Following 21 days of evidence including 50 witnesses and hours of searing testimony, jurors on Friday began considering whether internationally famous singer R. Kelly orchestrated a sex crimes ring for nearly three decades.

The case, delayed over a year by the pandemic, is seen as landmark for the #MeToo movement as it is the first major sex abuse trial where the majority of accusers are Black women.

The prosecution painstakingly wove the threads of alleged wrongdoing into an intricate pattern of crimes they say the artist born Robert Sylvester Kelly perpetrated with impunity, capitalizing on his fame to prey on young women and teenagers for his own sexual gratification.

The state was tasked with proving the 54-year-old singer is guilty of racketeering, a serious charge commonly associated with the mafia that casts Kelly as the boss of an enterprise of associates who facilitated his abuse.

He is also charged with eight counts under the Mann Act, a law prohibiting transportation of people across state lines for sex.

To convict Kelly on racketeering, jurors must find him guilty of at least two of 14 “predicate acts” — the crimes elemental to the wider pattern of illegal wrongdoing.

Disturbing testimony intended to prove those acts included accusations of rape, druggings, imprisonment and child pornography.

Accusers’ stories ran in parallel: many of the alleged victims described meeting the singer at concerts or mall performances, and being handed slips of paper with Kelly’s contact by his entourage.

Several said they were told he could bolster their music industry aspirations.

But all were instead “indoctrinated” into Kelly’s world, according to prosecutors, groomed for sex at hiss whim and kept in line by “coercive means of control” including isolation and cruel disciplinarily measures.

“He’s not a genius. He’s a criminal. He’s a predator,” said Nadia Shihata, the assistant US attorney told jurors.

“Writing hit songs and performing for audiences onstage doesn’t give you license to commit crimes.”

The defense painted a drastically different portrait of the superstar, arguing he was a “sex symbol” and “playboy” who was being attacked by scorned exes and money-hungry superfans.

“They’re all working on these paydays,” said attorney Deveraux Cannick.

Shihata attacked that argument in her rebuttal, telling jurors that witnesses — nine women and two men detailed devastating abuse on the stand — “relived some of the worst periods of their lives for you.”

– Criminal pattern? –

The indictment centers around six women: Jerhonda, Stephanie, Faith, Sonja and a woman who testified under a pseudonym, along with the R&B star Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001.

Several more victims alleging abuse were allowed to testify as part of the prosecution’s bid to detail a criminal pattern, though there testimony is not part of the charges.

Six of the alleged victims were underage when Kelly initiated sex with them. Many victims also said the singer routinely filmed the encounters, which in several of the cases would constitute child pornography.

Sonja traveled from Utah to Kelly’s Chicago studio believing he would give her an interview for the radio show she was interning for.

Instead, she said his associates trapped her in a windowless room for days, before giving her food and drink that caused her to quickly fall asleep. She awoke with her underwear mysteriously removed, and saw Kelly putting his pants back on.

Another woman said Kelly coerced her into getting an abortion because he had impregnated her while she was underage. Four said they contracted herpes after sexual contact with the singer, who did not disclose that he carried the incurable venereal disease.

Core to the government’s case has been Kelly’s relationship with Aaliyah.

Kelly wrote and produced her first album — “Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number” — before illegally marrying her when she was just 15 because he feared he had impregnated her.

His former manager admitted in court to bribing a worker to obtain fake identification allowing the union, which was later annulled.

Prosecutors also showed the jury video recordings that were not viewable to the public but which they described as containing chilling footage of Kelly threatening, hitting and humiliating women and children.

Kelly, a major R&B star of the 1990s and early 2000s known for hits including “I Believe I Can Fly,” denies all charges.

He remained largely stoic during the proceedings, though during the prosecution’s marathon closing arguments he appeared to grow agitated, shaking his head.

Abuse accusations have long trailed the wildly successful recording artist but he evaded them for decades. He faces prosecutions in three additional jurisdictions, including Illinois federal court.

Source: AFP

The leadership of SOBA UK has invited high-profile Africans including the Chairman of the Cameroon Concord News Group to the 2021 Sasse Old Boys Annual Residential Convention on 15th to 17th October 2021 at The Hilton at St. George’s Park, Burton upon Trent,UK.

The invitation card, which was seen by Cameroon Concord News London Bureau Chief Isong Asu, showed that the venue Hilton at St. George’s Park is the home of the England National Football teams.

Concord Group Chairman, the Right Hon. Soter Agbaw-Ebai is set to make the trip from Dusseldorf to London.

The editorial boards of both Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report have given the approval, for the complete coverage of the SOBA UK event.

Below is the SOBA UK correspondence to the Cameroon Concord News Chairman

Special Invitation to Attend the 2021 SOBA UK Convention

Soter Agbaw-Ebai

6th September 2021

Dear Mr Soter Agbaw-Ebai,

I am writing to formally invite you to the 2021 SOBA UK Annual Residential Convention on 15th to 17th October 2021 at The Hilton at St. George’s Park, Burton upon Trent, United Kingdom. The Hilton at St. George’s Park is the home of England National Football teams and a venue we are happy to return to after the successful convention in 2018.

We would be most delighted if you can confirm your attendance to this event. The main event is on Saturday, 16th October, where we have a SOBA UK Gala Night and Fundraiser from 4:30pm to 2.30am.

Convention theme and Fundraiser

The theme of this year’s Convention is “Appreciating Community Spirit”, reflecting on the difficult year we have had as a community due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our fundraising focus is equipping the Sasse College library, providing the students with study aids to help with their academics. We are looking to assist where possible and welcome your generous support. This year, SOBA UK had a successful elections resulting in a new mandate for the executives to 2023.

Covid-19 measures

SOBA UK will seek to provide reasonable safety measures and encourages all guests to take the necessary Covid-19 measures, in line with UK Government advice. We encourage our guests to take their double vaccine jabs and/or take a Covid test prior to the event. The capacity at the event will be limited to 250 places to allow for sufficient distancing and guests will have access to hand sanitizers and temperature checks at entry.

You have been allocated a free standard ticket but if you would like to be seated at a VIP table then please let me know, as there is a small fee to be upgraded.

We look forward to seeing you and please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Franklin Egbe

President, SOBA UK

Tel: +447429880730

soba@sobaintheuk.org

Jean-Paul Belmondo’s battered face, laconic style and roguish smile captured the imagination of French 1960s youth.

Belmondo, who has died at his Paris home aged 88, was the cool rebel of the new wave of French cinema typified in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film classic, A Bout de Souffle.

His moody performance as a doomed thief and Humphrey Bogart fan struck a chord and saw him dubbed the Gallic James Dean.

Later, he forsook arts cinema to become a highly bankable commercial actor, as at home in comedy as in drama.

Jean-Paul Belmondo was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris on 9 Apr 1933, the son of Paul Belmondo, a sculptor whose statues grace many a Parisian park.

The intensely Bohemian atmosphere of his upbringing had a formative effect on him.

He failed at school and became an amateur boxer. In his short-lived career, he won 15 of his 23 bouts before giving up to concentrate on acting.

His trademark bumpy nose, however, was a result of a fight in the school playground rather than the ring.

After performing on stage in provincial theatres, his movie break came with the role of Laszlo in Marcel Carné’s 1958 film Les Tricheurs.

On the strength of his forceful portrayal, he was given his first starring role in A Bout de Souffle.

One critic described him as “a bewitchingly ugly man.”

His cult image carried him through several action films such as Les Distractions and La Novice.

Flying grandpa

Determined not to be stereotyped, Belmondo also accepted more demanding roles such as the idealistic intellectual of Vittorio de Sica’s La Ciocara in 1961, and as the young country priest in Philippe de Broca’s swashbuckling Cartouche the following year.

He also enjoyed comic roles, in Godard’s Une Femme est une Femme, and, particularly, in De Broca’s L’Homme de Rio, in which he played a suave, unflappable secret agent.

By the mid-60s, he had switched completely to the commercial mainstream and formed his own production company, Cerito.

He even performed his own stunts in such films as Les Tribulations d’Un Chinois en Chine in 1965, though he gave this practice up after an accident in the 1985 film Hold-up.

He brightened many an all-star cast in international productions such as Is Paris Burning? (1966), the James Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967) and with Alain Delon in the gangster movie Borsalino (1970),

He moved away from action movies claiming that “I don’t want to be a flying grandpa of the French cinema.”

In 1987 Belmondo returned to the stage for the first time for nearly 30 years and divided his work between theatre and film for the rest of his career.

Two years later he won a Cesar, the French equivalent of an Oscar, for his performance in Itineraire d’un Enfant Gate.

He branched out creatively as part of the ensemble in Varda’s homage to international cinema Les Cent et une Nuits de Samon Cinema in 1995 and as the Jean Valjean figure in Claude Lelouche’s re-working of Les Miserables in the same year.

Jean-Paul Belmondo was divorced from his first wife Elodie in 1965. His second marriage to Constantin also failed. He later had long relationships with actresses Ursula Andress and Laura Antonelli.

Cinema audiences at home and abroad were drawn to his charm and seeming disregard for whatever absurdities were taking place on screen. He was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history.

Culled from BBC

Makossa legend and leader of the renowned group “Black Styl” Nkotti François has died today August 4, 2021 in the Douala General Hospital.

Desto as he was often referred to by his colleagues and fans all over the world, celebrated his 50 years of musical career recently and published an autobiographical book that traces his long and rich musical career with the likes of Toto Guillaume, Emile Kangue, Ake Loba, and Monie Miller.

Nkotti François was one of the patriarchs of Makossa who successfully recorded several albums with more than 150 songs.

He created the national song contest which has become today “Mutzig star”. He was also an economic actor with the Musical, Artistic, Industrial and Commercial Fair of Cameroon (Fomaric) of which he was the boss for over twenty years.

A multidimensional man, Nkotti François was also a militant of the ruling CPDM party and was elected mayor in (2002-2013) of the Bonalea district, Moungo Division in the Littoral region.

By Fon Lawrence

Tributes are pouring in for Guadeloupean musician Jacob Desvarieux, co-founder of the band Kassav’ who died at the age of 65 on Friday after catching Covid. He shot to fame in the 1980s with the invention of  ‘zouk’ – bringing the fast, catchy sounds of the Caribbean to the world.

Local media in the French territory of Guadeloupe announced his death late on Friday, prompting an outpouring of grief.

“A giant of zouk music. An unparalleled guitarist. An emblematic voice of the West Indies. Jacob Desvarieux was all of these things at once,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

In poor health after undergoing a kidney transplant, the singer and guitarist was taken to hospital in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe’s largest city, on 12 July after catching Covid-19.

“The West Indies, Africa and music have just lost one of their greatest ambassadors,” tweeted Senegalese music star Youssou N’Dour.

“Jacob, thanks to your art, you brought the West Indies and Africa closer together. Dakar where you once lived mourns you. Farewell friend.”

A successful experiment

Desvarieux told French daily Liberation in 2016 that his band Kassav’ started out in Paris as an experiment.

“We wanted to find a soundtrack that would combine all the previous (Caribbean) traditions and sounds, but that would be exportable everywhere,” he said.

And so zouk was born, rising to global fame, particularly in France and on the African continent where people partied to its festive rhythm.

“We questioned our origins through our music,” Desvarieux told Liberation. “What were we doing here, we who were black and spoke French?”

Kassav’ rose to prominence along with the increasing popularity of world music in the 1980s.

Modern twist

The brainchild of Guadeloupean artists Pierre-Edouard Decimus and Freddy Marshall, the band was founded in 1979 with Desvarieux, who was born in Paris and had been influenced by guitarists Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix.

The band’s base style is gwo ka, a kind of Guadeloupean drumming music, topped up with ingredients from all over the Caribbean and a modern twist.

Kassav’s first album was released in 1979, and the band reached its peak popularity at the end of the 1980s.

It signed a contract with the multinational CBS record label, and was praised by jazz legend Miles Davis.

Since then, zouk music’s popularity has waned but Kassav’ continues to attract crowds at its concerts.

Source: RFI

Cameroonian singer Wes Madiko, better known as Wes, died on the night of Friday, June 25, his family said in a statement. Aged 57, the artist was admitted to a hospital in Alençon, Orne, his relatives told the newspaper L’Orne Hebdo. According to the Cameroonian media The Bled Speaks, Wes died from surgery due to a nosocomial infection.

“A legend has passed away, leaving us a final message of peace for humanity on his hospital bed which will be communicated to you in the days to come,” said his family and his friend and co-producer Djily Smith.

 Arrived from Cameroon in 1987 and living in Orne since 2006, Wes became a world star with his hit “Alane” in 1997. Sold over ten million copies worldwide, the title was number one radio station when it was released and won it a diamond disc in France and Germany. In Cameroon, he was also presented as the “King of World music”. Another of his titles, “In Youpendi”, was also famous for being heard in the Disney movie. The Lion King 2.

Source: News-in-24

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated Nigeria for blocking Twitter and he is further calling for more countries to follow suit.

“Congratulations to the country of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their President. More COUNTRIES should ban Twitter and Facebook for not allowing free and open speech – all voices should be heard,” Trump said in a statement.

American social media companies banned former US President Donald Trump from their platforms after accusing him of spreading falsehoods and inciting the crowd which attacked the Capitol in January.

Trump holds on to the need to create another competitive social media platform.

“In the meantime, competitors will emerge and take hold. Who are they to dictate good and evil if they themselves are evil? Perhaps I should have done it while I was President,” Trump added. “But Zuckerberg kept calling me and coming to the White House for dinner telling me how great I was. 2024?”

Trump is quoted to have said: “Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They’re s**thole countries … We should have more people from Norway.”

He made the comments whiles meeting a bipartisan group of senators at the White House on Thursday. He has tweeted today denying the use of the word.

Millions of Nigerians were unable to access Twitter Saturday after the government enforced an indefinite suspension of the microblogging platform’s operations in Nigeria.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria said in a statement that its members have suspended access to Twitter in compliance with a government directive to do so.

The Nigeria government said Friday it was indefinitely suspending Twitter in Africa’s most populous nation after the company deleted a controversial tweet President Muhammadu Buhari made about a secessionist movement.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said Friday that government officials decided to suspend Twitter because the platform was being used “for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”

Mohammed criticized Twitter for deleting the post, saying, “The mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very suspicious,” and that Twitter had in the past ignored inciting tweets against the Nigerian government.

In recent months, pro-Biafra separatists have been accused of attacking police and government buildings. In his tweet, Buhari vowed to “treat them in the language they understand.”

Twitter had deleted Buhari’s post on Wednesday, calling it abusive.

Source: Africa News

The so-called National Communication Council has a new president. He is Joseph Chebonkeng Kalabubse, a former journalist with Cameroon Radio and Television who retired several times from the public service.

Joe Chebonkeng replaces Peter Essoka, who headed the media regulatory body since 2015, following the death in 2014 of Bishop Joseph Befe Ateba, first president of the CNC.

The 88-year-old President Biya recently made a clean sweep of the board and only two of the nine members were retained after a Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh teleguided Biya decree.

The ruling CPDM party retained Vice President Joseph Janvier Mvoto Obounou, Guibai Gatama and fired Alfaki Abdourahman, Charly Ndi Chia, Jean Claude Ottou, Christophe Bobiokono, Suzanne Kala Lobe, Nadine Machikou Ngameni.

An unknown media figure Serge Ngando Ntonè is now in the new NCC board.

By Rita Akana

ASAMOR is a German based Cameroonian musician that God in his infinite image created and planted in Fontem, Lebialem Division, South West.

Like many of the royals in the Bangwa Kingdom known to be great performers, Prince Asamor was born with music in his DNA and has already bank 15 years in the Show Biz industry.

The renowned Cameroonian artist enrolled at the University of Bonn to study Agricultural Science but eventually spent his time at the Department of Music from where he propounded a blend of Bangwa rhythms and Makossa which he named “Abanda Kossa”.

His interactions with German music professors deep within the University of Bonn paved the way for Asamor to study Sound Engineering and upon graduation he opened his own recording studio.

Today, the music world can sing with pride of Asamor as he celebrates a series of hits in the music industry:

“Full force”, released in 2002, “Etiorndem” released in 2004, “Sorry” released in 2008

Asamor’s second album featured Petit Pays; one of Africa’s greatest singers, song writer and producer. Frankly speaking, the Petit Pays-Asamor duet was the very first collaboration that Adolphe Claude Moundi aka Petit Pays did outside his band- Les Sans Visa.

Between 2013 and 2018, Asamor made public 5 singles to reaffirm his position in the music world. It was followed with 6 other singles spread across a 10-year period.

A recent hit “Dr Coro Coro” became Cameroon’s national anthem. The song was released shortly after he survived the deadly Covid-19. Dr Coro Coro heralded Strong Bangwa Boy in the album Mougou.

Cameroon mega star Asamor has received a good number of awards including: The KAMA Award (Germany) and the African Diaspora Living Legend Award

Asamor has been voted twice among the 100 Most Influential Africans in Germany and surprisingly he has not been signed to any label. His music empire is self sponsored with additional support from a dedicated fan base.

He has great admiration for Petit Pays and Koffi Olomide and has been heard recently speaking of his retirement from Show Biz.

In a conversation last year with the Cameroon Concord News Group, he opined that his wife remains his best friend even though he was exposed to so many “Makandis” in a clip he released which rocked the entire African community in Germany.

Asamor is a God fearing man who believes in himself!!

Link up with Asamor:

Facebook: Asamor

Instagram: @asamormorfaw

YouTube: ASAMOR OFFICIAL

This is a Cameroon Concord News Production

Cameroonian singer Charlotte Dipanda has released her second album. The album dubbed ”CD” is a work on her life’s story as a young woman. Dipanda’s shift into this new music art form is something she sees as challenging.

“I like the idea that people listen to my music when they are down. This is because they are willing at that moment. It was bias at the beginning of my career to tell me that as an African we always tend to believe that if we do not dance, if we are not drunk, there is always this second degree side that we need to listen to music. And today, even if I make songs that you can dance to in a club, there is always a theme that will appeal to you, I like the intellectual side associated with the music”, the artist said.

CD which is initials of her name has ten tracks. They include, ‘Quand tu n’es pas la’, meaning ‘’ When you are not there’’, ‘‘L’ombre d’une autre’’, translated as ‘’The shadow of another’’.

The musical work also features artist Singuila with ‘Cœur en cage’ meaning ‘’caged heart’’.

‘’CD’’ features collaboration with the famous Congolese guitarist Olivier Tshimanga, Guy Nsangue and Singuila.

“I think that if we give a little more responsibility or if women become aware of the responsibilities they have in our society; they will certainly be mature. Big up to the young girls who are in rural areas, because they are often forgotten in our society. I would really like that these young girls go to school so that they learn, and over the weekend they accompany their parents in the fields because it is not incompatible”, the singer said.

Her presence in Cameroon was also to support young girls in remote areas. Thanks to her foundation, Dipanda has built a high school in the locality of Ebonè in the region of Moungo, more than a 100 km from the capital Douala. She is using this project to encourage young girls to go to school and get an education.

Dipanda hopes to resume concerts by September in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon and the rest of the continent. She also awaits the reopening of theaters in Europe that have been closed due to the pandemic.

Source: Africa News