US: Biden expands edge in Democratic nomination race

19, October 2019

US: Biden expands edge in Democratic nomination race 0

Former Vice President Joe Biden expanded his lead over more than a dozen other candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination this month as US House Democrats looked into allegations that President Donald Trump tried to pressure a foreign leader to investigate him, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.

The Oct. 17-18 opinion poll found that 21% of Democrats and independents said they would vote for Biden in statewide nominating contests that begin next year, up 3 percentage points from a similar poll that was conducted at the end of September.

Democrats in the House of Representatives are holding hearings to investigate whether Trump improperly pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son Hunter, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

The House could vote to impeach Trump later this year, which would trigger a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate where a conviction and ouster seem unlikely.

Trump denies he did anything wrong.

PressTV-Biden vows to beat Trump ‘like a drum’ in 2020

So far, the inquiry does not appear to have shaken up public support for Biden or the other candidates for the Democratic nomination.

According to the poll, 16% of Democrats and independents said they would support US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and 15% said they would back US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, received about 5% support in the poll, and US Senator Kamala Harris and former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke both received 3%.

With less than four months to go before Iowa holds the first nomination contest, the race for the Democratic nomination remains wide open. About 1 in 5 said they remain undecided, and nearly two-thirds of Democrats and independents said they could still change their minds.

Many of the candidates, including Buttigieg, O’Rourke and Harris, are still relatively unknown to a majority of Americans, and only about 1 in 10 said they watched this week’s Democratic debate in Ohio.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,116 adults in all, including 703 Democrats and independents. It has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 4 percentage points.

(Source: Reuters)

Ambazonia Restoration Forces Open ‘Community Schools’

19, October 2019

Ambazonia Restoration Forces Open ‘Community Schools’ 0

Separatist groups in parts of Cameroon have opened what they call community schools, to replace government-run schools that have been shut down for the past three years. However, the government is urging parents and students to stay away from the separatist-run facilities. 

Most schools in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions have been closed since November 2016, soon after professionals went on strike to protest what they called the marginalization of Anglophones by Cameroon’s French-speaking majority.

FILE - A woman stands outside a damaged school dormitory after it was set on fire in Bafut, in the northwest English-speaking region of Cameroon, Nov. 15, 2017. The military says it is helping clean up towns in efforts to implement new peace resolutions.
FILE – A woman stands outside a damaged school dormitory after it was set on fire in Bafut, in the northwest English-speaking region of Cameroon, Nov. 15, 2017.

Armed separatist groups began fighting the government the following year.

This week, the separatists said they have opened nine community schools, which occupy empty public spaces while the separatists negotiate to take over abandoned school buildings owned by Christian denominations.

Farmer Paul Jua, 37, is happy his kids will able to attend school, though he says the community schools are not enough.

“I want to beg on them [separatists], the community schools cannot cover [are not enough for] the children who are back home. So, therefore, they should also try to encourage private institutions to open their doors,” Jua said.

The government, which opposes the separatist-run schools, insists the public schools that are open are protected and safe.

Wilfred Wambeng, Cameroon’s basic education chief for the English-speaking Northwest region, says the government has asked families to send their children only to public, private and religious schools recognized by the government, as only those schools have qualified teachers.

“We have had meetings, especially with our lay private education agencies. … We advise them to embark on an aggressive campaign [against separatist schools],” Wambeng sad.

The United Nations reports that at least 2,000 people have been killed and 500,000 internally displaced during Cameroon’s separatist war.

VOA

CPDM Crime Syndicate says over 5-billion-US Dollars needed to rehabilitate crisis-stricken Southern Cameroons

19, October 2019

CPDM Crime Syndicate says over 5-billion-US Dollars needed to rehabilitate crisis-stricken Southern Cameroons 0

Cameroon’s ruling party, Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), said on Friday the country needs over 5 billion U.S. dollars to reconstruct and develop troubled English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.

Party spokesperson, Jacques Fame Ndongo, who is also Cameroon’s Minister of Higher Education, told reporters the money will be used to rehabilitate infrastructure destroyed by separatists.

“The state means is not extendable to reconstruct all the infrastructures that have been destroyed, but the head of state has taken the commitment to rehabilitate (the regions) and he will respect his commitment,” Ndongo told reporters.

On Thursday, the Party said in a press statement, President Paul Biya was resolute to find “lasting solutions to the security crisis” in the regions, stressing that a national dialogue held in early October to end the conflict was a “historic moment of national fraternisation” for the country.

“The recommendations (of the national dialogue) will not be thrown in the gutter. Not at all.” Ndongo added.

According to the United Nations, more than 530,000 people have been displaced internally in the regions since armed separatists started clashing with government forces in 2017. One point three million people in the regions are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Armed separatists want to secede from the largely French-speaking Cameroon and create an independent nation in the English-speaking regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

What limits? How African leaders cling to power for decades

19, October 2019

What limits? How African leaders cling to power for decades 0

Guinea erupted in protest this week over proposals to draft a new constitution that could allow President Alpha Conde to extend his legal mandate and run for a third term in 2020.

If Conde tries to stay, he would be copying from an established playbook in Africa, where incumbent presidents have sought, often successfully, to remain in power by massaging, bending or outright breaking laws often meant to ensure democratic handovers of power.

Below are details on how some of Africa’s longest-serving leaders have managed to stay in power, or are trying to do so, denting hopes of a dawn of democracy across the region.

* BURUNDI – President Pierre Nkurunziza

Nkurunziza, in power since 2005, announced in 2015 he would run for a third term in what his opponents saw as a breach of the constitution which only allowed leaders to rule for two terms. Since his re-election, hundreds of Burundians have been killed in clashes with security forces and half a million have fled abroad.

A referendum in May 2018 overwhelmingly approved changes that extended the length of presidential terms to seven years. Under the new constitution, Nkurunziza is now able serve a further two terms, potentially extending his rule until 2034. The opposition rejected the results and the United States said the process had been marred by voter intimidation.

* CAMEROON – President Paul Biya

Biya, 86 and sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest leader, took over the presidency in 1982. The national assembly adopted a constitutional bill in April 2008, removing a two-term presidential limit to allow him to extend his rule past 2011. He has won two elections since then that opposition candidates have said were fraudulent.

* CHAD – President Idriss Deby

Deby has ruled Chad since coming to power after a 1990 coup. A 2005 referendum removed a two-term limit from the constitution. Parliament approved a new constitution in 2018 reimposing the two-term limit, but it will not be applied retroactively, meaning Deby could serve two terms after the next election in 2021, potentially ruling until 2033.

* COMOROS – President Azali Assoumani

The president, a former military officer who first seized power in a coup in 1999, won a referendum in 2018 to extend term limits and end a system of rotating power among the archipelago’s three main islands off Africa’s east coast. The vote allowed him to run for two more five year-terms. The opposition dismissed the referendum as illegal.

* CONGO REPUBLIC – Denis Sassou Nguesso

The constitution in Congo Republic was changed by referendum in 2015, lifting term and age limits that would have excluded Nguesso from running again. He won a new five-year term in a 2016 election, although the opposition rejected the outcome, alleging fraud. He has ruled for all but five years since 1979.

* DJIBOUTI – President Ismail Omar Guelleh

Lawmakers in Djibouti approved a constitutional amendment in 2010 that paved the way for Guelleh, in power since 1999, to run for a third term. He has won two subsequent elections.

* GUINEA – President Alpha Conde

Conde’s second and final five-year term expires in 2020, but the 81-year-old leader has refused to rule out running again. In September, he asked his government to look into drafting a new constitution, raising concerns he might use it as a reset button on his presidency and run again. Conde was first elected in 2010.

* IVORY COAST – President Alassane Ouattara

Ouattara, in power since 2010, has claimed the adoption of a new constitution in 2016 would allow him to run for a third term in the 2020 presidential race because a new constitution would mean the first two terms did not count. He has not yet said if he will stand for re-election.

* RWANDA – President Paul Kagame

In 2015, Rwandans voted to extend the constitution’s two-term limit. Under the changes, Kagame could seek another seven-year term and two five-year terms after that, potentially remaining in power until 2034.

Kagame, who won a third term in 2017, has faced mounting criticism for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, a muzzling of independent media, and suppression of political opposition. He denies wrongdoing. He first came to power in 2000.

* TOGO – President Faure Gnassingbe

Togo changed its constitution in 2019 to cap the presidential mandate at two five-year terms ostensibly in response to opposition calls for an end to a political dynasty that started when Gnassingbe’s father seized power in a 1967 coup.

However it does not take into account the three terms Gnassingbe has already served since coming to power in 2005, the latest of which ends in 2020. Gnassingbe could therefore remain in power until 2030.

* UGANDA – President Yoweri Museveni

Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986. A term-limiting clause that would have prevented him from seeking re-election was deleted from the constitution in 2005.

In 2017, lawmakers voted to remove a constitutional limit on the age of presidential candidates, paving the way for 75-year-old Museveni to stand again in the 2021 election.

Source: Reuters

Pope Benedict XVI scholars meet for 3 day conference to shape the future of African Theology

18, October 2019

Pope Benedict XVI scholars meet for 3 day conference to shape the future of African Theology 0

On October 17th, theologians from around the world will meet in at the Mundelein Seminary in Illinois for a three day conference to share thoughts on what and how the theological work of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI can shape the Church in Africa, which continues to flourish with faith.

These scholars will bring essays for discussion, and a body of output will be gathered for future publication.

Current topics include…

  • One and the Same? Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and African Theologians on God and God Language in African Christian Theology by Paulinus Odozor of the University of Notre Dame
  • Catholic Theology in 21st Century Africa in the Light of the primacy of the Logos in the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger by Paul Adaja of the University of Chicago
  • The African Understanding of Solidarity and the Ratzingerian Concept of Pro-Existence by Valery Akoh of the University of St. Mary of the Lake
  • Benedict XVI and Socio-Communitarian Eucharistic Exigencies: Impact on African and Global Catholicism by Mary Reginald Anibueze of Berea College
  • Joseph Ratzinger’s Theological Reading of Political Power: Relevance for the Continent of Africa in the 21st Century by Maurice Ashley Agbaw-Ebai of Boston College
  • Joseph Ratzinger’s Confidence in Salvation History by Christopher Collins, SJ of St Louis University
  • Ratzinger on Christ and In-/Enculturation by Emery de Gaal of Mundelein Seminary
  • Benedict XVI and the New Evangelization in Africa by Dennis Kasule of Mundelein Seminary
  • Lex Orandi Lex Credendi: Ratzinger/Benedict XVI on African Liturgy by Joseph Lugalambi of Ave Maria University
  • Caritas in Veritate and the Challenges to Political Economy of Africa: The Case of Nigeria by Joseph Ogbonnaya of Marquette University
  • Ratzinger’s Interculturality in the writings of Cardinal Sarah by Jacob Phillips of St Mary’s, England
  • Cross-cultural Biblical Ethics: Ratzinger on the Indissolubility of Marriage by Aaron Pidel, SJ of Marquette University

This is the first conference to be held by the Benedict XVI Institute for Africa. The next will be held in November, on the topic of Benedict XVI and the Development of African Theology.

Life sentences for Southern Cameroons leaders “costly mistake”

18, October 2019

Life sentences for Southern Cameroons leaders “costly mistake” 0

A pro Southern Cameroons-independence group in the United Kingdom has described as “costly mistake” a ruling issued by the Yaoundé Military Tribunal to sentence President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides to life in prison for terrorism and sedition over their role in the current Ambazonia uprising that has claimed the lives of some 4000 people.

French Cameroun’s military court in Yaoundé sentenced the Ambazonia leader and 9 of his cabinet members to life in prison — behind bars on charges of sedition and terrorism over their role in the Southern Cameroons quest for independence.

“Southern Cameroonians in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland are of the opinion that the Biya Yaoundé Military Tribunal verdict was a costly mistake and totally outrageous! No one in the world thinks it is justice” said Stephen Ikome who moonlights as spokesperson for the UK group.

He added that the Yaoundé Military Tribunal ruling made a mockery of the just ended Major National Dialogue and Ambazonians have continued to react with anger to the court decision stating that sedition involves an uprising and some sort of violence which was never the case when President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe declared Southern Cameroons independent from French Cameroun.

There is very little room for freedom of expression and right of assembly in La Republique du Cameroun. Correspondingly, a sea of French Cameroun political elites have publicly opined that the Ambazonia situation not only concerns Southern Cameroons’s brawls but also the fundamental rights within the whole of French Cameroun.

We understand that Southern Cameroons Interim Government has insisted the territory had for years been aspiring for independence through numerous peaceful and non-violent demonstrations and seeking the right for self-determination.

The abduction and extradition of the Ambazonia leaders from Abuja, Nigeria to Yaoundé attracted worldwide attention, triggering President Biya’s biggest political crisis in decades.

The resource-rich Southern Cameroons provides more than 70 per cent of La Repubique du Cameroun’s gross domestic product (GDP), and many Ambazonians believe they are marginalised by the Francophone dominated government in Yaoundé.

Speaking recently to the Paris-based Jeune Afrique newspaper, the Ambazonia leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe said the Federal Republic of Ambazonia was no longer part of La Republique du Cameroun.

By Asu Isong in London

Spain: Thousands converge on Barcelona to attend fifth day of Catalan protests

18, October 2019

Spain: Thousands converge on Barcelona to attend fifth day of Catalan protests 0

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators waving pro-independence flags and chanting “freedom for political prisoners” joined marches across Catalonia on Friday, the fifth day of protests against the jailing of nine separatist leaders over a failed bid to break away from Spain in 2017.

The marchers, some of whom began their trek on Wednesday from municipalities across the northeastern Spanish region, were set to reach the regional capital Barcelona later in the day.

Tensions between Madrid and Catalonia have been rising since Monday, when Spain’s Supreme Court sentenced nine politicians and activists to up to 13 years each in prision.

The sentences set off the worst sustained street violence Spain has seen in decades, with clashes between protesters and police, posing a major challenge both for the Spanish government and regional pro-independence authorities.

The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) said in a statement on that Barcelona’s Oct. 26 home match against Real Madrid, one of the biggest rivalries in the sport, had been postponed due to security concerns.

Friday’s marchers, ranging from families pushing prams to cyclists wheeling their bicycles, took over a highway lane and other major roads as they walked peacefully towards the Catalan capital, many sporting yellow ribbons – a sign of protest against the jailing of Catalan independence leaders.

Major roads were blocked off across Catalonia and several main streets in Barcelona were closed to traffic in anticipation of the marches, as well as picket lines that had begun springing up, while regional trains and the city’s metro system were running on a reduced timetable after pro-independence unions called a strike.

Flights cancelled

Barcelona’s El Prat airport, forced to cancel around 150 flights this week after it was barricaded by thousands of people, was running normally for the most part, according to Spain’s Ministry of Public Works. Around 36 flights operated by Vueling were cancelled on Friday due to the strike, the low-cost Spanish airline owned by IAG said on Twitter.

Barcelona town hall said 700 garbage containers were set ablaze since protests began on Monday and estimated that the city had suffered damage totaling more than 1.5 million Euros ($1.67 million).

Thursday began with largely peaceful protests as young people draped in Catalan flags tossed balls and skipped rope. The mood shifted later in the night, with protesters setting fire to cafe chairs lining the fashionable Rambla de Catalunya street in the heart of Barcelona’s tourist district.

An official from Barcelona town hall said around 10 trees were set ablaze on Thursday.

Regional police said 16 people were arrested across Catalonia on Thursday, while health officials said medical aid was provided to 42 people.

Carmaker Seat, a unit of Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), said it had halted production at its plant in Martorell, near Barcelona, from Thursday afternoon until Saturday over concerns that the marches would disrupt traffic, a company spokeswoman said.

Barcelona’s wholesale market, MercaBarna, said visits to its fish sellers were down 85% on Friday, while flower stalls at the market saw 90% fewer customers.

Pro-independence leaders went ahead with a 2017 referendum on independence, despite it being deemed illegal by Spanish courts, followed by a declaration that the region was breaking away from Spain. Madrid responded to this by seizing control of the Catalan administration, and putting the ringleaders on trial.

Catalonia’s former leader, Carles Puigemont, who fled to Belgium after the failed independence bid, told reporters on Friday that Belgian authorities had allowed him to remain free without bail after Spain’s Supreme Court targeted him with a European arrest warrant.

(Source: Reuters)

France claims to have foiled a September 11-inspired attack

18, October 2019

France claims to have foiled a September 11-inspired attack 0

France’s Interior Minister said on Thursday that intelligence services had arrested a man for planning an attack inspired by plane attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in September 2001.

France has for several years grappled with how to respond to both homegrown terrorists and foreign militants following a series of attacks across the country. French officials say the threat of attacks remains very high.

On October 3, an IT specialist with suspected Takfiri sympathies, who had high level security clearance, killed three officers and one civilian employee before he was shot dead by another police officer.

“Just before (that attack) there was a 60th attempted attack since 2013,” Christophe Castaner told France 2 television.

“An individual, who was inspired by the events of September 11 and the planes which destroyed the World Trade Center towers, was arrested by our intelligence services.”

France has seen more than 230 people killed in the last four years on its territory from terrorist attacks, notably in November 2015 after coordinated strikes across the capital.

The attacks were claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Syria, and were carried out in part by French-born fighters.

Officials now fear dozens of their nationals held in Kurdish-controlled camps and prisons could escape and return home following a Turkish offensive in northern Syria that is targeting Kurdish militias guarding them.

(Source: Reuters)

Southern Cameroons Conflict: Interim Gov’t decries unprecedented civilian casualties in Mezam and Menchum

18, October 2019

Southern Cameroons Conflict: Interim Gov’t decries unprecedented civilian casualties in Mezam and Menchum 0

The Ambazonia Interim Government says the French Cameroun military has killed an unprecedented number of civilians and injured dozens more since the failed Major National Dialogue. A statement from the Southern Cameroons leadership in Den Hague, Holland called the massacre in various Southern Cameroons constituencies as totally unacceptable. 

In the statement released by the Vice President Dabney Yerima, the Ambazonia Interim Government said all Southern Cameroons fighters who were deceived into dropping their weapons by the French Cameroun regime have been killed by elements of the French Cameroun secret service.

This month alone has witnessed more Ambazonia casualties than in any other month on record since the meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and the French Cameroun dictator, Paul Biya.

The Ambazonia Interim Government has recorded more than 4000 civilian casualties in total in the first three years of the Biya-led war in Southern Cameroons with some 61 percent of them being women and children. The Vice President Yerima statement laid the blame for the spike at the feet of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) deployed to Southern Cameroons by the 86 year old French Cameroun thug.

Civilian casualties at record-high levels clearly show the need for members of the Southern Cameroons diaspora to invest in the Amba Bonds Project that has been designed to pay much more attention to protecting the Ambazonia civilian population.

The figures also show the need for a United Nations fact finding mission and the urgent need for a permanent political settlement of the Southern Cameroons crisis as there can be no military solution to the Ambazonia conflict.

The United States and the EU have continued their advocacy work with the Biya Francophone regime in Yaounde and have previously blamed both the French Cameroun military and the Ambazonia Restoration Forces for a spike in civilian deaths in Southern Cameroons.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Big doubts surround Brexit despite Brussels deal

18, October 2019

Big doubts surround Brexit despite Brussels deal 0

You might be forgiven for thinking they had something to celebrate. EU leaders were all smiles despite their order of business being to partially break their 28-nation alliance as smoothly as possible. They have given the green light to a new Brexit withdrawal agreement negotiated under British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

Under the agreement, Brexit will not result in highly controversial border checks in Ireland as Northern Ireland would be aligned to the EU’s, as well as the UK’s, customs rules and single market. That’s a big problem for hardline unionists in the UK and so Johnson might fail to get his deal endorsed when it’s put to a vote in the House of Commons on Saturday. 

If Johnson’s agreement is rejected, business leaders and workers’ representatives insist efforts must continue to ensure Britain does not crash out of the EU at the end of this month without a deal. 

The Brexit debate has been raging now for years. More than three years have passed since the UK referendum took place, but the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the process continues. 

The ball is now firmly back in the UK’s court. That is the message being sent out loud and clear by EU leaders. But of course it’s not that simple because they know the potentially dire consequences of a no-deal Brexit. That possibility still exists.

Source: Presstv

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