http://www.AfricaUpdates.com AfricaUpdates EN-US www.AfricaUpdates.com AfricaUpdates http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2010-08-28 00:40 Test for discussionTest for discussionTest for discussionTest for discussionTest for discussion kunlunsf http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2010-08-06 02:17 Kenya just had their referendum on constitutional amendment. There are many African countries that still have archaic constitutions. Do you think these countries need to change their constitutions? AfricaTeam http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2010-07-28 12:05 Hello, I work for the Federal Trade Commission in the United States and wanted to share important consumer information that may interest you. While pre-paid calling cards are a popular way to stay in touch with family and friends far away, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that some calling cards may have hidden costs that can take a big bite out of the calling time you’ve bought. That’s why the FTC is releasing When Minutes Matter: Choosing a Pre-paid Phone Card. Here's the URL: http://ftc.gov/opa/2010/07/phonecards.shtm. This consumer alert – also available in Spanish – outlines questions to ask when you’re buying pre-paid phone cards, and what to do if your card doesn’t work as advertised. We hope you’ll share this information with your print and/or online readers. You may also use the information on your personal website, Twitter feed, etc. This and other FTC consumer education resources -- available at www.ftc.gov/consumer -- are free and copyright-free. Thanks for providing your readers with this information. Please contact me with any questions. Regards, Lisa Llake http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2010-07-16 21:47 Most Africa’s soccer teams have disappointed at the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup apart from Ghana, which on Friday faced Uruguay, lost on penalty kicks. If the Black Stars had gone through to the semi-finals it would have been the furthest any African team had ever gone in World Cup history. AfricaTeam http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2010-03-31 07:59 VISIT WEBSITE: www.anitaonlinestoreltd.org For Sale Brand New Original Apple Iphone 3GS 32GB Unlocked....$350 CONDITION: - Brand New in Box INCLUDES: - iPhone 32GB Brand New In Box - Stereo Headset with Mic - USB Power Adaptor - Dock Connector for USB - Cleaning Cloth - Apple 1 year Warranty Tel: +447024096690 +447024081762 Email: anitaonlinestoreltd@gmail.com anitaonlinestoreltd@yahoo.co.uk WEBSITE: www.anitaonlinestoreltd.org anitaonlinestoreltd http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2010-03-17 03:39 Libya's president Muamar Gadaffi thinks it's Better to split Nigeria into two countries, in order to stop the frequent Muslim Christian Violence like what happened recently in Jos Nigeria. AfricaTeam http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2010-02-15 10:14 Should Africans holiday in Africa? Zimbabwe is hosting the African Tourism investor awards this week. Should the continent's tourism sectors do more to attract visitors from the rest of Africa? Kenya, South Africa and the Gambia earn a lot of foreign exchange from Western tourists meanwhile many Africans save their money to travel to Europe or the US. Would African's money be better spent holidaying in Africa instead of the West? Would you holiday in another African country? If not, why not? And if so, where would you go, and why? Do you have a personal experience of holidaying elsewhere in Africa? If you would like to join Africa Have Your Say to debate this topic LIVE on air on Tuesday 16 February at 1600 GMT, please include a telephone number. It will not be published. You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/africahys or follow us on Twitter @bbcafricahys. You can also send an SMS text message to +44 77 86 20 20 08. Source: BBC Africa AfricaTeam http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2010-01-09 12:26 After the shock shooting up of the Togo team bus in Angola, people are beginning to wonder what this means for the World Cup to be held in South Africa later this year. Togo Team, after attack Yesterday evening in Cabinda, Angola, a team bus carrying the Togolese national squad was fired upon when entering at the border between Congo and Angola. The incident left the bus driver, assistant coach and media officer dead while two Sparrow Hawk players were injured in the shooting and their condition has not yet been ascertained. The act of terrorism has sparked fears worldwide and for their own safety and because of what happened, the team have reportedly decided to pull out of the tournament and return home. Inevitably the world’s gaze will now turn to South Africa as the host of the World Cup in June this year, but the world needs to realize that Africa is not a country, but a continent, and there are thousands of kilometers between Angola and the country which is preparing to host football’s greatest tournament in the summer. The situation in the two countries are quite different, and while both have had their problems in the past, South Africa cannot be compared to Angola in terms of safety and security. First of all it is important to understand the history affecting Angola and why the conflict still rages on in the country. What happened in Angola was terrible, but to be fair it should have been avoided by those involved in the organization of the competition. The rebels in Cabinda operate in that region to begin with, and CAF should have considered the dangers of hosting games in a city which is still not a peaceful zone. The situation is different in South Africa however, as they do not have rebels or militia waiting to make a statement at their borders. South Africa is a peaceful country, which is often the leader in bringing peace to other regions of Africa, acting as mediators in times of aggression. If one looks back to last year and just before a successfully hosted FIFA Confederations Cup, the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan forced organizers of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to look for a last minute replacement country to host the tournament. With less than a month before the start of the tournament, the IPL was moved to South Africa as a result of security concerns as safety could not be guaranteed in the region. South Africa hosted a fine championship with no issues of safety, and there is no evidence to suggest that the World Cup will be any different. There is of course the threat that other terrorist groups looking for the attention of the world could see South Africa as a perfect place to target, but the country has known this for quite some time now and measures have been put into place and organizations set up to combat the threat of terrorism, should it occur. The staging of the World Cup brings with it a certain focus and media rich environment that could create a potential target for terrorists aiming to capture the attention of the world with an act of cowardly violence. The man whose job it is to neutralize these types of threats is director David Garnett - 2010 Senior Operations Coordinator - and he is mustering all his forces to combat terrorists. A grand plan is coming together to secure the routes, accommodation and tourist attractions. South Africa will be super safe by June. Backing up the average cops on the street is the police task force, who have spent months in training ahead of 2010. At a press conference Garnet said, “Special forces are going to be utilized according to their roles and responsibilities. Those details I'm not going to make public for obvious reasons because they remain the sharp edge of our policing." He is also planning to supplement South African forces with foreign police. "We are in the process of inviting the police agencies from the countries who are attending the event to provide us with 16 to 20 police officers who will then be deployed in South Africa,” he said. “They will then accompany their team and will be deployed in tourist areas where the team and their spectators are going to be at the specific matches.” Garnet continued, "The police are about 175 000-strong at present and we are calling up some 41 000, so there are many police officers left who will be conducting their normal crime prevention, law enforcement and investigation duties. We do not leave the rest of South Africa without any policing - that would be ludicrous." In terms of the recent wave of terrorism, the air force is prepared to deal with any airborne threats that may present themselves. Brigadier General Les Lombard, in charge of Planning & Execution of Airspace Security said, "Well, from the ground we can have an aircraft in the air within a minute. We believe it is a fairly low risk threat at this stage, but all risks we are catering for and exercising against any type of threat." After 18 months of World Cup specific training regarding any threats during the competition, the police, emergency services and the air force gave the media a glimpse of their training before the Confederations Cup. In a mock exercise, hijackers stormed in and captured members of the media. Three state of the art Hawk fighter jets were immediately commandeered to force the rogue plane down and, for the sake of the exercise, it landed. The hijackers were apprehended and hostages freed by a tactical task force. Meanwhile, a robot diffused a bomb on the tarmac. It was an example of what could happen in an emergency, and the training involved with the various situations portrayed in the exercise was impressive. Lombard explained, "The worst case scenario would be that there would be intervention on the aircraft which could lead to the aircraft being shot down, but for that we would need presidential approval." The fact that such situations have been taken into consideration is another reason why the World Cup is bound to be a success in South Africa. So much planning has gone into every detail of the competition. For the duration of the World Cup all aircraft flying within 50 nautical miles of a stadium will be deemed to be in military airspace. Working closely with civil aviation, even the air crews will need to be pre-approved. Garnet added, "Obviously terrorism remains one of our main focus areas from a safety and security perspective. But I can tell you that we put in contingency plans to deal with any event in South Africa. We have dealt with major events in the past. We've had over 140 major events in the country since 1994 so I am confident from an international perspective that South Africa is quite safe." Until now, South Africa has been spared in terrorism attacks against Western interests worldwide, but the World Cup provides a target for such terrorists, and the security personnel involved in 2010 safety will be keeping that in mind ahead of the tournament. In any case, the spotlight on Angola and the Cabinda rebels should not cast a shadow on South Africa, because the country is preparing for the worst and expecting the best. Peter Pedroncelli, Goal.com AfricaTeam http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2009-12-10 08:01 The draw for the world cup has been made and it's looking good for England. They've been drawn in what's considered an easy group so hopefully it will be an easy route through to the knockout stages. England may have an easy group, but the 5 time world cup winners Brazil don't have such an easy ride. Brazil are drawn in group G with Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea. Ivory Coast, they have only qualified for the World Cup once before in 2006 so though they are relative new boys to the competition they aren't to be underestimated. The team has a number of Premier Leagues stars, including Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, Salomon Kalou and the brilliant Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. They are known as being a tough team to beat and Brazil won't be underestimating them. Portugal who only qualified through the plays offs so were un-seeded. However they are still considered one of the strongest teams in Europe and have a host of top class players including Cristiano Ronaldo, the 2008 World Player of the year and the most expensive player ever bought when Real Madrid paid £80million for him in the summer of 2009. The Portugal team still include players from the 2006 team which made it to the World Cup semi finals, with Brazilian Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. North Korea will be considered the easiest team to beat as they have less stars than the others, with pretty much their whole team plying their trade in Korea. It's only the second time North Korea have qualified for the world cup with the first time being the world cup in England in 1966. They did cause an upset in the tournament by beating Italy 1-0. Though Brazil have been given a tough draw it's still a group they should easily qualify, being the number 1 seeded country in the world. This Brazil team may not have the flair that you expect from a Brazilian team but they still enough world class stars to rival any team. The player Brazil really will be relying on to produce the class is former world player of the year, Kaka. From his midfield position Kaka can boss the whole game and produces moments of genius every time he plays. He's not the only star of the team though, adding some flair to the team is Robinho of Manchester City, Dani Alves, the attacking full back from Barcelona and Ronaldinho who on the top of his game is unbeatable. The difference with this Brazilian team is as well as the flamboyant players they have a core of solid reliable players and this has made the 2009 team the strongest Brazilian team defensively for some time. There's no doubt it's going to be a great world cup and there will be many betting on Brazil to win the cup. So get your football shirts and world cup Vuvuzelas and get supporting your team. Do you think you know who will win the world cup? Visit www.leekweed.com and catch the fun of online football prediction. Ciao babypalm http://www.AfricaUpdates.com/ 2009-12-09 07:31 Group A came to a thrilling conclusion as Bayern Munich answered their critics with a thrilling 4-1 victory at Juventus, handing them a place in the knockout stages at the expense of the Italian club, who needed only a draw to take second place behind Bordeaux. David Trezeguet made a bit of history for Juventus when his expert finish after 19 minutes gave the Italian side the lead. It was Trezeguet's 168th goal for the Bianconeri, making him the club's highest ever foreign goalscorer, surpassing Omar Sivori. Bayern responded in unusual circumstances when goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt scored from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark and Louis van Gaal's side took the lead in the second half when Ivica Olic pounced after Gianluigi Buffon turned Daniel van Buyten's header into his path. Goals from Mario Gomez and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk sealed a famous win which means Juventus go into the Europa League. what is your reaction? babypalm