US: Republicans unveil $1 trillion Covid-19 recovery plan

28, July 2020

US: Republicans unveil $1 trillion Covid-19 recovery plan 0

Senate Republicans on Monday proposed a $1 trillion coronavirus aid package hammered out with the White House, paving the way for talks with Democrats on how to help Americans as expanded unemployment benefits for millions of workers expire this week.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the proposal a “tailored and targeted” plan focused on getting children back to school and employees back to work and protecting corporations from lawsuits, while slashing the expiring supplemental unemployment benefits of $600 a week by two-thirds.

The plan sparked immediate opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats decried it as too limited compared to their $3 trillion proposal that passed the House of Representatives in May, while some Republicans called it too expensive.

McConnell said the package would include direct $1,200 payments to Americans, as well as incentives for the manufacture of personal protective equipment in the United States, rather than China.

It also includes $190 billion for loans to help small businesses, and $100 billion for loans to businesses that operate seasonally or in low-income areas.

Republicans want to reduce the expanded unemployment benefit from the current $600 per week, which is in addition to state unemployment payments and expires on Friday, to $200 in addition to state unemployment.

After two months, states would pay unemployed people a total of 70% of their previous wages, but only to a maximum of $500 per week, less than half of what many workers have been getting.

The supplemental unemployment has been a financial lifeline for laid-off workers and a key support for consumer spending. The extra funds – exceeding the former wages of some workers – have been a sticking point for many Republicans, who say they encourage Americans to stay home rather than go back to work.

Democrats, in turn, have decried the Republican delay in writing more legislation as confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases passed the 4 million mark. The pandemic has killed roughly 150,000 people in the United States.

Liability protections and defence spending

The Democratic-led House in May passed its $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill known as the “HEROES Act,” but the Republican-led Senate refused to consider it.

McConnell on Monday called the House bill a “socialist manifesto” and urged Democrats to work with Republicans on their plan, called the “HEALS Act.”

“We have one foot in the pandemic and one foot in the recovery,” McConnell said. “The American people need more help. They need it to be comprehensive, and they need it to be carefully tailored to this crossroads.”

The proposal included “strong legal liability protection” for corporations, a top Republican priority.

It includes nearly $30 billion for the military and defense industry, in addition to nearly $760 billion already enacted for defense this year – including more than $10 billion in previous coronavirus relief bills.

Immediate opposition from some of McConnell’s fellow Republicans, as well as from Democrats, signaled a tough round of negotiations ahead.

“The answer to these challenges will not simply be shoveling cash out of Washington. The answer to these challenges will be getting people back to work,” Republican Senator Ted Cruz told reporters.

Some Republicans had complained about the high price tag. The federal government has already spent $3.7 trillion to cushion the economic blow from pandemic-forced shutdowns.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the Republican plan did too little, too slowly, to help Americans facing joblessness and eviction. “The Republican plan is weak tea, when our problems need a much stronger brew,” Schumer said.

He said many states had warned they would have a hard time implementing unemployment changes. Many Americans waited weeks for previous coronavirus benefits, as outmoded state computer systems adjusted.

Democrats had warned they would oppose a Republican proposal to protect businesses and schools from liability lawsuits as they reopen with the coronavirus pandemic still raging.

The Republican proposal also includes measures not directly related to the COVID-19 outbreak, including $1.8 billion for construction of a new FBI headquarters in Washington, something championed by President Donald Trump, who owns a hotel across the street from the current building.

(REUTERS)

New limits on travel as world comes to grips with second Covid-19 wave

28, July 2020

New limits on travel as world comes to grips with second Covid-19 wave 0

Nations in Asia imposed new restrictions on Monday and an abrupt British quarantine on travellers from Spain threw Europe’s summer reopening into disarray, as the world confronted the prospect of a second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Surges were reported in a number of countries previously singled out as places where the virus was under control.

Australia recorded a record daily rise. Vietnam locked down the city of Danang, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of visitors. Mainland China confirmed the most new locally transmitted cases since early March. Papua New Guinea shut its borders.

Hong Kong banned gatherings of more than two people, closed down restaurant dining and introduced mandatory face masks in public places, including outdoors, fearing a possible third wave there.

Just weeks after European countries trumpeted the reopening of tourism, a surge in infections in Spain prompted Britain to order all travellers from there to quarantine for two weeks, torpedoing the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of people.

The World Health Organization said travel restrictions could not be the answer for the long term, and countries had to do more to halt the spread inside their borders by adopting proven strategies such as social distancing and the wearing of masks.

“It is going to be almost impossible for individual countries to keep their borders shut for the foreseeable future.

Economies have to open up, people have to work, trade has to resume,” WHO emergencies programme director Mike Ryan said.

“What is clear is pressure on the virus pushes the numbers down. Release that pressure and cases creep back up.”

Not like before

Officials in some of the European and Asian countries where the virus is again spreading say new outbreaks will not be as bad as the original waves that hit earlier this year, and can be contained with local measures rather than nationwide shutdowns.

But countries that have suffered extreme economic hardship from months of lockdowns are also determined not to let the virus get out of control again, even if that means reversing the path to reopening.

Europe has yet to lift bans on travellers from many countries, including the United States, where the average number of daily new infections has soared since mid-June and is now above 60,000.

Experts fear France faces second wave in September

Britain’s announcement of the return of quarantine for Spain was likely to torpedo the revival of airlines and tourism businesses across the continent, which had thought they had survived their biggest crisis in living memory.

Britain accounts for more than 20% of foreign visitors to Spain, where tourism represents 12% of the economy.

A British junior health minister said more European countries could end up on the “red list” if infections surge.

“If we see the rates going up, we would have to take action because we cannot take the risk of coronavirus being spread again across the UK,” Helen Whately told Sky News when asked if Germany or France might be next after Spain.

In China, which managed to squelch local transmission through firm lockdowns after the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year, the new surge has been driven by fresh infections in the far western region of Xinjiang.

In the northeast, Liaoning province reported a fifth straight day of new infections and Jilin province reported two new cases, its first since late May.

Australian authorities who have imposed a six-week lockdown in parts of the southeastern state of Victoria said it could last longer after the country’s highest daily increase in infections.

“The tragedy of COVID-19 is that we know, with the number of new infections that we have seen today, that there will be many further deaths in the days ahead,” Australian Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd told reporters.

In Japan, the government said it would urge business leaders to ramp up anti-virus measures such as staggered shifts, and aimed to see rates of telecommuting return to levels achieved during an earlier state of emergency.

“At one point, commuter numbers were down by 70 to 80%, but now it’s only about 30%,” Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said late on Sunday. “We really don’t want to backtrack on this, so we have to explore new ways of working and keep telecommuting high.”

Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 people, mostly local tourists, from the central city of Danang after three residents tested positive at the weekend. Until Saturday, the country had reported no community infections since April.

North Korean state media reported on the weekend that the border town of Kaesong was in lockdown after a person who defected to South Korea three years ago returned this month with symptoms of COVID-19. If confirmed, it would be the first case officially acknowledged by Pyongyang.

Papua New Guinea halted entry for travellers from Monday, except those arriving by air, as it tightens curbs against infections that have more than doubled over the past week.

(REUTERS)

Of La Republique’s internet mercenaries, General Rene Meka and the dubious Swiss NGO

27, July 2020

Of La Republique’s internet mercenaries, General Rene Meka and the dubious Swiss NGO 0

The recent revelation of the hiring of internet mercenaries from amongst our own people by the decaying French vassal terrorist state of Cameroun does not come as a surprise.

People who are morally weak and devoid of integrity are always susceptible to being bought over as traitors and mercenaries.

There are two sources of the information that has been put out in the public domain. First, the information has been intentionally leaked by French Cameroun itself. Secondly the information has been leaked by Cameroun’s equally hired outfit, the dubious Swiss NGO that calls itself Humanitarian Dialogue (HD). Disclosing the mercenaries they have hired is part of what they call “blacklegs confusion”.

They start by discrediting persons who are morally vulnerable. They advertise these individuals as truly jobless, hungry, spineless, intellectually weak and untrustworthy. That makes the individuals in question villains.

French Cameroun clearly understands that every mercenary or blacklegger is a morally debased and weak person and hence an actual or potential betrayer who cannot be trusted because once a traitor always a traitor to any side.

After having obtained intelligence from these individuals, the Camerounese ‘strategy’ consists in demonstrating how traitorous, corrupt and morally bankrupt these individuals are! In that way the individuals concerned are made useless and hopeless as source of any useful intelligence by any other side thinking of using them. Whatever they say, including attempts to cast doubts on payments made to them, can then be plausibly denied as coming from persons of extremely doubtful character who cannot be believed.

Having through its disclosures knocked out these peripheral ‘actors’ and other blackleggers,  French Cameroun hopes to be able to contrive a different ‘strategy’ to deal  with the hard core of the Struggle.

After popping in and out of Bamenda and Buea, the Camerounese general Meka  candidly told a closed door meeting in Yaoundé that the brutality of the violence alone will not win the war for French Cameroun and that the regime needed to devise another strategy to go in tandem with the hostilities or unleashed more than three years ago.

The buying over of named individuals is part of the ‘strategy’ and so too is stealing contributions sent through the internet, creation of fictitious US phone numbers, interference with facebook accountants, and distortion and mutilation of messages put out by the Resistance.

From Intelligence Files

Major landslide blocks Bamenda-Mamfe road

27, July 2020

Major landslide blocks Bamenda-Mamfe road 0

A huge landslide is disrupting transportation and business between Bamenda and Mamfe.

The road, which snakes its way through hills and valleys, was already a major concern to both transporters and passengers who were permanently in fear.

The road, which should have been a major highway, carries a huge volume of traffic because of the business that comes from Mamfe which is a major border town.

Normally, the hills were supposed to have been bombed to make the construction of that road a lot easier, but the cash-strapped Yaoundé government opted for a cheaper option that is turning out to be more costly.

Clearing the mud on the road will be a major operation and this could take weeks if not months, as the Yaoundé government will have to resort to its outdated processes to address a major emergency.

“We are in for a long nightmare. This road has just been tarred, but we have been witnessing many issues. There have been many accidents on this road because of its windy nature,” a frustrated businessman interviewed by a Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent on the site of the incident, said.

“This should be a major highway with huge flyovers, given that there are lots of businesses coming from Mamfe. The government should have thought about this decades ago before building this death trap that has killed many young business people,” he added.

“Our trucks are now stuck on the Mamfe side and we have many perishable goods in the other trucks heading to Mamfe. This is a disaster to us. Business has been slow because of the Southern Cameroons crisis, but with this incident, things will only get worse,” he regretted.

“I hope the government will act promptly. This is a government that has not got a track record in this regard. We are simply hoping that something gets done in the hours ahead,” he stressed.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Fru John Nsoh Must Go Home

27, July 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Fru John Nsoh Must Go Home 0

Many Cameroonians have been leaving their country over the last three decades due to bad governance, but most of those who have left have been young unemployed graduates who are seeking better economic and social life for themselves and their families.

But over the last four years, some middle-aged Cameroonians, especially from Southern Cameroons, have left their country due to the civil war that has already killed over 5,000 Cameroonians.

Among those who have left are medical doctors, lawyers and engineers who believe that Cameroon does not hold out any hope for their children. These groups of professionals have been heading mainly to the United States and Canada where they believed it is possible to make dreams come true.

But there is another group that is also checking out of the country and this group is not large. Among them is one Barrister Fru John Nsoh who, in his late 70s, still holds that he can make things better for himself. But America could be a slippery ground, especially for those who do not have the right skills set. Things do not seem to be working for Barrister Fru John Nsoh and the strain is becoming very visible. 

He skipped into the U.S.A where he sought asylum before the coronavirus emerged, but the mismanagement of the pandemic by the Trunp Administration is affecting his asylum claim. As the virus lingers, his asylum claim is also suffering. The wait time is getting longer and there is no work for him. This is a major concern to him.

Prior to escaping to the United States, Barrister Fru John Nsoh had the nasty habit of taking the Yaoundé government to task for its role in the Southern Cameroons crisis. His criticism of the government made him a TV star in Cameroon, and this might have made him to think that he could repeat the same feat in the U.S.A. But America always has unpleasant surprises for those who migrate there, especially those who do not have a lot of financial resources.  

Indeed, he was among the lawyers who said their services to Southern Cameroonians who are being held in prisons across the country were “pro bono”. Southern Cameroonians have been sincerely grateful to these lawyers although they sometimes contribute to enable the lawyers to go and see their clients and defend them in court. Some of that money sometimes transited through Barrister Fru John Nsoh who unfortunately shared it to his fellow lawyers as if he was distributing candy to children. 

This outdated method of doing things did not really go down well with many of his colleagues and the Southern Cameroonian President, Julius Ayuk Tabe, had to look for innovative ways to ensure that the money was properly managed. This rubbed the learned lawyer up the wrong way. Like his friend Chris Anu, Barrister Fru John Nsoh is an honest man, especially when money is not involved, and that was why his colleagues had to complain.

He has been very bitter about that decision and ever since he came to the United States, he has accused President Julius Ayuk Tabe of all the crimes and sins in the world. He is even blaming his erectile dysfunction problems on him even when he is at the Yaounde Maximum Security Prison. There are rumors that he might sue Mr. Ayuk Tabe for all the stress he is going through in the U.S.A. 

In the United States, Barrister Nsoh cannot practice law. If has any dream of practicing law in the United States, then he must go back to law school and this will require him spending hundreds of thousands of dollars which he does not even have. He is currently facing tough financial challenges just to pay lawyer fees for his asylum case, and this explains why he is in cahoots with Mr. Boh Herbert who is using the crisis in Southern Cameroons to enrich himself.

Barrister Fru John Nsoh is cash-strapped and the pressure is showing on his face. The Barrister who looked younger and happier while in Cameroon has become grumpy and stressed out in the United States. He seems to be caught between a rock and hard place.

If he leaves the United States for Cameroon, then he might be joining President Julius Ayuk Tabe in Kondengui for all the insults he has heaped on the Yaounde government. If he stays in the United States, then his high blood pressure and diabetes will only get worse as his resources dry up. He is contemplating going home. Kondengui is appearing to be a more attractive and better option for him, as it is less expensive. 

If he insists on staying in the United States, then he might end up in a nursing home where he will be required to take care of people who are as old as he is. But that is not the biggest problem. Nursing homes are not popular destinations for many job-seekers in the United States. 

The coronavirus is on the prowl in those facilities. A weakened Barrister Fru John Nsoh will certainly not last long if he ventures into those coronavirus-infested nursing homes. The virus has no respect for old people and its special dislike for people with pre-existing conditions is known. Barrister Fru John Nsoh should rather err on the side of caution than to venture into a lion’s den without the appropriate protection.

The learned Barrister is in a fix. He cannot afford rents, and this is taking up his blood pressure. Without money and an insurance policy, the barrister is in the throes of a major health crisis. Having a health insurance policy in the U.S.A is costly, and it is the least of his concerns for now. He has other concerns that are keeping him up all night. A health insurance policy can wait. In his view, there is no rush and even if there was an urgent need for that, where will he get the money from?

The legal tender in the U.S.A is the green back and not the CFAF and the green back is hard to get in that country. That is a currency that keeps many young men running all day. Will the barrister be capable of running around just to raise money for housing and food? 

For now, he is still enjoying the largesse of some people, but the months ahead will be very testing to him. The financial pinch is already being felt as his host is already looking for creative ways to send him out of the house. The times are getting tougher out there for the barrister and without divine intervention; he might end up bouncing from one house to the other.

To avoid this, he must go back home. He is already losing sleep, and this is not a good sign. America is a not a place for people in their 70s to come and seek a better life. Fru John Nsoh must go back home where he will have the opportunity to enjoy his Achu and fufu corn.  There is time for everything and for now, his best bet is to accept a long jail term in Cameroon that will not come with the type of stress that America is pouring on him.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: The state of the revolution

26, July 2020

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: The state of the revolution 0

Interim Government Statement on state of the Revolution

Fellow Ambazonians,

Our revolution has suffered and is suffering in the hands of dishonest individuals amongst us. Trust is a major reason for our success to date. The bad seeds within us whose main aim is to propagate the enemy’s agenda to divide us and derail our revolution will not succeed. We have two enemies in our fight for freedom and independence; the enemy within who misuses our resources and the enemy without who claims to represent our collective voices. The enemies within act like Judas Iscariot without a conscience and because they lack consciences they are caught in their own game. We will not waste our time on them because truth never fails.

Our work has been to bring back integrity and sanity to our revolution. Our progress is painful but progressive. We are working mostly with Southern Cameroonians of goodwill and people of unquestionable integrity. The leaders of the Interim Government of Ambazonia (Southern Cameroons) have never had any engagements with La Republique du Cameroun in any form before the meeting regarding the United Nations Security Council resolution 2532.  This resolution is in support of March 31 2020 call for a cessation of hostilities around the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

No member of any department of your Interim Government was asked during their services within the Interim Government to engage with La Republique du Cameroun. Let me state that Nick Santos has never officially represented the IG to engage with La Republique du Cameroun. We are bigger than name-calling, smear campaigns, blackmail and the defamation of the character of respectable Ambazonian citizens like our leaders in detention, Justice Ayah, Dr.Makongo, Dr Cho Ayaba, and John Mbah Akuroh etc when those within us cannot deliver what they were bought over to deliver to the enemy because of our steadfastness.

What we are experiencing now is a healthy sign that our revolution is moving in the right direction.  The evil within is being exposed. It will help us to forge ahead with our quest for freedoms, liberties and above all a free independent Southern Cameroons. No energy should be wasted on those within who want to delay our quest to a free Southern Cameroons. They should listen to their consciences and do what is right. There is room for the prodigal son and the time is now.

I call on all Southern Cameroonians to stay focused. Let us spend time on the work at hand and deliver for our people as we cannot give evil a chance to prevail.

Thank You

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

US doubles spending on potential coronavirus vaccine to nearly $1 billion

26, July 2020

US doubles spending on potential coronavirus vaccine to nearly $1 billion 0

The United States has doubled its investment — to nearly $1 billion — to expedite development of a potential COVID-19 vaccine by American firm Moderna, which on Monday begins the decisive final phase of clinical trials.

The government now plans to spend up to $472 million on top of the previously announced $483 million, the Moderna biotechnology company announced Sunday.

Moderna said the added investment was justified by its decision, in conjunction with the government, to “significantly” expand a Phase Three clinical trial of a candidate vaccine to include 30,000 participants.

In a small, initial trial, Moderna’s experimental vaccine produced coronavirus antibodies — which should help fend off the disease — in the bodies of all 45 participants.

In the expanded trial starting Monday, half the 30,000 participants will receive a 100-microgram dose of the vaccine, while the rest will be given a placebo.

The United States has suffered more than 146,000 coronavirus deaths, leading the world in that grim category, even as the number of new cases has continued to surge.

It has announced massive investments in a huge effort to expedite vaccine development and get millions of Americans vaccinated by early next year.

On Wednesday, the American-German BioNTech/Pfizer pharmaceutical alliance announced that the US government had committed $1.95 billion to procure 100 million doses of its eventual vaccine.

With laboratories around the world in a furious race to develop a first effective vaccine, Moderna seems to hold the lead as it enters a final round of clinical trials — a decisive step in determining whether a vaccine is both effective and safe.

Moderna, which has been working with US health authorities, said it expects to be able to produce 500 million doses a year — and potentially up to 1 billion — starting in 2021.

Chinese biotech firm Sinovac said July 6 that it, too, would begin a Phase Three clinical trial “this month,” in collaboration with Brazil’s Butantan biologic research center.

Also reporting encouraging early results have been a British project developed by Oxford University in partnership with the multinational AstraZenica laboratory, and a Chinese project, led by researchers from agencies including the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

That effort is being financed by the CanSino biotechnology group, which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

In all, nearly 200 candidate vaccines are in development, including 23 now in the clinical phase, being tested on humans.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons War: A distraction from political and economic crises in Yaoundé

26, July 2020

Southern Cameroons War: A distraction from political and economic crises in Yaoundé 0

Biya regime’s hard liners are using the Southern Cameroons crisis to deflect French speaking Cameroonian’s attention away from the conflict that has rocked La Republique du Cameroun.

For almost four years now, Cameroon government army soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons are conducting a genocidal campaign that has claimed the lives of some more than seven thousand people.

“The war in Southern Cameroons is more of President Paul Biya’s attempt at distracting French speaking Cameroonians from the failures of the CPDM Beti Ewondo regime” Vice President Dabney Yerima told a cream of Southern Cameroons citizens late on Saturday.

Pointing to widespread confusion deep within French Cameroun and Southern Cameroons political circles both in Ground Zero and in La Republique du Cameroun, the Ambazonian Vice President said “The war in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is a misdirected effort to take away from the problems the 87 year old Paul Biya has created in French Cameroun.”

Ever since President Biya came to power, the wealth and riches of the two Cameroons are in the hands of a few people who are either members of Mr. Biya’s ethnic group or members of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate which is holding the country’s treasury under its armpit.

Both French and Southern Cameroonians have been reduced to beggars by a bunch of people who have placed their interest above national interest.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Football: Mourinho vows to get Tottenham back in top four next season

26, July 2020

Football: Mourinho vows to get Tottenham back in top four next season 0

Jose Mourinho vowed to get Tottenham back “where we belong” next season after they settled for Europa League qualification at the end of a troubled campaign.

Mourinho led Tottenham to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.

Tottenham were 14th when Mourinho took charge in November following Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking and he endured a series of injuries to key players before the coronavirus hiatus.

So, while Mourinho was frustrated to have missed out on Champions League qualification, the Tottenham boss believes the foundations have been laid for a return to the top four next season.

“What we can do of course is improve. When all the players are available we showed in this last period where we belong. I don’t know, maybe in this period, after lockdown, we finished third or fourth in the table,” Mourinho said.

“So that’s where we belong. I want to have my team, my players, not a medical room full of players. I want a pitch full of players.

“Of course as a squad the main thing is to keep our very good players and after that improve the squad.

“Are we going to buy 10 players? No. Are we going to buy players for £100 million? No. We are going to improve.”

Mourinho oversaw a six-game unbeaten run to deliver Europa League qualification, overturning a seven-point gap to sixth place after a loss at Sheffield United earlier this month.

While the Europa League doesn’t have the prestige of the Champions League — in which Tottenham finished as runners-up last year — Mourinho said they should focus on winning the competition next season.

“Of course everybody that one day plays Champions League doesn’t want to go back and play Europa League but it was the only thing possible after such a difficult season for club,” he said.

“Arriving 14th and handling things is not bad at all. I am quite happy next season we play in Europa League and it’s just a question to motivate ourselves for that competition and try to motivate the fans to support us and do something beautiful.”

Source: AFP

French Cameroun: 4 BIR soldiers killed by flash flooding

25, July 2020

French Cameroun: 4 BIR soldiers killed by flash flooding 0

At least four soldiers of Cameroon elite unit, Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) have been killed by flash flooding that swept through a remote part of the Far North Region of the country, local authorities said on Friday.

Officials said their vehicle was “washed away” Thursday night after a sudden torrential rain storm in Moskota of the region.

It is unclear if civilians were also affected by the floods. The bodies of the soldiers have already been recovered by rescuers.

Floods have displaced thousands of people in the region since rains started falling in February, local authorities said.

Weather experts have warned that more deadly floods are expected to hit the region before the end of the rainy season in October.

Source: Xinhuanet

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