Headline News

18, January 2026

Spain: High-speed train collision kills at least 21 ⁰

At least 21 people have been killed and several injured after two trains collided in southern Spain, the emergency services said Sunday.

A police spokesman initially told AFP there were five dead after the accident in the province of Cordoba, but soon after updated the toll to 21.

A train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz, crossing onto the other track where it hit an oncoming train, which also derailed, Spain’s ADIF rail body posted on X.

“We have received calls from people reporting that there were injured and trapped,” a spokesperson for the Andalusian emergency services told AFP.

One witness told public broadcaster TVE that one of the carriages of the first train had completely overturned.

Television images showed medical crews and fire services at the scene.

A journalist from public broadcaster RNE who was travelling on one of the trains said the impact had felt like “an earthquake”.

Passengers had used emergency hammers to break carriages windows and get out, he said.

Spanish media reports suggested that a total of 400 people have been on the two trains.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a statement he was “closely monitoring” the situation.

The president of the Madrid region, Isabel Diaz Ayuso said its hospitals were available to the Andalusia region if required.

Rail travel between Madrid and Andalusia has been suspended.

Source: AFP

18, January 2026

Africa Cup of Nations: very little positive to say about the end of the game ⁰

Senegal beat Morocco to win the Africa Cup of Nations for a second time – but only after the final was overshadowed when they temporarily refused to play when the hosts were awarded a controversial stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Villarreal midfielder Pape Gueye scored the only goal in the fourth minute of extra time to seal a second triumph in four years for the Lions.

The game was marred by late controversy as Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw tried to usher his team off the field when Morocco were awarded a spot-kick in the 98th minute when defender El Hadji Malick Diouf brought down Brahim Diaz.

When the players returned to the field roughly 16 minutes later, Real Madrid forward Diaz stepped up to take the penalty, but had his attempted Panenka penalty saved by Edouard Mendy.

Thiaw, 44, was irritated with referee Jean Jacques Ndala – who awarded the penalty after reviewing the incident on the VAR monitor – for ruling out a goal for his side moments earlier.

Crystal Palace forward Ismaila Sarr had bundled home from close range, but his effort was chalked off for a foul by Abdoulaye Seck on Achraf Hakimi.

Senegal goalkeeper Mendy went to the dressing room, but returned to the field after Sadio Mane encouraged his players to finish the game.

Gueye scored the only goal of the game with a stunning individual effort in the 94th minute.

Diaz, meanwhile, was substituted in extra time as Morocco missed the chance to win a first Afcon title since 1976.

‘Little positive to say, but Mane comes out of this well’

There is very little positive to say about the end of this game, but one person to come out of it well is Mane.

He was the one Senegal player who clearly did not want to walk down the tunnel and was telling his team-mates to come back out.

He also walked over to the Senegal fans after the full-time whistle, begging them to calm down.

There is now a line of armoured police in front of those fans to my left. It’s been quite violent down there on several occasions.

Source: BBC

16, January 2026

Yaoundé: Dying season finally arrives ⁰

Cameroon’s Speaker of the House, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, has been rushed out of the country to South Africa for medical treatment as death showed up in his Yaoundé residence a few days ago to snatch the miserable and dirty life of the Speaker of the House who has made liquor his water of choice.

According to our source in Yaoundé, a medical plane landed in Cameroon from Switzerland then continued to South Africa with Mr. Cavaye as the human cargo where the desperate Speaker of the House is expected to receive treatment for multiple health issues.

Mr. Cavaye has been a colony of diseases for decades. His recklessness is finally catching up with him. A heavy smoker and alcohol addict, Mr. Cavaye currently suffers from a chronic heart problem, failing lungs, high blood pressure, diabetes and an enlarged and painful prostrate which is rubbing him of a good night’s sleep.

The man who has been in parliament for more than half a century was not seen during New Year wishes at the Presidency and in parliament due to health reasons.

A source close to Mr. Cavaye has informed the Cameroon Concord News Group that it will take a miracle for Mr. Cavaye to return to Cameroon alive. He added that it was as if the dying season had arrived in Cameroon as the country’s Senate President, Niat Njifenji, and his second vice president, Chief George Tabetando, are fighting for their lives.

Another source close to Chief Tabetando also informed our sister publication Cameroon Intelligence Report that Chief Tabetando is now a shadow of his former self, adding that he constantly runs out of oxygen. The source adds that Mr. Tabetando has been strapped to an oxygen canister which helps him to breathe in Turkey.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

16, January 2026

Indomitable Lions: Eto’o handed ban and fine for misconduct ⁰

Former Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o has been handed a four-match ban and fined $20,000 (£14,960) after being found guilty of misconduct by a Confederation of African Football (Caf) disciplinary panel.

A Caf statement said that Eto’o, now president of his nation’s football federation (Fecafoot), had violated its principles of sportsmanship during the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final between Cameroon and Morocco.

The former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker was reportedly seen making an angry gesture over some of the decisions taken by the officials as the Indomitable Lions lost 2-0 to the tournament hosts.

Caf boss Patrice Motsepe, who was also in attendance in the stadium in Rabat, appeared to have witnessed Eto’o’s frustration.

On Monday the continent’s governing body announced it was launching an investigation into “violent confrontations and unacceptable behaviour of some players and officials” during last-eight matches.

In response, Fecafoot rejected Caf’s decision, describing the process as one that “raises serious reservations about the fundamental requirements of a fair trial”.

Fecafoot then expressed support for its president in a statement on Wednesday, while suggesting Eto’o would appeal against the sanction.

Since assuming his role in in 2021, Eto’o’s image as a legend of the game has been dented by controversy and scandals.

He has faced accusations of improper conduct and poor management, with some football stakeholders also complaining of grave irregularities within Fecafoot.

He has often rejected such allegations, touting his achievements at the helm of the organisation.

Source: BBC

16, January 2026

Biya regime resumes ENS, ENSET entrance exams after three-year suspension ⁰

After nearly three years of suspension, entrance exams for the Higher Teacher Training Colleges (ENS) and Higher Technical Teacher Training Colleges (ENSET) will officially resume for the 2025–2026 academic year. The announcement was made by Higher Education Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo in a statement signed on January 13, 2026. According to the document, the decision follows directives from the head of state aimed at revitalizing teacher training nationwide.

To frame the relaunch, the Ministry of Higher Education (Minesup) issued 32 official decrees detailing application procedures and eligibility requirements. Candidates are required to submit a complete application file, including an application form, certified copies of academic diplomas, proof of Cameroonian nationality, identity documents, and, where applicable, medical certificates. The ministry warns that any incomplete application will be automatically rejected.

Eligibility criteria are also clearly defined. Applicants must hold the required diplomas for the targeted program, comply with the maximum age limits set by decree, provide authentic documents, and meet the standards of conduct and integrity required by Minesup. Jacques Fame Ndongo urged candidates to carefully review the decrees in order to prepare their applications “under the best possible conditions.”

Entrance exams for the ENS and ENSET had been suspended since 2023 for budgetary reasons and replaced by admission based solely on application files. The text notes that this system did not guarantee fairness or effective integration into the civil service. On November 6, 2025, during his swearing-in ceremony, President Paul Biya announced the return of the exams, reiterating that youth development is a strategic priority of his new term.

The resumption comes amid high youth unemployment, at a time when access to professional training and public-sector jobs remains a key challenge. The decision is presented as an expression of the president’s stated intention to expand concrete opportunities for training and professional integration for young Cameroonians.

Source: Business in Cameroon

16, January 2026

Issa Tchiroma denies talks with Biya regime ⁰

Issa Tchiroma is not in talks with veteran ruler Paul Biya’s government, his spokeswoman said Thursday, despite claims of negotiations after last year’s disputed presidential elections.

Biya, 92, is the world’s oldest head of state and has been in power since 1982. He was re-elected for an eighth term of office in October. But Tchiroma, who fled into exile in The Gambia, maintains he was the real winner of the vote.

In recent days, rumours have swirled online that Tchiroma’s camp was in talks with the government. Biya promised in a New Year’s address that he would appoint ministers “in the coming days” but has so far failed to do so.

Tchiroma’s spokeswoman, Alice Nkom, wrote on Facebook that “no discussion, no compromise, no participation in any electoral process whatsoever can be envisaged”.

The opposition leader said in the statement that he “never intended to negotiate my electoral victory, neither before, nor during, nor after the vote”.

His Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon (FSNC) is boycotting upcoming parliamentary and municipal elections.

“Any political party that takes part in them endorses the wrongdoing and makes itself complicit,” Nkom said.

Source: AFP

15, January 2026

Ugandans vote amid internet blackout and police repression ⁰

Voting began Thursday in Uganda’s presidential election despite a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticised as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.

Crowds gathered and long lines formed in some areas as polling station openings were delayed and voting materials were seen being delivered after the scheduled 7am opening time.

President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.

The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters.

Polls are expected to close at 4pm Thursday, according to the electoral commission. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.

Impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays Thursday morning. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.

“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do,” he said.

There have been concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and opposition strategies to prevent vote tampering at polling stations.

Uganda’s internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.

There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.

Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression”, citing a November 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.

Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.

“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.

The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.

“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right.”

Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda”.

Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.

Source: AP

14, January 2026

Bishop Bibi frees 29 inmates who couldn’t afford bail ⁰

Twenty-nine inmates from the Buea Central Prison in Cameroon regained their freedom Tuesday following the intervention of Bishop Michael Bibi of Buea, through the Justice and Peace Commission.

The Church achieved the feat by paying off fines for prisoners who had completed their sentences but lacked the financial means to secure their own release.

As the 29 prisoners regained their freedom, they actually burst into song.

“Our Bishop, we say thank you! Our Bishop, we say thank you!” they sang.

As the freed inmates emerged, they shared stories of relief and renewed hope. One former inmate, who identified himself as an ice cream vendor named Elake Mbua, recounted a family dispute over property that finally landed him in prison.

“I’m thanking the Roman Catholic Church for intervening for me. If not of the bishop, I don’t know for how much longer I’d remain in jail. I say thank you,” he said.

Another freed man, Clovis Fuh, who had been incarcerated for a year, simply beamed.

“Today is the happiest day in my life,” he said.

“My father [meaning Bishop Bibi} and the Catholic Church have done something that I will never ever forget in my life,” Fuh told Crux.

Bibi, accompanied by the Director of the Justice and Peace Commission, Joyce Mbong, and diocesan priests, personally oversaw the release. The bishop explained that this act of mercy is a longstanding tradition for the diocese, fueled by the generosity of priests, religious, and lay faithful.

“It has been a tradition that I, together with my priests, the religious and the Christians of the diocese … struggle to see what we can do in order to get them out of prisons,” Bibi stated.

“I’m happy today that the work that the Justice and Peace Office has carried out has made it possible for us to release these prisoners… This is the first set we are doing. We will work again and get another list,” Bibi said.

The bishop’s involvement with the Buea Central Prison extends far beyond Tuesday’s event, according to Prison Administrator, Donatus Ntemgwa. He said the release of the 29 inmates has scaled down overcrowding in the prison.

“He has also promised us to do post-detention care… since he has promised us to follow up these inmates after their release, so we are very, very happy,” the prison administrator told journalists.

However, Bibi cautioned the newly freed individuals, urging them to make a clean break from their past.

“The prison is not their home,” the bishop stated.

“They came here because they did something that was not proper. Some came here because of misjudgments … they should go and not come back, because some of them have gone and come back once, twice, thrice,” the bishop said.

To ensure they don’t return, the Justice and Peace Commission is implementing a comprehensive reintegration plan. Mbong outlined a multi-faceted approach to the social and economic reintegration of the ex-prisoners.

“As of today, we are going to get a database of those who have skills and their talents,” the commissioner told Crux.

“Some have already expressed the need to want to continue on skills training or to continue education. So we still have to look for resources to be able to support them,” she explained.

She said the commission “will maintain contact with the former inmates, assist with family reconciliation in cases where needed, and help them find productive work.”

One freed prisoner, a former hairdresser, said that she will “start from where I stopped.”

The Church officials pledged to help secure essential documents for those who lack them, such as birth certificates and national identity cards.

Mbong made a direct appeal to the public for support, given the costs involved.

“We cannot do all at a time, and I want to use this forum to appeal to those who can and have the resources to support the Justice and Peace Office in this mission of preparing these inmates and also facilitating their reintegration into society,” she said.

For the 29 prisoners who walked through the prison gate into freedom, the journey to a new life has just begun, with the Diocese of Buea pledging to walk alongside them every step of the way.

Source: Crux

14, January 2026

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 12 civilians killed, 15 wounded in Ndu ⁰

At least 12 civilians, including women and children, were killed early Wednesday when suspected separatist fighters raided a community in Cameroon’s restive Northwest Region, local authorities said.

Fifteen people were also wounded, two critically, in the attack that occurred at around 5:30 a.m. local time in Mbandfung, a village in the English-speaking region’ Ndu subdivision, Abdou Kanfon Borno, mayor of Ndu Council, told Xinhua by phone.

“The separatist terrorists invaded the Gidado neighborhood of the village, targeting the Mbororo community who live there,” Abdou said. “There were no clashes. The villagers were still asleep. They just opened fire on everyone, including children and women. A respected community elder was killed.”

He condemned the attack and called for calm as authorities investigate.

There have been frequent deadly clashes between separatist fighters and armed Mbororo tribesmen since 2017, when an armed separatist conflict erupted in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet

14, January 2026

South Korea: Prosecutors seek death penalty for ex- president Yoon ⁰

Prosecutors have asked for South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol to be handed a death sentence if he is found guilty over his botched attempt to impose martial law.

A court in Seoul heard closing arguments in Yoon’s trial, in which he was accused of being the “ringleader of an insurrection”.

The charge stems from Yoon’s attempt in December 2024 to impose military rule in South Korea – an act that lasted just hours but plunged the country into political turmoil. He was later impeached by parliament and detained to face trial.

Yoon has denied the charges against him, arguing that martial law was a symbolic gesture to draw public attention to the wrongdoings of the opposition party.

Leading an insurrection – the most serious charge against Yoon – carries sentences of the death penalty, or life imprisonment. Under South Korean law, prosecutors had to ask the judge for either one sentence or the other.

South Korea has not executed anyone in nearly 30 years. In 1996, former military dictator Chun Doo-hwan was given the death penalty for seizing power in a military coup in 1979, though his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

The prosecutors in Yoon’s case argue that although no one was killed in his martial law attempt, Yoon’s intent was no less violent.

Closing their arguments at Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday, prosecutors said the former president had been motivated by a “lust for power aimed at dictatorship and long-term rule”.

“The greatest victims of the insurrection in this case are the people of this country,” they told the court.

“There are no mitigating circumstances to be considered in sentencing, and instead a severe punishment must be imposed,” they said.

Prosecutors had called to the stand the military commander who testified that Yoon had ordered the arrest of lawmakers during his abortive coup.

They also presented as evidence the memo made by one of the planners of the martial law, a former military officer, containing the suggestion of “disposing” of hundreds of people including journalists, labour activists and lawmakers.

Yoon’s insurrection trial has been merged with those of two other senior figures in his administration, former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun and former police chief Cho Ji-ho.

Prosecutors sought life imprisonment for Kim, and 20 years in jail for Cho for carrying out Yoon’s illegal orders. There are five other defendants.

Yoon was in court to hear the final legal arguments. He has argued that as president, he had the power to declare martial law. Yoon was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying he had done so to fend off the “wickedness that would ruin the nation”.

Legal arguments were expected to end last Friday, but continued into Tuesday amid reports defence lawyers had delayed proceedings.

The court is expected to deliver its verdict in February. Sentences sought by prosecutors are not always upheld in courts in South Korea.

Yoon, 65, was removed from office in April, and is the country’s first sitting president to be taken into custody.

He has been detained for months while facing several criminal trials. Last month, prosecutors sought a 10-year prison term for Yoon for obstruction of justice and other charges related to his martial law attempt.

On 3 December 2024, Yoon shocked the country – and the world – by declaring martial law over South Korea. He said at the time it was to protect the country from North Korean communist forces, but some saw it as a ploy by Yoon to get a grip on power amid domestic political woes.

The short-lived martial law declaration sent South Korea into months of political turmoil, while Yoon became South Korea’s first sitting president to be arrested and charged.

South Korea’s incumbent president, Lee Jae Myung, was elected in June following a snap election after Yoon’s impeachment.

Despite his downfall, Yoon retains loyal supporters in right-wing circles who see him as a martyr who dared to rail against the liberal Democratic Party led by Lee.

Source: BBC