president ali bongo has been has suffered a stroke and as we all know he's not in a condition to to run the country he's been away for over two months now and they try to change the constitution so that he he had the appearance of ruling although he's not in a position to do so so that the clan can can continue having power over the country so and i think the major reason of this was is back to a twenty sixteen when. there was this read election where very apparently mr sharping won election and it was rigged so and nothing happened i mean that and could get away with it and he's been a catastrophic leader. enjoying you know traveling all around the country all over the world and leaving the country good around the drain and you know everything is crisis education health care and everything so the young people want to do something about it or is go back for me the militia she was in the bomb recently joins us now live from johannesburg so first of all it's been a very fast moving day brings up the speed of what we know about who is in control of the country now for music. well certainly

they were then able to broadcast across the country, declaring that president ali bongo was unfit forice. reporter: confusion and fear in gabon. the army scrambles to respond to a rebellion in its own ranks. soon, supporters of the insurgents gather in a residential neighborhood and security forces march in. teargas dispersing the clouds. it is in the city center where the regime faced the most resistance. heavy fire echoed through the streets outside the state broadcaster, from where insurgents launched their attempt to take power. >> it is time to take the matter in hand. the time has come. the time we have waited for for so long has arrived. the day when the army decides to stand by its people. reporter: this is the man the plotters were determined to overthrow. 59-year-old ali bongo has led his country for a decade. but he has been ailing in recent months. he fell ill in saudi arabia while on a visit to the country. since, he has remained abroad for treatment, admitting to his weakness in a new year's message. >> it is true that i have been through difficult times. it sometimes ha

well ali bongo dimba has been in power since two thousand and nine before that his father omar bongo ruled the oil rich nation for more than forty years he was reelected in twenty sixteen in a poll maad allegations of fraud allowed as aerosmith the miller was in the one reason and joins us live now from johannesburg just bring us up to date with the latest you've been hearing it appears the two leaders were arrested pretty quickly . at least four of them daryn have been a wrist we understand that perhaps five maybe more soldiers were involved in this attempted coup when those soldiers according to what they had said coming from the republican guard as well which is normally tossed with protecting the president so at this stage looking as if they are certainly divisions within the army it was also the military the republican guard that then arrested these soldiers secured the bolding where the national radio station is housed and based on that the government has come out to say that it's restored order we do understand that liebl the capital is now call they are military tanks there i

governments retain control after an attempt to overthrow president ali bongo who is undergoing medical treatment in morocco soldiers took over the state radio station in a don raid security forces stormed the building and killed two of them arresting the coup leader and four other alleged plotters. more. lieutenants. from the presidential guard just burst into the national radio and television center calling for a popular uprising against yvonne's president. the eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save him from chaos if you're eating stop if you're having a drink stop if you're sleeping. wake up wake up your neighbors will rise up as one and take control of the street. car. outside gunshots electricity in the internet are shut down as get any special forces stormed the building in a statement the government spokesman says calm has returned the situation is under control the african union in france which maintains nine hundred troops in the country have condemned the attempted coup president goes in morocco seekin

ali bongo has been receiving medical treatment there for two months after suffering a stroke.y following these orders. all men in the barracks should get hold of munitions. take control of all transport including security posts, harmonies and airports. retired soldiers should wear their uniforms in the street. now, to the people of gabon, and the youth in particular, the time has come for the army to save gabon from chaos. government spokesperson said... the situation is under control and called the soldiers a group ofjokers. two of them were killed and three others were arrested including their leader. this is anne—marie dias borges from bbc afrique with more. they cold the actual government unlawful, the day the authorities have hijacked power. the are restoring what they say was the hijacking of the previous election and therefore are putting in doubt the legitimacy of ali bongo. this attempted coup, we have to think about the timing, it comes one week after the speech of ali bongo, which was seen as unconvincing. it was a picture of a head of state who could not speak conf

they are unhappy with this man, president ali bongo. he has been in power since 2009, but his family has effectively ruled since the 1960s. mr. bongo has been in morocco recovering from a stroke. so let's turn to our david mckenzie. he's live in johannesburg. so david, what's the latest information you have on this? >> well, rosemary, what happened was that there was officers that went into that radio station in libertiville in the early hours of this morning in gabon. you saw apcs or some kind of military vehicles on the streets. shots were also heard in lichlt berville in the early hours of the morning. in that quite lengthy statement on state radio they said that they wanted to end the speculation about ali bongo's health, who it appears had some kind of stroke or some other major health condition that took him out of the country in the last few months. now, the officer who was reading that statement, it was more like a call to action than the announcement of a coup saying non-commissioned officers and rank and file military they wan

president ali bongo is been in power since two thousand and nine before that his father more bongo ruled the oil rich nation for more than fourteen years other course hark joins us now live from nairobi so of course the first obvious question nicholas is what is going on is this a coup. well it appears like at least an attempt to remove go or the bongo didn't see like you mention that has been in power for over half a century out of power and this is led by young military soldiers young officers that took over the national radio station early this morning while people were listening to the morning news members of the presidential guard took over their radio held journalists hostage and read this message to the people of calling it an uprising against the bone growth in this address they call this operation dignity in this operation they are calling for ordinary get minnies young japanese to take up arms to take control of police stations government office in order to ensure that these presidential guards can remove the bunco out of office now they've called for the installation of a tran

says the situation will be under control soon the soldiers broadcast messages criticizing president ali bongo on demba who's been out of the country for medical treatment since october. mr understand. the message to the head of state. is that rebates on his health has reinforced doubts about the president's ability to handle the heavy burden of the responsibilities of his office. but things are good in the home that has given us everything and made us the people we are we cannot abandon it said the patriotic movements of fence and security forces in order to preserve the integrity of the country decided to take responsibility this stop the ongoing move to seize power by those who own the night of the disputed election in twenty sixteen killed our young compassionate it's with the support of illegal and illegitimate institutions. the president has been in power since two thousand and nine before that his father omar bonga ruled the oil rich nation for more than forty years and recently addressed the country in a new year's message from morocco well let's bring in anton lawson is a gap anees jo

the national radio and television center calling for a popular uprising against givens president ali bongo to miss the eagerly awaited as a ride from the army's decided to put itself on the side of the paper in order to save . your aging stop if you're having a drink if you're sleeping wake up wake up your neighbors as want to take control of the street. outside gunshots electricity in the internet are shut down as get any special forces stormed the building in a statement the government spokesman says calm has returned the situation is under control the african union in france which maintains nine hundred troops in the country have condemned the attempted coup president goes in morocco seeking treatment after suffering a stroke last october in his new year's address to the nation he appeared frail a time slurring his words. over power in two thousand and nine after the death of his father who had ruled the country for forty one years. during the two thousand and sixteen presidential election the bongo dynasty was challenged. opposition leader jumping to claim victory but the constitutiona

stories on al-jazeera government says it's retained control after an attempt to overthrow president ali bongo who is undergoing medical treatment in morocco soldiers took over the state radio station and andre that security forces stormed the building and killed two of them arresting the coup leader and four other alleged plotters has more. lieutenant calley from the presidential guards first into the national radio and television center calling for a popular uprising against yvonne's president ali bungalows soon as. the eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save him from chaos if you're eating stop if you're having a drink stop if you're sleeping wake up wake up your neighbors rise up as one and take control of the street. outside gunshots electricity in the internet are shut down as given the special forces stormed the building in a statement the government spokesman says calm has returned the situation is under control the african union in france which maintains nine hundred troops in the country have condemned the att

the country's radio station they began broadcasting across the country declaring that president ali bongo was unfit for office. confusion and fear and cowboy on. the army scrambles to respond to a rebellion in its own ranks soon supporters of the insurgents gather in a residential neighborhood of labor of ill and security forces much in their akrotiri gas dispersing the crowds it's in the city center where the regime faced the most resistance heavy gunfire echoed through the streets outside the state broadcaster from where insurgents launched their attempt to take power. one look just down then it's time to take the matter in hand the time has come and the time we have waited for so long has arrived is the day when the army decides to stand by its people. one of the. this is the man the plotters were determined to overthrow fifty nine year old allie bongo has led his country for a decade but he's been i ling in recent months he fell ill in saudi arabia while on a visit to the country since he's remained abroad for treatment admitting to his weakness in a new year's message. here but it is

president ali bongo or has been has suffered a stroke and as we all know he's not in a condition to to run the country he's been away for over two months now and as of the reporter said each day try to change the constitution so that he he had the appearance of ruling although he's not in a in a in a in a position to do so so that the clan can can continue. having power over the country so i think the major reason of this was is back to a twenty sixteen when. there was this rigged election where very apparently mr shopping won election and it was rigged so and nothing happened i mean and good good get away with it and now and he's been a catastrophic leader. enjoying you know traveling all around the country all over the world and leaving the country good around the drain and you know everything is crazy let me let me just jump in health care and everything so the young people want to do something about it being a gentleman is jump in there for a second because you talk about the bombo family i mean this is a this is a family has been in power for over fifty years it's very influential

the alleged plotters were shot dead and five brothers arrested for trying to overthrow president ali bongo he's been out of the country since october and is reportedly receiving medical treatment and morocco. turkey's president has praised donald trump's decision to withdraw u.s. troops from syria in an opinion piece in the new york times wretched type protocol and said the pullout must be done carefully he says only turkey can provide the leadership in the region to create stability. its president will visit the mexican border on thursday internet attempt to pressure democratic opponents in congress to end the partial government shutdown before heading south though donald trump will address the nation to make his case for a controversial wall along the mexico border is demanding more than five billion dollars to build it something the democrats strongly oppose the dispute over the funding has led to a partial government shutdown the president of the world bank has resigned three years before his terms to expire jim yong kim says he will stand down from the global lending body next month a

seized the state radio station early on monday morning it broadcast a statement declaring president ali bongo unfit for office. officials say all the soldiers involved in the coup have now been captured or killed it was president is currently am rocco recovering from a stroke. my apologies there joining me now is a ruth mclean foreign correspondent for the guardian newspaper and the car ruth what is the situation and up on right now. well the government has just announced quite in the past few hours that they've been arrested at the last one of the coup plotters who took over the state broadcaster very early this morning and declare that they were staging a coup and called on gabby's people to join their uprising and to occupy public buildings and to apple and the streets of leiber bill. so the government now says it's arrested all five or perhaps even more of the coup plotters the main one who read out the declaration on the radio was apparently the last one to be arrested he according to some reports was found hiding under a bed in a house quite nearby state border cost the others were appa

the balls government says it's retained control after an attempt to overthrow the president ali bongo was undergoing medical treatment in morocco soldiers took over the state radio station in a dawn raid but security forces stormed the building and killed two of them arresting the coup leader and four other alleged plotters. lieutenant owned obiang kelly from the presidential guards erst into the national radio and television center calling for a popular uprising against yvonne's president ali bungalows to. the eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save on from chaos if you're eating stop if you're having a drink stop if you're sleeping wake up wake up your neighbors rise up as one and take control of the street. car. outside gunshots electricity in the internet are shut down as get any special forces stormed the building in a statement the government spokesman says calm has returned the situation is under control the african union in france which maintains nine hundred troops in the country have condemned the att

ali bongo unfit for office the ailing leader is recovering from a stroke in iraq. german media say that federal police have searched a flat in the southwestern city of heilbronn in connection with a nasa data breach affecting politicians and public figures electronics belonging to a one thousand year old man were seized nearly one thousand high profile germans had their data stolen and published online actor kevin spacey is due in court in the u.s. island of nantucket today over accusations that he sexually assaulted a teenager and twenty sixteen space he faces five years in prison if convicted the oscar winner is one of hollywood's highest profile stars to be criminally charged soon to launch of the mid to movement karl rahner was considering it's believed that there have been a number of upsets at the golden globe awards in los angeles some of the films expected to speak the board ended up failing to make the grade one of the big surprise winners was a movie about the british rock band queen another was the wife starring veteran actor glenn close we'll get the lo

a video circulating online shows armed soldiers declaring president ali bongo unfit for office when he's recovering from a stroke right now in morocco. there are reports of shots being fired the capitol and tanks patrolling streets not yet clear if the coup has been successful keep you updated on the story throughout the day here to double. now for a look at some of the other stories making the news this hour and sudan police have used tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters thousands marched in the capital khartoum. resignation of president omar al bashir demonstrations over food shortages and rising prices played sudan in recent weeks. a fireball streaking across the struck a sky in new zealand has left experts scratching their heads yeah object was filled only on saturday moving at great speed initial reports suggest it was a meteor. satellite experts say it may have been space junk. actor kevin spacey is due in court on the u.s. island of nantucket today over accusations that he sexually assaulted a teen in two thousand and sixteen faces five years in prison if convicted the

the government of the ball and says it's regained control after an attempt to overthrow president ali bongo who is undergoing medical treatment in the uk soldiers took over the state radio station in a dawn raid but security forces stormed the building and killed the two of them arresting the coup leader and four other alleged plotters nicholas hock has more. lieutenants were on the job young kelly what from the presidential guards first into the national radio and television center calling for a popular uprising against yvonne's president ali bungalows to miss. the eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save kept on from caryl's if you're eating stop if you're having a drink stop if you're sleeping wake up wake up your neighbors rise up as one and take control of the street on the. road outside gunshots electricity in the internet are shut down as get any special forces stormed the building in a statement the government spokesman says calm has returned the situation is under control the african union in france which mai

soldiers seized the station the state radio station excuse me monday morning and declared president ali bongo unfit for office sporadic gunfire was recorded in the capital and tanks were patrolling the streets the leader is currently in morocco where he is receiving medical treatment for a stroke group. joining me now is ruth mclean a foreign correspondent for the guardian newspaper in dakar thank you so much for joining us ruth what can you tell us about what is happening in bonn at the moment . well as you say very early this morning in the cabin he's capital libra there are two men arrived at the state board cost and took over the radio and went announcing that they were basically staging a coupe and they said that the day had arrived when the army had decided to take the side of the people in order to what it said was saving gone from chaos and called on the galleries people to rise up and take to the streets and occupy public buildings and the athletes and the country's media organ that said that was that at about four thirty local time in labor bill that that happened and there were rep

the government of the ball and says it's regained control after an attempt to overthrow president ali bongo was undergoing medical treatment in the uk soldiers took over the state radio station in a dawn raid but security forces stormed the building and killed the two of them arresting the coup leader and four other alleged plotters nicholas hawke his boy. lieutenants were all duped.

they've declared president ali bongo unfit for office security bunglers recovering from a stroke right now in iraq and. now there are reports of shots being fired in the capital leave a view of tanks patrolling the streets it's not yet clear as of who's been successful keep you updated on the story throughout the day here t w. it's to britain now where prime minister treece in may is said to renew efforts today to push through her brakes a deal as parliament returns from its christmas break now here are some of the key dates that will determine britain's departure from the un the prime minister's political future the first is coming up in mid january that's when members of parliament will be voting on to recent days controversial deal now that will determine what kind of bracks it will see come march twenty ninth now that's the day britain has committed to to leave the you now if parliament rejects this deal well there could be a hard no deal bracks and that would mean confusion at the very least for business on both sides of the channel now if parliament accepts teresa mayes deal ther

sort of response from the opposition we haven't heard anything yet as well as perhaps the president ali bongo is absent from gabon for several months now of course triggering what we've seen happen in the last few hours the the this attempted coup very much linked to his absence in this country and and the soldiers involved in the coup at one point saying that they didn't have any faith in that go a could run the country effectively and that's after appeared on television over new year's eve many people looking to that address for real reassurance around the president's state of health but perhaps not receiving what they were looking for since the early hours of this morning the government has indicated that calm has been restored we are of course understanding that there appears to be a divide within the the military. seven at least the soldiers involved in this attempted coup come from the republican guard which is a a unit so that is assigned to protecting the president specifically so i think that is of course worth noting while it might be a small faction this certainly is that sort of d

now where soldiers say they've taken over the national radio station they've criticized president ali bongo on demba he's been out of the country for medical treatment since october bongo has been in power since two thousand and nine before that his father ruled the all rich nations for more than forty years cross over to our correspondent for me the minute she was in the van recently joins us now on the line from johannesburg first of all for me is this a coup on alt. we understand at this point based on what the agencies are saying is that the military seems to have taken over ireland seized the public radio station that it also appears that communication has been cut in kabul and so it certainly would appear over the cations out that this could lead to mention that the president. two thousand and nine family running the country for fifty years now falling ill in october last year with a. covering in morocco for all these months is of course still a lot of speculation and concern on exactly what is happening with the government given that the president's been gone for so long they've also

in president ali bongo on them but has been in power since two thousand and nine before that his father ruled the oil rich nation for more than forty years and among the recently addressed the country in a new year's message from a hospital bed in morocco let's talk to our correspondent for me the mellow is recently in the band she joins us now from johannesburg in south africa so first of all just to clarify what is going on in the country right now have they officially declared a coup. well a semi in news just coming in from french media and they have quoted the minister of information in the barn the government there has said that they have now arrested or what they are calling the mutineers saying that the government will have regained control of the country in the next few hours we did as you saw there from the what they're calling the patriotic movement of the defense and security forces of the barn and some reports indicate that this is a small group of soldiers we don't know to what extent this group is involved in the official military who exactly they are but they have said th

alleged plotters were shot dead and five others were arrested for trying to overthrow president ali bongo he's been out of the country since oct of supportively receiving medical treatment in morocco. because president says his strategy for syria can achieve long term peace and stability in an opinion piece in the new york times wrote to tyburn upon also praised president trump's decision to withdraw troops from syria chinese state media say north korean leader kim jong un is in beijing to meet with president xi jinping he visited the country three times last year china's four korea's main diplomatic ally and focus on pyongyang's plans to improve relations with south korea. one of the most senior catholic clerics involved in a sexual abuse scandal and france has gone on trial hartnell fully barberin that is the archbishop of leon is accused of helping to cover up abuse or such a party has more. sixty eight year old cardinal food. one of the most prominent catholic figures in france arrived for the start of his court proceedings the archbishop of leon is accused of helping to cover up abus

says the situation will be under control soon the soldiers broadcast messages criticizing president ali bongo on demba troops to take control of transport weapons death and airports but things are good. the homeland has given us everything and made us the people we are we cannot abandon it so the patriotic movements of youth of put events in security forces in order to preserve the integrity of the country as decided to take responsibility this stop the ongoing move to seize power by those who are on the night of the disputed election in twenty sixteen killed our young compassionate with the support of illegal and illegitimate institutions government representatives in the u.s. and china have met in beijing for trade talks a ninety day truce on imposing new tariffs expires in march unless a deal can be made. the us national security advisor is heading to turkey to discuss the withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria john bolton said the pullout was conditional on turkey not taking any military action against syrian kurdish fighters the un special envoy for yemen's due to meet yemeni government of

change this is a dynasty that's been in place for just over fifty years from almost bango now his son ali bongo and people they say that they haven't benefited from this country's riches that the oil revenue brought in doesn't trickle down to people on the ground and while there is a political elite that is seeing the benefits there a significant portion of these people have two million people live in dire poverty . reporter for johannesburg there on the situation thank you. to other news saudi arabia where of course u.s. secretary of state might pay is expected to arrive in the next few days he will be pressing officials there about the murder of jamal. but a new report about one of the suspects accused of killing the saudi journalist is raising concern according to the washington post saudi authorities are refusing to confirm the whereabouts of the nie in november the kingdom confirmed he was being investigated and forbid him to leave the country there are concerns now that he could be influencing the investigation itself subtle company was a top aides to the saudi crown prince mohammed bin s

president ali bongo has returned home after three months in morocco getting treatment for stroke it comes a week after an attempted coup by a small group of soldiers appointed a new government on saturday to strengthen his political base is expected to attend the swearing in ceremony of new ministers on tuesday the bango family as governed over fifty years ago took over after his father almost death in two thousand and nine. zimbabwe's government is to give workers extra allowances as it tries to quote protests across the country burnt out buildings and close businesses show the aftermath of the violent demonstrations that left several people dead and dozens injured the cost of petrol and diesel rose dramatically on sunday and that led to days of strikes and marches zimbabwe's labor minister says an extra bonus of between five percent and twenty three percent of salaries will be introduced china's head back of criticism by canada's prime minister after the death penalty was imposed on a canadian for drug smuggling robert schellenberg sentence by a chinese court has caused more tension bet

very often so let's build on that just before we speak to our guest a bit more background president ali bongo on them but he has been in power since two thousand and nine fifty nine years old he succeeded his father who died after ruling on for more than forty years or was reelected in twenty sixteen as we heard there was a poll marred by allegations of fraud and he won by fewer than six thousand votes. it's a win which spot violence between protesters and police parliament was even set on fire when that happened the e.u. said it found anomalies in bangor a stronghold province of hauteur greer where he won his family to pointed out ninety five percent of the vote all right valentino will be out with us now west and central african analyst for the global collapse consultancy control risks and it's nice to have you with us from paris look of our correspondent i don't know if you could hear her there but she pointed out the fact that some people might be actually asking why this didn't happen sooner would you agree with that. well i think the timing is interesting the president has been abroad a

as president ali bongo has returned home after three months in morocco receiving treatment for a stroke comes a week after an attempted coup by a small group of soldiers appointed a new government on saturday to strengthen his political base is expected to at ten when new ministers are sworn into office on tuesday situational court has barred two main opposition candidates from contesting next month's presidential elections only five of the twenty seven candidates for approved including president macky sall who's seeking second term nicholas op has more permanent job. the announcement made by the constitutional court stunned many and came early it came in the form of an a four piece of paper plastered outside the courts listing those illegible to run for the upcoming presidential election missing on that list are the popular mayor of deckard khalifa saul and the opposition figure karim wanted from your wallet is currently in exile in qatar he served a prison sentence on corruption charges but then was pardoned by the president now the reason given for him being dismissed from this list

attempts this after armed soldiers seized the state radio station monday morning and declared president ali bongo unfit for office is recovering from a stroke in morocco. german police are questioning witnesses after the latest cyber attack prosecutors say they've interviewed one man in the country south also seizing electronics from his apartment nearly one thousand german politicians and public figures have data stolen and published online including chancellor angela merkel. busker winning actor kevin spacey has appeared in court charged with sexual assault spacy is alleged to have groped a young man in twenty sixteen this is the first criminal case against the actor after a wave of allegations and it has korea. on. the . u.s. negotiators start trade talks in china yet again but few hope things will really change can the world's top two economies find a way out of their trade war and calm down financial markets. and the makers of scotch whisky fear breaks it will hurt their global business i'll tell you why export barriers are not the only thing producers are worried about. for business on d.w.

attempts this after armed soldiers seized the state radio station monday morning and declared president ali bongo unfit for office is recovering from a stroke in morocco. german police are questioning witnesses after the latest cyber attack prosecutors say they've interviewed one man in the country south also seizing electronics from his apartment nearly one thousand german politicians and public figures have data stolen and published online including chancellor angela merkel. oscar winning actor kevin spacey has appeared in court charged with sexual assault spacy is alleged to have groped a young man and in twenty sixteen this is the first criminal case against the actor after a wave of allegations and his korea. a saudi woman found herself stranded and trapped in bangkok today she says that she was trying to flee theory that her parents would kill her for no longer being a muslim and tonight thanks to a twitter account and a log on her hotel room door she is in the safe company of u.n. refugee officials but her plight and that of all solti women all that remains as for curious as ever i bring g