News

19, April 2017

Daesh attack in Egypt’s Sinai kills 1 police officer, injures 4 ⁰

Armed men have attacked Egyptian security forces close to the St. Catherine Monastery in the country’s Sinai Peninsula, killing one police officer and wounding four more.

The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the Tuesday attack on the security checkpoint, which is situated some 800 meters from the monastery.

St. Catherine is one of the world’s most important Christian sites and was built in the late 6th century and is registered as a UNESCO world heritage site.

The incident comes just over one week after the Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for two deadly bombings on Christian churches in the country.

18, April 2017

US F-35s arrive in UK to deter ‘Russian aggression’ ⁰

The United States has deployed several of its F-35 aircraft to the UK on their first operational mission to Europe, as part of an initiative to protect the NATO military pact against what Washington and its allies call “Russian aggression.”

The advanced aircraft flew from Hill Air Force Base in Utah to Royal Air Force’s Lakenheath airfield over the weekend, British media reported Monday.

The Pentagon had announced earlier that the aircraft would partake in joint exercises with NATO forces and further demonstrate their “operational capabilities.”

“As we and our joint F-35 partners bring this aircraft into our inventories, it’s important that we train together to integrate into a seamless team capable of defending the sovereignty of allied nations,” said USAF General Tod Wolters, Commander of US Air Forces in Europe.

Culled from Presstv

18, April 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 3 Roman Catholic Bishops to stand trial ⁰

Three Roman Catholic Bishops will appear before a court in the Bamenda province of Southern Cameroons for not intervening to ask parents to send their children to school. The plaintiffs backed by the corrupt regime in Yaoundé are claiming the sum of 150 billion CFA francs in damages.

The spiritual leader of the Bamenda ecclesiastic province, Archbishop Cornelius Esua, his deputy, Bishop Michael and His Lordship Bishop George Nkou of the Kumbo Diocese were summoned to appear before a court in Bamenda on Friday April the 21^st for their possible role in the strike action orchestrated by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. The summons was given to the Bishops a few days ago, during the Holy Week by a regime headed by a Roman Catholic Christian with good ties with the Vatican.

The civil parties constitute a group of parents whose children are enrolled in Catholic schools and they claim that the prelates have not done enough to ensure the resumption of classes in Catholic institutions ever since the Southern Cameroons crisis started last year.

The Southern Cameroons Bishops who are by extrapolation members of Pope Francis cabinet have argued that they have never closed any Roman Catholic academic establishment. Barrister Richard Nde who has opted to defend the Bishops told Radio France International that the trial is basically political. “There is nothing concrete. It is only the interest of money and the political aspect.”

In February, the West Cameroon Episcopal Conference stressed in a statement that the Anglophone crisis was symptomatic of a deep “socio-political” crisis. The bishops then argued that the numerous killings, arrests, torture , rapes and the shutdown of the Internet had aggravated the situation. Relations between the State and the Church remain strained even though President Paul Biya was received last month by the Holy Father Pope Francis at the Vatican.

By Chi Prudence Asong

18, April 2017

Archbishop of Douala says attack on Anglophone Bishops is “sacrilegious” ⁰

The President of the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, Archbishop Samuel Kléda has denounced the Yaoundé regime’s fierce attack on Southern Cameroons Bishops. The Archbishop of the Douala Diocese say Roman Catholic Bishops of the Bamenda ecclesiastical province cannot be held responsible for the closure of denominational schools as claimed by the a group backed by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.

The Man of God observed that the attack on the Roman Catholic Church by government agents is a real scandal! The Metropolitan Archbishop of Douala told Radio Equinoxe that the Catholic Church did not orchestrate the Anglophone crisis that has paralyzed the English-speaking regions since November 2016. He pointed out that the Southern Cameroons Bishops did not shut down the private and public schools. Archbishop Kleda wondered aloud if the so-called Consortium of Parents that sued the Anglophone Bishops will also file a complaint against those responsible for private and public institutions.

Archbishop Cornelius Fontem Esua, his assistant Bishop Michael Bibi, the bishop of Kumbo Diocese George Nkuo, and the principal of the Sacred Heart College of Mankon, are expected to appear before the Bamenda Court of First Instance on Friday, April 21, 2017, to answer the charges against them. The two plaintiffs are senior officers of the Cameroonian army. They blame the respondents for collecting tuition fees on behalf of the school year, which is drawing to a close, without giving anything as a course. Therefore, they are claiming compensation of 150 million FCFA.

Monday, April 17, 2017 was the day of resumption of classes for the 3rd quarter of the school year 2016/2017 throughout the national territory. In Buea and Bamenda as in other towns in the South-West and North-West Regions, several schools belonging to the Anglophone educational sub-system, including denominational schools of the Catholic Church, have not been opened.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Eyong Johnson

17, April 2017

Easter Sunday crash: 4 killed on the Yaounde-Douala Highway ⁰

An Easter Sunday accident at Ebombé, located some 25 km from Edéa on the Douala-Yaoundé highway has claimed the lives of 4 people including the wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Dieudonne Ndonfack.. A small Toyota car collided with a large VIP coach from the United Express travel agency.

A spokesperson for the police department has said that the cause of the accident shall be made public soonest. The wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Dieudonne Ndonfack of the national Gendarmerie and three occupants of the Toyota car died instantly. Colonel Ndonfack was rushed to the regional hospital in Edéa and he is under intensive care.

By Fru James

16, April 2017

Dr. Boniface Forbin: Exit of a journalistic Icon ⁰

Dr. Boniface Forbin has met his end in his home in Yaoundé. The circumstances surrounding his death have not been made public by his family. The publisher-editor’s death may not be separated from The Herald Newspaper. Former newsmen and women including the Herald People have observed that at the inception of multiparty politics in Cameroon, relations between the Herald and the Biya administration took a nose-drive and the Herald Group took an unfriendly view of the regime (e. g, Biya’s fictitious anti-corruption campaign). Such became the unfolding of fishing in trouble waters…

Forbin resigned from the defunct Cameroon Airlines and started The Herald Newspaper. He understood that media freedom was better in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and North Korea than in Cameroon. He successfully taught Anglophone journalists the difficulty of being a reporter in Francophone dominated Cameroon.

Forbin and his kinsman Asong Ndifor invested time in training young correspondents on the challenge for Journalism in Cameroon. Forbin had the support of Napoleon Viban and men like Dr. Joachim Arrey, the late Kum Set Ewin, Peter Ngea Mbeng, Tabe Paul Blondo, Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai, Gerald Ndikum and the Herald Newspaper told the world that the story of the press in Cameroon was that of persecution and perseverance and closure of newspapers, often without an enabling law.

Forbin declared his unflinching support for the Publisher of the Cameroon Post Group, Paddy Mbawa over the Epey Mandengue Affair. Paddy Mbawa had been flogged, head shaved with broken glass and photos published by some sister Anglophone newspapers for 30 pieces of silver. Forbin stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the wives of journalists who suffered persecution. He was in a Douala hospital to see the wife of the late Pius Njawe who lost her baby after her husband was forced out of their home and taken to the New Bell prison.

He told this reporter when he joined the Herald from the Weekly Post that “When you really want to expose human rights abuses in Cameroon… it becomes more dangerous.” Rest in peace Doc

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

16, April 2017

3,000 refugees and asylum seekers have reportedly been rescued off the Libyan coast ⁰

Some 3,000 refugees and asylum seekers have reportedly been rescued from unseaworthy boats off the Libyan coast during a second day of operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian coastguard made the announcement on Saturday, saying that the refugees had been pulled to safety during 35 rescue operations launched in the day. It said another 15 operations would be underway before nightfall.

An official with the German NGO Jugend Rettet, which participated in the operations, said a further 1,000 people remained to be rescued from inflatable dinghies as rescue ships had reached capacity. She added that the number of incoming refugees was expected to rise owing to the fine spring weather. Reports said most of the refugees were from sub-Saharan Africa, fleeing poverty and starvation there.

A day earlier, the Italian coastguard had carried out 19 rescue operations aided by NGOs, including the medical charity Doctors without Borders. A total of 2,074 refugees aboard 16 rubber rafts and three small wooden boats were taken to safety in those operations. Libya remains a major gateway for asylum seekers attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, with more than 450,000 people having made the crossing over the past three years.

Culled from Presstv

15, April 2017

North Korea vows due response if US attacks ⁰

Pyongyang has showcased its submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) for the first time during a massive military parade, with a senior North Korean official vowing due response to any attack against the East Asian nation. On Saturday, state TV showed images of the Pukkuksong-2 SLBMs and several KN-08 and KN-14 missiles on trucks along with tanks and other heavy military hardware being paraded on Kim Il Sung Square in the capital, Pyongyang.

Leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the parade which was celebrating the 105th birthday of state founder Kim Il Sung, his grandfather. He also addressed thousands of soldiers and people taking part in the celebrations. The event also paraded what appeared to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

It is the first time North Korea publicly displays the ballistic missiles, which have a range of over 1,000 km (600 miles), at a military parade. The parade comes as tensions have been simmering between North Korea and the US in recent weeks, raising fears of a potential military confrontation between the two sides. Washington has voiced concerns over Pyongyang’s nuclear tests, but the North says such launches are an act as deterrence against a potential invasion by the US or South Korea.

A man watches a live television program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a massive parade marking the 105th birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung, at the Seoul train station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 15, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Prior to the parade, Kim’s close aide Choe Ryong-hae also addressed the participants, voicing the country’s readiness to respond in kind to any attack by enemies. “We’re prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war and we are ready to hit back with nuclear attacks of our own style against any nuclear attacks,” Choe said.

Choe, who is believed to be the second-most powerful official in North Korea, further stated that the new US government under Donald Trump was “creating a war situation” on the Korean Peninsula by dispatching strategic military assets to the region.

People walk past a television screen broadcasting live footage of a parade to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-Sung, at a railway station in Seoul on April 15, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Pyongyang also warned Washington on Saturday to end its “military hysteria” or face retaliation as a US aircraft carrier strike group headed towards the region. “All the brigandish provocative moves of the US in the political, economic and military fields pursuant to its hostile policy toward the DPRK will thoroughly be foiled through the toughest counteraction of the army and people of the DPRK,” the KCNA state news agency said, citing a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of the East Asian state. “Our toughest counteraction against the US and its vassal forces will be taken in such a merciless manner as not to allow the aggressors to survive,” it added. The development comes days after the US dispatched what Trump referred to as an “armada” of warships in a show of force into waters off the Korean peninsula amid concerns that Pyongyang was preparing another round of nuclear or missile tests.

Fears have grown since the US Navy fired Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield last week in a unilateral decision claiming ‘retaliation’ for an alleged chemical attack in the Arab country. The move triggered questions about Trump’s plans for North Korea, which has conducted several missile and nuclear tests. Moreover, Washington has warned that a policy of “strategic patience” with North Korea is over as US Vice President Mike Pence travels to South Korea on Sunday on a 10-day tour of Asia. This is while political analysts have played down Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric on different topics, including North Korea, saying he makes tough statements on an issue before understanding its complexity.

Source: Presstv

15, April 2017

Southern Cameroons: Fon Chaffah Isaac comes under attack from villagers ⁰

The people of Bangolan village situated in Babessi Sub division,Ngoketundjia in the North West region have stormed the village square demanding the departure of their Fon Chaffah Isaac XI.

Men, women including the youth say the Fon Chaffah is no longer permitted to enter and reside in the chiefdom. The Bangolans also observed that Fon Chaffah is no longer their traditional ruler. Fridays protest comes one year since the people of Bangolan staged a fierce demonstration which led to many deaths and several persons injured.

On March 19, 2016, the Bangolan palace came under attack when angry villagers besieged the palace demanding the Fon to leave. The Fon’s son was allegedly shot before palace guards retaliated by shooting and wounding some villagers.

The alternate Senator who opted for reconciliation in February last year has ever since not known peace in his village. His subjects accused him of defiling the tradition by publicly denouncing traditional practices by attending a crusade with Apostle John CHI. Salim, a man selected by the villagers as their new chief died last year under mysterious circumstances.

Source: Cameroun Info.Net

14, April 2017

Nigeria marks 3 years since schoolgirls’ mass abduction ⁰

Nigerians on Friday marked three years since the mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by Boko Haram extremists amid anger that government efforts to negotiate their freedom appear to have stalled. Activists were expected to rally in the capital, Abuja, and commercial hub Lagos to urge President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to do more to free the nearly 200 schoolgirls who remain captive.

Nigeria in October announced the release of 21 of the Chibok schoolgirls after negotiations with the extremist group, and it said another group of 83 girls would be released “very soon.” No one has been freed since then. The government this week said negotiations have “gone quite far” but face challenges. It refused to give details, citing security reasons. The failure of Nigeria’s former government to free the girls sparked a global Bring Back Our Girls movement and was a factor in Buhari’s 2015 election win over former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The schoolgirls from Chibok village are among thousands of people abducted by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram as it continues to threaten parts of the northeast and has spread into neighboring countries. The Chibok abduction is not even the largest. Nigerian officials refuse to acknowledge the abduction of more than 500 children from the northeastern town of Damasak in November 2014, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said last month. Nigerian officials have not responded to requests by The Associated Press for information.

Buhari late last year announced that Boko Haram had been “crushed,” but it continues to carry out deadly suicide bombings, often strapping them to young women. Children have been used to carry out 27 attacks in the first three months of this year, already nearing last year’s total of 30, the UN children’s agency said this week.

On Wednesday, Nigerian security officials said they had thwarted plans by Daesh-linked Boko Haram members to attack the embassies of the United States and Britain, along with “other Western interests” in the capital. One faction of Boko Haram is allied with Daesh.

Nigeria’s military in the past year has rescued thousands of Boko Haram captives while liberating towns and villages from the group’s control, but many have been detained as possible Boko Haram suspects. Boko Haram’s seven-year uprising has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, with millions facing starvation because of the disruption in markets and agriculture.

Source Presstv