23, December 2020
Yaoundé: Media owners plead for an increase in state support from XAF2 to 3 bln 0
In the framework of the 30th celebration of the law of December 19, 1990, on social communication, Repac (a media owners’ association) recently addressed a memorandum to Paul Biya, president of the Republic of Cameroon.
In its memorandum aimed at making media companies sustainable, Repac mainly asked state subsidies to be increased to XAF2 billion or XAF3 billion yearly.
Indeed, up to early this year, that subsidy ranged between XAF150 million and XAF300 million every year (The last support granted was XAF240 million.
Previously named “aide publique à la communication privée au Cameroun” (public support for private communication in Cameroon), it was distributed to media companies and trade associations. However, in April 2020, its name changed to “appui institutionnel de l’État à la presse à capitaux privés” (State institutional support to private media). The beneficiaries also changed; they now include companies that publish offline and online magazines regularly.
Source: Business in Cameroon



















23, December 2020
Israel’s government collapses, triggering fourth early election in two years 0
Israel will hold a snap election in March after parliament failed on Tuesday to meet a deadline to pass a budget, triggering a ballot presenting new challenges for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Campaigning in Israel’s fourth parliamentary election in two years gets underway with Netanyanu facing public anger over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and while he is engaged in a corruption trial, the first against an Israeli prime minister.
Israel’s longest-serving leader will also have to contend with a new rival from the right, Gideon Saar, a defector from Netanyahu’s Likud party who an opinion poll on Israel’s Kan public TV on Tuesday showed was drawing even with him.
Netanyahu, who has denied any criminal wrongdoing, and the current defence minister, centrist politician Benny Gantz, established a unity government in May after three inconclusive elections held since April 2019.
But they have been locked in a dispute over passage of a national budget key to implementing a deal in which Gantz was to have taken over from Netanyahu in November 2021.
The Speaker of Parliament declared its dissolution late on Tuesday in a session broadcast on live television, saying a snap election was automatically triggered by its failure to approve a budget.
Source: REUTERS