Federal Republic of Ambazonia: Vice President Yerima to address nation

3, January 2021

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: Vice President Yerima to address nation 0

In the boldest repositioning since the start of the Ambazonian revolution, VP Dabney Yerima will be announcing three new policies later this evening. In his address, the exiled leader is expected to call on his people to be bold and adopt the responsibility to protect as a creed to shield their people and nation from the French Cameroun CPDM crime syndicate.

In his speech to the nation, the exiled Ambazonian leader would say “Today January 3, 2021, is two days away from the 3rd anniversary of the abduction of our leader President Julius Ayuk Tabe, and 11 of his associates at the NERA Hotel in Nigeria in a flagrant disregard of international law”. The Ambazonian leader would call on his people to stay focused in the months ahead and trust in the IG’s new course of action.

The Ambazonian Vice President will appeal to all Southern Cameroonians to remain calm in the face of xenophobic attacks sponsored by the regime in Yaoundé. He will say “the December outbreak of xenophobic violence in Fako County sponsored by rogue Chief Monja Monja, is one of the low points of a gloomy year.”

The speech is expected to be watched by an estimated 900,000 and will see the exiled leader rally the nation for a huge advance towards freedom. VP Yerima will also speak of unity observing that “The question in front of our nation during our lifetime is one of independence or extinction” and he will add that “this is a war that if our enemy wins, our subjugation is ensured forever.”

On the issue of the forthcoming African Cup of Nations, the Ambazonian Vice President will be strong and unequivocal with the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé and the tournament’s organizers.

With the Ambazonian struggle into its fourth year, the exiled leader will call on his country’s diaspora to support his new project aimed at supplying sophisticated equipment to the nation’s self-defence forces. He will say “Let the regime in Yaoundé and France know that we shall pay any price and meet any hardship to succeed. This much, the diaspora must pledge.”

The speech which is rich in content and bold on policy will be delivered live at 8pm Amba Time today 3 January 2021 on SCBC TV, Facebook, YouTube, Android and IOS app and Apple TV. It is expected to be followed by a panel discussion with five of the brightest minds in the Southern Cameroons political story.

By Isong Asu with files from VP Dabney Yerima’s Communication and Strategy Team

Niger: Scores killed in suspected militant attacks

3, January 2021

Niger: Scores killed in suspected militant attacks 0

At least 70 civilians in Niger were killed by suspected militants on Saturday, in the latest attacks to rock the landlocked Sahel nation’s troubled western Tillaberi region, security sources said.

About 49 villagers were killed and 17 people wounded in the village of Tchombangou, said a security source, who requested anonymity.

“The attackers came to surround the village and killed up to 50 people. The wounded were taken to Ouallam hospital,” a local radio station journalist said on condition of anonymity.

A second source, a senior official in Niger’s interior ministry who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that around 30 other villagers had been killed in the village of Zaroumdareye.

Niger’s government was not immediately available to comment.

The attacks took place as election officials announced results for the first round of Niger’s presidential vote that put ruling party candidate and former government minister Mohamed Bazoum in the clear lead, with a runoff set for next month.

The vast and unstable Tillaberi region is located in the so-called tri-border area, a jihadist-plagued zone where the porous borders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso converge.

Four thousand people across the three nations died in 2019 from jihadist violence and ethnic bloodshed stirred by Islamists, according to the UN.

Seven Nigerien soldiers were killed in an ambush in Tillaberi on December 21.

Niger is also being hammered by jihadists from Nigeria, the cradle of a decade-old insurgency launched by Boko Haram.

Last month 34 villagers were massacred in the southeastern region of Diffa, on the Nigerian border, the day before municipal and regional elections that had been repeatedly delayed because of poor security.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

Red cards as Uganda hold Cameroon in CHAN warm-up

3, January 2021

Red cards as Uganda hold Cameroon in CHAN warm-up 0

Uganda drew 1-1 with host country Cameroon in a fiery African Nations Championship (CHAN) warm-up match despite having a player sent off after only 12 minutes.

Ben Ocen was shown a straight red card following his reckless challenge on Alfred Meyong at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, the 42,500-capacity national stadium in Yaounde.

Cameroon went ahead through Banga Bindjelme just a minute after Uganda were reduced to 10 men, but Milton Karisa levelled on 70 minutes and the home side had Basile Yamkam red-carded in the final minute.

Cameroon will face Niger and Zambia in other friendly matches as the central African nation prepares to host a major Confederation of African Football (CAF) male tournament for the first time since 1972.

The Nations Championship kicks off on January 16 in Yaounde with a Group A clash between Cameroon and Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso and Mali meet later in the second half of a double-header.

Group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals of a tournament reserved for footballers playing in their country of birth.

Source: France 24

Nations introduce lockdowns, curfews and school closures to fight Covid-19 resurgence

3, January 2021

Nations introduce lockdowns, curfews and school closures to fight Covid-19 resurgence 0

Countries across the world tightened restrictions on their populations Saturday to fight a resurgence in the coronavirus, as the European Union offered to help drug companies expand vaccine production to improve distribution “bottlenecks”.

From local curfews to alcohol bans and complete lockdowns, governments are trying to tackle a surge in cases.

The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since emerging in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.

But experts fear the worst is yet to come, predicting a sharp rise in infections and deaths after weeks of holiday gatherings.

French police booked hundreds of New Year revellers Saturday for flouting anti-Covid measures at an illegal rave.

In Bangkok, the city’s nightlife shut down following a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom’s rising virus toll.

Public schools in the Thai capital are to close for two weeks.

An outbreak last month at a seafood market has led to a resurgence of the virus in Thailand, with infections detected in 53 of the kingdom’s 77 provinces.

In Tokyo, the city’s governor on Saturday asked Japan’s government to declare a new state of emergency as the country battles a third wave, with record numbers of new cases.

And South Korea extended its anti-virus curbs until January 17 in the greater Seoul area, including a ban on gatherings of more than four people, which will be widened to cover the whole country.

Vaccine race

The soaring number of infections around the world means the race to vaccinate is set to dominate the coming year.

Delays in getting the vaccines in Europe were not the fault of the European Union, said the bloc’s health commissioner Stella Kyriakides.

“The bottleneck at the moment is not the volume of orders but the worldwide shortage of production capacity,” she said.

The bloc would help drug companies in their efforts to expand production, she added.

“The situation will improve step by step.”

India on Saturday staged nationwide drills to start one of the world’s biggest coronavirus vaccination programmes as its drug regulator prepared to approve the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot.

In the United States, the vaccination programme has been beset by logistical problems, while the world’s worst-hit country on Friday passed 20 million cases.

The US has seen a worrying surge in coronavirus infections in recent months and on Saturday saw its highest number yet recorded in one day, with more than 277,000.

In Russia, health minister Mikhail Murashko said more than 800,000 people had received the domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and that 1.5 million doses had been distributed throughout the country of around 147 million.

The Kremlin has held back on imposing nationwide virus restrictions, instead placing its hopes on the mass vaccination drive to end the pandemic and save its struggling economy.

The French government, facing the threat of a new wave of Covid-19 infections, lengthened an overnight curfew by two hours in parts of the country to help combat the virus.

The curfew will start at 6:00 pm, rather than 8:00 pm in parts of France, mainly in the country’s east. Paris has, for now, been spared the additional restriction.

‘We had to party’

The new French restrictions came as police booked more than 1,200 revellers Saturday when an illegal rave in northwestern France finally ended after more than two days of partying that saw clashes with police.

Around 800 of them were booked for flouting anti-virus measures, and the regional health authority in Brittany noted a “high risk of the spread of Covid-19” at the event.

“We knew what we were risking… we had to party, for a year everything has been stuck,” said a 20-year-old waitress.

Spanish police broke up another gathering Saturday near Barcelona, where 300 people had been partying for more than 40 hours.

And footballers were also among those caught breaking the rules, with Tottenham’s Erik Lamela, Sergio Reguilon and Giovani Lo Celso to be disciplined after a picture emerged of them attending a large party.

Norway, which has one of the lowest infection rates in Europe, on Saturday began requiring Covid-19 tests upon arrival into the country, after finding five cases of a new coronavirus variant that first emerged in Britain.

Denmark discovered 86 cases of the new variant, which is believed to be more contagious, while Vietnam also detected the strain.

The tiny British enclave of Gibraltar, off Spain, went into a 14-day lockdown Saturday. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the virus was spreading “more quickly than we can control it”.

Greece has extended until January 10 its strict two-month lockdown measures, ending an easing of restrictions over the holiday period.

In Lebanon, medics warned that hospitals are being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, in the wake of end-of-year holidays.

But in Australia, the finishing touches were being put on a glitzy show at the Sydney Opera House Saturday, as the venue prepared to host an opera crowd for the first time since March following a virus hiatus.

Source: AFP

Football: Paris Saint-Germain name Mauricio Pochettino as new coach

2, January 2021

Football: Paris Saint-Germain name Mauricio Pochettino as new coach 0

French champions Paris St Germain have named former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach after sacking Thomas Tuchel, with the Argentine signing a deal until June 2022, the Ligue 1 club said on Saturday.

Pochettino, who played for PSG as a defender in the early 2000s and also captained the side, has been out of a job since being dismissed by Spurs in November 2019, a few months after guiding the north London club to the Champions League final.

The 48-year-old Argentine said he was honoured to take on the role and that the Parisian club “has always held a special place in my heart”.

“I return to the club today with a lot of ambition and humility, and am eager to work with some of the world’s most talented players,” Pochettino, who has an option for a one-year extension in his contract, said in a statement.

“This team has fantastic potential and my staff and I will do everything we can to get the best for Paris Saint-Germain in all competitions.

“We will also do our utmost to give our team the combative and attacking playing identity that Parisian fans have always loved.”

Pochettino’s first game in charge will be a trip to St Etienne on Jan. 6 when the league resumes following the winter break.

PSG have 35 points from 17 games, one point behind league leaders Olympique Lyonnais and Lille, and are through to the last 16 of the Champions League where they face Spanish side Barcelona.

“The return of Mauricio fits perfectly with our ambitions and it will be another exciting chapter for the club and one I am positive the fans will enjoy,” PSG chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi said.

“With the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, Paris Saint-Germain is committed to continue to build and move the club forward over the coming years.”

Tuchel, 47, was appointed PSG boss in 2018 and guided them to two Ligue 1 titles along with a domestic quadruple in his second season at the club.

The German, who led PSG to the Champions League final in August which they lost to Bayern Munich, was dismissed on Christmas eve following a 4-0 win over Racing Strasbourg with the side sitting third in the league standings.

PSG confirmed they had terminated his contract on Tuesday. Pochettino will take his first training session on Sunday.

Source: REUTERS

UK to close all London primary schools for two weeks as coronavirus cases surge

2, January 2021

UK to close all London primary schools for two weeks as coronavirus cases surge 0

The British government has decided to close all primary schools in London for the next two weeks to counter the rapid spread of a more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus, the capital’s mayor said on Friday.

On Wednesday, the education minister, Gavin Williamson, outlined a plan to delay the reopening of secondary schools, but open most primary schools for children under 11 years old on time next week at the end of Christmas break.

Only in the hardest hit parts of the country, which included some parts of the capital but not others, were primary schools slated to shut. But local authorities in several areas where schools were due to reopen complained.

“The Government have finally seen sense and u-turned,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter. “All primary schools across London will be treated the same.

“This is the right decision – and I want to thank education minister Nick Gibb for our constructive conversations over the past two days.”

(REUTERS)

US: Republican-led Senate defies Trump, overrides his veto of defense bill

2, January 2021

US: Republican-led Senate defies Trump, overrides his veto of defense bill 0

President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Friday overrode his veto for the first time in his nearly four years in office, pushing through a bill on defense spending against his strong objections 20 days before he leaves office.

Meeting in a rare New Year’s Day session, the Senate secured the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto with bipartisan support two days before a new Congress will be sworn in on Sunday. Eight previous vetoes have been upheld.

Republican lawmakers have largely stood by the president during his turbulent White House term.

Since losing his re-election bid in November, however, Trump has lashed out at them for not fully backing his unsupported claims of voting fraud, rejecting his demand for bigger COVID-19 relief checks and for moving toward the veto override.

The Republican-led Senate, following the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Monday, passed the measure without his support, voting 81-13.

A U.S. president has the power to veto a bill passed by Congress, but lawmakers can uphold the bill if two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and Senate vote to override it.

The $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) determines everything from how many ships are bought to soldiers’ pay and how to address geopolitical threats, but Trump refused to sign it into law because it did not repeal certain legal protections for social media platforms and did include a provision stripping the names of Confederate generals from military bases.

“We’ve passed this legislation 59 years in a row. And one way or another, we’re going to complete the 60th annual NDAA and pass it into law before this Congress concludes on Sunday,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said.

Trump, who returned to Washington on Thursday from his private club in Florida, has ramped up pressure on fellow Republicans and slammed party leadership for failing to do his bidding on the two measures and for not more fully joining his fight to overturn the election results.

As votes were being counted indicating Trump had lost the battle over the bill, the president took to Twitter to tout a protest rally being planned in Washington on Wednesday, the day the new Congress officially tallies the Electoral College votes certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

Some Trump allies in Congress have said they plan to object on Trump’s behalf.

(REUTERS)

Niger’s presidential election set for February runoff

2, January 2021

Niger’s presidential election set for February runoff 0

Niger’s ruling party candidate Mohamed Bazoum will face former president Mahamane Ousmane in a presidential election runoff in February, according to provisional results of the first round of the contest announced by the electoral commission on Saturday.

Bazoum led the first round with 39.33% of the vote, falling short of the 50% needed to win outright in the first round. Ousmane received 17% of the vote, the commission said.

The second round is expected to be held on Feb. 21 after the results of the first round have been validated by the constitutional court which will hear any appeals.

Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou is stepping down after two five-year terms, which is expected to lead to Niger’s first transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents.

The incoming president will inherit several challenges, including rising violence from Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State. Attacks near the western border with Mali and Burkina Faso and the southeastern border with Nigeria killed hundreds of people last year.

Provisional results of the legislative election showed the ruling Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism leading with 80 seats. The main opposition MODEN/FA-Lumana was second with 19 seats in the 171-seat house.

(REUTERS)

US passes 20 million coronavirus cases

1, January 2021

US passes 20 million coronavirus cases 0

The United States has recorded more than 20 million cases of Covid-19, Johns Hopkins University said Friday in its real-time tally, as the New Year brought another grim milestone underlining the country’s struggle to quell the virus.

The US has so far registered 20,007,149 cases and 346,408 deaths in the pandemic, the Baltimore-based university said, making it the country with by far the highest official number of cases and the highest death toll.

On Wednesday alone, more than 3,900 people died of Covid-19 in the US, a new daily record, and experts believe the worst is yet to come as health care workers brace for a surge in cases and deaths after holiday gatherings.

More than 125,000 people are currently hospitalized with coronavirus — another record — according to the Covid Tracking Project.

The country has begun a mass campaign of vaccinations and nearly 2.8 million people have already received their first jabs, a figure well behind the 20 million inoculations that the administration of President Donald Trump promised by the end of the year.

More than 12 million doses have been distributed nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but efforts to vaccinate health workers and vulnerable people have been hampered by logistical problems and overstretched hospitals and clinics.

President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on January 20, has criticized the troubled vaccine rollout, and this week confirmed that he would invoke the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to force private industry to step up production for the government.

Source: AFP

US: ‘Trump predicted he would lose election, blamed son-in-law Jared Kushner

1, January 2021

US: ‘Trump predicted he would lose election, blamed son-in-law Jared Kushner 0

US President Donald Trump had predicted that he would lose the November election and pre-emptively blamed his senior White House advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner for trying to promote more coronavirus testing, according to a report.

Trump was broadly opposed to Kushner’s strategy on fighting the pandemic and did not want the information on how many people were infected to become public, The New York Times revealed on Thursday.

At one point, Trump had suggested that the US should “do what Mexico does” and not administer tests to anyone who was not gravely ill with the virus.

“Mr. Trump never came around to the idea that he had a responsibility to be a role model, much less that his leadership role might require him to publicly acknowledge hard truths about the virus — or even to stop insisting that the issue was not a rampaging pandemic but too much testing,” said the report.

Trump had also dismissed a Japanese study, presented to him by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in the fall, that had documented the effectiveness of wearing facial masks.

During a meeting of senior aides in the White House on August 19, Trump grew angry with increased COVID-19 testing which he blamed for higher cases. “You’re killing me! This whole thing is! We’ve got all the damn cases,” Trump reportedly yelled at Kushner.

“I’m going to lose. And it’s going to be your fault, because of the testing,” he complained to his son-in-law.

Trump was also furious with America’s doctors and scientists, accusing them of conspiring with Democrats to undermine him during the election campaign.

Throughout the late summer and fall and in the heat of his reelection campaign, the president was frequently criticized over his erratic and unsteady handling of the pandemic and in the face of mounting evidence of a surge in infections and deaths far worse than in the spring.

Trump eventually lost to his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, with opinion polls naming the coronavirus and the economy as being two of the major factors weighing on the voters’ minds.

Trump has refused to concede the election to Biden and has explored multiple options to overturn the results.

Source: Presstv

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