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Speculation grows over ‘missing’ COVID-denying president of Tanzania John Magufuli

10, March 2021

Speculation grows over ‘missing’ COVID-denying president of Tanzania John Magufuli 0

Several opposition members in Tanzania have called on the authorities to release news of President John Magufuli, who has not appeared in public since February 27, prompting questions about his state of health.

Rumours have swirled on social media about if he has contracted coronavirus, especially in neighbouring Kenya under the hashtag # pray4magufuli.

Magufuli, 61, has been playing down the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming Tanzania had freed itself from the Covid” through prayer.

He also rejected any lockdowns or measures such as mask-wearing.

But he later admitted what he called a “respiratory disease” was still circulating.

Many Tanzanian officials have died in recent weeks, often without the cause of their death being specified.

Among them, the first vice-president of the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad, who died in mid-February. His party said he had contracted Covid-19.

John Magufuli was last seen in public on February 27, during the swearing-in of his new secretary-general.

He then did not participate in the ordinary virtual summit of heads of state of the East African Community (EAC) scheduled for the same day and has not been seen since at the two Sunday services, where he is usually filmed live by national television.

His main opponent Tundu Lissu said on Twitter: “It’s a sad comment on his stewardship of our country that it’s come to this: that he himself had get COVID-19 and be flown out to Kenya in order to prove that prayers, steam inhalations and other unproven herbal concoctions he’s championed are no protection against coronavirus!”

Source: AFP

Samuel Eto’o at 40: Pep Guardiola bust-up, “s***” Jose Mourinho claim and 13-club career

10, March 2021

Samuel Eto’o at 40: Pep Guardiola bust-up, “s***” Jose Mourinho claim and 13-club career 0

Samuel Eto’o enjoyed a glittering playing career which spanned 13 clubs and a whopping 22 years – but it wasn’t without its controversy.

The Cameroon superstar is best known for his trophy-laden spell with Barcelona, helping the Spanish giants to win three La Liga titles and two Champions League triumphs.

After five years at the Spanish giants, he joined Inter Milan in 2009 where he won the coveted European crown for a third time – this time under the guidance of Jose Mourinho.

Short spells in the Premier League soon followed, with Chelsea and Everton among the 13 professional teams Eto’o represented during his memorable career before he retired in 2019.

And so, to celebrate Eto’o’s 40th birthday on Wednesday, Mirror Sport takes a look back on his incident-filled career…

Samuel Eto'o stands next to the trophy before the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations
Samuel Eto’o stands next to the trophy before the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations

Guardiola bust-up – and sensational Messi claim

Eto’o has never shied away from speaking out – and he previously aimed a sensational dig at former Barcelona colleagues Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi.

With Guardiola at the helm between 2008-2012, the Catalan club were considered arguably the greatest club side of the modern era, winning three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues and countless other honours.

But Cameroonian striker Eto’o felt his own role in their stunning run was underestimated and declared himself the man who “made Barcelona win”.

In an astonishing swipe at his former boss, the ex-Chelsea man blasted Guardiola for not understanding his squad and said Messi was far from the player he is today.

The striker enjoyed a glittering spell with Barcelona
The striker enjoyed a glittering spell with Barcelona (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

“Pep Guardiola has lived his whole life in Barcelona, but in the years I spent there he didn’t understand the squad. He didn’t live the life of our group,” Eto’o told beIN Sports.

“I said to Guardiola: ‘you’ll apologise to me because it’s me that will make Barcelona win – not Lionel Messi’.

“It was the situation back then. Messi would come later.

“You can ask Xavi, Andres Iniesta and all the others – that was my era. It was me that made Barcelona win and Guardiola would ask me for forgiveness.”

The criticism of Guardiola doesn’t stop there, either.

Barcelona Pep Guardiola (R) shake hands with Cameroonian forward Eto'o
Barcelona Pep Guardiola (R) shake hands with Cameroonian forward Eto’o (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Eto’o helped Guardiola win his first Champions League as a coach in 2009, scoring the opening goal in the 2-0 win over Manchester United.

But the striker was ultimately forced out after just one season playing under the Spaniard – and it seems there was no love lost between the pair.

“I first of all reminded Guardiola that he’d never been a great player,” he said in an interview with beIN Sports .

“As a coach he had proven nothing, he didn’t even know the story of the dressing room.”

Eto'o poses with Barcelona team-mates Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi in 2005
Eto’o poses with Barcelona team-mates Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi in 2005 (Image: Getty)

“S***” Mourinho criticism

The Eto’o and Mourinho friendship is a strange one.

Before leaving Barcelona, the Cameroon star claimed he would never play under the Portuguese manager – only to then join him at Inter Milan a matter of months later.

The pair had an infamous bust-up following Barca’s 4-2 second leg defeat by Mourinho’s Chelsea in the last-16 of the Champions League in 2005.

After the defeat, Eto’o is believed to have told the boss: “I know you are a great person and a great coach. But in truth you are just a s***!”

But a respect soon blossomed between the pair and the striker played a starring role in Inter’s historic Treble-winning 2009/10 season, which included a memorable Champions League win.

Eto'o in action against Chelsea, who were managed by Mourinho at the time
Eto’o in action against Chelsea, who were managed by Mourinho at the time (Image: PA)

Eto’o has since spoken of how he preferred Mourinho’s more personal touch as a manager over the approach of Guardiola.

The Cameroon legend is one of the few footballers fortunate enough to say that they played for both legendary bosses, turning out for Guardiola at Barcelona and later Mourinho at both Inter Milan and Chelsea.

When it comes to Mourinho, Eto’o said that the Portuguese is a much warmer figure than he is often portrayed as.

“Jose is, firstly, a friend,” said Eto’o.

Eto'o and Jose Mourinho celebrate after beating Barcelona in the 2010 Champions League semi-finals
Eto’o and Jose Mourinho celebrate after beating Barcelona in the 2010 Champions League semi-finals (Image: REUTERS)

“He’s a person who’s upfront and when he doesn’t like something, he tells you. We both have strong temperaments and we understood each other well.

“He’s one of the best people I have found in football. People try to present him as controversial, but it’s a lie. What happens is that life, and football, is hypocritical and they prefer that to having honest people.

“Mou is a top guy. The other thing is that he only cares about the result. It’s his way of seeing football and in that sense he is the number one. Beating him at his game is impossible, you can never beat him.

“He’s a winner and a born leader. He spoke to you with the right words. He’s great.”

The striker flourished under Mourinho at Inter Milan
The striker flourished under Mourinho at Inter Milan (Image: AFP)

A 13-club career

Few have enjoyed a worldwide tour like Eto’o.

Beginning his professional career with Real Madrid in 1997, the striker failed to make the desired impact at the Bernabeu and was shipped out on loan to Leganes, Espanyol and Mallorca.

A permanent move to Mallorca followed in 2000, after an impressive loan stint, and it was there where he showed off his goalscoring prowess on a consistent basis.

Barca soon took notice and swooped for the Cameroon star – and he became a influential figure in a team which featureed the biggest stars in world football including Thierry Henry and Messi.

He then left Spain for the first time in his professional career, moving to Italy with Inter, before a switch to Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala followed two years later.

Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto’o playing for Real Madrid in 1999 (Image: Getty)

Eto’o then fulfilled a lifelong dream by moving to the Premier League, first to join Chelsea in 2013, before a one-year stint with Everton.

He then left England to return to Italy with Sampdoria, before ticking another country off his list by moving to Turkey to spend three years with Antalyaspor and a further season with Konyaspor.

The striker eventually brought the curtain down on his career with a final hurrah with Qatar SC.

Thirteen clubs in six countries, not bad going for a striker who is widely regarded as one of the greatest African footballers of all time.

Eto'o fulfilled a lifelong dream by moving to the Premier League, first to join Chelsea in 2013
Eto’o fulfilled a lifelong dream by moving to the Premier League, first to join Chelsea in 2013 

Not only did the striker enjoy a memorable club career, but he also starred for his country.138225411899

After earning his first cap for Cameroon one day before his 16th birthday, he went on to score 56 goals in 118 appearances for his nation.

He helped his country win Olympic gold at the 2000 Games in Australia, while also starring as they won the Africa Cup of Nations the same year and two years later.

Eto’o was voted African Player of the Year four times, a joint-record he holds with Manchester City legend Yaya Toure.

Culled from Irish Mirror

Assessing Biya’s 38 years in power: Cameroon is now a no-go country in many respects

10, March 2021

Assessing Biya’s 38 years in power: Cameroon is now a no-go country in many respects 0

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya celebrated his 88th birthday recently, making him the oldest president in Africa. He has been in power for 38 years. Birthday celebrations held across the country were met with protest by the opposition, demanding that he step down. So, how has he acquitted himself in office, and what has been his legacy for Cameroon?

Cameroonians welcomed Biya when he became president in November 1982. The peaceful transfer of power by his predecessor Ahmadou Ahidjo won Cameroon praise as an example to emulate in Africa, where leaders either held on to power for too long, through duplicity and violence, or were forced out.

Ahidjo was ruthless, authoritative, and vicious. He ruled by intimidation. Under him rivals were hunted down, tortured, killed, or forced into exile. He was the “source of all power in the state”.

Biya was seen as a breath of fresh air, and he stepped in saying the right things to different groups. He visited the nation’s Anglophone regions, spoke in English, and even referred to Bamenda, a major city in the Northwest region, as his “second home”. It was a marked difference from his predecessor, whose policies severely undermined English as a major part of the nation’s bilingualism.

Biya’s early actions were received with cheers. He pledged a “new deal” to restore integrity and eliminate corruption. He also announced that although he was of the Beti/Bulu ethnic group, he was born a Cameroonian and would govern as such.

His policies extended elementary and secondary education to rural areas. He allowed press freedom. In his book Communal Liberalism he emphasised the importance of creating a “more open, more tolerant and more democratic political society”.

But those promises and pronouncements were short-lived.

Hopes dashed

By the end of Biya’s first year in office, he had reverted to his predecessor’s tactics, a practice which intensified after the attempted coup in 1984.

He remade the nation’s only political party, Cameroon National Union, in his image, renaming it the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement. He packed his administration with people from his ethnic group and drove a solvent economy into insolvency.

His policies targeted and undermined groups like Bamilekes, Anglophones and Northerners.

He changed the name of the country from the United Republic of Cameroon to the Republic of Cameroon, a clear indication that Anglophone concerns did not matter.

He went to the World Bank and International Monitory Fund for help to revive an ailing economy. But, after three decades of intervention by these institutions, the economy remains on the brink of collapse.

The nation’s currency was devalued on his watch in 1994, bringing misery to many.

Corruption became endemic. Cameroon is often ranked as being among the most corrupt countries in the world.

Biya circumvents the country’s multiparty political system at will. He has repeatedly amended the constitution to tighten his grip on power. One amendment, in 2008, was to eliminate presidential term limits.

As a response to protests against excessive centralisation of decision making in Yaounde, Biya signed a decentralisation decree in 1996 to empower regional and local authorities. But 25 years later, that initiative has not been realised. Another failed initiative was the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism created in 2017 in response to the Anglophone protest. After billions of francs CFA were squandered, the commission has achieved nothing substantive.

Biya’s Achilles heel is the ongoing Anglophone crisis. He has overstayed his term in office, using underhand manoeuvres to cling to power.

His nearly four decades’ rule has robbed Cameroon of its credibility as a stable and peaceful country. Nations such as the US have repeatedly imposed advisory travel bans on Cameroon.

The true test of leadership

Four years ago, a peaceful protest against the marginalisation of English-speaking people turned violent as Biya’s military responded with arrests and torture.

Some responded with a call for secession of the Anglophone regions and created a virtual Ambazonia Republic. They formed a military wing, Ambazonia Defence Force, and used it to attack Biya’s military and disrupt economic and social services in the region.

My work in Cameroon brings me to the conclusion that the Anglophone crisis degenerated into violence because of miscalculations by Biya’s regime. The resulting crisis has devastated entire communities. The region’s economy has also been crippled, resulting in a wave of crime, and burning of businesses and public facilities.

Cameroon is now a no-go country in many respects.

Foreign policy success

My research shows that Biya’s most enduring achievement has been in his conduct of foreign policy. He remains influential in the African Union, and maintains good relations with France, the US and China.

Cameroon was part of the multinational joint task force which conducted military operations to contain Boko Haram. Biya was key in convincing major powers that Boko Haram posed a global threat.

He settled Cameroon’s conflict with Nigeria over the Bakassi Peninsula and placed relations between the nations on a good footing.

Biya also diversified foreign policy from a focus on France to expanding relations with China (though by 2007 he had begun to regret China’s economic domination in Cameroon). He has encouraged American businesses in Cameroon too.

Even after Cameroon was excluded from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a programme that allows African nations to export their goods to the US duty free, for human rights violations, US-Cameroon military collaboration continued.

Turning the tide

Given Biya’s unwillingness to step down from power, the global community needs to exert pressure on him to solve the Anglophone crisis.

The crisis exposes the hypocrisy and weaknesses of the current global system. The major powers make noises about human rights, yet fail to stop abuses by Biya’s government.

What happens with the Anglophone crisis may turn out to be the most significant determinant of Biya’s legacy.

Culled from The Conversation

China introduces world’s first ‘virus passport’ programme

10, March 2021

China introduces world’s first ‘virus passport’ programme 0

China introduced the first “virus passports” on Tuesday in a bid to boost international travel as the United States and the European Union consider similar programmes. The EU has said it plans to propose an EU-wide digital vaccination passport sometime this month.

From digital certificates to “health passports”, countries and airlines across the globe are hoping to relaunch travel by letting people prove their Covid-free status.

But with patchy vaccine access around the world and mounting concerns over data privacy, questions are swirling about how the measures will work in practice.

There’s an app for that?

Most programmes under development are geared towards facilitating travel and come in the form of smartphone apps with varying criteria for a clean bill of health.

Vaccine passports, for example, are a popular way to approach proof of immunity with jab rollouts underway across the globe.

There are also apps that accept positive antibody tests as proof of immunity for those who have had the virus and recovered.

But the World Health Organization has warned that there is no evidence to show that recovered Covid sufferers with antibodies are protected from a second infection.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently suggested yet another, more localised form of Covid-free permission slip: the so-called “health pass”.

This certification would only be valid within France’s borders but would allow a fully vaccinated person to, for example, eat in restaurants and attend certain events.

Where can I sign up?

This week China launched a digital health certificate for its 1.3 billion citizens that shows the holder’s vaccine status and virus test results.

Greece and Cyprus have vaccination passports specifically for travel to and from Israel, which has fully vaccinated 44 percent of its population.

Denmark and Sweden are also looking to launch health passports soon, with the European Union promising to propose a “green pass” to ease movement within the entire Union despite resistance from France and Germany.

Is it an official travel document?

No, and there is currently no effort underway to establish a required document to travel between countries.

The Chinese health passport is an attempt to make it easier for its citizens to travel abroad, but without recognition from other countries it is of little use.

For the moment, the applications are meant to facilitate various health checks still in place at different borders, with airlines among major proponents.

Through several of its member carriers, the International Air Transport Association has been offering a digital pass allowing passengers to easily prove their health status before boarding.

Can we make it official?

Making health passports stricter or requiring them for travel could invite legal challenges.

A major worry is that banning unvaccinated people from travelling would exacerbate inequality since access to jabs is far from universal.

There are also concerns over how applications would access users’ personal data.

In France, there is already an official database of citizens who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, approved by the country’s privacy watchdog.

However, the body has warned it will re-examine the issue should the database be put to use in the context of a health passport.

(AFP)

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is now the biggest spender in the Biya regime

10, March 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is now the biggest spender in the Biya regime 0

The Minister of State-Secretary General at the presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is known more for his ruthless character as the de facto head of state of Cameroon. The ambitious next-of-kin is slowly but surely purging the Etoudi Palace of his critics and has thrown into the Kondengui prison many of his political opponents and is now teleguiding the bloody war on the English speaking people of Southern Cameroons, contributing to one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent African history.

Minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is not only preoccupied with taking over from President Biya and the war or bloodshed in Southern Cameroons, the so-called President-In-Waiting and his family relations are living large. To be more accurate, Minister Ngoh Ngoh is leading an inconceivable life which Cameroon’s tax payer’s money and revenue from oil and gas have provided him with.

His in-laws and blood relations are reportedly splashing out hundreds of millions of FCFA on cars and private parties. Many are stunned today in Yaoundé as several anonymous investors are purchasing government buildings and shares in state companies.

Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh has the unflinching support of the First Lady Chantal Biya and now controls the members of the ruling Beti Ewondo gang with a huge property empire in France.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the members of the Chantal Biya family who pressed the 88 year-old Biya to publicly announced Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh as next-of-kin are spending outrageous amounts of Cameroon tax payer’s money, typically on really quite outrageous things, including, prostitution, alcohol, gambling, very ostentatious lifestyles that include buying huge houses in France, Belgium and the USA that they never even visit!

An official at the Cameroon embassy in Brussels hinted this reporter that Francophone cabinet ministers are spending tens and tens of millions of Euros to buy properties in France and Belgium and keep them up without actually ever going to stay even one night in those properties or to use them to raise revenue.

Like President Biya, Minister Ngoh Ngoh’s spending is not easily traceable and extensive investigations might just reveal the tip of the iceberg.

A cream of top barons of the Biya regime have regularly been flying models from Ethiopia, South Africa and Madagascar and elsewhere to party in Yaoundé. They arrive and are allegedly tested for HIV/Aids.

Other senior government officials from the Northern regions have also reportedly been travelling with their sea of mistresses to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj throwing huge amounts of money on things which are even against Islamic teachings. All these are going on under the watchful eyes of Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

To be sure, the system of government in Yaoundé as teleguided by Ministers Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and Joseph Beti Assomo is the feudal systems that dates back to the dark ages where the ruling families had the power of life and death, over all of their subjects and having the right basically to help themselves to whatever wealth the nation has. That’s La Republique du Cameroun that we know today.

Cameroon’s huge wealth comes from the country’s vast agro-industrial plants including oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves which supposedly belongs to the whole nation but in fact is the Biya family property which now has Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh as its operations manager.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Biya regime fears Ambazonia Interim Government, wants to keep Southern Cameroons in chaos

10, March 2021

Biya regime fears Ambazonia Interim Government, wants to keep Southern Cameroons in chaos 0

The Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima says the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé is the party spending millions of US dollars in a bid to prevent any intervention by the international community as barons of the regime are massively benefitting from the war in Southern Cameroons.

Vice President Dabney Yerima made the comments at a media briefing in South Africa on Monday, reacting to news that the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Canadian House of Commons on Foreign Affairs and International Development heard from witnesses who gave Members of Parliament an update on the conflict between the Francophone Government of Cameroon and the English speaking people of Southern Cameroons that has been escalating since 2016.

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Gov ernment said “the Biya French Cameroun regime is the party the most worried about any international intervention and it is doing all it can to block any European Union or United Nations fact finding mission.”

Yerima told a cream of journalists in the Rainbow nation via zoom that the “Insecurity in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia is of great benefit to the corrupt French Cameroun government and military officials, and on the basis that the French Cameroun dictator Paul Biya is 88-years-old and suffering from dementia, the French Cameroun criminals are adopting deceptive measures to prevent the establishment of peace in the two Cameroons.”

Elsewhere in his comments, Vice President Yerima said Southern Cameroonians will get to Buea and French Cameroun political elites are well aware.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from SABC

UK doing business with Biya

9, March 2021

UK doing business with Biya 0

Today (9 March 2021) the United Kingdom has signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with Cameroon.

The trade deal, which will support jobs and build future prosperity, was signed by International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena and High Commissioner of Cameroon to the UK, H.E. Albert Fotabong Njoteh in London. The deal provides certainty for British and Cameroonian businesses, ensuring they can continue to trade as freely as they do now without any additional barriers or tariffs.

The UK-Cameroon trade was worth around £200m in 2019, and this deal lays a foundation to extend our trading relationship in the future. The UK market accounts for 12% of total exports of bananas from Cameroon and this agreement will maintain tariff-free market access to the UK. It also guarantees continued market access for UK exporters, who sold £50m in goods to Cameroon in 2019.

International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena said:

Today’s deal secures opportunities for both British and Cameroonian businesses – and will help support jobs and foster investment.

International trade and investment are engines of economic growth around the globe, so today’s deal will play a crucial role as we all build back better from Covid-19.

Minister for Africa James Duddridge said:

This agreement will make sure around £200m of trade between the UK and Cameroon can continue, supporting Cameroonian businesses to increase operations, enabling UK exporters to sell more goods and boosting prosperity for both countries as we together recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

This provides the continuity businesses in both the UK and Cameroon need to ensure trade between our countries continues to flourish and grow.

Today’s signing comes after the agreement to roll over current EU-Cameroon trading arrangements from 1 January 2021 concluded at the end of December.

The UK government has secured agreements covering 66 countries plus the EU, worth £890bn of trade in 2019.

Source: Gov.UK

Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics ‘without overseas spectators’

9, March 2021

Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics ‘without overseas spectators’ 0

Japan has decided to stage this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without overseas spectators due to public concern about Covid-19, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday, citing officials with knowledge of the matter.

The Tokyo 2020 games organising committee said in response that a decision would be made by the end of March.

The Olympics, postponed by a year because of the pandemic, are scheduled for July 23 to Aug. 8, and the Paralympics from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.

Kyodo said the Japanese government had concluded that welcoming fans from abroad would not be possible given public concern about the coronavirus and the detection of more contagious variants in many countries, Kyodo cited the officials as saying.

The opening ceremony of the torch relay would also be held without any spectators, Kyodo said.

“The organising committee has decided it is essential to hold the ceremony in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima behind closed doors, only permitting participants and invitees to take part in the event, to avoid large crowds forming amid the pandemic,” Kyodo said, quoting the officials.

Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto has said she wants a decision on whether to let in overseas spectators before the start of the torch relay on March 25.

“Five parties, the IOC, the IPC (International Paralympic Committee), Tokyo 2020, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the national government, came together for a meeting via online just last week,” the organising committee said in response to the Kyodo report.

“The decision regarding allowing spectators from overseas to attend the Tokyo 2020 Games will be made by the end of March based on factors including the state of infections in Japan and other countries, possible epidemic-prevention measures, and expert scientific advice will be considered.”

Public wary

In the last Olympic Games, the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, local fans accounted for 80 percent of all ticket sales, with international fans buying 20 percent.

While coronavirus infection numbers have been relatively low in Japan compared with the United States and many European countries, the country has been hit hard by the third wave of the pandemic and Tokyo remains under a state of emergency.

Japan has recorded more than 441,200 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with the death toll at more than 8,300.

Most Japanese people do not want international visitors to attend the Games amid fears that a large influx could spark a resurgence of infections, a Yomiuri newspaper poll showed.

The survey showed 77% of respondents were against allowing foreign fans to attend, versus 18% in favour.

Some 48% said they were against allowing any spectators into venues and 45% were in favour.

Source: REUTERS

Bundes Fußball: Loew to step down after this year’s Euros

9, March 2021

Bundes Fußball: Loew to step down after this year’s Euros 0

Germany’s World Cup-winning head coach Joachim Loew will step down after the European championships this July, the German football association said on Tuesday.

Loew will leave with a year left on his contract having signed up until the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.

In a statement, Loew said he was “full of pride and enormous gratitude” after nearly 15 years as national coach and that he was “motivated” for his swansong at the rearranged European championships from June 11-July 11.

Fritz Keller, the president of the German football association (DFB), said Loew’s decision “gives us the necessary time to name his successor calmly”.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick, who was Loew’s assistant coach when Germany won the 2014 World Cup, have been mentioned as early frontrunners for the job.

Loew has vowed to go out on a high at the European championships but Germany face a tough task to has been drawn in the same group as world champions France and holders Portugal.

“I still feel the will, great energy and ambition,” Loew insisted.

“I will do my best to make our fans happy and be successful at this tournament.”

– ‘Great triumphs, painful defeats’ –

The 61-year-old nicknamed “Jogi” has been in charge of Germany since 2006. The 2014 triumph in Brazil, where his side beat Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the final thanks to Mario Goetze’s extra-time winner, was the highpoint of his reign.

But Loew has faced three years of criticism since holders Germany crashed out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia at the group stage.

The calls for him to resign grew louder since Germany were hammered 6-0 by Spain in the Nations League last November.

Until the 2014 debacle, the Germans had reached at least the semi-finals of every tournament under Loew.

“I have worked with the best footballers in the country and supported them in their development,” Loew said on Tuesday.

“I have had great triumphs with them and painful defeats, but above all many wonderful and magical moments – not just winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.”

The fallout from the debacle in Russia tainted his legacy as he struggled to rebuild the team.

His decision in March 2019 to end the international careers of veterans Thomas Mueller, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels soon backfired.

The assured performances of Mueller and Boateng in 2019/20 helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League title and led to Loew constantly having to defend his decision to sideline them from the national setup.

Recently Loew has hinted that he may recall the exiled trio for Germany’s World Cup qualifiers at the end of March.

His record as coach is an impressive 120 wins in 189 games with Germany as well as 38 draws and 31 defeats.

“I have great respect for Joachim Loew’s decision,” German FA (DFB) president Fritz Keller in a statement.

“The DFB knows what it has in ‘Jogi’, he is one of the greatest coaches in world football.

“Jogi Loew has shaped German football like hardly anyone else over the years and has helped it achieve the highest international reputation.”

Source: AFP

At Least 20 Dead, 600 Wounded in Equatorial Guinea Blasts

9, March 2021

At Least 20 Dead, 600 Wounded in Equatorial Guinea Blasts 0

A series of explosions at a military barracks in Equatorial Guinea killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 600 others Sunday, authorities said.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said the explosion at 4 p.m. local time was the result of “negligent handling of dynamite” in the military barracks in the neighborhood of Mondong Nkuantoma in Bata. 

“The impact of the explosion caused damage in almost all the houses and buildings in Bata,” the president said in a statement, which was in Spanish.

The defense ministry released a statement late Sunday saying that a fire at a weapons depot in the barracks caused the explosion of high-caliber ammunition. It said the provisional toll was 20 dead and 600 injured, adding that the cause of the explosions will be fully investigated. 

The country’s president said the fire may have been caused by residents burning the fields surrounding the barracks. 

State television showed a huge plume of smoke rising above the explosion site as crowds fled, with many people crying out “we don’t know what happened, but it is all destroyed.” 

Images on local media seen by The Associated Press show people screaming and crying while running through the streets amid debris and smoke. Roofs of houses were ripped off and wounded people were being carried into a hospital.

Equatorial Guinea, an African country of 1.3 million people located south of Cameroon, was a colony of Spain until it gained its independence in 1968. Bata has roughly 175,000 inhabitants. 

Earlier, the Health Ministry had tweeted that 17 were killed and the president’s statement mentioned 15 dead.

The Health Ministry issued a call for blood donors and volunteer health workers to go to the Regional Hospital de Bata, one of three hospitals treating the wounded.

The ministry said its health workers were treating the injured at the site of the tragedy and in medical facilities, but feared people were still missing under the rubble. 

The blasts were a shock for the oil rich Central African nation. Foreign Minister Simeón Oyono Esono Angue met with foreign ambassadors and asked for aid.

“It is important for us to ask our brother countries for their assistance in this lamentable situation since we have a health emergency (from COVID-19) and the tragedy in Bata,” he said.

A doctor calling into TVGE, who went by his first name, Florentino, said the situation was a “moment of crisis” and that the hospitals were overcrowded. He said hospital facilities set up at a sports center for COVID-19 patients would be used to receive minor cases. 

Radio station, Radio Macuto, said on Twitter that people were being evacuated within 4 kilometers of the city because the fumes might be harmful.

Following the blast, the Spanish Embassy in Equatorial Guinea recommended on Twitter that “Spanish nationals stay in their homes.”

Source: VOA

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