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Israel’s Netanyahu obsessed with image, court told

22, November 2021

Israel’s Netanyahu obsessed with image, court told 0

Israel’s former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought “total and complete” control over his media image, his ex-spokesman told the graft trial of the veteran leader on Monday.

“If we use the term ‘control freak,’ he is much more than that,” said Nir Hefetz. “In everything relating to the media, he demands to know everything, down to the smallest detail.”

The testimony of Hefetz, seen as a key prosecution witness in Israel’s highest-profile trial, had been postponed from last week at the request of Netanyahu’s legal team.

Netanyahu — who was Israel’s longest serving prime minister, including a record 12-year tenure from 2009 to 2021, and now head of the opposition — has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

The indictments collectively accuse him of accepting improper gifts and illegally trading regulatory favour with media moguls in exchange for positive coverage.

Hefetz said in his district court testimony that Netayahu’s “control over everything relating to media matters and his social media channels could not be higher”.

“Netanyahu spends at least as much as his time on media as he spends on security matters, including on matters an outsider would consider nonsense.”

The session focused on Netanyahu allegedly granting favours to Shaul Elovitch, then-head of Israel’s largest telecom company, Bezeq, in exchange for favourable coverage by its Walla news website.

Netanyahu is accused of offering regulatory benefits that could have been worth millions to the company in return for the politically advantageous coverage.

Hefetz said that in 2015, shortly before elections, Elovitch contacted him regularly to lobby for governmental approval of his group’s merger with cable TV operator Yes, and to find out who would be the next communications minister.

“I think he (Elovitch) was thinking at the time: who knows who will win; so the Yes deal had to be signed first,” Hefetz said.

Netanyahu left after the first few hours of testimony Monday after receiving permission from the court.

Source: AFP

NERA 10  serving as important pillar of Ambazonia struggle, Professor Anyangwe says

22, November 2021

NERA 10  serving as important pillar of Ambazonia struggle, Professor Anyangwe says 0

Professor Carlson Anyangwe has lauded the Ambazonian leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides as very important pillars of the Southern Cameroons nationalism, saying they are the crucial source of support for all Ambazonia restoration groups. 

The much respected Southern Cameroons academic pointed out in a conversation with Cameroon Intelligence Report that the sufferings of the NERA 10 deep inside the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in French Cameroun is of strategic significance because President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards including all Southern Cameroons detainees are the important pillars of the Southern Cameroons struggle.

Anyangwe revealed that the continued detention of the Ambazonian leadership in French Cameroun is helping the resistance and provides political, material and military support to the fighters in Ground Zero. He slammed the so-called CPDM Southern Cameroonians over their policies towards the struggle, including helping the occupying forces in killing their own people.

“The silence on the part of Musonge, Philemon Yang, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Paul Tasong and Paul Atanga Nji these days is shocking, especially as their Biya regime continues to kill inncoent primary school children,” the Southern Cameroons front line leader said.

Carlson Anyangwe noted that many of the CPDM Southern Cameroons elites will end up in French Cameroun jails through the efforts they are currently making to curry favor with the 88-year-old Biya.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis hit the global stage some five years ago, some 10,000 Cameroonians have been killed, with army soldiers accounting for close to 35% of the deaths.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been maimed and scarred for life in a conflict that could have been addressed through negotiations and genuine dialogue.

By Asu Vera Eyere

Prominent Nigerian Senator says no evidence linking Ambazonia fighters to Taraba Attack

20, November 2021

Prominent Nigerian Senator says no evidence linking Ambazonia fighters to Taraba Attack 0

Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume has rejected the idea that the recent attack by Ambazonia fighters on a community in Taraba State is a threat on the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

He said what happened should not be viewed as an attack by the separatist group or Cameroon on Nigeria as a country.

According to the lawmaker, the area of attack is a border community between Nigeria and Cameroon, hence based on information available so far on the incident, what happened was a communal clash.

Ndume said Ambazonia is a “stateless” group that cannot challenge the territorial integrity of Nigeria, adding that the government must take measures to protect those staying in border communities.

“I don’t want you to take it the way you say now like an external aggression. I have listened to the governor, this is more of communal or tribal conflict that affect communities along our borders,” he said.

Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku had claimed that Ambazonia separatist militants from Cameroon attacked Takum LGA of Taraba State killing the village head and some residents of Manga community.

Reacting to the Nigerian governor’s take on the Taraba attack, the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima issued a statement saying “We have not taken this war to La Republique du Cameroun, there is no reason whatsoever for our Liberation fighters to take it to a friendly neighboring country. Our liberation fighters have no motive or interest to invade another friendly Anglo-Saxon country.”

The Ambazonia Vice President furthered “On the 10th of November 2020, Buhari was in Paris with Macron shortly after French Cameroun soldiers illegally entered into Taraba State (Nigeria) for unknown reasons and caused havoc on the people living in that community. This shameful heinouscrime perpetuated by Paul Biya’s military Junta on part of another sovereign country was reported by the Daily post of Nigeria on the 22nd of October 2021. It is believed Paris invited Buhari to cool down the tension and influence him to come up with a whitewash story through another news tabloid in Nigeria so as to continue to manipulate the people of Taraba and the world.”

By Chi Prudence Asong with files

Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad Say New Jihadist Terrorism Threats Warrant Change of Military Response

20, November 2021

Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad Say New Jihadist Terrorism Threats Warrant Change of Military Response 0

Cameroonian, Nigerian and Chadian troops fighting terrorism in the Lake Chad basin say attacks on military positions have been increasing since Boko Haram leader Aboubakar Shekau was declared dead in May.

Military officials from the three countries say the Islamic State in West Africa Province group, or ISWAP, is completely changing terrorism tactics to gain the sympathy of Lake Chad basin civilians. They say ISWAP is emerging as the terrorist group that is taking over from Boko Haram, which is weakened by the death of its leader Shekau.

Major General Saly Mohamadou is commander of Cameroon’s troops fighting terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin. He says, unlike Boko Haram, which attacked civilians for supplies and killed both the military and people who opposed the terrorist group when it was very active, ISWAP only attacks military positions to gain support from civilians. He says ISWAP is fighting to control border areas between Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.

Mohamadou said senior military officials of the Multinational Joint Task Force or MNJTF met in Maroua, Cameroon this week to formulate a strategy toward the new terrorism threat.

The task force, headquartered in the Chadian capital of N’djamena, is made up of more than 10,000 troops from Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.

The MNJTF says militants have carried out scores of attacks on its military positions since May, causing many casualties, but gives no further details.

Officials accuse ISWAP of infiltrating areas along the Cameroon-Nigeria-Chad border. Cameroonian authorities say ISWAP promises jobs and better living conditions to convince vulnerable and jobless youths to join the terror group.

The governor of Cameroon’s Far North region, on the border with Nigeria and Chad Midjiyawa Bakari says Cameroon is carrying out actions that will keep its civilians from sympathizing with terrorists. He says besides fighting terrorists, Cameroon troops have been teaching children in schools abandoned by teachers because of terrorism. He says military medical teams treat wounded and sick civilians who are in villages on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria that are hard to reach. Bakari says the military distributes food and water to civilians in former Boko Haram strongholds.

The governor also said that to stop ISWAP from recruiting vulnerable youths, Cameroon ordered the creation of militias in all northern villages.

ISWAP has not made any formal statement on its expansion to the Lake Chad Basin.

In August though, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said African states should act quickly to stop the restructuring of ISWAP. It says if the countries fail to act, Islamic State’s plans to expand in the region will further endanger millions of Africans.

Source: VOA

Russian fleet of diesel tankers heading to US amid fuel crisis

20, November 2021

Russian fleet of diesel tankers heading to US amid fuel crisis 0

A Russian fleet of tankers, carrying the most substantial amount of diesel to the United States in recent years, is heading to the US East Coast to help alleviate a fuel shortage that has led to the soaring of prices in the country to a seven-year high.

A fleet of four tankers laden with 2 million barrels of Russian diesel are set to arrive in New York, New Haven, and Connecticut next week, Bloomberg reported, citing data from energy cargo-tracking agency Vortexa.

“Russia is better positioned to supply diesel than other refiners in Europe because of its access to cheap natural gas,” said Clay Seigle, a managing director for Vortexa in Houston.

“It’s very rare we’d see volumes this large coming to the East Coast,” he added.

The Russian shipment of diesel is heading to the US at a time when stockpiles in the East Coast, the largest US importing region, are close to the lowest seasonally since 2017.

US imports of European gasoline hit a nine-month low in October. The price of diesel and other fuels have skyrocketed across the globe since energy demand has been back with the world economy reopening but supply simply has not kept up.

Deliveries of European gasoline to the US plunged last month by 51% month-on-month to about 202,000 barrels per day, the lowest monthly tally since January.

Europe is also facing an energy crisis as natural gas prices have more than tripled there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that his country could help ease Europe’s natural gas shortage. But Russian supplies have so far not been enough as a Russian pipeline, the Nord Stream 2, is held up by permitting delays in Germany. Germany on Tuesday suspended the approval process for the pipeline project.

Source: Presstv

Taraba killing spree: Cameroon gov’t soldiers put on Amba clothes then shot 11 Nigerians

19, November 2021

Taraba killing spree: Cameroon gov’t soldiers put on Amba clothes then shot 11 Nigerians 0

Heavily armed Cameroon government army soldiers put on Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards robes before heading off on their killing mission to Taraba State in Nigeria, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from a well placed source at the Ministry of Defense in Yaoundé.

The Cameroon government soldiers who slaughtered 11 Nigerian civilians and four Southern Cameroons refugees in Taraba were disguised in Ambazonia self defense dress, Cameroon Intelligence Report can now reveal.

The Cameroon government troops who targeted Manga village in Shigom ward of Takum Local Government Area and killed the local chief alongside four notables had standing instructions from Yaoundé, our source said.

People in the know deep within the Nigerian military positions in Taraba also hinted this reporter that those who carried out the attack spoke in French and had the kind of weapons used by Cameroon government special forces, the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR).

First, a group of Cameroon government soldiers arrived the Takum Local Government Area and signaled the 23 Battalion of the Nigerian military command post in Takum that they were inside Nigerian territory on an anti Ambazonia mission. But their real mission was to provide cover for their colleagues disguised in Ambazonia Self Defense dress.

The disguised Francophone soldiers reportedly staged the attacks and were ferried back to their base by elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion.  Eleven Nigerian and four Southern Cameroons civilians were gunned down in Manga.

Speaking to our correspondent in Nigeria, a Taraba man recalled the terrifying scene as the disguised Cameroon government soldiers moved stealthily through Manga looking for more victims during their murderous spree.

In Abuja, a senator representing Taraba South, Hon. Emmanuel Bwacha, raised the alarm that Nigeria’s territorial sovereignty was under threat following the alleged invasion of Manga community in the Takum Local Government Area of Taraba by Ambazonia separatists from Southern Cameroon. His statement was greeted with much relief by pro Biya military officers.

Immediately after the attack, the 23 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, stationed in Takum Local Government Area was on high alert as locals raged about the killings.

So far Yaoundé has refused to comment on the Taraba attack even though Abuja has blamed the attack on Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Southern Cameroons war spills into Nigeria as Taraba State Gov Ishaku begs for more troops

19, November 2021

Southern Cameroons war spills into Nigeria as Taraba State Gov Ishaku begs for more troops 0

Taraba State Governor, Darius Dickson Ishaku, has expressed fear over the invasion and activities of terror armed men in the state.

The governor alleged that there are some Amazonian terrorists infiltrating the state and causing mayhem.

Ishaku called on the federal government to as a matter of urgency order the deployment of troops to border communities to halt the chaotic activities of the terror armed men.

He alleged that the terrorists from Cameroon have been unleashing terror on the residents of the state.

Governor Ishaku stated this while reacting to the recent attacks by soldiers from Cameroon on Manga village in Takum Local Government council.

Noting that the call for protection of the borders has become necessary, the governor who appeared on Channels Television on Thursday said Taraba has one of the longest borders with the Republic of Cameroon.

Passionately seeking the presence of security personnel in the State to man the border, he said, “there is an absolute need that this boundary must be manned by security agencies,” stressing that, “the military, precisely must man it.”

Stressing on how heavily armed the Cameroonian separatist group are, Governor Ishaku said; “they are a separatist group,” adding that “when they kill, they run away.”

Admitting that, ”It is not an easy thing, ” he emphasized that the military should be the ones to be deployed to the border communities.

Ishaku lamented that he had previously asked the military to help secure the border but that his appeal was treated with kid gloves.

Source: Naija.com

Yaoundé and Bangui hold talks on Central African rebels incursions

18, November 2021

Yaoundé and Bangui hold talks on Central African rebels incursions 0

Rebel incursions, kidnappings, ransom demands, trafficking, harassment, insecurity … these are some of the topics that were discussed between the Central African and Cameroonian authorities, a statement from the Ministry of Defense in Yaounde revealed.

The Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo reportedly led a ministerial delegation to Bouar in the Central African Republic.

Cameroon Concord News understands the two countries held talks on security issues on Tuesday, 16 November 2021.

Both sub saharan countries share a long border of about 1,000 km to the east by Cameroon and to the west for the Central African Republic and their two French speaking peoples have always traded.

But in recent years, trade on the Douala-Bangui corridor, a vehicle for sub-regional integration, has been halted several times for security reasons.

Cameroonian populations are regularly subjected to incursions by Central African armed groups.

The UN says that there are more than 295,000 Central African refugees on Cameroonian soil.

By Rita Akana

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Bui SDO accuses teachers of financing Amba Fighters

18, November 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Bui SDO accuses teachers of financing Amba Fighters 0

The Senior Divisional Officer for Bui Division in the North-West has accused Southern Cameroons teachers of financing the Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards and by extrapolition, the war in West Cameroon.

According to Menyong Gilbert Sunday, prefect of Bui, teachers in his administrative unit are contributing financially to the war effort in support of the separatists fighters.

The Biya appointee opined recently that Southern Cameroons teachers were “taking advantage of the persistence of the Ambazonia conflict and are not going to the classrooms, but receive their salaries at the end of each month.”

The new Senior Divisional Officer for Bui signed a prefectural order asking the six sub-prefects of his command unit to draw up a list of absentee teachers in order to punish them.

The National Union of Higher Education Teachers (Synes) has denounced the prefect’s accusations and promised to take the matter to the administrative court.

As a reminder, the Anglophone crisis began in October 2016 with corporatist demands from teachers and lawyers.

The teachers denounced their working conditions while the lawyers demonstrated against the absence of the English version of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (Ohada).

In five years, these demands have led to a conflict that has resulted in at least 10,000 deaths and more than 700,000 internally displaced persons and refugees.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

Deadly mudslides, floods in Canada after Pacific north-west storm

17, November 2021

Deadly mudslides, floods in Canada after Pacific north-west storm 0

The body of a woman was recovered from one of the mudslides caused by extremely heavy rainfall in the Pacific coast Canadian province of British Columbia, authorities said Tuesday.

Police said search and rescue personnel were continuing to look for other possible victims from Monday’s slides.

David MacKenzie, the Pemberton District Search and Rescue manager, said his team came across seven vehicles at the slide site on Highway 99 near the town of Lillooet and police were trying to determine if there were any other bodies.

“It is a significant amount of debris. It makes it very difficult for our search crews. The mud is up to their waist. I can’t recall our team being involved in anything like this in the past,” he said.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said the total number of people and vehicles unaccounted for had not yet been confirmed. She said investigators had received reports of two other people who were missing but added that other motorists might have been buried in the slide.

Jonathan Gormick, spokesman for the Vancouver Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team, said that while the roadway had been cleared of potentially trapped vehicles or people, they would now be searching the slide’s debris field.

About 300 people spent Sunday night in their vehicles and were helicoptered to safety Monday.

Elsewhere in the province, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said impassable highways were creating havoc in his city as police and firefighters tried to get people to evacuation centers.

“It breaks my heart to see what’s going on in our city,” Braun said.

Sunny skies followed two days of torrential storms that dumped the typical amount of rain that the city gets in all of November, but the mayor said the water was still rising and Highway 1 would be cut shut down for some time.

Braun said he was worried about getting enough information from officials in Washington state about water levels that have risen dramatically from the overflowing Nooksack River and over the Sumas dike.

“When are we going to crest? When is it going to level off here? It’s like a full cup of coffee. Once it’s full, it keeps flowing over the sides,’ he said.

Abbotsford Police Chief Mike Serr said officers removed some people from the roofs of cars awash in flood waters Monday night but left some motorists in semi-trucks because they were higher above the water.

“I was out there last night. You could not see where the side of the road was. We had one member put on a life-jacket and swim out towards a car that was overturned to bring someone back. And that was on a regular basis for about two hours,” Serr said.

About 1,100 homes had been evacuated in Abbotsford, adding to others in various parts of British Columbia, including in Merritt, where the entire town of 7,000 people was forced to leave after the sanitation system failed.

Multiple roadways have been closed because of flooding or landslides, including sections of Highway 1A, Highway 3, Highway 5, Highway 11, Highway 12 and Highway 91.

Source: AP

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