Monthly Archives: March 2024

18, March 2024

North Korea fires ballistic missile as top US diplomat visits Seoul ⁰

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Monday, Seoul’s military said, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea to meet top officials and attend a democracy summit.

Blinken is in Seoul for the third Summit for Democracy, an initiative of US President Joe Biden, which the South is hosting this week, and is set to meet his Korean counterpart on the sidelines for talks.

Key security allies Washington and Seoul wrapped up one of their major annual joint military training exercises last week, prompting angry retorts and tit-for-tat drills from nuclear-armed Pyongyang.

“North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea,” Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

Japan also confirmed the launch, with the Japan Coast Guard saying the objects appeared to have already fallen.

The launch comes just days after the annual Freedom Shield, which this year involved double the number of troops, ended Thursday. The 11 days of joint exercises were aimed at strengthening South Korean and American deterrence against the North’s nuclear and missile threats.

Pyongyang this month warned that Seoul and Washington would pay a “dear price” over the Freedom Shield drills, and later announced that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had guided an artillery unit it says was capable of striking the South Korean capital.

The nuclear-armed North has long condemned joint US-South Korea military drills, calling them rehearsals for an invasion. It has carried out weapons tests in the past as a response to previous joint exercises of this nature.

Monday’s ballistic missile test is the North’s second this year, after Pyongyang launched one tipped with a manoeuvrable hypersonic warhead on January 14.

Blinken landed Sunday afternoon ahead of the democracy summit, which runs from March 18 to 20 and will bring together government officials, NGOs and civil society members.

Source: AFP

18, March 2024

Football: Mbappe bags hat-trick as PSG hit six ⁰

An unstoppable Kylian Mbappe hit a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 6-2 win away to Montpellier on Sunday that allowed them to open up a huge 12-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.

Vitinha put PSG ahead at the Stade de la Mosson and Mbappe doubled their advantage midway through the first half, only for an Arnaud Nordin header and a Teji Savanier penalty to bring Montpellier back level at the interval.

However, a marvellous Mbappe goal restored PSG’s lead shortly after the break and Lee Kang-in made it 4-2 before the France captain completed his hat-trick.

Nuno Mendes put the seal on the victory late on, as Luis Enrique’s side ended a run of three successive draws in Ligue 1 and extended an unbeaten domestic record stretching back to September.

A 1-1 draw for nearest challengers Brest against Lille means the Parisians are 12 points ahead at the Ligue 1 summit with only eight games left, and a 10th title in 12 seasons is an inevitability.

Mbappe completed the whole 90 minutes of a Ligue 1 game for the first time since informing the club in mid-February that he intended to leave at the end of the season when his contract expires.

His hat-trick, his third of the campaign, took him to 24 goals in Ligue 1 this season, and 38 in all competitions.

Mbappe’s second of the evening, PSG’s third, was the pick of the bunch, as he found the net with a superb shot from range which went in off the underside of the crossbar.

“Mbappe was exceptional. We need to make the most of having him, as much as we can, and when we can no longer enjoy having him we will have to raise our game,” said Luis Enrique.

The downside of their performance came with the way in which they surrendered their 2-0 lead in the first half, conceding the penalty when Tanguy Coulibaly pounced on Danilo Pereira’s short back-pass and was then clattered by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The defeat for Montpellier leaves them just a point above third-bottom Nantes, who are in the relegation play-off place and on Sunday sacked coach Jocelyn Gourvennec.

Canadian striker Jonathan David continued his superb form in front of goal by scoring for Lille in their draw away to fellow Champions League contenders Brest.

David gave Lille the lead midway through the second half in Brittany with his 22nd goal of the season in all competitions, and his 15th since the turn of the calendar year.

The 24-year-old has netted 10 times in his team’s last nine Ligue 1 outings. His total of 15 in Ligue 1 this season is bettered only by Mbappe.

However, that goal was not enough to win the game, as Uruguayan striker Martin Satriano poked in a late equaliser for Brest, who remain second.

France 24

17, March 2024

Niger revokes military cooperation with US ⁰

Niger’s government announced on Saturday that it was breaking off “with immediate effect” its military cooperation agreement with the United States.

The declaration came just a day after a senior US delegation left Niger, following a three-day visit to renew contact with the military junta that ousted the president and moved closer to Russia.

The statement said the government had decided to “denounce with immediate effect” the agreement relating to US military and civilian employees of the US Department of Defense inside Niger.

It was read out Saturday evening on national television.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington was aware of the statement, and that it came after “frank discussions … about our concerns” with the junta’s “trajectory.”

Miller said on X that the US was still in touch with the junta and would provide updates “as warranted.”

The Pentagon provided AFP with an identical statement.

The United States still stations some 1,000 troops in Niger at a desert drone base built at a cost of $100 million.

Movements there have been limited since the July 2023 coup and Washington has curbed assistance to the government.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a rare visit to Niger a year ago in hopes of shoring up president Mohamed Bazoum, a stalwart ally in Western security efforts against jihadists.

Just four months later, the military deposed Bazoum and put him under house arrest.

The junta took a hard line against former colonial power France, forcing the withdrawal of French troops in place for nearly a decade.

Niger’s military had in the past worked closely with the United States.

But the junta has sought cooperation with Russia, while stopping short of the full-fledged embrace of Moscow by military-run neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso.

Source: AFP

17, March 2024

Trump warns US voters of a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses presidential election ⁰

Former US president Donald Trump warned of a “bloodbath for the country” if he is not elected in November.

Donald Trump told a rally in Ohio on Saturday that November’s presidential election will be the “most important date” in US history, painting his campaign for the White House as a turning point for the country.

Days after securing his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, the former president also warned of a “bloodbath” if he is not elected – though it was not clear what he was referring to, with the remark coming in the middle of comments about threats to the US auto industry.

“The date – remember this, November 5 – I believe it’s going to be the most important date in the history of our country,” the 77-year-old told rally-goers in Vandalia, Ohio, repeating well-worn criticisms that his rival, President Joe Biden, is the “worst” president.

Criticising what he said were Chinese plans to build cars in Mexico and sell them to Americans, he stated: “We’re going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected.”

“Now if I don’t get elected it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s going to be the least of it, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars.”

As Trump’s comment gained traction on social media, Biden’s campaign released a statement calling the Republican a “loser” at the ballot box in 2020 who then “doubles down on his threats of political violence.

“He wants another January 6 but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge,” the campaign said, referring to the deadly attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters in 2021.

Later, Biden spoke at a dinner in Washington, where he also warned of “an unprecedented moment in history.”

“Freedom is under assault… The lies about the 2020 election, the plot to overturn it, to embrace the Jan. 6 insurrection pose the greatest threat to our democracy since the American Civil War,” he said.

“In 2020, they failed, but … the threat remains.”

The 81-year-old, who has waved off concerns that he is too old for a second term, leavened his rhetoric with humor.

“One candidate’s too old and mentally unfit to be president,” he said of the presidential race. “The other guy’s me.”

Border issues

Earlier this month Trump and Biden each won enough delegates to clinch their party nominations in the 2024 presidential race, all but assuring a rematch and setting up one of the longest election campaigns in US history.

Among the issues Trump is campaigning on is sweeping reform of what he calls Biden’s “horror show” immigration policies, despite the ex-president successfully pressuring Republicans to block a bill in Congress that included the toughest border security measures in decades.

On Saturday he invoked the border again as he reached out to minorities who have traditionally voted Democrat.

He said Biden had “repeatedly stabbed African-American voters in the back” by granting work permits to “millions” of immigrants, warning that they and Hispanic Americans “are going to be the ones that suffer the most.”

For decades Ohio had been seen as a bellwether battleground state, though it has trended more strongly Republican since Trump’s White House win in 2016.

The rally came a day after Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, said he would not endorse his old boss for a second White House term.

Source: AFP

16, March 2024

Alarm bells are already ringing for Biya in 2025 ⁰

Senior political figures within the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé are now raising concerns about the declining participation in Cameroon’s sham elections orchestrated by the 91-year-old President Biya. One of them contacted by Cameroon Intelligence Report expressed worry that Etoudi insiders are not feeling the urgency and danger surrounding the current situation.

Various factors have contributed to the decreased turnout even from so called CPDM militants. There is now a complete and total dissatisfaction with the country’s conditions and a lack of hope for its future on both sides of the English and French divide. And many have openly questioned Biya’s legacy and accused him and his kinsmen of using misleading slogans to divert attention from the deteriorating state of the country.

A top military brass was heard recently murmuring privately against the rhetoric coming from inside the presidency on Franck Biya and Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. He at one point wondered aloud whether calls for the two men to succeed the 91-year-old Biya truly serves the interests of the Cameroonian people.

The corrupt CPDM government is now resorting to empty rhetoric when Biya has nothing substantial to offer. Despite years of both French and English speaking Cameroonian citizens expressing allegiance to their country, the Biya regime appears deaf to their pleas.

As I write, everyone in the nation’s capital Yaoundé is seeking regime change. The regime is losing its grip on the military, the people, and this trend might lead to further challenges to Biya’s authority and an end to the regime’s oppressive rule.

Today, there is a growing concern and complexities surrounding the 2025 presidential elections. The opposition is facing challenges in articulating a message that resonates with tribalists heading the Cameroon military and the National Gendarmerie.

The regime’s threats against key opposition leaders and parties underscores a broader disconnect between the government and the Cameroonian people.

As the Cameroonian population expresses its discontent, the Biya Francophone Beti Bulu regime finds itself at a critical juncture, with the legitimacy of the presidential elections coming up next year and its own authority increasingly under scrutiny.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

15, March 2024

Champions League quarter-finals: Arsenal face Bayern Munich and Manchester City play Real Madrid ⁰

Arsenal have been drawn against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Manchester City will play 14-time winners Real Madrid.

The Gunners will host German side Bayern, who have England captain Harry Kane in their squad, at Emirates Stadium in the first leg.

Meanwhile, this is the third successive season City, who won last year’s title, have met Real in the knockout stages.

The first legs take place 9-10 April, with the second legs on 16-17 April.

Both City and Arsenal play their first-leg fixtures on 9 April, with the Gunners at home to Bayern and Pep Guardiola’s side at the Bernabeu.

The return legs take place on 17 April, with the two Premier League sides facing each other in the semi-finals if they win their respective ties.

In the other ties, five-time winners Barcelona will play French champions Paris St-Germain, while Atletico Madrid, who are fourth in La Liga, host German opposition Borussia Dortmund.

The semi-finals will be held on 30 April and 1 May, with the second legs a week later on 7-8 May.

Wembley Stadium will host this year’s final on Saturday, 1 June.

Quarter-finals draw

Arsenal v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Borussia Dortmund

Paris St-Germain v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Manchester City

Semi-finals draw

Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund v Paris St-Germain or Barcelona

Arsenal or Bayern Munich v Real Madrid or Manchester City

Arsenal reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010 by beating Porto in a tense penalty shootout at the Emirates on Tuesday.

Kane moved to the Bundesliga champions from Tottenham last summer and the 30-year-old striker has scored 30 times in 25 league appearances this season.

The Gunners lost their last tie with Bayern 10-2 on aggregate, losing both legs of their last-16 meeting in the 2016-17 competition 5-1. They were also beaten 5-1 in the group stage of the previous season’s competition, having won the home tie 2-0.

Bayern will not be permitted to have their fans at the Emirates after fireworks were set off and thrown onto the pitch during their last-16 match against Lazio earlier this month.

City cruised to a seventh successive last eight appearance with a comfortable 6-2 aggregate win over Danish title holders Copenhagen in the round of 16.

Pep Guardiola’s Treble winners dominated Real in the semi-finals last year, beating Carlo Ancelotti’s side 5-1 on aggregate. They were beaten 6-5 over two legs by Real in the previous season’s semi-final.

Source: BBC

14, March 2024

French Cameroun: Divisional Officer sentenced to 10 years for killing partner ⁰

The military court in Ebolowa in the South Region has finally made public its verdict on the Franck Derlin Ebanga-Lydienne Taba affair.

Franck Derlin Ebanga, a civil administrator was accused of murdering his partner Lydienne Taba with a pistol he reportedly collected from a gendarmerie officer in his area of command four years ago.

The presiding judge sentenced him on Wednesday and issued a committal order at the hearing. He will also pay the victim’s family FCFA 45 million in damages.

This is the outcome of a case that began on the night of 24-25 July 2020. Franck Derlin Ebanga, then Divisional Officer of Loukoundje in Océan Division spent a tense evening at his home in the town of Kribi with his partner, Lydienne Taba, a student at the University of Douala. The following day, the body of the 23-year-old woman was found lifeless.

The 30-year-old chef de terre as they are known in French speaking Cameroon initially explained that it was an accidental discharge from his service weapon that killed Lydienne Taba. His version was disputed by the victim’s family.

An investigation conducted by the Gendarmerie Legion in Ebolowa led to the conviction of the accused. His new home is now the Ebolowa central prison. Solange Lydienne Taba was laid to rest on August 29, 2020 in Lobathal Mouanko, her native village in the Sanaga-Maritime Division, Littoral region.

By Alain Tabot-Tanyi with files

14, March 2024

UEFA Champions League: Heavyweights await quarter-final fate ⁰

This Friday’s Champions League quarter-final draw is set to throw up a series of heavyweight ties after a midweek in which penalty shoot-out drama really brought Europe’s elite club competition to life.

Goalkeeper Jan Oblak’s heroics in Atletico Madrid’s shoot-out win over last season’s runners-up Inter Milan on Wednesday — after the Spanish club came from behind in their last-16 tie — followed Arsenal’s triumph on penalties against Porto a day earlier.

Tuesday also saw Barcelona deliver a rousing performance to see off Napoli and make it through to the quarter-finals for the first time since their 8-2 annihilation at the hands of Bayern Munich in 2020 in Lisbon, at the height of the Covid crisis.

With record 14-time champions Real Madrid already having secured their last-eight berth, it means three Spanish clubs will be represented in the draw.

They are joined by two English sides in Arsenal and holders Manchester City, as well as the German duo of Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, and French giants Paris Saint-Germain.

The surprise is that none of Italy’s representatives reached the next stage, a year after Inter pushed City close in the final having eliminated neighbours AC Milan in the last four.

Only three of last season’s quarter-finalists — City, Real and Bayern — have made it back to the last eight this time, suggesting there is still a real degree of variety and unpredictability to the competition.

Yet the recent last-16 ties also more than hinted at the ever-growing polarisation at the very top of European football.

FC Copenhagen could never really compete with Pep Guardiola’s City, while getting the better of PSG proved a step too far for Real Sociedad and Bayern ultimately brushed aside Lazio despite losing the first leg away.

Only the mega-rich can now aspire to winning the Champions League, with four of the quarter-finalists posting revenue last season of over 800 million euros ($874m) according to this year’s Deloitte Football Money League.

Going by Deloitte’s ranking, all eight quarter-finalists were in the top 15 clubs in the world last season in terms of income — Atletico had the lowest at just over 364 million euros.

Diego Simeone’s side were the only team to win against a richer club in the last 16, and even then Inter generated only marginally more money last season.

Can anyone stop Man City?

The current format of the Champions League has been in place for two decades and will be changed for next season, when UEFA will revolutionise its flagship tournament by replacing the group stage with a league phase featuring 36 clubs, up from 32 now.

Clubs will play eight games in the league phase, instead of six in the old group stage, all against different opponents in what is known as the “Swiss system”.

It remains to be seen if that will somehow improve the Champions League, when the major issue appears to be that the number of candidates to win the trophy is getting narrower.

Competing with City is not just an issue for Copenhagen, but for all clubs.

Having won the trophy for the first time last season, they are into the quarter-finals for the seventh year running.

“It’s quite impressive,” admitted Guardiola last week. “We are well-respected from our opponents. The numbers are there — our consistency.”

Whether anyone can prevent them retaining the title may in large part come down to the draw, with the path to the final being determined on Friday when the semi-final match-ups will also be decided.

Winners in 2022, Madrid may be the best equipped to beat City among all the sides left in the quarter-finals, but they were blown away by them in last season’s semi-finals.

Bayern are into the quarter-finals for the 12th time in 13 years. They may be trailing behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, but they remain a formidable prospect in Europe.

Three of the remaining contenders have never won the trophy, in Arsenal, Atletico and PSG, the French side reaching the final in 2020, when they lost to Bayern.

They are far from a complete team now, but will be eager to seize their last chance to win the Champions League before Kylian Mbappe departs.

“I am not going to choose one team or give my preferences. What I am sure of though is that nobody will want to play PSG,” said their coach Luis Enrique.

Source: AFP

13, March 2024

Bamenda: Archbishop Nkea comforts fire disaster victims ⁰

Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda in Cameroon has offered words of comfort to persons affected by the fire disaster that razed hundreds of shops at the central market in his Metropolitan See last month.

On February 22, over 300 shops were razed to ashes after a fire broke out at Bamenda Main Market in the North West region of Cameroon, the State media, Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV), reported.

Archbishop Nkea paid a visit to the victims of the inferno on Tuesday, March 12. He encouraged them to remain hopeful, and imparted God’s blessings upon them.

“No matter the difficulties that come our way, we should remember that God will never abandon his people,” he said.

The Cameroonian Catholic Archbishop, who also interacted with leaders of the Traders’ Union and Market Master and staff invited the victims of the fire disaster to unite their challenges with those that Jesus Christ experienced.

“In our frustrations, our pain, and uncertainties, we are called to unite all these with the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ especially given that we are currently observing the Lenten period in the Church,” the Local Ordinary of Bamenda, who doubles as the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) said on March 12.

In a statement he issued on February 24, Archbishop Nkea expressed his solidarity with the victims of the inferno that “left many families and the entire population of Bamenda and beyond in pain and desperation.”

In his statement, he assured the victims his “closeness and prayers,” describing the incident which he likened to the biblical story of Job as “unfortunate.”

“My dear people, we are faced with a similar situation like Job, with many questions in our minds, wondering why such things should happen especially at this moment when we are still being tormented by the crisis plaguing the North West and the South West Regions of Cameroon,” Archbishop Nkea said.

“I implore you, like Job, to hold firm to the God who blessed Job’s latter condition even more than his former one,” he said in his February 24 statement.

On March 2, an inferno at a family house in Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Buea resulted in the death of four siblings.

In a statement, Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of Buea Diocese commiserated with the family on the fatal incident that he said “shocked not only the members of that community but every other Cameroonian.”

“Three of the Children, Negou Mariana Britney (class 6), Negou Prince David (class 5), and Elizclaire Maya (class 1), were all pupils of the Catholic Primary School in Batoke,” Bishop Bibi said in his March 3 statement, adding, “The fourth child, Mbong Bella, their kid sister of about one year and some months, died along with them in the fire.”

“I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the Conte family for this loss of their dear children; four children, from two sisters,” the Cameroonian Catholic Bishop said.

Source: aciafrica

13, March 2024

Biya’s continued stay in power: Etoudi warns opposition groups ahead of election ⁰

Cameroon’s government has branded two political coalition groups as having an “illegal character” and warned them to suspend their activities 18 months ahead of a presidential election.

International NGOs accuse the regime of President Paul Biya, who has ruled with an iron fist for more than 41 years, of systematically suppressing opposition.

“The Political Alliance for Change (APC) and the Alliance for Political Transition in Cameroon (ATP) are not political parties under the law,” said Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji in a statement late Tuesday.

“These clandestine movements cannot carry out any political activity.

“Despite the illegal character of these movements, their promoters hold meetings, press conferences and consultations looking to recruit new members,” he said.

The statement also expressed concern over “pseudo-associations ahead of the 2025 presidential election”.

The APC dismissed what it called “curious threats,” in a “statement which indicates panic”.

The alliance said it was “ready to face the elections victoriously” next year.

The APC, led by former deputy Jean Michel Nintcheu, was set up in December at a congress of the leading opposition Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), which backed Maurice Kamto for president in the 2018 ballot.

Kamto came second and called Biya’s re-election a fraud. He was jailed without trial the following year, after staging peaceful protests.

The movement boycotted legislative elections in 2018 and over the next two years saw 700 of its supporters imprisoned, including Kamto.

Most were freed after eight months in detention without trial but 47 were jailed by a military tribunal in 2021 — 44 remain in prison today.

Rights group Amnesty international last year charged 91-year-old Biya’s regime with using military tribunals to arbitrarily detain the opposition, civilians, journalists and civil society figures on the pretext that they had committed terrorist acts.

Source: AFP