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26, June 2018

Media Entrepreneur Peace Hyde opens the Aim Higher Africa (AHA) Skills Acquisition Centre in Lagos ⁰

Named as a powerful woman on the continent by CNN, Media Entrepreneur and Head of Digital Media and Partnership for Forbes Africa, Peace Hyde, has opened another branch of her innovative entrepreneurship development and skills acquisition non-profit, Aim Higher Africa (http://AimHigherAfrica.com/) in Lagos.

Located in the Silicon Valley of Nigeria, Yaba, The AHA skills acquisition center is designed to train unemployed youth and grassroot entrepreneurs as well as startups through its innovative Mind-set Reorientation and Design Thinking Curriculum (MRDT) to build scalable and sustainable businesses that will create value for their communities and also provide opportunities for the thousands of unemployed youth in Lagos.

“Aim Higher Africa MRDT Curriculum responds to the problem of unemployment through youth entrepreneurship, which offers innovative solutions for economic growth among young people. To address these critical issues, we are working with international organizations, the private sector and development organizations to increase and improve young people’s access to financial services, financial literacy and entrepreneurship and employment skills training,” says Hyde.

This year, the organization was profiled on CNN for its impact and building over 600 businesses in West Africa leading to some 3000 jobs for youth. Hyde who also has a background as a senior management executive from a leading UK education institution where she also taught as a Science teacher for 7 years, created the MRDT curriculum along with innovation and entrepreneurship professor, Dr. Gordon Adomdza, PHD. holder from the University of Waterloo and a lecturer at Harvard University.

“Our new center has a vision of helping entrepreneurial youth, build their business skills, their links to markets and access support such as from financial services and through mentoring. The world is bursting with opportunity; every day, new inventions answer questions we had never thought to ask.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Aim Higher Africa.

26, June 2018

Russia 2018: VAR stirs World Cup drama and endless debate ⁰

VAR has grabbed centre stage at the World Cup, with the system that was supposed to provide “minimum interference” instead having a major and highly controversial impact.

The final games in Group B on Monday were heading into injury time with Portugal on course to top their group and Spain set to finish second, when the advice of the Video Assistant Referee officials in two separate games changed everything.

In Kaliningrad, Spain were awarded an equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw against Morocco when an Iago Aspas goal was given after VAR helped Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov to reverse a mistaken offside call.

At the same time in Saransk, Paraguay official Enrique Caceres was persuaded to give Iran a penalty for a handball by Portugal’s Cedric Soares that could hardly be considered deliberate.

Karim Ansarifard netted the spot-kick, earning Iran a 1-1 draw, and relegating the European champions to second place in the section.

Now Cristiano Ronaldo and his team must face Uruguay in the last 16. In contrast, Spain will probably be happier with a tie against hosts Russia in Moscow and could now have a theoretically easier path to the final.

That hardly sits well with FIFA’s statement as they introduced the new system to the biggest tournament on Earth, saying: “Our goal is minimum interference for maximum benefit.”

Of course, that was a reference to the flow of the game itself rather than the potential impact decisions could have further down the line.

Morocco’s Noureddine Amrabat made clear his feelings at the end of Monday’s game as he looked into a television camera and mouthed: “VAR, it’s bullshit”.

– Fudged decisions? –

But while Spain’s equaliser was correctly given, the decisions in Saransk were more controversial.

Ronaldo missed a penalty awarded after the referee reversed his decision, and was later shown a yellow card following a review of a possible elbow offence.

It had the look of a fudged decision when an elbow would normally lead to a red for violent conduct.

“An elbow is a red card in the rules. In the rules it doesn’t say if it is (Lionel) Messi or Ronaldo,” fumed Iran coach Carlos Queiroz, who said VAR was “not going well”.

Iran are now out, and they leave a competition that is being dominated by VAR to an extent possibly greater than the system’s critics could have imagined.

There have already been 20 penalties given at this World Cup, a tournament record before the group stage has even concluded.

Many of those, such as Andreas Granqvist’s winner for Sweden against South Korea, were awarded after confirmation by VAR.

Yet the Swedes were also the victims of a major officiating error when they were denied an early penalty in their defeat against Germany for a foul by Jerome Boateng on Marcus Berg that was clear on slow-motion replays.

“If we have the system it’s very unfortunate that he doesn’t feel he can go and have a look,” said Sweden coach Janne Andersson of Polish referee Szymon Marciniak.

– Not flawless –

As the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the guardians of the laws of the game, say, only the referee can initiate a review.

One of the officials in the Video Assistant Referee team sees an incident and tells the referee, who then decides whether to review it. The system is clearly not flawless, and that inevitably leads to frustrations.

There might also be a concern that reviews of slowed-down replays can make in-game incidents appear worse than they were in reality.

In addition, the system can still lead to confusion for fans in the stadium who do not have the same grasp of what is happening as television viewers.

FIFA will have been braced for the criticism, and will defend the system during a briefing on Friday, at the end of the group stage, at which refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina and VAR project leader Roberto Rosetti will appear.

“It will enable us to present detailed analysis and statistics illustrating the results of VAR during the initial phase,” world football’s governing body told AFP.
Culled from AFP

26, June 2018

Douala: Tenants face soaring rents under ‘pay-in-advance-to stay’ policy ⁰

Getting an accommodation in Cameroon’s Douala city is a nightmare, as one is required to pay 6 months or even a year’s rent advance. As a result, many young working people who are faced with this harsh reality, prefer to stay longer with their parents.

Socrate Tanleu is a tenant and is frustrated by this practice.

“For example, I have had to pay up to 12 months to get an apartment and for a young person who is just entering the workforce, it is not easy to find 12 months to pay a landlord to get an apartment’‘, Tanleu told Africanews.

The practice is illegal, but many apartment owners are defiant.

“Legally, this practice is not normal because rent is payable after occupation. The rent advance is not legal”, said Cameroonian-based lawyer, Nicolas Ntamag.

But for many homeowners, this practice is a safety net against an unstable labour market.

Bertrand Tashinda owns an apartment in Douala.

“We have the public sector which employs very few people and with the private sector, there is no guarantee of employment. At any time you can lose your job for more misleading reasons than any other. So it makes the landlords think it’s better to take a year and with a year he can even build up a little reserve of money to be able to repair his apartment if necessary”, said Tashinda.

Like Ivory coast, Cameroon wants to put in place a more advanced legal framework for tenants and property owners.

The country plans to limit payment of rent advance and the deposit to two months. It hopes this will facilitate access to housing for many Cameroonians.

Source: Africa News

26, June 2018

Russia 2018: Egypt’s eliminated, but record breaking goalkeeper saves penalty ⁰

Egypt were eliminated from the World Cup with no win and no points earned, but the country’s goalkeeper Essam El Hadary will leave Russia with his head held high, having saved a penalty on the day he became the oldest player in World Cup history.

El Hadary, 45 years and 161 days old, started the Group A tie against Saudi Arabia in Volgograd on Monday, having sat on the bench for defeats to Uruguay and Russia.

The Pharaohs veteran beat the record set by Faryd Mondragon, who appeared for Colombia at Brazil 2014 three days after his 43rd birthday.

El Hadary marked his landmark occasion in sensational fashion, tipping Fahad Al Muwallad’s 41st-minute penalty onto the woodwork to retain Egypt’s 1-0 advantage, earned through Mohamed Salah’s second goal of the tournament.

He is the second keeper to save a penalty on his World Cup debut in Russia; Iceland’s Hannes Thor Halldorsson having denied Lionel Messi from 12 yards.

El Hadary, who is nicknamed “High Dam”, made his debut for Egypt in 1996, a year before his Egyptian squad mate Ramadan Sobhy was born.

Agencies

26, June 2018

North, South Korea mull connecting railways ⁰

Officials from North and South Korea have met to discuss connecting the railways that run useless across their border amid a rapprochement on the long-divided peninsula.

The talks were held in the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas on Tuesday, the first on the issue in 10 years.

A train line connecting Seoul to Pyongyang and on to Sinuiju on the Chinese border already exists. It was built by Japan in the early 20th century, long before the 1950-53 Korean War, which politically divided the two Koreas.

Linking up the railways and modernizing the North’s aging rail infrastructure would benefit trade-dependent South Korea as it would give it a land route to the markets of China, Russia, and on to Europe.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have significantly eased since January this year, when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed interest in the betterment of relations with South Korea. Vigorous diplomacy soon followed, and Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in then met in a historic summit.

Later, the US, too, engaged in diplomacy with Pyongyang, which culminated in a summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12.

The two Koreas have, however, advanced their relations far more swiftly than Washington and Pyongyang. The US continues to maintain harsh sanctions on the North.

South Korea’s chief delegate Kim Jeong-ryeol said in the Tuesday meeting that progress on the railway issue would only become possible after international restrictions on North Korea are eased.

“But, he said, “we can thoroughly research and study various projects we can pursue after the sanctions are lifted.”

26, June 2018

US to ‘reassess’ N Korea talks if Kim fails to deliver ⁰

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States stays committed to talks with North Korea but will “reassess” all ties if North Korea leader Kim Jong-un fails to deliver on denuclearization promises that he made to President Donald Trump.

Speaking to CNN in a phone interview on Monday, the top US diplomat said both sides were working together to achieve what Kim and Trump agreed upon during their historic summit on June 12 in Singapore.

“I am not going to put a timeline on it, whether that’s two months, six months, we are committed to moving forward in an expeditious moment to see if we can achieve what both leaders set out to do,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo emphasized that future of the talks depended on Pyongyang’s steps towards nuclear disarmament and Washington would “constantly reassess” progress in this regard.

In exchange for Kim’s promise to dismantle his nuclear weapons program, Trump has put on hold joint military drills with South Korea and Japan off the Korean Peninsula.

“The President was clear. Each of the actions we have taken, his decision to suspend the high level war games, it’s only so long as there is a good faith negotiation progress, productive results being achieved,” Pompeo said.

“If we can’t do that, if it turns out that there is no capacity to deliver the outcome that both presidents said they wanted, yeah, we reassess,” he added.

‘Unequivocal’ Kim

Pompeo claimed that Kim sounded “unequivocal” on denuclearization both during the Trump meeting and before that, when he personally met the North Korean leader as CIA director.

“I heard it myself when I visited there as CIA director, I heard it myself when I visited Pyongyang as Secretary of State and I heard it again where there was a group together with the President and Chairman Kim,” he said.

Pompeo said it was too soon to expect a clear roadmap for ending decades of tensions between the two sides, but they were on the right track.

“So long as that commitment stays in place, the United States is prepared to do exactly what the president said,” the state secretary added.

Despite the new developments, Washington has made it clear that it won’t lift tough economic sanctions against Pyongyang until its complete denuclearization.

Source: Presstv

25, June 2018

Cameroon Dangles Unsavoury Bait To Ambazonians ⁰

A bloody conflict pitting Cameroun government forces and restorationist forces of Ambazonia is in its eighth month. Cameroun government has come up with a humanitarian assistance package to placate the suffering internally displaced populations and refugees from the Northwest and Southwest regions of the Cameroons.

The conflict begun in November 2016 with lawyers and teachers putting forward demands, which if addressed in timely manner and appropriately would have prevented the present bloody conflict. Instead, Cameroun government chose strong arm methods to quell the civilian demands of the populations. There were kidnappings, imprisonment without trial, mass rape, killings and scorched earth policy with the burning down of whole villages.

Restorationists retaliated fistfully, inflicting fatal blows and the fabric of government security groups. Scores of military and paramilitary have been killed.

Government forces, radicalized their actions. Unarmed civilians were slaughtered by Cameroun troops, with such savagery that should be the handiwork of a terrorist movement.

While restorationists take on government troops and administrators, perceived as architects of mismanagement and brutality, Cameroun government attacks everyone in targeted Anglophone villages as terrorists to be wiped out.

All Anglophones are presented to the world as terrorists, as such, restorationists claim they have only been defending their kindred targeted for genocide by Cameroon.

Government still believes they would be able to crush the restorationists, yet they dangle unsavoury baits to the suffering masses of the Northwest and Southwest regions of the Cameroons. The leadership of Ambazonia is warning people not to accept such GIFTS and has gone ahead to threaten to attack bearers of such GIFTS.

Violence has been equalized in the Cameroons with both sides of the conflict excelling in savagery. The restorationists are feeling embolden with their early gains on the warfront. They have succeeded the violent State military unleashing untold brutality on unarmed civilians.

Balance of power has been established, with government coming down from its high horse to entertain the possibility of dialogue on a peaceful resolution. Hawks among government, who were earlier opposed to any discussion on the form of the State are now ready to talk about federalism.

Restorationists say a lot of water has passed under the bridge, and they would stop at nothing short of independence.

In this conundrum, government came us with a plan to raise 12.7 billions Francs CFA for reconstruction, medical care and food supply to the displaced Ambazonians.

Yet The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Nai Atanga is calling the fired up Ambazonian Defence Forces to lay down their arms and surrender. As he touts the restorationists, they intensify their attacks against soldiers and administrators on the field.

Government’s narrative must change if they are seriously seeking an honourable way out of the conflict. The war is unwinnable, and if government does not change its approach the troops would be doomed to meet the Waterloo restorationists have prepared for them.

While government troops are afraid of dying, the restorationists are ready to die for independence of Ambazonia. In this dilemma, government should withdraw its troops from the conflict zone and act as if they are conceding. They should help the restorationists to organize themselves to secure the Northwest and Southwest regions.

Failure would only attract the restorationists to cross their perceived borders to wreck havoc in the other eight regions of the Cameroons.

Source: Modern Ghana

25, June 2018

FIFA World Cup: Russia’s winning form faces first big test against Uruguay ⁰

After defying expectations with decisive wins in their first two games, guaranteeing their position in the knockout rounds, World Cup hosts Russia face their biggest challenge yet on Monday as they take on Uruguay.

Russia went into the tournament with the lowest FIFA ranking of all the 32 participants, at number 70, behind such teams as Scotland and Burkina Faso.

But the team shocked critics with a resounding 5-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia in their June 14 opener, before crushing Mohamed Salah’s Egypt 3-1 on June 19 – allowing Russia to get out of the group stage for the first time since they played as the Soviet Union in 1986.

‘We did our homework’

Russia manager Stanslav Cherchesov has argued that the team’s success is due to more than a home-country advantage. “It is not an accident that we have two wins under our belt,” he said. “We did our homework. We learned from our mistakes that didn’t allow us to be successful in the past.”

The performance of the team’s top scorer, Denis Cheryshev, is symbolic of Russia’s shock success. Before the World Cup, the Villareal striker had failed to score a single goal in his 11 appearances for the national team. But he has become Russia’s top scorer of the tournament so far, netting three goals – including an outstanding lob of the Saudi keeper from just inside the box.

Cheryshev is not the only overlooked Russian player to impress. Midfielder Aleksandr Golovin had done little to attract the attention of Europe’s top clubs since joining the CSKA Moscow first team in 2014, but played a pivotal role in Russia’s 5-0 crushing of Saudi Arabia, with one goal and two assists.

Similarly, Golovin’s midfield colleague Roman Zobnin went into the World Cup after two undistinguished years at Spartak Moscow, but gave a remarkably protean performance against Egypt, attacking and tracking back with equal skill, winning 10 out of 14 duels.

Suarez-Cavani partnership

However, Uruguay are likely to be much tougher opponents than Saudi Arabia or Egypt. The team boasts a formidable attacking partnership, combining the menace of Barcelona striker Luis Suarez (110 goals in 130 matches for his club) with the poaching proficiency of PSG forward Edinson Cavani (116 goals in 165 matches for his).

The South American team stands at 14th place in the FIFA rankings and came second in the CONMEBOL qualifiers, despite Suarez’s absence in the first four matches and that of Cavani in the first two.

That said, Spain and Portugal – one of which Russia will likely face in the second round – are even more impressive sides. The former retain much of the distinctive ‘tika-taka’ approach that brought them to World Cup victory in 2010, while the latter side is centred around Cristiano Ronaldo, widely considered one of the greatest players of all time.

If the World Cup hosts beat Uruguay before defeating one of the Iberian teams in the second round, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2010 statement that he expects his country to lift the trophy on home soil will no longer seem quite so fanciful.

Source: France 24

25, June 2018

South Sudan foes meet face-to-face for first time in 2 years to end war ⁰

Major foes in the years-long conflict in South Sudan have embarked on a new round of peace talks to end the deadly war in the country.

The talks between President Salva Kiir and arch-foe Riek Machar in the Sudanese capital Khartoum began on Mondayو with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni mediating the negotiations that many hope would end South Sudan’s four-and-a-half year brutal civil war.

The talks come after a first meeting in Ethiopia on Thursday failed to achieve any breakthrough. Regional East African leaders have been struggling to come up with a solution to the conflict in South Sudan, the world’s newest country which would be hit with United Nations sanctions if it fails to put an end to the bloodshed.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly four million others displaced as a result of the war, which erupted in December 2013 when disputes intensified between Kiir and his then deputy Machar. The two met face-to-face for the first time in two years in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, but failed to reach any agreement. South Sudan’s government said right after the meeting that it “had enough” of Machar.

“As the people of South Sudan, not the president alone, but as the people of South Sudan, we are saying enough is enough,” said Michael Makuei, a government spokesman, on Friday, while rejecting the idea that Machar could be part of any transitional government.

From left to right, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir participate in a peace meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, on June 25, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

South Sudan has repeatedly indicated that a future government could include rebel figures other than Machar who is blamed to have triggered the conflict by plotting a coup against Kiir five years ago. The official position, which was reiterated after talks in Ethiopia, once again showed the ever-increasing personal enmity between Kiir and Machar, which many say is the main cause of the protracted conflict in South Sudan that gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

However, Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed said Monday that despite all existing differences between the two foes, talks in Khartoum could bear fruit.

“In this round of talks we are looking for a breakthrough to this thorny issue,” said Ahmed.

Source: Presstv

25, June 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: CDC finally laid to rest as three companies seal deal ⁰

The largest employer after the Cameroon government has been handed over to foreign investors. A CDC protocol agreement signed on Wednesday 20th June, 2018 in Yaoundé finally brought to reality the much rumoured speculation of privatisation. Three companies: Tylium from Egypt, Fertilore and Timac Agro from France are the new owners of the multi agro industrial establishment in Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Concord News sources revealed that Tylium is interested in the palm oil and rubber sectors, while the two French firms want to revamp production and fertilization of the CDC plantations. Present during the signing of the protocol agreement were the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development and the General Manager of Cameroon Development Corporation, Njie Franklin Ngoni.

Cat calls have greeted the deal with many Southern Cameroonians saying that the timing of the sale was deliberate and an act of economic war against Ambazonians by the Francophone dominated government of President Biya. An aide to Acting President Dr Ikome Sako was quoted as saying that French involvement in CDC is a calculated strategy to stifle the Southern Cameroons resistance.

The historic agro industrial plant in West Africa now has only the medical and technical services including the head office. Banana and tea had been long privatized.

By Tina Nene Nganda