Names of 425,000 suspected Nazi collaborators published

Reuters    2025-01-03       

A Dutch project called "War in Court" digitally released a list of names of nearly half a million suspected wartime Nazi collaborators on Thursday after the expiry of a law that had restricted public access to the archive.

The archive, consisting of 32 million pages, includes about 425,000 mostly Dutch people who were investigated for collaboration with German occupiers during World War Two. The law restricting public access expired on New Year's Day.

Only a fifth of those listed ever appeared before a court, and most cases concerned lesser offenses such as being a member of the Nationalist Socialist movement.

Although the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation protects personal data, it does not apply to those who have died – the vast majority of those listed in the archive.

Initially, scanned files from the archive were set to be made available online on Thursday, giving users access to dossiers of suspects, which also includes their victims and witnesses.

However, following a warning from the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the decision was made last month to postpone the full release and instead publish only the list of names.

No date has been set for publication of those dossiers but people with a research interest - including descendants, journalists, and historians - can request to consult them at the Dutch National Archives in The Hague.

Netherlands throws open archive of suspected Nazi collaborators

Dutch privacy laws shielded the names from public view until the end of 2024

By JTAJanuary 3, 2025, 

Until Jan. 1, 2025, public access to the Central Archives of the Special Administration of Justice (CABR) was limited. (Wikimedia)

A massive trove of documents about suspected Nazi collaborators in the Netherlands is now open to the public for the first time.

For the past seven decades, only researchers and relatives of those accused of collaborating with the Nazis could access the information held by the Dutch Central Archives of the Special Administration of Justice. But two years ago, The War in Court, a Dutch consortium devoted to preserving history, announced that it would make the records available online when they were no longer shielded by the country’s privacy laws.

That went into effect this month, and visitors to the consortium’s website can now view a list of 425,000 people investigated for potential collaboration during the Holocaust. Dossiers about the people, including what investigators found, can be viewed in person at the Dutch National Archive in the Hague. About a quarter of the archive has been digitized so far.

Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up

The impending availability of the material has been controversial in the Netherlands because relatively few of the people in the database were ever formally charged with crimes. Not all even faced formal investigations.

The Dutch government investigated 300,000 people for collaborating with the Nazis and more than 65,000 of them stood trial in a special court system in the years after World War II.

Collaboration enabled the Nazis to murder an estimated three quarters of Dutch Jews, including their most famous victim, Anne Frank, and her family. The identity of the person who exposed Frank’s hiding place has been a matter of debate.

It was not until 2020 that the Dutch government apologized for failing to protect Jews during the Holocaust, long after other European leaders and after local Jews had requested an apology.

More recently, some institutions in the Netherlands have sought to make amends for their role in the Holocaust locally. The Dutch public tram company GVB, for example, sought compensation after the war for having transported Jews to their deaths; earlier this year, it announced that it would place memorials at three deportation hubs, and the city of Amsterdam pledged 100,000 euros — and potentially more in the future — to local Jewish groups to divest itself of its revenue from collaborating with the Nazis.

The Netherlands also opened its first national Holocaust museum this year.

See Nepal's kung-fu nuns display their chops as monastery reopens five years after Covid pandemic

The group of kung fu nuns, aged from 17 to 30, are members of the 1,000 year-old Drukpa lineage, which gives nuns equal status as monks and is the only female order in the patriarchal Buddhist monastic system

Our Web Desk, Reuters Published 03.01.25


16A Kung Fu nun prepares to demonstrate her skills during the reopening of the nunnery for the first time since the COVID-19 closure at Druk Amitabha Mountain Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal December 30, 2024. (Reuters)

About a dozen nuns performed hand chops and high kicks, some of them wielding swords, as they showed off their martial art skills to hundreds of cheering wellwishers at the long-awaited reopening of their nunnery in Nepal.

The nuns of the hill-top Druk Amitabha Monastery, put on the show of strength to mark the institution's reopening five years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to close its doors to the public.

26A Kung Fu nun practises as she waits for her performance during the reopening of the nunnery for the first time since the COVID-19 closure at Druk Amitabha Mountain Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal December 30, 2024. (Reuters)

The group of kung fu nuns, aged from 17 to 30, are members of the 1,000 year-old Drukpa lineage, which gives nuns equal status as monks and is the only female order in the patriarchal Buddhist monastic system.

Usually, nuns are expected to cook and clean and are not allowed to practise any form of martial art. But Gyalwang Drukpa, among the most senior figures in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, decided to train women in kung fu to improve their health and spiritual well-being.

36Kung Fu nuns, who practise the martial art for self-defence and meditation, get ready for their performance during the reopening of the nunnery for the first time since the COVID-19 closure at Druk Amitabha Mountain Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal December 30, 2024. (Reuters)


He opened the nunnery in 2009 and it now has 300 members aged between six and 54.


"We do kung fu to keep ourselves mentally and physically fit, and our aim is to promote women's empowerment and gender equality," said Jigme Jangchub Chosdon, 23, a nun who is originally from Ladakh in India.

A group of monks, along with nuns and invitees, attend the reopening of the nunnery for the first time since the COVID-19 closure at Druk Amitabha Mountain Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal December 30, 2024. (Reuters)


The nuns come from Bhutan, India and Nepal and are all trained in kung fu, the Chinese martial art for self-defence and strength.


"With the confidence from kung fu, I really want to help the community, young girls to build their own strength," said 24-year-old Jigme Yangchen Gamo, a nun from Ramechhap in Nepal.

56A Kung Fu nun practises before her performance during the reopening of the nunnery for the first time since the COVID-19 closure at Druk Amitabha Mountain Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal December 30, 2024. (Reuters)


The nunnery's website says that the combination of gender equality, physical strength and respect for all living things represents the order's return to its "true spiritual roots".


In the past, the nuns have completed lengthy expeditions on foot and by bike in the Himalayas to raise money for disaster relief, as well as to promote environmentally friendly living.

66A Kung Fu nun demonstrates her skills during the reopening of the nunnery for the first time since the COVID-19 closure at Druk Amitabha Mountain Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal December 30, 2024. (Reuters)


Jigme Konchok Lhamo, 30, from India, said her main goal was to achieve enlightenment like Lord Buddha, who founded Buddhism 2,600 years ago.


"But for now as I am a normal person... I think I will be focusing more on helping others," she said. "Helping others is our religion."

Come home, Ghana told African diaspora. Now some Black Americans take its citizenship

Ghana recently granted citizenship to 524 people from the Black diaspora, and most were Black Americans

By ANNIE RISEMBERG 

Associated Press
January 3, 2025

ACCRA, Ghana -- Flipping through a family album, Keachia Bowers paused on a photo of her as a baby on her father’s lap as he held the 1978 album “Africa Stand Alone” by the Jamaican reggae band Culture.

“He joined the ancestors when I was 10 years old. I was supposed to come to Ghana with him,” she said.

Bowers and her husband, Damon Smith, are among the 524 diaspora members, mostly Black Americans, who were granted Ghanaian citizenship in a ceremony in November.

A day earlier, Bowers had marked 10 years since her father's death. Though he was a Pan-Africanist who dreamed of visiting Ghana, he never made it here.

Bowers and Smith moved to Ghana from Florida in 2023 after visiting the region several times between them since the ’90s. They now run a tour business that caters to Black people who want to visit Ghana or elsewhere in West Africa, or like them have come to consider a permanent move.

The November group was the largest one granted citizenship since Ghana launched the “Year of the Return” program, aimed at attracting the Black diaspora, in 2019. It marked 400 years since the first African slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619.

Ghana’s Tourism Authority and the Office of Diaspora Affairs have extended the program into “Beyond the Return,” which fosters the relationship with diasporans. Hundreds have been granted citizenship, including people from Canada, the U.K. and Jamaica.

Bowers said moving to Ghana gave her family a certain feeling of ease they didn’t have in the U.S.

“When we see Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, all these stories of people being murdered just in their home, living in their home and being murdered at the hands of police brutality, hearing about it creates trauma,” she said.

She also worried about her son Tsadik, 14.


Tsadik towers over loved ones in the way that lanky teenage boys often do. He is shy but opens up around his younger sister Tselah, 11, and the family’s dog, Apollo.

“In America, being a Black male with locs who’s very tall for his age, he is treated like a threat,” Bowers said.

Americans face few obstacles to living in Ghana, with most people paying an annual residency fee. But Bowers said getting citizenship signified more than simply living in Ghana.

“I didn’t need (citizenship) to tell me that I’m African. Anywhere that I go in the world and someone looks at me, I’m melanated,” she said.

“But my ancestors who wanted to return and come back home, those ancestors who never made it back," she said, “that passport, for me, is for them.”

Between 10 to 15 million people were forcibly taken from Africa to the Americas during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the majority from West and Central Africa.

Ghana, then a British colony known as the Gold Coast, was a main point of departure.

As memorials to the slave trade become tourist destinations across West Africa, painful reminders of its brutality are easily accessible. From Ghana to Senegal to Benin, one can visit variations of the “Door of No Return," haunting doorways that open to the Atlantic Ocean where slaves left Africa, and their families, for the last time.

The joy that people feel in finding connections that were broken long ago is palpable. Videos of the recent citizenship ceremony show men and women of all ages waving Ghanaian flags and cheering.

Deijha Gordon, 33, was one of them.

“I first visited Ghana in 2015. From then on, I knew this is a place that I wanted to be and a place where I wanted to show other diasporans, African-Americans, that we have a place where we belong,” she said.

She moved from Brooklyn to Ghana in 2019 and opened a food truck, Deijha Vu’s Jerk Hut, selling Jamaican food.

Between bagging to-go orders and speaking to a Black American tourist couple, she explained how she built the business from scratch.

Gordon was giddy while recalling the moment she got citizenship.

“It just feels good to have a connection to an African country as an African-American, as a Black American. Because back in America we don’t have anything to trace our roots to but Africa. To have that connection here, I feel like I’ve done something right,” she said.

Like Bowers, Gordon has had a stream of people reaching out and asking about the citizenship process.

The path is not clearly defined. Citizenship must come from a concession from Ghana's presidency, a process made legal under the 2000 Citizenship Act. It's granted to those residing in Ghana who have told the Office of Diaspora Affairs that they are interested in citizenship.

Ghana's government in part describes the program as a benefit to the economy and focuses on investment opportunities for those wishing to relocate.

Festus Owooson with the local nonprofit Migration Advocacy Center said that though the government emphasizes the economic angle, the real benefits of citizenship are intangible.

“I don’t think (recipients) were crying because they have landed a gold mine, or they’ve found oil or some kind of business opportunity. But it’s something so relieving, which you cannot put value or a price on,” he said.

President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration, which launched the “Year of the Return,” is on its way out. Ghana’s main opposition party won the presidential election on Dec. 7.

But Owooson said Black Americans and other diaspora citizens are likely to continue receiving citizenship by presidential concession.

Citizenship also can pass to the next generation. The children of Bowers and Smith received it automatically after their parents' ceremony.

Bowers’ father, like her husband and children, was a follower of the Rastafari faith. “Part of the Rastafarian tradition is to repatriate. We see repatriation as the ultimate experience that you can have on this earth,” she said.

She believes that her father is proud of her. “I really feel like he’s smiling, where he is. He wanted to experience this for himself, so he’s experiencing it through me.”

___

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

INDIA

Health insurance claim rejections rise 50%: Key reasons for denials

Documentation errors are the leading cause for claim rejections

By Mudit Dube
Jan 03, 2025


What's the story

A recent survey by LocalCircles has highlighted a worrying trend in India's health insurance sector.The study found that nearly 50% of policyholders who filed claims in the last three years experienced partial or complete claim rejections.Conducted between June and December 2024, the survey received responses from over one lakh policyholders across 327 districts in India.

Claim issues
Delays and rejections: A closer look at the data

The survey also shed light on the issue of claim delays.It was discovered that 60% of respondents had to wait between six and 48 hours after claim approval to be discharged from hospitals.Among the 28,700 responses specifically on claim settlements, one-third said their claims were only partially paid while another fifth faced outright rejection on 'invalid' grounds.

Regulatory findings
IRDAI reports on denied health insurance claims

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) also recently revealed that 11% of health insurance claims were rejected in FY24, totaling ₹26,000 crore in repudiated claims.This marks a whopping 19% increase over the previous year.The reasons for these rejections vary and often include documentation or policy term-related issues.

Rejection reasons
Documentation errors: A leading cause for claim rejections

Discrepancies in policyholder's documentation emerged as a leading cause for claim rejections.Insurers often deny claims if the paperwork doesn't meet their standards, including errors in diagnosis codes, treatment dates, or basic policy details.Another common reason for denial is non-disclosure or misunderstanding of pre-existing conditions by the policyholder.Many health insurance policies exclude coverage for conditions that existed before the policy was purchased.

Additional factors
Policy lapses and waiting period violations

Policy lapses due to non-payment of premiums or delayed renewals also account for a major reason behind claim rejections.Many policyholders may not be aware of their policy's renewal status until it's too late.Further, violation of the waiting period clause in health insurance policies can also lead to claim denial. This clause usually applies to certain conditions and treatments like maternity, specific surgeries, and treatment for pre-existing illnesses.

China Takes Aim at Philippine Democracy

Jam Sta Rosa/Getty Images

Jan 3, 2025

ADAM NELSON and MAY BUTOY

PROJECT SYNDICATE

A stable, democratic Philippines is vital to US interests and regional security. America and its Indo-Pacific partners and allies must do more to help the country build resilience against Chinese aggression not only in its territorial waters, but also in its politics.

WASHINGTON, DC – In April 2024, a spokesperson for former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte suggested that the Philippines and China had entered into an undisclosed “gentleman’s agreement” between 2016 and 2022. China would not challenge the status quo in the West Philippine Sea, and the Philippines would send only basic supplies to its personnel and facilities on the Ayungin Shoal. But now, the Philippines is emerging as an essential player in resisting China’s strategic ambitions in the region, with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s administration asserting Philippine maritime claims through naval confrontations and new legislation.

Guernica Is Always with Us
ANNIE COHEN-SOLAL laments the tragic developments of 2024, and wonders if humanity can come to its senses.


This comes at a time when the country is facing a quieter, but equally serious, threat at home. The recent, high-profile case of Alice Guo – a former mayor accused of graft, money laundering, and espionage – shows how domestic corruption leaves the Philippines vulnerable to Chinese infiltration and subterfuge. How the Philippines navigates this challenge could shape not only its future but also the broader stability of Southeast Asia.

In addition to conducting aggressive military maneuvers in the surrounding seas, China is also pursuing strategic investments and subtler forms of manipulation to push Philippine leaders (at all levels of government) into a more China-friendly stance. This is in keeping with its global strategy of building influence through investments targeting other countries’ elites, clandestine business alliances, and economic incentives. As the Philippines approaches critical elections in 2025 and 2028, China will try to befriend or otherwise gain sway over anyone who is open to its overtures.

Given these efforts, one cannot rule out a future Philippine government that adopts China’s own model of governance, state control, and mass surveillance. Such a government might not only consult China’s authoritarian playbook to quash dissent; he or she could also leverage China’s resources and international political support to evade scrutiny and accountability. Institutions meant to serve the Philippine people would become tools for monitoring and restricting opponents and critics, and China will have secured itself a valuable foothold in Southeast Asia.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter, PS Politics
Go beyond the headlines to understand the issues, forces, and trends shaping the US presidential election – and the likely implications of its outcome.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.


China has been stepping up its information operations globally, using the Philippines as a testing ground for tactics designed to propagate anti-American narratives and build pro-Chinese sentiment. Through platforms like Facebook and TikTok, which many Filipinos rely on for news, Chinese accounts amplify content that casts doubt on Philippine-US relations and erodes social trust within Philippine society.

By exploiting internal instability, Chinese influence operations aim to distract Philippine authorities from China’s own aggression in the surrounding seas. One potential source of disruption is the lead-up to the elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Should an ongoing peace process there falter, the region would inevitably demand much more of the national government’s attention and resources.

What can be done? Even if US investments do not match the scale of China’s

 infrastructure projects in the Philippines, Western strategic aid can help by presenting a clear alternative to China’s debt-driven model. Such a strategy would not only support Philippine sovereignty but also strengthen America’s network of alliances in the Indo-Pacific.

Specifically, to counter Chinese interference, the US and its allies should direct investments and support to advance five priorities. First, since corruption is a national-security threat, they should fund programs to ensure disclosures of “beneficial ownership” (who ultimately owns private businesses), debt transparency, and the integrity of public procurement and tendering processes. This would not only create a level playing field for all businesses; it would also help safeguard Philippine institutions and political processes from covert foreign manipulation.

Second, the integrity of elections must be strengthened. Long-term election monitoring can help expose and counter covert foreign influence efforts and misuses of resources, ensuring transparency beyond Election Day. If sufficiently supported, citizen-led observation efforts can reinforce the sense that the process is fair, making electoral institutions more resilient against external pressures.

Third, the Philippines’ allies need to protect the BARMM peace process, such as by funding initiatives that strengthen local governance and security institutions in the region. The peace process, and the country more broadly, would benefit from enhanced information security, including targeted support for local initiatives to improve the public’s digital news literacy.

Lastly, the Philippines needs help countering Chinese surveillance of its citizens and officials. US support for cybersecurity and programs to protect digital rights can frustrate Chinese influence tactics and provide more transparency on major digital platforms.

A stable, democratic Philippines is vital to US interests and regional security. America and its Indo-Pacific partners and allies must do more to help the country build resilience against Chinese aggression not only in its territorial waters, but also in its politics.



ADAM NELSON
Writing for PS since 2024
2 Commentaries
Adam Nelson is Senior Program Director for the Asia-Pacific at the National Democratic Institute.

MAY BUTOY
Writing for PS since 2025
1 Commentary
May Butoy is the Country Representative for the Philippines at the National Democratic Institute.

Wanted Vietnamese artist says police beat him

Le Quoc Anh said authorities have also been harassing his parents.

By RFA Vietnamese

2025.01.03

Le Quoc Anh and his father's police summons on Dec. 18, 2024 Le Quoc Anh/RFA (Le Quoc Anh/RFA)

Vietnamese artist Le Quoc Anh, who is wanted by police on charges of “propaganda against the state,” said the police beat him for several days while he was in custody, before going on the run.

He also said the police repeatedly harassed his parents, who live in Tien Giang province in southern Vietnam, in an attempt to force him to turn himself in.

Anh, 33, is a graphic artist at a printing company in My Tho city. He was detained by police for two weeks in March 2023. He was released on bail after the intervention of his lawyer, but went on the run in August 2023 and has been a wanted man ever since.

“I am extremely indignant that the … police detained and beat me for many days in addition to harassing my family even though I did not do anything against the State,” he told Radio Free Asia on Thursday. “Their illegal actions against me and my family show that Vietnam has no freedom of expression or freedom of creativity in the arts.”

During his detention, from March 8 to March 23, 2023, Anh said investigators accused him of being a member of the U.S-based dissident group Viet Tan, and receiving money from it to carry out acts of terrorism in Vietnam. The government has labelled Viet Tan a terrorist organization, which the group denies.

Anh said that since he left home, police have repeatedly questioned his parents about his whereabouts. Most recently, on Dec. 18 and 19, 2024, police forced his father to go to their station, confiscated his phone, questioned him about his son and accused him of colluding with many other people to spread malicious information.

Police also searched their home and seized phones and computers. They threatened to arrest Anh’s father for refusing to tell them where his son was and installed cameras outside the home to monitor him.

“The fact that my family has been harassed repeatedly for a long time is unacceptable, it shows the tyranny of the ruling apparatus, working arbitrarily and without order,” Anh said. “They use all means to achieve what they want during the investigation process such as kidnapping, threatening, violating privacy, robbing property ... seriously affecting the lives and spirits of me and my parents.”

RFA called the Investigation Security Department of the provincial police for comment on Anh’s accusations. The person who answered the call asked the reporter to go to the department’s headquarters to get a response from senior officers.

Anh told RFA that he himself is not politically active, only sharing articles from RFA, Voice of America and the BBC about Vietnam. He is also a member of several internet fan clubs and shares patriotic songs by overseas Vietnamese singers.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.

EXPLAINER

Frexit: Why Ivory Coast is joining African campaign to expel French troops

Ivory Coast is the sixth in a growing list of African nations cutting military ties with former colonial power France.

By Shola Lawal

 3 Jan 2025

AL JAZEERA

French military troops who have been in Ivory Coast for decades will soon be leaving, Ivorian officials have said, signalling more diplomatic setbacks for France amid local resentment that has caused one-time allies in West and Central Africa to sever ties with Paris.

President Alassane Ouattara’s announcement on Tuesday puts Ivory Coast on a growing list of African countries cutting military ties with the once greatly influential former colonial power, as some former French allies also turn to Russian mercenaries for help fighting a swarm of armed groups in the region.

Within days of each other in November, Chad and Senegal expelled French troops, joining several Sahel countries that had earlier done the same, starting in 2021.

The wave of pushback has forced France to devise a new military strategy for the continent that officials say will be in line with the “needs” of partner countries. Temporary deployments, rather than permanent military presence, and more focus on training local forces, are some features of the new policy.

Here’s what to know about why Ivory Coast has joined the list and how France’s influence in the region is waning:

Why is Ivory Coast expelling French troops?

In his 2024 end-of-year address to the country on December 31, President Ouattara said the Ivorian government had decided to expel French troops because the Ivorian army is “now effective”. The president did not give any other reasons.

“We can be proud of our army, whose modernisation is now effective. It is within this context that we have decided on the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces,” Ouattara said.

The 43rd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIMA), a French army base located in Port-Bouet in the economic capital, Abidjan, will be “handed over” to the Ivorian military starting from January 2025, he added. French soldiers have been helping the Ivorian army in the fight against armed groups operating in the Sahel and expanding into countries along the Gulf of Guinea, including Ivory Coast and Ghana. France also operated as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission during the country’s long civil war from 2002 to 2011.

Ouattara’s announcement on Tuesday was unexpected. The president is seen by many as one of the African leaders most close to France. In a country in which anger against France is growing, that perception has bred deep resentment of the government. In August, French President Emmanuel Macron feted Ouattara in a private dinner at the Elysee.

Analysts say Ouattara’s decision to cut military ties could also be political, as Ivorians gear up for general elections slated for October. Ouattara, who has been in power since 2010, has not yet said whether he will seek a fourth term in the polls. His decision to run for president in 2020 following the sudden death of his successor and prime minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, provoked widespread outrage in opposition camps.

Why is France facing general pushback in Francophone Africa?

France has faced unprecedented, bitter criticism from citizens in its former colonies in West and Central Africa in recent years. From Mali to Ivory Coast, thousands of people have taken to the streets in mass protests, demanding that their governments cut ties with Paris for good.

Some of the resentment dates back to historical controversies linked to colonialism. The French direct rule during colonisation was perceived to have weakened traditional institutions, culture, and leadership while forcing European officials and customs on locals. French officials ruling the colonies were perceived as particularly harsh, both in their administration and attempts to increase France’s economic footholds.

After countries won their independence in the 1960s, Paris built a strong web of connections with African leaders and elites, termed “Francafrique” to protect France’s vast economic interests and to keep French troops on the ground. More than 200 French companies operate on the continent, including oil and gas giant Total, and Orano, which mines uranium to power France’s nuclear power plants. French troops too have operated across the region, providing training and assisting local militaries.

However, in the last five years, military-led governments in the Sahel region have pushed back at the perceived weakness of the French army. Despite the presence of thousands of French soldiers, armed group activity continued to turn the area into a hotspot of violence as groups like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) wage war on security forces and officials across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Increasingly, armed groups have made incursions into the coastal Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Benin.

Which countries have expelled French troops and why?

By January 2025, six African countries – Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Senegal, and Ivory Coast – had cut military ties with France.

Mali: In August 2020, a group of soldiers from the Malian Armed Forces mutinied and seized power from the civilian government in Bamako, citing its inability to stop increasing levels of violence. After France denounced the coup, the military government played up populist narratives and blamed France for interfering in the country’s decision-making. Hundreds took to the streets, praising the military and calling for France to leave. The coup kicked off a series of takeovers in Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Gabon.

In June 2021, Macron announced French forces would leave the Sahel in a phased-out manner. By December 2023, the exit was complete. Mali has since strengthened ties with Russia, and Russian mercenaries are currently operating in the region. Conflict has continued – more than 5,000 people died across the Sahel in the first half of 2024, and millions remain displaced, according to conflict tracker, ACLED.

Burkina Faso: The current military government seized power in January 2022 on the back of resentment against a civilian government seen as powerless against armed groups, and the French government believed to be backing it. In February 2023, the military government ordered French troops to leave Burkinabe soil within a month. Some 300 Russian troops were thought to have arrived in the country in January 2024.

Niger: As civilian governments fell in neighbouring countries, the military there too staged a coup in July 2023, overthrowing and detaining President Mohamed Bazoum. Many Nigeriens marched in favour of the military and called for French troops stationed in Niamey to leave. In December 2023, the military government expelled French soldiers.

Senegal: In November 2024, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said that France “should” shut down its military bases from 2025 because French military presence was not in line with Senegal’s sovereignty. The declaration came as Senegal marked 80 years after a colonial-era massacre that saw French troops kill tens of West African soldiers angry at their treatment after fighting for Paris in World War II. There are 350 French troops stationed in the country.

Chad: Officials, also in November, announced that Chad was ending a military pact with France in place since the 1960s. The country was a key link in France’s military presence in Africa and its last foothold in the wider Sahel region. Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah called France “an essential partner” but said it “must now also consider that Chad has grown up, matured and is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty”. There are 1,000 French troops stationed in the country.
Does France still have any military presence in Africa?

Yes, France maintains a large military base in Djibouti, eastern Africa. The country, also a former colony of France, hosts close to 1,500 French troops and is one of France’s largest overseas military contingents.

In West and Central Africa, France continues to retain a small presence in Gabon where it has about 300 troops. Gabon’s army seized power in a coup in August 2023, ending five years of the Bongo family’s rule.

However, unlike other military-led countries in the region, Paris has maintained ties with Gabon’s military government, likely because of the resentment the ruling family drew, some analysts say.

Explosion targets German capital police building, injuring two officers

The officers were on a regular patrol near the police station when the blast occurred.


Police officers face injuries after explosion near Berlin police building. / Photo: Reuters

Two police officers were injured, one seriously, in an explosion on Thursday night outside a police building in Berlin, according to authorities in the German capital.

The officers were on a routine security patrol when an unidentified object exploded near the fence.

"This evening, at around 8:20 pm, a serious security incident occurred at the fence" around the police building in the Wittenau district of northern Berlin, police posted on social media platform X.

One officer suffered injuries to the face and eyes, while the other experienced "sound trauma". Both received medical treatment.

When questioned by AFP, a police spokesperson declined to provide further information about the incident.

The explosion comes after 30 German law enforcement officers were injured on New Year's Eve, including one seriously by an illegally manufactured firework.

Five people died across the country in incidents linked to the powerful fireworks Germans traditionally set off to celebrate the new year.

Elon Musk told to stick to US politics after latest UK blast

Health Minister Andrew Gwynne says X owner should prioritize “issues on the other side of the Atlantic.”

Elon Musk is deep in an ongoing feud with the U.K.'s governing Labour Party. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

January 3, 2025 
By Noah Keate

POLITICO UK

LONDON — A British minister said Friday that Elon Musk should focus on American politics rather than repeatedly criticizing the Labour government.

The X owner and key Donald Trump ally is deep in an ongoing feud with the U.K.’s governing Labour Party, tweeting his extensive disagreements with Prime Minister Keir Starmer over law and order, economic policy and free speech.

It’s prompted angry pushback from Labour MPs, particularly after Musk on Thursday demanded the release from jail of a controversial far-right activist, Tommy Robinson.

“Elon Musk is an American citizen and perhaps ought to focus on issues on the other side of the Atlantic,” Health Minister Andrew Gwynne told LBC radio Friday.

Gwynne was responding to Musk’s strident criticism of the way British authorities have responded to child sexual exploitation.

Musk slammed Labour for rejecting a national inquiry into child abuse in the north of England and launched a full-frontal attack on Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his record as the country’s top prosecutor.

Musk wrote on X, the social media site he owns: “In the U.K., serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects. Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013.”

Demands for an inquiry into so-called “rape gangs” were picked up Thursday by Britain’s main opposition party, the Conservatives, which was voted out of office after a fourteen-year stint in July and similarly rejected demands for a national inquiry.

Speaking Friday, Gwynne pushed back at Musk’s characterization of the issue. He highlighted a string of local inquiries into child sexual exploitation alongside a wide-ranging national probe which reported in 2022.

“There comes a point where we don’t need more inquiries,” Wynne argued. “Had Elon Musk really paid attention to what’s been going on in this country, he might have recognized that there’ve already been inquiries.”

Musk on Thursday night again approvingly shared posts by Robinson, the far-right ringleader who was jailed in October for breaching a court order relating to libelous claims he made about a Syrian refugee schoolboy.

Musk accused media outlets who reported on his backing for Robinson, including POLITICO, of having “hid” that schoolgirls were being “systematically raped” by “migrant gangs,” and branded them “despicable human beings.”

Elon Musk calls for King Charles to dissolve parliament over ‘grooming gangs’

MUSK NEVER TOOK A CIVICS COURSE

PA_Media |
Jan 03, 2025


Tesla CEO Elon Musk has continued his social media criticism of UK PM Keir Starmer for the government’s handling of a ‘child grooming’ scandal in the country

Elon Musk has continued his criticism of the Government, calling on the King to step in and dissolve Parliament.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk asked King Charles to step in and dissolve parliament(REUTERS)

The world’s richest man, who purchased the social media site Twitter and renamed it X in 2022, has shared and reacted to tweets critical of the Government and the Prime Minister after Labour rejected a call for an inquiry into child grooming.

Also Read: Elon Musk shares post blasting New Orleans FBI for sporting Taylor Swift bracelets amid ‘terror’ attack

In his latest attacks on Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Musk shared a post asking whether Charles “should dissolve parliament and order a General Election… for the sake and security” of Britain. Mr Musk retweeted the X thread with a one-word comment: “Yes.”

Also Read: Elon Musk backs Cybertruck after explosion: 'Picked the wrong vehicle for terrorist attack'

The 53-year-old Starlink boss continued to wade into the debate overnight, hours after he posted that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after she denied requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham on Thursday.

Also Read: Elon Musk changes his name on X again after Kekius Maximus. This time it's…

He also suggested the Prime Minister had failed to bring “rape gangs” to justice when he was director of public prosecutions. Mr Musk reposted an article in The Daily Telegraph by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick in which he says the “grooming gangs” should be renamed “torture rape gangs”.

He wrote that Mr Musk’s comments had shamed “the establishment by taking more interest in bringing these rape gangs to justice in one evening than most of the British establishment has for decades”.

Mr Musk continued his criticism in a post alongside footage of The Times’ chief investigative reporter Andrew Norfolk as he detailed the scope of the case and police mishandling, calling it “State-sponsored evil.” Mr Norfolk exposed the Rotherham child sexual exploitation ring in the UK press in 2011.

In another comment on the same post, Mr Musk branded the scandal and the child rapists involved as “utterly shameful”. The Tesla owner also called a post asking why people were angrier at his comments than they were about “mass rape” of children as the “perfect question”.

Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said a full national inquiry into organised grooming gangs is “long overdue”. Ms Phillips said she recognised the “strength of feeling” for a Home Office-led inquiry into Oldham, but she told the local council the Government will not “intervene”.

“I believe it is for Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the Government to intervene,” she said.

In response, Mr Musk, a key member of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle, said: “She deserves to be in prison.”

He also appeared to place blame at the Prime Minister’s door. Mr Musk said: “In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects. Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013.”

In a series of posts on his social media site, Mr Musk described the Prime Minister as “two-tier Keir”, claiming there was “no justice for severe, violent crimes but prison for social media posts”.

Mr Musk also expressed his support for activist Tommy Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – who was jailed for 18 months for contempt of court in October. Senior Tories also sought to put pressure on the Government over grooming gangs.


Mrs Badenoch said: “The time is long overdue for a full national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal. Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years but no one in authority has joined the dots. 2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp and shadow safeguarding minister Alicia Kearns pressed for a statutory inquiry in Oldham. They said that only a public inquiry “can adequately encompass the national nature of these crimes and issues” and consider whether reports were ignored by the police, CPS and local council “or even covered up”.

In 2022, the then-Conservative government also refused a request for a public inquiry into events in Oldham.

An Oldham Council spokesman said: “Survivors sit at the heart of our work to end child sexual exploitation. Whatever happens in terms of future inquiries, we have promised them that their wishes will be paramount, and we will not renege on that pledge.”

Responding to Mrs Badenoch’s post, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “Talk is cheap. The Conservatives had 14 years in government to launch an inquiry. The establishment has failed the victims of grooming gangs on every level.”

Mr Musk, who is rumoured to be considering a major donation to Mr Farage’s party, responded: “Exactly. Time for Reform.”

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, which published its final report in 2022, described the sexual abuse of children as an “epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake”.

Led by Professor Alexis Jay, the inquiry looked into abuse by organised groups following multiple convictions of sexual offences against children across the UK between 2010-2014, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale and Bristol. In November last year, Professor Jay said she felt “frustrated” that none of the probe’s 20 recommendations had been implemented more than two years after its conclusion.

A Labour spokesman said the Government is “working at pace to implement the recommendations” in Professor Jay’s report. The spokesman added: “We have supported both the national overarching inquiry into child abuse which reported in 2022, and local independent inquiries and reviews including in Telford, Rotherham and Greater Manchester."

“This Government is working urgently to strengthen the law so that these crimes are properly reported and investigated. In Oldham the crimes committed by grooming gangs were horrific. Young girls were abused in the most cruel and sadistic way."


“Victims and the community need to know that all steps are taken to deliver justice and protect children properly in the future. We will welcome and support an independent investigation commissioned by Oldham Council which puts victims’ voices at its heart, following the examples of Telford and Rotherham.”

"We also continue to support wider work commissioned by mayor Andy Burnham into child protection issues across Greater Manchester, following the review into historic safeguarding issues in Oldham which was published in 2022.”

Commentary

Elon Musk and the Helplessness of German Liberal Democratic Elites

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and X. | 

Photo: Daniel Oberhaus (2018) / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

By Thorsten Benner
03 Jan 2025,
published in Agenda Pública


“Only the AfD can save Germany”, Elon Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X just before Christmas. A good week later, German newspaper DIE WELT ran an op-ed by the billionaire explaining his endorsement of the extreme-right Alternative for Germany barely two months ahead of crucial national elections. The piece in German publishing house Axel Springer’s flagship publication triggered a remarkably helpless reaction by liberal democratic elites.

Let us start with the good news. Musk’s intervention is a clarifying moment for the German center-right. Some of the leading lights in the CDU and FDP had tried to suck up to the world’s richest man. Leading CDU politician and former health minister Jens Spahn had lionized Musk as ​“champion for a whole generation of courageous entrepreneurs and scientists. For people who believe in the power of ideas and that progress is possible”. FDP leader and former finance minister Christian Lindner had argued that Germany needs to dare to be more inspired by ​“Milei or Musk”. Even when Musk voiced his support for the AfD on X, Lindner’s reaction was sycophantic. ​“Elon, I’ve initiated a policy debate inspired by ideas from you and Milei”, he tweeted. ​“Don’t rush to conclusions from afar. Let’s meet, and I’ll show you what the FDP stands for“. Musk was not too impressed with the plea of his self-appointed German disciple. He simply went on to share a post by AfD leader Alice Weidel and doubled down on his support for the AfD in his op-ed. That led CDU chairman Friedrich Merz who is the clear favorite to succeed Scholz as chancellor to issue a sharp rebuke: ​“Elon Musk’s election appeal is intrusive and presumptuous”. All the while the AfD is using Musk’s endorsement to take its case to German voters. The frontlines are now clear. Musk is the AfD’s new patron saint. Fewer center-right politicians are likely to invoke the billionaire as a source of inspiration in the near future.

For the rest, the whole affair leaves neither Musk, Axel Springer nor German liberal democratic elites looking particularly good. Musk’s lightweight treatise reads like it was AI-generated, with a prompt such as ​“expand my tweet in support of the AfD into a flimsy op-ed”. It would have been easy for him to hire a scribe ghostwriting a somewhat substantive text. That he chose not to shows how little he ultimately cares about the details of the country in which Tesla has one of its biggest investments in Europe in the form of its gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin. Musk does not betray any deeper familiarity with the fault lines of German politics or the AfD. For him, AfD co-leader Weidel being a lesbian with a partner born in Sri Lanka is enough to paper over the Nazi language pushed by Björn Höcke, the AfD’s leader in its stronghold Thuringia. Musk claims the ​“political realism” of the AfD makes it the only force that can push for deregulation, curtailing illegal migration and changing Germany’s energy policy. Musk overlooks that to achieve these goals he might as well turn to the CDU/​CSU or the FDP. He seems blissfully unaware that the AfD’s push for a German exit from the Eurozone and the EU would spell economic disaster – or that it was the AfD that opposed Musk’s gigafactory in Grünheide.

That Germany’s leading publishing house Axel Springer and its CEO Mathias Döpfner decided to run an endorsement of the AfD is a significant step for the extreme right party on its path to normalization. Now the big question is whether Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner will continue to push in this direction. Hardly any German will vote for the AfD just because Musk provided an endorsement. However, should Springer’s main media outlets decide to pursue a full-fledged normalization of the AfD that would be an important breakthrough for the party. Right now, the scenario of Döpfner going full Hugenberg is not very likely. In fact, Döpfner’s decision to offer Musk a platform to run his op-ed may have had little to do with German politics and everything with Springer’s business interests in the US. Döpfner sees the US as its main market for growth having acquired Politico. Being on the good side of Musk can’t hurt for your big business dreams in the Musk-Trump era. For Springer, the political damage in Germany from pushing Musk’s AfD endorsement might be a price worth paying to pursue the more important goals in the US. The fact that Springer decided to accompany Musk’s piece with a rebuttal by WELT’s editor-in-chief demonstrates a certain willingness to limit that damage.

German liberal democratic elites are right to be concerned by Musk’s activism in favor of the AfD. After all, Musk has formidable resources via his financial clout, control of X, closeness to US president-elect Donald Trump and his formal role in the coming Trump administration. There is a danger of the Trumpist-tech billionaire US right orchestrating a far-right international to take power in key European countries. Musk’s support for Nigel Farage is a case in point. But self-righteous outrage at Musk because of external interference into German politics is a not an effective answer. If you want to go after Musk then target his business interests: pursue effective regulation of X, organize a consumer boycott against Tesla and pursue massive investments to decrease the European dependence on Starlink. For the rest, collective outrage at Musk might increase the coziness factor around the liberal democratic campfire. But it does nothing to decrease the appeal of the AfD with voters. Liberal democratic elites have every reason to panic about the AfD’s rise for which there doesn’t seem to be any effective antidote. The ​“firewall” agreement among all democratic parties vowing not to pursue any cooperation with the AfD only seems to increase the appeal of the AfD as the only alternative. At the same time, there is no agreement among liberal democratic forces on whether to pursue a formal request to ban the AfD (or at least deprive it of public funding) with the constitutional court. And simply governing better to win back voters is much harder with ever messier coalition governments making for odd bedfellows in an ever more fragmenting party system. But one thing is certain: finger-pointing at Musk or Springer is hardly a winning strategy with voters looking for real solutions to the malaise of the German model and the country’s economic, social and security challenges. Rather, it’s a feel-good distraction.

This commentary was originally published by Agenda Pública on January 3, 2025.

About - GPPi

Metallic space object crashes in Kenyan village


A metallic object believed to be part of a rocket's separation stage has fallen from space into a village in eastern Kenya, according to the Kenya Space Agency and local media reports.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Maj. Aloyce Were, an official from the Kenya Space Agency, confirmed the discovery of the partially burnt metallic debris, weighing approximately 500 kilograms. The object, described as a metallic ring, is suspected to be space debris from a rocket.

“So indeed we can confirm we have located the item. The area locals should not be scared. It is a part of a space object which is in the form of a ring, a metallic ring, possibly from a rocket separation stage,” said Maj. Were.

The official urged residents not to fear the object while affirming that the Kenya Space Agency would investigate its origin and assess any potential damage to the surrounding area. Were was seen consulting with police officers and inspecting the debris at the crash site.

In the coming days, the agency will work to determine the object's country of origin and its journey through space. "We are to assess the impact to the area and use the existing legal mechanisms under international law as far as the Outer Space Treaty is concerned," Maj. Were explained.

The discovery highlights the growing issue of space debris re-entering Earth's atmosphere, with fragments occasionally reaching the surface. The incident is a reminder of the challenges posed by increasing satellite and rocket activity in Earth's orbit.

No injuries or significant damage to property were reported in the village. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

It fell from sky

Ring nearly 8 feet wide and weighing around 453 kilograms fell from sky into Mukuku village in eastern Makueni County on Dec. 30, says Kenya Space Agency

Fatma Zehra Solmaz |03.01.2025 - TRT/AA


ISTANBUL

The Kenya Space Agency on Friday continued to examine a huge metallic ring that fell in the country early this week.

On Dec. 30, a ring nearly 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide and weighing 1,100 pounds (around 453 kilograms) fell from the sky into Mukuku village in eastern Makueni County, the agency said.

“Preliminary assessments indicate that the fallen object is a separation ring from a launch vehicle (rocket),” said the agency as the examination of the object continued.

It said the object “poses no immediate threat to safety” and is working to determine its exact origin.

When a team from the agency and local officials arrived at the site on Monday, the "object was still warm," according to Julius Rotich, a local police official.

Rotich told the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation that police cordoned off the area until the object had cooled off.