Breaking News
French Cameroun Politics: Ailing Cavaye Djibril unable to walk
Supported by two men, the speaker of the National Assembly, the Right Honourable Cavaye Yeguie Djibril has arrived Yaounde from his sick bed in France in a bid to keep his job.
It was about 8:30pm on Saturday, March 14, 2020 when the Air France flight carrying the Speaker of the National Assembly landed at the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport.
Visibly in very bad shape, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril whose body is now a colony of disease was supported by two men to allow him take a seat on board a vehicle amid ovation from some CPDM comedians to his Yaounde residence.
Cavaye Djibril has been absent since the opening of the session on March 10th 2020 but could make his appearance in the lower house on Monday the 16th of March for a solemn ceremony that could see him reelected as speaker.
The Biya acolyte has been a member of Cameroon’s National Assembly for 47 years and was re-elected for a new five-year term in the recent twin poll. However, his future as president of the National Assembly is shrouded in uncertainty.
He reportedly left his hospital bed in France despite still being in a precarious state of health to be present in Yaounde for the election of the National Assembly bureau scheduled for next week.
It now remains to be seen whether the Head of State, Paul Biya, National President of the ruling CPDM party, will renew his confidence in him.
Culled from Cameroun Info.Net
Coronavirus Outbreak: The Holy Father prays at Great Plague church as Italy toll mounts
Pope Francis left Vatican City on Sunday to pray in a Rome cathedral for coronavirus victims as Italy’s death toll hit a one-day high of 368.
The 83-year-old pontiff’s unannounced visit to a church with a crucifix from the times of the Great Plague came with Italy’s hospitals running out beds and the entire nation of 60 million under effective lockdown.
Only occasional joggers and a few locals carrying grocery bags could be seen on the streets of Rome in what has fast become Italy’s biggest crisis in several generations.
Official data showed the number of fatalities in the Mediterranean country shooting up by 368 to 1,809 — more than half of all the fatal cases recorded outside China.
The Vatican took the drastic step of cancelling Easter week celebrations that were set to begin on April 5 as the country braced for the worst.
Pope Francis has been suffering from a cold for more than two weeks and communicating with the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics via livestream.
But the Vatican said the pontiff appeared at Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica and then walked “on foot, as if on a pilgrimage” to the San Marcello al Corso church.
It explained that the pope selected the church because it holds a “miraculous crucifix which, in 1522, was carried in procession through city districts” to mark the end of the Great Plague.
The pope prayed for “the end of the pandemic that affects Italy and the world, imploring for the healing of the many sick, and remembering the many victims,” the Vatican said.
– ‘Getting worse’ –
Milan’s Lombardy region governor Attilio Fontana said the situation in areas around the Italian financial hub was only “getting worse”.
“We are close to the point where we will no longer be able to resuscitate people because we will be out of intensive care unit beds,” Fontana told Italy’s Sky TG24 channel.
“We need those machines (doctors) use to ventilate lungs, artificial respirators that unfortunately we cannot find,” Fontana said.
The Lombardy region has recorded 1,218 of the Italian deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 over the past three weeks — more than the rest of Europe combined.
The region of 10 million — slightly smaller but more economically productive than neighbouring Switzerland to the north — also has 13,272 reported infections and 767 people in intensive care.
Milan mayor Beppe Sala said he had managed to secure shipments of surgical masks from China to help cover a growing shortage.
“Milan has always had excellent relations with the main Chinese cities and I made a few phone calls over the past few days in search of masks,” the Milan mayor said.
“The first shipment arrived (Friday) and we will now distribute them to doctors, to our staff.”
The European Commission also announced the imminent delivery of one million masks from Germany.
Yet the situation remained critical despite Lombardy enjoying a world-class healthcare system that has been praised by the World Health Organization for years.
– Curfew warning –
The governor of Venice’s Veneto region to the east also called on “everyone to remain in isolation” to avoid putting hospitals under further strain.
“If you do not follow the rules, the healthcare system will crash and I will have to impose a curfew,” Veneto governor Luca Zaia warned.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte insisted on Sunday that his government was paying “maximum attention” to the situation in the north.
His government put the finishing touches to a new crisis plan that reportedly includes family relief measures such as parental leave pay and help for the self-employed.
The government said it was also in discussion with banks about a suspension of some family mortgage payments.
Source: AFP
Israel: Prime Minister Netanyahu challenger Gantz chosen to form new government
Israel’s president on Sunday said he has decided to give opposition leader Benny Gantz the first opportunity to form a new government following an inconclusive national election this month.
President Reuven Rivlin’s office announced his decision late Sunday after consulting with leaders of all of the parties elected to parliament.
The decision raises questions about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future.
Netanyahu’s Likud emerged as the largest party in the March 2 election, Israel’s third in under a year. But with his smaller religious and nationalist allies, he received the support of only 58 lawmakers during Sunday’s consultations, leaving Likud three seats short of the required majority in parliament.
Gantz’s Blue and White received the support of parties representing 61 seats, a slim majority. However, those parties are also divided, and it is not clear whether Gantz will succeed in putting together a coalition.
Rivlin said he would formally designate Gantz with the task on Monday, after an emergency meeting with him and Netanyahu later Sunday.
Once formally tapped, Gantz will now have a month to cobble together a governing coalition.
(AP)
Coronavirus Outbreak: Liverpool will win English Premier League title in empty stadium
Virgil Van Dijk fears Liverpool will be forced to celebrate their first English title for 30 years in an empty stadium as a result of coronavirus chaos.
All Premier League games have been postponed until at least April 3 due to the spread of the global pandemic.
Premier League chiefs are set to meet on Thursday to discuss if it will be possible to continue the season and, if so, in what format.
Games could be played behind closed doors, which would mean Liverpool, who are 25 points clear of second placed Manchester City, winning the title without their fans being present.
That is a depressing prospect for Liverpool defender Van Dijk.
“If we won it in an empty stadium and the fans weren’t there, I’d be gutted for them,” he told several British newspapers on Sunday.
“Obviously, if there are no fans at Anfield, then it will be a bit of a blow. No one wants to play games without the fans.
“Until a decision is made on how we go on from here, then we just have to deal with it. But when it happens, we are still bringing the title to our fans, definitely.”
Liverpool could have wrapped up the title on Monday with a win at Everton if Manchester City were beaten by Burnley on Saturday, but both those games were postponed, along with the rest of the Premier League programme.
Some have suggested the season should be scrapped for safety reason, which would leave Premier League chiefs to decide if Liverpool should be given the title even though the campaign did not reach its scheduled 38-game conclusion.
Sport is expected to be subjected to further restrictions next week, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly ready to announce a ban on major public gatherings.
The sporting programme has once again been decimated on Sunday, although the Super League match between Castleford and St Helens, the All England badminton Championship and Olympic boxing qualifiers are still going ahead in Britain.
Source: AFP
Southern Cameroons War: 4th year with new wave of violence
The war in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia has entered its fourth year and a new wave of violence is looming for thousands of civilians in Ground Zero and French speaking Cameroon citizens living around the areas bordering West Cameroon.
Over the last year, the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé has seen its grip on the Southern Cameroons territory weakened and President Biya’s position as head of state threatened. All that remains of the Cameroon government in Southern Cameroons is cornered in Buea and Bamenda where two Francophone governors are still posing as administrators with legitimate authority.
And yet in those two cities, a consortium of Ambazonia Restoration Forces showing no regard to the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon are consolidating power, and looking set for a showdown with the Cameroon government army and its French backer. The Cameroon government army says it is responding to an increase in attacks from Ambazonia separatists in the West Region.
After a string of victories against the Cameroon government military, the Ambazonian Vice President Dabney Yerima said recently that Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces now control all border crossings into the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
There are reports that Ambazonia Self Defense groups and armed militia sponsored by the ruling CPDM party have engaged in the same kind of repression that sparked the uprising against the Biya French Cameroun rule four years ago.
Armed militia groups with strong ties to the Cameroon government army have been accused of being behind the assassinations of several well known religious figures, including a cream of Roman Catholic priests and an American missionary.
Thousands of Southern Cameroons civilians have died in Cameroon government army attacks on towns and villages over the past four years, and some 35,000 civilians have fled their homes in to the bushes to escape the fighting.
Southern Cameroons is now home to more than 20 different armed Ambazonia groups and thousands of Cameroon government army soldiers battling for control in a war that has displaced more than half a million people to neighboring Nigeria and to other parts of French Cameroun. Aid groups on the ground have also witnessed numerous attacks from the Cameroon government army.
Our senior intelligence officer in the chief city of the West Region in Cameroon hinted that there is a huge sense of panic now in Mbouda, Baffoussam and Dschang as more Cameroon government security posts come under attack from Ambazonia fighters.
Health facilities in Southern Cameroons have been forced to close and people are dying or suffering in acute pain because they cannot get the treatment they need in places like Akwaya, Menchum, Bui, Ndian, Batibo and Ndop.
Human Rights Watch reported that it is the beleaguered Southern Cameroons civilians who are finding themselves under attack on all fronts. Charities and Aid organizations are at risk of falling foul of the Yaoundé imposed law if they send aid into Southern Cameroons and many aid workers have been caught up in the fighting.
Celebrations to mark World Women’s Day saw the worst bombing ever since the war started with Ambazonia Restoration Forces targeting the Francophone governor of the North West, Lele Afrique.
Many in Southern Cameroons now fear any Cameroon government offensive. An international conference in Washington DC that was to discuss the armed conflict in Southern Cameroons was put on hold following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The UN has warned that continued Cameroon government military assault on Southern Cameroons would create a difficult humanitarian catastrophe in the Sub Saharan region.
Southern Cameroons political elites serving with the ruling CPDM government in Yaoundé are too scared now to speak out against the leadership pattern of the 87 year old President Biya. Any Southern Cameroons prominent figure that speaks against the atrocities being committed by the Cameroon government army soldiers in Southern Cameroons is libeled a secessionist and a criminal.
Receiving a pat on the back earlier this month, the Russian Ambassador to Cameroon supported the Yaounde regime’s handling of the crisis in Southern Cameroons and condemned aid groups helping Southern Cameroons civilians caught in the fighting.
Southern Cameroonians living in Ground Zero are confused and afraid of what will happen next. In many ways, the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has successfully entered its fourth year of war much as it did in the first. Extreme violence and crimes against humanity plagues the entire territory.
Last week, hundreds protested in the city of London, the cradle of the Southern Cameroons Problem against the British Monarchy for its deliberate silence on the genocide going on in Southern Cameroons.
The London protest represented the first Southern Cameroons peaceful demonstration in an event that was attended by Her Majesty the Queen and it came despite little or no action from the Commonwealth.
The Biya Francophone regime reportedly arrested hundreds of formally cleared Ambazonian fighters and civilians with a track record of unarmed opposition activity. This approach led by the Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji has further hampered the Cameroon government’s efforts to retain control over Southern Cameroons.
As long as President Biya remains in power, the situation in Southern Cameroons will not improve. Southern Cameroons refugees and the internally displaced will not return for fear of joblessness, homelessness and arbitrary arrest. The fighting will continue.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai
President Trump tests negative for coronavirus as US extends travel ban to UK and Ireland
President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, his physician said Saturday, following concerns over his exposure to a disease that has paralyzed the globe.
Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.
“This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative,” the president’s physician Sean Conley said in a memo.
“One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free,” he said.
Trump, 73, had dismissed concerns over his exposure to the disease which has killed at least 51 Americans and upended the rhythm of daily life across the country, with millions working from home and schools shuttered.
New York, the most populous US city, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying.
“I have been through Hurricane Sandy… through 9/11, I have never seen shopping like this,” said Larry Grossman, manager of a Manhattan supermarket.
Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday announced a further restriction on travel to the United States, saying a travel ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic would be extended to the United Kingdom and Ireland Tuesday.
Trump advised against non-essential travel, and said officials were considering imposing travel restrictions within the United States.
“If you don’t have to travel, I wouldn’t do it,” Trump said at a White House news conference. “We want this thing to end. We don’t want a lot of people getting infected.”
Trump declared a national emergency on Friday in what critics say was a long-delayed admission of the gravity of the crisis, freeing up some $40 billion in disaster relief funds.
Late Friday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill—crafted by Democrats in consultation with the Trump administration—to provide billions of dollars for free virus testing, emergency paid sick leave and family leave related to the epidemic.
Supported by Trump, it is expected to easily pass the Republican-controlled Senate next week.
News of Trump taking the test marked a further turning point, after days of resistance to the suggestion.
An end to hand-shaking
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 5,700 lives in some 137 countries.
Repeatedly attacked for sending out mixed signals on the health crisis, the president raised eyebrows on Friday when, contrary to medical advice, he was seen shaking hands as he gathered his coronavirus response team at the White House.
On Saturday, he blamed habit—“people put their hand out… you don’t think about it”—but said it would have to change.
“Maybe people shouldn’t be shaking hands for the long term,” said Trump, a self-declared germophobe, “because it does transmit flu and other things.”
Trump’s virus test came after not only contact with the Brazilian delegation, but also US lawmakers and political leaders who have gone into self-quarantine over potential infection.
Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was on Saturday awaiting results of a virus test after she came down with flu-like symptoms. She reportedly attended an event in Florida with Trump on Monday and flew back to Washington on Air Force One.
A broader travel ban
On Saturday a 30-day US ban took effect on all travel from the EU’s Schengen border-free zone, part of a global clampdown on travel to curtail the virus.
Pence said the ban—which notably excluded Britain and Ireland—would include both countries as of midnight EST on Monday (0400 GMT on Tuesday).
“Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home. Legal (US) residents can come home,” Pence said.
Trump also aimed a new jab at the US Federal Reserve, saying he wanted it to be “much more proactive” in moving to protect Americans from the widespread economic dislocation caused by the pandemic.
But the president—wearing a navy blue USA cap—seemed otherwise subdued during Saturday’s briefing, uncharacteristically offering praise to Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi said she was “proud” to have reached an agreement on the relief package after days of tense talks with the White House.
Trump also tweeted that he had a “nice conversation” with Canadian leader Justin Trudeau and that it was “great to hear that his wonderful wife Sophie is doing very well.”
Trudeau has been telegoverning since his wife was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Thursday.
(AFP)
Central African health ministers agree to step up fight against COVID-19
Health Ministers from countries in Central Africa agreed on Thursday to jointly combat COVID-19 by sharing information and best practices.
The six-member states of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) made the commitment after a meeting on the novel coronavirus disease held in Cameroon’s commercial capital Douala. The ministers emphasized the growing urgency for cooperation in COVID-19 surveillance, prevention, detection and control in the sub-region, said Cameroonian Health Minister Manaouda Malachie, who chaired the deliberations.
“We now have a roadmap to combat the virus in the sub-region and our priority is to prevent its spread,” Malachie told reporters at the meeting. “We will reinforce communication and information sharing,” he said, adding that several other “strong and urgent measures” have been adopted, including “the networking of laboratories and the publication of community diagnostic directives.”
So far, Cameroon and Gabon have reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region.
The CEMAC countries include Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo.
Source: Xinhuanet
Coronavirus Outbreak: Father Maurice Agbaw-Ebai brings message of hope to Christians
Message for the Third Sunday of Lent 2020
Hope Does Not Disappoint (Romans 5:5).
Dear Holy People of God, God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good!
Let me start by saying that I miss you all this weekend. I miss your spiritual company, your prayers, your presence, your smiles and your love. It feels so lonely here at our parish home at Ste Anne’s this weekend. As I pray the Liturgy of the Hours and celebrate Mass in the chapel of the rectory, I am thinking of you all, of your families and loved ones. I am thinking of your prayer intentions, of your anxieties and likewise of your hopes, especially your hope in Christ, for in the midst of such uncertain, frightful and anxious times, what better place can we place our hope than in the hands of Christ? We are saved by hope, as St Paul tells us in Romans 8:24: “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” And again, St Paul says to the Romans and likewise to us here at St Anne’s: “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:5).
As we go through this period plagued by the Coronavirus, we too can feel disillusioned and our faith tested: Where is God in all these? To be honest with you, there are no easy answers. In Jesus Christ, we believe that God has entered history – Immanuel, God with us. God is part of this history with all its uncertainties and vicissitudes. However, we can be sure that even as we go through these trying times, we are not alone. God has not abandoned us to face these anxious moments alone. In Jesus, God knows firsthand what it means to suffer, to be anxious, to be in pain, and even to die. Jesus did not take away the world’s sufferings. Rather, Jesus enters into the sufferings of the world and points a way forward by his resurrection. And it is faith in the resurrection that gives us the hope for the present and the future. I wish to urge us all to remember: God is with us, and God will not abandon us. With God, there is a future and a hope.
Given that we cannot celebrate the Eucharist tomorrow as a parish family, I am asking all families, as the Domestic Church, the first Church, to spend time in family prayer tomorrow, for where two or three are gathered together, Jesus is in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). The family is the first Church, and parents, biological or God-parents, are the first witnesses of the Gospel to the children. I will suggest that we all read the Gospel for tomorrow’s mass during a family prayer time: John 4: 5-42. We should also make an act of spiritual communion. This might be an opportunity for us to thank God for the gift of the Eucharist, and to be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters the world over who are prevented by many other factors from celebrating the Eucharist on a weekly basis.
Be assured that my Holy Mass tomorrow at the chapel in the rectory will be for all of you and for all your intentions. God bless you all. God is still good, all the time, and his goodness is his presence with us, now and always.
Fr Maurice Agbaw-Ebai
Yaounde: Military says Ambazonia fighters killed 4 including gov’t official
Cameroon’s military says anglophone separatists killed four hostages, including a local official, after troops attacked their camp in a western part of the country. The military said it freed five others the anglophone rebels had abducted and raped.
A young woman recovering at a Cameroon military base in the French-speaking, western town of Bafoussam, confirmed to a reporter that rebel fighters this week abducted and raped her.
Cameroon’s military rescued the 17-year-old, whose name is being withheld to prevent stigma, and four other young women on Tuesday and brought them to the base.
She said heavily armed anglophone rebels took her on Sunday from a Catholic church in the English-speaking, northwestern town of Mbiame.
The separatist fighters took her into the bush, she said, and kept her and several other hostages at a remote camp.
“They accused me of communicating with military men and directing them [the troops] how to move about and kill them [separatists],” the woman said. “So, when we reached their camp, we were beaten. When I went there, these my friends were already there. We were badly beaten. We sleep on the floor. They do not give us any food or water.”
Ransom demanded by rebels
The 17-year-old said the rebels demanded the women’s families pay a ransom of $3,000 each for their release or else they would be killed.
But Cameroonian troops raided the camp, freeing the five hungry, tired and frayed women, aged 17 to 21.
Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon’s territorial administration minister, said the rebels took the women in revenge after troops last week attacked their hideouts and killed several fighters.
“These are children who have been kidnapped by the terrorists, abused sexually, raped by the terrorists and, thanks to the professionalism of our defense forces, these children were released,” Nji said. “The children are under medical control. The defense forces are assisting them.”
Seven rebels reportedly killed
Nji said the women were rescued during fighting that killed seven rebels. He gave no casualty figures for the military and it was not possible to confirm the numbers.
Not all those being held hostage came out alive, though.
Officials in the English-speaking, northwest region of Ngoketunjia said rebels killed four hostages.
Senior government official Quetong Handerson Konge issued a statement that said among the four victims was a deputy mayor. The statement called on the population to continue helping the military find rebels and their hideouts.
Rebels in Cameroon have not responded directly to the accusations but have been sharing videos on social media of the killed civilians and warning people against aiding the military.
The separatist conflict broke out in 2017 over resentment that Cameroon’s English-speaking minority is treated as second class to the French-speaking majority.
Fighting in the western English-speaking regions has left about 3,000 people dead and displaced more than 500,000 to French-speaking regions and neighboring Nigeria.
Source: VOA