14, June 2021

Southern Cameroons War: Fighting continues around Muyuka, Ikata and Muea ⁰

Fighting between Francophone Beti Ewondo troops loyal to the Biya regime in Yaoundé and Ambazonia Restoration Forces has continued today in Fako County with heavy artillery fire focusing on the strategically important towns of Muyuka, Muea and Ikata. Muyuka which sits on the only major road that links Buea the historic capital of Southern Cameroons to Meme, Ndian, Lebialem, Kupe Muanenguba and Manyu has seen fierce exchange in recent days as the Francophone Cameroon government forces attempt to gain control of the road.

The developments come as the conflict now in its fourth year is showing no signs of ending. The War in Southern Cameroons has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroon government troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster. The Biya French Cameroun regime is yet to release casualty statistics for its armed forces, although military officials have reported that some 3000 Cameroon government army soldiers have died and hundreds more have been injured.

Further clashes in and around Buea are highly likely over the near term. Fighting along the main road linking Mamfe to Ekok and Bamenda to Wum cannot be ruled out in the coming days. A heightened Cameroon government security presence and disruptions to transportation have rocked the entire Southern Cameroons territory.

The latest round of hostilities erupted today when Ambazonia Restoration Forces reportedly carried out strikes on settlements in Muyuka and Muea including Ikata following attacks by Cameroon government troops. Ambazonia Restoration Forces launched what it claimed to be a ‘counter-offensive’ in response. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that both Amba fighters and Cameroon government forces made extensive use of heavy weapons during the clashes, including artillery and loitering munitions.

The Southern Cameroons was one of the territories set for decolonization in the context of the UN decolonization agenda. Britain’s devious handling of it and the British wheeling and dealing at the UN in 1959 and 1960 caused a great historical injustice to the people of the Southern Cameroons. That injustice continues to cry out for redress. British action resulted in the unconscionable imposition of an unnecessary and precipitated plebiscite with dead-end alternatives. Speaking through Lord Perth, Britain shamefully said the Southern Cameroons and its people were “expendable”.

The plebiscite was imposed in the teeth of opposition by the leadership of the trust territory. It offered a Hobson’s choice of ‘joining’ either Nigeria or French Cameroun. The internationally-prescribed political status option of sovereign independence was deliberately excluded. There was no good reason for doing so. On 11 February 1961, a skewed plebiscite was foisted on the people of the Southern Cameroons. Faced with the Hobson’s ‘choice’ that was forced down their throat, the people opted for independence in political association with Republique du Cameroun. It was agreed in writing between the two countries and to the knowledge of Britain and the UN, that the political association would take the form of an aggregative federation of two states, equal in status.

Western governments generally advise their citizens against all travel to areas of conflict but have maintained a kind of deliberate silence ever since the crisis in Southern Cameroons started four years ago.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai and Isong Asu

14, June 2021

George Ewane is a shooting star and star ⁰

George Ewane Ngide, associate professor, recently appointed Technical Adviser at the Presidency of the Republic, is a shooting star, and appointment decrees or decisions shoot at him like meteoroids gone crazy in the galaxy.

In three years, since 2018, he has been appointed six times, up, up and further up the ladder. Appointments are obviously in search of worthy individuals and it is Ewane – him and nearly only him – the “best” ones find. Even if mannerism were the only criterion for all these, Ewane would deserve his fair share. He is, anyone can admit, a jolly good fellow, easy going, down to earth and, oh, that charming smile you may only miss in the dark or when you have an vision problem.

He was appointed, June 9, 2021, a couple of days after his sensational ENEMY IN THE HOUSE commentary over CRTV’s Cameroon Calling, in which some guess he might have been protesting against another very recent appointment and/or what he might have considered the gesticulations of regime hypocrites. Well, who the cap fits, let them wear it.

Before this June 9 appointment by presidential decree, Ewane was the beneficiary of a prime ministerial appointment and four CRTV board of directors’ decisions. On June 22, 2018, he was appointed technical adviser No. 4 at CRTV, which brought to an end his over 16 years record run as presidential correspondent, which he closed at the apex as Head of Division (Director) of the unit in charge of coverage of sovereignty affairs. Just over a year later, on June 26, 2020, he was appointed CRTV Radio Central Director. In between all that, he had been promoted to the CRTV professional apex of Editorialist.

His meteoric career progress notwithstanding, Ewane, who apparently found his way into journalism only by accident has been quoted by close friends as saying he has really never practiced journalism proper, as in news reporting because in his job assignments, he has been given more to commentaries.

Armed with a Maitrise in English at the time from the University of Yaounde under the wings of the late Professor John Lambo and the late Professor Gervais Mendo Ze, he found a place in the now scrapped Division 3 of the Advanced School of Mass Communication and, out of there, got recruited into CRTV. Many might have noticed him for the first on-camera when he anchor the live relay of World Cup 1998 matches from the studio in Mballa II alongside Francophone colleagues including Alex Mimbang, Valerie Dikos Oumarou and Emmanuel Mbede.

Ewane’s CRTV whirlwind rise was punctuated by his appointed by Prime Minister Dion Ngute as Spokesperson of the Major National Dialogue of September 30 to October 4, 2019. His appointment as Technical Adviser at the Presidency takes him “back home” where, as presidential correspondent for so long, he created and produced the TV programme “Insight/Inside the Presidency”, which The Guardian Post captures so aptly with the pun in its Sunday, June 13, 2021 edition front cover headline thus: George Ewane now “Inside the Presidency”.

On the academic sphere, the ex-student of GSS Nyassosso obtained a PhD in 2013 and got promoted to the academic rank of Associate Professor in 2020, but those were academic exploits, not appointments. Impressive all the same.

I believe and wish Ewane is or were more a star than a shooting star. They are not the same thing. CoolCosmos.Ipac.Caltech.Edu says, “Shooting stars look like stars that quickly shoot across the sky, but they are not stars. A shooting star is really a small piece of rock or dust [known as a Meteoroid] that hits Earth’s atmosphere from space. It moves so fast that it heats up and glows as it moves through the atmosphere leaving a short-lived trail of light called meteor.”

I should perhaps apologize for using the wrong analogy of a falling star to talk about a rising star; one that only glows briefly for someone who has been in the limelight and promises to remain there for long. In the language of Astrology, surviving meteoroids (falling stars) are paradoxically, those that hit Earth’s surface or simply put, those that fall to the ground, called Meteorites. The rest burn out in “flight” and disappear to nowhere. There is no scientific evidence to the contrary of the obvious, that the “surviving” ones fall to rise no more. At least, they are not known to germinate. But George Ewane is a star and stars shine up above in perpetuity, don’t they?

By Franklin Sone Bayen

*The author of this article, Franklin Sone Bayen, an Alfred Friendly (US) Press Partners Fellow, is a freelance investigative journalist, editorial writer and columnist. He can be reached (direct calls and WhatsApp) at: 656969090 and via email at: frankbayen@gmail.com

14, June 2021

Cameroon Albinos Ask for Greater Attention, Care ⁰

International Albinism Awareness Day on June 13 has been observed in Cameroon, with albinos asking for more government and community care and protection. Those living with this hereditary genetic condition that reduces melanin pigment in skin, hair and eyes, say stigma, violence, superstition and killing have greatly lessened, but abuses have not been eliminated.

One hundred and sixty albinos and their family members assembled at the World Association for Advocacy and Solidarity of Albinos office in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, to mark International Albinism Awareness Day.

Among them is 16-year-old albino Ronald Essi, who said he was abandoned because of his condition.

Essi said he wants to become a police officer to defend his country Cameroon and punish civilians who abuse albinos’ rights. He said his mother abandoned him when he was two years old. He said his grandmother resisted family pressure to kill him. He said he has been living in the streets since 2015, when his grandmother died.

Essi said a Catholic priest rescued him from the street and sent him to a school in Yaoundé.

Essi is one of the about 2,200 albinos the government says live in Cameroon.

This year Cameroon reported that prejudice and discrimination against albinos in employment and social life had lowered drastically. The government said hunting down albinos for their body parts has been eliminated from many communities.

Witch doctors who claim that albinos bring wealth and good luck to people who have access to their body parts are disappearing. In many communities, albino babies are no longer considered signs of misfortune and buried alive or starved until they die.

Jean-Jacques Ndoudoumou, the founding president of the World Association for Advocacy and Solidarity of Albinos, says albinos are gradually being accepted by communities.

He said the association he leads is happy, as people are increasingly accepting albinos as normal human beings. He said many albinos have graduated from universities and are using the knowledge they acquire to contribute to developing Cameroon. He said complaints of stigma and violence on albinos have greatly declined and there are now marriages between albinos and people without the condition.

Ndoudoumou said his association has instructed all its members to continue teaching people albinos are normal human beings who need special assistance.

Gregoire Amindeh is member of The Association for the Promotion of the Rights of Albinos.

Amindeh said that although Cameroon’s government has done a lot, albinos still urgently need special reading glasses and handheld magnifiers to stop their high school dropout rate from low vision. He said they need subsidies to be treated in hospitals since their skin is extremely sensitive to the sun and can develop cancer. He said skin cancers remain a major cause of death in African albinos.

Pauline Irene Nguene, Cameroon’s minister of social affairs, says albinos are placed in the group of people with special protection needs. She said Cameroon ensures the socio-economic integration and protection of albinos, and immediately intervenes to protect albinos whenever cases of abuse are reported.

She said in 2020, staff of her ministry visited more than a hundred villages where abuses of the rights of albinos were reported. She said civilians in the villages were taught in their local languages to respect the health, education and social rights of albinos. She said the government has continued to lobby for private enterprises, schools and outside organizations not to reject albinos looking for positions in their institutions.

Nguene said 60 government offices created in Cameroon’s administrative units receive complaints and immediately help albinos in need.

International Albinism Awareness Day is observed by the United Nations on June 13 every year. This year’s theme, “Strength Beyond All Odds,” according to the U.N. highlights the achievements of people with albinism all over the world.

Source: VOA

14, June 2021

Naftali Bennett: From tech millionaire to Israel’s ultranationalist PM ⁰

Naftali Bennett, who was sworn in Sunday as Israel’s new prime minister, embodies many of the contradictions that define the 73-year-old nation.

He’s a religious Jew who made millions in the mostly secular hi-tech sector; a champion of the settlement movement who lives in a Tel Aviv suburb, and a former ally of Benjamin Netanyahu who has partnered with centrist and left-wing parties to end his 12-year rule.

His ultranationalist Yamina party won just seven seats in the 120-member Knesset in March elections — the fourth such vote in two years. But by refusing to commit to Netanyahu or his opponents, Bennett positioned himself as kingmaker. Even after one member of his religious nationalist party abandoned him to protest the new coalition deal, he ended up with the crown.

Here’s a look at Israel’s new leader:

An ultranationalist with a moderate coalition

Bennett has long positioned himself to the right of Netanyahu. But he will be severely constrained by his unwieldy coalition, which has only a narrow majority in parliament and includes parties from the right, left and center.

He is opposed to Palestinian independence and strongly supports Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians and much of the international community see as a major obstacle to peace.

Bennett fiercely criticised Netanyahu after the prime minister agreed to slow settlement construction under pressure from President Barack Obama, who tried and failed to revive the peace process early in his first term.

He briefly served as head of the West Bank settler’s council, Yesha, before entering the Knesset in 2013. Bennett later served as Cabinet minister of diaspora affairs, education and defence in various Netanyahu-led governments.

“He’s a right-wing leader, a security hard-liner, but at the same time very pragmatic,” said Yohanan Plesner, head of the Israel Democracy Institute, who has known Bennett for decades and served with him in the military.

He expects Bennett to engage with other factions to find a “common denominator” as he seeks support and legitimacy as a national leader.

Netanyahu in ‘politically dangerous place’

Rivalry with Netanyahu

The 49-year-old father of four shares Netanyahu’s hawkish approach to the Middle East conflict, but the two have had tense relations over the years.

Bennett served as Netanyahu’s chief of staff for two years, but they parted ways after a mysterious falling out that Israeli media linked to Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, who wields great influence over her husband’s inner circle.

Bennett campaigned as a right-wing stalwart ahead of the March elections and signed a pledge on national TV saying he would never allow Yair Lapid, a centrist and Netanyahu’s main rival, to become prime minister.

But when it became clear Netanyahu was unable to form a ruling coalition, that’s exactly what Bennett did, agreeing to serve as prime minister for two years before handing power to Lapid, the architect of the new coalition.

Netanyahu’s supporters have branded Bennett a traitor, saying he defrauded voters. Bennett has defended his decision as a pragmatic move aimed at unifying the country and avoiding a fifth round of elections.

FRANCE 24 spoke to Jordana Miller, ABC News’s foreign correspondent in Jerusalem, who said Netanyahu, now sitting in the opposition, has found himself in a “politically dangerous place”.

“This new government may pass a number of laws that will essentially bar him from leading Israel again until his corruption trial wraps up, which could be a number of years,” she said. “That’s why we saw him fight tooth and nail until the very last minute making all kinds of desperate overtures to his allies to try to stop this new so-called ‘change’ government, but he failed.”

Miller suggested that Netanyahu will now do his best to try to “pull off one or two defectors – which is all he’ll need in the coming months because this government has a wafer-thin majority and there are so many ideological differences.”

A generational shift

Bennett, a modern Orthodox Jew, will be Israel’s first prime minister who regularly wears a kippa, the skullcap worn by observant Jews. He lives in the upscale Tel Aviv suburb of Raanana, rather than the settlements he champions.

Bennett began life with his American-born parents in Haifa, then bounced with his family between North America and Israel, military service, law school and the private sector. Throughout, he’s curated a persona that’s at once modern, religious and nationalist.

After serving in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit, Bennett went to law school at Hebrew University. In 1999, he co-founded Cyota, an anti-fraud software company that was sold in 2005 to U.S.-based RSA Security for $145 million.

Bennett has said the bitter experience of Israel’s 2006 war against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah drove him to politics. The month-long war ended inconclusively, and Israel’s military and political leadership at the time was widely criticised as bungling the campaign.

Bennett represents a third generation of Israeli leaders, after the founders of the state and Netanyahu’s generation, which came of age during the country’s tense early years marked by repeated wars with Arab states.

“He’s Israel 3.0,” Anshel Pfeffer, a columnist for Israel’s left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, wrote in a recent profile of Bennett.

“A Jewish nationalist but not really dogmatic. A bit religious, but certainly not devout. A military man who prefers the comforts of civilian urban life and a high-tech entrepreneur who isn’t looking to make any more millions. A supporter of the Greater Land of Israel but not a settler. And he may well not be a lifelong politician either.”

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

14, June 2021

Dion Ngute shedding ‘crocodile tears’ on Ambazonia reconstruction ⁰

A senior aide to the Southern Cameroons Vice President says Chief Dr Dion Ngute as a prominent Ambazonian is shedding “crocodile tears” over the so-called Cameroon government plans to rebuild Southern Cameroons while he continues to chair cabinet meetings that are fostering murderous crimes on the people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

Dr Patrick Ayuk made the remarks on Saturday, two day after Cameroon Concord News released names of Cameroon government officials targeted by the US visa restriction program.

“Ngute is talking about reconstruction but his French Cameroun army is still carrying out unlawful & murderous crimes in Southern Cameroons. No need for Ngute’s crocodile tears when his French Cameroun military is busy killing innocent women and children in Southern Cameroons” Dr Patrick Ayuk told Camcordnews.

The Dabney Yerima senior adviser also called on the President Biden administration to place additional sanctions on the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in Yaounde.

Ambazonia is the indigenous name of the former United Nations trust territory of the Southern Cameroons under United Kingdom Administration for close to half a century, excluding the period of British connection with the territory from 1843 to 1887. When Republique du Cameroun took control of the territory, it split it into two parts and designated them as “northwest and southwest provinces/regions of Republique du Cameroun.” This was rejected and continues to be rejected by the people of the former British Southern Cameroons. The people of the territory insist on the indigenous name of their Homeland which is Ambazonia. This is consistent with a 1978 recommendation of UNESCO that African countries should call their countries by the name they wish to be known.

By Isong Asu in London

14, June 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: More Aghem families in Menchum hit by Atanga Nji Boys atrocities ⁰

The latest Atanga Nji Boys onslaught on the main road linking Bamenda to Wum, the chief town in Menchum is creating a tragic humanitarian aspect as the fighting in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia continue to unfold further day by day.

Most people in Wum predominantly from the Aghem extraction are in need of medicine. Pattern medicine shops in Wum are all empty and several people are dying. The heavy deployment of Francophone troops around the main market and in Naikom Overside is making matters worse.

Several innocent Southern Cameroonians including women and children have been killed in Cameroon government military attacks in Wum, Esu and Weh ever since the conflict began four years ago. Cameroon government army soldiers have also brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Menchum County.

Ambazonia Restoration Forces defending the Menchum constituency say the French Cameroun aggression has not undermined their will to stand against the occupation crime syndicate in Yaoundé. They say, despite their suffering, they will remain steadfast and fight for until Southern Cameroons is free.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

13, June 2021

Israel parliament votes in Naftali Bennett as PM, ending Netanyahu’s long rule ⁰

A motley alliance of Israeli parties on Sunday ousted Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, and formed a new government in a seismic shift in the country’s turbulent politics.

Naftali Bennett, a right-wing Jewish nationalist and former tech millionaire, was to take over at the helm of the eight-party bloc, united only by their shared disdain for the hawkish right-wing leader known as Bibi.

Netanyahu, 71, in typically combative style, vowed shortly before his defeat that “if it’s our destiny to be in the opposition, we’ll do so with our heads high until we take down this bad government and return to lead the country our way”.

Beloved as “King Bibi” by his right-wing supporters and condemned as the “crime minister” by his critics, Netanyahu has long been the dominant, and increasingly divisive, figure in Israeli politics.

But on Sunday, a vote in the Knesset legislature following weeks of intense political drama ended his government with a razor-thin majority of 60 to 59 in the 120-seat chamber.

In Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, Netanyahu’s opponents broke out in cheers and launched into an evening of joyous celebrations, having rallied in recent days with “Bye bye Bibi” placards.

One of the demonstrators, Tal Surkis, 19, confessed to “mixed feelings” about the incoming change coalition, but said “it’s something Israel needs”.

Bennett, 49, in a Knesset speech before the vote, promised the new government, a coalition of ideologically divergent parties, “represents all of Israel”.

He said the country, after four inconclusive elections in under two years, had been thrown “into a maelstrom of hatred and in-fighting”.

“The time has come for different leaders, from all parts of the population, to stop, to stop this madness”, he said, to angry shouts of “liar” and “criminal” from right-wing opponents.

Fragile coalition

Netanyahu, who is battling corruption charges in an ongoing trial he dismisses as a conspiracy, has been the dominant Israeli politician of his generation, having also served a previous three-year term in the 1990s.

His supporters have hailed him as a strong defender of Israel who has been tough on arch foe Iran, but also struck a series of historic normalisation deals with several Arab nations last year.

Being ousted from the top job will leave Netanyahu more exposed to his legal woes, because it denies him the chance to push through parliament changes to basic laws that could give him immunity.

Bennett, a former defence minister under Netanyahu, vowed to keep Israel safe from Iran, promising that “Israel won’t let Iran have nuclear weapons” — a goal the Islamic republic denies pursuing.

Netanyahu, true to his reputation as Israel’s “Mr Security”, charged that “Iran is celebrating” the launch of what he charged would be a “dangerous” and weak left-wing government.

The diverse anti-Netanyahu bloc was cobbled together by the secular centrist Yair Lapid, a former TV presenter.

It spans the political spectrum, including three right-wing, two centrist and two left-wing parties, along with an Arab Islamic conservative party.

Lapid, 57, is to serve as foreign minister for the next two years before taking over from Bennett.

‘Scorched earth’

The improbable alliance emerged weeks after an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, and following inter-communal violence in Israeli cities with significant Arab populations.

Netanyahu, who long ago earned a reputation as Israel’s ultimate political survivor, in his final days in office tried to peel off defectors, hoping to deprive the nascent coalition of its wafer-thin legislative majority, to no avail.

He accused Bennett of “fraud” for siding with rivals, and angry rallies by the premier’s Likud party supporters resulted in security being bolstered for some lawmakers.

Netanyahu’s opponents accused him and his allies of stoking tensions in a “scorched-earth” campaign.

Netanyahu’s bombastic remarks as he saw his grip on power slip drew parallels at home and abroad to former US president Donald Trump, who described his election loss last year as the result of a rigged vote.

Sunday’s vote came at a time of heightened tensions in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which has grown more bitter in the Netanyahu years, in part due to the expansion of settlements considered illegal under international law in the occupied West Bank.

Meanwhile, right-wing anger has grown in Israel over last week’s postponement of a controversial Jewish nationalist march through flashpoint areas of east Jerusalem.

The “March of the Flags” is now slated for Tuesday, and the agitation surrounding it could represent a key initial test for a new coalition government.

Gaza’s rulers Hamas said that the political developments in Jerusalem wouldn’t change its relationship with Israel.

“The form the Israeli government takes doesn’t change the nature of our relationship,” said the group’s spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

“It’s still a colonising and occupying power that we must resist.”

(AFP)

13, June 2021

Football: Inter Milan doctor says Eriksen showed ‘no hint of health problem’ ⁰

Denmark international Christian Eriksen showed no hint of any underlying health condition, Inter Milan’s team doctor said Sunday, after the midfielder’s collapse in Copenhagen.

Midfielder Eriksen, 29, remained in hospital but is in a “stable” condition as he undergoes further tests after his dramatic collapse during a Euro 2020 game against Finland on Saturday.

“We had a bad time, not just me, but the whole family of our club,” Piero Volpi told Gazzetta Dello Sport.

“In the next few days he will be subjected to in-depth examinations.

“The important thing is that he is well, but there had never been any episode that even remotely hinted at a problem when he was at Tottenham nor at Inter. In Italy there are very strict controls.”

The Inter Milan star suddenly fell to the turf in the 43rd minute of Denmark’s opening Euro 2020 game, laying motionless as medical personnel administered CPR.

He laid on the field for about 15 minutes before being carried off the pitch and rushed to hospital.

Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta said that Eriksen had sent a message on the team chat reassuring them: “I’m fine, I hope to be back soon.”

“Those harsh images foreshadowed dramatic things, but luckily it wasn’t so thanks to the doctors,” said Marotta.

“Thanks to everyone, opponents and friends, because they stayed close to us. He never had Covid and he has never been vaccinated, we don’t want to be intrusive because it’s right for the player to be calm.

“He is a champion, we want to hold onto him for a long time and hope he can resolve these health problems.”

Source: AFP

13, June 2021

Thousands in Spain protest plans to pardon Catalan separatist leaders ⁰

Thousands of people in Madrid are protesting the Spanish government’s plan to issue pardons to a dozen separatist leaders who were convicted for their roles in a failed push for the Catalonia region’s independence, the biggest challenge to the country’s unity in recent history.

The demonstration on Sunday was organized by a civil society group to promote a united Spain and took place at a central square that has become a symbol for far-right political rallies.

Leaders of the center to far-right political opposition to Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez planned to join the protest at Colón Square, which boasts one of Spain’s largest national flags.

Sánchez hasn’t announced pardons for the 12 political and civil society leaders who in October 2017 pushed ahead with a banned referendum on Catalonia breaking away from Spain and then declared the northeastern region’s independence based on the vote.

But the prime minister has defended taking such a move as a way to bring Catalans and Spaniards closer together after the divisive prosecutions that put most of the Catalan leaders behind bars.

Sánchez is also facing criticism in his own Socialist camp, where the potential pardons are seen as a risky political gamble. While more than 60% of Spaniards oppose the pardons and only 29.5% back them, according to a recent poll for El Mundo newspaper, surveys conducted in Catalonia show support of 60% to 70%.

Detractors say the separatists have not shown any remorse for their defiance of the Spanish Constitution and that Sánchez is making concessions to them in exchange for support from Catalan lawmakers in the national parliament.

Tensions over secession grew in earnest a decade ago amid the economic hardship of the Great Recession and discontent over Spain’s opposition to more autonomy for the Catalan-speaking region of 7.5 million people.

The issue has also dominated the political debate at the national level and contributed to the rise of the nationalist Vox party, which has become the third-largest political force in the Spanish Congress.

Source: AP

13, June 2021

Brazil favourites to win Copa America, as Covid-19 strikes rival teams ⁰

Brazil’s international players were reluctant to play in the Copa America on home soil. Now that they’re committed, they’re favourites to win it.

Argentina still looms as a threat to Brazil’s title defence, but now as a visiting team.

Argentina and Colombia were dropped as tournament co-hosts before Brazil contentiously stepped in late to stage the continental championship.

Being away from home takes some pressure off Lionel Messi and his Argentina team.

The Copa America will kick off Sunday with defending champion Brazil against Venezuela at the Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia. The final will be on July 10 at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, one of the Covid-19 epicentres in Brazil, where more than 480,000 have died from the coronavirus.

Eleven players have already tested positive for Covid-19 upon arriving in Brazil. Eight are Venezuelans and three Bolivians, football bodies of the two countries said on Saturday.

Bolivia’s first match in the tournament will be on Monday against Paraguay.

South American football body CONMEBOL stressed in a statement that “the matches will be played as scheduled”.

Brazil health minister Marcelo Queiroga said Venezuela players who have the virus will return only after they test negative. He said there’s no reason for the Brazil match not to take place on Sunday.

No spectators will be allowed to attend any Copa America matches because of restrictions in place for the pandemic, which has already delayed the tournament by a year.

No boycott

Brazil players ended speculation about a potential boycott by issuing a unified statement on Wednesday saying they are “unsatisfied” with the decision to move the tournament to their country, but it wouldn’t stop them representing their national team.

And if South American World Cup qualifiers are anything to go by, the Copa America title is Brazil’s to lose. Brazil has won all six of its games and is six points clear of second place Argentina. With the likes of Neymar on board, coach Tite expects not only to defend the title lifted in 2019, but also use the next 30 days to prepare for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Many tests are expected. Alisson is no longer the team’s unchallenged goalkeeper, with Ederson getting more chances to start.

Captain Casemiro is yet to find out whether he will play as defensive midfielder next to Douglas Luiz, Fred or Lucas Paqueta. And four options appear up front to work with Neymar: Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison and Gabriel Barbosa.

Argentina placed third in the 2019 Copa America, but the team has improved under coach Lionel Scaloni.

Defender Cristian Romero, and midfielders Leandro Paredes and Giovani Lo Celso are now trusted to break the opponents’ lines. Up front, Lautaro Martínez and Sergio Agüero bring the same respect.

And that means Messi, who turns 34 later this month, doesn’t need to be part of every play for Argentina to win.

“Argentina always dominates, sometimes in a very vertical way,” Scaloni said. “If you look at all our matches in qualifiers, we deserved to win. But at soccer, deserving doesn’t count.”

Argentina hasn’t won a major title since the 1993 Copa America.

An improved Colombia

Colombia has improved since the return of coach Reinaldo Rueda. It trashed Peru 3-0 in Lima and got a late equaliser to force a 2-2 draw after being two goals down against Argentina. Copa America could further enhance the team, which will not have midfielder James Rodríguez because of fitness problems.

Uruguay has struggled despite counting on Luis Suárez and Edison Cavani, who will return to the team after a two-match suspension in World Cup qualifiers. Uruguay hasn’t won any of its three latest matches on the road to Qatar.

“We have to be aware there’s things to improve as always and get ready for something that gives us a lot of aspiration,” Uruguay coach Oscar Tabárez said after Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Venezuela.

Peru, the 2019 Copa America runner-up, is struggling in World Cup qualifying but hoping a 2-1 win at Ecuador earlier this week might spark a change in momentum. Coach Ricardo Garca decided not to bring in striker Paolo Guerrero, who is returning from injury. He will be relying instead on Santiago Ormeño, who plays at Mexico’s León.

Chile coach Martín Lasarte has decided to use an inexperienced squad in Copa America, making it more of a priority to qualify for the next World Cup.

“We will use it as a tool to strengthen younger players,” he said. Chile is currently in sixth place in qualifying.

The tournament will be divided into two groups of five. Group A includes Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay. Brazil is in Group B with Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. The four best of each group advance to the knockout stage.

Quarterfinals will take place on July 2 at the Nilton Santos and Goiania’s Olimpico stadium, and July 3 at Olimpico stadium and Brasilia’s Mané Garrincha.

The semifinals will be at the Nilton Santos stadium in Rio on July 5 and in Brasilia the next day.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)