Monthly Archives: April 2020

19, April 2020

COVID-19: Chelsea FC players in talks over pay cut ⁰

Chelsea players are in extensive talks with the club over a potential 10 percent pay cut amid the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Blues director Marina Granovskaia is leading the discussions on the club side with captain Cesar Azpilicueta representing the first-team squad.

If Chelsea can convince their players to take a 10 percent pay cut, it will save the club between 8 and 10 million pounds in the financial fight against the pandemic.

Premier League players have come under huge pressure to accept pay cuts or deferrals during the pandemic, but the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has refused a 30 percent pay cut proposed by the Premier League.

Source: Presstv

19, April 2020

Australia calls for independent probe into global virus response ⁰

Australia on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, including the World Health Organization’s handling of the crisis.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the country would “insist” on a review that would probe, in part, China’s early response to the outbreak in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 emerged late last year.

“We need to know the sorts of details that an independent review would identify for us about the genesis of the virus, about the approaches to dealing with it (and) addressing the openness with which information was shared,” she told public broadcaster ABC.

Payne said Australia shared similar concerns to the United States, whose President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of “mismanaging” the crisis and covering up the seriousness of China’s outbreak before it spread.

Trump has also announced that Washington will halt payments to the UN body that amounted to $400 million last year.

“I’m not sure that you can have the health organisation which has been responsible for disseminating much of the international communications material, and doing much of the early engagement and investigative work, also as the review mechanism,” Payne said.

“That strikes me as a bit poacher-and-gamekeeper.”

Payne added she believed the fallout from the pandemic was set to change the relationship between Australia and China “in some ways”, with her concern around Beijing’s transparency now “at a very high point”.

Health Minister Greg Hunt backed the call for an independent review, saying Australia had achieved success in limiting the spread of the virus in part by going against WHO advice.

Australia — which has recorded 6,600 coronavirus cases and 70 deaths linked to COVID-19 — was one of the first countries to impose a ban on travel from China.

“Australia has been able to have, by global standards, just a profoundly important and successful human outcome, but we have done that by following the course that our medical experts here in Australia set out,” Hunt said.

“We do know there was very considerable criticism when we imposed on the 1 February the China ban from some of the officials and the WHO in Geneva.”

Hunt said although the WHO had “done well” in fighting diseases like polio, measles and malaria, its coronavirus response “didn’t help the world”.

“We have done well because we made our own decisions as a country,” he added.

In recent weeks, Australia has seen the rate of new cases slow dramatically, leading health authorities to declare the country has “flattened the curve”.

Tough restrictions on movement and gatherings are set to remain in place for at least the next month as officials attempt to keep the virus spread under control.

Source: AFP

19, April 2020

Coronavirus: Fecafoot to offer financial support to Cameroon clubs ⁰

The Cameroonian football body disclosed the federation will be providing help for teams in the country amid the pandemic

The Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) has announced plans to provide special support for domestic clubs in combating the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement on Friday, Benjamin Didier Banlock, secretary-general of the federation, said they are keen to cushion the impact of the scourge.

Since the confirmation of its first case in March, Cameroon has recorded more than 1000 cases of the coronavirus with 22 deaths recorded, as of Saturday.

Source: Goal.com

19, April 2020

Cameroon coronavirus cases pass 1,000 mark ⁰

Cameroon consolidated its spot as Central Africa’s most impacted nation doubling its coronavirus tally in fifteen days and going past the 1,000 mark.

In early April, the country’s infection stood at 509. It has reached 1,017 as of April 18 according to records by the john Hopkins University tracking site. There are 117 recoveries with 22 deaths.

A social media push for President Paul Biya to address the nation did not pay off exactly but the president popped up on Thursday after a long public absence.

His meeting with the French ambassador was the first time he had directly commented on the COVID-19 crisis. A post on his official social media handles said he had discussed cooperation with the ambassador in the fight against the rampaging pandemic.

Cameroon like most African countries closed its borders – land, sea and air, suspended all academic activities but has not imposed a lockdown or curfew. Coordination of COVID-19 efforts has largely rested on Prime Minister Dion Ngute.

In early April, a month after the first case of COVID-19 was recorded, Cameroonians mounted a social media campaign demanding that 87-year-old Paul Biya addresses the nation like most of his peers across the continent were doing.

April 3: Cameroon records 203 new cases as COVID-19 tally hits 509

Cameroon’s coronavirus tally as of April 3 stood at 509, Health Minister Manaouda Malachie confirmed in his daily briefing posted on Twitter.

Of the current figure, 203 were new cases that came from tests run 800 travellers arrived in the country recently. Cameroon also has 17 recovered patients with eight deaths.

“Our active case finding strategy is starting to pay off. We did 800 tests (majority of travelers) 203 of them are positive but asymptomatic, that we must leave the community and treat,” the Minister wrote in his post.

Cameroon is the most impacted country across Central Africa. Only DR Congo have passed the 100 mark in the region with 134. Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo Republic, Central African Republic and Chad have 21, 16, 22, 8 and 8 cases respectively.

The Minister in outlining government strategy to deal with the pandemic said six main measures were being implemented: massive and generalized testing, placement in immediate treatment of cases, active surveillance of suspect cases.

The remaining are awareness of the populations (hygiene, distance), border control and development of reliable local expertise for the response.

Culled from Africa News

19, April 2020

COVID-19: Douala traders facing an economic onslaught ⁰

An economic onslaught is staring at the face of traders in the Central African country of Cameroon, which is one of the most affected countries by the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic in the continent.

The country, known for its varied terrain and wildlife has so far reported 1,017 positive cases, with 22 deaths, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.

“The virus has slowed down my work. I have to go out and sell few things, even though I do not earn much,” said Adams Patrice, who deals with secondhand goods. He used to have a roaring business on weekends when people on the outings throng to markets selling cheap goods.

“Everything has changed. The customers are afraid. They pass by wearing their protective masks and do not talk to us. They barely stop to look at the merchandise. There is a drought in the market,” he said.

Like Patrice, an electronic retailer Fabrice Fondjeu, has also lost most of his clientele.

“I receive less than five customers a day compared to more than 40 before the pandemic. It has dipped my savings,” he said. He is counting that the government may announce some sops to stabilize the situation.

Although governments worldwide are encouraging digital connectivity as an alternative to physical connectivity, Tamo Christian, a cyber cafe manager, has few customers. He is still relying on the government’s push for digital education, expecting that students who do not have computers and internet connection at home will use his services. He has also cut his daily expenses considerably.

The restrictions on travel have also led to a steep decline in the online sale of tickets, said Geraldine Nbebi, sales administrator of an online ticketing startup. He, however, appreciates the fact that because of social distancing, people are increasingly getting used to digital technology.

Food chain affected

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ebouki Lea, a food vendor, said she has been going through difficult times since restrictions on movements. She used to bring goods from villages and then sell them in cities. Regular customers have even abandoned her. Even farmers have limited production in the villages.

The secondhand goods dealer Patrice had thought of going digital, opening an online store, where he would share pictures of goods and receive orders through social networking sites. But he laments that he is on the other side of the digital divide and also does not have funds to open an e-shop.

Even as the Cameroonian government has taken measures for businesses, the fear that economic slowdown will stay for a long time to come is palpable. President Paul Biya had asked the trade ministry to ensure stability in prices and availability of consumer goods. He had also asked officials to come out with plans to regulate the flow of people in markets.

Acknowledging that it was a difficult time for traders, Minister of Trade Luc-Magloire Mbarga Atangana told a local radio station that there was no possibility of a shortage of goods. “The country should be able to rely on its national production and food reserves and count on sea shipments. The country is prepared for any eventuality,“ he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

19, April 2020

No trace of disappeared Cameroonians, five years on ⁰

Human rights groups fear the worst for 130 Cameroonian civilians that remain missing following their arrest five years ago by the army on suspicion of belonging to the Boko Haram .

The individuals were arrested in the Far North as the Nigerian terror group launched its first attack on Cameroonian soil.

The boys and men aged between 12 and 60 years old were arrested in the villages of Doublé and Magdémé, which were the epicentre of attacks by the Islamist sect.

Army personnel initially arrested 200 individuals. After some time denying the arrests, the government in 2016 acknowledged the crackdown.

It disclosed that at least 25 men died in custody on the evening of their arrest. Identities of the deceased or burial places were not revealed.

The government also acknowledged that 45 other men were taken to and registered at Maroua prison. Three of them died in detention.

“All the others remain unaccounted for,” said a spokesperson of the human rights group, Amnesty International.

The organisation maintained doubts on the whereabouts of those that have not been accounted for.

It demanded that the government of President Paul Biya ensured justice for the victims and their families.

In 2015, Biya dismissed Colonel Charles Zé Onguéné, who headed the anti-terror operation at the time of the arrests.

He was charged with “negligence and breach of custody law.”

Source: CAJ News

18, April 2020

Spain Covid-19 deaths surpass 20,000 ⁰

The death toll from the coronavirus in Spain, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, moved past 20,000 on Saturday, the health ministry said.

A total of 20,043 people have now succumbed to the disease, which killed 565 people in Spain in the past 24 hours, slightly down on the 585 reported on Friday.

Spain is the second worst-hit country in Europe behind Italy but has tentatively begun to ease a strict lockdown imposed on March 14, opening up some sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, earlier this week.

Shops, bars, restaurants and other social gathering places remain shuttered.

Peak passed?

Health officials say Spain has passed the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak which killed up to 950 people on April 2, and the pressure has eased on hospitals.

But the toll, which covers only people who tested positive for the virus, is increasingly contested in some regions.

How long will lockdowns last?

Officials there say thousands more people have died after showing symptoms of the disease without having been tested because there are not enough tests.

For example, Catalonia has reported that more than 7,800 people have died while the national toll for the region referred Saturday to more than 3,800. Since March 14, Spain has been under one of the strickest lockdowns in Europe that has been extended until April 25 and could be prolonged even futher.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

18, April 2020

Blood on his hands: Yang Philemon is French Cameroun’s new Grand Chancellor ⁰

President Biya on Friday the 17^th of April appointed former Prime Minister, Philemon Yang to the post of Grand Chancellor of National Orders.

The Southern Cameroons politician with too much blood on his hands reacted by saying that “I am very pleased, I would like to sincerely thank the Head of State. This gives me another opportunity to serve the President of the Republic and also serve the Cameroonian people.”

Yang who spent 20 years in Canada as Cameroon’s ambassador was recently the Head of the permanent delegation of the Central Committee of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate to the North West Region.

The former Prime Minister also observed that he knows nothing about his new mission.

“I guess these are the big challenges. I think that in the coming days I will be able to learn and know what it is all about and that way I can make my small contribution,” he said.

Thus, less than two years after his exit from government, Philemon Yang rebounded at the Grand Chancellery of National Orders. He replaces Peter Mafany Musonge who spent 13 years in this high office.

By Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap in Glasgow with files from CIN

18, April 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 5 killed in Bambili Palace attack ⁰

Five bodies were discovered on Friday in Bambili, a locality in the Tubah district, Mezam County in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the men found dead were royals and employees on duty at the Fon’s palace in Bambili.

Our correspondent in Bamenda confirmed that the Fon’s Palace of Bambili came under attack from heavily armed Ambazonia Restoration Forces. The attackers entered the Bambili Palace and killed five persons who were on royal duty on that fateful day.

The Southern Cameroons self defense commander controlling the area recently blamed the Fon and his notables for French Cameroun army atrocities in Mezam. The Fon reportedly started a pro Yaounde campaign last month calling on Ambazonian fighters to lay down their weapons.

A Cameroon government army spokesman in Bamenda confirmed the attack on the Bambili palace and added that dozens of secessionist training camps have been dismantled by the defense and security forces in Mezam.

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has been shaking the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon since late October 2016, has led to an armed conflict between Cameroon government army soldiers and Ambazonia Restoration Forces.

According to the UN, more than 700,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia as a result of the conflict. And more than 35,000 others have fled to neighbouring Nigeria.

The Southern Cameroons leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe told Jeune Afrique International magazine that some 30,000 Ambazonians have died as a result of the conflict.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

18, April 2020

US coronavirus crisis takes sharp political turn as Trump slams Democratic governors ⁰

The US coronavirus crisis took a sharp political turn on Friday as President Donald Trump lashed out at four Democratic governors over their handling of the pandemic after having conceded that states bear ultimate control of restrictions to contain the outbreak.

The Republican president targeted three swing states critical to his re-election bid – Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia – where his conservative loyalists have mounted pressure campaigns challenging those governors’ stay-at-home orders.

Amplifying a theme that his supporters have trumpeted this week in street protests at the state capitals of Lansing, St. Paul, and Richmond, Trump issued a series of matching Twitter posts touting the slogans: “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA!”

Michigan has become a particular focus of agitation to relax social-distancing rules that rank among the strictest in the nation after Governor Gretchen Whitmer, widely seen as a potential running mate for presumed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, extended them through the end of April.

Protesters defying the restrictions from the steps of the state Capitol on Wednesday shouted “lock her up,” a chant that was a staple of Trump’s campaign rallies and originally referred to his 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

‘When it’s safe’

Whitmer said on Friday she was hopeful her state, which suffered one of the country’s fastest-growing coronavirus infection rates, can begin to restart parts of its economy on May 1. But she urged doing so cautiously to avoid reigniting the outbreak just as it was being brought to heel.

Responding to Trump’s critique later in the day, Whitmer said Michigan will re-engage its economy when it’s safe, adding: “The last thing I want to do is to have a second wave here.”

Trump also took renewed aim at one of his favorite political foils, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, suggesting on Twitter that his state, the US epicenter of the outbreak, had asked for too much assistance that was never fully used.

At his daily news briefing, Cuomo shot back saying Trump should “maybe get up and go to work” instead of watching TV, and accused the president of favoring the airline industry and business cronies in a recent bailout package that left little for the states.

The flare-up in political sparring came as the number of known coronavirus infections in the United States surpassed 700,000, the most of any country. At the same time, the tally of lives lost from COVID-19, the highly contagious lung disease caused by the virus, has soared to more than 35,000. New York state accounts for nearly half those deaths.

While the death toll continued to climb, the rate of hospitalizations and other indicators have been leveling off, a sign that drastic social-distancing restrictions imposed in 42 of the 50 US states were working to curtail the outbreak.

Stay-at-home orders and the closure of non-essential businesses have also strangled US commerce, triggering millions of layoffs and forecasts that America is headed for its deepest recession since the economic collapse of the 1930s.

The result has been mounting pressure to ease the shutdowns, leading to clashes between Trump, who had touted the strength of the US economy as the best case for his re-election in November, and governors in hard-hit states who warned against lifting restrictions too quickly.

Trump, who played down the coronavirus threat in its early stages, had been pressing to restart idled businesses as soon as May 1, at first declaring “total” authority to do so and branding governors who resisted his approach, many of them Democrats, as “mutineers.”

State control and testing

In the end Trump acknowledged it was up to the governors to decide when and how to relax the restrictions they themselves had imposed since last month, presenting new federal guidelines on Thursday as recommendations.

While the guidelines call for a phased-in, science-based strategy in keeping with the advice of leading health experts, the plan hinges on widespread testing to gauge the scope of infections and how many people might have developed immunity to the virus.

At a White House briefing on Friday, Trump’s coronavirus task force members, through statements and graphics, pushed back against criticism from some governors and lawmakers that limited testing ability is impeding the country’s return to normalcy.

“We believe today that we have the capacity in the United States to do a sufficient amount of testing for states to move into phase one in the time and manner that they deem appropriate,” Vice President Mike Pence told reporters.

Cuomo argued earlier that the Trump administration was foisting responsibility for a massive testing program on the states without providing necessary financial resources.

“Is there any funding so I can do these things that you want us to do? No. That is passing the buck without passing the bucks,” Cuomo said.

Even as Cuomo was addressing reporters, Trump immediately took to Twitter in Washington to fire back, saying he “should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining.’”

Trump struck a more conciliatory tone during the White House briefing. Asked about criticism leveled at him earlier in the day by Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat who accused Trump of “fomenting domestic rebellion” with his “LIBERATE” tweets, the president demurred.

Trump denied he was suggesting that Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia lift their stay-at-home orders altogether, but added, “I think elements of what they’ve done are too much.”

Of the protesters, Trump said, “These are people expressing their views.” He added, “They seem to be very responsible to me. … But they’ve been treated a little bit rough.”

(Source: Reuters)