Monthly Archives: August 2020

US: President Trump says coronavirus vaccine possible before Nov. 3

7, August 2020

US: President Trump says coronavirus vaccine possible before Nov. 3 0

President Donald Trump says that the United States would have a vaccine for the coronavirus before Nov. 3 election, a claim not supported by his own White House health experts.

Speaking on the Geraldo Rivera radio program Thursday, Trump, when asked when a vaccine may be ready, said, “Sooner than the end of the year, could be much sooner.”

“Sooner than November 3?” he was asked.

“I think in some cases, yes possible before, but right around that time,” Trump said.

Later, the president also said at the White House that he was optimistic a vaccine would be ready around that date.

When asked about whether it would help him in the election, Trump said, “It wouldn’t hurt. But I’m doing it, not for the election; I want to save a lot of lives.”

However, on Wednesday, top US government infectious diseases official Dr. Anthony Fauci offered a more conservative view, saying that there is a possibility that one vaccine might work and be safe by year end.

Trump is seeking re-election to a second term as the US economic situation is getting worse due to the coronavirus pandemic. He has sought to reopen schools and pushed for things to get “back to normal” while more than 1,000 die per day on average because of the pandemic.

The disease has so far infected more than 5,032,000 and killed over 162,000 people across the United States.

Health Secretary Alex Azar denied Thursday that the push for a vaccine was political, but did not clarify whether he believed in the possibility of producing a vaccine before Election Day either.

Azar also said he would take a coronavirus vaccine if only authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration. “We’re going to run a transparent process,” he said on MSNBC. “The best thing we can do for vaccine hesitancy is ensure that the data is out there.”

Also on Thursday, the House Democrats introduced a bill that would necessitate a consultation between the FDA and a panel of experts so that a vaccine does not get rammed through too fast.

US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the bill sponsor, said, “it is even more important that quality is not sacrificed for speed in testing and evaluating any such vaccine.”

Source: Presstv

Guinea: Ruling party asks Alpha Condé to run for third presidential term

7, August 2020

Guinea: Ruling party asks Alpha Condé to run for third presidential term 0

Guinea’s ruling party on Thursday urged President Alpha Conde to seek a third term in elections due this year, a scenario that has sparked clashes in the West African state.

Under Guinea’s constitution, presidents may only serve two terms.

Conde, 82, was elected president in 2010 and again in 2015. But this year he pushed through a revamped constitution that opponents say was crafted to reset the term counter, enabling him to run again.

His Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) party announced that it wanted Conde to run again at a convention in the capital Conakry.

Party members are issuing a “plea to President Alpha Conde to accept the will of the people to be the RPG’s sole candidate,” MP Diakagbe Kaba told delegates.

The president has yet to formally respond to the request. He has previously said that “the party will decide” who goes forward to the poll.

Guinea’s electoral commission has proposed the presidential election be held on October 18, but Conde has yet to sign off on a date.

Thursday’s announcement is likely to incense Guinea’s embattled opposition, which has staged mass rallies since October against the possibility of Conde running for a third term.

Security forces in the former French colony repeatedly cracked down on the protests, in which several dozen civilians were killed.

Opposition figures also attempted to organise a boycott of the referendum in March, but the vote went ahead despite protests.

According to the official results, the constitution was approved by 91.59 percent of those voting, with a turnout of 61 percent

Conde is a former opposition figure himself who was jailed under Guinea’s previous iron-fisted regimes.

Hopes of a new political dawn flowered when Conde became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010, but critics say he has become increasingly authoritarian.

Source: AFP

What Vice President Yerima is saying about the abduction and murder of Tangem Thomas

6, August 2020

What Vice President Yerima is saying about the abduction and murder of Tangem Thomas 0

ABDUCTION AND MURDER OF TANGEM THOMAS BY FRENCH CAMEROUN

Fellow Ambazonians,

I come to you today as our nation mourns the loss of another citizen as a result of the barbarism of the French Cameroon regime. On Monday 2 August 2020, our legal representatives briefed the Interim Government of Ambazonia with photographic evidence that a Southern Cameroons Prisoner of Conscience, Mr Tangem Thomas, was shackled to his bed at the Central hospital in Yaoundé. His physical condition was deteriorating and it presented a grave concern for the Interim Government.

I want to make public that earlier today, Mr Tangem sadly succumbed to his injuries at the Yaoundé Central Hospitaland passed on to glory. The Interim Government can confirm explicitly that he died from torture related injuries and trauma.

Mr Tangem Thomas was a holy man with sound mechanical engineering background and expertise. He was abducted by La Republique du Cameroun forces in 2017 and detained incommunicado at the torture chamber of SED Yaoundé until a few weeks ago when his wellbeing had deteriorated wretchedly. He was never charged for any crime and died for being an Ambazonian.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his immediate family at this very testing time.

The barbarism unleashed by La Republique du Cameroun upon our citizens is shocking and incontestable but our quest for justice and freedom will remain unquenchable. We must keep our eyes on the prize of freedom. No dosage of incivility and viciousness will stop us now. As a nation, our promise to Mr Tangem Thomas must be to never give up in our quest for freedom and justice.

As a nation, we would be presenting the facts of this tragedy to our international partners and organisations over the next few hours. 

Thank You

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

French Cameroun: Victims of Suspected Boko Haram Attack on IDP Camp Need Urgent Help

6, August 2020

French Cameroun: Victims of Suspected Boko Haram Attack on IDP Camp Need Urgent Help 0

The United Nations refugee agency says victims of a suspected Boko Haram terror attack on an IDP camp in Cameroon’s Far North region remain unprotected and in need of urgent help.  At least 18 people were killed and 11 others injured.

The camp housing 800 internally displaced people was attacked early Sunday. Militant jihadists reportedly threw a grenade into the compound while people were sleeping.

The U.N. refugee agency says it is outraged by this brutal, unprovoked attack and condemns it in the strongest terms.  UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch tells VOA that Nigeria-based terror group Boko Haram is suspected of being behind the attack.

“In Cameroon, since early this year, more than 87 attacks have been recorded, which are attributed to Boko Haram.  It has affected millions of people in the region and only in this area of Cameroon, there are more than 320,000 people displaced,” he said.

Map of Nguetchewe, Cameroon

This latest attack near the village of Nguetchewe follows an upsurge of violence in Cameroon’s Far North Region, including looting and kidnapping.  Civilians in this area, which covers Chad and north-east Nigeria, have been at the mercy of Boko Haram and other armed groups for years.

Baloch says the attack on the IDP camp has caused some 1,500 people, including terrified residents of the hosting village, to flee to a nearby town for safety.  He says the UNHCR is sending an emergency mission to assess the situation and evaluate the protection and health needs of those affected.

“Against the backdrop of growing insecurity, UNHCR anticipates enhanced protection, shelter, water and sanitation will be needed as the country responds to the COVID-19 pandemic… Access a uge issue for humanitarians in this region in terms of providing humanitarian support,” said Baloch.

The U.N. says Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad Basin region has cost the lives of 30,000 people, displaced more than three million and forced nearly 300,000 Nigerians to seek refuge in neighboring countries.

Source: VOA

Beti-Ewondo Politics: Amougou Belinga in Biya’s drag-net

6, August 2020

Beti-Ewondo Politics: Amougou Belinga in Biya’s drag-net 0

The General Delegation of National Security has aired out a radio message banning Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga from leaving the country.

The message made public on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 and signed by the Director of the Border Police, Dr. Jean Louis Messing also gave standing orders to the immigration department to withdraw Mr. Belinga Amougou’s passport.

The reasons for this dramatic u turn of events in Yaoundé against the Chairman and CEO of the group l’Anecdote were not available at the time of filing this report.

However, people in the know have opined that the owner of Vision 4 television channel is wanted by the Special Criminal Court for embezzlement, corruption and money laundering.

By Rita Akana

Facebook, Twitter remove Trump posts over false claims children are ‘almost immune’ to Covid

6, August 2020

Facebook, Twitter remove Trump posts over false claims children are ‘almost immune’ to Covid 0

Facebook Inc on Wednesday took down a post by U.S. President Donald Trump, which the company said violated its rules against sharing misinformation about the coronavirus.

The post contained a video clip, from an interview with Fox & Friends earlier in the day, in which Trump claimed that children are “almost immune” to COVID-19.

“This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19, which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation,” a Facebook spokesman said.

A tweet containing the video that was posted by the Trump campaign’s @TeamTrump account and shared by the president was also later hidden by Twitter Inc for breaking its COVID-19 misinformation rules.

A Twitter spokesman said the @TeamTrump account owner would be required to remove the tweet before they could tweet again.

The Trump campaign accused the companies of bias against the president, saying Trump had stated a fact. “Social media companies are not the arbiters of truth,” said Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman with the campaign.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that while adults make up most of the known COVID-19 cases to date, some children and infants have been sick with the disease and they can also transmit it to others.

An analysis by the World Health Organization of 6 million infections between Feb. 24 and July 12 found that the share of children aged 5-14 years was about 4.6%.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. During a briefing at the White House, Trump repeated his claim that the virus had little impact on children.

“Children handle it very well,” he told reporters. “If you look at the numbers, in terms of mortality, fatalities … for children under a certain age … their immune systems are very very strong and very powerful. They seem to be able to handle it very well and that’s according to every statistical claim.”

It was the first time Facebook had removed a Trump post for coronavirus misinformation, the company’s spokesman said.

It also appeared to be the first reported instance of the social media company taking down a post from the president for breaching its misinformation rules.

Twitter has taken down a post retweeted by Trump pointing to a misleading viral video about the coronavirus, but left up clips of the president suggesting scientists should investigate using light or disinfectant on patients.

Twitter said those remarks expressed a wish for treatment, rather than a literal call for action.

It also left up a March post from Tesla Inc’s outspoken CEO Elon Musk stating that “kids are essentially immune” from the virus.

Facebook has taken heat from lawmakers and its own employees in recent months for not taking action on inflammatory posts by Trump.

The company has previously removed ads from Trump’s election campaign for breaking misinformation rules, in that case around a national census.

It also took down both Trump posts and campaign ads that showed a red inverted triangle, a symbol the Nazis used to identify political prisoners, for violating its policy against organized hate.

Source: REUTERS

Biya Francophone regime silently slaughtering Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience

5, August 2020

Biya Francophone regime silently slaughtering Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience 0

The Biya Francophone regime’s imposed war on Southern Cameroons and the Cameroon government military campaign indiscriminately targeting the Ambazonian people is reportedly causing the deaths of several Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience.

Engineer Tangem Thomas is the latest casualty demanding an immediate intervention from the international community.

The activities of armed militias sponsored by the Yaoundé regime and the Cameroon government army soldiers have caused aid and medical practitioners offering treatment and care to discontinue services in the entire Southern Cameroons rural areas.

Hundreds of Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience detained in French Cameroun jails in Yaoundé, the Littoral and the West Region have been left with no option but to die. And this is just a mild example illustrating that the Biya Francophone regime is silently slaughtering Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience

Biya and his ruling CPDM gang have repeatedly denied that the war in Southern Cameroons is hampering the supply of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods to Southern Cameroons civilians.

By Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap

Ambazonia Defense Secretary: Restoration Forces to avenge Tangem Thomas’s blood

5, August 2020

Ambazonia Defense Secretary: Restoration Forces to avenge Tangem Thomas’s blood 0

The Southern Cameroons Defense Secretary has said that Ambazonia Restoration Forces have been given directives in Ground Zero to avenge the blood of top Southern Cameroons prisoner of conscience Tangem Thomas who passed to eternity today at the Yaoundé Central Hospital handcuffed on a hospital bed. The Ambazonia Defense Secretary whose name we are withholding also indicated that Southern Cameroonians will continue Tangem Thomas’s path until the liberation of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Also speaking during today’s emergency meeting summoned by the Ambazonia Interim Government to discuss the current situation of Southern Cameroons detainees in French Cameroun, Vice President Yerima noted that the enemies of the Ambazonian people wrongly believe that the martyrdom of great Southern Cameroonians like engineer Tangem Thomas would grind the Southern Cameroons resistance to a halt, but the realities of the past four years have shown otherwise.

Vice President Yerima furthered that martyrdom is in fact the driving force behind the Ambazonia resistance and self defense agenda.

Both the Vice President and the Defense Secretary read from the same script echoing revenge for French Cameroun’s killing of Tangem Thomas and stating that Southern Cameroonians will also continue the sacred path of Tangem Thomas until they get to Buea.

The Ambazonia Defense Secretary observed that “avenging Tangem Thomas’s blood has turned into an ideal and the Ambazonia Interim Government will be pursuing the ideals”.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Didier Drogba enters race to be president of Ivory Coast football federation

5, August 2020

Didier Drogba enters race to be president of Ivory Coast football federation 0

CHELSEA legend Didier Drogba was mobbed by thousands of adoring fans as he submitted his candidacy to become president of Ivory Coast football.

The 42-year-old will compete with four other hopefuls for the position after launching his bid in the country’s economic capital Abidjan.

Didier Drogba was met by adoring crowds as he bid to become the new FA President in Ivory Coast
Didier Drogba was met by adoring crowds as he bid to become the new FA President in Ivory CoastCredit: AFP or licensors
Didier Drogba hopes to be voted president of football in Ivory Coast next month
Didier Drogba hopes to be voted president of football in Ivory Coast next monthCredit: AFP or licensors

The elections to be top chief at the Cote d’Ivoire Football Federation take place on September 5.

And the former striker hopes his achievements throughout his distinguished club career and with The Elephants will help him be voted in.

Indeed the surrounding streets were full of fans desperate to get a glimpse of their idol, carry banners and wearing T-shirts adorned with Drogba’s face.

However, despite his popularity with football fans in the country, he is still not certain to be on the ballot.

Drogba needs nominations from three of the 14 Ligue 1 clubs and two from the lower divisions.

The two-time African Football of the Year also must have the endorsement of any of five special interest groups of coaches, doctors, current and former players and referees, according to Reuters.

And his candidacy has already suffered a big blow after the Ivory Coast Footballers Association controversially did not support him.

Drogba said: “Football is everyone’s sport, football brings people together, football unites.

“We can see it today with all these people gathered in front of the headquarters of the Ivorian football federation.”

The Blues icon added: ”It’s no secret that our football is going badly, and that is why with my team we are committed to contributing to the rebirth of Ivorian football.

Drogba's car was mobbed by hundreds of fans
Drogba’s car was mobbed by hundreds of fansCredit: AFP or licensors
Screaming supporters even made banners for the legendary striker
Screaming supporters even made banners for the legendary strikerCredit: AFP or licensors
Southern Cameroons Crisis: VP Yerima urges unity to overcome French Cameroun

5, August 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: VP Yerima urges unity to overcome French Cameroun 0

The Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima has called for unity to overcome what he describes as “a scorch-the-earth policy” against the people of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

In a statement released following this week’s war cabinet meeting, Vice President Yerima offered on behalf of the leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe the Interim Government’s “deepest condolences” to the people of the Manyu County over the passing to eternity of football legend Tataw Eta Stephen and urged national unity among all Southern Cameroonians.

“The war in Southern Cameroons with its unprecedented repercussions is causing untold misery to our people and requires a national stand by all Ambazonian people and leaders to overcome this aggression” Yerima noted.

Yerima also hailed the Ambazonia diaspora for their support to the people in Ground Zero and expressed the Ambazonia Interim Government’s readiness to hold unity talks with other Southern Cameroons resistance groups.

By Isong Asu

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