Headline

France Completes Withdrawal Of Soldiers From Chad

Published

9 months ago

January 11, 2025

Editor

France has officially handed over its second military base in Chad as part of an agreement to withdraw its forces from the country.

The base in Abéché, located in eastern Chad, was formally transferred to Chadian authorities on Saturday in a ceremony attended by Defence Minister Issaka Malloua Djamouss, as reported by AFP.

The withdrawal follows Chad’s abrupt decision in November to end military cooperation with its former colonial ruler.

French troops began leaving the country in December, with a complete withdrawal deadline set for January 31.

“Today… marks the handover of the Abeche base,” Defence Minister Issaka Djamouss said during an official ceremony. He called it a key step “leading to the final and total withdrawal of this army in our country.”

Djamouss added that the January 31 deadline for France to remove forces for good was “imperative”, “irreversible” and “non-negotiable”.

Approximately 100 French troops departed the Abéché base on Saturday, with equipment convoys leaving the site on Friday.

This follows the handover of the Faya base in northern Chad in mid-December, as well as the departure of fighter jets and 120 soldiers earlier in the month.

French troops have been stationed in Chad since the country gained independence in 1960, providing military training and air support.

This support proved crucial in halting rebel movements that sought to seize power on multiple occasions.

At its peak, France maintained 1,000 personnel in Chad, making it the last Sahel nation to host French troops after withdrawals from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

“Partnerships evolve but the friendship remains between our two nations, as does the solidarity between two sovereign nations that will continue to move forward side by side as they always have,” French embassy representative Fabien Talon said at the event.

Chad, among the world’s poorest countries, had been a key part of France’s military presence in the Sahel region. However, the military authorities in Chad, like their counterparts in other Sahel countries, have sought to strengthen ties with Russia.

Talks between Chad and Moscow have centered on enhancing economic cooperation, but no significant agreements have yet been finalized.

The withdrawal marks a shift in Chad’s geopolitical stance. President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno has described the military agreement with France as outdated and misaligned with the current political and strategic realities.

Deby, who came to power in 2021 following his father’s death in combat with rebels, was formally elected in May 2023, concluding a three-year political transition.

France’s departure signals the end of its anti-jihadist Barkhane operation in the Sahel, where it once deployed over 5,000 troops.

Headline

UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

13 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

Headline

Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

16 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

Headline

Trump Signs Order For TikTok’s Sale, Valued At $14bn

Published

17 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring that his plan is to sell TikTok’s US operations to American and global investors.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law that otherwise would ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion.

“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.

The White House on Thursday pushed back the law’s enforcement date to January 20 to allow time for the transaction, investor commitments, and negotiations with Chinese authorities.

The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets.

However, details remain to be worked out, including how the U.S. company would handle TikTok’s most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

According to Reuters, Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. “I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.