Journalist Jeremy Loffredo joins The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal to discuss deals hashed out at the recent US-Africa Summit to open African nations up to heavy mining by US corporations seeking minerals necessary for electric vehicle and smartphone batteries. Loffredo discusses the prevalence of slave labor conditions in these mines, and the demand by US corporations for weakened labor regulations in nations like Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone Facebook: https://facebook.com/thegrayzone Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegrayzonenews Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegrayzonenews Minds: https://minds.com/thegrayzone Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@thegrayzone #TheGrayzone ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBdlrlIjZdk

Pushback with Aaron Maté Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Returning to the United Nations, veteran German diplomat and former top UN official Hans von Sponeck calls for an end to the stonewalling of accountability for the OPCW's cover-up of its April 2018 Douma chemical weapons probe. "The manner in which this serious controversy has been handled by OPCW management... has sought to cover up any serious questioning of the OPCW through stonewalling and unacceptable smear tactics," Sponeck says. "The Security Council can not be surprised that there is increasing public pressure for UN leadership to find an unbiased resolution of this troubling controversy." Sponeck recently spearheaded a Statement of Concern about the Douma scandal, signed by notable global voices including five former OPCW officials. In his comments, Sponeck reveals that that the OPCW has refused to accept the letter, "return[ing] to the sender without comments – an unfortunate act of humiliation." Sponeck is the former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. He spent 32 years as a UN official, from 1958 to 2000, when he resigned in protest of the UN sanctions on Iraq. Video: Hans von Sponeck, former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. Speaking at an Arria-Formula Meeting of the United Nations Security Council, April 16 2021. ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone Facebook: https://facebook.com/thegrayzone Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegrayzonenews Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegrayzonenews Minds: https://minds.com/thegrayzone Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@thegrayzone #TheGrayzone ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewGa4S5ZNh4