
Militants in Mali Free 4 Hostages After Government Releases Prisoners
DAKAR — Four hostages held by armed insurgents in Mali were freed on Thursday, days after the country’s newly-formed Malian government released around 200 prisoners, including some suspected of being jihadists.
The four hostages released included Soumaïla Cissé, a prominent Malian politician, Sophie Pétronin, a French aid worker who had been held for almost four years, and two Italians: Pierluigi Maccalli, a priest abducted in neighboring Niger in 2018, and Nicola Chiacchio, who was kidnapped last year during a solo bicycle trip.
The government, which took power in September following a military coup, announced the releases Thursday evening. It said they had been secured thanks to the efforts of the country’s intelligence services, the armed forces, Mali’s partners and a special crisis unit led by a former prime minister, but it did not provide details of the conditions under which the hostages were released.
The government’s release of prisoners last
Kyrgyz protesters take government house, free ex-leader after after post-vote clashes
Protesters seized Kyrgyzstan’s seat of government and freed a jailed former president on Tuesday after demonstrations against an election marred by vote-buying accusations spiralled into violent clashes with police.
Opposition supporters hit the streets of the capital Bishkek the previous evening to demand the resignation of pro-Russian President Sooronbay Jeenbekov and a re-run of Sunday’s poll.
Police used water cannon, stun grenades and tear gas to disperse protesters attempting to force their way through the gates of the building that houses the former Soviet republic’s parliament and presidential offices.
Photos published by Radio Free Europe later showed protesters strolling around the building unhindered.
A crowd of around 2,000 people then forced their way into the nearby National Security Committee building, where former president Almazbek Atambayev was jailed.
Adil Turdukuov, an activist and ally of Atambayev who witnessed the release said the ex-leader was freed “without force or use of any


Pope says free market, ‘trickle-down’ policies fail society | Religion
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said on Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic was the latest crisis to prove that market forces alone and “trickle-down” economic policies had failed to produce the social benefits their proponents claim.
In an encyclical on the theme of human fraternity, Francis also said private property cannot be considered an absolute right in all cases where some lived extravagantly while others had nothing.
Called “Fratelli Tutti” (Brothers All), the encyclical’s title prompted criticism for not using inclusive language after it was announced last month.
In Italian, Fratelli means brothers but it is also used to mean brothers and sisters. The Vatican said it was taken from the “Admonitions,” or guidelines, written by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century to his followers and could not be changed.
The pope says in the first line of the 86-page encyclical that St. Francis had “addressed his brothers
Pope Says Free Market, ‘Trickle-Down’ Policies Fail Society | World News
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic was the latest crisis to prove that market forces alone and “trickle-down” economic policies had failed to produce the social benefits their proponents claim.
In an encyclical on the theme of human fraternity, Francis also said private property cannot be considered an absolute right in all cases where some lived extravagantly while others had nothing.
Called “Fratelli Tutti” (Brothers All), the encyclical’s title prompted criticism for not using inclusive language after it was announced last month.
In Italian, Fratelli means brothers but it is also used to mean brothers and sisters. The Vatican said it was taken from the “Admonitions”, or guidelines, written by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century to his followers and could not be changed.
The pope says in the first line of the 86-page encyclical that St. Francis had “addressed his

Pope says free market, trickle-down policies have failed society – Newspaper
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis said on Sunday that the Covid-19 pandemic was the latest crisis to prove that market forces alone and “trickle-down” economic policies had failed to produce the social benefits their proponents claim.
In an encyclical on the theme of human fraternity, Pope Francis also said private property cannot be considered an absolute right in all cases where some lived extravagantly while others had nothing.
Called “Fratelli Tutti” (Brothers All), the encyclical’s title prompted criticism for not using inclusive language after it was announced last month.
In Italian, Fratelli means brothers but it is also used to mean brothers and sisters. The Vatican said it was taken from the “Admonitions”, or guidelines, written by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century to his followers and could not be changed.
The pope says in the first line of the 86-page encyclical that St. Francis had “addressed his brothers
Pope Francis says free market, ‘trickle-down’ policies fail society
Pope Francis waves after delivering the Angelus prayer from his window on the day of the release of his new encyclical, titled ‘Fratelli Tutti’ (Brothers All), at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, October 4, 2020.
REMO CASILLI/Reuters
Pope Francis said on Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic was the latest crisis to prove that market forces alone and “trickle-down” economic policies had failed to produce the social benefits their proponents claim.
In an encyclical on the theme of human fraternity, Francis also said private property cannot be considered an absolute right in all cases where some lived extravagantly while others had nothing.
Called “Fratelli Tutti” (Brothers All), the encyclical’s title prompted criticism for not using inclusive language after it was announced last month.
In Italian, Fratelli means brothers but it is also used to mean brothers and sisters. The Vatican said it was taken from the
Pope says free market, ‘trickle-down’ policies fail society
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic was the latest crisis to prove that market forces alone and “trickle-down” economic policies had failed to produce the social benefits their proponents claim.
In an encyclical on the theme of human fraternity, Francis also said private property cannot be considered an absolute right in all cases where some lived extravagantly while others had nothing.
Called “Fratelli Tutti” (Brothers All), the encyclical’s title prompted criticism for not using inclusive language after it was announced last month.
In Italian, Fratelli means brothers but it is also used to mean brothers and sisters. The Vatican said it was taken from the “Admonitions”, or guidelines, written by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century to his followers and could not be changed.
The pope says in the first line of the 86-page encyclical that St. Francis had “addressed his

1,612 DOJ Alumni Warn Bill Barr Will Use Law Enforcement Powers to Undermine Free and Fair Elections
U.S. Attorney General William Barr could attempt to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, according to allegations made in an open letter from 1,612 former members of the Department of Justice.
Barr has claimed that this year’s election results could be tallied incorrectly because of the prevalence of mail-in ballots. In September, Barr said that the mail-in ballots could be highly susceptible to fraud. Barr has also said that foreign entities, such as the Russian government, could forge ballots and send them in which could cause election results to be unfairly unbalanced.
In the letter, the DOJ alumni cited a fear that Barr “intends to use the DOJ’s vast law enforcement powers to undermine our most fundamental democratic value: free and fair elections. He has signalled this intention in myriad ways, from making false statements about the security of mail-in voting from foreign hackers to falsely suggesting that

Reader letters, Thursday: Fearing for the future of a ‘free society’ – Opinion – Savannah Morning News
Fearing for the future of a ‘free society’
I, of course, like many others, am saddened at the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, long a hero of mine. And of course, knowing her end was near, I hoped she would live until another administration was elected.
I am stunned at how the incumbents are so ready to replace her, with no show of grief or any sense of respecting her last wishes to wait to fill her place until a new group is sworn in.
Listening and watching the politics of today, I feel that my America is leaving me. I can only say that very few people really care about freedom, about liberty, about the truth. Very few people have guts, the kind of guts on which a real democracy has to depend.
Without people with that