ISLAMISTS have seized control of a town in a fresh attack on Mali’s government-held south and vowed to strike ‘‘at the heart’’ of France as it waged a fourth day of air strikes against them.
French warplanes hit Islamist positions in Douentza, 800 kilometres north of the capital, residents reported on Monday, after bombing munitions and fuel stockpiles as well as bases in the key cities of Gao and Kidal over the weekend.
Residents of Douentza said Monday’s air strikes had destroyed the headquarters of the Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), who had fled their positions by the time the French struck.
‘‘ It was destroyed but the Islamists were not there,’’ said one resident.
After clashes with Malian soldiers, the Islamist rebels on Monday seized the town of Diabaly, some 400 kilometres north of the capital Bamako.
Tag Archives: France
Mali: Islamists seize town, France fights back
France: Idiot mothers, Part 2
The mother and uncle of a three-year-old boy named Jihad have appeared in a French court for sending him to school in a top bearing the words “I am a bomb”.
The long-sleeved T-shirt had the words “Jihad, born on September 11″ emblazoned on the back when he turned up at his nursery school in the southern town of Sorgues near Avignon on September 25.
UK: What’s newsworthy about this?
Two things:
1. Louise Gray wrote it.
2. It contains real information.
…the World Development Movement said the [AGW] money is going to large companies rather than helping poor people likely to suffer from climate change.
Oh, and the last sentence:
A source close to the UK negotiating team said the money announced in Doha was designed to encourage the rest of the world to come forward with climate change aid, especially in Europe.
“Basically we are saying to the French: we have upped our contribution, now up yours.”
Could our Louise actually have a sense of humour?
France: Fools and their money…
A Frenchman went on trial yesterday for allegedly keeping an aristocratic family under his “mental spell” in their chateau and in Oxford for a decade and defrauding them of their $5.6 million fortune.
Thierry Tilly, whom prosecutors have called the “Leonardo da Vinci of mental manipulation”, is accused of convincing 11 members of the De Vedrines family that they were in mortal danger from a cabal of freemasons, a European secret society and paedophiles…
The court in Bordeaux heard that Mr Tilly used his “superior intelligence” to ingratiate himself with three generations of the family…
The family claims he brainwashed them into believing they were the lost descendants of an ancient society called “The Balance of the World”, and locked themselves into the family chateau in Monflanquin near Bordeaux. For five years, they barely left the castle, terrified they would be killed.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….
In France, having ‘superior intelligence’ apparently means ‘having read The Da Vinci Code‘. Or possibly just being able to.
Afghanistan: Islamic suicide bomber kills four French troops
A suicide bomber dressed in a burqa blew himself up near a French patrol in Afghanistan on Saturday, killing four soldiers and wounding five as the Taliban step up a spring offensive.
France: Islamic militant takes hostages in bank
A self-proclaimed al-Qaeda militant took hostages at a bank in Toulouse last night close to where ”scooter shooter” Mohamed Merah lived and was shot dead by police in March.
The man fired a shot and took four people hostage, including the bank’s manager, in the southern French city and wanted to negotiate with the RAID police unit that shot dead al-Qaeda-inspired killer Merah, police said. He released one hostage late last night.
Saudi Arabia: It’s called ‘capitalism’, princess — deal with it!
A Saudi princess was caught trying to leave the Shangri-La hotel in Paris without settling a six million euro ($7.7 million) bill for her rooms, police said on Saturday, confirming a report in the daily Le Parisien.
Maha al-Sudani, the former wife of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Nayef ben Abdel Aziz, tried to walk out at 3.30am on Thursday without paying for her suite and those of her 60-strong entourage, prompting staff to call in police, Le Parisien reported….
The princess has already had previous run-ins over unpaid bills. In 2009, fashion chain Key Largo went to court to obtain 89,000 euro owed by the princess…
Jamila Boushaba, who ran the O Caprices De Lili store, said she was told by a visiting envoy from the Saudi royal family in 2009 when she tried to claim a 70,000 euro bill from the princess, “I’m afraid we can’t go around settling bills for the princess’s knickers.”
Boushaba added: “When I called last one of her staff asked why I went to the media. I said it was to get my money. He replied: ‘What, you’ve caused all this trouble and you still want your money?”‘
“It was all a misunderstanding.” the princess later explained. “I said I was going to pay for the items, and they thought I was telling the truth. But I don’t understand — if they want money why don’t they just sink an oil well?”
Update: The Princess has had her assets seized.
France: Psychotherapy for autism
In many countries, the standard way of treating autistic children is with behavioural therapy – stimulating and rewarding them to develop the skills they need to function in society – but France still puts its faith in psychoanalysis. And an increasing number of parents are now demanding change.
For autism campaigners, it is one of the most serious health scandals of our times.
Woo is woo, no matter where you find it.
France: Armed siege to catch psychopathic ‘Islamic warrior’
Officials said suspect Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman of Algerian descent who has visited Afghanistan and Pakistan, bragged of being an al-Qaeda member and said he had killed to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children.
If you want to know what God is really like, just look at the type of people he hangs around with.
France: Satirical magazine firebombed by Muslims with no sense of humour
The office of a French satirical magazine here was badly damaged by a firebomb early on Wednesday, the publisher said, after it published a spoof issue “guest edited” by the Prophet Muhammad to salute the victory of an Islamist party in Tunisian elections. The publication also said hackers had disrupted its Web site.
The magazine, Charlie Hebdo, had announced a special issue for publication Wednesday, renamed “Charia Hebdo,” a play on the word in French for Shariah law.
The magazine’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, told Europe 1 radio that the police had called just before 5 a.m. to report a fire of criminal origin. News reports said a Molotov cocktail had been thrown through a window. The special edition was on its way to the newsstands, the editor said, and will appear as scheduled.
2011-11-10: Charlie Hebdo has made a lovely cover as a special response.
France: No mobile coverage, no apocalypse…
SMH.
Bugarach, with a population of just 200, has long been considered magical, partly due to what locals claim is an “upside-down mountain” where the top layers of rock are older than the lower ones. The internet is awash with myths about the place – that the mountain is surrounded by a magnetic force, that it is the site of a concealed alien base, or even that it contains an underground access to another world. And now many have seized on it as the ultimate refuge with Doomsday rapidly approaching.
…
Aside from the risks in Bugarach, the Miviludes report also warned of the danger of increased activity by apocalyptic groups across France in the run-up to 2012, particularly in the wake of recent disasters that could be interpreted as omens.Climate and environmental fears, anxiety over pandemics after the 2009 swine flu outbreak, and the earthquake disaster in Japan are all reinforcing the idea of the Mayan calendar, Fenech said.
…
A law was passed in France in 2001 making it an offence to abuse vulnerable people using heavy pressure techniques, meaning sects can be outlawed if there is evidence of fraud or abuse.
Gullibility, unfortunately, is still legal.
France: Artist takes the piss out of Christ: vandals take the Christ out of piss
When New York artist Andres Serrano plunged a plastic crucifix into a glass of his own urine and photographed it in 1987 under the title Piss Christ, he said he was making a statement on the misuse of religion.
Controversy has followed the work ever since, but reached an unprecedented peak on Palm Sunday when it was attacked with hammers and destroyed after an “anti-blasphemy” campaign by French Catholic fundamentalists in the southern city of Avignon.
A spokesperson for a group of art lovers said: “What a pity! They beat us to it!”
France: One village, 10,000 idiots
SMH.
The mayor of a French village has threatened to call in the army to seal it off from an influx of New Age fanatics and UFO watchers, who believe it will be spared from armageddon in 2012.
Bugarach, population 189… has been inundated by groups who believe the peak is an ”alien garage”.
The say extraterrestrials are quietly waiting in a huge cavity beneath the rock for the world to end, at which point they will leave, taking, it is hoped, a lucky few humans with them….
Valerie Austin, who hails from Newcastle upon Tyne, England, but settled in Bugarach 22 years ago, said the alien-watchers were spoiling the village atmosphere. Although she described the alien claims as ”total rubbish”, she said there was nevertheless ”something special” about the area.
”It has a magnetic force in the scientific sense of the word…”
In other words, “I’m crazy. Just not batshit crazy.”
France: 11 hurt ‘fleeing from devil’ — including a baby
Eleven people have been injured jumping out of a second-floor flat window after apparently thinking they had seen the devil. …Officers said some of the injured were children including a four-month-old baby, who is in a serious condition in a children’s hospital in the French capital.
How many more babies have to die for the sake of adults’ cherished delusions?
Update: the baby has died.
France: Lourdes pilgrims led astray by poor spelling skills
SMH.
An increasing number of Catholic pilgrims [to Lourdes] are learning this lesson as they show up in the unremarkable French village of Lourde and wait in vain for a miracle…
…when they arrive in their cars, having misspelt the name of their destination on their navigational system, the new arrivals are understandably confused.
No, they were confused to start with. Now they’re confused and lost.
France: Catholic bishops ‘ashamed’ of pedophile priests
But why is this news?
France: Church of Scientology convicted of fraud
Fined 600,000 Euros but not, alas, banned.
France: Gay soccer team snubbed by Muslim opponents
French gay soccer team snubbed by Muslim team | News Blog from 365gay.com.
“Because of the principles of our team, which is a team of devout Muslims, we can’t play against you,” says an email sent by the Creteil Bebel club.
Who knew the Koran was that specific?
Next week’s playoffs: Sodom Athletic vs. Gomorrah Wanderers
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