BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) — This year marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of diplomatic relations between China and African countries. Over the past 50 years, China and Africa have become all-weather friends, partners of sincere cooperation, and good brothers, with the two peoples forging a profound relationship, and bilateral ties achieving great successes.    The Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), scheduled for Nov. 3-5, will be the highest-level and the largest meeting between Chinese and African leaders since China and African countries started to forge cooperative ties in the 1950s.

Lebanon war puts damper on Israeli pot smokers
Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:33 PM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s recent war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas has sent cannabis prices sky high in the Jewish state.

Read more:
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type

Nigerian pastor finds new flock in Ukraine
By Helen Fawkes
BBC News, Kiev

Inside one of Ukraine’s biggest sports halls a band pumps out deafening music surrounded by pom pom-waving dancers in shiny blue outfits.

Thousands of people are on their feet enthusiastically singing and clapping along, as if at a pop concert.

A Pentecostal church called the Embassy of God is sweeping across the country.

It claims to have 25,000 members in the capital alone.

For many people here a church service that has a feel-good factor is something new.

From weapons of war to great coffee
By Amber Henshaw
BBC News, Mekele

In Biblical times they said “turn your swords into ploughshares”, now in northern Ethiopia a tradesman is bringing the saying into the 21st century.

In his workshop in Mekele, just 200km from Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea, Azmeraw Zekele is turning burnt-out shells into cylinders used in coffee machines.

Most of the shells are leftover from the war between the two countries which took place between 1998 and 2000.

China to build Nigerian railway
China is to build a railway line between Nigeria’s two main commercial cities, Lagos and Kano.

An $8bn contract was signed by the deputy transport minister and the president of the Chinese firm (CCECC).

CCECC President Lin Rongxin said 50,000 Nigerians would work on the 1,315km line which he said was “a design, construct and maintain project”.

Nigeria’s leader said the five-year north-south line was the first phase in a 20-year modernisation programme.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, who watched the signing, said the second phase of the railway project would include a link between the southern oil city of Port Harcourt and the central city of Jos.

Hemp for Victory

Hemp for Victory is a black-and-white film produced in 1942 by the USDA outlining a plan to distribute 400,000 lbs. of cannabis seeds to American farmers with the goal of producing 350,000 acres of cannabis by 1943 — all for the war effort. The USDA even went as far as to urge 4-H clubs to grow at least half an acre, but preferably 2 acres of cannabis.

For more:

http://www.thelastoutpost.com/site/1256/default.aspx

Accused denies existence of HIV

Jeremy Roberts

26oct06

AN HIV-positive man convicted of endangering the lives of three girlfriends is attempting to turn conventional science on its head by denying the existence of the virus that leads to AIDS.

Andre Chad Parenzee was convicted in February of endangering the lives of three women and faces 15 years in prison. One of the women now has HIV.This week, he enlisted the expert evidence of two self-styled researchers - both members of the so-called Perth Group - who have used the witness stand to attack the “HIV myth”.

Niger suspending Arab expulsions
Niger’s government has suspended a controversial decision to deport thousands of Arabs back to Chad.

The Mahamid Arabs, who are mostly nomads with animals, have lived in arid areas of Niger for several decades.

The communications minister told Reuters news agency that neighbouring countries intervened to request a halt to the expulsions begun on Thursday.

The Mahamid were accused of wrongdoing, including theft and rape, but critics say the move was politically motivated.

The Niger government initially said it was expelling more than 150,000 people who, it said, were in the country illegally.

Oxfam Urges Company to Review Strategy and Sign Licensing Agreement

Oxfam International (Boston)
PRESS RELEASE
October 26, 2006
Posted to the web October 26, 2006

Global coffee giant Starbucks has opposed a plan by Ethiopia to gain more control over its coffee trade and a larger share of the earnings for millions of coffee farmers living in poverty, international agency Oxfam revealed today.

Last year the Ethiopian government filed applications to trademark its most famous coffee names, Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe. Securing the rights to these names would enable Ethiopia to capture more value from the trade, by controlling their use in the market and thereby enabling farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price. Ethiopia’s coffee industry and farmers could earn an estimated $88 million (USD) extra per year.

Youths Shut Down Oil Facilities in Rivers 

By Jimitota Onoyume

FLOW stations belonging to Shell, Chevron/Texaco in Kula community were yesterday shut down by youths from the area for alleged failure of the affected multinational oil firms to respect MoU signed with the community.

A Shell source told the Vanguard on phone that though the issue of MoU could have been part of their grouse but the action of the youths was mainly triggered by a disagreement among them over who should supply diesel to oil facilities in the area.