Headline News

12, March 2020

COVID-19: International Conference on the armed conflict in Southern Cameroons postponed ⁰

The Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiation(CDN), has concluded consultations with Washington D.C. local health officials and George Washington University event management team about the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the prospect of holding the three (3) day “International Conference on the Armed Conflict in the Southern Cameroons” at the George Washington University from March 19-21, 2020.Putting the safety of all participants first, the Coalition hereby announces its decision to postpone the conference to June 18-20, 2020 at the same venue. During this time the Working Groups will continue to meet and deliberate.

The Coalition also assessed current measures, including online classes and work from home options, taken by different universities and corporate institutions in the U.S. and worldwide, limiting travel by staff and in some cases their families. These life saving measures impact the ability of many conference participants to travel within the U.S. and from around the world to the U.S. As we closely monitor the evolution of actions taken by the U.S. and other governments, we will continue to build momentum for the conference as well as maintain pressure for the international community to engage forcefully to end the ongoing armed conflict in the Southern Cameroons.

Continued fighting in the Southern Cameroons has since 2017 reportedly resulted in more than 12,000 deaths, arbitrary arrests, and imprisonment of Southern Cameroonians. The government of Cameroon reported the killing of at least 700 of its security forces and administrative personnel. Over 300 villages have been razed forcing the displacement of more than 900,000 and over 60,000 seeking refuge in other countries including Nigeria and the United States. An estimated one million children have been unable to attend school for the past three years, and approximately 1.9 million face severe hunger. Several attempts of the government of Cameroon to quench the armed conflict without addressing the root causes have continue to fail.

The Coalition will keep you updated with every new information pertaining to this armed conflict and the international conference. The conference website https://aic.coalitionfdn.org/will also be updated regularly.Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you in June 2020. We are deeply sorry for the inconveniences this postponement may cause you.

Sincerely,

For the Steering Committee,

12, March 2020

Champions League: Liverpool sunk by Atletico extra-time triple ⁰

Holders Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16 after Atletico Madrid scored three goals in extra time to earn a shock 3-2 victory at Anfield on Wednesday that sent them through 4-2 on aggregate.

After falling 2-0 down on the night, substitute Marcos Llorente struck twice in extra time and Alvaro Morata added a late third to ensure a famous victory for Diego Simeone’s side against a Liverpool team unbeaten in their last 25 home games in European competition.

Premier League leaders Liverpool enjoyed the greater possession, created more chances, drew a series of saves from Atletico keeper Jan Oblak and scored through Georginino Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino.

Yet after last season’s memorable comeback by Liverpool against Barcelona in the semi-finals, it was the Spaniards who turned the tables this time.

Simeone’s Atletico are famed for their defensive solidity and their superb organisation and those qualities were on full display, but it was their clinical finishing and remarkable spirit that proved the key elements.

“We don’t know where our limit is,” said Llorente who had only scored once for Atletico before this game.

“We all defended until the death and when a team all digs in like this, things like this happen. I cannot describe this feeling,” he said.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp was not impressed with Atletico’s approach, however.

“I don’t understand with the quality they have the football they play. They could play proper football but they stand deep and have counter attacks,” said the German.

“We accept it of course but it doesn’t feel right tonight,” he said.

After allowing an early chance for Diego Costa, which the former Chelsea forward drove into the side-netting, Liverpool, trailing 1-0 from the first leg, laid siege to the Atletico goal.

They powered forward in waves of attacks but Atletico were resilient with central defenders Stefan Savic and Felipe foiling everything Klopp’s side threw at them.

The home team broke through two minutes before halftime when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain burst to the byline and pulled back a cross to Wijnaldum who powered an angled header into the bottom corner.

Little change

There was little change to the pattern of the game after the interval with Liverpool peppering Oblak’s goal but the Slovenian proved himself up to the task, denying efforts from Mohamed Salah, Firmino and Sadio Mane while Andy Robertson headed against the bar.

Atletico thought they had grabbed a stoppage-time winner when Saul Niguez headed in a Renan Lodi cross but the effort was rightly flagged for offside, ensuring the game went to extra time.

It took just four minutes for Liverpool to take the lead in the tie with Firmino heading against the post and driving home the loose ball as Anfield got ready for a night of celebration.

Yet then it all went wrong for Klopp’s side.

Goalkeeper Adrian, standing in for the injured Alisson Becker, passed the ball out straight to Joao Felix who fed Llorente and the substitute punished the Spanish keeper with a precise shot into the far corner.

Llorente produced a carbon-copy finish following good work on the counter from Morata to end Liverpool’s hopes of defending their European crown.

Morata put the icing on the cake in the final moments with a cool finish after Liverpool had thrown all their players forward.

The pain of this exit will surely ease for Liverpool, who are 25 points clear in the Premier League and will soon win their first domestic league title for 30 years.

But for Atletico, who have never won Europe’s premier club competition, this was a triumph which will have them dreaming of even greater things.

“This will go down in our history,” said Simeone.

“It fills us with pride as a club, to be once more one of the top eight clubs in Europe.”

(REUTERS)

12, March 2020

Nigeria: Emir’s fall shows limits for traditional rulers ⁰

An outspoken ruler mired in conflicts is ousted without warning from his palace and banished under armed guard into an uncertain exile beyond the borders of his realm.

This is not the plot of a Shakespearean tragedy, but the real-life drama that has played out in northern Nigeria’s influential Islamic emirate of Kano as traditional leader Muhammadu Sanusi II was unceremoniously deposed by the local governor.

The sudden fall of one of the country’s most revered hereditary rulers on Monday rattled the 1,000-year-old kingdom — and has shown the difficult balancing act facing the ancient monarchies of modern-day Nigeria.

Sanusi, also known by his birth name Lamido, had been a mould-breaker since ascending to the throne of the emirate of millions in 2014 after the death of his great-uncle.

The 58-year-old former central bank governor was already known for his outspokenness when he claimed the title and carved out a reputation as a moderniser willing to criticise practices like having multiple wives and children without being able to support them.

He was also not afraid of taking on the powerful politicians running northern Nigeria — lambasting them for leadership failures.

“It’s no secret that many of our political leaders are inept and not well educated,” the emir wrote back in 2017.

“Nigerians have learnt from experience not to expect much from them.”

The ruler’s main nemesis — and the man who ultimately unseated him — was regional governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

Ganduje suspected the emir of backing his political rival and had already divided up his territory and launched a corruption probe to try to bring him to heel.

On Monday their feud came to a head when Sanusi was unexpectedly removed for “total disrespect”.

“The governor decided that enough is enough and moved against him,” said Adewunmi Falode, a history professor at Lagos state university.

“It’s a signal that the ultimate power rests with the government while the emir is just a symbol of spirituality, culture and tradition without real power and influence.”

The deposed ruler was detained by police at his palace before being spirited out of Kano to exile in a remote village in another state where he is expected to remain incommunicado.

– ‘Seen not heard’ –

There are dozens of traditional rulers across Africa’s most populous country.

They have no official constitutional powers but are important cultural custodians who often wield great influence over their followers.

Relics from a period when monarchies dominated this region, they rely now on regional governments for their funding and their succession is regulated by elected officials.

While they lack practical power, their patronage can be key at elections when Nigeria’s notoriously cutthroat politicians jostle for votes.

But their role remains ambiguous — and when Sanusi began to talk up some complained that he was overstepping the boundaries and flouting the strict protocol of the palace.

“It is an established custom that the emir should be seen not heard,” a Kano court insider told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“But Sanusi violated that important tradition and would talk like a parrot anywhere, anytime and on any topic — this eroded the mystic and prestige around his person in the eyes of the people.”

That could in part explain the muted response to his removal on the streets of his former kingdom.

While moves to depose previous emirs provoked deadly violence in decades past, this time around there have been no major protests.

– ‘Archaic practice’ –

If anything highlighted the uncomfortable divide between modernity and tradition that the monarchies straddle — it was the nature of Sanusi’s removal.

The lightning move to turf him out was down to a powerplay typical of the political tussles of contemporary Nigeria.

Within hours a replacement had been installed — and the former ruler released a video message pledging his allegiance.

But the decision to detain and banish Sanusi to an undisclosed location proved controversial.

Amnesty International’s Nigerian branch complained on Twitter that “placing him incommunicado violates his human rights”.

The tactic dates back to the days when the British Empire dominated Nigeria with its strategy of divide-and-rule and would exile leaders viewed as troublesome.

“The archaic practice of banishment of deposed Emirs, a colonial practice, has no basis under Nigerian law or the constitution,” Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, a lawyer for Sanusi, said in a statement.

His legal team insisted they would go to court to challenge the legality of his treatment.

“We are totally perplexed at the resort to this practice in present day Nigeria by its political leaders.”

Source: AFP

11, March 2020

Coronavirus Fears: Manchester City vs. Arsenal postponed ⁰

Manchester City’s Premier League home match against Arsenal, which was scheduled for tonight, has been postponed, due to concerns over the coronavirus.

The decision to postpone the game has been taken after it emerged that some personnel from Arsenal have come into contact with the olympiacos owner, Evangelos Marinakis, who has been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

A number of players from Arsenal’s squad had met the 52 year old, following their Europa League meeting in London on February 27th.

Arsenal said the risk to their players was extremely low, but they would follow the medical guidelines, which recommend anyone coming into close contact with someone with the virus should self-isolate at home for 14 days.

The match against Arsenal was going to be the 1st time Pep Guardiola would have faced his former assistant, Mikel Arteta, who moved from City to the Gunners in December.

It’s also the 1st Premier League match that’s been called-off due to the coronavirus, but, for the moment, there have been no plans for any further postponements.

Source: Presstv

11, March 2020

WHO declares COVID-19 ‘a pandemic’, concerned by ‘alarming levels of inaction’ ⁰

The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the global coronavirus crisis is now a pandemic, expressing increasing alarm about mounting infections.

“We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.

“All countries can still change the course of this pandemic. If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response,” Ghebreyesus said.

The novel coronavirus, which emerged in China in December, has spread around the world, halting industry, bringing flights to a standstill, closing schools and forcing the postponement of sporting events and concerts.

The WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern, its “highest level of alarm”, on January 30 when there were fewer than 100 cases of COVID-19 outside China and eight cases of human-to-human transmission of the disease.

Now there are more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have died, Ghebreyesus said, with the numbers expected to climb.

The WHO no longer has a category for declaring a pandemic, except for influenza.

But WHO officials have signalled for weeks that they may use the word “pandemic” as a descriptive term, but stressed that it does not carry legal significance. The novel coronavirus is not the flu.

Under its previous system, the Geneva-based agency declared the 2009 H1N1 swine flu outbreak a pandemic. It turned out to be mild, leading to some criticism after pharmaceutical companies rushed development of vaccines and drugs.

(FRANCE 24 with AP and REUTERS)

11, March 2020

Southern Cameroons Journalists Caught in Ambazonia Conflict Plea for Help ⁰

Dozens of reporters in Cameroon are calling for help after losing their jobs and, in some cases, their homes because of the war between separatist forces and the government. The reporters say they are constantly attacked or kidnapped for refusing to be propaganda tools for one side or the other.

Thirty Cameroonian journalists, most of them women from the volatile North West region, have gathered in the capital city Yaounde to discuss the difficulties of reporting from Cameroon’s crisis zones.

Comy Mussa, coordinator of Sisters Speak 237, an NGO that convened the meeting, says she invited the reporters because they need help to continue practicing their profession.

“They do not have the kind of editorial support they need to tell a good story. We have a space where we provide this type of support and we also help them with sourcing for grants. Occasionally, we help with maybe transportation to go to an area and get a story that needs to be told,” she said.

Mussa said the reporters are victims of brutality and violence and most of them are now poor because they are either out of their job or can no longer work in an environment which is increasingly hostile.

It’s not just female journalists who are experiencing problems. Gilles Yumo of the Guardian Post newspaper said that in February his equipment and other items seized by armed men. He said he cannot even apply for a job because his academic certificates were among the things taken from him.

“I have had several calls, threats, intimidation from separatist fighters because it is in such a way that nobody wants to see you reporting what is not in their favor, so when they got my documents what they told me is that they are going to get rid of them by burning [them],” Yumo said.

Freelance journalist Mary Ngwa says she moved from Bamenda to Yaounde due to threats from separatists.

“I reported on the soldiers. That’s when I received the big threat on my life. I started receiving phone calls. The guys were asking me, why did you not report about the other people that were killed. Why did you only report about the military?” Ngwa said.

Since the separatist crisis started in 2017, journalists have complained of abuses by both the government and separatists fighting for the independence of the English-speaking areas from the majority French-speaking country. More than two dozen said they have been arrested or threatened.

Jude Viban, president of the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists, says the military and separatists should know that reporters are not propaganda tools.

“We denounce each time [when a] journalist is attacked and then, equally, what we are trying to do is to provide some material like bullet proof jackets to help the journalist work in those areas. We are opening a lot of discussions for government forces to understand that journalists are not in any way the enemy. They are just doing their job,” Viban said.

The Cameroon government insists that it does not exert pressure on reporters and the military has always said they do not harass reporters.

Separatist groups, meanwhile, have said they will not allow anyone to stand in their path toward self-determination.

Source: VOA

11, March 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Galim Attack Sows Panic in French Cameroun ⁰

There is an uneasy calm in Cameroon’s French-speaking towns and villages that share a border with the English-speaking regions after separatist fighters supporting the creation of an English-speaking state crossed into the French-speaking regions last weekend, killed government troops and left with huge consignments of weapons and ammunition. Civilians say they are not sure the military can protect them from the wrath of the separatists as the government claims.

Alima Matembompo, a 33-year-old farmer, cries as her husband is buried in Cameroon’s western French-speaking village of Galim on the border with the English-speaking northwest region.

Her husband, a cattle rancher who was returning from selling cattle in their village market, was killed Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Among the nearly 20 people who have come out to bury the man is 47-year-old cattle feed supplier John Tatah, who says that since the attack took place, the village market has been closed.

“Most of us that we are doing businesses, all the businesses are grounded, so we pray for a solution to this crisis,” he said.

Tatah said most businesspeople who were about to leave the village when the attack occurred, escaped to the surrounding hills and bushes and have not been seen since.

Many villagers have also escaped to safer localities out of their village, especially to the neighboring French-speaking town of Mbouda.

Daniel Eyoum, the most senior government official in Galim, an administrative unit in the French-speaking western region of Cameroon, said more than 60 armed separatist fighters crossed from the English-speaking region, shooting indiscriminately and creating panic. He says they interrupted the power supply and plunged the village into darkness before attacking military positions for supplies.

Eyoum said the simultaneous attacks on the military and police stations in Galim lasted for more than an hour and a half, and peace started returning only when the separatist fighters had crossed back to the English-speaking northwest region where they came from. He said four civilains, two policemen and two gendarme officers were killed. He said locals should remain vigilant and trust their military that has been deployed to protect them.

Eyoum said the separatists left with weapons and ammunition the seized from government depots. The Cameroon military confirmed the seizure but said that it had deployed additional troops to protect civilians and arrest or kill the attackers.

A video shared by the separatists on social media showed their fighters displaying at least 30 military rifles, huge quantities of ammunition and a motorcycle with a Cameroon police registration number plate they claim they also seized during the attack. In the video, the separatists say they will continue attacking the Cameroon military for supplies.

Separatist spokesperson Tapang Ivo Tanku, who is based in the United States, said in a video that their troops attacked Galim and the video they shared is that of the weapons seized from the Cameroon army. Tanku said a bomb attack was carried out by their forces in Bamenda against women who had defied their instructions not to commemorate International Women’s Day Sunday.

Deben Tchoffo, governor of the English-speaking northwest region, said a soldier was killed and eight people were wounded in the blast. He urged locals to be calm as the military has been instructed to find the culprits and protect civilians.

“We are appealing to the population to rally behind our patriotic citizens and armed forces, and I am giving my word here that measures will be taken to sanction them (the attackers), to punish them so that it should not occur any more here in Bamenda,” Tchoffo said.

The locally made explosive planted along a commercial avenue in Bamenda by the suspected separatists who had vowed to disrupt International Women’s Day activities was the largest since the separatist violence started.

At Galim, it was the fourth time the attackers had operated there. They have also been crossing over and attacking markets, schools and military positions in the neighboring French-speaking west region.

Cameroon’s anglophone rebels have been fighting since 2017 to create an independent English-speaking state in the majority French-speaking country’s western regions.

The U.N. says the conflict has cost more than 3,000 lives and forced half a million people to flee to French-speaking regions of Cameroon or into neighboring Nigeria.

Source: VOA

11, March 2020

German footballer contracts coronavirus ⁰

A second division footballer was on Wednesday the first player to test positive for coronavirus in Germany as RB Leipzig became the last Bundesliga side to annouce that they would hold their weekend match behind closed doors.

Hanover 96 revealed that defender Timo Huebers had tested positive for COVID-19, saying in a statement that they insisted that no further infections were expected, as Huebers had avoided contact with his colleagues.

Their full squad and training staff were however being tested as a precaution.

“As soon as he found out that someone with whom he had been at an event was tested positive, Timo went straight to the doctor and put himself into isolation,” said Hanover’s sporting director Gerhard Zuber.

Leipzig’s announcement that their clash with Freiburg would be closed to fans comes after similar announcements involving title rivals Bayern Munich and Borussia Moenchengladbach earlier on Wednesday.

“Despite very few infected people in the Leipzig area, we want to minimise the health risk,” said sporting director Oliver Mintzlaff in a statement.

Leipzig allowed fans to attend their Champions League victory over Tottenham on Tuesday night, even after authorities elsewhere in the country ordered stadium closures.

As the number of confirmed infections in Germany continues to rise, federal states in the country are taking measures to cancel public events and slow the spread of the virus.

On Sunday, German health minister Jens Spahn called for all events with more than 1,000 people to be cancelled “until further notice”.

But the decision to close stadium doors rests ultimately with regional authorities and is made on a case-by-case basis.

Fans will also be absent for Bayern Munich’s visit to Union Berlin on Saturday, after officials in the German capital ordered the club to close its doors on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt announced Wednesday that they would play their Bundesliga home clash with Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday without fans.

Yet in a joint press conference with city health officials, the club also said that the stadium would remain open for Thursday’s Europa League clash with Swiss side Basel.

Moenchengladbach’s home ground is in North Rhine-Westphalia state, where the biggest number of coronavirus infections in Germany have been reported.

Of 1,296 infections across the country, 484 were registered in the state, which is Germany’s most populous.

Other games affected in North-Rhine Westphalia this week include the Ruhr derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke and the Rhine derby between Moenchengladbach and Cologne.

The latter game, scheduled for Wednesday night, will be the first in the history of the German league to be played without fans.

Source: AFP

11, March 2020

COVID-19: China reports new infections; Turkey, Bolivia confirm 1st cases ⁰

China has reported an increase in its new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, reversing four consecutive days of decreases, and more countries are reporting their first infections.

Chinese health officials on Wednesday reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 infection and 22 deaths in mainland China over the previous 24 hours.

China’s National Health Commission said that of the new infections, 10 were imported cases, bringing the overall cases from abroad to 79.

Those figures bring China’s totals to 80,778 infections and 3,158 deaths since the outbreak emerged in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, in December last year.

Officials reported just 13 new infections in Wuhan — a city of 11 million people — on Tuesday.

Wuhan and several other cities had been under lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus. Amid the decreases in tallies over the past days, a few cities in Hubei started to loosen restrictions on the movement of people and goods. But, at least one reversed that decision as new increases emerged on Tuesday.

The outbreak of the new coronavirus continues to grow in other countries, and some nations have reported their fist cases.

According to the latest figures from John Hopkins University, 98 out of the 195 countries in the world have so far reported cases of the coronavirus.

More than 4,200 people have died of COVID-19 across the world, and more than 113,000 people have also been infected, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). About 64,000 people have also recovered from the illness, globally.

Turkey reports first case

Turkey announced its first case of the new coronavirus infection on Wednesday.

The patient is a male who had returned from Europe, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, without providing further personal information, citing the patient’s right to privacy.

Koca said the patient was isolated and his family members and other people who had come into contact with him had been quarantined.

Bolivia detects first cases

The coronvirus has also reached South America, with Bolivia reporting its first two cases on Tuesday.

Health Minister Anibal Cruz said the patients were two women over 60 years of age who arrived in the country from Italy initially without symptoms of the disease.

Panama registers first death

Meanwhile, Panama’s Health Ministry confirmed the country’s first death from the coronavirus, along with seven new cases of infection in the Central American nation.

South Korea reports jump in new cases

South Korea, the worst-hit country after China, reported a jump in new cases on Wednesday, after health officials detected a cluster of viral infections at an insurance company in the capital, Seoul.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported 242 new cases of coronavirus infection from the past 24 hours, bringing its total to 7,755.

Europe

In Europe, Italy has been hit the worst by the new coronavirus, with more than 10,000 infections and 631 deaths so far.

Authorities have imposed drastic quarantine measures to contain the spread of the pathogen.

Trains, planes, and vehicles leaving the country faced new restrictions on Tuesday; and many other countries, including Spain and Portugal, suspended air traffic to and from Italy for two weeks.

Italian PM puts whole country in lockdown over COVID-19 outbreak

Austria, meanwhile, ordered a halt to flights and trains from Italy; and Slovenia said it would impose controls at its border with the country.

British Airways said on Tuesday it had canceled Italian flights. Air France and some low-cost carriers said they would scrap flights from the country’s airports until early April as well.

Air Canada also suspended flights to Italy until at least May 1.

Source: Presstv

11, March 2020

Jose Mourinho’s Magic: Going, going, gone ⁰

RB Leipzig’s Marcel Sabitzer scored two early goals as they eased past last year’s finalists Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 in their Champions League last 16 second leg on Tuesday to reach their first quarter-finals by 4-0 on aggregate.

Sabitzer fired the German side in front with a low shot from about 20 metres after 10 minutes and they never looked back, pinning the visitors, who were without injured strikers Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, in their own half.

Leipzig’s captain was given far too much space in the 21st to head home Angelino’s cross at the near post after Serge Aurier’s poor clearance, as the Spurs’ players heads started to drop. Emil Forsberg completed the win with a third in the 87th.

Injury-ravaged Tottenham, who were also missing winger Steven Bergwijn and full back Ben Davies, struggled to keep up with Leipzig’s pace and were constantly exposed at the back while posing no threat up front.

Jose Mourinho’s team, without a win in any competition since their 1-0 first-leg defeat by Leipzig in London last month, did manage a shot on goal through Giovani Lo Celso late in the first half but the absence of Kane and Son proved costly.

(REUTERS)