1, August 2020
Formular 1: Hamilton grabs pole position for British Grand Prix 0
Lewis Hamilton smashed the track record twice on Saturday to grab a record seventh British Grand Prix pole position with a stunning performance in a tense qualifying session.
Hamilton, who on Sunday seeks a record-increasing seventh Silverstone victory, finished ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by more than three-tenths of a second after the Finn had been fastest in final practice and then again in both Q2 and Q3 when he also set lap records.
The defending six-time champion and current series leader bounced back from a ragged performance, including a spin, in the first parts of qualifying to claim his 65th pole with Mercedes and the record-increasing 91st of his career.
It was also a record eighth successive Mercedes pole success in Britain on a day when they were clear of their nearest rivals Red Bull by a full second, Max Verstappen taking third place on the grid ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Rising British star Lando Norris, 20, was fifth for McLaren ahead of Lance Stroll in Racing Point’s ‘pink Mercedes’, Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo and his Renault team-mate Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel, who was 10th for Ferrari.
“This track is awesome! But it is tough out there – with the winds, it is like juggling balls on a moving plate,” said a delighted Hamilton.
“I had a spin and as you know qualifying is all about confidence and I was struggling in the first sectors of every lap, but I took some deep breaths, composed myself and in Q3 I had a clear lap and the second one was even better!”
He added that it was strange to drive without any fans in the circuit. “Usually, it’s all sirens, flags and smoke and the atmosphere is buzzing – you get out of the car and have a different energy so I miss them, but I hope everyone is safe and happy at home.”
Source: AFP
2, August 2020
Southern Cameroons prisoner of conscience handcuffed on hospital bed 0
Thomas Tangem is a Southern Cameroons prisoner of conscience held by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in Yaoundé. He was recently handcuffed on a hospital bed at the Central Hospital in Yaoundé following directives from the superintendent of the Central Prison in Kondengui, Hamadou Modi despite him being seriously ill.
The extremely vulnerable Southern Cameroons citizen was handcuffed to a prison officer and transported in an old dusty prison van to the Central Hospital and later handcuffed on a hospital bed. Thomas Tangem was taken to hospital three times lately after he woke breathless, unable to move and without any feeling down the right side of his body.
Thomas Tangem is a prisoner of conscience and a member of the Southern Cameroons group of activists arrested by the Biya Francophone government for their role in peaceful protests four years ago.
The Ambazonia Interim Government collected testimony regarding his arbitrary arrest and torture late last year and despite the intervention of a legal defense team, the Cameroon government judiciary authorities have refused to release him.
Thomas Tangem was among the hundreds of Southern Cameroons detainees who joined the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides in staging a hunger strike in protest at the collective punishment and acts of torture that French Cameroun police and military establishments inflicted upon Southern Cameroons prisoners in French Cameroun jails.
Thomas Tangem is going through unimaginable torture and his medical conditions have deteriorated considerably as a result of his incarceration. Yaoundé prison and hospital authorities have denied him everything including physiotherapy and surgery. He is currently being held in solitary confinement in a windowless room in Central Hospital.
We of the Cameroon Concord News Group remind the Biya Francophone government of its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and we call on the Yaounde authorities to release Thomas Tangem and all prisoners of conscience in French Cameroun jails and detention centers.
We further call on the international community, and in particular EU member states and the United States, to demand the release of the Southern Cameroons leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and all Ambazonia detainees.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai
Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief