News

28, June 2024

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 3 killed in road blast along the Bali-Batibo road ⁰

Three people were killed after an improvised explosive device went off along the Bali-Batibo road in the Northwest, witnesses and local police said on Thursday.

Police told the local media that the blast occurred late Wednesday when a vehicle carrying passengers stepped on the device, which was planted along the road to target soldiers who regularly patrol the region.

The victims, according to witnesses, were three local civilians who were returning from a market.

Police said they believe the incident was set up by armed Ambazonia fighters, who have been operating in the region since 2017.

Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces want to secede from the largely French-speaking Cameroon and create an independent nation in the English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.

By Fon Lawrence with files

27, June 2024

Kumba: Denizens rise against drug abuse ⁰

Illicit drug usage in Cameroon has been on the rise for many years, but the use of hard drugs in Kumba is alarming and many youths find it pleasurable to get involved in the use of these drugs which are ruining many lives in Kumba.

Not long ago, some residents, especially women and mothers in Hausa quarter, a neighbourhood in Kumba lll Sub-division, took to the streets to protest against hard drugs which have turned their children into addicts.

To show their seriousness, the angry protesters carried placards denouncing the sale and use of these hard substances in the area, going to the hideouts of those who supply them to the youths.

In their determination to call them to order, the angry women destroyed two locally constructed thatched houses which were considered as the trading floor between the drug suppliers and the addicts.

“Our children are in very bad shape because of these drugs. They steal our money at home just to buy these drugs which make them recalcitrant. They do not assist us with house chores,” one of the women said.

“My son does nothing at home. Sometimes, he doesn’t sleep at home. He only comes when he needs food or a change of clothes. These men selling to them are destroying our children. We had issued a warning before but they did not listen,” another protester highlighted.

Since the neighbourhood is sparsely populated, it was easier for the perpetrators to be fished out from their hideouts.

According to reliable sources, the men who sell to those addicts are making a fortune out of our children, while destroying them, reasons why the angry population took upon themselves to address the issue.

By Cecilia M. Manjang

27, June 2024

Bolivian general arrested after failed coup ⁰

Bolivian police have arrested a former general who staged a failed coup, with President Luis Arce asserting his authority over the country’s military and thanking the public for keeping up their support for the government.

The troops of Juan Jose Zuniga, who was fired earlier this week as commander of the Bolivian Army, raided the presidential palace in the capital La Paz on Wednesday afternoon and took up positions in the square outside, where key government buildings are located. Media reports said a tank slammed the palace doors.

However, Zuniga urged the soldiers within hours to withdraw, after leaders from around the world blasted the army’s actions as illegal.

The soldiers’ retreat was followed by the apprehension of Zuniga after the attorney general opened an investigation.

Bolivia’s Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo said that in addition to Zuniga, former navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnez Salvador was also taken into custody.

“What was this group’s goal? The goal was to overturn the democratically elected authority,” del Castillo told journalists while announcing the arrests.

The rebel military leader had claimed he wanted to “restructure democracy” and that while he respected the Bolivian president for now, there would be a change of government.

Arce condemned the coup attempt and called on the public to “organize and mobilize… in favor of democracy.”

“We cannot allow once again coup attempts to take Bolivian lives,” he said in a televised message to the country from inside the presidential palace.

“I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,” Arce said.

The president hailed the withdrawal as a victory for Bolivia’s democracy and addressed the country’s citizens in the aftermath, some of whom had taken to the streets in protest at the coup attempt, waving Bolivian flags, singing the national anthem and cheering.

“Many thanks to the Bolivian people,” said Arce. “Long live democracy.”

Late Wednesday, Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo said that “everything is now under control.” Surrounded by the new military chiefs appointed by Arce, Novillo said that Bolivia lived a “failed coup.”

Justice Minister Ivan Lima denied Zuniga’s claims of establishing democracy, saying the rebel leader was lying and trying to justify his actions for which he said he would face justice.

Prosecutors will seek the maximum sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison for Zuniga, Lima said via the social media platform X, “for having attacked democracy and the Constitution.”

Former President Evo Morales also denounced the military’s actions, calling for criminal prosecution against Zuniga and his “accomplices.”

“We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people,” he added.

Bolivia has had a long history of political unrest since it gained independence in 1825.

The incumbent president has led an embattled government since taking office in 2020, fending off pressure from both the left and the right.

Bolivia has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy’s precipitous decline from one of the continent’s fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.

Source: Press TV

26, June 2024

Dschang: 5 killed, 25 injured in road accident ⁰

At least five people were killed and 25 others injured in a road accident in the West region, according to police and medical authorities.

The tragedy occurred Tuesday evening after the brake of a passenger bus failed as it was descending a steep hill at La Falaise locality in Dschang town of the region, local police said.

The victims included children, teenagers and women, according to Regional Hospital Annex of Dschang, where the injured were treated.

The children were mostly students who had finished the semester and were travelling to spend holidays in other parts of the country, police said.

Some 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in the central African nation, according to estimates by the Ministry of Transport.

In early June, Cameroon launched a campaign initiating tough road safety measures, including the deployment of additional traffic officers, in a bid to curb rising road accidents in the country.

Source: Xinhuanet

26, June 2024

Germany’s new visa programme makes it easier for skilled workers to immigrate ⁰

If you’ve ever longed to live in Germany, now might be the perfect time to try. The country recently announced a new work visa, the Chancenkarte, or “Opportunity Card”, which offers non-EU nationals a new opportunity to immigrate to Germany.

The Chancenkarte, which opened for applications on 1 June, offers a new points-based system that rates applicants by specific criteria, including academic qualifications, language skills and past professional experience.

“[The Opportunity Card] will make it easier and quicker for people with experience and potential to find a suitable job and get started,” Nancy Faeser, Germany’s Federal Minister of the Interior and Community, said in a statement to the BBC.

Those granted the Opportunity Card can live in Germany for up to one year while looking for work, rather than requiring an employer to sponsor them beforehand. The card also allows people to legally work part-time while searching for something more permanent. It represents a major shift in the way the country is addressing its growing labour shortage and is intended to help increase the number of professional workers in fields like medicine, education, manufacturing and engineering. Much more than just a digital nomad visa, the new card offers non-EU citizens the opportunity to streamline the German immigration process and search for work on the ground in the country, a move that has been hotly debated by conservatives, who argue that it could allow for already-rejected asylum seekers to find work in Germany.

Successful applicants will either have a professional qualification or academic degree that is fully recognised in Germany, or a combination of criteria such as years of professional experience, a certain age and language skills, each of which are worth a certain number of points. Applicants must have a rating of six or more points to qualify for the visa. They must also show proof of ability to cover living expenses during their job search, at least €1,027 per month.

Because EU citizens can already live and work in Germany, the new opportunity visa is geared towards those currently living outside the EU and in Switzerland, as Swiss citizens also do not require a visa for entry or a permit to work in Germany. The Chancenkarte is set up to favour non-EU citizens with connections to the country, as extra points are available for those who have German language skills or have studied in a German school.

Alex Masurovsky, a former Master’s student at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, who now lives in New York, is intrigued by the opportunity the new visa affords to return to live and work in Berlin.

“For me, [Germany] had just enough of those European sensibilities, like sitting down for coffee and staying out late, to enjoy without it feeling pretentious,” he reflected. “It also has a great appreciation for music, mostly electronic, but small and sincere pockets of jazz, blues and punk rock, too. I’d recommend it to anyone.”

Though it’s true that the country’s culture and nightlife can be a draw, ultimately the new visa aims to provide a long term solution to address the nation’s labour shortages, which is one of the major factors contributing to Germany’s ongoing financial issues. “We are making sure that we can attract the skilled workers our economy has urgently needed for years,” Fraser said. “This is vital for our country’s future.”

Those interested in learning more can visit the Make It In Germany website for more information. The site has a “self-check” that allows visitors to check their eligibility status for the Chancenkarte. Official applications for the visa should be made in person at your local German Diplomatic Mission.

Source: BBC

25, June 2024

Yaoundé: Biya regime slashes public sector job openings by half in 2024 ⁰

Cameroon’s Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform, Joseph Lé, has recently authorized a series of recruitment competitions for the public sector. A total of 1,210 positions are available for 2024, marking a nearly 50% decline from the 2,235 positions opened in 2023. This reduction comes after the number of openings surpassed 2,000 for the first time since 2021.

“This adjustment reflects specific personnel needs expressed by administrations in line with their organizational frameworks, aligned with the objectives of the National Development Strategy (SND30),” explained Minister Joseph Lé during a press conference held on June 21, 2023, in Yaoundé.

Since 2021, the government has been tightening public sector recruitment to control the state’s unsustainable wage bill. From 2012 to 2021, the payroll ballooned from CFA706.1 billion to CFA1,080.1 billion, according to Ministry of Finance data. In the 2024 budget, under review by parliamentarians, it is expected to reach around CFA1,500 billion.

To curb the growth of this wage bill, the number of recruits into the Cameroonian public sector dropped sharply from 5,411 and 5,179 positions in 2019 and 2018 respectively, to just 1,536 in 2021.

Source: Business in Cameroon

25, June 2024

Wikileaks founder Assange freed after US plea deal ⁰

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from a high-security British prison after he reached a plea deal with the US authorities that ends his 12-year legal battle and allows him to return home to Australia.

“Julian Assange is free,” Wikileaks said in a statement posted on social media platform X on Monday.

According to the statement, Assange left Belmarsh prison on Monday morning before being bailed by the UK High Court and boarding a flight and departing the UK that afternoon.

“This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organizers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations,” the statement said.

His plane landed in Bangkok on Tuesday, en-route to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, where he will appear at a court on Wednesday.

Under the plea deal, Assange agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defense documents, according to filings in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.

In return, he will be sentenced to 62 months of time already served.

The hearing and sentencing together will take place in Saipan as Assange has refused to travel to the US mainland. Afterwards, he will return to Australia, according to the Wikileaks.

“Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU – yes YOU, who have all mobilized for years and years to make this come true,” his wife, Stella Assange, said in a post on X.

‘Harmful legal precedent’

Many press freedom advocates, however, have noted that criminally charging Assange represents a threat to free speech.

“While we welcome the end of his detention, the US’s pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers,” Reuters cited Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, as saying.

Assange, an Australian citizen, spent five years at the high-security Belmarsh Prison in southeast London, while fighting extradition to the United States, where he faced 18 criminal charges.

He faced prosecution in the United States over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose secret military and diplomatic files in 2010 relating to the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Before going to prison, Assange spent seven years holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault which were later dropped.

He was eventually arrested on April 11, 2019, when Ecuador revoked his asylum.

WikiLeaks came into limelight in 2010 when it released hundreds of thousands of classified files and diplomatic cables.

In 2010, the Australian national published a series of leaks provided by US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, including about 750,000 classified military and diplomatic documents related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars which exposed the US military’s crimes in these countries.

Assange’s prosecution has been widely criticized by press freedom and human rights groups who say that the journalist was being targeted for unveiling West’s crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: Press TV

24, June 2024

Seven, including children, killed as over 100 abducted in gunmen attack in Nigeria ⁰

Gunmen have attacked a village in northwestern Nigeria, killing at least seven people and abducting more than 100 others, residents and police say.

The attack took place in Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina state on Saturday night, residents and police said.

According to residents, gunmen on motorbikes arrived in Maidabino village in the Danmusa local government area of Katsina, and began firing sporadically, forcing residents to flee.

Hassan Aliyu, one of the residents, told Reuters by phone that the attack took residents by surprise and dozens of women and children were confirmed missing.

“They killed seven people, including burning two children,” he said, adding, “They spent more than six hours destroying our properties.”

Auwalu Ismail, another resident, said the gunmen first blocked all roads leading to the village before the attack.

“They burned down our shops, vehicles, and took away our livestock. They also kidnapped my wife and more than 100 women and children,” he said.

State police spokesperson Abubakar Aliyu Sadiq confirmed the attack and the seven deaths. But he refrained from commenting on the news of missing people, saying investigations are underway.

“The remaining men who did not flee are living in fear … and waiting to hear news about their abducted loved ones,” Muhammad Sani, whose sister was kidnapped, said.

Nigeria’s northwest and central regions have seen the largest mass abductions for ransoms in recent years.

In March, Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped more than 250 school children, including at least 100 children aged 12 or under, after raiding a school in a town in the northwestern state of Kaduna.

Last year, gunmen took over 80 students in a raid on a school in the northwestern state of Kebbi.

Source: Presstv

23, June 2024

Russia: Deadly attacks on Dagestan synagogue and churches ⁰

Gunmen in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan have killed six police officers in a series of attacks, security officials say.

Twelve other officers were wounded in the attacks, which targeted a synagogue and churches in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala.

A Russian Orthodox priest has also been killed and two attackers shot dead, state media report, quoting the local Interior Ministry. Footage on social media shows buildings on fire.

The assailants have not been identified, but Dagestan has in the past been the scene of Islamist attacks.

An unofficial channel on the Telegram messaging app, Mash, said gunmen were barricaded in a building in Derbent.

Source: BBC

20, June 2024

President Putin in Vietnam, vows deeper ties in visit criticised by US ⁰

The leaders of Vietnam and Russia have said they want to boost ties as the pair met in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Vietnamese President To Lam was full of praise for his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, congratulating him on his recent re-election.

Mr Putin, in return, said strengthening a strategic partnership with the south-east Asian country was one of Russia’s priorities.

His trip to Vietnam, which comes on the heels of his lavish visit to North Korea, is being interpreted as a demonstration of the diplomatic support Russia still enjoys in the region.

“Congratulations to our comrade for receiving overwhelming support during the recent presidential election, underlining the confidence of the Russian people,” President Lam said after Mr Putin was given a red carpet welcome.

The United States has criticised the visit for giving a platform for President Putin to promote his war of aggression in Ukraine.

Vietnam still values the historic ties it has with Russia even as it works to improve its relationship with Europe and the US.

Looming over a small park in Ba Dinh, Hanoi’s political quarter, a five-meter high statue of Lenin depicts the Russian revolutionary in heroic pose. On his birthday every year a delegation of senior Vietnamese officials solemnly lay flowers and bow their heads before the statue, a gift from Russia when it was still the Soviet Union.

Vietnam’s ties to Russia are close and go back many decades, to the vital military, economic and diplomatic support given by the Soviet Union to the new communist state in North Vietnam in the 1950s.

Vietnam has described their relationship as “filled with loyalty and gratitude”. After Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 to throw out the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, it was isolated and sanctioned by China and the West, and depended heavily on Soviet assistance. Many older Vietnamese, including the powerful communist party secretary-general Nguyen Phu Trong, studied in Russia and learned the language.

Today Vietnam’s economy has been transformed by its integration into global markets. Russia has fallen far behind China, Asia, the US and Europe as a trading partner. But Vietnam still uses mainly Russian-made military equipment, and relies on partnerships with Russian oil companies for oil exploration in the South China Sea.

The invasion of Ukraine presented Vietnam with a diplomatic challenge, but one it has so far managed to meet. It has chosen to abstain on the various resolutions at the United Nations condemning Russia’s actions, yet maintained good relations with Ukraine and even sent some aid to Kyiv. They also share a legacy from the Soviet era; thousands of Vietnamese have worked and studied in Ukraine.

This is all in keeping with Vietnam’s long-held foreign policy principles of being friends with everyone but avoiding all formal alliances – what the communist party leadership now calls ‘bamboo diplomacy’, bending with the buffeting winds of great power rivalry without being forced to take sides.

It is why Vietnam has so readily upgraded its relations with the US, a country against which its older leaders fought a long and destructive war, in the interests of seeking lucrative markets for Vietnamese exports and balancing its close ties with its giant neighbour China.

The US has objected to President Putin’s official visit to Vietnam on the grounds that it undermines international efforts to isolate him, but it can hardly be surprised. Aside from the special historical links with Russia, public sentiment in Vietnam on the war in Ukraine is more ambivalent than in Europe.

There is some admiration for Putin as a strongman who defies the West, and scepticism, fuelled partly by social media commentary, of the US and European claims to be upholding international law.

This is also true in other Asian countries, where the Ukraine war is seen as a faraway crisis. In Thailand, for example, a historic military ally of the US which was on the opposite side to Russia during the Cold War, public opinion is just as divided as in Vietnam. Thais too value the even older links between its monarchy and the pre-revolutionary Tsars of Russia, and the Thai government maintains close ties with Russia today, valuing the contribution millions of Russians make to its tourist industry.

How long Vietnam maintains its camaraderie with Vladimir Putin is less clear. It is already seeking alternative sources of military equipment, but ending its current dependence on Russia will take years.

A series of high-level resignations inside the communist party recently suggest intense internal rivalries over the next generation of leaders, and, potentially, over which direction the country will take. But there is no talk yet of abandoning the ambition of being friends to all, and enemies of none.

Source: BBC