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25, September 2016

FIFA World Cup 2018: Moscow unveils cup mascots ⁰

Russia has unveiled three candidates to become the official mascot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. An image of a tiger, a wolf, and a cat, were projected onto the Moscow State University. The presentation was part of the annual Circle of Light International Festival.

An online vote was launched, so Russian football fans could decide on their favorite character. The winning character will be announced live on television on October 21st. The 2018 World Cup will be held from June 14th to July 15th at 12 stadiums in different Russian cities.

Presstv

25, September 2016

Cameroon and US experts have discussed the future of oil and gas ⁰

Business representatives from Cameroon recently discussed with their American peers the future of oil and its impact on economies. Led by the American Chamber of Commerce in Cameroon, AmCham, the 31 participating companies recently gained knowledge on joint venture and subcontracting exploration, production updates, and investment opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa, innovative technologies and gas monetization.

Recommendations at the end of the 9th Annual Oil and Gas Conference recently in Houston, Texas, USA, included a more open attitude of African governments towards investing companies, need for deeper political and legal reforms to lessen the negative influence of government officials. There are 4.6 billion barrels of oil per day that cannot be refined, according to Kurt Davis Jr. of Barclay’s Bank. As a result, the creation of a Liquefied Natural Gas facility within the Central/West African region would be advantageous for energy purposes.

It was noted that the sharp drop in oil prices in 2014 affected many African countries whose economies are highly dependent on oil and gas revenues. Sir Sunny Oputa, CEO of Energy and Corporate Africa, host of the 9^th Annual Oil and Gas Conference, shed light on what he believes caused the drop in the industry. Focus was on attracting investments to Sub-Saharan Africa, taking into consideration the abundance of natural and human resources, the large market, and the low labour costs.

It was agreed that the advantages of investing in Africa outweigh the often cited shortcomings of the region such as poor infrastructure, relative insecurity, low purchasing power, and weak public institutions. According to different experts, Africa is the future. With 90 per cent of its revenue from Africa, Tullow Oil experienced prosperity before the dip. In a report by Charmian Penda, Executive Director of AmCham Cameroon, the Cameroon tax environment and recent developments in the oil and gas sectors as well as deepwater value creation dominated the discussions.

Cameroon Tribune

24, September 2016

“Trump will emerge victorious in the November election” ⁰

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will win the race for the White House, says an American professor, who has correctly predicted all the last eight presidents of the United States.

Allan Lichtman, a distinguished professor of history at American University, told The Washington Post that based on a system he calls “Keys to the White House”, Trump will emerge victorious in the November election.

“Based on the 13 keys, it would predict a Donald Trump victory,” he claimed. The professor said he derived the system of true/false statements, “by looking at every American presidential election from 1860 to 1980, and have since used the system to correctly predict the outcomes of all eight American presidential elections from 1984 to 2012.” He said one of the keys he uses to predict the winner of the White House is that the candidate is charismatic or not.

Professor Allan Lichtman is an American political historian who teaches at American University in Washington, DC.

Lichtman said Trump’s rival Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton “doesn’t fit the bill.” Another factor he mentioned against Clinton is that she is going to run after President Barack Obama—a Democrat– who had no major domestic or foreign policy achievements.

He also explained to the newspaper that his prediction is not based upon the polls, adding that “the polls have very recently tightened.” “Clinton is less ahead than she was before, but it’s not because Trump is rising, it’s because Clinton is falling,” he added.

According to the professor, the upcoming election was the most difficult to assess, because “We have never before seen a candidate like Donald Trump, and Donald Trump may well break patterns of history that have held since 1860.” With less than two months remaining to the election, Clinton holds a solid 6-point lead over Trump, according to the McClatchy-Marist poll released Friday.

Presstv

24, September 2016

Gabon: Opposition leader says he will not abandon his pursuit of presidency soon ⁰

Gabonese opposition leader Jean Ping has vowed not to abandon his pursuit of presidency soon after the Constitutional Court upheld the narrow victory of incumbent President Ali Bongo in last month’s presidential election and dismissed Ping’s appeal.

“This decision does not bring the Gabonese people together and it does not appease them because they don’t recognize it, nor does the international community, which gives it no value,” Ping said on Saturday, hours after the court declared its final decision on the August 27 election.

The opposition leader said the court ruling was “miscarriage of justice.” Ping had declared himself the rightful president and called for a vote recount over alleged electoral fraud days after Bongo won the election with a razor-blade margin.

In its final decision, the high court acknowledged that the 57-year-old Bongo had garnered 50.66 percent of the votes against 47.24 percent for the 73-year-old Ping, while partially changing the results of the close vote by putting the margin at 11,000, almost doubling the 6,000 margin that was initially announced.

“I will not retreat. (As) president clearly elected by the Gabonese people, I remain at your side to defend your vote and your sovereignty,” Ping said.

Gabon’s incumbent President Ali Bongo (Photo by AFP)

Ping’s refusal to concede defeat raises the specter of prolonged unrest in the oil-rich central African country, which has already suffered from bloody clashes between Ping’s supporters and police over the past month. According to the opposition, some 100 people have so far lost their lives in clashes and 1,200 others have been taken into custody as part of a government crackdown.

Bongo has thanked his supporters, underlining challenges Gabon would face in the wake of the election. “The tight margin of this victory means there are many voters who, for one reason or another, did not choose us. We must decipher their message, hear and understand it,” Bongo stated.

He also said in an interview with Reuters on Saturday that he “most likely” included leading opposition figures in his new government, adding that “everything is possible.” Following the post-election chaos, the European Union and certain countries including the US and France, urged calm and called on authorities in the former French colony to show more transparency about the election results.

Bongo, who came to power in 2009, will now remain at the helm for a second seven-year term, succeeding his father, Omar Bongo, who had come to power in 1967 and passed away in 2009.

Presstv

24, September 2016

Riyadh plans to invest in Cameroon’s agricultural sector ⁰

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in investing in Cameroon’s agricultural sector. The desire was made public in Yaounde by a high powered delegation from Riyadh. The Saudi delegation of parliamentarians headed by a former Minister of Agriculture held productive discussions with the Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey.

Waleed A. Elkhereiji indicated that Cameroon has potentials in the domain of agriculture hence his country was ready to strike partnership deals. The Finance Minister and the Saudi MPs also examined the negative economic consequences following the sharp drop in fuel prices. Both parties had intensive exchanges on the execution of Cameroon’s budget.

The nine-man Saudi Arabian delegation left Cameroon on the 23^rd of September 2016. During their three-day visit, they met with some senior Cameroon government officials including the Prime Minister and Head of Government, Philemon Yang, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the National Assembly.

CRTV

24, September 2016

German Interior Minister condemns violent attacks on asylum seekers ⁰

The German interior minister has denounced as a national “disgrace” a surge in the number of violent attacks targeting asylum seekers, which are carried out by far-right extremist amid growing anti-refugee sentiment in the European country.

Thomas de Maiziere made the remarks in an address to an event called ‘To think home anew – more security on the ground,’ in the capital, Berlin, on Friday. “Last year we investigated and counted criminal offences carried out against asylum seekers and asylum seekers’ institutions, with shocking results, which you all know. Increase of arson, increase of attempted murder, increase of bodily harm, and so on, from the right-wing extremist sector. This too is a disgrace for our country,” he said.

The minister further stressed that the level of crimes committed by asylum seekers was not out of the ordinary. He also put forward changes to the residence permission law in Germany, noting that the reforms would see many more applicants “voluntarily” leave the western European state.

Over 700 cases of attacks against refugee accommodation centers have been registered so far this year, ranging from swastikas, spray-painted outside the door, to arson and other forms of property damage, according to the latest police figures.

In 2015, there were a total of 1,047 attacks on planned and completed refugee shelters across Germany. The eastern German town of Bautzen has become a flashpoint for anti-refugee sentiment. A refugee home in Bautzen was set on fire in February while onlookers applauded and chanted right-wing slogans.

The photo taken on February 21, 2016, shows firefighters trying to extinguish a fire at a former hotel that was under reconstruction to become a home for asylum seekers in Bautzen, eastern Germany. (Photo by AFP)

Germany, one of the most popular destinations for refugees, opened its borders to the refugees last summer with a welcoming mood, but it gradually shifted away from the policy. The country registered about 1.1 million of them refugees in 2015.

Germany has not experienced the deadly attacks that France and Belgium have, but it has witnessed a string of sexual assaults and robberies on New Year’s Eve in Cologne. Prosecutors say the assaults were committed largely by foreigners.

The country has recently seen the rise of far-right groups opposing the entry of refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria. Many blame major European powers for the unprecedented exodus, saying their policies have led to a surge in terrorism and war in the violence-hit regions, forcing more people out of their homes.

Presstv

24, September 2016

Morocco has made an official request to join the African Union ⁰

Morocco has made an official request to join the African Union (AU) again more than four decades after leaving the pan-African bloc in protest at Western Sahara’s membership.

In a statement released on Friday, the AU said that it had received Rabat’s bid to rejoin the 54-member body. “The Kingdom of Morocco has officially submitted a request to accede to the African Union Constitutive Act, and therefore, become a Member of the Union,” the statement read.

Morocco’s membership request must be approved by a vote of the AU Commission in order to be accepted. Meanwhile, AU Commission Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said member states will be informed and the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI will be notified of the outcome.

This file photo released by China’s Xinhua news agency shows an African Union summit at the headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Via AP)

Morocco withdrew from the AU in 1984, when the mineral-rich and sparsely populated Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) – commonly known as Western Sahara – was accepted as a member. Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975. Morocco maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom, but the international community has not recognized the annexation.

Western Sahara is home to the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement aiming to end Moroccan presence in the territory. In 1991, Moroccan forces and Sahrawi rebels agreed on a UN-brokered truce and a referendum to settle the status of Western Sahara. However, the vote has never taken place.

Rabat first announced its decision to return to the AU in July, with the king saying that his country wanted to “take up its natural place within its institutional family.” However, he stressed that rejoining of the body did not mean an change in Morocco’s stance on Western Sahara.

Presstv

23, September 2016

Egypt refugee boat tragedy: 160 bodies pulled out from the Mediterranean sea ⁰

Egyptian rescue workers have pulled out from the Mediterranean Sea the bodies of more than a hundred refugees whose boat recently capsized near the coast of Egypt.

A senior Egyptian official said on Friday that a total of 162 bodies had been pulled out from Egyptian waters. The vessel capsized on Wednesday.

Rescue and recovery operations were still underway, while the military said it had rescued 163 survivors, who are said to be mostly Egyptians, but also include a Syrian, as well as Sudanese, Eritreans, and an Ethiopian asylum seeker.

The survivors said about 450 refugees had been on board the overcrowded fishing boat that was heading toward Italy when it sank about 12 kilometers off the coast. In this regard, authorities have arrested four suspected human traffickers.

Egyptian policemen and medics stand over a body of a refugee along the shore in the Egyptian port city of Rosetta on September 21, 2016, during a search operation after a boat carrying asylum seekers capsized in the Mediterranean. (Photo by AFP)

Since 2014, according to the United Nations, more than 10,000 asylum seekers have lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe in substandard vessels overloaded with desperate refugees.

The current year has been described by the United Nations as “the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea.”The perilous sea route across the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Italy, which often takes more than 10 days, is just one of several routes used by asylum seekers.

A young Egyptian lies in bed in a hospital in the port city of Rosetta, northern Egypt, on September 21, 2016, after a boat transporting asylum seekers capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt. (Photo by AFP)

After Balkan countries closed the popular overland route in March and the European Union reached a deal with Turkey to halt departures, asylum seekers from conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa have turned to new paths to reach Europe.

Frontex, an EU agency for the management of operational cooperation at the external borders, said in June that crossing from Egypt to Italy was becoming increasingly popular.

Presstv

23, September 2016

Maroua host interreligious service in honour of soldiers killed in the war on terror ⁰

Some military families and a cross section of the population of the Far North region have paid homage to soldiers of the Rapid Intervention Battalion who died defending the nation in the war against Boko Haram. The families came together during an interreligious service that took place at the command post of “Operation Alpha Unit” in Maroua.

President Paul Biya reportedly extended his condolences to the bereaved families through the Governor of the Far North region, Midjiyawa Bakari. Biya also appealed to the civilian population, the members of the Vigilante committee, traditional and religious rulers to continue supporting the soldiers in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism.

Brigadier General Jacob Kodji Commander of the 4th Military Legion said the ceremony was organized to boost the morale of everyone especially the soldiers and those intending to join the military corps. Spiritual leaders from the Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic and Islam denominations in their prayers extended words of encouragement and comfort to the bereaved families.

CRTV

23, September 2016

Biya meets US Under-Secretary for African Affairs ⁰

The President of the Republic His Excellency Paul BIYA granted audience to Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States Under-Secretary of State for African Affairs, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on Thursday 22 September 2016. At the end of their discussions, the American Under-Secretary of State told the press that the audience with the Cameroonian Head of State was focused on the fight against the terrorist group Boko Haram, the handling of refugees and economic cooperation between the United States and Cameroon.

Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield lauded the total commitment of Cameroon in the fight against Boko Haram which has yielded serious blows to this terrorist group. She reiterated the support of the United States of America to all the countries fighting terrorism. The American Under-Secretary of State appreciated the harbouring of hundreds of thousands of refugees by Cameroon and all the measures the Government has taken to give them good living conditions. Cameroon currently hosts over 350 000 refugees of different nationalities, but mainly Nigerians and people from the Central African Republic.

Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield affirmed that Cameroon and the USA have very solid bilateral economic relations. She also indicated that the second US-Africa Business Forum which held on the 21 September 2016 in New York, with the participation of Cameroon, was an excellent occasion to examine the ways and means to increase commercial links between Cameroon and the United States.

The Diplomat and the Head of State also discussed the participation of Cameroon at the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly. It should be recalled that Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield was granted audience by the President of the Republic at the Unity Palace in Yaounde on 6 September 2014. President Paul BIYA had an audience with the Secretary-General of the United Nations BAN KI-MOON yesterday evening. The face-to-face meeting held on the side-lines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The warm and friendly audience took place at Mr BAN KI-MOON’s office in New York. Both personalities have recorded a cordial relationship. Mr BAN KI-MOON is a great friend to Cameroon. He established this friendship during his official visit to Cameroon on 9 to 10 June 2010. The UN Secretary General was accompanied by his wife, Mrs BAN SOON-TAEK. It is during this visit that Mr BAN KI-MOON told the press that President Paul Biya is a long-time friend and “a respected leader in the world.” In return, the Cameroonian Head of State affirmed that the relationship between Cameroon and the United Nations is “a long history of trust and friendship.” President Paul Biya and Mr. BAN KI-MOON equally met on 25 September 2010 during the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Both personalities probably made an overview of relations between Cameroon and the United Nations, and activities of the ongoing 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Mr BAN KI-MOON’s second and final term as head of the UN Secretariat ends in January 2017. Elected on 13 October 2006, he took office on 1 January 2007 and was re-elected on 21 June 2011. His mandates were marked by numerous initiatives and reforms to strengthen the organisation. These include: the promotion of sustainable development, women’s empowerment, assistance to countries in crisis or instability, a new impetus to disarmament, arms control, and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

CRTV