Rachel Savage
@rachelmsavage.bsky.social
2K followers 1.7K following 750 posts
Southern Africa Correspondent at The Guardian. Brit abroad.
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rachelmsavage.bsky.social
R.E. The NYT story on the ADF's more recent activity in the UK. As I said when I shared the story before, this is not new.

But I didn't make the very important point that Katelyn and @sydney-bauer.com made, which is that trans journalists in particular have been tracking this since at least 2018
katelynburns.com
yeah man, trans reporters, whom the ny times derogatorily calls "trans activists" so that normies won't listen to them, have been reporting on ADF activity in the UK since 2018.

bigotry in journalism makes you late to the story.
mc00.bsky.social
Really important NYT investigation finds that the ADF has been working with Reform, 'courting the party since at least 2024' and that the British arm 'orchestrated Mr Farage’s appearance in Congress, reaching out to ask if he would like to give evidence on censorship'
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
Too many Bildungsromans make singular events the be all and end all of the main character's life. It's unrealistic and lazy.

What do you mean you saw something you shouldn't have when you were eight years old and it screwed you up for life?

Spies, Never Let Me Go, etc. Profoundly annoying
rachelfeder.bsky.social
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
If you need something to make you feel better about your competence at life, this is for you.

South Africa's finance minister accidentally named the wrong M. Maseko to the Public Investment Corporation board: former treasury official Mpumelo Maseko instead of ex-PIC employee Mpumelelo Maseko
Shocking name mix-up: Godongwana to reappoint ‘right’ Maseko to PIC board | News24
Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana says he will appoint former Public Investment Corporation employee Mpumelo Maseko to the asset manager’s board after asking namesake Mpumelelo Maseko to resign.
www.news24.com
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
Madagascar's president said he was safe, without saying where, after an attempt to kill him, according to an AFP translation of his live Facebook video address.

"I was forced to find a safe place to protect my life today. In all this, I never stop looking for solutions."
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rachelmsavage.bsky.social
Madagascar's president said on his official Facebook that he was going to address the nation, first at 7pm local time. Then it was delayed to 8.30pm, after the presidency said armed forces had taken control of state media. Then it was delayed again to 9.30pm - which was half an hour ago.
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rachelmsavage.bsky.social
I do follow them and read them regularly :)
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
I've been trying to post semi-regularly about Madagascar, but I'm getting my news off contacts on the ground, local news on Facebook and AFP, Reuters etc who have people on the ground. Gen Z also use Instagram & TikTok. Very little on X & I've not seen anyone else posting about it here.
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
This! I would definitely spend more time on BlueSky (and no doubt post more) if more people from Africa were posting about news and life in general
wagatwe.com
my biggest beef with bluesky is that I get way more updates on what Curtis Yarvin or Peter Thiel than anything on the African continent
okwonga.bsky.social
What the Twitter takeover did so effectively was fracture the way we get our news. If, for example, I want to get in-depth updates on Sudan I still check in with Twitter as that's where a lot of the biggest accounts are. There's no one-stop shop anymore.
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
This isn't surprising, for anyone who has been following the ADF's work outside the US.

For the best part of a decade it's been backing "religious freedom" cases in the UK, including supporting anti-abortion activists.
henrymance.ft.com
The right-wing campaign group that helped topple Roe v Wade in the US is now working to roll back abortion laws in the UK, with the help of Nigel Farage.

Its first step? Trying to create a debate around "free speech"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...
Reposted by Rachel Savage
judah-grunstein.bsky.social
For anyone who has followed Rajoelina's political career, and Madagascar's politics over that time, this is both eminently predictable and pretty incredible.

Also really revealing that he left on a French plane, if that bears out. Old habits die hard.
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
France has flown Madagascar's president Andry Rajoelina out of the country, RFI reports.

Ex prime minister Christian Ntsay and businessman Mamy Ravatomanga, a close ally of the president who protestors blamed for a lot of corruption, reportedly flew to Mauritius on a private jet on Saturday night.
France evacuates Madagascar president amid protests and army revolt
Madagascar’s president Andry Rajoelina has been evacuated from the country by a French military plane as protests and a military mutiny threaten to topple his government, RFI has confirmed.
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rachelmsavage.bsky.social
France has flown Madagascar's president Andry Rajoelina out of the country, RFI reports.

Ex prime minister Christian Ntsay and businessman Mamy Ravatomanga, a close ally of the president who protestors blamed for a lot of corruption, reportedly flew to Mauritius on a private jet on Saturday night.
France evacuates Madagascar president amid protests and army revolt
Madagascar’s president Andry Rajoelina has been evacuated from the country by a French military plane as protests and a military mutiny threaten to topple his government, RFI has confirmed.
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rachelmsavage.bsky.social
Madagascar's president said on Sunday morning that an illegal power grab was underway.

Also on Sunday, Capsat, the elite military unit that joined protesters on the streets yesterday, announced it was taking over the army
Madagascar’s president says illegal power grab by military is under way
Soldiers from elite Capsat unit have announced they are taking over after weeks of youth-led protests
www.theguardian.com
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
I'm sorry but what in the everloving-lack-of-a-human-editor happened to this wine label?!

'To fully express the balance, yet somewhat "wild"'

That isn't even the worst thing on there.
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
I've just seen clips of Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller pronouncing Antifa as An-TEE-fuh and it sounds just as ridiculous as you'd imagine
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
Here's my story on what is still unfolding in Madagascar (with a lot of AFP input).

Soldiers from the elite Capsat unit, which brought the current president to power in a coup in 2009, joined protestors on the streets today.

But some activists I spoke to aren't happy about Capsat's involvement
Soldiers from elite Capsat unit join protests against Madagascar’s president
Demonstrators march alongside regiment, who earlier in the day said they would not fire on the crowds
www.theguardian.com
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
Members of Madagascar's military are addressing cheering protestors outside Antananarivo's city hall (Lapan Ny Tanana).

All in Malagasay, so local reporters will bring us any news

web.facebook.com/100075732734...
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
No worries. It's very intense on the ground and also unclear what is going to happen...
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
This a live video showing what appears to be protestors marching with and celebrating vehicles carrying soliders, some of whom had Madagascar flags.

A member of Gen Z Madagascar say they are trying to get to the symbolically important Place du 13 Mai

web.facebook.com/100075732734...
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rachelmsavage.bsky.social
Things are moving very fast in Madagascar. An army unit that was behind the 2009 coup has called on other members of the security forces to "join forces" and "refuse orders to shoot" at protesters.

Several thousand are on the streets of Antananarivo today, according to AFP reporters there
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
The IDF says the Gaza ceasefire has now come into effect. It says it has withdrawn to agreed 'deployment lines', but still controls 53% of Gaza.

As ever, we can only hope that it holds
Gaza ceasefire has now come into effect, Israel’s military says – live
Ceasefire came into effect at midday local time
www.theguardian.com
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
There were many incredible nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize, but I want to mention Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms - volunteer-led, grassroots community groups that have provided 100,000s meals daily, as well as other vital humanitarian aid, since the civil war started in April 2021.
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Norwegian Nobel committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes described her as a “brave and committed champion of peace” who “keeps the flame of democracy burning during a growing darkness”
rachelmsavage.bsky.social
We live in hilarious times