Memphis plant that uses potentially hazardous chemical will close, company says

A medical equipment sterilizing plant using a chemical whose emissions could lead to cause cancer and other health risks says it plans to close its Tennessee location by next spring

By ADRIAN SAINZ 

Associated Press
August 30, 2023,


MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A medical equipment sterilizing plant that uses a chemical whose emissions could lead to cancer and other health risks says it plans to close its Tennessee location by next spring, according to a letter sent by the company to U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen.

In the July letter, lawyers for Sterilization Services of Tennessee told the congressman that the company has dealt with issues relating to a lease extension for its Memphis plant and the facility will be closed by April 30.

The Environmental Protection Agency has said the plant has used ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment and materials. The facility has operated since 1976. The county health department’s air program has permitted the facility since 1985.

Ethylene oxide is used to clean catheters, syringes, pacemakers, plastic surgical gowns and other items.

While short-term or infrequent exposure to ethylene oxide does not appear to pose a health risk, the EPA said long-term or lifetime exposure to the colorless and odorless gas could lead to a variety of health problems, including lymphoma and breast cancer.

The EPA has regulated ethylene oxide emissions for 30 years. But in 2016 new scientific information revealed that the chemical is more toxic than previously understood, the EPA said

This past April, the EPA proposed limiting the use of the chemical after finding a higher than expected cancer risk at facilities that use it to sterilize billions of medical devices each year.

The EPA said its proposal will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by roughly 80% by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the United States. The companies will also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly.

On its website, Sterilization Services said its Memphis plant is the company's flagship location, with other facilities in Georgia and Virginia.

The company's letter to Cohen said the Memphis plant “has never been out of compliance with reference to federal, state and local mandates and regulations by which it is governed.”

In response to public concern about the chemical emissions, the Shelby County Health Department held an Aug. 24 meeting about a petition for an emergency air pollution order related to Sterilization Services’ operations sought by Memphis Community Against Pollution, an environmental watchdog.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Southern Environmental Law Center said the closing is “a major victory for nearby neighborhoods who have been fighting for cleaner air.”

“Families living near the Sterilization Services of Tennessee plant have been exposed to toxic ethylene oxide pollution for far too long, and we are pleased that they may soon be able to breathe easier,” said Amanda Garcia, a senior attorney with the center.

The SELC notes that the plant is located in south Memphis, which is majority Black and includes other industrial sites that present a threat to residents' health. One of those locations is a former U.S. Army depot where waste disposal contaminated soil and groundwater with dangerous chemicals.

New video appears to show Yevgeny Prigozhin in Africa days before his death

August 30, 2023
Source: Grey Zone

A new video of the late Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin that appears to have been filmed shortly before his death was posted on Telegram Wednesday by Grey Zone, a channel affiliated with the paramilitary outfit.

In the clip, a camouflage-clad Prigozhin assures viewers from a moving vehicle that he’s doing fine and that he's in Africa.

For everyone discussing whether I’m alive or not and how I’m doing. It’s currently a weekend in the second half of August 2023. I’m in Africa, so for those who like to speculate about my elimination, my private life, my work there, or anything else: everything’s fine, as a matter of fact.



Bellingcat investigator Aric Toler noted that in the video, Prigozhin appears to be wearing the same gear that he wore in the only other recent video of him in Africa, which surfaced on August 21.

Yevgeny Prigozhin died on August 23 when his private jet crashed while traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

Cardboard drones from Australia used in attack on Russian airfield

Matthew Knott

 Aug 31 2023

Australian-made cardboard drones have been reportedly used to help bomb a Russian airfield as the Ukrainian military steps up its attacks on Russian territory.

Ukraine claimed it struck five Russian fighter jets on the weekend in a kamikaze drone attack on the Kursk airfield in Russia, approximately 170 kilometres from the Ukrainian-Russian border.

A prominent Telegram channel run by a former Russian fighter pilot, known as Fighterbomber, said that the drones used in the attack included the distinctive lightweight drones made by Australian engineering company Sypaq in Melbourne.

“Tonight, [Ukrainians] used them in a swarm, mixing drones with warheads with empty drones,” the Telegram post read. “I don’t know exactly what engines were on the drones, but if they were electric-powered, then they were not launched from Ukraine.”

Sypaq’s drones, which are made from waxed cardboard and rubber, have been exported to Ukraine in flat packs as part of a US$33 million (NZ$55m) donation of uncrewed aerial systems to Ukraine announced by the federal government in February.

At the time the government said the drones would provide “a battlefield intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability” to Ukraine, but it appears the drones are also being used in an attack capacity.

The drones can carry up to 5 kilograms of cargo.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said the Kursk airfield was a “legitimate target” for Ukraine’s armed forces. “Russia uses that airport to launch military operations and send missiles into Ukraine,” he said.


SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Sypaq’s drones, made largely of waxed cardboard and rubber bands, have been sent to Ukraine.

Former Australian general Mick Ryan, who has visited Ukraine several times since the war began, said it was “great” that Australian technology was being used in such missions.

“We’re providing equipment to Ukraine to help them defend themselves,” he said. “If they want to use it in Ukraine or Russia, it’s up to them.”

Ryan said it would be simple for Ukraine to adapt the drones to carry munitions, and their lightweight nature made them well-suited to breach Russia’s air defence systems.

A source from the Security Service of Ukraine told the Kyiv Post that a wave of drones had hit “four Su-30 aircraft and one MiG-29” at the facility, as well as damaging two Pantsir missile launchers and the radars of an S-300 air defence system.

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles (centre) with Sypaq team members and one of the cardboard drones.

The source described the operation as “impressive”, saying only three of the drones used in the attack were “shot down by a leaky air defence system of Russia”. “We will find out the exact consequences of the damage and the number of dead and wounded in the near future,” they said.

A Sypaq spokesperson declined to comment on how the drones are being used by the Ukrainian armed forces.

In June, pro-Putin social media accounts posted photos purporting to show the drones had crashed inside Russian territory with explosives strapped to them.

The company’s chief executive Amanda Holt said in March that it was an “honour to be supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces”, describing the drones as “an Australian capability that will help the Ukrainian people defend their country”


A Department of Defence spokesperson said: “All exports of equipment to support the government of Ukraine have been subject to Australia’s export control legislation, including consideration of international obligations, particularly international humanitarian law.”

According to Russian media reports, there have been over 160 suspected aerial drone attacks this year in Russia and in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that attacks on Russian territory are an “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process” while declining to claim responsibility for specific drone attacks.

 

What’s next for Russian operations in Africa?

August 30, 2023

Gabrielle Debinski

People demonstrate in Niger's capital Niamey to show their support for the coup plotters.

 Reuters

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022, Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, recently killed in a plane crash, was scarcely known outside diehard Russophile circles.

Prigozhin’s celebrity status rose further after this summer’s short-lived mutiny, when, after feuding with Russia’s military leadership, he led thousands of his men from the frontlines in eastern Ukraine toward the heart of Moscow in protest.

Since Prigozhin was killed last week in an explosive event that few believe was an accident, there’s been much speculation about the future of Wagner and its global operations, particularly across Africa, where the group has invested the bulk of its manpower in recent years.

Now that the man at the top is dead, along with his main deputies, what does this mean for the group’s surreptitious activities across the world’s fastest-growing continent?

Wagner: the origin story. After spending nine years in jail for robbery and theft, Prigozhin was released in the dying days of the Soviet Union. He then opened a successful hotdog stand in St. Petersburg, which transformed into a booming restaurant business that endeared him to Vladimir Putin, and ultimately led to him filling the bellies of the Kremlin’s elite.

Prigozhin’s entrepreneurial spirit peaked in 2014 when he started a private mercenary organization known as Wagner, named for Richard Wagner, Adolf Hitler’s favorite composer and ideological kindred spirit. Although Wagner has been described as a private military company, it’s closely intertwined with the Russian state, particularly the military and intelligence corps.

Wagner troops were first identified in a foreign conflict zone in 2014 when Russian troops invaded Crimea. Since then, they’ve operated in Syria, fighting alongside the Russian military to prop up the regime of Bashar Assad, and more recently, have zeroed in on Africa, serving as a security guarantor for authoritarian regimes across the continent.

Wagner in Africa

Under this burgeoning arrangement, Russian mercenaries have been given access to African natural resources in exchange for providing security guarantees – including arms and security services – to help authoritarian African military regimes stay in power.

In the process, Russian state-controlled arms companies have secured fat deals in West Africa while mining companies – both those controlled by the state as well as Putin-linked private enterprises – have also made a mint.

Wagner’s first foray into Africa appears to have been in Sudan in 2017 after the Kremlin signed a series of lucrative deals with longtime Sudanese despot Omar al-Bashir. This included Russia setting up a naval base on the Red Sea as well as gold mining deals that also involved a Wagner subsidiary group.

In exchange, Wagner was charged with training Sudanese troops and helping crack down on protesters calling for the ouster of al-Bashir, who ruled the country with an iron fist for three decades until he was forced out in 2019.

Since then, Wagner fighters have been invited in by various rogue regimes – most notably in the Central African Republic, where they thwarted a coup against President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, as well as in coup-prone Mali.

A similar dynamic has played out in Syria, where Russian mercenaries have gained access to key oil outposts. This helps explain why the newly installed military junta in Niger, one of the world’s top producers of uranium, reportedly wants to bring Wagner on board.

But the resources-for-protection game is only one part of a complex dynamic. Russian mercenaries in Africa also aim to sow discord and anti-Western sentiment in the world’s fastest-growing continent in a bid to dilute Western influence in the region.

Pointing to this week’s coup in the central African state of Gabon, Joana de Deus Pereira, a senior research fellow at RUSI Europe, says that anti-Western disinformation campaigns are now more dangerous than the aforementioned security arrangements with African regimes.

This propaganda pervades many countries, particularly in West Africa, and “prompted the end of the Burkhane operation [an anti-insurgency mission in West Africa led by France] and also led to the current withdrawal of UN troops in Mali, which is one of the biggest retreats of international personnel.”

Pointing to the deepening Russian presence in the region and its propaganda machine (in CAR, for instance, there are posters proclaiming “Russia: hand in hand with your army!) have given rise “to a new trend that’s triggering nationalist movements that are unleashing new coups,” de Deus Pereira says.

The future of Wagner in Africa

Prigozhin was a savvy business person, turning a scrappy private army into one of Russia’s chief foreign policy tools. Having cultivated close ties with African leaders and criminal enterprises – as well as serving as Wagner’s chief financier – Prigozhin’s death will certainly prompt something akin to a company rebranding. But will it impact the group’s regional operations?

De Deus Pereira isn’t convinced. “Wagner is an ecosystem. It's not only a person,” she says, adding that “it's been a big mistake to personalize and associate the group with a single individual.”

A similar sentiment was echoed by Ruslan Trad, a security researcher at the Atlantic Council, who says that “Wagner occupies an important role in this broader system, and the unit's structures will be used in one form or another even after Prigozhin.” Trad says that, “ultimately, Wagner is not a creation of Prigozhin, but of the GRU [Russian intelligence] and veterans.”

Another argument for the likelihood of continuity is that things are going pretty swimmingly for the Russians in Africa, and it is indeed in the Kremlin’s interest to keep the cash rolling in to help fund its war machine in Ukraine. This is exactly what the Kremlin is doing in Sudan, where it’s propping up a Sudanese militia in exchange for increased access to illegal gold mining.

Looking ahead. While the US and France are reducing their respective troop presences in the region, Russia continues to leverage the Kremlin’s clout and Russian oligarchs’ vast business interests to deepen its influence on a continent that includes 54 countries and 1.4 billion people.

“Wagner's presence in Africa has a lot to do with capitalization of grievances” – particularly in former French colonies – “that were already there for some time,” de Deus Pereira says. And she isn’t optimistic about where things are heading: “This is just the beginning. These coups will have a contagion effect.”

Gabon’s army strongman, a ‘Caesar’ caring for his men
By AFP
August 30, 2023

Nguema was held aloft triumphantly by his troops following the announcement of the coup - 

General Brice Oligui Nguema, named Gabon’s new leader following a coup, loyally served the central African country’s longtime strongman before turning on his son in Wednesday’s military takeover.

Held aloft triumphantly by his troops following the announcement of the coup that ended 55 years of rule by the Bongo family, the elite republican guard chief is experienced and popular among his peers.

Gabon’s coup leaders appointed him after toppling President Ali Bongo Ondimba following Saturday’s disputed elections, in which the incumbent was awarded a third term with 64.27 percent of the vote.

Said to be discreet and secretive, Nguema was absent from the first three statements read out by senior army officers on national television to announce the coup.

But while Bongo was confined to house arrest, he emerged as Africa’s latest military leader amid jubilant celebrations in the streets of the capital Libreville and the economic hub of Port-Gentil.

Born to a Fang father, Gabon’s main ethnic group, Nguema, 48, mostly grew up with his mother in Haut-Ogooue province, a Bongo stronghold.

Nguema won his spurs as an aide-de-camp to the ousted leader’s father Omar Bongo, who ruled Gabon with an iron fist for almost 42 years until his death in 2009.

“He’s someone who knows the Gabonese military apparatus very well, a good soldier, trained at good military schools” including Morocco’s Meknes royal military academy, a member of Bongo’s Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) said on condition of anonymity.

A former close colleague told AFP that Nguema was extremely close to Bongo senior, serving him from 2005 until his death in a Barcelona hospital.

– ‘A Julius Caesar’ –

But Nguema was moved aside in 2009 after Ali Bongo was elected to succeed his father, beginning a 10-year stint as a military attache at Gabon’s embassies in Morocco and Senegal.

He returned to prominence in 2018 as the republican guard’s intelligence chief, replacing Ali Bongo’s half-brother Frederic Bongo, before getting promoted to general six months later.

The bald and athletically built general has been chief of the republican guard, the country’s most powerful army unit, since 2019, with close sources describing him as charismatic and respected.

As the keystone of Gabon’s security forces, Nguema pushed Bongo junior to improve his men’s working and living conditions by upgrading their facilities, funding schools for soldiers’ children and refurbishing some accommodations.

The measures earned him respect and sympathy from his colleagues, according to the PDG source.

“He isn’t very talkative, but very appreciated by his men. He’s a Julius Caesar, and Julius Caesar cares for the comfort of his legionaries,” the source said, referring to the Roman general who went on to take power.

The former colleague praised “a man of consensus, who never raises his voice, who listens to everyone and systematically seeks compromise”.

An example of his unifying approach was including officers from all army branches in the new ruling Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, helping to stage the coup without any reported bloodshed.

Nguema said Bongo has now “been placed in retirement” but not set a timetable for a transition back to civilian rule, shrouding his intentions in doubt.

Another day, another coup in Africa

August 30, 2023

Gabrielle Debinski

People pose with soldiers as they celebrate in support of the putschists in a street of Libreville, Gabon.

 Reuters

Just hours after being declared the winner of a fraught presidential election that the opposition says was plagued by irregularities, Ali Bongo Ondimba, the president of the central African state of Gabon, was ousted in a military coup – the seventh on the African continent in just two years.

Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Bongo’s cousin who’s closely linked to the ruling regime, says he is now the president of a transitional government.

Some key background. Bongo, 64, came to power in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who ruled the country for more than four decades. The dynasty has been accused of corruption and self-enrichment while many Gabonese are impoverished, with unemployment hovering at nearly 22%.

The oil-rich country is a member of OPEC, the cartel of oil-producing nations, but profits are overwhelmingly reaped by the elite. (Nine members of the Bongo family are currently under investigation in France for embezzlement or corruption.)

Holed up in his residence, Bongo was filmed on Wednesday asking for help, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the restoration of the constitutional order, while the African Union also condemned the coup.

African leaders are indeed worried. This comes just weeks after a coup in the West African state of Niger that’s threatened to further destabilize the entire continent (more on that here). And some analysts say that failure to hold those junta leaders accountable has sent a powerful message to wannabe putschists throughout the continent.

 

Who is the general named as Gabon's transition leader?

General Brice Oligui Nguema, named Gabon's new leader following a coup, served the central African country's longtime strongman before turning on his son in Wednesday's military takeover.



REUTERS

Held aloft triumphantly by his troops following the announcement of the coup that ended 55 years of rule by the Bongo family, Nguema is experienced and popular among his peers. / Photo: Reuters

Gabon's military junta has named General Brice Oligui Nguema as transition leader following the apparent ouster of President Ali Bongo.

Here are some facts about him.

Background

Nguema is from Gabon's south-easternmost province of Haut-Ogooue, which borders the Republic of Congo.

Bongo is also from the same part of the country.

He replaced Bongo's stepbrother as head of Gabon's Republican Guard in October 2019.

The elite force is in charge of protecting the president, his family and other high-profile figures.

Anti-corruption mandate

Shortly after he took on the new role in 2019, Nguema launched an operation named "clean hands" to crack down on alleged state-led embezzlement.

Properties in US

Nguema was named in a 2020 investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a global network of investigative journalists, which alleged that some members of the Bongo family and their inner circle purchased expensive property in the United States with stashes of cash.

The Bongo family has ruled oil-rich Gabon for over half a century.

None of the accused replied to requests for comment.

Reason behind coup

While Nguema himself has not read out any statements, he was among the officers who first announced the coup.

The group, which calls itself the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions, said the August 26 election was not credible and that Gabon faced a "severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis."

In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde on Wednesday, Nguema said people in Gabon were frustrated with their government.

He noted Bongo's ill health following a stroke in 2018 and said the president's run for a third term breached the constitution.

"Everyone talks about this, but no one takes responsibility," he said. "So the army decided to turn the page."

Analysis

Why Gabon’s coup plotters can count on popular support

A strong desire for change – even if it comes wearing combat fatigues – is feeding Africa’s series of putsches

Gabon military officers declare coup

Jason Burke

Wed 30 Aug 2023 

The routine is now very familiar: the sudden putsch, the president confined, the nocturnal statement by new, camouflaged rulers. Today it is the turn of Gabon to wake up to find a military coup has brought sudden and unexpected political upheaval in a country that had been considered relatively stable.

On this occasion, the men in uniform introduced themselves as members of the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions. If successful, the coup will be the eighth in west and central Africa since 2020 to lead to a violent – or at least coerced – change in regime. The most recent was last month in Niger.

Soldiers have also seized power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and Sudan in the past two years. Now other leaders of Gabon’s neighbouring states will feel threatened – notably Denis Sassou Nguesso in Congo-Brazzaville – and with some justification.

So far, the ousting of President Ali Bongo Ondimba after 14 years in power appears to have significant popular support, although it is difficult to tell so early. This would not be surprising. Many of the military coups in recent years have been greeted by enthusiastic public celebrations. Some have been organised for the media to win swift legitimacy, but many have been spontaneous outbursts of excitement at the simple prospect of change.

Few doubt Gabon needed a shake-up. The president inherited power from his father, who ruled from 1967 until his death in 2009. Gabon, a member of the Opec oil cartel, with a production of 181,000 barrels of crude a day, should be relatively properous. Yet the quality of life of the vast proportion of its 2 million inhabitants speaks volumes about the decades of mismanagement, clientelism, corruption and blatant political rigging that the Bongo dynasty brought.

The exact motivation for the takeover will soon become clear. It is unlikely to be the protection of Gabon’s institutions from security or other threats, as the new apparent rulers claimed in their first address. The lack of concerted regional, African or global response to the other recent coups is likely to have been a major factor in the soldiers’ decision to gamble their lives and livelihoods on a grab for power.


This failure has been more obvious than ever in recent weeks. Threats of military intervention from Ecowas, the west African regional block, have yet to help restore Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected president of Niger ousted in July, and sanctions are not having much effect either. Military regimes in Mali and Burkina Faso appear entrenched. And in Sudan, the biggest threat to the military factions that seized power in 2021 is one another.

In the case of Gabon, the military can count on popular support and that of the opposition. A recent United Nations development programme survey of thousands of people living in countries where coups had recently occurred found strong democratic aspirations. This is true elsewhere, too, and is being reinforced as Africa becomes more urban and educated. But above all, there is a desire for change as soon as possible – even if this means it comes wearing combat fatigues.

There is a wider trends to watch as well. Many of the recent coups are in former French colonies, and one cause is undoubtedly the revived memory of long, exploitative rule from Paris. Africa watchers have long worried about the inherent instability of the system left by Paris after it ended its direct colonial control across a swath of the continent. This toxic mix of political manipulation, financial control, military intervention, extractive commercial enterprise and cosy relations between elites is far from unique to Francophone Africa but is very entrenched there, even today.

Gabon, too, was a French colony – as recalled by Emmanuel Macron when he met the French-educated Bongo in Paris in late June. The photos of the two presidents shaking hands may not have done either much good.

Every coup is different but many outcomes resemble one another. The new leaders of Gabon will almost certainly follow the same path as their counterparts further north and announce a “transition period” before new elections, which will not be held for a long time. In the meantime, tearful pleas by Bongo from his official residence, to which he is now confined, for supporters to “make some noise” are likely to fall on deaf ears.

Army officers say toppled Gabon govt

Libreville (AFP) – Military officers announced on Wednesday overturning the government in Gabon, in an apparent coup targeting President Ali Bongo Ondimba who has been in power for 14 years and whose re-election was just announced.

Issued on: 30/08/2023 -

The address was read by an officer flanked by a group of a dozen army colonels, members of the elite Republican Guard, regular soldiers 

© - / Gabon 24/AFP

The status of Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the oil-rich African country for over 55 years, was not immediately clear but the area around his residence appeared to be quiet.

While the officers made their televised statement announcing the cancellation of the vote results one of the officers said "all the institutions of the republic" had been dissolved.

The address was read by an officer flanked by a group of a dozen army colonels, members of the elite Republican Guard, regular soldiers and others.

It came moments after the national election authority said Bongo, 64, had won a third term in Saturday's election with 64.27 percent of the vote.

Bongo has been in power for 14 years, after being first elected in 2009 following the death of his father who had ruled the country for 41 years.

Gabon © Jean-Michel CORNU / AFP

The announcement came in the middle of an overnight curfew and amid a nationwide internet shutdown, imposed by Bongo's government as polling drew to a close on Saturday to prevent the spread of "false news" and possible violence.

Internet was restored on Wednesday morning after the TV address.

"Today, the country is going through a serious institutional, political, economic and social crisis," the officer said on TV channel Gabon 24.

He said the recent election "did not meet the conditions for a transparent, credible and inclusive ballot so much hoped for by the people of Gabon."

"We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime," the officer said, adding that he was speaking on behalf of the "Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions".

"To this end, the general elections of 26 August 2023 and the truncated results are cancelled," he added.

'Fraud' accusation

"All the institutions of the republic are dissolved: the government, the Senate, the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court," he added, announcing the closure of the country's borders "until further notice".

Bongo and his main rival Albert Ondo Ossa led a race of 14 candidates vying for the top job in the oil-rich central African state.

According to the results issued prior to the officers' announcement, Ondo Ossa won just 30.77 percent of the vote.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba Bongo has been in power for 14 years in the oil-rich West African country 

© LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

Before polls closed on Saturday, he had accused Bongo of "fraud" while claiming he was the rightful winner.

On Monday, Ondo Ossa's campaign manager Mike Jocktane called on Bongo to hand over power "without bloodshed", insisting a partial count had Ondo Ossa clearly ahead, without providing any proof.

The elections in Gabon -- presidential, legislative and municipal -- went ahead without the presence of election observers.

The country's broadcasting authority had also provisionally banned the French channels France 24, Radio France Internationale (RFI) and TV5Monde, accusing them of "a lack of objectivity and balance" in election coverage.

Gabonese law forbids any publication of partial results pending the final result which only the Gabonese Elections Centre, the body that organises the polls, is legally allowed to publish.

Paris said it was following events in Gabon with "the greatest attention".

China also said it was "closely following the developing situation" and called for the safety of Bongo to be "guaranteed".
Family ruler

Gabon has been ruled by the same family for more than 55 out of its 63 years since independence from France in 1960.

According to the results issued prior to the officers' announcement, Ondo Ossa won just 30.77 percent of the vote 

© Steeve JORDAN / AFP

Bongo's father Omar was one of France's closest allies in the post-colonial era and his son has long been a regular in Paris, where his family owns an extensive real estate portfolio that is being investigated by anti-corruption magistrates.

Paris maintains a military presence in many of its former territories -- including Gabon where it has 370 soldiers permanently deployed, some in the capital Libreville, according to the French defence ministry website.

During a speech in Libreville in March, French President Emmanuel Macron denied any French ambitions to interfere in Africa, saying that the age of meddling was "well over."

The French mining group Eramet, which employs 8,000 people in Gabon, said that it had halted activities in the country "for the safety of staff and the security of operations".

Gabon military officers claim to have seized power, election results annulled

Issued on: 30/08/2023 -

A group of senior Gabonese military officers appeared on television in the early hours of Wednesday to announce the suspension of elections and the closing of borders shortly after the election commission said President Ali Bongo had won a third term.

Gabon's Ali Bongo re-elected president in disputed election

President Ali Bongo has won a third term in the presidential election with 64.27% of the vote, the Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) said on Wednesday, after a delay-plagued general election that the opposition has denounced as fraudulent.

Issued on: 30/08/2023 - 06:26

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba delivers a speech at the Nzang Ayong stadium in Libreville on July 10, 2023.

 © Steeve Jordan, AFP


Announcing the result in the early hours, CGE head Michel Stephane Bonda said Bongo's main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, had come in second place with 30.77%. Bongo's team have rejected Ondo Ossa's allegations of electoral irregularities.

Tensions are running high amid fears of unrest after Saturday's presidential , parliamentary, and legislative vote, which saw Bongo seeking to extend his family's 56-year grip on power while the opposition pushed for change in the oil-rich but poverty-stricken Central African nation.

A lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts, and the authorities' decision to cut internet service and impose a nighttime curfew nationwide after the poll has raised concerns about the transparency of the electoral process.

Ali Bongo, scion of Gabon's ruling family

Libreville (Gabon) (AFP) – Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose ouster has been announced by rebel officers, came to power in 2009, succeeding his father Omar, the country's ruler for more than four decades.

Issued on: 30/08/2023

President Ali Bongo has bounced back from a 2018 stroke that sidelined him for 10 months

 © LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP/File
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Prior to Wednesday's dramatic announcement, Bongo's spell in office was marked by disputed elections and a stroke that spurred rumours about his fitness for office and fuelled a minor attempted coup.

The 64-year-old had hoped to leave his doubters on the back foot as he battled for a third term in presidential elections last Saturday.

He carried out a whirlwind national tour, made high-profile foreign visits and pitched Gabon's credentials as a proclaimed guardian of the forests.

After a vote that the opposition said they had won, the national election authority early Wednesday declared Bongo the victor with 64.27 percent of the vote.

Just an hour or so later, a group of army officers made a televised address saying they were "putting an end to the current regime", dissolving all of Gabon's institutions and declaring the election results void.

'Monsieur Fils'

The upheaval provided a stark contrast to Bongo's gilded start in life as carefree scion of the wealthy ruling family.

He was born to a teenage girl, Josephine Kama, in the Congolese city of Brazzaville, which at the time was still part of France's rapidly shrinking colonial empire.

Oil-rich Gabon, its capital Libreville and second city Port-Gentil 

© Jean-Michel CORNU / AFP

To many Gabonese, the young man was known by his initials of ABO, Ali B -- or, less flattering, as "Monsieur Fils" (Mr. Son).

He nurtured ambitions as an aspiring funk singer -- in 1977 he recorded an album, now a YouTube curiosity, featuring top-class musicians and entitled "A Brand New Man".

But within three years, shepherded by his father, he abandoned the path of entertainment and entered politics, renaming himself Ali Bongo and converting to Islam like his parent.
Oil wealth

Bongo senior, who took office in 1967, had the reputation of a kleptocrat -- one of the wealthiest men in the world, with a fortune derived from Gabon's oil.

He was also a pillar of "FrancAfrique" -- a now much-contested strategy by which France bound itself to its former African colonies through cronyism, often tainted with corruption and rights abuses.

French connection: Omar Bongo with France's then president, Francois Mitterrand, in 1983 

© Dominique FAGET / AFP

Bongo worked as his father's faithful lieutenant, travelling the globe and forging contacts at the time of the second oil boom.

But to his detractors, Bongo lacked his father's charm and communication skills.

He attended some of Brazzaville's top schools and studied law in France but did not learn any of Gabon's local languages -- a major disadvantage.

And because he had been born abroad and out of wedlock, he also fought for years against rumours that he was a foreigner who had been adopted.

His lavish spending, especially on luxury cars, also raised eyebrows in a country where oil wealth contrasts with widespread poverty.

In 1989, he was appointed foreign minister aged just 30 but had to step down two years later when a new constitution stipulated that cabinet members had to be at least 35.

He was back in government by 1999, heading the defence ministry.

There he remained until shortly before the start of the election campaign caused by his father's death in 2009.

Renewal

The handover was not a surprise, given the years of grooming and Bongo's own ambitions, despite some opposition within the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).

In 2016, Bongo was re-elected by 5,500 votes, edging out opposition challenger Jean Ping after a campaign marred by bloody clashes and allegations of fraud.

Pitching to a country that had been run for decades by his family, Bongo tried the difficult task of posing as an agent of change -- packing each speech with pledges of "renewal" and "innovation".

A stroke in 2018 sidelined him from public life for 10 months and led to a very brief, and still unexplained, attempt on power by soldiers.

After a long convalescence, he embarked on an image revamp, putting himself forward as a man of rigour bent on rooting out "traitors" and "profiteers" in his inner circle.

He also unveiled a string of projects, including diversifying the economy, opening up markets to Asian investors, trimming the state sector and promoting Gabon's environmental treasures.

Bongo married French-born Sylvia Bongo Ondimba in 1989. They have four children.

Gabon coup attempt follows military takeovers in former French colonies in Africa

A group of senior military officers in Gabon announced on national television on Wednesday they had taken power and election results were annulled, just minutes after President Ali Bongo was declared to have won a third term. If successful the coup would represent the eighth since 2020 in West and Central Africa, a region that in the last decade had made strides to shed its reputation as a "coup belt", only for persistent insecurity and corruption to open the door to military leaders.

Issued on: 30/08/2023 - 11:28


Niger

In July 2023, members of Niger's presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum inside his palace and appeared on national television saying they were seizing power to end the "deteriorating security situation and bad governance."

Days later the junta declared the head of the presidential guard, Abdourahamane Tiani, the new head of state, raising concerns about the security of a region where Niger has been a key ally of Western powers seeking to contain insurgencies by groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

'In the fight against jihadist groups, Niger has no better allies than France and the US'

The main West African bloc ECOWAS has been trying to negotiate with the coup leaders but said it was ready to send troops into Niger to restore constitutional order if diplomatic efforts failed.

Niger has authorised Mali and Burkina Faso's armed forces to intervene on its territory in case of an attack.

Burkina Faso

In January 2022, Burkina Faso's army ousted President Roch Kabore, blaming him for failing to contain violence by Islamist militants.

Coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba pledged to restore security, but attacks worsened, eroding morale in the armed forces that led to a second coup in September 2022 when current junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power.


Guinea (Conakry)

In September 2021, special forces commander Colonel Mamady Doumbouya ousted President Alpha Conde. A year earlier, Conde had changed the constitution to circumvent limits that would have prevented him from standing for a third term, triggering widespread rioting.

Doumbouya became interim president and promised a transition to democratic elections within three years.

Guinea’s would-be ‘Mandela’ was an agent and casualty of democratic backsliding

ECOWAS rejected the timeline and imposed sanctions on junta members and their relatives, including freezing their bank accounts.

The military regime later proposed to start the 24-month transition in January 2023, but opposition parties say it has done little to put in place institutions and a roadmap to return to constitutional rule.

Chad

In April 2021, Chad's army took power after President Idriss Deby was killed on the battlefield while visiting troops fighting rebels in the north.

Under Chadian law, the speaker of parliament should have become president. But a military council stepped in and dissolved parliament in the name of ensuring stability.

Deby's son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president and tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition to elections.

The unconstitutional transfer of power led to riots in the capital N'Djamena that were but down by the military.


Mali

In August 2020, a group of Malian colonels led by Assimi Goita ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The coup followed anti-government protests over deteriorating security, contested legislative elections and allegations of corruption.

Under pressure from Mali's West African neighbours, the junta agreed to cede power to a civilian-led interim government tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition to democratic elections to be held in February 2022.

Mali’s junta seeks review of ‘unbalanced’ defence deal with France

But the coup leaders clashed with the interim president, retired colonel Bah Ndaw, and engineered a second coup in May 2021. Goita, who had served as interim vice president, was elevated to the presidency.

ECOWAS lifted some of the sanctions on Mali after the military rulers proposed a two-year transition to democracy and published a new electoral law. The country is scheduled to hold a presidential election in February 2024 to return to constitutional rule.

© 2023 AFP

 

Late-Night Hosts Starting “Strike Force FIve” Podcast To Benefit Striking Writers

The series promises to provide viewers with the hosts' insights, opinions, and of course, their trademark humor as they navigate the intricacies of the Hollywood strikes.

By Vivien Tran

Published on 8/30/2023 at 11:30 AM

Credit: Getty Images / AP

Several of TV’s most prominent late-night hosts are responding to the ongoing Hollywood strikes in fresh and engaging ways. Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver are joining forces to launch a new podcast, out on Aug 30 with all proceeds going directly to the out-of-work staff of each host's respective show, per Entertainment Weekly.

Spotify announced the collaboration between the 5 hosts for a special limited-series podcast, aptly named “Strike Force Five.” The series promises to provide viewers with the hosts' insights, opinions, and of course, their trademark humor as they navigate the intricacies of the Hollywood strikes.

The simultaneous SAG-AFTRA and WGA Hollywood strikes have persisted throughout the summer, causing significant disruptions in the industry and leaving countless individuals without industry jobs as the labor dispute unfolds. The strike came about after each guild’s respective negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to yield a new deal.

“The companies have used the transition to streaming to cut writer pay and separate writing from production, worsening working conditions for series writers at all levels,” the WGA said in a statement obtained by the Hollywood Reporter. “On TV staffs, more writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks, or in mini-rooms, while showrunners are left without a writing staff to complete the season. And while series budgets have soared over the past decade, median writer-producer pay has fallen.”

“Strike Force Five” is set to have a minimum of 12 episodes.

Time capsule that appeared to contain only silt yields centuries-old coins

30 August 2023, 23:54

West Point Time Capsule. Picture: PA

The lead box believed to have been placed by cadets in the base of a monument actually contained six silver American coins dating from 1795 to 1828.

A nearly 200-year-old West Point time capsule that appeared to yield little more than dust when it was opened during a disappointing livestream contained hidden treasure after all, the US Military Academy has said.

It was just more hidden than expected.

The lead box believed to have been placed by cadets in the base of a monument actually contained six silver American coins dating from 1795 to 1828 and a commemorative medal, West Point said in a news release.

All were discovered in the sediment of the box, which at Monday’s ceremonial opening at the New York academy appeared to be its only contents.

An 1828 Capped Bust Half Dollar, one of the coins found in the lead box believed to have been placed in the base of a monument by cadets almost two centuries ago, in West Point (US Military Academy at West Point via AP)

“When I first found these, I thought, man, you know, it would have been great to have found these on stage,” said West Point archaeologist Paul Hudson, who after the event, took the box back to his lab and began carefully sifting through the silt with a small wooden pick and brush.

“Before long, lo and behold, there’s the edge of a coin sticking out,” he recounted by phone, “and I thought, well that’s OK. That’s something, that’s a start.”

He said he was as disappointed as anyone by the underwhelming results of the live opening, which brought comparisons to Geraldo Rivera’s televised 1986 unsealing of a Chicago hotel vault purportedly belonging to gangster Al Capone, which famously revealed nothing but dirt.

A crowd that had gathered at the US Military Academy had hoped to see military relics or historical documents when experts pried open the top and pointed a camera inside.

West Point archaeologist Paul Hudson displaying coins found in the lead box (US Military Academy at West Point via AP)

It was probably better to extract the coins and medal in a controlled setting anyway, said Mr Hudson, who still plans to analyse the sediment for more clues about what else may have been inside.

It appeared that moisture and perhaps sediment seeped into the box from a damaged seam.

The conditions also could have disintegrated any organic matter inside, like paper or wood.

What did survive were a 1795 five cent coin, an 1800 Liberty dollar, 1818 25 cent coin, 10 cent and one cent coins from 1827, and an 1828 50 cent coin.

An 1800 Draped Bust Dollar (US Military Academy at West Point via AP)

There was also an Erie Canal commemorative medal dating to 1826.

The finds seem to confirm academy officials’ theory that the box was left by cadets in 1828 or 1829, when the original monument, which honours Revolutionary War hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko, was completed.

A committee of five cadets that included 1829 graduate Robert E Lee, the future Confederate general, was involved with the dedication of the monument.

Kosciuszko had designed wartime fortifications for the Continental Army at West Point.

He died in 1817.

A time capsule uncovered on the grounds of West Point in New York (Christopher Hennen/US Army via AP)

A statue of Kosciuszko was added to the monument in 1913.

The historical preservation and analysis of the time capsule will continue.

“I think there’s more that we can learn from this,” Mr Hudson said, “to learn about the academy’s history and about the country’s history.”