This morning's key headlines from
GenerationalDynamics.com
- UN Security Council to meet Monday as France expands Mali air strikes
- U.S. provided technical support for France's failed Somalia rescue attempt
- France on terror alert after challenging al-Qaeda on two fronts
- Israel reaffirms settlement plan after Palestinian protest action
UN Security Council to meet Monday as France expands Mali air strikes
French troops board a transport plane in Chad, bound for Mali (Reuters)
Alarmed by the recent rapid advance of the insurgents into southern
Mali, France expanded its air strikes deep into Islamist-controlled
territory in northern Mali, pounding the Islamist Ansar Dine
stronghold of Gao, forcing the insurgents to flee. France's foreign
minister Laurent Fabius said that the Islamist rebel advance to the
country's capital, Bamako, had been halted:
"Stopping the terrorists -- it's done, Today we
started taking care of the terrorists' rear bases."
France has deployed more than 400 troops to Mali for training, but not
for combat. Neighboring African countries (Burkina Faso, Niger,
Senegal, Togo and Benin) have pledged an additional 800 troops. The
U.S. and Europe will provide logistical support.
France has called a meeting of the United Nations Security Council for
12 noon on Monday "to discuss the situation in Mali." Expatica France and AP
U.S. provided technical support for France's failed Somalia rescue attempt
U.S. troops lent "limited technical support" in France's bloody and
unsuccessful bid in Somalia on Friday to rescue a French intelligence
agent who'd been held hostage for years by al-Shabaab. The rescue
attempt was a disaster, as the agent was not rescued, and two French
soldiers were killed in a bloody gun battle.
CNN
France on terror alert after challenging al-Qaeda on two fronts
When France's Socialist president François Hollande announced an early
withdrawal of France's troops from Afghanistan, it was thought that
Hollande would be an anti-war president. And with the worsening
French economy, Hollande's popularity was dropping sharply.
But now, all of a sudden, everyone is shocked to see Hollande launch
two separate military actions on opposite side's of Africa: One in
Mali targeting Ansar Dine, linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM), and another one in Somalia targeting al-Shabaab, linked to
Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). With uncertain
objectives for the Mali operation and a failure in the Somalia
operation, "Hollande's war" may backfire on him politically,
just as the Libya war backfired on his predecessor,
Nicolas Sarkozy.
Having attacked two wings of al-Qaeda in one day, Hollande put France
on high domestic terror alert on Saturday, fearing a retaliatory
terror attack on French soil. AQAP and AQIM issued a joint ultimatum
on Saturday threatening to being killing French hostages until the
military missions end immediately. Guardian (London) and Debka
Israel reaffirms settlement plan after Palestinian protest action
Palestinian activists in the West Bank adopted a new non-violent
tactic on Friday by pitching tents and creating a makeshift
Palestinian protest camp in the contested "E-1" area of the West Bank.
After Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas won United Nations General
Assembly approval to create a State of Palestine on November 29,
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu retaliated by announcing
plans to build 3,000 new settlement homes in the E-1 region. On
Saturday, Netanyahu ordered that the protesters be removed from the
E-1 camp, and he reaffirmed plans to build settlements in the region.
A number of Western nations have condemned Netanyahu's announcement
because 3,000 settlements in this region would permanently divide the
West Bank in such a way that a two-state solution would become almost
impossible.
VOA
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