Headline News

26, October 2022

Bundes: Germano-Cameroon Teenager Moukoko included in preliminary World Cup squad ⁰

Borussia Dortmund’s 17-year-old forward Youssoufa Moukoko has reportedly been included in Germany’s preliminary squad for the World Cup.

Union Berlin midfielder Rani Khedira, Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Luca Netz and Werder Bremen forward Niclas Füllkrug — who is joint top scorer in the Bundesliga with eight goals — all made coach Hansi Flick’s preliminary list, German tabloid Bild said on Tuesday.

National team coaches had to submit their selection of up to 55 players before a deadline of Oct. 21 to ensure their eligibility for the tournament, which starts Nov. 20. Any players who don’t make the preliminary selections will not feature in Qatar.

Moukoko has scored four goals and set up three more in 10 Bundesliga appearances so far for Dortmund this season. Khedira, the younger brother of 2014 World Cup winner Sami Khedira, has started every Bundesliga game for Union and helped the modest club surprisingly lead the table. The 19-year-old Netz is seen as a good prospect for the future.

There have been calls for Flick to include Füllkrug in the final squad as the Bremen striker’s strong physical presence creates opportunities for teammates. The 29-year-old Füllkrug has eight goals and three assists in the Bundesliga so far.

Bild only reported 44 names. It wasn’t clear if Flick had included more. The Germany coach is due to announce his 26-player final squad on Nov. 10 and didn’t want his initial selection published.

Germany has its last World Cup warmup game against Oman on Nov. 16. The four-time champion has been drawn in Group E and plays Japan on Nov. 23, Spain on Nov. 27, and Costa Rica on Dec. 1.

Source: Superstar.the Hindu

25, October 2022

Resistance sole way to free Southern Cameroons, defeat enemies of Ambazonia ⁰

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima says resistance is the sole way to liberate Southern Cameroons and defeat the occupying forces. The Ambazonian front line figure called on all Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora to unite around the Southern Cameroons struggle against occupation.

Dabney Yerima made the remarks in a message to a Southern Cameroons think tank in Scotland on Monday and emphasized the need for unity in line with the ideology of the jailed Southern Cameroons leaders and said the only way to liberate the Federal Republic of Ambazonia from the Biya Francophone regime, defeat the enemies, and restore grandeur is through resistance.

“If there is anything that has greatly delayed our trip to Buea, it stems from divisions,” said Dabney Yerima. The exiled Ambazonia leader furthered that Yaoundé’s power lies in rifts among Southern Cameroonians, Southern Cameroonians should therefore unite, since unity will serve as a firm fortress for the people of Ambazonia and will guarantee progress toward freedom.

He urged the Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero to boycott and criminalize any activity with the Biya French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé and show respect for religious institutions and clerics.

Vice President Dabney Yerima likewise voiced support for Amba fighters in Ground Zero, who have been dealing with French Cameroun terrorism since 2016.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from the Cameroon Concord News London Bureau

25, October 2022

Mamfe: Bishop Abangalo welcomes release of 9 seized at church ⁰

Nine captives, including five priests and a religious sister, were released in Cameroon Saturday, more than a month after they were kidnapped.

The group’s release on Oct. 22 was confirmed by Bishop Aloysius Fondong Abangalo of Mamfe, reported the Vatican-based news agency Agenzia Fides.

The kidnappers struck on Sept. 16 at St. Mary’s Church in Nchang, in the troubled Southwest Region of Cameroon. They reportedly burned down the church and seized five priests, a religious sister, a male catechist, a female cook, and a 15-year-old girl living with the sisters. The captives were dubbed the “Nchang Nine” by local media.

“I take this opportunity to once again condemn in the strongest possible terms the desecration of the Church and to point out the need to protect human dignity,” Bishop Abangalo said.

“Depriving our brothers and sisters of their freedom to obtain money at any price is inhumane. For those who make statements that fuel such actions, I believe it is time to rethink one’s approach and ensure that the dignity of the human person is defended in every possible way.”

Agenzia Fides said that, although the kidnappers’ identities had not been confirmed, one of the freed captives thanked the Freedom Fighters of Ambazonia in a short video “for having released us without paying any ransom.”

Ambazonia is the name of an unrecognized breakaway state in the English-speaking area of the predominantly Francophone Cameroon.

Agenzia Fides said that the Freedom Fighters of Ambazonia could be a new organization seeking international attention through the kidnapping or “a criminal group hiding behind a political acronym to carry out kidnappings for extortion purposes.”

The Diocese of Mamfe is in the ecclesiastical province of Bamenda, which is overseen by Archbishop Andrew Nkea.

In an Oct. 4 interview with The Pillar, Archbishop Nkea said that the Church had maintained contact with the kidnappers throughout the ordeal.

“They were asking us for money and we don’t have money to give. And even if we had the money, we know that if we start, we’ll never stop. And it’s something we had agreed that we would not do — give money to kidnappers — because then we endanger the lives of all our priests and our Christians,” he said.

Pope Francis appealed for the Nchang Nine’s release during his Angelus address on Sept. 25.

The kidnappers issued a video on Oct. 19 showing the captives pleading for Church leaders to secure their release.

A civil war — known as the Anglophone Crisis or Ambazonia War — has raged since 2017 in Cameroon, pitting separatists against government forces, with Church workers often caught in the middle of the conflict.

Source: Pillar Catholic

25, October 2022

Champions League: Xavi’s Barca must show they can compete, even if already eliminated ⁰

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said on Tuesday his team had to try and beat Bayern Munich this week even if their Champions League fate is already sealed by kick-off.

The Catalans could be eliminated if Inter Milan beat Czech minnows Viktoria Plzen at home before they face Bayern on Wednesday.

“We’ll watch (that game) on television all together in the dressing room,” said Xavi. “Regardless of what happens in Milan, we have to show that we can compete.

“We are extremely motivated to show we can compete with them, we will go out with the same intensity we showed against Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao. We have to match them.”

Barcelona have only won one of their first four Champions League matches and were beaten 2-0 in Munich in September despite putting in a good performance and creating several chances.

The German champions have beaten Barcelona each of the last five times they have faced each other, including 8-2 in Lisbon and two 3-0 wins last season in the group phase.

After heavy summer expenditure, including signing striker Robert Lewandowski from Bayern, Barcelona had hoped to be able to demonstrate they could challenge for the Champions League.

Xavi said he would not change the starting line-up to rest key players if Inter won and Barcelona were knocked out.

“I have already decided the team,” he said. “It will only change if there is an injury or problem, it’s not related to what happens in Milan.”

Barcelona were knocked out in the group phase last season and dropped into the Europa League, where they were beaten by eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals.

“If in the end we wind up in the Europa League we will go out to compete like lions and try to win it,” added Xavi.

“I am always positive, but when it’s no longer in your hands, you aren’t so positive, it’s logical, it’s human.”

Source: AFP

25, October 2022

Football: Mbouh Mbouh Emile’s testimonial to hold in Yaoundé, Kribi and Douala ⁰

Former Indomitable Lions captain, Mbouh Mbouh Emile’s illustrious career will officially come to a glorious close in June 2023 with three testimonial matches slated for Yaoundé, Kribi and Douala that is expected to bring several former international stars from all over Africa and beyond.

Cameroon Concord News understands the event will commence on June 7 and run through June 11. The winner of the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations has reportedly deployed a team headed by Annie Epée Dipita Banda and the legendary Roger Milla to begin preparations.

Born on May 30, 1966 in Douala, Emile Mbouh Mbouh distinguished himself as one of Africa’s greatest holding midfielders stopping Argentinean legend the late Diego Maradona during the opening match of the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He played in the African Cup of Nations in 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1992. He won the AFCON in 1988 as captain. He also won the Cameroon Cup and the Afro-Asian Cup in 1985.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

24, October 2022

Prevent Rather than Fight the Next Pandemic with a One Health Approach: World Bank ⁰

As the world continues to deal with the devastating effects of COVID-19, the World Bank is today releasing a new report that proposes actionable solutions to end the cycle of devastating pandemics.

The pace of emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks has increased at an average annual rate of 6.7 percent from 1980 onwards and the number of outbreaks has grown to several hundred per year since 2000. This is largely due to humans extending their global footprint, altering natural habitats, and accelerating the spillover of animal microbes into human populations.

Seventy-five percent of EIDs and almost all known pandemics result from increased contact between animals and people, causing more than 1 billion human infections and 1 million deaths each year. This, coupled with increasing movement of goods and people around the world, has demonstrated the ease of spread and volatility of EIDs.

In Putting Pandemics Behind Us: Investing in One Health to Reduce Risks of Emerging Infectious Diseases, policymakers, governments, and the international community are urged to invest in pandemic prevention and to move away from the business-as-usual approach based on containment and control after a disease has emerged. The report estimates that prevention costs guided by a One Health approach – which would sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems – would range from $10.3 billion to $11.5 billion per year, compared to the cost of managing pandemics which, according to the recent estimate by the G20 Joint Finance and Health Taskforce, amounts to about $30.1 billion per year.

“Prevention is better than cure. COVID-19 has shown that a pandemic risk anywhere becomes a pandemic risk everywhere. The economic case for One Health is powerful – the cost of prevention is extremely modest compared to the cost of managing and responding to pandemics,” said Mari Pangestu, World Bank Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships.

Prevention costs are only about a third of the cost of preparedness, and less than 1 percent of the cost of COVID-19 in 2020 – when the global economy contracted by 4.3% or about $3.6 trillion worth of goods, services and other output lost, and the public health response. Ultimately, prevention is a global public good: no country can be excluded from benefiting and there is no limit to how many countries can benefit. Unfortunately, there is chronic underinvestment in prevention and countries must take action. In addition, when prevention is successful, the benefits are invisible and do not manifest as crises that demand immediate attention. One Health is the global approach required to break this cycle of panic, neglect, and underinvestment.

Successful implementation of One Health will require improved coordination, communication, and collaboration between sectors reinforced by capacity building. It means managing trade-offs between development and holistic health objectives, and sharing costs more equitably through global coordination of policy and financing actions.

Investing in One Health is an investment in humanity’s future. The framework is holistic and helps governments, international organizations, and donors direct financial resources to optimize scarce funding resources and prevent pandemics. One Health actions to prevent disease outbreaks are cost-effective, with an estimated annual rate of return of up to 86 percent. Now is the time to mainstream One-Health, leave the cycle of panic and neglect behind us, and put the notion that prevention is better than the cure into reality.

Contacts:

In Washington: Meriem Gray, mgray@worldbank.org

For Broadcast Requests: David W. Young, dyoung7@worldbankgroup.org

24, October 2022

Rishi Sunak: Young, ultra-rich and UK’s first PM of colour ⁰

Elected for the first time to parliament in 2015, Rishi Sunak became Britain’s youngest prime minister in more than 200 years on Monday, tasked with steering the country through an economic crisis and mounting anger among some voters.

It is a remarkable return for Sunak who lost a leadership bid to Liz Truss less than two months ago when he was accused by some in the Conservative Party of bringing down their hero, Boris Johnson.

One of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, he enters Downing Street facing a need to make deep public spending cuts to stem a fiscal crisis, as well as tackling a cost-of-living crunch, a winter of strikes and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

His backers say the former finance minister is a safe pair of hands who can restore Britain’s credibility with investors who sold the country’s bonds and sterling after Truss’s mini-budget offered tax cuts with little on how to fund them.

But the former Goldman Sachs analyst and hedge fund partner also faces challenges within the governing Conservative Party, where some lawmakers blame him for his role in ousting Johnson and are concerned he has not got what it takes to win elections.

The opposition Labour Party is likely to paint him as a member of the uber-rich elite, out of touch with the pressures faced by millions as Britain slides towards a recession, dragged down by the surging cost of food and energy.

Some fear he cannot reunite a party that is deeply divided and getting used to quickly dispensing with leaders they do not like.

“He couldn’t beat Liz Truss last month; he’s not turned into an election winner less than two months later,” one senior Conservative lawmaker said on condition of anonymity after supporting Johnson in his failed bid to run again.

Sunak replaces Truss, who said she would resign four days ago but who defeated him on Sept. 5 with 57% of the vote from Conservative members. Then, the former finance minister repeatedly described his predecessor’s ideas as “fairytale” economics that would spook the markets.

He was proved right, but after a fast-track leadership race, some Conservatives say they doubt his commitment to a Margaret Thatcher-style small state vision to spur growth after he put Britain on course for the highest tax burden since the 1950s with emergency pandemic spending on saving jobs and welfare.

When declaring his candidacy, Sunak, 42, said he had a track record that showed he could “fix our economy, unite out party and deliver for our country”.

“There will be integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level of the government I lead and I will work day in and day out to get the job done,” he said in veiled criticism of Johnson, forced out over a scandal-ridden premiership.

First Indian-heritage PM

Born in Southampton in 1980 to Hindu parents of Punjabi Indian descent, Sunak repeatedly during the last leadership campaign spoke of helping his mum, who ran a pharmacy, with the books, doing payroll and accounts.

He had a privileged education – he went to an elite fee-paying school and is the latest prime minister to have studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University, following David Cameron and his predecessor, Truss.

During the last leadership campaign, he supported the creation of more selective grammar schools after new ones were banned by the opposition Labour Party, but repeatedly said “a world class education” should be a birthright.

He will also be the first person of colour to become Britain’s prime minister. Ravi Kumar, 38, a Conservative Party member working at a finance company in the central English city of Nottingham, described the appointment as a “watershed moment”.

“I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and I could not even imagine a non-white prime minister in my lifetime… So to see a British Indian leader is phenomenal,” he told Reuters.

But Sunak’s marriage to the daughter of an Indian billionaire has raised concerns in the party that he is too far removed from the concerns of everyday voters, some of whom are being forced by spiralling inflation to decide whether to spend their money on food or heating.

It didn’t help that in April Sunak’s wife was forced to confirm reports that her non-domiciled status meant she did not pay tax on all her international earnings, something she agreed to end.

“Rishi never had an overdraft so he is used to having a Treasury (finance ministry) account and a current account,” said one Conservative insider who had backed Johnson.

“Rishi has good PR but an inability to be brave and be the Brexit Chancellor the UK needs,” the insider said on condition of anonymity.

Sunak’s supporters say he is just the man who is needed to steady the ship financially after Truss’s so-called mini-budget roiled financial markets, raising government borrowing and increasing mortgages and fears pensions funds could go bust.

“We need someone who can provide stability and proven economic competence in these challenging times, and Rishi Sunak is that person,” said Grant Shapps, brought in as Britain’s interior minister after Truss sacked his predecessor.

Shapps was just one of several ministers to back Sunak after Johnson pulled out late on Sunday, surprising and even angering his own supporters. Johnson has not made public who he backed.

COVID champion

Sunak rose swiftly up the ranks of the Conservative Party, becoming, in 2020, one of the youngest finance ministers.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Britain, Sunak dropped the Conservatives’ small-state instincts to borrow massively and stave off the risk of an economic depression.

That made him one of the most popular politicians in the country, as he was praised for helping businesses and workers.

In one photograph that captured the sense of unity behind his rescue plans, Sunak posed outside his Downing Street office flanked by the heads of Britain’s biggest trade union group and a leading employers’ group.

But that consensus disappeared as Britain emerged from the crisis saddled with an extra 400 billion pounds of debt and then fell into a cost-of-living crisis that led to even more demands on the public purse.

Polls earlier this year showed his stock had fallen with the public, who were worried about the cost of living crisis and angered that he had raised payroll taxes while his wife had avoided British levies.

Labour leader Keir Starmer is expected to seize on the appointment of a new wealthy prime minister by Conservative lawmakers rather than by the country as a reason why Britain should face a national election before it is due in two years.

“My focus is on the millions of people who are struggling to pay their bills, now have additional anxieties about their mortgage. I know what it feels like,” Starmer said on Sunday.

“They could have a stable Labour government.”

Source: REUTERS

24, October 2022

French President Macron meets Pope Francis for the third time ⁰

French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis held nearly an hour of private talks on Monday, part of Macron’s trip to Italy to attend an international conference.

Macron, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, arrived at the Vatican and was greeted with an honour guard of Swiss Guards in the San Damaso courtyard before taking an elevator to the official papal study in the Apostolic Palace.

Francis, 85, was using a walking stick due to a painful knee, but looked cheerful as he chatted with Macron and posed for photographs with the French leader and his wife.

The two leaders then discussed “the conflict in Ukraine, with special attention to the humanitarian situation”, the Vatican said in a statement. “Particular consideration was given to the region of the Caucasus, the Middle East, and Africa,” it said. The Vatican said their private talks lasted 55 minutes.

Macron was escorted through ornate papal palace corridors by Swiss Guards, on his third visit to the Vatican since becoming president.

He gave Francis a 1796 first edition French-language copy of German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace”.

He previously met Francis at the Vatican in June 2018 and less than a year ago, in November 2021.

Macron is in Italy to attend an international conference organised by Italy’s Sant’Egidio Community, a worldwide peace and charity group.

He and the pope will jointly close the conference at a special ceremony at the Colosseum in Rome on Tuesday.

Opening the conference on Rome’s outskirts on Sunday, Macron said he believed there was a chance for peace in Ukraine, even as Russia warned the conflict could escalate.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

24, October 2022

UK: Rishi Sunak chosen to replace Liz Truss as prime minister ⁰

Rishi Sunak has won the race to be leader of the Conservative Party and will become Britain’s next prime minister — the third this year.

The former Treasury chief will be Britain’s first leader of colour, and faces the task of stabilising the party and country at a time of economic and political turbulence.

His only rival, Penny Mordaunt, conceded and withdrew on Monday.

As leader of the governing party, he will take over as prime minister from Liz Truss, who quit last week after 45 tumultuous days in office.

Source: AP

24, October 2022

Yaoundé: Arrest warrant for Minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh ⁰

An arrest warrant has been reportedly issued against the powerful Minister-Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from a well placed source at the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé.

Our source revealed that the arrest order was made following Minister Ngoh Ngoh’s refusal to appear before the court on Tuesday, October 18, 2022.

The so-called powerful Secretary General at the presidency is under investigation over his management of Covid 19 funds and Cameroon Intelligence Report understands several government cabinet ministers auditioned at the Special Criminal Court in Yaounde have all stated that they simply carried out standing instructions that were given by Minister Ngoh Ngoh.

A renowned French Cameroun political commentator BORIS BERTOLT who confirmed the news on social media said Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh blatantly refused to answer 16 questions that were given to him by state prosecutors.

After a closed door meeting with the president of the special criminal court, Justice Annie Noëlle Bahounoui with the consent of Justice Minister Laurent Esso issued the arrest warrant against Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

This item is still developing

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé