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In May this year, researchers from around the world gathered in Yaounde the capital of the west African country of Cameroon, for the International Conference on Rescue Archaeology. At the conference, archaeologists introduced new findings from the book: "Kome-Kribi: Rescue Archaeology Along the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline; 1999-2004". Archaeologists say the results have marked a major breakthrough that will begin a rewrite of the history of Cameroon and the rest of Central Africa. The fieldwork was carried out as construction took place along the line of the underground petroleum pipeline from Chad to the port of Kribi, Cameroon... According to Professor...

Artifacts from hundreds of archeological sites from southern Chad to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Cameroon... research was conducted between 1999 and 2004 as construction was underway on the underground petroleum pipeline... which is more than 1000 kilometers long.... 472 archeological sites along the area in both Cameroon and Chad were found .some dating back to as long ago as 100,000 years. He says, "we found sites where people had lived, where people had stored food, where people had made tools of iron. Before people in this area used iron, they made a whole variety of different...

The gap between America's rich and poor is reportedly at an extreme high, much higher than many developing countries like Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, and even Yemen. According to the Central Investigative Agency's (CIA) World Fact Book, which ranks countries in terms of how 'equally' wealth is distributed, the U.S. is the 42nd most unequal country in the world, the Daily Mail reports. It has been ranked way behind the European Union and the United Kingdom in terms of equality of pay. In fact, the situation is so extreme that it has even been placed behind countries such as Cameroon,...

Recent events in Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt spell a dangerous new trend in the region. There have been major developments in Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt, each of which is of tremendous importance. In Tunisia, a popular uprising fueled by unemployment, economic suffering and long-term discontent has overthrown the dictator, but not necessarily the dictatorship. In 55 years of independence, the country has been governed by two dictators, the current one being Zine al-Abedin Ben Ali, who has been president for 23 years and was a key power in the regime even before that. Is this going to spread? Does it...

Little girls in Cameroon are being betrayed by their own mothers. Using piping hot stones, women “iron” their pubescent daughters’ breasts to destroy any visible sign of budding womanhood. Some of the victims of this torture are as young as nine. The scars are horrific. Women say it is love that drives them to brutalize their daughters this way, that they just want to protect young girls from being raped or becoming pregnant at an early age. Instead, they end up with daughters who are both mutilated and pregnant. Not only are the girls disfigured, but many suffer infection, pain,...

At the African First Ladies Health Summit, which started on Monday in Los Angeles, one woman stood out... Chantal is the second wife of President Paul Biya of Cameroon. She was born to a French father and a Cameroonian beauty pageant winner. She is famous in Cameroon for her hairstyles. Her signature look even has a name: the banane Her luxuriant hair caused a stir when we published a picture of her in our pictures of the day gallery. One blogger wrote "all hail the Fierce Ruling First Lady of Cameroon"Pope Benedict XVI arrives at the presidential palace of Cameroon...

“Never be silent in the face of corruption and abuses of power”. That was the message Pope Benedict brought to the people of Africa last week. So strong a message that the following day the corrupt President Biya of Cameroon was asked not to seek re-election. A reporter on the plane asked the Pope about condoms and Aids in Africa and that makes the headlines.

Pope Benedict flew from Cameroon to Angola on Friday with an unusual traveling companion -- a turtle. Just before he left Cameroon, the pope met a group of Baka Pygmies, hunter-gatherers from the country's rain forests. They came to the grounds of the Vatican embassy in the capital Yaounde and gave him the turtle of about 30 cm (one foot) long. The Vatican said it was not yet clear if the turtle -- which has not yet been named -- would be left in Angola or find a new home in the Vatican gardens.

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (CNS) -- A group of Pygmies showed up to give Pope Benedict XVI an unscheduled send-off from Cameroon, and presented him with a live turtle to take back with him to the Vatican. The 15 Pygmies from the Baka ethnic group came to the pope's residence at the apostolic nunciature in Yaounde March 20 as the pontiff was preparing to leave for Angola. They built a ceremonial hut out of leaves in the garden of the residence, and the pope came out to greet them. The Pygmies, including grandparents, parents and children, sang songs and danced to the...

Yaounde, Cameroon, Mar 19, 2009 / 11:06 am (CNA).- Today, on the Feast of St. Joseph, the Holy Father spoke to a vast crowd at the Amadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon. He encouraged the faithful to make Africa the continent of hope by following the example of St. Joseph, especially in times of trouble. Upon arriving at the stadium, the Pope wove his way through the crowd in the popemobile, before entering the sacristy and beginning the celebration of a Mass marking the publication of the "Instrumentum laboris" (working document), of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of...

Piracy is common off Nigeria and often linked to militants Pirates have seized a ship owned by a French company off the Nigerian coast, taking nine crew members hostage. The company - Bourbon - said the captain had assured them that all crew members were unharmed. Bourbon - which provides specialist boats for the oil and gas industry - said it was working to free the crew. The hostages are from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Indonesia. Piracy is common in Nigerian waters, often linked to militants targeting oil companies. Militants attack vessels and strip them of valuables, taking hostages for...

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

BAGHDAD, Sept. 15, 2008 – Many soldiers join the Army as a way of saying thanks, while others feel it is their patriotic duty to serve the country that has offered them a life full of endless opportunities. Army Pfc. Rudolph Foliwe, a native of Cameroon, Africa, who serves as a cook in Multinational Division Baghdad with the 4th Infantry Division’s Company D, 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, serves dinner to a fellow soldier Sept. 4, 2008. Foliwe lived in the United States for a little more than three months before joining the Army as...

CALABAR, Nigeria (AFP) - Nigeria on Thursday handed over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon to end a 15-year dispute over the territory believed to be rich in oil and gas. < > After a drawn-out legal battle, the ICJ ruled in October 2002 that the peninsula should be given to Cameroon. It based its decision largely on a 1913 treaty between former colonial powers Britain and Germany.

Here’s the story of how scientists unlocked the secrets of the worst natural disaster in the history of the West African nation of Cameroon… and what they’re doing to try and stop it from happening again. THE DISCOVERY On the morning of August 22, 1986, a man hopped onto his bicycle and began riding from Wum, a village in Cameroon, towards the village of Nyos. On the way he noticed an antelope lying dead next to the road. Why let it go to waste? The man tied the antelope onto his bicycle and continued on. A short distance later he...

Excerpt - YAOUNDE, May 6 (Reuters) - A Kenya Airways plane reported missing on Saturday with 114 people aboard, was found on Sunday in southern Cameroon, the central African country's state radio said. The radio interrupted its programming to report the find, but made no mention of casualties or the state of the aircraft. The plane was found near the village of Awanda, near the town of Mvengue, southwest of the capital Yaounde, the radio said. ~ snip ~

Report: Kenya Airways 737 airliner crashes Cameroon radio says missing plane carrying 115 went down in south YAOUNDE, Cameroon - A Kenya Airways flight with more than 100 people aboard crashed in southern Cameroon, state radio reported Saturday. The radio report said the flight, which lost contact with airport controllers soon after taking off around midnight from Douala, Cameroon, crashed near the southern town of Niete.

Excerpt - Kenya Airways said Saturday it has lost contact with a 737-800 aircraft that took off from Cameroon. "The last message from the aircraft was received by the control tower in Douala immediately after take-off," Kenya Airways said on its Web site. The flight departed Douala at 12:05 a.m. and was to arrive in Nairobi at 6:15 a.m. ~ snip ~

YAOUNDE - An Islamic cleric has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in the west African state of Cameroon for raping 20 pupils in a Koranic school, court sources said. Judges at the trial in Ngaoundere, a leading Muslim community in the country, also banned the defendant Modibo Mamadou Babba for life from exercising the duties of an imam. The defendant was arrested at the beginning of this year following a collective complaint by the parents of the youngsters, aged between 16 and 21. The affair caused a major scandal locally, where a section of the Muslim community was angry...

WORRIED that her daughters' budding breasts would expose them to the risk of sexual harassment and even rape, Philomene Moungang started "ironing" the girls' bosoms with a heated stone. "I did it to my two girls when they were eight years old. I would take the grinding stone, heat it in the fire and press it hard on the breasts," the mother said. "They cried and said it was painful. But I explained that it was for their own good." Breast "ironing" - the use of hard or heated objects to try to stunt breast growth in girls - is...