Monthly Archives: June 2022

Bundes Fußball und Nations League: Flick seeks improvement against ‘extraordinary’ English

6, June 2022

Bundes Fußball und Nations League: Flick seeks improvement against ‘extraordinary’ English 0

Germany’s coach Hansi Flick said on Monday that his team would need to improve against England’s ‘extraordinary players’ in a Nations League clash in Munich on Tuesday.

Flick praised the English Premier League at his pre-match press conference saying “the quality is very high”.

“They have six or seven clubs of almost equal level,” said Flick, a former Bayern Munich coach.

Flick said German players who move to the Premier League “take a step up”.

Flick’s squad contains four players who played for English clubs last season, including three under German coach Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea.

Flick singled out Kai Havertz “who grew up under the influence of Thomas Tuchel.”

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who scored twice on the final day of the Premier League season to seal the title for Manchester City, praised England’s strength in depth.

“They could form three national teams,” he said.

Flick said he was disappointed with a 1-1 draw with Italy in Bologna on Saturday, on the same evening that England lost their goup opener 1-0 in Hungary.

“It is obvious that we must do better” against England, said Flick.

“They have extraordinary players and their game is very physical. (Harry) Kane is a world-class striker, he has a huge quality,” Flick said.

“It will be a big game for us and it will be important to implement our plan well,” said Flick, still undefeated after ten games as Germany coach.

Gundogan, who has been at City since 2016, insisted the historic rivalry between England and Germany was “no longer an issue.”

“The respect is there, and in the end it is about sport,” he said.

“We have had several German players who succeeded in England, and it has become very friendly, even if sometimes we banter a little”.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons: Yerima says resilience, resistance only way to fight Biya

6, June 2022

Southern Cameroons: Yerima says resilience, resistance only way to fight Biya 0

The Ambazonia Interim Government (IG) says only through armed resistance and resilience can Southern Cameroonians fight the French backed French Cameroun occupation of the Ambazonian homeland.

The IG made the comments in a statement after the release of Senator Regina Mundi in Batibo last week.

The Ambazonia Interim Government said properly coordinated armed resistance is the only way to regain Southern Cameroonian rights and liberate the home land.

The Vice President Dabney Yerima statement also stressed the importance of achieving unity and true partnership with genuine Ambazonia restoration groups in accordance with a sustainable resistance program to protect and defend the people of Southern Cameroons in Ground Zero.

The IG noted that Yaoundé after its five years brutal war in Southern Cameroons has begun to see its demise and doubting its own political future due to its fear that Southern Cameroonians are gone for good.

Dabney Yerima also called on Southern Cameroonians who abandoned the struggle because of the financial scandal that rocked “My Trip to Buea” to backtrack the abandonment path.

Vice President Yerima said such a path is in the wrong direction that serves only the agenda of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in Yaoundé.

Elsewhere in the statement, Vice President Dabney Yerima said the duty to liberate the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and end the French backed French Cameroun occupation is not only a Ground Zero responsibility, stressing, however, that it is also the duty of all Southern Cameroonians around the world.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Enowtaku Ebanghatabi Christelle

Climate talks start in Bonn as Ukraine war overshadows threat of global warming

6, June 2022

Climate talks start in Bonn as Ukraine war overshadows threat of global warming 0

Negotiators from almost 200 countries will meet in Bonn Monday for climate talks tasked with reigniting momentum on tackling global warming, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine overshadows the threat from rising emissions.

The conference will set the stage for a fresh round of major United Nations talks later this year in Egypt.

It will also be a chance to test the resolve of nations facing a catalogue of crises, including escalating climate impacts, geopolitical tensions, bloodshed in Ukraine and the threat of a devastating global food crisis.

“Climate change is not an agenda we can afford to push back on our global schedule,” said outgoing UN climate change chief Patricia Espinosa ahead of the meeting.

She said it is imperative that nations arrive at the UN COP27 meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh in November prepared to show they are taking “bold, concrete steps — backed by specific plans — to deliver the urgent and transformational climate ambition we simply must see before it’s too late”.

Governments have already accepted that climate change is a grave threat to humanity and the planet, and have advocated immediate action to cut fossil fuel emissions and prepare for the accelerating impacts of warming.

The summary to this year’s landmark climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that any further delay in action “will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all”.

But as things are going, the world is unlikely to be able to meet the Paris climate deal’s commitment to limit warming “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

“There is this disconnect between the scientific evidence of global crisis in the making, of potentially rushing towards unmanageable climate impact, versus the lack of action,” Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told AFP.

“This is a deep worry.”

The world has warmed nearly 1.2C so far — enough to usher in a crescendo of deadly heatwaves, floods and storm surges made worse by rising seas.

Funding focus

While the June 6 to 16 conference in Bonn is a largely technical meeting aimed at preparing for Egypt, there are a number of key issues up for debate.

A particular focus will be funding from rich polluters to help vulnerable developing nations least responsible for global heating to cope with its increasingly ferocious consequences.

A promise of $100 billion a year from 2020 to help them adapt to a warming world has still not been met.

Meanwhile, there are growing calls for “loss and damage” funding for countries already struck by devastating climate impacts, with a specific dialogue on the subject slated for this week.

The Alliance of Small Island States has warned that the Bonn conference must not be “just another talk shop”, calling for a “clear view” on when and how this financing will be put in place.

‘Fragile’ world

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres last week warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risked slowing action to combat the climate crisis.

“But I think this war has demonstrated one thing: how fragile the world is in its dependence to fossil fuels,” he added.

The invasion has prompted countries, particularly in Europe, to scramble to shore up energy supplies. It has also caused wheat and fertiliser prices to soar.

Fears of a food crisis have intensified in recent weeks, with India moving to ban wheat exports after the hottest March and April on record — blamed largely on climate change — hit harvests.

One opportunity for exhibiting political will comes on Wednesday when the European Parliament votes several hotly debated planks of the bloc’s sprawling “Fit for 55” climate plan.

EU member states have set themselves the target of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990, and achieving carbon neutrality for the continent by 2050.

In May, an analysis from non-profit groups found that countries in the G20 group of major economies have yet to strengthen greenhouse gas reduction goals, despite agreeing to revisit their plans.

Last year in Glasgow, countries made new pledges to slash methane emissions, stop deforestation and other measures that — in addition to existing national carbon cutting pledges — could theoretically cap warming under 2C, said Rockstrom.

But that means the focus at this year’s meetings needs to be on “accountability”, he added.

“We are now in the delivery phase”.

Source: AFP

‘Evil and wicked’: More than 50 feared dead in Nigeria church attack

6, June 2022

‘Evil and wicked’: More than 50 feared dead in Nigeria church attack 0

Gunmen with explosives stormed a Catholic church and opened fire in southwest Nigeria on Sunday, killing “many” worshippers and wounding others, the government and police said.

The violence at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo town in Ondo State erupted during the morning service in a rare attack in the southwest of Nigeria, where jihadists and criminal gangs operate in other regions.

Pope Francis said in a statement he had learned of the “death of dozens of faithful”, many children, during the celebration of the Christian holiday of the Pentecost.

“While the details of the incident are being clarified, Pope Francis prays for the victims and for the country,” he said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The motives and the exact death toll were not immediately clear, but President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the “heinous killing of worshippers”.

State police spokeswoman Ibukun Odunlami said the gunmen also attacked the church with explosives, leaving an unknown number of worshippers dead.

“It’s still premature to say exactly how many people were killed. But many worshippers lost their lives while others were injured in the attack,” she told AFP.

A spokesman for the Ondo State governor’s office said they would not be giving an official casualty figure for the moment.

But a witness, who gave his name as Abayomi, told AFP at least 20 worshippers had died in the attack.

“I was passing through the area when I heard a loud explosion and gunshots inside the church,” he said.

He said he saw at least five gunmen on the church premises before he ran for safety.

‘Vile and satanic attack’

Attacks on religious sites are particularly sensitive in Nigeria where tensions sometimes flare between communities in a country with a mostly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north.

Gun and bomb attacks are rare in Ondo state, but Nigeria’s military is battling a 12-year-old jihadist insurgency in the northeast, gangs in the northwest and separatist agitation in the southeast.

Boko Haram jihadist group in the northeast targeted churches in the past as part of Nigeria’s conflict that has killed 40,000 and displaced 2 million more.

Kidnapping assaults are common in most parts of Nigeria but mass gun attacks like Sunday’s violence are rare in the country’s relatively peaceful southwest.

Ondo state governor Rotimi Akeredolu said Sunday’s attack was a “vile and satanic attack” and appealed to the security forces to track down the assailants.

The attack comes a day before the ruling APC party starts primaries for its candidate in the 2023 election to replace Buhari, a former army commander who steps down after two terms in office.

Security will be a major challenge for whoever wins the race to govern Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s largest economy.

Parts of northwest and north-central Nigeria in particular have been increasingly plagued by heavily armed gangs who raid villages and target communities and schools for mass kidnapping attacks.

Source: AFP

Nine-year-old Cameroonian photographer excites fans with Indomitable Lions photos

5, June 2022

Nine-year-old Cameroonian photographer excites fans with Indomitable Lions photos 0

The youngster became an internet sensation after pictures of her covering the Cameroon national team in camp went viral online

Nine-year-old Cameroonian Fleur Randa could be the youngest sports photographer in Africa, if not the world.

Randa became an internet sensation on Friday after photos of her covering the Cameroon national team training went viral after they were shared online.

Drawing inspiration from her father Kendji Nick Lionel, who is also a professional photographer, Randa accompanies her dad as they travel around with the Indomitable Lions while taking quality photos.

Randa became passionate about photography after closely watching and following her father to numerous sports events and learning from him before perfecting the art.

A photo of her sharing her work with the Cameroon players, led by Inter Milan-bound goalkeeper Andre Onana, excited fans online as the Indomitable Lions stars seemed intrigued and surprised by her work.

Source: Goal.com

Eposi Njoh Monyengi is first Cameroonian woman to install and maintain solar panels in her community

5, June 2022

Eposi Njoh Monyengi is first Cameroonian woman to install and maintain solar panels in her community 0

The sun shone from a cloudless sky in a quiet, bushy neighbourhood in Tiko, in Cameroon’s Southwest region. Eposi Njoh Monyengi was busy at work.

In less than an hour, she successfully installed a solar panel on a roof.

Supplying renewable energy to remote communities across Cameroon has become a passion for Monyengi, 44.

“My main aim is to light the community,” said the mother of three, the first woman to install and maintain solar panels in her community.

In Tiko, she has won respect for her work and fondly referred to as “solar mama.”

In 2019, with the help of a local non-governmental organization (NGO), Rural Women Development Project, Monyengi travelled to India, where she studied installation and maintenance of solar panels for six months.

Since her return to Cameroon, she has installed solar panels in over 200 households, impacting more than 600 people.

Monyengi’s work has provided inspiration and ignited hope among her neighbours, friends and family alike in Ombe, her native village also known as Bamukong, on the outskirts of Tiko.

SUNNY HOPE

For over 50 years, the village with about 400 inhabitants had no electricity.

In May last year, Monyengi took a motorcycle to the banks of the Ombe River and then crossed the river on a canoe to reach the remote village.

In three months, she installed solar panels in 54 households.

When reporters visited the village, the village was full of life and energy, and music boomed from bars in the agrarian community.

“We are very happy,” said Ignatius Tamala, whom Monyengi appointed as chairman of the solar committee of the village.

“The kids are studying well, until 10, 11 at night,” said the 47-year-old father of five. “They study very comfortably because there is electricity.”

As the sun set and darkness began falling over the village, 49-year-old Gladys Fienyam switched on her solar bulb and started grilling fish. She has been grilling and selling fish for eight years.

Not long ago, nightfall would have forced her to stop working, but now Fienyam can grill fish for as long as she wants.

“I am extremely happy. I don’t use torch again. I have more customers now and mostly because of light,” she said.

Across Tiko municipality, villagers said their standards of living have since improved remarkably thanks to access to solar energy.

Monyengi’s success story is a booster to the fight against climate change that has taken its toll on the livelihoods of people especially in Africa where droughts, erratic rainfall, floods have become more frequent.

Since 2015, Cameroon has made renewable energy a priority, especially for rural electrification.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

But the project is not just about going green.

Monyengi has made it a point of duty to train more “solar mamas.”

“When you empower women, you have empowered a whole nation,” she said. “When people see me, they are so excited to see a woman because not every woman can do it. Just their happiness encourages me to do more for them.”

After losing her job as a plantation worker, Cecilia Otto, 55, was low-spirited and began struggling to eke out a living as a farmer.

“‘Solar mama’ convinced me that I should learn how to install solar panels,” said the mother of five. “I was reluctant (at first) but I finally accepted. Today I am pleased that I did.”

Otto is among over 50 women trained by Monyengi to install and maintain solar panels in rural communities. She now accompanies Monyengi regularly to install the panels.

They were also joined by 61-year-old Joan Nkweti, a retired civil servant and widow with four children.

“When I heard about solar installation, I was so interested because it makes me exercise what I really wished to do as a youth,” she said.

“I am so happy I achieved something at this age,” Nkweti said.

“I can go and install solar panels without anybody’s help, because the training teaches you what to do and what not to do,” she said.

“You feel so satisfied. You feel so happy for achieving something,” Nkweti said.

As the world observes World Environment Day, Monyengi hopes that the government and international NGOs will help her expand the project to other communities.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cameroon set to host African Athletics Championships in 2024

5, June 2022

Cameroon set to host African Athletics Championships in 2024 0

Cameroon is set to host the African Athletics Championships in 2024.

The central African nation was in line to be the venue for the 22nd edition of the event this year, but it will take place in Mauritius instead.

Those Championships begin on Wednesday and last until 12 June.

Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, the Cameroonian president of the Confederation of African Athletics, said the 23rd African Championships would be held in his home nation.

“Our council decided to grant to Cameroon the African Championships for 2022 when we had our council in Qatar in 2019,” Malboum, 71, said.

“Unfortunately because the agenda was full with the Africa Cup of Nations – and costly – we postponed that event and granted the rights to Mauritius to host the event.

“But now Cameroon is ready to host the Championships in 2024.

“[On Thursday] we spoke about this with the (Cameroonian) minister of sports, and we will bring back to Cameroon the flag of the event.

“This is very important for Cameroonians to know that we are going to host the Championships.”

Cameroon last hosted the African Athletics Championships in 1996, with the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in the capital Yaounde the venue.

Source: BBC

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Nigeria Cross River govt cries over influx of Ambazonian refugees

5, June 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Nigeria Cross River govt cries over influx of Ambazonian refugees 0

The Director-General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Janet Ekpenyong, has disclosed that with new arrivals of Cameroonian refugees, the state is now really overburdened with the staggering number of refugees.

She has strongly called on the federal government to come to the aid of the state as host communities of refugees can hardly handle the influx and the state government itself cannot grapple with the huge burden.

Speaking during an interview with our reporter in Calabar, Ekpenyong said, “Last Sunday, there was another set of Cameroonians who fled their country into a Cross River community in Bashu as a result of reported violence and killings.

“These arrivals have increased the number of refugees in our state. We are hosting more than 50 per cent of refugees in the country. And this is really stressful to us. We are not getting commensurate support from the federal government. We are therefore making a strong appeal for support.”

Ekpenyong added that the new arrivals are being documented by relevant authorities so that they can be moved from Bashu to refugee camps.

The primary healthcare boss said upon the outbreak of the violence and their influx into the state, her agency had deplored a medical team to attend to them, test for some common diseases, including COVID-19, and have vaccinated their little children they came with.

She also confirmed that the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has since arrived with relief items, including foods for the refugees.

“My agency is working with good support from the state ministry of Health, World Health Organisation (WHO), UNHCR and Doctors Without Borders. I must sincerely thank these bodies for prompt action and support.

“Once their registration is completed, they would be moved from Bashu community to different refugee camps in the state.”

Source: Daily Post Nigeria

ECOWAS leaders discuss sanctions against juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea

4, June 2022

ECOWAS leaders discuss sanctions against juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea 0

West African leaders on Saturday opened a meeting in Ghana’s capital Accra to decide whether to ease or ramp up sanctions against junta-ruled Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is expected to decide whether to keep, lighten or lift retaliatory measures on Mali, imposed in January after its military regime announced an intention to rule for another five years.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo Ado opened the summit, attended by the heads of state of most of the 15-member countries but without any representative from Mali, Burkina Faso or Guinea visible in the audience.

“This present summit will re-examine and assess the situations in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso in light of recent developments within the region and global context,” he said.

“Our objective has always been to find ways to help these countries return to constitutional order.”

Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali are currently suspended from ECOWAS bodies.

While Mali has already been slapped with sanctions, the other two countries risk further punitive measures from the bloc after ruling juntas in their respective capitals vowed to hold onto power for another three years.

West Africa has seen a succession of military coups in less than two years — two in Bamako, followed by Conakry last September and Ouagadougou in January.

Insurgency

ECOWAS, keen to limit political instability spreading further, has held summits and piled on the pressure to shorten the juntas’ so-called transition periods before a return to civilian rule.

But strongmen Colonel Assimi Goita in Mali, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya in Guinea and Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in Burkina Faso, have all flouted that pressure and since been sworn in as presidents.

They invoke the severity of domestic crises — that span jihadist insurgency to social problems — and claim they need time to rebuild their states and organise elections.

A UN report published last week said the West African sanctions had contributed to worsening living conditions, particularly for the poor.

One of the most volatile and impoverished countries in the world, Mali is battling a decade-old jihadist revolt, which began with a regional insurrection and then spread to Niger and Burkina Faso.

ECOWAS closed borders and suspended trade and financial exchanges, except for basic necessities.

In Guinea, the military overthrew president Alpha Conde last September and has vowed a return to civilian rule in three years.

Burkina Faso’s government was overthrown in January, when disgruntled colonels ousted elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Source: AFP

Fleeing Ambazonian refugees flood Nigeria border town in Cross River State

4, June 2022

Fleeing Ambazonian refugees flood Nigeria border town in Cross River State 0

Members of the Nigerian Red Cross have since arrived at the Community health centre in Bashu, Boki LGA where new refugees from southwest Cameroon have flooded since Sunday.

The huge population of the new arrivals appear to be overwhelming.

They fled Obonyi, a border town with Boki LGA of Cross River State last Sunday after Ambazonian soldiers had reportedly killed about 20 Southwest Cameroonians in Obonyi border community next to Nigeria’s Boki LGA.

Reports say they allegedly refused to join the Ambazonian soldiers to fight Cameroon government for their independence.

The remainder of the population had to flee into nearby Bashu in Boki LGA Nigeria for their safety with matchet cuts and bullet wounds.

Their population as of yesterday stood at over 2000, according to local sources.

Many of them have knife cuts, bullet wounds and other injuries.

The head of a particular man was dangling following matchet cuts from the Ambazonian militants.

The Red Cross officials were seen frenetically dispensing pain-killing drugs, dressing wounds and giving water to the survivors.

A Red Cross official who did not want his name mentioned said, “The number of these refugees are increasing. They need medical and humanitarian attention. We are trying our best but other agencies should come in soon before our supplies exhaust. Our personnel have been very busy attending to the influxes. We give the elderly women, children and critically wounded ones immediate medical care. But space is another problem…”

Augustine Ogar, a youth leader in the community, said facilities have been overstretched, and there is an immediate need for humanitarian supplies.

Source: Daily Post Nigeria

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