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Barcelona have appointed former Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick as their new boss on a two-year contract.
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Pope Francis apologises for using homophobic slur
Pope Francis issued an extraordinary apology on Tuesday over his reported use of a gay slur in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops last week.
“The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms and he extends his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, reported by others,” the Vatican said in a statement.
During a meeting with more than 250 bishops last week, the 87-year-old pontiff was said to have used an offensive term while expressing his opposition to homosexual men entering training colleges for priests, even if they committed to celibacy.
According to two Italian newspapers, Francis said there was already too much “frociaggine” in seminaries, using an offensive Roman term that translates as “faggotry”.
The reports made headlines around the world, with commentators noting an apparent discrepancy between the pope’s words and his previously welcoming approach to LGBTQ people.
In 2013, just weeks after taking office, he said that “if someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?”
There was some speculation after the reports emerged Monday that Francis, the son of an Italian emigrant to Argentina and whose first language is Spanish, did not understand the negative connotations of the word he was using.
The Vatican statement did not confirm that he used the word but referred to newspaper articles.
“As he had the opportunity to state on several occasions: ‘In the Church there is room for everyone, everyone! Nobody is useless, nobody is superfluous, there is space for everyone. Just as we are, all of us’,” the statement said.
Francis, a former archbishop of Buenos Aires who relishes being among his flock and cultivates an image of a down-to-earth leader, has a history of speaking bluntly.
Off-the-cuff remarks include saying Catholics need not “breed like rabbits”. He also seemingly defended the use of violence to defend one’s faith, saying in 2015 that “if a good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched”.
At a meeting with Catholic families in Verona this month, Francis told a joke about a grumpy shopkeeper, pausing halfway through the punchline so it sounded like it would end with a swear word, before correcting himself with a cheeky laugh.
‘Harmful’ language
But Francis DeBernardo, head of US LGBTQ Catholic group New Ways Ministry, had told AFP ahead of the Vatican statement that he would welcome an apology from the pope.
“Pope Francis has not always been clear in his remarks about LGBTQ+ people,” he said.
“We hope this incident will encourage him to learn more about the language he uses, and about how misuse can be dangerously harmful.”
In Rome on Tuesday, some visitors also expressed dismay at the words used by such an important spiritual leader.
“I’m shocked. Religion is about uniting… to bring people together,” said Caterina Constantinava, a tourist visiting from London.
Her daughter, Alexandria, 14, added: “As a person who has such high power, he doesn’t need to go around using foul language.
“He can just simply say ‘I disagree with this’, he doesn’t need to use such language, it’s just disrespectful,” she said.
Source: AFP
FECAFOOT convenes emergency meeting after Eto’o-Brys clash
A meeting of the Cameroon Football Federation’s Emergency Committee will be held in the next few hours following a missed working session between president Samuel Eto’o and coach Marc Brys. In a press release following the turbulent session at Fecafoot, the Emergency Committee was convened to address the heated exchange between Samuel Eto’o and Marc Brys.
This committee, tasked with making crucial decisions, will determine the next steps for Cameroon’s national team ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In Cameroon, all eyes are now on Tsinga, anticipating the outcomes of the Emergency Committee’s meeting.
The ongoing crisis in Cameroonian football began to intensify after the recent Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) in Ivory Coast, where the national team’s performance was disappointing. In April, Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi appointed Marc Brys as the new coach, a decision that did not sit well with Samuel Eto’o. The Fecafoot president had initially refused to endorse Brys and the staff chosen by the ministry, ultimately accepting Brys but imposing his own technical, medical, and administrative staff.
The conflict came to a head on May 28, during a meeting at the Fecafoot headquarters. The session, which started with a cordial “welcome home” from Eto’o to Brys, quickly escalated. Eto’o clashed with Cyrille Tollo, the sports minister’s technical advisor, demanding Tollo’s expulsion for interfering with a private discussion. “Call security and throw him out! This is the last time, understood?” Eto’o reportedly exclaimed.
Eto’o then pressured Brys to choose sides, asserting his authority as president and criticizing Brys for perceived mistakes. The tense atmosphere prompted Brys to leave the room, leading Eto’o to call for the Emergency Committee’s intervention.
With the World Cup qualifiers looming, the Federation’s swift action is critical. The football community in Cameroon eagerly awaits the committee’s decisions, which will shape the future of the national team and potentially end the ongoing leadership turmoil.
Source: Africa News
Etoudi and FECAFOOT: The death of high instructions!
The bruising fight between FECAFOOT’s President, Samuel Eto’o, and the Minister of Sports, Moelle Kombi, finally played out in public today with the minister’s technical adviser asked to leave FECAFOOT premises.
The matter did not end there. The minister’s appointed coach was also given a beating and reminded that he had an interest in attending the meeting with FECAFOOT officials, an idea which did not go down well with the Belgian who saw his technical staff refused entry into the FECAFOOT building.
In this fight, it is Cameroon’s football which will suffer as Eto’o and minister Kombi engage in a struggle which could have been avoided if the laws had been respected. Cameroon’s laws are, at all levels, like shifting sands or a maze, and this unfortunate situation is hurting Cameroonians.
The frustrating thing is that Eto’o cannot be dismissed even by the country’s president. He was voted while the minister was appointed. In this confusion, FIFA might step in with a normalization committee which will see Eto’o out while the minister could be fired by the president for not posting acceptable results.
The mess playing out in the football sub-sector in Cameroon is simply the tip of the massive iceberg which is buried in the ocean of corruption, incompetence and influence trafficking.
Cameroon appears to be a rudderless ship for decades. For many years, the country has been ruled by decree or what is known in Cameroon as HIGH INSTRUCTIONS, something which clearly points to the fact that the country has drifted into a full-blown dictatorship.
Nobody respects the constitution. Nobody cares about the good running of the system. When a minister wants to implement his private agenda, he immediately invokes the famous high instructions. Everyone sings the president’s praises to hide their crimes and sins, and nothing gets done.
Cameroon is sinking and it appears there is no rescue squad. With the fight between Eto’o and Kombi playing out live, it is clear that those high instructions can be torn and put in the garbage bin. It is clear that the era of HIGH INSTRUCTIONS is coming to an end.
Cameroon needs principled people. The group of hypocrites surrounding the president have steered the country down a chaotic and dangerous path.
If Cameroon has to come out of its current mess which has lasted for almost five decades, a new system needs to be engineered and that system must rules-based with a clear separation of powers.
Cameroon’s highly centralized system has created more problems without even seeking to address old issues. A federal structure, especially a parliamentary system which allows only elected officials to exercise power will not only reduce the type of fights we are now witnessing, it will also reduce abuse and corruption which have been huge constraints on Cameroon’s economic and political development.
Cameroon simply needs a new system. High instructions clearly belong to the past. Repairing Cameroon will be an uphill climb but the job must be done and all those who have participated, directly or indirectly, in reducing Cameroon to an Augean Stable should be clearly cut out of the new system.
By Dr Joachim Arrey
USA: Cardinal Sean O’Malley ordains first Cameroonian priest
In the Archdiocese of Boston, of the Pope St. John Paul XXIII seminary, Archbishop, Sean Cardinal O’Malley ordained Rev John Tanyi Nquah Lebui, the first Cameroonian Priest in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The historical monument with an imposing presence of 364 feet long, ninety feet high, with a seating capacity of 1,700, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was full of friends and families from Europe, The Scandinavia, Africa including states in America, all witnessed the dream of a seven year old boy, now 39, ordained into priesthood.
In the Rite of Ordination to the Order of the Presbyter, His Eminence Sean Patrick Cardinal O’Malley, the Principal Celebrant and Homilist, presents the candidates for priesthood. With the authority given to him by Jesus, the priest is called by the Church to serve God’s people. And the candidates publicly respond and announce their readiness and willingness to enter their priestly calling. The Bishop then speaks to the candidates and the congregation the duties of the priest. In return the priest affirms his intention to serve with clear conscience and prayerful spirit after the example of Jesus.
It should be noted that the spiritual rules and the authorities of the Popes has a time span of over 2000 years from the arrival of Peter in Rome to the present day. Therefore, when Cardinal Sean sits in the throne of the Bishop, which is the Cathedral, it is the symbol of authority and power. As successor of the Apostles, wearing his Miter and holding his Pastoral staff, guiding the faithful in faith, hope and charity, the priest then takes the Oath of Promise of Obedience to serve under the authority of the Bishop, and pledges total allegiance and respect to the Bishop and his successor, followed by the singing of the Litany of the Saints.
Born on July 3, 1984, in Tiko, a coastal city of the Southwest region of Cameroon, father Tanyi is one of the eight children of Angela Tanyi and late Francis Tanyi. Rev John Tanyi started his educational background at the Elementary School, St. Mary, Tiko. He further moved to St. Joseph’s college Sasse in Buea, and continued with his undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Uganda Martyrs University, Nkonzi, Uganda and also a master’s degree in international relations from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi Kenya. He was also granted and awarded a Master of Arts in Theology from Boston College.
Rev. John Tanyi Lebui Nquah was ordained with 10 other priests by the Cardinal at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston Massachusetts. Before his priestly ordination, Rev John was ordained to the transitional diaconate in 2023, and assigned to the St. Anne and Thomas Apostle Parish Salem. On May 26th, 2024.Rev John Tanyi will celebrate his first Holy and Thanksgiving Mass at St. Anne Church Salem.
By Agbaw-Ebai Etukeni, Cameroon Concord US Bureau Chief
US: Tornadoes, storms kill at least 15
At least 15 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured in powerful storms that left a wide trail of destruction in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas in the central US.
The latest deadly weather to strike the central US inflicted its worst damage in a region spanning from north of Dallas to the northwest corner of Arkansas.
Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said seven deaths were reported in Cooke County near the Oklahoma border, where a Saturday night tornado plowed through a rural area near a mobile home park. Two children were among the dead.
According to Abbott, nearly 100 people were also injured and over 200 homes and structures were destroyed because of the tornado.
“The hopes and dreams of Texas families and small businesses have literally been crushed by storm after storm,” Abbott said.
Storms also left two killed in Oklahoma and five in Arkansas.
A resident of Farmers Branch in Dallas county said he rode out the storm with 40 to 50 people in the bathroom of a truck stop, adding that the storm sheared the roof and walls off the building, mangling metal beams and leaving battered cars in the parking lot.
“A firefighter came to check on us and he said, ‘You’re very lucky,’” AP quoted Hugo Parra as saying, adding “The best way to describe this is the wind tried to rip us out of the bathrooms.”
Elsewhere, a man was killed in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sunday when a tree fell on him, police said. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenburg confirmed on social media that it was a storm-related death.
The severe weather left tens of thousands of people without power in the region.
Meanwhile, more severe storms were predicted in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Climate change contributes to the severity of storms around the world. Over 300 tornadoes were recorded in the US in April, the second-highest number of tornadoes in the month on record.
Source: Presstv
Reporters Without Borders files ICC case over journalists’ deaths in Gaza
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Monday it had filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court over Palestinian journalists killed or injured in Gaza.
RSF said it was asking the ICC’s prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the Israeli army against at least nine Palestinian reporters since December 15.
The ICC said in January it was probing potential crimes against journalists since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, which has cost the lives of more than 100 reporters.
RSF said it had “reasonable grounds for thinking that some of these journalists were deliberately killed and that the others were the victims of deliberate IDF (Israel Defence Force) attacks against civilians.”
This specific complaint — the third the RSF has made — concerns eight Palestinian journalists killed between December 20 and May 20, and one other who sustained injuries.
“All concerned journalists were killed (or injured) in the course of their work,” RSF said in a statement.
Antoine Bernard, RSF advocacy and assistance director, said: “Those who kill journalists are attacking the public’s right to information, which is even more essential in times of conflict.”
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan last week asked the court to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for alleged war crimes and crimes and humanity.
Israel has strongly denied the allegation and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that to draw a parallel between Hamas and Israeli leaders was “despicable”.
‘Deadliest period for journalists’
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 107 journalists and media workers have been killed during the Gaza war, the “deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992”.
The RSF complaint includes the case of two Palestinian journalists killed in January while working for Al Jazeera.
Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria, who also worked as a video stringer for AFP and other news organisations, were killed while they were “on their way to carry out their duty” for the channel in the Gaza Strip, the network said.
The Israeli army told AFP at the time it had “struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat to IDF troops”.
It added it was “aware of the reports that during the strike, two other suspects who were in the same vehicle as the terrorist were also hit”.
The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,984 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to data from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Source: AFP
Martinez Zogo affair: Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh worried
The investigation into the journalist’s murder is continuing to shake the upper echelons of the Cameroonian state.
A note from a judicial expert to President Paul Biya accuses Ngoh Ngoh of having blocked investigation of the role played in the affair by himself and two government ministers.
Source: Africa Intelligence
Bamenda: bar explosion kills 2, death toll could rise
At least two persons were killed late Saturday when a makeshift bomb exploded in a crowded bar in Bamenda, according to local and security sources.
An army official said that the improvised explosive device detonated in a neighborhood just meters away from a police station.
“People were gathered to watch an important final match when the explosion occurred. The perpetrators of this terrorist act will be pursued and punished according to our laws,” the official, who requested anonymity, said.
Several people were injured, and the death toll could rise, the official said, adding that security forces often frequented the bar.
Although it remains unclear who planted the explosive device, local authorities have attributed the attack to separatist fighters active in the region since 2017. The separatists aim to establish an independent nation in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.
By Fon Lawrence with files
Cameroon’s machine and equipment imports surge by CFA136bn in 2023
Cameroon’s imports of mechanical and electrical machines and equipment reached CFA656 billion in 2023, up CFA136 billion (26%) from the CFA520 billion spent in 2022. The figures were reported by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
The INS report on Cameroon’s foreign trade highlights that imports of these goods accounted for 13.2% of total import expenditures in 2023. This rise underscores Cameroon’s commitment to bolstering its technological and industrial capacities.
Let’s however note that the report does not specify the reasons behind the surge in equipment imports or the countries of origin for these machines and devices.
Source: Business in Cameroon
