13, December 2019

France: Pension plan details inflame strike ⁰

France’s general strike reached its eight day, and appears stronger than ever.

Yesterday the administration of President Emmanuel Macron finally revealed the details of their globally-unprecedented, one-size-fits-all pension plan – which includes a 2 year hike to the retirement age.

The reception was near-universal rejection, with even conservative unions vowing to finally join the strikes.

Nationwide protests were immediately called, and day eight saw more of the same public transport chaos, energy shortages, school closings, worker shutdowns, grounded airplanes and now blockades of key maritime ports.

Businesses in urban centers are down 15-30%, but it’s the small businessman who has been the most hurt. Many believe that Macron will only compromise if a general strike reduces the profits of the owner class and high finance.

Many want the pension rollback totally withdrawn, now that the unpopular, right-wing details are finally known, and few understand why the system must be scrapped entirely.

The rollback is not being openly forced by Brussels, unlike many similar austerity policies, but in a rare comment today Macron admitted he was ‘advancing our European agenda’.

The slogan of the general strike has become ‘(Choose) A few weeks of chaos or years of misery’. A key rail workers union has declared, ‘There will be no truce for Christmas,’ meaning that France’s General Strike will almost certainly reach the level of 1995’s massive labor victory.

Source: Presstv

12, December 2019

The South African Diary of Vice President Dabney Yerima: The making of an Ambazonian leader ⁰

It was, even by Vice President Dabney Yerima’s standards, a busy day – a meeting with representatives of the Denis Hurley Institute in the morning, a press briefing with the South African state television in the afternoon and a meeting with the Ambazonian community in Rustenburg by the evening.

Given this extraordinary schedule, it was no surprise to those listening to the Nsuhfor Dabney Yerima’s speech at the Denis Hurley Institute today that the Ambazonia leader appeared, as one Southern Cameroonian in South Africa put it, a little tired and grey.

Denis Hurley Institute is like the Department of Foreign Affairs for the South African Catholic Church and it all started with a message of hope to the people of Ambazonia and solidarity with President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

The leadership of the Denis Hurley Institute noted that more than 50% of Ambazonians in Ground Zero are Roman Catholics. Consequently, it is imperative for the Ambazonia Interim Government and the Roman Catholic Church to not only work together but collaborate to ensure justice is achieved for the people in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

A number of issues were also raised including the Ambazonia Restoration Forces; unity among Southern Cameroons exiled groups and education. Vice President Nsuhfor Dabney Yerima explained that Ambazonia Community schools are currently operational in many areas in Southern Cameroons under the protection and encouragement of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces and the Interim Government after a ban on all French Cameroun colonial education institutions.

Comrade Dabney Yerima assured the Denis Hurley Institute that the Interim Government understands fully the pain of Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero and is committed to raising enough funds to equip the Restoration Forces, secure territory after territory, improve policing, train the Restoration Forces and guarantee every Southern Cameroons parent and child that schools are safe again without fear of rampant murder by French Cameroun terrorist Forces.

The Ambazonian Vice President appealed for humanitarian assistance from the Catholic Church in South Africa and revealed that the Interim Government recognizes the suffering and attacks on the Christian and Muslim churches in the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon.

By Ayuk Patrick

12, December 2019

US: Lawmakers clash over impeachment charges against President Trump ⁰

US lawmakers clashed Thursday ahead of a committee vote to approve charges of presidential abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, a fateful step toward the impeachment of Donald Trump.

The House Judiciary Committee began a second day of historic debate with the parties holding diametrically opposed views on the move to oust the president from office for misconduct.

If, as predicted, the full House votes next week against Trump, he will become only the third US commander in chief ever to be impeached and placed on trial in the Senate.

The president stands accused of leveraging critical military aide to Ukraine and a White House meeting to pressure Kiev to open an investigation into Trump’s political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and a debunked theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Democrats.

Wednesday saw hours of impassioned debate, including an appeal to Republicans by the committee’s Democratic chairman, Jerry Nadler, not to “justify behavior that we know in our heart is wrong.”

Lawmakers were to focus on the procedural nitty gritty of amending the articles of impeachment on Thursday, but rancorous clashes punctuated the session.

“The president committed the highest crime against the constitution by abusing his office,” Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell said.

“Cheating in an election,” he went on. “Inviting foreign interference for a purely personal gain while jeopardizing our national security and the integrity of our elections.”

The outcome in the House Judiciary Committee is essentially a fait accompli, with the majority-Democratic panel expected to reject all Republican efforts to change the articles and approve the charges, sending them to the entire House of Representatives for passage next week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who announced the impeachment inquiry in September, would not identify a specific day next week for an impeachment vote.

When pressed, she also dismissed concerns that a handful of moderate House Democrats, including some representing districts that voted for Trump, would likely defect and oppose impeachment.

“People will vote the way they vote,” Pelosi said.

– ‘Not the facts’ –

Republicans repeatedly asserted that the president has committed no crime, and they quickly moved to dismiss the first charge in the nine-page resolution, abuse of power.

“Article one ignores the truth,” Republican Jim Jordan declared. “Those are not the facts.”

The White House has refused to participate in the House inquiry, ordering key figures swept up in the Ukraine saga not to testify, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

That historic stonewalling has prevented several key firsthand witnesses from presenting potentially vital evidence, leading Democrats to file their second charge — obstruction of Congress — against the president.

Trump himself has lashed out online repeatedly at his Democratic rivals in recent days.

On Thursday, he retweeted dozens of people who have rushed to his defense, including his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who stands accused of orchestrating a pressure campaign against Ukraine outside of regular diplomatic channels.

Most indications are that the Republican majority in the Senate will ultimately protect Trump from conviction and removal.

But impeachment would mar his record as president and could affect his reelection chances in November 2020.

At a political rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, he ridiculed the charges.

“Everybody said, this is impeachment light,” Trump said, adding “there are no crimes” and Democrats are just trying to win the next election.

As the back-and-forth began in committee, the panel’s top Republican Doug Collins branded the proceedings a “farce of substance,” and seized on Nadler’s legalistic effort to tweak the resolution so that the names Donald J. Trump and Donald John Trump would be the same.

Seeking that change “simply shows the, frankly, absurdity of where we’re at,” Collins said.

Source: AFP

12, December 2019

Barcelona president Bartomeu says ‘Clasico will be played’ ⁰

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said on Thursday the Clasico against Real Madrid next week will not be postponed again, amid renewed fears of unrest around the fixture.

Protestors from the Catalan separatist movement, Democratic Tsunami, have called for a “massive” protest outside Camp Nou, where Barcelona are due to play against Real Madrid in La Liga on December 18.

Spain’s most prestigious fixture was originally scheduled for October 26 but had to be postponed following a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in the city.

“I can say that the Clasico will be played, it will not be postponed again,” Bartomeu said at a Christmas press event in Barcelona.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure it goes ahead. We know that we live in a complicated period in Catalonia but that can be compatible with sport.

“Our stadium is a place for free expression, it always has been, and that is why we want to send out a message of normality and calm.

“The club is preparing for the Clasico with complete normality and we tell our fans to come with their family and friends.

“Together we have to deliver a Clasico that is a celebration of sport and of people. We want peace and calm.”

Democratic Tsunami have urged protestors to gather at four points around Camp Nou from 4:00 pm (1500 GMT), four hours before kick-off.

“In an exceptional situation, we should act in an exceptional way,” said a statement from the group on Tuesday.

The rally is the latest in a series of demonstrations that began two months ago when Spain’s top court jailed nine Catalan separatist leaders over their role in a failed 2017 bid for independence.

Source: AFP

12, December 2019

UK votes in general election that could determine future of Brexit ⁰

More than 45 million Britons are voting Thursday in a snap pre-Christmas general election that will be key to determining the future of Brexit amid political deadlock and bitter divisions over the country’s European Union membership.

A win for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative party would likely make a January 31 Brexit deadline a reality.

A win for the opposition, however, could mean another referendum under a new prime minister, Jeremy Corbyn.

Johnson, who has said the result is on a “knife edge”, was the first party leader to vote in person, arriving at a central London polling station with his Jack Russell dog, Dilyn. People bringing their dogs with them to vote quickly emerged as a trend, giving rise to the hashtag #dogsatpollingstations.

Corbyn, who has had to brush off criticism for his neutral stance on Brexit and claims of anti-Semitism within his Labour party, flashed a thumbs-up sign before casting his own ballot in north London.

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson and Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party both voted soon afterwards in Glasgow.

The polls will remain open until 10pm local time (GMT).

Source: France 24

12, December 2019

French Camerounians told to stop organising protests in foreign countries ⁰

Cameroon’s House Speaker of National Assembly Cavaye Yeguie Djibril on Wednesday called on Cameroonians residing abroad to stop organizing protests to demand change back home.

“When one is Cameroonian, it is in Cameroon that one speaks about the affairs of Cameroon and not on the pavement of foreign territory,” Cavaye said at the close of the November session of the National Assembly.

Since January, a group of disgruntled Cameroonians known as “brigade anti-sardinard” has organized violent protests in Cameroon’s embassies in Europe and North America to press for “change of power” in Cameroon.

Cameroon has on several occasions blamed foreign countries for permitting the protesters “to destabilize the country” from abroad.

Source: Xinhuanet

12, December 2019

Israel set to hold unprecedented third general elections in 12 months amid political deadlock ⁰

Israel heads to hold an unprecedented third round of general elections within 12 months, after a deadline to form a cabinet passed with no politician able to build a coalition with disparate parties.

The new round of elections is to be held on March 2, 2020, some six months after the previous elections held in September, which itself came five months after an earlier round of votes.

Israel’s parliament voted on Wednesday to dissolve itself in a fresh bid to break political deadlock. By a vote of 94 in favor to none opposed, lawmakers approved a motion dissolving parliament and setting the new election date.

The Knesset had until midnight Wednesday to agree on someone who could command the support of 61 out of the 120 members of the Israeli parliament. When no one was able to win the minimum support, an election in March 2020 was automatically triggered.

The decision came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival Benny Gantz failed to parlay the previous two ballots into a new coalition.

Neither of the two was willing to compromise on their core demands for a power-sharing agreement.

In the two previous rounds of election in September and April, Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party deadlocked with ex-general Gantz’s centrist Blue and White. Neither managed to muster enough support in the Knesset for a stable coalition.

The 2020 votes are to be held in the shadow of a corruption indictment handed down against Netanyahu last month.

Netanyahu indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust

Netanyahu will now remain Israel’s prime minister, even though he has presided over a transition government for nearly a year and failed to assemble a functioning coalition after the two previous elections.

As prime minister, Netanyahu is under no legal obligation to resign as a result of the indictment, and while in office he can ask the legislature to grant him immunity from prosecution.

Source: Presstv

12, December 2019

No more visa for any African visiting Nigeria from 2020 ⁰

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) said the Federal Government has approved that all Africans could come to Nigeria without Visa from January 2020.

The Comptroller General, NIS, Mr Muhammad Babandede, disclosed this at the inauguration of the Africa–Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC) on Wednesday in Abuja.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that European border and Coast guard Agency also known as Frontex is an agency of European Union (EU) tasked with border control of the European Schengen Area, in coordination with border and coast guard of Schengen area member states.

“The announcement would be made soon by the President of the Federation.

”But we cannot succeed without a tool like AFIC. This tool is key if we want to implement an effective free movement across our border.

“The tool is actually coming at the right time. AFIC would help African countries especially Nigeria that want to open its border for all Africans to enter at will. And now that tool is available, it would make the work easier for us,” he said.

Babandede said that it was important to acknowledge the different forces in Nigeria curbing crime and insecurity.

“But our duty is unique and you may not see it as it is in Chad, Benin or Cameroon.

“The essence is that we are very keen and we have been working with EU for a long time. Frontex is in charge of border before they got another responsibility called coast guard which is also very keen to Africa especially checking member state of ECOWAS,” he said.

The CGI commended the EU and Frontex delegates for establishing the risk analysis centre, adding that analysis could not be done physically without analytical system.

“I was opportune to be at the Frontex headquarters, and I came with useful tools which are for border and control centre.

”This has brought about the building of border and control centre which will be inaugurated next year. So the analytical system from Frontex, border control system and even mobility would all be in one place,” he said.

Babandede assured the delegates that the service would maintain the equipments and called for more training of officers.

“We assure you of the site maintenance if we have a technical know how of maintaining this system. We have done that with IOM very well.

”All the equipments donated for e-Migrants registration are already been installed by all our trained officers,” he said.

Roman Fantini, the head of sector, Frontex, assured the immigration service of training the officers as requested to help maintain the system and usage.

Fantini said that AFIC was not a new development as it started nine years ago and had since grown to what it was today.

He commended the EU and NIS for collaborating to ensure the security of the country.

Ms Eleni Zerzelidou, EU head of delegates, appreciated the immigration service for beefing up the collaboration by taking a step further to ensure border opening for all Africans by 2020.

Zerzelidou added that the EU would continually support the service in delivering its mandate and ensuring the safety of the country.

She said that the long standing partnership with NIS resulted into border management such as NIS border management strategy, MIDAS, among others.

“But we believe Frontex would do more to compliment all we have done so far in assisting the service and the county at large,” she said.

Source: PMNEWSNigeria

12, December 2019

French Cameroun: Biya regime shuts down hundreds of schools ⁰

The Cameroon government has shut down more than 260 schools that had been operating informally in the country’s francophone regions.

The schools had been opened to help absorb students fleeing the separatist uprising in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

I travelled to Douala where around 100 unregistered institutions have been closed.

The pupils who have fled the fighting in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions have painful memories.

“I left Bamenda because there was a war. They were killing people and they were shooting guns,” says one student.

“We couldn’t study in Bamenda because of the crisis. Anytime we are in school, bullets falling on top our classrooms, gunshots everywhere,” another adds.

A mother, Kerin Kongdem, told me how hard it is to find a school.

“The first school was closed by the authorities because they said it wasn’t authorised. So we’ve had to find a new one this year – just to pay the registration fee was not easy for us,” she says.

The school she found was also operating illegally and is one of many that have opened to accommodate the influx of English speaking learners displaced from the north.

We visited one of the illegal schools and the owner declined to speak to us for fear of closure.

Critics of the government say it’s not offering any alternatives for the children when they close the schools.

But the official for secondary education in Doula’s Wouri district, Sylvestre Fils Moukalla, denies this.

“The Minister of Secondary Education gave Parent Teacher Associations the express authorisation to build more classrooms in various schools. These PTAs mobilised enormous resources to build new classrooms. As a result, the problem of the influx has been resolved. In the Wouri for instance, all the children have found a classroom,” he says.

Some of the newly displaced parents are turning to home tutors to make sure their children don’t have to go back a school year.

“Even to feed the children isn’t easy so I decided to get a private teacher to see how we can manage to educate these children at home. I have just pleaded with this teacher. I don’t have money. I pleaded that whatever I have, I would give him. It’s too difficult for us. We are suffering,” Claude Ngwa, a father of seven told me.

BBC

12, December 2019

French Cameroun: Measles Vaccination Team Attacked, Motives Questioned ⁰

Members of measles vaccination teams in southern Cameroon have been attacked and beaten by locals who say the serums triggered side effects that sent 12 children to local hospitals.

Many rural Cameroonians distrust vaccination campaigns, which have been organized as part of a national initiative to stop a measles outbreak that has afflicted a number of children.

Thirty-four-year-old Samuel Amougou, a vaccination team member in Cameroon’s commercial town of Ebolowa, is still recovering from wounds he sustained from angry parents who oppose the vaccination campaign. He says Roman Catholic clergy transported him and five other vaccination team members to Ebolowa regional hospital after angry parents harassed them last Friday in front of a local government school.

“They [the parents] did not want to hear any explanations. They did not allow me to speak. I just got blows [to] my face and all over my body, severe beatings on my face and all over my body,” Amougou said.

A hand of a child is being treated after swelling up following vaccination, in Ebolowa, Cameroon, Dec. 9, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA) — A hand of a child is being treated after swelling up following vaccination, in Ebolowa

At the same hospital, Etala Suza, a 35-year-old trader and father of two, says his son also suffered side effects of the vaccine and has been hospitalized for several days.

Suza said after his son came home from school feeling tired, running a fever and vomiting, he, Suza, was told about the vaccination campaign for children in all schools. Suza said he was told by the child’s driver that the youngster threw up several times in the car.

Cameroon organized the national vaccination campaign last week to contain the current measles outbreak it said had infected more than 3,000 people, especially children. The health ministry reported that the most affected area was in the central African state’s northern border with Nigeria and Chad, where 17 children had died this month.

The government said but for the south region where the towns of Ebolowa and Sangmelima are located, the vaccination campaign went well in the country’s nine other administrative regions.

Nurse Christelle Manedji is seen at Ebolowa regional hospital, in Ebolowa, Cameroon, Dec. 9, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA) — Nurse Christelle Manedji is seen at Ebolowa regional hospital, in Ebolowa, Cameroon

Nurse Christelle Manedji of the Ebolowa regional hospital said medical staff attended to 12 children who suffered side effects of the vaccine. She said none of them died, as some people had claimed on social media.

Manedji said the first case they received was that of a 2-year-old whose diarrhea and vomiting led to severe fatigue; the second was that of a 3-year-old who had a convulsion and fever a day after she received a dose of the measles and rubella vaccine. She says they had been told to be ready to handle such cases during the vaccination campaign because there are normal reactions for some vaccinated babies.

Many parents in Cameroon’s south region do not trust vaccinations. They say traditional healers carry out traditional treatments that protect children. Many prefer African traditional medical practitioners, who are more accessible and available than hospitals, which often are very far from home, understaffed and lack medication. Others say Western countries create vaccines to stop children from being able to have babies when they are of child-bearing age. Some say the vaccinations are trial drugs that may paralyze their babies. Others claim their religious practices prohibit them from having children vaccinated.

Dr. Jeudi Debnet, superviser of the vaccination drive in southern Cameroon is seen at Ebolowa regional hospital, in Ebolowa, Cameroon, Dec. 9, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA) — Dr. Jeudi Debnet, supervisor of the vaccination drive in southern Cameroon is seen at Ebolowa regional hospital, in Ebolowa, Cameroon

Dr. Jeudi Debnet, the highest government officer supervising the vaccination campaign in Cameroon’s south region, says such allegations are unfounded. He said officials have given instructions for all affected children to be taken to the nearest health centers.

“All the children who go to the hospital [are admitted] with some effects of the vaccines should be taken care free of charge. We use vaccines that are going to expire in 2021. There are the vaccines that we are already using in routine immunization programs, so we just took the same vaccines to use during the campaign,” Debnet said.

Cameroon’s health ministry reports that progress has been made in persuading parents to have their children vaccinated. Vaccination coverage in towns is estimated at 80 percent, but in some villages in the country’s hinterlands, barely have three out of every 10 children are vaccinated.

Measles vaccines are displayed at Ebolowa regional hospital, in Ebolowa, Cameroon, Dec. 9, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA) — Measles vaccines are displayed at Ebolowa regional hospital, in Ebolowa, Cameroon,

The last vaccination campaign, between Dec. 4 and Dec. 8, targeted 3.3 million children between the ages of nine months and five years of age. The government says it is still considering launching a catch-up exercise for measles. The disease is caused by a virus that is spread through the air by breathing, coughing, or sneezing.

Measles is said to be highly contagious and can remain in the air, ready to infect, for up to two hours.

Source: VOA