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17, January 2020

Russia’s Mikhail Mishustin: the unknown tax chief surprisingly promoted to Prime Minister by Putin ⁰

President Vladimir Putin nominated a new prime minister on Wednesday 15 January after the shock resignation of Dmitry Medvedev, who has been at the head of the government since 2012. Medvedev will be succeeded by Mikhail Mishustin, who until now was a barely known tax chief with no political clout.

After announcing a profound overhaul of Russian institutions and a reform of the constitution in his annual State of the Nation address, Putin proposed Mishustin as the new head of government, following the surprise resignation of the prime minister in office for nearly eight years, Medvedev.

Mishustin had been the head of the Russian tax service since 2010 until Medvedev’s bombshell announcement propelled him to the position of PM.

Russia’s lawmakers quickly approved Mishustin as prime minister on Thursday in a vote in the Duma, or the lower house, less than 24 hours after Putin had nominated him.

Mishustin received 383 votes of 424 cast, with no votes against and 41 abstentions in a victory that had been all but assured when he won the unanimous backing of his party, United Russia, which has a strong majority in the chamber.

Mishustin will have a week to propose a new government and ministers.

He told United Russia that some changes in the cabinet would be made but did not elaborate, lawmaker Viktor Vodolatsky told Interfax.

‘Surprise nomination’

Mishustin, a 53-year-old Moscow civil servant who shares a passion for ice hockey with Putin, is little known by the general public.

Known as a technocrat who loves new technologies and has remained well out of the Russian political arena, his appointment has shocked some experts. “The appointment of an obscure second-rate unknown is a surprise,” reports Nick Holdsworth, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Russia.

“Commentators had instead put forward other names, including Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow who is known to be loyal to President Putin.”

An engineer and economist by training, Mishustin is described by Russian state media as an efficient servant of the state and the creator of the “best tax collection system in the world”, according to the Russia-24 television channel.

On the website of the Russian Presidency, the results of his service and his work are duly praised by the head of state in the reports of his annual meetings with Putin.

‘Forged in the system’

Married with three children, Mikhail Mishustin joined the Russian administration in 1998. He served as Deputy Minister of the taxation department and worked in several government agencies. He is described by political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann to AFP as “an ideologically neutral figure”.

After a two-year stint in the private sector at the head of an investment fund, UFG Asset Management, he was appointed head of the tax department in 2010 with the task of thoroughly modernising it.

A promoter of the digitisation of the Russian economy, Mishustin is behind the creation of a centralised database designed to improve the efficiency of tax collection and to be accessible to all administrations.

“This is certainly an unexpected appointment, but that doesn’t mean it will be rejected. He has a great deal of experience behind him,” said Ilyas Umakhanov, vice-president of the Council of the Federation, the upper house of parliament, before Mishustin had been approved. “He is someone who has been forged in the system.”

During his presidential terms from 2000 to 2008, Putin had already appointed officials who were unfamiliar to the public – like Mikhail Fradkov in 2004. Their key qualities included that they never sought to overshadow the Russian President.

The announcement of major constitutional reforms and the change of government announced on Wednesday are seen by analysts and opponents as an indication that Putin is now looking very seriously at his political future after the end of his last term as President in 2024.

Some suggested 67-year-old Putin, who is two years into his fourth presidential term and has steered the country since 1999, could be laying the groundwork to assume a new position or remain in a powerful behind-the-scenes role.

Independent political analyst Maria Lipman said to AFP that Putin’s announcement indicated that he wanted to “stay on as number one in the country, without any competitors”.

She said he could be deliberately weakening the presidency before relinquishing the role.

Russia’s opposition also said the proposals indicate Putin’s desire to stay in power.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Twitter that Putin’s only goal was to “remain the sole leader for life”.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

17, January 2020

Turkey starting troop deployment to Libya, President Erdogan says ⁰

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is starting deployment of troops to Libya in support of the embattled United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and in line with agreements relating to maritime border demarcation and enhanced security cooperation.

“We signed an agreement with Libya to delineate maritime borders. It is no longer legally possible to conduct exploration and drilling activities or to run pipelines in the region between the Turkish and Libyan coasts without the approval of both countries,” Erdogan announced in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday.

He added, “In 2020, we are licensing these areas and starting the search and drilling as quickly as ever. After the licensing work, for the first time the Oruc Reis seismic research vessel will conduct seismic studies in the region. We are sending our troops to this country to ensure the survival and stability of the legitimate government in Libya.”

Erdogan remarks came only two days after Libya’s renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar left Moscow without signing a binding truce that would have halted his nine-month campaign to seize the GNA’s base of Tripoli, and would have formalized a tentative ceasefire in the war-wracked North African country.

Libyan rebel commander leaves Moscow without signing peace deal

“The draft [agreement] ignores many of the Libyan army’s demands,” Haftar was quoted as saying by the Saudi-owned and Arabic-language al-Arabiya television news network.

Fayez al-Sarraj, the heads of the GNA, had already signed the truce proposal after indirect talks in the Russian capital on Monday.

Last week, Turkey and Russia urged Libya’s warring parties to declare a ceasefire after a recent escalation in fighting around Tripoli and the strategic coastal city of Sirte.

Turkey ‘not pessimistic’ about ceasefire in Libya but wary of Haftar

Erdogan has said Turkey would not refrain from “teaching a lesson” to Haftar if his eastern-based forces continue attacks against the Tripoli-based GNA.

“If the putschist Haftar’s attacks against the people and legitimate government of Libya continue, we will never refrain from teaching him the lesson he deserves,” the Turkish president said in a speech to his AK Party legislators in parliament on Tuesday.

“It is our duty to protect our kin in Libya,” he said.

Erdogan said Turkey had deep historical and social ties with Libya, asserting that Haftar would have taken over the entire nation if Ankara had not intervened.

Turkey to ‘teach a lesson’ to Libyan rebel commander if anti-govt. offensive resumes

Turkey will join Germany, the United Kingdom and Russia at Libyan peace talks in Berlin next Sunday, he said.

“The putschist Haftar did not sign the ceasefire. He first said yes, but later, unfortunately, he left Moscow, he fled Moscow,” Erdogan said.

“Despite this, we find the talks in Moscow were positive as they showed the true face of the putschist Haftar to the international community,” the Turkish president added.

On January 2, Turkey’s parliament has approved a bill to deploy troops to Libya.

Turkey's lawmakers approve troop deployment to Libya

Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop said at the time that the legislation had been passed with a 325-184 vote.

Back in late November last year, Libya’s GNA and Turkey signed security and maritime agreements in opening the path to the Turkish troop deployment. The accords also drew the ire of Mediterranean countries, including Greece and Cyprus, which were eyeing energy resources in the area.

Libya’s eastern-based parliament later voted unanimously against the deals.

Greece irate as Turkey, Libya enforce maritime, military accords

Libya plunged into chaos in 2011, when a popular uprising and a NATO intervention led to the ouster of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his execution by unruly fighters.

The North African country has since been split between two rival administrations based in the east and west amid a conflict drawing increasing involvement from foreign powers.

According to the latest UN tally, more than 280 civilians and roughly 2,000 fighters have been killed since Haftar launched his offensive in April to seize Tripoli. An estimated 146,000 Libyans have been displaced.

Source: Presstv

17, January 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Success Nkongho is still wreaking havoc ⁰

It has been reported that Success Nkongho, the man who is now working with the Yaounde government to kill the Southern Cameroons rebellion, is still very dangerous.

The Cameroon Concord News Group undercover agent has revealed that Success Nkongho is still doing a lot of damage to the movement that has shaken the Yaounde government to the core.

Mr. Nkongho whom the informant said was being housed by the Yaounde government has been singing like a magpie and is betraying lots of people, especially those who were close to him and Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe.

The self-styled pastor with a questionable character is suspected of submitting a long list of names to the secret service and the list will be used to target those who are suspected of playing a key role in the struggle that has brought the country’s economy to its knees.

Mr. Nkongho who has arrogated a PhD to himself, has promised that he would stand in the way of any independence efforts.

He is being bankrolled by the Yaounde government for him to get in touch with as many people as possible in Nigeria.

His efforts to reach out to many Southern Cameroonians are designed to help the government in its efforts to bring back many suffering Southern Cameroonians without the United Nations’ support so that it can prove that Southern Cameroonians living abroad really want to come back to live in a one and indivisible Cameroon.

The informant said that “anybody who has ever kept in touch with Success Nkongho has become a wanted man in the country. Success seems to be fabricating stories to please his financiers and this seems to be music to the ears of the Yaounde government.”

“Success is a hand grenade that is gradually going off and it will destroy so many lives. He hasn’t got a conscience and is willing to betray even his mother,” the informant said.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group Chairman, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, over the phone, the informant said Cameroonians living abroad must be security conscious as the government is using decoys and molds to eliminate its enemies.

“Be careful how you relate to Cameroonians, especially those of French extraction. Some of them living abroad are on mission to take down enemies of the system,” the informant said, “adding that there are hundreds of Success Nkongho out there, especially in the USA where many people want to use the struggle to enrich themselves.”

“The government is losing power. Its financial resources are on the decline, especially following the fire disaster in SONARA. The government has lost multiple income streams as a result of the struggle and this has left it with an empty treasury,” the informant stressed.

“A hungry man is an angry man. The government is running out of financial resources and this has rattled it. Last months many civil servants did not receive their salaries in time and this is causing sleepless nights in Yaounde,” the informant added.

“This unfortunate financial situation will surely get worse in January and priority will be given to the military, as the government is scared of a mutiny,” the informant advised.

Success Nkongho is not yet done with Southern Cameroonians. In his warped thinking, he thinks he has become a rock star. He is enjoying his relationship with the Yaounde government; a relationship which grants him immunity and money, the informant stressed.

“When you have a friend like Success Nkongho, you don’t need enemies and you must be sure that yours is a kingdom of insomnia. He has been singing like a parrot ever since the government put money in his pocket and nobody really knows what he has been telling people like Atanga Nji who are determined to demonstrate that they are loyal to the government,” the informant quipped.

His intercourse with the Yaounde government can only breed problems in a country that needs peace and stability, the informant concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom

16, January 2020

The US and the UK are the only close allies of Cameroon to have voiced public concern regarding the ongoing situation in Ambazonia ⁰

Cameroon, a country previously known for its stability, faced violence and serious human rights abuses in 2018. The country endured abusive military operations against a secessionist insurgency in two Anglophone regions, attacks by the Islamic militant group, Boko Haram, in the Far North, and a worsening humanitarian crisis. President Paul Biya, 85, won a seventh seven-year term on October 7.

In the South West and North West, government security forces have committed extrajudicial executions, burned property, carried out arbitrary arrests, and tortured detainees. A Human Rights Watch report documented a range of abuses by both sides in the Anglophone regions, including arson attacks on homes and schools. According to the International Crisis Group, government forces and armed separatists killed over 420 civilians in the regions since the crisis escalated in 2017.

The humanitarian consequences of the Boko Haram attacks and separatist insurgency are of growing concern. As of November, the United Nations estimated that more than 244,000 civilians were displaced in the Far North and 437,500 in the Anglophone North West and South West regions. About 32,600 Cameroonians found refuge in Nigeria. Also, Cameroon has continued to forcibly return Nigerian asylum seekers, fleeing Boko Haram attacks in northeastern Nigeria.

While the government maintained it did not tolerate serious crimes committed by security forces, it failed to demonstrate progress in investigating and punishing them.

On October 22, Cameroon’s Constitutional Council validated Paul Biya’s reelection, with 71.28 percent of the votes. The council’s decision was immediately contested by one of Biya’s rivals, Maurice Kamto, who claimed the results had been altered. In early November, dozens of pro-Kamto protesters were arrested in Bafoussam, Western region. Biya was sworn-in for a seventh term as president on November 6.

The Anglophone Crisis: Abuses on Both Sides

In the Anglophone North West and South West regions, the absence of a genuine political process to address decades-old grievances against the Biya government contributed to the radicalization of the discourse and tactics of Anglophone activists. Since mid-2017, Anglophone separatists have attacked government institutions and threatened, kidnapped, and killed civilians perceived to side with the government.

In 2016 and 2017, government security forces used excessive force against largely peaceful demonstrations organized by members of the country’s Anglophone minority who were calling for increased autonomy for their region. During demonstrations in late 2017, government forces used live ammunition, including from helicopters, against demonstrators and bystanders, killing at least a dozen people and injuring scores. Some individuals detained in the context of the demonstrations were subjected to torture and ill-treatment.

In October 2017, separatist leaders unilaterally declared independence of the North West and South West regions, and the formation of a new nation, Ambazonia. The following month, President Biya announced that Cameroon was under attack from terrorists and vowed to “eradicate these criminals.” The pace and scale of separatists’ attacks against security forces, government workers, and state institutions increased, especially following the arrest and deportation of 47 suspected secessionist activists from Nigeria in January 2018.

Violations by Government Forces

Human Rights Watch found that government forces responded to the growing separatist insurgency by carrying out abusive security operations against communities suspected of supporting secessionist groups. Security forces committed extrajudicial executions, used excessive force against civilians, tortured and abused suspected separatists and other detainees, and burned homes and other property in scores of villages.

During attacks documented by Human Rights Watch, security forces allegedly shot and killed over a dozen civilians, including at least seven people whom witnesses said had intellectual, psychosocial or physical disabilities who did not flee because they were unable or refused to. At least four older women died, burned alive, after security forces set their homes on fire.

Human Rights Watch also documented three cases where security forces detained people suspected of supporting the secessionist cause, and then tortured and killed them in detention. In a fourth case, Human Rights Watch analyzed evidence of torture filmed by perpetrators, who appear to be gendarmes. On September 24 and 27, a total of nine men were allegedly executed by security forces in the town of Buea, according to videos reviewed by Human Rights Watch and a report by the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, a local nongovernmental organization (NGO).

Abuses by Armed Separatists: Attacks on Students, Teachers and Schools

To enforce boycotts of schools following protests by Anglophone teachers against perceived discrimination by the Francophone-dominated national government, separatist groups attacked and burned dozens of schools, threatened teachers, students and parents, kidnapped principals and violently attacked teachers and students. In March, people believed to be armed separatists attacked a high school dormitory in Widikum, North West region, and shot dead Emmanuel Galega, a student.

The pressure tactics forced the majority of schools to close during the 2016-2017 academic year, and as of May 2018 an estimated 42,500 children were still out of school, according to UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Most schools did not re-open in 2018.

On April 30, Father William Neba, principal of St. Bede’s College, in Ashing near Belo, North West region, was reported abducted while celebrating mass with students. He was released two days later. The school suspended classes on the day of the abduction. In September, unidentified gunmen attacked a girl’s school in Bafut, North West region, kidnapping five pupils and severely wounding the principal.

In September, the government endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, an international political agreement to protect education during armed conflict.

On November 5, up to 78 schoolchildren were reportedly kidnapped in Bamenda, North West region, by unknown gunmen. They were released two days later.

Refugee Rights

Cameroon hosts more than 350,000 refugees and asylum seekers, including 260,000 from the Central African Republic and at least 90,000 from Nigeria. Despite its long history of hosting refugees, Cameroon has forcibly returned tens of thousands of Nigerian asylum seekers since 2015. A 2017 Human Rights Watch report documented how soldiers used violence and abuse, including torture, against asylum seekers in remote border regions. Authorities also imposed unlawful restrictions on movement in Cameroon’s only official camp for Nigerian refugees. In August 2018, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that between January and July, Cameroon unlawfully returned at least 800 refugees and asylum seekers to Nigeria.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Cameroon’s penal code punishes “sexual relations between persons of the same sex” with up to five years in prison. Police and gendarmes continued to carry out arrests and harassment of people they believe to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). In April, police arrested four activists and a security guard at the office of AJO, an organization that works on HIV education with men who have sex with men (MSM), and other vulnerable groups. They spent a week in jail on spurious homosexuality charges before a lawyer secured their release. Cameroonian human rights organizations documented the arrest of at least 25 other men and at least two women on homosexuality charges in the first half of 2018. They also reported numerous cases of physical violence by private citizens targeting LGBT people.

Justice and Accountability

While the government has repeatedly promised to investigate crimes committed by security forces, it has not done so transparently or systematically.

Government officials told Human Rights Watch in June that while they conducted investigations, they did not want to make them public to avoid undermining the morale of government troops. However, the visible lack of accountability appears to have fueled abuses, like arson and torture, rather than ending them.

In July, the government finally granted access to ten Anglophone leaders who had been detained and deported from Nigeria to Cameroon in January. The individuals, held incommunicado for over six months, were permitted to meet their lawyers and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The government dismissed video footage that emerged in July showing two women and two children being executed by men in uniform in Cameroon’s Far North as “fake news.” Only after an investigation conducted by Amnesty International demonstrated the killings took place in Cameroon did the government announce it had arrested six soldiers suspected of executing the civilians in the video.

Key International Actors

France, the United States, and the United Kingdom are Cameroon’s principal partners, primarily in the context of the counter Boko Haram operations in the country’s Far North region. Both France and the US provide Cameroon with military and security assistance and training.

The US and the UK are the only close allies of Cameroon to have voiced public concern regarding the ongoing situation in the Anglophone regions. The US has continued to provide military aid to Cameroon.

In February, the European Union called for proportionate use of force and accountability for abuses in the Anglophone region.

In September 2018, as the pace and scope of abuses continued to escalate in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, the UN and African Union issued a joint communiqué calling on the government to facilitate access to humanitarian and human rights organizations and engage in an inclusive dialogue to address the root causes of the crisis.

The UN Security Council in August expressed concern about the situation in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.

Culled from Human Rights Watch

16, January 2020

French Cameroun: Student Chops off classmate’s finger in GBHS Obala ⁰

Mbappe Arnold Alexandre, Student of Government Bilingual High School, GBHS, Obala in the outskirts of Yaounde, is currently receiving emergency medical attention at the Obala District Hospital after his finger was chopped off by his classmate with the aid of a machete.

The incident happened Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at the campus of “Lycée Bilingue d’Obala” (GBHS Obala) in the Lekie Division of Cameroon’s Centre Region after an altercation during a football match.

Mbappe Arnold Alexandre is seen on a hospital bed with blood oozing out of his left hand as a medic attends to him. His left thumb is shown lying in a plate close to him. He says he had a disagreement with his classmate on a football pitch and the classmate decided to engage him in a fight. The said classmate was later given a machete by other students with which he committed the chilling act.

From his hospital bed, the victim explains: “We were cleaning up the campus given that the Delegate (apparently the Divisional Delegate of Secondary Education for Lekie Division) was supposed to visit. We were playing football in the school field when I engaged my classmate in a ‘rough tackle’ in an attempt to get the ball. I quickly explained to him that it was not intentional. But he hit me and that is how a fight started. Other students then came in. I don’t know when he got hold of a machete. I only saw when he raised the machete against me. I raised my hand to block the machete. That is how the machete cut off my left thumb. He then escaped.”

We get from the said video that Mbappe Arnold Alexandre was rushed to the Obala District Hospital by other students and medics immediately attended to him without any preconditions.

Wednesday’s incident comes few hours after a student of GHS Nkolbisson brutally murdered his Mathematics teacher. On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, Njomi Tchakounte Boris Kevin, a Mathematics teacher at Government High School Nkolbisson was stabbed to death by a Form 3 student, a release from the cabinet of the Minister of Secondary Education said.

The 15-year-old male student is now under police custody. Preliminary investigations and eyewitness accounts suggest that after days of premeditating the murder, the drama unfolded Tuesday as students watched on.

The student is said to have had a disagreement with the teacher, promising to knife the teacher Tuesday, according to testimonies from some students in the presence of the Minister. In an attempt to call the student to order at the start of his lesson, the teacher unfortunately went physical with the unyielding student who pulled out a knife hidden under his uniform and stabbed the 26-year-old teacher who later died at the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital (CHU). The student is said not to be a first time offender, reportedly dismissed from previous schools.

The Minister of Secondary Education, Prof. Nalova Lyonga had following Tuesday’s incident said the problem of indiscipline stands out as one of the challenges to stakeholders in her ministry. It is not known what measures government will take to stem such dangerous tides.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

16, January 2020

Russia: How President Putin is preparing to rule for ever ⁰

WHAT IS VLADIMIR PUTIN playing at? On January 15th Russia’s president took Kremlin-watchers by surprise. In his state-of-the-union speech, he announced a radical overhaul of the Russian constitution and a referendum on its proposed (still very unclear) terms. This bombshell was immediately followed by another. The prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, resigned along with the entire cabinet. As The Economist went to press, the reasons for Mr Medvedev’s ejection and replacement by an obscure technocrat remained a riddle wrapped in a mystery.

To understand what might be going on, start with a simple fact. In the past 20 years Mr Putin’s regime has killed too many people, and misappropriated too many billions, to make it plausible that he would ever voluntarily give up effective power. Under the current constitution he cannot run again for president when his term expires in 2024, since no one is allowed more than two consecutive terms. So everyone has always assumed that one way or another he would game the rules to remain top dog. He already has form on this. His first two terms as president ran from 2000 to 2008. Term-limited out for the first time, he became prime minister for four years, during which time Mr Medvedev served as a distinctly neutered president. In 2012 Mr Putin was back in the suddenly re-empowered presidency, and was re-elected to a second term in 2018. The only enigma has ever been what job he would jump to in 2024.

We still do not know. One option, clearly, is for Mr Putin to return to being prime minister; an argument for this happening is his statement that the new arrangements he is seeking will make the post more important, with full powers to appoint the cabinet (subject to confirmation by parliament, which Mr Putin’s loyal United Russia party controls), rather than letting the president pick them. Another, and more likely, option is that Mr Putin will seek to maintain his hold on power by continuing to head a vaguely defined but powerful body called the State Council, which (funnily enough) Mr Putin said in his speech should be given more powers under the rejig.

In reality the details do not much matter. Russia is a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy. Mr Putin’s electoral successes owe much to years of economic growth (now brought to an end by corruption, uncompetitiveness, the end of the oil boom and Western sanctions following the annexation of Crimea in 2014) and the popularity of his reassertion of Soviet-era imperium. But they owe perhaps even more to state control of television, the barring of popular opposition candidates, the co-opting of tame opposition parties and the arrests and intimidation dished out to the less tame ones. The murder of political opponents is no way to foster genuine competition for power.

Whether Mr Putin is president, prime minister, head of the State Council or honorary chairman of the National Bridge Association (the post through which Deng Xiaoping ruled China for years after stepping down from his more prestigious offices), makes a lot less difference than it would in a real democracy. Nor does anyone know what the final shape of the new constitution will be. Mr Putin may decide, as many a despot has done before him, that a new constitution means resetting the existing term limits. Or, as Xi Jinping did in China in 2018, he could simply scrap term limits altogether (he says he does not want to do this). Mr Xi did not even bother with a referendum, pushing the change that will allow him to rule indefinitely through the supine National People’s Congress with 2,959 votes out of 2,964. Another model is offered by Kazakhstan, where Nursultan Nazarbayev, who became his independent country’s first president in 1990, stepped down last year—only to stay on as leader of the ruling party and holder of the title “Leader of the Nation”.

America would once have spoken out against such rule-twisting. Under Donald Trump, it does not; the American president makes little secret of his admiration for strongmen. Nor is the EU likely to do more than mutter as Mr Putin glues himself to the throne. It is spooked by a rising China and dependent on Russia for its gas supplies. The world’s autocrats will watch events in Moscow with interest, to see if Mr Putin can offer them useful tips for extending their own rule. For democrats everywhere, the only comfort is that even rulers-for-life don’t live for ever.

Culled from The Economist

16, January 2020

US and China sign ‘phase one’ trade deal, ending dramatic 18-month tit-for-tat ⁰

The United States and China signed an initial trade deal on Wednesday that will roll back some tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of U.S. products, defusing an 18-month row between the world’s two largest economies but leaving a number of sore spots unresolved.

Beijing and Washington touted the “Phase 1” agreement as a step forward after months of start-and-stop talks, and investors greeted the news with relief. Even so, there was skepticism the U.S.-China trade relationship was now firmly on the mend.

The deal fails to address structural economic issues that led to the trade conflict, does not fully eliminate the tariffs that have slowed the global economy, and sets hard-to-achieve purchase targets, analysts and industry leaders said.

While acknowledging the need for further negotiations with China to solve a host of other problems, President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as a win for the U.S. economy and his administration’s trade policies.

“Together, we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers and families,” Trump said in rambling remarks at the White House alongside U.S. and Chinese officials.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He read a letter from President Xi Jinping in which the Chinese leader praised the deal as a sign the two countries could resolve their differences with dialogue.

The centerpiece of the deal is a pledge by China to purchase at least an additional $200 billion worth of U.S. farm products and other goods and services over two years, above a baseline of $186 billion in purchases in 2017, the White House said.

Commitments include $54 billion in additional energy purchases, $78 billion in additional manufacturing purchases, $32 billion more in farm products, and $38 billion in services, according to a deal document released by the White House.

Liu said Chinese companies would buy $40 billion in U.S. agricultural products annually over the next two years “based on market conditions.” Beijing had balked at committing to buy set amounts of U.S. farm goods earlier, and has inked new soybean contracts with Brazil since the trade war started.

Key world stock market indexes climbed to record highs on hopes the deal would reduce tensions, before closing below those highs, while oil prices slid on doubts the pact will spur world economic growth and boost crude demand.

Soybean futures, which traded 0.4% lower throughout much of the deal signing ceremony, sank even further after Liu’s remarks, a sign that farmers and traders were dubious about the purchase goals.

The deal does not end retaliatory tariffs on American farm exports, makes farmers “increasingly reliant” on Chinese state-controlled purchases, and does not address “big structural changes,” Michelle Erickson-Jones, a wheat farmer and spokeswoman for Farmers for Free Trade, said in a statement.

Trump and his economic advisers had pledged to attack Beijing’s long-standing practice of propping up state-owned companies and flooding international markets with low-priced goods as the trade war heated up.

Although the deal could be a boost to U.S. farmers, automakers and heavy equipment manufacturers, some analysts question China’s ability to divert imports from other trading partners to the United States.

“I find a radical shift in Chinese spending unlikely. I have low expectations for meeting stated goals,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group in Minneapolis. “But I do think the whole negotiation has moved the football forward for both the U.S. and China.”

Trump, who has embraced an “America First” policy aimed at rebalancing global trade in favor of U.S. companies and workers, said China had pledged action to confront the problem of pirated or counterfeited goods and said the deal included strong protection of intellectual property rights.

U.S. Speaker of the House of Representative Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s China strategy had “inflicted deep, long-term damage to American agriculture and rattled our economy in exchange for more of the promises that Beijing has been breaking for years,” in a statement.

Earlier, top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox News the agreement would add 0.5 percentage point to U.S. gross domestic product growth in both 2020 and 2021.

Aviation industry sources said Boeing Co was expected to win a major order for wide-body jets from China, including its 787 or 777-9 models, or a mixture of both. Such a deal could ease pressure on the 787 Dreamliner, which has suffered from a broad downturn in demand for large jets, forcing the planemaker to trim production late last year.

CCTV, China’s state-run television outlet, said the deal would satisfy China’s increasingly demanding consumers by supplying products like dairy, poultry, beef, pork, and processed meat from the United States.

Source REUTERS

16, January 2020

US House delivers Trump impeachment articles to Senate ⁰

Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday unveiled a seven-member team of ‘impeachment managers’ to prosecute President Donald Trump. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the articles of impeachment, the managers made a landmark promenade to deliver the papers to the Senate.

House lawmakers on Wednesday voted 228 to 193 to give the Senate, controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, the task of putting him on trial on the two articles of impeachment, i.e. 1) abuse of power for asking Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden; and 2) obstruction of Congress for blocking testimony and documents sought by Democratic lawmakers.

The magnificent seven

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi selected a team of seven “impeachment managers”, who will act in a prosecutorial role and present the pro-impeachment case before the Senate.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a Trump nemesis who served as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles for six years, was selected to head the team of managers.

“When the managers walk the hall, they will cross a threshold in history, delivering articles of impeachment against the president of the United States for abuse of power and obstruction of the House. Today we will make history.”

“Engrossment”

While many observers delighted in Pelosi’s gesture, others felt it was inappropriate to the occasion.

Immediately thereafter, the impeachment managers made the history-making walk across the marbled floors of the Capitol Building and delivered the articles to the Senate. This was the first time since Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings 22 years ago that this momentous promenade had taken place.

Senate Majority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, said that the Senate would formally receive the articles Thursday January 16 at midday EST (6pm in Paris, 5pm GMT). Formal opening arguments, both pro-and anti-impeachment, start on Tuesday January 21.

Pelosi launched the impeachment inquiry in September after earlier resisting such a move centred on Trump’s actions to impede a federal investigation that documented Russian interference in the 2016 election to boost his candidacy.

Ball in the Senate’s court

The trial will focus attention on Trump’s request that Ukraine investigate domestic political rival Joe Biden, just as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up.

A fight over witnesses remains unresolved. Senate Democrats in the Republican-controlled chamber want four current and former Trump administration officials to testify, while many Republicans want a speedy trial without witness testimony. Trump has at times said he wants to hear from witnesses, albeit not the same ones the Democrats want to testify. Democrats need at least four Republicans to join them to reach a majority of 51 senators to approve the subpoenas.

The 100-seat Senate is expected to acquit Trump, keeping him in office, as none of its 53 Republicans has voiced support for removing him, a step that under the US Constitution would require a two-thirds majority.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

15, January 2020

Tower Gets More Time for Cameroon Drilling ⁰

Tower Resources has been given more time to explore at the Thali license in Cameroon.

Tower said Wednesday that the country’s authorities had granted it a one-year extension to the initial period of the exploration phase of the Thali PSC as requested by Tower.

AIM-listed Tower further said that it has spent the last couple of weeks with finalizing preparations with Geoquip Marine for the MV Investigator geotechnical drillship vessel to conduct the site survey on the NJOM-3 drilling area prior to the start of drilling operations.

The MV Investigator vessel is already in Cameroon, where it has been performing some routine maintenance, and the vessel is expected to start work on the survey shortly, Tower said.

“When the survey report is complete the company will discuss the survey results with the drilling company COSL, with whom it executed an LOI announced on 28 August 2019, before finalizing arrangements for the well itself,” Tower added.

Jeremy Asher, Chairman & CEO, added: “We would like to thank His Excellency the President of the Republic, His Excellency Prime Minister Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute, His Excellency the Minister Gabriel Dodo Ndoke, together with their respective staffs, and of course the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures, for their continued commitment to us and to the Thali project.”

The NJOM3 well is planned to be drilled to a total depth of 1,100 meters intersecting at least three reservoir zones already identified by the NJOM1B and NJOM2 discovery wells drilled on the Njonji structure by the previous operator Total.

The well is designed to confirm the greater reservoir thicknesses observed on the reprocessed 3D seismic in the up-dip area of the structure, and also evaluate additional reservoirs that were not present in the areas where Total’s wells are located.

The NJOM3 well is designed to supplement Total’s well data with a suite of measurement and logging tools and drill stem test (DST) flows to surface. The company’s intention is then to suspend the well with a view to subsequent completion as one of four initial production wells on the structure.

Source: Oedigital

15, January 2020

Kuwait extends KD 5 million loan to Cameroon ⁰

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) sealed a loan agreement worth KD 5 million (around $17 million) to Cameroon yesterday. KFAED’s Deputy Director-General Nedhal Al-Olayan and Cameroonian Minister of Economic Alamine Ousmane Mey signed the agreement.

The deal was signed in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé, and the loan will be used in bankrolling a road project in this African country, the fund said in a press release. The project is intended to spur and stimulate economic and social development in Cameroon by means of revamping the road network in central and southern provinces, it said.

The loan makes up roughly 19 percent of the project’s total costs estimated at KD 26 million ($88.4 million), according to the release. It is the eighth loan provided by the KFAED to Cameroon as it had offered seven loans valued at a total KD 33 million ($78 million), it said, adding that the duration of the loan is 22 years with a grace of five years.

Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) is the first institution in the Middle East that took an active role in the international development efforts. The Kuwait Fund extends Loans on concessionary term to finance development projects in the developing countries. The Fund also provides technical assistance to finance the costs of the feasibility studies of projects, as well as the training of nationals of the borrowing countries.

Source: Kuwaiti Times