Monthly Archives: November 2020

4, November 2020

Bundes Liga: Boateng eager to extend Bayern deal ⁰

Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng wants to start contract extension talks with the European champions his agent said on Wednesday amid uncertainty surrounding the future of fellow centre-back David Alaba.

Boateng, 32, a 2014 World Cup winner, is out of contract in June.

“We are open to contract talks and would be delighted to have them with Bayern,” Boateng’s representative Damir Smoljan told Sport1.

“Jerome feels unbelievably well here and the team is incredibly focused and professional.”

Boateng joined Bayern in 2011 and has won eight Bundesliga titles.

He was also a key member of the Bayern team which won Champions League titles in 2013 and last August.

The timing of his agent’s comments come days after Bayern revealed a stalemate with Alaba, 28, who also has only seven months left on his current deal.

Boateng also underlined his form on Tuesday with his first Champions League goal for five years before saying the Bavarian squad are all behind Alaba.

Along with fellow stars Mats Hummels and Thomas Mueller, Boateng was told in March 2019 by Germany coach Joachim Loew his international career was over.

However, the trio’s current form has led to calls to reinstate them for next June’s postponed Euro 2020.

Bayern coach Hansi Flick said senior club bosses “are all glad” to see Boateng in such eye-catching form.

Flick praised Boateng’s “very good” performance in Salzburg as his goal “paved the way” to victory.

Bayern lost Thiago Alcantara to Liverpool in September and Alaba, who has reportedly demanded a huge pay rise, looks set to leave in the coming months.

The league leaders have made no secret, like all top-flight clubs in Germany, their finances have been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Players have to become more understanding. We have insane financial losses and haven’t had a spectator in the stadium for eight months,” chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Sport Bild.

AFP

4, November 2020

Race for the White House: Biden ahead of Trump in electoral votes, but seven states still too close to call ⁰

Joe Biden leads US President Donald Trump in electoral votes yet both still have a chance to reach the magic number of 270 – and with it the keys to the White House. Several states are still to play for, with votes still being counted.

Seven states still undecided: Biden leads in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, Trump in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.

The election is likely to hinge on postal votes, which are still being counted.

Trump has predicted a “big win”, claiming – without evidence – that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election.

Biden has called for patience, saying he is “on track” to win the White House race.

America set for its highest voter turnout in over a century, with more than 100 million votes cast before Election Day.

4, November 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Gunmen attack Kulu Memorial College in Limbe ⁰

Armed men, believed to be Amba fighters, today (November 4, 2020) attacked Kulu Memorial College in the Mile Four district in Limbe.

Two classrooms were set on fire while valuables worth thousands of dollars were destroyed. Cameroon Concord News leant that the attackers stormed the school, and then directed all students and teachers to strip naked and struck them with their sticks.

A police source in Limbe has been quoted as saying that the assailants also shot and destroyed the windscreen of cars parked opposite the school premise. One fired at the window of the principal’s office and destroyed a television set.

No Ambazonia group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

By Kinsley Betek

4, November 2020

Happening Now: Trump prematurely claims election victory, Biden says he is “on track” to win the White House ⁰

US President Donald Trump leads Democratic rival Joe Biden in the vital battleground of Florida and other US swing states, but Biden has pinned his hopes on Arizona and a trio of Rust Belt states that could take days to count their votes.

Trump is projected to win the key battleground state of Florida after significantly outperforming pollsters’ predictions

Biden leads in Arizona and is locked in a close race in other key states

The election is likely to hinge on results in Pennsylvania and other “Rust Belt” states, where vote counting is expected to stretch for hours or days

Trump has predicted a “big win”, claiming – without evidence – that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election

Biden has called for patience, saying he is “on track” to win the White House race

America looked set for its highest voter turnout in over a century, with more than 100 million votes cast before Election Day

Reported By France 24

4, November 2020

US: Democrats gather in Biden’s home town ahead of speech ⁰

Supporters of White House hopeful Joe Biden began gathering nervously late Tuesday for an election night event like no other.

Shortly after 10:00 PM (0200 GMT Wednesday), a trickle of cars started to arrive for a socially distanced drive-in in the parking lot of the Chase Center in the Democrat’s hometown.

Some 200 to 300 cars are expected for the event, where Biden and running mate Kamala Harris — joined by their spouses Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff — will address supporters from an outdoor stage.

With early projected results inconclusive, arrivals in the parking lot were slow. When people did arrive, they stood around anxiously watching results come in on giant screens.

Among the first to get there was 37-year-old Rossana Arteaga-Lorenza, who came with her young son. She had Biden-Harris stickers on her car and US flags hanging out of the window.

“I’m excited to be here,” she told AFP, through the window of the driver’s seat.

“If Joe Biden becomes president, I will be extremely happy. We are hopeful for a better future for our country.”

Drive-in rallies were a feature of the 77-year-old Biden’s campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic. Red, white and blue traffic cones with “Biden-Harris” emblazoned on them kept the vehicles six feet apart.

Biden supporter Thomas Hansen, 32, said he was cautiously optimistic about the night ahead.

“I’m hesitant to get excited about it, but I think it’s going well, especially by the number of people who voted early,” he told AFP.

Hansen said he was tired of the drama surrounding Trump’s presidency and wanted some “normalcy.”

“I think it should be boring most of the time in the White House,” he added. “If it isn’t, then you’re kind of doing something wrong.”

– Childhood home –

With early results suggesting a close race, it promised to be a long night. Hansen’s sister, Virginia Hansen, said she feared it could be days before a winner is confirmed.

“I’m withholding any hope for now,” said the 30-year-old.

Biden had started the day by visiting St. Joseph on the Brandywine, a Catholic church in his affluent Wilmington neighborhood.

He stopped at the cemetery where his first wife and daughter — and his son Beau — are buried.

Biden then visited his childhood home in the industrial town of Scranton in Pennsylvania, signing his name on the living room wall for good luck.

“From this House to the White House with the Grace of God,” Biden wrote, adding his name and the date: “11-3-2020.”

He stopped in Philadelphia before heading home to Wilmington, where he will watch the results before his event.

Source: AFP

3, November 2020

Criminalization of Politics: CPDM barons join SDF to welcome Fru Ndi, mourn Mbah Ndam, Francis Sama ⁰

An ecumenical service in honor of some frontline leaders of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, took place in Yaoundé on Sunday, November 1, 2020.

The ceremony in memory of Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam, Batonnier Francis Sama, Mayor Balick Awah, and Barrister Manga Moussole was held at the Nkolfoulou residence of SDF National Chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi.

The occasion had an impressive presence of cabinet ministers of the Biya Francophone regime including chartered members of the ruling CPDM-SDF-National Salvation Front consortium of crime syndicates.

The CPDM gang included Grégoire Owona, Minister of Labor & Social Security and Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the CPDM; Ibrahim Talba Malla, Minister of Public Contracts and National Organizing Secretary of the CPDM; Balungeli Confiance Ebune, Director Of The Prime Minister’s Cabinet; Hon. Jean-Bernard Ndongo Essomba, CPDM Parliamentary Group Leader; Hon. Muyali Boya Mary epse Meboka, MP for Bakassi-Mundemba who also moonlights as Vice-President of the CPDM Parliamentary Group; and Ngally Ngoua Pierre Henri, CPDM Senator for Ocean Division in the South Region.

Also, present were Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Minister of Employment & Vocational Training and President of the National Salvation Front party and Jean de Dieu Momo, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Justice & Keeper of Seals and President of the PADDEC political party (Les Patriotes Démocrates pour le Développement du Cameroun).

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

3, November 2020

White House barricaded over fears of unrest ⁰

A temporary wall has been erected around the White House perimeter as law enforcement agencies prepare in advance for potential unrest and violence on Election Day.

Media reported a non-scalable “anti-climb” fence, made from a welded wire mesh that is impossible to climb and very difficult to cut, installed around the White House on Monday.

Additional fencing already had been erected around Lafayette Square, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, the location of protests over racial equality in June following the police-killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of the handcuffed former bouncer for nearly nine minutes during an arrest.

The new fencing was among other measures being taken in Washington, DC, and other cities ahead of expected protests.

Meanwhile, fears of possible unrest on Election Night and beyond prompted many businesses and shops to board up doors and windows.

Workers put up plywood on November 2, 2020, boarding up buildings as they make plans for potential civil unrest during the US presidential race for the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

In anticipation of violence, in New York City, the Empire State Building, the Macy’s department store, and the skyscraper that houses the Trump-favored Fox News channel were all boarded up.

On Rodeo Drive, one of the most expensive shopping streets in California’s Beverley Hills, staff stripped the display windows at Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels of their jewels.

“Hopefully this is all for nothing,” Kathy Gohari, vice president of the Rodeo Drive Committee, the merchants association, said on Monday as she watched workers nail plywood over luxury storefronts.

However, in New York City’s Times Square in recent days ardent Republican Trump supporters and Democrats, as well as adherents of the anti-fascism movement known as ANTIFA, have been clashing with one another.

US President Donald Trump has warned that he expected an unprecedented level of cheating and violence in the course of the 2020 presidential election.

“[C]heating can happen like you have never seen,” Trump told a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Monday. US Supreme Court ruling will ‘induce violence,’ Trump warns ahead of Election Day

In a Monday night tweet, Trump criticized the US Supreme Court’s decision to allow officials in Pennsylvania and North Carolina to continue accepting and counting mail-in ballots for a few days after Election Day, saying the court ruling will “induce violence in the streets.”

Trump’s prediction or threat of violence has increased anxieties about the potential for violence in a polarized nation engaged in a bitter and divisive race to send their favored presidential candidate to the White House.

Trump reportedly plans to declare a premature victory if he is “ahead” on Tuesday night, despite uncounted ballots.

The incumbent has highlighted massive voter fraud in this year’s election, downplaying the chances of a peaceful transition to his probable successor.

Thousands of US troops have been put on stand-by for rapid deployment in case of violence.

Source: Presstv

3, November 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: School children, teachers kidnapped in Kumbo ⁰

Armed men burst into a Presbyterian school in Kumbo in the Bui County on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that some students, teachers and administrative staff were taken at gunpoint to an unknown destination.

A source at the SDO’s office in Kumbo hinted Camcordnews that some of the students were later on released. However, eleven people including teachers and administrative staff are still being held by the gunmen.

Thus, for the umpteenth time, a school environment was targeted as the war of independence which has paralyzed life in Southern Cameroons for the past four years continues.

This kidnapping comes just nine days after the deadly attack on a school in Kumba in the Meme County.

By Fon Lawrence

3, November 2020

French Cameroun: 9 injured in artisanal bomb blast in Yaoundé ⁰

Nine people were injured on Sunday in the blast of an artisanal bomb in a Yaoundé bar, the government announced on Monday.

It was the fourth in a series of attacks of this kind in less than five months in the Cameroonian capital.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack. In a press release published 24 hours after the explosion, the Communication ministry did not mention any potential suspect.

Cameroon has been the scene of a bloody conflict between security forces and separatist rebels in the country’s western English-speaking areas. In the north, many deadly attacks have been led by the jihadist group Boko Haram.

The “improvised explosive engine, hidden in a bag” was activated “remotely” with a homemade device “made with a motor battery, a memory card and electric wires”, the ministry added.

The attack happened on Sunday evening in a snack bar in the Nsam area, in central Yaoundé.

Nine clients of the bar were wounded, the ministry’s press release said, adding that none had life-threatening injuries. “Some of the injured left the hospital that same night”, a police officer told the AFP.

A hospital source told the AFP that two women were among the victims, one of which was released early, while the other is still resting at the hospital.

This is the fourth bomb placed in Yaoundé in just over five months. In July, four people were injured when a bomb went off and two other relatively minor attacks were reported in June.

The capital has so far been shielded from the two bloody conflicts affecting Cameroon.

In the North-west and the South-west, the clashes opposing separatists and the army, which has been ongoing for three years, has already caused 3,000 deaths and forced 700,000 people to flee their homes.

In the north, jihadist group Boko Haram terrorises locals. The group was founded in Nigeria and is now active in neighbouring countries Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Source: Africa News

3, November 2020

Football: Diego Maradona admitted to hospital in Argentina ⁰

Former Argentina legend Diego Maradona has been hospitalized due to poor health conditions.

Maradona was reportedly taken to a clinic in La Plata to undergo tests. His hospitalization was not related to the coronavirus pandemic, as he had tested negative in recent days.

He will be held under observation for at least three days. The specific details of his ailment was not revealed.

The 1986 World Cup winner who celebrated his 60th birthday last week has suffered frequent periods in hospital over the years mainly due to drug and alcohol abuse and poor health.