Atlanta's Red & Black Affair

Is Coming Soon!!!
Ahkote Ehmoonah E. Zacoor
KNN-Atlanta

Attention Saints & Friends of the Kingdom of Yah!

On behalf of the Brothers and Sisters on the Move on the Southern Region, we humbly invite you to enjoy a divine evening in royalty and elegance at this year's'
Red & Black Affair'.

It will take place Mohtsai Shabbaht (Sat. night) December 13th, 2008, from 9:00 PM-until at the Return to Royalty Banquet Hall located at the Soul Vegetarian Restaurant South (Atlanta, Georgia).

For more information call (404) 752-5194

Sponsored by the Brothers and Sisters on the Move

Barak Obama Wins

First Black US President Elected

By Randy Lilleston and Douglas Stanglin
USA TODAY

Democrat Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, making history by becoming the first African American to win the post and completing a stunningly rapid rise to power.

A win in California put Obama over the top, giving him 55 electoral votes — enough to surpass the 270 needed to defeat Republican John McCain and claim the presidency.

By 1 a.m. ET Wednesday, the AP projected Obama had 338 electoral votes. McCain had 141.

Obama, 47, called for a renewal of the American spirit and spoke directly to McCain supporters.

Only four years ago on election night, Obama was a newly minted U.S. senator-elect after serving for eight years in the Illinois legislature. Now he holds the title of president-elect.

For full article:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/president.htm

Cloning From the Frozen Dead

Scientists Reportedly Clone Mice From Frozen Bodies
By Lauren Cox
ABC News Medical Unit

Scientists in Japan say they have successfully cloned a mouse from a body that had been frozen for 16 years, theoretically opening the door to a range of possibilities from preserving endangered animals, to resurrecting extinct animals to cloning Ted Williams.

The authors of the study made no bones about what they believe the implications of their work could be.

"It has been suggested that the 'resurrection' of frozen extinct species, such as the woolly mammoth, is impracticable, as no live cells are available, and the genomic material that remains is inevitably degraded," wrote the authors in the Monday edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

But the researchers say they got around the dead tissue issue by adapting new fertilization techniques for damaged sperm into a cloning technique for damaged frozen tissue. The authors of the study concluded these "techniques could be used to 'resurrect' animals or maintain valuable genomic stocks from tissues frozen for prolonged periods without any cryopreservation."

See: Cloning From the Frozen Dead

US to Hold Historic Election Tomorrow

US presidential candidates have begun making their final pleas for votes
KNN-Staff

The US presidential candidates have begun making their final pleas for votes during a hectic last day of campaigning that will see them make a frantic dash across key battleground states.

Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate who has retained a lead in most opinion polls, was set to hold rallies in Florida and North Carolina before ending his campaign with a final event in Virginia.

John McCain, his Republican rival, has visited Florida before heading to Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada before heading to his home state of Arizona.

Obama leads McCain in six of eight key battleground states, including the large states of Florida and Ohio, according to a series of Reuters/Zogby polls released on Monday.

Sexual content on TV is linked to teen pregnancy

Teens who watched most sexual content on TV were twice as likely to become pregnant
LA Times-Health

Teenagers who watch a lot of television programs that contain sexual content are more than twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy, according to a study published today in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers from RAND Corporation surveyed about 2,000 adolescents, ages 12 to 17, nationwide in 2001 about their television habits and sexual behavior. Researchers focused on 23 programs popular among teenagers that were widely available on broadcast and cable TV. The shows included dramas, comedies, reality programs and animated shows. Sexual content was defined as depictions of sex as well as dialogue or discussion about sex. The participants were surveyed again three years later. About 700 said they had engaged in sexual intercourse by the third survey.

The teens who watched the most sexual content on TV (the 90th percentile) were twice as likely to have become pregnant or caused a pregnancy compared to the teens who watched the least amount of sexual content on TV (the 10th percentile). Adolescents who lived in a two-parent household had a lower probability of pregnancy while African Americans and adolescents with behavior problems were more likely to be involved in a pregnancy.

Parents should consider limiting their teen's exposure to sexual content on TV, said the study's lead author, Anita Chandra, a behavioral scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. Television producers should consider more realistic depictions of the consequences of sex in their scripts, she says, noting that there is little content on the consequences of unprotected sex. About 1 million adolescents become pregnant each year in the United States.

"Adolescents receive a considerable amount of information about sex through television and that programming typically does not highlight the risks and responsibilities of sex," said Chandra, in a news release. "Our findings suggest that television may play a significant role in the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the United States."

-- Shari Roan

US Falls Back to Standard Time

Clocks in US go back 1 hour Nov. 2nd
KNN Staff

At 2:00 a.m. local on Sunday, most of the United States (except Hawaii and Arizona) will leave daylight saving time behind and fall back an hour to standard time.

Starting in 2007, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 lengthened daylight saving time by four weeks, starting it three weeks earlier in spring and ending it one week later in fall. Daylight saving now begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday of November.

Don't forget to change your clocks!!!!!!

"And he shall think to change times and laws" - Dan.7:25

Soul Veg Chicago Rates High on Taste

Its reputation precedes it with vegans all over the country
PJ Chmiel-Vegan in Chicago
PJChmiel.com


Soul Veg is another place that everyone loves and whose reputation precedes it with vegans all over the country. It's far away from all the other restaurants I list (9 miles south of downtown), but only here can you indulge in all kinds of "comfort" food cooked in a down-home Southern style.

The BBQ dishes are excellent, their soups are some of the best I've ever had, there's a variety of sandwiches, fresh juices, shakes, incredible desserts and more...and it's all vegan (ask about Honey if that concerns you; a few dishes may use it). The Protein Tidbits and Tofu Tidbits appetizers are always good, the BBQ Twist is probably my favorite thing there, even better with collard greens and cornbread. The only thing I haven't really liked there was the french fries and one or two of the creamier dishes, because I don't like anything creamy.

One wonderful thing about Soul Veg is that it's located in Chatham, the largest middle class black neighborhood in Chicago and probably one of the largest in the country. The location combined with the excellent food and friendly atmosphere means you'll see all kinds of neighborhood folks like construction workers, bus drivers, ministers, city employees, teachers, etc. in there enjoying the delicious vegan food.

The people who work there are really nice, they dress in beautiful clothes, and they take pride in what they do.

For more Soul Veg is at 205 E. 75th St., Chicago(Red line to 79th St., walk East to Indiana and North 1/2 mile to 75th)
(773) 224-0104

Also see: www.kingdomofyah.com/SV.htm

See food photos at: http://www.pjchmiel.com/vegan/soul_vegetarian.html

View the Latest Kingdom of Yah Videos

KNN Staff

Yah Khai!!!

Check out our latest videos on Yahkhai.com and Youtube.com!

Click on the link below to view live Kingdom video.

Be sure to tell your friends and family to check it out and subscribe to our channel to continue seeing new content!

Click on: http://www.yahkhai.com/Default.aspx

also

Click on: http://www.youtube.com/KOYMedia

Enjoy!!!!

Reports of Serious Drug Reactions Hit Record

One was Pfizer's anti-smoking medication
RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
WASHINGTON (AP)

Submitted by Matanah (Chicago)

A health industry watchdog group reports that a record number of serious problems and deaths linked to medications were reported to the government in the first three months of this year.

An analysis of federal data by the nonprofit Institute for Safe Medication Practices shows that the Food and Drug Administration received nearly 21,000 reports of serious drug reactions, including over 4,800 deaths. The group analyzed quarterly data going back to 2004, and yearly totals dating to the 1990s.

Two drugs accounted for a disproportionately large share of the reports early this year. One was Pfizer's anti-smoking medication, Chantix, and the other was heparin, the tainted blood thinner from China that caused a safety scandal.

See: Reports of serious drug reactions hit record

More people continue to be injured, killed by prescription drugs

FDA Received 20,745 New Cases of Serious Injuries
KNN-Staff

A record number of deaths and serious injuries associated with prescription drugs were reported in the first quarter of 2008.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration received 20,745 new cases of serious injuries during the first quarter, an increase of 38 percent over 2007. The number of deaths reported is 4,824, a 2.6-fold increase from the previous quarter.

For a second straight quarter, varenicline (Chantix, Champix), an aid to help stop smoking, accounted for more reported serious injuries than any other prescription drug, with a total of 1,001 new cases including 50 deaths, according to The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, an organization that educates healthcare providers and consumers about safe medication practices.

Ranked second in reported serious injuries was the blood thinner heparin, the subject of a major product recall after a potentially lethal contaminant was identified and traced to suppliers in China.

In the first quarter of 2008, the FDA received 779 reports of serious injury in which heparin was the principal suspect drug, including 102 deaths, the institute reported.

Acetaminophen, which had 160 reported deaths, and ibuprofen, with 114 reported deaths, are two of the most widely used drugs in the nation.

The findings in QuarterWatch are developed from analyzing new adverse drug event reports submitted to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System.

Because reporting is voluntary, only a small fraction of adverse drug events that occur are reported to the FDA, or to drug manufacturers, which then investigate and forward reports to the agency. Also, while the sum of adverse event reports normally provides an overall adverse event profile for a drug, the individual reports themselves do not prove that the drug caused the event described, the institute said in its report.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/boomerconsumer/archives/152389.asp?from=blog_last3

Diet and Your Prostate

The strongest risk factor for prostate cancer is animal products
Dr. Dean Edell
HealthCentral.com

A new multi-country study strengthens the link between animal products as risk factors for prostate cancer, and vegetable products, especially onions, as risk reduction factors. The study, now on line at European Urology,* (William B. Grant, Ph.D., A multicountry ecologic study of risk and risk reduction factors for prostate cancer mortality, European Urology), investigated links between national diets and prostate cancer mortality rates to identify major risk factors for prostate cancer.

The indication that this might be a useful approach comes from comparing national prostate cancer mortality rates: prostate cancer mortality rates in the U.S. and northern Europe are approximately 5 times higher than in Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, and Turkey.

The strongest risk factor for prostate cancer mortality was animal products, such as meat and dairy products; the strongest risk reduction factors were onions and other protective vegetable products (cereals/grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables, but excluding alcohol, oils, and added sugar (sweeteners)). Thus, fat and protein are risk factors, while complex carbohydrates and antioxidants are risk reduction factors.

This finding points to insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) being an important risk factor for prostate cancer. IGF-I is also increased by total energy consumption. This study supports earlier reports that allium family vegetables (e.g., garlic, leeks, and onions) as important risk reduction factors for prostate cancer. This study also found that alcohol is a minor risk factor. No independent correlation was found for tomatoes, a source of lycopene, thought to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Free "Green-Gifts" for Donations to KNN

KNN Staff

Greetings KNN Family. To help support our continued effort to bring you “Breaking World News” and the latest “Kingdom of Yah News” we are offering free “Green-Gifts” for your support and donations.

The job of KNN is to provide easy access to news and information, for people all over the world - free of charge. Over the past 2 years we have reached thousands of people worldwide and this coming year we hope to expand and reach even more people.

We need your support to keep our projects online: to pay for servers, bandwidth, staff salaries, office space, and other necessities. We also want to focus more attention on program development, particularly in communities that have little or no access to Kingdom of Yah information.

To this end we ate offering the following:

-Donations under $10 - All Natural Scented African Shea Butter

-Donations $10 & up - “Yah Lives - Go Green” Tee-Shirt

-Donations $20 & up - “Yah Lives - Go Green” 100% Cotton Reusable Shopping Bag

-Donations $30 & up - “Yah Lives - Go Green” Tee-Shirt & Shopping Bag

For more information contact KNN at: keymah777@aol.com

Thank-you for all of your continued support.

British Prime Minister Brown hits out at 'unbridled' capitalism

Financial systems must reflect the values of "fairness"
Soferet B. Yehuda
KNN-British Isles, London

While maintaining that he was pro-business, the Prime Minister said certain "key ethics" were essential for a stronger economy. Mr Brown said financial systems must reflect the values of "fairness, stewardship and co-operation" cherished by families and communities.

"I admire the market's ability to release the dynamism and enterprise of people and so this new Labour Government is pro-business and pro-markets and always will be," he said."But I also know that we do not live by markets alone. I have long understood that markets rely on values that they cannot generate themselves.

"Values as important as treating people fairly, acting responsibly, co-operating for the benefit of all."Mr Brown said developments around the world were raising "quite fundamental questions" about the relationship between the government and the markets.

"The first financial crisis of the global age has now laid bare the weaknesses of unbridled free markets," he added. The Prime Minister's remarks came as hostilities broke out between the Government and the Conservatives over the financial crisis.

David Cameron sought on Friday to lay the blame for the looming economic recession at the door of Mr Brown. The Tory leader effectively ended what remained of the tentative political truce on the issue, arguing that the current financial crisis had exposed Mr Brown's policies as "a complete and utter failure".

Spiritual Leader Ben Ammi offers hope for a New World

Spiritual Leader Ben Ammi offers hope for a New World as Brown and Cameron’s rhetoric arrives too late.
Special Commentary by
Soferet B. Yehuda
KNN-British Isles, London

The cataclysmic repercussions from the Western world’s economic structure and its reverberations in the East are nothing short of Biblical proportions. However, spiritual wisdom from Leaders like Ben Ammi Ben Israel and his Government is cynically ignored in favour of conventional political and economic theories; like the elders teach, ‘educated fools are the worst ones.’ Brown, Bush and Cameron (BBC).

For over twenty years Ben Ammi has taught of the dangers of capitalism as an economic system and its mother ‘liberal democracy.’ Check the evidence.

While Britain’s Tory Opposition Leader David Cameron blames Gordon Brown, Labour Party Leader and Prime Minister for the economic fiasco, and Brown laments the dangers of "unbridled capitalism", the Government of the Kingdom of Yah, with great vigilance, continues to watch the leading nations of the world heading for a ditch.

____________________________

Ben Ammi’s economic system is called ‘All Things in Common’ is based on the ethics of ‘Co-operative Economics.’ All institutions within the Redemptive Hebrew Israelite Community are Regenerative and life-centred.

This message is heralded to the four corners of the earth by roving Ambassador-at-Large by way of summits with governments and Heads of State. While some African governments have become partners, others remain locked into the comfortable psychosis of staying with the mainstream for fear of being ostracized and sanctioned. All too many are there who erroneously rest in their position under the umbrella of these systems, believing themselves to be safely shielded from the effects of a crumbling, eroded socio-economic system.

But there is hope, as Gordon Brown in the Yahoo News article above confesses, politics and economics do not have the answer. Or is there? It seems like they have been heeding Ben Ammi’s message from his CDS, books and on-line master-classes. Writing in his book ‘An Imitation of Life: Redefining what constitutes life and living in the New World’ pg.10 he warns of "the rise of the civilisation of deception, a people placing great emphasis on the dissemination of false information, deception..." Liberal democracy and capitalism are like a schizophrenic with split psyche. On pg. 148 he concludes, "...no man can move in harmony with two different beats at the same time."

Exercise can help beat Alzheimer’s disease

by Helen Rae
UK-Evening Chronicle

REGULAR exercise can reverse the decline in brain power caused by ageing and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new survey.

The research found speed and sharpness of thought, as well as the size of brain tissue, was increased by aerobic exercise.

Author Professor Art Kramer, of the University of Illinois, cited previous research showing six months of exercise reversed age-related decline.

The article, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found deterioration in the brain’s white and grey matter as people age.

Prof Kramer wrote: “Tissue deterioration is often accompanied by decline in cognitive function, with the greatest deficits occurring on measures of executive control such as task co-ordination, planning, goal maintenance, working memory and task switching.

“However, it is these executive control processes that appear to be the most amenable to an aerobic exercise intervention.”

He found that six months of exercise reversed age-related decline and the brains of older adults retained the capacity to grow and develop.

Physically fitter adults have less evidence of a deterioration in grey matter than their less physically fit contemporaries, the report stated.

Hebrew Israelite Community Launches 'CRE8APLATE’ Catering Service

Highlights from London's 2008 Vegan Festival
Soferet Baht Yehuda
KNN-British Isles


‘From Palate to Planet’ was the stimulating topic delivered by Resident Prof. Yehoeshahfaht Ben Israel of the Institute of Regenerative Truth at the annual Vegan Festival’s Seminar. Ahk Yehoeshahfaht is a popular speaker at the event which always showcases the Extension’s creative dishes and impressive national presence in the New World celebration colours of the year. In his powerful lecture, he “expanded the bedrock of what being a Vegan means to the environment.” He ended with Ghana update through the African Hebrew Development Agency (AHDA).
______________________________________

According to the event Co-ordinator Ms. Verity Shepherd- Hunt Information Officer, well over 3,000 people passed through between 10:00AM and 7:00PM excluding stall holders. The annual festival is held in the Royal Borough of Kensington Town Hall, in West London. Vegan Day started in 1944 by Donald Watson [1910-2005] a humble English Yorkshire man and is now a spectacular showcase of displays, campaigning groups, promotional products for skin, hair, clothing and footwear and of course, much to sample and feast on.

This year’s highlight was the Extension’s launched of their Vegan Catering Service ‘Cre8aplate’ after years of requests and demands by the public for cooking classes and eat-in or a take-out services. The Caribbean touch cuisine flavours, in the popular Bar-B-cue twists, lentil patties, vegetable rice, selection of sauces, salads, freshly squeezed juices, raw (live) foods, selection of dehydrated foods and cakes, saw hundreds of customers queue up to secure their orders as Cre8aplate made its debut and secured its identity.

Administrative Taskforce Member and Director of Sisterhood Affairs, Ahkote Yikarah E. Immanuel spearheaded the operations which involved the whole Extension in the preparation, cooking and serving on the day. This year the standard was raised to a higher level. The presence of the community always brings a unique righteously captivating ambiance in: 1) The unity of colours. 2) The African-dominated identity of the community. Many inquired while others complemented on the beautiful image that the unifying colour conveyed.

Over the years the ocean of white faces on the London Vegan landscape has gradually evolved to a slightly varied and more colourful melanin mosaic. While there are encouraging signs of more people of African descent entering the Vegan food path and the food business; said Ahk Shakadiel Ben Israel, Administrative Taskforce member and Public Relations Representative, “We are well established here but this is not nearly enough, there is room for growth. We will do more outreach, participate in and create more Vegan fares to bring the majority of our people into this space and for them to own it!” “We cannot be complacent!”

When Donald Watson and his wife Dorothy created the word Vegan from the beginning and end of the word VEG-e-tari-AN sixty-four years ago in Yorkshire northern England, United Kingdom and founded the Vegan Society; little did they know that today this worldwide movement will include a whole community of people of African-descent based on a plant-based diet started by Anointed Spiritual Leader Ben Ammi Ben Israel of the Hebrew Israelites at Jerusalem some twenty-three years later in 1967.
___________________________________________

Asked in a ground-breaking interview by ‘Foods for Life, ‘How does your veganism relate to any religious beliefs you may have?’ Watson replied, “I never had very deep ones. I've never been clever enough to be an atheist - an agnostic, yes. Some theologians think that Christ was an Essene. If he was, he was a vegan. If he were alive today, he'd be an itinerant vegan propagandist instead of an itinerant preacher of those days, spreading the message of compassion. I understand that there are now more vegans sitting down to Sunday lunch than there are Anglicans attending Sunday morning service. I think that Anglicans should rejoice at the good news that somebody at least is practising the essential element in the Christian religion - compassion.” Full interview at: foodsforlife.org.uk/people/Donald.watson.vegan.html
___________________________________________
Ben Ammi marks 26 years since he first wrote ‘God the Black Man and Truth’ (now available in hardback) which exposed the role that the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade played in the degenerate dietary transformation of African-Caribbean and African American populations. In his famous chapter, ‘The Making of a Slave or Soul Transformation’ re-written today can be entitled, 'Soul Regeneration and the Return to the Genesis.'

'Black Friday' as World Markets Plunge

Stock Meltdown Felt Worldwide
Panic Spreads Across Asia, Europe
Associated Press

Wall Street appeared headed to a sharply lower open Friday, extending a global sell-off on concerns that even low interest rates won't help end the worsening credit crisis. Dow Jones industrials futures plunged 282 points ahead of the opening bell in New York.

Frozen credit markets and a loss of confidence in the world's financial system have caused the Dow to drop 21 percent in just 10 trading days. The blue chip index tumbled 678 points Thursday, and is heading to its worst weekly point drop, and one of its biggest weekly percentage drops, since being created 112 years ago.

"Momentum is running against the market and you don't want to get hit by a train," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. "This is now about market psychology. There's extreme fear and panic out there."

A stream of selling forced exchanges in Austria, Russia and Indonesia to suspend trading, and those that remained opened were hammered. The rout in Australian markets caused traders there to call it "Black Friday."

European stocks sank, with Britain's FTSE-100 down 7.3 percent, German's DAX down 7.7 percent, and France's CAC-40 down 7.5 percent. In Asia, the collapse of Japan's Yamato Life Insurance caused already nervous investors to pull even more money out of the market — the Nikkei 225 fell 9.6 percent.

See: 'Black Friday' for Overseas Markets

NYC National Debt Clock runs out of digits

It's a sign of the times
Associated Press

In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing figure.

As a short-term fix, the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock near Times Square has been switched to a figure — the "1" in $10 trillion. It's marking the federal government's current debt at about $10.2 trillion.

The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year by adding two digits. That will make it capable of tracking debt up to a quadrillion dollars.

The late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt.

KNN Offers Wholesale Maple Syrup

Maple Syrup can be sweet for your health and pocket
by
Ahtur Keymah
KNN-Cleveland

Maple syrup is one of the many wonders of the world. It is an excellent source of manganese and a good source of zinc. Maple syrup can also be sweet for your health as it is an excellent source of manganese and zinc.

The trace mineral manganese is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses. For example, the key oxidative enzyme superoxide dismutase, which disarms free radicals produced within the mitochondria (the energy production factories within our cells), requires manganese. One ounce of maple syrup supplies 22.0% of the daily value for this very important trace mineral.

Maple syrup is also a good sweetener to use if you are trying to protect the health of your heart. The zinc supplied by maple syrup, in addition to acting as an antioxidant, has other functions that can decrease the progression of arteriosclerosis. Zinc is needed for the proper function of endothelial cells and helps to prevent the endothelial damage caused by oxidized LDL cholesterol and other oxidized fats. Additionally, studies have found that in adults deficient in manganese, the other trace mineral amply supplied in maple syrup, the level of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) is decreased.

Zinc and manganese are important allies in the immune system. Many types of immune cells appear to depend upon zinc for optimal function. Particularly in children, researchers have studied the effects of zinc deficiency (and zinc supplementation) on their immune response and their number of white blood cells

Maple syrup may help to support reproductive health and provides special benefits for men. Zinc is concentrated more highly in the prostate than in any other human tissue, and low levels of zinc in this gland relate to a higher risk for prostate cancer. In fact, zinc is a mineral used therapeutically by healthcare practitioners to help reduce prostate size. Manganese may also play a role in supporting men's health since, as a catalyst in the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol, it also participates in the production of sex hormones, thus helping to maintain reproductive health.

For more info and to place your order contact Ahtur Keymah today at keymah777@gmail.com.We can ship anywhere in the world!!!!!

US to Have Military Command Forces in Africa

The head of the new US military command for Africa (Africom) has told the BBC it has "no hidden agenda"
BBC World News

General William Ward said the command would not be used to gain control of African natural resources such as oil.

He also dismissed fears that the US intended to build large military bases on the continent.

Only one country, Liberia, has offered to host Africom, which is coming into full operation at its headquarters in the German city of Stuttgart.

General Ward said the location of the headquarters, for its 1,300 military and civilian personnel, was less of a concern, given the size of the African continent.

The BBC's Adam Mynott says the creation of Africom is a recognition by the US that Africa and security issues on the continent are now a priority.

It reflects concerns about tackling Islamist extremism, securing oil supplies, and countering Chinese influence in Africa, he says.

But its creation has been met with considerable scepticism, our correspondent says.

See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7645714.stm