7, March 2022

Russia announces opening of several humanitarian corridors in Ukraine ⁰

The Russian army announced Monday that it would open several humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. Russian forces pummelled Ukrainian cities from the air, land and sea, with warnings they were preparing for an assault on the capital Kyiv, as terrified civilians failed for a second day to escape besieged Mariupol.

A civilian disaster is growing in Ukraine as attempts to evacuate residents of besieged port city Mariupol failed for a second consecutive day.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday that Russian forces are preparing to bombard Odessa, the historic port city on the Black Sea coast.

More than a million refugees have crossed the border from Ukraine into Poland since Russian troops invaded on February 24, Polish border guards said on Sunday. The UN said earlier on Sunday that more than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries since the Russian invasion.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday to declare a ceasefire in Ukraine, open humanitarian corridors and sign a peace agreement, his office said.

The United States is considering sending planes to Poland if Warsaw decided to send fighter jets to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Zelensky said on Sunday he spoke by phone with his US counterpart Joe Biden to discuss financial support and sanctions against Russia.

Delegations from Kyiv and Moscow are set to hold a third round of negotiations on Monday.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Monday on the humanitarian crisis triggered in Ukraine by the Russian invasion and discuss a possible draft resolution.

Washington has seen “very credible reports” that Russia has committed war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine, particularly in attacking civilians, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.

Reported by France 24

7, March 2022

Burkina Faso’s junta appoints interim government ⁰

Burkina Faso’s interim president, Paul-Henri Damiba, has approved a new government, retaining the defense minister who served in the Roch Kabore government before his ouster in a January coup.

Damiba was sworn in on Wednesday as the transitional president for three years, almost two months after spearheading a coup against Kabore.

According to an official decree, the 25-member new cabinet includes General Barthelemy Simpore, the former defense minister, who has surprisingly retained his position.

The appointment of economist Albert Ouedraogo as the West African nation’s transitional prime minister was announced on Thursday.

Burkina Faso’s military coup was the fourth in West Africa in less than two years, following two in Mali and one in Guinea, reaffirming the region’s reputation as the ‘coup belt.’

Last week, the country adopted a transitional charter that would allow the junta to lead a three-year transition period.

A “national forum” of political parties, trade unions, and grassroots groups approved the charter after a day-long debate in the capital, Ouagadougou.

The charter was later signed by junta leader, Lieutenant Colonel Henri-Paul Damiba, last Tuesday.

Damiba has had first-hand experience of the insurgency by Takfiri terrorists.

He was commander of the 3rd Military Region, before seizing power, which covers eastern Burkina Faso – one of the worst-hit areas.

A military official, speaking after the coup, described Damiba as “a tough commander who has been on the front line with his men”.

In late January, Burkina Faso was suspended from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) to pressure the country to return to constitutional order.

Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been under relentless attack from Takfiri groups linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh that seek control of its natural resources.

Sources

6, March 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone governor urges civilians not to flee after Amba bomb Kills 7 ⁰

Cameroon has sent military and senior civilian officials to ask residents not to flee from Ekondo Titi, an English-speaking western town where anglophone separatists this week killed seven people, including the most senior administrative official, the mayor and traditional ruler. The government says hundreds of civilians are fleeing to safer locations.

In a video, armed men identifying themselves as Ndian warriors brandish assault rifles and pledge total allegiance to what they say is their fight for the independence of Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions.

In the video, widely circulated on social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp, they display two assault rifles, an undisclosed amount of money and Cameroonian military uniforms.

They say the rifles, money and uniforms belonged to Cameroonian military and government officials they killed Wednesday in Ekondo Titi — a district in Ndian, an administrative unit in Cameroon’s English-speaking South-West region.

The main speaker in the video claims to be field marshal of anglophone separatists. He says fighters are developing a new modus operandi in their battle to achieve independence for Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions.

He says besides eliminating government troops, fighters have decided to target and kill all civilian workers representing Cameroon’s central government in the English-speaking western regions. He says those posted by the central government in Yaoundé should resign or refuse to work in English-speaking towns and villages.

Cameroon’s military said the video is that of fighters who killed seven people and government troops in Ekondo Titi this week.

A government release read Friday on Cameroon state radio, CRTV, said Paul Timothee Aboloa, highest government official and representative of President Paul Biya in Ekondo Titi, was among the officials killed by fighters.

The release said Nanji Kenneth, mayor of Ekondo Titi, and Ebeku William, the Ekondo Titi president of Cameroon’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, also died.

The Cameroon government Friday said hundreds of civilians, especially government workers, have escaped from Ekondo Titi since Wednesday’s separatist bomb attack.

Bernard Okallia Bilai is the governor of the South-West region, where Ekondo Titi is located. He said he was sent to Ekondo Titi on Friday to ask frightened residents to stop fleeing. Bilai spoke via a messaging app.

He said he is at the head of a delegation of top government and military officials, politicians and clerics sent to Ekondo Titi by Biya. He said the delegation is telling people of Ekondo Titi who are going through terrifying moments that Biya and government troops will crush separatists who do not surrender.

Bilai said civilians should be vigilant and report suspects and strange people in the towns and villages to government troops or administrative officials.

Officials reported in November that a separatist attack on a school in Ekondo Titi killed four students and a teacher. Hundreds of teachers and students stopped going to school.

Timothe Abolo, before he died in Wednesday’s attack, said enough security measures had been taken to protect schools, teachers, students and government workers from further attack.

Source: VOA

6, March 2022

Ukraine could cease to exist ⁰

Here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Fierce battles

Ukraine’s military says it is fighting “fierce battles” with Russian forces on the edge of the southern city of Mykolaiv, which controls the road to the country’s biggest port Odessa in the west.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warns that Russia is preparing to bombard the historic city near the Romanian and Moldovan borders.

Chernihiv pummelled

Dozens of civilians are being killed in the battle for Chernihiv in the north, with those who remain in the city living in craters or among the ruins. AFP has witnessed scenes of devastation.

Mariupol evacuation fails again

Attempts to evacuate civilians from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol — which has neither power nor water — fail for a second day.

The Red Cross describes “devastating scenes of human suffering” in the battered Sea of Azov port.

Deadly and indiscriminate

The Russian push on Kyiv is becoming more deadly and indiscriminate despite Moscow’s denials that it is targeting civilian areas. People are fleeing the towns of Bucha and Irpin as they are pounded by air strikes.

Airport destroyed

A barrage of Russian missiles destroy Vinnytsia airport in central Ukraine, Zelensky says.

Refugee crisis: fastest since WWII

Ukraine is the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, says the UN. More than 1.5 million people have fled into neighbouring countries since Russia invaded on February 24.

Polish jets deal

The United States says it is working on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with fighter jets that its pilots are trained to fly.

Zelensky had pleaded with former Warsaw Pact countries in eastern Europe to give Ukraine Russian-made warplanes.

Russia limits essential food sales

Russian shops are told to limit sales of essential foodstuffs to counter black market speculation as Western sanctions bite.

1,100 held at Russia protests

More than 1,000 people are held across Russia after new protests against the war in Ukraine, bringing to 10,000 the number arrested since the invasion began, according to a monitor.

Zelensky’s plea to US

Zelensky phones President Joe Biden after pressing US lawmakers for an embargo on Russian oil imports. The White House is against a ban for fear of driving up prices.

Putin: Ukraine could cease to exist

Russian President Vladimir Putin warns Ukraine it may cease to exist as a state if leaders “continue to do what they are doing”.

He also says countries imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine will be considered combatants, while equating sanctions with a declaration of a war.

Visa and Mastercard ban

Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard refuse to do business with Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine but Russian banks say they will use China’s UnionPay system.

Macron, Erdogan call Putin

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold separate telephone talks with Putin, with Turkey calling for an “urgent general ceasefire”.

Peace prospects ‘not great’

Israel’s premier Naftali Bennett says the chances of stopping fighting were “not great”, after Kyiv had asked Israel to launch a dialogue with Moscow.

Media blackout

A host of international broadcasters, including the BBC and CNN, say they will stop reporting from Russia because of a new law threatening up to 15 years in jail for “fake news” about its invasion.

Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta says it will also have to stop its reporting of the war.

No ticket out

Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot says it is suspending all its international flights except to Belarus.

Culled from AFP

6, March 2022

No peace in the two Cameroons until British Southern Cameroons conflict resolved ⁰

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima says peace and stability would not prevail in both Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun until the decades-long French Cameroun occupation and marginalization issues are resolved through recognition of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia by the international community.

Speaking at a symposium organized by a Southern Cameroons think tank in the NordRhein Westphalia region of Germany on Friday, Vice President Dabney Yerima said Southern Cameroonians all over the globe will never be respected unless they come together and fight for the liberation of their homeland, which is the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Dabney Yerima highlighted that Southern Cameroonians can no longer coexist with a failed political structure that was concocted by French colonial authorities.

“Southern Cameroonians both in Ground Zero and in the diaspora must put the nasty past behind them and continue to support the resistance and its jailed leaders,” Yerima noted.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader reiterated that the path to peace is to stop the Biya French Cameroun military campaign.

The Ambazonia Interim Government has also called for intensified resistance as the sole way to counter French Cameroun acts of aggression against the people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

Dabney Yerima furthered that the strongest response to French Cameroun atrocities against Ambazonian women and children would be to intensify resistance and inflict heavy losses on the Francophone army soldiers and their Francophone administrators.

By Isong Asu

5, March 2022

Israel PM meets Putin in Moscow for Ukraine talks ⁰

Israel’s premier stepped into the role of mediator Saturday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified, holding a three-hour meeting at the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin before calling Ukraine’s president and flying to Berlin.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s sit-down with Putin was the first by foreign leader since the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine last week, and came after Kyiv had asked Israel to launch a dialogue with Moscow.

Bennett has so far walked a very cautious line on the Ukraine crisis, seeking to preserve delicate security cooperation with Russia, which has a large military presence in Israel’s northern neighbour, Syria.

Bennett has not joined Western leaders — notably key ally the United States — in forcefully condemning the invasion, instead stressing Israel’s strong relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Ahead of his Moscow trip, Bennett had spoken by telephone repeatedly with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Bennett’s office said he left Israel for Moscow early Saturday, itself an extraordinary move for a religious Jew who does not conduct state business on the Jewish Shabbath, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Bennett and Putin met for three hours, in a visit that was coordinated with the US, Germany and France, an Israeli official said.

Bennett’s delegation included his housing minister, fluent Russian speaker Zeev Elkin, who was born in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union.

The Kremlin said “different aspects of the situation in Ukraine” were discussed during “the short working visit”.

After the Putin meeting, Bennett called Zelensky — who is Jewish, has family in Israel and has visited the country many times.

Bennett then headed to Germany for talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz scheduled for late Saturday.

A statement from the French presidency said Emmanuel Macron also spoke to Bennett before he left for Moscow on Saturday, as part of joint efforts to “obtain a ceasefire in Ukraine”.

Iran

While the Bennett-Putin talks were primarily focused on the fighting in Ukraine, the meeting also “touched upon the progress of the (Iran) nuclear talks in Vienna,” the Israeli official said.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency said earlier Saturday after talks in Tehran that they agreed on an approach to resolve issues crucial in efforts to revive the country’s 2015 nuclear deal.

Bennett is a staunch opponent of global efforts to revive the agreement which gave Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

The premier has argued that Tehran will use the revenue boost from the lifting of sanctions to buy weapons that can harm Israel, while still pursuing a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition Iran denies.

Russia, which has itself been slapped with Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, said Saturday that it would seek guarantees from Washington before backing any revived agreement, complicating efforts for a rapid deal.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had requested that the US give it written guarantees that Ukraine-related sanctions “will not in any way harm our rights to free, fully-fledged trade and economic and investment cooperation, military-technical cooperation with Iran”.

There was no immediate comment on any link between the new Russian position and Bennett’s visit.

The meeting with Bennett was the first the Russian leader had scheduled since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin received Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Kremlin on the day the invasion began, in a visit that was long scheduled but widely considered ill-timed.

On Monday, Khan defended the trip — the first by a Pakistani leader to Russia in more than two decades — saying it would prove beneficial in the future.

Source: AFP

5, March 2022

Biya has Alzheimer’s!! Can’t recognize Franck Biya ⁰

On 13 February 2022, President Paul Biya, who has been head of state since November 1982, turned 89. He celebrated his 40th anniversary as head of state with a few hand-picked guests at his palace in Mvomeka’a in an event that revealed the dictator had symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, a brain condition that causes memory loss and impaired ability to think clearly.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from a reliable source that the nation’s long-reigning leader often forgets that his eldest son Franck Biya and wife are members of his family. “The Franck Biya and wife issue are among other heartbreaking lapses” our source added.

The French Cameroun political elite has occupied Etoudi for 40 years, ascending to power on November 6, 1982. He is now showing many signs of slowing down and his health is seriously challenged mindful of his advanced age.

According to some medical experts, nearly all CPDM barons including National Assembly Speaker Cavaye Djibril over the age of 80 suffer from some form of dementia, and Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia symptoms.

Cameroon Intelligence Report also learnt that in addition to forgetting some members of his own family, Paul Biya has recently been found by his tribal presidential security aides roaming aimlessly around the Mvomeka’a palace lost and confused.

Biya’s aides many of whom are blood relations to his wife Chantal Biya are desperately trying to hide the head of state’s shocking health crisis.

Chantal Biya is pushing him slowly but surely mostly behind the scenes into handing over major portions of his presidential duties to Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and the Biya family supported by their acolytes have been insisting on state radio and television that Biya is in excellent health, while admitting that he is inevitably becoming a little more frail because of his age.

Franck Biya is also said to be assuming an increased share of the presidential workload with some political commentators even projecting him as President Biya’s next-of-kin for Cameroon’s top job.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

5, March 2022

UAE placed on money-laundering grey list, promises ‘robust’ response ⁰

The United Arab Emirates has promised “robust actions” against money-laundering and terrorist financing after the Middle East financial hub was placed on a grey list of countries subject to heightened scrutiny.

The wealthy Gulf state, which includes the freewheeling trade-to-tourism hub Dubai, was named on the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force’s 23-strong list on Friday, joining the likes of Yemen, Syria and South Sudan.

Grey-list countries are “actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing”, the global watchdog said in a statement.

UAE officials said they would strive to meet a list of requirements laid down by the taskforce, including increasing prosecutions and identifying sanctions evasion.

“The UAE takes its role in protecting the integrity of the global financial system extremely seriously,” the UAE’s Executive Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism said in a statement.

“The UAE will continue its ongoing efforts to identify, disrupt and punish criminals and illicit financial networks,” it added, pledging “robust actions and ongoing measures… to secure the stability and integrity of the country’s financial system”.

The resources-rich UAE has become a nexus connecting the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia and Asia. Dubai has the world’s busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic, and one of the busiest sea ports.

While the desert country has successfully diversified its economy rather than relying on oil, experts and international organisations have long criticised a failure to crack down on murky financial transactions.

Source: AFP

5, March 2022

US, allies condemn Russia at UN over its attack on Ukraine nuclear plant ⁰

Russia’s “reckless” overnight attack on a nuclear power plant in Ukraine is a dangerous escalation that “represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world,” the US ambassador to the United Nations said on Friday.

“By the grace of God, the world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council.

“Russia’s attack last night put Europe’s largest nuclear power plant at grave risk,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

“It was incredibly reckless and dangerous. And it threatened the safety of civilians across Russia, Ukraine and Europe,” she said.

“Nuclear facilities cannot become part of this conflict,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

She urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine.

“Not only has he not listened, we’ve just witnessed a dangerous new escalation that represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

“President Putin must stop this humanitarian catastrophe by ending this war and ceasing these unconscionable attacks against the people of Ukraine,” she said. “Mr. Putin must stop this madness, and stop it now.”

Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations denied accusations that Russian forces had shelled Europe’s largest atomic power plant in Zaporizhzhia.

“These statements are simply untrue,” Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council. “This is all part of an unprecedented campaign of lies and disinformation against Russia.”

He said Russian troops had exchanged small arms fire with Ukrainian forces at Zaporizhzhia but had not shelled the facility in southern Ukraine.

He said the fighting occurred at a training complex “located just outside the territory of the nuclear power plant” and accused “Ukrainian saboteurs” of setting fire to the training facility.

“The operation of the nuclear power plant continues normally,” Nebenzia said. “Nothing threatens the safety of the six power units.

“There is no threat of a release of radioactive material.”

Source: AFP

5, March 2022

Battle for Ukraine: Russia announces partial ceasefire to let residents of Mariupol, Volnovakha evacuate ⁰

Russia’s defense ministry announced a temporary ceasefire Saturday to allow residents of two besieged cities, including the strategic port city of Mariupol, to evacuate. Mariupol’s mayor says invading Russian troops have blockaded the city, as Moscow and Kyiv are set to hold new talks over the weekend. Follow our live updates for the latest developments.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Monday on the humanitarian crisis triggered in Ukraine by the Russian invasion and discuss a possible draft resolution.

Invading Russian troops have blockaded the strategic Ukrainian port city Mariupol, its mayor announced Saturday.

Russia and Ukraine are set to hold a third round of talks over the weekend as an attack on a nuclear plant in Ukraine triggered widespread condemnations.

The mayor of Mariupol issued a plea for help as water, heating and electricity remained cut in the southern Ukrainian port city. “We are simply being destroyed,” he said.

More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion, the United Nations said, amounting to the swiftest refugee exodus this century.

Source: France 24