Djibouti

China is aggressively seeking to establish an Atlantic naval base in Africa that can service submarines and aircraft carriers, Gen. Stephen Townsend, chief of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), warned Thursday.

Australian navy helicopter pilots flying off the flagship HMAS Canberra were hit by lasers while transiting the South China Sea, forcing them to land as a precaution.

The Yemen resolution is an effective surrender to Iran that would allow an enemy proxy to contest a strategic strait across from U.S. forces.

Peter Chérif, who is suspected of being behind the Islamist shootings at the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015, has been apprehended in Djibouti and is expected to be extradited to France within days.

According to China’s state-run Global Times, Chinese investments in the African nation of Djibouti have increased dramatically thanks to the reassuring presence of China’s new naval base.

China deploys cruise and surface-to-air missiles in South China Sea; China’s military attacks US pilots in Djibouti with high-grade blinding lasers

The Pentagon said Thursday the U.S. government has “formally demarched the Chinese government” after two American pilots were injured by Chinese military personnel directing lasers at U.S. aircraft near their adjacent bases in Djibouti.

The State Department’s concerted effort to highlight predatory lending and military expansion by Beijing’s Communist Party has triggered stern condemnation from China’s foreign ministry and state media, both of which have urged the international community to ignore Washington’s “carping” on the issue.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned African states to be wary of incurring too much debt from creditor China, which seeks to “encourage dependency” to undermine their sovereignty, in a speech Monday before heading on his first trip as America’s top diplomat to the country.

China’s state-run People’s Daily published a defense of expansive maritime military plans on Tuesday grounded in the need to protect the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) program, which uses infrastructure to grant Beijing a foothold in nearly every region of the world.

China appears to be attempting to capitalize on tensions between the United States and Pakistan, reportedly planning to build an overseas military base in the country and expand infrastructure projects as part of the larger One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.

China’s first overseas military base in the small African country of Djibouti is “probably the first of many” the country intends to build around the world, which could bring its interests into conflict with the U.S., according to American intelligence officials.

Contents: China takes control of Sri Lanka’s strategically valuable Hambantota seaport; India reacts to China’s One-Belt One-Road and threat of war over Doklam; Threat of India-China border war at Doklam Plateau grows

Contents: China establishes its first foreign military base, in Djibouti; Russia, India, Japan prepare for war with China

China has deployed ships carrying troops for its first overseas military base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, already home to military bases from the United States, Japan, and France, the small country’s former colonial power.

The Chinese state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported Wednesday that the nation’s military will reduce its army to under one million troops in an effort to do away with “the old military structure.”

Contents: Djibouti, Eritrea border clash looms after Qatar withdraws peacekeepers; Tiny Djibouti tries to survive, surrounded by big neighbors

Contents: Qatar-Arab crisis is unlikely to be resolved soon; Differences between Qatar and Saudi Arabia run deep and will worsen

Contents: Kenya launches new China-built railway from Mombasa port to Nairobi; China accused of a policy of ‘debt trap diplomacy’ in infrastructure projects

The Chinese government is touting the support of “dozens” of countries for its illegal colonization of the South China Sea, with particular praise for Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe’s statement opposing the arbitration of China’s territorial dispute in international court.

The Chinese have struck a deal with the nation of Djibouti to build a military base in close proximity to a critical American military base on the Horn of Africa.

Another piece slides across the board between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle Eastern game of thrones, as Djibouti, recently estranged from Iran, prepares to sign a deal that will give Saudi Arabia a military base in the East African country.

Contents: Numerous countries end diplomatic relations with Iran after Saudi embassy firebombing Iran seeks to pass the blame for the Saudi embassy firebombing Desperate Chinese officials remove stock market circuit breakers

Iranians took to social media to mock Djibouti after the small country located in the Horn of Africa cut ties with Tehran.

On Wednesday, the Sunni nations of Qatar and Djibouti announced they would be severing diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, becoming the 9th and 10th nations to officially cut relations, roll back ties, or condemn the Shiite theocracy in the past week.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has set up camps in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa, to care for the thousands of Yemenis fleeing the civil war. The agency needs more help, but now Iranian state media claim Djibouti turned away humanitarian aid.

Contents: Indonesia and Malaysia back down and accept stranded Rohingya migrants; Iran backs down and allows inspection of aid ship to Yemen;

The international diplomatic and military crisis sparked by Iran’s decision to send an “aid” vessel directly to Yemen–along with an escort of warships–rather than to the international coordinating point in Djibouti was the latest escalation in Iran’s attempt to assert its new dominance as a regional power. Notably, Iran’s tactics mirror those used by Palestinian activists, backed by Turkey, in the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, when an Islamist “aid” ship challenged the Israeli navy off Gaza.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded over the weekend that the EU “must admit Turkey” as a member state to prove that it rejects “Islamophobia.”