Bavijas Review

L-R: Italian PM Georgia Meloni, African Development Bank Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, Italian Republic President, Sergio Mattarella at Palazzo del Quirinale Countries around the world are beginning to take Africa for what it is: equal partners for growth and development.  On Monday in Rome during the Italy-Africa Summit, the Italian government unveiled a US$5.95 billion facility dubbed The Mattei Plan, prioritising energy security in Africa. In her speech, the Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni said the following:  “We believe it is possible to envision and write a new chapter in the history of our relationship, a cooperation among equals, far from any predatory imposition or charitable stance towards Africa. There is a natural inclination for Italy to be a bridge between Africa and Europe. The whole world cannot think about the future without Africa.” Italy sees Africa as a critical role player in its future growth and development plan. Africa has grown past the years when

The United States plans to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela, its southern neighbour and the world’s  largest known oil reserves  holder, if the Maduro government defaults on its promise to hold free and fair elections. Washington ordered American companies dealing with the state-owned energy firm PSDA to wind down within two weeks. This is as the recent ruling by the Venezuelan Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ban on the candidacy of Maria Corina Machado, the opposition’s nominee for this year’s presidential election. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a ceremony marking the start of the judicial year at the Supreme Court in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 22, 2021 (AP photo by Matias Delacroix). Remember, the US eased its ban on Venezuela’s oil industry in October 2023 for six months (to elapse in March 2024), which helped the Latin American country fetch extra billions of dollars in oil earnings per trade figures revealed by Reuters. The oil industry is Venezuela’s biggest source of

Israeli-linked chemical tanker seized in the Gulf of Aden. Source: www.iranintl.com During his historic 42-minute speech at Westminster Hall on May 25, 2011, then-US President Barack Obama reiterated America was not and will never be in a religious war with Islam but rather in an unrelenting war with terrorist groups and their extremist allies. But its terrorism wars over the years have continued to be with armed groups inextricably linked with the religion of Islam. The Houthis, a religio-political Muslim rebel group of 200,000 troops formed in the 1990s as an opposition movement to Yemen President  Ali Abdullah Saleh , whose aim is to govern Yemen and support all external movements against the United States, Israel, the Jews, and sometimes Saudi Arabia, has been America’s headache for two decades now. In their unrelenting effort to institute Yemen's Shia Muslim minority—the Zaidis—over the years, thousands of Yemenis have died either by fighting or by the hardship that took hold