WARNING - You probably don't want to turn the sound on for this video.
They can cause permanent hearing damage, and are banned across most of Europe and for War. But of course they use them on innocent people.

Democratic US Sen. Richard Blumenthal said on Nov. 7 that he would introduce legislation supporting Ukraine, called on Washington to assign new negotiators to peace talks, and urged Congress to impose public interest controls on Starlink and Starshield.

U.S. President Donald "Trump needs new negotiators — not fawning pawns who call this brutal murderer a 'humanitarian.' Congress must lead without delay," he said in a post to X.

The U.S. has sent special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to trilateral peace talks with Ukraine and Russia, as well as to bilateral meetings, many of which took place in Moscow between the Trump administration and the Kremlin.

In Witkoff's latest meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Oct. 21, the U.S. envoy praised the Russian leader for the release of U.S. political prisoner Stephen Hubbard.

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"A strong pro-Ukraine post-election wind at our back, we must push right away to impose sanctions waived by Trump, stop his despicable diesel deal, provide military aid, particularly air defense — and other measures to show support necessary to bring Putin to serious peace talks," he said.

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Blumenthal's call to impose public oversight over Starlink and its military counterpart, Starshield, comes after Starshield had been operating at limited capacity in October, hindering Ukraine's ability to defend itself from deadly Russian jet-powered drones.

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Archived

• Russia is recruiting Africans for its armed forces, promising them high salaries and easy work, but in reality they become “cannon fodder” for the Russian army.
• Despite the deception and harsh conditions, African nations turn a blind eye to the recruitment, and the number of Africans in the Russian army continues to grow.

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Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Egypt, and Cameroon – this is just a list of some of the countries where Russians seek out, solicit, and recruit Africans.

They are promised the world and easy work; their tickets and visas are paid for within a few days; and at the Moscow airport, instead of an employer, they are met by a man who takes them straight to a Russian army recruitment center. The contract is written in Russian, without a translation, but they are assured that they will work only as drivers, cooks, construction workers, or security guards, and that their pay will be several – or even dozens – of times higher.

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In a recent investigation, researchers from iLAB (Code for Africa) identified 289 digital resources designed to lure Africans: fake websites, bogus profiles, and fabricated positive reviews. They are hosted on Western servers and operate on a “burn and replace” principle – when a site is blocked, a new one appears the next day, and artificial intelligence is used to facilitate this.

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So-called “friends of Russia” also play a role: local journalists promoting job openings, businesspeople from Moskow’s partner projects, politicians, and, according to rumors, even religious organizations. Recruiters can be either Africans or Russians living or working in the region.

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Another powerful channel of Russian propaganda in Africa is the “Russian Houses.” This is a network of cultural centers overseen by the “Rossotrudnichestvo” agency and headed until April of this year by Putin’s friend Yevgeny Primakov (also known as Yevgeny Sandro). At these centers, the local population is indoctrinated; patriotic Soviet and Russian films are shown; Russian is taught; and young people are advised on how to obtain a visa and move to Russia to study or work.

“Russian Houses” are already operating in at least 22 African countries, with plans to open more in 8 others. In the capital of the Central African Republic, directly across from the “Russian House,” there is even a monument to Russian war criminals from the Wagner Group, who massacred the local population for gold and diamonds – and nowThey have turned this unfortunate country into a drug lab.

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Even those Africans who do follow the news mostly believe Russian propaganda. Kremlin mouthpieces such as RT, Sputnik, and African Initiative broadcast in English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, and even Swahili, reaching a vast audience.

In Africa, the myth of Russia as a “great power” and a “fighter against colonialism” persists. In many rural communities, there is simply a lack of information about the true state of the war. Some people sincerely believe that Ukraine is losing, so they have no doubts about their choice to work in Russia or sign a contract with the Russian military.

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“Cannon fodder” for the Russian war machine

For those who did decide to go to Russia, the process begins immediately upon arrival at the airport. They are met either by the Russian recruiter himself or by a third party sent by him. Very soon after arrival, they are taken to sign a military service contract in Russian without translation.

If they refuse to sign this contract with the army, they are threatened with imprisonment under various pretexts – such as debts arising from the need to reimburse the cost of the ticket or illegal stay due to visa revocation.

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Evans Kibet, a 37-year-old Kenyan track and field athlete, signed a contract with the Russian Armed Forces and… on his very first combat mission in the Kharkiv region, he surrendered to Ukrainian soldiers from the 57th Motorized Infantry Brigade.

Vincent Odhiambo, a shop owner from Nairobi, traveled to Russia to work as a salesman, but instead was made a soldier after about a week of training and sent to fight in Ukraine. After being wounded, he escaped from a military hospital, made his way to the Kenyan Embassy in Moskow, and, with the help of diplomats, left the Russian capital.

Kamara Alhaji, a 41-year-old citizen of Sierra Leone, voluntarily signed a contract with the Russian occupation army in the spring of 2026, and by early June had been killed in the the village of Shakhov, in the Donetsk region area.

Pako Namogang, a 25-year-old Botswanan, was the first identified citizen of that country to sign a voluntary contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense in July; just one month later, he was killed by Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk region.

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Archived

At a 2025 event called WSIS+20, the United Nations endorsed multi-stakeholder governance by deciding that its Internet Governance Forum (IGF) should become a permanent body. That decision effectively endorsed multi-stakeholder governance, and kept the ITU out of internet standards.

Yet the IGF hasn't met since WSIS+20, so it is yet to start operating meaningfully as a permanent body.

November 4, 2026

Democrats flipped both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, delivering a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump and opening the possibility for a showdown over his administration's economic war on Cuba.

With their new majorities and control over congressional committees, Democrats could pursue legislation ending Trump's oil blockade, prohibit funding for unauthorized military operations and advance measures to ease or repeal economic sanctions.

The election results also cast doubt on the conventional wisdom about the political risks of opposing the embargo, including in Florida, where Cuba hardliners have long wielded enormous influence.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is a particularly revealing example. When Israel attacked Iran in June 2025, he praised it for doing the West's "dirty work." He defended the much larger American-Israeli bombing campaign launched in February 2026, declaring that this was “no time to lecture our allies on international law.”

Now Merz laments that the war has cost Europe more than €100 billion through higher energy prices. The “dirty work” has come with a hefty bill.

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who spoke of a “democratic transition” in Tehran as the U.S. and Israeli bombs began falling, now places the war’s price tag at €127 billion ($143 billion) in additional fossil fuels. Neither Merz nor von der Leyen are on the record of connecting publicly the outcome of the elections to the war on Iran, however.

Merz and von der Leyen epitomize a broader European failure. EU governments had little meaningful influence over Washington's decision to go to war. Nevertheless, some, like Germany, supported it. Others, like France, acknowledged that the war violated international law, but put emphasis on Iran’s “destabilizing behaviour” in the region. Still others, like Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Cyprus cooperated by allowing the U.S. to use military bases on their territories to attack Iran. Spain's Pedro Sánchez was a notable exception, fully opposing the war from the outset.