Headline News

Death of Idriss Deby: Buhari invites Biya to Abuja

23, May 2021

Death of Idriss Deby: Buhari invites Biya to Abuja 0

Nigeria’s Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada met with the 88-year-old President Biya on 21 May 2021 in Yaoundé.

The President Buhari emissary came along with a sealed envelope from Abuja and held a one-hour meeting with the ageing Cameroonian head of state.

Ambassador Zubairu Dada told Cameroon state radio and television that “Apart from the fact that we have these artificial boundaries between us, we are actually the same people. Whatever affects Nigeria affects Cameroon by extension and vice versa.”

The Nigerian diplomat did not actually disclose the purpose of his trip to Yaoundé. But Cameroon Concord News gathered that the Head of State of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, current chairman of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, has invited member countries to an extraordinary summit scheduled for 25 May 2021 in Abuja.

In addition to the Heads of State and Government of Cameroon, Nigeria, CAR, Niger and Chad, the high-level meeting will exceptionally be extended to sub-regional organisations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), as well as friendly countries, notably France, Great Britain and the United States

The main item on the agenda of this upcoming meeting in the Nigerian capital is the consequences of the death of Chad’s Head of State, Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, on 20 April 2021, on security in the countries of the Lake Chad basin and even in the Sahel.

By Rita Akana

Nigeria burries army chief Ibrahim Attahiru after plane crash

23, May 2021

Nigeria burries army chief Ibrahim Attahiru after plane crash 0

A somber day in Nigeria during the funeral of top-ranking army commander Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru on Saturday.

The burial in Abuja comes a day after he and 10 other officers died when their plane crashed in bad weather.

It was the third military air disaster this year and the army posted videos on social networks of the service attended by political and military leaders at the national mosque.

“Yesterday, 21st day of May 2021, was a very sad day for the Armed Forces. One of our finest and best pilots was conveying him along with the entourage,” said Lucky Irabor, Nigeria Chief of Defense Staff.

“After landing at the Kaduna International airport, the cold hands of death which manifested in the stormy weather ended that journey. The war against insecurity must be won, truly must be won. All we ask of you is to keep praying for us.”

The aircraft went down trying to land at the Kaduna International Airport “due to inclement weather”, the armed forces said.

President Muhammadu Buhari did not attend the burial, which was crticised on social media.

Army chief of staff Attahiru was appointed by Buhari last January in a shakeup of the senior command to better fight surging violence and a more than decade-long jihadist insurgency.

Attahiru died as news emerged that Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist leader Abubakar Shekau had himself been seriously wounded or possibly killed after clashes with a rival Islamic State-allied faction.

Attahiru was in charge of leading the frontline offensive against Shekau in 2017.

Nigeria’s military has been battling an Islamist insurgency in the northeast since 2009, a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 and displaced around two million more.

Attahiru had once been in charge of leading the frontline offensive against Boko Haram’s commander Shekau in the northeast in 2017.

Source: Africa News

Lava halts on edge of DR Congo’s main city after volcanic eruption, thousands flee

23, May 2021

Lava halts on edge of DR Congo’s main city after volcanic eruption, thousands flee 0

A smoking trail of lava from a volcanic eruption appeared to have halted a few hundred metres from the edge of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s main city on Sunday morning, said a Reuters reporter at the scene.

Goma, a lakeside city of about 2 million people, was thrown into panic on Saturday evening as the nearby Mount Nyiragongo erupted, turning the night sky an eerie red. Thousands fled with their belongings on foot, some towards the nearby border with Rwanda.

As the sun rose on Sunday, much of the hillside to the north of the town was burned black and houses had been demolished. The sky was again a cloudy gray.

“Local authorities who have been monitoring the eruption overnight report that the lava flow has lost intensity,” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on Twitter on Sunday.

Nyiragongo’s previous eruption in 2002 killed 250 people and left 120,000 homeless. It is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and is considered among the most dangerous. Saturday’s eruption appears to have been caused when fractures opened in the volcano’s side, causing lava flows in various directions.

Experts were worried that the volcanic activity observed in the past five years at Nyiragongo mirrors that in the years preceding eruptions in 1977 and 2002.

The Reuters reporter said the lava flow had stopped short of Goma’s airport and the city limits but that surrounding villages were hit.

Lava crossed a main road out of Goma, cutting if off from cities to the north. Traffic was in gridlock in most places as people tried to leave or return to assess the damage to their homes.

It was not possible to estimate material damage or if anyone had died.

A separate lava flow that headed east over unpopulated terrain towards Rwanda also appeared to have stopped, the reporter said.

Source: REUTERS

Football: Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski breaks Bundes Liga 49-year scoring record

22, May 2021

Football: Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski breaks Bundes Liga 49-year scoring record 0

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski said it felt like being in a “science fiction film” as he scored his 41st Bundesliga goal of the season on Saturday to break Gerd Mueller’s 49-year-old German league record for a single campaign.

Lewandowski scored in the 90th minute of Bayern’s 5-2 home win over Augsburg having equalled Mueller’s record of 40, which was set in 1971/72, last weekend.

Lewandowski broke Mueller’s mark with a classic poacher’s effort, rounding the Augsburg goalkeeper to fire home having snapped up the rebound after Leroy Sane’s shot was parried just before the whistle.

“You wait for 90 minutes and then it comes in the last few seconds,” Lewandowski told Sky.

“It was like being in a science fiction film. I’ve lost my voice.

“I saw Leroy shoot for goal, I had to keep believing and luckily it came off.”

Lewandowski claimed the record having had his six previous shots all saved as Bayern were presented with the Bundesliga trophy after the final whistle for the ninth straight season

They finished the season 13 points clear in the table.

“I was a little bit disappointed to have not scored sooner, but sometimes such records have to be fought for,” added Lewandowski.

“I was patient and believed until the end. I thank my team, who share the record with me.”

It was the last game for Bayern head coach Hansi Flick, who will be replaced by Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann next season having won seven titles over the last 18 months.

At the other end of the table, Werder Bremen were relegated on the last day of the season after 40 years in Germany’s top flight.

Cologne’s 1-0 home win over bottom side Schalke meant automatic relegation for Bremen, who were thumped 4-2 at home to Moenchengladbach.

This is Bremen’s first relegation since 1979/80 before coming back up the following season.

Union Berlin qualified for the new Europa Conference League play-offs finishing seventh in the table with a shock 2-1 win over second-placed RB Leipzig.

Source: AFP

Football: Ronaldo ‘still a Juve player,’ insists Pirlo before crunch finale

22, May 2021

Football: Ronaldo ‘still a Juve player,’ insists Pirlo before crunch finale 0

Cristiano Ronaldo remains very much a Juventus player, coach Andrea Pirlo insisted Saturday with the Portuguese star’s future in doubt going into the final game of the season.

Juve’s Champions League hopes are no longer in their hands as they head for 11th-placed Bologna needing a win and hoping rivals Napoli and AC Milan slip up.

However, Pirlo does not believe that the game will be Ronaldo’s final one with the club if they fail to qualify for elite European football.

“No, I see him still in the ‘Bianconero’ jersey and focused,” Pirlo told a pre-match press conference.

“He proved it the other night, sacrificing himself because he wanted to win the Coppa Italia.

“I see him focused on tomorrow, then there’s time to discuss the rest.”

Juve’s nine-year title run was ended by Inter Milan and failure to qualify for the Champions League would be a financial blow.

The competition is worth on average 80 million euros ($94 million) a season to teams.

Failure to qualify would make Ronaldo’s annual salary of 31 million euros a year difficult to sustain.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was recruited in 2018 from Real Madrid to help Juventus win the title after two lost finals in 2015 and 2017.

The 36-year-old is the top scorer in the competition with 134 goals.

In the meantime, Ronaldo is set to become the first player to finish the season top scorer in three major leagues — England, Spain, and Italy.

He has scored 28 goals so far, six more than Inter’s Romelu Lukaku and Atalanta’s Luis Muriel.

Meanwhile Pirlo also insisted the match would not decide his own future after an erratic first season, during which he won two trophies.

“I don’t think the club will decide my future based on what happens tomorrow,” said the 42-year-old.

“They have an idea of what has worked and what has not worked this season. You don’t make decisions just by looking at one last game.”

But he warned: “We really believe in it, we were dead after Milan (defeat) but the results, ours and those of others, allowed us to get back on their feet.”

Source: AFP

Yaounde-Nsimalen Airport: “Camair Co has been flying coffins for over a decade”

22, May 2021

Yaounde-Nsimalen Airport: “Camair Co has been flying coffins for over a decade” 0

Even before the Friday incident at the Nsimalen International airport when a plane belonging to Cameroon’s national carrier, CAMAIR-CO ran off the runway, causing panic among passengers and flight crew, analysts had warned that CPDM corruption and poor leadership was making it difficult for the Biya regime to improve Cameroon’s air safety.

The exact circumstances of the incident are not yet known but first unofficial report hinted of no casualties.

Nsimalen airport officials say they have successfully evacuated all the passengers onboard the plane from the scene and only a scientific investigation will reveal the cause of the problem.

Despite CamairCo assurances to its customers, controversy still rages over the cause of the Nsimalen incident.

According to Cameroon Intelligence Report, which quoted an anonymous official in the Ministry of Transport, Camair Co has been flying coffins for over a decade.

The regime in Yaoundé has reportedly denied that the plane was faulty. But many in the Aviation industry contacted by Cameroon Concord News said that there were issues with the engine.

Some months ago, seven Cameroon government ministers had to make an emergency trip to the North of the country using a Kenya airways plane.

No one in the Ministry of Transport can provide any information on the various departments responsible for control of the systems, in terms of certification and control of CamairCo activities.

The general manager of CamairCo and his entire staff including the board of directors are all chartered members of the ruling CPDM Crime Syndicate. Correspondingly, the company avoids complying with government regulations by paying off officials.

If the CamairCo plane that ran off the runway on Friday was faulty, then it is evidently clear that the company paid an inspector to allow the aircraft to fly.

Air travel within Cameroon and all of Africa remains relatively dangerous. In 2010, The International Civil Aviation Organization reported that the accident rate for air traffic in Africa was more than four times the global average.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

European Football: High-stakes weekend ahead as title races, Champions League places up for grabs

22, May 2021

European Football: High-stakes weekend ahead as title races, Champions League places up for grabs 0

As this year’s pandemic-affected European football season wraps up in many countries across the continent this weekend, there is plenty still to play for. Several rebel Super League clubs are facing some harsh realities. Two of the five top leagues are still awaiting a champion. And some some clubs with rich histories are facing relegation.

Atlético Madrid is the surprise leader in Spain and Lille is an even bigger shock in France. Both can clinch their league titles with one final victory, with Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively, at their heels.

Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan have already won their league titles, but many of their rivals are still chasing Champions League qualification, which is crucial for both their image and their finances.

Some leagues will continue to play until May 29, ending only hours before Manchester City and Chelsea begin the Champions League final in Porto, Portugal.

Manchester United could win the first part of a European double for the English city on Wednesday when it faces Villarreal in the Europa League final in Gdansk, Poland.

The season finales in the top leagues will be spread out through the weekend, with Spain playing its matches on Saturday at 4pm GMT. Sunday is more packed, starting with all 10 English Premier League matches at 3pm GMT, Italy’s keys games kicking off at 6.45pm GMT, and France starting 15 minutes later at 7pm GMT.

Title races

Atlético leads the Spanish standings by two points, but Real Madrid would win the title on a better head-to-head record if they finish level on points.

The matches in France come a day later.

Lille, which leads the league by one point, plays at Angers, a team with little to play for, being in the middle of the standings. Defending champion PSG, for its part, after winning a record 14th French Cup on Wednesday against Monaco, will face a Brest team that could still be dragged into a relegation playoff.

Even third-place Monaco, which plays at Lens, could win the French title. However, the team from the principality could also drop to fourth behind Lyon and fail to even enter the Champions League qualifying rounds.

In other title races, the Danish league will be won by either Brondby or Midtjylland on Monday. Maccabi Haifa has the edge over Maccabi Tel Aviv for its first Israeli title in 10 years.

Champions League

For a European club from a major market, the drop in expected revenue between playing in the Champions League or the Europa League would be €50-70 million.

All three of those clubs were founding members of the doomed Super League project that flared up quickly and died just as fast last month, adding spice to the jeopardy they now face.

Failure for Juventus would be further humiliation for club president Andrea Agnelli after the Super League fiasco. UEFA could yet ban Juventus — and Real Madrid and Barcelona — if they continue refusing to renounce the Super League.

Fifth place would also likely cost former midfield great Andrea Pirlo his job after only one season as Juventus coach.

Liverpool’s late surge after a slumping start to 2021 has put it in fourth place ahead of hosting Crystal Palace — a team coached by former Reds manager Roy Hodgson, who will be overseeing his final match before retirement from the sport.

Leicester beat Chelsea to win the FA Cup on Saturday, then lost on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge in a match that included a mass brawl. That result lifted Chelsea, which can also qualify for next season’s Champions League by beating Manchester City in the final, to third.

Chelsea travels to Aston Villa for its final match while Leicester hosts Tottenham, which is in seventh place and holds the spot that earns a place in the new third-tier Europa Conference League.

European qualification

Tottenham could fall out of European qualification altogether, and even be overtaken by neighbour Arsenal, which hosts Brighton. Everton is also in contention but visits champions Man City.

Union Berlin could qualify for the Europa Conference League in only its second season in the Bundesliga. The seventh-place club hosts Leipzig on Saturday.

Relegation battles

Werder Bremen’s successful past includes winning the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1992 and reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2009, but the German club is currently in the relegation playoff place before hosting Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday.

In France, Nantes hosts Montpellier knowing a win could lift it clear of the relegation playoff spot. A Champions League semifinalist 25 years ago, Nantes looked doomed until winning four straight matches starting last month.

Unbeaten champions

Glasgow Rangers and Red Star Belgrade completed unbeaten seasons to win their leagues in Scotland and Serbia, respectively.

Slavia Prague can join them with two games left in the Czech league, which ends on May 29.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

Yaoundé: Detained journalist on hunger strike

22, May 2021

Yaoundé: Detained journalist on hunger strike 0

A journalist who has been held in Cameroon for ten months for “propagating false news” has started a hunger strike, a media trade union said Thursday.

Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) and local press unions regularly denounce what they say are arbitrary detentions of journalists critical of Cameroon President Paul Biya and his government.

Emmanuel Mbombog Mbog Matip, director of the Climat Social daily, “is on hunger strike” in a prison in the capital Yaoundé, said Alex Koko, head of the national journalists’ union Synajic.

RSF said another journalist, Paul Chouta, had been jailed for 23 months on Tuesday, but as that sentence was equal to the time he has already spent in detention he was released on Thursday.

The Cameroon authorities did not reply to an AFP request for comment late Thursday,

Cameroon sits a lowly 135th out of 180 nations in RSF’s press freedom index.

Source: AFP

Biya Covid-19 Scandal: Several cabinet ministers implicated, Health officials in police drag net

21, May 2021

Biya Covid-19 Scandal: Several cabinet ministers implicated, Health officials in police drag net 0

There are strong indications of embezzlement against several Biya regime ministers in the context of the management of covid-19 funds.

A report that has just been made public by the Francophone dominated Audit Chamber of the Supreme Court listed 30 cases of mismanagement against the Ministers of Public Health and Scientific Research.

Minister Manaouda Malachie of Public Health is particularly indexed in the report as the supreme culprit. The Minister paid for 16 ambulances that were never delivered.

Another ruling CPDM party criminal cited in the report is Minister Madeleine Tchuenté of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation.  The Institute of Medicinal Plants which depends on her ministerial department was authorized to produce five million tablets of both Hydroxy Chloroquine and Azitrhomycin.  Madam Madeleine Tchuenté and her gang decided to import these medicines from an Indian company known as “ZANEKA” and had them rebranded and repackaged as “Made in Cameroon”.

Minister Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa of Basic Education and Dr. Taiga in charge of the Ministry of Livestock and Animal Industries could not provide evidence or any documentation on their management of COVID-19 funds. 21 cabinet ministers are under investigation and 19 have so far gone through the Supreme Court audition.

The corruption crisis has already been dubbed “Covid Gate” and is it currently generating a lot of under-the-table talk. Cameroon Concord News understands several highly placed government officials have been questioned at the Special Criminal Court and according to a correspondent with our sister publication Cameroon Intelligence Report a wave of arrests has taken place at the Ministry of Public Health.

It is vital to include in this report that the IMF had ordered Cameroon to provide information on the management of funds allocated to combat the covid-19 pandemic.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

US, international community hail Egypt-brokered Gaza ceasefire

21, May 2021

US, international community hail Egypt-brokered Gaza ceasefire 0

US, UK, Egyptian and UN leaders on Thursday welcomed a ceasefire announced by Israel and Hamas after 11 days of bombing and rocket strikes that killed nearly 250 people.

“I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress and I’m committed to working towards it,” Biden said at the White House, highlighting Egypt’s role in brokering the truce.

He said he had spoken Thursday with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Biden, who has come under criticism from many within his own Democratic party for not pushing US ally Israel more publicly to call a ceasefire, touted his administration’s “quiet, relentless diplomacy”.

Echoing a line taken by the White House throughout the 11-day conflict, Biden indicated that the US goal, involving “incredible efforts”, was above all to limit the duration of the bloodshed.

The aim was “avoiding the sort of prolonged conflict we’ve seen in previous years”, he said.

Biden referred to the casualties on both sides, and said, “Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy.”

He also pledged US humanitarian aid, while emphasizing that this would be channeled through the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, not Hamas so that the organisation could not “simply restock its military arsenal”.

Biden put particular weight on a pledge to back “Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks from Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups.”

In a rejection of some Democratic members of Congress who are pushing to stop an imminent US arms sale to Israel, Biden said he had assured Netanyahu of his “full support” in replenishing the Iron Dome anti-missile system used to shoot down Hamas’ projectiles.

Biden also had notable words of thanks for Sisi, whose authoritarian rule has complicated the long close US-Egyptian relationship.

“I extend my sincere gratitude to President al-Sisi and the senior Egyptian officials who have played such a critical role in this diplomacy,” Biden said.

Sisi reciprocated with a series of tweets thanking Biden for his role in making the Egyptian ceasefire initiative succeed.

Sisi said he and President Biden both saw the urgency of managing the conflict between all parties with diplomacy.

‘Unacceptable cycle of violence’

Britain on Thursday welcomed a ceasefire announced by Israel and Hamas and called on all sides to work to make it durable and “end the unacceptable cycle of violence” in the region.

“All sides must work to make the ceasefire durable and end the unacceptable cycle of violence and loss of civilian life,” UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Twitter, adding that Britain supports “efforts to bring about peace”.

United Nations pleads for ‘real national reconciliation’

The ceasefire was also welcomed at the UN, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres adding a warning.

“I stress that Israeli and Palestinian leaders have a responsibility beyond the restoration of calm to start a serious dialogue to address the root causes of the conflict,” Guterres said.

“Gaza is an integral part of the future Palestinian state and no effort should be spared to bring about real national reconciliation that ends the division.”

UN Middle East Peace Envoy Tor Wennesland wrote on Twitter: “I welcome the ceasefire between #Gaza & #Israel. I extend my deepest condolences to the victims of the violence & their loved ones. I commend #Egypt & #Qatar for the efforts carried out, in close contact w/ the @UN, to help restore calm. The work of building #Palestine can start.”

Israel, Hamas claim victory

Both Israel and Hamas, meanwhile, claimed significant gains from the fighting.

“This is the euphoria of victory,” said Khalil al-Hayya, the second most senior member of Hamas’s political bureau in the Gaza Strip, in a speech to thousands of people celebrating in Gaza City after the ceasefire came into place. He also promised to reconstruct homes destroyed by Israeli air strikes.

Al-Hayya claims Israel failed to destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure, and says the group’s fighters are still “striding proudly” in the underground tunnels.

He did not reveal the terms of the deal.

Separately, another senior Hamas member warned that the group remained ready to take up arms at a moment’s notice.

“It is true the battle ends today but Netanyahu and the whole world should know that our hands are on the trigger and we will continue to grow the capabilities of this resistance,” said Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, in an interview with Reuters.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said on Twitter that the Gaza offensive had yielded “unprecedented military gains”.

Speaking to his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, Gantz said Israel’s defence establishment would “continue to work closely and in full cooperation with the Pentagon and the US administration to stabilise the region”, Gantz’s office said.

Since the fighting began on May 10, health officials in Gaza said 232 Palestinians, including 65 children, had been killed and more than 1,900 wounded in aerial bombardments. Israel said it had killed at least 160 combatants in Gaza.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)

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