10, June 2018

Secession Palaver: Sturgeon urges Scots to focus on expanding support for independence from UK ⁰

Scotland’s National Party (SNP) leader and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged supporters to focus on expanding support for independence from the United Kingdom instead of the timing of the secession.

Addressing delegates at the SNP’s summer conference in Aberdeen on Saturday, Sturgeon – who also heads Scotland’s decentralized government – further acted to diminish expectations among her backers of an immediate push for a new independence vote while the outcome of Brexit remains unclear.

“The case for independence is strong. And it is getting stronger by the day,” Sturgeon said.

“As we wait for the fog of Brexit to clear, our opportunity – indeed, our responsibility – is this: Not just to focus on the ‘when’ of independence. But to use our energy and passion to persuade those who still ask ‘why?'”

“Right now, that is the more important task.”

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon addresses the Scottish National Party (SNP) conference in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, June 9, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

The development came as polls indicate that a majority of Scots are against holding a fresh ballot. This is while a push for an early referendum in 2017 backfired when support for her party declined in a snap election.

In March 2017, Scotland’s parliament authorized Edinburgh to request a transfer of powers from the UK parliament to hold a referendum, though London has not yet agreed to the request.

The last time Scots voted on independence was in 2014. More than 55 percent voted to stay in the UK while nearly 45 percent voted to leave.

This is while a SNP spokesman was cited in a Reuters support as saying that Sturgeon remains committed to updating the public on the timing of a possible new referendum on Scottish independence in the autumn.

Her speech on Saturday further highlighted a new SNP economic report that tackles the weaknesses of the economic arguments from the 2014 vote.

“It doesn’t pretend there are always easy answers – no one believes that. But it does lay strong foundations for independence. Even with no extra growth from independence, the deficit can be turned around in five to 10 years,” Sturgeon underlined.

She also emphasized on the need for more immigration to the sparsely populated northern tip of Britain and greater powers for Scotland to control it as a central feature of economic growth.

“It’s time for powers over migration to come to Scotland,” said the SNP leader.

Scotland’s population, much of which is rural and dispersed unlike the rest of Britain, is aging faster than other parts of the country.

Immigration, meanwhile, remains one of the trickiest political issues in the Brexit negotiations, and limiting the number of foreigners entering the UK was reportedly a key element on which Britain’s overall 2016 vote to leave the EU rested.

Source: Presstv

10, June 2018

Russia 2018: Broadcasting centre for World Cup opens in Moscow ⁰

As soccer fans count down the last few days before the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening match at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium on Thursday (June 14), the Russian capital witnessed the opening of another important tournament venue – the International Broadcasting Center (IBC).

As FIFA president Gianni Infantino explained, the IBC is key to the tournament because it will allow audiences across the world to see matches.

The IBC is located on the outskirts of Moscow and is where the VIdeo Assistant Referee (VAR) system operates from.

We will have the entire world being able to benefit from this beautiful and fantastic World Cup thanks to what is happening here in this IBC.

World Cup matches will be refereed with the help of video for the first time in history and according to FIFA director of refereeing Massimo Busacca will only be used in cases of clear mistakes.

Video replays operated by four referees inside the IBC will help referees on the pitch make key decisions. An incident involving ‘clear and obvious’ mistake during a match can be reviewed and changed.

Source: Africa News

10, June 2018

Biya regime begins operations to clear boat wrecks off Douala port ⁰

The port of Douala, the largest in Central Africa, this week launched an operation to remove wrecks of old boats which hamper its functionality and competitiveness.

“At the operational level, the impacts are even heavier because we are losing docks that should bring us money. It is on the dock that the boat comes to dock to allow exchanges,” said Georges Menye the project manager.

This operation is the first “in 33 years”, according to Cyrus Ngo’o, general manager of the autonomous port of Douala. “The port, the Wouri River is full of a hundred wrecks and we have decided to start with the most dangerous. The first twenty-five wrecks that impede the operation of the port are those that constitute this phase of the project,“ said Mr. Ngo’o.

Fear of pollution

Most of the boats whose frames have been abandoned in the port of Douala are over half a century old and are feared to contain asbestos.

“The majority of these boats are over 50 years old. However, nearly 20 years ago, the construction of boats with asbestos was stopped. Asbestos that has become toxic to humans,” worried Mr. Georges Menye, the project manager.

This contract for the withdrawal of abandoned boats was awarded to an Italian company, Bonifacio, for a sum of 4.7 billion CFA francs (just over 7 million euros).

Work to remove the first 25 wrecks will take eight months.

The main outlet for landlocked Central African countries such as Chad and the Central African Republic, the port of Douala is characterised by its dilapidated infrastructure, congestion, corruption and administrative hassles.

More than 95% of Cameroon’s port traffic passes through Douala.

In February, the French tropical timber trader Rougier designated the “chronic congestion” of the port of Douala as one of the causes of its bankruptcy.

“The bankruptcy of the Rougier group could not be the responsibility of the port of Douala, where the logistics operations of foreign trade are carried out normally”, then reacted Cyrus Ngo’o.

Source: Africa News

9, June 2018

South Africa elected to UN Security Council ⁰

South Africa has been voted onto the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member. Its candidature to represent the East and Southern African group was endorsed by Southern Africa last year and the African Union in January.

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday voted to elect Germany, Belgium, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Indonesia for a two-year term on the Security Council starting on Jan. 1, 2019.

Our tenure in the Security Council will be dedicated to the legacy of President Nelson Mandela and his commitment to peace. In marking his centenary this year, a Summit on Peace will be held on the eve of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in September.

Indonesia drew more votes than the Maldives in the only contested election; the other four candidates ran unopposed.

Uncontested candidates still need to win more than two-thirds of the overall General Assembly vote to be elected.

The council is the only U.N. body that can make legally binding decisions and has the power to impose sanctions and authorise the use of force.

South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said it is honoured and humbled by this gesture of confidence.

This will be South Africa’s third term on the UN Security Council, having previously served in 2007-2008 and 2011-2012.

“Our tenure in the Security Council will be dedicated to the legacy of President Nelson Mandela and his commitment to peace. In marking his centenary this year, a Summit on Peace will be held on the eve of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in September,” the statement reads.

The Department says it will use its tenure in the Security Council to promote the maintenance of international peace and security through advocating for the peaceful settlement of disputes and inclusive dialogue.

“We will continue to enhance close cooperation between the UN Security Council and other regional and sub-regional organisations.”

During the two previous tenures, South Africa advocated for closer cooperation between the UN Security Council and the African Union Security Council (AUPC), which culminated in the adoption of the landmark Resolution in 2012 on strengthening cooperation between the two bodies.

Agencies

9, June 2018

Blood Gas: UK signs £ 1.5BILLION trade deal with Biya ⁰

TRADE Secretary Liam Fox has announced the UK has secured a £1.5billion trade deal and signed off £75million in other trade agreements in a major boost for the UK economy after Brexit.

Dr Fox announced today a deal worth more than £1.5 billion had been secured by a UK company to deliver natural gas project in Cameroon. Additional deals have also been secured in Panama, Turkey, India and Qatar worth £75million for British businesses.

Capitalising on recent foreign visits by Cameroon’s Minister Secretary General, UK businesses have been exploring exporting opportunities with some of the fastest-growing economies.

London based oil and gas company New Age and the Cameroon government have agreed a deal that will see the development of a floating natural gas project in Cameroon. The deal comes after Trade Minister Baroness Fairhead’s meeting with Minister Secretary General Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

Source: Express.Co.UK

9, June 2018

Disputes continue at G7 summit with remote possibility of success ⁰

Confrontation between the US and its traditional allies has continued at the 44th summit of the Group of Seven (G7), lowering expectations for a breakthrough at the talks.

Washington’s allies contradicted trade data provided by US President Donald Trump with different numbers, while Trump firmly maintained his position that Washington was at a disadvantage, Reuters cited an official who followed the talks as saying on Friday.

The Friday meeting in which the G7 allies were gearing up to confront the US president over trade tariffs had “some emotions,” but it maintained a diplomatic mood, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.

“The other leaders presented their numbers and Trump presented his. As expected he did not budge. This is probably not because he does not understand, but because of domestic reasons,” the official said.

“We are going to deal with the unfair trade practices. If you look at what Canada, and Mexico, the European Union – all of them – have been doing to us for many, many decades. We have to change it. And they understand it is going to happen,” Trump said.

During the first day of the two-day summit in the Canadian town of La Malbaie in Quebec, the US partners were angered by the US president’s recent decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico.

Trump has justified his move by arguing that US steel and aluminum producers are vital to national security and threatened by a global supply glut.

Canada, Mexico and the EU had initially been exempted from the tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum as they were announced in March.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday that her country will not change its stance with regard to “illegal” US steel and aluminum tariffs.

Freeland said Canada will retaliate against Washington’s tariffs, adding that her country does not pose a national security threat to the US.

However, after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the summit, Trump said progress has been made in trade talks with Canada.

According to a French official, German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered a proposal for resolving the dispute on Friday and other leaders strongly supported the idea.

The official described Merkel’s proposal as a “shared assessment and dialogue” mechanism, but did not provide any details.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly expressed preparedness to invest personally in Merkel’s proposal and offered to visit Washington for a common assessment of EU-US trade.

However, observers say expectations for a breakthrough at the summit are low, contrary to the 42-year history of the summit which always saw all sides having consensus on key issues.

“It is highly unlikely there will be a final communiqué,” a G7 official said.

While Trump said G7 leaders would manage to agree on a joint statement, Merkel expressed doubt that the group could issue a final directive, noting that failure to do so would indicate the lack of agreement among the G7 member states.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May warned both the US and EU of the ramifications of retaliatory trade policies over tariffs, calling on both sides to focus on China’s excess steel production instead.

The summit comes a day after thousands of demonstrators staged rallies in Quebec City and burned US and British flags to protest against the world leaders’ gathering amid heavy riot police presence.

Source: Presstv

9, June 2018

Somalia: One US soldier killed, 4 others injured ⁰

A US commando has been killed and four others wounded in Somalia when they came under fire during an operation against al-Shabab militants, according to the US military.

The American soldiers were on a mission Friday to clear al-Shabaab from contested areas as well as villages the militants controlled, “and establish a permanent combat outpost” to expand the reach of the Somali state, the US military’s Africa Command said in a statement.

“The US provided advice, assistance and aerial surveillance during the mission,” it said.

They were members of US special operations forces, who were fighting the militants along with 800 troops from the Somali National Security Forces and Kenyan Defense Forces.

One local soldier was also wounded when they were attacked by mortars and small arms fire, added the statement.

Al-Shabab, Africa’s most-feared militant group which has links to al-Qaeda, still controls large parts of land in southern Somalia. The group has a history of fighting Somalia’s government since the 1990s.

Despite being ousted from large parts of southern and central Somalia, al-Shabab continues deadly attacks across the country, which has been ravaged by decades of war and poverty.

The militant group aims to oust the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and drive out African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops. It has been carrying out militancy since 2006.

The US military has stepped up its airstrikes in the Horn of Africa nation after getting President Donald Trump’s approval for expanded military operations there.

In June 2011, American forces began using drones to carry out the strikes, in a mission which has so far failed to uproot the militancy in the country.

Source: Presstv

8, June 2018

Nigeria: Customs intercepts truckload of petrol being smuggled into French Cameroon ⁰

The Adamawa and Taraba Area Command of the Nigeria Customs has intercepted a truckload of petroleum products about to be smuggled into Cameroon at Sahuda border post bordering Nigeria and Cameroon in Adamawa State.

Kamardeen Olumoh, the Area Comptroller of the Command, while displaying the seizure before journalists in Yola, said the agency had beamed its searchlight on transborder smuggling of petroleum products which is capable of engendering artificial scarcity of the product.

“These drums here, about 90 of them, contain 20,550 litres of petrol concealed in a truck loaded with assorted household consumables, heading to the Cameroon Republic,” Mr Olumoh said.

“This command has declared zero tolerance to any act capable of undermining the economic strength of our dear country.

“We will not allow unscrupulous elements who are bent on sabotaging the economy of Nigeria to take advantage of the proximity to the border to engage illicit trans-border activities.”

Mr Olumoh said some unpatriotic citizens are bent on sabotaging the system through illegal activities that constituted economic crimes against the nation besides its attendant hardship on innocent citizens.

He said the fuel scarcity experienced in the recent past, especially within the two states, was as a result of the activities of smugglers, adding that the command under his watch has stepped up its game to forestall the movement of unauthorised fuel out of the country.

Mohammed Alaku, DPR Area Comptroller for Adamawa and Taraba Zone, said the cross-border smuggling of petroleum had aggravated the suffering experienced by residents of the two states during the recent fuel scarcity experienced in the country petroleum.

Mr Alaku said business operators willing to explore legitimate means of doing trans-border business would benefit, assuring them that the customs was ready to support only legitimate businesses involved in the import and export trade.

Source: The Premium Times

8, June 2018

Bible translators among those killed, forced to flee violence in Southern Cameroons ⁰

It was early morning in western Cameroon on May 23rd. A local Bible translator walked out of his house to head to his fields that day. Then just down the road, he saw a white vehicle barreling his way.

The translator shares, “Bullets were flying out of the car towards me. But by the power of God, I was able to escape all the bullets and none of the bullets hit me and I escaped. I ran and hid far away in the bushes.”

(Photo courtesy of Efi Efi)

He saw the men in the vehicle get out and approach his house. It had been built by his father, and he had hoped to pass this home on to his own children. So what he witnessed was heartbreaking.

“They knocked down the windows and doors. They knocked down everything and set fire on the house. The house is completely burnt and nothing is left. I thank God because before they came, my family was already out of the house. My wife, my mother, and children were out of the house.”

The Cameroonian Bible translator now lives with his wife, mother, and children in the bush where they are constantly eaten at by mosquitoes. “My children are still too young and I don’t know what I can do now. I am stranded and do not have anything. I have nothing left except the clothes on me; I had them on that morning. All my documents have been burnt, except my ID card that was on me…. I trust in the Living God that I serve, else I should not be here talking now.”

(Photo courtesy of Efi Efi)

These scenes of brutality have plagued Cameroon for several months now. Cameroon was a largely peaceful country until recently when disputes between French-speaking state forces and English-speaking separatists caused violence to break out in the west.

Bruce Smith with Wycliffe Associates explains, “It goes back to the post-colonial season of their history where there was a French-speaking portion of the country and an English-speaking portion of the country that eventually unified to create a federation, which is the current Cameroon. But unfortunately, the people in the western part of the English-speaking majority area has not felt adequately represented or regarded in terms of the governance of the country. This has been growing in recent years and until just [recently] where it has exploded really into this common violence.”

More than 160,000 people have been displaced by the surge of violence in Cameroon, and at least 21,000 have fled as refugees to Nigeria.

Wycliffe Associates has worked with Bible translation partners in Cameroon for about 25 years. The unrest in the country has directly affected Bible translators and their work. One translator, Anka Terence, was among those killed by soldiers in the Ngwo region on May 23rd.

“There has been a number of people that have had their homes burned,” Smith says. “They have had to flee into the bush…. The problem is the violence just seems to continue to be escalating with no end in sight. We’re concerned, naturally, for the people of the country, but also for the progress of Bible translation there as well.”

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Associates)

There were 85 Bible translation projects in progress in Cameroon when the violence broke out. About 17 of the Bible translation languages are located in the western region and have either been slowed or come to a dead-stop because of these attacks.

“There is just a huge disruption to the whole family of Bible translation projects that are going on. Even though it’s only affecting 20 percent of them, 20 percent is a pretty large number when it’s your brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Smith explains, “The Church is not really a target in this process, but unfortunately as the Church leaders have tried to mediate this disagreement between different parts of the country, they have also been targeted in lawsuits by the government and basically intimidated in order to back down so that they wouldn’t continue to influence the process.”

Wycliffe Associates is currently seeking to locate other Bible translation partners that have gone missing.

“We’re trying, first of all, to secure the people’s safety, the translators that are part of the teams that have been driven out of their homes. Most of them have lost their fields, they have lost their herds, their animals, things like that as well as their physical homes. They’re basically just surviving [by] hunting and gathering in the bush. So we’re trying to locate them, we’re trying to get them to safe places, trying to help them reconsider resuming their Bible translation work, but they really have to go through some counseling and some adaptation in between now and then in order to make that possible.”

While the hope is to eventually resume the affected Bible translation projects, they also have to recover the lost manuscripts or digital files for those projects and see if they are still viable.

“It’s a huge matter of prayer. It’s an urgent matter for us to respond to financially, so we would invite listeners to be a part of that as well. This is the time for us to stand with our dear brothers and sisters in Christ in Cameroon.”

Culled from Mission Network News

8, June 2018

Southern Cameroons War: A deadly conflict sparked by increasing tensions between English and French-speaking populations ⁰

“You can’t sleep,” says bishop Andrew Nkea, of the Mamfe diocese in south-west Cameroon. “Even with all the stamina I have from my faith, I couldn’t sleep when I went to Kembong and saw the houses that had been burned down … I saw a corpse which had been lying there for four, five days, and dogs were tearing it apart.”

A deadly conflict in Cameroon sparked by increasing tensions between English and French-speaking populations has driven tens of thousands from their homes. At least 160,000 people are displaced inside Cameroon, and more than 21,000 have fled to Nigeria to escape what has been described by bishops as “blind, inhuman, monstrous violence”. Most have settled in Cross River State.

Additional pictures by Peter Zongo in Cameroon

Some people are staying with family in Nigeria, but most are sleeping rough in abandoned buildings, or out in the open.

What began as a request for English to be used in the courtrooms and public schools of the country’s two anglophone regions has escalated into this crisis.

If the situation is not defused through dialogue, the entire country could be destabilised before October’s elections, according to the International Crisis Group.

A number of anglophone activists are calling for secession and the creation of a new country, which they want to call Ambazonia.

A group of Cameroonians being hosted in a village in Nigeria

Journalists have been barred from entering conflict zones and aid agencies are struggling to access the areas.

Dennis Anyaka (not his real name), a 36-year-old businessman and farmer, arrived in Nigeria on 16 April. “The trouble started in my village in March. The Cameroonian military came and there was a lot of firing and killing. I saw one of my neighbours killed in front of his doorway. This was when I decided it was time to flee.” Anyaka took a heavy bag full of clothes and belongings. “But one of us was shot by the Cameroonian military and we dropped the bag and kept running,” he says.

Cameroonian refugees in Cross River State, Nigeria, wait outside a health post in Ekang village

“We passed from place to place until we finally arrived here [in Boki]. I am staying on a farm and am working the fields to pay my rent. I am sleeping on sacks on the ground. It’s not comfortable,” says Anyaka.

“Back home I lived with my wife and six children. I don’t know where my family is, I am trying to contact them but I haven’t succeeded. I’m still trying. I’ve heard they are maybe in the bush, maybe they have left to the city. I don’t know. For now, I propose that peace should be reinstalled so I can go back and find my family.”

A health coordinator treats patient at a health post in Ekang village

Paulina, 19, sits in the room she shares with other family members in Nyaje village

Meeting between Cameroonian refugees Caritas staff

The area is hosting hundreds of Cameroonians and access to clean drinking water has become a major concern. When violence erupted, Paulina said her family spent three days in the bush trying to find the the road that led to Nigeria. “We put whatever we could on the forest floor to sleep on, we only had some cassava to eat,” she says. “I don’t do anything all day since we arrived here. It’s not possible for me to earn a living. I want to go back to school.”

Cameroonian children walk along a dirt track

The Itomin family stand on the porch of their host family's house

Beatrice Itomin sitting with her twin sons

Staying with Valentine is Beatrice Itomin and her four-year-old twin sons, Clinton and Clifford. They share a room with nine other family members. “We arrived here in November. People in my village were killed by soldiers, that’s why we fled.” The family walked for three days and slept in the open. “We ate bush mangoes. There were mosquitoes, there were wild animals also, so we were scared. The children are not feeling good here. We don’t have enough food or clothing, or school for them either.”

A man stands at a window in a local government building

“The army came into our village and started shooting. That’s why we ran,” says Felix. “We walked for three days. We were hungry. We don’t have any family in Nigeria, that’s why we are staying here. We don’t have enough food, it’s hard. We can’t go back now, the army are there with guns. We are frustrated we have nowhere to go. I’m a farmer, I grow cocoa beans. Our fields would be ruined by now without anyone there to tend to them. Our children are not in school, they’re wasted here.”

A family in the room of a local government building

His wife Beatrice says: “I am so sad. I made and sold clothes in my village. The army shut down my shop.”

“Not a week goes by without houses being burned down, people kidnapped or killed,” says Hippolyte Sando, emergency officer at Caritas, the only aid agency with access to the anglophone areas of south-west Cameroon. Caritas has recorded 25,624 Cameroonian refugees in Cross River State. Four-fifths are women and children.

“In these conditions, going back home would be suicide. The situation remains tense and gives no sign of better days ahead.”

Bishop Nkea has been negotiating with soldiers for civilians in his diocese to be able to return to their farms in peace.

“We should stop killing ourselves and burning down our institutions. Whoever is burning, they should stop the burning. It is time for dialogue. Because the violence is too much, the killings are too much, the suffering is too much.”