Free Republic

NAIROBI, Kenya – The government of Kenya is holding WND senior staff reporter Jerome Corsi in custody at immigration headquarters after police picked him up at his hotel just prior to a scheduled news conference in which he planned to announce the findings of his investigation into Barack Obama's connections in the country. Corsi, the author of the No. 1 best-selling book "The Obama Nation," was picked up by authorities at his hotel at 9:45 a.m. and is being detained at Nyayo House, the provincial headquarters for Nairobi. "Just as we were about to start the 10 a.m. press conference...

WASHINGTON – Astronomers say a small asteroid is about to make a fiery but harmless dive into Earth's atmosphere early Tuesday morning over Africa. Harvard scientists announced late Monday afternoon that the unnamed asteroid will burn up in the sky, making a fireball that people in northern Africa should be able to see. The rock is between 3 feet and 15 feet in diameter. It's expected to enter Earth's atmosphere above Sudan at 10:46 p.m. EDT Monday, which is just before dawn in Africa.

By Gemma Meyer (Gemma Meyer is the pseudonym of a South African journalist. She and her husband, a former conservative member of parliament, still reside in South Africa.) People used to say that South Africa was 20 years behind the rest of the Western world. Television, for example, came late to South Africa (but so did pornography and the gay rights movement). Today, however, South Africa may be the grim model of the future Western world, for events in America reveal trends chillingly similar to those that destroyed our country. America's structures are Western. Your Congress, your lobbying groups, your...

The mainstream media has justified ignoring this story based on a “conspiracy theory” chain email (politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/465) making the rounds from some African missionaries. Politifact.com examined the email—which claims Obama gave $1MM to Odinga’s campaign—and declared it “a pants on fire”. However, the underlying (more important issues) are verifiably true. In August and September 2006, Senator Barack Obama traveled to South Africa, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Chad and Kenya as a congressional delegation of one (Codel Obama) (“Codel Obama” The Hill 9/7/2006) While in Kenya, Obama consistently appeared at the side of fellow Luo Raila Odinga (“your agent for change’), who was...

Fourteen years after the end of apartheid, South Africa — the global pariah that became a global inspiration — has lapsed into gloom and anxiety about its future, surely not the harmonious “rainbow nation” so celebrated by Nelson Mandela on his inauguration day. “If only I could make Nelson Mandela come back,” Ms. Xangathi said. “If only I could feed him a potion and make him young again.” This longing to propel the past into the present is rooted in more than fond reminiscence. Two weeks ago, a vicious power struggle culminated in something like regicide, with the governing African...

Barack Obama & Raila Odinga You Tube Video THIS VIDEO IS DEVASTATING AND COULD CAUSE OBAMA TO LOSE THE ELECTION. PLEASE FORWARD http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QcpdUtxNQ&feature=related Shows Obama & Odinga together in Kenya

For decades, Africa was rarely more than an afterthought for the Pentagon. Responsibilities for American military affairs across the vast African continent were divided clumsily among three regional combat headquarters, those for Europe, the Pacific and the Middle East. Commanders set priorities against obvious threats, whether the old Soviet Union and then a resurgent Russia, a rising China or a nuclear North Korea, or adversaries along the Persian Gulf. If deployment of fighting forces is an indicator, that historic focus north of the equator endures. But since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a new view has gained acceptance among...

NAIROBI, Kenya – WND author and staff writer Jerome Corsi has arrived in the Kenyan capital to investigate Sen. Barack Obama's ties to the prime minister, Raila Odinga, who was appointed to the position to stop a wave of violence by Muslim supporters. Corsi came at the invitation of Christian missionaries who contend the rise of Islam in the African nation has been spurred by an agreement Odinga signed with Muslim leaders in an effort to win the presidency last December. Odinga lost but now shares power with the Kenyan president to appease Islamic leaders. Corsi's highly critical book examining...

Senator Russ Feingold, chairman of the Sub Committee of Africa in the United States Senate has lashed out at the Nigerian government over what it called “Resource Course” in the Niger Delta oil-producing region. In a statement submitted to the United States’ Congressional Record on Monday, the outspoken Senator blamed Yar’Adua’s administration for pursuing a military option in the region while neglecting development of the area. Below is the full version of the statement made available to The Times of Nigeria by the Senator Feingold’s office. “ Mr. President, last week I chaired a hearing on the “resource curse” and...

A while back there was an article on a scam in Africa, Kenya IIRC. It involved political donations and had references to Obama in it. Can anyone point me to this or have any idea that might help? Thanks

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans lined up at banks Monday, desperate to take out their money after the government raised the limit on daily withdrawals. New rules went into affect Monday allowing withdrawals of up to 20,000 Zimbabwe dollars (US$35; euro25). The old 1,000 Zimbabwean-dollar limit was barely enough to buy a newspaper. The limit and the fact that Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world — officially at 11 million percent, unofficially much higher — has meant long lines at banks most days.

NAIROBI, Kenya The U.S. Africa Command, the Pentagon's first effort to unite its counterterrorism, training and humanitarian operations on the continent, launches Wednesday amid questions at home about its mission and deep suspicions in Africa about its intentions. U.S. officials have billed the new command, known as Africom, as a sign of Africa's strategic importance, but many in Africa see it as an unwelcome expansion of the U.S.-led war on terrorism and a bid to secure greater access to the continent's vast oil resources. Several countries have refused to host the command, and officials say Africom will be based in...

Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans lined up at banks Monday, desperate to take out their money after the government raised the limit on daily withdrawals. New rules went into affect Monday allowing withdrawals of up to 20,000 Zimbabwe dollars (US$35; euro25). The old 1,000 Zimbabwean-dollar limit was barely enough to buy a newspaper.

PETER HITCHENS: How China has created a new slave empire in AfricaBy PETER HITCHENS Last updated at 12:00 PM on 28th September 2008 I think I am probably going to die any minute now. An inflamed, deceived mob of about 50 desperate men are crowding round the car, some trying to turn it over, others beating at it with large rocks, all yelling insults and curses. They have just started to smash the windows. Next, they will pull us out and, well, let's not think about that ... I am trying not to meet their eyes, but they are staring...

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A man claiming to be a spokesman for the Somali pirates who seized a ship laden with Russian tanks says they want $20 million to release the vessel. Sugule Ali says others who have made earlier ransom demands did not speak for the particular pirates who hijacked the Ukrainian-operated cargo ship Faina on Thursday.

I think I am probably going to die any minute now. An inflamed, deceived mob of about 50 desperate men are crowding round the car, some trying to turn it over, others beating at it with large rocks, all yelling insults and curses. They have just started to smash the windows. Next, they will pull us out and, well, let's not think about that ... I am trying not to meet their eyes, but they are staring at me and my companions with rage and hatred such as I haven't seen in a human face before. Those companions, Barbara Jones...

The wicked thing that I believe is now happening in Africa. Out of desperation, much of the continent is selling itself into a new era of corruption and virtual slavery as China seeks to buy up all the metals, minerals and oil she can lay her hands on: copper for electric and telephone cables, cobalt for mobile phones and jet engines - the basic raw materials of modern life. It is crude rapacity, but to Africans and many of their leaders it is better than the alternative, which is slow starvation. China offers both rulers and the ruled in Africa...

A US destroyer off the coast of Somalia closed in on a hijacked Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and ammunition, watching it to ensure the pirates who seized it do not try to remove any cargo or crew. As the American ship moved in on the cargo vessel Faina, and a Russian missile frigate headed to the area, the seizure of another ship off Somalia's coast was announced by an international anti-piracy group. The Greek tanker with a crew of 19 is carrying refined petroleum from Europe to the Middle East. It was ambushed in the Gulf of Aden, said...

A wave of alarm swept through middle-class South Africa last week as President Thabo Mbeki was sacked by the ruling African National Congress and replaced by Kgalema Motlanthe, who has already presided over sweeping cabinet changes. >P? The new president is still remembered as a communist militant who urged that the country’s youth be “taught to hate capitalism”. The real winner in the coup against Mbeki is Jacob Zuma. He will lead the ANC into next April’s election and is strongly backed by the powerful Communist party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, both of which favour radical...

I think I am probably going to die any minute now. An inflamed, deceived mob of about 50 desperate men are crowding round the car, some trying to turn it over, others beating at it with large rocks, all yelling insults and curses. They have just started to smash the windows. Next, they will pull us out and, well, let's not think about that ... **** (SNIP)

A U.S. destroyer off the coast of Somalia closed in Saturday on a hijacked Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and ammunition, watching it to ensure the pirates who seized it do not try to remove any cargo or crew. Nikolsky said the ship was anchored near the Somali town of Hobyo and that two other apparently hijacked ships were nearby. Hobyo is in the central region of Mudug, south of Puntland. It is a natural port and does not have any facilities.

Pirates have seized a Greek chemical tanker with a crew of 19 off Somalia's coast, days after hijacking a Ukrainian cargo ship loaded with tanks, an international anti-piracy group said Saturday. The hijacking brings the number of attacks on ships off the coast of Somalia to 62 this year, or more than one every week. A total of 26 ships were hijacked, and 15 remain in the hands of the pirates along with 300 crew members.

Pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship off the coast of Somalia have reportedly demanded a ransom of $35m (£19m) to release the vessel and its crew.The pirates earlier warned against any attempt to rescue the crew or cargo of the MV Faina, which is carrying 33 battle tanks destined for Kenya. Pirates have seized dozens of ships near Somalia's coast in recent months. A Russian Navy vessel is heading to the region and the US says it is monitoring developments in the area. A spokesman for the pirates, who gave his name as Jalal Jama Ali, told a Somali website...

Excerpt - MOSCOW — A Russian warship on Friday rushed to intercept a Ukrainian vessel carrying 33 battle tanks and ammunition that was seized by pirates off the Horn of Africa — a bold hijacking that heightened fears about the surging piracy and high-seas terrorism. ~ snip ~

Power-sharing government in Zimbabwe close to collapse as Robert Mugabe's men snatch key seats of power from rival MDC Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal is close to collapse after only 12 days because Robert Mugabe and his generals are determined to thwart it, Western diplomats said yesterday. “We are looking at the possibility of this thing failing,” a senior diplomat told The Times as Mr Mugabe demanded an end to the “illegal and unilateral” sanctions at the UN General Assembly in New York last night. Another gave the deal a mere 25 per cent chance of survival, saying Mr Mugabe had entered...

A senior official with the International Monetary Fund expressed concern over the Democratic Republic of Congo's levels of debt to China, in a report released Wednesday after a 18-day visit here.

This is a strange and scary story. It’d be a thriller of a Tom Clancy novel or a Hollywood movie, but it’s real. Take a deep breath, then check it out… A tense standoff is underway in northeastern Somalia between pirates, Somali authorities, and Iran over a suspicious merchant vessel and its mysterious cargo. Hijacked late last month in the Gulf of Aden, the MV Iran Deyanat remains moored offshore in Somali waters and inaccessible for inspection. The MV Iran Deyanat was brought to Eyl, a sleepy fishing village in northeastern Somalia, and was secured by a larger gang of...

A Nigerian general has pledged to “break the will” of armed groups responsible for a week-long campaign of sabotage against the oil industry in the Niger Delta by launching more raids on their hideouts. The delta witnessed the most intense series of attacks against the oil industry since early 2006 last week when militants strafed army posts and blew up pipelines in retaliation for a raid the military conducted on one of their camps on September 13. The raid – launched using gunboats and helicopters – appeared to signal a more robust approach by the army in Rivers State, one...

A cuddly leopard with a green afro has been unveiled as the mascot of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Zakumi World Cup 2010 Mascot The character, called Zakumi, has been given his own biography and name to reflect the country's aims and hopes. Organisers said the character was 'born' on 16 June, 1994 - the year in which apartheid ended. The date is celebrated as Youth Day to mark the 1976 Soweto uprising when young protesters struck a blow against white rule. At the mascot's introduction at a state TV studio, a performer in a Zakumi costume kicked...

A tense standoff is underway in northeastern Somalia between pirates, Somali authorities, and Iran over a suspicious merchant vessel and its mysterious cargo. Hijacked late last month in the Gulf of Aden, the MV Iran Deyanat remains moored offshore in Somali waters and inaccessible for inspection. Its declared cargo consists of minerals and industrial products, however, Somali and regional officials directly involved in the negotiations over the ship and who spoke to The Long War Journal are convinced that it was heading to Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia's Islamist insurgents.

Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) Western depot has 19 million condoms, but lacks essential drugs. Investigation revealed the Kisumu town storage area had not received vaccines, whose shortage would put the lives of newborns in danger. The depot manager, Mr Geoffrey Alumila, said they had not been given vital vaccines for prevention of polio, tetanus and TB for several months. "The shortage of vaccines and other drugs in public hospitals is as a result of lack of supply," he said, on Thursday. However, he said the delivery of condoms has been constant. "We have 19 million condoms in our stock,...

So isn't it interesting that we keep hearing about Sarah Palin's peccadilloes while the major media continues to ignore the George Obama scandal? Here is a guy living in Third World poverty and his half-brother is the leading candidate to become the next president of the United States. Are the networks and major newspapers so exhilarated at the prospect of an African American president that they have become cheerleaders for the Obama campaign? Fortunately the McCain campaign is making the media an issue, and I hope the American people are smart enough to see through the news charade. Here are...

The African National Congress's decision to sack President Thabo Mbeki has been described by some South African commentators as "regicide". Certainly it is unprecedented in South African history that a head of state is dismissed in this way. Nor is the ANC the kind of organisation that goes in for this humiliation of its leaders. So why did it happen? The immediate cause was Mr Mbeki's ongoing feud with his former deputy, the ANC party leader Jacob Zuma. But this was not just a personal vendetta between two men. Behind these events lie two major factors: one political, one personal....

An epic battle for power has ended with a ‘Zulu peasant’ ousting a president in South Africa SOUTH AFRICA’S president, Thabo Mbeki, was toppled from power yesterday by his rival Jacob Zuma, president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), when its national executive committee took the decision to sack him. Gwede Mantashe, the ANC’s secretary-general, announced that the executive had “decided to recall the president of the republic before his term of office expires”. Mbeki, 66, instructed his office to issue a statement saying: “The president has obliged and will step down after all constitutional requirements have been met.”...

The Chinese have mapped out a true sweetheart deal - marrying national economic interests with philanthropic overtones. China is courting the African continent big-time and how. Sino-African trade of $12 million in 1956 reached $39.7 billion in 2005 and is expected to reach $100 million by 2010. China ‘looking at Africa’ has translated into over 71 agreements covering science, technology, trade; a reduction or annulment of debt of 31 African countries, special treatment to 190 products from 29 African nations; an estimated 800 aid projects and 18,000 scholarships; in addition, 16,000 doctors and 3,000 Chinese peacekeepers are stationed in Africa....

Women won at least 44 out of 80 seats in Rwanda's legislative elections, making the central African country the first in the world where men are outnumbered in the national assembly, the electoral commission said Thursday. According to provisional results, women won 20 of the 53 seats attributed in direct elections. In Rwanda's unique voting system, another 24 seats are reserved for women in an indirect vote. According to an official close to the youth council, a woman may also have won one of the two seats reserved for Rwandan youth. With 44 guaranteed seats, women would account for at...

UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Armed pirates hijacked a Greek ship with 25 crew members off Somalia on Thursday, authorities said, bringing to 55 the number of reported attacks in the lawless sea lane of the African region. ADVERTISEMENT The bulk carrier was headed to Kenya when it was attacked off the eastern coast of Somalia, the 13th ship to be seized in African waters in the past two months, according to Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau. He said the latest incident showed that Somali pirates, who were previously operating in the northern coast in the Gulf of Aden,...

Somaliland, which has been seeking recognition from the international community for its independent status from the rest of Somalia, is said to be increasing security ties with France and other western nations. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has the story from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi. Associate Professor Iqbal Jhazbhay at the University of South Africa tells VOA that a French Special Forces operation in April that enabled France to take six captured Somali pirates back to Paris was partly accomplished with the help of Somaliland authorities. "The French government decided to use the landing strip in Berbera to undertake...

CAPE TOWN, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has successfully reestablished military-technical cooperation with African countries, which saw a decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the head of Russia's state arms exporter said on Wednesday. "We have recently revived our contacts with all African countries that used to be traditional buyers of Soviet weaponry," Rosoboronexport General Director Anatoly Isaykin told a news conference at the Africa Aerospace & Defence-2008 (AAD-2008) exhibition near Cape Town. Russia's arms trade customers in Africa include Algeria, Libya, Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. African countries are attracted...

Hong Kong, China — China’s official media have released photos of K-8 fighter trainers demonstrating impressive attack power against land-based targets. The aircraft are the same model that China has exported to Sudan, ostensibly for training purposes. However, the K-8 trainers are very much like standard attack aircraft, and their tactical application in the Sudanese Air Force is not only for training but also for land attack operations. The K-8 has flight endurance of three hours, a maximum flight range of 2,100 kilometers, and its combat radius covers the whole of Sudan’s territory

CAPE TOWN, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has successfully reestablished military-technical cooperation with African countries, which saw a decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the head of Russia's state arms exporter said on Wednesday. "We have recently revived our contacts with all African countries that used to be traditional buyers of Soviet weaponry," Rosoboronexport General Director Anatoly Isaykin told a news conference at the Africa Aerospace & Defence-2008 (AAD-2008) exhibition near Cape Town. Russia's arms trade customers in Africa include Algeria, Libya, Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. African countries are attracted...

The European Union, increasingly anxious to reduce its dependence on Russian gas following the conflict in Georgia, has offered Nigeria financial and political backing for a €15bn ($21bn, £12bn) trans-Saharan pipeline to pump its gas directly to Europe. Renewed European interest in the project comes against a backdrop of mounting fears that Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, is intent on winning access to Nigeria's vast gas reserves as part of a strategy to tighten its grip on energy supplies to Europe. Gazprom, which has also offered to back the planned 4,300km pipeline, appeared to steal a march on its European...

Private aviation group works on own attack-helicopter design By: Martin Zhuwakinyu Published: 12 Sep 08 - 9:00 South African aviation and defence company Advanced Technologies and Engineering (ATE) has embarked on conceptual planning for the development of what is to be known as the New Attack Helicopter (NAH), external affairs director Lorris Duncker tells Engineering News. This comes on the back of the successful upgrade of the Russian-made Mi-24 helicopter, now in production for the air force of a North African country and the demonstration of another upgraded Russian stalwart – the Mi-17 combat helicopter – to an unnamed potential...

Check out the thinking over the HC forum on the Obama "Kenya Birth Certificate" lawsuit Yesterday, 07:57 PM Destiny Obama's camp is trying everything to distract us from the fact that he is not eligible to be President. When it is proven, Hillary will slip into the position of President and Biden will stay as vp. This is the reason Hillary (and Bill) are campaigning for Obama and recently, Biden said that Hillary is more qualified than himself as a President or vp. Here are more examples of Hillary stepping in as President: Hillary suspended her campaign, calling for unity,...

Engineering students at BYU are shedding a little light on science and fun in a small village in Ghana. They've installed an electricity-generating merry-go-round at a school there and the effort has the whole town beaming. Most of the villages and schools in Ghana don't have electricity. The schools get dark when natural light disappears, and homework is hard to do when students can't see. Plugging into the country's power grid isn't an option at this time, so with the help of some BYU students, a company called Empowered Playgrounds came up with a bright idea: a merry-go-round that produces...

Start reading at item 15 His paternal grandmother, half sister and half brother claim he was born in Kenya --and docs have been found that may support this, according to Berg's lawsuit. http://obamacrimes.com/attachments/016_Obama%20Complaint%20from%20Pacer.pdf

House subcommittee says funding will keep command at current levelJust weeks away from standing up as the Defense Department’s newest combatant command, Africa Command is facing a serious budget shortfall. For fiscal 2009, President Bush had requested $389 million for AFRICOM, which is expected to become fully operational on Oct. 1 at its Stuttgart, Germany, headquarters. But last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on defense recommended providing only $80.6 million in funding — 80 percent less than was requested, according to Matthew Mazonkey, communications director for Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., the subcommittee chairman. "The subcommittee has provided $80.6 million to...

The moral and political cost of Libya's rehabilitation. SECRETARY OF STATE Condoleezza Rice's visit to Libya last week represents the final step in a decades-long U.S. effort to reform and rehabilitate the rogue state. A charter member of the U.S. Department of State's list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, after its nuclear program was disclosed in 2003, Tripoli demonstrated contrition and agreed to compensate American victims of a 1988 terrorist attack. Libya was scratched from the list in 2006, and this past August Washington struck a deal with Tripoli that removed the final hurdles in normalizing the bilateral relationship. The...

Hong Kong, China — China has recently exported T85IIM main battle tanks to Uganda, according to a military industry source. But the tanks may be more for display than for defense. “This is a very small batch, intended for a military parade only,” the source said. This would be the first instance for the Ugandan army to employ China-made tanks. The same type of main battle tank made an appearance at Sudan’s National Day military parade last year. Yet according to the source, the tanks were exported from China much earlier, possibly six or seven years ago, also in small...

SUSPECTED robbers have broken into the home of US presidential hopeful Barack Obama's grandmother in a Kenyan village, local media said today. "These are just people ... who think that Obama has been sending me a lot of money," Sarah Obama, the Illinois senator's 85-year-old step-grandmother, said of the burglars. Nothing was stolen during the raid early on Wednesday, but senior police commanders and local officials visited the modest homestead in Kogelo village to investigate. Reports said the thieves used a ladder to try to steal a solar panel from her roof, but failed. They also broke into a small,...