the kleptocracy asset recovery initiative is trying to seize a glove like this one from equatorial guinea'suling family. and finally — the iphone turns ten years old. the gulf news takes a look how apple's ubiquitous smartphone became a modern—day icon. i hate using the word "icop", but i have to say, it might well fit. henry bonsu joins us. am i an icon? the more times you appear on this programme, the closer you are to being an icon. keep inviting me on, i'll always come! on thursday, azoria, the israeli soldier — young man who has been convicted of manslaughterfor man who has been convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a palestinian who was on the ground and not armed at the time. here, we have a palestinian driving a truck into a have a palestinian driving a truck intoa group have a palestinian driving a truck into a group of israeli soldiers. yes. there were serious questions asked after the truck attacks in nice and then the berlin christmas market not guarded. you would expect open areas like this injerusalem deab the promenade into the old city —to deab the promenade into the o

but equatorial guinea has oil, a lot of it.d starting in the mid-'90s, they started getting huge royalty checks from oil companies who were pumping oil out of that country. and because of that oil money, on paper equatorial guinea is doing great. on paper they have the highest gdp per capita in africa. but none of that money gets to the people. over three quarters of its population is below the poverty line. the government spends less on education and health than even the rest of subsaharan africa. but for the ruling family, things have never been better. this past april the country held an election and that longest-serving president in the world? he won with 94% of the vote. a little less than what he won by in 2009 when he got 97% of the vote. the president's family runs everything. his eldest son, the guy that loves the cars and the michael jackson junk, he's the vice president. the president's other son runs the oil ministry. the first lady's brother is the head of the state-owned oil company ge petrol and as that family ha

millions as he begins a new life in equatorial guinea. and u.s. president donald trump has a flurry of executive orders on his first business day as president. he has cut funding is, ngos, and federal employees. will hilderbrandt has more on that now. just mentioning a couple of things off of trump first proper day in office. he has polled the united states unilaterally out of a trade deal that took years to negotiate. >> a landmark signature trade deal negotiated by his predecessor. signed aump has significant trade order to pull himself out of the transpacific partnership. that trade deal including 12 countries and accounting for about 40% of global gdp. brian quinn reports. >> withdrawing from the transpacific partnership. president donald trump upending a massive free trade deal years in the making. he signed an executive order announcing his plan to remove the u.s. from the transpacific partnership. it is one step toward fulfilling campaign promises by drastically altering america's position on free trade. >> great thing for the american work

you talk about equatorial guinea and i worry about angola. whammy of low oil lower investment as a result, and foreign companies employing fewer people because they are producing less and the output is less. of wherection production is going to be is going down and that is the danger. if there is a social contract, a hidden social contract between these nondemocratic regimes and the people saying -- i know i do not live in a democracy and i have to accept your regime but at least i need my day-to-day life to be normal. at the first thing that goes when the money goes away from oil production is the investment in the infrastructure. now, the roads fall apart. the rainy season is gone, the roads do not get rebuilt. no new hospital. the school is gone. the electrification rate to the remote villages is not there. now, i have a bad regime and i basic even getting the services. that is a recipe for disaster. that is why national interests is not about what does this do for the u.s. economy but what does this mean for stability around the world. an

the government of guinea is not equatorial guinea, though. let's stretch it up all the way from angola to cameroon, right? the problem there is we have a bad governance that had no savings during the good days. and all of a sudden a whole bunch of people in opec are getting together and saying oh, my god, it's a crisis. and these guys are looking at them and saying are you kidding me? it's a crisis? you have 500, 600 billion dollars sitting in reserves, i've got 2. i'm in crisis, not you. so you're trying to get me to cut production from angola, you've got to be kidding me. one, governance has to change in these countries. we tried. we tried through a number of outfits. it's very hard for the united states to come in to each country in this world and say you have to change the entire dynamics of your country. we say it. we try. we put in some resource to it. but that's very difficult. where we've looked at the gulf of guinea is more on the security side because i was very concerned about the fact that we'd have a copycat from east africa and

this is the second time that gabon has welcomed afcon, having co—hosted in 2012 with equatorial guineare originally scheduled to host this year's tournament until african football's governing body decided that the situation in libya made it impossible for it to go ahead there. the first ever regional football league has started in somalia. the country's football federation announced the new league as part of a planned development structure last year. and the sport is providing a welcome sign of recovery for a nation troubled by violence and insecurity, as anneka radley reports. football is the most popular sport in somalia despite violence and insecurity which has prevented leagues from expanding across the country for many years. however, there are seeds of hope for somali soccer. relative stability in the country means football stadiums are being renovated and local tournaments are being held. during the reign of islamist militants, al—shabab had regularly banned public gatherings and sports with those who broke the rules facing punishment, but now fans are feeling stadiums that once

also in the ft, former gambia leader yahya jammeh has left the country and gone into exile in equatorial guinea22 years after seizing power in a coup. his departure is seen as a victory for democracy in west africa. the china daily looks at how beijing is teaming up with russia and investing in a huge natural gas project in the resource—rich arctic region. and finally, the guardian financial pages look at claims that the current technological revolution will make manyjobs obsolete in the future. the paper warns the loss of well—paid roles will mean no—one will be able to buy the goods produced by robots. joining us is rolake akinkugbe, head of energy at fbn merchant bank. good morning. good morning, great to see you both. great to see you, always. and you are perfect for this morning because we are leading with donald trump and you have just spent two weeks in the united states. before we get into the specifics of oui’ before we get into the specifics of our stories, tell us what it was like to be there for two weeks, and the political mood in the country. as with any transition of power, it is

also in the ft, former gambia leader yahya jammeh has left the country and gone into exile in equatorial guinea. his departure is seen as a victory for democracy in west africa. the china daily looks at how beijing is teaming up with russia and investing in a huge natural gas project in the resource—rich arctic region. and finally, the guardian financial pages look at claims that the current technological revolution will make manyjobs obsolete in the future.

the kleptocracy asset recovery initiative is trying to seize a glove like this one from equatorial guinea'sulf news takes a look how apple's ubiquitous smartphone became a modern—day icon. i hate using the word "icop", but i have to say, it might well fit. henry bonsu joins us. am i an icon? the more times you appear on this programme, the closer you are to being an icon. keep inviting me on, i'll always

that is a lot of -- evening.ut sunday he was set to go to equatorial guinea, where the president has been in power since 1979. genie: sports news -- the africa cup of nation host had been eliminated after coming to a draw with cameron. this is the first time since 1994 that an organizing country has been eliminated in the group stage. rebecca roseman told us more. ofecca: they have the fervor 40,000 fans, but it was not enough for them to qualify for the quarterfinals. they were eliminated by cameron was still in the group stage. a first for a host country in more than 20 years. the right opportunity, but you have days like this where it does not work out. in any case, i am proud of all the players, as everyone, because everyone has given their best selves. >> he missed out on two big changes to score in the first minutes of the game, and again in overtime. this player saved his team within the final moments of the match, thanks to put reflexes. cameroon faces -- >> now everything is open. there are things which can happen that we know now. already that for the moment this may be the

he is now in exile in equatorial guinea. here‘s alistair leithead.t. it is the first time power here has peacefully passed from one leader to another. adama barrow was inaugurated in senegal, when the man he defeated at the ballot box refused to leave. expectations are high. the former dictator yahya jammeh, went into exile last weekend after weeks of pressure from neighbouring presidents. a rare case of african leaders strongly policing democracy. the threat of military action from a regionalforce helped. they now provide security for the new president, still unsure where his army‘s loyalty lies. now he will need fancy footwork to deliver on all the political promises. it is a poor country. young talent often leaves. this is the gambia‘s top women‘s team. their goalkeeper drowned last year trying to cross the mediterranean. she was 20 years old. her brother thinks she may have hoped to play in europe and so joined a well—trodden path. thousands of people go. why? what we believe is that we want to be out and do something for ourfamily or something l

he left the country in the early hours of sunday morning for equatorial guinea.spondent, thomas fessy, has more. there is a great sense of relief here in the capital of the gambia following the departure of the former leader. life is picking up after three days of a total shutdown where people stayed home in fear of violence as west african states were mounting against the former strongman in order to have him step down. there was a declaration issued by the united nations and the regional bloc ecowas saying they would work together to ensure that there is no witch hunting of former members of the regime and its supporters and that they would prevent the seizure of assets and property is lawfully belonging to the former presidents. they also said he was leaving at the gambia temporarily and he had the liberty to return as a citizen of the gambia and the former heads of state at the time of his choosing. people here are waiting for the new president to return to the country. there will be celebrations than birds he said he would return when the path is clear and s

he had refused to step down, but has now flown to equatorial guinea after talks with other african leaderss fessy, gave me this update from the gambian capital, banjul. this is the end of a 22 year rule in the gambia. there is no doubt there will be celebrations tonight in the capital. it is the end of a crisis after the election last month. a few days later after accepting the results he said he would reject them. west african states mounted pressure against him. gathering troops just across the border. they we re troops just across the border. they were threatening to remove him from power by force. and now he is on board. he is leaving. this is the end of his political role. how significant is that and what about the incoming president? where is he? the new president, at a barrow, is in senegal. —— adam barrow. he will return in the next few days. this is quite a big development in the region. they are sending a very strong message, not only across the region, but also across the continent, that they stand ready to fight to protect democracy and the will of the people, that they are rea

he is now in equatorial guinea. certainly life is picking up, after the shutdown. shops, guinea.is picking up, afterthe shutdown. shops, gas stations, everything was closed for three days as people were staying home in fear of violence as west african states sent in troops to threaten to remove mrjammeh by force. in the end mrjammeh was left with no option from west african leaders, who basically gave him an ultimatum. either he was walking out of the state house or he would be removed by force. the african union and united nations have issued a declaration saying they would work to ensure there is no witchhunt of the former members and supporters, and they have also said mrjammeh was leaving temporarily but should be able to return to the gambia at the time of his choosing. it is unclear the time of his choosing. it is u nclear yet the time of his choosing. it is unclear yet the exact terms of the agreement under which he has left the country, but certainly people here are now preparing for the return of the new president. emergency workers in central italy are continuing to sea

he is reportedly headed for exile in equatorial guinea. 0ur west africa correspondent thomas fessy gavem the gambian capital banjul. this is the end of a 22 year rule in the gambia. there is no doubt there will be celebrations tonight in the capital. it is the end of a crisis after the election last month. a few days later after accepting the results he said he would reject them. over the last few days, west african states, whic mounted pressure against him, gathering troops just across the border. they were threatening to remove him from power by force. and now he is on board. he is leaving. this is the end of his political rule. the new president, adama barrow, is in senegal. he will return once jammeh has left. this is quite a big development in the region. they are sending a very strong message, not only across the region, but also across the continent, that they stand ready to fight to protect democracy and the will of the people, that they are ready to send troops to whoever is rejecting the results of fair elections. let's just round up some of the other main news stories for you

with an eccentric flourish, he boarded a plane ultimately taking him on to a new home in equatorial guineathere is concern over how much state money he took with him. it was an emotional moment for those waving him off. yahya jammeh still has many supporters here, just not enough to win an election. what he did is the best thing for the country and we thank him for that, we are saying, thank you, mr president, president yahya jammeh, for leaving the gambia without blood, coming in without bloodshed and going out without bloodshed, so we say thank you to president yahya jammeh. with their old president gone, the streets are getting busier again after days deserted amid the fighting. and there's one must—have item amid the market. they could've been jailed for selling these a week ago. musician silky criss had to avoid the authorities as he and his crew spray—painted the city. that was really, really, really unsafe, and then, like, i was going to be one of those people that has been tortured or killed or missing and all that, but then i and my team didn't care about that, we just wanted to f

he is now an equatorial guinea, we understand, with his family.ree days of a sort of total shutdown, shops, banks, gas stations, everything was closed for three days as people were staying home in fear of violence, as west african states sent in troops to threaten to remove mrjammeh by force. but any of that happened, that meant before any of that happened, he left, he was left with no option, he was given an ultimatum, either he was walking out of the steakhouse or he would be removed by force. —— statehouse. the african union, the regional bloc and the un have issued declarations saying that they would work to ensure there is no witchhunt of the supporters, and they have said that mrjammie was leaving temporarily but he was going to be, he should be able to return to the gambia at the time of his choosing. —— mrjammeh. it is not clear the exact terms of the agreement under which he has left the country, but certainly, people here are now preparing for the return of the new president, adama barrow. voting's under way in france to decide the socia

the president laughed last night, we understand he is in equatorial guinea.er three days of a total shutdown. shops, banks, gas stations, everything was closed for three days as people stayed home for fear of violence. troops were sent in to threaten to remove mrjamey by force. in the end, mrjamey left. he was left with no option from west african leaders who gave him an ultimatum. either he was walking out of the state house or he would be removed by force. the african union, the regional bloc, and the united nations have issued declarations saying they would work to ensure there is no witchhunt of former supporters, and have also said that ya hya supporters, and have also said that yahya jammeh was leaving temporarily, but she should be able to return to the gambia at the time of his choosing. it isn't clear yet the exact terms of the agreement under which he has left the country, but certainly people here are no preparing for the return of the new president, adama barrow. a survey suggests that delays in assessing patients' needs are worsening the problems

the president left last night, he is now in equatorial guinea, we understand, with his family, and certainly the sort of total shutdown, shops, banks, after three days of the sort of totalshutdown, shops, banks, gas stations was their work, everything was closed, in fear of violence, people were staying home, troops we re people were staying home, troops were sent in to threaten to remove mrjammeh by force, but in the end, mrjammeh by force, but in the end, mrjammeh by force, but in the end, mrjammeh left, he was left with no option from west african leaders, who basically gave him an ultimatum, either he was walking out of the statehouse, or he would be removed by force. the african union, the regional bloc and the united nations haveissued regional bloc and the united nations have issued declarations saying that they would work to ensure there is no witchhunt of the former supporters and they have also said that —— said that mrjammeh was going to be, should be able to attend to the gambia at the time of his choosing. it is not clear yet the exact terms of the agreement under which mrjammeh

i believe it was equatorial guinea that had one of their sons stopped in paris a few years ago, loading cars onto an $200,000,hat were all $300,000 cars. a lot of it is directed towards either third-party charities or private entities. i would argue these are a lot less bad. we can't look at all foreign aid and say it is all going to a good cause. in egypt, we gave so much and spent so much of this money. we have provisions where they have to buy stuff with the money, this creation of economic business kind of game that we do. one of the things they bought from us was tear gas. had a democratic protests in cairo, they would be from theth tear gas u.s. and they would pick the cancers of the street. i would argue that in supporting many people who really are not pro-human rights or pro-american interests, that actually sometimes the foreign aid backfires because they resist using aaders who are democratic, forceful, authoritarian means of arab people. i would appreciate your comments on whether or not you see any authoritarian means towards people. i would appreciate your comments or whet

his company's payments to the personal family of dictator for , andin equatorial guinea his response russia's actions in syria and the bombing of aleppo. and all of these things added up, i thought to representing answers you might expect from someone wearing their company hat, but not someone setting forth a moral compass for american leadership in the world. and that is the foundation on which i opposed him. thank you. mr. chairman: thank you. i think the question -- whate sanctions was he tried to clarify is he did not lobby against sanctions, he theied to try to make equivalency between what we were doing here in the united states, and what was happening in europe to be more synchronized. because the european companies had advantages based on the way sanctions were put in place because they were grandfathered in as far as their activities, whereas that was not the case what the u.s. sanctions. that was a clarification that i think you try to make over and over. anyone else? >> thank you, mr. chairman. this was not a decision i made lightly. i have come to respect mr. tillerson's

company's payments to the personal family of the president or dictator for life in ecuador -- equatorial guinea and his response to russia's actions in syria and aleppo. all of these things added up, i --nk, to representing answers that you might expect from someone wearing their company had, and not someone setting forth a moral compass for american leadership in the world. and that is the foundation upon which i opposed him. thank you. corker: thank you, and if i could, i am not taking anyone to raise here, but i think the question about the sanctions was not about -- i think what he tried to clear -- he tried to clarify was he was not against sanctions, he lobbied to make diplomacy about what we were doing in the united states and what was being done in europe to make it more synchronized because the european companies had the way sanctions were put in place, because they were grandfathered in as far as their activities whereas that , was not the case with u.s. sanctions. that was a clarification he tried to make over and over, i think, in the committee. anyone else? >> thank you, mr. chairm

with an eccentric flourish, he boarded the plane ultimately taking him on to a new home in equatorial guineag. ya hya emotional moment for those waiting. yahya jammeh still has many supporters here, just not enough to win an election. what he did as the best thing for the country. we saying, thank you, president yahya jammeh, for leaving the gambia. without bloodshed, going out without bloodshed. we say thank you for that. with their old president gone, the streets are getting busier again. after days of desertion amid the fighting. there is one must have item in the market, they could have been jailed item in the market, they could have beenjailed for item in the market, they could have been jailed for selling these one week ago. this musician also had to avoid authorities as he and his crew spray—painted the city. avoid authorities as he and his crew spray-painted the city. it was really unsafe and then, if i was going to be one of those people tortured or killed or missing, but me and my team did not care about that. we just wanted to free our people. the president is still in senegal. he

i wanted to turn to equatorial guinea. senator brought this up earlier today about the corruption of the leadership of that particular country. the president for life has become exceedingly rich and part of the way he's become exceedingly rich is the payments that exxon has made have gone to his family's accounts rather than going to the national treasury. what are your thoughts on why exxon participated in that, which continue in time that you were in the leadership of the company? >> senator, i'm familiar with the circumstance you're talking about. that was the subject of an investigation by the judiciary committee. there were no findings that exxon had committed any wrong or broken any laws. at the end of that investigation. in terms of the payments that exxonmobil would make in any arrangement, contract in any country, would be no different than they were made with domestic producers here in the u.s. that are operating on federal lands. there's royalty and there's taxes paid to the treasury. what the government does wi

equatorial guinea hat one of their sons stopped in paris two years ago, loading 10 different cars one all worth 200,000, 300,000-dollar cars. there is a lot of corruption. a lot of things are directed toward 30 party charities or private entities i would argue these are a lot less bad but i would argue we can't blythely look at foreign aid and all ofç it is great and going to a good cause. sometimes it works in the opposite way. give you an example in egypt and we gave so much and mubaraks took the money, some they actually spent, we have provisions they have to buy stuff from us with the money. sort of this creation of economic business kind of game that we do. but one of the things that they were, they bought from us was tear gas, and so when they had these big democratic protests in cairo, they were being doused with tear gas from the u.s. and they would pick the canisters up on the street. i would argue that soft power is maybe not giving a warm, soft fuzzy feeling for america. that in supporting many people who really are not, you know, pro-human rights or pro-american interest

round, because a few seconds left, i'd like to ask a few questions about exxon's involvement in equatorial guinea. my colleague mentioned it on the other side. and i think that would be of interest. >> thank you. senator barrasso. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. congratulations on your nomination. i want to go to your opening statement and try to talk about a couple of things we haven't gotten into yet. one of the statements you made had to do with defeating isis. you said defeating isis must be our foremost priority in the middle east. you go on to say, but defeat will not occur on the battlefield alone, we must win the war of ideas. if i could just engage you a little bit to talk about how we can use diplomatic efforts and others, other ways to target and actually undermine the isis ideology and its legitimacy and how to do that and improve u.s.-led coordination. >> the defeat of isis globally is extremely challenging because it does not represent a country that we can apply traditional approaches to. the defeat of isis as an ideology, other than the battlefield, is going to require advan

guinea,for equatorial paving the way for the new president.laura: the former president of the european parliament has a new goal in sight, beat angela merkel in elections. simon takes a look at his chances. >> angela merkel's main rival for the september elections in , martinnow has a name schiltz, the former president of the european parliament, has been officially nominated by the social democrat party to run against merkel's christian democratic union party. honors is an exceptional that i proudly accept, with the appropriate amount of humility. i will try to make things better for our country, because that is the aim of the spd, to improve our country. down from hisp position in september. he's considered a popular figure cope withave to limited experience in german politics, after spending most of his career in europe. he rose quickly to mayor before joining the european parliament in 1994 am aware he served as president from 2012-2017. he wants closer political cooperation within the eu, such as creating a european army as well as believ

there are many countries, as you know, in the world, where to give you an example, australia, equatorial guinea, malaysia, qatar, russia and the united kingdom, exxon now is asking for tax dollars back from those. if you are carrying out foreign policy in those countries, how are you going to be dealing with that situation in terms of the contact with exxon, with your former colleagues that kind of situation. >> well, let me start with where you began in terms of taking phone calls. i would not expect that i will be taking phone calls from any business leaders in my prior role, i never called on the secretary of state directly. i called on the deputy often or the missions, primarily the ambassadors. so i, you know, whether i will take phone calls from anyone is a subject to the question itself. as to how i would deal with the past history that i have in my prior position with exxonmobil, i have made it clear in the disclosures and in answers to questions that have been posed, obviously, there is a statutory recusal period which i will adhere to on any matters that might come before the state de

come back in our next round, i would like to ask a few questions about exxon's involvement in equatorial guineai think that would be of interest. >> congratulations on your nomination. i want to go to your opening statement and talk about a couple of things we have not gotten into yet. one of the statements had to do with defeating isis. you said it must be our foremost priority in the middle east, but that defeat will not occur on the battlefield alone. we must win the war of ideas. if i could engage you to talk about how we can use diplomatic efforts and others to undermine the isis ideology and its legitimacy, how can we do that and improve the u.s. led coalition? tillerson: it is a challenge because it does not represent a country we can apply traditional approaches to. the defeat of isis as an ideology is going to require and our capabilities own communication tools in terms of disrupting their communication to develop their network and further their ideology. this means getting into the internet airspace and putting forth different ideas and ideas forlivery of people persuaded to join the

when i see massive corruptions in countries with extreme guinea, like equatorial i speak out.stitutions in venezuela, i speak out. it is a spark -- stark reminder that democracy will not defend itself. it is for those of us who believe in the democratic nurture ando support it and defend it from authoritarian opponents who do not share our values. perhaps the most egregious events we have seen recently have been what has happened by russia,t putin of having effectively killed the newest democracy, has led efforts across europe and the former soviet union to erode democratic institutions and call in question well-established rules of the road. moscow undermined democracy through propaganda, cyber attacks and funding for populist political parties abroad. it should come as no surprise that in the various activities that reached our shores but are stunning nonetheless. last week the intelligence community found mr. bruton did indeed -- putin did indeed direct efforts to erode our democracy. i'm not saying the russia efforts were decisive in the election outcome. that is not the p

the corruption tile -- trial of the son of the president of equatorial guinea is set to go underway. -- get underway. stateaccused of using funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle in france. parisss lives to central where claire williams is standing by. what do expect to come out of the first day of this trial? we expect the lawyer to ask for it to be adjourned. é/é/é/é/