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8, January 2019

Trump attacks the US news media, calling them ‘crazed lunatics’ ⁰

US President Donald Trump has launched a new attack on mainstream American news organizations, calling the press “crazed lunatics,” and again used the term “enemy of the people” and “fake news” to degrade journalists.

“With all of the success that our Country is having, including the just released jobs numbers which are off the charts, the Fake News & totally dishonest Media concerning me and my presidency has never been worse,” Trump said in tweets on Monday.

“Many have become crazed lunatics who have given up on the TRUTH!,” he added. DIt was not clear what provoked Trump’s fresh onslaught against the news media.

In earlier tweets Monday, Trump claimed, without citing any specifics, that the “Fake News” knowingly lies and fabricates sources to make him look bad.

“The Fake News Media in our Country is the real Opposition Party,” Trump said. “It is truly the Enemy of the People! We must bring honesty back to journalism and reporting!”D

PressTV-Trump's attacks on media may lead to violence: UN

Trump has frequently criticized journalists and described news reports that contradict his opinion or policy positions as “fake news.”

The Republican president’s comments reflect a view held by many conservatives that most newspapers and other news organization in the US often distort, fabricate or exclude facts because of their liberal tendencies.

The UN human rights commissioner warned in August that Trump’s verbal attacks on the media are “very close to incitement to violence” against journalists.

In September, the publisher of the New York Times made a similar warning and urged Trump to stop attacking the news media.

Source: Presstv

7, January 2019

Cameroon army kills 2 Ambazonia commanders in Manyu County ⁰

Cameroon army said on Sunday it had killed two armed separatist commanders in Southwest, one of the war-torn English-speaking regions of the country.

“The ‘general Obi’, whose group terrorized the populations of the localities of Mamfe, Okoyong, Bachuo Ntai, Bachuo Akaegbe, and Nchemba was neutralized early morning of January 6, 2019,” the army said in a statement.

The operation conducted by Cameroon elite force, Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), also neutralized “general Eyong”, one of the separatist commanders, according to the army.

“Their camp was destroyed and some weapons recovered or destroyed,” the army said. Locals interviewed by Xinhua said “several” other separatist fighters and government forces were killed during the attack.

The army raids came about a week after Cameroon President Paul Biya warned during end-of-year address to the nation that the armed separatists would be “neutralized” if they did not drop their weapons and “follow the right track.”

Clashes between government forces and armed separatist groups has been going on since November 2017 after the separatists declared the independence of a nation called “Ambazonia” in the two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.

According to the United Nations, more than 430,000 Cameroonians have been displaced internally and at least 30,000 others have fled to neighboring Nigeria since the conflict started.

Xinhuanet

7, January 2019

More confusion in Gabon, but negotiations underway ⁰

There is still confusion in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, after some junior military officials announced very early on Monday that they had overthrown President Ali Bongo who is currently receiving treatment in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

A source close to the Gabonese military has just revealed that power supply has been cut off in strategic neighbourhoods in the nation’s capital to preempt the coup plotters from making great strides.

Though power supply and the Internet have been cut off, it is still possible to reach people in Gabon through the telephone. Many Gabonese are apprehensive as they are not getting much information about the situation following the government’s decision to shut down the Internet.

Currently, the country’s military that is loyal to President Bongo is in control of Libreville’s downtown core where the ministry of petroleum, the senate and other landmarks are located.

The source has also debunked the fact that the coup plotters have been arrested. The coup plotters are in total control of the radio and television building and dislodging them will take heavy artillery and long hours of fighting, our source said.

The source says that the country is being controlled by the coup plotters, adding that those who are announcing that everything is under control are speaking out of the country while the coup plotters are within the country.

Activists and other supporters of the coup have been trying to reach the French embassy, but the French government has deployed French Gendarmes around the country’s embassy in Libreville. Meanwhile, the French government is trying to talk to both parties with the objective of hammering out a negotiated settlement.

Our source has also said the negotiations are not going very fast as many people would have loved, as residents of the capital city have been holed up in their homes since the junior army officers declared that they had overthrown the government.

It should be recalled that the government’s spokesperson, Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, had earlier announced that the political situation in Gabon was “under control” .

He added that all five of the rebels who tried to take charge had been arrested by the authorities, stressing that the junior officers had only claimed that they had seized power “to restore democracy” in oil-rich Gabon, where the ailing leader’s family has ruled for 50 years.

It is also being reported that tanks and armored vehicles could be seen in the capital Libreville. “The situation is calm. The gendarmes who are often stationed there have taken control of the entire area around the radio and TV headquarters, so everything is back to normal”, said Guy-Bertrand Mapangou. a government spokesman.

There is still uncertainty in the country as very little information is coming out of government sources. Despite efforts to negotiate, the French government has clearly condemned the coup.

“We condemn any attempt to change government outside constitutional rules,” French foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said in a statement seen by Reuters news agency. “Gabon’s stability can only be ensured in strict compliance with the provisions of its constitution,” she said.

By Pierre Onana in Libreville

7, January 2019

Gabon says Libreville calm after military coup attempt ⁰

The government in Gabon says calm has returned to the capital Libreville hours after a group of military officers launched a coup attempt in the absence of ailing President Ali Bongo.

Government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou told AFP on Monday that most of the army rebels, who had earlier in the day seized the national radio station and called for a public uprising, had been arrested.

“Calm has returned, the situation is under control,” he said.

Gunshots were heard around the headquarters of the national TV station at 6:00 a.m. local time (0530 GMT) around the same time a person, who identified himself as Lieutenant Ondo Obiang Kelly, the deputy commander of the Republican Guard, read a message on the radio.

He announced a “national restoration council” would be formed, adding that the so-called Patriotic Youth Movement of the Gabonese Defense and Security Forces (MPJFDS), headed by himself, “calls on all young people from forces for the defense and security and Gabonese young people to join us.”

“The eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save Gabon from chaos,” he said. “If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbors… rise up as one and take control of the street.”

The apparent coup attempt comes as Bongo has not been back to Gabon since he was first hospitalized in Saudi Arabia on October 24. It was later revealed that he had suffered a stroke. He is now recovering at a private residence in Rabat, Morocco.

Gabon’s President Ali Bongo (Photo by AFP)

In his New Year address, Bongo said in spite of health issues, he was regaining his fitness. Media reports suggested that during the speech, Bongo had slurred some words and had not moved his right arm.

Gabon’s Constitutional Court has transferred part of the presidential powers to the prime minister and the vice president in Bongo’s absence.

The Bongo family has ruled the oil-producing country for nearly half a century.

Bongo has been president since succeeding his father, Omar, who died in 2009. His reelection in 2016 was marred by claims of fraud and violent protests.

US troops in Gabon

Just days before the coup attempt, the United States deployed military troops to Gabon.

President Donald Trump told Congress in a letter on Friday that the troops had been sent to Gabon to “protect” American citizens and diplomatic facilities in case violence breaks out in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.

PressTV-US deploys military troops to Gabon over Congo elections

“These deployed personnel will remain in the region until the security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo becomes such that their presence is no longer needed,” Trump wrote to Congress.

Many geopolitical analysts believe that the US is expanding its military presence in Africa in order to exploit the continent’s oil and mineral resources while staying close to the Middle East.

Source: Presstv

7, January 2019

Malaysia: King abdicates after two years on the throne ⁰

Malaysia’s king abdicated on Sunday in a historic first for the country that ended weeks of speculation about his future after he took medical leave and reportedly married a Russian ex-beauty queen. Sultan Muhammad V’s decision marks the first time a king has stepped aside during his five-year term in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

The national palace confirmed the resignation with immediate effect of the 49-year-old, who had been on the throne for two years and was known for his fondness for four-wheel driving and other extreme sports.

“His majesty tells the people of Malaysia to continue to be united to maintain unity, tolerance, and work together,” said a statement from the Comptroller of the Royal Household, Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.

Malaysia’s Islamic rulers will now meet to decide on the next king. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty.

The system has been in place since independence from Britain in 1957. Royal officials gave no reason for Sultan Muhammad V’s move but there had been a question mark over the king’s reign since he went on leave for medical treatment in November.

Secret marriage?

Reports in British and Russian media then surfaced saying that he had married the former Miss Moscow in the Russian capital in a lavish ceremony.

Royal officials in Malaysia have so far not commented on the rumoured marriage, or given any details about the state of the king’s health.

Speculation intensified about the king’s future after his medical leave officially finished at the end of December, and the country’s Islamic royals reportedly held a special meeting last week.

While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia’s Islamic royalty command great respect, especially from Muslim Malays, and criticising them is strictly forbidden.

Sultan Muhammad V studied at St Cross College at Oxford and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, according to official media. He is known for a relaxed public persona, taking part in walkathons to promote health, and has been photographed wearing a baseball cap backwards.

According to a report from official news agency Bernama at the time of his enthronement, he “fills his free time by reading and has an interest in extreme sports such as four-wheel drive expeditions and endurance challenges and shooting”.

He is also the ceremonial ruler of the conservative Islamic northern state of Kelantan. The palace statement said he was “ready to return home to the state of Kelantan to be together with the state government and… the Kelantanese people”.

(AFP)

7, January 2019

Gabon officers ‘oust President Ali Bongo’ ⁰

Junior officers say they have seized power in oil-rich Gabon, where the ailing leader’s family has ruled for 50 years.

Soldiers in the west African country say they launched a coup “to restore democracy”.

They took control of the national radio station at 04:30 local time (03:30 GMT) to read a short statement announcing a “National Restoration Council”.

Tanks and armed vehicles can be seen on the streets of the capital Libreville.

Ali Bongo succeeded his father Omar Bongo as president in 2009. He narrowly won re-election in 2016 in a poll marred by violence and accusations of fraud.

Mr Bongo, who has been out of the country for two months, reportedly suffered a stroke in October and received treatment in Morocco

Soldiers announcing a coup on state television — Image captionSoldiers also announced the coup on state television

‘Pitiful sight’

He sought to put an end to the rumours about his health with a televised New Year message in which he said he was feeling fine.

Soldiers said they had been disappointed by the message, calling it “a pitiful sight” and a “relentless attempt to cling onto power.”

“It reinforced doubts about his ability to assume the responsibilities of his role as President of the Republic”, said Lt Kelly Ondo Obiang, the leader of the so-called Patriotic Movement of the Defence and Security Forces of Gabon.

He specifically appealed to young people to “take charge of their destiny”.

The insurgents called on soldiers to take control of the transport system, ammunition reserves and airports “in the interests of the nation”.

There is no word so far from the government.

President Trump has deployed soldiers to Gabon to protect US citizens amid fears of violent protests in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo following its presidential election.

BBC

6, January 2019

A Picture speaks 1000 words: One, United and Indivisible Cameroon Hoax ⁰

Look at Ahidjo’s body language on Jan 1, 1960; the day French Cameroun was granted independence and you can see the master-servant relationship between Francophones and France. From Jan. 1 1960 to February 11, 1961, Southern Cameroons was then a self-governing British UN-mandated territory with all the trappings of a nation-state, including its own internationally recognized borders and never part of French Cameroun.

If Britain had availed itself of its obligations towards the Southern Cameroons people, the 3rd option of independence agreed by the 43 delegates at the August 1959 All Party Conference in Mamfe, chaired by Sir Sidney Phillipson, Acting Southern Cameroons Commissioner, would not have been rejected by Andrew Cohen, Britain’s representative to the UN Trusteeship Council. The time has come to right this historical wrong. Biya should stop reveling in self-delusion; we are no longer in the 1970s. The regime can say what it wants, but nobody is fooled anymore.

Biya’s nepotistic abuse of presidential power to favor his Beti kith and kin is beyond clannishness. This generation of Anglophones are well-educated and know that the issue at stake here is their natural resources, which Biya exploits to feed his kleptocratic regime of tribal jingoists. The Ambazonia resistance speaks directly to the Anglophone resolve to fight and die for their future and there will be no peace, until Biya and his Beti cabal understand that Anglophones never voted to become the footstool of French Cameroun exploitation and plunder. Anglophones have rejected a system where a small clique of vampire elite are stealing the nation blind with impunity while the president looks the other way. Just look at the scandalously inflated AFCON 2019 contracts and ask yourself whether such monumental corruption could happen in Ambazonia?

The only thing that will bring unity in Cameroon is for the government to eschew this conquest mentality and dialogue with Anglophones where both sides will renegotiate the unity and the future of Cameroon as equal partners or revert to the status quo ante Feb 11, 1961

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

6, January 2019

Trial of Ambazonian Leader: Interim Gov’t’s lawyer Falana drags La Republique to African Commission ⁰

Nigeria’s foremost human rights lawyer Femi Falana SAN has dragged the government of Cameroon to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, The Gambia over the impending trial of 47 asylum seekers and naturalised Nigerians.

The lawyer wants the commission’s urgent intervention to end “the ongoing human rights violations of the applicants who were forcibly returned to Cameroon by the Nigerian authorities.” Falana is asking “the Chairperson and the Bureau to urgently hold an extra-ordinary session of the African Commission to address the illegal and unfair return of 47 refugees and asylum seekers, and the continuing violations of the rights of the returnees by the government of Cameroon.

“We also urge the Chairperson of the Commission to speak out strongly and condemn the unfair treatment of the returnees by the government of Cameroon, and request the government to immediately release them from unlawful detention.”

The petition read in part: “Cameroon has ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. At the request of the Government of Cameroon the Nigerian authorities illegally and unfairly returned 47 refugees and asylum seekers to Cameroon on Friday, January 26, 2018. The returnees are mostly leaders of the people of Southern Cameroon and who have been living in Nigeria with their families for years.”

“Some of them have been granted political asylum while others were asylum seekers in Nigeria. On Saturday, 7th January 2018, the Applicants assembled to meet in Abuja to discuss the problems being encountered by several Cameroonian asylum seekers in Nigeria but before the commencement of the meeting security personnel from Nigeria arrested the Applicants and took them to an underground detention centre in a military barracks in Abuja.”

“While the Applicants were detained in Nigeria, they were denied access to their family members, friends, lawyers and doctors. However, the representative of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees was allowed to visit the Applicants.”

“When the Applicants’ lawyers received information of the plan to deport them to Cameroon, they rushed to the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the illegal plan. The Applicants also reached out to the Comptroller-General of Immigration, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees in Nigeria.”

“As soon as the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees in Nigeria confirmed the information it dispatched a letter to the government of Nigeria pointing out that Nigeria has a legal obligation under international law not to deport the detained Cameroonians.”

“But in a demonstration of reckless impunity, the government of Cameroon pressured the Nigerian authorities to hand over the refugees. They were handed over to the Cameroonian security forces who forcefully took them away from Nigeria on Friday, January 26, 2018.”

“On account of the illegality of the deportation, the government of Nigeria could not announce that the refugees had been expelled from Nigeria but the Government of Cameroon decided to celebrate the deportation and threatened to prosecute the deportees for terrorism. We submitted a letter to the Office of the High Commissioner of Cameroon to Nigeria in Abuja to request for access to the Applicants who are currently held incommunicado in Cameroon. The request has to date not been granted by Cameroon.”

“Nigeria has no extradition treaty with Cameroon. Hence, the deportation was carried out outside the ambit of the extradition laws of Nigeria and Cameroon and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”

“In removing the Applicants from Nigeria, the government of Cameroon breached the human rights of the Applicants to enter Nigeria, reside, seek and obtain asylum guaranteed by Article 12 (3) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The government of Cameroon also breached article 12 (4) of the African Charter, which provides that every individual shall have the right, when persecuted to seek and obtain asylum in other countries in accordance with the laws of those countries and international conventions.”

“Apart from the violation of the African Charter, the government of Cameroon breached its legal obligations under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention on Refugees and which have guaranteed the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Nigeria to protection.”

“The Applicants are the leaders of the movement agitating for the creation of the Republic of Ambazonia from Cameroon. In 2002, the Applicants filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to determine whether the people of Southern Cameroon were not entitled to self-determination within their clearly defined territory separate from the Republic of Cameroon. The government of Nigeria decided to settle the case out of court.”

“By a consent judgment delivered by the Court on March 5, 2002, the government of Nigeria agreed to file a suit at the International Court of Justice to have a judicial confirmation of the human right of the people of Southern Cameroon to self-determination. The government of Nigeria also undertook to take other measures as may be necessary to place the case of the people of Southern Cameroon for self-determination before the United Nations General Assembly and other international organizations.”

“The Applicants are not soldiers, but civilians. Even though they are not military men, the government of Cameroon has decided to try them before a military tribunal. The military tribunal to try the Applicants has since been constituted by the government of Cameroon.”

“Upon the arrival of the Applicants in Cameroon and without any investigation whatsoever, the government of Cameroon announced that they would be tried for terrorism. The Applicants have been detained illegally from January –November, 2018.”

“The Applicants have since been arraigned for terrorism before a military tribunal specially constituted for the purpose of persecuting them even though they have never engaged in terrorist activities in Cameroon.”

“The trial of the Applicants is scheduled to commence in Cameroon on January 10, 2019 whereas their lawyers who are based in Nigeria have been denied access to them and the opportunity to defend them.”

“It is the case of the Applicants that they had left Cameroon with their families and have been living in Nigeria where that had applied for asylum. Thus, by removing them from Nigeria the government of Cameroon has separated the Applicants from their family members who have been left behind in Nigeria.”

Source: NAN

6, January 2019

Bayern Munich hand Ribery ‘heavy fine’ for angry Tweetstorm ⁰

Bayern Munich on Sunday said it will impose “a heavy fine” on Franck Ribery over an obscenity-laced outburst on social media, after the French striker became embroiled in controversy for eating a gold-coated steak.

The punishment comes after Ribery lashed out at critics in a string of angry posts on Twitter and Instagram on Saturday. It is the latest scandal to engulf the 35-year-old, who is deeply unpopular in his native France but revered by German fans.

“I had a long talk with Franck and I let him know that we would impose a heavy fine on him and he accepted it,” the club’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic told journalists in Qatar, where the club is on a training camp.

“He used words that we, FC Bayern, cannot accept and that Franck does not have the right to use, as a role-model and player of FC Bayern,” added Salihamidzic.

On Thursday, Ribery posted a video on social media showing him in a Dubai steak house owned by celebrity Turkish restauranteur Salt Bae and rubbing his hands before tucking into a huge chop coated in gold.

That ostentatious luxury, and the reported cost of the meal, drew ferocious criticism before Ribery — who earns an estimated eight million euros a year with the German champions — hit back.

“Let’s start with the envious, the angry, surely born because of a broken condom,” read the first of the posts on Ribery’s Twitter account. “F*ck your mothers, your grandmothers and your whole family tree,” he wrote, having taken care to sanitise the French word “n*quez”.

Salihamidzic made clear that Ribery did not pay the bill himself because he had been invited to the restaurant.

“Franck has been slandered and insulted,” said Salihamidzic. “And not only Franck, but his pregnant wife, his child and his mother, who is currently in hospital for an operation. Franck wanted to defend himself and defend his family. He has the right to do that. I support him in that, but unfortunately he totally lost control.”

German media and social media users had called on the reigning Bundesliga champions to punish the striker, who is out of contract at the end of the season after 11 years at the club. “Bosses must suspend Ribery,” urged Germany’s bestselling Bild newspaper.

The news portal T-Online went even further, slamming Bayern for not taking firmer action. “Ribery should not play for Bayern anymore,” it said in an editorial. “With this fine, the club falls short of drastic repercussions and that is a fatal signal.”

– Hated at home, loved abroad –

Ribery’s outburst comes less than two months after the forward insulted and attacked French TV pundit Patrick Guillou who had criticised his performance following Bayern’s 3-2 loss against Dortmund.

Bayern later made Ribery post a video apology on the club web site. Despite being known as one of France’s best players, Ribery is little loved at home, partly because of his perceived key role in the French team’s infamous training ground strike during their disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa.

Ribery’s reputation was also damaged by allegations that he had had sex with an underage prostitute although charges in the case were dropped for lack of evidence in 2014.

Ribery announced his retirement from France duty after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which he missed due to a back injury.

But run-ins with the media and perceived displays of arrogance have kept Ribery in the headlines, and he has repeatedly been mocked on the French satirical puppet show “Les Guignols” as a dim-witted, out of touch figure.

It’s a different story in Germany, where Ribery is known as “King Franck” to grateful Bayern supporters. Since joining the Bavarian giants in 2007, Ribery has helped the team win the Champions League in 2013 as well as eightBundesliga titles and five German Cups.

Although he now sees less time on the pitch than in his younger days, Ribery finished 2018 in style scoring four goals in the final three matches of the year. But Bayern bosses have indicated the current season is very likely to be Ribery’s last.

AFP

6, January 2019

The Holy Father urges EU leaders to help migrants stranded in Mediterranean ⁰

Pope Francis on Sunday urged EU leaders to show “concrete solidarity” with 49 migrants stranded on NGO ships off the coast of Malta who have been refused permission to land. “Forty nine migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by two NGO ships have been on board for several days now, waiting to be able to disembark,” Francis told thousands of people gathered in Saint Peter’s square in Rome.

“I address a pressing appeal to European leaders that they show some concrete solidarity with respect to these people,” he added.

Amid growing concern over the plight of the migrants, some of whom have been at sea for more than two weeks, the European Commission earlier this week called on EU member states to admit them.

The Netherlands and Germany have offered to take some but only if their EU partners do the same, highlighting again the European Union’s long-running deadlock over sharing responsibility for migrants.

There are 17 people on board the German NGO Sea-Eye vessel, with another 32 on the Sea-Watch. Among them are a one-year-old baby and two children aged six and seven. Both Italy and Malta have refused port access and on Sunday they reiterated that position.

“In Italy, there are no more arrivals. That is the line and it will not change,” hardline Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told the Il Messaggero newspaper. “Italian ports are closed and will remain so,” he added in a tweet.

(AFP)