Monthly Archives: July 2016

9, July 2016

NATO agrees to deploy thousands of troops in Poland and the Baltic states ⁰

NATO leaders have agreed to deploy thousands of troops in Poland and the Baltic states in a bid to strengthen the 28-nation alliance’s eastern borders in Europe against Russia. The Western military alliance announced on Friday that it will move four battalions totaling up to 4,000 troops to northeastern Europe on a rotating basis to display its readiness to support Eastern European member states against the so-called Russian aggression.

“These battalions will be robust and they will be multinational. They make clear that an attack on one ally will be considered an attack on the whole alliance,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference after the first working session of a two-day summit in the Polish capital Warsaw on Friday.

Stoltenberg said the plan is justified under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that if an “armed attack against one or more” NATO member states is launched “in Europe or North America,” it “shall be considered an attack against them all,” and all members will have to take the necessary actions to assist the invaded ally.

The UK will send 500 troops for a battalion based in Estonia, while Germany and Canada will lead two more battalions in Lithuania and Latvia, respectively. US President Barack Obama said at the summit that under the plan, his country would deploy an armored brigade of 1,000 troopers as the fourth battalion in Poland next year “to enhance our forward presence in Central and Eastern Europe.”

“In other words, Poland will be seeing an increase in NATO and American personnel and in the most modern military equipment,” Obama said.

Presstv

9, July 2016

African Americans oppressed by police like Palestinians ⁰

The police killings of two black men in the United States in the past week underscores that African Americans continue to be oppressed as an ethnic group like the Palestinians, an American researcher and historian says. Law enforcement in the US is committing “genocide” against blacks on a daily basis, Dr. Randy Short, who has a Ph.D in African studies, told Press TV on Thursday.

“Nothing has really been done to deal with the problem of structural racism and oppressions as done by American law enforcement departments, so we still have large numbers of people being killed, beaten, and brutalized,” Dr. Short said. “The issue is African Americans are an oppressed, hated nationality grouping like the Kurds or the Palestinians,” he added.

Several police officers in the US states of Tennessee, Missouri and Georgia have been shot and wounded in a string of separate attacks against law enforcement amid heightened tensions over the police killing of African Americans in the past week. The attacks on police, which occurred on Thursday and Friday, come after a gunman in Dallas, Texas, killed five officers and wounded seven more on Thursday night.

The Dallas incident, the deadliest day for police in the US since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, came during one of several protests across the country against the killing of two black men by police this week. The fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in the states of Louisiana and Minnesota were the latest in a long string of killings that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter social movement.

The New York Police Department was investigating 17 threats against police that came in following the deaths of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to NYPD Chief of Intelligence Thomas Galati. Police in the United States killed over 1,150 people in 2015, with the largest police departments disproportionately killing at least 321 African Americans, according to data compiled by an activist group that runs the Mapping Police Violence project.

Presstv

8, July 2016

The Holy Father Pope Francis accepts resignation of Brazilian Bishop ⁰

The archbishop of Paraiba, Monsignor Aldo di Cillo Pagotto, 66, resigned under the article of canon law that allows bishops to retire early for “grave” reasons that make them unfit for office. Francis appointed an administrator to run the archdiocese until a permanent replacement is found. In a farewell letter, Monsignor Pagotto admitted he had made mistakes and that he had accepted into the archdioceses priests and seminarians who had committed “serious errors.”

He blamed his own “merciful ingenuousness” and said he did so because he wanted to give them a second chance. The pope recently issued new procedures to expel bishops who shield paedophiles, amid an outcry from victims’ groups that bishops have long escaped punishment for moving abusers around rather than reporting them to police.

The new procedures do not go into effect until September, meaning Monsignor Pagotto was forced out under existing procedures in place at the Vatican’s office for bishops. Italian news agency Ansa said that in 2015 the Vatican sent an envoy to Paraiba to investigate. As a preliminary sanction, Monsignor Pagotto was prohibited from ordaining priests and deacons or welcoming in any priests or seminarians expelled from other dioceses.

At the time of the Vatican intervention, Brazilian media reported on a letter from a parishioner alleging Monsignor Pagotto had had sexual relations with an 18-year-old man, the Zenit Catholic news agency reported. Zenit said he successfully had the news reports deleted from internet searches. In his farewell letter, Monsignor Pagotto blasted what he called defamatory news reports that, he said, had distorted and divided the church.

He was one of the arch-conservative authors of a question-and-answer booklet released during the 2014-2015 Vatican meeting on the family that insisted on church doctrine on such hot-button issues as homosexuality, marriage and divorce. In a 2015 report on the book, Ansa cited the authors’ response to the issue of homosexuality by saying that gay unions were sinful and “against nature” and telling gays to refrain from sex.

8, July 2016

Eneo angers Yaounde city dwellers with sharp increase in electricity bills ⁰

Households in the nation’s capital Yaoundé have registered their protest following a sudden increase in electricity bills. The offices of Eneo, the company responsible for the distribution of electricity have all been receiving large numbers of complaints this week. Cameroon Concord News spoke to some of the Yaoundé city dwellers who revealed that the bills moved from 30,000 to 50,000 CFA francs in the month of June 2016. Some electricity customers claimed their amounts rose from 13,000 to 20,000 FCFA.

Many customers of the distribution company, Eneo do not understand what caused the sharp increase. A spokes person for the electricity company, Eneo was quoted as saying that “Change can only occur with a decision from the regulatory agency for the electricity sector (Arsel). To date, invoice is based on the rates set in 2012”.

Eneo issued a statement late last week stating that “rates are set according to consumption brackets between 0 and 110 kWh, it costs 50 CFA francs, without Vat. But as long as people buy appliances or even simple light bulbs that consume a lot, or they leave phone chargers and various other devices connected all night, and consumption increases when you exceed 110 kWh, it you apply another minimum charging period is 79 FCFA with more Vat”

It is also common in the major cities for dubious electricians to tap electricity from a neighbor without his knowledge and “you pay for two or three households”. At the time of filing this report, an Eneo official admitted that there were billing problems, due to some mistakes.

Rita Akana (Cameroon Concord News)

8, July 2016

USA: A nation ruled by a culture of white supremacy ⁰

A human rights attorney says US investigations into police killing of two African-Americans in Louisiana and Minnesota recently will not lead to the administration of justice. A video that shows the aftermath of police shooting can be investigated as a federal crime, but the investigation “will not ensure there is going to be justice for the victim,” human rights attorney from New York Roger Wareham told Press TV.

Two graphic videos shot in the US states of Louisiana and Minnesota shocked the American nation this week which showed the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in the hands of US police officers. “In an almost all those cases the officer who killed an unarmed black civilian does not even get indicted, much less prosecuted, much less convicted or even go to jail,” Wareham said.

He said African Americans are the constant victim of a system in which the law enforcement or white vigilantes can kill black people with impunity and without any sort of retribution and accountability. “So, there is a culture of white supremacy, there is an attitude that says you can do anything to a black or brown person, because you will not be punished for it,” he added. Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of the US Department of Defense, said the police officer who killed Philando Castile should be held accountable

It is “because the act is tragic and a video record proves that the victim was unarmed, but he was shot four times,” Korb said. The use of excessive force by US law enforcement forces has become the focus of national debate, particularly over high-profile killings of African Americans by mainly white officers during the last several years. Police in the United States killed over 1,150 people in 2015, with the largest police departments disproportionately killing at least 321 African Americans.

Presstv

8, July 2016

Another electricity company created in Cameroon ⁰

Another electricity company known as the Nachtigal Hydro Power Company has been created in Cameroon. An agreement to concretize the existence of this company was signed on the 7^th of July 2016 in Yaounde by representatives of France, Cameroon and the International Finance Corporation.

The Minister of Water Resource and Energy Basile Atangana Kouna signed on behalf of Cameroon while Jean-François Arsenault represented the French Government. The Nachtigal Hydro-Power Company is expected to provide one third of Cameroon’s Energy by 2020, and to supply power to the aluminum plant in Edea.

The company will in the Months ahead complete the construction of 420 mega watts power dam on the river Sanaga. It is estimated to cover a distance of 40 miles transmission line.

According to the agreement, the French Government will have a 40% share of the company and the Electricite de France will exploit the dam for a period of 35yrs while Cameroon on the other hand will have 30% share. 30% of the project will be funded the International Finance Corporation.

CRTV

7, July 2016

Former UK Prime Minister: World’s worst terrorist ⁰

The sister of a British soldier killed in the Iraq war has called former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair the world’s “worst terrorist” after hearing the Chilcot inquiry report into the UK role in the 2003 Iraq invasion. “There is one terrorist that the world needs to be aware of and his name is Tony Blair, the world’s worst terrorist,” said Sarah O’Connor, the sister of Bob O’Connor who died in Iraq in 2005, at a press conference called by some of the dead soldiers’ families.

“When he (Blair) gave his evidence, it was definitely the Tony Blair show. He thinks he’s the puppet master pulling the strings,” she said. She made clear that her family, along with a number of other families, would take legal action against Blair. O’Connor said terrorists killed my brother, but “in that sentence of terrorists, I include Mr Blair.” The Chilcot inquiry report said that military action was “not a last resort” and that the UK chose to go to war before the peaceful options had been exhausted.

The father of another soldier killed in the war said that Blair tried to write his own Iraq war report that was “completely” different from Chilcot report as he tried to defend his decision for the Iraq invasion during a press conference. Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew died in the Iraqi city of Basra in 2005, said he was “amazed” while listening to Blair’s statement that was a response to Chilcot report released earlier on Wednesday.

Presstv

7, July 2016

Sino-Cameroon relations: No visa restrictions for holders of diplomatic and service passports ⁰

Holders of diplomatic and service passports from Cameroon and China will soon travel between both countries without any visa restrictions. The visa exemption is in line with an agreement signed on the of 7th July 2016 between Cameroon’s Minister of External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella and Chinese Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E. Wei Wenhua.

The Chinese Diplomat revealed that the agreement has a 45 years duration and was signed due to the good diplomatic relations between Cameroon and China. Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella for his part indicated that many of such agreements will be signed with other great nations in the nearest future.

CRTV/Camcordnews

7, July 2016

Poultry farmers hold massive demo in Yaounde ⁰

Poultry farmers have held a massive demonstration today in Yaounde. The farmers blocked the entrance to the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA), protesting against what they termed the destruction of the national poultry industry following the poor management of the bird flu crisis. Cameroon Concord News understands the farmers were led by the Association for the Defense of Collective Interests (ACDIC).

In the event of this morning, 40 cartons of eggs were destroyed in an industry already ruined by the CPDM government’s procrastination policy. After the discovery of the first outbreaks of bird flu in Yaoundé, the government banned the marketing of chicken and eggs and also ordered the destruction of more dairy products. Five regions in the country were greatly affected by bird flu and losses are around 66 billion FCFA.

Ebong Kingsley (Cameroon Concord News Group)

7, July 2016

Russian military tech chief says robots will determine outcome of future wars ⁰

Robots will replace conventional soldiers on the battlefield in the future, says the Russian military’s tech chief. “I see a greater robotization [of war], in fact, future warfare will involve operators and machines, not soldiers shooting at each other on the battlefield,” RT quoted Lieutenant General Andrey Grigoriev, the head of Russia’s Advanced Research Foundation (ARF), as saying on Wednesday.

Noting that days of conventional warfare are almost numbered, he stressed that the outcome of future wars would be determined by “powerful robot units fighting on land, in the air, at sea as well as underwater and in outer space.”

“They would be integrated into large comprehensive reconnaissance-strike systems,” said Grigoriev, adding, “The soldier would gradually turn into an operator and be removed from the battlefield.”

Last year, Grigoriev announced that Russian scientists had designed a robot “resembling a human in appearance” to operate in hostile environments. He added that the cyborg will be capable of running, jumping and even riding a motor cycle. Russia’s United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC) also announced last year that it had developed the Unicum software package, which is capable of controlling up to 10 military robotic systems.

The package is capable of defining roles for the robots, allowing for a commander unit to distribute combat missions for each individual device. In March 2016, Russia sent a squad of bomb disposal robots and experts to Syria to help with the defusing of explosive devices left by Daesh in the recently recaptured city of Palmyra.

Presstv