World soccer governing body Fifa on Tuesday brushed aside lingering doubts about South Africa’s readiness for the World Cup, as cities across the nation staged dance parties and celebrations to launch the 100-day countdown.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter insisted the country was ready to host Africa’s first World Cup, which kicks off on June 11, and said he was bothered by naysayers who worry South Africa won’t pull it off.

“It’s not so much that there’s pessimism, but that it’s always being thrown into doubt. It’s bad, because when there’s doubt, there’s no confidence. For me and Fifa, that bothers us sometimes,” Blatter told a news conference in Durban.

“There is no doubt, no doubt,” he said. “Let’s go now, let’s have this World Cup, and then we will discuss it at the end of July.”

He spoke after a tour of South Africa’s 10 stadiums that will host the month-long tournament. Construction is complete at all the stadiums, and only two have yet to host games to try out the new facilities.

“We are on track, we are ready to make this World Cup and this is the main message following this inspection tour,” Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke said.

The 100-day countdown dominated South African media on Tuesday, with celebrations planned in all the country’s main cities.

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Max Göldi, the Swiss businessman jailed in Tripoli, could be released well before his four month sentence is up, European diplomats have told swissinfo.ch.

Spain, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, has managed to reach a “settlement” with Libya, but Switzerland must also be prepared to play its part, said one top diplomat who wished not to be named.

Some are even predicting that Göldi could be pardoned by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi before the middle of March.

Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has so far merely said that Bern, benefiting from “the solidarity of the European Union”, is doing “everything in its power” to bring Göldi back to Switzerland. But it warns that the situation remains “difficult and delicate”.

The dispute between Switzerland and Libya was on the agenda of a meeting in Brussels on Thursday of the interior ministers of the Schengen countries, which is also being attended by Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.

During the meeting, the ministers reaffirmed their solidarity with Switzerland. In a report Spain said Switzerland is to be supported by the Schengen countries, that Switzerland and Libya would have to intensify their diplomatic relations, and that the EU would work to strengthen its “tentative steps” towards a solution.

Ahead of the meeting, however, some European diplomats, speaking anonymously, were prepared to say more.

There is still a need for “immense prudence”, one of them told swissinfo.ch, although the “intense mediation efforts” to reach a solution to the Swiss-Libyan crisis “are beginning to bear fruit”.

Nonetheless, Libya’s leader, Muammar Gaddafi, yesterday called for a jihad, or holy war, against Switzerland, in an escalation of his vendetta against the country where police once arrested his son, says The Guardian.

At a meeting in the city of Benghazi to mark the prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Gaddafi described the country as an infidel state that was “destroying” mosques. Last year he urged the UN to abolish Switzerland and divide it between Germany, France and Italy.

“Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate – is against Muhammad, God and the Qur’an,” Gaddafi said.

Swiss voters last November backed a referendum proposal banning the building of minarets. The proposal was put forward by the Swiss People’s party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which claims minarets are a sign of Islamisation. The move was opposed by the government, which argued that it would harm Switzerland’s image, particularly in the Muslim world.

Gaddafi has nursed a grudge against Switzerland since his son Hannibal and daughter-in-law were arrested in Geneva in 2008 for allegedly beating two servants at a luxury hotel. The Gaddafis were released soon afterwards and the charges dropped. But the Libyan leader was so enraged by his son’s two-day detention that he shut subsidiaries of Swiss firms in Libya, had two Swiss businessmen arrested, cancelled most flights between the two states and withdrew about $5bn (£3.2bn) from his Swiss bank accounts.

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Opposition parties, Niger’s largest union and members of civil society announced their support on 19 February for a military ruling council that abducted President Mamadou Tandja the day before and suspended a contested constitution.

While the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has condemned the coup as an unconstitutional “ascension to power” and Africa Union has suspended Niger, Chris Fomunyoh, the regional director of West and Central Africa for the US-based NGO, National Democratic Institute, said President Tandja had been hanging on to power illegally.

“I would never say a coup is a good thing, but Tandja had so wronged the people of Niger that if his wrongs can be righted then democracy may have a chance to regain its cause in Niger.”

In the past year, President Tandja dissolved the parliament and constitutional court, organized a contested and boycotted referendum last August that removed presidential term limits – and would have allowed him to stay in power until at least 2013 – and proceeded with legislative elections in October that led to the country’s suspension from the regional trade bloc, ECOWAS.

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Niger Republic was thrown into fresh turmoil yesterday as the military ousted President Mamadou Tandja.

Armed soldiers stormed the presidential palace and held hostage Tandja and his ministers holding a meeting.

A Niger military official later last night announced on the nation’s three television channels that the country’s constitution had been suspended.

The order, read by Col. Goukoye Abdul Karimou, was attributed to the Superior Council for the Restoration of Democracy, which also suspended all institutions and called on the nation for calm and on the international community for support, said Ousman Tudou, a journalist for Radio Afini.

According to CNN, Tudou said President Tandja and his ministers were being held in a military camp.

No curfew had been ordered and people were in the streets at 11 p.m., around the time of the announcement, he said.

Dana Palade, a spokeswoman for the non-governmental organization World Vision, also told CNN from the capital city of Niamey that the official made the announcement on Doumial Tele Sahel and RTT.

Reports earlier monitored on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said soldiers captured Tandja while he was chairing his weekly cabinet meeting.

AFP later reported an official as saying Tandja was possibly being held at a military barracks about 20km (13 miles) west of Niamey.
The Niger President had caused unease in the West African country following his failure to organise elections when his tenure elapsed.

Tandja also dissolved the parliament and awarded himself some powers to rule by decree contrary to the country’s constitution.
Soldiers took over the presidential palace while he was chairing a meeting with ministers.
Guards made frantic efforts to secure the President to no avail.

Military music continued to be aired on radio and television stations sending signals that a coup has taken place in the country but no announcement had been made by the plotters as at press time.

Sources in N’Djamena, the capital of Niger, said sounds of gunfire scared away residents near the palace and the whole country has been left in suspense as government officials have not been bold enough to disclose developments.
In the meantime, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan and Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reacted to the developments in that country.

“The Chairman of ECOWAS has reiterated the call of the February 16 2010, Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government to continue to facilitate the mediation effort of Nigeria in close collaboration with African Union,” his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Ima Niboro said in a statement.

Jonathan continued: “To that effect, the Chairman of ECOWAS is in consultation with the Chairman, AU Mediation Committee, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, and General Abdusalami Abubakar, the ECOWAS mediator, with  a view to the speedy resumption of the Inter-Nigerien Dialogue.”

The Acting President was made ECOWAS chair a few days ago following the failing health condition of the former chair, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who is in Saudi Arabia receiving treatment.

Tandja was elected in democratic elections held in 1999 after a long period of coups. But he refused to step aside last December after two terms as stipulated in the constitution. He launched into a controversial constitution review and acquired unlimited terms and power.

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Small vendors abandoned their stalls as the typical lunch hour break opened with gunfire at the presidential palace shortly after 1pm local time in Niger’s capital, Niamey. Firing continued intermittently with the military blocking all roads leading to the palace. Government helicopters were circling the city and fired in the afternoon, according to residents.

“I left my bookstore rather than risk getting hit by stray fire,” Ismaël Issaka told IRIN from his home in Niamey. He told IRIN he heard gunfire near the hospital after 3pm, which is across from a military base.

A private clinic doctor in the capital, Amadou Boureima, told IRIN he had treated five patients with light gunshot wounds.

Elsewhere in the country, traffic and markets continued uninterrupted.

Former government information minister, Mariama Gamatié, told IRIN that state television and radio were still active as of 3pm. “We hear gunshots still, but if there has been a coup attempt and someone has taken over, the first thing that happens in Africa is that news goes off the air.” Shortly before 6pm local time, military music replaced news broadcasts on national radio.

Gamatié was the information minister at the time of the assassination of President Ibrahim Baré Mainassara in 1999 and is now a civil society member contesting President Tandja’s rule.

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Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini will meet here on Wednesday with his Libyan counterpart Mousa Kousa in an attempt to resolve an issue with Tripoli over visas issued to citizens from the Schengen area.

The foreign minister of Malta, Tonio Borg, will also take part in the talks, after which there will be a press conference, the sources added.

Libya on Sunday invalidated all entry visas issued to citizens from European border-free zone, over a dispute with Switzerland.

The dispute between Libya and Switzerland began in July 2008 after the Swiss arrested a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Hannibal, and his wife for allegedly mistreating their domestic help. They were released after an out-of-court settlement was reached with the servants but Libya retaliated by holding two Swiss nationals in custody for 18 months on what appeared to be trumped-up charges. After Switzerland joined Schengen, in December 2008, it issued a ‘black list’ of 188 ‘undesirables’ who should be denied entry into the border-free area and included Gaddafi, his family and even members of his government.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has faulted Switzerland for the dispute but said the European Union should help it resolve its ”bilateral” problem with Libya. According to the Italian diplomatic chief, the lists of people who Schengen members want kept out of the area should only include fugitives criminals or terrorists. By including Gaddafi and his family, Frattini said Monday night, Switzerland was holding the Schengen area ”hostage” over a bilateral dispute between Bern and Tripoli.

The Schengen area includes all European Union countries with the exception of Britain and Ireland, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

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Teodor Obiang, president ‘vitalicio’ (for life) of Guinea Ecuatorial  (the official name is Spanish, as this tiny republic was a possession of Spain until some 42 years ago) has not been deposed, exiled or worse in the past few weeks. So, it is still relevant what El Mundo, the leading Madrid daily, and the The New York Times were writing recently about his son Teodorìn Obiang. The latter, in his capacity as Minister of Agriculture and Forests, introduced a new, ‘revolutionary’ tax on timber, a main resource of the country. As far as those forests are mined by foreign capitalists, the tax is totally legitimate. But the above reputed dailies affirmed that most of the Obiang wealth was acquired through corruption. The heading of the Madrid article was “EEUU prueba que Teodorìn Obiang roba a su paìs”- The United States proves that Teodorìn Obiang steals from his country.

The management of oil, discovered ten years ago, seems to have fattened the income of the presidential scion. This republic, with 400,000 barrels a day, is now third among the oil-producing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. A November 2007 report by the US Justice Department is includes extortion to the Obiang repertoire. According to said department, the young minister transferred some 78 million dollars to American accounts. This also explains how he paid 35 million dollars for an ocean-view mansion in Malibu, Cal. He flies there for vacations on his private jet.

A large part of the Equatorial Guinean population is poor. Before oil was discovered, the per capita income was around 250 dollars a year, and it’s unlikely that the oil wells enriched the villagers as well as the  country’s minister. Now, let us suppose that an entity of the industrial world decides to donate money that can improve the lot of Equatorial Guinea’s poor villagers. Might said entity entrust funds to the Obiang government, out of respect to its sovereignty? Of course not. How then can the donation reach the deserving poor? Sending Marines to conquer the country is out of question.

Instead the donor country may legitimately disregard the local authorities and dictate that, should they want to help poor people, an area of Equatorial Guinea must be handed over to a foreign armed contingent which will regulate and protect the charitable and/or productive activities to be run for the direct benefit of the population. This would mean paying no heed to the indignation of advocates of former colonies’ national pride.

Massimo Calderazzi is an author and journalist.

Chanting “Viva, Nelson Mandela, Viva,” thousands of South Africans marked 20 years on Thursday since the anti-apartheid icon walked to freedom after 27 years as a political prisoner.

Now a frail 91-year-old, Mandela did not attend the celebrations at the Drakenstein Prison near Cape Town, although a huge bronze statue of him marching from jail, fist pumping the air, towered over the crowd much as Mandela’s image towers over South African politics and society to this day.

Among the predominantly black crowd of well-wishers waving the black, green and gold flags of Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) were fellow “struggle” heroes present on that momentous Sunday two decades ago. “It was all a bit chaotic and I must tell you we were unprepared,” said millionaire businessman Cyril Ramaphosa — then a senior mining union and ANC official — recalling the chaotic scenes that followed Mandela’s release.

Unbanned only nine days previously, ANC leaders were given just 24 hours’ notice to prepare for the release of Mandela, who four years later would become the first black president of a country dominated by a white minority for 300 years.

Mandela’s push for reconciliation during his 1994 to 1999 presidency is credited with unifying the racially divided nation and laying the foundations of the democracy that oversees the continent’s biggest economy.

“He means a lot to the country, from his release, even still today,” said conservationist Elizabeth Davids (42).

“He freed us all from apartheid. Before we never mixed with each other, coloureds, whites and blacks were separate but now we all mix together and are like one nation.”

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The Islamic administration of Al-Shabaab that controls Somalia’s southern regions of Jubba has on Sunday declared holy war on Kenya over reports that Nairobi is training Somali troops.

Sheikh Hussen Abdi Gedi, Al-Shabaab’s second in command in the southern port city of Kismayo said his group has received reports of planned offensives from the Kenyan side, urging the regions’ residents to prepare for holy war.

“Kenya has prepared troops that comprise of Kenyans and Somalis, who are trained to attack and take over the regions. They are planning to attack us on the land, sea and air. We are urging people to be ready and defend our land,” he told Al-Shabaab’s Andalus radio on Sunday.

His sentiments come as Kismayo, the lucrative southern Somali port city that fuels insurgent activities across the war-torn country, witnesses a low flying military planes which raised high tension.

The border between the two countries has also seen the enormous presence of Kenyan troops, who are patrolling with the battle wagons.

It is the first time that the rebel group has declared jihad against Kenya since capturing the bordering region.

However, Kenya denied reports of its involvement in the training of Somali soldiers, saying it has nothing to do with the Somali issues.

In Kenya’s Daily Nation, Defence Minister Yusuf Haji dismissed the story as a total fabrication, saying there was no trained Somali troops in Kenya destined for Somalia.

“I am not aware of any Somali troops being trained in Kenya.. It is total lies,” said Mr Haji on telephone.

Internal Security Assistant Minister Orwa Ojodeh also dismissed the reports saying Kenya does not have a bilateral agreement with the Somali government, or any other group in the country, to train troops on their behalf.

“That report is not true and should not be taken seriously and should not be taken seriously,” said Mr Ojodeh.

Sources quoted by Garowe Online said Nairobi trained in its soil some 2,500 troops, who are ready to join the Somali government’s offensive against Al Shabaab rebels.

In Bolivia we have a case truly emblematic of the times we live in. It seems beyond doubt that this poor nation of central South America is very rich in lithium, a metal that presently is reputed to be the best for the production of batteries. Today, batteries are ubiquitous, but will become extremely vital if and when they become the sole source of power for cars. One advantage of lithium is that it is the lightest (or the second lightest) among metals. Bolivia’s salt flats hide vast deposits of said ore, which elsewhere on earth does exist, but not in as concentrated an area as the four-thousand sq mile area in Southern Bolivia. Somebody has remarked that this country is the Saudi Arabia of lithium.

Presumably, Bolivian experts have long been aware of their resource, but in the past did not possess the money and the know-how to mine and process the raw lithium carbonate. Recently, the La Paz government of President Evo Morales has built a pilot plant on the edge of Salar de Uyùni, near the border with Chile, not far from the Potosì area. Potosì’s mines were so rich as to provide Spain fabulous loads of silver.

In the past two centuries, Bolivia has been lacking both a colonial master and a national economy advanced enough to develop lithium (and, of course, batteries only emerged in the 20th century). A number of car manufacturers, including Toyota, seem to have failed in securing rights on the mineral. President Morales looks firm in his mission to create a state lithium industry advanced enough to supply the world’s batteries. By the way, the government of Colombia too appears to be doing well in the projects to develop its abundant minerals.

It’s conceivable that other deserts or dry, salty areas of the world, namely in Africa, hold minerals of some value. Several reasons explain why the latter have not been exploited, even discovered. Technological trends come first. Regarding Bolivia, before well into the twenties of past century batteries were not in demand, so lithium was neglected. Still, factors such as poverty and backwardness were even more decisive. So, undeveloped countries must either empower aggressive rulers who can learn from President Morales, or forget nationalistic rhetoric of sovereignty, in order to attract foreign investment.

What is really mandatory is that natural resources are processed locally, with the highest possible labor content. Mechanization and automation are not imperative where wages  (to be absolutely raised) are very low. The grave misdeed of past colonialism was mining and taking away commodities, so subjected populations got almost no benefit. Even more important is denying local politicians or chieftains the possibility of stealing the wealth created by development. This problem is enormous- this is why in many former colonies’ victories on poverty are not compatible with national sovereignty. Part of the latter must be dislodged by humanitarian neocolonialism, the very opposite of historic colonialism.