Headline News

Ouagadougou 2017: Biya’s continued stay in power on the agenda

4, April 2017

Ouagadougou 2017: Biya’s continued stay in power on the agenda 0

The Forum of the Francophone Cameroun Diaspora to be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from the 25th  to 27th of May 2017 initiated by French speaking Cameroonians living outside the national borders, will address the issue of Biya’s continued stay in power and political succession in Cameroon.

Francophone Cameroonians abroad have chosen to reflect on strategies that will lead to a lasting solution to the current socio-political situation in Cameroon. Cameroon Concord News gathered that the main objective of the Burkina Faso forum will be to identify grievances in relation to the socio-political situation in Cameroon and to plan viable therapeutics for a new Cameroon.

The participants in this forum are mainly academics, artists, journalists, businessmen, political leaders, members of the civil society, men of culture and a group calling itself “Friends of Cameroon”. The organizers of the Diaspora forum hope that this year’s meeting will provide recommendations and resolutions that will bring political change in Cameroon. Cameroonians from inside and outside are unanimous: It is time to think of a patriotic start for real change in Cameroon.

By Fru James

Congo-Kinshasa: Ghost town affects main cities

4, April 2017

Congo-Kinshasa: Ghost town affects main cities 0

A general strike called by the opposition to force Congolese President Joseph Kabila to share power has slowed business activities in the country’s four biggest cities. “We’ve followed the call … because we are suffering greatly. Let him (Kabila) quit power, he has finished his mandate, we want no more of him,” Mamie Biamba, a resident of the capital Kinshasa, told AFP on Monday.

The central square — Place Victoria — in the usually teeming city of more than 10 million people was almost empty in early morning, with police posted on key arteries. The strike also hit the Democratic Republic of Congo’s second city, Lubumbashi, as well as eastern Goma and the central cities of Mbuji-Mayi and Kananga. But it was business as usual in Kisangani in the northeast and Mbandaka in the northwest.

An umbrella alliance of parties, known as the Rassemblement (Movement), had urged people to stop work in protest at Kabila’s failure to implement a power-sharing deal signed on December 31 and to appoint a prime minister from the opposition. The president’s constitutional mandate expired last year at the end of his second five-year term. His unwillingness to enable elections and step down led to protests in September that left some 50 people dead.

At 8:00 am (0700 GMT), shops and service stations remained closed in Kinshasa and public transport was scarce, with people walking from their homes in eastern working-class districts to their workplaces in the city center. The situation was similar in distant Lubumbashi, according to witnesses in the country’s mining capital, about 1,570 kilometers southeast of Kinshasa.

“One shop in five is open,” a resident told AFP, while a bank manager stated that work had slowed down and several of his staff had failed to show up. “I was almost alone on the roads and I charged high fares,” taxi driver Nyembo Muyumba said in Lubumbashi. But some people voiced indifference to the strike call, which followed pressure on Kabila by the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union to abide by the December deal.

“We’re not concerned by appeals from politicians. Our problem is to find something to feed our children, send them to school,” said Albertine Bulanga, who sells maize in a Kingasani market. “Life has become unbearable for the little people like us while they (the politicians) have cushy lives.

Presstv

Fire ravages SODECOTTON warehouse in the Douala Port

4, April 2017

Fire ravages SODECOTTON warehouse in the Douala Port 0

Devastating flames have consumed part of the Douala Autonomous Port. State radio and television reported that the fire which breakout at 1 a.m. early on Monday, 3rd April 2017 consumed a cotton warehouse belonging to the Cotton Development Cooperation, SODECOTTON.

SODECOTTON sources revealed that the fire ravaged about 2500 tons of cotton stocked in the warehouse deep inside the Douala Port. Fire fighters and marines stationed at the autonomous ports battled tirelessly with the flames to prevent it from spreading. The cause of the fire is still unknown but competent authorities are presently investigating.

By Eyong Johnson

Prof. Maurice Kamto says the Anglophone Crisis needs quick solutions for a “soothed united Cameroon”

4, April 2017

Prof. Maurice Kamto says the Anglophone Crisis needs quick solutions for a “soothed united Cameroon” 0

Prof. Maurice Kamto, leader of the MRC party has said that the peaceful resolution of the Southern Cameroons problem is a political test for living together in Cameroon. The former cabinet minister added that the Anglophone problem is one of the urgent political problems demanding quick solutions for a soothed united Cameroon.

Speaking on Monday in Yaoundé, the much respected Francophone political elite revealed that there was the existence of a “black cabinet” created by the Yaoundé regime to neutralize him. “Since my departure from the cabinet and my accession, for the first time in my life, to a political party, the MRC, there is at the heart of power a Black Cabinet that works with determination for my exclusion from political competition by all means. I say by all means! “.

Maurice Kamto continued “This black cabinet has long searched, but in vain, in my management of public affairs and embarked on a scandalous affair on my scientific reputation and has mounted and maintained in public opinion a smoky public procurement case worth 14 billion CFA francs.”

During the Monday press conference, Maurice Kamto strongly criticized the international community, which, according to him, “does not care of the fate of the Anglophone Cameroonians being many of whom have been raped and killed and hundreds abducted and detained in Francophone jails.”

“Cameroonians no longer trust the international community with its electoral observers who have never helped the establishment of the electoral truth in Cameroon and whose conclusions are known in advance, because they are always the same: the elections were generally satisfactory, we are told each time, “says Kamto.

The MRC leader pointed out that the method applied by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government in the management of the Anglophone crisis – made up of repression, mass arrests and arbitrary detention, militarization of disputed areas, the use of unbridled anti-terrorist law against unarmed citizens – is a “break-in” and a general rehearsal of what will be implemented in 2018 presidential elections.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Protesting Southern Cameroon lawyers paralyze courts

4, April 2017

Protesting Southern Cameroon lawyers paralyze courts 0

Since October 2016, courts in Southern Cameroons have not been functioning. The lawyers announced a boycott of the courts after certain demands were not met by the Francophone regime in Yaoundé. With the support of the teachers, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium was born and the Anglophone regions plunged into crisis.

The Biya Francophone government has maintained a kind of deliberate silence and some Francophone magistrates have been hearing cases without the presence of counsels and have been delivering funny judgments. Cameroon Concord News gathered that most of the hearings are being postponed. Some of the French speaking judges were quoted as saying that in the absence of lawyers, their work lacks serenity and the hearing are painful.

Last week Laurent Esso, the Minister of Justice and a gang of other Francophone cabinet ministers held a press conference to present to the media the measures taken so far by the Head of State who has reportedly gone missing ever since his state visit to Italy.

Esso and his Francophone colleagues in response to the demands of English-speaking lawyers revealed that Mr. Biya has ordered a new assessment on the mastery of the Common Law by Magistrates serving in the North West and South West Courts of Appeal.  Laurent Esso who earlier made a mockery of Southern Cameroonians that there was an emergence of a Chinese Cameroon community also noted that the 84 year old dictator has agreed to a redeployment of Magistrates in Southern Cameroons taking into account their mastery of the English language.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has said it will no longer react to statements and decrees signed by the Biya Francophone government as they are not relevant to Southern Cameroonians.

By Sama Ernest

Russia: Blast hits St. Petersburg metro, casualties reported

3, April 2017

Russia: Blast hits St. Petersburg metro, casualties reported 0

Ten people have been reportedly killed and several others injured after a bomb blast hits a metro station in Russia’s St. Petersburg. According to preliminary information released by Russia’s TASS news agency, rescue teams were being dispatched to the site of the blast, with a witness telling Reuters that eight ambulances were seen near the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station.

Another Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, however, reported that there had been apparently two separate explosions at two metro stations.

Three metro stations have been closed, according to Fontanka local media outlet. “An evacuation from the stations is ongoing, there are people injured,” the St. Petersburg metro said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies, adding, “An unidentified object supposedly blew up in a (train) carriage.”

Another report by St. Petersburg emergency services indicated that there had been blasts in two train carriages at two metro stations.

Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a source as saying that at least one of the blasts involved a device filled with shrapnel, adding that at least 50 people had been injured.

Putin condoles with victims’ families, says all possibilities considered

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a message of condolence, sympathizing with the families of those killed in St. Petersburg subway explosion. Putin is currently in St. Petersburg for a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko.

An injured person is helped by emergency services outside Sennaya Ploshchad metro station, following explosions in two train carriages at metro stations in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 3, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Speaking to reporters, he said the cause of the blasts was not clear yet, adding that all possibilities, including terrorism, were being considered. “I have already spoken to the head of our special services, they are working to ascertain the cause (of the blasts),” Putin said at a meeting with Lukashenko, adding, “The causes are not clear, it’s too early. We will look at all possible causes, terrorism as well as common crime.”

Emergency vehicles and a helicopter are seen at the entrance to Technological Institute metro station in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

St. Petersburg metro closed after bomb attack

Early videos showed injured people lying bleeding on a platform to be treated by emergency services while others ran away from the platform amid clouds of smoke.

The metro network servicing Russia’s second largest city said in a statement later on Monday that it had closed all stations at 15:40 local time (12:40 GMT) to facilitate an ongoing evacuation operation. It is still unclear when the underground system will open again.

Following the incident, Moscow’s deputy mayor told media that authorities in the Russian capital were taking steps to tighten security on Moscow subway.

No group or individual has assumed responsibility for St. Petersburg metro blasts yet.

Men carry an injured person on a stretcher outside Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on April 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

‘Only one blast between two stations’

Later on, an unnamed source in Russia’s emergency services was quoted by Reuters as saying that there was only one blast in St. Petersburg’s metro system, which happened on a train between two stations.

“There was one blast in one site in between (stations) as the train arrived at the Technology Institute station from Sennaya (Ploshchad) station,” the source added.

Second explosive device ‘made safe’

Meanwhile, Russian security agencies reported that they had found an explosive device at a metro station in central St. Petersburg and made it safe.

An injured man is helped by medics outside Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on April 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

A statement by the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in on Monday that the device was found at the Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station, which was a different location from where a blast earlier took place.

‘Images of possible organizer of metro attack probably captured’

A later report indicated that surveillance cameras in St. Petersburg’s metro system may have captured images of the person suspected of organizing Monday’s deadly train blast, Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying.

“Images of the suspected organizer of the metro blast were captured on metro station cameras,” the source noted, adding that the explosive device may have been left in a briefcase in a metro train carriage.

Russia investigating suspected “act of terror” after metro attack

Russia’s Investigative Committee said later on Monday that it was probing a suspected “act of terror” after a blast in the Saint Petersburg metro killed about 10 people and injured dozens, AFP reported.

“Despite the fact that a criminal case under article 205 of the Criminal Code (act of terror) has been opened, the investigation intends to verify all other possible versions of this incident,” the committee said in a statement.Russia’s public transportation system has been targeted by attacks in the past.

EU condoles with Russia after blast: Mogherini

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has extended her “condolences to all Russian people” after a blast hit the metro system in Russia’s St. Petersburg.

“We have been following in the past hour the news coming from St. Petersburg, together with foreign ministers of all the member states,” Mogherini said.

 

She added, “”I expressed my condolences also to the Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov in a message we sent him earlier.” Mogherini continued by saying that EU foreign ministers will show a “more precise reaction” as further details about the blast transpire.

France beefs up Paris public transport security after Russia blast

France also announced on Monday that it was increasing security at public transport locations in Paris following deadly explosion in St. Petersburg. “Following the events in the St. Petersburg metro, and as a precautionary measure, Interior Minister Matthias Fekl has decided to redeploy security means in public transport across the Paris region,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

“Amid an extremely high terrorism threat, the government continues to take measures to protect the French people,” the statement added. Russia’s public transportation system has been targeted by attacks in the past. In December 2013, twin separate bombings a day apart claimed the lives of 34 people in Russia’s southern city of Volgograd.

Police and emergency services personnel carry an injured person on a stretcher outside Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on April 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The first bombing at the main railway station of Volgograd killed 18 people while the second strike hit a trolley bus and claimed 16 lives. The attacks followed a bus bombing carried out in the same city two months earlier.

In January 2011, an attack on Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, claimed by militants from North Caucasus, killed 37 people.

Report by Presstv International News Desk

French Cameroun: Sports Minister to hold crisis meeting amid numerous scandals

3, April 2017

French Cameroun: Sports Minister to hold crisis meeting amid numerous scandals 0

The Biya Francophone government has said that it wants to know what actually caused the scandal that took place on Tuesday 28 March in the lair of the indomitable Lions, before taking any sanctions and measures to prevent the occurrence of another one. Cameroon Concord News understands, the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Bidoung Mkpat has summoned Tombi A Roko the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, Fécafoot and Hugo Broos the head coach of the national team.

On Tuesday 28 March 2017 at the Parker Hotel in Brussels in Belgium, Cameroon’s national football team was refused entrance to the hotel’s restaurant for unpaid invoice. In a press conference after the match against Guinea Conakry, the coach of the indomitable Lions, Hugo Broos profited and exposed the shortcomings registered since his appointment over a year ago.

Yaoundé had not even started managing the fallout of the hotel scandal when the player Oyongo Bitolo complained the next day that he was abandoned at the airport in Brussels by those who were in charge of organizing his return trip to Canada.  The meeting announced for tomorrow Tuesday 04 April 2017 with the Minister of Sports and Physical Education is simply another CPDM tactics to play down the shame and embarrassment that came with the Brussels scandal.

By Eyong Johnson

South Africa: Zuma may face another no-confidence vote

3, April 2017

South Africa: Zuma may face another no-confidence vote 0

South African President Jacob Zuma may face another impeachment as the country’s parliament speaker says she would consider requests from opposition parties to hold a new no-confidence vote against the embattled leader. Parliament Speaker Baleka Mbete said Sunday after cutting short a trip abroad that an impeachment may be held against Zuma following his decision last week to sack South Africa’s popular finance minister.

Mbete said in televised remarks that the request for the no-confidence vote was submitted to her by the centrist Democratic Alliance (DA) and the ultra-left Economic Freedom Fighters Party (EFF). The two parties have asked the speaker to reconvene the parliament and hold an urgent sitting on the issue. Mbete is also the national chairperson of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Her new announcement shows how she and senior members of the ANC disagree with Zuma’s removal of Pravin Gordhan.

Gordhan attended a memorial for an anti-apartheid activist on Saturday and called on the ANC supporters to mobilize against Zuma. Previous no-confidence votes against Zuma have failed as his ANC party, which has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid in the 1990s, dominates the parliament.

However, Gordhan’s removal, which badly affected the markets, seems to have clearly undermined Zuma’s leadership in the ANC. More elements within the party are joining the opposition in calling for Zuma’s removal from power.

Even Zuma’s deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said that he disagreed with the decision to sack Gordhan, arguing that the move could downgrade South Africa’s credit ratings. The Communist Party, a key ally of ANC, also said Friday that “Zuma must now resign.” Zuma has lost a great deal of his popularity over the past years over a string of missteps and scandals.

Presstv

Southern Cameroons State: Brussels Conference resolves leadership palaver

3, April 2017

Southern Cameroons State: Brussels Conference resolves leadership palaver 3

Southern Cameroonians in the Diaspora have unanimously agreed that all splinter groupings only go a long way to weaken efforts in the struggle. In a bid to combat the tactic of divide and rule that President Biya and his Francophone dominated government has been yearning for since the advent of multi party politics in Cameroon, Southern Cameroonians met in Brussels, Belgium over the week end and designed a new strategy on how to successfully hypnotized the Yaoundé regime.

Details of what was discussed in the meeting have not been made public. However, Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that participants who traveled to the Belgian capital from all over Europe, the US and Canada accepted that there is strength in unity.

The various representatives noted that there was an urgent need to have a leader. It was also revealed the leader will have a better hand in negotiating bilateral deals with the UN, AU and the rest of the world.

The Brussels Conference of Southern Cameroonians resolved that the leaders of the various movements should come up with a united front at the April meeting in Nigeria, to give more impetus to the drive to achieve recognition for a Southern Cameroons state from the International community.

Culled from CIR

Trump administration stacked with millionaires, who’s combined net worth exceeds $12 billion

2, April 2017

Trump administration stacked with millionaires, who’s combined net worth exceeds $12 billion 0

Households in 86 percent of entire counties across the US that voted for President Donald Trump last year earn less income annually than the combined worth of 27 staffers that work for the Trump administration, a report has revealed. Financial reports released by the Trump administration indicate that 27 staffers who currently work for the US president are worth a combined $2.3 billion in properties, investments and huge salaries, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

How much is $2.3 billion, the report explains: “Here’s one way to look at it. Consider the amount of money earned in any county in the country in a year — the number of households in each county times the average household income in the county. In 80 percent of the counties in America, every household combined earns less than $2.3 billion per year.”

In counties that voted for Trump, however, that figure is even higher, the report adds, explaining that “in 86 percent of Trump counties, the total amount of income earned in a year is less than $2.3 billion.” The report further notes that based on 2011 to 2015 five-year estimates from the US Census Bureau, the average annual income in the aforementioned counties stood at $2.1 billion.

Only 8 percent of Trump-voting counties have a cumulative annual income greater than the $3.9 billion Trump himself in worth, as estimated by the financial Forbes magazine, and only two percent earn more annually than the $10 billion Trump claims to be worth. Most counties have small populations — which further explain why, cumulatively, they do not earn as much in income annually. The counties that tend to beat the $2.3 billion in annual income, tend to be the ones that include large cities.

Consequently, a map of where incomes beat the Trump staff’s net worth looks like an electoral map: “Swaths of counties that earn less each year than those 27 people are worth and a few pockets, mostly on the coasts, that are exceptions,” according to the report. It adds that the data – in a broader sense – “reinforces the disconnect between the Trump team and the voters Trump likes to highlight.” A lot of very wealthy people work in the White House. A lot of other houses scattered across the US are relying on those millionaires to boost their own incomes.

Meanwhile, financial disclosures from dozens of top White House officials released Friday night also reveal an administration stacked with millionaires, who’s combined net worth exceeds $12 billion. The filings shed new light on the business webs and conflicts held by a number of Trump’s top aides and advisers when they entered government.

Among the wealthiest members of Trump’s White House are his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, the heir to a vast real estate business, and his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs. The filings detail the investments, salaries and assets of Trump’s senior staff, opening the personal finances of as many as 180 administration officials to public scrutiny. Trump himself, whose personal wealth is believed to be in the billions, is not included in the releases.

Presstv

«< 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 >»