Breaking News

27, August 2016

UK: Pedestrian bridge collapsed on M20 in Kent ⁰

A motorcyclist has been taken to hospital with suspected broken ribs after a pedestrian bridge collapsed on the M20 in Kent. It happened between junctions 3 and 4, on the London-bound carriageway northwest of Maidstone. The M20 is the main route to the Port of Dover and the Channel Tunnel. The stretch of road where the accident happened was initially expected to be closed until around midday on Sunday but this was later changed to closure of an “extended duration”.

Video footage shows the top of a lorry’s trailer sheared off, and debris littering the carriageway. Aerial pictures filmed by Sky News show one half of the bridge has completely collapsed. The exact cause has not been confirmed, but Highways England said it had fallen after being struck by a vehicle. Some witnesses suggested the bridge had crumbled to the ground after being hit by a large vehicle being carried on the back of a lorry.

Kalpana Fitzpatrick, who had been driving on the motorway, told Sky News: “What we can see is two trucks squashed by this bridge and emergency services are at the scene. “There are quite a lot of people just walking around the motorway not knowing what is going on. “The side I’m on, the bridge is still hanging, and obviously the traffic has been stopped. It’s quite shocking.”

Another witness, Andy Sunnucks, 24, said: “It looked like a lorry had jackknifed, and I could see half the bridge was missing. “The back end of the lorry was in pieces. “The motorcyclist was laying down underneath his bike.” The injured motorcyclist, who is in their 50s, was taken to hospital in Tunbridge Wells, South East Coast Ambulance Service said.

Kent Police said in a statement: “It is believed a lorry collided with a pedestrian bridge which has collapsed onto the carriageway below. “No people are believed to be trapped in the debris, however one person is believed to have suffered injuries, not reported to be life-threatening at this time.

“Police are treating this as a major incident and the M20 has been closed in both directions to allow this incident to be dealt with. Traffic will be heavier than usual.” Local media reported queues of about 4.5 miles on the London-bound M20, with the A20 also badly-affected as drivers tried to find other routes.

At the scene, Sky News reporter Richard Suchet said: “The traffic chaos, the knock-on effect for traffic, is huge. “It is choc-a-block on all the artery roads around here. “But, considering how busy the roads are this weekend, it’s a miracle that no more than one person was injured.”

SkyNews

27, August 2016

Italy: Funeral mass held for victims of the recent earthquake ⁰

Italians held a mass funeral Saturday for the victims of the recent earthquake in the central part of the country whose death toll has reached 290. The country observed a national day of mourning Saturday. Italy’s civil protection agency said in a statement that the tally rose to 230 confirmed deaths in Amatrice, the worst hit town, in Rieti province as more bodies were recovered. Elsewhere, in Accumoli, located in the same province, 11 people were announced dead, and in Arquato del Tronto, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, 49 others lost their lives.

In the early hours of August 24, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale hit Italy, and almost flattened scores of towns and villages in the central parts. The quake was followed by a series of aftershocks, the strongest of which measured 4.2, rattling the already hit areas. Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi joined hundreds of mourners at a state funeral for some 40 victims of the quake at a community gymnasium in the town of Ascoli Piceno, the capital of March region.

“Don’t be afraid to cry out your suffering but do not lose courage. Together we will rebuild our houses and church. Together, above all we will restore life to our communities, starting from our traditions and from the rubble of death. Together,” said Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole in the community gym, urging the mourners to find courage to rebuild their homes and communities.

The 2,000-population town of Amatrice is now in ruins with only a few buildings left standing. In 2009, Aquila in central Italy was jolted by a 6.3-magnitude quake. Over 300 people died in the natural disaster. Two other tremors also jolted the northern region of Emilia Romagna in May 2012, leaving nearly two dozen people dead and some 14,000 others homeless.

Presstv

27, August 2016

Yaounde: Secondary and Basic Education officials discussing the new academic year ⁰

Officials of the Central and Decentralized services of the Ministry of Secondary and Basic Education are meeting in Yaounde to map the way forward for the new school year. The highly placed civil servants taking part in the conclave which opened on the 26^th of August 2016 included Pedagogic Inspectors, Regional Delegates and heads of examination boards.

They will inter alia, examine problems of discipline, the management of funds and review the last end of course examinations. The meeting holding at the Government Technical High School in Nkolbisson, Yaounde is under the direct supervision of the Secondary Education Minister, Jean Ernest Bibehe Massena.

CRTV

27, August 2016

Cameroon arrest Gendarmerie Captain leading a criminal gang in the Far North region ⁰

Captain Hamadjam Hamadjam, commander of the gendarmerie company post in the Mayo-Tsanaga division was relieved of his duties and arrested late on Wednesday the 25^th of August in an operation staged by the military high command of the Far North legion.

Captain Hamadjam is currently being held at the Maroua Central Prison. A journalist with a sister publication Cameroon Intelligence Report observed that the military officer is suspected to be the leader of a criminal gang to which is attributed several armed robberies including assassinations in the Far North region.

Cameroon Concord News understands six other security officers arrested by elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion are right now on trial. They are all believed to be part of the Captain Hamadjam gang.

By Rita Akana

26, August 2016

Bolivia: Interior Minister beaten to death ⁰

Bolivian Interior Minister Rodolfo Illanes has been beaten to death by striking mine workers after being kidnapped, the government says. Interior Minister Carlos Romero told a press conference that his 56-year-old deputy was abducted after he went to talk to the protesting miners in Panduro, around 160 km from the administrative capital, La Paz.

Senior government officials, including the interior and defense ministers, have labeled the killing as an “unprecedented criminal act” and a brutal murder. “All signs indicate that our deputy minister, Rodolfo Illanes, has been cowardly and brutally murdered,” Romero said Romero also called on Bolivia’s justice system to “clear up the murder and establish responsibility.”

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Reymi Ferreira said on private television station Red Uno that President Evo Morales was “deeply shaken” upon receiving the news. The deputy minister “was harassed, tortured… he was beaten to death according to the information we have,” Ferreira said before breaking down in tears.

He said that authorities were attempting to recover the body. The ringleaders who killed Illanes had been identified, Ferreira said, adding that the act “cannot go unpunished, and must be taken to court.” Moises Flores, director of a mining radio station, earlier confirmed the death of Illanes, who has served as deputy interior minister since March. “We saw the lifeless body of Deputy Minister Illanes.”

Presstv

26, August 2016

Hillary Clinton has maintained a strong lead over Trump ⁰

US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has maintained a double-digit lead over her Republican rival, Donald Trump, in the run-up to the November election in a new national poll.The Quinnipiac University poll, released on Thursday, shows the former secretary of state has 51 percent of the votes as compared to the New York billionaire having only a 41percent support. Clinton has led Trump throughout most of the 2016 presidential campaign. But her lead in recent polls represents a stronger level of support than polls showed in recent editions of the poll.

In the previous polls, the former First Lady’s lead over the real estate tycoon ranged between 3 and 9. One poll — McClatchy/Marist survey – conducted early August, however, found Clinton 15 points ahead of Trump. Clinton’s lead over Trump slimmed in the Quinnipiac University poll in a four-way match-up that included Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. She received 45 percent to his 38 percent. In that scenario, Johnson earned 10 percent, while Stein bagged 4 percent.

The poll shows the billionaire with 29 percent support among millennials between the ages of 18 and 34, and 15 percent support among nonwhite voters. Trump leads Clinton among white male voters, 59 percent to 32 percent, and voters who are 50 years of age and older.

Meanwhile, the former First Lady leads by 24 percentage points among female voters, 60 percent to 36 percent, and those younger than 50 years of age. A majority of Americans hold a “strongly unfavorable” view of Trump, with 53 percent, while 46 percent saying the same about Clinton, showed the survey, which was conducted from August 18 to 24 among a national sample 1,498 likely voters. The poll has a 2.5 percentage point margin of error.

Presstv

25, August 2016

Cameroon in Sydney 2000: CPDM in Rio 2016 ⁰

Following the poor performance of Team Cameroon in the Rio Olympic Games 2016, Jeune Afrique International magazine recently invoked the memories of the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000 which saw Cameroon winning an Olympic Gold Medal in football. While Cameroon went unnoticed in Rio, Jeune Afrique successfully traced the 16 Cameroon football legends of Sydney 2000 revealing their activities after departing from the beautiful game.

The attackers

Samuel Eto’o: He still plays football in Turkey Antalyasport, after going through Majorca, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Anzhi, Chelsea, Everton and Genoa … Eto’o owns many football schools and heads a foundation that cares for disadvantaged, including refugees in northern Cameroon, in partnership with UNHCR and Oxfam.

Patrick Mboma: Retired since 2005, after scoring 33 goals in 56 caps for the Lions, is a consultant for Canal + Africa. He also football FIFA agent and at some point was involved in the activities of the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT. He also launched a business venture via the Hope Finance Company. The adventure nevertheless ended in court, and the company was declared bankrupt.

Patrick Suffo: He played his football in France, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Norway, Israel and England, where he finished his career. After working as a sports agent (he notably negotiated the loan of his compatriot Jean Makoun to Olympiakos in Greece in 2011), he turned into a businessman and today is an economic operator Cameroon in the oil sector. He had previously worked as a public relations officer for an oil company in Norway.

Albert Meyong: He is still active and currently plays in southern Portugal for club Vitória Setúbal. He also had a two-year transition in Angola, Kabuscorp. He played for the Indomitable Lions until 2009.

Midfielders

Lauren Mayer Etamé: After five seasons in Spain, in 2000 he moved to the Premiership and joined Arsenal, where he remained until December 2006. He had a spell with Portsmouth until June 2009. Lauren signed for Córdoba CF 2010 a Spanish second division for half a season before retiring. He then worked with ITV4, British television for Sky Sports and for Spain as a consultant. He lives in Seville, Spain with his family.

Geremi Njitap: His brilliant career took him to Turkey, Spain and England. After Real Madrid, Chelsea and Newcastle United, he played in Turkey and then again in Greece until 2011. He has now become a businessman in Cameroon, particularly in the property sector.

Nicolas Alnoudji: He played in Turkey, France, Belgium, Portugal and Malta. He returned to play in Cameroon in 2014 and is still in football business with Bamboutos club of Mbouda.

Serge Mimpo: He was in Greece in 2000 with the club Ethnikos Asteras where he had three great seasons. He then moved to France and played for Paris FC from 2003 to 2009, then to National CFA, FCM Aubervilliers (2011-2012) and then to USA Clichy. He now coaches the reserve team.

Modeste M’Bami: A former player with Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Marseille, he travelled to Spain, China, Saudi Arabia and Colombia before joining the French club Le Havre. He is still evolving in Ligue 2 as a midfielder. He played in the national team until 2009.

Clement Beaud: He played in Poland, Lithuania, China and Portugal. He was part of the workforce Club Semache in the Portuguese fourth division until 2013. He still lives in Portugal.

Daniel Ngom Kome: His career came to an abrupt end because of a right knee osteoarthritis, which earned him three operations of the meniscus. Father of two children (seven and eight years old), he lives in Douala and is now the representative of the Spanish Mahou beer and co-manager of Future EM Sarl (official sponsor of the Cameroon Football Federation).

The defenders

Pierre Wome: He played in Italy with Inter Milan and Bologna and moved to England, then Spain and finally to Germany, after a brief return to Italy. In 2010, he engaged with a Gabonese club before returning to Cameroon, playing in Garoua and Yaoundé. In 2014, Pierre Wome he was in France, where he joined FC Chambly, Country Club and in 2015 with the US Roye-Noyon, where he is still evolving. He was involved Hope Finance Company scandal and had a legal battle with one time teammate Patrick Mboma.

Patrice Abanda: He was in Greece and the Czech Republic (Sparta Prague, Teplice). During a medical visit to Dynamo Kiev, a liver problem (hepatitis) was diagnosed and that put an end to his career in December 2005. He returned to Cameroon and now works for the National Social Insurance Fund.

Aaron Nguimbat: He left Canon Yaoundé, for Latvia- Skonto Riga. He was three times champion of Latvia and participated in the 2005-2006 Champions League before returning to Cameroon to Unisport Bafang. From 2007 to 2009, he was in Indonesia and signed with Sriwijaya FC and finally returned home where he lives and runs a small business.

Serge Branco: After spells in Germany, England and Russia, where it has had problems of racism, he engaged with Duisburg, Germany, and QPR, England. He then headed to Oman where he won the championship and the cup in 2014. He works and lives in Frankfurt, Germany.

Joël Epalle: After Sydney, he palyed in Greece and Germany. He remains the greatest player ever signed by FC Bochum in Germany. Former Cameroon international is now a coach. He took the reins of Val in Europe early in the 2015 season. The club plays in regional division.

The goalkeepers

Carlos Kameni: He is the only player still active in the Cameroon national team. He is still under contract with the Malaga in Spain and had the luxury of stopping a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo in February.

Daniel Bekono: He evolved with Canon Yaoundé until 2002, then in Baham. He flew to Bulgaria, where he played until 2010, including FK CSKA Sofia, with whom he was champion in 2010. Daniel Bekono was dismissed for disciplinary problems in 2010 after missing several training sessions. He still lives in Bulgaria.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

25, August 2016

Biya spends billions of FCFA hiring VIP aircrafts ¹

President Paul Biya for several years has traveled on hired planes paid by the Cameroonian tax payer. He left Yaounde on Wednesday for a “short stay” in Europe using a lease transaction VIP aircraft that reportedly cost a fortune.

The state of Cameroon has paid a whopping sum for the hiring of air crafts for President Biya and his family. The exorbitant cost charged reflects the VIP airplanes required by the Cameroonian chief executive.

Biya who is fond of Airbus, especially the Boeing 777-200, 767-200 and 757-200, which are among the largest commercial aircraft in the world, with special facilities including a main bedroom, suite bathroom, a presidential office, a dining / meeting room, seats in business class (50 to 60 seats), a communications center, a rest area for the crew as well as ice cream, spends billions of FCFA every year for his unproductive numerous journeys to Europe.

If we add the cost of regularly leasing of an Airbus aircraft to the subsistence cost of the presidential delegation at the Continental Hotel in Swiss- presented as the customary destination for Mr. Biya during his private visits to Europe, the expenditure for each presidential trip does not only call for anger but also hatred for the presidential couple.

By Sama Ernest with files from Cameroon-info.net

25, August 2016

UNICEF says 49,000 Nigerian children may die to malnutrition ⁰

The UN children’s fund (UNICEF) says some 49,000 Nigerian children could die of malnutrition in the country’s troubled northeast this year if they are not provided with humanitarian aid.

According to a report published by UNICEF on Thursday, some 475,000 children around the Lake of Chad face “sever acute malnutrition” due to drought and the seven-year militancy by the Daesh-affiliated Boko Haram terror group in northeastern Nigeria.

The shallow Lake Chad, which is located on the southern edge of Sahara, borders Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.

The report added that out of the nearly half a million children at risk, the Nigerian children, who live in the embattled Borno State, Boko Haram’s heartland, would lose their lives by the end of the year if they do not receive treatment and food.

It also appealed for $308 million to tackle the crisis, adding that, to date, it only received some $41 million, 13 percent of what it needed to help those affected in the four countries.

A handout photo released by UNICEF shows Nigerian refugees receiving food aid at the Minawao refugee camp in Northern Cameroon, on April 5, 2016. ©AFP

In the terror-torn Borno “towns and villages are in ruins and communities have no access to basic services,” UNICEF further said in the report, adding that nearly two thirds of hospitals and medical centers had been partially or totally destroyed. Three-quarters of water and facilities responsible for maintaining sanitation also needed rehabilitation, it added.

According to the report, some 2.2 million people are still trapped in the areas under the control of Boko Haram, despite counter-terror assaults against it. An estimated 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million others made homeless since the beginning of the Boko Haram bloody militancy in Nigeria in 2009.

The terror group has pledged allegiance to Daesh Takfiri terrorists, who are mainly wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq. Boko Haram has spread its attacks from northeastern Nigeria, its traditional stronghold, to the neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Regional countries have created a joint military force in helping Nigeria fight the terrorist group.

Presstv

25, August 2016

Italy: Death toll from powerful earthquake reached 247 ⁰

The death toll from a powerful earthquake that devastated parts of central Italy has reached 247 as rescue and search operations are underway to find possible survivors. On Thursday, Italy’s civil protection agency said a tally by local officials showed that 190 people were killed Rieti Province and 57 in the province of Ascoli Piceno.

According to local media, Italian emergency crews are vigorously searching search through the debris of collapsed houses in the affected areas to find more than 100 people missing a day after the quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale flattened scores of towns and villages in the central parts.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said many people were still trapped under the rubble, and vowed that “no family, no city, no hamlet will be left behind.” Officials in Italy’s civil protection agency also said there have been more than 300 aftershocks following the tremor, which was also felt in Rome, adding that searching for survivors is the top priority. The 2,000-population town of Amatrice, one of the areas hardest hit by the Wednesday quake, is now in ruins with only a few buildings left standing.

Presstv