Headline News

10, September 2018

Race for the White House: Former Vice President returns to Instagram and draws 1 million followers ⁰

Former US Vice President Joe Biden has returned to the popular social media platform Instagram amid speculation that he might be planning to run for president in 2020.

On Friday, Biden posted two photographs of himself and his wife, Jill, participating in a walk for injured veterans in New York. He has gathered more than 1 million followers since then.

According to different polls, Biden leads Trump by several points in a potential 2020 matchup. His blue-collar appeal has put him at the center of talk for months about whether he’ll run against.

According to the Associated Press, Biden will make a decision on the race by early next year. Biden is a strong critic of Trump and his leadership style. He has accused his administration of misunderstanding and misrepresenting the American values.

He has called Trump a “charlatan,” and accused the Republican head of state of taking advantage of frustrated middle class voters.

It seems Biden is remorseful about his decision not to run in the last presidential election, and has claimed that he could have easily defeated Trump.

Biden, a favorite for the 2016 Democratic nomination, announced his decision to not run for the White House in October 2015, cementing former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s standing as the front-runner.

The popular vice president, who lost his son Beau to cancer in May 2015, said back then that he was not emotionally prepared to take on the battle and that it was too late for him to enter the race. Trump proceeded to pull off a historic victory against Clinton.

Source: Presstv

10, September 2018

Car bomb hits Somali capital, leaves unknown casualties ⁰

An explosive-laden car has rammed into a local government building in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, leaving an unknown number of casualties.

The Monday bombing attack was followed by gunfire, according to a Reuters eyewitness, who said huge clouds of smoke were rising above the city.

Other witnesses told the news agency that the government office had been destroyed in the blast.

“A suicide car bomb rammed into the office of Hodan district of Mogadishu. There are casualties but so far we do not have a figure,” said Major Mohamed Nur of the area’s police department.

One witness said he saw at least five people being taken away by ambulances.

No other details were reported. And there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Last week, a car bomb attack destroyed another district office in Mogadishu.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terrorist group frequently carries out bombings and gun attacks in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia.

The terrorists were forced out of Mogadishu by African Union forces in 2011. However, they still control parts of the countryside and carry out attacks against government, military, and civilian targets in the capital as well as regional towns every now and then.

Source: Presstv

10, September 2018

Sudan’s Bashir dissolves government amid economic crisis ⁰

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has dissolved the government and appointed a new prime minister in a move aimed at fixing the country’s ailing economy.

President Bashir on Sunday appointed Moataz Moussa — who had been serving as minister of water resources, irrigation, and electricity — as Sudan’s new prime minister, replacing Bakri Hassan Saleh.

Saleh, who was serving as both prime minister and vice president, had been appointed in 2017. He will retain his vice presidential post.

Moussa’s government is expected to have 21 ministers rather than the 31 ministerial posts of the now-dissolved administration, a move intended to cut spending.

A statement released by the presidency said the latest measures were necessary to solve “the state of distress and frustration faced by the country.”

In recent months, people in Sudan have been suffering from shortages of bread, fuel, and hard currency.

The US dollar exchange rate has recently risen from an official rate of about 30 Sudanese pounds to about 47 Sudanese pounds on the black market.

Sudan’s economy reportedly began deteriorating after South Sudan seceded from it in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of the country’s original oil output and a huge part of foreign currency.

The lifting of a 20-year-old US trade sanction on Sudan last year was expected to improve the economy; however, the economic situation worsened as the black market for the US dollar has in effect replaced the formal banking system.

10, September 2018

Southern Cameroons War: Restoration Forces Attack Buses in the Northern Zone ⁰

Cameroon says it has deployed additional troops to Bamenda several hours after armed separatists blocked access into and out of the northwestern English-speaking town, attacking buses and passengers.

At least 20 passenger buses are still lined up at Akum, a village 10 Kilometers from Bamenda, the capital of the Cameroon’s English speaking northwest region.

Some of the buses that were traveling to the French-speaking cities of Yaounde and Douala have been burned and others damaged. The Cameroon military has accompanied some travelers who were chased from the buses to help them identify and collect their luggage.

A bus burned by separatists in Akum, Cameroon, Sept. 9, 2018.

University student Philip Njie was traveling to Yaounde when at least 100 gunmen ordered passengers out of the buses late Saturday.

“There were so many of them. So many of them holding their hands at the trigger, ready to shoot at anyone who disrespected them so we were very scared,” said Njie.

At least 1,000 people traveling into and out of Bamenda were stopped by the gunmen.

Seized road construction equipment used to block roads and destroy buses in Akum, Cameroon, Sept. 9, 2018.

The government troop commander in northwestern Cameroon, General Agha Robinson, calls the gunmen “terrorists.”

“There is an operation to dislodge these terrorists to make sure weapons are seized, and therefore, we go down to the field and then we shut down these areas where these guys produce these weapons. We have been searching some areas where we deem necessary and in our check points too, we have our eyes on the bags which people are carrying,” said the general.

A damaged bus in Akum, Cameroon, Sept. 9, 2018.

Separatists groups claimed responsibility for the attack on social media. They have warned that no buses would be allowed to travel into or out of the English-speaking northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon after September 16.

The separatists say it is part of their plan to disrupt Cameroon’s October 7 presidential election, which they say can not take place in their territory because they are an independent state called Ambazonia.

Unrest began in Cameroon in November 2016 when teachers and lawyers in the English-speaking northwest and southwest began calling for reforms and greater autonomy.

The United Nations reports 300 people, including 130 policemen and the military, have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled, including 20,000 who crossed into Nigeria.

Reported by VOA

9, September 2018

Another Rwanda is silently playing out in Cameroon and the AU is doing nothing ⁰

For close to two years, the situation in Southern Cameroons has continued to deteriorate and nobody, not even the government, believes that it is time to change course.

The killings have continued on both sides, but the government still holds that a swift military victory is possible before the presidential election that will take place next month. The hardship in the two English-speaking regions of the country has increased exponentially over the last year and all what is on the minds of government authorities is keeping the people in check.

Yaoundé authorities seem to be frozen in time. In other places, the rule is for dialogue to ensure that things do not deteriorate, but ever since the conflict started, the government has kept on insisting on using an iron fist instead of an olive branch.

Many analysts are wondering when the killing and madness will come to an end. They hold that a different approach could have produced different results and this issue could have been laid to rest a long time ago.

The little infrastructure the two regions possess is deteriorating on a daily basis as both parties do what they can to prove that they have an upper hand. Today, the road leading to Bamenda from East Cameroon has been destroyed by Southern Cameroonian fighters and this is going to cost the region a huge fortune.

Many people agree that Southern Cameroonians have suffered a lot, but the killing of fellow Southern Cameroonians by Ambazonian fighters and the willful destruction of roads and other economic infrastructure has left many people wondering.

Some observers are calling for those in charge of the fighters on the ground to take a second look at their strategies. The burning and destruction of scarce infrastructure is clearly affecting innocent civilians and it is calling into question the objective of those who are committing this act.

The prime suspects in this are usually the Amba boys. It is believed that they want to wreak as much havoc as possible in order to bring the government to the negotiating table. But there are also some doubts as the government has been caught several times in the act of destruction in order to wreak havoc on innocent people.

Many people have been asking lots of questions. First of all, why would Amba boys commit such an act on a Sunday morning? Why would Real Amba Boys Attack travelers and make themselves hated as the Cameroon Army whose modus Operandi has always been to disrupt movement in fake claims of checking and enforcing security?

However, while these acts must be strongly condemned, the condemnation should be put in perspective. These extreme measures by the fighters are a reflection of the people’s frustration with a regime that has for long despised its own people.

Ever since the crisis started, many eminent people across the world have called on the government to change its strategy but the president of the country, Paul Biya, and his collaborators still see military action as the only option and this is what is causing the escalation.

The devil seems to be at work in Cameroon. Power and money have caused the government to lose its decency. In normal environments, peace talks will be going on to avert the worst. In Cameroon, that is not happening. Even when the country’s economy is taking the heat, the Yaoundé regime still holds that it can only crush opposition by force.

Many state corporations are going under because of this conflict, but the regime is still not changing its position.

PAMOL, CDC and SONARA located in Southern Cameroons are all facing tough times and many employees of these corporations have lost their jobs as a result. But this is not cutting ice with the government.

When is the government going to figure out that dialogue can produce more results than military action? When will it know that innocent civilians are being killed for crimes they have not committed?

When will it understand that to live in peace with other people, it must not use brute force? Why has the government taken a position that is not tenable? The more it wants to destroy the fighters, the more the fighters want to prove that they can stand the test.

These extreme positions are not helping anybody. A shift in thinking and mentality could bring about peace and unity instead of military action. Cameroon is on the brink. The devil is at work in Cameroon. Many lives have been ruined. Many young men and soldiers have been rushed to an early grave.

Many people have been displaced and the suffering in Southern Cameroons is gradually spreading to East Cameroons as the number of displaced people increases by leaps and bounds.

The world cannot continue to play spectator to a situation that is resulting in thousands of deaths. Another Rwanda is silently playing out in Cameroon and the AU is doing nothing to check this madness that is being encouraged by the government.

Cameroon needs help. The world has to come in to stop the blood flow. The country is heading to the bottom of the abyss and if something is not done, the entire sub-region will be destabilized.

By Kingsley Betek

9, September 2018

Turkey urges nations to form united front against US ⁰

Turkey has called on world nations to form a united front against the US which has imposed sanctions on Ankara, a close ally of Washington in the Middle East.

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said US President Donald Trump is using sanctions and tariffs to sabotage the economy of other countries.

“It is clearly in the interest of most countries to cooperate in resisting unilateral economic decisions by powerful actors that are motivated by narrowly defined national interests,” he wrote in an article published on the Foreign Policy magazine.

“By acting together with Turkey now, other countries can also help it create a common strategy to avoid artificial crises in the future,” read the article titled America Can’t Be Trusted to Run the Global Economy.

Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak looks on during a press conference in Ankara on August 29, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The US has imposed sanctions on two Turkish ministers and doubled steel and aluminum tariffs, which have led to a sharp decline in Turkey’s currency.

Washington took the punitive measures in protest at Ankara’s detention of American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been accused of having links with terror organizations in Turkey.

The lira has fallen more than 40 percent against the dollar this year, driving up the cost of food and fuel and sending inflation soaring to 18 percent, its highest in a decade and a half.

To put a floor under the lire, the government ordered exporters last week to convert 80 percent of their foreign exchange revenue into lira. Turkey’s exports totaled $157 billion last year, according to official data.

In his article, Albayrak said the chaos which has afflicted financial markets has nothing to do with economic fundamentals, adding the turmoil has been driven by Washington.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the US for behaving like “wild wolves,” saying Ankara would pursue non-dollar transactions in trade with Russia, Iran and other countries.

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran said on Saturday the Islamic Republic, Russia, and Turkey had agreed on a number of economic measures like removing the US dollar from their mutual transactions.

The agreement was made on the sidelines of a key trilateral summit on Syria held in Tehran on Friday and attended by Iranian, Russian and Turkish presidents.

Last month, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was stepping up efforts to abandon the US currency in its transactions with other countries.

“The time has come when we need to go from words to actions and get rid of the dollar as a means of mutual settlements and look for other alternatives,” Ryabkov said.

Like Iran and Turkey, Russia has been slapped with sanctions by the United States, prompting retaliatory measures by Moscow.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that US sanctions against Russia, Iran and Turkey create a strong common ground for expanding cooperation, including trade without using the US dollar.

The Russian president said the Americans are making a “major strategic error” by restricting financial transactions for short-term political gains as this will eventually diminish trust in the dollar and weaken the currency.

Source: Presstv

9, September 2018

Philippines: 2 Cameroon nationals in ‘black dollar’ scam arrested ⁰

If an offer is too good to be true, most probably it’s a scam. A Quezon City businessman almost fell victim to a “black dollar” scam offering to triple his money.

But operatives of the National Capital Region Police Office-Regional Special Operations Unit (NCRPO-RSOU) arrested the perpetrators—two Cameroon nationals and a Filipino woman in Makati City on Thursday night.

The suspects—Samuel Djumba, 47; Patian Libukan, 36, both from Cameroon but temporarily staying at a condominium in Mandaluyong; and Sarah Miranda, 47, of Caloocan—were caught in an entrapment operation inside Room 2615 of City Garden Grand Hotel, at the corner of Makati and Kalayaan Avenues in Makati City at 8:55 p.m.

The 53-year-old businessman filed a complaint against the suspects after he smelled fraud when the suspects promised to triple his money if he could produce $50,000. Like other black dollar schemes, the suspects told him they had piles of dollar bills stored in a safe but were dyed with black ink to avoid detection by authorities. They then asked him to pay for fees to clear it from customs and to buy chemicals that could wash the dye off, and promised to get a 50-percent share from the total proceeds.

Source: Inquirer

9, September 2018

Francophone soldiers kill four Southern Cameroons civilians in Ekona ⁰

Cameroon government forces have reportedly killed a man and his three sons in Ekona some few miles from Buea the capital of the Southern Zone in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. Troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime carried out the massacre on Friday evening as the family were returning from the farm. Our correspondent in the Fako County gathered from local sources that the late Bezeng Jonas who moonlighted as the Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ekona and his three sons were shot by Francophone soldiers.

Their remains were abandoned beside their family vehicle by the soldiers fighting Southern Cameroons separatists in the area. It is more than a year since the start of the French Cameroun military campaign in Southern Cameroons, but that is unlikely to be an occasion for celebration in Yaoundé. Cameroon Intelligence Report sources have all opined that the war has created several military and CPDM billionaires and is estimated to have cost the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime billions of FCFA.

Correspondingly, the Southern Cameroons war has eroded the international image of the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon and failed to achieve its objectives of containing the Ambazonian revolution and quest for an independent state. At the same time, the people of Southern Cameroons have suffered immensely from the French-backed French Cameroun military campaign, which has claimed the lives of some 2000 Southern Cameroonians, destroyed Ambazonian towns and villages and has led to widespread disease and hunger.

By Sama Ernest in Buea

9, September 2018

Southern Cameroons War: Women protest abuses ⁰

Hundreds of women gathered for an angry protest in Cameroon on Friday against abuses committed in months of fighting between the government and Anglophone separatists.

With some singing, weeping, crying out or praying, the women described the rapes of their daughters and killings of family members as civilians are caught in the crossfire. Nearly 200,000 people have fled.

The women who gathered in a stadium in Bamenda city in the heart of the conflict called for an urgent dialogue on peace. They say they want to leave their homes and go without fear to the market and fields as before. They say they cannot remain silent and want to denounce what they call a dirty war.

The unrest in the southwest and northwest is a major issue as largely French-speaking Cameroon faces elections in October, with 85-year-old President Paul Biya, in power since 1982, running again.

The unrest that began in 2016 with teachers and lawyers demanding respect for the regions’ English education and justice systems led to a government crackdown and the emergence of armed separatists seeking an English-speaking state.

Tensions rose further in Bamenda on Thursday when a headmaster and three teachers were kidnapped by armed men.

“We are calling on the powers that be that women want peace,” said a protest organizer, Adah Mbah. “We do not have any hidden agenda anywhere. We are tired. For more than two years, we cannot be quiet.”

Many women at the protests carried leafy branches of so-called peace plants. Others clutched rosaries or dressed in black. They sat on the ground.

“The women are the ones mourning. The women are the ones managing their homes … they are struggling in all ways to survive,” said another organizer, Akouoh Aline. “We want our leaders to see our pain.”

In July, then-United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said he was deeply alarmed by reports of abuses in the southwest and northwest. Human rights groups have accused both the government and separatists of abuses including torture and the burning of homes.

The government has condemned separatist attacks and defended its security forces, saying all alleged atrocities are investigated.

8, September 2018

Angola’s former president steps down as party chief after 4-decade rule ⁰

Angola’s former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has handed his position as the leader of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (PMLA) party to incumbent President Joao Lourenco after more than four decades of political rule.

Dos Santos handed the PMLA leading position to Lourenco in an official ceremony at the party headquarters in the Angolan capital of Luanda on Saturday.

The 76-year-old veteran politician marked the ceremony by addressing the crowd, “Today, with my head up, I leave and pass on the baton to comrade Joao Lourenco,” marking the two men’s long-lived party affiliation.

The PMLA was born fighting against the Portuguese colonial rule over the country, gaining Angolan independence in 1975. The party dominated the Angolan political scene ever since, defeating other rival anti-colonial parties over the course of a bloody and prolonged civil war that lasted for over 26 years.

President Lourenco had served as defense minister under dos Santos’ presidency.

The announcement of dos Santos stepping down as party leader was not unprecedented. The former president had declared his intent to do so many times before, ultimately declaring in 2016 that he would resign in two years.

After dos Santos’ presidential tenure ended in 2017, the PMLA chief handpicked Lourenco as president, ending speculation on his successor. Many observers had speculated that the outgoing president was seeking to appoint a puppet, one that would preserve the lucrative business and political monopoly dos Santos had built up for his family.

The incumbent president has, however, shown himself as an independent leader, depriving many of the previous president’s affiliates of their positions, hoping to stifle corruption and ensure economic stability for foreign investors.

“Lourenco is already entirely autonomous as shown by his sacking of the dos Santos children, all of the country’s sectors have been purged,” said Benjamin Auge, an analyst with the French Institute for International Relations.

The firing of the former president’s daughter Isabel dos Santos from heading the state-owned oil company Sonangol by Lourenco is among the most important instances of the new president reining in on dos Santos’ economic monopoly.

The dos Santos resignation as PMLA leader signals a smooth handover of power in the country, leaving Lourenco in full power of state institutions.

Angola, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is Africa’s second largest oil exporter after Nigeria. The country’s economy fell into recession in 2016 with the unemployment rate reaching 25 percent. Despite being one of Africa’s richest states per capita, Angola remains one of the world’s most unequal countries with much of its population living in poverty.

Source: Presstv