MIRRA ANDREEVA WINS FRENCH OPEN AT 19, BECOMES YOUNGEST WOMEN’S CHAMPION SINCE MONICA SELES . (PHOTO).

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 Mirra Andreeva wins French Open at 19, becomes youngest women’s champion since Monica Seles   Russian tennis star Mirra Andreeva completed a breakout run at the French Open on Saturday, defeating Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2 to capture her first Grand Slam title at age 19. Andreeva, who was already regarded as a prodigy after emerging on the WTA Tour as a teenager, became the youngest women’s singles champion since Monica Seles, who was 18 when she won her third straight French Open in 1992. Ranked eighth in the world, she controlled the final in Paris, taking command after dropping just a few early games. The match shifted decisively when Andreeva won nine consecutive games to seize control, eventually closing out the victory with a backhand winner on match point before falling to her knees in celebration on the clay. She finished with 25 winners compared to Chwalinska’s 10 and committed fewer unforced errors in a match played under windy conditions at Cour...

CAMEROON BANS TALKS ON 91-YEAR-OLD PRESIDENT BIYA'S HEALTH. (PHOTO).


 Cameroon bans talks on 91-year-old President Biya’s health


Cameroon has placed a ban on any discussion about the health of 91-year-old President Paul Biya.


A letter shared by the interior ministry disclosed this on Thursday, October 10, 2024, after Biya’s prolonged absence fuelled widespread speculation he was unwell.


Earlier this week, the authorities put out statements saying the president was on a private visit to Geneva and in good health, dismissing reports he had fallen ill as “pure fantasy”.


In the letter to regional governors dated October 9, Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji said discussing the president’s health was a matter of national security.


From now on, “any debate in the media about the president’s condition is therefore strictly prohibited. Offenders will face the full force of the law”, Nji said.


He ordered the governors to set up units to monitor broadcasts on private media channels, as well as social networks.


Cocoa and oil-producing Cameroon, which has had just two presidents since independence from France and Britain in the early 1960s, is likely to face a messy succession crisis if Biya becomes too ill to remain in office or dies.


Cameroon’s media regulator, the National Communication Council, could not immediately be reached for comment.


The move faced criticism as an act of state censorship.


“The president is elected by Cameroonians and it’s just normal that they worry about his whereabouts,” said Hycenth Chia, a Yaounde-based journalist and talk show host on privately owned television Canal2 International.


“We see liberal discussions on the health of Joe Biden and other world leaders, but here it is a taboo,” he told Reuters.


Press freedom advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists said it was gravely concerned.


“Trying to hide behind national security on such a major issue of national importance is outrageous,” said Angela Quintal, head of the CPJ’s Africa Program.


Biya has not been seen in public since attending a China-Africa forum in Beijing in early September. His failure to appear as scheduled at a summit in France last weekend further stoked public discussion about his health.


Biya has served as the second president of Cameroon since November 6, 1982, having previously been the prime minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982.

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