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WHO fears 700,000 more COVID-19 deaths in Europe

23, November 2021

WHO fears 700,000 more COVID-19 deaths in Europe 0

Europe remains “in the firm grip” of COVID and the death toll on the continent could top 2.2 million this winter if current trends continue, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

Some 700,000 could die in the coming months, the WHO said, as cases creep up across Europe, prompting some countries to reimpose tough restrictions.

The WHO expects “high or extreme stress in intensive care units (ICUs) in 49 out of 53 countries between now and March 1, 2022”.

“Cumulative reported deaths are projected to reach over 2.2 million by spring next year,” it added, up from the current 1.5 million.

COVID-19 is the leading cause of death across Europe and Central Asia, the WHO reported, citing figures from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The rise in Europe was being driven by a combination of the highly-contagious Delta variant, insufficient vaccination coverage and the easing of measures such as mask wearing and physical distancing, it said.

According to WHO data, COVID-related deaths increased last week to nearly 4,200 a day, doubling from 2,100 deaths a day at the end of September.

The WHO also said evidence was growing that vaccine-induced protection against infection and mild disease was declining.

“The COVID-19 situation across Europe and Central Asia is very serious. We face a challenging winter ahead,” regional director for WHO Europe, Hans Kluge, said in a statement.

He called for a “vaccine plus” approach, consisting of vaccinations, social distancing, the use of face masks and hand washing.

The WHO said face masks reduce COVID incidence by 53 percent according to a recent study, and “over 160,000 deaths could be prevented (by March 1) if universal mask coverage of 95 percent was achieved”.

(Source: AFP)

Yaounde: Special Status is to weaken the Ambazonia Interim Gov’t, subjugate Southern Cameroonians

23, November 2021

Yaounde: Special Status is to weaken the Ambazonia Interim Gov’t, subjugate Southern Cameroonians 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government says French Cameroun’s main objective out of the war in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is to undermine the Ambazonia Interim Government and subdue the people of Southern Cameroons.

“The 1953 Eastern Regional Crisis in Enugu did not have any spilled over effect into French Cameroun. Our leaders after the Mamfe Conference opted to remain close and intimate with East Cameroun but not at the expense of our sovereignty and dignity,” vice president Dabney Yerima said during a zoom ceremony in memory of the young school girl killed in Bamenda recently by a French Cameroun gendarme.

Yerima underlined that ever since Hon. Joseph Wirba left the French Cameroun National Assembly after he frequently criticized the war in Southern Cameroons as well as the brutal killing of thousands of innocent Southern Cameroons civilians, no other so-called Southern Cameroons CPDM MP has commented on the war including the murder of primary school pupils by French Cameroun uniform officers.

“Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and Joseph Beti Assomo are using the Francophone dominated army to kill our people and Philemon Yang, Atanga Nji, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Paul Tasong Victor Mengot and Elung Paul are applauding and passing for cabinet ministers. To me, they are insiders who are assisting La Republique and by extrapolation France to arrive at its goals,” Dabney Yerima pointed out.

Vice President Dabney Yerima stated that these French Cameroun surrogates are now quiet because they are watching Franck Biya who struggled to have Advance Level papers now coming into the political show in Yaoundé changing French Cameroun’s internal equations, and creating a new political structure with his visit to the new Sultan of Foumban in order to weaken the old generation and completely subjugate the people of Southern Cameroons.

“We advise the so-called Southern Cameroons CPDM political elites who seek to weaken the Ambazonia uprising to renounce their acts, as the Ambazonia Interim Government is well-established and deeply-rooted in Southern Cameroons, and no one can either depose it or downplay its role in getting Southern Cameroonians to Buea,” Dabney Yerima noted.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

At least 45 people killed in bus blaze in Bulgaria

23, November 2021

At least 45 people killed in bus blaze in Bulgaria 0

At least 45 people, including a dozen minors, were killed after a bus caught fire south of the Bulgarian capital early Tuesday morning, officials said.

A cause has yet to be determined but officials believe a fire broke out on board and the bus crashed into guardrails.

There were no other vehicles involved in the accident, which occurred around 2:00 am (2400 GMT) on a highway about 40 kilometres (26 miles) from Sofia, near the village of Bosnek.

“Of the victims … 12 in total were under the age of 18,” national police chief Stanimir Stanev said.

He told bTV television that 45 of the 52 people on the bus were killed.

Nikolay Nikolov, head of the Fire Safety and Civil Protection department at the interior ministry, told public broadcaster BNT that “seven passengers survived”.

They were taken to a hospital in the capital with serious burns, he added.

According to bTV, the bus was travelling from Turkey’s main city of Istanbul to Skopje in North Macedonia.

North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said the victims were probably fellow Macedonians.

“We don’t know if all the victims are from North Macedonia, but we assume so because the bus is registered in the country,” he said in an interview with Nova TV.

But police chief Stanev said while the two drivers of the bus were Macedonian, the passengers were Albanian.

“Initial information shows that 52 people were travelling in the bus, including two drivers with Macedonian nationality and 50 passengers with Albanian nationality,” he said.

Bulgaria’s interim Prime Minister Stefan Yanev and Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov rushed to the site of the crash Tuesday morning, while local media said that the North Macedonian and Albanian premiers were also on their way.

“It’s a terrifying picture in there. I haven’t seen anything like that before,” Rashkov told journalists at the site.

“Nobody can say for certain how many are there and who they were. The bodies are badly burned and have to be identified one by one,” he added.

Bulgaria has a history of deadly bus accidents. Seventeen Bulgarian tourists died in 2018 when their bus skidded on a wet road and overturned.

A total of 628 people died in road accidents in 2019 and 463 in 2020 in the country of 6.9 million people, according to official data. The accidents were often attributed to poor road conditions, outdated cars and speeding.

Source: AFP

Football: Lewandowski, Benzema nominated for FIFA’s Best award

22, November 2021

Football: Lewandowski, Benzema nominated for FIFA’s Best award 0

Robert Lewandowski is in the running to retain his Best FIFA Men’s Player award after he was named Monday on an 11-man shortlist alongside Karim Benzema and Jorginho.

Perennial candidates Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo feature among the nominees, with Neymar, Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe also up for a prize first awarded in 2017.

Erling Haaland, N’Golo Kante and Kevin De Bruyne complete the list of potential winners.

Four Barcelona players are included on the women’s best player shortlist – Alexia Putellas, Jennifer Hermoso, Aitana Bonmati and Caroline Graham Hansen.

Chelsea, beaten by Barcelona in last season’s Women’s Champions League final, also have four representatives with Sam Kerr, Ji So-yun, Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder.

Lucy Bronze, who took home last year’s award, was nominated with fellow England international Ellen White.

Canada’s Olympic gold medallist Christine Sinclair is in contention too, as is Stina Blackstenius of Sweden.

Thomas Tuchel is a frontrunner for best men’s coach after leading Chelsea to the Champions League title. He faces competition from Roberto Mancini, the mastermind of Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph.

Other nominees are Hansi Flick, Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte, Diego Simeone and Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni.

The prizes for the best men’s and women’s player, coach and goalkeeper are voted for by the captains and coaches of all national teams around the world, as well as an online ballot of fans and a select number of journalists.

Voting will run from November 22 to December 10.

The three finalists in each category will be revealed in early January, with the awards ceremony to be held virtually from FIFA headquarters in Zurich on January 17.

The separate Ballon d’Or award ceremony will be staged in Paris on November 29.

Source: AFP

Irish Football: Perfect start for Paul Osam’s “men”

22, November 2021

Irish Football: Perfect start for Paul Osam’s “men” 0

The Republic of Ireland Men’s Under-16s team won the first of three friendly games in Polop, Spain, 3-0 thanks to second half goals from Freddie Turley, Luke Kehir and Taylor Mooney.

It is the perfect start in a trio of games for Paul Osam’s side which will see them take on Spain on Wednesday and Norway again on Sunday.

 Ireland were on the front foot throughout the game causing numerous problems to their Norwegian opponents and they had two glorious chances in the first half to break the deadlock.

 The first came when Cillian Mulvihill rounded the goalkeeper in the 26th minute but he could only find the side netting with his effort.

 Ten minutes later Ireland were awarded a penalty when Mulvihill was felled inside the area. Naj Razi stepped up to take it but saw his spotkick well saved by Daniel Gjerde Saetren.

 In the second half Ireland turned their display up a notch and it was a 10-minute period that did the damage for Osam’s side.

 In the 50th minute Freddie Turley found the back of the net with a header after great work down the left from Nickson Okosun. Two minutes later it was 2-0 when Kehir finished off an excellent team goal to double Ireland’s advantage.

 Mooney, who had been on the field a matter of minutes, made it 3-0 to Ireland in the 60th minute as the young Boys in Green put distance between themselves and their opponents.

 Norway sought a way back in the game and were dangerous from set-pieces but a late effort from a corner was cleared off the line by Sean Hayden to preserve the cleansheet.

 Ireland saw out the match and will head into Wednesday’s game against the hosts Spain off the back of a solid victory.

 Republic of Ireland: Healy (GK); Mackey (C) (O’Halloran 65), O’Sullivan, Hayden, Queally; Turley (Patton 70), Negry-McGrath (Dodd 55), Kehir; Naj Razi, Cillian Mulvihil (Mooney 55), Okosun (Cannon 70)

 Norway: Gjerde Saetren (GK), Herman Bjustrøm, Kvale, Hammer Kjelsen ©, Børset, Randen, Nypan, Jama, Bjørndalen Sørum, El-Abdellaoui, Kjølstad Nyheim.

International friendly fixtures (all kick-off times are Irish time)

Wednesday, November 24 | Spain MU16 v Ireland MU16, Orihuela, Spain, KO 5pm

Sunday, November 28 | Ireland MU16 v Norway MU16, venue TBC, Spain, KO 11am

Republic of Ireland Men’s Under-16s Squad

Goalkeepers: Jason Healy (Waterford FC), Rian Hogan (St. Patrick’s Athletic)

Defenders: Sean Hayden (St. Patrick’s Athletic),  Sean Mackey (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Sean McCarthy (Bohemians), Cory O’Sullivan (Shamrock Rovers), Adam Queally (Waterford FC), Patryk Swieczka Andrzejczak (Cork City)

Midfielders: Anthony Dodd (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Luke Kehir (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Taylor Mooney (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Daniel Negry-McGrath (Bohemians), Adam O’Halloran (Galway United), Najemedine Razi (Shamrock Rovers) Freddie Turley (Shamrock Rovers)

Forwards: Aidan Cannon (Celtic), Brian Moore (St Patrick’s Athletic), Cillian Mulvihill (Cork City), Nickson Okosun (Bohemians), Sean Patton (Finn Harps)

Culled from FAI

Israel’s Netanyahu obsessed with image, court told

22, November 2021

Israel’s Netanyahu obsessed with image, court told 0

Israel’s former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought “total and complete” control over his media image, his ex-spokesman told the graft trial of the veteran leader on Monday.

“If we use the term ‘control freak,’ he is much more than that,” said Nir Hefetz. “In everything relating to the media, he demands to know everything, down to the smallest detail.”

The testimony of Hefetz, seen as a key prosecution witness in Israel’s highest-profile trial, had been postponed from last week at the request of Netanyahu’s legal team.

Netanyahu — who was Israel’s longest serving prime minister, including a record 12-year tenure from 2009 to 2021, and now head of the opposition — has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

The indictments collectively accuse him of accepting improper gifts and illegally trading regulatory favour with media moguls in exchange for positive coverage.

Hefetz said in his district court testimony that Netayahu’s “control over everything relating to media matters and his social media channels could not be higher”.

“Netanyahu spends at least as much as his time on media as he spends on security matters, including on matters an outsider would consider nonsense.”

The session focused on Netanyahu allegedly granting favours to Shaul Elovitch, then-head of Israel’s largest telecom company, Bezeq, in exchange for favourable coverage by its Walla news website.

Netanyahu is accused of offering regulatory benefits that could have been worth millions to the company in return for the politically advantageous coverage.

Hefetz said that in 2015, shortly before elections, Elovitch contacted him regularly to lobby for governmental approval of his group’s merger with cable TV operator Yes, and to find out who would be the next communications minister.

“I think he (Elovitch) was thinking at the time: who knows who will win; so the Yes deal had to be signed first,” Hefetz said.

Netanyahu left after the first few hours of testimony Monday after receiving permission from the court.

Source: AFP

Kenya to seek proof of Covid vaccination

22, November 2021

Kenya to seek proof of Covid vaccination 0

Kenyans will have to prove they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to gain access to government services and public places such as national parks, bars and restaurants under new health regulations.

The move comes despite Kenya recording a declining number of coronavirus infections in recent weeks, but against a backdrop of heightened restrictions in some European countries that are battling soaring cases.

Kenya will require people to show vaccination certificates from December 21, and is planning a 10-day mass inoculation campaign from November 26, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said in a statement issued late Sunday.

Visitors from Europe will also have to provide proof of full vaccination, he added.

Kenya, Kagwe said, has seen a “marked decrease” in the number of severe cases and deaths, with a positivity rate over the last 14 days ranging from 0.8 percent to 2.6 percent.

Since the start of the pandemic, the East African powerhouse has recorded a total of 254,629 cases and 5,325 deaths.

‘Not yet time to celebrate’

“I have no doubt that looking at these statistics, it’s very easy to become complacent and fail to appreciate the magnitude of the problem that we still face with the pandemic,” Kagwe said.

“The current decline in the number of new infections may be attributed to a buildup of immunity both through natural exposure to the disease and the ongoing vaccination exercise. Nonetheless we know that it’s not yet time to celebrate.”

Only 2.4 million people, or less than nine percent of Kenya’s adult population, have been vaccinated, according to official figures, compared with a government target of 30 million by the end of next year.

Kagwe voiced concern about the low uptake of Covid shots, particularly among the elderly, and said it had slowed after the lifting of a night-time nationwide curfew last month.

He said Kenya had received a total of 10.7 million vaccine doses and expected to get another eight million, without giving a timeframe.

Under the new measures, in-person access to government services including hospitals, education, tax and immigration offices will be limited to those carrying proof of vaccination.

Similar restrictions will be imposed for public places such as national parks and game reserves, hotels, bars and restaurants, while all indoor gatherings will be limited to two-thirds capacity for vaccinated people only.

All those working in the public transport sector, such as pilots, drivers and “boda boda” motorcycle taxi drivers must also be fully inoculated.

Source: AFP

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t derives legitimacy from Southern Cameroonians

22, November 2021

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t derives legitimacy from Southern Cameroonians 0

Five years into the war in Southern Cameroons, the Biya French Cameroun occupying regime’s attempts to criminalize the struggle of the Ambazonian people have failed.

“The killing of our people including women and children will not deter us from continuing to defend our homeland by all legitimate means through self defense,” Vice President Dabney Yerima told the Ambazonia war cabinet late on Sunday.

Dabney Yerima said resisting La Republique du Cameroun occupation by all available means, including armed resistance, is a right granted to people under occupation all over the world and protected by international law.

Yerima observed that the Paris that fought for the rights of French speaking Canadians has been bias in favour of the French Cameroun regime and its policies that are based on murder, terror, massacre, and destruction.

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government concluded that Ambazonian noble fighters, and the rest of the resistance factions will continue to fight the enemy until achieving liberation and victory.

The ongoing armed conflict in the territory of the Southern Cameroons has finally redefined itself. It has redefined itself from a war simply of self-defense against the predatory onslaught of France through its vassal state of French Cameroun, to a decolonization war. It is a decolonization war against France, French Cameroun and its hawkish Bulu-Beti minority tribe. That tribe dominates and controls the government, the legislature, the judiciary, and the military in French Cameroun. It believes the people of the Southern Cameroons and their territory must remain imprisoned under French Cameroun colonization, spoliation, and occupation.

By Chi Prudence Asong with additional reporting  

NERA 10  serving as important pillar of Ambazonia struggle, Professor Anyangwe says

22, November 2021

NERA 10  serving as important pillar of Ambazonia struggle, Professor Anyangwe says 0

Professor Carlson Anyangwe has lauded the Ambazonian leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides as very important pillars of the Southern Cameroons nationalism, saying they are the crucial source of support for all Ambazonia restoration groups. 

The much respected Southern Cameroons academic pointed out in a conversation with Cameroon Intelligence Report that the sufferings of the NERA 10 deep inside the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in French Cameroun is of strategic significance because President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards including all Southern Cameroons detainees are the important pillars of the Southern Cameroons struggle.

Anyangwe revealed that the continued detention of the Ambazonian leadership in French Cameroun is helping the resistance and provides political, material and military support to the fighters in Ground Zero. He slammed the so-called CPDM Southern Cameroonians over their policies towards the struggle, including helping the occupying forces in killing their own people.

“The silence on the part of Musonge, Philemon Yang, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Paul Tasong and Paul Atanga Nji these days is shocking, especially as their Biya regime continues to kill inncoent primary school children,” the Southern Cameroons front line leader said.

Carlson Anyangwe noted that many of the CPDM Southern Cameroons elites will end up in French Cameroun jails through the efforts they are currently making to curry favor with the 88-year-old Biya.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis hit the global stage some five years ago, some 10,000 Cameroonians have been killed, with army soldiers accounting for close to 35% of the deaths.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been maimed and scarred for life in a conflict that could have been addressed through negotiations and genuine dialogue.

By Asu Vera Eyere

Manchester United Crisis: Zinedine Zidane is an early favourite with bookmakers

21, November 2021

Manchester United Crisis: Zinedine Zidane is an early favourite with bookmakers 0

Manchester United have sacked manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Watford.

The club have won just one of their past seven Premier League matches and are seventh in the table, 12 points behind leaders Chelsea.

First-team coach Michael Carrick has been placed in temporary charge while United seek an interim manager to the end of the season.

“It is with regret that we have reached this difficult decision,” United said.

The club’s recent run of poor form includes a 5-0 thrashing by Liverpool on 24 October and a 2-0 defeat by Manchester City on 6 November.

United added: “While the past few weeks have been disappointing, they should not obscure all the work he has done over the past three years to rebuild the foundations for long-term success.

“Ole leaves with our sincerest thanks for his tireless efforts as manager and our very best wishes for the future.”

Solskjaer is a former Red Devils player, scoring 126 goals in 11 seasons from 1996-2007 including the winner in the 1999 Champions League final.

United said in their statement: “His place in the club’s history will always be secure, not just for his story as a player, but as a great man and a manager who gave us many great moments.

“He will forever be welcome back at Old Trafford as part of the Manchester United family.”

United next play when they travel to Spain to take on Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday, before league games against Chelsea and Arsenal.

Darren Fletcher will stay on as technical director, while Mike Phelan and Kieran McKenna – who were part of Solskjaer’s coaching set up – will also remain at the club for the time being.

Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, currently out of work, is an early favourite with bookmakers to become United’s next manager.

Source: BBC

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