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Simon Allison
@simonallison
Co-founder and International Editor @TheContinent_. 'Unrepentant dunderhead', according to @ProfJNMoyo.
Johannesburg, South Africa
thecontinent.org
Born September 26
Joined June 2010
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    May 11, 2024
    This is the most alarming story I've worked on in a while. The French billionaire Vincent Bollore, described as "the French Rupert Murdoch", is trying to bring Africa's biggest broadcaster - MultiChoice, that's DStv, ShowMax and SuperSport - into his "right wing media empire".
    523K
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Sep 10, 2018
    Caster Semenya just posted her new Nike ad. "Would it be easier for you if I wasn't so fast? Would it be simpler for you if I stopped winning?" Brilliant, beautiful.
    00:00
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    May 1, 2019
    This is #CasterSemenya. I'm with her.
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Sep 10, 2018
    Caster Semenya just posted her new Nike ad. "Would it be easier for you if I wasn't so fast? Would it be simpler for you if I stopped winning?" Brilliant, beautiful.
    00:00
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Nov 14, 2022
    A 23-year-old Zambian student, Lemekhani Nathan, was killed in September in the Russia-Ukraine war. He had been serving a 9-year prison sentence in a Russian prison. Zambia is demanding to know how he ended up on the frontline, apparently fighting alongside Russian troops.
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Jul 5, 2021
    Welcome to the vaccine apartheid.
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Nov 3, 2020
    So far today, while we are all distracted by the US election: Bobi Wine was arrested in Uganda. Hopewell Chin’ono was arrested in Zimbabwe. Zitto Kabwe was arrested in Tanzania.
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Mar 19, 2022
    Ghana is on the brink of introducing one of the most homophobic laws in the world. This didn't happen organically - it was driven by a vicious disinformation campaign orchestrated by journalists, in partnership with an ultra-conservative American group. Investigation by @namlyd.
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Dec 12, 2022
    The UN has a plan to save the natural world. It will fence off the world's most biodiverse areas so that humans can't use them. But where, exactly, are those areas? Not in the west, which has got rich by destroying its own environment, and the animals and plants that lived there
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Oct 31, 2019
    So remember when Ethiopia planted 350 million trees in a single day? Turns out this may not have been such a good idea - which would have been obvious, if the western institutions pushing this mass tree-planting had bothered to ask local researchers.
    The trouble with indiscriminate tree-planting in Africa – The Mail & Guardian
    From mg.co.za
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Oct 29, 2018
    In most of the world, Boy Scouts just make fires and go camping. In the Central African Republic, the Boy Scouts mediate between armed groups and investigate Ebola outbreaks. This is one of the most remarkable stories I've ever worked on
    atavist.mg.co.za
    Boy Scouts in a war zone
    There are more boy scouts than peacekeepers in the CAR. Even in the midst of a civil war, the scouts are arguably more effective
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Jan 31, 2021
    It was tweeting about this story that got my account and several others blocked on Twitter. It’s about Bill Gates, and why he refuses to support calls to drop patents on Covid-19 vaccines. I asked him personally about the issue.
    mg.co.za
    Bill Gates, Big Pharma and entrenching the vaccine apartheid – The Mail & Guardian
    Waiving intellectual property restrictions on Covid-19 vaccines could help the developing world. But India and South Africa’s pleas are falling on deaf ears
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    May 8, 2019
    Among the most depressing emails I have ever received, from Sky News: 'Dear Simon, due to details about the royal baby’s appearance we will no longer be able to do the interview on the SA election." #priorities
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Mar 29, 2019
    I traveled to southern Malawi intending to write about the devastation inflicted by #CycloneIdai. I found that story, and it is devastating. But I also found a better story - one that has left me with hope for how this region may cope with climate change
    atavist.mg.co.za
    The villages in Malawi that prepared for the floods - and survived
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    Simon Allison
    @simonallison
    Jul 31, 2020
    Thread: In Zimbabwe this week, several prominent journalists, lawyers and activists have been abducted – allegedly by state security agents. This is not a bug, but a feature of Mnangagwa's government. 1/9