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West Cameroon Association tribute to Mola Njoh Litumbe

2, July 2020

West Cameroon Association tribute to Mola Njoh Litumbe 0

The West Cameroon Association, (WCA) would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of Mola Njoh Litumbe, who passed away in Cameroon on the 29th of May 2020 at the age of 94.

We will always remember with fondness and profound gratitude that Mola Litumbe honored our invitation to a symposium held at the Coventry Hilton Hotel in the United Kingdom, on the 30th of September 2017.

Despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges which were faced by all the invited panelists, Mola Njoh Litumbe was the only one who was able to overcome the obstacles to make it safely in person to the symposium.

That singular act of commitment is a great testament to Mola Njoh’s exemplary character and his unimpeachable integrity. He presented the case for The Independence of Southern Cameroons (a cause in which he firmly believed and to which he had dedicated a significant portion of his life), with such eloquence that fascinated and inspired the audience.

Mola Njoh Litumbe was a quintessential product of the old school of gentlemen from Southern Cameroons. A doughty and fearless activist, a persuasively articulate polemicist, fair-minded and brilliant in debate and with a willingness to listen to others. He was engaging, intelligent and an inspirational speaker. It was a privilege to hear him talk. He reminded us of the best qualities in the Anglo-Saxon tradition; a part of our colonial heritage over which he had fought fiercely to uphold and preserve

Needless to say that Mola Njoh Litumbe will be sorely missed. In gratitude to his life-long dedication to the cause of the liberation of the Peoples of Southern Cameroons, we, of the WCA, promise to continue to work towards securing a negotiated lasting settlement. We aspire to eventually secure that missing proverbial ‘marriage certificate’, to which he often alluded, for the self determination of the people of Southern Cameroons.

Richard Nfor

On behalf of the West Cameroon Association

UN adopts resolution calling for pandemic-related halt to conflicts

1, July 2020

UN adopts resolution calling for pandemic-related halt to conflicts 0

The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a halt to conflicts to facilitate the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, after more than three months of painstaking negotiations, diplomats said.

The resolution, drafted by France and Tunisia, calls for “an immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations” on the Security Council’s agenda.

It is the Security Council’s first statement on the pandemic and its first real action since the outbreak started.

Tunisia’s ambassador to the UN, Kais Kabtani, hailed it as a “historic achievement” but experts questioned whether the text would have any impact and say the paralysis undermined the Council’s credibility.

Repeatedly blocked by China and the United States, which opposed a reference in the text to the World Health Organization (WHO), the resolution aims to support an appeal in March by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a global ceasefire.

It “calls upon all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days, in order to enable the safe, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance.”

Fighting against jidhadist insurgent groups is excluded.

The new text makes no reference to WHO, which the US has criticized for its management of the crisis. Washington opposed any mention of WHO back in May.

The body’s paralysis for more than three months has been widely criticized, including by some members who have described their “shame” over its inaction.

During the negotiations, the United States and China, the two largest financial contributors to the UN, had both threatened to veto resolutions.

According to diplomats, Indonesia, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, helped broker a compromise that saw a reference to a General Assembly commitment to supporting the World Health Organization added to the preamble.

The vague reference was deemed satisfactory to China, which wanted to emphasize the importance of WHO, and the US, which broke away from the UN body over its handling of the pandemic.

On Thursday, Guterres welcomed the fact that his ceasefire request was supported by nearly 180 countries and more than 20 armed groups, but he acknowledged that it had not been followed up with concrete action.

“It seems unlikely that the ceasefire call will actually have much impact in many war zones,” said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group think-tank.

“The Council missed the opportunity to boost the Secretary-General’s Global Ceasefire in April or May, when a resolution could have made a significant difference.

“This feels like a belated face-saving device following months of difficult diplomacy,” he added.

A second meeting on the pandemic is scheduled for Thursday.

Source: AFP

Germany assumes EU presidency as Merkel pushes for massive bloc-wide recovery plan

1, July 2020

Germany assumes EU presidency as Merkel pushes for massive bloc-wide recovery plan 0

Germany takes over the European Union’s six-month presidency Wednesday, with outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel staking her legacy on a massive economic recovery plan to help the bloc cope with the coronavirus fallout.

Merkel’s last major role on the international stage comes as the 27-member club faces its deepest recession since World War II, triggered by a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 people globally.

The crisis has galvanised Europe’s most powerful leader who, with just over a year left in her final term, has ditched her usual wait-and-see approach to call for “extraordinary measures” to weather the storm.

“Europe’s future is our future,” Merkel said Monday as she stood beside French President Emmanuel Macron to push for a 750-billion-euro ($843 billion) coronavirus recovery fund.

The proposed fund would controversially be financed through shared EU borrowing and marks a stunning U-turn for Germany after years of opposition to debt pooling.

The EU’s rotating presidency is Merkel’s “last chance” to make her mark as one of Europe’s great leaders, Der Spiegel weekly wrote, adding that it was time for Germany to shoulder more responsibility as the bloc’s biggest nation and top economy.

“For years the chancellor put off dealing with the chronic problems of the EU and the euro. Now, towards the end of her political career, she has the opportunity to make up for past mistakes,” Spiegel wrote.

There will be no shortage of challenges to tackle in the months ahead.

Post-Brexit negotiations, a more assertive China, rocky transatlantic ties, climate change and the conflicts in Libya and Syria will all be jostling for attention, even if the pandemic promises to dominate the agenda.

‘Extraordinary solidarity’

Germany kicked off its EU custodianship by projecting the words “Together for Europe’s recovery” onto Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate late Tuesday.

After 15 years in office, Merkel is the bloc’s longest-serving leader and held the EU presidency once before, in 2007.

But the stakes are higher this time.

A first major test will come at a July 17-18 EU summit, where Merkel hopes leaders will reach an agreement on the 750-billion-euro rescue fund put forward by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen — Merkel’s former defence minister.

The money is expected to come mainly in the form of grants for countries hardest hit by the pandemic, such as debt-laden Italy and Spain.

But so-called frugal nations including Austria and the Netherlands want to reign in the spending and are insisting on loans rather than grants.

Merkel has urged holdout nations to “engage in an extraordinary act of solidarity”, warning that an uneven recovery could undermine the EU single market and end up harming stronger economies too.

“We hope we can find a solution, even if the road is still long,” Merkel said at the press conference alongside Macron.

Brexit warning

The fund is based on an idea unveiled by the French-German duo in May, in which the European Commission would raise money on the financial markets to help pay for the post-pandemic recovery in poorer member states.

If accepted, the rescue fund would be a milestone for EU unity.

It would also be a big win for Berlin, and could ease some of the lingering resentment from the eurozone debt crisis a decade ago when Merkel’s government insisted on harsh austerity for struggling nations like Greece.

Another contentious issue that could define Germany’s EU presidency is Brexit.

After weeks of standstill, Britain and the EU have resumed negotiations about the country’s divorce deal with the bloc — which could still result in a hard Brexit at the end of the year.

In an interview with several newspapers last week, Merkel warned that Britain would “have to live with the consequences” of having weaker economic ties with the EU.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The Folly of Government Reconstruction

1, July 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The Folly of Government Reconstruction 0

For some time now, many Cameroonians have been questioning the rationale behind the government’s plan to carry out major reconstruction works in the country’s two English-speaking regions, especially as the fighting that has given it a bloodshot eye is still raging.

The project, dubbed the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the two English-speaking Regions of the country and estimated at over CFAF 89 billion, is expected to be implemented over a two-year period in a region that is still awash with sophisticated weapons.

In a bid to defray the cost of the mega project, the cash-strapped Yaounde government has already begun negotiating with investors and development finance institutions. On May 5, 2020, the Cameroon Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a financing agreement and a project document for the sum of CFAF 8.9 billion which accounts for about 10% of the overall project cost, an amount the government must raise to bring the two English-speaking regions at par with the other regions that have not been affected by the bloody fighting that has seriously hurt the country’s economy.

The government understands the need for a special program to help reboot the economies of the two regions, after all, most of the destruction of the regions’ infrastructure is the handiwork of army soldiers, a strategy employed to either discredit Southern Cameroonian fighters or intimidate the local population which the government suspects is supporting the fighters by providing food and logistics support.

More than 200 Southern Cameroonian villages and towns have been destroyed by government troops, with government troops accounting for more than 90% of the infrastructure destroyed. At the height of the fighting, the Yaounde government which was desperate for a fast and effective solution, dispatched sex-starved, alcohol-inflamed and trigger-happy soldiers to villages and towns and many of them burnt down schools, hospitals and personal property, a strategy that is very well known by Cameroonians, as this dirty strategy had been used to defeat an insurgency (popularly known as Marquisard Movement) in East Cameroon in the 60s.

The stakes are high and the national coordinator of the poorly conceived presidential project, Paul Tasong, has been encouraging the population to embrace the plan which, in his view, is hope-inspiring and has been designed to address some of the injustices that have been responsible for the socio-political chaos that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

In the government’s warp thinking, the reconstruction plan is a sure path to peace even when the issues that triggered the crisis have not yet been given due consideration by the tricky and desperate Yaounde government that has been very evasive and hypocritical.

The works, Mr. Tasong said, would commence in those areas of the regions where there was some relative calm with a view to restoring the economy and security in the affected areas. Poor infrastructure and lack of economic prosperity in many parts of English-speaking Cameroon have made it hard for many Southern Cameroonians to identify themselves with the Yaounde regime ever since the country’s president, Paul Biya, came to power in 1982.

Unemployment among Southern Cameroonians is unbearably high. Most parts of the English-speaking regions do not have proper health infrastructure. Thousands of people in the regions die of curable and preventable diseases; a situation that has made it possible for the novel coronavirus to hit large cities such as Bamenda. The North West region currently counts close to 500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and it is being reported by hospital sources that government statistics do not reflect the reality as the government lacks the capacity to capture the real figures.

With many people living in the bushes because of the fear of reckless and irresponsible army soldiers, it is obvious that many COVID-19 victims are either suffering or dying in silence. Besides, with a high level of corruption in the country, it is obvious that medical doctors will be inflating the figures in order to receive government funding.

Many people have already been confirmed as being COVID-19 positive though many of them had health situations that had nothing to do with the virus. In Cameroon, it is normal for someone heading to the hospital to complain of erectile dysfunction to end up in a COVID-19 ward, as doctors do not really want to deal with a virus that is still a challenge to scientists.

Mr. Paul Tasong, who is very much hated in the two regions, has been singing the president’s praises, hoping that the people will welcome the project and consider Mr. Biya as a Messiah. But the people of Southern Cameroons seem to have made their minds. It was Mr. Biya who declared war on them and many of them have lost their loved ones in a useless and stupid war. Rebuilding the regions will never bringing back the dead. The war was not necessary, and it was clearly avoidable if the brutal regime had sought to win hearts and minds.

Military brutality has only made things worse.  With so many armed groups emerging in the region, it is clear that the government’s reconstruction efforts will clearly fall flat. The anger is deep and the frustrations are too many. The government seems to be placing the cart before the horses when it comes to addressing the Southern Cameroons issue that has been around for more than fifty years. 

No real grievance tabled by Southern Cameroonians has really been addressed to the satisfaction of the Southern Cameroonian population. Francophone magistrates are still being sent to Southern Cameroonian courts. Francophone teachers are still being posted to Southern Cameroonian schools, including universities. No special quotas have been reserved for the indigenous people of Southern Cameroons when it comes to admission into all of the country’s professional schools. Over the last three years, ministerial appointments clearly demonstrate that the government is not repentant and will never show any remorse for its past failings.

Many Southern Cameroonians are still being arrested and taken to Yaounde for minor crimes and they are being held in custody without proper hearing. Uniformed officers of Francophone extraction still conduct themselves as if they are an army of occupation and they are using the current socio-political situation to enrich themselves as there are no avenues for the intimidated population to complain.

The soldiers now compel people in Kumba, Mamfe, Bamenda, Limbe and other towns in Southern Cameroons to express themselves in French, if not they will be killed, after all, they have the possibility of tagging any and everybody as a terrorist. The government hardly investigates such flagrant violations, and this has given the soldiers carte blanche to kill and maim innocent people.

Over the weekend, the government dispatched heavily armed soldiers to neighborhoods inhabited by Southern Cameroonians in Yaounde. The soldiers arrested many people and even forced them to express themselves in French even when they could not. Many of those arrested were internally displaced people who are seeking refuge in the nation’s capital.

 Many of them were asked to give bribe if not, they would be herded to the country’s maximum-security prison even when they had not committed any crimes. These are some of the frustrations that Southern Cameroonians are facing and this unfortunate situation is driving many young people into the waiting arms of the separatists; a situation that makes it hard for the government to win this war that requires more soft power than fire power.

The Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the two English speaking Regions of the country may be part of the government’s response to restore peace in Southern Cameroons, but its timing leaves much to be desired. How can reconstruction be going on in a region that is awash with guns and everyday civilians and soldiers are being killed?

The plan may be an outcome of the Major National Dialogue that took place in the nation’s capital in 2019, but the dialogue itself never received any popular recognition. It was a forum remote-controlled by the presidency with topics carefully chosen by the government and their discussion controlled by government surrogates who chaired the various sessions. Those who attended the event did not represent the various factions that have been battling the government for the total liberation of Southern Cameroons and the meaningful Diaspora was carefully excluded, reducing the forum to a ruling party convention.

If the government really wants to restore peace in the two English-speaking regions of the country, then it must start thinking of doing the right things. It must reach out to the separatists whom it has branded as terrorists. You never make peace with your friends if you don’t have any issues. You make peace with those you have problems, and, in this case, it must make peace with Southern Cameroonians who have their leaders abroad and in prison.

Mr. Julius Ayuk Tabe remains the President of Ambazonia and a poster boy of the insurgency that has crippled the country economically. If any real discussions must take place, he must be involved, if not, the people of Southern Cameroons will see any government action as a joke designed for children. 

Cameroon needs peace, but not the version the government is selling. If the Yaoundé government really wants to restore peace in the two English-speaking regions of the country with a view to keeping the country one and indivisible, then it must stop playing tricks. It must reconcile with the country’s Diaspora and reduce police harassment to the barest minimum.

Cameroonians are sick and tired of those tricks and those gimmicks have simply pushed the country into a downward economic and political spiral. The regime must stop placing the cart ahead of the horses. It should take time off its tricks to examine what actually took the country down the path of a war that has resulted in the death of some 5,000 Cameroonians. If it does not adopt the right approach, its reconstruction program will be a waste of time and taxpayers’ money. The folly must be stopped before it results in more deaths. It is time to be realistic and Paul Tasong should find a better job.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom

Interim Gov’t Statement On UN Secretary General’s Call For A Ceasefire Between Southern And French Cameroun

1, July 2020

Interim Gov’t Statement On UN Secretary General’s Call For A Ceasefire Between Southern And French Cameroun 0

UN Secretary General Calls for a Ceasefire in the Conflict between Southern Cameroons and French Cameroun

The United Nations Secretary General recently called for a ceasefire in the on-going conflict in the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia). In his statement, the Secretary General requested both parties to engage in a ceasefire to pave the way to finding a lasting solution to the crisis between Southern Cameroons and French Cameroun.

On behalf of the people of the Southern Cameroons and their leader, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, currently detained unlawfully in a prison in Yaoundé by the government of French Cameroun, I want to inform you of the following confidence building measures we believe will conduce to and create an environment propitious for a sustainable and fruitful engagement between the two parties:

  • A ceasefire and at the same time La Republique du Cameroun to pull out all its forces from the Southern Cameroons.
  • Unconditional release of all our people held in any detention centres or prison facilities anywhere in connection with the on-going conflict.
  • A commitment from La Republique du Cameroun that it would no longer engage in violence of any shape or form against our people.
  • A good faith commitment from the government of la Republique du Cameroun to come to the negotiation table on an agreed date and neutral venue in negotiations led by muscular multiple tack one mediators acceptable to both parties.

We believe the above to be (i) minimum confidence building measures that will generate momentum necessary for eventual talks between the two sides to resolve the territorial and human rights disputes that are at the root of the crisis; and (ii) the precursor of the following inevitable international action: humanitarian intervention, fact-finding mission to investigate atrocities and hold those responsible accountable, and an independence referendum.

Yours Sincerely

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea military officials meet over border dispute

30, June 2020

Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea military officials meet over border dispute 0

Cameroonian and Equatoguinean military officials and experts began meeting in Cameroon’s capital city Yaounde on Monday to discuss how to ease border tensions between both countries.

“This important bilateral meeting shall essentially delve into mutual collaboration modalities and security actions along the border between both countries,” Cameroon’s defence minister Joseph Beti Assomo said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

The experts will agree on the modalities which will be presented to the ministers of defence of both countries when they meet on Tuesday to finalize a “definite way out of the conflict,” according to officials

In early June, Cameroon’s south regional governor Felix Nguele Nguele said both countries had agreed to jointly map out the disputed border area after skirmishes between their troops left several wounded and property destroyed.

Officials have stressed on diplomatic channels as a way to peacefully resolve tensions along the 180-km border.

Source: Xinhuanet

In Mamfe, Another French Cameroun Mayor is elected

30, June 2020

In Mamfe, Another French Cameroun Mayor is elected 0

The ills of one of Southern Cameroons desperate town deepened today with the election of 32-year old   Tabenchong Robertson Ashu, as the new Mayor of Mamfe. All 20 councilors of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate with charges of corruption, taking bribes from Market women and okada riders and financing pro Yaoundé armed militias in Manyu took part in the voting process that was teleguided by Chief Tabetando and Minister Mengot.

Mayor Tabenchong Robertson Ashu has now replaced his late brother Mayor Ojong Priestly who was murdered recently via a combined action staged by the Cameroon government army and an armed militia group sponsored by Yaoundé CPDM barons. Both Tabenchong and the late Ojong Priestly hail from Eshobi Village and are from the same family.

The two Eshobi men were jointly involved in a rolling Cameroon Concord News Group investigation into illegal petrol dealing from Nigeria and official corruption and are noted for giving beer to underage girls in exchange for sex.

Cat calls have greeted the choice of Tabenchong Robertson as mayor following strong allegations from senior title holders that he was in the military vehicle that was transporting the late mayor at the time of the so-called Amba attack. But he reportedly came out unhurt.  

 A source deep within the ruling party hinted this reporter that Chief Tabetando gave standing instructions that Eshobi must finish their tenure at the head of the Mamfe council.

By Kingsley Betek in Mamfe

Covid-19 Pandemic: African Cup of Nations postponed until 2022

30, June 2020

Covid-19 Pandemic: African Cup of Nations postponed until 2022 0

The Confederation of African Football has made the decision to move the African Cup of Nations to January 2022.

The tournament was supposed to take place in January 2021, but the coronavirus pandemic has caused the postponement of plans.

All African footballers including Liverpool stars such as Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, and Naby Keita will therefore not miss any part of the next season due to international duty.

This will come as good news for Liverpool fans – the African Cup of Nations has been officially postponed until January 2022.

In a meeting today, the Confederation of African Football made the decision to postpone AFCON by a year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The tournament was originally planned to take place in January 2021 but has now been pushed back a year.

Source: Tribuna.com

US virus death toll passes 126,000 as Trump comes under fire

30, June 2020

US virus death toll passes 126,000 as Trump comes under fire 0

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 2,545,250 cases of new coronavirus and said that the number of deaths had risen to 126,369 as of Monday night.

The United States recorded at least 42,000 coronavirus infections in the 24 hours to Monday as the country confronts a rapid surge in the respiratory disease known as COVID-19.

Several state governors have reimposed lockdowns on businesses such as restaurants and bars as the White House claimed the rise in cases is due to record levels on “expanded testing” and not community spread.

In California, Los Angeles, which has become a new epicenter in the pandemic as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge, reported an “alarming” one-day surge in America’s second-largest city that put it over 100,000 cases.

Los Angeles county closed all beaches for the Independence Day holiday weekend due to the startling rise in coronavirus rates in the county, while state of Arizona closes bars, gyms and movie theaters for at least 30 days.

Nearly 20 states paused or rolled back reopening of businesses due to rapid rise in coronavirus cases.

California counties are dialing back plans to reopen some businesses after observing an increase in hospitalizations and a decrease in compliance with social distancing guidelines.

“We will take action to close bars wineries and breweries that do not serve food beginning midnight Wednesday morning,” San Diego County’s Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten said Monday. “Now more than ever, it is vital that we all take precaution to guide our personal, as well as our collective health.”

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak paused the state’s reopening, with his office saying the governor “will sign an emergency directive extending the length of Phase 2 through the end of July, due to the trends in COVID-19 infection rates, the time needed for expanded contact tracing to identify trends, and to see the impacts of the Governor’s new face covering directive.” 

Nearly half of US virus deaths recorded in care facilities

According to the latest count from the Kaiser Family Foundation, long-term care facilities and similar institutions account for 45% of coronavirus deaths in the United States.

The survey found more than 52,000 deaths occurred in nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, memory care facilities, adult care centers, or other long-term care facilities in 40 states, plus Washington, DC.

KFF’s survey finds more than 10,000 facilities in 43 states plus Washington, DC, have confirmed cases of Covid-19.

According to the data, the states with the highest number of deaths in nursing homes were New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Trump’s reopening plan ‘backfired’   

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized President Donald Trump’s administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying the White House has been “in denial” from the start of the public health crisis.

Cuomo said the Trump administration was not doing enough to tackle a surge of in COVID-19 cases in several US states that has emerged over the past few weeks.

The New York governor said that Trump’s focus on reopening the economy was misguided and that it had backfired.

“Yes, we have to get the economy going but reopening fast was not good for the economy. What has been happening is, when that virus spikes, the market goes down, not up,” Cuomo said.  

Trump is facing mounting criticism from both Republicans and Democrats over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a rare break with mask-averse president, fellow Republican leaders are advocating for mask as COVID-19 cases surge in some Republican-leaning states, Reuters said.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves, it is about protecting everyone we encounter.”

Source: Presstv

WHO says Covid-19 pandemic is ‘not even close to being over’

30, June 2020

WHO says Covid-19 pandemic is ‘not even close to being over’ 0

The coronavirus pandemic is “not even close to being over”, the WHO warned Monday, as the global death toll passed half a million and cases surged in Latin America and the United States.

In another grim milestone, the number of infections recorded worldwide topped 10 million, while some authorities reimposed lockdown measures that have crippled the economies worldwide.

“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over,” he said, adding that “although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.”

The virus emerged at least six months ago in China, where the WHO will send a team next week in the search for its origin, Tedros said.

Covid-19 is still rampaging across the US, which has recorded more than 125,000 deaths and 2.5 million cases — both around a quarter of the global totals.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the April-June quarter was expected to see the largest decline in GDP on record, adding that recovery would depend on government efforts to contain the outbreak.

Many of the south and west US states where the virus is most rampant are where state leaders pushed for early reopenings.

But even in New York, deemed to be in good health comparatively, the iconic Broadway theatre district announced it would remain closed through the end of the year.

And with numerous US states forced to reimpose restrictions on restaurants, bars and beaches, President Donald Trump has come under growing pressure to set an example by wearing a mask.

Trump’s health secretary has warned the “window is closing” for the US to regain control, but the president has largely turned away from the crisis, holding indoor rallies with big, largely maskless crowds against the advice of his experts and refusing to cover his own face in public.

‘Profound shock’

And while opposition Democrats have urged Trump to reissue an emergency declaration on coronavirus, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president had “no interest” in doing so.

However, he may not be able to avoid masks forever — the Florida city of Jacksonville, where Trump’s Republicans are due to hold their national convention in August, declared face masks mandatory on Monday.

Underlining Trump’s increasing isolation on the issue, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is usually in lock step with the president, spoke out on the urgency of mask-wearing.

“We must have no stigma, none, about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people,” he said.

“Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves, it is about protecting everyone we encounter.”

The second hardest-hit country Brazil registered 259,105 infections in the seven days through Sunday — the country’s highest of any week during the pandemic.

Ireland’s pubs began pouring pints for the first time in 15 weeks, as Europe — still the hardest-hit continent — continues to open up after seeing numbers of new cases fall.

“Guinness is good for you,” quipped Mark O’Mahony — the first to order a pint with his breakfast at a Dublin pub. “Without it, it hasn’t been much good really for 15 weeks.”

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country had gone through a “profound shock” as he prepared to unveil a large stimulus programme.

Constant threat

His government plans to reopen pubs, restaurants and hairdressers across England on July 4, but on Monday ordered schools and non-essential shops in Leicester, central England, to close after a localised outbreak.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “strong” and “efficient” recovery fund for the European Union.

In Merkel’s Germany, which has been praised for how it has tackled its Covid-19 outbreak, the North Rhine-Westphalia state extended a lockdown on a district hit hard by a slaughterhouse outbreak.

In neighbouring Switzerland, organisers said that 2021’s Geneva International Motor Show was cancelled, after already scrapping this year’s event.

China has imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding Beijing to contain a fresh cluster.

In a reminder of the constant threat of newly-emerged pathogens, researchers in Chinese universities and the country’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced they had discovered a novel swine flu that was capable of triggering another pandemic.

Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009.

It possesses “all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans,” said the authors of a study published Monday in the US science journal PNAS.

The Middle East’s most affected country Iran reported 162 more deaths on Monday, its highest single-day toll yet, a day after it also made mask-wearing mandatory for inside gatherings.

India, which is gradually easing a nationwide lockdown, registered a daily record of 18,500 new cases and 385 new deaths on Saturday.

Alka, one of the country’s million accredited social health activists, said it was difficult for the unprotected and poorly paid all-women workers to get people to heed their advice.

“People are struggling to feed their families,” she said. “What can we do?” 

(AFP)

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