Russian President Vladimir Putin says the conflict between the Israeli regime and Palestinians could only be resolved through political means based on international law. “As a member of the Middle East quartet, Russia together with the US, the UN and the European Union, will continue to prove the necessity of direct dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis,” Putin added at a joint press conference with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday.

Putin also cautioned against taking “one-sided steps” and called for making “mutually acceptable decisions” to try to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.

Since the January inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who is a steadfast supporter of Israel, the regime in Tel Aviv has stepped up its construction of settler units on occupied Palestinian land in a blatant violation of international law.

Less than a month before Trump took office, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2334, calling on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem” al-Quds.

About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds. Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

Abbas, for his part, briefed Putin on the latest Israeli violations of Palestinians’ rights, including continuous settlement building activities, “policies of economic suffocation, and persistence to hold thousands of detainees in Israeli prisons.”

The Palestinian leader added that the Israeli violations will eventually “lead to destroying the chance to create peace in the (Middle East) region,” and “abolish the idea of a two-state solution.”

He further highlighted the importance of fulfilling the humanitarian needs of hundreds of Palestinian inmates, who continue to be on hunger strike in Israeli jails, stating that the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority will exert all efforts possible to secure their release.

Since April 17, more than 1,600 Palestinian prisoners have joined the protest action, dubbed the Freedom and Dignity Strike. The strikers are demanding basic rights, such as an end to the policies of administrative detention, solitary confinement and deliberate medical negligence.

Source: Presstv

In a statement on Friday; a day after internet services were restored in the crisis-hit North West and South West regions, the special representative of the U.N Secretary-General for Central Africa said the internet restoration will reduce the tension in the Anglophone regions.

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Central Africa has said he was relieved to learn that President Paul Biya instructed that full internet services be restored in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon.

“I welcome this measure, which is in line with those recently announced by the government to address the demands of English-Speaking teachers and lawyers,” Francois Lounceny Fall said in a statement.

Mr Fall who also heads the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) noted that the decision, which took effect from 20 April, “will go a long way to help reduce tension and to create conditions conducive for the resolution of the crisis in the two regions.”

He said that he “counts on the Government of Cameroon to continue to promote appeasement and dialogue, and to take all other appropriate measures aimed at a speedy and lasting resolution of the crisis in order to strengthen unity, stability and prosperity in Cameroon.”

The Special Representative of the UN scribe for Central Africa also expressed the wish that “the Cameroonian people will maintain their spirit of patriotism and show restraint during this trying period, including by avoiding the use of the Internet to incite hatred or violence.”

It should be recalled that during a four-day official visit to Cameroon last week, Mr Fall urged government to restore the internet which he described as an “important tool for development, communication and collective development.”

The UN envoy also called on the government to release all detainees of the Anglophone crisis, some of whom he met “including Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla and radio broadcaster Mancho Bibixy.”  He also met with Government officials, members of civil society, opposition leaders, and members of the diplomatic corps and the UN system in a bit to seek lasting solutions to the crisis.

Source: Cameroun Info.Net

Iran has dismissed as “ridiculous” the Jordanian monarch’s juxtaposition of the Islamic Republic with the Takfiri Daesh group in a recent interview with The Washington Post. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi was reacting to King Abdullah’s arguement that Israeli settlements were playing into the hands of Iran and Daesh which has the second or third biggest number of its members from Jordan.

“These issues give ammunition to the Iranians, to [Daesh ringleader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi and ISIS (Daesh),” the Jordanian king said in the interview published on Thursday.  Qassemi said, “Making baseless and ridiculous comparisons between Iran and the ringleaders of terrorist groups, and this being done by the king of an Arab and Muslim country, is unfortunately indicative of the complicated and pathetic situation, which the region is in.” “It seems the Jordanian king is strategically and fundamentally mistaken in his definition of terrorism and his interpretations simply reflect the poor and shallow nature of his perspective regarding the regional developments,” he added.

According to the data from the US House Homeland Security Committee, Jordan exports one of biggest number of Daesh members to Syria and Iraq along with Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.  Last year, The Telegraph said more than 2,000 Jordanians had joined the Takfiri group which follows the extremist Wahhabi ideology preached on Jordan’s doorsteps in key ally, Saudi Arabia.

“It is advisable that the Jordanian king has a passing look first at the statistics released about the Jordanian terrorists joining Daesh and other blood-spilling and ignorant groups and then makes an opinion on Iran which is on the frontline of the fight against terrorism and extremism and striving for reinforcing security in the region,” Qassemi said.

Iran a has been lending military advisory support to the Syrian army and the Iraqis in their battle against foreign-backed terrorist groups.  Qassemi also denounced the Jordanian king’s call on Arab countries to unite with Israel against Iran, reminding him of “endless problems which the fabrication of the illegitimate Zionist regime has created for the Muslim world and the regional states.”

In his interview with the Post, Abdullah said, “There are some strategic problems that Iran is involved in in our area. But here, again, is an opportunity: bringing Israel and the Arabs closer together. Because of the Iranian regime’s potential threat to the region, Israel wants to have a relationship with the Arabs.”

“Without a doubt, much of the existing situation in the region is the result of the misguided attitude of certain countries’ politicians toward political developments and the wrong and destructive policies which they have adopted which could push the entire region to the abyss of insecurity and instability,” Qassemi said. “To contribute to regional security, stability and unity, the Jordanian king is advised to take a short time off to study logic, history and geography of the region,” he added.

Presstv

Households in 86 percent of entire counties across the US that voted for President Donald Trump last year earn less income annually than the combined worth of 27 staffers that work for the Trump administration, a report has revealed. Financial reports released by the Trump administration indicate that 27 staffers who currently work for the US president are worth a combined $2.3 billion in properties, investments and huge salaries, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

How much is $2.3 billion, the report explains: “Here’s one way to look at it. Consider the amount of money earned in any county in the country in a year — the number of households in each county times the average household income in the county. In 80 percent of the counties in America, every household combined earns less than $2.3 billion per year.”

In counties that voted for Trump, however, that figure is even higher, the report adds, explaining that “in 86 percent of Trump counties, the total amount of income earned in a year is less than $2.3 billion.” The report further notes that based on 2011 to 2015 five-year estimates from the US Census Bureau, the average annual income in the aforementioned counties stood at $2.1 billion.

Only 8 percent of Trump-voting counties have a cumulative annual income greater than the $3.9 billion Trump himself in worth, as estimated by the financial Forbes magazine, and only two percent earn more annually than the $10 billion Trump claims to be worth. Most counties have small populations — which further explain why, cumulatively, they do not earn as much in income annually. The counties that tend to beat the $2.3 billion in annual income, tend to be the ones that include large cities.

Consequently, a map of where incomes beat the Trump staff’s net worth looks like an electoral map: “Swaths of counties that earn less each year than those 27 people are worth and a few pockets, mostly on the coasts, that are exceptions,” according to the report. It adds that the data – in a broader sense – “reinforces the disconnect between the Trump team and the voters Trump likes to highlight.” A lot of very wealthy people work in the White House. A lot of other houses scattered across the US are relying on those millionaires to boost their own incomes.

Meanwhile, financial disclosures from dozens of top White House officials released Friday night also reveal an administration stacked with millionaires, who’s combined net worth exceeds $12 billion. The filings shed new light on the business webs and conflicts held by a number of Trump’s top aides and advisers when they entered government.

Among the wealthiest members of Trump’s White House are his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, the heir to a vast real estate business, and his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs. The filings detail the investments, salaries and assets of Trump’s senior staff, opening the personal finances of as many as 180 administration officials to public scrutiny. Trump himself, whose personal wealth is believed to be in the billions, is not included in the releases.

Presstv

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted by the anti-war movement for war crimes committed in Iraq paid a short visit yesterday Wednesday in Lomé and was received by President Faure Gnassingbé. The Communication Directorate of the Togolese presidency revealed that Tony Blair was accompanied by a high level delegation.

Last February, Togo received a Commonwealth delegation and the country is diversifying its partnerships and considering becoming part of the Commonwealth. It is expected that the presence of a former British Prime Minister in Togo will help to advance the process.

The Commonwealth is an intergovernmental organization created in 1949 and is composed of states traditionally made up of former territories under British rule. The Commonwealth has evolved into countries with a sense of peace, freedom and commitment to the values of democracy, human rights, good governance and respect for the principle of non-interference.

Togo’s desire to join the Commonwealth is not new, as the country had submitted its application in 2014. The accession process is continuing and accelerating. The influence of English in the world, especially in the business, is one of the strategic arguments that has pushed the German and French colony to seek membership into the Commonwealth.

By Chi Prudence Asong

US President Donald Trump’s funding request for building a wall on the Mexican border as well as military activities has to wait by later this year, Senate Republican leaders say. Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt argued Tuesday that the new president’s supplemental funding request would complicate the spending bill lawmakers already have to deal with.

The US government could face a shutdown as its funding is due to expire on April 28. “We have the FY17 defense bill,” said Blunt, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, at a leadership press conference.

Democrats have vowed to bar any legislation, involving a funding for the construction of the wall, which the Republican president used to promote on the campaign trail.

“All of the committees, the leaderships of the House and Senate, are working together to try to finalize the rest of the FY17 bill,” Blunt said. “My guess is that comes together better without the supplemental.”

The statement ran against Trump’s request for a supplemental spending bill. According to South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, “The border wall is probably not a smart investment.” While campaigning for the 2016 presidential election, the then-GOP candidate vowed to make Mexico to pay for the wall rather than American taxpayers

Presstv

Former US Vice President Joe Biden is remorseful about his decision not to run in last year’s presidential election, claiming that he could have easily defeated Donald Trump. During a speech at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, Biden said he only needed to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination in order to win.

“I had planned on running for president and although it would have been a very difficult primary, I think I could have won,” he said. “I don’t know, maybe not. But I thought I could have won.” “I had a lot of data and I was fairly confident that if I were the Democratic Party’s nominee, I had a better than even chance of being president,” Biden continued.

“But do I regret not being president? Yes,” he said. “I was the best qualified.” 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 last November. Biden has famously criticized Trump for posing a “threat to our democratic process.”

He once said that the billionaire Republican “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth that he’s now choking on because his foot’s in his mouth along with the spoon.” Biden made the headlines again last October, when he invited Trump to a high school-style fight. “The press always asks me don’t I wish I were debating him,” Biden said of Trump back then. “No, I wish we were in high school—I could take him behind the gym. That’s what I wish.”

Presstv

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to travel to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump and discuss with him issues of mutual concern. The meeting, due to take place at the White House on Tuesday, would be Merkel’s first face-to-face with Trump since he took office on January 20 this year. Merkel has been Germany’s chancellor since 2005.

The leader of Europe’s most powerful economy has emphasized that she would be representing the European Union (EU) in her meeting with the US president. “I will of course point out that for us, our country and our membership in the European Union are two sides of the same coin,” Merkel said at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, ahead of the visit.

Trump and his officials have previously questioned the institutional foundation of the EU. A spokeswoman for Merkel has said the two leaders would discuss “bilateral and international topics, and transatlantic ties.” US sources have said the two would discuss issues related to NATO, refugees, the EU, and Russia.

On almost all of those topics, Trump has adopted stances diverging — sometimes radically — from those of European leaders. One such area would be Russia. Trump has said he favors better, possibly even strategic cooperation with Russia. European leaders, on the other hand, have had serious reservations about ties with Moscow, particularly over the Ukrainian conflict.

Trump is “very interested in hearing her (Merkel’s) insights on what it’s like to deal with the Russians,” a US official said anonymously. Transatlantic trade is another area of concern for Berlin. Trump has said he plans to renegotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Presstv

China has strongly rejected US criticism of its human rights record, accusing American politicians of corruption and hypocrisy. China’s State Council Information Office, in a report entitled “The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2016” and released on Thursday, scoffed at Washington’s repeated pose as “the judge of human rights.”

The report stated that the United States continues to wield “the baton of human rights” and criticize many countries for the human rights situation while it takes no heed of its own “terrible human rights problems.” It added that “the self-proclaimed human rights advocate has exposed its human rights myth” with “the gunshots lingering in people’s ears behind the Statue of Liberty, worsening racial discrimination and the election farce dominated by money politics and power-for-money deals.”

“Waves of boycotts and protests fully exposed the hypocritical nature of US democracy,” the report pointed out. The United States had the second highest prisoner rate last year, with 693 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population. Gun-related crimes also reached a high level, according to the report. There were a total of 58,125 gun violence incidents, including 385 mass shootings, in the United States in 2016, leaving 15,039 killed and 30,589 injured, the report cited figures from a report by the Gun Violence Archive.

Moreover, US social polarization worsened in 2016 and the proportion of adults who had full-time jobs hit a new low since 1983, income gaps continued to grow, the size of middle class began to shrink, and living conditions of the lower class deteriorated, the report added.

The percentage of Americans who said they were in the middle or upper-middle class dropped by 10 percentage points, from an average of 61 percent between 2000 and 2008 to 51 percent in 2016. That descent meant 25 million people in the United States fared much worse in economic terms, the report highlighted.

It added that race relations continued to deteriorate in the US last year, and the wage gap between blacks and whites was the worst in nearly four decades. The report came in response to “The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016” issued by the US State Department on March 3. Washington’s report accused China of “repression and coercion” of civil society groups, and claimed that Beijing is impinging on people’s liberties in Hong Kong and Macau.

Presstv