Monthly Archives: March 2022

Iran says puts new military satellite in orbit

8, March 2022

Iran says puts new military satellite in orbit 0

Iran announced Tuesday it had successfully placed a military satellite in orbit, as talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers reach a critical stage.

“Iran’s second military satellite — named Nour-2 — has been launched into space by the Qassed rocket of the aerospace wing of the Revolutionary Guards and successfully placed in orbit 500 kilometres (310 miles) above the Earth,” the official IRNA news agency reported.

The Revolutionary Guards described the Nour-2 as a “reconnaissance satellite” in a statement on their Sepah News website.

Iran successfully put its first military satellite into orbit in April 2020, drawing a sharp rebuke from Washington.

Sepah News said Tuesday that the Nour-1 was “still fully operational and transmitting data”.

The United States has repeatedly voiced concern that such launches could boost Iran’s ballistic missile technology.

But Iran insists it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its satellite and rocket launches are for civil or defensive purposes only.

At the end of December, Iran announced it had failed to put in orbit “three research cargos” carried by Simorgh (Phoenix) satellite carrier as the rocket was unable to reach the required speed.

In January, Iran tested a solid-fuel rocket for its satellite programme, state media reported.

Major powers involved in talks on bringing Washington back into the Iran nuclear deal after then president Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal have said that an agreement is close.

Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog said Saturday they had agreed an approach for resolving key outstanding issues but new Russian demands stemming from the Ukraine conflict may delay a deal.

Source: AFP

Russia’s war in Ukraine: Latest developments

8, March 2022

Russia’s war in Ukraine: Latest developments 0

Here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Evacuations begin

Ukraine begins evacuating civilians from the northeastern city of Sumy under a deal with Moscow to set up humanitarian corridors out of cities besieged by Russian forces.

Dozens of buses ferry the evacuees to the city of Lokhvytsya, around 150 kilometres to the southwest in Ukrainian-held territory.

Kyiv had rejected a previous proposal to evacuate Ukrainians to Russia as a publicity stunt.

Ceasefire

Moscow announces a ceasefire in the five cities worst-hit by the fighting: Chernihiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Sumy.

Previous such cessations of fire collapsed at the weekend, with both sides trading blame.

21 killed in Sumy

At least 21 people, including two children, were killed in air strikes on Sumy on Monday night, hours before the evacuations began.

Thousands attempt to board packed trains out of Odessa, Ukraine’s main port which is also bracing for attack.

People to rush to board trains out of the Ukrainian port of Odessa, which is bracing for attack

People to rush to board trains out of the Ukrainian port of Odessa, which is bracing for attack BULENT KILIC AFP

Two million refugees

The UN says the number of people fleeing the war now tops two million.

Poland alone has received 1.2 million people.

Zelensky slams unkept ‘promises’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounces what he calls unkept “promises” by the West to help protect Ukraine.

“It’s been 13 days we’ve been hearing promises, 13 days we’ve been told we’ll be helped in the air, that there will be planes, that they will be delivered to us,” he complains.

China’s Xi urges restraint

Chinese President Xi Jinping urges “maximum restraint” over Ukraine but stops short of condemning the Russian invasion in a video summit with the leaders of France and Germany.

‘Call Russia’

A group of Lithuanians launch a bid to get Russians abroad to call 40 million of their compatriots and tell them what is happening in Ukraine.

Russia has severely restricted reporting of the war on its territory.

Shell quits Russia

Energy giant Shell says it will stop purchasing Russian crude oil and shut down its operations in the country.

 Russian designer cancelled

Russian designer Valentin Yudashkin, who designed the Russian army’s uniforms, has his show at Paris Fashion Week cancelled for his failure to condemn the war.

World Bank cash for Ukraine

The World Bank approves an additional $489-million package for Ukraine, to be made available immediately.

Foreign footballers can leave Russia

Foreign footballers and coaches working in Russia and Ukraine will be allowed to temporarily suspend their contracts and move elsewhere, FIFA announces.

Source: AFP

After a very long wait, new U.S. Ambassador to Yaoundé arrives to take up post

8, March 2022

After a very long wait, new U.S. Ambassador to Yaoundé arrives to take up post 0

Ambassador Christopher John Lamora is finally in Yaoundé almost two years after the departure of his predecessor Peter Henry Barlerin.

Hon. Barlerin took over from Micheal Stephen Hoza just three months after he was accredited to Cameroon. In contrast, Christopher John Lamora landed in Cameroon nearly two years after the departure of Peter Henry Barlerin.

Cameroon Concord News senior political man in the United Kingdom Nelson A. Agbor opined that this is unprecedented in the history of diplomatic relations between Yaoundé and Washington. The reasons for this long wait have not been disclosed.

Proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden since April 2021, the 52-year-old diplomat was sworn in last February 11 in Washington. As diplomatic ritual dictates, he will also go to the Unity Palace in Yaoundé to present his credentials to the 89-year-old President Paul Biya.

Christopher John Lamora is returning to a country he knows well, having served as U.S. Consul General in Douala, the economic metropolis. He also served as Deputy Chargé de Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Ghana before being promoted to the rank of Ambassador.

By Rita Akana

French Cameroun Leadership Crisis: Biya gives green light for Cup finals after eight months of waiting

8, March 2022

French Cameroun Leadership Crisis: Biya gives green light for Cup finals after eight months of waiting 0

PWD of Bamenda and Astres of Douala are now poised to move to Yaoundé to stage the finals of the Cup of Cameroon.

The 89-year-old French Cameroun dictator Paul Biya reportedly rubber-stamped the choice of the venue and the presiding CPDM official.

The finals will hold at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaoundé, and will be presided over by Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.

After eight months of waiting, the Cameroon Cup finals will be played on Sunday, March 13, 2022 following a correspondence from the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh to the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi.

Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh stated “I have the honor to inform you that the President of the Republic has given his high approval for the holding of the 2020-2021 edition of the final of the Cameroon Football Cup on Sunday, March 13, 2022 from 15H at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Sports Stadium in Yaoundé.”

By Rita Akana

Russia announces opening of several humanitarian corridors in Ukraine

7, March 2022

Russia announces opening of several humanitarian corridors in Ukraine 0

The Russian army announced Monday that it would open several humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. Russian forces pummelled Ukrainian cities from the air, land and sea, with warnings they were preparing for an assault on the capital Kyiv, as terrified civilians failed for a second day to escape besieged Mariupol.

A civilian disaster is growing in Ukraine as attempts to evacuate residents of besieged port city Mariupol failed for a second consecutive day.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday that Russian forces are preparing to bombard Odessa, the historic port city on the Black Sea coast.

More than a million refugees have crossed the border from Ukraine into Poland since Russian troops invaded on February 24, Polish border guards said on Sunday. The UN said earlier on Sunday that more than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries since the Russian invasion.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday to declare a ceasefire in Ukraine, open humanitarian corridors and sign a peace agreement, his office said.

The United States is considering sending planes to Poland if Warsaw decided to send fighter jets to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Zelensky said on Sunday he spoke by phone with his US counterpart Joe Biden to discuss financial support and sanctions against Russia.

Delegations from Kyiv and Moscow are set to hold a third round of negotiations on Monday.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Monday on the humanitarian crisis triggered in Ukraine by the Russian invasion and discuss a possible draft resolution.

Washington has seen “very credible reports” that Russia has committed war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine, particularly in attacking civilians, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.

Reported by France 24

Burkina Faso’s junta appoints interim government

7, March 2022

Burkina Faso’s junta appoints interim government 0

Burkina Faso’s interim president, Paul-Henri Damiba, has approved a new government, retaining the defense minister who served in the Roch Kabore government before his ouster in a January coup.

Damiba was sworn in on Wednesday as the transitional president for three years, almost two months after spearheading a coup against Kabore.

According to an official decree, the 25-member new cabinet includes General Barthelemy Simpore, the former defense minister, who has surprisingly retained his position.

The appointment of economist Albert Ouedraogo as the West African nation’s transitional prime minister was announced on Thursday.

Burkina Faso’s military coup was the fourth in West Africa in less than two years, following two in Mali and one in Guinea, reaffirming the region’s reputation as the ‘coup belt.’

Last week, the country adopted a transitional charter that would allow the junta to lead a three-year transition period.

A “national forum” of political parties, trade unions, and grassroots groups approved the charter after a day-long debate in the capital, Ouagadougou.

The charter was later signed by junta leader, Lieutenant Colonel Henri-Paul Damiba, last Tuesday.

Damiba has had first-hand experience of the insurgency by Takfiri terrorists.

He was commander of the 3rd Military Region, before seizing power, which covers eastern Burkina Faso – one of the worst-hit areas.

A military official, speaking after the coup, described Damiba as “a tough commander who has been on the front line with his men”.

In late January, Burkina Faso was suspended from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) to pressure the country to return to constitutional order.

Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been under relentless attack from Takfiri groups linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh that seek control of its natural resources.

Sources

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone governor urges civilians not to flee after Amba bomb Kills 7

6, March 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone governor urges civilians not to flee after Amba bomb Kills 7 0

Cameroon has sent military and senior civilian officials to ask residents not to flee from Ekondo Titi, an English-speaking western town where anglophone separatists this week killed seven people, including the most senior administrative official, the mayor and traditional ruler. The government says hundreds of civilians are fleeing to safer locations.

In a video, armed men identifying themselves as Ndian warriors brandish assault rifles and pledge total allegiance to what they say is their fight for the independence of Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions.

In the video, widely circulated on social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp, they display two assault rifles, an undisclosed amount of money and Cameroonian military uniforms.

They say the rifles, money and uniforms belonged to Cameroonian military and government officials they killed Wednesday in Ekondo Titi — a district in Ndian, an administrative unit in Cameroon’s English-speaking South-West region.

The main speaker in the video claims to be field marshal of anglophone separatists. He says fighters are developing a new modus operandi in their battle to achieve independence for Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions.

He says besides eliminating government troops, fighters have decided to target and kill all civilian workers representing Cameroon’s central government in the English-speaking western regions. He says those posted by the central government in Yaoundé should resign or refuse to work in English-speaking towns and villages.

Cameroon’s military said the video is that of fighters who killed seven people and government troops in Ekondo Titi this week.

A government release read Friday on Cameroon state radio, CRTV, said Paul Timothee Aboloa, highest government official and representative of President Paul Biya in Ekondo Titi, was among the officials killed by fighters.

The release said Nanji Kenneth, mayor of Ekondo Titi, and Ebeku William, the Ekondo Titi president of Cameroon’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, also died.

The Cameroon government Friday said hundreds of civilians, especially government workers, have escaped from Ekondo Titi since Wednesday’s separatist bomb attack.

Bernard Okallia Bilai is the governor of the South-West region, where Ekondo Titi is located. He said he was sent to Ekondo Titi on Friday to ask frightened residents to stop fleeing. Bilai spoke via a messaging app.

He said he is at the head of a delegation of top government and military officials, politicians and clerics sent to Ekondo Titi by Biya. He said the delegation is telling people of Ekondo Titi who are going through terrifying moments that Biya and government troops will crush separatists who do not surrender.

Bilai said civilians should be vigilant and report suspects and strange people in the towns and villages to government troops or administrative officials.

Officials reported in November that a separatist attack on a school in Ekondo Titi killed four students and a teacher. Hundreds of teachers and students stopped going to school.

Timothe Abolo, before he died in Wednesday’s attack, said enough security measures had been taken to protect schools, teachers, students and government workers from further attack.

Source: VOA

Ukraine could cease to exist

6, March 2022

Ukraine could cease to exist 0

Here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Fierce battles

Ukraine’s military says it is fighting “fierce battles” with Russian forces on the edge of the southern city of Mykolaiv, which controls the road to the country’s biggest port Odessa in the west.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warns that Russia is preparing to bombard the historic city near the Romanian and Moldovan borders.

Chernihiv pummelled

Dozens of civilians are being killed in the battle for Chernihiv in the north, with those who remain in the city living in craters or among the ruins. AFP has witnessed scenes of devastation.

Mariupol evacuation fails again

Attempts to evacuate civilians from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol — which has neither power nor water — fail for a second day.

The Red Cross describes “devastating scenes of human suffering” in the battered Sea of Azov port.

Deadly and indiscriminate

The Russian push on Kyiv is becoming more deadly and indiscriminate despite Moscow’s denials that it is targeting civilian areas. People are fleeing the towns of Bucha and Irpin as they are pounded by air strikes.

Airport destroyed

A barrage of Russian missiles destroy Vinnytsia airport in central Ukraine, Zelensky says.

Refugee crisis: fastest since WWII

Ukraine is the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, says the UN. More than 1.5 million people have fled into neighbouring countries since Russia invaded on February 24.

Polish jets deal

The United States says it is working on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with fighter jets that its pilots are trained to fly.

Zelensky had pleaded with former Warsaw Pact countries in eastern Europe to give Ukraine Russian-made warplanes.

Russia limits essential food sales

Russian shops are told to limit sales of essential foodstuffs to counter black market speculation as Western sanctions bite.

1,100 held at Russia protests

More than 1,000 people are held across Russia after new protests against the war in Ukraine, bringing to 10,000 the number arrested since the invasion began, according to a monitor.

Zelensky’s plea to US

Zelensky phones President Joe Biden after pressing US lawmakers for an embargo on Russian oil imports. The White House is against a ban for fear of driving up prices.

Putin: Ukraine could cease to exist

Russian President Vladimir Putin warns Ukraine it may cease to exist as a state if leaders “continue to do what they are doing”.

He also says countries imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine will be considered combatants, while equating sanctions with a declaration of a war.

Visa and Mastercard ban

Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard refuse to do business with Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine but Russian banks say they will use China’s UnionPay system.

Macron, Erdogan call Putin

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold separate telephone talks with Putin, with Turkey calling for an “urgent general ceasefire”.

Peace prospects ‘not great’

Israel’s premier Naftali Bennett says the chances of stopping fighting were “not great”, after Kyiv had asked Israel to launch a dialogue with Moscow.

Media blackout

A host of international broadcasters, including the BBC and CNN, say they will stop reporting from Russia because of a new law threatening up to 15 years in jail for “fake news” about its invasion.

Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta says it will also have to stop its reporting of the war.

No ticket out

Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot says it is suspending all its international flights except to Belarus.

Culled from AFP

No peace in the two Cameroons until British Southern Cameroons conflict resolved

6, March 2022

No peace in the two Cameroons until British Southern Cameroons conflict resolved 0

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima says peace and stability would not prevail in both Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun until the decades-long French Cameroun occupation and marginalization issues are resolved through recognition of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia by the international community.

Speaking at a symposium organized by a Southern Cameroons think tank in the NordRhein Westphalia region of Germany on Friday, Vice President Dabney Yerima said Southern Cameroonians all over the globe will never be respected unless they come together and fight for the liberation of their homeland, which is the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Dabney Yerima highlighted that Southern Cameroonians can no longer coexist with a failed political structure that was concocted by French colonial authorities.

“Southern Cameroonians both in Ground Zero and in the diaspora must put the nasty past behind them and continue to support the resistance and its jailed leaders,” Yerima noted.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader reiterated that the path to peace is to stop the Biya French Cameroun military campaign.

The Ambazonia Interim Government has also called for intensified resistance as the sole way to counter French Cameroun acts of aggression against the people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

Dabney Yerima furthered that the strongest response to French Cameroun atrocities against Ambazonian women and children would be to intensify resistance and inflict heavy losses on the Francophone army soldiers and their Francophone administrators.

By Isong Asu

Israel PM meets Putin in Moscow for Ukraine talks

5, March 2022

Israel PM meets Putin in Moscow for Ukraine talks 0

Israel’s premier stepped into the role of mediator Saturday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified, holding a three-hour meeting at the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin before calling Ukraine’s president and flying to Berlin.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s sit-down with Putin was the first by foreign leader since the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine last week, and came after Kyiv had asked Israel to launch a dialogue with Moscow.

Bennett has so far walked a very cautious line on the Ukraine crisis, seeking to preserve delicate security cooperation with Russia, which has a large military presence in Israel’s northern neighbour, Syria.

Bennett has not joined Western leaders — notably key ally the United States — in forcefully condemning the invasion, instead stressing Israel’s strong relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Ahead of his Moscow trip, Bennett had spoken by telephone repeatedly with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Bennett’s office said he left Israel for Moscow early Saturday, itself an extraordinary move for a religious Jew who does not conduct state business on the Jewish Shabbath, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Bennett and Putin met for three hours, in a visit that was coordinated with the US, Germany and France, an Israeli official said.

Bennett’s delegation included his housing minister, fluent Russian speaker Zeev Elkin, who was born in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union.

The Kremlin said “different aspects of the situation in Ukraine” were discussed during “the short working visit”.

After the Putin meeting, Bennett called Zelensky — who is Jewish, has family in Israel and has visited the country many times.

Bennett then headed to Germany for talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz scheduled for late Saturday.

A statement from the French presidency said Emmanuel Macron also spoke to Bennett before he left for Moscow on Saturday, as part of joint efforts to “obtain a ceasefire in Ukraine”.

Iran

While the Bennett-Putin talks were primarily focused on the fighting in Ukraine, the meeting also “touched upon the progress of the (Iran) nuclear talks in Vienna,” the Israeli official said.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency said earlier Saturday after talks in Tehran that they agreed on an approach to resolve issues crucial in efforts to revive the country’s 2015 nuclear deal.

Bennett is a staunch opponent of global efforts to revive the agreement which gave Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

The premier has argued that Tehran will use the revenue boost from the lifting of sanctions to buy weapons that can harm Israel, while still pursuing a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition Iran denies.

Russia, which has itself been slapped with Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, said Saturday that it would seek guarantees from Washington before backing any revived agreement, complicating efforts for a rapid deal.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had requested that the US give it written guarantees that Ukraine-related sanctions “will not in any way harm our rights to free, fully-fledged trade and economic and investment cooperation, military-technical cooperation with Iran”.

There was no immediate comment on any link between the new Russian position and Bennett’s visit.

The meeting with Bennett was the first the Russian leader had scheduled since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin received Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Kremlin on the day the invasion began, in a visit that was long scheduled but widely considered ill-timed.

On Monday, Khan defended the trip — the first by a Pakistani leader to Russia in more than two decades — saying it would prove beneficial in the future.

Source: AFP

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