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5, July 2018

French President Macron says Migration ‘not just a security issue,’ ⁰

French President Emmanuel Macron said a new vision of Africa that reflects the continent’s vitality is necessary to tackle Europe’s migration crisis in an exclusive interview Wednesday with FRANCE 24-RFI in Nigeria.

Capping a two-nation Africa tour that included an African Union summit in Mauritania and a visit to Nigeria, Macron called for a comprehensive rethink of the migration crisis that has seen millions risk their lives in recent years to reach Europe.

“Let’s look lucidly at this subject of migration. The very poor do not leave their country, they are the middle classes of emerging economies that are passing through Libya today,” said Macron, referring to the dangerous Mediterranean routes from Africa to Europe. “An overwhelming majority of those who go to sea after months, years of wandering, suffering, where do they come from? Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Guinea. Are these countries doing less well than they were ten years ago? No. And so we have a youth who believe there is no hope in their countries.3

Speaking to Claudy Siar of FRANCE 24’s sister radio station RFI in the southern Nigerian city of Lagos, Macron admitted that migration is “one of the greatest political challenges today and the next few years because it will not stop.”

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel evaded a political crisis by striking a deal this week with her Bavarian allies to limit migrant entries, Macron noted that the issue had “plunged Europe into a moral and political crisis and it is born, it must be said, of an African crisis.”

Paying respects at ‘The Shrine’ nightclub

Macron’s interview came at the end of a three-day African tour that saw the 41-year-old French president inaugurate a cultural centre at the Alliance Française in the Nigerian commercial capital of Lagos on Wednesday.

The previous night, Macron made an unconventional stop, for a visiting head-of-state, at the New Afrika Shrine, an iconic nightclub founded by the Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti.

He also announced France’s plans to host a major cultural event featuring music, dance and fashion, titled, “Season of African Cultures 2020”.

Speaking to Siar at the Lagos Alliance Française, Macron noted that his Africa visit was not just about “big defence contacts, big mining and commercial contacts,” but also about “the ecosystem of economic and development and how to involve civil society”.

Not a land of ‘worry, immigration and terrorism’

Calling for a contemporary vision of Africa in France, Macron noted that most French people had a vision of the continent from the archaeological finds and artworks in museums and private collections. “But that is not the Africa of today,” he said, noting that the majority of French people knew little about the youth of Africa and the young artists, writers and filmmakers that made the continent a vibrant place.

As a university student, Macron did an internship in Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, a stint that familiarised him with the vibrant West African cultural scene.

The New Afrika Shrine, he noted, was familiar terrain. “I went several times to the Shrine and some other iconic places of Nigerian culture, of the Afrobeat,” he said. “I experienced even more furious evenings there than yesterday,” he joked. When questioned further, he added, “Well, look, they slightly arranged things. But there’s an energy, tremendous energy and still this strength, this vitality of a tremendous cultural project.”

That image and discourse of vitality, Macron suggested, was critical to change the vision of Africa inside the continent as well as for the African diaspora in Europe. “Yesterday at the Shrine, I seemed like the middle-aged man. If you see the artists, they’re very young. We don’t have to give the youth their place, they’ve already taken it.” That, said Macron, was essential for a fundamental rethink on both sides of the Mediterranean. “The first thing is that France should have is a different view of Africa, that Africa is not viewed as a land of worry, immigration and terrorism, but a land of vitality, of culture.”

Source:France 24

5, July 2018

Southern Cameroonians want to see President Biya tried as a war criminal ⁰

President Biya should be arrested and tried as a war criminal over the killings in Southern Cameroons, according to a survey conducted by Cameroon Concord News Group. Hundreds of Ambazonians who took part in the survey in Bamenda, Buea, Mamfe, Mundemba, Kumba, Wum, Muyuka, Tiko, Ndop and Bali said Mr. Biya is knowingly misleading international public opinion on the genocide in Southern Cameroons and should be tried as a war criminal.

The number of Ambazonians who said President Biya should be arrested and tried as a war criminal was higher among those who had served as civil servants under the CPDM regime when compared with the several hundreds of unemployed. 5% noted that once independence is gotten, Southern Cameroonians should move on and take no action against a foreign head of state.

Nearly half of the 18 to 24-year-olds said they wanted to see Mr Biya tried as a war criminal in Den Hague in Holland. The Cameroon Concord News Group findings come as some members of the International Criminal Court noted recently that crimes against humanity were being committed in Southern Cameroons.

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has been playing out for almost two years has finally entered a critical phase. While Southern Cameroonian fighters are making huge advances, which are making a mockery of the government’s military action, the Yaoundé government is now scrambling for a peaceful resolution as it has noticed that it is dealing with a very dicey situation. The government is under enormous pressure as the killing of army soldiers becomes a daily ritual.

It is becoming clear to the government that there will never be a convincing military victory in this battle that will surely last for decades. The government is gradually coming to terms with the fact that it was a huge mistake to declare war on Southern Cameroonians who were simply complaining about a system that has reduced them to second-class citizens.

Currently, the dynamics are changing. The government’s arrogance is gradually being eroded by the determined Southern Cameroonian fighters whose actions have struck fear in the minds of many army soldiers. The government is today staring down the barrel of defeat, as its treasury continues to lose money and its soldiers feeling really despondent as they face the prospect of dying in the Rocky Mountains and dense jungles of Southern Cameroons.

Many government officials know that defeat is staring the government in the face. Many want to sue for peace, but they don’t know how to proceed as their arrogance has muddied the waters and made reconciliation challenging. The Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has accused Mr Biya of committing a crime of aggression by invading Southern Cameroons.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sama Ernest and Kingsley Betek

5, July 2018

Cameroon man gets 14 years for scamming Chinese girlfriend 6m yuan ⁰

A Cameroonian man was sentenced to 14 years in prison and deportation from China after he defrauded his Chinese “girlfriend” of more than 6 million yuan ($896,000).

A woman surnamed Hu in Beijing transferred the money to her “boyfriend,” who she met on a dating website in 2014, agreeing to support his studies, living expenses and medical care costs, before she found herself swindled, The Beijing News reported on Tuesday, referring the Cameroonian national as “Weili.”

Local police detained Weili in October 2016 after receiving a complaint from Hu, and the suspect was prosecuted in September 2017.

According to Hu, Weili claimed to be born and raised in France. Hu fell in love with him and sold her house in Beijing to meet Weili’s demands for money during their less-than-two-year relationship.

Starting in August 2014, Hu transferred money various times to Weili’s bank account. Weili defrauded money from Hu using different pretexts.

For example, he said he needed help to pay for his living expenses in Paris when he “attended” a UN global climate conference.

Hu later discovered that Weili was actually in Cameroon instead of France at the time when he claimed to attend the climate conference.

While dating Hu, Weili also lived in Beijing together with his pregnant Cameroonian girlfriend, to whom he transferred some of the money he got from Hu.

The Third Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing in 2017 sentenced Weili to 14 years in prison, fined him 140,000 yuan and ordered him deported from China.

There was no information on whether the defrauded money had been returned.

Source:ECNS.cn

5, July 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: More than half a billion CFA francs ($900 000) collected from the public in Douala ⁰

Cameroonians have donated hugely to an emergency aid fund for two anglophone regions hit by violence between separatists and government forces, the state media reported on Tuesday.

More than half a billion CFA francs ($900 000) has been collected from the public in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital, and in the regions of Centre and South, CRTV radio said.

On June 20, the government announced plans for a 12.7 billion CFA franc emergency aid plan for the Southwest and Northwest regions, where life has been badly hit by the violence.

The money would come from “the state budget, an appeal to national solidarity and contributions from international partners,” it said. The Northwest and Southwest regions are home to most of Cameroon’s English-speakers, who account for about a fifth of a mainly French-speaking population of 22 million.

Years of resentment at perceived discrimination at the hands of the francophone majority have fuelled demands for anglophone autonomy, which last year culminated in a declaration of independence.

A government crackdown then followed, plunging the two regions into almost daily acts of violence and retribution.

A government report last week said anglophone separatists in Cameroon had killed 81 members of the security forces and more than 100 civilians, and torched at least 120 schools.

The overall toll among civilians remains unclear.

According to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank, at least 120 civilians and 43 members of the security forces have been killed since the end of 2016.

The UN says 160 000 people have been internally displaced and 20, 000 have sought refuge in neighbouring Nigeria.

The presence of a large English-speaking minority dates back to the colonial period.

Cameroon, once a German colony, was divided between Britain and France after World War I.

The French colony gained independence in 1960, becoming Cameroon. The following year, the British-ruled Southern Cameroons was amalgamated into it, giving rise to the Northwest and Southwest regions.

Source: AFP

5, July 2018

China says US ‘opening fire’ on entire world ⁰

China says the United States is “opening fire” on the global economy and damaging the international supply chains by imposing tariffs on products from China and other countries, as controversial US duties on Chinese goods worth tens of billions are due to come into force at midnight Thursday.

“The US measures are essentially attacking global supply and value chains. To put it simply, the US is opening fire on the entire world, including itself,” said Gao Feng, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, referring to the American practice of protectionism.

He said Beijing would continue to assess the impact of the current trade dispute with Washington and would help firms cope with possible shocks.

Last month, US President Donald Trump announced 25-percent tariffs on $50 billion in annual Chinese imports. He said he had also directed the US Trade Representative to identify $200 billion worth of imports for additional tariffs.

Trump also stressed at the time that his administration would be identifying another $200 billion in tariffs if China retaliated the new measures.

The total of $450 billion in goods represents the lion’s share of all of China’s exports to the US.

The label of a Washington DC sweatshirt bears an American flag but says “Made in China,” at a souvenir stand in Washington, DC, the United Sates, January 14, 2011. (Photo by Reuters)

The US administration had originally proposed duties in April, starting with 1,333 Chinese products. After obtaining some public feedback, it omitted 515 imports from the blacklist but added 284 others.

Washington will impose duties on 818 Chinese products, worth $34 billion a year, from the original list, due to take effect on July 6. The Trump administration will not target the 284 other items — worth $16 billion — until it collects further public comments.

China, for its part, has vowed to retaliate with matching duties on US goods.

Beijing has said that Chinese tariffs on American products would come into force shortly after those of Washington do.

Trump is also involved in a similar trade tussle with Europe, Canada, Mexico, and South Korea.

China ‘will not fire the first shot’

If the US duties proceed to take effect on Friday as planned, Beijing will hit back with its own tariffs, initially on nearly $30 billion in US goods on the same day, China’s General Administration of Customs said in a statement on Thursday.

It added that China would not be the first to pull the trigger, however.

The Chinese tariffs include duties on vehicles and many agricultural and food products, such as soybeans, which will hit American farmers — normally part of Trump’s popular base — hard.

The remaining $15-billion Chinese tariffs would be imposed in the second phase and would target US crude oil, propane, and chemicals.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Gao also said that China’s foreign trade was expected to continue on an unwavering trail even though investors were afraid that a full-scale Sino-US trade conflict would deal a body blow to Chinese exports and its economy.

Back on June 14, Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warned that the trade war sparked by unilateral US import tariffs would have no winners and that the tit-for-tat cycle of retaliation would only create “losers on both sides.”

She also added at the time that the outcome of such a trade conflict would have a “serious” economic impact on the US and global economies, including by causing inflation to speed up.

5, July 2018

Heat wave kills 17 in eastern Canada ⁰

A heatwave in Quebec has killed at least 17 people in the past week as high summer temperatures scorched eastern Canada, health officials said Wednesday.

Twelve of the dead were reported in the eastern province’s capital Montreal, said regional public health director Mylene Drouin.

The Tribune newspaper said five of the deaths occurred in the past 48 hours in the Eastern Townships, a rural area just east of the city.

“My thoughts are with the loved ones of those who have died in Quebec during this heat wave,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter.

“The record temperatures are expected to continue in central and eastern Canada, so make sure you know how to protect yourself and your family,” Trudeau said.

Drouin said the victims were part of “the very vulnerable population, the elderly or people suffering from chronic or mental illnesses.”

Temperatures soared to 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) with a humidity that made it feel closer to 40 degrees, the meteorological service said.

The mercury has regularly topped 30 degrees since Friday in southern Quebec, accompanied by stifling humidity levels.

A government heat warning is in place for the region, but meteorologists are forecasting a drop in temperatures at the end of the week.

No deaths had been reported for the same period in the neighboring province of Ontario, which has also sizzled under extremely high temperatures.

In 2010, a heat wave killed around 100 people in the Montreal area.

(Source: AFP)

4, July 2018

War in Ambazonia: There are no longer any words to describe Southern Cameroons’s horror ⁰

The senseless war in Southern Cameroons has exhausted all superlatives. Worst day, worst month, worst year, worst ever. To be sure, words can no longer describe the killings currently going on in Southern Cameroons. For the past few days, Cameroon government army soldiers have fired rockets and artillery in many areas in the Northern and Southern Zone.

Over the weekend alone, the French Cameroun government army killed more than 87 residents, including women and children in villages around the Muyuka and Muea districts according to a variety of groups contacted by Cameroon Concord News Group. The two year crisis death toll has now exceeded a thousand.

The state-run Cameroon Radio and Television reported on Monday that separatist’s fire from within the Fako County had killed civilians. However, what we do know is that Cameroon government troops have been responding to attacks from the Ambazonia Restoration Forces with strikes destroying homes and burning down villages.

The desperate situation and the near-total absence of any sign that further violence can be avoided have pushed many Southern Cameroonians to flee to neighboring Nigeria and some to French Cameroun. A Roman Catholic clergy who spoke to our correspondent in Buea wondered aloud if those inflicting the suffering on Southern Cameroons women and children still have words to justify their barbaric acts.

No doubt the so-called United Nations will express concern over the bloodshed, and that is it. Many more Southern Cameroonians will die, with words of sympathy ringing in their ears.

By Chi Prudence Asong, London

4, July 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 18 Ambazonians transferred from Buea to Kondengui ⁰

18 Anglophones were transferred yesterday from Buea Central Prison to Kondengui Prison, Yaounde. These 18 detainees are currently detained in ‘Kosovo’, a section of Kondengui maximum security prison.

They have been kept in tight chains and were brutally tortured last night by prison guards who repeatedly called them Ambazonians. This prompted a strike action in prison by other Anglophone inmates today. One of them has a decaying wound; another is suffering with a broken arm.

As a result of pressure and the strike action by other Anglophone inmates, the prison registrar said, orders from hierarchy demanded him to keep the detainees in chains for observation.

This is a repeated pattern of treatment upon Southern Cameroonians and alleged separatists, none of their rights are respected, presumption of innocence seems not to exist and authorities act with impunity.

List of 18 Anglophones transferred to Kondengui maximum security prison, Yaounde on July 2, 2018.

14 were transferred from Buea central prison to Kondengui, Yaounde and 4 were transferred from SED to Kondengui.

1) TATI ERIC NGU

2) HARRIS BOSEME

3) NKWETATO ROBERT

4) IKOE CLINTON

5) ACHA IVO ABEN

6) JOHN MARINUS NDENGE

7) OBEN FRANKLINE TABOT

8) EYONG CHARLES

9) EFFIA GIDEON

10) ORDEMA FRANCIS

11) AGBOR TAKU JOSEPH

12) AWU GREGORY ASHU

13) TANYI ROBERT TATAW

14) JONG ORLANDUS

15) NJEYA JUKIUS BAWE

16) KUM NESTOR

17) AYUKEM FRANKLIN

18) FONJONG ARMSTRONG

By Barrister Agbor Nkongho

CENTRE for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa

4, July 2018

Bundes: Merkel reaches deal with rebellious Interior Minister ⁰

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her rebellious interior minister have reached a compromise on a refugee dispute that threatened to disintegrate her coalition government.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, the leader of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU), told reporters after five hours of talks on Monday that he would maintain his post, saving Germany’s fragile government coalition.

He had threatened on Sunday to resign if he did not reach a deal with Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) on refugees.

“After intensive discussions between the CDU and CSU, we have reached an agreement on how we can in future prevent illegal immigration on the border between Germany and Austria,” Seehofer said late on Monday evening as he left the CDU’s Berlin headquarters.

Under the compromise, the refugees who have already applied for asylum in other European Union countries will be held in transit centers on the border while Germany negotiates bilateral deals for their return.

Merkel sounded pleased with the compromise.

“The spirit of partnership in the European Union is preserved and at the same time, an important step to order [has been taken],” the German chancellor said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is given her handbag by her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, as she arrives for a parliamentary group meeting of the conservative CDU/CSU union at the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in Berlin, on July 2, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Merkel’s CDU relies on the CSU to maintain power through a coalition. The CDU/CSU bloc took 33 percent of the votes in September 2017 elections.

In March, Merkel’s conservative alliance (the CDU/CSU bloc) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) reached a coalition deal after weeks of fierce negotiations that saw Merkel relinquish the key ministry of finance, among other concessions, further weakening her hold on the government.

Both the CDU and SPD performed poorly in the general elections last year. The SPD initially resisted going into a coalition with the CDU but relented after Merkel failed to reach a deal with two lesser-known parties.

Merkel’s 2015 decision to open the doors to over a million refugees, many fleeing war in the Middle East, fueled the rise of anti-immigration parties, including the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which now threatens to unseat the CSU in regional elections scheduled for October.

Europe has faced its worst refugee crisis since World War II. The continent has been hit since 2014 by an unprecedented influx of refugees fleeing conflict-ridden zones in North Africa and the Middle East, in particular Syria.

Source: Presstv

4, July 2018

2018 World Cup: England beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties ⁰

England have finally ended the decades long penalty jinx after beating Colombia on spot kicks at 4-3 to set up a quarterfinal match against Sweden.

England’s players pose before the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. (AFP)

England’s defender Ashley Young (L) and Colombia’s forward Falcao vie for the ball during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. (AFP)

Colombia’s and England’s players argue with the referee during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. (AFP)

England’s forward Harry Kane (9) scores the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. (AFP)

The 3-Lions got on the score-sheet when Harry Kane netted his 6th goal of the tournament from the spot, 8 minutes after the break. But, Yerry Mina equalized in the 3rd minute of injury time with a towering header to send the match into Extra Time.

England’s forward Harry Kane (R) is congratulated by teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. (AFP)

Colombia’s defender Yerry Mina (3R) scores a goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. (AFP)

Colombia’s defender Yerry Mina celebrates after scoring the equalizer during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. (AFP)

In the shoot-out, Colombian keeper David Ospina saved Jordan Henderson’s penalty to give Colombia the advantage, but Mateus Uribe struck the crossbar and Jordan Pickford denied Carlos Bacca brilliantly to give Eric Dier the chance to win it for England.