Monthly Archives: July 2021

US: President Biden says Social media misinformation about Covid-19 is ‘killing people’

17, July 2021

US: President Biden says Social media misinformation about Covid-19 is ‘killing people’ 0

US President Joe Biden said Friday that social media misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccinations is “killing people” and the White House said Facebook needs to clean up its act.

“They’re killing people. The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people,” Biden told reporters at the White House, as he left for a weekend at the presidential retreat in Camp David.

The White House is turning up the pressure on social media companies to weed out what officials say is widely spread misinformation on coronavirus vaccinations.

According to US health officials, a current spike in Covid-19 deaths and illnesses around the country is almost exclusively hitting people who remain unvaccinated.

“There is a clear message that is coming through: this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky told reporters on Friday.

President Joe Biden said social media platforms ‘are killing people’ after the White House criticized Facebook for allowing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines to be posted on its platform

Many of those refusing vaccinations, despite the ease of availability throughout the United States, have said they do not trust the shots.

Skepticism is being fueled both by false posts spread by anti-vaccine activists online and by Republican politicians claiming the vaccinations are part of attempts at government control.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Facebook and others are not doing enough to push back.

“Everybody has a role to play in making sure there’s accurate information,” she said.

Psaki said the White House was taking a more active approach in calling out what it sees as misinformation but insisted that Facebook in particular should react more quickly in taking down problematic posts.

Prolific fake news posters 

“There’s about 12 people who are producing 65 percent of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. All of them remain active on Facebook, despite some even being banned on other platforms,” Psaki said, without identifying those dozen posters.

The White House has “proposed that they create a robust enforcement strategy that bridges their properties and provides transparency about the rules,” she said.

The turning up of the volume against fake news immediately drew accusations from right-wing media that Biden was installing a “Big Brother” type surveillance over citizens’ opinions.

Facebook, which has contracted an army of independent outside fact checkers, including from AFP, to try and clean up its content, pushed back at the White House claims.

“We will not be distracted by accusations which aren’t supported by the facts,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP.

“The fact is that more than two billion people have viewed authoritative information about Covid-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than any other place on the internet. More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our vaccine finder tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine. The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period.”

Earlier, Facebook said it was taking “aggressive action against misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines to protect public health,” and that it had removed “more than 18 million pieces of Covid misinformation,” and disabled accounts spreading false information.

The CDC reported more than 33,000 new cases in the United States on Thursday, bringing the seven-day average up to 26,306, a 70 percent rise on the week before.

The seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 2,790 per day, an increase of 36 percent. And after weeks of declines, the seven-day average of deaths was 211, an increase of 26 percent.

The spikes are focused in communities with low vaccination rates and “unvaccinated Americans account for virtually all recent Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths,” said Jeff Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator.

The new wave is driven by the Delta variant, which now accounts for more than 80 percent of new cases, according to the covSpectrum tracker.

Source: AFP

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya regime sees 2021 growth coming close to pre-pandemic Levels

17, July 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya regime sees 2021 growth coming close to pre-pandemic Levels 0

Cameroon expects its economy to rebound this year, with the growth rate coming close to pre-pandemic levels.

The government sees output expanding 3.4% in 2021, compared with 0.7% last year, Cameroonian Economy Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey said in an interview in Ivory Coast’s economic capital, Abidjan. The central African economy grew 3.7% in 2019.

As part of its 2030 strategy, Cameroon is focused on “the structural transformation of its economy toward industrialization, more integration, and growth that is more inclusive, sustainable and green,” he said.

The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has weighed on the country’s finances. President Paul Biya called for a 13% increase to proposed spending in the 2021 budget to 5.5 trillion CFA francs ($10 billion) as his administration seeks to pay down debt and respond to Covid-19. In a bid to cut costs, Cameroon also sold 685 million euros of 11-year securities last month to refinance more expensive debt issued in 2015.

Amid its fiscal challenges, an audit by Cameroon’s Supreme Court found there was corruption and mismanagement involving 180 billion CFA francs ($326 million) spent on the pandemic response in the period up to Dec. 30, according to court papers. The International Monetary Fund last year provided the country with $382 million of emergency funding to deal with the virus.

A parliament hearing scheduled to discuss the audit was canceled last month, as civil society and opposition groups asked for accountability. The IMF itself called for an independent audit before disbursing funding for a new program.

Mey declined to comment on the corruption probe.

Cocoa Control

Cameroon trails neighbors, Ghana and Ivory Coast, as the world’s fifth-biggest cocoa grower. The two countries, which account for nearly 70% of global production, have joined forces to secure a pay rise for their farmers by charging companies from Cargill Inc to Nestle SA a premium of $400 for every ton of the bean.

Alex Assanvo, the new executive secretary of Ivory Coast-Ghana Cocoa Initiative, said last month the organization could eventually open up to new members in a bid to exert more control over prices.

“Cameroon continues to develop partnerships to ensure that farmers are the main beneficiaries of this activity in terms of value chain integration and transformation,” Mey said in response to a question about plans to join the initiative. “When the time comes, Cameroon will make the right choice.”

Source: Bloomberg

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yaoundé says Amba fighters disguised as military kill, loot

17, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yaoundé says Amba fighters disguised as military kill, loot 0

Cameroonian officials say anglophone rebels are taking a new tack in their fight to break away from the country’s French-speaking-majority. Officials say the separatists have started disguising themselves as military troops to infiltrate villages and launch attacks.

In a video widely circulated on social media platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp, a group of 10 men armed with AK-94 assault rifles claim they are separatist fighters. The men, in civilian clothing, appear to brandish Cameroonian military uniforms, guns, ammunition and bulletproof vests they say they seized from Cameroon military. The men display a man’s head claiming it is that of a government soldier they killed and beheaded.

Cameroon’s military says the head displayed by the fighters as a trophy is that of one of its troops deployed to Babadjou, a French-speaking commercial town on the border with the English-speaking North-West region.

Awah Fonka, governor of Cameroon’s West region, where Babadjou is located, said more than 20 English-speaking separatists from Pinyin, a town in the North-West region, infiltrated the French-speaking West region Wednesday. He said the fighters attacked government troops and looted Babadjou shops.

Fonka said two government troops were killed by fighters disguised in Cameroonian military uniforms to fool the government troops.

Fonka visited Babadjou on Wednesday. He encouraged civilians who fled into the bush to return home.

Fonka said more government troops have been deployed to Babadjou and neighboring villages to find fighters hiding in the bush or among civilians.

The Cameroonian military warned both separatists and civilians against wearing military uniforms in a statement.

Separatists claim on social media they are in possession of several hundred Cameroonian military uniforms removed from the bodies of government troops they have killed. The fighters said some of the uniforms were seized from military camps they have attacked in the English-speaking western regions.

The military acknowledges that the fighters seized uniforms and military weapons from government troops but says the number of weapons and uniforms seized is low.

Peter Ngumulah, a 38-year-old college teacher, has been living in Babadjou for two years and says he fled fighting between government troops and separatists in the town of Bambili in the North-West region. Ngumulah says the government should increase the number of its troops in Babadjou.

“For heaven’s sake, how can just two soldiers be at the border [post between the West and North-West regions], knowing the sophisticated weapons the separatist fighters now possess?” he said. “Everything is going out of hand, and I pray the international community will step in and force both parties to sit at a roundtable for an unconditional dialogue.” Fonka said five troops were at the military control post at Babadjou when the fighters attacked. Three troops escaped, with one suffering injuries from the shooting. The military said he is responding to treatment in a hospital.

This is not the first time English-speaking separatists have infiltrated the French-speaking region. The fighters attacked the French-speaking village of Galim three times this year and killed at least seven government troops. The military said the rebels stole weapons and deployed additional forces to kill or arrest the fighters.

Cameroon’s separatists have been fighting since 2017 to create an independent English-speaking state in the majority French-speaking country’s western regions.

The conflict has cost more than 3,000 lives and forced 550,000 people to flee to French-speaking regions of Cameroon or into neighboring Nigeria, according to the United Nations

Source: VOA

Bafaw Royal Family Scandal: Ekoko Mukete’s claim disputed

16, July 2021

Bafaw Royal Family Scandal: Ekoko Mukete’s claim disputed 0

A new paramount leader of the Bafaws was named by the late Chief V.E.Mukete. The legendary West Cameroon politician handed over the throne to his son, Ekoko Mukete amid scenes of unreported chaos after members of the Bafaw royal family questioned Prince Ekoko Mukete’s claim to the title.

The controversy over who will be the next king of the Bafaws, a largely ceremonial role but one with great significance for English speaking Cameroonians in Meme Division arose after the death of Chief V.E. Mukete.

The late VE Mukete had apparently named one of his children, Ekoko Mukete as his successor in front of the then Bafaw traditional council. But events are now taking a dramatic U-turn as Prince Emmanuel Mukete Mukete recently released a video in which he disputed Ekoko Mukete’s claim throwing the Bafaw royal succession into turmoil.

Underneath the dispute is the fate of Bafaw royal assets, royalties paid by the Kumba City Council and the vast amounts of land traditionally owned by the Bafaws and now held by the VE Mukete children.

The Bafaw royal family has no political or even constitutional position, but their traditional authority is recognized in the entire Bafaw kingdom and even beyond.

In the coming days Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report will both be publishing a frank, candid and thoughtful key into understanding the Bafaw Royal Family and the emergence of Prince Emmanuel Mukete Mukete.

By Isong Asu and Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Hundreds missing in Germany after massive floods leave scores dead

16, July 2021

Hundreds missing in Germany after massive floods leave scores dead 0

German emergency responders were on Friday still searching for hundreds of missing people after the worst floods in living memory killed at least 81 in the country’s west.

“I fear that we will only see the full extent of the disaster in the coming days,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said from Washington, where she met with President Joe Biden.

Catching residents of several regions unaware and leaving destruction and despair in their wake, the masses of water were dubbed the “flood of death” by top-selling daily Bild.

Neighbouring Belgium counted at least nine dead, while Luxembourg and the Netherlands were also severely affected by the torrents of water, with thousands evacuated in the city of Maastricht.

But Germany’s toll was by far the highest at 81, and likely to rise with large numbers of people still missing in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, the hardest-hit states.

“It is a catastrophe. There are dead, missing and many are still in danger,” says Malu Dreyer, President of German state of Rheinland Pfalz, hit by devastating floods.

In the devastated Ahrweiler district of Rhineland-Palatinate around 1,300 people were unaccounted for, although local authorities told Bild the high number was likely down to damaged phone networks.

Regional interior minister Roger Lewentz told broadcaster SWR that “we believe there are still 40, 50 or 60 people missing, and when you haven’t heard for people for such a long time … you have to fear the worst.”

“The number of victims will likely keep rising in the coming days,” he added.

‘Disaster’

What’s more, continuing rain is forecast for parts of the west, where water levels in the Rhine river and its tributaries are rising dangerously.

Around 1,000 soldiers have been deployed to help with rescue operations and rubble-clearing in affected towns and villages.

Streets and houses under water, overturned cars and uprooted trees could be seen everywhere the floodwaters had passed, while some districts were cut off from the outside world.

In Ahrweiler several houses collapsed completely, leaving the impression the town had been struck by a tsunami.

At least 20 people had been confirmed dead in Euskirchen, one of the worst-hit towns just to the north.

Its normally spick and span centre had been turned into a heap of rubble, with house facades torn off by the rushing floods.

Adding to the town’s woes, a nearby dam remains at risk of giving way.

“My empathy and my heart go out to all of those who in this catastrophe lost their loved ones, or who are still worrying about the fate of people still missing,” Merkel told reporters in Washington.

She said her government would not leave those affected “alone with their suffering”, adding that it was doing its “utmost to help them in their distress”.

Pensioner Annemarie Mueller, 65, looking out at her flooded garden and garage from her balcony, said her town of Mayen had been completely unprepared for the destruction.

“Where did all this rain come from? It’s crazy,” she told AFP, recalling the floodwater crashing through her street during the night.

“It made such a loud noise and given how fast it came down, we thought it would break the door down.”

Four people are still missing in Belgium and the army has been sent to four of the country’s 10 provinces to help with rescue and evacuations.

With homes under water since Wednesday, people from resort town Spa were being put up in tents.

The swollen Meuse river “is going to look very dangerous for Liege”, a nearby city of 200,000 people, said Wallonia regional president Elio Di Rupo.

Climate change?

The storms have put climate change back at the centre of Germany’s election campaign ahead of a September 26 parliamentary poll marking the end of Merkel’s 16 years in power.

Germany “must prepare much better” in future, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said, adding that “this extreme weather is a consequence of climate change”.

Because a warmer atmosphere holds more water, climate change increases the risk and intensity of flooding from extreme rainfall.

In urban areas with poor drainage and buildings located in flood zones, the damage can be severe.

Political candidates were quick to open a bidding war on climate following the floods.

North Rhine-Westphalia premier Armin Laschet, the conservative running to succeed Merkel, called for “speeding up” global efforts to fight climate change, underlining the link between global warming and extreme weather.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Douala: Former Minister’s son killed

15, July 2021

Douala: Former Minister’s son killed 0

Fabien Haiwe Adoum, son of the former Minister of Sports and Physical Education Adouma Garoua was reportedly murdered by unknown gunmen at his residence in Douala.

The 20-year-old’s body was discovered on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 in a state of decomposition.

Fabien Haiwe Adoum’s relatives said he disappeared since last week and was found following a very strong and unpleasant smell that rocked the entire neighborhood.

Alerted following this macabre discovery, the fire department removed the corpse to one of the Douala mortuaries and an investigation was opened to clarify the cause and circumstances of this death.

Fabien Haiwe Adoum recently completed his studies at the Saint Jerome Catholic University in Douala defending his thesis less than two weeks ago and obtained a degree in engineering in front of his dad Adouma Garoua.

By John Shufai

The reporter is not a staff with Cameroon Concord News Group

WHO warns of ‘dangerous’ variants as Covid cases rise globally

15, July 2021

WHO warns of ‘dangerous’ variants as Covid cases rise globally 0

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday that “more dangerous” variants of Covid-19 could tear across the world as global infections soared to half a million daily, largely driven by the virulent Delta strain.

An AFP tally of official sources found that after an initial dip, cases have been rising again worldwide since the end of June, topping 540,000 on Tuesday and again on Wednesday.

“The pandemic is nowhere near finished,” the WHO’s emergency committee said in a statement.

It highlighted “the strong likelihood for the emergence and global spread of new and possibly more dangerous variants of concern that may be even more challenging to control”.

The virus has reappeared in places long believed to have dodged the worst of the pandemic, with Australia — lauded for its successful “Covid zero” strategy — facing a resurgence that has grown to almost 1,000 cases nationwide in a month.

About 12 million Australians went under stay-at-home orders in the country’s second biggest city Melbourne, joining residents in Sydney.

State premier Dan Andrews said he took the decision to return the city — and surrounding Victoria — to its fifth lockdown “with a heavy heart”.

“Nothing about this virus is fair,” he said.

– Sports events headache –

The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc from Asia to Africa, killing more than four million people since it first emerged in China in December 2019.

In Tokyo — now just over a week away from the opening ceremony of the virus-postponed Olympics — local authorities recorded 1,308 new cases, the highest number since January.

Organisers confirmed that an athlete in Japan and five Olympic workers, mostly contractors, had tested positive for Covid-19.

This came after eight staff at a hotel hosting Brazil’s Olympic judo team tested positive, and a staff member from Russia’s rugby sevens team was hospitalised after a positive test.

Covid-19 is posing a unique challenge for organisers of sports events.

Three members of the McLaren Formula One team tested positive, including chief executive officer Zak Brown, the British outfit announced Thursday, ahead of the British GP in Silverstone.

And India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant tested positive as the squad prepared for a Test series in England.

– Africa deaths surge –

Countries where healthcare infrastructure — and vaccine rollout capabilities — remain limited are under particular pressure, with Rwanda set to put the capital Kigali and eight other districts under lockdown from Saturday.

The East African nation had previously avoided the worst of the pandemic by enforcing some of the strictest containment measures on the continent.

But hospitals have been overwhelmed in recent weeks, with a critical shortage of beds and medicines.

Overall, coronavirus-linked deaths in Africa surged by 43 percent in the space of week, driven by a lack of intensive-care beds and oxygen, the WHO said Thursday.

– Covid-origin probe –

In Asia, Indonesia Thursday posted a record 56,757 daily infections as the world’s fourth-most populous nation overtook India as the region’s Covid-19 epicentre.

The China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said it was loaning the Southeast Asian nation $500 million to boost its response.

Vaccine doses are flowing into the hard-hit country by the millions, including from Japan and the United States, while Jakarta on Thursday approved the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for emergency use.

Also facing chronic shortages of medical supplies is Myanmar, where residents across the coup-hit country’s biggest city of Yangon defied a military curfew in a desperate search for oxygen to keep their loved ones with Covid breathing.

Residents told AFP they had slipped out in the dead of night to secure spots in lines to refill oxygen cylinders — dismissing claims from the country’s military rulers that there is more than enough to go around.

As the virus shows no sign of easing, the WHO is working towards the second phase of an investigation into where Covid-19 originated, and urged China on Thursday to better cooperate.

Source:  AFP

Muna family: How the ruling CPDM crime syndicate is destroying the rich legacy

15, July 2021

Muna family: How the ruling CPDM crime syndicate is destroying the rich legacy 0

An Ordinary General Assembly, Board Meeting and Shareholder’s meeting of Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic (DMMC) Bonanjo, Douala billed for today Tuesday, July 13, 2021, failed to take place.

According to dependable sources, the meeting was suspended after  Ama Tutu Muna and George Muna seized the Court of First Instance Bonanjo to challenge the convening of the meeting citing irregularities.

While the subject of the July 13 meeting read, “Invitation to Board of Directors Meeting”, the body of the document suggests that it was indeed convening three kinds of meetings – a Board of Directors meeting, a Shareholders meeting, and an ordinary general assembly meeting.

Legal experts say it remains unimaginable that three distinct meetings are convened at the same venue and time with the same audience and a confusing agenda, given that not all board members are shareholders.

The Ohada Uniform Act provides that for a General Assembly to be legally convened, the notice of the meeting should be sent to the shareholders 15 days before the date meeting. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic, Dr. Eninwi Mawan Muna signed the invitation to the July 13 meeting on June 29, 2021 – only 14 days before the meeting.

The invitation to the Board of Directors meeting rather carried an agenda for a general assembly. Legal experts say the situation is irregular.

Participants convened included: Succession Solomon Tandeng Muna (shareholding members), Succession Daniel Muna (shareholding member), succession Bernard Acho Muna (shareholding member), Succession Humphrey Mamncho Muna (shareholding member) Succession Walinjom F.T. Muna (shareholding member), Mr. George Fombi Muna (shareholding member), Barrister Akere Tabeng Muna (shareholding member), Dr. Eninwi Mawan Muna (member), Mr. Fred Tabeng Muna (member), Mr. Koul A Well (External Auditor), Dr. Dopgima Fofung (General Manager – DMMC), and Dr. Dicmu Lawrence (Assistant General Manager  – DMMC).

Given that Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic, S.A is a family business, the exclusion of Minister Ama Tutu Muna and the successor of late Edwin Muna is seen as an irregularity.

Chembifon Diboue Muna, son of late Edwin Muna says Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic S.A. is owned by eight families.

“So, for many years, it was working okay. But when Daniel Muna passed, it was okay because the Muna brothers were managing. For the past five years. We have had five members who are deceased. But they have their administrators, their children who are around. And we have three active members who are alive – George Muna, Ama Muna, and Akere Muna,” said Chembifon Diboue Muna. But what is happening is that each time we call for a board meeting, as you can see today, we had a board meeting and Akere Muna did not show up. So Akere Muna doesn’t come to no board meeting and is manipulating things from the back…There are many things he is doing from the back.”

Diboue Muna says that they feel cheated in the sharing of dividends from DMMC.

“Five estates feel they are cheated. They do not have their dividends. We have asked for records, we have asked for financial records…Are we making a profit or loss? I represent my father, he is a shareholder. Am I entitled to a dividend or not? We have asked for those documents. George Muna asked for records and the management said they don’t have records on instructions from Akere Muna,” he said.

‘Muna children are not fighting’

George Muna, son of late Rt. Hon. S.T. Muna says contrary to public opinion, the Muna children are not fighting and have no family problem.

“…We are only saying that we want to know how the clinic is run and to have access to certain documents,” said George Muna.

“We came for a Board Meeting but we asked that it be canceled until we have those documents.  If we are going to a Board of Directors meeting, we should have documents prepared for the meeting…Last board meeting, we asked for those documents but we were not given,” George Muna added.

On July 6, 2021, Barrister Achu Julius, counsel for Ama Tutu Muna and George Muna “who are shareholders of the Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic S.A.” wrote to the Board Chair of the company requesting documents prior to the July 13 meeting. The request that had a 24-hour deadline went unheeded.

Ama Muna, George Muna seize the court

Aside from challenging the convening of the meeting, Ama Muna and George Muna prayed the court to declare subsequent resolutions of the said meeting null and void.

The matter came up at 10am this Tuesday at the Bonanjo Magistrate’s Court. Given that it was an urgent application, the matter was adjourned to midday. At midday, the lawyer for the Clinic told the court that the said meeting convened by Dr. Eninwi Mawan Muna had been suspended because the matter was in court.

The convener of the meeting who sits as Board Chairman had decided to wait for the verdict from the court causing the meeting not to hold.

After listening to the lawyer to Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic who failed to present any written justification, the court decided on its own volition to visit the venue of the meeting to verify the facts that the meeting did not hold.

The matter was adjourned to 2.30pm, time enough for the court to visit the venue of the meeting under contention.  At the Head Office of Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic, the court got confirmation from the Board Chairman, Dr. Eninwi Mawan Muna that the meeting did not hold.

When the matter resumed in court at 2:30pm, the court decided that the application for suspension of the meeting was no longer necessary because the company itself had suspended the meeting. The court however ordered that the Board Chairman of Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic should serve all the parties with all the company documents before the convening of the next meeting.

Culled from Cameroon Info.Net

WTO convenes trade ministers to net fisheries deal

15, July 2021

WTO convenes trade ministers to net fisheries deal 0

The World Trade Organization kicked off a ministerial meeting Thursday aimed at breathing life into drawn-out negotiations towards banning subsidies that favour overfishing, but numerous sticking points remain.

Before the meeting, WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala voiced cautious optimism that trade ministers from the organisation’s 164 member states could finally move towards clinching a “historic” agreement after 20 years of negotiations.

“While no one expects a miracle, the meeting represents a golden opportunity to bring the negotiations within striking distance of a deal,” she said in an editorial published Wednesday in Project Syndicate.

“A failure to do so would jeopardise the ocean’s biodiversity and the sustainability of the fish stocks on which so many depend for food and income.”

The talks aim to ban subsidies that contribute to illegal and unregulated fishing, as well as to overfishing, threatening the sustainability of fish stocks and the industry.

While fishing should in theory be held in check by the environment, with low fish stocks pushing up costs, subsidies can keep unprofitable fleets at sea.

It is widely agreed that action is needed to protect a crucial resource that millions of people depend on for their livelihoods.

In 2017, the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that one third of global fish stocks were overfished.

Global fisheries subsidies are meanwhile estimated at between $14 billion and $54 billion a year, according to the WTO.

But two decades of negotiations have stumbled over a range of issues, including a UN demand that developing countries and the poorest nations receive special treatment.

After missing the last UN deadline to reach an agreement by December 2020, talks have intensified in recent months however.

– ‘Historic’ –

Okonjo-Iweala, who took the reins of the global trade body in March, has made clinching the long-awaited fisheries deal by the end of this year a priority.

Thursday’s meeting, which is taking place virtually due to Covid restrictions, is focusing on a draft text presented in May by Colombian ambassador Santiago Wills, who chairs the WTO fisheries subsidies negotiations.

Okonjo-Iweala voiced optimism that “marathon discussions” on the text, which according to Wills proposes “compromise language” in a range of areas, would succeed.

“We are on the cusp of forging an agreement at the WTO that is historic in more ways than one,” she said, stressing that a deal would also show that “members can come together and act on issues of the global commons.”

Reaching any kind of an agreement at the WTO can be hard, because all decisions require a consensus among all member states.

But observers said there had been a clear boost in momentum towards finding a deal.

“We have never had more political attention on the issue, (nor) the degree of political attention from a director general, and the degree of commitment from WTO members to really advanced this text,” Alice Tipping of the International Institute for Sustainable Development told reporters in Geneva.

– Special treatment? –

But a number of sticking points remain and NGOs warn against rushing to the finish line at any cost.

“It’s critical that WTO members do not sacrifice environmental outcomes for the sake of speed when negotiating a fisheries subsidies agreement,” Isabel Jarrett of The Pew Charitable Trusts told AFP.

One of the main stumbling blocks has been a UN demand that developing countries and the poorest nations receive so-called special and differential treatment, or SDT.

While special treatment for the poorest countries is widely accepted, demands from some self-identified developing countries to be exempt from subsidy constraints has proved difficult to swallow.

Many of the major fishing nations are considered developing countries by WTO, including China, which has one of the world’s biggest fishing fleets.

An EU official told reporters this week that a declaration from China that it was prepared to assume “full commitments without claiming SDT” would be “very helpful” to the talks.

There is also disagreement over how broad the fisheries deal should be.

There appears to be consensus around excluding fish-farming and continental fishing from subsidy constraints.

But some developing countries are calling for fuel subsidies, including through tax deduction schemes like those widely used in the EU, to be included in the deal — something the bloc flatly rejects.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Gendarmes beheaded in Amba attack

15, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Gendarmes beheaded in Amba attack 0

Two gendarmes in Cameroon were killed and then beheaded overnight in an attack by secessionists, an official says.

The bodies were found on Wednesday morning in Babadjou, a town which borders Cameroon’s North-West region – one of two areas where fighters are seeking to break away.

Gisèle Tsangue, the mayor of Babadjou, said it was an attack by separatists on a checkpoint and a third officer was missing.

The UN estimates that at least 3,500 people have been killed in the English-speaking regions of North-West and South-West Cameroon since the secessionist conflict began in late 2016.

Anglophone activists say the country’s French-speaking majority is marginalising the English-speaking minority.

 Source: BBC news

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