26, December 2017
Congo-Kinshasa: 9 soldiers killed in 2 militia attacks 0
A suspected rebel militia group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed at least nine military forces during two separate attacks in the country’s volatile east.
The Congolese army said the fatalities took place in the eastern province of South Kivu over the past four days, accusing Mai Mai Mazembe militiamen from the Nande ethnic group of being responsible for both attacks.
“The army recorded a loss of nine soldiers in two ambushes in the Baraka operational zone” in South Kivu, an unnamed military official told AFP.
A lieutenant was killed on Sunday in the village of Lweba, seven kilometers from the Baraka district, the official said, adding that the other deaths came in an attack two days earlier.
“Our hospital received the bodies of eight soldiers killed by bullets on Friday,” said a hospital source in Lulimba, a village 60 kilometers south of Baraka.
Dozens of armed groups have been active in the eastern DR Congo ever since a war there in 1998, and the Congolese army, joined by United Nations troops, is on the offensive against rebel groups.
Seeking safety, tens of thousands of people have escaped to neighboring Zambia, where they are facing “hugely underfunded” aid operations, according to UN figures.
Congo has also been facing numerous problems over the past few decades such as grinding poverty and crumbling infrastructure.

Political crisis has exacerbated in the African country as President Joseph Kabila is still in power despite his second and final term as president officially ending in December 2016.
Under the DR Congo’s constitution, Kabila is banned from seeking a third term. However, Kabila is authorized to stay in office until his successor is elected.
The long-awaited election to replace Kabila has been postponed until December 23, 2018. The delay in holding an election has flared up violence in the country.
Source: Presstv






















26, December 2017
President Trump’s ally accuses cabinet members of plotting a coup 0
Some people within the US President Donald Trump’s cabinet have discussed removing their boss from power, a close ally of the Republican president claims.
Roger Stone, a long-time associate of Trump, said during an interview over the weekend that the rebels were plotting to out Trump by invoking the 25th Amendment of the US constitution.
“I have sources,” Stone told C-SPAN. “And yes, I believe there are some who have had this discussion. This is both outside the cabinet and in.”
“There is a plan afoot that is broader than just the cabinet. The 25th Amendment requires a majority of the cabinet and the vice president [to remove the president],” he added, noting that he would “probably report that fully at some point.”
The 25th Amendment defines outlines for the transition of power in case the president is unable or unfit to serve.
Since ratification, the amendment has been invoked six times, with the most far-reaching use being in 1973, when then President Richard Nixon nominated Representative Gerald Ford to replace then Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, who had resigned.
Continuing his wild statements, Stone said removing Trump was a fallback plan for “the establishment.”
“And I have always thought this is plan B for the two party duopoly that has run this country into the ground,” he argued.
“This is not a conspiracy theory… There are members of the cabinet who have had this discussion. Let me just leave it at that,” the conservative lobbyist continued.
Trump and his team are currently under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has been appointed to see into reports that the president has “colluded” with Russia before and after winning last year’s election.
While millions of people have signed various online petitions calling for Trump’s removal, the prospect of an impeaching seems far-flung given that Republicans maintain majority in both chambers of Congress.
Source: Presstv