Free Republic

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali will increase the size of its army by about 50% in a recruitment drive this year aimed at uprooting jihadist groups, Prime Minister Boubou Cisse said on Wednesday. The plan is to hire 10,000 new soldiers in the coming months to “allow our armed and security forces to be much more present in quantity and I hope in quality in areas where they were not,” Cisse said. He did not say how much the increase would cost or how the arid West African country would pay for it when military costs already take up a significant...

Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble told the Funke media group of regional newspapers on Friday that Germany needed to take more responsibility in military affairs with its allies. “We can’t hide. If Europe is to play a stronger role, then we must play our part,” Schäuble said. “We cannot leave everything to the French and the Americans.” The veteran lawmaker and long-time minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinets said he supported German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s plans to streamline the Bundeswehr and boost defense spending to reach NATO’s target of 2% of GDP. “When France asks us to do more about...

NBA basketball star Kobe Byrant and eight others dead in a helicopter crash but first..... Security sources in Iraq say five rockets hit in Baghdad's Green Zone Sunday evening with at least one direct hit on the US Embassy. The Embassy's cafeteria was hit in the attack.... Reporting on injuries varies with some saying one was injured and others three injured..... While Israel's major political party leaders (Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud and Benny Gantz of Blue and White) headed to Washington to hear about the "Deal of the Century" peace plan involving Israel and the Palestinians, a prominent Palestinian leader...

In a wide-ranging speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that Germany had made a mistake during the 2015 refugee crisis. Not, she said, by welcoming asylum-seekers fleeing conflict, but by not preparing for their arrival as civil conflicts began cropping up across the Middle East and northern Africa. “The mistake was not to have paid attention to create an environment where people can stay in their own country,” the chancellor said. She warned that the mistake should not be repeated with Libya, where the conflict between the UN-backed government and rival...

An investigation has begun into how the two helicopters hit each other. Thousands of French troops have been deployed in Mali since 2013 after militants overran parts of the north. Mali's army has since recaptured the territory but insecurity continues and the violence has spread to neighbouring countries. France now has 4,500 troops deployed to support the forces of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad against the jihadists. French Defence Minister Florence Parly vowed that her country would not turn its back on the fight against terrorism after the deadly collision. It happened in darkness around 19:40 local time...

Islamic jihadis in Muslim countries hate tourists, who are often visiting sites of jahiliyya, the pre-Islamic society of unbelievers. And if they’re visiting Muslim sites, they’re trampling them down under their Infidel feet. Either way, they’re not welcome. “Eight out of top 10 most dangerous nations are Muslim,” 5Pillars, November 19, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): This year’s Travel Risk Map, created by global risk experts International SOS, has listed eight Muslim countries in its top 10 most dangerous nations to visit. Eight majority Muslim nations – Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan...

"Patently in error" That's British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's view of President Trump..... Speaking to the media at the White House today the President urged Mr. Johnson to work towards an agreement with the EU that will allow large amounts of trade with the United States..... Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage will not stand as a candidate for the House of Commons in the December 12th General Election.... Tires burned and streets blocked Sunday in Baghdad.... In Lebanon on Sunday thousands rallied in support of President Michel Aoun....then anti-government forces came out onto the streets.... A very blunt message from...

Tens of thousands protesting in Baghdad's Tahrir Square Friday with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas.... In Santiago, Chile Friday police using tear gas and water cannon when they came under attack from rock throwing protesters..... The protests continue in Algeria on Fridays.... President Trump now considers himself a resident of Florida...... Chad Wolf is to be the new Acting Secretary of Homeland Security..... The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson disagreeing with the view of President Trump regarding Johnson's "Great New Deal" on Brexit.... In his exclusive interview with Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage Thursday, President Trump expressed his...

60 Missing, 25 Dead in Attack on Malian Base on Burkina Faso Border 10/02/2019 Mali (International Christian Concern) – Heavily armed extremists attacked two bases in Mali along the border with Burkina Faso. During these attacks which took place on Monday, Sept 30, 25 Malian soldiers were killed. Another 60 soldiers are still missing due to the attacks, which overran the bases. The battle continued into Tuesday, when the Malian forces alongside Burkinabe forces were able to retake the town of Boulikessi. The government of Mali has stated that they believe these assailants to be part of Ansarul al-Islam, a...

In an unprecedented move last week, India voted in support of Israel at the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organisation named ‘Shahed’. This is the first time India has taken a step back from its decades-old position on the two-state theory under which New Delhi sees both Israel and Palestine as separate and independent countries, seeking to bring peace in West Asia.The vote, which took place on 6 June at the UN, saw countries such as US, France, Germany, India, Japan, UK, South Korea and Canada polling in favour of...

A Spanish jihadist cell funded itself through tax fraud on chicken, cheese and chocolate sold in Denmark, according to an investigation published Tuesday led by non-profit European newsroom Correctiv. The cell had raised at least €8 million ($9 million) through the scheme since 2005 and spent it sending 24 Moroccans and two Spaniards to Syria, Mali and Libya to fight for the Islamic State group, said online newspaper El Confidencial, a Correctiv member. […] Through contacts with jihadists in Denmark, the group formed ties with 42 mainly Danish firms and managed to put its members or supporters in senior compnay...

In Brooklyn, New York a judge dismissing a court challenge to mandatory measles vaccinations in neighborhoods with large Orthodox Jewish populations. There's been a large measles outbreak in the New York area..... The big Newsdump event of the week Thursday with release of a redacted report of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller into matters related to President Trump..... Protest bans in Paris for Yellow Vests demonstrations Saturday with Notre-Dame Cathedral added.... In France Thursday a day to honor firefighters who fought Monday night's blaze at the Notre-Dame Cathedral.... Was the fire at Notre-Dame something other than an accident?..... In Northern Ireland...

An obscure king who ruled West Africa in the 14th century has been named the richest person in history in a new inflation-adjusted list of the world's 25 wealthiest people of all time. Spanning 1,000 years and with a combined fortune of $4.317 trillion, only three of the list's 25 are alive today; none of them are women and 14 of them are American. Using the annual 2199.6per cent rate of inflation, where $100million in 1913 is equal to $2.299.63billion in 2012, Celebrity Net Worth's list includes familiar names like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett; but sitting at number one...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured another diplomatic victory for Israel with the dramatic announcement that Chad and the Jewish State would be reestablishing diplomatic relations. The Muslim majority nation had severed ties in 1972 following intense pressure from Libya, its menacing neighbor to the north, which at the time was led by the dictator, Col. Muammar Qaddafi. But following a visit by Chad’s President Idriss Déby to Jerusalem and a reciprocating visit by PM Netanyahu to N’Djamena, forty-seven years of animosity instantly vanished. Israel’s historic diplomatic achievement occurred despite intense efforts by the Palestinian Authority and Iran to torpedo the...

Albino five-year-old girl is snatched in front of her mother and found decapitated after ritual murder for her 'magical' body parts in Mali Armed men abducted Djeneba Diarra from her family home in Fana village, Mali Her mother pursued kidnappers but turned back to protect second alblino child Police launched a hunt and later found the five-year-old's decapitated body Killing was feared to be part of a ritual murder for supposedly magic body partsA five-year-old albino girl has been snatched and beheaded after a ritual murder for her body parts, which are deemed magical in Mali. Armed men abducted Djeneba...

....Even before the attack on the U.S. compound, according to an Oct. 2, 2012 report in The Washington Post, the White House held a series of secret meetings that came out of a growing concern that "al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQIM) was gaining strength after it took control of the northern parts of the African state of Mali, where it created a new Afghan-like sanctuary. In the last year it has begun to spread its influence across the Sahara. AQIM's weaponry came from post-Gadhafi Libya, whose arsenal was boosting the arms trade from Morocco to Sinai. Israeli sources have...

Cables Portray Expanded Reach of Drug Agency By GINGER THOMPSON and SCOTT SHANE WASHINGTON — The Drug Enforcement Administration has been transformed into a global intelligence organization with a reach that extends far beyond narcotics, and an eavesdropping operation so expansive it has to fend off foreign politicians who want to use it against their political enemies, according to secret diplomatic cables. In far greater detail than previously seen, the cables, from the cache obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to some news organizations, offer glimpses of drug agents balancing diplomacy and law enforcement in places where it can be...

In January 2012, Bono arrived in Timbuktu on a private jet with “ONE” emblazoned on the side, accompanied by his wife, daughters, the designer Renzo Rossi and several others. He had come to the historic city in Mali for a festival celebrating the music of the famous Tuareg tribe. On the night of the event, Bono and his entourage were placed on a small bleacher surrounded by, yet separated from, the thousands of local people via metal traffic barricades and a dozen heavily armed men. Toward the end of the evening, a woman announced that “BONE-no from Youtube” was in...

It hasn't made much noise worldwide, but Iran's rapidly deteriorating relationships with several African countries is huge news across the continent. On February 16, the Nigerian Federal High Court in Lagos began the prosecution of an alleged member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Azim Aghajani, and a Nigerian associate, Usman Abbas Jega. They are accused of arms smuggling. This video link is in Arabic, but is very self-explanatory. It is of the opening day of the court proceedings.The story is a classic, just one of many on the Dark Continent nowadays: In late October 2010, Nigerian intelligence officials...

No one has been charged in Sergeant Melgar’s death, which a military medical examiner ruled to be “a homicide by asphyxiation,” or strangulation, said three military officials briefed on the autopsy results. The two Navy SEALs, who have not been identified, were flown out of Mali shortly after the episode and were placed on administrative leave. The biggest unanswered question is why Sergeant Melgar was killed. “N.C.I.S. does not discuss the details of ongoing investigations,” Ed Buice, the agency’s spokesman, said in an email, confirming that his service had taken over the case on Sept. 25. Neither the Army nor...