AI Slop Map of Africa at AIDS Conference

A US State Department map of Africa mislabeled every country they depicted during a presentation at the AIDS 2026 conference (July 26-31, 2026) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

The slide was so egregiously wrong that multiple attendees whipped out their phones to get a shot of it; Emily Bass, a writer and AIDS expert, wrote about it at length. 

"The US government's failure to catch this error before displaying the slide at the top international AIDS conference in the world, in a session that featured the Director General of Nigeria as an invited guest, is not only disrespectful to African collaborators, it's also a significant tell", wrote Bass.

Senior officials from several African governments were reportedly among those present. 

The map shows six countries receiving US health funding and none of them are correctly named or placed. Nigeria has migrated north to become landlocked in the Sahara. Mozambique has roughly replaced Ethiopia. The Ivory Coast was placed in southern Africa, far from any coast, its name an ignored clue. Uganda and Malawi are not so far off, but drawn with wrong borders. Cameroon was named but assigned no territory at all. While one country on the Gulf of Guinea – a hypothetical union of Ghana, Benin and Togo? – went unnamed. Perhaps that is Cameroon now. 

The speaker was Jeff Graham, the US health envoy who oversees PEPFAR (⁠President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), a United States government initiative.

Whoever ⁠created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work. And Reuters reviewed video of the presentation and concluded that the map was AI slop. 

A Reuters analysis found the image of the map included in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools. 

The company said they were investigating the report. The State Department said they took "full responsibility" and blamed a staffer who changed the slide deck shortly before the event. 

This sort of thing is normal in the Trump administration. Last year, the White House's "Make America Healthy Again" report cited studies that did not exist, with fabricated references and other hallmarks of AI slop.

FIFA Say World Cup Too Big to Derail

The FIFA World Cup has historically been an event that brings together fans from across the world. The United States, Canada and Mexico are the hosts for the 2026 edition.

The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19. The matches are spread across sixteen cities – eleven in the US, three in Mexico, and two in Canada. And the first to have 48 teams, an enlargement of sixteen teams compared to the previous seven tournaments. 

The total number of games played will expand from 64 to 104, and the number of games played by teams reaching the final four will increase from seven to eight. 

With less than 90 days until kickoff, issues are aplenty.

On January 01, the US expanded its visa-issuance suspensions to nationals from 39 countries, citing national security and public safety concerns and saying the identified countries could not properly vet their citizens. Four of the countries on the banned list – Haiti, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Iran – have qualified for the World Cup.

Many fans rely on tourist visas, and ICE are expected to be responsible for security at the World Cup. And ICE’s director has refused to commit to pausing the agency’s operations during the tournament. Human rights groups have raised concerns over whether World Cup visitors will be detained and handed to ICE if they engage in actions deemed critical of the US government.

And this Truth Social post by Donald Trump on March 12 is disturbing:

Trump later posted another message on his social media platform to emphasise that the event would be safe for players and spectators from around the world. 😆😆😆

Indeed, the World Cup is facing unprecedented uncertainty stemming from geopolitical crises, security concerns, and financial challenges.

That's not all. FIFA have set the highest ticket prices ever for a World Cup, leading to outrage among fans. 

And the use of dynamic pricing saw ticket costs for the final rise to nearly $8,700, potentially pricing out supporters.

Despite these issues, FIFA officials have maintained that the 2026 tournament – set to be the largest ever with 48 teams – is "too big" to derail and is expected to proceed as planned.

Chimps Drink a Lager a Day in Ripe Fruit

Many animals have been known to consume fermented fruit, sometimes intentionally, and experience the psychoactive effects of alcohol. It turns out that chimpanzees (Scientific name: Pan troglodytes), our closest living relative, consume the equivalent of almost one and a half alcoholic beverages a day via their regular diet. 

A paper "Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees" published in Science Advances, September 17, 2025, Vol. 11, Issue 38, studied the pulp from fruit enjoyed by chimpanzees in Côte d'Ivoire and Uganda. The amount of fruit consumed daily produced 14 grams of ethanol, the human equivalent of 1.4 drinks. As this amount would be consumed over the course of a full day, this would only result in mild intoxication, if any. 

The findings in the paper support the hypothesis that ethanol is regularly present in tropical fruit, and its consumption by our ancestors may have resulted in modern humans' fondness for alcohol. 

As lead author Aleksey Maro (right) said, "Naturally occurring dietary alcohol is inseparable from food, which may help explain why our species is so fond of the stuff. During periods of food scarcity, a physiological tolerance for dietary ethanol could have been crucial for survival, leading towards a fondness for ethanol that persists to this day". 🍺🍺🍺

No Coup, No Civil Uprising in Côte d'Ivoire

Nothing happened in Côte d'Ivoire. My May 22nd post supposedly of an unfolding crisis there was INCORRECT. 

No violence was reported by security forces or any other government authorities in Abidjan or elsewhere in the country, reported Al Jazeera on Saturday. Local residents also denied the fake claims on social media, notably on Facebook and X. 

And on Thursday, the country’s National Agency for Information Systems Security of Ivory Coast (ANSSI) came out to deny the rumours. In a statement published on local media sites, the agency said: “Publications currently circulating on the X network claim that a coup d'état has taken place in Cote d’Ivoire [Ivory Coast]… This claim is completely unfounded. It is the result of a deliberate and coordinated disinformation campaign”.

In fact, videos showing citizens demonstrating in the streets and setting fires to shops and malls started appearing on social media sites on Wednesday. French is the official language in Ivory Coast, but most of the posts and blogs with images purporting to be from were from Abidjan and claiming that a coup was in progress were written in English. 

Some posts even claimed that the country’s army chief of staff, Lassina Doumbia, had been assassinated and that President Alassane Ouattara was missing. These claims were untrue and have been denied by the office of the president. Credible media outlets, including Ivorian state media and private news media, did not report the alleged violence.

And this means that Côte d'Ivoire will remain a thorn in Burkina Faso's side as that country happily harbors the traitors whose aim is to destabilise/destroy the Ibrahim Traoré-governed country.

Mohamed Salah's 84th minute equaliser – the Eagles had scored first in the ninth minute – ensured Liverpool signed off the Premier League with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace at Anfield yesterday. 

The goal was the Egyptian's 29th in the league and that tally, along with his 18 assists, meant he moved level with Alan Shearer and Andy Cole for the most goal involvements in a Premier League season.  It also meant he secured a fourth Golden Boot, equalling the record held by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. 

Not to forget too that his goals had contributed significantly to the Reds' record-equalling 20th league title win – that moves them joint level with Manchester United.

Donald Trump Expresses Interest to Meet Xi Jinping in China

Remember US President Donald Trump on April 08 had boasted: “I am telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass” – in their desperate bids to reduce the levies after he imposed an extraordinary barrage of tariffs on the world, which he dubbed "Liberation Day"? 

Some countries, like India, Japan and Mexico did! In fact, the Trump administration shouted out in glee that more than 50 countries had reached out for economic negotiations. 

I suppose, in a way, it helped!

But now, in a not-so-surprising turn of events, Trump has said he would be willing to travel to China. I reckon to presumably kiss Xi Jinping's ass! 

“I would certainly”, Trump said when asked if he wanted to meet Xi during an interview with Fox News that aired Friday, adding that the relationship between China and the US was “important”!

At least, Trump knows who holds all the aces!

On May 21, social media exploded and claiming there is a fast unfolding crisis in Côte d'Ivoire right now! 

The government have shut down the Internet and over 60 people have been feared killed as fighting breaks out in Abidjan, in what has been described as a military coup d'état or large scale civil uprising. 

The country's Western puppet, Alassane Ouattara (left) – who's been the president since 2010 – has gone missing, arrested or possibly dead! 

But I must add that no official statement has been made at the time of this post.

19 Million Cases

Yesterday, the world hit 19 million cases. And a day earlier, the coronavirus pandemic death toll had passed 700,000. 

I suppose this is what is commonly referred to as the ‘second wave’. Again, if we examine the twelve worst-affected countries, they have combined to contribute 72.7% of the world total cases.

 

Two countries, the United States and India stuck out like sore thumbs. 

SARS-CoV-2 continues to plague the US as the number of cases went beyond 5 million. And India has become the third country to pass two million cases. 

In fact, it has taken 20 days for the country to progress from a million to two million cases. That is faster than the time the US (43 days) and Brazil (27 days) took to double from a million cases. The only saving grace is that India recorded fewer fatalities than both these countries.

I wish the country would focus on fighting Covid-19 rather than fighting China. 

Africa has a million people now been confirmed to have had the coronavirus – and 87.5% are coming from these 12 countries:

Mary Stephen, technical officer at the WHO's regional office for Africa warns: "We haven't seen the peak in Africa yet".

Africa Tops 400,000 Coronavirus Cases

Covid-19 is here to stay in Africa. 

Given the current trends in incidence – more so when the coronavirus pandemic transitions to more widespread community transmission – and underlying healthcare systems vulnerabilities, the continent is in real danger of becoming the next epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Note that it took 98 days for Africa to reach 100,000 cases – and just 18 to hit 200,000 and another 22 days to reach 400,000. On that Tuesday, the continent also registered 10,000 deaths.

It is pertinent to highlight that the twelve most-affected countries are responsible for 84.2% of Africa’s total cases; insofar as fatalities are concerned, the Top 12 contributed 87.7% of total deaths. 

Elsewhere, Pakistan garnered 200,000 cases on Sunday whilst India, Turkey and Colombia collected 600,000, 200,000 and 100,000 cases respectively on Wednesday:

It is heartening to know that Malaysia has reported positive news today with the number of active cases dipping below 100 – with 85 cases only.

The Covid-19 Situation in Africa

More than three months have lapsed since Egypt became the first country in Africa to confirm a coronavirus case. Since then, the outbreak has reached every nation on the continent of 1.2 billion people – with 100,666 confirmed cases and 3,105 deaths on Friday, according to Africa CDC. 

No doubt Africa recorded just a wee fraction of the world's coronavirus cases – a mere 1.9%. 

Also WHO modelling has predicted that Covid-19 would move more slowly through Africa than elsewhere. It's very comforting to know, that’s for sure.

Still, the fact remains that the virus is raging in pockets of the continent. 

And it has been hit hard by the economic fallout from global trade disruptions, falling oil and commodities prices and the lockdowns deployed to fight the disease's spread. That can be just as hurting. 

I read that the presidents of Ivory Coast, Kenya, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone on Tuesday are already complaining that wealthy countries are failing Africa, with pledges of financial support and debt relief falling well short of the continent's needs as it battles the coronavirus pandemic. 

But it’s not only Africa that is affected – but everywhere too.

Already, the global economy is shrinking by around 5%. According to World Bank estimates, up to 60 million people could be pushed below the poverty line in their latest apocalyptic prediction. 

World Bank president David Malpass (right) said they have so far loaned money for emergency programs in 100 countries, accounting for about 70% of the world’s population, in response to the coronavirus crisis. 

He said the money would “reinforce healthcare systems” as well as pay for medical equipment and supplies.

Many countries' economies are already in dire straits.

WHO Worry Over Africa

The World Health Organization worry over Africa. 

On Friday they said that the total number of intensive-care unit beds across 43 of the continent's 54 countries is lower than 5,000. This translates to around five ICU beds per million in these nations – as compared to 4,000 per million in Europe. 

What’s more, the WHO said that 41 African countries have reported having fewer than 2,000 functional ventilators available to their public health services. 

You may or may not know it but February 14, 2020 saw the first coronavirus case confirmed in the continent – in Egypt. 

On March 19, thirty-three countries have already reported more than 600 cases and 17 deaths. 

Yesterday, according to figures compiled by the agency EFE, fifty-two countries have been infected – yielding 11,703 cases and 609 deaths.

The numbers are building up, slowly and surely. That's becoming a big worry. 

Africa’s Top Seven Covid-19 countries:

From imposing travel bans to prohibiting mass gatherings and shutting down schools, governments across Africa are increasingly adopting sweeping measures in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. 

The emergency moves come amid a worrying increase in the number of infections registered across the continent. 

Still, health experts expressed confidence that the lessons learned from previous health emergencies, including the devastating Ebola outbreak in 2014-2016 that killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa, will help in the fight against the coronavirus. 

I pray Covid-19 won’t inflict a heavy blow on Africa.

Extreme Lockdown Responses

Worldwide, there are now more than 1.5 million confirmed Covid-19 infections.

In Africa, it has already passed 10,000 cases.

Therefore, there are legitimate reasons to be apprehensive about the disease since many countries have poor healthcare systems that could be easily overwhelmed, resulting in an unprecedented health disaster. 

Some measures being used to fight Covid-19 border on over-zealousness that is a cause for worry and alarm. It appears that in a couple of countries, the police and military have been harassing, beating and, in some cases, killing people as they vigorously enforce measures aimed at preventing the spread of the pathogen.

Ugandan police hit vendors who refused to clear the streets 

A South African police officer forcing people to disperse and observe the safety distance as they queue outside a supermarket in Yeoville, Johannesburg, on March 28, 2020

Their actions are at the sharp end of a debate over the balance between personal freedoms and human rights on the one hand, and the need to protect society as a whole from coronavirus on the other. 

In Nairobi, Kenya, a 13-year-old boy playing on a balcony in a high rise residential building in the capital, Nairobi, was shot dead after being hit by what police described as a "stray bullet". 

Three other deaths, including that of a motorcycle taxi rider who succumbed to injuries after being beaten by police, have been reported in the local press. 

On Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta has apologized "to all Kenyans… for some excesses which were conducted" by the security forces, while urging the public to abide by measures the government had put in place to contain the spread of the virus. 

In neighboring Uganda, Human Rights Watch have accused police of using "excessive force" – including beating fruit and vegetable sellers and motorcycle taxi riders.

Moreover, police arrested 23 people during a raid on a shelter for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, accusing them of disobeying orders by remaining in the shelter and charging them with "a negligent act likely to spread infection of disease", HRW said. 

In the face of mounting criticism, 10 officers were charged with torture on Tuesday after being accused of caning 38 women and forcing them to swim in mud in the northern town of Elegu. The officers have not yet been asked to plead. 

While in South Africa, which has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases on the continent, at least eight people have been killed by police since a nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 26, the country's Independent Police Investigative Directorate said. 

During these anxious times, some governments are adopting a “Better Safe Than Sorry” approach but even so, violence is inexcusable.

In case anybody is interested to know on the coronavirus situations in the above-mentioned countries:

French Doctors Suggest Vaccine Test in Africa

It is altogether appalling and outrageously offensive that two French doctors had seriously suggested that Africans be used to test a potential vaccine for Covid-19. 

The comments were made on the French television channel, LCI, during a discussion on Wednesday about coronavirus trials set to be launched in Europe and Australia to see if the BCG tuberculosis vaccine could be used to treat the virus. 

Jean-Paul Mira, head of the intensive care unit at the Cochin Hospital in Paris had said: "It may be provocative. Should we not do this study in Africa where there are no masks, no treatment or intensive care, a little bit like it's been done for certain AIDS studies, where among prostitutes, we try things, because we know that they are highly exposed and don't protect themselves?" 

Camille Locht, research director at France's national health institute, INSERM, nodded his head in agreement: "You are right. We are in the process of thinking about a study in parallel in Africa". 

Dr Mira had earlier questioned whether the study would work as planned on healthcare workers in Australia and Europe because they had access to personal protective equipment while working. 

The show sparked widespread anger and furious indignation. 

When asked about the doctors' suggestion, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (left) became visibly angry, condemning it as “racist” and calling it a hangover from the "colonial mentality". 

He declared emphatically: "Africa can't and won't be a testing ground for any vaccine". 

The doctors' comments have fueled existing fears in Africa that African people will be the guinea pigs for a new coronavirus vaccine. 

Coronavirus centers have been targeted in African countries – most recently, a facility that was under construction in Abidjan, Ivory Coast was attacked and destroyed by protesters. Footage posted on social media showed people tearing the center apart with their bare hands, and smashing construction materials on the ground. 

We may be in the twenty-first century but racial bigotry is alive and well.

FYI, Africa is also not spared from Covid-19. The top 7 countries with the biggest number of infections and deaths are:

Bloody Carnage in Brussels and Elsewhere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image credit: http://europeanpressagency.com/world-news/islamists-celebrate-brussels-terror-under-sick-belgiumonfire-arabic-hashtag

Islamists and Islamic State sympathizers have been celebrating the Tuesday massacre in Brussels, starting a sick Arabic #Belgiumonfire (#بروكسل_تحت_النار) hashtag – similar to the #Parisonfire trend which appeared after the Paris attacks – the twin bomb attacks in Belgium’s capital saw 34 people killed and hundreds more injured.

 

“Strike terror in the heart of Kufar [infidel]… we will take in the hearts of those who disbelieve horror”, tweeted one Alswedi Omar. His profile picture features an IS emblem above the words “support from Germany”.

 

“What a beautiful day today,” another agitator added, describing the innocent victims as “Belgium supporters” who are fair game because of their Western identity.

 

“Fuck Belgium. Belgium wanted to bomb the Islamic state. Now enjoy what your hands have sown… A lot of doas [prayers] were answered today”, said another.

 

“We not only applaud. But we are happy, happy smiling laugh, happy day was on holiday #Brussels and Kalh_oamag Harith”, one more added.

 

One of the most common sentiments expressed under the sick hashtag was: “You declared war against us and bombed us, and we attack you inside your homeland”, along with Islamist war cry: “Allahu Akbar!”

 

The hashtag rapidly gained traction in the Arab-speaking world, and is seemingly inspired by a similar “Paris is on fire” trend which was popularized by IS supporters soon after the bloody carnage in Paris, France.

 

Many of the Tweets have already disappeared, however, and accounts that express support for terrorist organizations are usually deleted within days – so it is difficult to gauge the true popularity of the hashtag.

 

 

This latest incident in Belgium came on the heels of a long string of terrorist attacks in many parts of the world – and they will keep haunting us.

 

Here’s a sample of the bloodshed spilled in the name of Islam:

 

On the evening of November 13, 2015, a series of coordinated attacks occurred in Paris and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis and 130 people were killed and another 368 people were injured. IS claimed responsibility.

 

Seven days later, the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali’s capital was seized by al-Qaeda-backed militants – they took 170 people hostage, ultimately killing 20 and seven people were wounded.

 

On January 12, 2016, a suicide bombing in a popular central square in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, left 13 people dead and 14 people injured. The perpetrator was identified as IS-affiliated Nabil Fadli.

 

Two days later, in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital came under attack that left eight people dead, including four assailants and another 24 people were wounded. IS claimed responsibility.

 

The next day, a group of al-Qaeda militants attacked the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. At least 30 people were killed, and another 56 were wounded.

 

On March 13, 2016, at least 18 people were killed and another 33 were injured when yet another al-Qaeda-linked group attacked the Étoile du Sud hotel in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast.

 

Obviously, dangerous people are lurking out there! And they sincerely view themselves as Muslims and they have happily committed devastating acts of violence in the name of Islam.

 

This bloody carnage that they brought upon society will continue. During these trying times, saner voices must prevail.

 

We must not succumb to the popular refrain that all Muslims are terrorists, and that they are hell-bent on wiping out all non-believers from the face of this earth.

More than anything else – this is what the world needs now:

 

Yesterday evening, I was in KL’s Brickfields to attend the MIA Toastmasters meeting. This was the first time I actually counted eight MIA Toastmasters in attendance. A rarity and hopefully, an omen of better things to come.

 

I was there to deliver my CC #6 speech on Vocal Variety titled “Scream Fest”. Another good speech!

 

I was also a Speech Evaluator for the club president who presented an Advanced speech – and I was voted Best Evaluator.