Monthly Archives: February 2025

24, February 2025

Southern Cameroons Crisis: At least six killed in Pinyin village ⁰

At least six people have been killed after gunmen attacked Pinyin village in the Northwest, local residents and security sources said on Monday.

Residents of the village interviewed said the gunmen raided the village on Sunday and shot six civilians, all male, at close range.

Separatist fighters have been active in the village since 2017 and villagers have recently asked them to leave, citing rampant kidnapping for ransom, said a security source in the region.

“The villagers have been complaining about atrocities committed by the separatists. So, last week they captured and killed two separatist fighters,” the source said, adding that the killing of the civilians on Sunday was apparently an act of revenge.

A separatist insurgency has been going on in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017. Separatists want to create an independent nation in the regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

24, February 2025

Pope Francis Critical Condition: Cardinals in Rome to pray rosary at St. Peter’s ⁰

With Pope Francis remaining in critical condition fighting a complex respiratory infection and bilateral pneumonia, the cardinals and curial officials in Rome have organized a rosary and special Mass for the pontiff.

The Vicariate of Rome announced Monday that at 7 p.m. local time, the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, will celebrate Mass for Pope Francis’s health at the Santa Maria Addolorata church in Buenos Aires square in Rome.

Reina, who celebrated a separate Mass for the pope’s health during a Feb. 23 Mass in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, will celebrate Monday’s Mass “in communion with the Argentinian community residing in Rome,” the statement said.

He has also invited all parish and religious communities to continue praying for Pope Francis, “so that his health is restored.”

After Monday’s Mass, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, will lead a rosary at 9 p.m. local time for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square.

All cardinals residing in Rome and all curial officials and collaborators, and all collaborators and officials in the Diocese of Rome have been invited to attend the rosary to pray for the pope’s health.

In 2005, Pope John Paul II died while a rosary was being prayed for him in St. Peter’s Square, led by Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, who at the time served as the sostituto, or substitute, of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, a position akin to a chief of staff.

On that occasion, the rosary also began at 9p.m. local time, and John Paul II died at 9:47p.m., with Sandri making the announcement publicly to those gathered in the square.

A medical bulletin published by the Vatican Sunday night said Pope Francis remained in “critical” condition after suffering “prolonged respiratory crisis” on Saturday, as well as an anemia that improved after he received two units of concentrated red blood cells.

The pope continues to suffer from thrombocytopenia, in which his blood platelet count is low, and continues to receive oxygen through his nose.

On Sunday doctors said he was also suffering from “initial, mild” signs of kidney failure, leading to concerns the pope could develop sepsis due to the nature of his complex infection he is fighting, and the large dose of medications he is receiving.

However, doctors said that the condition of his kidneys, for the time being, was “under control.”

In a Feb. 24 statement, the Vatican said Pope Francis “had a calm night,” that he slept well “and was resting,” but his prognosis remains unclear.

Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital Feb. 14 for treatment of bronchitis and was later diagnosed with a polymicrobial respiratory infection with viral, bacterial and fungal elements, and he subsequently developed pneumonia in both lungs.

Doctors have said that the 88-year-old pontiff remains alert and aware, and is in “good humor” despite the severity of his condition.

Further information from the pope’s medical team on his current condition will be provided by the Vatican Monday evening.

Source: Crux

22, February 2025

Trump says Ukraine’s leaders ‘don’t have any cards’ in negotiations ⁰

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faced pressure on Friday to sign a deal to hand the United States preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral deposits following harsh criticism from US President Donald Trump.

Trump wants Ukraine to give US companies access as compensation for the tens of billions of dollars of aid delivered under his predecessor Joe Biden.

But Ukraine is seeking security guarantees from the United States in exchange for signing away precious rights to vast amounts of its natural resources and critical minerals.

Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, on Friday predicted that Zelensky would sign the deal soon.

“Look, here’s the bottom line, President Zelensky is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term, and that is good for Ukraine,” Waltz told a conference on the outskirts of Washington.

Forbes Ukraine in April 2023 estimated that Ukraine’s mineral resources amounted to 111 billion tonnes, worth $14.8 trillion – mostly coal and iron ore.

But more than 70 percent of these resources were in Donetsk and Luhansk – regions partly controlled by Russia – and Dnipropetrovsk, where Moscow’s forces are approaching.

Trump’s top advisers have doubled down on their attacks on Zelensky in recent days, after Trump branded him a “dictator” and falsely claimed Ukraine had “started” the war with Russia.

Elections have been suspended in Ukraine since Zelensky declared martial law following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The war of words has stunned Kyiv and European capitals, a sign of just how rapidly Trump is overhauling Washington’s long-standing support for Ukraine as he opens talks with Moscow on a settlement to the conflict.

Trump told a gathering of US governors at the White House he had “very good talks” with his Russian counterpart, while adding Ukrainian leaders “don’t have any cards, but they play it tough”.

A senior Ukrainian official earlier Friday told AFP that despite the tensions between Zelensky and Trump, talks on a possible agreement were “ongoing”.

“There is a constant exchange of drafts, we sent another one yesterday,” the Kyiv source said, adding that Ukraine was now waiting for a US response.

Kyiv had rejected a first attempt by Trump’s team to strike a deal for Ukraine’s natural resources, saying the proposal did not include security guarantees for Kyiv – a move that infuriated Trump.

Three-year war

Ukraine is pressing for NATO membership or for the deployment of Western troops and masses of advanced equipment as part of any wider ceasefire agreement with Russia.

Zelensky said earlier this week he would not “sell” Ukraine in any deal with the United States.

The spat risks undermining Western support for Kyiv at a critical juncture in the conflict, ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion on Sunday.

Russia’s army on Friday said it had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine.

Europe has also been left scrambling to respond, though Zelensky has held a flurry of calls in recent days with European leaders reiterating their support for Ukraine, including French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Finland and Denmark.

Macron will travel to Washington next week where he will tell Trump: “You can’t be weak with President Putin,” he said in an address on Thursday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also visit Trump, as Paris and London seek to marshal Europe’s response to the Republican’s first month in office.

‘Despised’

Zelensky met this week in Kyiv with Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg whose description of meetings with Ukrainian officials came in stark contrast with rhetoric from his counterparts in Washington.

In a social media post Kellogg called Zelensky “the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war”.

Trump told Fox News on Friday that “I don’t think he’s very important to be in meetings”, referring to Zelensky, adding “he makes it very hard to make deals”.

Tech tycoon and Trump backer Elon Musk weighed in on Thursday, saying Ukrainians “despised” their president and that the US leader was right to leave him out of talks with Russia.

“Some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump were unacceptable,” Waltz said during a briefing at the White House.

In his most pointed criticism yet, Zelensky earlier this week said Trump had succumbed to Russian “disinformation” over the US president’s repetition of debunked Kremlin talking points on the conflict.

Source: AFP

22, February 2025

French Cameroun: 2 journalists attacked while reporting on businessman praised by Biya ⁰

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Cameroonian authorities to investigate and hold accountable those who attacked Equinoxe TV journalists Joseph Abena Abena and Augustin Ndongo while they were reporting in a village in Cameroon’s South Region on February 13.

“The attack on Joseph Abena Abena and Augustin Ndongo is yet another expression of the sense of impunity for those who intimidate and threaten journalists in Cameroon,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “Cameroonian authorities must investigate and hold accountable the assailants and ensure a safe working environment for journalists.”

Abena, a regional correspondent for privately owned Equinoxe TV, and Ndongo, a camera operator, were attacked when they went to investigate an agricultural facility owned by Samuel Tony Obam Bikoué, a controversial figure praised by President Paul Biya three days earlier for helping to create “an agricultural industry,” but whose involvement in the banana plantation sector has been criticized by a local prefect.

The journalists were attacked when they entered the facility, according to a statement from the National Union of Journalists of Cameroon and Abena, who told CPJ that one of the attackers asked him why he wanted to harm Bikoué’s business rather than investigating other officials’ interests.

Abena said that the assailants, some armed with clubs, snatched Ndongo’s camera, confiscated the two journalists’ phones, and forced them to sit on the ground while making lynching and death threats, according to Abena, who told CPJ that he had identified himself as a journalist and presented his press card.

“One of the attackers said he knew me before he said they were going to kill us,” Abena said.

The two journalists were released after a local official intervened, but Abena said that his computer was damaged and one of the attackers took the memory card from Ndongo’s damaged camera.

CPJ’s calls and messages to Bikoué and Denis Omgba Bomba, director of the media observatory at Cameroon’s Ministry of Communication, went unanswered

CPJ has documented several physical attacks and acts of intimidation against journalists in recent months in Cameroon, ahead of the country’s elections later this year.

Culled from CPJ

21, February 2025

Champions League: PSG draws to play Liverpool, Real Madrid Vs Atletico Madrid ⁰

Liverpool finished first in the 36-team league phase of the competition to qualify directly for this stage, while PSG had to come through a two-legged play-off tie in which they crushed fellow French side Brest 10-0 on aggregate.

The first leg will take place at the Parc des Princes in Paris on March 4 or 5, with the return at Anfield a week later.

The clubs last met in the Champions League in the group stage in 2018/19, when PSG won 2-1 at home after Liverpool triumphed 3-2 in England.

In another eye-catching tie, reigning champions Real Madrid will play city rivals Atletico Madrid in a repeat of the finals of 2014 and 2016, both of which were won by Los Blancos.

Bayern Munich will take on German rivals Bayer Leverkusen, while Arsenal face PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan take on Feyenoord, who are fresh from knocking out AC Milan in the play-offs.

Barcelona will face Benfica, who they defeated 5-4 away in Lisbon in the league phase last month.

Aston Villa will face Club Brugge, having already lost away to the Belgians in the league phase.

Last season’s beaten finalists Borussia Dortmund will take on French side Lille.

Source: AFP

21, February 2025

Camtel deploys 75 engineers to boost service quality ⁰

Camtel, a state-run company, added 75 new tech hires this week, including computer integration specialists, software development engineers, and satellite solution specialists, in an effort to improve service delivery in the face of strong competition.

The new employees, who just completed a four-month intense in-house training at the National Emergency Telecommunications Network Centre in Ekounou-Yaounde, join the telco’s existing pool of 180 technicians dispersed across the country.

Judith Yah Sunday Achidi, Camtel’s general manager, remarked: “Camtel has the task to digitalise Cameroon’s economy and to do that, we need qualified human resources and that is what we have done with the recruitment of these young engineers’

“We have the conviction that we have recruited the best talents and from the interactions we have had with them for the past four months, we are very sure that they will play an essential role in our digital transformation drive.”

Camtel intends to use its expanded technical staff, as well as emerging technologies it has acquired, to combat recurring network failures.

Source: iTweb

20, February 2025

Former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales convicted of sexual assault over forced kiss ⁰

A Spanish court on Thursday convicted former football chief Luis Rubiales of sexual assault over the forced kiss he gave star forward Jenni Hermoso and fined him € 10,800 ($11,300).

But the court acquitted him and the three other accused of the charge of coercion in the case.

Prosecutors had sought a prison term of two-and-a-half years for Rubiales – one year for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion – for having allegedly pressured the player to downplay the incident.

Rubiales was accused of sexual assault for kissing Hermoso in 2023 following Spain’s triumph in the women’s World Cup in Australia, as well as coercion for allegedly trying to convince her to downplay the incident afterwards.

Rubiales will appeal his conviction for sexual assault over the forced kiss, his lawyer Olga Tubau Martinez said Thursday.

“Mr. Rubiales has decided to appeal the ruling,” she told AFP after the verdict in the trial.

Global outcry

The global outcry over the kiss forced Rubiales to resign in disgrace and thrust the spotlight on the prevalence of macho culture and sexism in sport.

Hermoso, 34, said on the opening day of the trial on February 3 she felt “disrespected” after a non-consensual kiss that “should not happen in any social or work setting”.

But Rubiales, 47, told the court on Tuesday he was “totally sure” Hermoso consented to the kiss as she went up to receive her winner’s medal, which was broadcast live around the world, and denied putting pressure on her after the incident.

He conceded he “made a mistake” on the podium, saying he should have “been in a more institutional role”, but denied any offence had been committed.

Rubiales’ stance on the stand contrasted with the defiance he displayed when the scandal broke.

During an emergency federation meeting in August 2023, he minimised the importance of the kiss and defied calls for his resignation, railing against “false feminism”.

Rubiales resigned in September that year after FIFA suspended him and Spanish prosecutors opened an investigation into alleged sexual assault. He had been federation chief since 2018.

Hermoso, the all-time top scorer for the Spain women’s team who now plays for Mexican club Tigres, was not called up to the national squad immediately after the World Cup.

The new coach Montse Tome said she wanted to protect the player and denied omitting her from the squad was a “punishment”.

(Source: AFP)

20, February 2025

Cocoa leaders unite to embrace innovation in the face of unprecedented challenges ⁰

Political and economic instability in recent weeks – from the delay and simplification of regulation to the freeze on international development funding and soaring cocoa prices – are further straining a global cocoa sector already grappling with profound challenges. In response, the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) Partnership Meeting will convene global leaders to drive collaboration, accelerate innovation and build long-term resilience across the supply chain.

Under the theme “Our Future: Resilience Through Sustainability”, the meeting on 19-20 March takes place at a defining moment for the cocoa industry. Its location in Brazil – host of COP30 and one of the few nations to have updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reducing greenhouse gas emissions – adds a forward-looking dimension to the discussions. As a leader in agricultural mechanisation, Brazil offers a unique platform for knowledge exchange between cocoa-producing nations, highlighting scalable innovations that can boost efficiency and sustainability.

“Unprecedented challenges require unprecedented collaboration,” said Chris Vincent, President of the WCF. “By bringing together the entire cocoa sector, we aim to share best practices on critical issues such as disease prevention, mechanisation and navigating climate change and evolving geopolitical challenges – all of which are essential for reducing operational costs, increasing productivity and enhancing farmer profitability. A more adaptive sector will be better equipped to withstand shocks and secure a sustainable future.” Vincent concluded.

WCF’s pivotal role in fostering collaboration

The WCF Partnership Meeting is the premier global event dedicated to cocoa sustainability, attracting more than 400 stakeholders from over 40 countries to ensure a direct link between global strategies and on-the-ground realities. This year’s agenda will explore impactful solutions to key industry challenges, including regulatory compliance, evolving geopolitical challenges, modern farming innovations and industry-wide impact measurement.

Confirmed speakers include:

Alex Assanvo – Executive Secretary, Initiative Cacao Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana (ICCIG)

Eduardo Bastos – Executive Director, Brazilian Agribusiness Association (ABAG)

Marcello Brito – Executive Secretary, Legal Amazon Consortium of States

Santiago Gowland – CEO, Rainforest Alliance

Schneider Guataqui Cervera – Global Policy Maker, International Labour Organisation (ILO)

Deborah Faria – Full Professor at the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC)

Dr Koffi N’Goran – Deputy Director General, Coffee Cocoa Council of Côte d’Ivoire (CCC)

Anna Paula Losi – Executive President, Brazilian Association of Cocoa Processing Industries

Valmir Ortega – Partner, Belterra Agroforestry

Pam Thornton – Commodity Trader, Nightingale Investment-Armajaro

Wieneke Vullings – Consul General of the Netherlands in São Paulo.

A full list of confirmed speakers is available on WCF’s website.

By Cecilia Manjang

20, February 2025

October Presidential Election: Will 92-year-old Biya be re-elected? ⁰

It actually seems like a done deal even though Cameroonians both French and English speaking will not vote for him.

Shortly after he took office from the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo, he pretended to be a man of rigour and moralization. And after 42 years in power, it is now certain that President Paul Biya will be running for an eighth term, and he is expected to win comfortably without campaigning.

He has not submitted the necessary documents to run on October 11, but the activities of his acolytes are quashing any uncertainty surrounding his decision. To justify his intention to run, senior Cameroon government officials from his Beti Bulu tribal extraction have been busy explaining that at 92, he is being urged to do so by other political parties and the civil society.

In fact, Cameroon’s numerous opposition parties have not put forth any credible candidate for the elections. Even the SDF of Joshua Osih and the MRC of Maurice Kamto have still not even formed a coalition.

No specific reason has been put forward to justify why a 92-year-old man still wants to remain in office. Biya’s only curt explanation is that he has experience that has failed to deliver anything positive to the Cameroonian people leaving observers perplexed.

His cabinet ministers and ELECAM officials, the body responsible for organizing elections in Cameroon are busy making things harder for opponents to mobilize their bases and to organize protests. Employees and civil servants who attempt to strike are ruthlessly crushed and severely dealt with!

Biya’s ministers have been campaigning for several months now but there is nothing for them to take advantage of in each outing to boast about his record.

Biya’s 42-years in office have been a prominent and successful failure in the fight against corruption. He has been unable to recover money held abroad by oligarchs close to him. All what his Special Criminal Court claims to do in the fight against corruption ranges from plain fiction to the most absurd. Cameroon as a nation is losing everything including its international presence.

In his forty-two year presidency, Cameroon became the first African country to introduce unemployment benefits for traditional rulers who have all abandoned their villages and are currently living in big cities such as Douala and Yaoundé.

Covid-19 funding disappeared amid rising inflation and Cameroonians have never benefited from increase in oil and gas prices under his leadership. Biya’s repression of civil liberties remains an indelible black mark on his administration. Yaoundé still has more than 5000 Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience, including journalists, activists and the leader of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

The disintegration of the Anglophone press over the last six years following the Ambazonia uprising has been frightening. The few independent media houses that exist in French speaking Cameroon face financial troubles due to the difficulty of accessing funding of any kind.

Anglophone journalists are subject to regular intimidation that has become formalized in recent years through the arrest and harassment of those who speak critically of the Francophone dominated regime. Journalists who will be allowed to cover the presidential elections will most likely be, as for previous elections, handpicked by the authorities. This will not be a new occurrence.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group are of the opinion that the presidential elections will be a hoax. So, boycott or participate is the question that Cameroonian political parties and voters will face this coming October.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

19, February 2025

Football: marvellous Mbappe sends Man City crashing out of Europe ⁰

Manchester City’s Champions League campaign came to a tame conclusion at the Bernabeu as Kylian Mbappe’s brilliant hat-trick inspired holders Real Madrid to a comfortable victory and place in the last 16.

Pep Guardiola’s side were attempting to reverse a 3-2 deficit from the play-off first leg but this contest was effectively over after four minutes when Mbappe’s precise lob from Raul Asencio’s pass increased their advantage.

City, with Erling Haaland only fit enough for the bench, saw their plight worsen moments after Mbappe’s opener when they lost defender John Stones to injury.

And City’s earliest Champions League exit since they failed to get out of the group in 2012-13 edged closer when Mbappe showed brilliant close control to wrong-foot Josko Gvardiol before beating Ederson after 33 minutes.

The France forward’s third came just after the hour with a low shot as City subsided, barely laying a glove on Real all night as they were outclassed.

City pulled a goal back when Nico Gonzalez turned in his first goal for the club after Omar Marmoush’s free-kick hit the bar, but it was no consolation on a desperate night for the reigning Premier League champions.

It was a chastening experience for Guardiola, whose discomfort was particularly relished by Real’s fans because of his old Barcelona allegiances, as he faces a mammoth task to rebuild and restore City to Europe’s top table.

Source: BBC