The chapters are: 1. Seize Power (Hitler), 2. Crush Your Rivals (Saddam), 3. Reign through Terror (Idi Amin), 4. Control the Truth (Stalin), 5. Create a New Society (Gaddafi), 6. Rule Forever (Kim Il-sung and family). afr.com/life-and-luxur…
Idi Amin was nicknamed “Big Daddy” or “the gentle giant”, before he revealed his true nature, which resulted in the disappearances of about 300,000 Ugandans.
Colonel Gaddafi came to power on a wave of popularity and a platform of genuine reform. He would remain in charge for 42 years, growing steadily more quixotic and brutal, until he literally died in a ditch.
Saddam was a master of deterrents. He once called a party assembly and read out the names of people he had identified as disloyal. They were removed one by one from the chamber.
The Soviet show trials of the 1930s began as a purge of the Central Committee and ended as a reign of terror that saw an estimated 750,000 liquidated – many of them by a quota system.
By dint of rigorous censorship and control of the media, Stalin ensured that only the right messages were conveyed to the public. He then set about constructing an alternative reality, rewriting history in his own image; bending art, literature, and even science, to his will.
At no stage does the name “Trump” appear, but it will not be lost on most viewers that all the things the great tyrants did in the early stages of their careers have been repeated – albeit in somewhat parodic fashion – in the United States over the past five years.
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» Modi accused of treason by opposition over India spyware disclosures | India | The Guardian theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/…
The stories, published in the Guardian and in partner media outlets around the world on Sunday and Monday, revealed details of hundreds of verified Indian phone numbers that appear in leaked records of numbers.
In a statement, the opposition Congress party accused the Modi government of being the “deployer and executor” of a “spying racket”.
Tensions remain high as hopes dashed for breakthrough in China and India stalemate - The Guardian theguardian.com/world/2021/jul…
The clash did not result in all-out declarations of war, but pledges of de-escalation and multiple rounds of failed military talks have instead been overshadowed by a year of troop, artillery and infrastructure buildup.
While Indian army officers say they cannot match the high-tech Chinese infrastructure, they at times admitted to copying their way of living.
In contrast with the U.S. states that have explicitly banned vaccination mandates or passports, the European Union is using digital covid certificates, with scannable QR codes that quickly show if someone has been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from covid-19.
As in Greece and Italy, vaccination would become mandatory for health workers in France by fall. Most everyone else here would still be in a position to decline vaccines.
Both England and Wales recorded the hottest day of the year on Sunday, beating records set on Saturday, and forecasters predict it could be even warmer throughout the week up to Thursday.
Booster shot debate takes center stage as global Covid cases rise - Financial Times ft.com/content/ec0cf6…
The World Health Organization has challenged the ethics of administering third shots, while billions of people in lower-income countries are still waiting for their first.
Last week, Pfizer said it planned to apply for emergency use authorisation in August from the US Food and Drug Administration to give people a third dose.