Monthly Archives: September 2018

6, September 2018

France-Afrique: Macron knows Biya will be president after October 7 ⁰

Looking at this flyer attached to this report, one must wonder what French President Emmanuel Macron will do if by some strange happenstance, Biya is not the president of Cameroon after October 7. Must Biya’s picture be included in the flyer? Will Macron still chair this forum with Akere Muna or Joshua Osih as president? Probably, Macron knows Biya will be president because in Cameroon, you cannot organize elections and lose.

What an irony. Fear of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government and its many-tentacled security apparatus is greater now in French Cameroun than it was during the Ahmadou Ahidjo days. Why should that be when the Yaoundé regime has told the international community that it has generously offered dialogue with the English speaking people of Southern Cameroons now known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. However, anyone who has a mastery of the activities of the 85 year-old Biya and the barons of his ruling CPDM crime syndicate from the inside is aware that the Yaoundé regime’s generosity and dialogue is to be feared above all things.

When peaceful calls for some political adjustments and reform by Anglophone lawyers and teachers were met by crushing violence from the French Cameroun government, the Francophone regime thought all was over. The bravery of the Southern Cameroons lawyers and teachers in breaching the French Cameroun gendarmerie fear barrier even to take part in such demonstrations is beyond admirable. Ever since French President Emmanuel Macron instructed Biya in Abidjan, Ivory Coast to use force, more than three thousand Southern Cameroonians have been killed by troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé, thousands of Ambazonians have gone missing, hundreds have been detained in prison some never seen again and some 50,000 have fled to neighboring Nigeria. The UN says 161,000 Southern Cameroonians have been internally displaced. Hundreds of Southern Cameroonians have been killed recently over the decision to stage the October 7 presidential elections in the territory not even because they were demonstrating against the Biya Francophone regime but simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The French sponsored French Cameroun counterfeit presidential election will be held on October 7 in Biya regime-held areas in French Cameroun- mindful of the fact that Boko Haram Camerounaise now controls part of the Far North region and part of the East region too is in the hands of the Anti Selaka rebel group from the Central African Republic. French Cameroun political elites including Biya and his gang know very well what it means. It is not so much an election – everyone including French President Macron knows the result after all – it is more like a head count of CPDM supporters. To be accurate, Macron knows Biya will be president because in Cameroon, you cannot organize elections and lose. To vote for anything other than the French Cameroun Monarch is to sign your own death warrant and that of your family.

ELECAM, the body responsible for guaranteeing Biya’s continued stay in power is in shambles. It is evidently clear that millions of French Cameroonians are not eligible to vote. Our London bureau chief who contributed to this report opined that Biya’s opponents may only win abroad if at all the embassies will host the dubious electoral process.

There are signs that the Francophone army is slowly but surely disintegrating on tribal lines. A senior military official from the Beti extraction reportedly told Southern Cameroonians and Northerners serving with the French Cameroun army that “If you are not for us, you are against us.” French Cameroonians living in France, the US, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Italy, Spain may dismiss the October 7 presidential election as plain fiction and a mockery of democracy. But fear is going to force thousands of French Cameroun civil servants and those operating in Cameroon’s funny private sectors in Douala and Yaounde to vote for Biya whose is currently enjoying himself in a Swiss Hotel in Geneva. For 35 years, the Biya regime has taken revenge on those whom it considered have betrayed it. In this October 7 presidential elections, even those who have done nothing and never taken sides will be at risk – all it takes is one fake security report written by one pro Biya security official who takes a dislike to you. It has already happened to several of many neutral Southern Cameroonians.

As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, the French government will use the presidential elections to its advantage. The October 7 presidential election plays beautifully into the French narrative of supporting “whoever is elected by the Cameroonian people” and legitimizes their unwavering support for Biya. More than 2 million Southern Cameroons and including some 4 million Fulanis in the Far North have lost their livelihood under Biya.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai with files from Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

6, September 2018

War of words erupts over delayed school resumption in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Biya Francophone regime’s Minister of Communication has condemned the latest self defense efforts carried out by the Ambazonian Restoration Forces on Ground Zero. Mr. Tchiroma who is a chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate noted that Southern Cameroons self defense forces have committed “imprescriptible” crimes since 1 September 2018, to discourage students and teachers from going about their business.

Cameroon Concord News understands the Yaounde regime ordered its troops to assassinate young Southern Cameroons boys and girls believed to be members of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces accusing them of wanting to disrupt the smooth running of the new school year 2018-2019 in some localities of the southwest and northwest, shaken since October 2016, by socio-political demands.

The Ambazonian Interim Government said in a statement that they were not in the position to guarantee the safety and security of pupils and students within Southern Cameroons territory. Fighting recently claimed the life of the rector of a public school in the Ngo-ketundja constituency.

On Monday, September 3, 2018, 6 students from the Presbyterian Girls Secondary School in the locality of Bafut in the Mezam County were reportedly kidnapped as well as the director of the said college by soldiers dressed in French Cameroun army uniforms. On Tuesday, September 4, 2018 around 2 pm, armed men stormed Melim High School in Kumbo, Bui County, vandalized the administrative buildings and chased away teachers and pupils present in the school.

The so-called Cameroon government spokesman revealed that an attack on St. Joseph College in Sasse, Fako County was repulsed by the French Cameroun defense forces. Our sources in the Northern Zone hinted that the bursar of Government Technical College Bui who was going to his place of duty was attacked and his effects carried away.

The Ambazonian Interim Government has protested to the United Nations and the African Union against these barbaric acts and serious violations of Southern Cameroonians rights by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in Yaounde.

By Sama Ernest

6, September 2018

Trump staff says US officials working against ‘amoral’ president ⁰

Many senior members of US President Donald Trump’s administration are so alarmed by his “erratic” and “amoral” behavior that they are actively working to undermine him and protect the country from his worst impulses, according to an anonymous “senior official” in the White House.

“President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader,” the official wrote in The New York Times Wednesday.

“The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations,” the official wrote in an op-ed article entitled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.”

“The root of the problem is the president’s amorality,” the official said.

In the piece, the official described “early whispers” among members of Trump’s cabinet to take steps to remove him as president, but added they decided against it to avoid a constitutional crisis.

The official wrote that the root of the problem was that Trump is amoral and not moored to any discernible principles that guide his decision-making.

Asked about the column during a White House event, Trump called it a “gutless editorial,” bashed the New York Times as “failing,” and ticked off economic achievements that he said were proof of his leadership.

The unsigned piece appeared to reinforce the claims made in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward, excerpts of which were made public Tuesday, that describes a virtual cabal of high-minded White House and cabinet officials scheming to prevent Trump from taking decisions damaging to the US economy and national security.

The Washington Post, which obtained an advance copy of the book by the veteran chronicler of modern presidents, reported Tuesday that Woodward describes Trump manically pressing his staff for actions that could lead to major conflict — leaving them little choice but to disregard his orders.

The White House has condemned Woodward’s book as “nothing more than fabricated stories,” and Trump called it “a work of fiction.”

But the Times op-ed suggests that dissent and resistance inside Trump’s White House are even deeper than Woodward described.

6, September 2018

100 feel sick on Emirates flight to New York ⁰

As many as 100 passengers and crew reported feeling ill on Wednesday during an Emirates flight from Dubai to New York, and health workers were evaluating them as the airplane sat on the tarmac of JFK International Airport, authorities said.

About 100 people complained of feeling sick on Emirates Flight 203, which landed with at least 521 passengers shortly after 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement. Their symptoms included cough and fever.

Earlier, Dubai-based Emirates said in a statement that 10 passengers “were taken ill” on the flight from the Middle Eastern country and were transported to a hospital. It did not specify the symptoms or nature of the complaints.

The aircraft was taken to a location away from the terminal so that emergency officials could evaluate the situation, officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.

Passengers leave the plane, being assisted by the air cabin crew and the emergency services on a flight from New York to Dubai, at JFK Airport, New York, September 5, 2018 in this still image obtained from social media. (Photo by Reuters)

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said they were monitoring the situation and President Donald Trump was being updated as new information became available.

The airplane involved was a double-deck Airbus A388 – the world’s largest passenger aircraft – according to FlightAware.com.

CDC public health officers were working with other agencies to evaluate passengers, including taking temperatures and making arrangements for transport to hospitals, spokesman Benjamin Haynes said in the statement.

Passengers who were not ill were allowed to continue with their travel plans, he said.

Some sick passengers with non-life-threatening conditions were taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, according to a New York City Fire Department spokesman.

(Source: Reuters)

5, September 2018

Mfum: Where Nigeria, Cameroon border is knotted in marriages ⁰

Mfum is a town in Cross River State where it is not uncommon to find traders and articulated lorries crossing the lines that separate Nigeria and Cameroon. Items like foods, fruits and petrol are conveyed across the border. But these are not the only things that exchanged between the two countries as one could add marriage ties to the list.

“In this Mfum town, and even the next major town, Ajassor near Ikom in central Cross River State, there have been marriages between Nigerians and Cameroonians,” Miss Adam said. Shanty is a 37 year-old Cameroonian engaged to a Nigerian man for the last five years. According to her, she is one of many cross border couple as inter-marriages have been a thing in that community for long.

A native of Bamenda, Cameroon, Shanty came to Mfum for trade and some profit. She has found love instead. Many Cameroonian women, she said, are dying to marry Nigerian men. She said the interest in Nigerian men is not a recent phenomenon but one that has been entrenched in them. She said this is so because they see Nigerian men as not only very hard working, nice but creative and alert.

Keen to marry her fiancé of five years, Shanty does not see any cultural impediments to the wedding as the traditions across the borders are almost the same.

“The potential suitor or husband will have to approach the woman’s family and obtain a list of items required for the traditional marriage,” she said. “When the marriage has been sealed, the offspring from it will be Nigerian. It is the same thing if a Cameroonian man marries a Nigerian woman, the offspring will be called Cameroonians.”

One Nigerian man who thinks he knows the reason for the interest from Cameroonian women is Mr. Enagu Ojiang, Chairman of the task force committee of the Nigeria Vegetables Buyers Association at the Nigeria/Cameroon border. The association regulates imports of fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes, from Cameroon.

“They think that there is good life, peace and vast opportunities in our country,” he said. “Therefore, their women mostly chase our men. Their men, too, do. Of course, you can trust, our men have also found love from Cameroon.”

Admitting that this was not a new trend, Ojiang said there are mutual benefits in such unions. “Anyhow, it is the Cameroonian woman that really benefits. They want to come to Nigeria,” he said. As for the benefits on the Nigerian side, he said, “Our boys would take advantage of it because they will use the Cameroonian women to import much needed goods like fruits and vegetables from Cameroon.”

He also thinks that the disturbances in Southern Cameroon, where there is a secessionist campaign might have helped push up the numbers of those interested in marrying into Nigeria. But Shanty insists that the interest predated the crisis.

In a roundabout way, Ojiang admitted this may be the case. “In Ajassor community near Ikom or this Mfum border community, if you can check, there are many Cameroonians who have integrated for a very long time,” he said.

Bishop Ndoma Nyambi, a structural engineer by profession and chairman of Nigerian Society of Engineers in Ikom LGA said that most Cameroonians have since settled in and become Nigerians.

He said many of them have been indigenized and obtained citizenship certificates with attendant benefits.

Nyambi who retired recently from the Cross River State ministry of works said that it can be very difficult to detect them because they, too, are linguistically related as they speak Ejagham, the common language in many border towns, fluently.

“They know the entire history and customs of their host communities and speak with fluency the local dialects. Many of them have since indigenized and are attuned to our system. The only way you can pick them out is when they begin to speak French otherwise it is difficult to distinguish them,” he said.

“I agree there have been many intermarriages between many boundary communities in Nigerian and Cameroon. I think it is to the advantage of both countries. There is yet no international law that prohibits such marriage. It is through these marriages that Cameroonians have inundated our towns. Ikom to Cameroon is only 27 kilometers by car. Such towns like Kalime (formerly called Lasmeto), Ajassor in Etung LGA benefit from these marriages,” he said.

He points at recent developments in the area such as the construction of an expansive international border market, construction of an international road, as facilitated by the World Bank, the avalanche of new housing estates by private individuals as some of the things that might have prompted the increased interest of Cameroonian women in finding love across the border.

This is aided by the increasing border trade in cocoa, plantain, banana, yam, cassava and palm fruits that have brought people across the border into close contact.

The volume of trade between the two countries is high. For instance, a truckload of tomatoes from Cameroon coming into Nigeria is worth over N3 million.

“During what is known as deep season, from June/July, over 40 trucks cross the border in a day. That is roughly N120 Million. As at 12 Noon today, only 8 truckloads of tomatoes have so far crossed the Cameroon border into Nigeria,” he said.

His union, he said, helps in checking smuggling and a similar outfit in Cameroon does its bit as well.

“The way our union operates, there is no way smugglers can succeed through this border or other routes. I can assure that only our union members are involved in this cross border trade. Even in Cameroon, they have similar union that regulates and ensures that only their registered members produce and supply tomatoes. They are licensed by Cameroonian authority to export tomatoes. We, too, have license to import Cameroonian tomatoes to Nigeria. We even have an MoU between the two unions.”

But how much is the current political tension over ongoing agitation for Ambazonia Republic in Cameroon affecting the cross border tomato trade?

“The Amazonian boys usually disturb us and do block the roads so that our trucks could not pass. We have usually negotiated and bribed them with money and baskets of tomatoes. Two weeks ago, for three days they blocked the roads, and that was the reason tomatoes were scarce in Nigeria. Now they have warned that they have declared Mondays as no movement day. And this will tremendously impact against supply of tomatoes in Nigeria,” he said.

While this is distressing news for trade, for lovers there is still optimism since love is not a commodity on the contraband list, chances of marital unions being forged across the border remain extremely high.

Culled from Daily Trust

5, September 2018

Ambazonia War: Whereabouts of prominent activist that disappeared in Kumba unknown ⁰

A prominent Cameroonian rights activist has been missing for nearly a month after heading to the restive anglophone region on a fact-finding mission, his partner said on Monday.

Franklin Mowha, the head of the Frontline Fighters for Citizen’s Interest, disappeared after leaving the commercial capital Douala on August 6 for Kumba, a town in the English-speaking South-West Region, Stephanie Flore Ngiedie Nkamgue told AFP.

“I have tried in vain to contact him on telephone,” she said. “Nobody has been able to talk to him from August 6 and all his numbers have been unreachable from the 13th,” she said.

Separatist unrest in Cameroon’s two minority English-speaking regions – northwest and southwest – has left scores dead and displaced around 200 000 people since late 2016.

Years of resentment at perceived discrimination at the hands of Cameroon’s francophone majority have led to almost daily acts of violence and retribution and triggered a government crackdown.

Theophile Nono, another activist, said Mowha was going to Kumba to gather numbers on how many people had been displaced by the unrest. His family has informed the police but Cameroonian authorities have so far not commented on the disappearance.

The conflict in the anglophone region, where separatists have declared an independent state, poses problems for the organisation of the presidential election scheduled for October 7 in which the 85-year-old incumbent Paul Biya is bidding for a seventh consecutive term.

Anglophones today account for about a fifth of the West African country’s population of 22 million.

5, September 2018

1.4 billion risk deadly disease from lack of enough exercise ⁰

More than 1.4 billion adults are putting themselves at heightened risk of deadly diseases by not getting enough exercise, doctors are warning, with global activity levels virtually unchanged in nearly two decades.

With richer nations enjoying an increasingly comfortable, sedentary lifestyle, a study by the World Health Organization said a third of women and a quarter of men worldwide are in the firing line for killer conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer unless they up their physical activity.

“Insufficient physical activity is a leading risk factor for non-communicable diseases, and has a negative effect on mental health and quality of life,” said the study of world exercise levels published Wednesday by The Lancet Global Health Journal.

The WHO recommends each adult do at least 150 minutes “moderate-intensity” exercise — such as brisk walking, swimming, or gentle cycling — each week, or 75 minutes “vigorous-intensity” activity — such as running or team sports.

The study tracked activity levels of 1.9 million people in 168 countries across the world during 2016.

Researchers found there had been no improvement in physical activity levels since 2001, despite numerous public health initiatives extolling the benefits of exercise.

More than a quarter of the world’s adults (1.4 billion people) were insufficiently active, according to the data.

“We definitely haven’t done enough” to encourage people to exercise, the WHO’s Regina Guthold, lead study author, told AFP.

“We have seen basically no progress.”

The study authors highlighted several worrying trends, including a stark divide in exercise rates between poor and rich nations, and between men and women.

Wealth, gender gaps

Levels of insufficient activity to guard off non-communicable killers, including dementia and cardiovascular diseases, are more than twice as high in high-income countries compared to developing nations.

Guthold said the link between the lifestyle in wealthier nations — more time indoors, longer office hours, more easily accessible high-calorie foods — and lower exercise levels, was part of a “clear pattern” of poorer health coming with urbanization.

A man sits on exercise equipment at a residential area in Beijing, China, August 28, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

“As countries urbanize, people who used to be, say, farmers, and got a lot of physical activity through their work all of a sudden live in an urban environment where they might be without work or move to a sedentary job, so societies need to compensate,” she said.

In four countries — Kuwait, American Samoa, Saudi Arabia and Iraq — more than half of adults were classified as insufficiently active.

Melody Ding of the University of Sydney, who worked on the paper, said there were a variety of reasons why some countries were more active than others, including “biological, psychosocial, institutional, cultural and environmental barriers.”

“I consider one of the biggest barriers being our environment — physical activity has been engineered out of life, with desk-based jobs replacing labor jobs, lifts replacing stairs, cars replacing active travel,” she told AFP.

“Technological advancement has made our life more convenient but also less active.”

Women still lag behind men in nearly every region of the world, with the gender exercise gap highest in Bangladesh, Eritrea, India, Iraq, and the Philippines, the study found.

“In these settings, women are often expected to be at home, take care of the children, manage the household and so sometimes don’t always have time to exercise,” said Guthold.

One bright spot on the global exercise map was Southeast Asia, where women were equally as active as men in the only region where inactivity has decreased since 2001.

(Source: AFP)

5, September 2018

Chaos engulfs Senate hearing for Trump’s Supreme Court pick Kavanaugh ⁰

The US Senate confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, has turned into utter chaos as angry protests erupted and Democrats criticized Republicans for withholding documents about Kavanaugh’s past service at the White House.

It took the nominee over seven hours to be able to deliver his opening statement during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday as shouting protesters were arrested in droves.

US Capitol Police arrest a protestor during the US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, September 4, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

According to US Capitol police, 61 protesters were removed from the room and charged with disorderly conduct, along with nine more outside the hearing. The protesters, mostly women, were shouting slogans like “This is a travesty of justice”, “Our democracy is broken” and “Vote no on Kavanaugh.”

Meanwhile, Democratic senators repeatedly interrupted the committee’s Republican chairman Chuck Grassley at the outset of the hearing, quickly turning the session into a ruckus.

They condemned the withholding of the documents and tried to have the proceedings adjourned, as Grassley struggled to maintain order.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker said the withholding of the documents has left lawmakers unable to properly vet Kavanaugh.

Protesters hold up signs during a rally near Capitol Hill against the confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on September 4, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

“We cannot possibly move forward. We have not had an opportunity to have a meaningful hearing,” Democratic Senator Kamala Harris said.

“This is the first confirmation for a Supreme Court justice I’ve seen, basically, according to mob rule,” Republican Senator John Cornyn said, a characterization Democrats rejected.

In response, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said, “What we’ve heard is the noise of democracy.”

Grassley described the Democrats’ request to halt the hearing “out of order,” accusing them of obstruction.

Republicans, who hold a slim Senate majority, can confirm 53-year-old Kavanaugh if they stay united. There were no signs of Republican defections.

If confirmed, Kavanaugh is expected to move the court, with an already conservative majority, further to the right. Senate Democratic leaders, however, have pledged a fierce fight to try to block his confirmation.

On Twitter, Trump reacted angrily, saying the hearing was “truly a display of how mean, angry and despicable the other side is.”

He accused Democrats of “looking to inflict pain and embarrassment” on Kavanaugh.

Source: Presstv

5, September 2018

Now is the time for local investors to step up and electrify Africa ⁰

For years, the African renewable energy development market has been dominated by foreign investors and financial institutions. Now is the time for African investors to step up to the plate and join the continent’s solar energy transition.

Africa is now even preparing to feed Europe’s growing energy needs through various projects, such as the TuNur CSP project. The project is currently in the early phases of development and will comprise a 2.3 GW concentrated solar power plant situated in the Sahara desert and a 2-G high-voltage DC submarine cable from Tunisia all the way to central Italy. Additional plans of building other export routes to Malta and France are on the table. The project is being financed mostly by European investors and will be constructed using the most modern technology. Europe will soon enjoy of the benefits of green energy coming straight from African soil. But while Europe seeks to power more coffee shops, chain stores and crypto mining server-farms, 50% of Africans are not electrified at all, and the other 50% are often connected to unreliable energy sources.

There are vast opportunities for local African investors present in the solar sector. The continent has an abundance of land available for project development and is home to some of the sunniest places on earth, which makes it an ideal location for solar energy development. Lydia van Os, Africa Lead at Solarplaza, believes that this is the right time for local investors to take action and get involved in Africa’s rapidly growing solar industry. She is convinced that this can only succeed if the movement of people committed to providing clean, reliable and affordable energy is inclusive, from Wall Street investors to Congolese rural households.

To fulfill its mission of accelerating the global sustainable energy transition and create the platform for international and local solar stakeholders to meet and share knowledge, Solarplaza is hosting Unlocking Solar Capital (“USC”) Africa. The third edition of this leading conference will take place on 7 to 8 November 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda. The two-day event is being organized in partnership with the Global Off-grid and Lighting Association (GOGLA), and is wholly focused on unlocking capital for new solar project development in Africa.

For those who can’t wait for the conference to get an in-depth look into the African solar landscape: Solarplaza has published an exhaustive 128-page regional report on Africa’s solar energy situation. The report offers an overview of the key facts & figures related to the most relevant solar PV markets in Africa. The detailed country profiles provide overviews of a range of issues related to solar PV project development and include summaries of key demographic info; insights into legislation and policy; electricity generation capacity; and assessments of the current status of the solar industries in: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Solarplaza

4, September 2018

Tiger Woods, Mickelson, DeChambeau named in US Ryder Cup team ⁰

Tiger Woods was named to the United States’ Ryder Cup team on Tuesday as captain Jim Furyk also added veteran Phil Mickelson and in-form Bryson DeChambeau to his line-up.

Former world number one Woods had already been assured of a trip to Paris for the September 28-30 showdown with Europe after being named as one of Furyk’s non-playing vice-captains.

However Woods’ form since his return to golf this year prompted Furyk to award him one of the four captain’s picks set aside for players who did not qualify automatically for the team.

Mickelson and DeChambeau filled the other two captain’s picks announced by Furyk on Tuesday.

The US captain will announce his final place on the defending champions’ team next week, with Tony Finau regarded as the front-runner for the position.

There had been little suspense surrounding Furyk’s announcement on Tuesday.

Woods, 42, will be playing in his eighth Ryder Cup and makes his first appearance since the 2012 event.

The 14-time major champion signalled his return to form last month with an electrifying second-place finish at the PGA Championship.

Mickelson meanwhile was regarded as a likely pick for what will be his 12th Ryder Cup appearance.

The 48-year-old reminded Furyk of his quality with a dazzling eight-under-par 63 in the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship on Monday.

DeChambeau, 24, had virtually guaranteed himself one of the captain’s picks after storming to victory in the opening two legs of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoff series, winning the Northern Trust and Dell Technologies Championship.

The United States will be chasing their first Ryder Cup victory on European soil in 25 years when they face Europe at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines outside Paris.

AFP