18, March 2018

Vatican bows to pressure, releases retired pope’s letter ⁰

The Vatican bowed to pressure Saturday and released the complete letter by Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI about Pope Francis after coming under blistering criticism for selectively citing it in a press release and digitally manipulating a photograph of it.

The previously hidden part of the letter provides the real explanation why Benedict refused to provide commentary on a new Vatican-published compilation of books about Francis’s theological and philosophical background that was released to mark his fifth anniversary as pope.

Benedict noted that one of the authors involved in the project had launched “virulent,” ”anti-papist” attacks against his papacy and teaching. He said he was “surprised” the Vatican had chosen the theologian to be included in the 11-volume “The Theology of Pope Francis.”

The Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications said Saturday it was releasing the full text of the letter due to the controversy over the “presumed manipulation” of information when the volume was launched Monday, on the eve of Francis’s anniversary.

It said its decision to withhold part of the letter at the time was based on its desire for reserve “not because of any desire to censure.”

The so-called “Lettergate” scandal has embarrassed the Vatican for the past week and fueled the growing chasm between supporters of Francis’s pastoral-focused papacy and conservatives who long for the doctrine-minded papacy of Benedict.

A Twitter hashtag #releasetheletter went viral among Catholic conservatives as the scandal widened.

The Secretariat for Communication, in particular, was accused of spreading “fake news” for having omitted key parts of Benedict’s letter and – as The Associated Press reported – digitally blurring a photograph of the document where Benedict begins to explain why he won’t comment on the book.

The scandal began when the prefect of the office, Monsignor Dario Vigano, read part of Benedict’s letter aloud at the book presentation Monday. In the parts Vigano chose to read, Benedict confirmed that Francis has a solid theological and philosophical training and he praised the book initiative for showing the “interior continuity” between the two papacies.

But Benedict’s full caveat was never made public in the press release or the photo, leaving the impression that the 91-year-old retired pope had read the volume and fully endorsed it, when in fact he hadn’t.

Source: Cruxnow

18, March 2018

White House staffer left encrypted email passwords at bus stop ⁰

Ryan McAvoy, a staffer working for the administration of US President Donald Trump, reportedly left the passwords to his encrypted email account at a bus stop in Washington, DC.

The aide left his ProtonMail passwords at a bus stop near the White House, according to a report by The Intercept, which obtained and verified them on a piece of White House stationery.

The Intercept‘s requests for comment is yet to be returned by the staffer.

On Wednesday, Democrats on the panel released a memo in regard to the so-called Russia probe, which investigates Moscow’s alleged intervention in the 2016 presidential election as well as possible collusion between Trump’s aides and the Kremlin.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are seen during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

The Democrats, who may file a new subpoena, are specifically willing to know how senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump’s son in law, used WhatsApp.

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesperson for Kushner’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, told The Intercept that Kushner had nothing left to add as “in two different appearances before congressional committees, Mr. Kushner answered all relevant questions involving these matters.”

Kushner is a person of interest in the ongoing probe into Russia’s alleged intervention in the 2016 presidential election that yielded President Trump.

The investigation seeks to find out whether the Russian government coordinated with Trump’s aides after the intelligence community’s conclusion that the Kremlin helped with the New York billionaire’s campaign effort ahead of winning the White House, an allegation dismissed both by Moscow and the president.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly attacked her Democratic contender Hillary Clinton over use of a private email server during her tenure as the secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Source: Presstv

17, March 2018

Southern Cameroons Self-Defense Unity: Cho Ayaba and the Akwanga gang reject collaboration ⁰

A very important history making event took place last weekend, Saturday March 10. A group of Ambazonian self-defense leaders for the first time under the auspices of the Interim Government came together and agreed to work collaboratively under the direction of the IG.

The meeting took place in the USA, and witnessed in attendance, leaders of all the self-defense groups in ground zero except those of Cho Ayaba and Ebenezar Akwanga who deliberately rejected invitation to be part of the come together. The self-defense groups left the three day conclave agreeing to work as a team to combat what they all agreed is the invasion of Ambazonia by La Republique du Cameroun’s army.

“Today, I can report to the people of British Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) and to the world the creation of Ambazonia Self-Defense Council (ASC).” Read a statement that was issued only today, March 17, by Acting IG President, Dr. Samuel Sako.

The President noted that “The Ambazonia Self-Defense Council is the legitimate defense wing of the aspirations of the people of Ambazonia.” Adding that the initiative is a milestone achievement following months of consultations and a defense-focused meeting involving over a dozen top brass of the different Self-Defense groups within the territory of Southern Cameroons.

The establishment of the ASC Dr. Sako said, is a response to the call from Ambazonians for all defense bodies to collaborate and provide Self-Defense for our people, property and territory in a manner that is professional and consistent with international law.

In the two-day meeting of the Council, defense leaders discussed the state of play concerning the common security policy, defense initiatives, and political vision. They adopted conclusions on the council structure, its goals and follow-up actions. The Council brings together leaders of defense bodies under an independent defense platform and the Council collaborates with the Interim Government in a tight-knit model to implement one vision – complete independence of the Southern Cameroons.

The Ambazonia Self-Defense Council is made up of different branches: Executive Committee, Council Members, and Defense Bodies. The Council Executive Committee is responsible for top level leadership and management of our self-defense by owning the operating model of defense and managing risks, agreeing on plans for delivery of defense objectives, ensuring coherence, and leading transformation. The Executive Committee is composed of a chair, liaison officer and spokespersons who are all accountable to council members. The Chairman of the Defense Council is the principal defense adviser to the Interim President; however, all Council members are legitimate advisers, and they may respond to a request or voluntarily submit, through the Chairman, advice or opinions to the President. The spokesperson is the public relations face of the defense council. The liaison officer is responsible for coordinating multi-agency responses and resources.

Conspicuously absent from the two-day come together, where the leaders of ADF and SOCADEF led by Cho Ayaba and Dr. Ebenezer Akwanga respectively. Information from the IG says Dr. Samuel Sako prior to the meeting, held a closed door meeting with Dr. Akwanga for over two hours in which he tried persuading Akwanga to join the initiative but he turned it down. Dr. Sako held a similar meeting with Cho Ayaba by phone, but Ayaba too would not agree on joining the collaborative platform.

As things stand, it appears like Ayaba and Akwanga are out setting the stage for a Southern Sudan in the struggle for Ambazonia. Dr. Akwanga is quoted as telling Dr. Sako that, for him to join the collaborative platform for self-defense, they would have to return to the 4^th Conclave for a start. Cho Ayaba is on record on several occasions as saying that he doesn’t recognize the IG nor Sako, the Acting President.

Ever since, Ayaba has personally engaged in a sabotage crusade against the IG using the social media, particularly Facebook where he disguises with fake names like Nyamfuka Kulubang, Ashu Tambe among others to spill insults and attacks against anything Interim Government. In most of the posts in which Ayaba posts using the Nyamfuka ghost name, he promises killing top members of the IG before they get to Buea. It is left to be seen, what a coalition of Ayaba and Ebenezer’s forces will achieve Vis a Vis the larger platform of the IG.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with intelligence files from Camcordnews

17, March 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Mancho Bibixy’s case on hold ⁰

Mancho Bibixy, a broadcaster and anglophone activist accused of “threatening Cameroon’s sovereignty” for his role in protests, has had his trial adjourned for the thirteenth since his arrest over a year ago.

He first appeared in a coffin at a protest in the western city of Bamenda in November 2016, saying the vessel was symbolic of anglophone Cameroonians “who seemed to have died before their real death” and who therefore should not fear speaking truth to power.

Mr Bibixy was arrested months later in January 2017.

Cameroon’s government say Mr Bibixy and others have threatened national sovereignty by “demanding the partition of Cameroon through the creation of the State of Ambazonia”.

At a previous hearing, he is reported by the Journal du Cameroun news site as having told the judge:

“I have a heavy heart because Cameroon is on the brink of a civil war. We find ourselves in this situation because our politicians have failed in finding tangible solutions to our problems.”

Source: BBC

17, March 2018

Who will be Ethiopia’s next prime minister? ⁰

Ethiopia’s ruling coalition is due to meet soon to choose its next leader. That person will automatically become the prime minister. They will be taking on the role at a time of bitter internal wrangles and violent protests.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced on 15 February that he would resign as both the chairperson of Ethiopia’s ruling coalition EPRDF and as prime minister – a position he had held since 2012.

So that leaves the 180-strong EPRDF council to choose the next prime minister.

The top seven contenders for prime minister are Abiy Ahmed, Debretsion Gebremichael, Lema Mergessa, Workneh Gebeyehu, Demeke Mekonnen, Debretsion G Michael and Siraj Fegessa.

Culled from the BBC

17, March 2018

Banana disease behind Mozambique job losses ⁰

Mozambican authorities say a fungal infection which eats at banana plants is to blame for at least 2,400 people losing their jobs.

They say Panama disease has hit planations in the northern provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado, across an estimated area of 1,300 hectares.

The country says it is looking for alternative banana varieties which are resistant to the disease.

A spokesman for plant health at Mozambique’s ministry of agriculture and food security says:

“So far, the varieties tested aren’t resistant enough. They’ve been imported from Taiwan and show some resistance but aren’t completely resistant. They can endure the disease, depending on the stress. But the more fungus the soil has, the more stressed they become. Under these conditions the plants can not bear the brunt. They also end up becoming infested.”

Source: BBC

16, March 2018

57,000 people flee violence in Congo-Kinshasa to Uganda ⁰

The United Nations refugee agency says more than 57,000 people have fled violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to Uganda this year.

The UNHCR said in a statement on Friday that most of the 57,000 displaced people were women and children.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva that the figure far exceeds the 44,000 refugees who entered Uganda through the entire 2017.

The UN agency said over 4,000 people from the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu entered Uganda between March 10 and 13.

According to the statement, the majority of the refugees are using the dangerous route of Lake Albert, traveling upon unsafe boats from Ituri, which has been wracked by conflict between the Hema and Lendu communities.

Tensions between Hema cattle herders and Lendu farmers have largely laid dormant since a 1998-2003 war, which claimed the lives of thousands, but have flared again in recent months because of disputes over land.

More than 100 people have been killed since the violence erupted in Ituri in mid-December. The unrest has also forced 200,000 people to flee their homes.

The UN agency further said on Friday that the struggles aid workers face in accessing violence-hit regions made it “difficult to offer a detailed picture of the situation.” It, however, said “UNHCR has received chilling accounts of violence”, including rape and murder.

The agency also said it had stepped up measures to support survivors.

The DR Congo is suffering from growing insecurity. New conflicts are erupting as President Joseph Kabila struggles to maintain his grip on power after his constitutional term in office expired in December 2016.

Armed groups are active in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, which border Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania.

Violence has also erupted in the central region of Kasai. There, a tribal chieftain known as the Kamwina Nsapu, who rebelled against Kabila’s regime, was murdered in September 2016.

Source: Presstv

16, March 2018

South Africa: Former President Zuma to be prosecuted ⁰

Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s former president, has been charged with fraud, racketeering, illegal arms dealing and much more.

Zuma, 75, resigned as president last month after he was ordered to do so by his party the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

Prosecutors said on Friday that there were 16 charges in total listed in Zuma’s indictment, including money laundering.

“I am of the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Mr. Zuma on the charges listed in the indictment,” said Shaun Abrahams, head of the National Prosecuting Authority. He pointed to the “long history” of the reinstated charges against Zuma, which were thrown out by prosecutors nearly a decade ago in a contentious decision that opened the way for him to become president.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was Zuma’s former deputy, has promised to fight corruption.

ANC’s response

The ANC responded to the reinstated charges against Zuma, saying it had confidence in the South African criminal justice system and is committed to the idea of “equality of all before the law.” However, it emphasized and cautioned that Zuma should be “presumed innocent until and if proven guilty.”

Meantime, the ruling party urged South Africans to allow prosecutors to do their job.

In another case, South Africa’s top court ruled in 2016 that Zuma violated the constitution following an investigation of multi-million-dollar upgrades to his private home using state funds. He paid back some of the money.

In a separate case, South African authorities are seeking to arrest members of the Gupta business family, which allegedly used its connections to Zuma to influence cabinet appointments and win state contracts.

Additionally, a judicial panel is preparing to view allegations of corruption at high levels of the South African government during Zuma’s years in office.

Opposition’s delight

South Africa’s main opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA), which spent years in court trying to get trials against Zuma started, called on prosecutors to continue legal procedures against Zuma without delay.

“Now there must be no further delay in starting the trial,” said Mmusi Maimane, leader of the DA party. “The witnesses are ready, the evidence is strong, and Jacob Zuma must finally have his day in court.”

Culled from Presstv

16, March 2018

Soldier loyal to Biya regime gun down in Kumba ⁰

Cameroonian secessionists on Wednesday shot dead a soldier in Kumba, a city in the Southwest region also known as K town.

25-year old Sardi Juvinal, a former student of Maroua high school in Cameroon’s far north, was murdered at his security post by heavily armed secessionists who have been demanding independence from the West African country for more than a year.

Why it matters: The soldier was murdered following the expiration of a 48-hour ultimatum by secessionists to Cameroonian authorities. Last weekend, the armed activists released a video showing a government official they had kidnapped pleading for his life.

Animnom Aron, a delegate for social matters in the Northwest region, who was abducted weeks ago, was heard saying he would be killed should the government fail to show that the secessionists’ leaders, arrested in Nigeria on January 5, and extradited to Cameroon on January 28, were still alive.

But the ultimatum came and went without any reaction from the government of President Paul Biya, an 80-something leader who has been in power for 36 years and plans to run for another term this year.

The crisis in Cameroon escalated in the dying months of 2016 and turned bloody last year. So far, about 40 security officers have been murdered by the secessionists and hundreds of activists have been killed by the Cameroonian military. Hundreds are being detained and hundreds are being monitored.

The activists say they want the Southwest and Northwest regions, where English is spoken compared to French elsewhere in Cameroon, to be independent. They have argued that they have been marginalized even though oil and other natural resources are located in their regions.

But millions of other Cameroonians who live in squalor and hopelessness have expressed shock and dismay at the insinuations that their lives were better off.

Many of French speaking Cameroonians have been battling Boko Haram terrorists in the country’s far north where thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

President Biya has not visited the region since the insurgency began in 2014. The lack of leadership had prompted other Cameroonians to argue that they all suffer from the same neglect and brutality from a government too old, too deaf and too blind to feel, hear or see the suffering of its people.

In the state of Maryland in the United States where the secession is being planned and funded, the activists believe they are closer to victory than never before.

Source: Today news Africa

16, March 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Village chief found dead ⁰

A Manyu traditional authority in the Awanchi-Betieku clan is among the latest casualty in La Republique’s war against the people of Southern Cameroons that have already claimed thousands of lives since President President Biya launched the anti-secessionist war last year. Killed by still unidentified assailants, Chief Boniface Atchu Njang of Mbeme was a well-known man of peace and supporter of rural development.

In the French Cameroun police report, Chief Boniface Njang was on board a government patrol vehicle when motorcycle-riding suspects fired at him. Cameroon Concord News informant said Chief Njang succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds on his head and body.

By Judith Fon

This item is still developing