Politics

29, August 2017

EU delivers strong defense of multilateral nuclear deal with Iran ⁰

The European Union (EU) has once again thrown its weight firmly behind a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran, as the United States tries its hand at undermining the agreement.

Addressing the opening session of the 2017 EU Ambassadors Conference in Brussels on Monday, Federica Mogherini said the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), represents “the European way to foreign policy.”

“This was not an agreement between two countries, I have repeated it time and again and I have the impression that we will need to repeat it time and again in the months to come,” she added, apparently referring to the stepped-up American rhetoric and action against the deal.

US President Donald Trump has called the JCPOA — which was negotiated under his predecessor, Barack Obama — “the worst deal ever” and repeatedly threatened to tear it up.

The deal was reached between Iran and the P5+1 countries — namely the US, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany — in July 2015 and took effect in January 2016.

Recent reports indicate that the Trump administration is actively seeking a pretext to potentially withdraw from the JCPOA. Among other things, the White House has reportedly been pressuring US intelligence officials to produce intelligence that could be used to declare Iran in violation of the nuclear agreement.

This is while the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is tasked with monitoring Iranian compliance with the deal, has consistently verified the Islamic Republic’s adherence to its obligations.

Last week, the Trump administration sent US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to Vienna to lobby with the IAEA to request access to Iranian military sites as part of the deal, a move generally considered an attempt at undermining the JCPOA.

Mogherini said in her Monday’s comments that the JCPOA was “a commitment undertaken by the entire international community on one side and Iran on the other, supported by a resolution of the UN Security Council, and certified regularly by the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

She said “compliance with the deal is certified by the IAEA and by the Joint Commission I chair…, not by one single individual country,” in a thinly-veiled rejection of US attempts to claim an Iranian breach.

The EU’s top diplomat further hailed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s “personal commitment to continue to implement their part of the deal. This is what is counting the most for us in this moment.” Iran has denounced Washington’s attempts to undermine the JCPOA.

Culled from Presstv

29, August 2017

Consortium: Agbor Balla and Fontem Neba asked to appear in Mfoundi court today ⁰

The application for habeas corpus made by the defense team for the detained leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium will be examined today, the 29th of August at the Mfoundi High Court in Yaounde.

The two leaders, Felix Nkongho Agbor and Fontem Neba are currently being tried in French Cameroun for hostility against the homeland, outrages on constituted bodies and officials, rebellion, degradation of public property, looting, coercion of acts of terrorism, secession, revolution, insurrection, excitement And propagation of false news.

Dr. Barrister Agbor Balla and Dr. Fontem Neba described recently by CPDM Senator Mbella Moki as men of honour were arrested on January 18 and ever since then, the Southern Cameroons revolution has continued to shake the very foundation of the ruling CPDM party.

At the last hearing, on the 27th of July, defense lawyers pointed out that the detention of their clients was illegal. Because it violates legal proceedings. “They were arrested at the end of January and the pre-trial detention can not exceed six months without being renewed. But it was not in June.”

By Rita Akana
Cameroon Concord News Group

27, August 2017

Most French voters dissatisfied with Macron ⁰

Most French voters are now dissatisfied with Emmanuel Macron’s performance, a poll shows, a dramatic decline for a president who basked in a landslide election victory less than four months ago. The poll, conducted by Ifop for newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), showed Macron’s “dissatisfaction rating” rising to 57 percent, from 43 percent in July.

Forty percent expressed satisfaction with the centrist leader – down 14 points from July. French government spokesman Christophe Castaner said the ruling party was going through a tricky time, but added that displeasing some people was a price worth paying if the government wanted to push through reforms.

“Yes, we are encountering difficulties, but you cannot just spend your time only looking at polls when you’re in government. We are there to transform the country. Our country needs us to take risks, and we are taking risks,” Castaner told BFM TV.

Macron, who is midway through a schedule of official visits to various European capitals, has suffered a number of setbacks since being elected, including tough debates in parliament over labor reform, a standoff with the military and cuts to housing assistance. Social media commentators and political opponents criticized the president after it emerged he spent 26,000 euros ($31,000) on makeup during his first 100 days in office and his office also backed down on plans to give his wife a formal, paid role after a public backlash.

Bernard Sananes, head of French polling company Elabe, said the latest survey could encourage Macron’s political opponents, after his party won a commanding majority in parliament. “It could mean, for the government, that the opposition mobilizes itself again,” Sananes told BFM TV. The Ifop poll showed the cumulative drop in Macron’s popularity ratings since May was bigger than that of previous Socialist president Francois Hollande over the same period. The poll also showed a drop in popularity for Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, with 47 percent expressing satisfaction with him – down 9 points from last month.

Macron, France’s youngest leader since Napoleon, faces a big test next month when the far-left CGT trade union leads a rally to protest against plans to deregulate the jobs market. “Now is the key time, with the labor executive orders to be presented,” said Francois Savary, chief investment officer at Geneva-based investment firm Prime Partners, who has an “underweight” position on French equities.

(Source: Reuters)

27, August 2017

Remains of Minister Marafa’s wife buried in Paris amid tears, praise ⁰

Jeannette Marafa, the wife of Marafa Hamidou Yaya, jailed former Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic who died on Friday 25 August in Paris has been buried in France, Cameroon Concord News has learnt from Francophone media sources.

A relative of the late Jeannette Marafa quoted by some media houses pointed out that she consented to the idea of being laid to rest in a cemetery in Paris, France according to Muslim tradition.

The source also indicated that in her will, Jeannette Marafa reportedly said that “When my husband gets out of prison he will exhume my body and bury me in Garoua in northern Cameroon.” Jeannette Marafa has always claimed during her lifetime that her husband, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, is a political prisoner in Cameroon.

The former Minister of State in charge of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, who is being held in one of the cells of a secondary prison at the General Secretariat for Defense, was sentenced to 20 years in prison over the Albatross affair.

By Eyong Johnson with files from CIN

26, August 2017

Angola: Ruling party claims election victory ⁰

The ruling party in Angola has claimed a widely expected election victory, setting the stage for a change of leadership after decades of authoritarian rule by the cold war veteran José Eduardo dos Santos. Though final results from Wednesday’s voting were still being counted, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) said it was on track to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority, based on its calculations.

In Angola, political parties are allowed to observe the elections by posting party members at every polling station and by assimilating results, the parties attempt to predict the election outcome. Though the MPLA has yet to lose an electoral contest since a return to multiparty democracy 25 years ago, the real significance of the poll was that 74-year-old Dos Santos, who has ruled Angola for 38 years, did not stand as a presidential candidate.

His successor as president – should the MPLA projections be confirmed – will be João Lourenço, the 63-year-old defence minister and party veteran. “We can affirm that the future president will be comrade João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço,” João Martins, MPLA secretary for political and electoral affairs, said.

The main opposition, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), disputed the MPLA’s projected result. “Looking at the trend, the MPLA won’t have a majority at all,” Unita’s parliamentary head Adalberto Costa Júnior told Reuters news agency.

Culled from the Guardian

26, August 2017

Trump’s deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka resigns from White House ⁰

In yet another blow to the administration of US President Donald Trump, his deputy assistant, Sebastian Gorka, has resigned, media outlets report.

According to the Federalist newspaper, which cited multiple sources familiar with the situation, the national security and counterterrorism expert wrote a letter in which he announced his resignation over his dissatisfaction with the current state of the Trump administration.

“[G]iven recent events, it is clear to me that forces that do not support the MAGA promise are – for now – ascendant within the White House,” Gorka wrote, according to the Federalist. “As a result, the best and most effective way I can support you, Mr. President, is from outside the People’s House,” he added.

Gorka is another official who has resigned after Trump’s inflammatory remarks about a violent incident in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month. On August 12, a man linked to white supremacist groups ran over a group of counter-protesters during a gathering of white nationalists in Charlottesville, killing one woman and injuring some 20 others.

Trump stirred a firestorm by refusing to blame the violence on white supremacists and saying that both sides were at fault. His flip-flopping on Charlottesville prompted a wave of resignations on two high-profile White House advisory boards, leading Trump to officially disband both.

Every member of the White House arts committee also resigned over the issue. In the wake of Charlottesville, four in ten Americans support Trump’s impeachment and removal from office, according to a new poll. According to the new poll recently released by the Public Religion Research Institute, 40 percent of Americans back impeaching Trump, compared to 30 percent who said the same in February.

Source: Presstv

24, August 2017

Polls open in Angola in election marking end of president’s 38-year rule ⁰

Angolans have headed to the polls in a historic election marking the end of the 38-year rule of ailing President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, with his MPLA party expected to retain power but with a reduced majority.

Polling stations opened on Wednesday across the country – a former Portuguese colony – amid reports of a slow start in the nation’s capital of Luanda, where Dos Santos and his hand-picked successor and front-runner, Defense Minister Joao Lourenco, are due to cast their ballots later in the day.

Dos Santos’ retirement, which was reportedly prompted by ill health, has triggered the biggest political transition in decades for Angola, a leading oil exporter in Africa. He will, however, keep his position as the MPLA head. Nearly 9.3 million Angolans are registered to cast their ballots to decide the fate of the country’s 220-member National Assembly. The winning party will then appoint the president.

The main opposition challenger in the election is the UNITA party, a former rebel group that battled the MPLA in Angola’s civil war. The party has ruled the nation since its 1975 independence from Portugal. The MPLA, which stands for People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, won the 2012 polls with 72 percent of the votes amid widespread allegations of voting irregularities.

Meanwhile, at a weekend rally in front of thousands of MPLA party supporters, Dos Santos, a frail-looking 74-year-old, made a brief appearance to endorse the likely new president. “We have no doubt about the victory of the MPLA, and our candidate will be the future president, which is why I ask you: August 23, vote MPLA … and Joao Lourenco,” he said in a weak voice.

Dos Santos has been dogged by reports of illness, and his regular visits to Spain for “private” reasons fuelled criticism that his health status was being hidden from ordinary Angolans. Despite its oil wealth, however, Angola is plagued by poverty, corruption and human rights issues, though some observers argue that the new leadership may open the way to more accountability.

Source: Presstv

23, August 2017

Thousands protest outside Trump rally in Phoenix ⁰

Thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of Phoenix, Arizona, where US President Donald Trump was addressing a rally, in which he repeated his inflammatory remarks about the racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump said Tuesday that “the very dishonest media” mischaracterized his response to the violent protests in Charlottesville on August 12.

He said he “openly called for unity, healing and love” and denounced violence in the “strongest possible terms”, but the press did not report those comments and instead fabricated other stories with “no sources.”

“They don’t report the facts. Just like they don’t want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry and violence and strongly condemned the Neo-Nazis, the white supremacists and the KKK,” he said.

Trump gestures to the crowd as he speaks to supporters at the Phoenix Convention Center during a rally on August 22, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by AFP)

“What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America and tonight, this entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs that perpetrated hatred and violence,” the president said. In the deadly protests last weekend, neo-Nazis and white supremacists took over the Virginia city’s streets and prompted thousands of others to demonstrate in a counter-rally, which led to violent clashes.

The president blamed the violence, which left one woman dead and several others injured, on both sides of the conflict. His reaction sparked a political firestorm and drew sharp rebukes from members of Congress, military leaders and major business executives. It also led to several protests in different cities across the country.

On Tuesday, hundreds of his supporters and opponents gathered in Phoenix, with protesters shouting, “Shame, shame, shame” and “No Trump, No KKK, No fascist USA.”

A protester wears a costume likeness of Sheriff Joe Arpaio as a member of the KKK with a character picture of President Trump outside the Phoenix Convention Center at a rally by the president, on August 22, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by AFP)

“Trump saying people on both sides are to blame was the last straw,” Eva Spivey, 25, of Avondale, Arizona, told CNN. “Racism is a one-sided thing.” Trump tried to diminish the number of protesters outside the venue, by saying, “Just so you know from the Secret Service, there aren’t too many people outside protesting.”

His supporters chanted, “build the wall,” a reference to Trump’s promise to build a wall on the US border with Mexico, while some others were saying, “Make America great again.”

Some other people shouted “CNN sucks” “Shame on you” and “Tell the truth,” after Trump said the media were not honest. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat, had asked the president to postpone the rally.

Police separated protesters from a line of Trump rally-goers that stretched six city blocks before the campaign rally outside the Phoenix Convention Center. (Photo via Daily Mail)

In the wake of Charlottesville, four in ten Americans support Trump’s impeachment and removal from office, according to a new poll.

The poll released Thursday by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 40 percent of Americans back impeaching Trump, compared to 30 percent who said the same in February.

Source: Presstv

22, August 2017

Internal resistance: Southern Cameroons victory day is shaping up ⁰

Southern Cameroons victory day is shaping up like that of Kosovo and South Sudan in recent years following a massive ghost town operation that historically has been mostly peaceful. The Biya Francophone regime’s tough policies against the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have greatly added fuel to the civil disobedience campaign that has now been extended to three days a week (Mondays to Wednesdays).

The Secretary General of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and the interim leader of the Southern Cameroons Governing Council, who have both endorsed calls for a general strike until a Southern Cameroons state is born, said they expect a larger, more intense participation in light of Biya and La Republique’s “overzealous” efforts to roll back Southern Cameroons’s legitimate rights.

“It’s been a rough 11 months, but it’s almost here,” said an operations manager of the Consortium. It’s unclear whether Biya’s 2018 election will ratchet up the Southern Cameroons demonstrations. Unlike the last few months, no central gathering spot has been advertised. Instead, multiple meeting locations around the cities of the West, the USA, South Africa including Ghana and Nigeria have been listed on social media and online, creating confusion — possibly deliberate — for the vicious French Cameroun police force.

Last year, violence quickly erupted, with some in the Bamenda County rejecting the staging of a unitary march by Prime Minister Philemon Yang. French Cameroun security agents herded a mob of several hundred West Cameroon protesters out of Bamenda, using the most ruthless methods ever in the nation’s history. The Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR fired firearms into large crowds of people in Kumba, Bamenda, Buea, Limbe Kumbo and Jakiri.

The officials of the Southern Cameroons Governing Council and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium are advising Southern Cameroonians both at home and in the Diaspora to stay alert, be aware of their surroundings and inform operation managers if they see any criminal activity from La Republique’s security forces.

Businesses and academic establishments operating in Southern Cameroons have been warned to close their doors and retrieve outdoor signs or other objects from sidewalks. The transportation industry has also been cautioned and traffic disruptions are expected between La Republique and Southern Cameroons.

Southern Cameroonians have also been called to participate in the peaceful civil disobedience that will shut down highways, airports, and other key infrastructure feeding fat on La Republique. The Southern Cameroons Governing Council will in the days ahead announce an economic boycott of French Cameroun.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Chi Prudence Asong in Buea

18, August 2017

Trump will resign before the end of the year ⁰

A writer who has known Donald Trump for three decades believes the US president will resign from office before the end of the year. Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Trump’s 1987 Art of the Deal memoir, took to Twitter on Thursday to make his prediction about Trump’s political future.

“The circle is closing at blinding speed. Trump is going to resign and declare victory before Mueller and Congress leave him no choice,” Tony Schwartz said Thursday. The circle is closing at blinding speed. Trump is going to resign and declare victory before Mueller and congress leave him no choice.

“Trump must be isolated. Resistance every day. The end is near but must keep pressure high,” he added. “Trump’s presidency is effectively over. Would be amazed if he survives till end of the year. More likely resigns by fall, if not sooner,” he continued.

US Special Counsel Robert Mueller along with several congressional committees are investigating whether the Russian government coordinated with Trump’s associates during the 2016 campaign and transition, accusations both Trump and Moscow have denied. Mueller has also impaneled a grand jury, meaning he is allowed to subpoena officials and get sworn testimony which may lead to criminal indictments.

Mueller is reportedly seeking to interview current and former administration officials as part of his investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has condemned the investigation into possible collusion between his election campaign and Russia as the “greatest witch hunt” in the US history.

Schwartz made a similar prediction in May. “There is no right and wrong for Trump. There’s winning and losing. And that’s very different from right and wrong. Right now he’s in pure terror that he is going to lose,” Schwartz said. “And by the way, he is going to lose.”

Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to lead the probe which will also look into “related matters.” He was at the helm of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 12 years, between 2001 and 2013.

Source: Presstv