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Ukraine war shows Europe ‘not strong enough’

2, December 2022

Ukraine war shows Europe ‘not strong enough’ 0

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Friday offered a “brutally honest” assessment of Europe’s capabilities in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine, stating bluntly that “we’re not strong enough” to stand up to Moscow alone.

Visiting Australia, the leader of the pending NATO member said Vladimir Putin’s invasion and occupation of neighbouring Ukraine had exposed both European weaknesses and strategic blunders in dealing with Russia.

“I must be very honest, brutally honest with you, Europe isn’t strong enough right now. We would be in trouble without the United States,” she told Sydney’s Lowy Institute think tank.

Marin insisted Ukraine must be given “whatever it takes” to win the war, adding that the United States had been pivotal in supplying Kyiv with the weapons, finance and humanitarian aid necessary to blunt Russia’s advance.

“We have to make sure that we are also building those capabilities when it comes to European defence, the European defence industry, and making sure that we could cope in different kinds of situations,” she said.

Finland won independence from Russia almost 105 years ago and inflicted heavy casualties on an invading Soviet army soon after despite being hugely outgunned.

The 37-year-old Finnish leader decried European Union policies that had stressed the importance of engagement with Putin and said the bloc should have listened to member states who were part of the Soviet Union until it collapsed.

Since joining the European Union in 2004, countries such as Estonia and Poland have urged fellow EU members to take a tougher line on Putin, a stance tempered by France, Germany, Italy and Greece — which favoured closer economic ties with Moscow.

“We should have listened to our Baltic and Polish friends much sooner,” Marin said.

“For a long time, Europe was building a strategy towards Russia to closen our economic ties, to buy energy from Russia… we thought that this would prevent a war.”

Marin added that this approach had been “proven entirely wrong”.

“They don’t care about economic ties, they don’t care about the sanctions. They don’t care about any of that.”

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Macron wins over the US government

2, December 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Macron wins over the US government 0

The constant bickering between the various US-based factions involved in the war in Southern Cameroons has hurt efforts by the country’s English-speaking minority to gain its independence from the francophone majority which has ruled the country for decades.

The tension between the country’s English-speaking minority and the various governments which have ruled the country has always been there, but things finally came to a head in 2016 when the government’s crackdown on demonstrating English-speaking Cameroons led to calls for the total independence of the once British mandated territory.

The fighting has resulted in the economies of the two English-speaking regions being reduced to nothing, with more than a million English-speaking Cameroonians either fleeing to Nigeria or East Cameroon.

The last two years have really discredited the separatists who have being fighting over control. This uncalled for power struggle had gone a long way in destroying a struggle which had actually left the Cameroonian government in a quandary.

All efforts by the beleaguered government to wipe out the insurgents have all failed, but the separatists’ change of their objective from protecting the people to kidnapping the population for ransom has caused the population to turn against those the people once considered as liberators.

The fighting is now not against the government but against separatist fighters who have transformed themselves into violent kidnappers and rapists.

The population has decided to help the government to track down these unscrupulous elements who are notorious for their atrocities against their own people.

While the local population is living through a nightmare that has lasted some six years, the separatist leaders are enjoying life in many Western countries, with some of them purchasing masions at a time when the people on ground zero  are really struggling with life.

To destroy the insurgency forever, the Yaoundé government has called on the French government to take its plea to the Biden Administration and this strategy is delivering some appreciable results.

On the eve of Macron’s visit to Washington DC, the FBI visited some separatist leaders and their homes were thoroughly searched.

Chris Anu and Eric Tataw are in the cross hairs of the Biden Administration and the raids on their homes are just the beginning of a long process which has been designed to send them to jail for a long time.

The FBI does not always visit people, but when its agents show up on your property, then you must know that they have probable cause to lead you down the path of a long and tricky legal battle.

This week, three separatists living in the United States were sentenced to long jail terms for exporting arms to Cameroon and this is clearly against US laws.

They are also accused of sponsoring terrorism through illegal financial flows.

According to a State Department source, more Southern Cameroonians are being closely monitored and names like Ebini Christmas and Cho Ayaba are on the FBI long list of people wiring money to questionable beneficiaries in Southern Cameroons.

Macron is currently meeting with Biden in the American capital and he is very likely to raise the issue of Cameroonian separatists terrorizing their own people.

A Cameroon Concord News source in the US has said that there is panic among Cameroonians living in the US as they do not know if they are on the FBI radar.

No matter the outcome of the raids on the homes of Southern Cameroonians living in the United States, the fact is that the nasty rebellion in Southern Cameroons which has kept many children away from school for six years and robbed the population of its freedom, is gradually coming to an end.

As its leaders are being hunted abroad, some of their surrogates are already fleeing to Nigeria as they know their days are numbered.

The Cameroon government is now working with the population and anybody caught trying to kidnap or extort money from the population is immediately executed.

 The young men taking advantage of the situation in Southern Cameroons to make money should understand that things have changed and the end is near, a source at the Unity Palace said.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Bui Division: Bloody day in Banten as 3 Southern Cameroonians killed by Francophone soldiers

30, November 2022

Bui Division: Bloody day in Banten as 3 Southern Cameroonians killed by Francophone soldiers 0

Cameroon government forces have killed three Southern Cameroonians during an early morning raid in Banten, a village located in Bui Division in the North West Region in the latest onslaught that has made 2022 the deadliest year of violence ever since the beginning of the Anglophone uprising in 2016.

The fatalities included two Southern Cameroonian brothers, identified by our correspondent in Bui as Faraih, a Douala based mechanic and his brother Walidu, a local bike rider who were reportedly visiting their granny.  Our reporter in Kumbo, the chief town in Bui also stated that the two siblings were fatally shot after the Francophone army soldiers had stormed the residence of a local granddad identified as Pa Kongnyuy and murdered him on his sick bed.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that Faraih was shot in the pelvis while his brother Walidu was shot in the chest. A local trader, who had bought two brand new bikes for retail, saw his precious goods burnt completely.  

The Cameroon government troops left their base in Tahkija, Nkum Sub division in Bui and started the raids on Banten as early as 2:00 am on Monday November 28 2022.

A Banten resident contacted by CIR said the French speaking soldiers entered the village centre commonly referred to as Sanheiri breaking into houses and shops “And after looting and spending the day in the court yards feasting on stolen goods and even roasting a pig in front of the Central Mosque, the soldiers then moved through the village centre down into the valley where the local Catholic Church is located. The doors of the Catholic Church Banten were forced open and the sacred tabernacle where the Holy Eucharist is kept was emptied”.

This item is still developing  

By Queen Besumbu Agbaw

Qatar 2022: France overwhelming favourites in final group stage match against Tunisia

30, November 2022

Qatar 2022: France overwhelming favourites in final group stage match against Tunisia 0

France go into their third group stage match against Tunisia as overwhelming favourites, having already secured their place in the knockout rounds with their impressive victories over Australia and Denmark.

Les Bleus take on Tunisia on Wednesday after a sparkling run of form that shows them to be top contenders to win the trophy, while lessening fans’ fears that they will repeat history and perform poorly as title-holders. 

The 4-1 drubbing of Australia displayed France’s strengths. The talisman of the French team, Kylian Mbappé showed his trademark lacerating pace, dazzling creativity and clinical finishing skills. 

Antoine Griezmann massively surpassed expectations. Some had written him off as a has-been. But Griezmann has adapted well to Didier Deschamps playing him in a much deeper, more central position than his traditional role on the left wing of the French attack. 

Olivier Giroud, however, was the star of the show against Australia. The AC Milan striker captured the attention of the footballing world by matching French hero Thierry Henry’s 51-goal record for Les Bleus. The 36-year-old consigned to distant memory his failure to score a single goal at the 2018 World Cup.

Ousmane Dembelé has been another outstanding player for France at the World Cup so far, with some searing runs, incisive passing and neat positional interchanges with Mbappé. So too has defensive midfield linchpin Aurelien Tchouaméni – a sterling replacement for the injured N’Golo Kanté and one of the breakout young players of the tournament so far. While he still has some distance to go in refining his talent and ensuring consistency, Tchouaméni shows a hint of Roy Keane’s toughness combined with a hint of Andrea Pirlo’s creative brilliance in that deep position.

Deschamps the ‘water carrier’

Mbappé showed several missteps against both Australia and Denmark, with a sometimes clumsy first touch on the ball. Giroud, too, disappointed against Denmark after his brace against the Socceroos; Deschamps substituted him relatively early. 

The French defence, meanwhile, let themselves down against their easy first opponent, as some sloppy positioning from Les Bleus’ back four allowed the Aussies’ Craig Goodwin to score that shock opening goal in the 9th minute. 

But all of these problem should be relatively easy for Deschamps to correct – especially seeing as the ex-midfielder whom Eric Cantona once dismissed as a mere “water carrier”, one of just three men to have won the World Cup as both player and manager – is renowned for his tactical and strategic flexibility. 

Raphael Varane has already returned to the fold after a hamstring injury ruled him out of the Australia match – providing much-needed ballast to that slightly rickety French defence. That’s while it seems churlish to note Mbappé’s rare faltering moments considering how much he has sparkled, not to mention his double against Denmark. As for Giroud, surely the chance to smash the legendary Henry’s record at international football’s highest competition will seem irresistible to one of the most underrated strikers in the world.

In light of all this, betting odds highly favour France. It doesn’t help Tunisia that they lost 1-0 to Australia on Saturday – letting the Aussies’ grit and determination overcome them days after Les Bleus found the Socceroos so easy to vanquish. 

But everything is to play for in Wednesday’s match. The Eagles of Carthage, as Tunisia are nicknamed, showed similar grit and determination to hold the pertinacious Danes to a goalless draw in their first game. 

They also have some strong players – albeit nothing like the world-class calibre of the Mbappés and Griezmanns. Goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen has shown himself to be a safe pair of hands; the only shot he conceded was the goal against Australia, which was the kind of shot many of the world’s best keepers can do nothing about. Mohamed Drager is an energetic and dynamic presence down the right flank, although lacks consistency. Striker Anis Ben Slimane did not feature in the Australia game, and was greatly missed for it; he is a solid goalscorer for his Danish club Brondby.

Yet it would be the brave pundit who bet money against France. History shows that World Cup champions keep faltering – and perhaps that will happen in the knockouts, as it did for Brazil in 2006 and Italy in 2010. But as things stand, France look like fairly decent contenders to pull off a whopping achievement and seize the World Cup twice in a row.

Source: France 24

Biya has been president for 40 years – and he might win office yet again

30, November 2022

Biya has been president for 40 years – and he might win office yet again 0

At 89 years old, one of the oldest leaders in the world, President Paul Biya of Cameroon has marked 40 years as head of state. He assumed office in 1982.

He is the second longest serving leader in Africa. The longest is Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, in power since 1979.

Cameroon experienced a long spell of political stability under Biya’s iron hand. But this eventually unravelled when an Anglophone rebellion broke out in the south-west and north-west and when radical Islamists entered from Nigeria. Domestic pressure for Biya to accept a transition has also been persistent.

But Biya remains non-committal about relinquishing power in 2025, which would be the end of his current seventh term of office.

What explains Biya’s longevity in office and why is Cameroon unable to marshal a transition?

I am a scholar of democratic studies and regime types in Africa and a commentator on African political developments. I’m interested in why the continent is saddled with ageing presidents who ought to be enjoying their retirement when it desperately needs young, agile and innovative leaders equal to its challenges.

A bright start

Biya succeeded Ahmadou Ahidjo, Cameroon’s president from 1960 to 1982, after his surprise resignation. Ahidjo had been struggling with an economic crisis and widespread corruption. He had superintended a one party state and an exceptional centralisation of power in the presidency.

When Biya became president in 1982, he promised political liberalisation, including democracy, civil and human rights and economic advancement in Cameroon.

For a while, he worked to achieve some of these goals. The country achieved political stability and unity, and relative economic transformation through his “new deal”. There was even a momentary easing of the draconian police state.

But in the late 1990s, there was a gradual halt to political liberalisation, fiscal discipline and government accountability. This happened after the 1984 bloody coup attempt by the Republican Guards.

Biya became increasingly unyielding to political accommodation. First he purged Ahidjo’s faction within the ruling party and eventually he locked out any meaningful challenge to his leadership from within or outside the party. Ultimately though, under external pressure, he agreed to a multiparty dispensation in 1990.

This has gradually and systematically been hollowed out, creating a monolithic system that entrenched Biya in office for the last 40 years.

Biya’s staying power

Cameroon’s politics has long been dominated by Biya’s Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Camerounaise, which rebranded from the Cameroon National Union in 1985. It had been the dominant party since 1966. After a formal opening up of the political space to multipartyism, this has gradually been weakened.

There has been a failure of political party institutionalisation. Hundreds of small parties mushroomed – 300 to date, many allegedly secretly bankrolled and controlled by Biya. They provide a façade of democratic competitiveness. In reality, they have weakened legitimate political opposition.

The absence of a united and consolidated opposition has enabled the entrenchment of a dominant party system. The ruling party has a dominant majority in both the National Assembly and the Senate (63 seats of 70). This erodes any chance of genuine checks and balance.

The party has also used electoral mechanics like redrawing boundaries for electoral advantage and in places outright fraud to expand victories and consolidate majorities.

Elections have become little more than a procedural inconvenience, where Biya runs with no possibility of losing.

For instance, in 2004 Biya won with 70.9% of the vote. After the 2008 constitutional revision to remove term limits, he was re-elected with 78% of the vote in 2011.

In 2018, he got 71.28% against his challenger, opposition leader Maurice Kamto.

Biya has created a rent seeking political class that not only does his bidding but keeps him in power with minimum resistance. Cameroon is a leading exporter of timber in Africa and fifth largest cocoa producer in the world.

The country should have enough resources to reduce extreme poverty and underdevelopment. Yet the proceeds are plundered through corruption and to maintain a clientelist network.

Politicians must show allegiance and loyalty to Biya. The alternative is being out in the cold or in jail. Biya has also filled senior positions in the administration, the military and security agencies and the civil service with people from his southern ethnic group. Most notably he has relied on the Rapid Intervention Battalion, a highly trained military commando unit, to ensure the regular army is unable to move against him.

The Anglophone conflict has also enabled Biya to deflect attention from his misrule. The violent conflict has left thousands dead in a civil war against the secessionist English-speaking regions of the country.

Biya, relying on French and recently Russian backers, used the conflict to strengthen his domestic hand and deflect international criticisms.

Another factor is the concentration of power in Cameroon. Nothing substantive gets done without the sign-off of the president. No arm of government or entity of the state has gone unpoliced, including the judiciary: judges are nominated directly by the president.

Simply put, there is no facet of public life untouched by the Biya regime.

Contemplating a post Biya era

The president’s mandate runs out in 2025, at which time he will be 92. While he has shown no signs of exiting the stage, talk of a post Biya era is rising.

Although the ruling party has not held a party congress since 2011, hence dampening the transition debate, there is periodical internal party reorganisation. The president has used it to reward and check potential threats to his supremacy.

Biya’s stewardship has long run its course. Its longevity relies on ruthlessness and political astuteness.

Sadly, the real cost is to the country’s democracy, which has long suffered fissures that can only be healed by political renewal through a change of guard. And this change is one that even Biya can do little to forestall.

Culled from The Conversation

Aboubakar’s SCOOP: A World Cup goal of the tournament contender

29, November 2022

Aboubakar’s SCOOP: A World Cup goal of the tournament contender 0

Vincent Aboubakar scored one of the most eye-catching goals of the World Cup – but only with the help of VAR.

Unfortunately, Aboubakar wasn’t able to properly celebrate his glorious lob of Serbia goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic because the assistant referee raised his flag for offside straight away.

But video assistant referee Mohamed Al Hammadi ensured one of the best-taken goals of the tournament wouldn’t be wasted by checking the replays and finding Aboubakar had timed his run to perfection.

Source: Daily Mail

Yaoundé Landslide: Rescue workers still searching for victims

29, November 2022

Yaoundé Landslide: Rescue workers still searching for victims 0

Rescue workers in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, are searching for people believed trapped under a landslide that killed at least 14 people and injured scores more Sunday. The victims were attending a funeral when the landslide occurred.

Civilians mourn as they join rescue workers in digging and searching for people they fear are trapped underneath a huge pile of debris.

The soil and stones collapsed Sunday evening on several hundred community members from Cameroon’s west region who had gathered for a funeral of people who died within the past month.

Rosette Ngeufack, 50, is among the mourners. She says she saw the ground collapse on scores of people including her two sons.Ngeufack says she is still searching for her 24-year-old son who was buried by the landslide alongside his motorcycle. She says she left the Yaounde central hospital at 2 a.m. after hospital staff reassured her that her 21-year-old son, also a victim of the landslide, is responding to treatment.

It is a tradition in Cameroon for communities to organize funeral events in towns after burial of their community members in villages.

People who attended the funeral prior to the landslide said they had prayed for the departed and were sharing drinks and food when the unfortunate incident occurred.

Nasseri Paul Bea, governor of Cameroon’s center region where Yaounde is located, visited the disaster site for the second time within 15 hours on Monday morning. He says that investigations carried out by Cameroon police indicate that some civilians are still trapped in the landslide.

Bea says he asked the government for more troops to assist rescue workers who for the past 14 hours have been searching for people. He says bodies removed from the disaster site are identified by the police and taken to the mortuary of the central hospital in Yaounde and then eventually to their family members.

Cameroon’s government says the landslide occurred when an 18-meter-high embankment collapsed on several hundred civilians attending a funeral in a house constructed in a risky area.

Bea said the embankment that gave way was not solid enough to stop the soil from collapsing.

Cameroon’s Housing Ministry Monday asked people living in areas deemed at risk of landslides to immediately to leave or be forced to relocate.

Yaounde, a city of about 3 million people, has had devastating floods caused by heavy rains within the past three months. The government says more than 25 houses constructed in risky areas have collapsed, injuring and killing scores of people.

Source: VOA

Southern Cameroons Crisis: US charges three for supporting Amba fighters

29, November 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: US charges three for supporting Amba fighters 0

The US Justice Department announced charges Monday against three men who allegedly helped fund separatist fighters in Cameroon and supported the 2020 kidnapping of Catholic cardinal Christian Tumi.

The three men, US citizens of Cameroon origin,  are accused of raising $350,000 for arms and bomb-making materials for the separatist Ambazonian Restoration Forces operating in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest region.

The funds also supported kidnappings by the separatists, including of Tumi and Sehm Mbinglo, a traditional chief in the troubled region.

Both were freed within days. Tumi, who died in 2021, had frequently sought to mediate between the government and the separatists in the mainly French-speaking country.

The Justice Department said Claude Chi, 40, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Francis Chenyi, 49, of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Lah Nestor Langmi, 46, of Buffalo, New York, were arrested Monday on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to support kidnappings and use weapons of mass destruction in a foreign country.

Each man held a senior position in an organization that supported and directed the Ambazonian Restoration Forces, according to the Justice Department.

The three “solicited and raised funds for equipment, supplies, weapons and explosive materials to be used in attacks against Cameroonian government personnel, security forces and property, along with other civilians believed to be enabling the government,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

They also conspired with people in Cameroon to kidnap civilians for ransom, it said.

It said they raised the funds from donations by others in the United States and other countries.

Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions have been gripped by conflict since separatists declared independence in 2017 after decades of grievances at perceived discrimination by the francophone majority.

The conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives and forced more than a million people to flee their homes, according to the International Crisis Group.

Source: AFP

Football: Former Ivory Coast International Kolo Toure handed first managerial job at Wigan

29, November 2022

Football: Former Ivory Coast International Kolo Toure handed first managerial job at Wigan 0

Kolo Toure hopes his experience working under Brendan Rodgers will prove valuable after being handed his first senior managerial role at Championship side Wigan.

The Latics named the former Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool defender as successor to Leam Richardson on Tuesday.

The 41-year-old has signed a three-and-a-half year contract at the DW Stadium after leaving his backroom role at Leicester, where he had been working alongside Foxes manager Rodgers since February 2019.

Toure has a long association with Rodgers having also played under him at Liverpool and Celtic and later been part of his coaching team at the Scottish champions.

The former Ivory Coast international told the club’s website: “The experiences that I have amassed under Brendan Rodgers have been invaluable and I’m sure they will help me in this next chapter of my career.

“I am extremely proud to be named manager of Wigan Athletic. Wigan Athletic is a big club with hugely passionate fans. Together, we can continue to make the right steps forward.”

Toure takes over with Wigan 22nd in the table, with just six wins from 21 games, in their first season back in the Championship following promotion.

Source: AFP

Qatar 2022: World Cup pitch invader defends ‘breaking the rules’

29, November 2022

Qatar 2022: World Cup pitch invader defends ‘breaking the rules’ 0

The Italian who ran on to the World Cup pitch wearing a T-shirt in support of Ukraine and Iranian women is a football player with a history of similar stunts.

Mario Ferri, 35, who calls himself “The Falcon”, interrupted the Portugal-Uruguay game on Monday when he sprinted on to the pitch wearing a blue Superman T-shirt with “Save Ukraine” on the front and “Respect for Iranian Woman” on the back.

He also carried a rainbow-coloured flag adorned with the words PACE, meaning peace in Italian.

“I’m BACK,” wrote the footballer on his Instagram page, where he describes himself as a “modern pirate”.

Ferri said he wanted to send “important messages”, including for Iran “where I have friends who are suffering, where women are not respected”.

“FIFA banned rainbow captain’s armbands and human rights flags in the stands, they blocked everyone, BUT NOT ME, like a Robin Hood,” he wrote.

“SAVE UKRAINE. I spent a month in the war in Kyiv as a volunteer and saw how much those people are suffering,” he wrote, adding that “breaking the rules for a good cause is never a crime”.

Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed Ferri had been briefly detained following the pitch invasion, before being “released by the authorities without any further consequences”.

Gay rights and the use of the rainbow flag have been a simmering issue at the World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal. The rainbow features in both the flag for LGBTQ rights and the peace flag.

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper, Ferri has played football in India, Jordan, San Marino, the Seychelles and Switzerland.

In 2010, Ferri invaded the Club World Cup pitch in Abu Dhabi during an Inter-Mazembe game furling an AC Milan scarf.

Four years later during the World Cup in Brazil, he again sported his Superman T-shirt as he ran onto the field during a Belgium-USA game.

The T-shirt read “Save the children of the favelas,” or the slums of Brazilian cities, with underneath it “Ciro lives”, in memory of Naples fan Ciro Esposito who shot by an ultra before the Coppa Italia final. He later died.

In 2017, Ferri threw a Naples scarf in the face of Juventus player Gonzalo Higuain during a Naples-Juventus match.

“I decided to avenge the Neapolitans for Higuain’s move to Juventus,” he told Corriere dello Sport.

“I said, ‘Traitor!’ and left.”

Source: AFP

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