China: Coronavirus death toll passes 130 as US considers flight ban

29, January 2020

China: Coronavirus death toll passes 130 as US considers flight ban 0

The death toll from a new coronavirus in China rose sharply to 132 on Wednesday with nearly 1,500 new cases, heaping pressure on Beijing to control the disease as U.S. officials said the White House was weighing whether to suspend all flights to the country.

The White House is holding daily meetings on the outbreak and monitoring China-U.S. flights as a likely source of infections, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters, though it had decided against suspending air traffic on Tuesday.

Two U.S. officials said the administration had not taken any options off the table, however, including a temporary ban on flights, if public health data supported the move.

Fears of the spreading virus have already pushed airlines around the world to reduce flights to China and global companies to restrict employee travel to the country, while sectors from mining to luxury goods have been shaken by concerns for global growth in the event of a worst-case pandemic.

China’s National Health Commission on Wednesday said the total number of deaths from the flu-like virus rose by 26 on Tuesday to 132, while the number of confirmed cases rose by 1,459 to a total of 5,974.

New cases were also reported around the world, including Germany where four people from the same company were infected after one of them contracted it from a colleague while visiting their workplace in China.

The German cases raise concerns about the human-to-human spread of the virus which can be transmitted in droplets from coughs and sneezes and has an incubation period of up to 14 days.

Known as “2019-nCoV”, the newly identified coronavirus emerged late last year in Wuhan, a major transportation hub and capital of central Hubei province with a population of 11 million people.

China has since moved to lock down most of Hubei province, with a population around the same as Italy, to contain the epidemic. Most of the confirmed deaths and patients from the outbreak are in Hubei.

Health authorities believe the virus originated from an animal and have pointed to a seafood market in Wuhan where wildlife was traded illegally.

The virus has spread to more than a dozen countries and cases such as those in Germany show it is spreading through human contact and not only through travellers from China.

Experts say it is too early to know what its death rate will be, since there are likely to be many cases of milder disease going undetected.

“The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide,” state television quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing on Tuesday.

“China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention… China is confident of winning the battle against the virus.”

China’s assurances failed to calm investors, however, as and health authorities around the world continued to step up efforts to stop the virus from spreading on their shores.

The United States said it was expanding screening of arrivals from China from five to 20 airports and would consider imposing further travel curbs.

“All options for dealing with infectious disease spread have to be on the table, including travel restrictions,” said U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar.

From France to Japan, governments were organising evacuations, while Hong Kong – scene of anti-China unrest for months – planned to suspend rail and ferry links with the mainland. United Airlines said it was suspending some flights between the United States and China for a week from Feb. 1 due to a “significant decline in demand.”

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said a chartered plane would pick up its consular staff on Wednesday. The European Commission said it would help fund two aircraft to fly EU citizens home, with 250 French nationals leaving on the first flight.

(REUTERS)

Kobe Bryant’s helicopter not equipped with vital warning system

29, January 2020

Kobe Bryant’s helicopter not equipped with vital warning system 0

The helicopter that crashed into a Los Angeles hillside killing NBA legend Kobe Bryant and eight others, was not equipped with vital software that alerts pilots when aircraft are too close to the ground, officials said.

The terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), which is designed to send a warning when a collision appears imminent, had not been installed on Bryant’s Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, the National Transport Safety Board’s (NTSB) Jennifer Homendy said.

“Certainly, TAWS could have helped,” NBC News reported Homendy as saying, adding that she could not conclude that its use would have prevented the crash.

The warning system is not mandatory on helicopters under Federal Aviation Administration regulations, despite the NTSB recommending that it be made so on all helicopters with six or more passenger seats, following a 2004 crash.

Medical examiners identified the body of Lakers star Bryant after recovering the remains of all nine of those who died in the crash near LA, officials said Tuesday.

Bryant’s body was officially identified along with three others using fingerprints, two days after their helicopter crashed into a rugged hillside northwest of the city.

Meanwhile federal investigators finished their inspection of the crash site, handing it over to local authorities.

Images showed investigators flying drones over the accident site and manually combing through twisted, charred wreckage, which was scattered over a wide area.

Officials also used drones to replicate the helicopter’s final, fateful flight path, Homendy said.

Earlier Tuesday, the coroner’s office confirmed all nine bodies have been retrieved from the site and “transported to the department’s forensic science center” for examination.

The bodies of pilot Ara Zobayan, baseball coach John Altobelli and Sarah Chester have also been identified.

The remaining five — including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna — have not yet been officially identified.

The death of Bryant — a five-time NBA champion for the LA Lakers and double Olympic gold medalist — has shocked the world, with tributes continuing to pour in Tuesday.

– ‘Pretty devastating’ –

Bryant, 41, was traveling with daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when the Sikorsky S-76 slammed into a hillside in thick fog.

The helicopter was headed to Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, where his daughter was set to play.

Homendy described the accident as a “high energy impact crash”.

Investigators have now airlifted the helicopter’s wreckage onto trucks, which then transported it to a secure location for further examination.

An iPad, cellphone and maintenance records were found among the wreckage, along with “everything we would expect would be on the aircraft,” said Homendy.

She told journalists that the probable cause for the accident may not be confirmed for 12-18 months, when a final report will be issued.

A preliminary, fact-based report is expected in 10 days.

– ‘Heartbroken and devastated’ –

The other passengers on the flight — who have not yet been officially identified — have been named as Altobelli’s wife Keri, and their daughter Alyssa, who played basketball at the same club as Gianna.

Christina Mauser, an assistant coach of the Mamba girls’ basketball team, was also killed along with Payton Chester, Sarah’s daughter.

Mourning fans Tuesday placed bouquets of flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the gated community in Newport Beach, south of Los Angeles, where the late NBA great lived.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said a tribute to Bryant would be included in next month’s Oscars ceremony.

The star, who won an Academy Award in 2018 for animated short film “Dear Basketball,” had been honored with a moment’s silence at the Oscars nominees’ luncheon on Monday.

A petition for the NBA logo to be redesigned with Bryant’s likeness had reached two million signatures by Tuesday afternoon.

Basketball superstar LeBron James said he was “heartbroken and devastated” over Bryant’s death in an emotional Instagram post, while also vowing to continue his friend’s championship legacy with the Lakers.

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic donned a jersey bearing Bryant’s initials and shirt numbers at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.

With the crash site becoming a pilgrimage point for fans, police on horseback and all-terrain vehicles have been brought in to secure the area.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yaoundé government sets armed groups against each other

29, January 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yaoundé government sets armed groups against each other 0

Noted for its manipulation and vindictiveness, the Yaoundé government, has succeeded to pit Southern Cameroonian armed groups against each other.

Over the last months, various armed groups that are supposed to be fighting against the Yaoundé government, have been at each other’s throat for reasons that are unclear to many observers.

The battles field of the northwest regions has become the graveyard of many young fighters because of internal conflicts and betrayals.

Southern Cameroonian armed groups have been infiltrated and the presence of huge amounts of money has triggered a lot of suspicion and enmity.

While Southern Cameroonians are clearly regretting what is happening, there is a group that is robbing its hand in glee – the Yaoundé government- as the bullets that were meant for army soldiers are now being wasted on fellow fighters due to disagreements and bloated egos.

The government’s plan is carefully being implemented by the country’s Territorial Administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, who is doing everything in his power to demonstrate to his Yaoundé pay masters that he is up to the task.

The chaos playing out in the jungles of the northwest and southwest regions is hurting many and even some on the government side are not happy with the way Southern Cameroonians are currently conducting their war.

Speaking to a Cameroon  Concord News Group correspondent in the Southwest regional capital of Buea on Monday, January 27, 2020, a gendarme officer who is aware of the tricks employed by the government said if the various armed groups did not clean up their mess, the revolution, which is a nightmare to the government, will fizzle out very soon.

The officer, who elected anonymity, said that he was surprised that Southern Cameroonians were not aware of the gimmicks the government was playing.

He stressed that the government was completely overwhelmed and if Southern Cameroonians could put their differences behind them and close ranks, the cash-strapped government would be obliged to head to the negotiating table.

He added that the Southern Cameroons crisis had delivered a massive blow to the government’s liver, making it hard for the desperate regime to be on its two legs.

He pointed out that the country’s economy had been serious hurt by the crisis, adding that the collapse of state corporations such CDC, PAMOL and SONARA which are located in Southern Cameroons had robbed the reckless  government of vital resources.

He said Yaoundé and Douala were shadows of their former self, adding that it was still a miracle that civil servants were receiving their salaries.

He stressed that the months ahead would be challenging, as government revenues keep on drying up, while whatever was still available was being used to buy weapons and to pay desperate soldiers who are longing to go back home, safe and sound.

The gendarme officer added that the government was silently targeting Southern Cameroonian activists, stressing that there was a plan in place to arrest those who lived abroad in case they came to Cameroon.

He advised that activists living abroad should continue sensitizing the world to the humanitarian catastrophe and genocide that are playing out in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

He said that many young men were being recruited into the military and given a three- month training that was grossly adequate to face the fighters in Southern Cameroons.

He stressed that many of them were from the South region and were ill-equipped to deal with the challenge they are asked to overcome.

He said some 2,028 soldiers had lost their lives as a result of the senseless war, adding that the government was doing all it could to ensure that the real figures never get released as this could trigger a violent reaction in East Cameroon.

He urged Cameroon Concord News Group writers to continue doing their job, as it remained the main source of reliable information which was really causing the government a real headache.

“They are confused that the Cameroon Concord News Group is always publishing genuine and disturbing news,” he said, adding that “if they could lay hands on the writers and their senior staff, they would heap a sigh of relief.”

“Cameroon Concord News Group is a real thorn in their side. They dislike the news portal, but they are always heading there to find out what is really happening within government circles. Some of them are in the dark of what is happening both at the Unity Palace and at the Star Building. It is the Cameroon Concord News Group that actually brings them the latest news,” he concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Prime Minister Dion Ngute meets with fake separatist

28, January 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Prime Minister Dion Ngute meets with fake separatist 0

Cameroon’s Prime Minister, Dion Ngute, and staunch member of the ruling CPDM also known as the crime syndicate, has met with the fake pastor and conman, Nkongho Success, who might have tried hard to reinvent himself, but has failed woefully as he has never really played any major role in the crisis that is tearing the country apart.

Mr. Nkongho, who burnt his Cameroon passport on camera in Nigeria, has now become a pro-government agent who is betraying many Southern Cameroonians.

The conman, who escaped to Nigeria even before the crisis began because he deceived many people that he would grant them visas to the United States, has used the Southern Cameroons situation  to get his way back home.

He is now lodged in Yaoundé and he is being used by the country’s territorial Administration minister, Atanga Nji, himself a conman and an ex-convict, to do the government’s dirty work.

Mr. Success Nkongho, who can no longer go to his native Mamfe, is constantly being sent by the cash-strapped and barefaced government to go and negotiate the return of more Cameroonians living abroad, many of whom are not even refugees.

The doctor of fraud, also known as Failure Nkongho, had his entire family moved to Yaoundé before he landed there with a bunch of wanderers who had nothing to do with the crisis that has resulted in the killing of some 5,000 Southern Cameroonians and the displacement of one million people.

Since returning to Cameroon, conman Nkongho Success has been struggling to convince the fearless Field Marshall of the Red Dragons of Lebialem to drop down his weapons and bring his fighters to Yaoundé.

While his attempts to rope in Field Marshal into the mess he has created for himself has not been fruitful, the government is now using deputy minister of the economy, Paul Tasong, to reach out to the fighter who has remained a nightmare to the government.

Mr. Paul Tasong has promised that six council seats would be filled by Field Marshal’s protégés if he put paid to the fighting, at least during the election period.

Paul Tasong is still facing huge bumps in his way as Field Marshal is not taking the bait, including promises of money.

Paul Tasong wants Member of Parliament Forji, a CPDM stalwart, to win the upcoming parliamentary election and if the fighting continues, his wish will never come true.

The Yaoundé government is used to dealing with conmen, which makes many Cameroonians to hold that the ruling party, from where many ministers are appointed, is a crime syndicate made out of the same mold as the Sicilian Mafia.

Many analysts and observers of the Cameroon political scene hold that it won’t be long for Mr. Success Nkongho, who has been singing like a magpie, to be killed and disposed of like used tissue by the same government that is pretending to protect him after his return to Yaoundé.

Mr. Nkongho has no real value when it comes to the crisis and he will soon be discovered by a government that is desperate and in a haste to put an end to a crisis that has left it with a bloodshot eye.

By Joan Atemkeng in Yaounde

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Soldiers ask civilians to wear ruling party uniform at gunpoint

28, January 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Soldiers ask civilians to wear ruling party uniform at gunpoint 0

Cameroon’s ruling party, the Cameroon’s Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM), also known as the country’s crime syndicate, has been facing tough challenges across the country as its fortunes take a nosedive.

The party, which is headed by the country’s old and ailing president, Paul Biya, is considered as a terrorist organization in the two  English-speaking regions of the country and anybody seen spotting the Mafia-type organization’s uniform in those regions may not come out of the place alive.

Due to its falling popularity, the party is using the country’s military to enforce its laws in places where it is detested.

On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, soldiers in Kumbo in the northwest region compelled some civilians to wear uniforms of the corrupt and discredited party.

The civilians, who had been arrested for no reason, were held at gunpoint to wear CPDM campaign materials.

The innocent and helpless civilians were held by the military at gunpoint at the Tobin roundabout in Kumbo, obliging them to wear CPDM t-shirts.

The civilians were later asked to hold CPDM fabric for a photo shoot.

The party has fallen out of favor with the population across the country, and this is causing party officials to think up new ways just to prove that the party is in pole position in the country.

Compelling the people to wear party memorabilia is against the law, but since the CPDM and the state are one and the same, many of the ruling party’s crimes go unpunished.

It should be recalled that as the twin elections scheduled for February 9, 2020, approach, the government wants to demonstrate to the international community that it can hold elections across the country and that the ruling CPDM is still a force to reckon with.

But the international community is no dupe. The ruling party’s tricks are known and it cannot convince anybody that it is popular, especially in the two English-speaking regions of the country where thousands have been killed.

Like last year’s presidential elections, the results of the upcoming twin elections are already known and it is a foregone conclusion that the CPDM will have a landslide, though it is giving some of the seats to its satellite parties.

Cameroonians are used to this CPDM show and they are not moved by any new scenes in the CPDM movie.

By Rita Akana in Kumbo

Ambazonians Fleeing Separatist Violence Head to Nigeria Ahead of Elections

28, January 2020

Ambazonians Fleeing Separatist Violence Head to Nigeria Ahead of Elections 0

Villagers in Cameroon’s volatile northwest region are fleeing separatist violence ahead of February 9 local and parliamentary elections to neighboring Nigeria.  The rebels have vowed to stop the elections and are clashing with the military while civilians are caught up in the fighting. 

Christians at True Faith Ministries, in the Nigerian border village of Atta, sing for God to protect them.   

Pastor Innocent Okoli, 47,  says more than 70 of them are Cameroonians who fled increased violence ahead of February 9 elections.

He says they crossed the border, about 40 kilometers (29 miles) away, in the past two weeks to escape clashes between Cameroon’s military and rebels.

“These are Christians with very different experiences.  You have Christians who are yet to trace their loved ones, you have many separated children in church,” he said. “You have so many unaccompanied children.  You know, you cannot just minister to them without helping them to get food to eat and then find something to do.”

A majority of the Cameroonians are women and children.

Regina Shey Najela, 18, says she and her younger brother joined a group of women to flee from Cameroon’s border village of Ngarum after security clashed with rebels, known as Amba boys.

“The Amba boys entered the quarter [our village] so, the policemen came shooting all over,” she said.  “We ran, we slept in the bush.  My mother said that she will look for a way [for us to escape].  I am here with my junior brother.  Before we left, they burned our house.”

Aid group Positive Youth Africa has been providing relief material to Cameroonians fleeing the fighting to Atta.

Aid worker Franka Ma-ih Sulem Yong says it is difficult to estimate how many people have crossed from Cameroon to Nigeria in recent weeks because border villages are difficult to access.

But Ibrahima Mustapha, a community leader of the Mambilas ethnic group in Nigeria’s Taraba state, says they have received over 300 Cameroonians in the past two weeks.  

Map of Northwest and Southwest regions, Cameroon

The latest violence comes as Cameroon authorities try to hold local council and parliamentary elections in the troubled Northwest and Southwest regions.

President Paul Biya has insisted the elections will take place and ordered the military to kill all rebels who refuse to surrender.  

Unrest broke out in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions in 2016, when teachers and lawyers protested the dominance of the French language and French-speaking officials.

Rebels took up arms a year later, demanding a separate English-speaking state they call “Ambazonia.”    

The conflict with Cameroon’s military since then has killed about 3,000 people, many of them villagers caught up in the fighting.  The United Nations reports that at least 50,000 Cameroonians have fled the fighting to Nigeria.

Culled from VOA

Football: Fernandinho signs year-long Man City extension

28, January 2020

Football: Fernandinho signs year-long Man City extension 0

Fernandinho has signed a one-year contract extension with Manchester City, the English Premier League champions announced on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Brazil midfielder, whose previous deal was due to expire at the end of the season, is now set to stay at the Etihad Stadium until 2021.

Fernandinho has been a City mainstay since his arrival in a £30 million ($39 million, 35 million euros) move from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013.

“This is the best possible news,” said Fernandinho. “I have enjoyed every second of my time at City.

“I never expected to build such a meaningful relationship with the club and the fans, but it has happened, and I am grateful every single day.”

Although primarily a defensive midfielder, Fernandinho has spent much of this season playing at centre-back because of City’s lack of cover in that area.

Fernandinho has won three Premier League titles and four English League Cups since joining City, but he missed last season’s FA Cup final victory due to injury.

Source:  AFP

French Cameroun: Senate President illness thought to be leukaemia

28, January 2020

French Cameroun: Senate President illness thought to be leukaemia 0

The President of the so-called House of Senate has finally returned to Cameroon. Marcel Niat Njifenji arrived the Nsimalen International airport on the night of January 27, 2020 from Switzerland.

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources hinted that physicians specialized in the treatment of leukaemia examined the ailing French Cameroun leader Niat Njifenji during his long stay in Geneva to determine whether he was suffering from blood disorder.

And for the first time, a very flippant but reliable source at the Cameroon embassy in Switzerland revealed it is likely the constitutional successor of President Biya is suffering from leukaemia.

Hon. Niat (85) has been sick for years and “blood tests have shown he has a low platelet count – a symptom of leukaemia or other cancers” our source at the Cameroon embassy revealed.

A French Cameroun official at the hospital which specializes in blood disorders that hosted Mr Niat said the Senator and his family were moving towards the end of his illness.

Niat did not participate in the parliamentary session in November 2019. To be sure, the Biya acolyte was represented by the first vice-president of the Upper House, Aboubakary Abdoulaye.

The ailing Senate boss was even forced in October 2018, to vote for the presidential election at the Cameroon embassy in Paris, France.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Ambazonia: Vice President Yerima condemns French Cameroun escalation, vows to reactivate armed resistance

28, January 2020

Ambazonia: Vice President Yerima condemns French Cameroun escalation, vows to reactivate armed resistance 0

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government on Monday condemned French Cameroun troops’ killing of senior Ambazonia self defense commanders including General Chacha and General Efang. In a telephone conversation with our European political affairs correspondent, Chi Prudence Asong, the Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima also called for reactivating the armed attacks against French Cameroun.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader observed that “the killing of prominent Ambazonia self defense commanders is purely a crime that urges all Southern Cameroons factions to come together and reactivate armed resistance against the occupation forces.”

He slammed Minister Paul Atanga Nji, and his French Cameroun sponsored militia for the atrocities going on in Southern Cameroons adding that “the French Cameroun gendarmerie and militias are carrying out daily arrests against Ambazonia activists and militants, while the French Cameroun army is continuing with its genocidal campaign in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.”

The current Biya Francophone regime military escalation against the people of Southern Cameroons was launched in a bid to guarantee security for the so-called twin poll this February.

It is vital to include in this report that the French Cameroun military success comes amid infighting among Ambazonia groups.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Chi Prudence Asong

Biya appoints DOs to Southern Cameroons

28, January 2020

Biya appoints DOs to Southern Cameroons 0

President Biya has appointed new sub prefects in certain districts in Southern Cameroons. In the recent appointments condemned yesterday by the Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima as an “act of incessant provocation”, Biya appointed Ely Besinga Itone as Divisional Officer for Muyuka in the Fako County.

Cameroon Concord News understands DO Ely Besinga replaced Tambe Thomas Tabot reportedly called to undisclosed administrative duties.  

The French Cameroun dictator also promoted Saidou Moussa, to the position of Sub-Prefect of the district of Mbiane in the Bui County, North West Region. Mr Saidou Moussa takes over from Aimé Christian Chofor Che called to other functions.

By Rita Akana

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