Two more senior executives quit US President Donald Trump’s business advisory panel, after Trump failed to immediately denounce white supremacists over a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In a strong rebuke to Trump, first the leader of one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and then the CEO of an athletic gear company and finally the chief executive of a $170 billion tech giant resigned from a business panel led by the president.

“America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which runs counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal,” tweeted Merck & Co Inc CEO Kenneth Frazier on Monday. Trump in response swiftly tweeted that at least Frazier will now “have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!”

According to the Executive Leadership Council, Frazier is a highly respected executive and one of only four African Americans to head a Fortune 500 company. Within hours, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank resigned from the same panel, saying his company “engages in innovation and sports, not politics.” Although Plank did not specifically mention Trump or Charlottesville, he said his company will focus on promoting “unity, diversity and inclusion” through sports.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich however urged leaders to condemn “white supremacists and their ilk,” saying many in Washington “seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them.” Under heavy bipartisan pressure, Trump finally declared that “racism is evil” and singled out white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan for a violent rally in Charlottesville.

“Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Trump said Monday from the White House. The three CEOs are not the first executives to resign from advisory councils serving Trump.

In June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk resigned from the manufacturing council and after US withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Bob Iger resigned for the same reason from the president’s Strategic and Policy Forum. William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said he could not “think of a parallel example” of any president responding as viciously as Trump to a CEO departing an advisory council.

“Usually, certain niceties are observed to smooth over a rupture,” said Galston, who served as a domestic policy aide in the Clinton administration. “We’ve learned that as president, Mr. Trump is behaving exactly as he did as a candidate,” Galston said. “He knows only one mode: When attacked, hit back harder.”

On Saturday, thousands of white supremacists, KKK members and neo-Nazis descended on Charlottesville for a “Unite the Right” rally. The march soon turned violent when a 20-year-old man plowed a vehicle into a group of anti-hate demonstrators protesting against the white supremacist rally, killing a woman and injuring 19 others.

Trump came under fire for initially blaming the violence on “many sides.” Democrats and Republicans alike called on the president to “call the evil by its name.” In his remarks on Saturday, Trump had failed to mention white nationalists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan or any other groups that participated in the rally.

Source; Presstv

Saudi Arabia’s state television says the kingdom could shoot down the Qatari airliners potentially violating its airspace. Al Arabiya recently broadcast a short animation showing a missile strike by a Saudi warplane against a Qatari airliner.

Citing “international law,” a voiceover accompanying the production said, “A state that bans flights from entering its airspace has the right to deal with the violating plane in any way it wishes.” “The options in this case either take the form of deploying a fighter jet that forces the plane to land whereby the flight crew are then tried on several charges,” it said. “International law also allows states to shoot down any flight that violates a state’s airspace, classing it as a legitimate target, especially over military areas.”

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates cut their diplomatic ties and transport links with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of sponsoring terrorism. Doha rejects the claim. The boycotting countries also closed their airspace to flag carrier Qatar Airways. The airline has stopped using the airspace of those countries ever since, rerouting flights and using alternative paths, including through Iranian skies. The Saudi-led embargo has had an economic impact on Qatar. Trying to make up for lost revenue, Doha has said it would allow the citizens of 80 countries to travel to the country visa free.

Interior ministry official Mohamed Rashed al-Mazroui said the 80 countries had been selected on the basis of security and economic considerations, including for the buying power of their nationals. Doha says it would press the sanctioning countries to compensate for the economic damages arising from the embargo, but has also said it has enough financial resources at its disposal to weather the bans.

Source: Presstv

A report has revealed that hundreds of Israeli soldiers have abandoned their duties without permission, and are intent not to return in a show of disapproval of the military conscription policies of the Israeli regime.

The Hebrew-language news website Walla reported on Saturday that 300 Israeli troops had left or remained absent from their units over the past week. The report added that Israeli military officials have leveled charges against 60 soldiers, who have been dropped from their unit rolls and listed as deserters.

The report came as the Israeli military announced earlier this year that suicide was the main cause of death among Israeli soldiers, and that 15 troopers – all of them male – had taken their own lives last year. The army added that four soldiers were killed in the course of military operations, nine in on-base accidents, seven in off-duty car accidents and six died from illness or other medical reasons.

Another 43 soldiers were seriously hurt during the course of 2016. Most of the soldiers injured or killed were conscripted troops. A smaller portion were career soldiers, and a handful were reservists who were in service at the time of their deaths, the Israeli army said.

Source: Presstv

North Korea has announced that it will develop plans by mid-August to fire four intermediate-range missiles at the US territory of Guam. North Korea’s state media made the announcement on Thursday, noting that the plans will be presented to the country’s leader Kim Jong-un who will decide on whether to launch the missiles.

“The Hwasong-12 rockets to be launched by the KPA (Korean People’s Army) will cross the sky above Shimane, Hiroshima and Koichi Prefectures of Japan,” said the report, citing KPA Commander General Kim Rak-gyom.

“They will fly 3,356.7 kilometers for 1,065 seconds and hit the waters 30 to 40 kilometers away from Guam,” added the report. The KPA commander was cited in the reported as saying that US President Donald Trump was “bereft of reason” and only “absolute force can work on him.” He added that Trump’s recent “fire and fury” comments were a “load of nonsense.”

“They will be met with the fire and fury and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before,” said Trump speaking in New Jersey on Tuesday. Meanwhile, North Koreans took part in a mass rally arranged by Pyongyang authorities in protest at recent sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. The UN Security Council on Saturday passed a resolution slapping sweeping sanctions on the North over its first test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The council members, including Pyongyang’s traditional allies Beijing and Moscow, voted 15-0 for a partial ban on exports, aimed at slashing the North’a $3 billion foreign revenue by a third.

The sanctions ban all exports of coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore, as well as fish and seafood from the country. They also block North Korea from increasing the number of workers it sends abroad, and prevents new joint ventures with Pyongyang or increasing investments in current ventures.

During the Wednesday rally, the protesters gathered in Pyongyang’s central square where senior North Korean officials delivered speeches to the crowd. Also on Wednesday, France urged all the concerned parties in the North Korean crisis to act responsibly and towards de-escalating the situation.

“France’s position is that it’s preoccupied by what is happening. You all know like me that today North Korea is capable of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with missiles which can cross distances of 6,000 to 9,000 kilometers. And then, the American media have reported these past days about the North’s capacity to nuclearize its ballistic missiles,” said French government spokesman Christophe Castaner. “We call on all parties to act responsibly and de-escalate the situation,” He added.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric also told reporters that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is deeply worried over the surge in aggressive rhetoric by parties to the North Korea crisis.

“The secretary general remains extremely concerned by the ongoing situation and is troubled by the increase in confrontational rhetoric,” said Dujarric.

In a relevant development on Wednesday, Russia’s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia (seen below), expressed hopes that the US would keep “calm” in the crisis with Pyongyang.

“A military solution is not an option anyway,” he said.

“Our strong wish is that the United States keeps calm and refrains from any moves that would provoke another party to actions that might be dangerous,” he added.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions over its missile and nuclear development programs since 2006. The sanctions have, however, failed to dissuade the country from pursuing its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

Pyongyang says it needs to continue developing its missile force as a deterrent against the US and its regional allies’ aggression and expansionism. Since early July, the North has tested two ICBMs, which it says can hit the US mainland.

Source: Presstv

The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Amina J. Mohammed has stressed the importance of implementing measures to build confidence between French Cameroun and the Southern Cameroons community.

The UN diplomat met a French Cameroun delegation on Tuesday led by Paul Ghogomu, the Director of Cabinet at the Prime Minister’s Office and called for inclusive dialogue in attempts at resolving the Southern Cameroons crisis.
The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations welcomed the efforts announced by the Biya Francophone regime and wished that the rights of the persons prosecuted in the context of the Southern Cameroons revolution be respected.

Dozens of Southern Cameroons arrested in the context of the Anglophone crisis, including three of the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium are currently prosecuted by the Yaoundé military court.
They are tried for acts of terrorism, popular insurrection, civil disobedience, contempt of the head of state … and risk the death penalty.

The situation has becoming more intractable following the election of an interim leader and the creation of the Southern Cameroons Governing Council including the intensification of the civil disobedience campaign by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

By Chi Prudence Asong
Cameroon Concord News

The man was abducted for wearing the Argentina Football T shirt. It was claimed that his T-shirt carried the secessionist colours. But actually, the guy was putting on the T shirt of the Argentina football team which looks almost like that of the secessionist group, the Southern Cameroons National Council.

Security agents in civilian dress instantly contacted the law and enforcement units, who hurried to the venue and instantly whisked him and disappeared with him in a mini bus. The people around could neither question or comment, but wondered quietly as they continued with their different marketing activities.

A certain Pa Kwenti said: “Police acted very quickly to arrest the individual and he remains in police custody at this time, he was certainly taken Up station for questioning, but might end in Yaoundé if found guilty. He could be charged with inciting violence, public disorder and threat to national unity. But all depend on his good luck and financial capacity of his family.”

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

The African Union and United Nations are working towards enhancing African peace and security capabilities as part of a shared interest in solving African conflicts.

Ambassador Smail Chergui, Commissioner for Peace and Security to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), last month told the Council that the African Union is an indispensable partner in promoting peace and security in Africa. “Over the last decade, the African Union has mandated or authorized the deployment of more than 100 000 uniformed and civilian personnel, many of whom are deployed in some of the most high risk and volatile environments.

“This has come at a huge cost to human lives. It is noteworthy to mention here that the number of casualties by African troops in peace support operations in the last decade exceeds the combined casualties experienced in UN peacekeeping missions over the last 70 years. This is a compelling reality to demonstrate the commitment of Africans and the African Union to durable peace and stability on the continent,” Chergui said.

“Despite these sacrifices and commitment, African troops are faced with some of the most challenging situations due to inadequate force enablers and multipliers, as well as financial resource gaps,” he told the UNSC.

Last month the African Union Peace and Security Council declared that AMISOM had successfully achieved its mandate over the last decade on the basis of a recently concluded lessons learned study by the African Union Commission. “Yet, AMISOM remains the least resourced mission in comparison with other deployed regional or international enforcement missions with similar mandates.”

As a result, Chergui made several proposals to the UNSC on how best to support African peace and security. The first entails the UN and international community promoting conflict prevention in Africa, as “conflict prevention remains the most cost effective conflict management tools but yet the least resourced,” he said, with the April 2017 Joint AU-UN Framework on the Enhanced Cooperation in Peace and Security a good foundation on this.

Secondly, Chergui called for the enhancement of the operational readiness of the African Standby Force. “The African Union and its Regional standby forces have put in tremendous efforts to develop and operationalize the African Standby Force (ASF) and its Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC) as one of its conflict management tool, as enshrined in the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). This was evidenced by the declaration of Full Operational Capability of the ASF In January 2016 by the African Union (AU) Specialized Technical Committee on Defense Safety and Security (STCDSS).”

However, Chergui noted that even though the ASF has been declared operational, there are challenges with the mandating process, funding and logistics support. The Maputo Five Year Workplan on the enhancement of the ASF will go a long way to addressing these concerns.
Chergui noted that a High Level Technical Team is currently undertaking the verification of the capabilities of the five brigades of the ASF.

Chergui expressed concern about the spread of violent extremism but applauded the recent authorization of regional coalitions such the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram and the G5 Sahel force. “The African Union Counter-terrorism Fund, as well as activities of the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism, the Nouakchott and important coordination platforms through which the supported and in the fight against terrorism,” he said.

Lastly, Chergui said the financing of peace support operations is a perennial issue. “It is clear that Africa will not be able fund peace initiatives on its own… We, therefore look forward to further deliberation and possible decision by this Council in September 2017, on the dedicated support from the UN to all UNSC-mandated African peace support operations.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres agreed to strengthen the partnership between the AU and UN. “I firmly believe the international community needs to change the narrative about Africa and to establish a higher platform of cooperation that recognizes Africa’s enormous potential and promise.

“In the area of peace and security, the African Union and United Nations have a shared interest in strengthening mechanisms to defuse conflicts before they escalate, and to manage them effectively when they occur. “Enhancing African capacities is essentially both in the context of our collective response to international peace and security challenges as well as for the self-reliance of the African continent.

“This is why, on April 19, I joined with the Chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat to sign a Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security”. The Framework includes four key action areas: first, preventing and mediating conflict and sustaining peace; second, responding to conflict; third, addressing root causes; and fourth, the continuous review and enhancement of our partnership.

Guterres pointed out it is critical that the UN and AU work together to solve disputes. “In The Gambia, for example, the strong leadership of West African nations — with the support of ECOWAS, the African Union and United Nations – contributed significantly to find a peaceful settlement to the political crisis.

“And in South Sudan, IGAD, the African Union and the United Nations are actively coordinating efforts to find a durable peace – including through a joint call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and a comprehensive and inclusive political dialogue.

“The African Union and the sub-regional organizations have deployed tremendous efforts to develop and operationalize the African Standby Force and its Rapid Deployment Capability. Under our new Framework, we look forward to further supporting the strengthening of this Force and to exploring synergies with the UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System,” Guterres said.

Culled from Defenseweb

US President Donald Trump has gone on a 17-day holiday to one of his golf resorts near New York. Trump arrived at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey on Friday for his extended break. The Trump National Golf Club occupies 535 acres of rambling countryside in central New Jersey, 45 minutes away from New York City.

The president, who had repeatedly criticized his predecessor, Barack Obama, for taking too many vacation days to play golf and even vowed during his election campaign not to go on vacation if he became president, left the White House in complete shambles.

This is his first long absence from the White House since he became president. The White House said the president’s stay at his golf resort would be a “working vacation”. “The President will continue to work over the next two weeks,” said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters. The White House’s faulty cooling and heating systems were cited as one of the reasons for the president’s untimely leave.

Trump criticized Obama in 2011 for playing golf and then heading to a 10-day vacation. “Nice work ethic,” Trump tweeted back then. “Pres. Obama is about to embark on a 17 day vacation in his ‘native’ Hawaii, putting Secret Service away from families on Christmas. Aloha!,” Trump tweeted on another occasion. Not only did Trump criticize Obama for his vacations, he routinely told supporters he would never take time off if he were elected because he would be swamped with work.

“I would not be a president who took vacations,” he said in 2015. “I would not be a president that takes time off.” Despite his comments, Trump has taken considerably more time off than Obama in their respective first seven months in office.

According to a Washington Post tally, by the end of August Trump will have spent all or part of 53 days at leisure during his presidency, compared with 15 days for Obama through August 2009. Trump, who is grappling with a Russia scandal, has been the target of extraordinary leaks from government officials since he took the helm.

Trump has also failed to win any major legislative scores in his first seven months in office, and is at odds with several Republican lawmakers on multiple fronts. Trump’s popularity is at an all-time low, as well. A recent poll from Quinnipiac University found that only 33 percent of American voters approve of his performance in office, while 61 percent were against him. This marks Trump’s lowest approval and highest disapproval number since elected. ‘If you are not happy, leave!’

Vicente Fox, Mexico’s former president, who is an outspoken critic of Trump, has questioned the reason for his extended vacation, saying he should leave office if he is unhappy. “[L]eaving on vacation, huh? What for? If you’re not happy with your job, just leave. After all, it was never for you,” the former Mexican president tweeted.
The tweet by Fox seems to be in reference to a former tweet by Trump in which he stated his aversion to vacations. “What’s the point [of vacation]? If you’re not enjoying your work, you’re in the wrong job,” Trump had tweeted back in 2012.

Source: Presstv

The U.S. military has opened an inquiry into allegations that French Cameroun troops carried out torture and murder at a base where American troops were present, a U.S. spokesman said Friday.

Amnesty International last month said it had documented 80 cases of abuse by La Republique troops at their Salak base in the country’s Far North region. Amnesty alleged the abuses were carried out between 2013 and 2017 against people suspected of involvement with Nigeria-based Boko Haram extremists.

Amnesty said U.S. troops were present at several locations within the Salak base, headquarters of the Rapid Intervention Battalion. Col. Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command, said a “commander’s inquiry” has been launched to determine if any U.S. troops were aware of any of the alleged abuses.

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government has criticized the Amnesty report. Most of the cases investigated by Amnesty International involved men 18 to 45 years old, though the group documented the mistreatment of some women, children and people with mental and physical disabilities.

“Detainees were severely beaten with various objects including electric cables, machetes and wooden sticks,” suspended from poles and subjected to drowning, the report said, adding that many were deprived of food, water and medical attention.

Several people interviewed said they had witnessed deaths after torture. Boko Haram’s insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.7 million in northeastern Nigeria and neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The countries all contribute to a multinational force to combat the insurgency.

Source: FOXNews

US President Donald Trump had tense exchanges during phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia in January, just days after his inauguration, according to leaked transcripts of his calls. Transcripts of the two conversations Trump had with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were obtained by The Washington Post, which posted them online on Thursday.

The transcripts were assembled from the notes of White House aides listening to the calls, the newspaper said. The transcripts confirm previous news reports of tension during the conversations with Peña Nieto on January 27 and with Turnbull the next day, just a week after Trump’s inauguration.

When the Post published an account of the conversations in early February, Trump tweeted that it had been a “very civil conversation that FAKE NEWS media lied about.” The publication is the latest of sign that established norms are breaking down inside the White House and reflect the vicious infighting inside the White House between rival factions, despite the appointment of the new chief of staff John Kelly.

The transcripts of his conversations “show the president to be no more coherent in private than he is public: ill-informed – even about a major attack on US soil – and narcissistic to the point of absurdity,” The Guardian said.

Trump told Turnbull during their call on January 28 that “I am the world’s greatest person” and “you are worse than I am.” The exchange was so sharp that Trump said talking to President Vladimir Putin of Russia was more pleasant.
The conversation became combative after Trump said he would not honor a bilateral agreement between Australia and the administration of former President Barack Obama concerning refugees landing in the US.

“I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country,” Trump said. “It makes me look so bad and I have only been here a week.” “Somebody told me yesterday that close to 2,000 people are coming who are really troublesome,” he complained to Turnbull.

Turnbull explained that it was important for the United States to live up to the agreement and the deal required the US to accept up to 1,250 refugees, not 2,000, and each of them would be subject to vetting and could be rejected. “That is a good idea,” Trump said. “We should do that too. You are worse than I am.” “Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous,” Trump said shortly before ending the call abruptly.

During his conversation with Mexico’s Peña Nieto, Trump repeatedly threatened to impose a stiff border tax to keep out Mexican products and complained about “pretty tough hombres” who were bringing so many drugs over the border. The biggest point of contention came as Trump insisted that Peña Nieto stop saying publicly that he would not pay for the border wall that the US president had promised to build on the US-Mexico border.

“If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that,” Trump said. “We find this completely unacceptable for Mexicans to pay for the wall that you are thinking of building,” Peña Nieto told Trump. “My position has been and will continue to be very firm, saying that Mexico cannot pay for that wall.”

Culled from Presstv