US says Sudan rebel force has committed genocide, imposes sanctions on its generals
The sanctions announced by the US include several businesses based in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, including one handling gold likely smuggled out of Sudan.
US Africa Command says it killed a senior al-Shabaab leader in targeted Somali airstrike
In January 6 post on its website Africom said that on December 24 “in coordination with the federal government of Somalia, US Africa Command conducted a precision airstrike approximately 10km southwest of Quyno Barrow that resulted in the death of senior al-Shabaab leader, Mohamed Mire and another al-Shabaab militant.”
Powerful earthquake rocks Tibet’s holiest cities and kills at least 55, rattles Nepal
Severe travel disruptions were expected across the storm’s path and officials urged drivers to stay off the roads if possible. Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said the tremors were felt in seven hill districts bordering Tibet.
First person: In Gaza starving people live among the dead and are trapped in a land reduced to rubble
A 25-kg bag of wheat flour can sell for $150. In an enclave where farmers once harvested citrus, vegetables and strawberries, I saw small peppers selling at a Gaza City market for $195 a kilo. Nobody was buying. Nobody could afford them.
Slaughtered by Islamist extremists or Russian mercenaries, Burkina Faso’s 2.5 million displaced people are further abandoned by UN
For decades, the Fulani were neglected by the central government, and some did join Islamist fighters. As a result, Fulani civilians are often targeted both by the extremists – affiliated with al-Qaida or the Islamic State group – and by rival pro-government forces.
Two weeks before Biden leaves office FBI says it had strong evidence Covid leaked from lab but US government quashed it
Journalist Paul D. Thacker, a former US Senate investigator, told The Defender the report “further reinforces what we have long known, that the intelligence community has not released all the information on Covid origins, despite a law” – the Covid-19 Origin Act of 2023 – “signed by Biden, requiring them to do so.”
France’s ex-president Sarkozy goes on trial for illicit campaign funding, influence peddling by Libya’s Gaddafi
The case emerged in March 2011, when a Libyan news agency reported that the Gaddaffi government had financed Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. In an interview, Gaddaffi himself said “it’s thanks to us that he reached the presidency. We provided him with the funds that allowed him to win,” without providing any amount or other details.
US Congress certifies Trump election victory with Harris presiding in total contrast of January 6, 2020 chaos
Four years ago, then-Vice President Mike Pence had to preside over Biden’s victory. In 2001, then-Vice President Al Gore had the same dubious distinction following a bitter battle between him and George W. Bush that ended so close that the US Supreme Court ultimately had to put a stop to the legal challenges, leading to Bush being declared the winner.
