Monthly Archives: June 2023

US: Former Vice President Pence announces presidential run

7, June 2023

US: Former Vice President Pence announces presidential run 0

Mike Pence announced Wednesday his entry into the 2024 United States presidential election, as the former vice president goes up against his ex-boss Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

The evangelical Christian is scheduled to appear at a campaign launch event the same day in the early-voting state of Iowa — joining an already crowded field that includes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s closest competition.

“Today, before God and my family, I’m announcing I’m running for president of the United States,” he said in an online campaign video.

Pence’s announcement comes two days after papers filed with the US Federal Election Commission showed he had formally entered the race.

“I believe in the American people, and I have faith God is not done with America yet,” the 64-year-old wrote in a tweet accompanying the video.

“Together, we can bring this Country back, and the best days for the Greatest Nation on Earth are yet to come!”

Pence honed his reputation as an unstintingly loyal vice president who stuck with Trump throughout a scandal-plagued four years in the White House, and brought the religious right into the tent.

But he became a pariah in Trumpworld after rejecting the Republican leader’s demands that he overturn the 2020 election in his role as president of the Senate.

Berated constantly by Trump after Joe Biden’s election victory — and even heckled at a conservative conference with chants of “traitor!” — Pence continued to praise the tycoon in public.

That changed after Trump’s torrent of false claims of election fraud led to a mob chanting for Pence to be hanged at the US Capitol.

Pence announced his presidential run a day after former New Jersey governor Chris Christie joined the contest.

Former governors Nikki Haley and Asa Hutchinson are also in the race, while North Dakota’s chief executive Doug Burgum is also due to announce on Wednesday.

Polls show Trump as the overwhelming early front runner, regularly posting leads on DeSantis in excess of 30 points. None of the other candidates is achieving double figures.

But the former president is facing multiple criminal investigations into his personal and professional conduct that have already yielded dozens of felony charges in New York.

Source: AFP

Yaoundé: Journalists Say Suspensions Are Sign of Government Crackdown

7, June 2023

Yaoundé: Journalists Say Suspensions Are Sign of Government Crackdown 0

Journalists in Cameroon say the government’s indefinite shutdown of a radio station and suspension of four reporters is a sign of a growing crackdown on the country’s news media. The government says it is trying to stop the spread of hate speech, while journalists say officials want to retaliate against criticism of President Paul Biya.

Bruno Bidjang, host of the popular program on Vision 4 TV called “Club d’Elite” has said on his program that he will continue exercising his profession to the best of his ability without fear.

However, Cameroon’s National Communication Council, an organ created by the government to regulate the media, imposed a one-month suspension on Bidjang for hosting guests who the government says used hateful language on his program.

The NCC said Bidjang was warned several times, but he continued inviting such guests on the program.

The council this week also imposed suspensions on a radio station and three other media practitioners for broadcasting offensive or hateful content.

NCC President Joe Chebongkeng Kalabubse said these journalists and media outlets propagated hate speech and xenophobic language.

“We have noticed that we can nip the problem in the bud by encouraging journalists to be more professional,” Kalabubse said. “We want to encourage journalists to be as professional as possible. We will not hesitate to sanction them if they falter.”

Kalabubse said he has informed Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, to make sure that journalists who do not respect the order are punished, and media organizations that continue to broadcast are permanently closed.

Nji said he has instructed police and local government officials to force the journalists to respect the sanctions.

“The media men should know that they have the moral obligation to comply by respecting these decisions taken for the common good,” Nji said. “Because if we are in a state of law and we don’t respect the laws of the republic, then we are walking towards a jungle, and Cameroon is not a jungle. We should use liberty of expression to construct and not to destroy. So, I want to tell the media men that they have the obligation to comply. If they don’t comply, we will accompany them to comply by force.”

But journalists in Cameroon say they are victims of increasing oppression. They say the government clamps down on media that hold contrary opinions to state actions.

The Cameroon Journalists Trade Union said the NCC was set up by Biya to defend his interests and crack down on journalists who oppose his rule.

The trade union said senior state functionaries and military officials who are accused of corrupt practices ask the NCC to suspend reporters — a charge the NCC denies.

The government said hate speech propagated through the media has become rampant since the disputed 2018 presidential election.

In addition, some French-speaking host communities accuse English speakers displaced by the separatist conflict in the west of being separatist fighters or sympathizers.

Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration said local media that do not stop guests in debate programs from asking communities to rise against one another will be punished. Journalists who anchor such programs will also be punished, the government said, though it has not outlined any punishment.

Cameroon has more than 600 newspapers, about 200 radio stations and 60 TV networks, yet producing independent and critical reporting is still challenging, according to Reporters Without Borders.

In its 2023 World Press Freedom Index, the organization said Cameroon is one of Africa’s most dangerous countries for journalists, since they operate in a hostile and precarious environment.

Source: VOA

World Bank says global economy on precarious footing amid high interest rates

6, June 2023

World Bank says global economy on precarious footing amid high interest rates 0

Global growth has slowed sharply and the risk of financial stress in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) is intensifying amid elevated global interest rates, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report.

Global growth is projected to decelerate from 3.1% in 2022 to 2.1% in 2023. In EMDEs other than China, growth is set to slow to 2.9% this year from 4.1% last year. These forecasts reflect broad-based downgrades: growth projections for 70 percent of EMDEs and nearly all advanced economies have been downgraded.

“The surest way to reduce poverty and spread prosperity is through employment—and slower growth makes job creation a lot harder,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “It’s important to keep in mind that growth forecasts are not destiny. We have an opportunity to turn the tide but it will take us all working together.”

Most EMDEs have seen only limited harm from the recent banking stress in advanced economies so far, but they are now sailing in dangerous waters. With increasingly restrictive global credit conditions, one out of every four EMDEs has effectively lost access to international bond markets. The squeeze is especially acute for EMDEs with underlying vulnerabilities such as low creditworthiness. Growth projections for these economies for 2023 are less than half those from a year ago, making them highly vulnerable to additional shocks.

“The world economy is in a precarious position,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. “Outside of East and South Asia, it is a long way from the dynamism needed to eliminate poverty, counter climate change, and replenish human capital. In 2023, trade will grow at less than a third of its pace in the years before the pandemic. In emerging markets and developing economies, debt pressures are growing due to higher interest rates. Fiscal weaknesses have already tipped many low-income countries into debt distress. Meanwhile, the financing needs to achieve the sustainable development goals are far greater than even the most optimistic projections of private investment.”

The latest forecasts indicate that the overlapping shocks of the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the sharp slowdown amid tight global financial conditions have dealt an enduring setback to development in EMDEs, one that will persist for the foreseeable future. By the end of 2024, economic activity in these economies is expected be about 5% below levels projected on the eve of the pandemic. In low-income countries—especially the poorest—the damage is stark: in more than one-third of these countries, per capita incomes in 2024 will still be below 2019 levels. This feeble pace of income growth will entrench extreme poverty in many low-income countries.

“Many developing economies are struggling to cope with weak growth, persistently high inflation, and record debt levels. Yet new hazards—such as the possibility of more widespread spillovers from renewed financial stress in advanced economies—could make matters even worse for them,” said Ayhan Kose, Deputy Chief Economist of the World Bank Group. “Policy makers in these economies should act promptly to prevent financial contagion and reduce near-term domestic vulnerabilities.”

In advanced economies, growth is set to decelerate from 2.6% in 2022 to 0.7% this year and remain weak in 2024, the report says. After growing 1.1% in 2023, the U.S. economy is set to decelerate to 0.8% in 2024, mainly because of the lingering impact of the sharp rise in interest rates over the past year and a half. In the euro area, growth is forecast to slow to 0.4% in 2023 from 3.5% in 2022, due to the lagged effect of monetary policy tightening and energy-price increases.

The report also offers an analysis of how increases in U.S. interest rates are affecting EMDEs. Most of the rise in two-year Treasury yields over the past year and a half has been driven by investor expectations of hawkish U.S. monetary policy to control inflation. According to the report, this particular type of interest rate increases is associated with adverse financial effects in EMDEs, including a higher probability of financial crisis. Moreover, these effects are more pronounced in countries with greater economic vulnerabilities. In particular, frontier markets—those with less developed financial markets and more limited access to international capital—tend to see outsized increases in borrowing costs; for instance, sovereign risk spreads in frontier markets tend to rise by more than three times as much as those in other EMDEs.

In addition, the report provides a comprehensive assessment of the fiscal policy challenges confronting low-income economies. These countries are in dire straits. Rising interest rates have compounded the deterioration in their fiscal positions over the past decade. Public debt now averages about 70% of GDP. Interest payments are eating up a rising share of limited government revenues. 14 low-income countries are already in, or at high risk of, debt distress. Spending pressures have risen in these economies. Adverse shocks such as extreme climate events and conflict are more likely to tip households into distress in low-income countries than anywhere else because of limited social safety nets. On average, these countries spend just 3% of GDP on their most vulnerable citizens—well below the 26% average for developing economies.

Yaoundé: Biya receives six new ambassadors

6, June 2023

Yaoundé: Biya receives six new ambassadors 0

90-year-old President Biya has received six new ambassadors at the Unity Palace in Yaoundé. The Monday 5th June 2023 ceremony involved heads of diplomatic missions who came to present their credentials to the Cameroonian dictator.

Among the six who performed the diplomatic ritual were Corinna Fricke, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Cameroon, the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Christian Dennys-Mcclure, Martin Strub, the Ambassador of Switzerland, Filipo Scammacca Del Murgo, the Ambassador of Italy, Nozomu Takaoka, the Ambassador of Japan and Anindya Banerjee, the High Commissioner of India to Cameroon.

The six diplomats presented their credentials to Mr. Biya, in a solemn diplomatic ceremony that sealed their appointment as representatives of their countries to Cameroon.

By Rita Akana with files

The Holy Father in hospital for check-up

6, June 2023

The Holy Father in hospital for check-up 0

Pope Francis visited a Rome hospital for a medical check-up on Tuesday, according to Italian media, just over two months after he was hospitalised with bronchitis.

The 86-year-old pope arrived at the Gemelli hospital’s geriatric unit for tests at 10:40 am (0840 GMT) and left again at 11:20am, according to ANSA and AGI news agencies.

Neither the Vatican nor the hospital was immediately able to confirm the news to AFP.

Francis was forced to take a day off at the end of last month with a fever, which the Vatican secretary of state blamed on tiredness.

The pope does not have public audiences scheduled on Tuesdays. His general audience at the Vatican was confirmed for Wednesday, according his official schedule.

Tuesday’s check-up was a planned one, the Repubblica newspaper said, citing a Vatican source.

The pontiff was undergoing specialised scans, it said.

When Francis was hospitalised at the end of March the Vatican initially said in a one-line statement that he had gone into the Gemelli for health checks that were previously scheduled.

It later emerged that he had been rushed in after suffering breathing difficulties.

He was diagnosed with bronchitis and stayed in hospital for three nights, before returning to the Vatican to preside over Easter services.

Asked how he felt, he quipped with a big smile, “I am still alive!”

Francis, who has been the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics for a decade, has suffered increasing health issues over the past year.

He has persistent pain in his right knee as well as sciatica, and his hospital stay for bronchitis sparked widespread concern.

Just in time

It also fuelled speculation over his future.

Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, who died in December, quit in 2013 due to failing health.

For about a year, the pope has had to rely on a wheelchair due to recurring knee pain he has said cannot be treated through surgery.

Asked about his health in an interview with US Spanish-language network Telemundo broadcast in May, Francis said it was “much better”.

“I can walk now. My knee has been mending. I could hardly walk beforehand. Now I can. Some days are more painful than others,” the pope said.

Francis added that doctors had caught his bronchitis infection just in time.

“If we’d waited a few more hours, it would’ve been much more serious. But I was out (of hospital) in four days,” he said.

Despite his health issues, Francis continues to travel widely.

His next planned trip is to Lisbon on August 2-6 to attend World Youth Day.

But the pope acknowledged in July 2022 that he needed to slow down.

“At my age and with this limitation, I have to save myself a little bit to be able to serve the Church,” he said then.

“Or, alternatively, to think about the possibility of stepping aside.”

In March, however, he insisted that he had no current plans to quit.

Benedict XVI, who died on December 31 aged 95, surprised the world in 2013 when he announced he was stepping down, a radical move not taken by a pope since the Middle Ages.

Source: AFP

Voodoo Economics: Paul Biya adjusts the state budget to cover debt

5, June 2023

Voodoo Economics: Paul Biya adjusts the state budget to cover debt 0

Cameroon’s President signed a decree last June 2 to modify the 2023 Finance Act.  Per this amendment, the state budget has been raised from CFA6,345.1 billion to CFA6,726.9 billion, up CFA381.8 billion (the general budget is up by CFA367.7 billion, while the budget for special appropriation accounts is up by CFA14.1 billion).

Paul Biya said part of the extra amount will be used to cover debt and the other part will be for welfare projects, especially since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been pressuring the country to reduce fuel subsidies as “they benefit better-off social groups more”. The reduction of fuel subsidies has led to a sharp increase in pump prices and a rise in inflation and the government has therefore resorted to other measures to curb the shock. These include the improvement of the minimum wage and the remuneration of state employees.

Although it seems to be a good initiative, the new budget adjustment is not a pro-poorest-oriented approach. Indeed, the largest increase planned in the budget is for debt repayment (30% of the revised general budget). Taken together, additional personnel costs (+CFA55 billion) and additional transfers to households (+CFA125.3 billion) only represent a direct extra benefit of CFA180.3 billion. The revised budget also envisages a reduction in current and capital expenditure of almost CFA100 billion. And although these charges are often perceived as a source of ‘mismanagement’ by some citizens, they serve as a means of resource allocation by the government, and their elimination can have consequences on the economic activity of those who depend on them”.

Moreover, in addition to making additional repayments, the government plans to issue CFA 200 billion in new loans with interest rates on the rise, representing additional revenue opportunities for investors.

Source: Business in Cameroon

One soldier killed, death toll could be more in Boko Haram attack in Far North

5, June 2023

One soldier killed, death toll could be more in Boko Haram attack in Far North 0

At least one soldier has been killed after militants of the terror group Boko Haram attacked a military outpost in Cameroon’s Far North Region, according to local and security sources.

The attack took place overnight Sunday in the Kerawa locality of the region that hosts a military outpost.

The militants ambushed and attacked the outpost, which had six soldiers of Cameroon’s elite force, Rapid Intervention Battalion, a military source in the region said.

“They were surprised. The terrorists tiptoed and surprised them. The death toll could be more,” the source said.

It was the fifth time the terror group attacked an army outpost in the region in the past two weeks, according to security reports.

Source: Xinhuanet

Football: Ibrahimovic makes unexpected announcement that he is retiring from the beautiful game

5, June 2023

Football: Ibrahimovic makes unexpected announcement that he is retiring from the beautiful game 0

Zlatan Ibrahimovic brought the curtain down on a long, trophy-packed career on Sunday when he unexpectedly announced his retirement from football.

Veteran striker Ibrahimovic revealed his decision to quit the game during an on-pitch ceremony following AC Milan’s 3-1 win over Verona.

“It’s the moment to say goodbye to football, not just to you,” said Ibrahimovic on the San Siro pitch.

“There are too many emotions for me right now. Forza Milan and goodbye.”

The 41-year-old had been expected to simply bid farewell to Milan fans after his departure from the seven-time European champions was announced on Saturday.

He returned to Milan in late 2019 for a second spell after a previous two-year period in which he won the Serie A title in 2011.

Ibrahimovic was a key figure in Milan’s resurgence to the top of Italian football after his return to the club, helping to bring them back from the doldrums and eventually win the Scudetto last season.

“The first time I came here you gave me happiness, the second time you gave me love,” said Ibrahimovic.

“You welcomed me with open arms, you made me feel at home, I will be a Milanista for the rest of my life.”

Over the course of his career Ibrahimovic won league titles in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France, although his only major European trophy was the 2017 Europa League with Manchester United.

He has hardly featured for Stefano Pioli’s side this term after being plagued with injuries, returning in February following surgery on his left knee in May.

In July he signed a deal which netted him around one million euros ($1.02 million) in fixed salary, with large bonuses linked to appearances and achievements.

But the 41-year-old only started one match and netted once for Milan this season, a 3-1 win at Udinese in March in which he became the oldest goal scorer in Serie A history.

He then picked up a calf injury in a pre-match warm up in April and ended his career sidelined before scotching rumours that he was set to move to Monza and targeting Euro 2024 with Sweden.

Source: AFP

Cameroonian child’s body found in Tunisia after migrant ships sink

5, June 2023

Cameroonian child’s body found in Tunisia after migrant ships sink 0

The Tunisian coastguard on Friday recovered the body of a young child thought to have drowned at sea when two vessels carrying migrants sank in the Mediterranean, a journalist working with news agency said.

The child’s body, dressed in a pink jumpsuit and grey woollen cap, was discovered during a patrol off the coast of Sfax, Tunisia’s second city, according to the journalist who was accompanying the coastguard.

The child was likely from Cameroon, as more than 200 Cameroonians had been rescued in the last two days, the coastguard undertaking the operation said.

The child’s mother was believed to have been one of the people missing after the sinking of two boats earlier in the week, they added.

The Cameroonian embassy in Tunis was nonetheless unable to confirm this information when contacted.

Local court spokesman Faouzi Masmoudi meanwhile said that two boats carrying migrants from sub-Saharan Africa sank off Sfax’s coast on Wednesday.

Six people died and 39 were rescued from the first boat, while 12 people from the second boat were rescued and 41 others are missing, he said.

Tunisia, whose coastline is less than 150 kilometres from the Italian island of Lampedusa, has long been a favoured launching point for migrants attempting the perilous sea journey from North Africa to Europe.

The flow of migrants from Tunisia has intensified since President Kais Saied made a fiery speech on February 21 claiming illegal immigration was a demographic threat to Tunisia.

Source: AFP

40,000 looted artifacts from Cameroon in German hands

5, June 2023

40,000 looted artifacts from Cameroon in German hands 0

According to a recent study released on Thursday by Bénédicte Savoy of the Technische Universität Berlin and Albert Gouaffo of the University of Dschang in Cameroon, German museums that house world cultures have 40,000 Cameroonian artifacts, which is more than the British Museum’s entire African collection, The Art Newspaper reported.

There are roughly 6,000 pieces in the state collections in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. Savoy stated that the majority of the 40,000 pieces in German museums are in depots and not on display, pointing out that this enormous number excludes, among other things, items in natural history museums, archaeological discoveries in prehistory museums, and any items in private collections.

The new study, titled Atlas der Abwesenheit (Atlas of Absence), was backed by 45 German museum curators and took two years to complete. It is now available to the public via open access.

Germany declared Cameroon a colony in 1884, motivated by the desire to increase commercial prospects. Until the First World War, Germany utilized increasingly violent methods to repress significant local resistance. After the war, the region was divided between the French and the British. Over the course of more than 30 years of German control, colonial troops conducted at least 180 “punitive expeditions” to secure land, destroying communities, farms, and cultural landmarks.

Savoy noted that because the brutal robbery on that occasion was carried out by British troops rather than German troops, it may have been simpler for Germany to concentrate first on returning the Benin bronzes to Nigeria. “Confronting one’s own acts of brutality requires more political and psychological work,” she remarked.

Officials from the Cameroonian embassy emphasized the importance of restitution during a panel discussion to unveil the report in Berlin. According to Maryse Nsangou Njikam, a cultural advisor at the Cameroonian embassy in Germany, “Germany is full,” but “Cameroon is empty.”

“We must have these objects back. We need them to build the future. Restitution is the cherry on the cake, the goal we are heading for,” she noted.

A commission for reparation has been established by the Cameroonian government, including members from the foreign, education, and culture ministries, as well as the traditional royal rulers, civil society, and academia.

“It has started work and meets regularly with museum directors in Germany,” she said, adding, “We are still a long way from restitution because several steps have to be taken first,” Nsangou Njikam said.

The artifacts at German museums of world culture include textiles, musical instruments, ceremonial masks, royal treasures like stools and thrones, texts, tools, and weapons — “none of which were conceived as display objects for vitrines,” Savoy claimed.

Some of the items mentioned in the study include a beaded stool from Bagam that was stolen during a punishment exhibition and returned by an army officer and is now in the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, in addition to a beaded cap that belongs to a Cameroonian leader, in the Linden Museum, that was one of 237 objects plundered over 2.5 years by a German officer.

The Linden Museum, which has more than 8,000 Cameroonian artifacts, the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, and the Grassi Museum in Leipzig each has more than 5,000. German museums “have a lot of homework to do,” according to Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, director of the Grassi Museum, who stated this during the panel discussion.

Source: English almayadeen.net

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