Headline News

4, March 2023

Africa follows Asia in giving Russians green light for Paris Olympics ⁰

Africa’s National Olympic Committees have followed their Asian counterparts in giving the green light on Saturday for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Russia and its ally Belarus have been sidelined from most Olympic sports since Russian forces invaded Ukraine last February.

However, in January the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was seeking a “pathway” for Russians to take part in the Games.

Following that announcement, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) offered athletes from both countries the chance to compete in this year’s Asian Games.

That was a significant move because they could gain qualifying marks in competition in Asia to allow them to compete in Paris.

Africa has now followed suit.

The motion — to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under a neutral flag — was passed unanimously by the executive committee of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) at their meeting in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

“The members came out unanimously in favor of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in all international competitions,” the ANOCA said in a statement.

It said ANOCA president, the Algerian Mustapha Berraf, had reiterated that the body “aligns itself with the position of the International Olympic Committee and its President Dr. Thomas Bach”.

The statement continued: “It will thus be a question of allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in complete neutrality without any sign of identity in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”

The IOC has explained that its reasoning was based on its belief that “no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport”.

But their stance has been met with contempt by Ukraine whose sports minister Vadym Goutzeit said such a move was “unacceptable” and called for a boycott if they are allowed to compete.

Many western nations also questioned the move.

Germany’s National Olympic Committee went public last month, declaring it is not “the right time to allow athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport to compete in international competitions again.”

In a letter in February, more than 30 countries, including Canada, France, Great Britain, Poland, Sweden and the United States, expressed concern about how the athletes could be neutral, particularly given the “strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military”.

The letter asked the IOC for “clarifications” on the neutrality required for Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Olympics.

The IOC responded that the letter ignored the human rights of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Source: AFP

4, March 2023

US: President Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed in February ⁰

US President Joe Biden, 80, had a cancerous skin lesion successfully removed from his chest in February, his doctor said Friday.

The lesion, detected during a routine medical examination, was a basal cell carcinoma, which “do not tend to ‘spread’ or metastasize,” Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said in a report made public by the White House, adding that “no further treatment is required.”

The lesion was removed during Biden’s annual medical checkup on February 16, after which the president was declared “fit for duty.”

“The site of the biopsy has healed nicely and the president will continue dermatologic surveillance as part of his ongoing comprehensive healthcare,” O’Connor said in the Friday report.

He noted that basal cell carcinoma were generally more innocuous than “more serious skin cancers such as melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma.”

“President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those of as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” O’Connor said in February following Biden’s medical examination.

The checkup was the final one before an expected announcement by Biden, the oldest person ever to be US president, to declare he is running for reelection in 2024.

At the February appointment, Biden completed a series of tests that he began last year at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a complex in the Washington suburbs with a presidential facility.

O’Connor at the time wrote that the president had spent “a good deal of time in the sun in his youth” and that he had already been treated regularly for removal of localized, non-melanoma skin cancers.

Source: AFP

3, March 2023

Yaoundé: Senator Rebecca Ankie dies few days before elections ⁰

The President of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifeji, announced the death of Senator Rebecca Ankie Affiong on March 1 in Yaoundé following an illness.

She was a senator for the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement in the South West region. She was on the CPDM list of candidates for the March 12 senatorial election.

The ruling CPDM maintained their veteran candidates in the South West region where it is the only party in the senatorial contest.

The Electoral Code is silent on the death of a candidate in a senatorial election. The text speaks only on the death of an elected official in office.

According to Article 155 of the electoral code, when such a situation arises, by-elections are organized in the district of the deceased representative in order to replace the candidate. However, this election only takes place if the vacancy occurs at least one year before the end of the legislature. This is not the case at present. The CPDM could therefore enter the Senate in the new term with one less seat in the South West region.

Source: Journal du Cameroun

3, March 2023

Popular Cameroonian singer Corry Denguemo dies aged 45 ⁰

Former member of the music group “Macase”, Denguemo Louise Corrine, has been announced dead following an illness.

Corry Denguemo as she was popularly known, passed away on March 2, in Paris, at the age of 45.

The music artist and songwriter rose to prominence as the main singer of the “Macase” music group, with which she won several awards including “Prix decouverte RFI”.

She commenced a solo career in 2011.

Denguemo Corrine was born in Oveng in the South region of Cameroon, on 18 August 1977.

Source: Betatinz

3, March 2023

Berlin and Paris to host King Charles III on first state visits ⁰

King Charles III will make his first state visits as UK monarch when he travels to France and Germany later this month, Buckingham Palace announced Friday.

The choice of the two European nations and close allies is widely seen as an attempt to build post-Brexit bridges and an acknowledgement of the affection the late Queen Elizabeth II had for France.

The visits will take place from March 26 to March 31, ahead of the king’s coronation on May 6.

The tour “will celebrate Britain’s relationship with France and Germany, marking our shared histories, culture and values,” the palace said.

Charles and his wife Camilla will be in France from March 26 to March 29, and will join President Emmanuel Macron for a ceremony of remembrance and wreath laying at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The king will make an address at the French Senate, while Camilla and the French first lady Brigitte Macron will officially open the new Manet and Degas exhibition at the Musee d’Orsay.

The royal couple will then be guests of honour at a state banquet hosted by the Macrons at the Palace of Versailles, and will also pay a visit to Bordeaux in southwestern France.

While there, Charles will “witness first-hand the devastation caused by last summer’s wildfires” on the outskirts of Bordeaux and visit an organic vineyard, the palace said.

The visit will take place shortly after a first trip to France by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on March 10 for a bilateral summit.

Historic relationship

The trip will mark the king’s 35th official visit to France, and 29th official visit to Germany.

His mother Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, last undertook state visits to France and Germany in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Elizabeth, who was a fluent French speaker, made five state visits to France during her reign, in addition to numerous private visits.

Her first visit to France was in 1948 as the 22-year-old Princess Elizabeth.

In 1957, when she returned to France as queen, thousands lined the streets to cheer her as she travelled through the streets of the capital.

“Look at our Parisians, how much they love you,” president Rene Coty told her.

On her last state visit to France in 2014, she joined 1,800 World War II veterans and 18 heads of state and government, including the US and Russian presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landing.

A Macron aide has previously said the visit would illustrate the “age-old attachment of his country to ours, beyond Brexit.”

It would also be a sign of “family continuity, because Elizabeth II was a Francophile and a Francophone”, the aide told Le Parisien newspaper.

Macron himself paid tribute to Britain’s late monarch following her death in September 2022.

In a message to the British people, he recalled a “great head of state” and a “unique example of devotion to her people, and a very close ally”.

“With her, France and the United Kingdom shared not just an ‘entente cordiale’, but a warm, sincere and loyal partnership,” he added.

Charles will head to Berlin on March 29, and undertake engagements there and in Brandenburg before heading to Hamburg, the palace added.

The royal couple are due to receive a ceremonial welcome by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Brandenburg Gate and will be guests of honour at a state banquet, hosted by the President and his wife.

The king will also make a speech in the German federal parliament, the Bundestag, a first for a British monarch, and will also meet refugees recently arrived from Ukraine.

Source: AFP

3, March 2023

PSG and Morocco football star Hakimi charged with rape by French prosecutors ⁰

Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi has been charged with rape, French prosecutors told AFP on Friday.

Hakimi, 24, was questioned by prosecutors Thursday in connection with accusations from a 24-year-old woman, and subsequently charged.

The Madrid-born player, who was a key part of Morocco’s historic run to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar last year, was seen at PSG training on Friday morning.

Contacted by AFP, the club made no comment.

Hakimi allegedly paid for his accuser to travel to his house while his wife and children were away on holiday.

On Monday, Hakimi appeared at the FIFA Best awards ceremony in Paris, where he was named in the FIFPro men’s world team of the year.

In Qatar, he was a cornerstone of the Morocco team that became the first nation from the Arab world to reach the last four of a World Cup.

Under French law, being charged does not necessarily mean the case will go to trial.

Source: AFP

2, March 2023

Buea: Woman dies due to wounds caused by blasts in mountain race ⁰

A woman died Tuesday from wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device exploded during a mountain race in Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking region of Southwest, medical officials said.

Martin Mokake, director of the Buea Regional Hospital where the mother of three was undergoing treatment, said the woman died of cardiac arrest which was caused by the blast and wounds.

“We did everything to save her life,” Mokake told Chinese News Agency Xinhua over the phone.

The woman was among some 20 victims who were hit when three blasts went off three days ago during an annual athletic competition, dubbed Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, in Buea, the chief town of the Southwest region.

Separatists who want to create an independent nation in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest claimed on social media that they were responsible for the blasts.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

2, March 2023

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Spain court absolves arms firm of graft over contracts with Biya regime ⁰

A Spanish court on Tuesday absolved defunct state-owned arms company Defex of graft charges related to contracts to provide material to Cameroon.

Defex was accused of using a complex bribery and embezzlement system to secure the contracts in the Central African country between 2005 and 2013.

Spain’s National Court, which deals with major criminal cases, said it found evidence that Defex paid for gifts such as trips and cosmetic surgery to Cameroon officials to secure the contracts.

But it said this happened before Spain’s criminal code was reformed in 2015 to extend criminal responsibility to state companies like Defex, so its ruling “must be to absolve”.

The court, however, sentenced Defex’s former commercial director to a two-year jail sentence for corruption.

Public prosecutors had sought a 23-year jail sentence, but the court absolved him of the charges of forgery, money laundering and embezzlement of public funds.

It said the money which was allegedly embezzled did not belong to Defex, but was from a private bank which financed the projects in Cameroon.

The National Court is investigating two other suspected cases of corruption involving the sale of weapons and military equipment by Defex to the governments of Angola and Saudi Arabia.

Defex was founded in 1972 by the Spanish state to help export products made by the country’s defence industry. It was dissolved in 2017 as a result of the scandal.

Source: AFP

2, March 2023

French interference in Africa ‘well over’, President Macron says during four-nation tour ⁰

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said the era of French interference in Africa was “well over” as he began a four-nation tour of the continent to renew frayed ties.

Anti-French sentiment runs high in some former African colonies as the continent becomes a renewed diplomatic battleground, with Russian and Chinese influence growing in the region.

Macron said France harboured no desire to return to past policies of interfering in Africa ahead of an environment summit in Gabon, the first leg of his trip.

“The age of Francafrique is well over,” Macron said in remarks to the French community in the capital Libreville, referring to France’s post-colonisation strategy of supporting authoritarian leaders to defend its interests.

“Sometimes I get the feeling that mindsets haven’t moved along as much as we have, when I read, hear and see people ascribing intentions to France that it doesn’t have.”

“Francafrique” is a favourite target of pan-Africanists, who say that after the wave of decolonisation in 1960 France propped up dictators in its former colonies in exchange for access to resources and military bases.

Macron and his predecessors, notably Francois Hollande, have previously declared that the policy is dead and that France has no intention of meddling in sovereign affairs.

Military revamp

Ahead of his visit, Macron on Monday said there would be a “noticeable reduction” in France’s troop presence in Africa “in the coming months” and a greater focus on training and equipping allied countries’ forces.

France has in the past year withdrawn troops from former colonies Mali, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic.

The pullout from Mali and Burkina Faso, where its soldiers were supporting the Sahel nations battle a long-running jihadist insurgency, came on the back of a wave of local hostility.

In his remarks on Thursday, Macron insisted the planned reorganisation was “neither a withdrawal nor disengagement”, defining it as adapting to the needs of partners.

More than 3,000 French soldiers are deployed in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Djibouti, according to official figures.

Another 3,000 are in the Sahel region of West Africa, including in Niger and Chad.

Forest protection drive

Macron landed in Libreville on Wednesday and will later head to Angola, Congo-Brazzaville and the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

His comments came before several heads of state were due to attend the One Forest Summit in Libreville, which will focus on preserving rainforests that play a vital role in the global climate system.

The forests of the vast Congo River basin represent the planet’s second-largest carbon sink after the Amazon.

They are also home to huge biodiversity including forest elephants and gorillas, and bear traces of the settlement of early humanity.

But they face threats such as poaching, deforestation for the oil, palm and rubber industries, and illegal logging and mineral exploitation.

Macron spoke of the challenges of mobilising international finance as he and Gabonese Environment Minister Lee White toured the Raponda Walker Arboretum, a protected coastal area north of Libreville.

“We always speak of billions in our summits, but people see little of it on the ground because the systems are imperfect,” he said.

His schedule included meeting scientists, NGOs and private sector actors at the presidential palace.

Other presidents expected to attend the summit are host Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon; Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville; Faustin Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic; Chad’s Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno; and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea.

The gathering kicked off on Wednesday with exchanges between ministers, civil society representatives and experts.

Macron heads to the former Portuguese colony of Angola on Friday, where he is set to sign an accord to develop the agricultural sector as part of a drive to enhance French ties with anglophone and Portuguese-speaking Africa.

He then stops in the Republic of Congo, another former French colony, where Sassou Nguesso has ruled for a total of almost four decades, and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Source: AFP

2, March 2023

Bayern Munich to extend Choupo-Moting’s contract with hefty pay rise ⁰

Choupo-Moting will extend his contract until 2024! NO option for one year more. The 33 year old striker will get a significant pay raise as reported. This season, the Cameroonian international has participated in 25 matches scored 16 goals and made 4 assists.

The 33-year-old Cameroonian striker joined the club as a backup from PSG, but has emerged as a key player, especially in the absence of Robert Lewandowski who joined Barcelona in July 2022. Choupo-Moting has made the jersey no.9 his own, resisting any competition from Sadio Mane, Thomas Muller, or Mathys Tel. His exceptional scoring record this season has earned him a significant pay rise, with his Bayern Munich salary doubling to around 10 million euros per year, according to German publication Bild.

By signing Choupo-Moting to an extension, Bayern have quashed any rumours of a pursuit for Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane or other recognized strikers like Dusan Vlahovic and Victor Osimhen. Choupo-Moting may not be a young striker, but he is effective in his role, and the club seemed satisfied with his performance. This move has also given Mathys Tel time to grow into the future striker position at Bayern instead of being replaced by a new signing from abroad. With his new deal, Choupo-Moting has secured his future at the club, and Bayern Munich have secured a reliable backup for Lewandowski.

Source: Planetsport.com.