13, August 2017

300 Israelis desert military service in occupied lands ⁰

A report has revealed that hundreds of Israeli soldiers have abandoned their duties without permission, and are intent not to return in a show of disapproval of the military conscription policies of the Israeli regime.

The Hebrew-language news website Walla reported on Saturday that 300 Israeli troops had left or remained absent from their units over the past week. The report added that Israeli military officials have leveled charges against 60 soldiers, who have been dropped from their unit rolls and listed as deserters.

The report came as the Israeli military announced earlier this year that suicide was the main cause of death among Israeli soldiers, and that 15 troopers – all of them male – had taken their own lives last year. The army added that four soldiers were killed in the course of military operations, nine in on-base accidents, seven in off-duty car accidents and six died from illness or other medical reasons.

Another 43 soldiers were seriously hurt during the course of 2016. Most of the soldiers injured or killed were conscripted troops. A smaller portion were career soldiers, and a handful were reservists who were in service at the time of their deaths, the Israeli army said.

Source: Presstv

12, August 2017

Kenya: Uhuru Kenyatta wins second term as president ⁰

Kenya’s election commission has declared incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner of the country’s disputed presidential election. “Having fulfilled the requirement by law… I therefore wish to declare Uhuru Kenyatta… as president-elect,” said polls commission chairman Wafula Chebukati on Friday.

Kenyatta won the Tuesday polls with 54.27 percent of votes, beating his rival Raila Odinga, who scored 44.74 percent, the commission said. Following the announcement, angry protests erupted in Odinga’s strongholds. Reports say businesses are being looted and set on fire in the slum of Kibera in the capital city of Nairobi, while gunshots are heard in the port city of Kisumu.

In comments directed to opposition leader Odinga, Kenyatta called for national unity and peace. “I reach out to you, I reach out to all your supporters. To our brothers, our worthy competitors, we are not enemies, we are all citizens of the same republic,” Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta, 55, the son of Kenya’s first president after independence from British colonial rule, campaigned on a record of key infrastructure projects – many backed by China – while claiming strong economic growth. Odinga, 72, who is also the son of a leader of the independence struggle, presented himself as a champion of the poor and a fierce critic of corruption in the country.

Supporters of Kenya’s incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta celebrate after he was announced winner of the presidential election in the capital city of Nairobi on August 11, 2017. A day after the vote, Odinga rejected the preliminary results which put Kenyatta in the lead, claiming that the election commission’s voting systems had come under cyberattack, leading to “massive and extensive” vote fraud.

“You can only cheat the people for so long,” the opposition leader said. “The 2017 general election was a fraud.” The hacking claims prompted Kenya’s electoral commission to react and counter the allegations, assuring Kenyans that “all is well.” Tensions have been high since late last month, when Chris Msando, a key administrator of the biometric voting system, was murdered.

Despite Odinga’s call for calm, a group of his supporters took to the streets to rally against the preliminary results. The protests, however, turned violent after police forces intervened and fired tear gas at the crowd.

Two protesters were killed in Nairobi as riot police opened fire during the clashes on Wednesday. Kenyatta is broadly regarded as a representative of the nation’s largest ethnic group of Kikuyu, while Odinga is affiliated with the Luo voting bloc, which has never won a presidential race.

The top opposition candidate, who made his fourth presidential run, has further accused his rival of stealing victory from him through vote rigging both in the 2007 and 2013 polls. In 2007, the disputed election led to two months of ethnically-driven political violence that killed nearly 1,100 people and displaced 600,000 others.

Source: Presstv

12, August 2017

Contaminated eggs scandal spreads from Europe to Asia ⁰

A scandal involving eggs contaminated with insecticide spread to 15 EU countries, Switzerland and as far away as Hong Kong on Friday as the European Commission called for a special meeting on the growing crisis.

Brussels said the 15 affected EU countries were Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Sweden, Britain, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Denmark, along with non-EU Switzerland. But in a sign the crisis is going global, Brussels also announced that Hong Kong had received some tainted eggs from the Netherlands, with the southern Chinese city becoming the first place in Asia known to be affected.

Hong Kong health minister Sophia Chan said Saturday authorities were “strengthening” inspections of eggs from Europe Ministers and food safety chiefs from around the European Union are set to meet on September 26 in a bid to get countries to stop “blaming and shaming” each other over the scare involving the chemical fipronil.

Millions of eggs have been pulled from supermarket shelves across Europe and dozens of poultry farms closed since the discovery of fipronil, which can harm human health, was made public on August 1. The issue has sparked a row between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, the three countries at the epicenter of the crisis, about how long they knew about the problem.

“Blaming and shaming will bring us nowhere and I want to stop this,” Vytenis Andriukaitis, the European Commissioner for health and food safety, told AFP as he announced the meeting. “We need to work together to draw the necessary lessons and move forward instead.”

European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said that “this is not, let’s be clear, a crisis meeting” and it is being held next month to get “distance to the events.” Fipronil is commonly used to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks from animals but is banned by the European Union from use in the food industry.

A picture taken on August 11, 2017 shows employees handle eggs at an egg farm in Gaesti. (By AFP)

The EU insists there is no threat to human health, but the World Health Organization (WHO) says that when eaten in large quantities it can harm people’s kidneys, liver and thyroid glands. As well as dealing with the immediate food safety issue, the EU is also seeking to calm tempers over the egg row after a series of divisive crises in the bloc in recent years, from Brexit to migration.

Belgium earlier this week accused the Netherlands of knowing about the fipronil eggs since November 2016 and failing to notify other countries. On Thursday Dutch Health Minister Edith Schippers admitted the government had made “errors” but denied a cover-up.

“We were well aware of a report of the presence of fipronil in the pens of egg-laying hens in November 2016, but there was no indication at the time that fipronil itself was found in the eggs,” said Schippers. A Dutch whistleblower separately said he had told the authorities that Chickfriend, the Dutch company at the center of the scandal, was illegally using fipronil in the treatment of lice in chicken pens in The Netherlands.

“I am the anonymous whistleblower,” Nick Hermens told the NPO public broadcaster. A Belgian company, Poultry Vision, has said it provided Chickfriend with the chemical. Dutch and Belgian investigators carried out coordinated raids on several premises on Thursday, arresting two people at Chickfriend.

However, Belgium itself has been forced to admit that it knew about fipronil in eggs back in June but kept it secret for nearly two months because of a criminal investigation. Fresh discoveries of contaminated eggs have continued daily. Denmark said on Friday it had found two tons of fipronil-tainted scrambled eggs, bringing the total of contaminated eggs to 22 tons, mainly from Belgium. Poland said it had discovered about 40,000 eggs imported from Germany.

French Agriculture Minister Stephane Travert said that since April the country had sold nearly 250,000 contaminated eggs, imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, but the risk for consumers was “very low” given French eating habits. The food scare is one of the biggest to hit Europe since the 2013 horsemeat scandal when equine meat was falsely labelled and mis-sold.

Previous food scandals include contamination of chickens and eggs by dioxin in 1999, which began in Belgium, and mad-cow disease — cattle feed contaminated by the ground-up carcasses of animals infected with a deadly brain disorder — which ran from roughly 1986-1998 and started in Britain.

(Source: AFP)

12, August 2017

Mr. Leo strikes again ⁰

Afro-pop and sensational artist, Mr Leo is back again, this time around with a hit song, “Partout”, dedicated to his fans for their support and continuous presence in his career.

The release comes barely four months after the artist and song writer made public a video music “C’est Faux”, a powerful vocal that denounces gossip and jealousy. The young Cameroonian superstar and brand ambassador settled for a rather slow but authoritative music clip.

State radio and television, CRTV reported that in just four days, the video has registered an impressive impact on the social media. Its YouTube has recorded over 121.679 views. The melody has been appreciated by many of his fans who say the song is a perfect blend of rap and afro beats.

Most of the shots were taken in Buea and featured Salatiel, Blaise B, Askia and Makon. Mr. Leo, one of the new generation artists, from Anglophone Cameroon is presently one of the most popular and successful artist on the African continent.

He signed to a local music production, Alpha Better Records and has some popular hits like “E go betta”, “Jamais Jamais”, “On va gérer” and “Kemayo”.

Source: CRTV

12, August 2017

Anglophone Crisis: School administrators in Kumba say they’re getting death threats ⁰

There are reports of tension mounting in Kumba, the chief city in the Meme constituency in Southern Cameroons over the issue of ‘back to school’. Cameroon Info.Net recently revealed that the many key players in the educational sector have received threats from unknown Southern Cameroons militant groups ordering them to end all forms of activities in their schools latest August 14.

We gathered that some schools in Kumba had started organizing holiday and catch-up classes in preparation for the anticipated academic year 2017/2018. However, most proprietors confirmed that they are not ready to risk their lives, or that of their pupils and students or even their assets for school resumption.

Registration of students and pupils for the new academic year in Southern Cameroons has remained very slow as the revolution enters its 11 month. Some proprietors and school administrators confirmed that many parents were sending their children to schools in Yaounde, Douala and Bafoussam.

The demand for transfer certificates by Anglophone parents to send their kids to schools out of West Cameroon has been unprecedented. Most of the parents are still skeptical about school resumption in the Anglophone regions after the failure and political GCE that was staged last academic year by the Francophone regime in Yaoundé. In Kumba in particular, tension has generated panic and safety issues to the effect that most parents do not want to send their kids to school.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

11, August 2017

Egypt: Train collision kills 36, injures dozens ⁰

A train collision near Egypt’s coastal city of Alexandria has killed 36 people and injured 123 others, Egyptian officials say. The two trains collided head on –one was coming from the capital of Cairo, to the south of Alexandria, and the other was coming from the city of Port Said, located on the northern tip of the Suez Canal.

The head of the ambulance services in the Alexandria’s western sector, Dr. Mohamed Abu Homs, said the collision took place in the district of Khorshid, southeast of the city.

Abu Homs said he fears the death toll and the number of injured could rise further. Egypt’s railway system has a poor safety record, mostly blamed on decades of badly maintained equipment and poor management. Footage from the scene broadcast on state television showed dozens of people crowding around the damaged train cars, with dead bodies strewn on the ground.

State television, citing transport ministry officials, reported that the crash was probably caused by a malfunction in one of the trains that brought it to a halt on the rails. It was the deadliest train accident in the North African country since a November 2013 collision between a train and a bus killed 27 people south of Cairo.

(Source: Agencies)

11, August 2017

Trump thanks Putin for kicking out US diplomats ⁰

US President Donald Trump has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for kicking out hundreds of American diplomats, because the United States is “trying to cut down [its] payroll.” “I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll … I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll,” Trump told reporters at his New Jersey golf club on Thursday.

“There’s no real reason for them to go back,” he added. “I greatly appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We’re going to save a lot of money.” It is however unclear how President Putin’s booting out American diplomats would remove them from the US payroll.

The Republican-controlled Congress approved the new sanctions package last month against Russia, Iran and North Korea. The bill was passed with overwhelming margins, eliminating the prospect of a presidential veto. The legislation is particularly aimed at punishing Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and the reunion of Crimea with Russia.

Russia responded by saying the sanctions amounted to a full-scale trade war and an end to hopes for better ties with the Trump administration. President Putin ordered 755 US diplomats to leave the country after Congress passed the sanctions bill.

The Trump administration, which had sought better relations with Russia, described the Russian move as another setback. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that “this had created serious mistrust,” adding that the United States would respond to Moscow’s decision.

Trump’s desire for better ties with Moscow has been hampered by accusations from US intelligence agencies that Russia operated a series of high-profile cyber attacks to change the outcome of the November 8 presidential election in favor of Trump.

A special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller, as well as several congressional committees are investigating whether the Russian government coordinated with Trump’s associates during the 2016 campaign and transition. Trump denies any collusion by his campaign and Moscow denies any meddling.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a security briefing on August 10, 2017, at his Bedminster National Golf Club in New Jersey. (Photo by AFP)

Trump has voiced his criticism about that the probe, but he he said on Thursday he will not fire Mueller. “I want them to get on with the task,” Trump said, despite the fact that Mueller is investigating “something that never happened.”

Trump said Democrats are the ones who should be investigated for collusion, not him. “There was no collusion between us and Russia. In fact, the opposite,” Trump said. “Russia spent a lot of money on fighting me, and if you think about it, I want a strong military — you see our budget is up by — it will be hundreds of billions of dollars soon. Our military budget. Russia doesn’t like that. Hillary was going to cut the budget substantially — the military budget. Russia — is very important for Russia — oil. Oil and gas. We are now an exporter because of an incredible six months that — an exporter of oil and gas. That’s bad for Russia.”

“I don’t think Russia wants me because I want a strong military and I want low energy prices. Energy is a disaster, low energy prices is a disaster for Russia,” he added. Trump has previously said Russia would have preferred a weak American leader, like his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Source: Presstv

11, August 2017

CPDM Francophone GCE: Delays hit exam results ⁰

The so-called candidates for the General Certificate Education (GCE) are still waiting for their results and this is causing general panic among families that betrayed the Southern Cameroons struggle to sit in for the exams. La Republique du Cameroun has launched many public entrance examinations into the public service and children from West Cameroon were unable to take part because the GCE results have still not been released.

Some of the directors of the professional colleges like Jean Marie Dongo of the National Post, Telecommunications and Information Technologies have announced that Southern Cameroons students can still sit for the entrance examination while awaiting the results.

Correspondingly, pressure is set to be mounting on the Board Registrar, Humphrey Ekema Monono who recently affirmed that the issues are very complicated than it was anticipated. Dr. Monono told CRTV that “Candidates registered in Bamenda in the Northwest Region and took the exams but in Yaoundé because of the Anglophone crisis. The GCE board must take this into account.”

However, Cameroon Concord News sources at the GCE board reported that the results in Southern Cameroons were catastrophic and there are talks about how to lower the scores and the grading. The GCE was indeed a complete fiasco as candidates who had missed school for a whole academic year also had to deal with special centers created by the French Cameroun political elites.

By Rita Akana
Cameroon Concord News

10, August 2017

La Republique is 5th in FIFA Africa’s new ranking ⁰

La Republique du Cameroun is now fifth (5th) in the FIFA African ranking made public today August the 10th, 2017 behind Tunisia in fourth position.

The country that is currently at daggers-drawn positions with the new leadership of the Confederation of African Football Association is ahead of Nigeria (6th), Burkina Faso (7th), Algeria (8th), Ghana (9th) and Côte d’Ivoire (10th).

With a decisive 2018 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria, Cameroun also ranked 35th, progressing from one place in the World classification.

By Sonne Peter
Cameroon Concord News

10, August 2017

North Korea says plans to fire missiles at Guam ready by mid-August ⁰

North Korea has announced that it will develop plans by mid-August to fire four intermediate-range missiles at the US territory of Guam. North Korea’s state media made the announcement on Thursday, noting that the plans will be presented to the country’s leader Kim Jong-un who will decide on whether to launch the missiles.

“The Hwasong-12 rockets to be launched by the KPA (Korean People’s Army) will cross the sky above Shimane, Hiroshima and Koichi Prefectures of Japan,” said the report, citing KPA Commander General Kim Rak-gyom.

“They will fly 3,356.7 kilometers for 1,065 seconds and hit the waters 30 to 40 kilometers away from Guam,” added the report. The KPA commander was cited in the reported as saying that US President Donald Trump was “bereft of reason” and only “absolute force can work on him.” He added that Trump’s recent “fire and fury” comments were a “load of nonsense.”

“They will be met with the fire and fury and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before,” said Trump speaking in New Jersey on Tuesday. Meanwhile, North Koreans took part in a mass rally arranged by Pyongyang authorities in protest at recent sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. The UN Security Council on Saturday passed a resolution slapping sweeping sanctions on the North over its first test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The council members, including Pyongyang’s traditional allies Beijing and Moscow, voted 15-0 for a partial ban on exports, aimed at slashing the North’a $3 billion foreign revenue by a third.

The sanctions ban all exports of coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore, as well as fish and seafood from the country. They also block North Korea from increasing the number of workers it sends abroad, and prevents new joint ventures with Pyongyang or increasing investments in current ventures.

During the Wednesday rally, the protesters gathered in Pyongyang’s central square where senior North Korean officials delivered speeches to the crowd. Also on Wednesday, France urged all the concerned parties in the North Korean crisis to act responsibly and towards de-escalating the situation.

“France’s position is that it’s preoccupied by what is happening. You all know like me that today North Korea is capable of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with missiles which can cross distances of 6,000 to 9,000 kilometers. And then, the American media have reported these past days about the North’s capacity to nuclearize its ballistic missiles,” said French government spokesman Christophe Castaner. “We call on all parties to act responsibly and de-escalate the situation,” He added.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric also told reporters that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is deeply worried over the surge in aggressive rhetoric by parties to the North Korea crisis.

“The secretary general remains extremely concerned by the ongoing situation and is troubled by the increase in confrontational rhetoric,” said Dujarric.

In a relevant development on Wednesday, Russia’s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia (seen below), expressed hopes that the US would keep “calm” in the crisis with Pyongyang.

“A military solution is not an option anyway,” he said.

“Our strong wish is that the United States keeps calm and refrains from any moves that would provoke another party to actions that might be dangerous,” he added.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions over its missile and nuclear development programs since 2006. The sanctions have, however, failed to dissuade the country from pursuing its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

Pyongyang says it needs to continue developing its missile force as a deterrent against the US and its regional allies’ aggression and expansionism. Since early July, the North has tested two ICBMs, which it says can hit the US mainland.

Source: Presstv