Chad

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US to Withdraw Most Troops From Niger, Chad Before Talks

Pentagon calls the move temporary, but both nations will have to be convinced to renew agreements

(Newser) - The US will pull the majority of its troops from Chad and Niger as it works to restore agreements governing what role there might be there for the American military and its counterterrorism operations, the Pentagon said Thursday. Both African countries have been integral to the US military's efforts...

6 African Nations Now Form a Continent-Wide 'Coup Belt'

From Sudan in the east to Guinea in the west

(Newser) - Take a map of Africa, shade in the nations that have had military coups over the last few years, and you'll see the pattern: It's what Declan Walsh in the New York Times calls a "coup belt" stretching across the entire continent. It goes from Guinea on...

In Chad, President's Death Leaves Lots of Questions
In Chad, President's Death
Leaves Lots of Questions
the rundown

In Chad, President's Death Leaves Lots of Questions

Military says Idriss Deby was killed on the front line

(Newser) - Chadian President Idriss Deby was scheduled to give a victory speech on Monday to celebrate his latest election win, one that would extend a reign already 31 years long. Instead, the military announced on TV that the 68-year-old was killed while leading a battle against rebels. The surprise news has...

Longtime African Ruler Killed by Insurgents Day After Re-Election

President Idriss Deby of Chad is dead after ruling for 3 decades

(Newser) - Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled the central African nation for more than three decades, was killed Tuesday on the battlefield in a fight against rebels, the military announced on national television and radio. The military said that a transitional council will be led by Deby’s son, Mahamat...

Chad's Inclusion in Travel Ban Blamed on Office Supplies

Passport paper, specifically

(Newser) - When President Trump added Chad last month to his most recent installment of travel restrictions, everyone from the Pentagon to Chad's leaders to the French government was perplexed. The US has praised Chad's cooperation on counterterrorism, especially its campaign against a vicious Boko Haram insurgency spilling over from...

From 3.5M Cases to Just 25: a Disease Nearly Vanquished

Jimmy Carter's efforts to fight Guinea worm disease have left just 3 countries affected

(Newser) - Jimmy Carter, who's been working for decades to eradicate Guinea worm disease, says only 25 human cases of the illness were reported worldwide in 2016. When the Carter Center joined the battle to eliminate Guinea worm disease in the mid-1980s, there were about 3.5 million cases in 21...

Chad's Ex-Dictator Convicted of Crimes Against Humanity

Hissene Habre's lawyer says he will appeal

(Newser) - Chad's former dictator Hissene Habre was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, and sex crimes during his time in power, Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam said Monday, ending the trial that began in July 2015. Whoops of joy and tears greeted the...

Triple Suicide Bombings Kill at Least 27 in Chad

Boko Haram is believed to be behind the attack on Lake Chad

(Newser) - A Chad security official says a triple suicide bombing at a market on an island in Lake Chad has killed at least 27 people and injured 90 others in the African country. Paul Manka, Chad police spokesperson, said three females carried out Saturday's attack on Koulfoua Island. Gen. Banyaman...

Refugees Targeted in Deadly Suicide Bombings

Boko Haram is believed behind attacks that killed at least 36

(Newser) - At least five suicide bombers on Saturday targeted a village in Chad that is home to thousands of Nigerians who have fled Islamic extremist violence, killing at least 36 people and wounding about 50 others in what appeared to be coordinated attacks, officials say. Authorities blamed Boko Haram from neighboring...

Chad Bans, Torches Face Veils
 Chad Bans, Torches Face Veils 

Chad Bans, Torches Face Veils

Move follows Boko Haram-linked suicide attacks

(Newser) - Chad has become the latest country to ban Islamic veils, and it has done so more aggressively than countries like France : The government says the ban applies everywhere, not just in public, and security forces will burn full-face veils wherever they're sold, the BBC reports. The move follows two...

Saudi Men Need Permission to Marry Foreigners

Government cracks down, even for foreign women already in the country

(Newser) - Saudi men now need government consent to take foreign brides—and if their true love happens to be an expatriate from Myanmar, Chad, Pakistan, or Bangladesh, they're out of luck completely, reports Makkah Daily via the Al Arabiya Network . Police have informed Saudi men that they're banned from...

US Sends 80 Troops to Find Kidnapped Girls

Pentagon says they're going to Chad

(Newser) - The US is putting some muscle behind its promise to help find the kidnapped girls of Nigeria. The White House told Congress today that it has sent 80 troops to neighboring Chad to help track down the girls and their Boko Haram captors, reports the Washington Post . The statement didn'...

UN Elects 5 New Security Council Members

But human rights groups aren't happy with some choices

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia and Chad easily won coveted seats on the UN Security Council today, despite criticism from human rights groups that their rights records are abysmal. Nigeria, Lithuania, and Chile also won seats. The five candidates endorsed by regional groups faced no opposition because there were no contested races for...

39K Girls Forced to Marry Each Day
 39K Girls 
 Forced to Marry 
 Each Day 
new study

39K Girls Forced to Marry Each Day

UN survey of 42 countries shows more than a third of girls married

(Newser) - How young is too young to get married? In many countries, the answer to that question would disturb you. A new UN Population Fund survey of 42 countries found that more than a third of all girls under the age of 18 in them are married, many presumably against their...

Chad: We Killed Terrorist Who Led Gas Plant Attack

But France says it can't confirm the slaying of Moktar Belmoktar

(Newser) - The head of Chad's military has announced on state television that Chadian troops deployed in northern Mali killed Moktar Belmoktar , the international terrorist responsible for the attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria that resulted in the death of dozens of foreigners. The French military, which is leading...

Obama Sends Troops to Chad to Evacuate Americans

Security deteriorating in neighboring Central African Republic

(Newser) - President Obama says 50 US troops have deployed to the African country of Chad to help evacuate US citizens and embassy personnel from the neighboring Central African Republic's capital of Bangui in the face of rebel advances toward the city. Obama informed congressional leaders of Thursday's deployment in...

Youngest Gitmo Detainee, Captured at 14, Goes Free

(Newser) - The youngest detainee at Guantanamo Bay has been freed to his native Chad, Reuters reports. Mohammed El Gharani was seized in Pakistan in 2001 at 14, and accused variously of being an al-Qaeda operative, messenger, and combatant. Five months ago a judge found the evidence against him insufficient. “That...

Chadian 'Vampire' Dish Gets Blood Boiling ... or Frying

(Newser) - There’s a vampire resurgence in Chad, and no, it’s not because Twilight has swept the African country. Cost-conscious residents have resurrected a dish slyly known as “vampire”: cooked animal blood, the BBC reports. With global food prices soaring and meat increasingly expensive, traditional vampire is “actually...

UN Fights to Release Child Soldiers in Chad

Boys as young as 13 held captive by African nation's army

(Newser) - The UN has obtained access to 80 child soldiers, some as young as 13, who have been taken prisoner in Chad near the Sudanese region of Darfur. UNICEF says that the children were captured and paraded before television cameras after a battle in early May between the Chadian army and...

Scandal! Heartbreak! Clooney Visits Darfur

(Newser) - George Clooney figures prominently in New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof's latest report from Africa, which Kristof describes as "yet another hand-wringing column about Darfur." He offers to swap dirt on the Hollywood heartthrob for readers' interest—then offers a chilling tale of a "petty...

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