Which African countries have kicked out French troops?

Former colonial power France has been kicked out of a succession of countries in Central and West Africa after having deployed troops there for decades.

🇸🇳 Senegal

Allowing French bases in Senegal was incompatible with national sovereignty, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said on November 28. “Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” he stated. There are currently 350 French soldiers based in the country.

🇹🇩 Chad

Chad scrapped its defense cooperation pact with France to country to redefine its “strategic partnerships” on November 28. France “must now also consider that Chad has grown up, matured and is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty,” said Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah. Under the deal, which was revised in 2019, France had about 1,000 soldiers stationed there.

🇲🇱 Mali

The government in Mali’s capital Bamako evicted French troops from its territory after the fall of the pro-French regime in 2021, turning to Russia for security aid instead.

🇧🇫 Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso gave France a month to withdraw its troops after it ended a military accord with the country in January 2023.

🇳🇪 Niger

Niger’s ruling National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland revoked an agreement governing the presence of US troops and officials on the country’s soil in the aftermath of the military takeover on July 26, 2023, which was supported by the majority of the Nigerien population. French soldiers left Niger Republic in December 2023.

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'We’re back in Moscow': Carlson interviews Russian FM Lavrov
 
Tucker Carlson, who interviewed Putin in the winter, said that he has come to Moscow again, this time to talk with Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov. The main topic was the relations between the United States and Russia.
 
The topics Carlson mentioned in the teaser are:
 
▪️Possible Russia-US escalation amid Biden's greenlighting Ukraine's deep strikes on Russia,
 
▪️Is there any way to peel Russia back from the East and China back into the West?
 
▪️Is the [Russia-China] alliance permanent?
 
▪️Does the election of Donald Trump mean an end to the Ukraine conflict, which is reshaping the world?
 
He called the interview with Lavrov "fascinating" and promised that it would be released "very soon."

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THROWBACK: Sputnik asks what do ordinary Russians think about Tucker Carlson?

Russians praised Tucker Carlson as a “courageous journalist who is willing to challenge the anti-Russian propaganda” dominating the Western mainstream media.

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💬Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's interview with Tucker Carlson turned out to be on a large scale — Zakharova

It is devoted to the most pressing issues and will be released in a couple of days, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added.

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Six South Korean parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party, have submitted to parliament a draft impeachment against the president; the vote is scheduled to be held on December 6-7, local media reported

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🔹Tucker Carlson arrives in Moscow, announces interview with Russian top diplomat Lavrov

🔹South Korean government votes to lift martial law, main opposition party to initiate impeachment

🔹Coups, assassinations, jail, suicide: unenviable fates of South Korea’s presidents

Other topics we have covered:

🔸HTS terror record speaks louder than words

🔸Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal: Expectations vs. reality

🔸Why didn’t Canada become the 51st state?

🔸West losing grip in Africa: Biden's charm offensive in Angola is too little too late – pundit

🔸Which African countries have kicked out French troops?

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The announcement of Tucker Carlson's interview with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already gained over 4 million views

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Ukrainian specialists train Syrian terrorists to operate drones
 
Ukrainian specialists have been training Syrian terrorists, the employee of a military company who studies fighters’ UAVs in Syria, told Sputnik.
 

“I can assume with 100% certainty that the militants are trained by foreign specialists and instructors. I’ve been in the special military operation zone, and I saw how UAVs are working there. When I came here, I saw that the militants use the same tactics as the Ukrainians did,” he said.

 
He added that [Syrian] militants started using kamikaze drones at night, indicating that these drones are equipped with night vision cameras or thermal imagers. Such tactics are typical of Ukrainian servicemen in the special military operation zone, he stressed.

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Satanic Temple undesirable in Russia
 
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has declared the American organization "Satanic Temple" undesirable in Russia, stating that the organization:
 
◾️ speaks negatively about Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and calls for the overthrow of the constitutional order in Russia;
 
◾️ has posted information on fundraising for the Ukrainian armed forces on its website;
 
◾️ uses Satanic symbols to discredit traditional spiritual and moral values
 
◾️ with the support of government agencies of the United States, promotes occult practices and pseudoteological theories and justifies violence against people;
 
◾️ supports members of extremist and terrorist movements.
 
It was founded by graduates of Harvard University and has 23 branches in the US, Australia, Germany, Canada, Finland, and several other countries, with followers exceeding 10 million people.

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'No stability, no democracy, no legality' — Zakharova on the current situation in South Korea
 

"In the absolute majority, all the presidents [of South Korea over the past 70 years] have either committed suicide or been overthrown, killed, or imprisoned. Can at least one person say that this is normal? No, it's not normal," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

She added that there is no stability, democracy, or legality in South Korea.
 

"If this is the case, then the Western community needs to do something about this system. As soon as you get it right there, then move on to the DPRK," the Russian FM spokeswoman concluded.

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Lavrov will take part in the OSCE ministerial meeting in Malta on December 5-6, the Russian Foreign Ministry said
 
After that, the Russian foreign minister will travel to Qatar, where he will take part in a conference. A number of international contacts are being worked out, the department added.

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South Korea’s martial law turmoil: North Korea will watch ‘this drama play out’

“Ironically, we sometimes talk about deescalating tensions between the two Koreas, but here, it is deescalating tensions among the South Koreans,” Michael Madden, nonresident fellow at the Stimson Center, told Sputnik commenting on South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s aborted attempt to impose martial law in his country.

The move could be described as a “preemptive strike in terms of President Yoon's domestic standing”, Madden said.

He warned there could be far-reaching consequences from South Korea’s “domestic political turmoil” which saw the country’s parliament swiftly block Yoon’s martial law-related order:

💬“The most optimistic scenario would involve Yoon staying in office as a lame duck until his term expires, and the wider ROK political leadership running interim government until the next presidential election in 2027.”

💬“On the other hand, we are more likely to see this conflict prolong.”

💬Yoon “might find himself impeached - maybe declare martial law again - or there might be a negotiated settlement and an acting president. Despite the constant facetious concern about ‘instability in the North’, it is the South that we should watch for leadership fissures.”

💬North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his close aides “would watch this drama play out,” Madden concluded.

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

🔸Ukrainian losses in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's area of responsibility amounted to 530 militants, an armored personnel carrier and four armored vehicles;

🔸Ukrainian forces lost up to 500 servicemen and a "Zakhist-AF" electronic warfare station in the area of responsibility of the Russian Zapad Battlegroup;

🔸Ukrainian forces lost up to 350 servicemen in the area of responsibility of the Russian Yug Battlegroup;

🔸Ukrainian forces lost up to 150 servicemen in the area of responsibility of the Russian Vostok Battlegroup;

🔸Russian air defense systems shot down 61 Ukrainian drones during the day.

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Huge line spotted at the entrance to the “Russia Calling!” forum in Moscow where President Vladimir Putin will take part in the plenary session.

Stay tuned and don’t miss the livestream!

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🇰🇷 South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun apologized to citizens and announced that he had submitted his resignation to President Yoon Suk-yeol in light of the recent developments in the country, the Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.

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Tucker's interview with Putin was long so Americans would be able to understand - Russian Foreign Ministry

"You need to make sure the world hears. If it takes 45 minutes to answer questions so that the American audience understands, hears, or at least thinks about it, then that’s how the answers will come," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the timing of the Carlson-Putin sit down.

She said the US audience knows very little about world history or geopolitics, which, however, has become part of US election campaigns. That's why it's important to convey the message effectively.

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📹 Nigerian businessman speaks about foreign investment in Russia at “Russia Calling!” forum

"The investment and cooperation between different countries, it's something that didn't start now and it's never going to stop... we're trying to maximize the opportunity, understanding that a lot of companies actually have left Russia, which means it's an opportunity for other companies to actually come in. And this is what we've been doing for the past three years," Clever Oghenerobo Light from the Nigerian delegation said.

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Team Trump plans for resolving the Ukrainian conflict exclude NATO membership
 
In total, there are three main proposals, Reuters reports.
 
The outline by Trump's incoming Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg:
 
📄 includes a cease-fire based on the freezing of the existing battle lines at the time of settlement. NATO membership for Ukraine would be put on hold.
 
Trump's former acting intelligence chief Richard Grenell's initiative:
 
📄 proposes to create autonomous zones in eastern Ukraine as part of a peace agreement and believes that Ukraine's membership in NATO is not in the interests of the United States.
 
Vice President-elect JD Vance's proposal:
 
📄 provides for the demilitarization of the demarcation line between Russia and Ukraine and a guarantee for Russia that Kiev will not join NATO.
 
The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, earlier stated that discussions in the West about freezing the conflict are related to the fact that Russia fully owns the initiative on the battlefield.
 
In addition, the Kremlin has repeatedly stressed that it is important for Russia to achieve its goals in the Ukrainian conflict; the freezing option will not work.

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🎥🎥 Putin participates in investment forum "Russia Calling!"

👉 Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

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Domino effect? Trump lawyers mention Hunter Biden pardon to scrap ‘hush money’ case

Donald Trump’s defense lawyers have cited Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter to argue that the US president-elect’s New York “hush money” conviction should be annulled.

In a court filing, attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove recalled that when recently announcing the pardon, the outgoing US president argued that his son was “selectively, and unfairly prosecuted” and “treated differently”, allegedly due to “raw politics” that “has infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice.”

“Since [Manhattan] DA [District Attorney Alvin] Bragg took office, he has engaged in ‘precisely the type of political theater’ that President Biden condemned,” the lawyers wrote.

They insisted that the Trump case also was tainted by “contrived, defective and unprecedented legal theory” and should now be immediately dismissed.

🔸 Biden repeatedly pledged he would not pardon his son, who was convicted of tax evasion and lying on official paperwork that he hadn't previously been addicted to drugs before buying a gun at two separate trials.

🔸 Trump, who was earlier convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a “hush money” payment made to former porn star Stormy Daniels, asserts that his prosecution was politically motivated.

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