Another winner last night in the US elections was Wilfred Mbah, who won an alderman seat in Somerville, Massachusetts. Originally from Southern Cameroons now known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, he is the recipient of a visa through the diversity-lottery program that Trump announced he wanted to dismantle in the wake of last week’s attack in New York City.

In an interview about his experience as an immigrant, Mbah said of Somerville, “I feel like the city has helped me a lot. Right from the beginning, I had friends that were helping me with job searches, helping me with my résumé.” But, he added,

We cannot leave it up to the generosity of private citizens to look after people who are struggling. I don’t know how many people are out there struggling to live in this city: artists, immigrants, working class people, middle class people. The city government must take a more active role in looking out for people who care about this city, and want to live and grow here.

Democrats won big last night, but there’s an even more important lesson to learn here: Progressive Democrats won big last night.

Source: The Nation

Moscow has banned dozens of Canadian individuals from entering Russia in retaliation for sanctions recently imposed by Ottawa against 30 Russian officials.

The move was prompted after Canada’s government on Friday banned and froze the assets of 30 Russians over alleged accusations of corruption and human rights violations.

“We have to respond with mirror-image sanctions,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. “If our Canadian partners like playing sanctions games, we will be forced to respond, although we certainly prefer to develop constructive cooperation on the issues important for the peoples of both countries.”

“The list is long and contains dozens of names — the Russophobic Canadian citizens that have been systematically destroying bilateral relations,” Zakharova said, without offering names.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also warned that Canada must step back from a “destructive course, leading to further aggravation of bilateral relations.”

Meanwhile, the Russian diplomatic mission in Canada censured Ottawa’s measure as “a false pretext of a hypocritical protection of human rights,” which is “absolutely senseless and reprehensible.”

Ottawa “is isolating itself from one of the key global powers” and “pushes Canada’s foreign policy back to the narrow black-and-white world view, incompatible with modern geopolitics,” the mission added.

“At the moment, dozens of Canadians have been banned from entering Russia; this is not our choice, but in case of new sanctions, our response will be unchanged and reciprocal in terms of amount and quality,” it said.

Canada’s sanctions list came after the country earlier this year passed its own version of the United States’ Magnitsky Law, a measure that punishes Russian officials linked to the case of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison after exposing an alleged tax fraud scheme in 2009.

The Magnitsky Act in the US has led to sanctions on more than 40 senior Russian officials so far. The list includes names of those whose assets under US jurisdiction are frozen and are barred from doing business with Americans or receiving US visas.

Culled from Presstv

US President Donald Trump will be impeached within a year, says an American professor, who correctly predicted Trump’s election victory, long before most Americans considered it a possibility.

Allan Lichtman, a distinguished professor of history at American University, wrote in an essay for the TIME magazine that Trump is closer to impeachment than ever.

Lichtman argued that the reason for the possible impeachment lies with the indictments recently handed down by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating an alleged collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

“Already, Mueller’s filing in federal court of just partial information from his plea deal with [former campaign staffer George] Papadopoulos, contains stunning new revelations,” Lichtman wrote.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty on Monday in a federal court to having lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russia while working on Trump’s campaign. He had met with Russian officials in 2016 and was offered damaging information about Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” court records revealed.

Lichtman said the most stunning of these revelations is the suggestion that Trump likely knew about Papadopoulos’s attempts to reach out to Russian officials.

Trump’s former presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his lobbying associate Richard Gates were also  indicted late last month, on multiple counts as a part of the FBI’s special inquiry into the allegations.

They are facing charges of conspiracy, failure to register as foreign agents, failing to report foreign bank accounts to the federal government and money laundering.

Lichtman said the president should be concerned, because there are new revelations that suggest Trump likely knew about some of his staffer’s attempts to reach out to Russian officials.

“These revelations may not by themselves establish the case for impeachment, but Mueller’s investigation is still in its early stages,” he wrote.

Trump has repeatedly denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and has condemned the investigations. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also denied the allegations.

American intelligence agencies claim that Russia interfered last year in the US presidential election to try to help Trump, who was then the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Source: Presstv

US President Donald Trump has pushed back against concerns about a number of critical positions that still remain unfilled in his administration, saying he is “the only one that matters.”

“Let me tell you, the one that matters is me, I’m the only one that matters because when it comes to it that’s what the policy is going to be,” Trump said on Fox News when asked about vacancies at the State Department.

“We don’t need all the people that they want,” he continued. “Don’t forget, I’m a business person and I tell my people, well you don’t need to fill slots, don’t fill them.”

A number of top positions remain vacant at the State Department, among other agencies, including officials overseeing Southeast Asia and arms control.

In June, the administration proposed $37.6 billion budget for the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, a drop of about 30 percent.

Foreign policy experts decried the move, warning that it could drastically affect US foreign policy in volatile regions of the world.

“It’s called cost-saving,” Trump said. “I want my vision, but my vision is my vision anyway. It’s called cost-saving. There’s nothing wrong with cost-saving.”

Despite the unfilled positions and reports of tensions with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Trump suggested that the top diplomat was giving his best effort on matters of foreign policy.

“Rex is in there working hard,” the president said. “He’s doing his best.”

Trump is way behind his four predecessors in the number of appointments confirmed by the Senate at this stage of his presidency, according to The Washington Post.

The president blamed Senate Democrats for this, while acknowledging that he has nominated fewer people.

“We have almost about half the number of people coming through as Obama had,” Trump said.

Source: Presstv

The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, has told Democratic Republic of Congo it must hold its delayed elections in 2018. Ms Haley warned that US support for the country was at stake if this was not adhered to:

“Elections must be held in 2018, (otherwise) the DRC should not count on the support of the United States and the international community,” the AFP news agency reports her as saying.

She made the comments after meeting Corneille Nangaa, head of the National Electoral Commission. Elections were originally scheduled for November 2016 – but the NEC cancelled the polls citing logistical and financial difficulties.

It said that among other security concerns the continuing unrest in the central Kasai region was making it difficult to register voters. The commision said two weeks ago that the earliest date it could organise the poll was April 2019.

Opposition protests have been held across the country against the perceived extension of President Joseph Kabila’s rule. Mr Kabila was to set to step down in December 2016 but in a deal brokered by the Catholic church it was agreed he would leave office at the end of 2017.

Ms Haley – who arrived in the country on Wednesday – also met the religious leaders who mediated the 2016 deal. She urged them to “get involved” in ending the deadlock. The ambassador also visited a displaced people’s camp at Kitchanga in the eastern region of the country.

She is scheduled to leave the country later on Friday. It is the first trip to Africa for Ms Haley, who is the most senior Trump administration official to visit the continent. She has also visited South Sudan and Ethiopia.

Culled from the BBC

US President Donald Trump has hit back at critical senators in Congress within his own Republican Party, painting them as outliers.

Trump made the comments on Wednesday hours after meeting Republican senators on Capitol Hill, which he described as a “love fest” between him and allied lawmakers.

A day after Republican senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake condemned Trump for “debasing” the nation and having a “flagrant disregard” for truth and decency, the combative president hit back.

Attempting to prevent a wider backlash from his political party, Trump said that Corker and Flake had decided to leave politics because they could not be reelected to the Senate.

“The reason Flake and Corker dropped out of the Senate race is very simple, they had zero chance of being elected. Now act so hurt & wounded!” Trump tweeted.

“The meeting with Republican Senators yesterday, outside of Flake and Corker, was a love fest with standing ovations and great ideas for USA!” he continued.

Flake had told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday that he doesn’t see a place for himself in the current Republican Party under Trump’s leadership.

“Jeff Flake, with an 18% approval rating in Arizona, said ‘a lot of my colleagues have spoken out.’ Really, they just gave me a standing O!” Trump shot back.

“The meeting with Republican Senators yesterday, outside of Flake and Corker, was a love fest with standing ovations and great ideas for USA!” Trump continued, this time adding senator Bob Corker to his attack list.

Corker, who represents the state of Tennessee and chairs the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the president.

The ongoing public dispute between Trump and Corker escalated Tuesday after Trump attacked Corker for his skepticism over a $1.5 trillion tax cut and the senator responding by slamming the president as an “utterly untruthful” leader who “debases” his country.

Earlier this month, Corker condemned Trump for undermining Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, saying the president’s public statements on foreign policy “castrate” his top diplomat and creates “binary” scenarios for the US on the world stage.

Source: Presstv

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has still not answered questions relating to the hundreds of people killed in Southern Cameroons by the President Biya Francophone regime. On October 19 UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres told him he had not heard anything about the genocide currently going on in Southern Cameroons from Inner City Press. Guterres will be in Yaounde on October 27 — but it’s a mere stop over on an Air France flight from the Central African Republic to Paris, with two hours in Yaounde, from 7 to 9 pm.

Intelligence sources say the 84 year old French Cameroun dictator Paul Biya, in part as a proof of life, may go to the airport. So on October 24 Inner City Press asked Guterres’ deputy spokesman Farhan Haq about this and an imprisoned activist. Inner City Press: some were saying that the Secretary-General, on 27 October, will be in Cameroon for two hours in the evening on an Air France flight that goes from Bangui to Yaoundé and then to Paris and that the President, Paul Biya, might meet him at the airport. And I wanted to know if you could confirm that and also if the UN has done anything regarding the case of Nasako Besingi, who is a high-profile environmental and Anglophone activist who’s been jailed since 25 September, and various groups have now spoken out, and I’m wondering, has the UN done anything to… to have this entirely nonviolent activist released?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, that’s several questions.  On the last of those, we have been raising our concerns about all detained activists, and we’ll continue to do so.  Regarding the Secretary-General’s travel plans, there’s no other trip to announce at this point.  If we have any further announcements down the line, we’ll let you know.  But for now, he will be in the Central African Republic through 27 October.  And… was there anything else?

Inner City Press: It seems… the Government of Cameroon seems to understand that he’s flying on a flight that goes from Bangui to Yaoundé, but betw… and between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., he’ll be in the airport in Yaoundé, and the President, Paul Biya, may meet with him there.  That’s why I’m asking you.

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, whenever the Secretary-General is flying, there are sometimes different stopovers, but there’s nothing to announce at present.  If we have anything, we’ll let you know at that point.”   The Resident Coordinator in Cameroon Allegra Baiocchi is bragging about marching for UN Day in Yaoundé. But in Douala the government had banned an opposition march, and detained two journalists. Today’s UN has much more in common with those making the arrests than those seeking the truth.

Source: Inner City Press

Barrister  Akere Muna announced on Tuesday his resignation as President of the International Conference on Anti-Corruption (IACC).  The resignation came after the 65-year-old lawyer declared on October 9 his intention to run as a candidate for Cameroon’s presidential election in 2018.

The former Vice President of Transparency International was quoted as saying he wants to “avoid any conflict of interest or confusion that may arise from his political commitment”. Prior to the Tuesday resignation, Akere Muna had also stepped down as Chairman of Ecobank Cameroon.

According to a statement released on Tuesday the 17^th of October for this purpose, Akere Muna’s resignation came after an annual meeting of the IACC held in Berlin on the 15^th of October 2017. During the meeting Delia Ferreira of Argentina and Reuben Lifuka of Zambia, were respectively elected President and Vice-President.

The International Anti-Corruption Conference is the first global gathering of Heads of State, civil society and the private sector to tackle the challenges posed by corruption. Created in 1983, the IACC is generally held every two years in a region of the world, and welcomes between 800 to 2000 participants from over 135 countries around the world.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News

The chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces has met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

Major General Mohammad Baqeri met with President Assad on Thursday, congratulating him on the country’s recent achievements in its fight against terrorism and expressing hope that the phenomenon will soon be eliminated from the country.

Assad, for his part, expressed his gratitude to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as well as the Iranian government and nation for their support for Syria in its campaign against terrorism.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Major General Baqeri left Tehran for Damascus on Tuesday to meet with Syrian officials to discuss ways to boost defensive and military cooperation between Iran and Syria, among other issues.

He has met with his Syrian counterpart, General Ali Abdullah Ayoub, and is planned to sit down with Defense Minister Major General Fahd Jassem al-Freij as well.

Back in May, the top military brass of Iran and Syria held a meeting in Tehran and vowed to boost cooperation between their respective governments.

Iran has been providing military advisory support to Syria in their campaign against terrorism at the request of the government in Damascus.

Baqeri also paid a visit to Turkey in August. He met with the country’s top authorities, including President Erdogan, his Turkish counterpart, General Hulusi Akar, and Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli.

Culled from Presstv