"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

English version  Recently, the Italian author Antonio Scurati made an analysis of Benito Mussolini that is highly influential and has been widely discussed,    in the international press. He is the author of the award-winning, multi-volume documentary novel series starting with M. Son of the Century (M. Il figlio del secolo). Scurati focuses on demystifying the dictator and analyzing how he laid the blueprint for modern political populism.  Scurati argues that Mussolini was the archetype of the modern populist leader. Rather than leading the masses with a rigid, predefined grand vision, Mussolini was a master of reading the people and telling them what they wanted to hear. Scurati describes him as a leader who didn't guide the crowd, but rather followed its darkest instincts, amplifying what the people already wanted to hear. This is very similar to what CBON does in Gabon. A central thesis of Scurati’s work is how Mussolini harnessed the collective anxiety of post-W...

English version  In Arabic culture, there is a very famous tale concerning the Lakhmid king Al-Nu'man (around the 5th century). He ordered a genius Byzantine architect, Sinammār, to build him the most magnificent of palaces: the Khawarnaq. Once the palace was completed, the king went up to the roof with the architect to admire the view. Sinammār had the misfortune of boasting about two things: he could have done even better if he had been paid more, and there was a keystone in the foundations that only he knew about, which, if removed, would cause the building to collapse. To ensure that the secret died with him and that he would never build anything as beautiful again, the king threw him off the roof. This episode gave rise to an Arabic proverb still used today: "Receiving the reward of Sinammār," which refers to extreme ingratitude in return for a good deed. Beware to those of you who like to dine with the devil; make sure you have a very long spoon! (Note: The French t...

 

English version  A decisive step in the long-standing border conflict between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea has just been concluded. Indeed, on July 28, 2026, at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, the two countries signed a Joint Commitment Agreement. This agreement follows the ruling delivered on May 19, 2025, by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ ruled in favor of Equatorial Guinea. The Court recognized that this country held a legally valid title to the Mbanié, Cocotiers, and Conga islands as the successor state to Spain, based on the 1900 Treaty of Paris. The ICJ rejected Gabon's claims, which were based on a document known as the 1974 Bata Convention. The Court concluded that there was insufficient evidence demonstrating a mutual intention to make this document legally binding. The recently signed agreement does not question the sovereignty, which has been definitively settled, but rather sets out the roadmap for concretely implementing the ICJ's d...

English version  A data center is a physical facility that centralizes an organization's IT equipment, primarily servers, storage arrays, and network equipment, to process, store, and distribute large amounts of data. These infrastructures are designed to operate 24/7 and incorporate powerful cooling systems, redundant power supplies, and strict physical security. Artificial intelligence, and specifically deep learning or generative AI, cannot exist without these infrastructures for three fundamental reasons: Massive computing power:  Training AI models requires thousands of specialized processors (such as GPUs) running in parallel to perform billions of calculations per second. Large-scale data storage:  AI models feed on colossal volumes of information that must be stored and accessible at extremely high speeds. Thermal and energy management:  Servers dedicated to AI consume an enormous amount of electricity and emit extreme heat. Only a data center has the electri...