Republic of Angola: Kambambe Hydroelectric Dam Fully Operating By 2012

Luanda — Kambambe Hydroelectric Dam, located in Kwanza Norte province, with an installed capacity of 180 megawatts, will start its operation in full from October 2012.

This information was released, Wednesday in Luanda by the administrator of the production area of the National Electricity Company, José Carlos Neves, during the "Informative Morning" programme of the Radio Nacional de Angola (RNA).

The Kambambe Dam, according to the official, is benefiting from rehabilitation and modernization of two units, which is the replacement of major instruments of supervision and control of the venture, which has reduced its production by 50 percent of installed capacity.

He stressed that the project aims to ensure greater operational capability and availability of the dam, whose completion is scheduled for October 2012.

"With full operation of the hydroelectric dam it can be improved the power supply to Luanda and other regions of the country," he said.

Via | Agency | Angop

Republic of Angola Signs Agreement To Use Mine Detecting Dogs - Director Leonardo Severino Sapalo

LUANDA, Oct 13 - Angola's National Institute of Demining (INAD) has signed an agreement with two organisations from the United States and Europe to obtain technical assistance to introduce the use of mine detecting dogs in this country.
The accord was signed by INAD Director Leonardo Severino Sapalo, Perry Franklin, the chairman of Marshall Legacy Institute, a non-profit organisation from the US, and Nermin Hadzimujagic, director of the Mine Detection Dog Centre for Southeast Europe (MDDC), an institution of the Bosnia-Herzegovina government.
The main purpose of the accord is to provide INAD technical assistance for the development of skills of mine detection dogs.
Under the agreement, INAD will build 12 kennels for the Viana demining school here and secure training and accreditation for local trainers of mine detection dogs as part of efforts to speed up demining operations in Angola, one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, a legacy of its 27-year civil war which only ended in 2002.
The MDDC will supply two professional teams of dogs for detection of landmines to work in Angola for two months, under INAD's demining operations while the MLI will operate as programme co-ordinator and help INAD choose a programme manager in the country.
Franklin said the MLI had so far supplied 165 explosive detecting dogs to various countries of the world. The Marshall Legacy Institute is a non-profit organisation which provides resources and training as well as landmine detection dogs to affected countries.
The MDDC in Borci, near Konjic, was founded with help from the international community, and has been active since early 2003 as a response to the increasing needs for enhancement in demining methods in the Eastern Europe region. Its activities have recently spread to other parts of the world as well.

Via | Agency

Memory circuits: Mind-Blowing Sex Causes Amnesia in 54-Year-Old Woman

For one woman, sex was mind-blowing and, literally, totally forgettable, all at the same time.

A case study published in the September issue of the Journal of Emergency Medicine reported that a 54-year old woman experienced memory loss after having sex with her husband. The patient came into the Georgetown University Hospital emergency department, complaining she could not recall anything 24 hours before climaxing.

The authors of the case report, Drs. Kevin Maloy and Jonathan Davis of Georgetown, diagnosed the woman with transient global amnesia, a rare and sudden episode of memory loss. According to experts, the episodes are temporary and unlikely to happen again.

”Transient global amnesia is caused by a scrambling of the memory circuits in the brain, often brought on by physical or emotional triggers,” said Dr.  Carol Lippa, a professor of neurology at Drexel University Medical School. “In post-coital cases, transient global amnesia may be related to changes in blood flow in the vessels that feed the brain’s memory formation areas — sort of a remote consequence of the altered blood flow that occurs during sex.”

Experts say it’s unclear what exactly causes TGA, but it has been found to occur after strenuous physical activity, severe pain or psychological distress.

“TGA can occur after any activity, and I’d imagine that it could occur while someone is playing Ping-Pong, but that wouldn’t be as titillating,” said Shimamura.

About three to five out of 100,000 people experience the condition each year, said the study. Men and women over 50 years old are most likely to experience the peculiar memory loss.

Lippa noted that sex can lead to other adverse effects on a person’s health, including heart attacks and even sudden cardiac death, especially in people who have cardiovascular risk factors.

But before knocking sex, Lippa also mentioned the physical benefits of sexual intercourse.

“Sex may boost immunity, relieve stress, improve sleep, create bonding between couples and it reduces the risk of some types of cancer,” said Lippa. “The good news is that these cases usually resolve in less than a day, and the majority of cases never recur.”        

By Mikaela Conley | ABC News Blogs

Republic of Angola: José Eduardo dos Santos Dismisses, Appoints Ambassadors

Luanda - Angolan president, José Eduardo dos Santos, Wednesday in Luanda dismissed 26 extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors serving until now in various countries.

According to a note from the Presidency's Press Office, the list is as follows: Manuel Pedro Pacavira (Italy);

Filipe Felisberto Monimambo (Zimbabwe); Apolinário Jorge Correia (Switzerland); Hermínio Joaquim Escórcio (Algeria); Ana Maria Teles Carreira (UK and Ireland); Lizeth Nawanga Satumbo Pena (Poland); António Fwaminy da Costa Fernandes (Índia); Isaías Jaime Vilinga (Greece); José Guerreiro Alves Primo (Ghana); Pedro Hendrick Vaal Neto (Egypt); António José Condesse de Carvalho (Cuba); Manuel Miguel da Costa Aragão (Argentina); José César Augusto (Cape Verde); João Manuel Bernardo (China); Leovigildo da Costa e Silva (Brazil); Brito António Sozinho (Guinea-Bissau); Domingos Culolo (Swden); João Garcia Bires (Mozambique); Luís José de Almeida (Morocco); Josefina Perpétua Pitra Diakité (USA) Arcanjo Maria do Nascimento (UN Geneva Office and International Organisations); Flávio Saraiva de Carvalho Fonseca (Singapore); Fidedigno Loy de Jesus Figueiredo (Viena-based International Organisations); João Vahekeny (Hungary); Alberto do Carmo Bento Ribeiro (Germany); Jaime Furtado (México).

On the other hand, the head of State appointed 31 extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors to several countries.

They are Manuel Miguel da Costa Aragão (Morocco); Isabel Mercedes da Silva Feijó (Greece); Alberto do Carmo Bento Ribeiro (USA); Josefina Perpétua Pitra Diakité (South Africa); Feliciano António dos Santos (Guinea Bissau); Apolínário Jorge Correia (UN Geneva Offices and International Organisations); Arcanjo Maria do Nascimento (African Union); Fidelino Loy de Jesus Figueiredo (Singapore); Maria de Jesus dos Reis Ferreira (Austria); Lizeth Nawanga Satumbo Pena (Hungary); Flávio Saraiva de Carvalho Fonseca (United Arab Emirates); Alberto Correia Neto (Germany); Agostinho Tavares da Silva Neto (Canada); Leovigildo da Costa e Silva (Mexico); Albino Malungo (South Korea); Josefina Guilhermina Coelho da Cruz (Cape Verde); Brito António Sozinho (Switzerland); João Garcia Bires (China), Nelson Manuel Cosme (Brazil); Balbina Malheiros Dias da Silva (Zâmbia); Ana Maria Teles Carreira (Ghana); Osvaldo dos Santos Varela (Switzerland); Isaías Jaime Vilinga (Mozambique); António Fwaminy da Costa Fernandes (Egypt); Hermínio Joaquim Escórcio (Argentina). Hendrick Vaal Neto (Zimbabwe); Domingos Culolo (Poland); Florêncio Mariano da Conceição de Almeida (Italy); Miguel Gaspar Fernandes (UK and Northern Ireland) and José César Augusto (Cuba).

Xyami | Agency | June 2011

Libya: UN humanitarian chief warns of impact of fighting on civilians in Sirte

10 October 2011 –

The United Nations humanitarian chief voiced extreme concern today about the impact on civilians of continued fighting in and around the Libyan city of Sirte between forces supporting the interim Government and those loyal to the ousted regime of Muammar al-Qadhafi.

Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, issued a statement warning that supplies of drinking water, food and medicines are running low in Sirte, and there is no functioning electricity.

Thousands of people have fled Sirte, the hometown of Colonel Qadhafi, in recent days amid intense fighting in the city. It is one of the few remaining holdouts since the former government fell after months of conflict in the North African country.

“I call on all parties to spare civilians from the effects of hostilities, and to comply with international humanitarian law,” Ms. Amos said.

“The sick and injured must be allowed to seek and receive medical assistance, and both civilians and captured fighters must be treated with respect, regardless of their origin or political affiliation.”

Ms. Amos noted that while aid workers are bringing relief to those who have fled Sirte, heavy fighting prevents them from getting supplies to those still inside the city.

“Life-saving supplies have been pre-positioned in the surrounding areas for delivery as further humanitarian access is established.”

The Emergency Relief Coordinator’s remarks echo those of Georg Charpentier, the deputy head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), who last week took part in a humanitarian assessment mission that visited both the city of Misrata, which was besieged for weeks during the conflict, and the outskirts of Sirte.

Gaddafi pan-Africa dream tatters in Sirte; TNC: "Who cares about Africans?”

In the heart of the Mediterranean city of Sirte, the Ouagadougou conference centre lies in ruins, the showpiece of Muammar Gaddafi's pan-African dream smashed by Libya's new regime forces.
"Who cares about Africans? We have enough to do dealing with Arabs," shouted one of a group of National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters inside the fortress-like centre, built by Gaddafi to host African summits.
NTC forces on Sunday seized control of the conference centre, a key target since they launched a September 15 offensive on the fallen strongman's hometown.
Four weeks of shelling has largely destroyed the sprawling complex, which groups 10 rectangular buildings covering several acres (hectares) ringed by high iron gates. "No resident of Sirte was allowed to enter here. It was only for foreigners and members of the regime," said an NTC fighter.
The facade of the main building is pierced by shelling and windows are smashed, littering the white marble entrance of the main hall, where part of the metal ceiling has collapsed.
The interior of the landmark centre is in ruins. Benches are shredded by shrapnel, walls pockmarked, furniture is destroyed and the floors flooded with broken glass. Desks and cabinets block the emergency exits, which served as sniper posts for pro- Gaddafi diehards.
On the upper floor, NTC fighters busily searched the drawers in the administration offices as well as the completely empty fridges in the kitchens.
In the cafeteria next door, imitation Louis XVI dining chairs were still perfectly aligned with tables covered by the dust of the bombing.
The glass railing of an escalator has been left miraculously intact. Huge yellow sofas are lined up against the walls of the first floor, the apparent rest area for heads of states. Displayed on every wall, slogans highlight the fight against "colonialism" and the glories of "Arab-African unity."
Down the hall, the conference room where Gaddafi, the self-proclaimed "King of Kings of Africa," brought together his counterparts in the continent is almost burned down.
The circular room is plunged in darkness, amid the smell of burning plastic. "It's all money stolen from the Libyans," said an NTC fighter. "And for what? To satisfy the whims of a madman who forced us to live more than 40 years as slaves."
A meeting room with no windows has escaped almost intact, except for a thick layer of dust on its desks made of expensive wood and a flat-screen television, which caught the attention of fighters.
Outside the entrance, armed men waved the new flags of Libya and Iraq. After seizing the centre, fighters spread throughout the complex, tearing down portraits of the fugitive Gaddafi and the green flags of his fallen 42-year regime.
A day after taking a four-lane avenue into the centre, the NTC forces also seized Sirte's university and its new campus, a huge site where Gaddafi's snipers had been picking them off from unfinished buildings.
Bullets and shells later on Sunday hit the Ouagadougou centre again, but this time from Gaddafi loyalists to the north.  -AFP

Libyans face heavy resistance in Gadhafi hometown, by CHRISTOPHER GILLETTE, Associated Press

SIRTE, Libya (AP) — With NATO warplanes circling overhead, revolutionary fighters battled block by block Saturday as snipers rained fire from rooftops in fierce street fighting in Moammar Gadhafi's hometown — the most important remaining bastion of support for the fugitive leader.

The battle for Sirte is crucial because Libya's new leaders have promised to declare liberation after it is captured even though fighting continues elsewhere and Gadhafi remains on the run. That will allow them to move forward with setting a timeline for elections and establishing normalcy in the oil-rich North African nation.

Revolutionary forces launched a major attack on Friday, pushing into the Mediterranean coastal city from the west, east and south after a three week siege from the outskirts in which they said they were giving civilians time to flee.

Gadhafi forces also remain entrenched in the central city of Bani Walid, but the transitional leaders say they will declare liberation without it because Sirte's fall will give them control over all seaports and harbors.

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox pledged to keep up NATO airstrikes even after Sirte's fall, saying the international military action would continue as long as the remnants of the regime pose a risk to the people of Libya.

"We have a message for those who are still fighting for Gadhafi that the game is over, you have been rejected by the people of Libya," he told reporters Saturday in Tripoli.

Anti-Gadhafi forces met strong resistance as they pushed to within less than half a mile (kilometer) from loyalist fighters dug in around Sirte's Ouagadougou convention center and Green Square in fierce street fighting in the heart of the city.

Libya's de facto leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the governing National Transitional Council, said the battle has been "ferocious," with 15 revolutionary fighters killed and 180 wounded on Friday.

"Our fighters today are still dealing with the snipers positioned on the high buildings and we sustained heavy casualties," he said at a joint news conference in Tripoli with Fox and Italian Defense Secretary Ignazio La Russa.

Suleiman Ali, commander for revolutionary forces, said loyalist forces have been driven away from Ibn Sina Hospital where hundreds of civilians have sought refuge from the fighting.

A military spokesman in Tripoli, Abdel-Rahman Busin, said he expected the city to be declared free in the next 24 hours.

"They've pretty much taken the city and it's just a few pockets of resistance," he said, adding snipers were still posing a major threat.

NATO warplanes flew overhead but no strikes were immediately reported.

Abdul-Jalil called on the international community to help Libyans treat the wounded, saying they could deduct the cost from Libyan assets that were frozen under Gadhafi's regime.

Sirte, 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, is key to the physical unity of the nation of some 6 million people, since it lies roughly in the center of the coastal plain where most Libyans live, blocking the easiest routes between east and west.

The international community has rallied around Libya's efforts to move forward with forming a new government, with transitional leaders promising elections within eight months after liberation is declared.