2, June 2016

First penis transplant in the USA ⁰

A hospital in Boston has become the first in the US to perform a successful penis transplant, doctors said, calling the operation “a surgical milestone”. Thomas Manning, 64, received the donated organ three years after his penis was amputated due to penile cancer.

He is the third man worldwide to have had the experimental surgery performed. The patient is expected to regain normal urination and sexual function in the next few months. The 15-hour operation took place earlier this month at Massachusetts General Hospital and involved more than 50 doctors from many departments including urology, psychiatry, plastic surgery, and several others.

BBC

2, June 2016

Cameroon: June parliamentary session begins ⁰

The 2^nd Ordinary Session of Parliament for the 2016 Legislative Year has been convened for Thursday June 2, 2016. Ahead of the opening session, preparations are intensifying at the Senate and the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House of the National Assembly to ensure a hitch-free session. At the Conference Centre, the Senate is scheduled to hold in its traditional chamber in spite of ongoing rehabilitation works on the edifice.

When the nation’s national daily, Cameroon Tribune visited the Conference Centre yesterday May 30, 2016, the inner-chamber of one of the auditoriums of the venue where plenary sessions usually take place was being arranged to host Senate deliberations. Staff of the Congress Centre were busy packing out conference chairs in order to clean the red carpet and rearrange the hall with the usual chairs and tables adapted to the Senate setting.

One of the workers, Jerome Bangu, observed that they had two days (yesterday and today) to prepare the hall for the Senate. The air conditioning and sound systems were also being verified to ensure they are functioning. Bangu added that they will also prepare space to serve as offices for the General Secretariat, which was relocated to the ARMP Building in the Dragages neighbourhood in Yaounde.

At the National Assembly, all is almost set as final touches are being carried out to prepare the Hemicycle and the Committee rooms for the 2rd Ordinary Session of Parliament. A preparatory meeting of the different departments of the National Assembly reportedly held on May 24, 2016 to identify pitfalls during the last session and propose corrective measures for the upcoming session. Emphasis during the meeting was laid on security, lodging, restauration and logistics, so as to ensure a smooth session.

Source: Cameroon Tribune

2, June 2016

Cameroon host 17th edition of Mother and Child Nutrition week ⁰

The 17th edition of Mother and Child Nutrition and health action week was held on the 15th April 2016 in Cameroon. The three day event was marked by an intense vaccination campaign where vaccination agents moved from door to door to administer Polio vaccine to children from zero to five years; the vitamin A vaccine to children from six months to five years; while pregnant women received some preventive treatment against Malaria.

In the Centre Region, the Regional Delegate of Public Health attested that all the supplements were available and used in all the districts. The program was aimed at attaining a hundred percent coverage of the immunization campaign in the Centre Region. In the Centre Region, vaccination agents visited schools and market places to meet parents and children.

Parents were also told to react positively to the vaccination campaign which covered the 30 health districts of the Centre Region. The Mother and Child Nutrition and Health action week also coincided with the African immunization week.

CRTV

2, June 2016

Mushroom treatment for people with depression ⁰

A hallucinogenic chemical in magic mushrooms shows promise for people with untreatable depression, a short study on just 12 people hints. Eight patients were no longer depressed after the “mystical and spiritual” experience induced by the drug. The findings in the Lancet Psychiatry showed five of the patients were still depression-free after three months. Experts cautiously welcomed the findings as “promising, but not completely compelling”.

There have now been calls for the drug to be tested in larger trials. At the start of the trial, nine of the patients had at least severe depression and three were moderately depressed. In one patient, symptoms had lasted for 30 years. All of them had tried at least two different treatments for depression, without success.

BBC

2, June 2016

Biya should retire happily in 2018 ⁰

The Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement is already in the field campaigning for 2018. Clarion calls have been made for the 83 year old dictator to run again for president. Cameroon Intelligence Report can reveal these CPDM outdated gorilla tactics have not gone down well with the international community. As pressure continues to mount on President Biya, the French including the Americans are reportedly preparing a plan B that will see an end to the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime. Recently in Yaounde the nation’s capital, mixed reviews and opinions have been expressed by certain political scientists, sociologists, teachers and other academic experts including people on the know. The general feeling remains that anyone who likes Mr Biya can only wish him a happy retirement. We of this publication agree that at nearly 83 years of age and 34 years in power, President Biya no longer has the physical and moral capacity to manage the country. His 2035 Emergence Plan is already crumbling in front of his own watchful eyes. Nothing is happening with the roads he announced he was building, nothing is happening to the football stadiums he said will be ready before the female African Cup of Nations, nothing has improved with state pensions, the banking sector, health and the judiciary. Going beyond 2018 is not a priority for a people who do not have even basic needs.

Some have opined that President Biya should reject these calls coming from these political sycophants and cronies of his ruling CPDM claiming it represents an identity that illustrates men and women hungry for power. Cameroon Intelligence Report’s chief political editor observed that Biya should allow other Cameroonians brave like him to take control. To be sure, President Biya must withdraw to preserve his dignity as one of the greatest statesman the continent ever known.

It will be hard for President Biya at 83 to provide a genuine political solution to the major concern before the elections in 2018 which is to establish the essential devices for credible elections. Instead of calling on Mr. Biya to run in 2018 or call for earlier presidential poll, the Francophone Beti Ewondo regime needs to open a transition program, rewrite the constitution and give the country a fair and equitable electoral law as well as strengthen the civil society. Biya and his regime have too many unfinished projects in the last 34 years and everyone Cameroonian including highly placed members of the ruling elites now understand that age is telling on him and these projects will not be realized during the upcoming seven years. We call on President Paul Biya to retire happily. A word to a wise is sufficient.

2, June 2016

Conservatives in US politics to meet Facebook founder ⁰

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will extend an olive branch to several high profile conservative figures in US politics on Wednesday. The site More

2, June 2016

Angelina Jolie says humanitarian system for refugees is breaking down ⁰

Angelina Jolie Pitt, the UN refugee agency’s special envoy, has warned that the international humanitarian system for refugees is breaking down. More

2, June 2016

Irish singer Sinead O’Connor found after being missing ⁰

Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has been found after being missing for more than a day, say police near Chicago. Wilmette Police told the BBC she More

2, June 2016

Adieu Papa Wemba ⁰

Band leader Papa Wemba will be remembered for a music style that conquered Africa, and a sense of fashion that inspired a generation of dandies. He died aged 66 after collapsing on a busy stage behind his dancers at a late-night concert in Ivory Coast.

2, June 2016

Kenya: Police violence sparks global outcry ⁰

A leading rights group has condemned the use of excessive force by Kenya’s police, who violently dispersed opposition protesters in four major towns, including Nairobi, Monday. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said it was “particularly dismayed by the gory More