THE Ministry of Education yesterday announced that the first round of the Higher Education Centralised Admission System (HECAS) online application for the August 2010 intake to local higher education institutions – UBD, Universiti Islam Sultan SharifAli and ITB — as well as Brunei Government overseas scholarships will commence on February 1, 2010, at 7.45am. According .
LUANDA, Jan 31 (NNN-ANGOP) — One day ahead of the final of the 27th edition of Orange Africa Cup of Nations (Angola2010), the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAN), Issa Hayatou, reaffirmed that the conditions offered in the cities of Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda and Lubango, were ?extraordinary?.
Speaking to Angop on the fringes of the CAF ordinary general assembly, held Friday in Luanda, Issa Hayatou recalled that when Angola took the responsibility to host the 27th edition of the African Cup, many doubted that something special could be organised.
According to him, more than the words, everyone can see for himself the response given by Angola to all those who thought that was impossible.
To his organisation, the conditions offered were just good, extraordinary and unique.
Hayatou said as well that Africa is more and more in a position to soon accommodate sport events of world dimension.
He stated as well that thanks to the infrastructures now put in place, all is in place for Angola?s football to develop.
The organization of the CAN Orange-Angola/2010 has increased the financial resources of the African Confederation of Football (CAF), with the emergence of new sponsors, Hayatou Friday.
Addressing the openning ceremony of the 32nd CAF general assembly, Hayatou rejoiced with the job done by both angolan and CAF officials in the sports and social areas.
He said that it is not easy to build four great modern stadiums in a time the world has facing a world financial and economic crisis, and Angola is welcomed for accomplishing with the all stages of the competition.
Hayatou also announced that Togo national team has been suspended and will not participate in the next two African Cup of Nations.
This, according to CAF president, is due to Togo?s government interference which resulted in the absence of the team from the Orange Africa Cup of Nations (Angola2010).
According to CAF official site, the decision made by Togo political authorities infringes CAF regulations.
CAN regulations state that any absence notified less than 20 days before the beginning of the finals or during the event shall attract a fine of Usd, 50.000 and banning of the team from two following editions of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Short before the start of Orange Africa Cup of Nations (Angola2010), Togo team was attacked by elements of the Angolan separatist Cabinda?s Enclave Liberation Front (FLEC), resulting in the killing of two. They were the assistant coach, Abalo Amelete and the press officer, Stan Ocloo.
The driver of the bus was injured, as well as substitute goalkeeper, Kodjovi Kadja Obilalé, who was rushed to South Africa for a surgery.
Following the accident, the players decided to participate in the tournament to honour the dead, but the authorities called the team in.
Togo were in group B (Cabinda), along with Côte d?Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Ghana.
The Nigerian national team of football came third in Orange Africa Cup of Nations (Angola2010), after beating Algeria 1-0 Saturday evening at central Benguela?s Ombaka national stadium.
The sole of the goal of the match was scored by Nsofor in the 55 minutes. — NNN-ANGOP
The Social Welfare Council (MKM), which was officially established on December 2, 2009, hopes that more Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and private individuals would sign up to become members under the MKM banner to safeguard the social welfare of the public. The call was made by Hajah Mordiah binti Haji Jackia (right photo), the temporary chairperson .
THREE “independent entrepreneurs” suspected of running an illegal business by gathering scrap metals from houses around Kg Pandan in Kuala Belait and selling them to a recycling company in the capital were netted during a raid on Thursday. The operation codenamed “Ops Cekap 15/2010″, which was spearheaded by the Senior Immigration Officer from the Belait .
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Following is the daily “Profile America” feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)
SUNDAY, JANUARY 31: FIRST SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK
Profile America — Sunday, January 31st. What will happen to Social Security in the years ahead is a continuing topic of discussion among the nation’s leaders. The first Social Security check was issued on this day in 1940 to Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, who received a check for $22.54. The Social Security Act was signed into law five years earlier, as a program to benefit survivors of deceased breadwinners and to provide income for the elderly. Today, there are more than 49 million Social Security beneficiaries, including retired and disabled workers and surviving spouses, as well as children. The average monthly benefit check for a retired worker is $1,044. Profile America is in its 13th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2010, p. 108
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 527
Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look under the “Newsroom” button).
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
RELATED LINKS
http://www.census.gov
Hundreds of eager students planning to further their studies thronged the Canadian Education Symposium yesterday at the Rizqun International Hotel to learn more about courses offered by numerous universities. According to Peter Chen, Trade Commissioner at the Canadian High Commission, research is one of the major areas that would benefit Brunei, claiming that the lack .
GAZA, Jan 31 (NNN-KUNA): Palestinian faction Hamas announced on Saturday its utter rejection of the long-term housing of Palestinians in surrounding Arab nations, stressing that international rules stipulate their right to return to homes they were once driven out from.
“These refugees are nothing but guests who will soon return to Palestine,” Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas warned countries who have delayed their donations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) that this means they have abandoned their responsibility towards the issue of Palestinian refugees.
These countries include Canada, which Hamas has accused of coming under the influence of the US.
According to Hamas, the US is secretly behind a Canadian decision which is aimed at encouraging other UNRWA donating countries to follow their act.
Hamas, on the other hand, welcomed statements by Lebanon and Jordan which call on these nations to stand by their commitments, so that those who do not intend to host Palestinians be exempted from costs which could arise out of this.
A couple of weeks ago, UNRWA called on nations to pledge funds for the current 2010 emergency plan for the Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank, worth over USD 322 million.
Hamas urged Arab nations not to increase their contributions to the fund, in fear of the program turning solitarily Arab.
The Palestinian faction also expressed anxiety that contributing nations to the Palestinian refugee issue could abandon their cause of what it described as one of the major causes of struggle in the region.
-NNN-KUNA
MONROVIA, Jan 31 (NNN-AFROLNEWS) — Mixed reactions have marred Liberia following the recent announcement by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf that she will run for re-election in 2011.
Ms Sirleaf has said that she had not realised before the 2005 polls how much rebuilding work needed to be done in Liberia. She became Africa’s first elected female head of state after winning 53 percent of the vote.
A draft report by the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission said President Sirleaf should be barred from seeking further political office for 30 years.
However, the ruling party said Liberians trust her leadership, further stating that her announcement follows a petition by her supporters demanding that she contests the next year?s polls because she is fit to run the office.
A draft report from Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission last year said President Sirleaf should be banned from public office for 30 years because of her early support to former rebel leader Charles Taylor.
She has however admitted to giving him money, but testified that she was misled into supporting Mr Taylor and ended that support when she learned of the human-rights abuses in his campaign against then-president Samuel Doe.
Opposition politicians in the country have contentiously called on the president to respect her one-term limit, with several of them urging her to step aside and get prepared to relinquish the presidency in the coming electoral process.
The West African nation was relatively calm until 1980 when William Tolbert was overthrown by Sergeant Samuel Doe after food price riots.
A transitional government steered the country towards elections in 2005 after former President, Mr Charles Taylor resigned under international pressure in 2003 and went into exile in Nigeria.
Around 250,000 people were killed in Liberia’s civil war and many thousands more fled the fighting. The conflict left the country in economic ruin and overrun with weapons. The capital remains without mains electricity and running water. Corruption is rife and unemployment and illiteracy are endemic. — NNN-AFROLNEWS
TEHRAN, Jan 31 (NNN-KUNA): Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said Saturday Tehran would not relinquish its nuclear program.
“The West should realize that Tehran is serious in the nuclear issue either with regards to the uranium enrichment of uranium exchange. It (Iran) will not back off from this position,” Rafsanjani, cited by state-run news agency (Irna), said at a meeting of the Expediency Council.
He called for national unity in the face of foreign pressures against the Iranian regime.
-NNN-KUNA
ABUJA, Jan 31 (NNN-AFROLNEWS/ANGOP) — The Nigerian High Court has overturned the decision by the country’s Senate calling on the President to formally write his resignation.
The court has made a ruling that there were no abnormalities in the president’s extended medical leave, as no vacuum was created.
Nigerian leadership and ruling party has been under pressure to validate the capability of the president to rule from a hospital bed in Saudi Arabia as well as the constitutionality of his absence.
President Umaru Yar’Adua has been away for two months, raising fears of a power vacuum in the oil-rich West African super power, while some media reports were even questioning if he was still alive.
His only public appearance was through an interview on BBC on Jan 12 where he said he would soon be back in the country to resume his normal duties.
Mr Yar’Adua is has been reported to be suffering from an inflammation of the lining around the heart and he has previously also been taken ill for kidney problems.
In related development, world powers waded into the row in Nigeria over the president’s health, lamenting the “uncertainty” caused by his absence as his deputy promised that he would return home soon.
“Nigeria is going through a period of uncertainty because of the prolonged illness of President Musa Umaru Yar?Adua,” said a joint statement by the United States, European Union, Britain and France.
The powers said they welcomed constitutional efforts in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and one of the world’s top oil producers, to “resolve the question of governing authority in the president’s prolonged absence”.
“Nigeria?s stability and democracy carry great significance beyond its immediate borders,” given its importance as a global oil producer and stabilising force in west Africa, said the statement.
It was signed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton. — NNN-AFROLNEWS/ANGOP
