World

26, January 2017

Donald Trump signs directive to begin construction of wall on the border with Mexico ⁰

US President Donald Trump has signed a directive to begin the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, taking the first step to deliver on one of his most divisive campaign pledges. “We’ve been talking about this right from the beginning,” the Republican president said as he signed the order during a ceremony for homeland security secretary on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The wall will be stretched across the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) US-Mexico border. Earlier, Trump said during an interview with ABC News that the construction was slated to begin within months, while planning would start immediately.

Trump also asserted that Mexico would reimburse “100 percent” of the wall’s costs. The American president took another step aimed at curbing immigration by signing a separate executive action on public safety for the interior of the US, authorizing a crackdown on US cities that shield illegal immigrants. The directive aims to strip federal funding from “sanctuary” states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said earlier in the day that the orders were the new administration’s “first step to really securing our porous border.” “This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States,” he added.

During his campaign run, Trump repeatedly pledged to build a wall along the southern border to prevent more immigrants from entering the US illegally. The Manhattan billionaire even estimated that erecting the wall would cost $8 billion, pledging to force Mexico to cover it. Earlier this month, however, Trump joined other Republicans, saying US taxpayers may foot the initial bill for the proposed wall, insisting that Mexico would repay the US the money in the end. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto made it clear during a meeting with Trump in September last year that his country would not pay for the project. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray repeated Nieto’s remarks on January 11, saying there was “no way” that his country would fund the wall.

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21, January 2017

Amnesty International calls for urgent access and release of detained Consortium leaders ⁰

CAMEROON: ARRESTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY BANS RISK INFLAMING TENSIONS IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING REGIONS

20 January 2017, 15:56 UTC

The Cameroonian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release two civil society leaders arrested in the English-speaking part of the country, and lift the ban imposed on their organization, Amnesty International said today.

On 17 January the Minister of Territorial Administration banned the activities of the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC). The president of the CACSC, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla, and its Secretary General, Dr. Fontem Aforteka’a Neba, were arrested, sparking protests in the southwest city of Buea.

On the same day both Agbor-Balla and Dr. Fontem Neba had signed a statement calling for protest activities to be carried out without violence.

“These two men have been arrested solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression. This flagrant disregard for basic rights risks inflaming an already tense situation in the English-speaking region of the country and is clearly an attempt to muzzle dissent,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International Central Africa Researcher.

According to the Minister of Territorial Administration, “all activities, meetings and demonstrations initiated or promoted by the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC), any other related groups with similar objectives or by anyone partisan to these groups, are hereby prohibited all over the national territory”.

The government has accused the two groups of supporting a series of demonstrations that began in late October 2016 across several cities in the English-speaking region of Cameroon. The protesters are calling, among other things, for an end to the use of French in courts and schools. This week a “ghost town” strike – where citizens are asked to remain at home – was called in the regions’ main cities.

“This worrying pattern of arbitrary arrests, detention and harassment of civil society members is entirely at odds with the international human rights law and standards that Cameroon has committed to uphold,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi.

In December, at least two unarmed protesters were killed in Bamenda, the largest city in the English-speaking region, when security forces used live ammunition to disperse a protest.

For more information please call Amnesty International’s press office in Dakar, Senegal, +221 77 658 62 27 or +221 33 869 82 31; Email: sadibou.marong@amnesty.org

17, January 2017

UN, EU reassure support for Iran nuclear deal ⁰

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) have both reaffirmed their support for the Iran nuclear deal on the first anniversary of the accord’s implementation. The deal, officially titled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached between Iran on the one side and the US, the UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany on the other in July 2015. It began being implemented on January 16, 2016 and terminated nuclear-related sanctions against Iran in return for certain limits on the Iranian nuclear program.

During the course of the negotiations that resulted in the deal, the EU acted as coordinator for the negotiating parties and, together with the UN, hosted the talks. In a statement on Monday, the EU’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, once again reaffirmed the bloc’s support for the deal in the face of potential threats from the future US administration to undermine it. “The full and effective implementation throughout the entire lifetime of the JCPOA remains essential,” said Mogherini in a statement. “The EU has clearly affirmed its resolute commitment to this objective.”

She said the bloc “will continue to work hand in hand with all those willing to contribute to its full implementation and in achieving the objectives which brought us together.” There has been concern that the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, a former businessman and a self-admitted non-politician, may breach the deal or stop implementing US commitments under it altogether. Trump has previously threatened to “tear up” the deal. Throughout her Monday statement, Mogherini, the top EU diplomat, pointed to the merits and strengths of the deal in what sometimes seemed to be directed at an audience of one.

She said the agreement “is working for all” and now belonged to the entire international community. “The JCPOA is a multilateral endeavour, achieved through diplomatic means and endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution. It was born out of the efforts of the E3/EU+3 and Iran, but it now belongs to the entire international community. The JCPOA provides benefits for all and creates opportunities for improved regional cooperation that should be seized by all,” she said.

She was referring to Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), which unanimously endorsed the JCPOA on July 20, 2015. She also highlighted that, “Iran has delivered on its nuclear-related commitments as confirmed by the four reports issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency.” The Agency has taken up the task of monitoring the technical implementation of the Iran deal. Also on Monday, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, reassured the world body’s support for the accord in his office’s daily press briefing.

He praised the first anniversary of the JCPOA’s implementation as “a significant milestone in the historic agreement.” “The United Nations shall continue to support the implementation of the JCPOA, in accordance with resolution 2231 (2015) and other relevant decisions of the Security Council,” he said.

All the other parties to the JCPOA, including the outgoing US administration, Russia, and China, have also already stressed the need to sustain the deal amid the Trump threats. Meanwhile, Trump, in a shift from his usual rhetoric of lambasting the Iran deal, has refused to say what policy he would want to take regarding it, also admitting that he is “not a politician.”

“Well, I don’t want to say what I’m gonna do with the Iran deal. I just don’t want to play the cards. I mean, look, I’m not a politician, I don’t go out and say, ‘I’m gonna do this’ — I’m gonna do, I gotta do what I gotta do,” he told the British daily The Times on Sunday.

Trump has flip-flopped on policy issues before, too.

Russia sees no reason for non-performance

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who was his country’s lead negotiator in the talks over the Iran deal, also stressed that the JCPOA was an important and constructive agreement and that Russia would remain committed to it.

Speaking at a UN roundtable on the one-year anniversary of the deal’s implementation, Ryabkov said Russia saw no grounds for any failure to fully implement the deal and downplayed the rhetoric by Trump, TASS reported.

He said very little was known about the “approaches of the next US administration to this issue and the foreign policy agenda in general.”

He said that, while Moscow was studying the public statements by Trump’s advisers and cabinet nominees made during the US Senate hearings, he saw “no signs… that a completely new situation will occur.”

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12, January 2017

The White House: Reality TV Show begins as Trump shuts down CNN reporter ⁰

US President-elect Donald Trump refused to take questions from a CNN correspondent during a tense exchange at a press conference, blasting the news network for spreading “fake news.” During the contentious exchange at Trump Tower on Wednesday, CNN’s Jim Acosta pressed Trump to take a follow-up question after the president-elect assailed CNN for publishing a report Tuesday which included allegations that Russian operatives claimed to possess compromising personal and financial information about Trump.

“Mr. President -elect since you are attacking our news organization can you give us a chance,” asked Acosta. “Not you, your organization is terrible!” Trump shouted back. “I’m not going to give you a question. You are fake news!” “Don’t be rude,” Trump interjected, after Acosta called his response “not appropriate” and tried to press on with his question. On late Tuesday, CNN covered a report originally published by BuzzFeed News, alleging that Russia was in possession of “compromising” personal and financial information about Trump. The report dominated Trump’s press briefing, which was his first since July of last year. The New York billionaire slammed the media for spreading unsubstantiated news and said the release of such details about him would amount to a “tremendous blot” on the record of the US intelligence community.

CNN issued a statement after the presser, saying that its reporting on the so-called Russia dossier was “vastly different” from the one by other outlets and the “Trump team knows this.” Acosta said in a separate report that Trump’s spokesman Sean Spicer threatened to expel him from Trump Tower if he insisted to ask questions after his exchange with the incoming president. Spicer responded in a Fox News interview by calling on the reporter to apologize to Trump and “the entire press corps” over his “childish and inappropriate” behavior. “If you want to have a conversation and engage in a polite and respectful manner with the president-elect, he’s gonna treat you in kind,” Spicer said. “But if you come in hot and want to be disrespectful and rude, as Jim Acosta was today, he’s not gonna sit back and take it. This is a man who fights and wins.”

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8, January 2017

Prominent Iranian political figure passes away ⁰

Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has passed away at the age of 82 due to heart condition. Ayatollah Rafsanjani was admitted to a hospital in northern Tehran on Sunday after having an acute heart attack.

Born on August 25, 1934, the influential Iranian politician and writer was the fourth president of the Islamic Republic, serving from 1989 to 1997.

Rafsanjani was the head of the Assembly of Experts from 2007 to 2011. The influential cleric was elected chairman of the Iranian parliament in 1980 and served until 1989. He assumed office as the Chairman of the Expediency Council in 1989.

This undated photo shows the last session of Iran’s Expediency Council headed by its late chairman, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attended the hospital where Ayatollah Rafsanjani was hospitalized, undergoing treatment. Head of Tehran’s Shohada Hospital has declared heart arrest as the cause of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s passing away. Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani was among the main aides to late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini.

This file photo shows Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (L) standing next to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (C) and late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini.

He played an influential role both during anti-Shah struggles before the victory of the Islamic Revolution and afterwards through various stages of the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Rafsanjani was also a key figure during the eight years of Iraq’s imposed war on Iran (1980-88), serving as substitute to commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

According to IRNA news agency, the funeral for Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani will be held in Tehran on Tuesday. In a statement, the Iranian administration announced a three-day mourning period across the country and declared Tuesday as a national holiday.

Condolence messages pour in from Iran state officials, bodies

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani issued a condolence message on his Twitter account soon after Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s demise in which he said, “The soul of the great man of the revolution and politics has soared to the sky.” Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi also released a message, expressing his grief over passing away of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani.

In his message, Shahroudi described Rafsanjani as a true follower of late Imam Khomeini, who spared nothing on the path of the Islamic Revolution and was among confidantes of Imam Khomeini who shouldered heavy responsibilities following the Islamic Revolution. Many Iranian officials and state organs have offered their condolences over the demise of Ayatollah Rafsanjani.

Chairman of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said the influential figure diligently shouldered important responsibilities after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ayatollah Jannati also condoled with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on the demise of Ayatollah Rafsanjani.

Meanwhile, the Guardian Council expressed grief over Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s demise and said he provided great services to the Islamic Republic in different areas. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, for his part, expressed his condolences to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Iranian nation, particularly Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s family.

He said the late cleric always made great efforts in carrying out his sensitive and crucial responsibilities and played a prominent and influential role in managing the country’s economic and social affairs as well as the complicated and difficult foreign policy of the Islamic Republic.

Foreign officials, dignitaries express condolences over Rafsanjani’s demise

Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifah, the foreign minister of Bahrain, posted a message on his Twitter account expressing his condolences on passing away of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. Meanwhile, the Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Palestine’s Islamic Jihad Organization expressed their sorrow over the passing away of Iran’s former president. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also issued a message of condolence on the occasion of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s demise.

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8, January 2017

Former US President Bush, British Queen Elizabeth II, Carter, Rockefeller predicted to die in 2017 ⁰

A website, which correctly predicted 12 celebrity deaths in 2016, says Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and former US Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter as well as American billionaire David Rockefeller are among those who are expected to die this year.

The owners of DeathList.net provided a list of 50 celebrities based on the likelihood of their death during 2017, The Daily Express reported on Saturday. Last year, the website correctly predicted the death of American Boxing champion Muhammad Ali and Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. This year, the expert committee believes that the Queen, 90, and her husband Prince Philip, 95, will likely die.

The queen was suffering from “heavy colds” late last month, according to Buckingham Palace. The monarch fell ill before Christmas and missed Christmas and New Year church services. Her husband, who has heart disease and other health problems, was also suffering cold during Christmas. He is included high on the website’s list.

The list also included two former US Presidents Bush and Carter along with 93-year old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. He has ruled the African country for more than 36 years. Former Pope Benedict XVI is also on the list.

Last year, twelve of the people on the website’s shortlist passed away, including former US First Lady Nancy Reagan. Some other death candidates on the list, including Stephen Hawking and Prince Philip, however, missed the prediction.

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7, January 2017

Florida airport shooting: FBI not ruling out terrorism as motive ⁰

Federal investigators have not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive in a shooting rampage that killed five people and wounded eight others at an airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Esteban Santiago, a 26 year-old resident of Anchorage, Alaska, was taken into custody immediately following the shooting on Friday and questioned at length, according to officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

FBI agent George L. Piro, who is in charge of the Miami field office, said Santiago would be facing federal charges and will appear in federal court in Broward County on Monday.

People on the airport ramp area near terminals 1 and 2 are seen following the shooting incident at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, January 6, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Authorities said Santiago, an Iraq war veteran, suffered from psychological problems and had complained that the US government was controlling his mind. Santiago retrieved a semi-automatic handgun from his checked luggage and began firing indiscriminately after arriving in Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport from Alaska.

“After he claimed his bag, he went into the bathroom and loaded the gun and started shooting,” Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca said.

Esteban Santiago, an Iraq War veteran, was identified as the gunman who opened fire Friday in the Fort Lauderdale International Airport.

One witness said the attacker kept shooting until he ran out of ammunition for his handgun. The airport remains closed and planes scheduled to land there have been diverted to other airports in Florida.

“This is a senseless act of evil,” Florida Governor Rick Scott told reporters. A White House spokesman said President Barack Obama had spoken to Scott and other state officials. Obama said such tragedies had happened too often during his eight-year-term in office.

Passengers take cover as first responders secure the area outside the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport after a shooting took place near the baggage claim on January 6, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Incoming President Donald Trump said that it is a “disgraceful situation that’s happening in our country and throughout the world” and that it was too soon to say whether it was a terrorist attack. Santiago was sent to Iraq in 2010 and spent a year there as a combat engineer while serving the Puerto Rico National Guard. He later joined the Alaska National Guard.

His family members said he had been receiving treatment for mental problems which began after he returned from Iraq. Maria Luisa Ruiz, Santiago’s aunt from Union City, New Jersey, said, “He lost his mind. He said he saw things.”

A federal law enforcement official said Santiago had entered into an FBI office in Anchorage in November and was behaving erratically and was turned over to local police, who took him to a mental facility for evaluation.

During that visit, he told FBI agents that his mind was being controlled by a US intelligence agency, which was ordering him to watch videos by the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.

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4, January 2017

New UN Secretary General says he is not a miracle maker ⁰

The new United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that he is not a “miracle maker” and that the global body faces “very challenging times.” Guterres made the remark on Tuesday before starting his first official day of work at the UN headquarters in New York after succeeding Ban Ki-moon as secretary general on January 1.

“I think it is useful to say there are no miracles…I am sure I am not a miracle maker,” he said. He went on to underscore the large number of complex crises around the world the United Nations must deal with, adding that the world body should have no “illusions” over the “challenging times” it faces.

“We see everywhere in the world conflicts that multiply and are interlinked and have triggered this new phenomenon of global terrorism,” he added. Guterres stressed that despite easing the sufferings of some people, “we still fail in the prevention of conflicts and conflict resolution.”

He went on to add that there is a large amount of resistance around the world and a large amount of skepticism over the UN’s role. “We need to be able to recognize our shortcomings, our failures…get rid of the straightjacket of bureaucracy,” he added. “The only way we can achieve our goals is to really work together as a team and serve the values enshrined in the Charter and that unite humanity.”

Guterres was elected for the post by the UN General Assembly for a five-year term on October 13 last year. He was the prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015. In his first message as the UN chief, Guterres called on all people across the globe to put “peace” above all else. “Let us resolve to put peace first,” he said.

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3, January 2017

Israeli police question Prime Minister Netanyahu ⁰

Israeli investigators have questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his official residence in Jerusalem al-Quds over allegations of corruption. A police vehicle with three officers was seen arriving at Netanyahu’s residence on Monday evening. The investigators spent more than three hours quizzing him before leaving the residence at around 23:00 local time.

The investigators later issued a statement, saying Netanyahu was “questioned under caution on suspicion that he accepted (improper) benefits,” terminology that indicated Netanyahu was a criminal suspect in the case. Earlier in the day, screens had been mounted at the entrance to the property in central Jerusalem al-Quds to block view.

Following the completion of the questioning, attorney general Avichai Mandelblit said that Netanyahu had been accused of ethics breaches. Mandelblit had said earlier that he authorized a full-fledged criminal investigation after his office gathered sufficient evidence.

A string of probes and corruption allegations

Reports emerged over the weekend that the World Jewish Congress’ president and Netanyahu’s long-time ally, Ronald Lauder, had given the Israeli prime minister and his son expensive gifts.

An Israeli police car is seen at the entrance to the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem al-Quds as members of the media wait for the arrival of police investigators on January 2, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Netanyahu is already under another investigation over suspicions that he accepted one million euros (about 1.1 million dollars) from accused French fraudster Arnaud Mimran for campaign funds during the 2009 Israeli elections.

There are also calls for Netanyahu to be investigated for his role in a billion-dollar deal to purchase three submarines from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems GmbH.

Netanyahu’s personal lawyer and one of his closest confidants, David Shimron, reportedly represented the German company behind the submarine contract.

The Israeli prime minister is separately also subjected to accusations that he and his wife, Sara, misappropriated public funds to pay for private expenses, ranging from laundry to ice cream.

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2, January 2017

US: Trump to ‘repeal a lot’ of Obama’s actions ⁰

US President-elect Donald Trump will repeal “a lot” of President Barack Obama’s executive actions on his first day in the White House, says a top aide of America’s 45th president. Sean Spicer, Trump’s designated White House press secretary, told ABC on Sunday that the incoming president was planning to immediately annul some of Obama’s actions that he thinks have “hampered” the economy.

He would repeal “the regulations and actions that have been taken by this administration over the last eight years that have hampered both economic growth and job creation,” Spicer said without revealing more details. Trump has not hold back on criticizing Obama’s decisions on immigration, energy regulation and foreign policy. He has accused Obama of jeopardizing the country’s security by accepting thousands of refugees without using a proper vetting process. The Republican president-elect has pledged to deport undocumented immigrants and build a wall on the border with Mexico.

The New York businessman has also indicated that he would pull out of the 2015 Paris Agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Obama was a signatory to the pact, which entered into force on November 4. Trump, who believes climate change is a “hoax” created by China, has picked Scott Pruitt, attorney general of Oklahoma and a skeptic of climate change, to head the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

On foreign policy, Trump has undermined Obama’s stance on Russia and has accused the outgoing president of “creating” the Daesh (ISIL) terror group. He says he would cooperate with Russia in the fight against Daesh. Spicer said Sunday that Trump was also going to “bring a new brand to Washington” by banning members of his administration from becoming lobbyists for a period of five years after they leave his government. “It’s very forward-thinking,” he said. “What we’ve had in the past is people who have looked in the rearview mirror. This time, we’re thinking forward. If you want to serve in a Trump administration, you’re going to serve this country, not yourself.”

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