The News Review:

- Senegal set for a fresh start
- Zimbabwe: Warriors Arrive in Guinea
- 50 Israelis stranded in Guinean capital
- Reforestation using exotic plants can disturb the fertility of…
- Blatter’s Goal
- Liberia: Lone Star Due Today for Sunday’s Match

Senegal set for a fresh start
BBC News – May 30, 2008
Ndiaye leads the Teranga Lions for only the second time in their opening Group 6 qualifier having taken charge during Senegal’s ill-fated Ghana 2008 campaign. “The training we have done this week is the deciding factor as to who will play – but the team won’t be chosen until Saturday morning” the former international told BBC Sport. Senegal begin their 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup campaign at home against Algeria’s Fennecs before playing Liberia (home and away) and Gambia (in Banjul) in June. Yet Ndiaye’s attempts to usher in a new regime have been hit by several injuries with one more training session still to come late on Friday.

Zimbabwe: Warriors Arrive in Guinea
AllAfrica.com – May 30, 2008
As the news broke among the Warriors of the security concerns surrounding the final leg of their trip — and the possibility that they could be stranded in Senegal for some days — silence descended on the group as the reality of the situation confronting them began to sink. Having already spent about 10 hours flying from home the weary Warriors trooped into the transit lounge and before long the whole squad was asleep. The break of dawn brought some good news with Air Senegal International officials advising the Zimbabwe delegation that they had been in contact with their counterparts in Conakry and passenger flights had been cleared to resume operations. Still there was concern among some Warriors who were worried that the political situation could deteriorate rapidly either while they were already airborne or after their arrival here and they could find themselves caught in a vicious battle they don’t understand. But having come this far to fight for the cause of their fatherland the majority of the Warriors felt they could not turn back and the delegation boarded an Air Senegal Boeing 737-700 passenger jet for the one-hour flight down the coast to Conakry. They arrived here to be welcomed by a sight they had all feared — dozens of armed soldiers manning the airport. Then there was the intense heat and humidity to contend with — temperatures yesterday soared to more than 36 degrees Celsius.

50 Israelis stranded in Guinean capital
Jerusalem Post – May 30, 2008
Photo: AP Slideshow:. Israeli Ambassador to Senegal Gidon Bahar who also deals with Guinea downplayed concerns in an interview with Army Radio on Friday. “It looks like things are calming down. We have been in constant contact with the Israeli businesspeople. They are fine and in a fortified area” he said. A small number of Israelis managed to fly out to Senegal on Thursday… We have been in constant contact with the Israeli businesspeople. They are fine and in a fortified area” he said. A small number of Israelis managed to fly out to Senegal on Thursday. West African leaders appealed for calm in the country saying the army mutiny had the potential to destabilize neighboring states struggling to put an era of wars and conflict behind them.

Reforestation using exotic plants can disturb the fertility of…
innovations report – May 30, 2008
Establishment of bacterial and mycorrhizal symbioses provides these trees with the adaptation ability necessary for growth on virtually barren mineral-deficient soil. Although no proof is needed as to their effectiveness for producing plant biomass in harsh environmental conditions and their utility as windbreaks to control erosion there is little information on their potential impact on the genetic and functional biodiversity of the soil microorganisms. A research programme run since 2005 in Senegal and Burkina Faso by an IRD team and its partners1 yielded clues for understanding the influence of exotic plants on the structure and biodiversity of these communities of fungi and bacteria. In Burkina Faso controlled experiments showed that the development of E. camaldulensis the eucalyptus species most often planted in the world outside its area of origin significantly reduced the diversity of the mycorrhizal fungi communities essential for the healthy functioning of the ecosystem. This negative effect was also found in the soil of a Senegalese plantation of Acacia holosericea where scarcely a few months after its introduction the soil’s microbial characteristics had completely changed. This quick-growing species had effectively selected certain species of mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria of the genus Rhizobium ending in a reduction in the species diversity of these symbiotic communities… The research also demonstrated that the environments generated by this species were less resistant to water and heat stress. In a context of global climate change such habitats could therefore experience a drastic fall in their microbial activity and thus lose their ability to be the basis of proper development of the plant cover. The conclusions of the study conducted in Senegal in a precisely defined environment cannot however be generalized to tropical soils as a whole. Indeed investigations on another A. holosericea plantation in Burkina Faso yielded the observation of an increase in microbial functional diversity. The contradictions between these sets of results should prompt the organizations involved in natural resources management to plan for possible introductions of exotic species case by case taking account not only of potential impacts of the plant species under consideration for introduction but also of the nature of the soils they are to colonize. For although this practice can yield highly satisfactory results such as increases in the species richness of severely degraded environments such as old mining areas it can also upset for a long time the organization of the microbial communities which guarantee the fertility of a soil.

Blatter’s Goal
Forbes – May 30, 2008
The statistical evidence cuts any way you want it. England didn’t qualify for the 2008 European championships and it has the highest concentration of imports in its domestic league. The rise of African teams like Cameroon Nigeria Senegal and the Ivory Coast can be attributed to the opportunities for top-class play for its athletes in Europe. Nor is FIFA a completely disinterested party. It runs the World Cup competition the world’s most watched sporting tournament competed for by countries–not clubs. It is trying to establish a club equivalent which would rival the lucrative regional competitions run by the regional associations notably the Champions League in Europe over which the big clubs have considerable sway.

Liberia: Lone Star Due Today for Sunday’s Match
AllAfrica.com – May 30, 2008
The boys were overwhelmingly filled with smiles and enthusiasm for the Sunday’s match and will however expect a huge turn out of supporters to cheer them at the Sunday’s match. Makor and Granpa Doe are also expected to join the Antoine Hey boys at their camping site in Paynesville. A soccer pundit said that Lone Star is now under pressure because of their last qualifier match played at the SKD in which they were defeated by the Taranga Lions of Senegal. But the German Coach has expressed satisfaction with the level of "intensive training" recently undergone by members of his squad in Casablanca Morocco and said he fear no force. Lone Star spent over two weeks in the North Africa Republic as part of its preparations for their joint World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers matches in June. Liberia a lowly rated country in the recent FIFA rankings failed to qualify for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana after finishing as underdog in her group. The two teams last met in 2003 at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in central Monrovia during which time Liberia defeated Gambia 3-0.