The opposition New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) says Guinea Bissau has recognized Kosovo as independent. Party leader and businessman Bedzet Pacolli said this was the 20th recognition that came “thanks to him and his party”.
Posts Tagged ‘Guinea’
CSE Global wins 2 contracts totalling $14.2m in Papua New Guinea and West Africa
January 5th, 2011 |
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CSE Global (CSE) says fully-owned subsidiaries Transtel Engineering and W-Industries have recently won two contracts worth a total of US$11 million ($14.2 million) in Papua New Guinea and West Africa.
The first contract is awarded by a major Japanese-based EPC contractor for the turnkey development of a telecommunication network infrastructure for the Papua New Guinea LNG plant. The second contract is awarded by a US-based oil company for electrical and control systems for an oil field in West Africa.
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Dec. 13, 1809: First Removal of Ovarian Tumor
December 13th, 2010 |
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1809: Dr. Ephraim McDowell, a pioneer in abdominal surgery, examines his patient and makes the decision to attempt the first surgical removal of an ovarian tumor, earning him the sobriquet “Father of Ovariotomy.”
The 45-year-old patient, Jane Todd Crawford, had been misdiagnosed as being pregnant with twins. McDowell, who ran a surgical practice in Danville, Kentucky, [...]
Tiong Seng unit wins 2 road works contracts in Papua New Guinea worth $33m
August 18th, 2010 |
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Tiong Seng Holdings says wholly-owned subsidiary, TSC Contractors (PNG) Ltd, has been awarded two contracts amounting totalling $32.6 million for the rehabilitation of roads from Rypinka to Okapa Station Road in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.
The contracts were awarded by the government of Papua New Guinea, funded by the Asian Development Bank. The project will start in October and be completed by June 2012. The earnings from the project will be recognised progressively according to the stages of completion.
With these two new contracts, Tiong Seng’s book order stands at $1 billion.
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Otto Marine unit wins $11m deal to acquire 3D seismic data
June 7th, 2010 |
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Otto Marine says its subsidiary Reflect Geophysical has entered into a contract with US-listed Geokinetics Inc to acquire 3D seismic data Acquisition in Block D4 Offshore Gabon off the gulf of New Guinea.
A row over mining taxes in Australia: Digging in a minefield
June 3rd, 2010 |
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A government proposal exposes a rich seam of discord
MINING, as both the firms doing it in Australia and the government would acknowledge, is the goose that laid the golden egg. But the two camps have sharply divergent views of the government’s proposed new tax on it: it is either an innocent egg-collecting operation or a vicious goose-killer. The so-called Resource Super-Profits Tax (RSPT) would be levied from 2012 on mining profits above a “normal” rate of return (defined as the ten-year government bond yield, currently below 6%), at the stiff rate of 40%.
After details of the proposed tax were unveiled a month ago, the boss of at least one huge global mining firm was reportedly livid. Mick Davis, chief executive of Xstrata, called the tax the “biggest assault on the mining industry I have witnessed.” Rio Tinto’s Tom Albanese also chipped in, branding Australia his “number one” sovereign risk, ahead of several countries not known for their stability, including Guinea and Mongolia. …
Naked Stephanie Pratt PETA Ad Creates Fracas For Apple
April 21st, 2010 |
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The Hills’ Stephanie Pratt isn’t afraid to bare her buns to save bunnies for the cover of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ “Be Nice to Bunnies” Apple iPhone application, but the geniuses at the tech giant have branded the risque image — which features the recently-rehabbed reality starlet stark naked, beaming, and cuddling [...]
Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars U.S. Tour To Help Refugees
April 2nd, 2010 |
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SIERRA LEONE’S REFUGEE ALL STARS PARTNER WITH
THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE ON U.S. TOUR TO RAISE AWARENESS OF REFUGEES’ NEEDS
BAND’S NEW ALBUM RELEASED TO ACCLAIM MARCH 23
 Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars |
In keeping with the theme of their acclaimed new album, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars are
partnering with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) on their extensive U.S. tour, which begins next week
in Vermont. (See dates below.) The shows, which aim to raise awareness about the needs of refugees, will feature
material from the All Stars’ new album, Rise & Shine.
The All Stars first formed and performed in refugee camps in Guinea where the IRC managed school programs,
health clinics and other critical services for tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans who escaped civil war at home. Since then, in electrifying live performances and recording experience with the likes of Aerosmith and Mavis Staples, the All Stars have
been establishing an identity based as much on skill, imagination and charisma as on their undeniably touching
story (The Los Angeles Times). The band’s remarkable journey was documented in the multi-award winning
documentary Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, by Zach Niles and Banker
White.
“Amid their shared experience of living as refugees [the All Stars] found a common cause to play beautiful music,
bring cheer and hope to refugees who fled a brutal war and help them forget the horrors they left behind,” says International Rescue Committee spokeswoman Melissa Winkler. “Their music became an antidote
to the misery, monotony and uncertainty that Sierra Leonean refugees faced each day, and their music continues to
be an inspiration to refugees around the world.”
On the upcoming tour, concertgoers will be encouraged to donate $5 to IRC programs by texting REFUGEE to 25383. The donations will help Sierra Leonean and other refugees given sanctuary in the United States to recover and
rebuild their lives here. The All Stars and Cumbancha are also donating $2 to the IRC’s global humanitarian aid
programs for each copy of Rise & Shine sold through this link: www.theirc.org/shop-irc-market.
Rise & Shine is the follow up to the All Stars’ debut, Living Like a Refugee, which garnered
the band international acclaim and high profile fans such as Keith Richards, Sir Paul McCartney, Angelina Jolie
and Ice Cube. On the new
album, produced by Steve Berlin (Los
Lobos, Angelique
Kidjo, Rickie Lee
Jones, Michelle
Shocked, Alec
Ounsworth, Jackie
Greene), Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have realized a unique and seamlessly coherent sound: a fusion
of traditional West African music and roots reggae, inflected with New Orleans styles.
The new album is garnering considerable critical praise, including:
“It is simply great songwriting with incredible production. None of their message – unity, cultural celebration, spiritual salvation – is lost, and so much is gained.”
-The Huffington Post
“Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have tapped into the music’s transformative powers… Rise & Shine is a testament to the unbreakable human spirit.”
-Relix
Sierra Leone’s Refugee
All Stars Tour Dates :: Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars News :: Sierra Leone’s Refugee
All Stars Concert Reviews
Let bygones be bygones?
March 19th, 2010 |
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A big African deal signals a partial thaw in Rio Tinto’s relations with China
IN ONE respect Rio Tinto’s relationship with China is clear. That country accounted for a quarter of the mining giant’s revenues in 2009, mainly because of China’s voracious appetite for iron ore. In other respects their relationship is harder to fathom. China was said to be furious last year when Rio first accepted and then spurned its offer to make a $19.5 billion investment in the Anglo-Australian firm. Four Rio employees were subsequently arrested in China for alleged bribery and commercial spying, and this week a date was set for their trial. But on March 19th, just three days before the courts were to begin hearing the cases, Rio announced it had signed a huge joint venture in Africa with none other than Chinalco, the Chinese state-backed metals firm which it had wooed and then jilted last year.
If the deal, to develop a huge iron-ore mine at Simandou in Guinea, suggests a warming in relations between Rio and the Chinese authorities, the signals from the continuing judicial proceedings against Rio’s four employees imply quite the opposite. The arrests of the four men—three are Chinese and one, Stern Hu, is an Australian of Chinese descent—were related to the annual negotiations that set the price China’s steelmakers must pay for iron ore from the world’s three big suppliers: Rio, BHP Billiton and Vale. It was widely assumed outside China that the arrests were motivated by the Chinese authorities’ pique at the way Rio had treated Chinalco. …
French used troops as nuke “guinea pigsâ€
February 17th, 2010 |
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The French army deliberately exposed its own soldiers to nuclear tests to see the effects on the human body. That is the verdict of researchers quoting a copy of confidential military documents.
Party says New Guinea “recognized Kosovo”
December 22nd, 2009 |
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The opposition New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) says Papua New Guinea has recognized Kosovo as independent. The ethnic Albanian party said in a statement in PriÅ¡tina that this came as a result of the “lobbying” of its leader Behgjet Pacolli.
Troops fire at Guinea military leader
December 4th, 2009 |
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Guinea’s Communication Minister Idrissa Cherif says military ruler Captain Moussa Dadis Camara was shot at as his convoy entered an army camp in Conakry.
Cherif says the attack was carried out by soldiers loyal to Captain Camara’s aide-de-camp Aboubacar Toumba Diakite. Toumba is widely thought to have been involved in the killing of at least 157 opposition demonstrators two months ago.
Vote-winner?
September 1st, 2009 |
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Hopes for political change in Guinea may be disappointed
Correction to this article
Coup leader Moussa Dadis Camara has suggested that, despite previous indications, he may after all contest the country’s presidential polls. The international community is unlikely to welcome such a development, but Guinea’s political stability will remain fragile whoever wins. …
No survivors from Papua New Guinea plane crash
August 12th, 2009 |
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Rescuers have reached the wreckage of a passenger aircraft that crashed in Papua New Guinea and found no survivors among the 13 passengers and crew, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Wednesday. The Airlines PNG De Havilland Twin Otter 300 with 11 passengers and two crew went missing
UN denounces Guinea ‘drug labs’
August 6th, 2009 |
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Evidence of drug factories capable of producing heroin, cocaine and ecstasy has been found in Guinea, the UN says.
The authorities in Conakry alerted the UN after they found large amounts of toxic chemicals in the capital.
The UN says the chemicals give the "best evidence yet" of drug factories, and the organisation is concerned such labs could be widespread in Guinea.
The UN’s office on drugs and crime (UNODC) said in a statement it was the first such discovery in West Africa.
The BBC’s Alhassan Sillah in Conakry says two businessmen, believed to be close associates of one of the sons of the late President Lansana Conte, have been detained by anti-drug agents in connection with the discoveries.
Of the six sites UN experts inspected, chemicals that could be used to make ecstasy tablets were found on two of them, and solvents commonly used in manufacturing heroin and cocaine were found at others.
"The experts’ assessments have confirmed that the quantities and nature of the chemicals found at the locations visited are far in excess of legitimate demands in Guinea," the UNODC statement said.
"The government of Guinea, the UN and Interpol are concerned by the fact that the clandestine production of controlled drugs might be widespread [in Guinea]."
Guinea along with some of its near neighbours has become regarded as a transit point for drugs en route from South America to Europe.
When the military seized power after the death of President Conte at the end of December, they made the fight against drugs a priority.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
‘Dire shortage’ at UN food agency
July 31st, 2009 |
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The UN food agency says it is facing critical funding shortages that have forced it to cut aid deliveries to millions of people facing starvation.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said it could have to close parts of its airway, used to fly aid workers to humanitarian trouble-spots.
Deliveries have already been suspended to north Uganda, Ivory Coast and Niger.
The organisation has issued similar warnings in the past when facing funding shortages.
The UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), operated by WFP, has a budget for 2009 of $160m (£96m) but has received less than $90m in fees and contributions this year.
WFP spokesman Greg Barrow said UNHAS was "a vital component of humanitarian operations across the world".
"But because of a funding shortfall there is now a grave risk that the air service … could literally be grounded in the next few weeks due to a lack of funds," he said.
Closures
<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46140000/jpg/_46140495_007349512-1.jpg" align="left" width="226" height="170" alt="People queue for WFP aid in Peshawar, Pakistan (20 May 2009)” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>
WFP said funding for the airline’s Chad service will run out on 15 August and needs $6.7m (£4m) to continue flying to the end of the year.
Spokeswoman Emilia Casella said the single-plane service flies an average of 4,000 humanitarian passengers to and from Chad each month.
She said the cancellation would not stop food deliveries taking place, but would mean that aid workers would not be able to reach communities that need them most.
The service supplying Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea needs $3.3m (£1.9m) to continue flying to the end of the year.
Pierre Carrasse, Chief of WFP’s Aviation Branch, asked how workers could reach the often remote areas affected by conflict without the airline.
"How will WFP reach the hungry How will doctors reach their patients How will people have clean water if the engineers who help to build wells can’t get there," he asked.
Shortages have already led to UNHAS closing its service in Ivory Coast in February.
The Niger service, also suspended that month, is expected to resume in August after a recent donation from the UN Common Emergency Relief Fund.
The UN says 102 million people in 78 countries received food aid last year. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
What next?
July 31st, 2009 |
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Guinea Bissau’s prospects are mixed
Malam Bacai Sanha has won the run-off round of the presidential elections and—crucially—the losing candidate has conceded defeat. There is still no guarantee that the new president will be able to secure the backing of the army and the co-operation of the government, however.
Malam Bacai Sanha, the candidate of the ruling Partido Africano da Independencia da Guine e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) and an interim president in 1999-2000, has won the second round of Guinea-Bissau’s presidential elections, securing 63% of the vote. Crucially, the defeated candidate, Kumba Yala—another former president, and the leader of the main opposition Partido da Renovacao Social—has conceded defeat. …
Sanha wins Guinea-Bissau election
July 29th, 2009 |
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Guinea-Bissau’s former leader Malam Bacai Sanha has won a presidential run-off to decide who replaces assassinated ex-President Joao Bernardo Vieira.
Mr Sanha won 63% of the vote, defeating rival Kumba Yala, who has also served as president in the past.
Guinea-Bissau has a history of coups and its people have told correspondents they are tired of broken promises.
President Vieira was killed in March in apparent revenge for the death of the head of the army.
Mr Vieira led Guinea-Bissau for most of the period after independence from Portugal in 1974 – serving as president for a total of 23 years between 1980 and 2009.
Drug-smuggling haven
Turnout among the country’s 600,000 registered voters in last Sunday’s run-off vote was estimated at about 60%.
The first round of polling on 28 June saw Mr Sanha win nearly 40% of ballots, 10% more than Mr Yala.
And election officials announced Mr Sanha had kept his lead in the second round of voting, clearly defeating Mr Yala.
Hoping for change in Guinea-Bissau
When the two faced off in 2000, Mr Yala emerged as the winner.
In their final campaign rallies, both men repeated promises to bring peace and stability to the country.
Mr Sanha, who served as interim president from 1999-2000, was standing for the ruling PAIGC, the party of the 1970s struggle against Portuguese colonial rule.
This was the third time he had stood for president, having been defeated once by Mr Yala and in 2005 by Mr Vieira.
His motto is "Hora Tchica" – meaning "the time has come".
Mr Yala, who was overthrown in a 2003 coup, is the leader of the opposition PRS.
Analysts say many Bissau-Guineans hold him responsible for worsening the country’s political and economic situation.
During his presidency the IMF and the World Bank suspended aid after accusations of mismanagement and a string of sackings in the government.
But he is believed to have wide support within the military.
Guinea-Bissau is cash-starved and heavily dependent on just one product – the cashew nut.
In recent years it has become a major transit point in drug smuggling between South America and Europe.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
NYCity News Service: Sudan’s Female Genital Mutilation Countered By Henna-Dyed Hands
July 28th, 2009 |
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Sudan has tried to eradicate female genital mutilation since 1946 to little avail. But now women’s health groups have taken the crusade in their own hands–or rather, their own painted hands–in an effort to subvert the practice.
Shelly Palmer: News Corp Thinks Videogames are Missing Link: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer July 27, 2009
July 27th, 2009 |
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News Corp Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller told a conference that videogames are the “missing piece of the equation” for companies like media conglomerates….