Mali’s president and prime minister held by mutinous troops

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita during the G5 Sahel summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania, June 30, 2020. (AP Photo)
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Updated 19 August 2020
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Mali’s president and prime minister held by mutinous troops

  • President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse detained by mutinous soldiers
  • United Nations head Antonio Guterres demanded “the immediate and unconditional release” of Mali’s president and members of his government

BAMAKO, Mali: Soldiers detained Mali’s president and prime minister Tuesday after surrounding a residence and firing into the air in an apparent coup attempt after several months of demonstrations calling for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s ouster.
The soldiers moved freely through the streets of Bamako, making it increasingly clear that they were in control of the capital city. There was no immediate comment from the troops, who hailed from the same military barracks in Kati where an earlier coup originated more than eight years ago.

United Nations head Antonio Guterres demanded “the immediate and unconditional release” of Mali’s president and members of his government Tuesday after they were seized by rebel soldiers.
“The secretary-general strongly condemns these actions and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali,” a spokesman for Guterres said in a statement.

The dramatic escalation capped off a day of political chaos in Mali, where the UN and former colonizer France have spent more than seven years trying to stabilize the country since a 2012 coup allowed an extremist insurgency to take hold in the West African nation.
The unrest kicked off earlier in the day in the garrison town of Kati, where the previous coup had originated under similar circumstances eight years earlier. The soldiers took weapons from the armory at the barracks, and then detained senior military officers.
Anti-government protesters cheered the soldiers’ actions, some setting fire to a building that belongs to Mali’s justice minister.
Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, who was believed to be sheltering with Keita, urged the soldiers to put down their arms and put the interests of the nation first.
“There is no problem whose solution cannot be found through dialogue,” he said in a communique.
Earlier in the day, government workers fled their offices as armed men began detaining people including the country’s finance minister Abdoulaye Daffe.
“Officials are being arrested — it’s total confusion,” said an officer at Mali’s Ministry of Internal Security.
Mali’s president, who was democratically elected and has broad support from France and other Western allies, was believed to be sheltering with the prime minister at the private residence in Bamako’s Sebenikoro neighborhood.
As the day wore on, Malians tuned in to state broadcaster ORTM, where the 2012 coup leader announced he was now in charge. The channel only carried classroom lessons and cartoons among other pre-recorded programming.
The regional bloc known as ECOWAS that has been mediating Mali’s current political crisis urged the soldiers to return immediately to their barracks in Kati, which is only 15 kilometers (less than 10 miles) from the presidential palace in the capital.
France echoed those concerns, with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian condemned the soldiers’ actions as did the State Department’s special envoy for the Sahel region.
“The US is opposed to all unconstitutional changes of government whether in the streets or by security forces,” tweeted J. Peter Pham.
The developments Tuesday bore a troubling resemblance to the events leading up to the 2012 military coup, which ultimately unleashed years of chaos in Mali when the ensuing power vacuum allowed extremists to seize control of northern towns. Ultimately a French-led military operation ousted the extremists but they merely regrouped and then expanded their reach during Keita’s presidency.
On March 21, 2012, a similar mutiny erupted at the Kati military camp as rank-and-file soldiers began rioting and then broke into the camp’s armory. After grabbing weapons they later headed for the seat of government, led by then Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo.
Sanogo was later forced to hand over power to a civilian transitional government that then organized elections. Keita emerged from a field of more than two dozen candidates to win that 2013 vote with more than 77 percent of the vote. His popularity, though, has plummeted since his 2018 re-election.
Regional mediators have urged Keita to share power in a unity government but those overtures were swiftly rejected by opposition leaders who said they would not stop short of Keita’s ouster.
The current president has faced growing criticism of how his government has handled the relentless insurgency engulfing the country once praised as a model of democracy in the region. The military faced a wave of particularly deadly attacks in the north last year, prompting the government to close its most vulnerable outposts as part of a reorganization aimed at stemming the losses.


Trump sues Murdoch, WSJ over Epstein sex bombshell

Updated 7 sec ago
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Trump sues Murdoch, WSJ over Epstein sex bombshell

  • Trump lashed at WSJ as a ‘useless ‘rag’ for publishing what he called a “false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS article”
  • Dow Jones, the Journal’s longtime publisher, responded to Trump’s libel suit Friday saying it is standing by the story

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion Friday over publication of a bombshell article on his friendship with the infamous alleged sex trafficker of underage girls, Jeffrey Epstein.
The defamation lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, saw the 79-year-old Republican hitting back at a scandal threatening to cause serious political damage.
“We have just filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is, The Wall Street Journal,” Trump posted on Truth Social late Friday.
The Journal reported Thursday that in 2003, the then-real estate magnate wrote a suggestive birthday letter to Epstein, illustrated with a naked woman and alluding to a shared “secret.”
The lawsuit, which also names two reporters, the Dow Jones corporation, and Murdoch’s parent company News Corp. as defendants, claims that no such letter exists and that the paper intended to malign Trump with a story that has now been viewed by hundreds of millions of people.
“And given the timing of the Defendants’ article, which shows their malicious intent behind it, the overwhelming financial and reputational harm suffered by President Trump will continue to multiply,” it said.
Dow Jones, the Journal’s longtime publisher, responded to Trump’s libel suit Friday saying it is standing by the story.
“We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit,” a Dow Jones spokesperson said in a statement.

In another bid to dampen outrage among his own supporters about an alleged government cover-up of Epstein’s activities and 2019 death, Trump ordered US Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the unsealing of grand jury testimony from the prosecution against the disgraced financier.
In a filing in New York, Bondi cited “extensive public interest” for the unusual request to release what is typically secret testimony.
Epstein, a longtime friend of Trump and multiple high-profile men, was found hanging dead in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually exploited dozens of underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida.
The case sparked conspiracy theories, especially among Trump’s far-right voters, about an alleged international cabal of wealthy pedophiles. Epstein’s death — declared a suicide — before he could face trial supercharged the narrative.
When Trump returned to power for a second term this January, his supporters clamored for revelations about Epstein’s supposed list of clients. But Bondi issued an official memo this month declaring there was no such list.
The discontent in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base poses a rare challenge to the Republican’s control of the political narrative in the United States.
It remained unclear whether a court would authorize the unsealing of the grand jury testimony.
But even if such material were made public, there is no assurance it would shed much, if any, light on the main questions raised in the conspiracy theories — particularly the existence and possible contents of an Epstein client list.
Asked Friday by reporters if he would pursue the broader release of information related to the case, Trump did not answer.

This undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein. (AFP)


Trump was close with Epstein for years, and the two were photographed and videoed together at parties, although there has never been evidence of wrongdoing.
The Wall Street Journal article published late Thursday was damaging because it indicated a shared interest in sex.
The Journal reported that Trump had wished Epstein a happy 50th birthday in 2003 with a “bawdy” letter, part of an album of messages from rich and well-known figures.
According to the Journal, the Trump letter contained the outline of a naked woman, apparently drawn with a marker, and had the future president’s signature “Donald” mimicking pubic hair. It ends, according to the newspaper, with “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump reacted in a series of furious social media posts, saying “it’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” he said.
US media has published multiple drawings done by Trump in the past, with several dating to the early 2000s when he used his celebrity status to donate sketches for charity.
 


Australia delivers Abrams tanks to Ukraine for war with Russia

Updated 19 July 2025
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Australia delivers Abrams tanks to Ukraine for war with Russia

  • Ukraine has taken possession of most of the 49 tanks given by Australia, says defense minister
  • Australia is one of the largest non-NATO contributors to Ukraine as it defends itself from Russian aggression

SYDNEY: Australia’s government said on Saturday it had delivered M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine as part of a A$245 million ($160 million) package to help the country defend itself against Russia in their ongoing war.
Australia, one of the largest non-NATO contributors to Ukraine, has been supplying aid, ammunition and defense equipment since Moscow invaded its neighbor in February 2022.
Ukraine has taken possession of most of the 49 tanks given by Australia, and the rest will be delivered in coming months, said Defense Minister Richard Marles.
“The M1A1 Abrams tanks will make a significant contribution to Ukraine’s ongoing fight against Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion,” Marles said in a statement.
The tanks formed part of the A$1.5 billion ($980 million) that Canberra has provided Ukraine in the conflict, the government said.
Australia has also banned exports of alumina and aluminum ores, including bauxite, to Russia, and has sanctioned about 1,000 Russian individuals and entities.
Australia’s center-left Labor government this year labelled Russia as the aggressor in the conflict and called for the war to be resolved on Kyiv’s terms.


Trump says he thinks 5 jets were shot down in India-Pakistan hostilities

Updated 19 July 2025
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Trump says he thinks 5 jets were shot down in India-Pakistan hostilities

  • New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday up to five jets were shot down during recent India-Pakistan hostilities that began after an April Islamist militant attack in India-administered Kashmir, with the situation calming after a ceasefire in May.
Trump, who made his remarks at a dinner with some Republican US lawmakers at the White House, did not specify which side’s jets he was referring to.
“In fact, planes were being shot out of the air. Five, five, four or five, but I think five jets were shot down actually,” Trump said while talking about the India-Pakistan hostilities, without elaborating or providing further detail. Pakistan claimed it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat. India’s highest-ranking general said in late May that India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of hostilities and established an advantage before a ceasefire was announced three days later. India also claimed it downed “a few planes” of Pakistan. Islamabad denied suffering any losses of planes but acknowledged its air bases suffered hits.

HIGH LIGHTS

• Hostilities rose between India and Pakistan after April attack in Kashmir

• Ceasefire was announced on May 10 • Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for ceasefire, India has differed from his claims

Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan that he announced on social media on May 10 after Washington held talks with both sides. India has differed with Trump’s claims that it resulted from his intervention and his threats to sever trade talks.
India’s position has been that New Delhi and Islamabad must resolve their problems directly and with no outside involvement.
India is an increasingly important US partner in Washington’s effort to counter China’s influence in Asia, while Pakistan is a US ally.
The April attack in India-administered Kashmir killed 26 men and sparked heavy fighting between the nuclear-armed Asian neighbors in the latest escalation of a decades-old rivalry.
New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation.
Washington condemned the attack but did not directly blame Islamabad.
On May 7, Indian jets bombed sites across the border that New Delhi described as “terrorist infrastructure,” setting off an exchange of attacks between the two countries by fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery that killed dozens until the ceasefire was reached. 

 


Brazil police raid home of Bolsonaro, accused of plotting coup

Updated 19 July 2025
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Brazil police raid home of Bolsonaro, accused of plotting coup

  • The case against Bolsonaro carries echoes of Trump’s failed prosecution over the January 6, 2021 attacks by his supporters on the US Capitol to try and reverse his election loss to Joe Biden

BRASILIA: Brazilian police raided Jair Bolsonaro’s home Friday, as a judge imposed further restrictions on the far-right former leader while he stands trial on coup charges that have vexed US president and ally Donald Trump.
His son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman who recently moved to the United States to lobby for his father, wrote on X that federal police carried out a “raid on my father’s home this morning.”
He lashed out at Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, a Bolsonaro adversary who on Friday ordered the ex-president to wear an electronic ankle bracelet, not leave his home at night, or use social media.
Moraes, one of the judges in Bolsonaro’s trial for allegedly seeking to nullify leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s 2022 election victory, said the measures were necessary given the “hostile acts” against Brazil by the accused and his son.
This came after Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on the South American powerhouse for what he said was a “witch hunt” against his ally Bolsonaro.
Moraes, said Eduardo Bolsonaro, “has long abandoned any semblance of impartiality and now operates as a political gangster in robes, using the Supreme Court as his personal weapon.”
The judge was “trying to criminalize President Trump and the US government. Powerless against them, he chose to take my father hostage,” he added in a letter he signed as a “Brazilian congressman in exile.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday Washington was revoking a US visa for Moraes for his “political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro.”

Accusing him of creating a “persecution and censorship complex,” Rubio also announced visa restrictions on other judges who side with Moraes, as well as their immediate family members.
Bolsonaro, 70, described the Moraes order Friday as a “supreme humiliation” and said the prohibitions were “suffocating.”
It also prohibited him from approaching foreign embassies, and confined him to his home on weekdays between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 am, and all day on weekends or public holidays.
“I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy,” Bolsonaro insisted on emerging from the justice secretariat offices in Brasilia. He had been taken there after the raid, during which police seized cash.
His defense team in a statement expressed “surprise and indignation” at the new measures.
The former army captain denies he was involved in an attempt to wrest power back from Lula as part of an alleged coup plot that prosecutors say failed only for a lack of military backing.
After the plot fizzled, rioting supporters known as “Bolsonaristas” raided government buildings in early 2023 as they urged the military to oust Lula. Bolsonaro was abroad at the time.
The case against Bolsonaro carries echoes of Trump’s failed prosecution over the January 6, 2021 attacks by his supporters on the US Capitol to try and reverse his election loss to Joe Biden.
Both men have claimed to be victims of political persecution, and Trump has stepped in in defense of his ally, to the anger of Lula who has labeled the tariff threat “unacceptable blackmail.”
Washington also announced an investigation into “unfair trading practices” by Brazil, a move that could provide a legal basis for imposing tariffs on South America’s largest economy.
On Tuesday, prosecutors asked the trial judges of the Supreme Court to find Bolsonaro guilty of “armed criminal association” and planning to “violently overthrow the democratic order.”
The defense must still present its closing arguments, after which a five-member panel of judges including Moraes will decide the ex-president’s fate.
Bolsonaro and seven co-accused risk up to 40 years in prison.
He has repeatedly stated his desire to be a candidate in presidential elections next year, but has been ruled ineligible to hold office by a court that found him guilty of spreading misinformation about Brazil’s electoral system.
Lula, for his part, said Friday he intends to seek another term.
“You can be sure that I will be a candidate again... I will not hand this country over to that bunch of lunatics who almost destroyed it,” the 79-year-old said at a public event in the state of Ceara.
Moraes has repeatedly clashed with Bolsonaro and other rightwing figures he has accused of spreading fake news.
Last year, the judge suspended tech titan Elon Musk’s X network in Brazil for 40 days for failing to tackle the spread of disinformation shared mainly by Bolsonaro backers
 

 


Trump signs stablecoin law as crypto industry aims for mainstream adoption

Updated 19 July 2025
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Trump signs stablecoin law as crypto industry aims for mainstream adoption

  • Law requires tokens to be backed by liquid assets
  • Measure is first major crypto law enacted in US
  • Critics say loopholes in law risk making US haven for criminals

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a law to create a regulatory regime for dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins, a milestone that could pave the way for the digital assets to become an everyday way to make payments and move money.
The bill, dubbed the GENIUS Act, passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 308 to 122, with support from nearly half the Democratic members and most Republicans. It had earlier been approved by the Senate.
The law is a huge win for crypto supporters, who have long lobbied for such a regulatory framework in a bid to gain greater legitimacy for an industry that began in 2009 as a digital Wild West famed for its innovation and speculative chaos.
“This signing is a massive validation of your hard work and pioneering spirit,” said Trump at a signing event that included dozens of government officials, crypto executives and lawmakers. “It’s good for the dollar and it’s good for the country.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a statement, said the new technology would buttress the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency, expand access to the dollar economy and boost demand for US Treasuries, which back stablecoins.
Stablecoins are designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1:1 US dollar peg, and their use has exploded, notably by crypto traders moving funds between tokens. The industry hopes they will enter mainstream use for sending and receiving payments instantly.
The new law requires stablecoins to be backed by liquid assets — such as US dollars and short-term Treasury bills — and for issuers to disclose publicly the composition of their reserves monthly.

 

Crypto companies and executives argue such legislation will enhance stablecoins’ credibility and make banks, retailers and consumers more willing to use them to transfer funds instantly.
The stablecoin market, which crypto data provider CoinGecko said is valued at more than $260 billion, could grow to $2 trillion by 2028 under the new law, Standard Chartered bank estimated earlier this year.
The law’s passage culminates a long lobbying effort by the industry, which donated more than $245 million in last year’s elections to aid pro-crypto candidates including Trump, according to Federal Election Commission data.
The Republican president, who has launched his own coin, thanked executives for their support during the 2024 presidential campaign, saying, “I pledged that we would bring back American liberty and leadership and make the United States the crypto capital of the world, and that’s what we’ve done.”
Democrats and critics have said the law should have blocked big tech companies from issuing their own stablecoins, which could increase the clout of an already powerful sector, contained stronger anti-money laundering protections and prohibited foreign stablecoin issuers.
“By failing to close known loopholes and protect America’s digital dollar infrastructure, Congress has risked making the US financial system a global haven for criminals and adversarial regimes to exploit,” said Scott Greytak, deputy executive director of Transparency International US

Could boost demand for T-bills
Big US banks are internally debating an expansion into cryptocurrencies as regulators give stronger backing to digital assets, but banks’ initial steps will focus on pilot programs, partnerships or limited crypto trading, Reuters reported in May.
Several crypto firms including Circle and Ripple are seeking banking licenses, which would cut costs by bypassing intermediary banks.
Backers of the bill have said it could potentially give rise to a new source of demand for short-term US government debt, because stablecoin issuers will have to purchase more of the debt to back their assets.
Trump has sought to broadly overhaul US cryptocurrency policies, signing an executive order in March establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve.
The president launched a meme coin called $TRUMP in January and partly owns crypto company World Liberty Financial.