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Chinese arms ship allowed to dock in Angola: report "Can only unload merchandise destined for Angola"Angola has given authorisation for a Chinese ship loaded with arms destined for Zimbabwe to dock but it will not be allowed to unload the weapons, the state news agency Angop reported on Friday. The ship, the An Yue Jiang, has been authorised to dock in the capital Luanda but can only unload "merchandise destined for Angola," Angop said, citing a government statement. "The weaponry that the ship brings destined for Zimbabwe is not authorised to be unloaded on national territory," the statement was quoted...

The ship was forced to abandon plans to offload the arms in the South African port of Durban last week after activists won a court case which prevented it from transporting the load overland to the Zimbabwe border. There were fears that the arms could be used to crack down on protests following parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe last month, both of which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it won. The shipment was also likely to inflame a debate about China's growing diplomatic and economic role in Africa, which has focussed on the country's links with...

Landmine victims are to take part in a beauty contest in Angola, where tens of thousands have been injured by mines. The pageant has been organised by Angola's de-mining commission, and aims to restore the confidence of victims and raise awareness of their plight. Millions of mines were planted in Angola during a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. The "Miss Landmine Survivor" contest will be held on 2 April in a luxury hotel in the Angolan capital, Luanda. Eighteen women will take part, one from every province in the country. All of the contestants have been maimed by...

WINDHOEK (Reuters) - North Korea's number two leader ended a trip to Namibia, a leading uranium producer, on Sunday saying he would strengthen ties with the country. North Korea, under pressure to declare its nuclear programmes, and Namibia said they signed a memorandum of understanding on diplomatic consultations. Kim Yong-nam, president of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, started an African tour on Thursday in Namibia, the world's fifth-largest uranium miner. In a joint statement issued by Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba's office, the countries "expressed satisfaction" that their ties have grown. North Korea watchers said the search for business...

"Anelta" On Strengthened English Language Teaching Quality

Out of the ashes of war will rise a beauty queen. Ten women will show off their beauty and brains — and their landmine injuries — in Angola next April in a competition to win a golden prosthetic limb and the title of Miss Landmine 2008. The project, created by Norwegian theater director Morten Traavik, is designed to raise awareness of the plight of landmine survivors. Contestants will have to demonstrate their skills and take part in an interview, though the details have yet to be finalized. "There is no sensationalistic intentions within Miss Landmine," Traavik said. "Of course the...

Across the continent, liberation movements that fought against colonial rule proved unable to sustain democratic governance. We cannot keep blaming the past... In the inner sanctum of South Africa's ruling African National Congress they have coined a word for it: Z"anufication"... A senior national executive member of the ANC, Blade Nzim ande, warned recently: "We must study closely what is happening in Zimbabwe, because if we don't, we may find features in our situation pointing to a similar development." ...The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has complained to the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the public broadcaster, over its...

Thursday, 29 March 2007 Your Excellency President José Eduardo dos Santos and the Government of Angola. Angola don’t send Mercenaries to Zimbabwe Dear Mr President Regional co-operation and solidarity in Africa reflects the spirit of Pan- Africanism and the need for regional integration as the means towards African continental unity and the recovery of African dignity and status in global affairs. These principles are enshrined in historical, economic, political, social and cultural factors that have created strong bonds of solidarity and unity among the peoples of Africa and are directed initially towards the political liberation of the continent. Thus, African...

PARIS - French prosecutors have requested that 42 people, including the son of late French President Francois Mitterrand, stand trial for suspected roles in illegal arms sales to Angola during the African nation's civil war, judicial officials said Wednesday. A magistrate will decide whether to proceed with a trial. The group targeted by prosecutors includes Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, who served as counselor on African affairs from 1986-92 under his father, and former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, the officials said on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. Preliminary charges of influence trafficking and misappropriating company assets have been filed against...

Geopolitics: Jetting around the world to drum up support, Iran ally Hugo Chavez says he's winning a bid to join the U.N. Security Council. As a showdown with Iran looms, is the world crazy enough to vote him in? If this is Wednesday, it must be Angola on the Chavez world tour. Already the Venezuelan president has visited China, Malaysia and Syria, and last month he blew through seven other countries. As he goes, he splashes out cash and preferential trade deals. He has now spent more than 365 days in his seven-year presidency overseas, but nothing like this. It...

Health experts here say, that Luanda's slums are now the center of one of the worst cholera epidemics to strike Africa in nearly a decade, an outbreak that has sickened 43,000 Angolans and killed more than 1,600 since it began in February. But it is only one reason. Cholera typically spreads through contact with contaminated water or sewage, and in Luanda's slums, both are everywhere. Neighborhoods here are ringed by mountains of garbage, often soaked by rivulets of human waste. Only about half of slum dwellers have even an outdoor latrine. Children stripped to their underwear dance through sewage-clogged creeks...

As Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visits Angola, the BBC's Piers Scholfield examines what links the two nations. One of the worst of the countless conflicts that has blighted Africa in recent times is that of Angola. But a peace deal signed four years ago - and huge oil reserves - are now giving the Angolans hope as the country tries to rebuild its devastated infrastructure. A family living in Cambamba Dois slum Most Angolans haven't seen the benefits of the oil billions Recently China, scouring the globe for raw materials to feed its booming economy, has been drawn to...

Beijing builds goodwill in pursuit of oil, raw materials BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China's Premier Wen Jiabao sets off to woo key African nations this week including his country's second-largest oil supplier, Angola -- but Beijing's growing economic power may mean his welcome is tempered by resentment. Thirsty for oil and raw materials, China has poured billions into African countries blessed with mineral wealth, building on a legacy of goodwill from its support of independence movements in the 1960s and 1970s. Nearly one third of China's crude imports already come from Africa, and Angola was second only to Saudi Arabia...

Friday's World Cup action begins at 8:55 a.m. ET as Argentina meets Serbia & Montenegro. The Netherlands and Ivory Coast follow that match at 11:55 a.m. If the Dutch and Argentines both win, both advance to the Round of 16 from Group C. Mexico and Angola conclude the afternoon at 2:55 p.m. Full ABC/ESPN schedule | Standings | Viewing parties |  

The opening round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup continues on Sunday with three matches, including the first match for CONCACAF side Mexico, which takes on Iran at 12 noon ET, live on ABC. The other two Group D sides, debutants Angola and a dangerous Portugal, will also be in action, closing the day's action with a 3 p.m. ET meeting in Cologne (ESPN2).

MOSCOW (Mineweb.com) -- Russia is building new resource alliances with Africa aiming, first and foremost, at the oil and gas sector, and then at diamond mining. To the extent these are capital-sharing partnerships, in which Russian state-controlled companies introduce more capital than they export, they are different from the Russian oligarch ventures that have been seen in Africa already -- Norilsk Nickel's short-lived attempt to buy into, then take over Gold Fields; Renova's manganese licences in South Africa's Kalahari; or Russian Aluminium's Nigerian government-funded takeover of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON). Another difference between the new state-controlled Afro-Russian...

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Greyhound Bus Lines complained to Louisiana's prisons department to stop referring to a temporary New Orleans jail, that was once its bus station, as Camp Greyhound, a prisons official said on Monday. The Greyhound bus station in New Orleans was converted into a makeshift jail by police trying to restore law and order in a city rife with crime and lawlessness in the days after Hurricane Katrina hit. "Greyhound called us on Friday and asked us not to refer to it as Camp Greyhound anymore," Pam Laborde, communications director of Louisiana's department of corrections told...

- Airline places order for 2 777-200ERs with option for 1 additional airplane - Orders 4 Next Generation 737-700QCs with 2 options SEATTLE, July 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA - News) and TAAG Angola Airlines today said they've reached a definitive agreement for the purchase of two 777-200ER and four 737-700QC (Quick Change) airplanes. The firm airplane order has a catalogue list value of $649.6 Million and is valued at approximately $990 Million with options. The first 777-200ER is scheduled for delivery in July of 2006, when the first new 737-700 will also join the fleet. The...

THE NEXT 9/11 The next “9/11” is apt to be something most people don’t want to hear about,read about,or even think about. I’m talking about biowarfare; and, unless I miss my guess,it is being studied-using human guinea pigs-by the People’s Liberation Army of China. They have succeeded in identifying a strain of “bird flu” , called H5N –RK7,that is extremely lethal to birds and to humans. ( It is just one of 10 strains they have been studying – via “controlled releases” into their own population ; and they are still looking for the “ideal strain”.) The goals seem to...

Children are being trafficked into the UK from Africa and used for human sacrifices, a confidential report for the Metropolitan Police suggests. Children are being beaten and even murdered after being labelled as witches by pastors, the report leaked to BBC Radio 4's Today programme said. Police face a "wall of silence" in investigations because of fear and mistrust among the groups involved. It follows the case of a girl tortured by her guardians for being a witch. Three people, including the girl's aunt, were convicted of trying to "beat the devil out of" the un-named 10-year-old - originally from...