Headlines

People have flocked into the streets of the German capital, Berlin, to call on Chancellor Angela Merkel to step down over her so-called open-door policy towards refugees. Some 3,000 right-wing protesters, including neo-Nazis and supporters of the anti-Islam PEGIDA movement, marched through central Berlin to slam Merkel’s policies. Carrying placards reading, “We are the people!” and “Merkel must go,” the protesters chanted slogans against the chancellor’s handling of the refugee crisis. 

The event, organized by far-right group “We for Berlin & We for Germany,” called for Merkel’s resignation and stricter border controls across the European Union (EU). Meanwhile, hundreds of activists, predominately members of the anti-fascist alliance “Berlin Nazifrei” held a counter-protest nearby. Holding banners reading, “Asylum is a right, racism isn’t” and “Against Nazis,” the demonstrators urged an end to anti-refugee marches as well as hostile attacks against asylum seekers. There was heavy police presence at both demonstrations to prevent any possible clashes. The marches came before “Super Sunday” elections in three German states, which are considered as a test of support for Merkel’s refugee policy.

The chancellor’s Christian Democratic Union is expected to lose support while the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party is set to make gains. Germany, one of the most popular destinations for refugees, registered about 1.1 million refugees between January and December 2015. The country is expecting 2.5 million more to arrive over the next five years. Europe is facing an unprecedented influx of refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria. More than 141,000 asylum seekers have reached Europe via the Mediterranean so far this year, while over 440 people died in their journey to the continent, according to the latest figures by the International Organization of Migration (IOM).

Details

Presstv

13.Mar.2016

Hits: 1980

Write comment (0 Comments)

Criticized for the poor handling of sexual abuse cases, the United Nations adopted on Friday a resolution against soldiers suspected of abusing women and children. The UN action involves the repatriation to their countries of such soldiers. In a recent report, the UN strongly condemns the increase in sexual abuse cases recorded in 2015. The world body recognizes that last year, 69 cases of sexual abuse were committed by its peacekeepers particularly in Central Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

21 countries were indexed among them, the DRC (7 cases), Morocco and South Africa (4 cases). Cameroon, Congo - Brazzaville, Rwanda and Tanzania, (3 cases each). Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Gabon, (2 cases each). Germany, Ghana, Madagascar, Moldova, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Slovakia, Togo, (one case each).

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General says there has been a significant increase from the 2014 statistics of 52 cases, 2013 (66), while 2015 shows 69 cases. 38 cases of sexual abuse (55%) were reported in two of the 16 UN peace-keeping missions in the world: 22 in Central African Republic and 16 in DRC. In 19 of the cases in the Central African Republic, the victims were minors.

Details

Sama Ernest

12.Mar.2016

Hits: 1887

Write comment (0 Comments)

Russia has accused the United States and its Western allies of “hypocrisy” for refusing to condemn two violent attacks on the Russian embassy in Ukraine. “In our case, we see no reaction from our Western colleagues… And hypocrisy and duplicity is there, indeed,” Sergei Lavrov told Russian channel Ren TV on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Russian embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, came under attack by angry protesters, who threw stones, smoke pellets, eggs and iodine bottles at the building. It was not the first such attack on the Russian embassy. A similar incident last Sunday had turned even more violent as a group of people torched the embassy’s cars overnight, ripped the flags off and threw smoke bombs at the premises. Neither acts of violence, however, drew criticism from the US and its allies. Lavrov said, “We see no reaction whatsoever from the so-called international community,” to condemn “the actions of those thugs.” The Russian diplomat said he will raise the issue with US Secretary of State John Kerry. He said Moscow has always been quick to condemn any act of violence against diplomatic perimeters. “Relevant messages have been sent, of course, to European capitals,” he added. 

The mob in Ukraine demanded the release of Nadiya Savchenko, a 34-year-old Ukrainian pilot who is on trial in Russia. Moscow says Savchenko was responsible for directing artillery fore in a 2014 attack that claimed the lives of two Russian journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk. Kiev denies the allegations, saying she was kidnapped by pro-Russia forces. Savchenko started a hunger strike on Thursday, rejecting both food and water, to protest delays in her trial. Relations between Moscow and Kiev have been strained since Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea joined the Russian Federation following a referendum in March 2014. Ties soured further after Ukraine launched military operations in April 2014 to silence pro-Russia forces in the country’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. A cease-fire deal was reached in early 2015 has been shakily in place. Kiev and its Western allies claim Moscow is fueling the crisis , which has so far killed some 9,000 people. Russia, however, denies the allegations.

Details

Presstv

11.Mar.2016

Hits: 1773

Write comment (0 Comments)

US President Barack Obama has said he is “proud” that he stood up to intense pressure in 2013 and refused to order airstrikes against Syria on allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons near Damascus. The war rhetoric against Syria intensified after foreign-backed militants accused the President Bashar al-Assad government of launching a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21, 2013. Damascus had denied the accusations, saying the attack was carried out by the militants themselves as a false-flag operation. In mid-September 2013, the UN investigation team confirmed the use of sarin in the Ghouta attack. The team's mandate did not include assigning blame for the attack. Later on, US military officials confirmed that Daesh (ISIL) terrorists – many of whom were trained by the CIA to destabilize the Assad government – have chemical weapons facilities in Iraq and Syria. 

In an interview published by the Atlantic magazine on Thursday, Obama commented on his decision to step back from planned military strikes against the Syrian government of President Assad. "I'm very proud of this moment," Obama was quoted as saying. "The overwhelming weight of conventional wisdom and the machinery of our national-security apparatus had gone fairly far.” "The perception was that my credibility was at stake, that America's credibility was at stake. And so for me to press the pause button at that moment, I knew, would cost me politically," he added. "The fact that I was able to pull back from the immediate pressures and think through in my own mind what was in America's interest, not only with respect to Syria but also with respect to our democracy, was as tough a decision as I've made -- and I believe that ultimately it was the right decision to make,” he continued. This was the moment, Obama told the Atlantic magazine, he believes he finally broke with the “Washington playbook.”

Since March 2011, the United States and its regional allies, in particular Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, have been conducting a proxy war against Syria. The years-long conflict has left somewhere between 270,000 to 470,000 Syrians dead and half of the country’s population displaced. In September 2014, the US and some of its allies started conducting airstrikes inside Syria against Daesh terrorists. However, observers say the attacks did little damage to the terrorists; rather, they targeted the country’s infrastructure. In September of last year, Russia launched its own air offensive against the terrorists who were still wreaking havoc in Syria. The Russian campaign, analysts say, has broken the backbone of ISIL and other militants, and has provided the Assad government an opportunity to defeat the foreign-sponsored terrorist onslaught.

Details

Presstv

11.Mar.2016

Hits: 1732

Write comment (0 Comments)

The first ordinary session for the 2016 legislative year has opened this Thursday 10th March 2016 at the National Assembly in Yaounde. The oldest Member of Parliament, Honourable Enoh Tanjong chaired the opening ceremony. He was assisted by the two youngest members of Parliament. The session started at 11 a.m. and shall be dedicated to the election of the Assembly’s Bureau. 

After verifying the quorum, Honourable Enoh Tanjong presented his opening speech which focused on security challenges in the country and the African Women’s championship Cameroon is to host this 2016. The Member of Parliament called on his comrades to join in the fight against Boko Haram. Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang was present at the opening of the session alongside the Ministers of External Relations, Territorial Administration and Decentralisation and Communication, Diplomats and other invitees. A representative of the National Assembly of Chad was also present at the opening.

Details

CRTV

10.Mar.2016

Hits: 2640

Write comment (0 Comments)

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) warship HMAS Darwin has seized over 2 000 small arms, rocket propelled grenades and mortars from a fishing vessel off Oman, and believed to be on its way to Somalia. The Royal Australian Navy on Monday said the HMAS Darwin intercepted a fishing vessel approximately 170 nautical miles (313 kilometres) off the coast of Oman to conduct a flag verification boarding. “After assessing the vessel to be stateless, 1 989 AK-47 assault rifles, 100 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM general purpose machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 60 mm mortar tubes were seized from the vessel that was headed towards the Somalia coast,” the RAN said. 

The weapons were seized under United Nations sanctions which authorise interdiction on the high seas of illicit weapons destined for Somalia. The United Nations has a decades-long arms embargo in place against Somalia, which has been mired in conflict since civil war broke out in 1991. In 2013, the U.N Security Council eased some of the embargo restrictions, allowing the Western-backed government in Mogadishu to buy light weapons to bolster its armed forces in the battle against Islamist al Shabaab insurgents, who are aligned with al Qaeda, Reuters reports.

Vice Admiral David Johnston, Chief of Joint Operations, said the seizure on Darwin’s first patrol of such a large haul of illicit weapons is highly significant. "Australia worked as part of the multinational Combined Maritime Forces to discover and seize these illegal weapons. One of the key reasons HMAS Darwin is deployed to the region is to contribute to global security and counter international terrorism," Vice Admiral Johnston said.

Details

Defenceweb

09.Mar.2016

Hits: 2096

Write comment (0 Comments)