International Crisis Group announces new board members
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7000 Scots stage anti-Brexit march
Thousands of pro-independence advocates in Scotland have taken to streets in Glasgow against Britain’s decision to leave the EU, demanding another referendum on independence from the UK.
An estimated 7,000 people took part in the anti-Brexit march on Saturday following a new poll that showed there was a greater tendency among Scots towards independence from Britain after the Brexit.
In September 2014, Scottish people voted against Scotland becoming an independent country. Organized by the All Under One Banner group, Saturday’s demonstration started off in the Botanic Garden area with participants waving Saltires, Lion Rampants, Catalan, Irish and Palestinian flags, along with banners describing the post-Brexit UK as “unfettered, undemocratic, uncivilized” and “unhinged.” The demonstrators then marched towards the center of the rally in the heart of Glasgow.
This is while thousands or more people joined the protesters at George Square in Glasgow city center, where they gathered to listen to speeches.
According to the latest poll, a total of 53 percent of those surveyed said they want to remain in the UK. The YouGov poll also found that 47 percent want Scotland to become an independent country.
The poll showed a two-percent rise in Scotland’s inclination for independence since the referendum, in which 55 percent voted to remain in the UK and 45 percent favored independence.
Presstv
UN Security Council votes to deploy police force in Burundi
The UN Security Council (UNSC) has voted to deploy a UN police force to restive Burundi, in its toughest measure aimed at helping end over a year of violence in the West African country.
The council adopted a France-drafted resolution Friday authorizing the dispatch of up to 228 officers to the capital, Bujumbura, and throughout Burundi for a preliminary period of one year.
“This is a strong act of preventative diplomacy,” said French Ambassador Francois Delattre, adding that the UN force gives the council “eyes and ears” on the ground to provide early warning of possible mass atrocities.
This is while Burundi has said it would not accept more than 50 UN police forces. The UNSC resolution also called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to ensure a “progressive deployment” of the new force to monitor human rights violations and abuses in Burundi.
Presstv
Pan African conference on pensions opens in Yaounde
Experts from 15 African countries are taking part in a Pan African Zone Conference on Social Insurance in Yaounde. Prime Minister Philemon Yang participated in the opening ceremony of the conference.
During the three-day conclave, the forum will be discussing ways of reforming pension schemes. The Permanent Secretary of the organization, Noel Alain Mekulu Mvondo, said the meeting will seek ways of changing the conception of retirement as a dreaded period.
Noel Alain Mekulu hinted that the exchanges will also include ways of providing retirees with psychological and physical forms of support.
CRTV
Another former GM of CRTV arrested in Yaounde
Amadou Vamoulké, the former general manager of CRTV has been was arrested by plain cloth police officers at his home in Yaoundé, Cameroon Intelligence Report has learned. Sacked on June the 29th after spending 11 years at the head of CRTV, Amadou Vamoulké has been detained at the Kondengui Central prison in Yaounde. The former GM has now joined Gervais Mendo Ze his predecessor who has been in Kondengui prison ever since November 2014, on charges of embezzlement.
Prosecutors at the Special Criminal Court have accused the former GM of CRTV of embezzlement of slightly more than 2.8 billion CFA francs, corresponding to the cash deficit upon his arrival at the head of the state owned cooperation. He has always denied the charges.
Sama Ernest (Cameroon Intelligence Report)
Biya abandoning presidential villas inherited from late President Ahidjo
All presidential resorts belonging to the Head of State President Biya located in the Adamawa Region have been abandoned. The villas were built by Mr Biya’s predecessor, the late Ahmadou Ahidjo and inaugurated in 1974. In the first villa located in the administrative district, in Ngaoundere, the courtyard of the presidential residence has been covered with grass for ages. The walls are cracked; the white color of the paint gone and several glass doors and windows shattered. The sheets of the roof are flying away and the apartment is empty.
The condition of the second villa is very disturbing and falls under emergence 2035. It is almost swallowed up by grass and some nearby trees and has no roof. The spiders that live there have carefully woven their webs. All the window protectors are missing and behind is a rusty satellite dish surrounded by herbs that apparently protect it. The third villa located opposite the headquarters of the regional station of the Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) Adamawa is also fading away with no care and maintenance.
Chi Prudence Asong with files from Cameroon-info.net
Cameroon-Egypt Joint Committee to hold in Cairo soonest
Cooperation ties between Cameroon and Egypt will in the coming days witness a bolster as both nations prepare the seventh session of the Cameroon-Egypt Joint Committee which will hold in Cairo, Egypt. Sherif Salah Eldin Elleithy, the Ambassador of Egypt to Cameroon made the declaration during celebrations marking the 64th anniversary of the July 23, 1992 Revolution in Egypt which also serves as the country’s National Day. Senior Cameroonian government, the business community, some representatives of the diplomatic corps and Egyptians resident in Cameroon all converged on the Ambassadors, Bastos-Yaounde residence on July 27, 2016 to celebrate the National Day.
Ambassador Sherif Salah Eldin Elleithy used the occasion to declare the readiness of his country to further consolidate and enhance cooperation ties in all domains. He cited the already prospering domains of cooperation to include offering scholarships to Cameroonians on religious and scientific studies. The Ambassador also mentioned the intensification of economic and technical cooperation, lauding the trust given the Egyptian company Arab Constructors that has been carrying out some infrastructure projects in Cameroon.
Egypt, he said has been helping Cameroon handle the ever-increasing influx of refugees. He condemned all forms of terrorism, encouraged and supported Cameroon in the fight against the terrorist sect Boko Haram. He also congratulated Cameroon for its role in peacekeeping and security operations in the Central African Sub-region.
Cameroon Tribune
Foreign Minister Zarif says current visit to West Africa will open new chapter
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says his current visit to West Africa will open a new chapter in cooperation between the Islamic Republic and the African nations. He made the remarks during a meeting with Guinea Prime Minister Mamady Youla in the capital Conakry where he visited Wednesday as part of a four-nation tour along with a trade delegation. Zarif described relations between Tehran and Conakry as “excellent,” saying the visit will help “open a new chapter in the two countries’ ties, particularly in the fields of economy and trade.” Iran and Guinea enjoy “good and extensive” economic cooperation in tandem with bilateral political ties, he said.
Youla, for his part, said his country seeks enhanced relations with the Islamic Republic in all areas. Zarif also met with Guinea President Alpha Conde and Foreign Minister Makale Traore. Zarif, in Guinea on the third leg of the Africa tour after visiting Nigeria and Ghana, left Conakry for Mali on Thursday. The Iranian foreign minister has already paid two official visits to Africa. He visited Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and Tanzania in February 2015. Zarif also visited North African countries of Tunisia and Algeria in August 2015.
Iran has a significant presence in agricultural and economic projects in some African countries and has been a major contributor to humanitarian missions in the continent. The country is willing to engage deeper both politically and economically in Africa and bolster its footprints in the continent’s development following the removal of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Presstv
Catalan lawmakers approved resolution outlining steps to form a state
In direct defiance of Spain’s Constitutional Court, Catalan lawmakers have approved a resolution outlining the steps required for forming a separate state without the approval of Madrid. On Wednesday, 72 members of Catalonia’s 135-seat regional parliament approved the resolution to begin succession from Spain.
It stresses that the “only way” for Catalans to utilize their right to decide on their future is to disconnect from the rest of Spain. Following the vote, Madrid announced that it would be filing an appeal over the matter with the Constitutional Court on Friday. The resource-rich region provides at least one-fifth of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) and many of its residents believe they are disproportionately taxed by the government in Madrid.
Last week, Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled that the approval of such a text would be illegal. The Spanish government has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of independence for Catalonia. The Catalan pro-independence parties adopted a similar resolution on the separation process in November 2015 after winning a majority in the parliament two months earlier. Madrid declared the move unconstitutional.
In November 2014, then Catalan President Artur Mas staged a symbolic independence referendum after the government in Madrid blocked his bid to hold an official referendum. Nearly 80 percent of the 2.2 million people who took part in the vote backed secession, though the turnout was slightly more than 40 percent. Spain’s Constitutional Court immediately ruled the poll illegal.
Presstv
Nigeria: Doctors Without Borders says Northeastern region close to famine
Doctors Without Borders says the violence-wracked northeastern region of Nigeria is “close” to famine and must be declared a “top emergency” by the United Nations. The charity group, also known as the MSF by its French acronym, on Wednesday urged the UN to set up emergency food transports to the area, where up to 800,000 civilians have been cut off for over a year due to the ongoing violence by the Boko Haram Takfiri militants. The MSF said a UN “top emergency” designation would immediately mobilize more resources to a crisis that has not received nearly enough attention.
Bruno Jochum, director of MSF Switzerland, told a news briefing in Geneva that a humanitarian disaster is unfolding across the region. “The situation is a large-scale humanitarian disaster…. There is a vital need to have a food pipeline in place to save the population that can be saved,” Jochum said, adding, “We are talking at least about pockets of what is close to a famine.”
MSF emergency program manager Hugues Robert also said some cities in the northeast had gone up to 18 months without any humanitarian deliveries before aid agencies and the UN arrived in June. “What was extremely shocking was the level of severe acute malnutrition,” he told reporters in Geneva after returning from Borno state, the epicenter of the Boko Haram militancy. He also said communities faced “close to a famine situation” in the troubled region.
Presstv