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10, March 2022

Europa League: Munir strike gives Sevilla edge over West Ham ⁰

Munir El Haddadi’s sweet half-volley put Sevilla in sight of the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday after a narrow 1-0 victory over West Ham.

El Haddadi’s second-half strike at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan means Sevilla have a slim but deserved advantage ahead of the second leg at the London Stadium next week.

The win gives West Ham work to do although David Moyes’ side might not be too unhappy with the result either.

They remain in touch with the six-time champions and will now hope to turn the result around in front of their own fans in London.

Sevilla and West Ham had never met before in a UEFA competition but both teams are among the favourites in this year’s knock-out stages.

After winning the Europa League four times since 2014, Sevilla are arguably the team to beat but West Ham sit sixth in the Premier League and, until recently, were in the driving seat to finish in the top four.

The fact this season’s final will be at Sevilla’s very own Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where the Spanish club have lost only two of their last 35 European games, has only served to heighten expectations.

They have not lost at home to a foreign team in Europe since 2011.

With that in mind, a narrow defeat is far from disastrous for West Ham, who could have claimed a draw had Nicola Vlasic scored with an excellent headed chance early on.

Michail Antonio also fired into the side-netting while Sevilla went close when El Haddadi headed wide and Youssef En-Nesyri saw his finish well blocked.

The decisive moment came on the hour after Lucas Ocampos was quicker to a loose ball out on the right and went down over the outstretched leg of Kurt Zouma.

Marcos Acuna shaped to curl into the box but instead floated straight and to the back post, where El Haddadi had peeled free.

The forward timed his run perfectly and his finish was even better, a guided effort off the bounce sending the ball directly into the corner.

Tempers flared late on when West Ham’s Declan Rice tried to hoist up the floored En-Nesyri and Ocampos picked up a yellow card in the confrontations, meaning he will now miss the return game next week.

Source: AFP

10, March 2022

Macron welcomes EU leaders for Ukraine crisis ⁰

EU leaders gathered at Versailles for a two-day summit starting Thursday on how to address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid calls from Kyiv for a fast-tracked path to membership in the European bloc.

EU leaders doused Ukraine’s hopes gaining membership of the European Union quickly on Thursday, as they met to urgently address the fallout of the Russia’s invasion.

The meeting at the palace of Versailles was set to be the high point of France’s six-month EU presidency, but President Emmanuel Macron is instead leading a crisis summit following Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s brutal disruption of decades of stability in Europe.

The Ukraine war and the EU’s energy supply were to dominate the two-day meeting, with leaders sitting down for dinner in the same Hall of Mirrors where Western allies carved out a new map of Europe in 1919 after World War I.

“Europe will change even faster and stronger with the war (in Ukraine)”, Macron said as he greeted his counterparts at the former residence of France’s Sun King, Louis XIV.

The 27 heads of state and government met as fighting raged for a 15th day in Ukraine, with an outcry over the bombing of a maternity hospital in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as a Russian “war crime”. Moscow denied carrying it out, calling it a “staged provocation” by Ukraine.

Macron dubbed it a “disgraceful act of war”, with leaders from across the bloc condemning the atrocity and Spain calling it a “war crime” that demanded punishment.

The conflict has seen a swell of support in the EU for Ukrainian President Zelensky, but leaders used the talks to reiterate that a speedy track to membership was impossible.

“There is no such thing as a fast track,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said as he arrived for the talks.

“I want to focus on what can we do for Volodymyr Zelensky tonight, tomorrow, and EU accession of Ukraine is something for the long term, if at all,” he added.

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel warned against giving Kyiv the impression that “everything can happen overnight”.

‘Biggest issue’

Even before the war, Macron’s ambition for the summit was to lay down a path to strengthen Europe’s stature on the world stage.

The issue took greater significance with Russia’s war on the bloc’s eastern edge and leaders were to explore ways to shore up Europe’s self-reliance in a starkly more dangerous world, especially on energy.

The conflict has seen energy prices skyrocket, threatened the economy and sparked a pressing discussion on where Europeans can turn for gas and oil.

The EU imports about 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia with Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, especially dependent on the energy flow, along with Italy and several central European countries.

About a quarter of the EU’s oil imports also come from Russia.

Europe’s dependency on Russian energy even caused the first crack in the West’s unified response to Putin’s aggression, with the EU this week shying away from a ban on Russian oil imports implemented by the United States and Britain.

According to a draft of the meeting’s final declaration, the 27 leaders will cautiously agree to “phase out” the bloc’s dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal.

‘Resolutely invest’

The EU leaders will also try to advance on ways Europe can gain independence in highly sensitive sectors, including semiconductors, food production and most notably defence.

Collective security in the European Union is primarily handled by the US-led NATO alliance, but France, the EU’s biggest military power, would like the bloc to play a bigger role.

Since Russia’s belligerence against its pro-EU neighbour, bloc members have approved a total of half a billion euros in defence aid to Ukraine.

Berlin dramatically broke with long-standing doctrine when it announced it will plough 100 billion euros into national defence.

In view of the challenges, “we must resolutely invest more and better in defence capabilities and innovative technologies”, the leaders were expected to say.

Source: AFP

10, March 2022

Ukraine: Latest developments ⁰

Here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Russia moves on Kyiv

Fears are mounting th Ukraine capital will soon be encircled, with armoured vehicles rolling up to the northeastern edge.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko says half the Kyiv population has already fled.

But he warns the city is now “a fortress. Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified”.

‘No progress’ in talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba make “no progress” in their talks in Turkey, their first face-to-face meet since Moscow launched its invasion.

Fury at children’s hospital attack

Ukraine accuses Russia of a “war crime” over an attack on a children’s hospital in the besieged port of Mariupol that killed three including a child.

The Russian army claims the attack was a “staged provocation” by Ukraine.

71 children killed

At least 71 children have been killed and more than 100 wounded since the Russian invasion began, Ukraine says.

Mariupol under new attack

Mariupol comes under fresh attack, with the city council reporting Russian air strikes on residential buildings.

More than 1,200 civilians have been killed in the 10-day siege of the port, its mayor says.

The Red Cross calls the situation there “apocalyptic” after more than a week without water, power or heat. Safe routes out have repeatedly come under attack.

80,000 evacuated

More than 80,000 people have been evacuated from areas surrounding Kyiv and Sumy over the past two days, the Ukrainian government says,

Another 3,000 were taken “with difficulty” from Izyum, a city in eastern Ukraine, it says.

US threatens more sanctions

The United States and its European allies could impose additional penalties on Moscow because “the atrocities that they’re committing against civilians seem to be intensifying”, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says.

EU douses Ukraine’s hopes

European Union leaders tell Ukraine there is no fast way to join the bloc, with Dutch Prime Minster Mark Rutte saying membership is “something for the long term, if at all”.

Abramovich assets frozen

Britain freezes the assets of Roman Abramovich and six other Russian oligarchs, including what London describes as President Vladimir Putin’s “right-hand man”, Rosneft chief Igor Sechin.

Abramovich will now not be able to sell Chelsea Football Club, nor the club sign new players.

Invasion damage bill hits $100 bln

The Russian invasion has so far done around $100 billion worth of damage to roads, bridges and businesses in Ukraine, dealing a huge hit to its economy, Kyiv says.

Putin: Sanctions will hike food prices

The Russian president says oil and gas exports will not stop but warns food prices will soar because of sanctions since Moscow is one of the world’s top fertiliser producers.

Britain urges G7 oil ban

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss calls on the G7 to ban Russian oil imports after the US and Britain said they were “cutting the artery” of the Russian economy.

But fellow G7 members France, Germany, Italy and Japan are wary of such a move.

US warns on biological weapons

Washington rejects Russian claims it is involved in bio-weapons research in Ukraine and warns Russia could be preparing to use chemical or biological weapons.

2.3 million flee

The UN says more than 2.3 million people have fled Ukraine — more than half to Poland.

Source: AFP

10, March 2022

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t condemns Governor Okala Bilai’s visit to Ndian County ⁰

The leadership of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government has condemned the recent visit paid by the Francophone governor of the South West Okala Bilai to Ndian Division that comes amid intensified Ambazonia attacks on pro Yaoundé administrators.

Vice President Dabney Yerima on Wednesday slammed the local CPDM elites and traditional rulers in Ekondo Titi for receiving Governor Okala Bilai in Ndian, saying the move is deemed as betrayal of Southern Cameroons.

“The visit is an insult to the people of Southern Cameroons” Yerima added.

The exiled leader also expressed concern over statements made by the French Cameroun civil administrator during the visit.

The Ambazonia Interim Government expressed its regret over such visits, calling the so-called federalists in Southern Cameroons to stop providing the French Cameroun regime the opportunity to penetrate the Ambazonia homeland and to tamper with the interests of its counties.

“The IG reiterated its rejection of all forms of interaction with an enemy that violates Southern Cameroons sanctities and continues its aggression on the people of Southern Cameroons, continues to detain thousands of Southern Cameroons prisoners, kills Southern Cameroons children and destroys our homes, and displaces our people” the Yerima statement said.

Governor Okala Bilai travelled to Ekondo Titi a day after a roadside bomb killed both the Divisional Officer and mayor of Ekondo Titi.

By Isong Asu

9, March 2022

Cameroon Women Rally to Demand More Political Representation ⁰

In Cameroon, thousands of women protested on International Women’s Day Tuesday demanding more political power and government jobs. Women make up more than half of Cameroon’s population, but there is not a single female among the country’s 10 regional governors or council presidents.

Thousands of women turned out at the 20 Boulevard in Cameroon’s capital singing that they do not want to be treated as inferior to men any longer.

The Cameroon government said it expected between ten thousand and fifteen thousand women for International Women’s Day celebrations on Tuesday. But Cameroon’s Ministry of Women’s Empowerment said more than 20,000 came out in Yaounde to protest.

Similar protests took place in towns and villages across Cameroon, in both French- and English-speaking areas.

Nicoline Nwenushi Wazeh, founder of the NGO Pathways for Women’s Empowerment and Development, PaWED, says Cameroon’s government is not doing much for women to gain more political power or reach representation goals set by the United Nations and African Union.

“All four ministers of state are men. Out of the 39 ministers we only have six women. All ten governors of the regions are men. Of the 58 divisional officers we have only two women. The lack of political will has made it that Cameroon government neither respects the universal quota of 30% nor the African Union quota of 50-50,” she said.

Nwenushi said there are only 61 women in the 180-member the lower house of parliament and the Senate has 26 women against 74 men.

Mumah Bih Yvonne of the Cameroon Women’s Peace Movement’s says both President Paul Biya and Cameroon’s electoral laws make it difficult for women to climb to leadership positions.

“The electoral code does not clearly spell out what quota is reserved for women. It just mentions that gender should be taken into consideration. Women need to be pushed by political will so I think this government can do better by appointing women who are very apt in different positions,” Bih said.

Marie-Therese Abena Ondou is Cameroon’s Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family. She says the ministry she leads has been educating men to consider women as equals. She says she also educates women to contest for elected positions and not to be scared of intimidating men.

“Many men feel threatened when we talk about equality and we want to reassure them (men) that it is not that they [men] will be pushed aside, it is working together. Men and women are born equal and we should try to remember that both have the same potential if given the same opportunities,” Ondou said.

The U.N. marks International Women’s Day on March 8 to bring attention to women’s contributions to development and stop inequities. This year’s theme was “Gender Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.

Source: VOA

9, March 2022

Football: Benzema hat-trick sees Real Madrid knock PSG out of Champions League ⁰

Real Madrid pulled off one of the great Champions League comebacks on Wednesday as Karim Benzema scored a breath-taking hat-trick to upstage Kylian Mbappe and dump Paris Saint-Germain out in the last 16.

Madrid were set to be the latest victims of another Mbappe masterclass at the Santiago Bernabeu after the 23-year-old ran them ragged for the best part of an hour and fired in to put PSG 1-0 up on the night, 2-0 ahead on aggregate.

But Madrid came storming back as Benzema capitalised on a mistake by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and then scored an incredible double in two minutes, the third coming just eight seconds after PSG had kicked off.

When the full-time whistle confirmed their 3-2 aggregate victory, many of Madrid’s players dropped to their knees and looked up to the sky, as much perhaps in disbelief as joy, after completing one of the most memorable turnarounds in the club’s recent history.

All eyes were on Mbappe, who was the only player to be cheered by Madrid’s fans before the game as they were gifted an up-close preview of the player they hope will be theirs this summer.

Mbappe delivered, scoring a superb goal, not to mention a spellbinding second that was disallowed for offside when he bamboozled Thibaut Courtois with a magical dummy-finish.

To think he might not even have been 100 per cent here after a knock in training on Monday temporarily put his involvement in doubt.

But what looked set to become an exhibition of the world’s deadliest player instead became another remarkable European night for Real Madrid, who showed again why they consider this to be their competition.

Madrid clearly wanted to hit PSG hard form the start, with Dani Carvajal leaping and waving his hands at the crowd in an attempt to generate a wave of noise.

For a while, it worked, Vinicius Junior tearing down the left and Fede Valverde bulldozing through Mbappe, but the surge was brief. PSG killed Madrid’s momentum, pushed them back and took complete control.

Mbappe sped clear for the first time in the eighth minute, Neymar curling a ball into the space on the left. The stadium held its breath, Mbappe made space but this time hit Courtois.

Madrid dropped off but ceded control. Mbappe nipped past Eder Militao and Courtois saved. A lovely interchange between Lionel Messi and Marco Verratti gave Neymar a sight of goal but Courtois was there again.

PSG were comfortable now, dictating the play and sensing the trepidation. Madrid had openings, Benzema curling just wide, but all over the pitch they looked slower, heavier, more cumbersome.

Modric shines

Messi skipped through and scooped wide before Mbappe had his first of two goals ruled out, driving into the corner only to see the flag raised.

The goal, though, felt inevitable and in the 39th minute, it came. Carvajal lost the ball upfield and with Madrid committed, Neymar arced another brilliant pass over the top.

By the time he reached it, Mbappe only had David Alaba in front of him and as he shaped to bend into the far corner he instead fired early, whipping a deadly shot past Courtois and inside the near post.

Madrid tried to reset at half-time but Mbappe carried on where he left off with a brilliant, but disallowed, goal.

He fooled Courtois with an astonishing dummy shot, beating the Belgian without even touching the ball and slammed in. The flag went up but the stadium was astounded.

The game was becoming less a contest, more an Mbappe exhibition but then Benzema, out of nowhere, dragged Madrid back into the tie.

He chased Nuno Mendes’ backpass to Donnarumma, who skewed under pressure. Vinicius was able to collect and cut back to Benzema, who slotted home.

Suddenly, there was hope again, the crowd on their feet roaring Madrid on. Vinicius shot over when the ball cannoned kindly to him in the box. Luka Modric tracked Messi and slid him into touch.

It was Modric who inspired Madrid’s second too, a scintillating run through midfield allowing Vinicius to race clear down the left. He scooped back inside to Modric, whose exquisite reverse pass found Benzema, who finished.

Madrid were level on aggregate, the goal confirmed after a check from VAR. Then eight seconds later, incredibly, they were ahead. PSG squandered possession from kick-off, Rodrygo released Vinicius and Marquinhos’ attempted clearance found Benzema, who steered into the corner.

“This is how Madrid win,” the fans began to sing. They fell quiet when Messi stood over a free-kick in injury time but the ball curled over and the cheers began again.

Source: AFP

9, March 2022

Russian tanks are getting close to the Ukrainian capital ⁰

At a deserted service station on the motorway northeast of Kyiv, a Ukrainian officer warns: “Don’t go any further. The Russians are over there.”

Over the last five days, the Russians have advanced more than 80 kilometres (62 miles) on the northeastern front and are getting close to the Ukrainian capital.

The Ukrainian officer in camouflage points towards the north, where the motorway stretches empty to the horizon between snow-covered fields.

“The Russian tanks are just over there, two kilometres away,” he said, ordering a civilian vehicle to turn round and go back, due to the danger from Russian forces.

“Drive in a zig-zag to avoid their shots,” he advises the driver.

Then he returns to his watch, in charge of around a dozen soldiers whose task it is to pass on information on Russian tanks so that the Ukrainian army can bomb them as soon as they move to break through the lines.

The Russian tanks are stationed just a few kilometres away from Kyiv’s city limits.

Last Saturday, the Russians were about 80 kilometres further up this road, on a level with the city of Chernihiv.

This advance along the motorway from the north brings Russian tanks just to the east of Kyiv, heightening fears that they could soon encircle the capital.

Russian tanks are also just a few kilometres from the city to its northwest.

In the surrounding villages, there are few cars on the road and they drive with utmost caution in what is now frontline territory.

Source: AFP

9, March 2022

Plane carrying former US President Donald Trump makes emergency landing ⁰

A plane carrying former US President Donald Trump made an emergency landing in New Orleans on Saturday evening after experiencing engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico, a source familiar with the matter confirmed on Wednesday.

The plane, a Dassault Falcon 900, had gone about 75 miles from a New Orleans airport before turning back to the city, the person said. Other passengers included Secret Service agents, support staff and some of Trump’s advisers.

A Trump representative did not immediately return a request for comment on the incident.

The plane was returning Trump to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, from a New Orleans hotel where he was speaking to Republican Party donors at a private event, the person said.

The plane belonged to a donor who loaned it to the former president for the evening, the source said, and Trump advisers secured another donor’s plane to take him back to Florida.

The incident was first reported on Wednesday by Politico and the Washington Post.

(Source: Reuters)

9, March 2022

Ukraine, Russia agree to day-long ceasefire to allow evacuation of civilians ⁰

Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday agreed on a day-long ceasefire around a series of evacuation corridors to allow civilians to escape the fighting. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Moscow vowed to respect the truce from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm around six areas, including regions near Kyiv, in Zaporizhzhia in the south, and some parts of Ukraine’s northeast.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is no longer transmitting data to the UN’s atomic watchdog, the agency said Tuesday. More than 200 technical staff and guards remain trapped at the site, working 13 days straight since the Russian takeover.

US President Joe Biden announced a ban on US imports of oil from Russia in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK also said they would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

The UN said the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 surged past 2 million.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to “fight to the end” in a virtual speech to UK lawmakers that earned him a standing ovation. “We will not give up and we will not lose,” he said.

Source: France 24

9, March 2022

Ukraine leader vows: ‘We will fight to the end’, in virtual speech to UK lawmakers ⁰

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, invoking the wartime defiance of British prime minister Winston Churchill, vowed Tuesday (March 8) to “fight to the end” in a historic virtual speech to UK lawmakers.

“We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight to the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost, in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets,” he said.