World

25, January 2019

US: Trump’s election adviser Roger Stone arrested by FBI over Russia probe ⁰

US President Donald Trump’s longtime ally and presidential campaign adviser, Roger Stone, has been arrested over charges that he obstructed US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into possible collusion between the Trump election campaign and Russia before the 2016 US presidential election.

Stone was arrested Friday by FBI agents at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after being indicted by a grand jury on Thursday, according to Mueller’s office.

He was also charged with making false statements and witness tampering.

Stone, who has repeatedly said in interviews that he was likely to be indicted, is scheduled to appear at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale later on Friday, Mueller’s office said.

Stone has faced scrutiny for his support for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, when he suggested he had access to information obtained by hackers that could damage the campaigns of Democratic Party presidential candidates, including Trump’s rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton.

In the summer of 2016, WikiLeaks began publishing Democratic emails that Mueller has previously alleged were obtained by Russian government hackers in an effort to interfere with the presidential election and embarrass Clinton.

Stone “took steps to obstruct” investigations by intelligence committees in the House of Representatives and Senate into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, prosecutors said.

He also tried to persuade a witness to provide false testimony and withhold information from the congressional investigations, the indictment said.

The indictment goes to the heart of Mueller’s investigation and could pose serious risk to Trump.

In the indictment, Stone is alleged to have had advance notice that WikiLeaks would release personal email stolen from the account of Clinton election campaign chairman John Podesta.

Clinton

Trump has repeatedly denied collusion with Russia and slammed the federal investigation as a “witch hunt.” Russia also has rejected any cooperation with Trump’s campaign.

US intelligence agencies say Moscow interfered in US politics in the 2016 election in an effort to boost Trump’s chances of winning the election.

Source: Presstv

23, January 2019

EU, AU Signal Support for Contested Congo President-Elect ⁰

The European Union and the African Union said on Tuesday they had taken note of the decision by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Constitutional Court to back disputed president-elect Felix Tshisekedi, signalling they would work with him.

Asked about the Dec. 30 election, the EU and the AU said they discussed the outcome at a meeting in Brussels, noting the court’s support for Tshisekedi. Officials at a news conference did not explicitly say in public that they recognized him as the winner, however.

Reuters

20, January 2019

US: Trump offers deal to end government shutdown despite rejection by Dems ⁰

US President Donald Trump has offered a deal to end the government shutdown, linking protection for undocumented immigrants to funding of a border wall, amid immediate rejection by Democratic lawmakers.

Addressing the nation on Saturday in a televised speech from the White House, Trump outlined a plan that would extend temporary protections for young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children — known as Dreamers — and individuals from some Central American and African nations, in exchange for $5.7 billion funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border.

“Both sides in Washington must simply come together, listen to each other, put down their armor, build trust, reach across the aisle and find solutions,” Trump proclaimed, but then insisted, “A wall is not immoral. The radical left can never control our borders. I will never let that happen.”

He further added, “As a candidate for president, I promised I would fix this crisis, and I intend to keep that promise one way or the other.”

According to local press reports, Trump’s deal would extend protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients for three years and a three-year extension of protections for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders in exchange for the partial border wall funding.

Democrats, however, quickly rejected the deal, with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York emphasizing that Trump’s offering some protections for DACA and TPS recipients “in exchange for the wall is not a compromise but more hostage taking.”

File photo of US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Photo by AFP)

Schumer further accused the US president of “putting forward one-sided and ineffective remedies,” adding, “There’s only way out: open up the government, Mr. President, and then Democrats and Republicans can have a civil discussion and come up with bipartisan solutions.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi further described Trump’s proposal as a “non-starter” in a statement released shortly before his nationally-televised speech, insisting that the deal could not pass the House of Representative.

US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) answers questions during her weekly press conference January 10, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

“Democrats were hopeful that the president was finally willing to re-open government and proceed with a much-need discussion to protect the border. … It is unlikely that any one of these provisions alone would pass the House, and taken together, they are a non-starter,” Pelosi further said in her statement.

The development came as tensions are also running high between Trump and Pelosi after she asked him to postpone the annual State of the Union address, slated for January 29. Trump in turn prevented lawmakers from using military aircraft for congressional trips, including for Pelosi’s planned visit to the war-torn Afghanistan this week.

PressTV-Tensions rising between Trump, Pelosi over shutdown

This is while two congressional aides cited in local press reports also pointed out that Democratic leadership was not consulted on the forthcoming White House proposal, further noting that Democrats had previously rejected similar ideas.

“Similar inadequate offers from the Administration were already rejected by Democrats. The BRIDGE Act does not fully protect Dreamers and is not a permanent solution,” said a senior House Democratic aide.

“This is not a compromise as it includes the same wasteful, ineffective $5.7 billion wall demand that shut down the government in the first place,” the aide added.

Trump also underlined in his speech that he was making his pitch to “break the logjam” that has paralyzed Washington since late December, leaving roughly a quarter of the government closed and forcing roughly 800,000 federal employees be furloughed or work without pay.

The partial government shutdown, which marks the longest lapse in funding in modern US history, is currently in its 29th day as the stalemate over the funding of the border wall persists.

Meanwhile, several recent polls have shown that a majority of Americans blame Trump for the partial shutdown after the US president left a meeting earlier this month with Pelosi when the House speaker said she wouldn’t discuss border wall funding even if he reopened the government.

Seeking to make his case during his speech, Trump further seized on his belief that there is a “crisis” along the border requiring “urgent action.”

“Illegal immigration reduces wages and strains public services. The lack of border control provides a gateway, a very wide and open gateway, for criminals and gang members to enter the United States,” he claimed.

Source: Presstv

19, January 2019

International Criminal Court grants prosecution request to keep President Gbagbo in custody ⁰

Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo will stay behind bars at least until a fresh appeal hearing on February 1, despite his acquittal this week by the International Criminal Court, the tribunal said Friday.

Judges cleared 73-year-old Gbagbo on Tuesday on charges of crimes against humanity relating to a wave of violence after disputed elections in 2010, and ordered his immediate release. The crisis claimed some 3,000 lives.

But prosecutors at the Hague-based court challenged the release of Gbagbo, who has already spent seven years in jail, saying he should be detained while they make a broader appeal over his acquittal.

“The detention of Mr Laurent Gbagbo… shall be maintained pending the consideration of the present appeal” against his release, the ICC’s appeals judges said in a statement.

They will hold a fresh hearing on February 1 “in order to hear further submissions on the appeal.” Judges made the same order for Gbagbo’s co-defendant and right-hand man Charles Ble Goude.

Prosecutors had argued that there was a “concrete” risk the Ivorian pair fail to return to the ICC if a subsequent appeal overturned Tuesday’s decision to acquit them. Gbagbo’s daughter has said he intended to return to the Ivory Coast if released.

(AFP)

13, January 2019

US: Castro announces 2020 presidential election bid to take on Trump ⁰

A top Hispanic politician has announced his bid to run in the US 2020 presidential election in an effort to deny the current US leader, Donald Trump, a second term.

Former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro, a Democrat, made the announcement in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas Saturday.

“I am a candidate for president of the United States of America,” he said during a speech. “There is a crisis today, it’s a crisis of leadership. Donald Trump has failed to uphold the values of our great nation.”

The 44-year-old officially launched his presidential campaign as preparations were underway for two key conventions in the Latino political world.

If elected, Castro will be the first Hispanic president in US history.

“I know that with your help and support we have the best candidate with the best ideas and the biggest heart,” said his brother, Texas Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro.

The former Obama administration official has pledged support for various progressive positions, including a “Medicare for all” single-payer health care system.

He has also vowed to “recommit the United States to the Paris climate accord,” which Trump scrapped.

The GOP rushed to respond to Castro’s announcement, calling him a “one of the biggest lightweights to ever run for president.”

“Julián Castro has made history by becoming one of the biggest lightweights to ever run for president. He was a weak mayor who couldn’t even handle being HUD secretary. This is obviously just another desperate attempt to become someone else’s running mate,” Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens said.

Castro served as the mayor of San Antonio until 2014.

His bid for the White House in 2020 was announced ahead of conventions by Bold PAC — the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s (CHC) campaign arm — and the Latino Victory Fund in Puerto Rico on Sunday.

12, January 2019

Confusion over policy as US begins Syria withdrawal ⁰

The United States has begun withdrawing from Syria, a military spokesman said Friday, as international observers struggled to make sense of the future of US policy in the war-torn nation.

The US-led coalition “has begun the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria”, said Colonel Sean Ryan, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the multinational force battling the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Coalition member nations have not yet issued a response to the US announcement.

“Out of concern for operational security, we will not discuss specific timelines, locations or troops movements,” Ryan said in a statement to the AP. The timeline for any Syria withdrawal has long been a matter of confusion.

President Donald Trump’s December 19 tweeted announcement that the US would withdraw the approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria within 30 days stunned US allies and even those within the administration.

The decision was a surprise even for the US special envoy to Syria, Joel Rayburn, NBC News reported, citing someone familiar with the situation. Rayburn had been scheduled to speak at an event on Syria policy the very morning Trump tweeted his announcement, forcing Rayburn’s appearance to be cancelled less than half an hour before it was scheduled to begin.

Trump’s move also prompted the swift resignations of both Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

After coming under criticism for the abruptness of his decision, Trump extended the pullout target from one month to several, later abandoning the idea of a deadline at all.

In his first Cabinet meeting of the New Year on January 2, Trump denied he had ever suggested a timetable.

“I never said fast or slow,” Trump said of the US withdrawal during the televised Cabinet meeting. “Somebody said four months, but I did not say that either.”

Analysts have warned that the US is unlikely to be able to achieve any of its goals in Syria without a significant troop presence. Others have warned of the risks of leaving the Kurds, the US allies whose YPG fighters have helped lead the fight to expel the Islamic State group from much of the country, without sufficient backup from US forces to stave off a promised offensive from Turkey.

Ankara considers Kurdish forces adversaries because of their links to the PKK separatist group active inside Turkey. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the far-right media outlet Newsmax that part of the US mission was still “ensuring that the Turks don’t slaughter the Kurds”.

Over the next few days Trump sought to underscore that there was no rush, telling reporters at the White House on January 6 that “we are pulling back in Syria. We’re going to be removing our troops. I never said we’re doing it that quickly.”

“We won’t be finally pulled out until ISIS is gone,” he added, using another acronym for the Islamic State group.

Damage-control diplomacy

Trump himself tried to assuage fears with a Monday tweet denying any change in policy. “We will be leaving at a proper pace while at the same time continuing to fight ISIS and doing all else that is prudent and necessary!” Trump wrote.

But Trump’s initial announcement had already sent administration officials into a new round of damage control, rushing to reassure allies that the pullout will not be swift or sudden.

Shortly after the start of the year, Secretary of State Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton embarked on Middle East tours aimed at bolstering regional alliances. Bolton was dispatched to Israel and Turkeywhile Pompeoset off on a nine-nation trip to Jordan, Iraq and Egypt before heading to the Gulf to visit Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait.

Speaking in Israel on January 6, Bolton said US troops would remain in northeastern Syria until Islamic State forces are routed and Kurdish fighters were ensured of protection.

Bolton said there were “conditions” that must be met before the US pullout that could take months or even years.

“There are objectives that we want to accomplish that condition the withdrawal,” Bolton told reporters in Jerusalem, including the defeat of the estimated 17,000 remaining IS fighters in Syria.

Turkey must “meet the president’s requirement that the Syrian opposition forces that have fought with us are not endangered”, he said, making a clear reference to the Kurds.

The remarks sparked outrage from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called them a “serious mistake” and later appeared to snub Bolton, cancelling their meeting mere moments before it was about to begin.

But those sentiments were echoed by Pompeo, speaking from the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq after a visit to Baghdad.

“These have been folks that have fought with us and it’s important that we do everything we can to ensure that those folks that fought with us are protected,” Pompeo said in Erbil.

In a speech in Cairo on Thursday, Pompeo tried to convince US allies that policy in Syria had not shifted focus. The “complete dismantling” of the Islamic State group remains a US goal, he said, as does curtailing Iranian influence in Syria.

“Let me be clear: America will not retreat until the terror fight is over,” Pompeo said.

But even as officials criss-crossed the Middle East in a bid to clarify the US role in the region, analysts and politicians at home remained confused about the future of the US’s policy in Syria. “It is policy-making in reverse,” Aaron Stein, director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Middle East Program, told the Wall Street Journal.

Officials have been left attempting to make sense of the president’s orders on their own, resulting in a disjointed – and at times, self-serving – approach. “They are all trying to interpret the president’s directives in ways that comport with their own pet national-security projects, and not focused on coming up with one set of plays that each element of the government can work together on to implement,” Stein said.

Meanwhile, a UNHCR spokesman told a press conference on Friday that the UN is concerned over reports of new fighting in eastern Syria.

“We are deeply concerned about the situation in the northeast of the country,” said senior spokesman Andrej Mahecic. “There are reports of mounting civilian casualties, including many women and children, and a large-scale civilian displacement amid renewed fighting in the Hajin enclave in Deir Ezzor governorate in the east of Syria.”

But those hoping for some clarity on US Middle East policy may have to wait a bit longer. Pompeo told Fox News while in Cairo that an international conference focusing on Iran and the Middle East would take place in Poland on February 13-14.

Culled from France 24

12, January 2019

US: Democrat Tulsi Gabbard says she will run for president in 2020 ⁰

Democratic US Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii said in remarks aired by CNN on Friday that she will run for president in 2020, becoming the latest member of her party to pursue a challenge to Republican President Donald Trump.

“I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” Gabbard, a liberal 37-year-old Iraq War veteran as well as the first Hindu and first Samoan-American elected to the US Congress, told CNN.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Dec. 31 announced she had formed an exploratory committee for a White House run in what is expected to be a crowded Democratic primary field before the November 2020 presidential election.

Gabbard said “the issue of war and peace” would be the main focus of her campaign.

Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Democratic presidential field could eventually include Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden. Julian Castro, former President Barack Obama’s housing secretary, also formed an exploratory committee in December.

In the race to pick a candidate to run against Trump, Democrats will grapple with the tension between the party’s establishment and liberal wings that flared during the 2016 state-by-state nominating contests between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who ran under the Democratic banner.

Gabbard made headlines in 2016 by quitting a leadership post at the Democratic National Committee over the party’s decision to limit the number of debates between Clinton and Sanders, with analysts believing fewer debates benefited Clinton. Clinton ultimately won the Democratic nomination but lost to Trump.

The congresswoman then endorsed Sanders for president, becoming one of the few members of Congress to do so. Gabbard remains popular with some liberals but will have serious competition with other candidates on the left flank of the party.

Gabbard has also drawn criticism for secretly meeting with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, whose removal from power she opposes, during a 2017 trip to the war-ravaged country.

PressTV- US congresswoman in 'secret' visit to Damascus

Iowa holds the first presidential nominating contest in 13 months. Warren informally kicked off the 2020 Democratic presidential nominating fight on visit last weekend to Iowa, condemning the corrupting influence of money on politics and lamenting lost economic opportunities for working families.

(Source: Reuters)

5, January 2019

Chief Dr. Dion Ngute’s invitation to “Come and Chop” ⁰

President Paul Biya has appointed Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute as the new Prime Minister replacing Philemon Yang. The appointment was made public some 24 hours after his residence was burnt down by Ambazonian Restoration Forces in his native Bobongo, Ekondo Titi in the Ndian County of Southern Cameroons

Joseph Dion Ngute was Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic. Born on March 12, 1954, Joseph Dion Ngute is a career diplomat with a Ph.D from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom attached to his name.

He was rector of the Advanced School of Administration and Magistracy ENAM in 1991 before joining the Biya ruling CPDM clan on the 7^th of December 1997 when he was appointed as Minister Delegate at the Ministry of External Relations in Charge of the Commonwealth. Joseph Dion Ngute also moonlights as the traditional ruler of the Barombi tribe, Ndian County in Southern Cameroons.

Dion Ngute’s appointment and the war in Southern Cameroons

Rotating the post of Prime Minister between the two Southern Cameroons zones with these men of yesteryears will not resolve the Anglophone crisis. Moderate Southern Cameroons political commentators have opined that “If Biya wants to save Cameroon from implosion, he should without further delay, return Cameroon to a federal system with a rotating presidency.” “Only such bold initiatives which give Anglophones a stake in the country called Cameroon can convince Ambazonians to reconsider their struggle for independence.”

All these musical chair appointments are token measures of appeasement a smack of desperation to fuel the NW/SW schism and divide the resistance. It might have worked before, but it will fail because people like Musonge, Philemon Yang, and Dion Ngute no longer speak on behalf of Anglophones. His house was burnt just yesterday, and this should signal to Biya that Dion, like other SW CPDM elite, are considered traitors of the Ambazonia struggle. His appointment as PM is just an invitation for him and his cronies to “come and chop”

27, December 2018

Russia backs bin Salman, warns US not to interfere with Saudi throne succession ⁰

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has “every right” to succeed his ailing father into power, says Russian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, warning the United States against interfering with the embattled prince’s right to rule the kingdom.

Bogdanov, who is also President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to the Middle East, said Tuesday it was up to Riyadh to decide what was next for bin Salman when King Salman, 82, dies. “Of course we are against interference. The Saudi people and leadership must decide such questions themselves,” Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview in Moscow, according to Bloomberg.

Bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler last year in an untraditional manner, replacing Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the late Saudi king’s son.

Wary of getting bogged down in a power struggle, bin Salman soon launched a widespread crackdown against other royals to cement his grip on power.

However, his actions went mostly unanswered until October this year, when Riyadh admitted to murdering dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

The crown prince has also faced worldwide criticism for leading the ongoing deadly war against Yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians.

US President Donald Trump’s reluctance to hold the crown prince responsible for his actions has prompted angry bipartisan calls in Washington to remove MbS from power.

Prominent senators have publicly blasted the crown prince, with Lindsey Graham, Trump’s staunch ally, calling him “crazy” and “dangerous.”

Bogdanov said Tuesday that Americans were in no positions to make such calls.

“The king made a decision and I can’t even imagine on what grounds someone in America will interfere in such an issue and think about who should rule Saudi Arabia, now or in the future. This is a Saudi matter.”

Culled from Presstv

22, December 2018

US House adjourns, ensuring a government shutdown ⁰

The U.S. House of Representatives adjourned just before 7 p.m. on Friday night (0000 GMT on Saturday), leaving the Capitol before approving government funding and thereby ensuring a government shutdown. The House is set to return from recess at noon on Saturday.

The failure by the U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump to agree to a government spending bill by midnight will shutdown several federal agencies.

Donald Trump on Friday threatened a “very long” government shutdown if opposition Democrats refuse to approve funds for more border security and a wall on the US border with Mexico.

“Shutdown today if Democrats do not vote for Border Security!” Trump fumed, one of a string of tweets on the subject.

“The Democrats, whose votes we need in the Senate, will probably vote against Border Security and the Wall even though they know it is DESPERATELY NEEDED.

“If the Dems vote no, there will be a shutdown that will last for a very long time. People don’t want Open Borders and Crime!”

Trump and congressional Democrats remain far apart as a midnight Friday deadline looms to approve funds to keep the US government up and running.

Without an agreement, key agencies will close and many workers will be furloughed right before Christmas without a paycheck.

Trump appeared to harden his demand for $5 billion in funding for the wall on the US-Mexico border, a pet project he has fought for since he began campaigning for president in 2015.

“Even President Ronald Reagan tried for 8 years to build a Border Wall, or Fence, and was unable to do so. Others also have tried. We will get it done, one way or the other!” Trump wrote.

According to Trump, “The Democrats are trying to belittle the concept of a Wall, calling it old fashioned. The fact is there is nothing else’s that will work, and that has been true for thousands of years.

“It?s like the wheel, there is nothing better. I know tech better than anyone, & technology….. on a Border is only effective in conjunction with a Wall.”

(France 24 with Reuters and AFP)