, calling his assassination 'a stain on the forehead of all humanity.' The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, commenting on Khamenei's assassination, declared, "This heinous crime will not go unpunished, and a new chapter will be written in the history of the Islamic world." The United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on Saturday, with both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to 'destroy Iran's missiles.' In response, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced "widespread missile and drone attacks" on Israel, and reports indicated that US bases in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, and Kuwait were targeted."

How Israeli sleight and US might led to the assassination of Ali Khamenei

How Israeli sleight and US might led to the assassination of Ali Khamenei

An operation decades in the making took just 60 seconds to carry out, but some question its wisdom The assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was the culmination of decades of painstaking intelligence gathering by Israeli secret services, with crucial technological resources and manpower provided over the last six months by the CIA and other US intelligence services, that culminated in a single concentrated burst of lethal violence to decapitate the Iranian regime, according to experts, veteran spies and officials in Israel and the US. Khamenei was killed along with seven “members of the top Iranian security leadership who had gathered at several locations in Tehran” and around a dozen members of his family and close entourage in near-simultaneous strikes within 60 seconds, military officials in Israel said. Forty other senior Iranian leaders also died in the attack. Continue reading...