Simon Allison

BREAKING NEWS: There's been a major development this month in the war between darkness and light. 1/

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 257 of The Continent Four months ago, tens of thousands of Malawians were repatriated as they fled xenophobic violence in South Africa. Now, the buses are heading back. bit.ly/TC_257

Can't wait for this

I’m not a US citizen nor am I in the US so my opinion doesn’t mean much. But just to say I’ve known Abdul el Sayed since grad school for many years. He and his wife Sarah are two of the kindest, most intelligent humans I’ve ever known. Your state would be tremendously lucky to have them in office.

This is fucked. Really bleak how entrenched this is becoming.

The infrastructure that supports a surveillance state

1/ Delhi police says it uses AI and surveillance tech to maintain law and order in the city. But as protests mount in India’s capital, the tools are increasingly used to keep dissenters at bay.

This is so racist.

All Protocol Observed Welcome to edition 256 of The Continent Nigeria bans exports of shea nuts – and creates a subsidy that profits everyone except its own farmers. bit.ly/256_TC

The worst Ebola outbreak in the world is ongoing in the DRC and you’re not being informed about it in part because the reason it is spiralling is US politics. At least one person who was suffering from the disease crossed into Uganda by road and then flew from Kampala to Nairobi where he died.

You can read more in this week’s edition of @thecontinent.org available free on WhatsApp or Signal when you subscribe.

This type of unfounded accusation is becoming more and more common against writers of a certain background. If The Atlantic care so much about AI use, why don't they go after the writers who admit using it like James Frey or Olga Tokarczuk or Anthony Horowitz? It's plain double standards.

Janusz Waluś, who murdered Chris Hani in 1993, was deported to Poland in December 2024. He has become a hero of Poland’s far right and football ultras. Read groundup.org.za/article/chri... by Jędrzej Słodkowski

Updates: the Ethiopian army is in control of the city of Alamata, after 3 days of fierce fighting on the city's outskirts. At least 50 people in the city died, many from artillery strikes, per medical sources reached by the BBC. A strike that targeted the city's marketplace killed a dozen people.

2/ The Atlas is a monthly publication from @codastory.com and @thecontinent.org. We live in the same world. Let's read from the same page. Get your copy delivered every month — for free. If this resonates with you, help it travel.

What shall we pray to, if Silicon Valley evangelists team up with the Vatican and promote coexistence with AI? Find out more in the latest issue of The Atlas — fresh off the press and sent directly to your inbox today.

What I appreciate the most about @thecontinent.org is that it tells stories from Africa in a voice actually from there

Always read and share The Continent but especially when the cover story is about Mauritania's iron ore train.

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 254 of The Continent. Social media made Mauritania’s iron ore train a daredevil adventure. Our photo essay captures the beauty of ordinary life. bit.ly/254_TC

Out now! A new @himalsouthasian.bsky.social investigation by @artcrimeprof.bsky.social on how Mary Slusser, a renowned US scholar, made her name as an expert on Nepal’s heritage while illicitly buying sacred artefacts and smuggling them out to the United States. www.himalmag.com/mary-slusser...

Have we discussed "AI" doomsday cults + Epstein? “parachuting humanity into a different evolutionary era...even obsoleting the human race as we know it...is a running theme in the Epstein files, and...tech evangelists...“It’s eugenics all the way down” www.codastory.com/authoritaria...

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 253 of The Continent Three years before 9/11, Al-Qaeda carried out its first major attack in Africa. Twenty-five years later, the continent is living with the consequences of a war on terror. bit.ly/253_TC

My favourite thing about this announcement might be @louigi.bsky.social's banner image, which I have spent too much time trying to decipher. (It also hints at what must be a fascinating back story behind the launch of the AHM).

And you have to ask yourself: why was it worth $22M to them? Because to them math is just their most successful PR bid, (since the claims of AGI aren't sticking). They are betting that the (false) claim "We solved math, so we can solve everything" will gain them way more than $22M in market share.

What's happening in the world of higher mathematics right now - and how mathematicians are responding - is one of the most fascinating stories on the planet. And no, OpenAI is not having it all its own way. www.codastory.com/authoritaria...

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 252 of The Continent Egyptians were using the characters of SpongeBob and his friends to talk about their real lives in a Facebook group. In 2 weeks it gained almost two million members. Then it was shut down. bit.ly/252_TC

What do visas have to do with basketball? Well, Senegal came third in Afrobasket and qualified for the qualification tournament in Mexico. This is how that went for them:

Somebody was really pleased with themselves about this headline.

1/ Mathematics has long been considered the foundation of human knowledge. Now large language models are getting better at solving some puzzles. Mathematicians must decide if, and how, they will work with this new technology.

“All the news is paywalled. All the lies are free”.

I have no doubt that this is a very well reported story. @sallyhayd.bsky.social is one of the best. I would love to read it. But the walls we are building around high-quality journalism are as high, and as dangerous, as the walls we build around our countries.

#MathSky So much AI press is just buying into the hype and giving AI companies free advertising. Here is at least a more-balanced piece on what's happening with AI in math. (Full disclosure: with quotes from yours truly, among others.)

There is a lot going on in the world of higher mathematics right now.

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 251 of The Continent Zambia’s recent election was supposed to be a vote on extending the president’s mandate for a second term. The post-election crackdown has been unprecedented. bit.ly/251_TC

J'aimerais porter à votre attention ce nouveau magazine publié par la toujours pertinente plateforme @codastory.com. C'est vraiment excellent. L'article à propos de l'IA chez les mathématiciens vaut le détour.

1/ If mathematics is the foundation of human knowledge, mathematicians are its guardians — and they're having an existential crisis. Issue 004 of The Atlas goes inside the quiet revolution in mathematics, as AI gets better at solving problems that have stumped humans for years.

1/ Mathematics has never just been about answers — it's the steps to get there. What happens to that skill when we start asking AI to skip straight to the end? Find out in The Atlas — Issue 004. Coming 27 August from @codastory.com and @thecontinent.org.

Finally! Harare Review of Books, Issue 2, 2026 https://shonatiger.substack.com/p/harare-review-of-books-issue-2-2026?r=18i0sn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

@emilymbender.bsky.social Hi Emily, please could you follow me back if possible - I'd like to send you an interview request. Many thanks, Simon