The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • EU foreign ministers discuss Iran nuclear deal

    EU foreign ministers are set to discuss efforts to keep Iran in line with its nuclear commitments on Monday.

    This is coming on the heels of Tehran’s plans last week to partially withdraw from a 2015 deal with major powers.

    Iran accepted curbs aimed at preventing it from building a nuclear bomb, in return for relief from crippling economic sanctions.

    But Washington pulled out of the pact in 2018 and reimposed punitive measures, hollowing out Tehran’s benefits.

    European powers said they would “reject any ultimatums,” after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last week gave them 60 days to ease the impact of sanctions imposed in the oil and banking sector in particular.

    They reiterated their commitment to the deal, while urging Iran to refrain from escalatory steps, in a joint statement by Britain, France and Germany- the three European countries behind the 2015 accord- and EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini.

    The U.S. announced military reinforcements in the Middle East late last week.

    Tehran and Washington made clear at the weekend that neither side would back down to defuse the situation.

    Read Also: EU foreign ministers signal steadfast support for Iran nuclear deal

    EU diplomats acknowledge that their bloc has little room for manoeuvre.

    Iranian exports to the bloc plummeted in the first two months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, according to EU data.

    INSTEX, a tool for companies to do barter trade with Iran while avoiding U.S. sanctions, is struggling to get off the ground, diplomats say on condition of anonymity.

    Other items on the agenda include Libya, Venezuela and a meeting with ministers from six former Soviet states, marking 10 years of closer ties.

  • Nigerian Army as Rivers’ last hope

    Wonders shall never end in Rivers state. I have been receiving calls from some of my friends outside Rivers state trying to confirm the allegations of oil bunkering levelled against the Nigerian Army by the governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike. I have tried my best to explain the position of things to my folks, but the calls won’t seize. At some point, I was ashamed of my state of origin and wondered how we deteriorated to this unenviable position.
    As a first, I would heap the blame on just one man, the governor of Rivers state who has institutionalized political thuggery to such a height that if care is not taken, the state might end up in flames. Governor Nyesom Wike, a supposed lawyer, has done great harm than good to the people of Rivers state since he assumed leadership in 2015. He has demonstrated an apparent lack of policy direction in the conduct of government business. And this has manifested in the cruelty with which he has carried on since 2015.
    It must be admitted that Rivers state has not witnessed the best of times under Governor Nyesom Wike. We have a youthful population that has been so disoriented and battered that they only way out of their miseries is to take to criminal behaviours to make ends meet. We are also confronted with a political class that knows nothing but how to squander public resources at the detriment of sustainable development.
    Those not conversant with the workings of Rivers state would be shocked to learn that under Nyesom Wike, the level of insecurity has degenerated to a low, so much so that it seems Armageddon has befallen the state. In the years I have spent in Rivers state, I have never seen a governor so uncouth in his actions and inactions as Nyesom Wike.
    In my life in Rivers state as an indigene, I have not seen a situation where a governor encourages youths to get involved in criminality. I say this because as an indigene of Rivers state I had all my education in the state and I had followed the political journey of Nyesom Wike right from when he was the local government chairman of Obio Akpor local government area in 1999. In a way, Nyesom Wike is not new to me, and I wasn’t surprised with the way he has governed Rivers state since 2015.
    This is also sufficing to add that while he was the local government chairman, his trademark then was the patronizing of thugs who labelled him the Chief Barrister. In those days, Nyesom Wike would instead gather youths together and engage them in a drinking competition rather than do anything meaningful for the local government as a whole. He was that reckless and uncouth.
    So when the news started making the rounds that the Nigerian Army was involved in crude oil bunkering, I smiled and told close associates that the world is beginning to see the real Nyesom Wike. The Nyesom Wike that would do or say anything to demean you once you are not in his good books.
    The accusations by Nyesom Wike against the Nigerian Army, notably the GOC of 6 Division in Port Harcourt is at best described as uncharitable and every inch acts of ungratefulness to the sacrifices the Nigerian Army has made to ensure that Rivers state is safe and secured.
    I recall that a particular commentator had come on air to challenge the governor to substantiate his claims of the Nigerian Army involvement in crude oil bunkering. I also smiled because I know such a time will never come with a character like Nyesom Wike. That has been his stock in trade from time immemorial. And this much we all know and so we were not alarmed when he made the allegations. As a fact, the average Ikwerre or Okrika man would simply say the Chief Barrister is at work and wave it off with a hand.
    But the question is what about members of the unsuspecting public that do not know the antecedents of the governor? What about the reputation of the GOC that has been called to question with the unsubstantiated allegations? What impression does the governor want to give to the outside world about the Nigerian Army? All of these and many more are questions we must take seriously in this ugly episode in Rivers state.
    As a Rivers man, I think we owe the Nigerian Army a collective apology on behalf of the governor who has suddenly forgotten how the officers and men of the Nigerian Army have been able to restore sanity in our state that was under the verge of collapse with the activities of thugs, kidnappers, and cultists. At some point in the annals of the state, if the Nigerian Army is not present in any event, you could be assured that there would be chaos that would lead to loss of lives.
    It was so bad that cultists and assassins had a field day in the state. As a fact this anomaly was caused by the same thieving political elite that is now accusing the Nigerian Army of involvement in acts that they are the proponents. In my opinion, the major sin of the GOC of the 6 Division is that he refused to play ball for business as usual, and he put an end to their nefarious activities.
    It is therefore expected that they would unleash their arsenal on him and the institution he represents. But in whose interest? In their selfish interest or in the interest of the generality of Rivers people that can now go about their normal lives without fear of harassment by political thugs, cultists, and even assassins. All of these, the Nigerian Army have been able to nip in the bud, but our dear governor as the chief security officer of the state, sees and thinks otherwise.
    It is indeed a shame that our governor has decided to throw caution in the wind by accusing the same institution that has helped in a great deal in the security architecture in the state. The institution that has persevered even in the face of dire challenges to ensure that the common man and woman on the streets of Rivers state are protected.
    It must be added that Nyesom Wike is governor of Rivers state today, and a time will come when he will no longer be the governor. But that is not so for the Nigerian Army. The Nigerian Army would always remain. The Nigerian Army is indeed bigger than Nyesom Wike, and so it would stay and as such the futile attempt at dragging the institution into the murky waters of politics is unbecoming of a governor and chief security officer of a state.
    It is advised the governor should tow the path of honour and apologize for his reckless statements. The Rivers people would not allow an individual to disrupt the relative peace we enjoy in the state. The average Rivers man don’t know anywhere else as a home than Rivers. And this much Governor Nyesom Wike knows. The Nigerian Army is an institution and as such respect must be accorded it.
    Amana, a public affairs commentator wrote from Rumuokoro, Port Harcourt.

  • US gives China one-month ultimatum for trade deal

    US President Donald Trump President has reportedly given China a one-month ultimatum to seal a trade deal or face tariffs on all its exports to the United States.

    The decision was relayed by people with knowledge of the talks between the two sides on Friday, hours after the Trump administration raised tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25.

    Even though, the US president hailed the talks with the Chinese delegation as “candid and constructive” in a series of tweets.

    “The relationship between President Xi Jinping and myself remains a very strong one, and conversations into the future will continue.”

    However, in a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, US officials laid out their bottom line and informed him that Beijing had three or four weeks to agree to a deal or face additional 25 percent tariffs on a further $325 billion in exports to the US, according to people familiar with the talks.

    Read Also: Nigeria-China trade Fair to hold

    “For the interest of the people of China, the people of US and the people of the whole world, we will deal with this rationally,” Liu said in an interview with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Friday.

    “But China is not afraid, nor are the Chinese people. China needs a cooperative agreement with equality and dignity.”

    The Chinese vice premier had earlier stated that the prospects for the talks were “promising,” but warned that raising tariffs would be “harmful to both sides.”

    In several tweets later on Friday, Trump sought to justify his decision to hike tariffs as well as to convince businesses and financial markets that he had no plans to walk away from a deal with China.

    The Chinese commerce ministry, however, lamented the US move on Friday and reiterated Beijing’s pledge to take “necessary countermeasures.”

    (https://www.presstv.com)

  • Theresa May could give details of resignation date next week

    The Prime Minister may offer a “clear understanding” of her timetable for departure next week, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee has said.

    Theresa May has previously suggested she will leave Downing Street after her Brexit deal has been passed by Parliament.

    But Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the committee since May 2010, told BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster that May had offered to meet with the executive following a request for “clarity” on her plans.

    He told the programme: “It would be strange for that not to result in a clear understanding… at the end of the meeting.”

    The Altrincham and Sale West MP added he understood her “reticence” to set a date, but added: “I don’t think it’s about an intention for staying indefinitely as prime minister or leader of the Conservative Party.

    But Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the committee since May 2010, told BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster that May had offered to meet with the executive following a request for “clarity” on her plans.

    He told the programme: “It would be strange for that not to result in a clear understanding… at the end of the meeting.”

    The Altrincham and Sale West MP added he understood her “reticence” to set a date, but added: “I don’t think it’s about an intention for staying indefinitely as prime minister or leader of the Conservative Party.

    “I think the reticence is the concern that by promising to go on a certain timetable, it might make it less likely she would secure Parliamentary approval for the withdrawal agreement, rather than more likely.”

    Read Also: Theresa May battles to keep control of Brexit

    Earlier this week, May rebuffed demands to set out a timetable for her departure from No 10 amid growing pressure from Tory MPs to make way for a new leader.

    At Prime Minister’s Questions, Brexit-backing Andrea Jenkyns told May she had “failed” in EU withdrawal negotiations and forfeited the trust of the public.

    “The public no longer trust her to run Brexit negotiations,” she said.

    “Isn’t it time to step aside and let someone else lead our country, our party and the Brexit negotiations?”

    May retorted: “This is not an issue about me and it’s not an issue about her.

    “If it were an issue about me and the way I vote, we would already have left the European Union.”

    Downing Street made clear the Prime Minister was not ready to go beyond her earlier promise to the 1922 to quit as Tory leader when the first phase of Brexit negotiations – dealing with the divorce terms – is complete.

    “The PM made a very generous and bold offer to the 1922 Committee a few weeks ago that she would see through phase one of the Brexit process and she would leave and open up for new leadership for phase two,” a No 10 source said.

    (https://www.thenational.scot)

     

  • US sends naval strike group as tensions rise with Iran

    The United States is deploying an amphibious assault ship and a Patriot missile battery to bolster an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers already sent to the Gulf, ratcheting up pressure Saturday on archfoe Iran.

    In response to alleged threats from Iran, the USS Arlington, which transports marines, amphibious vehicles, conventional landing craft and rotary aircraft, and the Patriot air defence system will join the Abraham Lincoln carrier group, the Pentagon announced Friday.

    The carrier and a B-52 bomber task force were ordered towards the Gulf, as Washington reiterated that intelligence reports suggested Iran was planning some sort of attack in the region.

    CENTCOM, the US forces for the Middle East and Afghanistan, said Friday on Twitter that the B-52 bombers arrived at the area of operations on May 8, without saying where they had landed.

    US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton has said the deployment aimed to send a “clear and unmistakable” message to Iran about any attack against the US or its partners in the region.

    Washington has not elaborated on the alleged threat, drawing criticism that it is overreacting and unnecessarily driving up tensions in the region.

    There was no immediate reaction from Tehran on the latest US moves, but earlier in the week it shrugged off the carrier deployment.

    “Bolton’s statement is a clumsy use of an out-of-date event for psychological warfare,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council spokesman Keyvan Khosravi said.

    Read Also: Iran announces partial departure from nuclear deal

    The increasing tensions come as Tehran said Wednesday it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under a 2015 deal with major powers.

    Iran said it was responding to the sweeping unilateral sanctions that Washington has re-imposed since it quit the agreement one year ago, which have dealt a severe blow to the Iranian economy.

    The Pentagon, for its part, said the deployments were “in response to indications of heightened Iranian readiness to conduct offensive operations against US forces and our interests”.

    “The Department of Defence continues to closely monitor the activities of the Iranian regime, their military and proxies,” it said.

    “The United States does not seek conflict with Iran, but we are postured and ready to defend US forces and interests in the region.”

    Amid the rising tensions, Trump said Thursday he was open to talks with Tehran’s leadership.

    “What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

    We don’t want them to have nuclear weapons – not much to ask,” he said.

    In the latest of a series of escalating statements, however, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the same day threatened a “swift and decisive” US response to any attack by Iran.

    “Our restraint to this point should not be mistaken by Iran for a lack of resolve,” he said, adding however: “We do not seek war.”

    In May last year, Trump pulled the United States out of an agreement aimed at curtailing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and reinstated unilateral economic sanctions.

    On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would no longer implement parts of the deal and threatened to go further if the remaining members of the pact, including the European Union, failed to deliver sanctions relief to counterbalance Trump’s renewed assault on the Iranian economy within 60 days.

    ( https://www.afp.com)

  • After 60-year search, 81-year-old woman reunites with 103-year-old mother

    A woman who has spent 60 years searching for her mother has met her for the first time.

    Eileen Macken, 81, who lives in Dublin, first began her search for her birth mother when she was 19.

    She grew up in a care home in the city, and had never met her birth mother – until this month.

    Ms Macken appealed to Irish broadcaster RTE to help her find her mother after a strenuous search to find her relative had given her no answers.

    RTÉ’s Liveline agreed to help the 81-year-old track her mother down.

    After the programme put her in touch with a genealogist, they discovered her biological parent, Elizabeth Macken, was living in Scotland.

    She went to visit her mother alongside her husband George, along with her daughter and son-in-law.

    “I went over to see her and she is the most beautiful lady,” Ms Macken told RTEafter the meet up.

    “She was reading the newspaper and when she saw me, I said we were from Ireland and she said ‘I was born in Ireland’.”

    “She was thrilled and she never let go of my hand.”

    She also discovered she had two half-brothers during the trip – one of which she met before her mother when she answered the door.

    “I told him I was from Ireland and that I had found my mum here and could we come in to see her, and he said ‘certainly’,” Ms Macken said.

    “We came in and, honestly I haven’t got over the acceptance that I got.

    “They accepted me and I had a great chat with my mother,” she added.

    She told RTE since she went on the trip, she will “never be able to come down off the cloud.”

    “We had three days of wonderful happiness that I’ve never ever had before.

    “I don’t think I’ve done any work in the house [since she came back], I’m that happy. I’m going around singing.

    Ms Macken Sr will celebrate her 104th birthday this weekend.

    (inews.co.uk)

  • U.S. airstrike kills 4 ISIS fighters in Somalia

    The U.S. military on Friday said that it had killed four Islamic State ( ISIS ) fighters in an air attack in Somalia’s northern region of Puntland State on Thursday, a day after another strike killed 13 others.

    The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement that the latest strike was conducted in cooperation with Somali government targeting the ISIS encampment in the Golis Mountains.

    “This deliberate campaign is building on increased intelligence and understanding of ISIS training and recruitment activities in Puntland, and is the fourth precision airstrike against ISIS-Somalia since April 14,” said the statement.

    Read Also: More than 500 foreign ISIS members convicted in Iraq

    The U.S. military said no civilians were injured or killed in the latest airstrike, adding that a detailed post-strike analysis continues and more details may be released as appropriate.

    Pro-IS militants split from al-Shabab in October 2015 and later occupied Qandala, a key location in Bari Region under Puntland State Administration in northern Somalia since 2016.

  • Roadside bomb kills six civilians

    Six civilians were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan’s central province of Daikundi on Friday, local officials said.

    “Five others were injured in the incident, which took place in Nawmesh district at 5 am (0030 GMT),’’ a statement from the provincial governor’s palace posted on Facebook said.

    Report says civilians bear the brunt of Afghanistan’s long-running war.

    Read Also: Modern slavery still prevalent in Nigeria – Osinbajo

    According to a quarterly report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), explosive devices killed 53 civilians and left 269 others injured in the first three months of this year, a 21-per-cent increase on the same period in 2018.

    The figures do not include casualties from suicide bombings.

    UNAMA has said it is “very concerned’’ by the increase in civilian casualties from the use of non-suicide improvised explosive devices or IEDs as they are known.

    The bombs are laid by militants to hamper the movement and progress of Afghan forces. However, they frequently harm civilians.

  • Chinese goods: China vows to take ‘countermeasures’ over US tariffs

    China has vowed to take “necessary countermeasures” after US President Donald Trump escalated his trade war with Beijing; just hours after delegations from the two sides wrapped up a first day of trade negotiations in Washington.

    The Trump administrator raised tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 on Friday, as Beijing and Washington appeared to be close to ending months of trade dispute after returning to the negotiation table in Washington on Thursday.

    Chinese commerce ministry on Friday lamented the move and reiterated Beijing’s pledge to take “necessary countermeasures.”

    “China deeply regrets that it will have to take necessary countermeasures,” the statement said, but did not specify what those countermeasures might be.

    “It is hoped that the US and Chinese sides will meet each other halfway and work together” to resolve their dispute, it added.

    China had earlier vowed to raise tariffs on $60 billion of US imports. It could also use other tactics to disrupt business for US firms in China.

    Trump’s latest tariff hike took effect Friday, as a delegation of Chinese officials led by Vice Premier Liu He was to meet for a second day with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Washington.

    Trump initiated what is effectively a trade war with China last year, when he first imposed unusually heavy tariffs on imports from the country.

    Since then, the two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade.

    Late Thursday night, Trump got a briefing from his trade negotiators, but made no move to hold off on the tariffs despite optimism from officials in recent weeks that the negotiations were moving towards an agreement in this round of talks.

    Upon his arrival in Washington, the Chinese vice premier said that the prospects for the talks were “promising,” but warned that raising tariffs would be “harmful to both sides.”

    “Of course, China believes raising tariffs in the current situation is not a solution to the problem, but harmful to China, to the United States and to the whole world,” he added.

    The International Monetary Fund also warned against the hike in tariffs, saying that the trade war was a “threat” to global growth.

    Washington is pressing Beijing to reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries and implement structural changes in its practices concerning intellectual property and the transfer of US technology to Chinese firms.

    China, however, says such reforms could only favor the US and lead to more protectionism in global trade.

    While Trump describes the tariffs as punitive measures against China, many American complain of lost export markets, disrupted supply chains and higher costs.

    French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Friday warned against the escalation in the trade dispute, saying, “There is no greater threat to world growth… than a trade war between China and the United States.”

    “Because it means that trade tariffs will go up, fewer goods will circulate around the world, we won’t be able to circulate our own French goods as easily around the world, and jobs will be destroyed,” he added.

    In a separate statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry denounced the US for the “unreasonable suppression” of the country’s telecom giant, Mobile.

    “We urge the US to… stop the wrong practice of always using national security (as a pretext), and stop the unreasonable suppression of Chinese enterprises,” said ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

    In a unanimous decision on Thursday, US Federal Communications Commission voted to bar the firm from selling phone service in the US, citing “grave risks to national security.”

    The move blocks a years-long effort by China Mobile to gain access to US customers.

    Washington has already launched an aggressive campaign against another Chinese telecommunication firm, Huawei, over accusations that the company was receiving funding from China’s National Security Commission.

    Last year Trump signed a bill, which bans federal agencies and their contractors from purchasing Huawei’s equipment and services over the accusation that the Chinese government uses the company’s 5G (fifth generation) networks to spy on other countries.

    China has constantly denied the allegations.

    (www.presstv.com)

  • ‘How Sudanese president fell’

    A ploy by influential Western nations and their allies to destabilise Sudan and effect regime change has been unearthed, amid reports that the ousted President, Omar al-Bashir ignored warnings by experts about the threat of a revolution in the country.

     Findings CAJ News indicate that Western nations influenced the massive demonstrations that led to the overthrow of the longtime leader by providing demonstrators with financial, technical and information  support.

     Besieged by the demonstrators, the army eventually overthrew al-Bashir after multiple months of protests, ending his almost 30 years in power.

     Links between opposition parties and pressure groups to the West have emerged. Among these parties is the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), a western-sponsored organisation.

     As part of the links, it has emerged the party’s online platform, including Facebook, is administered from abroad. Officials from several countries including Britain, France and Saudi Arabia allegedly manage the account.

     Another opposition, the Nation Party headed by Sadi al-Mahdi, has its page allegedly run by officials from Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA) among others.

     Pressure groups also allegedly benefitted from links with the West and Saudi Arabia. These include the Sudanese Community for Professionals and Sudan Civil Disobedience Movement.

     There was support for protesters near respective Sudan embassies in France, Germany, US and UK among others.  Influential western media is also being accused of playing a familiar role.

     Among the most prominent images and videos these media widely circulated include that of a young woman identified as Ela Salah, seen atop a roof of a car, as well as a protester holding what looked like a stone and waving fingers as a sign of victory.

     Political scientists believe these were distributed by media and Western strategists as a symbol of the Sudanese revolution.

     Such ploys are seen as an attempt by the West to retain influence in Sudan, a country that is rich in resources, mainly oil.

     Al-Bashir apparently snubbed advice by Russian experts on how to revive and manage the economy. The advisers had been working with the Fund for the Protection of National Values.

    Among other measures, the advisers recommended that authorities ensure that political leaders must not loot state money.

    Read Also: Sudan hosts 140,000 S. Sudanese refugees

     Al-Bashir’s government was advised to alter the exchange rate and tighten controls on gold and export revenues. This is the Sudanese Pound continued losing value.

     Al-Bashir’s government was also urged to ensure ease of doing business by ending bureaucratic processes.

     Instead of appointing liberal economist Tariq Chalabi as Minister for Finance and Economic Development, he appointed Moataz Moussa instead, against Russian advice.

     The spiraling economic problems are widely believed to have led to al-Bashir’s eventual ouster.

     Initially, people came to the streets in protest against the increase of bread prices but the peaceful demonstrations turned into riots after the state security personnel reacted brutally.

     More than 100 people were killed in the major cities and scores of others arrested during the crackdown. The toll includes deaths from earlier protests.

     Al-Bashir resisted calls for his resignation and appeared to adopt measures to address the economic issues.

     More protests erupted on April 4, with renewed force. Protesters eventually reached the Army Headquarters, forcing the military to take action.

     In power since 1989, al-Bashir was ousted in a coup on the 11th as a result of the so-called Drum Revolution and taken under house arrest pending the formation of a transitional council.