Headline News

15, June 2016

World War III: Nuclear powers updating their arsenals and delivery capabilities ⁰

Nuclear powers are updating their arsenals and delivery capabilities despite a fall in the number of nuclear warheads, a Swedish think tank says. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its annual report that nine nuclear powers possessed a total of some 15,400 warheads as of January, compared with 15,850 last year. Russia holds 7,290 of the world’s nuclear warheads, followed by the US with 7,000. The two countries possess about 93 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.

France is the third nuclear power with 300 nuclear weapons, ahead of China, the UK, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. The Stockholm-based think tank said the US and Russia “have extensive and expensive nuclear modernization programs under way.”Washington plans to spend $348 billion before 2024 on maintaining and updating its nuclear forces, SIPRI said.According to some estimates, Washington’s nuclear weapon modernization program may cost up to $1 trillion over the next 30 years,” it added.

“The ambitious US modernization plan presented by the Obama administration is in stark contrast to President Barack Obama’s pledge to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and the role they play in US national security strategy,” said Hans Kristensen, one of the authors of the report.

Presstv

14, June 2016

Alex Song close to Galatasaray deal ⁰

Barcelona midfielder Alex Song, who has spent the last two seasons on loan with West Ham, is close to sealing a move to Galatasaray. According to ‘fotospor’, Song has reached an agreement with the Turkish club, but now must wait for them to agree a deal with Barça as the he remains under contract at Camp Nou until 2017.

The 27-year-old’s agent Darren Dein and Galatasaray’s sporting director Cenk Ergun have reportedly agreed on a three-year deal worth 1.5 million euros per season. Now Galatasaray must contract Barça if they wish to push the transfer through, although the Catalan club may be prepared to let Song leave for free.

He played 16 games for West Ham this season and a return to the Premier League side for a third season has been ruled out.

14, June 2016

CRTV to launch “News and Information Channel” in 2017 ⁰

The Cameroon Radio Television CRTV has started training some newly recruited journalists and reporters to work for the News and Information Channel. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the 38 beneficiaries will be trained for nine weeks on news coverage, treatment, editing, and broadcasting at the CRTV Audiovisual Centre in Ekounou- Yaounde.

In a typical CPDM pattern, the Minister of Communication Issa Tchiroma Bakary together with CRTV’s General Manager Amadou Vamoulke, have urged the new comers to be diligent as the corporation awaits them with excellent results.

The News and Information Channel is one among the six new channels of CRTV created purposely to provide news and information from home and abroad. It will effectively go operational in 2017.

CRTV

14, June 2016

Cameroon: 2000 youth receive free National Identity Cards ⁰

Two thousand Youths of the Penka Michel Subdivision of the West Region have received their National Identity Cards free of charge. The donation was made by an economic operator native of the Subdivision Guillaume Mbakam. While handing the official certificates, Guillaume Mbakam urged the youths to be responsible citizens as they use the documents for official purposes and others.

The natives including beneficiaries lauded the great initiatives saying that it has come a long way to ease their travelling and participation in official examinations and other civic responsibilities. The ID cards were produced alongside voters’ registration cards for youths ranging from 20 to 25 years. The donor and his entourage visited the identification and electoral offices which will thereafter host the campaign indoors.

CRTV

14, June 2016

Prime Minister Philemon Yang to inaugurate first movie theater in Yaounde today ⁰

Prime Minister Philemon Yang will today Tuesday, June 14, in the Yaounde University 1 campus inaugurate the first movie theater named “Channel Olympia”. The project was sponsored by the Vivendi group.

“Channel Olympia” operates a multipurpose auditorium and film screenings halls with a capacity of 300 seats for shows or projections including 3,000 seats for shows and outdoor concerts. Vincent Bolloré, is in the Cameroonian capital to participate in this ceremony.

Sama Ernest

14, June 2016

Kribi port to go operational before 2017 ⁰

The port of Kribi will go operational before 2017 Cameroon Intelligence Report has learned from government sources in Yaounde. The Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT), Louis Paul Motaze reportedly visited the site last Friday in his capacity as Chairman of the Steering and Monitoring Committee of the proposed implementation of the industrial port complex of Kribi. Louis Paul Motaze was accompanied by the Belgian partners and some members of government.

We understand that the first phase has cost roughly 245 billion FCFA and it will generate 2,000 direct jobs and 2000 indirect jobs. All installations and structures including storage areas, service buildings, signaling beacons all meet the standards set by the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). The multipurpose terminal has a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes of goods per year and a container terminal quay with a length of 350 meters and a 14 hectare storage area.

CIR

14, June 2016

Fru Ndi meets General Pierre Semengue during a football encounter in Bamenda ⁰

General Pierre Semengue of the Cameroon army was seen hand-in-gloves with Ni John Fru Ndi, the charismatic leader of the largest opposition party recently during a football encounter in Bamenda. The match between Yong Sports Academy and Astres of Douala was a top game of the 21st day of the National League 1 football championship.

The sitting positions of the two men caused some sensation from the crowd and General Semengue reportedly observed that: “I do not understand why people are surprised. I know Mr. President (John Fru Ndi,) for a long time now. We know each other well. So I have no problem being in his company. He is still the leader of a major political party, and I am in Bamenda for football. Football knows no political party”. Semengue kept Fru Ndi under house arrest during the ghost town operations in the 90s.

Rita Akana

14, June 2016

Nanga-Eboko: CPDM hunter mistakenly shoots colleague dead ⁰

Ekouma Zephyrin told gendarmes he shot an animal late at night only to discover that it was a fellow hunter. Tragedy struck on June 10, 2016 at about 3 am in Mebolé Village, about 25 km from Nanga-Eboko, the headquarters of Upper Sanaga Division in the Centre Region. The town is located 160 km from Yaounde. A local hunter, Ekouma Zephyrin, 41, shot dead Essimi Paul Clément, 46, another hunter from the same village.

Senior Warrant Officer Djietcheu Raphael, Head of the Nanga-Eboko Gendarmerie Post, revealed on June 10, 2016 that Ekouma, who had gone on a hunting expedition alone at night, claimed he saw what he thought were the eyes of a wild animal. After firing on the target, he approached it only to discover to his horror that it was after all a human being – Essimi Paul Clément, a fellow hunter. Meanwhile, Ekouma had earlier bid farewell to Essimi Paul at about 5 pm in the village on June 9, 2016, before taking off for the forest.

Djietcheu Raphael said the victim died where he was shot. Following the accident, Ekouma Zephyrin, reported himself to gendarmes in Nanga-Eboko. Accompanied by his men and a nurse from the Nanga-Eboko District Hospital, Senior Warrant Officer Djietcheu and the team trekked to the site, located beyond River Sanaga. He told Cameroon Tribune that they found the body lying on the ground and facing upwards, with the impact of the bullets clearly visible on the side of the head.

The gendarmerie officer added that by the body of Essimi Paul Clément was his hunting rifle, sack and torch. Where the body lay appeared well arranged as if the victim was resting before he was shot, the officer suggested. Meanwhile, the corpse was moved to the Nanga-Eboko District Hospital Mortuary while investigations continue. In the meantime, Ekouma Zephyrin is in gendarmerie custody.

Cameroon Tribune

13, June 2016

Cameroon arrest group of traffickers with 41 elephant tusks ²

Elements of the 11th Battalion of the Cameroon armed forces stationed at Campo (Bafumar), supported by the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR Coast) have arrested a group of traffickers in the Atlantic Ocean with 41 points of ivory. The boat reportedly ran out of gas on the high seas in the Ebondjé area, a few kilometers from Campo.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the ship’s captain, a Nigerian national made an emergency stop to buy fuel in the village. The suspicion generated prompted the Gendarmerie Commander to order an inspection of the boat. The vessel was carrying 42 people of various nationalities. 41 elephant tusks were buried under luggage. The 42 occupants of the boat were taken to the Gendarmerie post for investigation.

CIR

13, June 2016

Buhari administration agrees to Cameroon’s return of 80,000 Nigerian refugees ⁰

The Nigerian government says it has agreed to Cameroon’s return of some 80,000 Nigerian citizens who fled the country following the insurgency by the Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group. Nigerian emergency agency spokesman Sani Datti said on Sunday that Abuja signed an agreement with the UN Refugee Agency, also known as the UNHCR, and Cameroon for the return of Nigerian refugees “voluntarily and in a dignified manner.”

Nigerian officials have said that the neighboring Cameroon was threatening to force the repatriation of tens of thousands of Nigerians who left their homes in the eastern regions to flee from Boko Haram’s terrorist activities. Last month, Cameroon dumped a large number of Nigerians at the border though people did not have enough water and temperature soared over 42 degrees Celsius.

The UN said that some 600,000 Nigerians are displaced in the region. An estimated 20,000 people have been killed and more than two million others made homeless since the beginning of the bloody Boko Haram militancy in Nigeria in 2009. In 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Daesh, which is primarily operating in Syria and Iraq.

Presstv