Free Republic

China has often been accused of luring the poor African countries in its debt-trap by providing them loans for much-needed infrastructure projects and then control them when they fail to pay off their debts. Tanzania President John Magufuli has cancelled a Chinese loan worth $10 billion signed by his predecessor Jakaya Kikwete to construct a port at Mbegani creek in Bagamoyo over terms and conditions that, he said, beat the logic. Magufuli said that the terms of the Chinese loan agreement could only be accepted by a drunken man. His predecessor, Jakaya Kikwete had signed the deal with Chinese...

An abandoned cargo ship has landed on the coast of Ireland after spending more than a year drifting alone at sea. The Irish Coast Guard said it responded to the vessel aground near Ballycotton, Cork on Sunday and discovered there was no one was on board. It turns out that the mysterious vessel is the 250-foot Tanzanian-flagged merchant ship Alta, which had been adrift since the U.S. Coast Guard rescued all 10 crew members on board after the vessel lost power while en route from Greece to Haiti in September 2018. At the time of the rescue, the U.S. Coast...

Great music from Gordon Lightfoot about the "Rainy Day People" who help us instead of hurting us. On Canada's CTV Lloyd Robertson had a conversation with Gordon Lightfoot broadcast in December 2017.... Where do we go after impeachment? In 1998 Bill Clinton opted for military action in Kosovo and Serbia siding with its Muslim population against the Serbs. What will the Trump post-impeachment policy be?.... And back here in the USA Kelli Stewart, John Lamb and other activists taking a stand for the rights of parents in the Kylee Dixon Case in Oregon..... The Middle Finger In The Middle East,...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was one of a number of top Democrats to rip into President Trump’s decision to expand the travel ban to include six more countries on Friday -- with Pelosi describing it as “discrimination disguised as policy.” “The Trump administration’s expansion of its outrageous, un-American travel ban threatens our security, our values and the rule of law," she said in a statement. "The sweeping rule, barring more than 350 million individuals from predominantly African nations from traveling to the United States, is discrimination disguised as policy." [cut] The initial seven countries have restrictions on both immigrant and...

A close friend, advisor and confidant of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was allegedly interviewed by the FBI in connection with the controversial dossier that was used ‘in part’ as evidence by the bureau to obtain a warrant to investigate members of President Trump’s campaign team, according to several sources who spoke to this reporter. Sidney Blumenthal, a former journalist and a close friend of Clinton, was interviewed by the FBI in 2016 regarding the dossier that alleged Trump colluded with Russia, the sources stated. Department of Justice officials, however, declined to comment on Blumenthal or the dossier. FBI officials declined...

As creeps like Rep. Ilhan Omar denounce the rubout of Iranian terrorist kingpin Qassem Soleimani as the killing of a "foreign official," the press calls him "a farm boy" or "icon," and stupid Hollywood celebrities send their condolences to "the Iranian people," (who are celebrating, actually) the ugly hard reality remains that Qassem Soleimani, leader of the terrorist Quds force, was a monster, a stone-cold killer of innocents, the driving force behind Iran as a state sponsor of terror. His funeral song should be "That Smell." He stunk of death all around him and liked the stench. According to the Washington Post: “The...

This month’s announcement from Party City that it’s closing more than 40 stores as it grapples with new challenges, including diminishing helium supplies, likely came as unwelcome news to customers who count on the store for their balloon and event planning needs. But for scientists like Mark Elsesser, the announcement was something of a relief, inflating hopes that the public, and the government, might start paying closer attention. “When it comes to helium, we’re at a tipping point,” said Elsesser, who is the associate director of government affairs at the American Physical Society, a nonprofit association of physicists. “Party City...

The World Health Organization has issued an unusual statement raising questions about whether Tanzania is covering up possible cases of the deadly Ebola virus, a significant cause for concern during a regional outbreak that has been declared a rare global health emergency. The statement Saturday says Tanzania's government "despite several requests" has not shared its clinical data, the results of its investigations or the possible contacts of a number of patients with Ebola-like symptoms. Tanzania's government, which has said it has no Ebola cases, could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday. The cases would be the first-ever Ebola infections...

KUNA (Idaho Statesman) — Four Boise teenagers were arrested over Thursday and Friday on suspicion of felony rape of an 18-year-old woman earlier this month.

Titanosaurs were the most speciose and widespread group of sauropod dinosaurs, the largest terrestrial animals in Earth history. They reached their peak diversity in the Late Cretaceous after all other sauropod groups vanished, but their early evolution is poorly understood due to a scarcity of well-preserved titanosaur fossils from before the Late Cretaceous, especially outside of South America. In this study, the authors describe a newly-discovered middle Cretaceous titanosaur from southern Africa. The researchers named the new dinosaur Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia. It is known from a single specimen excavated from a quarry along the Mtuka River in southwest Tanzania. It is...

Persecution of LGBTQ+ people by a Tanzanian governor appears to have resulted in Denmark withdrawing millions of kroner in aid to the developing country. Minister for International Development Ulla Tørnæs said in parliament this week that the government will withhold 65 million kroner which was scheduled to be paid to the east African country this year. “I am very concerned over the negative developments in Tanzania, most recently with the completely unacceptable homophobic statements from a commissioner,” Tørnæs, who did not name the official in question, said. “Respect for human rights is one of the most important priorities in Denmark’s...

Hundreds of people are feared missing after a ferry capsized on Lake Victoria in north Tanzania. A local official told the BBC five people have died and 102 have been rescued, but another said that the vessel was overloaded with more than 400 people on board. The MV Nyerere ferry overturned near the shore between the islands of Ukora and Bugolora. Locals have joined with emergency teams in rescue efforts. The Tanzanian government has confirmed the ferry capsized but exact figures for those on board are yet to be confirmed. "We pray to God to give us hope in...

(CNN) As part of sweeping new internet regulations, the Tanzanian government has introduced a $930 fee for those wanting to have an online blog, giving the authorities unprecedented control over the internet. The government now requires all bloggers to pay the annual fee and register before they begin publishing material. It's not just bloggers affected by the provisions, but online radio stations, online streaming platforms, online forums, social media users and internet cafes.

Citizens from more than 30 countries around the world appealed to the UN Secretary-General to suspend UN Human Rights Commissioner Zaid Ra'ad al-Hussein after calling Judea and Samaria communities a "war crime", following the latest report he issued regarding the pace of construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria. "While tens of thousands of people are being slaughtered in Syria, and while women's rights are being disregarded in Iran, the Human Rights Commissioner is issuing a report on the settlement movement in Israel, which details construction information, calling it a war crime", mentioned the letter. "The Commissioner' s obsession with...

Here is some of what is posted on the page: Jan. 17 — The chimpanzee version of the AIDS virus appears to be extremely rare in wild chimps, which suggests the apes evolved a way to deal with the killer virus generations ago, researchers said on Thursday. The study also confirmed earlier theories that AIDS passed to humans from chimps in Central Africa, they said SCIENTISTS HAVE long known nonhuman primates carry their own version of the AIDS virus. But so far, it has been found only in captive chimpanzees. No one knows how prevalent or geographically or genetically diverse ...

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan accused key Clinton allies of helping craft a second anti-Trump dossier and accused them of “rigging the game,” Tuesday on “Fox & Friends.” Jordan was asked about a possible second dossier and said Clinton operatives Sidney Blumenthal and Cody Shearer had paid Christopher Steele to do opposition research, but then told Steele which specific details to include. “The names we keep hearing are Sidney Blumenthal and Cody Shearer — people who have been around the Clintons as being a part of this. But I also think it’s kind of interesting because what it looks like is,...

Over dinner with convicted felon Peter F. Paul and Stan Lee in 2000, Hillary revealed her motive for the illegal email server she used from 2009 to 2013: to hide from investigators.

Twenty people have been arrested on Tanzania's semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar for alleged homosexuality, police say. The 12 women and eight men were picked up in a hotel where they were receiving training about HIV/Aids education programmes. Earlier this year, authorities banned many private health clinics from providing HIV/Aids services, saying they encouraged gay sex. Homosexuality is a crime in Tanzania. Regional police commander Hassan Ali Nasri said on state television: "They are implicated in homosexuality. We arrested them and are busy interrogating them. The police cannot turn a blind eye to this practice."

Tanzania’s government is working with U.S. logistics company Zipline to launch what they call the world’s largest drone delivery service for emergency medical supplies. In the first quarter of 2018, Tanzania’s government will begin using drones to make up to 2,000 deliveries per day to more than 1,000 health facilities, Zipline said in a statement Thursday. The service will be crucial in times of unexpected demand or bad weather and for small but critical orders, said Laurean Bwanakunu, director-general of Tanzania’s national medical stores. Since October 2016, Zipline has been operating a similar drone delivery service in Rwanda for emergency...

The legendary FBI agent in charge of New York’s counterterrorism division, Carlos T. Fernandez, is retiring after 21 years. Fernandez, 50, was posted in Yemen after the USS Cole bombing, in Afghanistan after 9/11 and in Libya after Benghazi. He is joining Viacom as their global head of security at their Times Square headquarters. Insiders say the media giant has hired him to lead all of their security teams on a global basis, protect their offices and digital systems, and ensure the safety of Viacom staff and guests who attend their events.