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Teenager Mbappe sends France through to last 16 as Peru knocked out

22, June 2018

Teenager Mbappe sends France through to last 16 as Peru knocked out 0

France beat Peru 1-0 with a goal from Kylian Mbappe on Thursday to book their place in the last 16 of the World Cup and crush the South Americans’ hopes of progressing in their first appearance at the tournament for 36 years.

Mbappe’s 34th minute goal took him past David Trezeguet’s record (20) as France’s youngest scorer in the competition, at 19 years of age, and took them to two wins from two games in Group C.

When Olivier Giroud’s shot took a deflection off a defender and looped over goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, the teenager was on hand to tap in a simple chance.

But Les Bleus failed to convert several other first-half chances and rarely threatened their opponents’ goal after the break, as they struggled for the second game running to justify their status as one of the pre-tournament favourites.

The result leaves France on six points and Denmark and Australia on four and one respectively after their 1-1 draw earlier in the day.

Peru have yet to win a point but they have won numerous hearts in Russia, thanks to their industrious style of play and the passion of their supporters, a remarkable 15,000 of whom made the journey to roar on their team in Yekaterinburg.

They could have had even more to cheer, were it not for several near misses.

Spotting goalkeeper Hugo Lloris off his line, Yoshimar Yotun tried an audacious shot from just inside the French half that went just over the bar as Peru unsettled their opponents in the early stages.

Later in the first half, striker Paolo Guerrero outsmarted Samuel Umtiti in the penalty area but fired his shot at Lloris’s legs.

After the break, Pedro Aquino hit the post and Andre Carrillo and Luis Advincula struck powerful shots over the bar, but all the Peruvian efforts were from long range.

Having survived a nervous opening 10 minutes, France looked as though they might dominate the match, with Antoine Griezmann darting at Peru’s defence, Mbappe showing off his tricks and flicks, and full backs Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez pressing forward on the wings.

But they were subdued in the second half, suffering frustration in the closing minutes when Blaise Matuidi shot just wide and Giroud had an effort blocked that ballooned over the top of the goal.

(REUTERS)


EU’s tit-for-tat tariffs on US goods come into force

22, June 2018

EU’s tit-for-tat tariffs on US goods come into force 0

The European Union slapped revenge tariffs on iconic US products including bourbon, jeans and motorcycles on Friday in its opening salvo in a trade war with President Donald Trump.

The tariffs, which took effect at midnight (2200 GMT Thursday) according to the EU’s official journal, will further fuel jitters on world stock markets that are already alarmed by trade tensions between the United States and China.

Customs agents across the Europe’s colossal market of 500 million people will now impose the duty, hiking prices on US-made products in supermarkets and across factory floors.

Brussels imposed the raft of duties on US products worth 2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in a tit-for-tat response to Trump’s decision to slap stiff tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said this week that the 28-nation bloc was “left with no other choice” but to impose tariffs of its own after the “unilateral and unjustified decision of the US.”

Together with US tariffs against Mexico and Canada, the trade battles have raised the spectre of a global trade war, spooking financial markets that fear major consequences to the global economy.

“We have a trade war — and it’s an escalating trade war,” SEB chief economist Robert Bergqvist told AFP in an interview.

Brussels first drew up the list in March when Trump initially floated the 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminium, which also target Canada, Mexico and other close allies.

The list does not specifically name brands but European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker spelled out in March that the bloc would target “Harley-Davidson, bourbon and Levi’s jeans”.

Cranberries, cranberry juice, orange juice, sweetcorn and peanut butter are among the other food products targeted.

The list also hits clothing along with bed linen and men’s leather footwear, eye make-up and lipsticks, plus a host of steel products.

‘Against all logic’

Juncker said on Thursday that the US decision to impose tariffs “goes against all logic and history”.

“Our response must be clear but measured. We will do what we have to do to rebalance and safeguard,” he said.

European consumers would be able to find “alternatives”, European Commission Vice President for trade Jyrki Katainen said.

“If we chose products like Harley Davidson, peanut butter and bourbon, it’s because there are alternatives on the market. We don’t want to do anything that would harm consumers,” he said on Thursday.

“What’s more, these products will have a strong symbolic political impact.”

Analyst Bergqvist argued that his “main concern” over a trade war was the impact on stock markets — and the subsequent knock-on effect for the world economy.

“All these kind of things going on right now could trigger that kind of behaviour and initiate a correction in the stock markets, and that could also trigger a slowdown in the global economy,” he said.

Relations reach new lows

Transatlantic ties are at their lowest level for many years due to rows over a host of issues including the tariffs, the Paris climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal and the new US embassy in Jerusalem.

Relations plumbed new depths at the recent G7 summit when Trump abruptly rejected the joint statement and bitterly insulted his Canadian host, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trump claimed America had been obliged to levy the metals tariffs as it has been exploited as the world’s “piggy bank”. He is also targeting EU auto imports with a US probe now underway.

Trump’s outbursts were the latest in which he has clashed with America’s closest allies, even as he has had warm words for autocrats like North Korean leader Kim Jong un, with whom he had a historic meeting last week, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

But US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs Wess Mitchell said on Thursday that Trump’s approach towards his allies was about “strategic renovation”.

“Strengthening the West means making hard decisions today when we initially disagree, rather than continuing to accept the appearance of transatlantic unity for the sake of avoiding disagreement,” he told the Carnegie Europe think-tank in Brussels.

(AFP)


Exposed: Médecins Sans Frontières workers in Africa used ‘very young’ prostitutes

22, June 2018

Exposed: Médecins Sans Frontières workers in Africa used ‘very young’ prostitutes 0

Some senior staff working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Africa have allegedly used “very young” local prostitutes, the BBC reported on Thursday, citing former staff members of the renowned charity. The not-for-profit group said it took the allegations seriously – which according to the BBC involved logistical staff, and not doctors or nurses – but said it had so far been unable to confirm the claims and urged anyone with information to come forward.

The aid industry has been shaken by reports of sexual wrongdoing since it emerged in February that Oxfam staff paid for sex in Haiti during a relief mission after a 2010 earthquake. A former employee based in MSF’s London office told the BBC she had seen a senior staff member bring girls back to MSF accommodation while posted in Kenya.

“The girls were very young and rumoured to be prostitutes,” she said, adding that it was “implicit” that they were there for sex. She said some of the older, long-standing male aid workers took advantage of their positions.

“I felt that, with some of the older guys, there was definitely an abuse of power,” she said. “They’d been there for a long time and took advantage of their exalted status as a Western aid worker.”

She questioned what the charity knew, saying: “There’s definitely a feeling that certain predatory men were seen as too big to fail.”  “It is quite breathtaking,” former aid worker Shaista Aziz says on claims MSF staff used local prostitutes.

Another female employee who worked with HIV patients in central Africa said the use of local sex workers was widespread. “There was this older colleague, who actually moved a woman into the (charity) compound. It was pretty obvious that she was a prostitute but he’d call her his girlfriend,” she said.

A third whistleblower described how a senior colleague boasted of trading medication for sex with girls in Ebola-hit Liberia.

“He said, ‘Oh it’s so easy. It’s so easy to barter medication with these easy girls in Liberia’,” she told the programme. “He was suggesting lots of the young girls who had lost their parents to the Ebola crisis, that they would do anything sexual in return for medication.”

The BBC said it had not been able to verify that particular allegation. In an email to FRANCE 24, the head of press for MSF UK stringently denied the claim that medicines have been traded for sex, a practice she said would be “completely abhorrent”.

In all, eight female ex-MSF workers came forward in the BBC report, saying the charity, which employs 42,000 people worldwide, has a “toxic” culture. In a statement, the agency said, “We do not tolerate abuse, harassment or exploitation within MSF.”

“We are sorry for any instances where people have been subjected to harassment, abuse or otherwise mistreated and/or felt that it was not adequately dealt with.” “We know that MSF is not immune to these issues and we take any reports seriously,” the charity’s statement added.

But it said that “based on the information provided, we have been unable to confirm the specific allegations”. “We would urge anyone with any concerns to report them via MSF’s confidential whistleblowing mechanisms so that we can take action,” it said. MSF said 20 people were sacked in 2017 for sexual abuse or harassment, and 10 people the year before.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP, REUTERS)


Hundreds stranded in Southern Cameroons, as Ambazonian fighters block roads

21, June 2018

Hundreds stranded in Southern Cameroons, as Ambazonian fighters block roads 0

Hundreds of Cameroonians have been stranded in Kumba since Saturday (June 16) because of road blocks erected by secessionists, on the main road to the troubled Southwest region’s capital city, Buea.

The Kumba – Buea axis is a major trading route for cocoa from Kumba to the Buea hub. It is also a route frequented by many travellers.

What began in late 2016 as a peaceful movement calling for greater representation of the mostly French-speaking country’s Anglophone minority, morphed into conflict after a heavy-handed government response, in which troops shot at civilians from helicopter gunships and burned villages.

The army denies such accusations but authorities say a crackdown is necessary to restore peace and curb banditry, describing it as an anti-terrorist operation.

The unrest in the oil- and cocoa-producing southwest and northwest regions often involves hit-and-run attacks by insurgents targeting the army.

Residents of the region say their lives have been disrupted, while travellers are now stranded due to road blocks and repeated attacks.

“I am totally living in fear, because most of their machines (military tanks) that are passing (by the road) I have never seen them, I have never. This is my first time for seeing the types of guns they are moving with it so am in fear.

So when they are passing with those guns like that to me I just know that death is by the corner, and it’s difficult for me even to move and to look for something to eat. So where I stay I just like a prison yard. I cannot move. Am here just because, because of the transport issue without that I could have sat at home,” said Peter Agbor, a traveller.

“I have been here for 5 days. All this has really hindered my journey because am going to spend like some few days with my aunt in Buea before going back to where am from, like to help to raise income for my studies next year.

So it has really hindered me because I have not been able to reach Buea till today. We came here on Saturday and we are still here. We were told the roads were to be open yesterday but since there is still a barrier on the road we can’t go,” said Juliette Musongo, another traveller.

Clashes between insurgents fighting for a breakaway republic in Cameroon’s Anglophone region and security forces, have killed scores of people and displaced tens of thousands more since the conflict intensified late last year.

Insurgents have abducted and killed soldiers and policemen in hit-and-run guerrilla raids.
The government issued a report on Wednesday (June 20) saying Armed separatists in English-speaking regions of Cameroon have killed over 80 soldiers and police since their insurgency began in September last year.

Source: Africa News


Refugees trying to enter EU illegally with World Cup Fan IDs

21, June 2018

Refugees trying to enter EU illegally with World Cup Fan IDs 0

Authorities in Finland and Belarus, which share border with 2018 World Cup host Russia, say refugees are using Fan IDs issued for visits to the country during the tournament to try to enter the European Union.

Andrey Sytenkov, an investigator with Belarus’s State Border Committee, said Wednesday that a small number of foreigners had been arrested while trying to enter the country or trying to cross the border with EU members Lithuania and Poland under the guise of football fans.

Sytenkov said four Moroccans had been stopped while transiting Belarus, adding that they were in temporary detention and faced fines, deportation and a five-year ban on entering the country. He said an unspecified number of Pakistanis were also detected by authorities as they tried to enter the EU illegally. The official did not elaborate on the whereabouts of the Pakistani nationals.

“More ‘illegals’ have entered Belarus under the guise of football fans … We are ready for the fact that Europe will not accept them and will be sending them back,” said Sytenkov during a press conference in Minsk, adding that the Belarusian border guard service “has information on groups of pseudo-fans” on the country’s western borders.

A Fan ID is a document that all the spectators of 2018 FIFA World Cup matches must have to get access to stadiums.

A fan (R) talks with staff of the World Cup Fan ID distribution center in Moscow, Russia, on December 7, 2017. (Photo by AP)

 

Finish authorities also pointed to three cases of people holding the Russia-issued Fan IDs who had crossed the Russian-Finnish border.

“They will not be deported to Russia immediately,” Border Guard official Marko Saareks said of the people who had requested asylum in Finland.

Saareks warned that more refugees could enter Finland using the Fan IDs until the end of the World Cup on July 15.

“There is a threat of this kind of phenomenon,” said the official.

Russia introduced the Fan ID system to ease its strict visa rules during the World Cup so that supporters of teams participating in the tournament could easily travel between Russian cities.

However, the Russian police have used the system as an additional security measure by conducting background checks with the help of their foreign counterparts. Authorities said ahead of the world Cup, which started on June 14, that Fan IDs were not issued for some 500 people.


Amnesty International Finds Trouble Brewing in Cameroon

21, June 2018

Amnesty International Finds Trouble Brewing in Cameroon 0

In a new 37 page report, the rights watchdog Amnesty International has documented “unlawful killings, destruction of private property, arbitrary arrests and torture” in two restive regions in Cameroon tied to a power struggle pitting French against English-speaking Cameroonians.

In the Amnesty report titled, “A turn for the worse: Violence and human rights violations in Anglophone Cameroon”, victims gave harrowing accounts of beatings and allegations of simulated electrocution and torture carried out by the military as well as attacks on schools and teachers by armed Anglophone separatists.

“Far from resolving the crisis, the clampdown on any form of dissent and the heavy-handed response by the Cameroonian authorities and security forces appear to have empowered and created space for more radical and violent movements to emerge, with a focus on secession and armed struggle,” Amnesty said.

Unrest in Cameroon drew international attention in November 2016 when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the northwest and southwest began calling for reforms and greater autonomy. They marched on the streets, criticizing what they called the overbearing influence of French in the country, which has English and French as its official languages.

Last month, a military tribunal sentenced seven English-speaking detainees to 10 to 15 years in prison in connection with the unrest that has paralyzed business. Among them was radio host Mancho Bibixy, leader of the so-called “coffin revolution” who used an open casket in street demonstrations calling for better conditions for the poor.

While news accounts refer to “separatists” and “Anglophones”, few discuss the historic ties of the “separatists” to Ambazonia, the southern territory of Cameroon founded for freed slaves in the 19th century, ceded to Germany, regained by the armies of France, Britain and Belgium and finally becoming a UN trust territory in 1961.

Among the news sites that follow Ambazonia is the U.S.-based Waging Nonviolence. In a story this month on the deteriorating situation in southern Cameroon, they write:

“The patience of some Ambazonians has worn thin over the past several months, as government repression continues to escalate. While the majority have stuck with nonviolent resistance, a violent flank of separatists have armed themselves, using guerrilla tactics to abduct and kill agents of (President Paul) Biya’s government. This has enabled Biya to brand the military occupation of Ambazonia as a struggle against terrorism. And scorched-earth tactics have increased since late 2017 as a result.”

Culled from The Chronicle


Yaounde says Ambazonian fighters have killed 84 troops since Sept. 2017

21, June 2018

Yaounde says Ambazonian fighters have killed 84 troops since Sept. 2017 0

Armed separatists in English-speaking regions of Cameroon have killed over 80 soldiers and police since their insurgency began in September last year, the government said in a report on Wednesday that suggests the conflict is intensifying.

What began in late 2016 as a peaceful movement calling for greater representation of the mostly French-speaking country’s Anglophone minority morphed into conflict after a heavy-handed government response, in which troops shot at civilians from helicopter gunships and burned villages.

That bolstered support for some in Anglophone Cameroon who want to form a new state called Ambazonia. The unrest in the oil- and cocoa-producing Southwest and Northwest regions often involves hit-and-run attacks by insurgents on the army.

“Statistics as of 11 June 2018 showed that 123 attacks had been carried out claiming 84 lives, including 32 soldiers, 42 gendarmes, seven police officers, two prison warders and one eco-guard,” said the report, presented by Prime Minister Philemon Yang at a news conference in Yaounde.

In February, an army spokesman told Reuters separatists had killed 22 soldiers and policemen in the previous five months.

No figures are available for casualties on the separatist side, but its leaders says there have been some.

The fighting has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee over the border into Nigeria. In the report, the government pledged 12.7 billion CFA francs ($21.7 million) over 18 months to help nearly 75,000 people who have been displaced across the two Anglophone regions.

President Paul Biya seeks reelection in October polls, after leading the country for more than three decades.

Culled from Reuters


Seven Islamist militants surrender in southern Algeria

21, June 2018

Seven Islamist militants surrender in southern Algeria 0

Seven Islamist militants surrendered to Algerian authorities on Wednesday near the North African country’s border with Mali, the defence ministry said.

Security forces recovered arms including six Kalashnikov assault rifles, the ministry said in a statement.

Violence has declined in Algeria since the 1990s, when a conflict between the state and Islamist insurgents killed an estimated 200,000 people.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and small bands of fighters allied to Islamic State are still active in some remote areas.

Reuters


Language, identity and the growing risk of atrocities in Cameroon

21, June 2018

Language, identity and the growing risk of atrocities in Cameroon 0

Violence between the security forces and armed separatists in Cameroon continues to escalate, increasing the risk of potential mass atrocity crimes. On 26 May the bodies of at least 29 people, including children, were discovered in the town of Menka in the northwest of the country, highlighting the increasingly violent and insecure environment within Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.

Peaceful demonstrations over the alleged marginalization of Cameroon’s English-speaking minority began in 2016. According to an Amnesty International report released on 11 June, government forces used live ammunition against protesters, arbitrarily arrested and tortured detainees, and have destroyed a number of villages in the restive Anglophone regions. In response, armed Anglophone separatists have killed at least 44 military personnel, burned down schools and attacked teachers for not participating in a separatist boycott. Over 20,000 Cameroonians have fled to neighboring Nigeria.

In order to prevent any further armed conflict and address the growing threat of potential mass atrocity crimes, the government of Cameroon should immediately initiate a dialogue with Anglophone community leaders and constructively address the historic grievances of the English-speaking minority. The government must also ensure that the universal right to freedom of expression and assembly are respected. The security forces must end the use of disproportionate and deadly force against peaceful demonstrators and ensure that the human rights of all Cameroonians are protected, regardless of language or identity.

All perpetrators of grave human rights abuses in Cameroon, including members of armed separatist groups and the military, must be held accountable for their actions.

 

Source: Reliefweb


Russia 2018: Lucky Diego Costa goal sees Spain past tenacious Iran

21, June 2018

Russia 2018: Lucky Diego Costa goal sees Spain past tenacious Iran 0

A lucky Diego Costa goal handed World Cup hopefuls Spain their first win of the World Cup although tenacious Iran came close to causing a major upset on Wednesday.

The victory in Kazan puts the 2010 winners on course for the last 16. Costa, who scored twice in a 3-3 opening draw with Portugal in Sochi, courted controversy early in the Group B encounter when he stepped on the toes of Iran ‘keeper Ali Beiranvand as he waited to kick the ball out.

His gesture went unpunished, and the Atletico Madrid striker required another stroke of luck on 54 minutes when his shot came off Ramin Rezaeian to beat Beiranvand after he had been sent through by Andres Iniesta.

The entire Iranian bench poured onto the pitch when Saeed Ezatolahi fired an equalizer for Team Team Melli just before the hour.

But the thousands of Iranian supporters that filled the stadium with the sound of vuvuzelas throughout were left disappointed when it was ruled out for offside.

Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand (R) dives to save the ball during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Iran and Spain at the Kazan Arena in Kazan on June 20, 2018.

 

Spain coach Fernando Hierro welcomed Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal back into the starting line-up following his recovery from a hamstring injury suffered in the Champions League final win over Liverpool.

With Lucas Vazquez replacing Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke, it gave La Roja a distinctively Real Madrid feel.

By the end of a pulsating opening half in which Iran’s defense thwarted the few real chances La Roja were able to create, Hierro’s men left the pitch looking rather red-faced.

Costa got so frustrated with Iran’s defensive tactics that he approached Beiranvand and provocatively stepped on his toes, leaving the ‘keeper in visible pain.

It went unpunished by Uruguayan referee Cunha, who had awarded France a historic first VAR-assisted penalty that saw Antoine Griezmann score Les Bleus’ opener in a 2-1 win over Australia.

Spain resumed in more positive fashion after the break, Beiranvand forced to produce heroics twice in the space of four minutes. But Iran refused to buckle, Carlos Queiroz’s men coming close in the final minutes when midfielder Mehdi Taremi headed just over.

Shortly after the restart an Isco corner was flicked on by Costa to Gerard Pique but his effort was cleared off the line. Sergio Busquets’ drive from 20 yards was then parried by Beiranvand, who palmed the rebound away before Lucas Vazquez could pounce.

Some great vision from Iniesta, and a slice of luck, however broke Iranian hearts when Costa spun and latched on to the ball before seeing his shot rebound off Rezaeian and into the net.

Spain, however, were still flattering to deceive. On a rare counter goalkeeper David De Gea was left irate when Taremi rose to head a meter wide.

Moments later, the stadium erupted when Ezatolahi fired through a packed Spain area to beat De Gea but the assistant referee’s flag was up.

In the final quarter hour Iran battled for a late equalizer, but after V

Iran’s midfielder Ehsan Hajsafi (L) and Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand react after conceding a goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Iran and Spain at the Kazan Arena in Kazan on June 20, 2018. 

 

Vahid Amiri showed class to nutmeg Pique deep on the left and fire over an inviting cross,

Taremi’s thundering header flew just over the bar as a relieved De Gea looked on.

 

Culled from Presstv


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