The 2010 World Cup in South Africa got under way with a spectacular and vibrant opening ceremony at the 94,000-capacity Soccer City in Johannesburg.

The ceremony was followed by the first game of the tournament between the hosts and Mexico, which ended 1-1.

Africa is staging the World Cup for the first time, with 32 nations competing in 64 games until the final on 11 July.

Nelson Mandela was due to attend the opening ceremony but withdrew following the death of his great-granddaughter.

Zenani Mandela, 13, died in a car crash when travelling home from the pre-World Cup concert in Johannesburg on Thursday.

She was one of the 91-year-old anti-apartheid icon’s nine great-grandchildren.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation released a statement saying it would be “inappropriate” for Mandela, a former South African president, to be at the opening ceremony.

“We are sure that South Africans and people all over the world will stand in solidarity with Mr Mandela and his family in the aftermath of this tragedy,” added the statement.

“We continue to believe that the World Cup is a momentous and historic occasion for South Africa and the continent and we are certain it will be a huge success.”

The 40-minute ceremony began with a five-plane military flypast over the stadium, which resembles a huge African cooking pot.

A group of drummers and dancers performed a ‘Welcome to Africa’ song that included an introduction to all 10 tournament’s venues.

The next sequence saw a gigantic beetle show off its football skills with the Jabulani - the official football of the finals - before large pieces of cloth were used to show a map of the continent.

Musicians and artists from the other African finalists - Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria - also had their chance to perform in a joint sequence.

Multiple Grammy Award winner R Kelly then sang the ceremony’s showpiece song, ‘Sign of a Victory’ with South Africa’s Soweto Spiritual Singers.

But one of the loudest cheers was reserved for Mandela, whose image appeared on screens to a message of hope from him in song.

Not everyone made it to their seats by the start, with traffic problems delaying some fans.

But Archbishop Desmond Tutu and president Jacob Zuma were in attendance, along with the likes of United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, Mexican president Felipe Calderon, Prince Albert of Monaco and United States vice-president Joe Biden.

The global TV audience for the tournament will be made up of viewers in more than 215 countries and will run into hundreds of millions.

The festivities began in earnest on Thursday, with Shakira among the artists at a vast pre-tournament concert in Soweto.

The Colombian pop star performed the official World Cup song Waka Waka and was joined by a cast of international stars, including the Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys, along with African stars Amadou & Mariam and Hugh Masekela.

Since it was chosen as the first African host of the World Cup in 2004, South Africa has spent about 40bn rand (£3.55bn) on stadiums, transport infrastructure and upgrading airports.

The tournament, which is made up of 32 nations, could add as much as 0.5% to the country’s GDP in 2010 and will bring in an estimated 370,000 foreign visitors.

There are 64 games in total, with the final taking place at Soccer City on Sunday, 11 July.

There have been concerns about ticketing policy and security in the run-up to the tournament.

Fifa has come under fire for the way tickets have been distributed, with critics claiming its preferred method of making tickets available online excluded many locals who did not have an internet connection.

However, football’s world governing body has made a number of tickets exclusively available to South Africans and announced on Wednesday that 97% of the 3.1m tickets had been sold, allaying fears of empty stadiums.

As for security, there have been concerns about the safety of fans, media and players travelling to South Africa.

Sixteen people - including two police officers - were injured at a stampede ahead of a World Cup warm-up match on Sunday between Nigeria and North Korea outside Makhulong Stadium in the township of Tembisa near Johannesburg.

And journalists from China, Spain and Portugal were targeted in two separate armed robberies in and around Johannesburg on Monday and Wednesday.

However, Fifa president Sepp Blatter insists the World Cup will be a success.

“Everywhere, one can feel, I hope, that this World Cup is very special, the first on African soil,” he said. “We find ourselves in a position of indescribable anticipation.

“More importantly, this competition will prove that South Africa, and the African continent in general, is capable of organising an event of this magnitude.”

Some of the world’s best players will be on display in South Africa, among them Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

But some big names will be missing because of injury, such as England duo Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham, Germany skipper Michael Ballack and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien.

Didier Drogba - an icon in African sport - fractured his elbow in a recent friendly against Japan, but is hopeful of playing a part in the Ivory Coast’s campaign.

England are among the favourites in South Africa and get their Group C campaign under way against the United States in Rustenburg on Saturday.

Defending champions Italy start on Monday with a match against Paraguay, Brazil face North Korea in their first game on Tuesday and Euro 2008 winners Spain start their bid for a first World Cup win by taking on Switzerland on Wednesday.

South Africa began their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Group A rivals Mexico.

Managed by Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, the Bafana Bafana took the lead on 55 minutes when Siphiwe Tshabalala found the net with a wonderful left-foot shot.

The Mexicans levelled through Rafael Marquez in the 79th minute, but South Africa hit the post through Katlego Mphela in the 90th minute.

Source (article): BBCSPORT

Source (pictures): SGFSOCCER, SCRAPETV, CUP2010, SOUTHAFRICATRAVELGUIDE

The Ku Klux Klan took a camping trip in Sun Louisiana. The Grand Wizard, Raymond Foster, for a reason still unknown shot Cynthia Lynch a new recruit and then began trying to “dig the bullet from her body” said one of his klan kronies. Raymond Foster, Random Hines, Andrew Yates, Danielle Jones, Shane Foster, Frank Stafford, Timothy and Alicia Watkins tried to clean up the murder scene. CHANGE has come to America. I thought the Klan only killed black, jews, latinos, gays?

Former New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas was reportedly hospitalized Friday morning after overdosing on sleeping pills.

Authorities say an ambulance was called to Thomas’ suburban New York home, and someone from the home was taken to a hospital. Various reports say the person taken to the hospital was Thomas.
According to the New York Daily News, police say the victim consumed “roughly 10 Lunesta sleeping pills.”
Harrison Police Department Officer Vincent Lanzillotti says an ambulance responded to the 911 call early Friday. He declined to give any details, except to say a person was taken to White Plains Hospital.
WCBS Radio reported the call involved “an issue with sleeping pills.”
Barry Watkins, vice president of communications for Madison Square Garden, told The Journal News newspaper, “Isiah is fine.”
Late Friday afternoon, a small SUV escorted by a police car pulled into a private road leading to the luxury development in Westchester County where Thomas lives, about 30 miles from midtown Manhattan.
Thomas purchased the house on Azalea Circle in Purchase for more than $4 million in 2004, according to the Journal News.
Thomas was removed from his coaching duties by the Knicks on April 18 following the team’s seventh straight losing season. The Knicks finished last season 23-59

The Associated Press contributed

Thank you Mr. Fox

Sheldon Fox: The story is about murders world-wide, and it says that Crescent City cracks the top three. The New Orleans sky high murder rate and violent crime is nothing new, but did you know the city is now part of a new short list according to a global website. The International Business Times named New Orleans the third most murderous city in the world. Caracas, Venezuela and Cape Town, South Africa sit atop the list which measures rates by the number of murders per 100,000 people. When stories like this emerge for the outside world there’s only one way to measure the mood of those plugging the city- it’s bad. Community activist and Reverend Patrick King works with at-risk kids in Central City, and says taking down the number of killings here will start when education improves. He does see progress here, and he reminded us that it’s been a while since we covered a murder on his block. But elsewhere? New Orleans cops today identified the woman who was last seen alive here at The Howl & Wolf last Saturday morning. She was later found dead in the ninth ward with a gunshot wound to the body. Kirsten Brydum was a 25 year old who came to New Orleans last week from San Francisco. Cops also say she was shot several times in the head. It’s the city’s 145th killing and Reverend King has a world of ideas on how to stop the bleeding.

Reverend King: If you don’t invest in human development, housing, economic, political investments or development will not bring us the results we’re looking for. Instead of spending $700 billion in bailing out Wall Street what would happen if we just invested $100 billion in educating the crack babies?

Michelle Allen of Middletown was arrested on one count of disorderly conduct after police say she chased children in her neighborhood while wearing a cow suit and urinated on a neighbor’s front porch.
MyFoxCleveland reports

MIDDLETOWN, Oh. — A Middletown, Ohio woman is behind bars, charged with disorderly conduct after she was arrested while wearing a cow suit.

Police say Michelle Allen was getting in the way of traffic and chasing children while wearing her cow suit.

She’s also accused of urinating on a neighbor’s front porch.

Allen was also wearing the cow suit when she appeared in court Tuesday morning.

Thank you Mr. Fox