Headline News

18, December 2018

Nigerian FA Chairman Defends CAF’s Decision Against Cameroon ⁰

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)president, Amaju Melvin Pinnick has defended the decision of Confederation of African Football (CAF) to strip Cameroon of hosting right for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Pinnick said in an exclusive interview with sports247.ng that it was not a case of victimization, but one in which the continental body wants to promote high standards for hosting major championship.

Pinnick, whop is also CAF first vice-president and chairman of the body’s AFCON committee, admitted that Cameroon had put in exceptional efforts towards hosting the showpiece but insists they were not ready.

He stressed that hosting the continent goes beyond extra effort and sweet talk, as evidence on ground at the various earmarked venues showed that Cameroon were not just ready to receive the continent.

Pinnick stated further in the interview with sports247.ng at the weekend: “We have a level playing field for all countries.

“Cameroon showed good intention to host, they have an exceptional record of efforts in African football, but they are not ready for AFCON.

“That is why they were stripped off the hosting right, and it has now been thrown open to any other willing country.

“Whichever country CAF decides to hand the hosting rights to, I can assure you such country will seen to be ready, not just to plug and play. “Such country will have already available facilities and ready to host the rest of Africa at short notice.”

Source: Sports 247.ng

18, December 2018

Reports detail how Russia used social media to sow US divisions ⁰

Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election on social media was more widespread than previously thought and included attempts to divide Americans by race and extreme ideology,reports released Monday said. The reports by private experts were released by US senators from both parties.

The Russian government’s Internet Research Agency, based in St. Petersburg, Russia, tried to manipulate US politics, said the reports, one by social media analysts New Knowledge and the other by an Oxford University team working with analytical firm Graphika.

The twin reports largely verified earlier findings by US intelligence agencies, but offered much more detail about Russian activity going back years that continues even now, said the reports and senior lawmakers.

For instance, one Russian troll farm tried to encourage US “secessionist movements” in California and Texas, the New Knowledge report said.

“This newly released data demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology,” said Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, in a statement.

The Russian agency worked to erode trust in US democratic institutions and its activities have not stopped, he said. The committee collected data from social media companies that was used by the private analysts in their analysis.

Senator Mark Warner, the committee’s top Democrat, said, “These reports demonstrate the extent to which the Russians exploited the fault lines of our society to divide Americans in an attempt to undermine and manipulate our democracy.

“These attacks… were much more comprehensive, calculating and widespread than previously revealed,” he said.

‘Conspiratorialist and… junk political news’

Oxford/Graphika said the Russians spread “sensationalist, conspiratorialist, and other forms of junk political news and misinformation to voters across the political spectrum.”

The group said Russian trolls urged African-Americans to boycott the election or to follow wrong voting procedures, while also encouraging right-wing voters to be more confrontational.

Since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, it said, Russian trolls have put out messages urging Mexican-American and other Hispanic voters to mistrust US institutions.

The report from New Knowledge said the Russians ran “comprehensive Anti-Hillary Clinton operations,” such as efforts to organize Muslims to stage a pro-Clinton demonstration.

The report said Russian hackers also targeted Republican senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham and the late John McCain, as well as former FBI chief James Comey, special prosecutor Robert Mueller, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

A US intelligence report in January 2017 said Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a sophisticated influence campaign including cyber attacks to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and support Trump.

The Kremlin has denied the allegations of meddling. Trump has denied any collusion between Russia and his campaign.

The matter is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose long-running inquiry has clouded the Trump presidency and netted guilty pleas and indictments against former close Trump associates.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

18, December 2018

AFCON 2019: Financial scandal rocks Biya regime!! Several cabinet members implicated ⁰

Yaounde has been placed on a perimeter lockdown ever since the swearing in of President Biya on November 6, 2018. Attention is now focused on the next government. Tension is also mounting as cabinet ministers have indulged in media wars settling scores over the 2019 African Cup of Nations fiasco.

The Monarch is reportedly angry after the withdrawal of hosting rights from his country. We gathered from intelligence sources in Yaoundé that Biya had formed a government and ordered the state owned media, CRTV to make it public on November the 30^th.

Our source hinted that the 85 year old stopped the reading of the decree naming a new government some few minutes before the 7 pm news on November 30^th. We understand Biya made that last minute decision following happenings in the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) meeting that was holding in Accra Ghana.

Several members of the Prime Minister Yang Philemon administration including the current Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic are suspected of embezzlement in the context of the Africa Cup of Nations 2019. A well-placed source at the presidency revealed to Cameroon Concord News that a vast financial scandal with serious implications at several levels has rocked the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

Several senior government officials involved in the management of the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 budget are also under investigation. Some of the cabinet ministers even have matters pending at the Special Criminal Court. A journalist with our sister publication, Cameroon Intelligence Report who contributed to this news item opined that some ministers have been banned from leaving the country. For now, the Monarch is quiet.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

18, December 2018

UEFA Champions League draw: Liverpool vs Bayern, Man United vs PSG ⁰

Football fans all over the world are relishing the mouth watering ties served up for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, including a match between last season’s finalists Liverpool and German champions Bayern Munich.

The round of 16 draw, held on Monday paired defending champions Real Madrid, who are chasing a fourth successive title, and Dutch side Ajax. Juventus, who have the services of Portuguese talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo, will take on Spain’s Atletico Madrid. Ronaldo won four titles with Real Madrid.

Struggling Manchester United have been handed a seemingly herculean task of stopping Neymar and Mbappe’s Paris Saint Germain.

The other round of 16 fixtures includes Tottenham vs Borussia Dortmund, Lyon vs Barcelona and AS Roma vs FC Porto. The first legs will be played on February 12-13 and February 19-20, while the return legs will be played on March 5-6 and March 12-13. Fans are now sharing their predictions and thoughts on several social media polls.

Source: Africa News

17, December 2018

Former Ghanaian Head of State Scolds West Over Crisis In Togo, Cameroon, Others ⁰

Some policies and democratic practices adopted from the west are to blame for the political instability in Togo, Cameroon and other countries.

This, according to former President JJ Rawlings, has been a contributing factor to Africa’s under-development.

He says the kind the democratic election that Africans have adopted from the foreign world is not providing the kind of freedom the continent should enjoy.

He, is therefore, advocating for a shift in order to reverse the trend.

In a post on Facebook, Mr. Rawlings expressed worry over the inhumane treatment and lack of development the people of Africa continue to endure from white leaders, saying that it is time for all to rally behind Africans who toil for the gains of the continent.

“The time has come for the West to stop avoiding African patriots. Let’s not be intimidated by or feel threatened by the conviction of African patriots. We are sick and tired of the perceived intellectuals who are doing the bidding of others and themselves but their own kind.”

He believes foreign nations are doing Africa more harm than good, and wondered if these leaders of the developed world care about the minorities in society other than their parochial interest.

“More insulting to the sensibilities of the African is the knowledge that some of them are protégés of failed heads who’ve become kingmakers and shamelessly parading Presidential abodes and offices pulling deals on behalf of corporate interests inimical to the continent, he noted.

Mr. Rawlings even talks about how the renowned Saudi Arabian Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, was cruelly murdered with other advanced countries and influential bodies looking unconcerned instead of ensuring that justice is served.

Find below, the full post of the Former President

“Is the world going to continue looking away while the Togo and Cameroon situation deteriorates in pain, blood and terror?
If the world can become so insensitive and immune to the fate of Palestinians; black lives in Africa cannot expect anything less inhuman.
If a close friend and ally of personalities in the US government like President Trump and his team can brazenly and thoughtlessly butcher such a known personality in their Saudi consulate in a country that stands up to the Israeli government’s intransigence and impunity, such atrocity creates an opening and provides the license for other dictators to do just a little less savagery to a lot more lesser people from other ethnic groups in our parts of the world.
It only takes one government to get away with it and others seeking the opportunity to disempower an already subjugated people will take advantage of it and terrorize theirs too.
Won’t countries like Germany, the Vatican, France and the USA with a lot of influence on these countries intervene even if they won’t publicly condemn? How else will civilized nations demonstrate to the world that they’re serious about the Khashoggi killing?
It’s also about time the UN Secretary General’s office stopped accepting insensitive cold-blooded hypocrites whose favorite occupation is rapping and stooping their way into their political ambitions while keeping away from the blood and pain of their own kith and kin.
The monetized Western democratic elections in our world don’t always give us the best. The best however in intellect and wisdom grounded in humility, integrity and compassion can always be found in abundance on our continent and simply have to be selected.
The time has come for the West to stop avoiding African patriots. Let’s not be intimidated by or feel threatened by the conviction of African patriots. We are sick and tired of the perceived intellectuals who are doing the bidding of others and themselves but their own kind.
More insulting to the sensibilities of the African is the knowledge that some of them are protégés of failed heads who’ve become kingmakers and shamelessly parading Presidential abodes and offices pulling deals on behalf of corporate interests inimical to the continent.”
Source: Modern Ghana

17, December 2018

Biya regime steps up attacks in Southern Cameroons as support for IG rises ⁰

Scores of Ambazonians have been arrested in a stepped-up Biya regime crackdown in the northern zone and Southern zone of Southern Cameroons amid fears that support for the exiled Ambazonian Interim Government is rising. Francophone civil administrators with the support of pro Yaoundé militia groups are in control of Bamenda, Bali, Wum, Batibo and Ndop but these localities have witnessed the worst clashes between Cameroon government forces and Ambazonia Restoration Fighters over the week.

Recently, Batibo experienced Cameroon government military raids of extraordinary proportions. Our chief intelligence officer in Widikum who contributed to this report revealed that the onslaught on Batibo was done with intelligence gathered from a Southern Cameroons armed group headed by Cho Ayaba. The Francophone army fired and beat demonstrators after innocent civilians raised an Ambazonian flag.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that the image of Cho Ayaba has been established in Batibo as the subcontractor of the French Cameroun occupation forces with his criminal gang working in the shadow of French Cameroun troops and disappearing whenever French Cameroun soldiers raid neighbourhoods in Batibo.

Cameroon government troops arrested 35 Southern Cameroonians today at the Hospital Round About in Bamenda, taking the total number of those detained in to more than 165, Cameroon Intelligence Report correspondent in Bamenda Sama Ernest reported.

A dramatic video shows French Cameroun government troops blowing up houses in Belo, Kendem, Batibo and Weh recently. The Ambazonia Communications Secretary, Chris Anu has condemned the French Cameroun government atrocities and also sounded a note of caution to members of an obscure organization headed by Cho Ayaba committing crimes in Southern Cameroons.

By Rita Akana

17, December 2018

Nigeria: Farmer-herder clashes left over 3,600 people dead in 2 years ⁰

Amnesty International says clashes between farmers and semi-nomadic herders in Nigeria have left more than 3,600 people dead since 2016. The UK-based rights group, in a report on Monday,documented an upsurge in communal violence involving chiefly Muslim herders and mainly Christian farmers fighting over land and water rights.

“The Nigerian authorities’ failure to investigate communal clashes and bring perpetrators to justice has fuelled a bloody escalation in the conflict between farmers and herders across the country, resulting in at least 3,641 deaths in the past three years and the displacement of thousands more,” Amnesty said.

The report said 310 attacks had been recorded between January 2016 and October 2018, most of them in 2018. “These attacks were well planned and coordinated, with the use of weapons like machine guns and AK-47 rifles,” said Osai Ojigho, Amnesty’s Nigeria director.

“Yet, little has been done by the authorities in terms of prevention, arrests and prosecutions, even when information about the suspected perpetrators was available,” she said.

An international rights group urges the International Criminal Court to launch a full-blown probe into the atrocities committed during the Boko Haram terror group’s campaign of violence in Nigeria.

Experts say climate change and expanding agriculture have aggravated the herder-farmer conflict over land and water. The International Crisis Group said in July that the farmer-herder conflict killed six times more people than the war with the Boko Haram terror group in the first half of 2018,

Ojigho further said, “In some places, because of the failures of the security forces, competition over resources is used as a pretext to kill and maim along ethnic or religious lines.”

“The conflict has also been dangerously politicized by some state government officials who have inflamed tensions by embarking on a blame game along political party lines,” she said.

The latest report could affect the results of the upcoming elections, in which President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking a new term. Buhari has been under fire for adopting a soft position on the herders, who come – like the president — from the Fulani ethnic group.

The administration of Buhari, who came to power on a pledge to eradicate militancy and corruption, has also been under scrutiny for failing to end the Boko Haram terror group’s campaign of violence in Nigeria’s restive northeast.

Abuja announced in 2015 that Boko Haram – which is affiliated to the Takfiri Daesh terror group, had been “largely defeated” in the northeast, but a multitude of Boko Haram attacks indicate the group’s active presence in that region.

In the latest instance of violence, Boko Haram terrorists on Sunday stormed a village near the city of Maiduguri, Borno State, firing indiscriminately and setting fire to homes there overnight. It was not clear if there were any casualties in the attack, which forced hundreds of people to flee.

A military source said troops and fighter jets were deployed to the scene and pushed out the militants after a “fierce battle.” Boko Haram has in recent months launched numerous attacks in a bid to capture Maiduguri, the birthplace of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf.

Over the past few years, at least27,000 have been killed and more than two million people displaced from theirhomes by Boko Haram.

Source: Presstv

17, December 2018

Sudanese President Is First Arab Leader to Visit Syria in 8 Years ⁰

Sudan’s president has become the first Arab leader to visit Damascus since the Syrian civil war began eight years ago.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad greeted Omar al-Bashir at the airport Sunday, the state-run news agency SANA reported.

Most Arab countries have closed their embassies in Damascus and condemned Assad for using overwhelming military force and failing to negotiate with the opposition.

Syria was also expelled from the 22-member Arab League.

No official reason was given for the visit, but SANA said the two leaders held talks at the presidential palace about developments in the region and in Syria.

As the war in Syria winds down in Assad’s favor, some Arab nations have called for normalizing ties with Damascus and even of allowing it back in the Arab League.

Source: VOA

17, December 2018

Freed Ambazonians ask for release of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe including top aides ⁰

Barely 24 hours after being released from detention centers, some of the people accused of fighting for the creation of an English-speaking state in Cameroon have called for the movement’s leaders to be released if President Paul Biya wants peace in the country.

The detainees’ release last week came after Biya ordered charges against them dropped. Evelyn Ako, a mother of four, says she spent the night with her husband for the first time in 22 months. She says he was arrested in the English-speaking Southwest town of Mamfe and taken to Yaounde.

“With him besides me, we can work harder,” she said. “He used to give me money to support my children but this year, they are in the house. They have not gone to school because of [his absence]. So this thing has disturbed us a lot. It has disturbed even our family because any money that we gather, we used it to buy foodstuff to go and give him. We use it to buy medicines, dresses.”

FILE - A still image taken from a video shows riot police walkin along a street in the English-speaking city of Buea, Cameroon, Oct. 1, 2017.

Evelyn Ako relocated to Yaounde to help her husband and says they will only return to Mamfe when the crisis is over.

Joseph Cho, the spokesperson for the 120 people released from detention camps, said they are pleading with Biya to free their leaders.

“We have leaders. If these people are released, things will be better,” Cho said. “Like Sissiku … who [was] arrested because of this. We expected this decision long ago. Things would not have been the way it is now.”

Sissiku is the name given to the leader of the Ambazonia separatist movement, Julius Ayuk Tabe. He was arrested in Abuja, Nigeria, with 46 of his collaborators and extradited last January to Cameroon. They face a possible death penalty on charges of secession, terrorism and attempting to destabilize Cameroon.

‘Frank dialogue’ needed

University of Yaounde political analyst Willibroad Ze Ngwa says if Biya frees the Anglophone leaders, peace likely will return to Cameroon.

“The most important should be releasing the leaders and engaging in frank dialogue with these people. I pray the head of state [president] should move us into 2019 with some sort of general amnesty so that Cameroonians should be able to live in total concord and harmony,” Ngwa said.

Governor of the English-speaking Northwest region, Deben Tchoffo, says the government is open for dialogue and the separatists should disarm.

“Use all means at your level to convince your other mates to lay down their guns and to come back to normal civil life,” Tchoffo said. “They will be well taken care of, they will be well treated, trained and even supported to ease their coming back to civil life.”

Separatist insurgency

The separatist insurgency gained pace in 2017 following a government crackdown on peaceful protests by Anglophones, who complain of being marginalized by the French-speaking majority.

Biya was re-elected to a seventh term in October, and since then there has been pressure from the international community to start sincere dialogue with the separatists.

Last Thursday, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Jonathan Cohen told the U.N. Security Council that conditions in Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions had highly deteriorated, and the United States wants an immediate end to violence and a speedy start to talks between the government and separatists.

Culled from the VOA

17, December 2018

UK: Labour Party to push for Brexit vote to come before Christmas ⁰

Britain’s main opposition Labour Party has said it will do its best to force Prime Minister Theresa May to bring her European Union withdrawal deal to Parliament for a final vote before Christmas.

“We will be using whatever mechanisms we have at our disposal next week to try and force the government to bring forward that deal for a vote before Christmas,” Labour election coordinator Andrew Gwynne said on Sunday in an interview with the BBC television.

The comments come nearly a week after May decided to put off a planned vote in the House of Commons on her Brexit deal, saying she would try to gain more assurances from the EU about a controversial clause in the deal on the border with Ireland so that it could go through the chamber.

The move met with huge ire from the Labour and other parties in the Commons. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has repeatedly criticized the postponement while calling May, who went to several trips around Europe, a “runaway prime minister” who wanted to ignore parliament in the Brexit process.

Gwynne, who is Labour’s policy chief for communities and local government, did not elaborate how his party would force May to come to the chamber with her Brexit deal earlier than she is willing to.

May’s office said on Saturday, after the premier returned from a summit of EU leaders, that a vote on Brexit deal would certainly come before the January-21 deadline imposed by the parliament.

That announcement sparked fears that May was trying to delay the vote until the last moments so that the parliament would have no option other than approving the deal so that Britain could avoid a disorderly exit from the EU on March 29, 2019.

Source: Presstv