The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Brexit talks on brink as EU offers to ‘intensify’ talks

    Brexit talks on brink as EU offers to ‘intensify’ talks

    Our Reporter

     

    WHIPLASH and incredulity were the order of the day yesterday in the United Kingdom (UK), with efforts to avoid a no-deal Brexit looking increasingly futile.

    After telling parliament that the EU had “in effect” ended negotiations with the UK, British Government Minister Michael Gove welcomed a “constructive move” by the bloc after being informed of a tweet by Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator.

    Barnier had called his British counterpart Lord Frost earlier in the day, and then tweeted: “I confirmed that the EU remains available to intensify talks in London this week, on all subjects, and based on legal texts. We now wait for the UK’s reaction.”

    He sent his tweet just as Gove was speaking in parliament, where he said the bloc had effectively ended talks for a post-Brexit trade agreement last week after publishing their conclusions from their European Council summit.

    “The conclusions of that Council reaffirmed the EU’s original negotiating mandate, they dropped a reference to intensive talks that has been in the draft and they declared that all, all future moves in this negotiation had to be made by the UK,” he said.

    Read Also: EU warns UK over plans to change Brexit deal

    “The EU was only willing to conduct negotiations on fewer than half the days available and would not engage on all of the outstanding issues. Moreover, the EU refused to discuss legal texts in any area as it has done since the summer,” he said.

    “Indeed it’s almost incredible to our negotiators we have reached this point in the negotiations without any common legal texts of any kind.”

    Informed in parliament of Barnier’s tweet, he then responded that British “firmness” was “bearing fruit” and welcomed the “constructive move on the part of the EU.”

    “I now believe it is the case that Michel Barnier has agreed to the intensification of talks and also to working on legal texts,” Gove said, adding that this reflected “the strength and resolution our prime minister showed.”

    In a notable exchange that went viral on social media, former Prime Minister Theresa May asked Gove about the security implications of a no-deal Brexit.

  • Opposition candidate Diallo, election body differ on who wins Guinea’s round one poll

    Opposition candidate Diallo, election body differ on who wins Guinea’s round one poll

    Our Reporter

     

    GUINEAN opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo said yesterday he has won the first round of a high-stakes presidential election, prompting the country’s election body, which has yet to publish results, to call his self-declared victory “void”.

    “Despite the serious anomalies that marred the smooth running of the … election and in view of the results that came out of the ballot boxes, I am victorious in this election in the first round,” Diallo told journalists and cheering supporters yesterday, a day after the vote was held.

    “I invite all my fellow citizens who love peace and justice to stay vigilant and committed to defend this democratic victory.”

    Read Also: Buhari pledges support for Guinea-Bissau

    Outside the building in the capital, Conakry, supporters erupted in joy and chanted “Cellou, president”. Elsewhere in the city, security forces fired tear gas canisters at crowds assembling in support of Diallo.

    The opposition leader did not give any figures but said the tally was based on his party’s count, not an official tally being conducted by the national election commission.

    Later on Monday, Bakary Mansare, the vice president of the electoral authority, told the AFP news agency Diallo’s purported victory was “premature” and “void”.

    “It is not up to a candidate or a person to proclaim himself the winner outside the bodies defined by the law,” he said.

    Diallo, 68, is the main challenger to Guinea’s 82-year-old incumbent President Alpha Conde, who is seeking a third term in office after a constitutional change in March.

    Diallo’s announcement sets the stage for a showdown with the government, which insists Sunday’s vote was fair and the official electoral authority must declare the results.

    Polling day was mostly calm, but it followed months of protests against a third term for Conde which were met with a harsh response by security forces. Dozens of people were killed during the mass demonstrations against Conde’s re-election bid.

    Opposition members are deeply suspicious of the fairness of the poll, as well as the independence of Guinea’s electoral authority.

     

  • U.S., Britain accuse Russian intelligence officers of cyberattacks

    U.S., Britain accuse Russian intelligence officers of cyberattacks

    Our Reporter

     

    BRITAIN and the United States (U.S. ) on Monday condemned what they said were a litany of malicious cyberattacks orchestrated by Russian military intelligence, including attempts to disrupt next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

    British and U.S. officials said the attacks were conducted by Unit 74455 of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, also known as the Main Centre for Special Technologies.

    In an indictment unsealed yesterday, the U.S. Justice Department said six members of the unit had played key roles in attacks on targets ranging from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea to the 2017 French elections.

    British officials said the GRU hackers had also conducted “cyber reconnaissance” operations against organisers of the 2020 Tokyo Games, which were originally scheduled to be held this year but postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

    The officials declined to give specific details about the attacks or whether they were successful, but said they had targeted Games organisers, logistics suppliers and sponsors.

    Read Also: Britain: Surge in savings withdrawals exposes major flaws in system

    British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The GRU’s actions against the Olympic and Paralympic Games are cynical and reckless. We condemn them in the strongest possible terms.”

    FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said: “The FBI has repeatedly warned that Russia is a highly capable cyber adversary, and the information revealed in this indictment illustrates how pervasive and destructive Russia’s cyber activities truly are.”

    Russia was banned from the world’s top sporting events for four years in December over widespread doping offences, including the Tokyo Games which were originally scheduled for this year but postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

  • Churches burnt as Chile anniversary rallies turn violent

    Churches burnt as Chile anniversary rallies turn violent

    Tens of thousands of Chileans gathered in the central square of Santiago to mark the one-year anniversary of mass protests that left over 30 dead and thousands injured, with peaceful rallies on Sunday devolving by nightfall into riots and looting.

    People gathered early in the day in demonstrations downtown and in cities throughout Chile that gained size and fervor through the evening. Many touted signs and rainbow colored homemade banners calling for a “yes” vote next Sunday in a referendum over whether to scrap the country’s constitution, which was adopted in 1980 during the regime of General Augusto Pinochet.

    The morning brought a largely festive atmosphere to the protests at Plaza Italia. Many showed up wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus pandemic, held up banners, sang and danced. Police even gradually pulled back from the Plaza Italia.

    “It’s great, very good and positive. They’re pure good things for Chile in everything from here,” demonstrator Viviana Donoso, 43, told AFP as she and a group of people danced to drums.

    “The people of Chile need to unite, and we have to believe that we can do things.”

    Some even turned up to the demonstration in fancy dress. Demonstrators also called for their countrymen to vote to “approve” the proposed constitutional change, a key demand of the 2019 protests.

    “This is the opportunity to say enough! We’re here and we’re going to vote for ‘Approve,’” Paulina Villarroel, a 29-year-old psychologist, told AFP.

    Police estimated that Sunday’s rally in Santiago attracted around 25,000 people by 6 p.m., far smaller than the largest protests of 2019.

    The demonstrations, while largely peaceful early on, were marred by increasing incidents of violence, looting of supermarkets and clashes with police across the capital later in the day. Fire truck sirens, burning barricades on roadways and fireworks on downtown streets added to a sense of chaos in some neighborhoods.

    Interior Minister Victor Perez spoke late in the evening, praising the early, peaceful rallies while blasting the late-night mayhem. He called on Chileans to settle their differences by voting in the upcoming constitutional referendum.

    “Those who carry out these acts of violence do not want Chileans to solve our problems through democratic means,” Perez told reporters, vowing to punish those who crossed the line Sunday.

    Early in the day, an angry mob jeered and threatened a Communist Party mayor. Later, masked individuals firebombed a police headquarters and church. Vandals attacked another Santiago church in the early evening, setting its spire aflame and choking side streets with smoke.

    More than 15 metro stations were temporarily closed amid the unrest. Police fired tear gas and water cannons in skirmishes with sometimes violent, hooded and masked people.

    Last year’s protests, which began October 18, raged until mid-December as Chileans gathered nationwide to call for reforms to the pension, healthcare and education systems. Rioting and looting resulted in billions of dollars in damage and losses to the country’s businesses and infrastructure. The unrest saw the military take to the streets for the first time since the rule of Augusto Pinochet.

    In the past few days, small-scale demonstrations and isolated incidents of violence have nonetheless resurfaced in Chile, as the capital’s six million citizens emerge from months of confinement following the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Most demonstrators on Sunday wore masks, but many could be seen in tight groups, raising concerns about a potential health risk.

    (www.newsnow.co.uk)

  • Venezuelan envoy urges ECOWAS Court to halt extradition to U.S.

    Venezuelan envoy urges ECOWAS Court to halt extradition to U.S.

    By Adebisi Onanuga

     

    A Special Envoy to the Government of Venezuela, Alex Nain Saab Morán, has urged the West African regional court, the ECOWAS Court of Justice, to halt the plan to extradite him from Cape Verde to the United States (U.S.).

    Morán, a dual Colombian and Venezuelan nationality, has been in detention since his arrest by Cape Verde authorities four months ago.

    He urged the court to suspend the extradition process as a precautionary measure pending the court’s decision on the merits.

    According his legal team led by Femi Falana (SAN),  Morán is being “arbitrarily detained” by Cape Verde pending extradition to the United States.

    Falana, in the application filed on behalf of his client on September 30, 2020, said the extradition request initiated by the U.S. authorities was an offshoot of “the political conflict between the United States of America and Venezuela”.

    Cape Verde is the sole respondent in the suit.

    He argued that as of the time of his client’s arrest on June 12, 2020, “the complainant was carrying out a special mission on behalf of Venezuela and was not the subject of an arrest warrant or even a red alert in Cape Verde”.

    Falana who alleged that his client’s detention in Cape Verde was illegal and arbitary, argued that  Morán “enjoys immunity and inviolability in his capacity and status as Special Envoy to the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”.

    He added, “So far, Cape Verde’s executive and judicial authorities have ignored the complainant’s claim that he cannot be subjected to extradition proceedings in Cape Verde and that, therefore, his protective custody for the purpose of extradition violates his fundamental right of freedom.

    “In this sense, Article 22 (1) of the Constitution of Cape Verde provides that everyone has the right to request the Constitutional Court, through a writ of amparo or protection appeal, through a habeas corpus, to protect their constitutionally recognised fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees.”

    He also maintained that the “Red Alert issued by INTERPOL against the complainant is illegal since it was issued after his arrest and violates international law and consequently the rules of INTERPOL”.

    He argued further that if the complainant is extradited to the US,  “he will be subject to torture due to his political position and the sensitive information he has, which would also constitute a violation of Article 5 of the African Charter’.

    The lawyer urged the court to halt the extradition of the complainant as requested from Cape Verde by the US, “ and release him under the supervision and responsibility of the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, accredited to the Republic of Cape Verde”.

    He also noted that Cape Verde is part of the Treaty on the Economic Community of West African States which establishes the ECOWAS Court of Justice under Article 15 (1) of the treaty.

     

  • PLO leader Erekat admitted in hospital

    PLO leader Erekat admitted in hospital

    Palestine Liberation Organisation Secretary-General Saeb Erekat is in serious condition yesterday, after being admitted to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem to treat his coronavirus infection.

    Hospital officials said the 65-year-old PLO chief negotiator is in serious but stable condition at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

    “Mr. Erekat is receiving the highest level of treatment, like all other serious coronavirus patients at Hadassah, and the team is doing everything it can for his health,” said Hadassah director-general Prof. Zev Rothstein. “At Hadassah, we treat every patient as if he or she were our only patient.”

    Earlier yesterday, Erekat was rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem from the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Jericho, following a deterioration in his condition.

    Erekat is in a high risk group after having previously contracted pulmonary fibrosis and even underwent a lung transplant in the United States in 2017.

    A frequent critic of Israel, Erekat has in the past accused Israel of “war crimes”, “massacres”, and “genocide”.

    In 2013, Erekat accused Israel of applying a policy of apartheid in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.

    Despite his accusations of Israeli “genocide”, this is not the first time the senior PA official has sought treatment at an Israeli hospital.

    In 2017, Erekat was spotted at Petah Tikva’s Beilinson Medical Center.

     

     

     

  • Door ‘still ajar’ for EU trade talks, says UK

    Door ‘still ajar’ for EU trade talks, says UK

    The door is “still ajar” for talks with the European Union (EU) over a post-Brexit trade deal but only if it moves ground in key areas, United Kingdom (UK) Cabinet Minister Michael Gove has said.

    Negotiations between the UK and the EU have stalled amid disagreements over fishing access and competition issues.

    The cabinet minister told the BBC that the EU must speed up the negotiating process and offer the UK better terms.

    The EU has said it is prepared to “intensify” talks but it would not agree a deal at “any price”.

    It comes as the CBI and other business organisations urged the UK government to focus on bridging its differences with the EU, saying a deal was vital to help the post-Covid recovery.

    They warned that uncertainty about the UK’s future trading relationship with its largest market was “chipping away at business resilience” at a time when many firms were being battered by coronavirus.

    Downing Street said on Friday that official negotiations over a future economic partnership were “over” and the UK should “get ready” to trade with the EU from January 1 without a specific agreement.

    Boris Johnson has accused the EU of resisting the UK’s preferred outcome of a deal based on the one the bloc has with Canada.

    Read Also: Thousands rally in Paris in honour of beheaded French teacher

     

    The prime minister has said the UK should now be prepared for the alternative of a much more limited relationship, based on the EU’s existing arrangements with Australia.

    However, this would see tariffs applied on goods crossing the channel once the UK leaves the EU’s single market at the end of the year, pushing up the cost of imports and exports.

    The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, is due in London for talks with his counterpart, David Frost, today, but the UK said this would be pointless without a fundamental change in direction from the bloc.

    Gove told the BBC’s Andrew Marr that the EU “effectively ended the current round of talks” when its 27 leaders met in Brussels on Thursday to take stock of progress and said more was required from the UK.

    “It was the case we were making progress but then the EU retreated from that,” he said.

    “We have drawn the conclusion that unless their approach changes, they are not interested and they have in effect drawn stumps.”

    Johnson previously indicated that the UK would walk away from the talks unless EU leaders agreed an outline deal at last week’s summit in Brussels.

     

  • Condé battles Diallo again in Guinea elections

    Condé battles Diallo again in Guinea elections

    Voters in Guinea yesterday casted their ballots in a controversial election, which sees President Alpha Condé, 82, seeking a third term.

    The day started with heavy rain but as soon as it stopped, long lines started forming in front of polling stations.

    Condé ignored critics to push for a change of constitution that allowed him to extend his stay in office.

    His main challenger is Cellou Dalein Diallo, who he has twice defeated.

    Ethnic clashes during the campaign have raised fears of nationwide violence if the results are disputed.

    The government has closed the borders with some neighbouring countries, citing security reasons.

    Some 5.4 million voters eligible to vote. Results are not expected for several days.

    Candidates need more than 50% of the vote for outright victory, or there will be a second round on November 24.

    Ten other candidates are also running, while some opposition groups have called for a boycott.

    Guinea has been beset by authoritarian and military rule since independence. There have been some fears that the army might be getting involved in politics again.

    United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the weekend  called for peaceful and credible presidential election.

    Read Also: Low turnout mars Bauchi LG elections

     

    Guterres’ message was contained in a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Stephane Dujarric, on Saturday amid high political tension in the run up to the polls.

    “On the eve of the presidential elections in Guinea, the Secretary-General calls on all national stakeholders to ensure that the polls are conducted in an inclusive and peaceful manner.

    “He also calls on all political leaders and their supporters to refrain from acts of incitement, inflammatory language, ethnic profiling and violence.

    “He urges the defence and security forces to act responsibly and with utmost restraint,” the statement said.

    It quoted the UN Chief as urging political leaders and their parties to explore legal means of resolving any dispute that may arise from the elections.

    Guterres reiterated the commitment of the UN to supporting the country’s efforts at promoting national unity.

     

  • Thousands rally in Paris in honour of beheaded French teacher

    Thousands rally in Paris in honour of beheaded French teacher

    Thousands have attended rallies across France in support of Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils.

    People in the Place de la République in Paris carried the slogan “Je suis enseignant” (I am a teacher), with PM Jean Castex saying: “We are France!”

    A man named as Abdoulakh A was shot dead by police on Friday after killing Paty close to his school near Paris.

    An 11th person has now been arrested as part of the investigation.

    No details have been given about the arrest. Four close relatives of the suspect were detained shortly after the killing. Six more people were held on Saturday, including the father of a pupil at the school and a preacher described by French media as a radical Islamist.

    President Emmanuel Macron said the attack bore all the hallmarks of an “Islamist terrorist attack” and the teacher had been murdered because he “taught freedom of expression”.

    Read Also: Why I beheaded four-year-old nephew, by suspect

     

    The murder comes as a trial over the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo – a satirical magazine that has published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad – is under way.

    The Place de la République, Paris  was  filled with people rallying in support of Mr Paty, 47. Mr Castex and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo joined them.

    The square was the scene of a huge demonstration in which 1.5 million people showed solidarity with Charlie Hebdo following the deadly attack of January 2015.

    One protester yesterday carried a sign reading “zero tolerance to all enemies of the Republic”, another “I am a professor. I’m thinking of you, Samuel.”

    Another told Le Figaro she was a French Muslim who was at the rally to express her disgust at the latest killing.

    A minute’s silence was followed by the playing of the Marseillaise. All the protesters were wearing masks to protect from coronavirus.

    Castex tweeted the rendition of the anthem, along with the words “you do not scare us… we are France!”

  • Trump may leave US if Biden wins election

    Trump may leave US if Biden wins election

    Our Reporter

     

    President Donald Trump is contemplating leaving the United States in the event that he loses the November 3 election to Joe Biden.

    Trump told his supporters in Macon, Georgia late Friday that Biden was the “worst candidate in the history of presidential politics” and he could not imagine losing to him in the election.

    Biden currently leads Trump in the national polls.

    “I will deliver optimism, opportunity and hope, and that’s what we’re doing, and this is why we have this kind of spirit, and I hate to say it because I don’t want to insult Georgia, but it’s this way all over our country,” he said  as he resumed active campaign following his recent infection with  coronavirus.

    Read Also: I’m free of COVID-19, says Trump

    He added: “I shouldn’t joke because you know what? Running against the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics puts pressure on me.

    “Could you imagine if I lose? My whole life, what am I going to do? I’m going to say ‘I lost to the worst candidate in the history of politics.’ I’m not going to feel so good.”

    “Maybe I’ll have to leave the country? I don’t know.”