Yearly Archives: 2025

FECAFOOT: Eto’o secures second term

29/11/2025

Cameroonian football legend Samuel Eto’o has secured a second term as president of the country’s football federation after winning re-election by an overwhelming margin on Saturday.

The vote, held at the CAF Centre of Excellence in Mbankomo, saw the former Barcelona and Chelsea striker run unopposed.

Of the 87 delegates eligible to cast ballots, 85 endorsed his continuity at the helm, with two ballots declared invalid.

The result hands him a commanding 97.7 per cent approval rate and extends his mandate for another four years.

Eto’o’s renewed tenure comes despite a turbulent first term marked by criticism and internal pressure.

Cameroon’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup fuelled dissatisfaction, while a series of controversies involving the federation kept his leadership under scrutiny.

Even so, Saturday’s outcome underscores the enduring influence and support he maintains within Fecafoot, setting the stage for another chapter in his stewardship of Cameroonian football.

Source: Africa Soccer

US: National Guard member dies after shooting in Washington DC

28/11/2025

One of the two members of the National Guard who were shot in Washington DC on Wednesday has died, US President Donald Trump said.

Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries while the second National Guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, “is fighting for his life”, Trump said on Thursday evening.

Both were shot at close range near Farragut Square in downtown DC just after 14:00 EST (19:00 GMT) on Wednesday. Police have arrested one suspect in the shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old from Afghanistan.

On Friday, the US attorney for Washington DC announced the initial charges of assault against the suspect will be upgraded to “murder in the first degree”.

“It is a premeditated murder. There was an ambush with a gun toward people who didn’t know what was coming,” Jeanine Pirro told Fox and Friends. “And that is the homicide, and that is the murder that we’re looking at right now.”

The two soldiers who were attacked had been deployed to the American capital as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on what it sees as rampant crime in several US cities.

Trump confirmed Ms Beckstrom’s death while on a Thanksgiving call with US service members.

“Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected, young, magnificent person… She’s just passed away. She’s no longer with us,” he said.

Trump later spoke to her parents, a White House official told BBC’s US partner CBS News.

The US president previously said the attack underlined a major national security threat.

The attack has prompted a range of announcements from the Trump administration aimed at curbing migration from Afghanistan and a number of other countries.

Officials said they would suspend processing all immigration requests from Afghans, and re-examine green cards issued to individuals who migrated to the US from 19 countries.

When asked by the BBC which countries were on the list, the agency pointed to a June proclamation by the White House that included Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela.

On Thursday, Trump went on to vow to “permanently pause migration” to the US from all “third world countries”, without providing details of his plan or naming which countries might be affected.

Source: BBC

Stolen Victory: Issa Tchiroma gov’t calls new 3-Day ghost town operation

27/11/2025

Recently named “spokesperson for the president-elect of the Republic of Cameroon,” lawyer and human rights activist Alice Nkom has announced three days of civil disobedience starting Sunday, November 30, 2025. Speaking on behalf of Issa Tchiroma Bakary, now in exile in Gambia, she called for “three days to show that the country has not turned the page… that no one has forgotten… and that we want one thing only: respect for the truth that came out of the October 12 vote.”

After the October 12 presidential election, the former minister of Paul Biya declared himself the winner. Since then, Issa Tchiroma Bakary has continued to claim victory, even though the Constitutional Council, the only body authorized to certify the results, declared outgoing president Paul Biya the winner with 53% of the vote, against 37% for Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

The dispute quickly shifted to the streets, with demonstrations that often turned into riots in several cities. An unofficial toll reports about forty protesters shot dead and several hundred arrests nationwide, highlighting rising tensions since the results were announced.

This is the second call for a nationwide shutdown. At the end of October, Issa Tchiroma Bakary had already urged three days of civil disobedience starting November 3. That first call, followed in several cities, led to violent clashes between protesters and security forces, deepening the standoff between opposition supporters and authorities.

The new call is viewed as a test of the opposition’s ability to mobilize after signs of fatigue in recent weeks. Contributing factors include the leader’s flight abroad and the crackdown on his supporters, many of whom have been arrested. How the public responds to these three new days of “villes mortes” will help gauge the staying power of the post-election movement.

Source: Sbbc

Pray for him: Fr John Tatah was one of several priests abducted but remains the only one being held captive

27/11/2025

Fr John Tatah – who has served in parishes in Lanarkshire – was abducted along with another priest, as they walked home from mass earlier this month.

Elevated view of Yaounde north-western neighborhoods in Cameroon. — **Fr John Tatah was abducted in the Bamenda area of Cameroon**Credit: Alamy

Four other priests and a lay person were also captured when they tried to negotiate with the gunmen, believed to be armed separatists and who are demanding money.

All but Father Tatah were released a week ago.

Speaking from Cameroon, Archbishop Andrew Nkea said: “The captors have demanded a ransom but we have made our position clear that the church never gives ransoms.

“The frequent kidnapping of our priests and mission personnel has pushed us to the wall and we say this should stop with immediate effect.

Many lay people have suffered from kidnappings, torture and violence within the Archdiocese of Bamenda.

“These people need to live in tranquility and peace.”

The archbishop says church institutions must close until further notice because security cannot be guaranteed.

He added: “If by Friday, November 28, Fr John is still in captivity, the archbishop, priests, nuns and members of the lay faithful will march to the place where he is being held and either bring him home or remain there until he is released.”

Now Bishop Joseph Toal of Motherwell Diocese is leading prayers for him.

Bishop Toal’s office said: “Fr John is well known in Motherwell Diocese, having supplied in several parishes.

“The bishop asks for prayers for his safe release.

“We pray for all people suffering because of war and violence, and especially those who do so because of their Christian faith.”

Fr John Tatah, left, and Bishop Joseph Toal in St Gerard's Church. — **Fr John Tatah, left, with Bishop Joseph Toal during his time at St Gerard’s Church,**

Culled from the Scottish Sun

General named new Guinea-Bissau leader a day after coup

27/11/2025

An army general has been sworn in as Guinea-Bissau’s new head of state a day after an apparent coup.

Gen Horta N’Tam becomes the transitional president for a period of one year. He took the oath on Thursday, in brief and muted proceedings in the army headquarters.

The military had already suspended the electoral process and blocked the release of the results of Sunday’s presidential election which were expected on Thursday.

Some civil society groups in Guinea-Bissau have accused outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of masterminding a “simulated coup” against himself with the help of the military, saying it was a ruse to block election results from coming out in case he loses.

“This manoeuvre aims to prevent the publication of the electoral results scheduled for tomorrow, November 27,” the civil society coalition Popular Front said in a statement on Wednesday.

The president has not responded to the allegations.

He has said he has survived multiple coup attempts during his time in office. However, his critics have previously accused him of fabricating crises in order to crack down on dissent.

Sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea, the West African country is known as a notorious drug-trafficking hub where the military has been influential since independence from Portugal in 1974.

Guinea-Bissau has witnessed at least nine coups or attempted coups over the last five decades.

Source: BBC

US: Two National Guard in critical condition after shooting near White House

26/11/2025

Two National Guard members are in a critical condition after they were shot in Washington DC, FBI Director Kash Patel says.

The suspect has been taken into custody and the scene near the White House is secured, police say.

The attacker came around a corner at 14:15 local time (19:15 GMT), raised his firearm, and shot at the National Guard members, officials say

The suspect was also shot during the incident and taken to hospital – US President Donald Trump says they were “severely wounded”

West Virginia’s Governor Patrick Morrisey earlier said both National Guard members had died, before posting that he was hearing “conflicting reports” about their condition.

Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth says Trump has asked him to send 500 additional National Guard troops to Washington DC after the attack.

Source: BBC

Guinea-Bissau soldiers say they have taken power after reports of president’s arrest

26/11/2025

A group of military officers say they have seized control of Guinea-Bissau amid reports that the president, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, has been arrested.

Shortly after gunshots were heard in the capital, Bissau, government sources told the BBC that Embaló had been detained.

Military officers then appeared on state TV, saying they had suspended the electoral process and would be in charge until further notice.

The West African nation had been awaiting the outcome of Sunday’s presidential election, in which the main opposition candidate had been disqualified from running.

The results were expected on Thursday – both Embaló and his closest rival Fernando Dias have claimed victory.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Embaló told France 24 in a phone call: “I have been deposed.”

Witnesses in Bissau heard gunfire earlier on, at around 13:00 GMT, but it was not immediately clear who was involved in the shooting or if there were any casualties.

Hundreds of people on foot and in vehicles fled, seeking shelter as the shots rang out, the AFP news agency reported.

Later on, General Denis N’Canha, head of the military household at the presidential palace, read out a statement declaring a takeover.

He said officers had formed “the High Military Command for the Restoration of Order” and closed the border.

Corbis via Getty Images President Umaro Sissoco Embaló — Embaló was elected in December 2019

Gen N’Canha instructed the population to “remain calm”.

In addition to Embaló, the president’s army staff and a number of ministers have reportedly been arrested.

Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world, has seen nine coups or attempted coups since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.

Embaló has said he has survived multiple coup attempts during his time in office. However, his critics allege he has fabricated crises in order to crack down on dissent.

Guinea-Bissau has a population of just under two million people and has been called a “narco-state” by the UN, due to its role as a key transit point in trafficking cocaine from Latin America to Europe.

A map showing Guinea-Bissau and neighbouring countries

Source: BBC

IOC chief Coventry in tears as 2026 Winter Games torch relay sets off

26/11/2025

New International Olympic Committee chief Kirsty Coventry fought back tears on Wednesday as she urged nations to come together in the 2026 Winter Games, as the torch relay set off from ancient Olympia in Greece.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry veered from her prepared speech to stress her emotional connection to the Games © Aris MESSINIS / AFP

Addressing guests during the torch ceremony at the Olympia archaeological museum, as the first woman to head the Olympic movement, a tearful Coventry stressed the power of sport to unite.

“I wasn’t supposed to get emotional, but this place is very special,” she added to applause.

“In a divided world that we live in today, the Games hold a truly symbolic place. It is our duty, our responsibility, to ensure that the athletes from around the world can come together peacefully,” she said.

Coventry repeatedly veered from her prepared speech to stress her emotional connection to the Games.

Greek actress Mary Mina (R), playing the role of the High Priestess, passed the Olympic flame to Greek rower Petros Gaidatzis © Aris MESSINIS / AFP

The torch was carried initially by Greek rower Petros Gaidatzis and then jointly with Italian cross-country skiing champion Stefania Belmondo as the relay began the countdown to the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, which will open on February 6.

The pair ran from the museum to the grove in Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Games, where the heart of modern Olympics founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin is kept, and handed over the torch to Italian luge great Armin Zoeggeler.

The flame ceremony was flanked by sculptures from the Temple of Zeus, the patron god of the ancient Olympics.

The ceremony to light the Olympic flame is usually held among the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, near the stadium where the Olympics were born in 776 BC.

But a rainy weather forecast — which proved mistaken — raised concerns that the sun’s rays would not be able to sufficiently heat up the parabolic mirror used by actresses dressed as ancient priestesses to light the flame.

That forced organisers to head indoors for Wednesday’s ceremony where they used a flame lit on Monday, during an outdoor rehearsal under the sun.

Following a December 4 handover ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, where the first modern Olympics were revived in 1896, the flame will head to Rome for a 63-day, 12,000-kilometre (7,500-mile) course through Italy’s major cities and the archaeological site of Pompeii.

‘Story of continuity’

“The Milano Cortina torch relay will respect our shared classical heritage, passing through Rome’s imperial monuments, Pompeii, Appian Way and regions of Magna Graecia, creating a story of continuity between ancient Greece, ancient Rome and modern Olympism,” said Giovanni Malago, President of the Organising Committee for Milano-Cortina.

Organisers were forced to head indoors for the Olympic flame ceremony due to a rainy weather forecast © Aris MESSINIS / AFP

The Games themselves will take place at various venues spanning a vast area from Milan to the Dolomite mountains in Italy’s north-east.

Ice sports will be held in Milan while Bormio and Cortina will host alpine skiing.

Across the Dolomites, the biathlon will be in Anterselva and Nordic skiing in Val di Fiemme, with Livigno in the Italian Alps hosting snowboarding and freestyle skiing.

The Paralympic Winter Games will be held from March 6-15.

Even though the outdoor events are at a sufficiently high altitude, organisers of the Milan-Cortina Games are stockpiling artificial snow, just in case.

The 2026 organising committee has said that it plans to make 2.4 million cubic metres of artificial snow, which will require 948,000 cubic metres of water.

The Olympic flame was carried initially by Greek rower Petros Gaidatzis (R) and then jointly with Italian cross-country skiing champion Stefania Belmondo (L) © Aggelos NAKKAS / AFP

Italy is the European country that uses the most artificial snow, with over 90 percent of Italy’s ski slopes using artificial snowmaking systems, according to an April report from Italian environmental group Legambiente.

According to a December 2024 study published in the International Journal of Climatology, the snow cover in the Italian Alps had decreased by half in the past 100 years.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yerima reacts to Archbishop Nkea’s letter

25/11/2025

We begin by expressing our appreciation for the release of the five Reverend fathers and sisters who were previously held. Their release is a welcome act of humanity and restraint, consistent with our values and the principles that guide our quest for justice, dignity, and self-determination.

However, we must address, with due seriousness, the recent letter from the Archbishop of Bamenda, paragraphs 4.2 and 4.3, calling for churches and schools to close and for followers to march to Baba to demand the release of Father Berinyuy. While we recognize the emotional weight of this call, we must equally point out the long-standing silence and selective activism of certain church leaders in the face of a brutal and ongoing genocide unleashed by the Biya regime against the people of Ambazonia.

For years, Ambazonian Catholic Christians and other Christians, men, women, catechists, youths, and even clergyhave been arbitrarily arrested, tortured, disappeared, and killed by the Cameroon military. Yet, we have not witnessed these bishops organizing a march to free their parishioners unjustly detained in Yaoundé, Buea, Bamenda, or Douala. We have not seen a call to action from them when entire villages were burned, children mutilated, and pregnant women murdered. We have not heard sermons dedicated to truth and justice when political prisoners, fathers, mothers, pastors, and teachers are languishing in jail for exercising their right to self-determination.

Instead, the Archdiocese of Bamenda has increasingly become entangled, willingly or unwillingly, in narratives that legitimize oppression, sanitize injustice, and indirectly uphold the machinery of a genocidal regime. Some within the church hierarchy have chosen the comfort of cooperation over the courage of conviction, prioritizing political positioning, financial incentives, and state approval over prophetic truth.

Let it also be known:

The Ambazonian struggle for self-determination is grounded in internationally recognized legal frameworks, including the African Charter, the UN Charter, and international humanitarian law. Our guiding principle is clear, we do not target religious institutions nor harm servants of God. The Biya regime has a history stained with the blood of murdered priests, pastors, and bishops, but we will never walk that dark path. Our Liberation Volunteers are instructed to uphold life, dignity, and the protection of all clergy, regardless of denomination.

We have consistently and unequivocally condemned kidnapping for ransom, and we do so again today. Whoever is holding Father Berinyuy must release him immediately and unconditionally. Our fight is not against the clergy, nor education, nor the church, it is against military occupation, systemic injustice, and the deliberate attempt to erase a people and their identity.

To the church, we say:

Your biblical mandate is to stand with the oppressed, defend the weak, and speak truth to power, not to collaborate with oppression. If the church has the moral strength to call for marches, let those marches be for peace and justice, for the release of innocent political prisoners, for truth, dialogue, and genuine reconciliation, not only when a cleric is involved.

We call on all clergy to live out their prophetic role. Do not be silent when your Christians are killed. Do not be quiet when children are burned alive. Do not close your eyes when the French Cameroun government commits crimes against humanity in Ambazonia.Let your voice be the voice of justice, not selective compassion.

Our message is clear:

We remain committed to a peaceful, lawful, and principled struggle for the freedom and dignity of our people. We will not tolerate crimes that stain our righteous cause, and we will not accept attempts to derail it through emotional manipulation, intimidation, or misinformation.

May truth prevail.May justice reign.May peace be built on the foundations of dignity, not silence.

For the Ambazonian People

Dabney Yerima

Vice President,

The Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Archbishop Nkea attacks Amba fighters targeting priests

24/11/2025

Catholic leaders in Cameroon’s restive North-West region have issued a scathing condemnation of the recent kidnapping of priests, stating that the targeting of religious figures is a clear sign that the separatist struggle has “lost focus” and devolved into pure criminality.

Their remarks follow the abduction of six priests and one member of the laity from the Archdiocese of Bamenda.

According to a release signed by the Archbishop of Bamenda, Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, gunmen abducted Father John Berinyuy Tatah, the parish priest of Babessi, and his assistant on Nov. 15, as they returned from the Mass inaugurating the PAX University Institute in Ndop.

On Nov. 18, four priests and one lay person went to negotiate with the gunmen for the release of the two priests but were also taken captive. While the group was later released, Tatah remains in captivity, with his captors demanding a ransom.

In a Nov. 23 release, Nkea declared the Church will not pay the ransom, setting a Wednesday deadline for the captors to free the priest. He warned that if the deadline passes, all Catholic institutions in the Ndop Deanery will be closed and religious personnel will withdraw.

“The frequent kidnapping of our priests and mission personnel has pushed us to the wall and we say that this should stop with immediate effect,” he added, noting that many lay Christians have also been tortured or killed.

The recent kidnappings are the latest crimes in the separatist conflict that has rocked Cameroon’s English-speaking North West and South West regions for nine years.

The crisis stems from the 1961 reunification of the former French and British Cameroons, creating a bilingual state where the English-speaking minority has long felt marginalized by the Francophone-dominated central government.

Tensions over the perceived erosion of the common law legal system and English-language education practiced in the English-speaking regions boiled over in 2016, leading to peaceful protests that were met with a harsh security crackdown. This response radicalized many in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, sparking an armed insurgency for an independent state called “Ambazonia.”

But what began as a genuine fight for identity has degenerated into criminality, Church leaders argue, and the kidnapping of priests is a testament to this decline.

“The focus has been lost because we cannot be fighting the church, a moral institution and its authority,” said Edith Tanyi, National President of the Catholic Women’s Association (CWA), expressing the disgust and frustration felt by many faithful.

Valentine Tameh, an executive member of the Catholic Men Association in the Bamenda archdiocese, questioned the spiritual legitimacy of a movement that attacks men of God.

“We have heard over and over that the struggle is God-ordained. But when such things begin to happen, then you ask, how can it be God-ordained when priests, pastors, bishops are being kidnapped?” he told Crux.

Tameh argued the conflict has shed any pretense of being a political movement.

“These kidnappings tell me that the ongoing struggle is not a rational struggle any longer,” he asserted. “I think I will not hesitate to call this criminality now… what progress has those huge, extorted sums brought to the people? Nothing at all. So, it’s more or less criminality now,” he said.

Pricillia Agendia, Director of Communication for the Archdiocese, highlighted the demoralizing effect on the community, noting that priests are now targeted “on average, weekly.” She warned that such tactics are undermining the separatists’ cause by alienating potential sympathizers.

“The kidnappings are not helping in any way in resolving the crisis because kidnappings are sending the wrong message about a crisis that drew sympathy at the beginning,” she told Crux.

In his release, Nkea also urged the military to be more professional and ethical—a veiled reference to abuses also committed by security forces. He called on all stakeholders “to do everything within their powers to dialogue and bring this crisis to an end.”

“The people of the North West and South West regions have suffered enough and they deserve to have a quiet life,” the archbishop said.

Source: Crux

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Yearly Archives: 2025

‘Story of continuity’