IGIHE

Author: Publisher

  • Mega Wedding Planned for Mugabe’s Daughter

    Mega Wedding Planned for Mugabe’s Daughter

    {{Robert Mugabe’s only daughter will tie the knot on Saturday in a ceremony at the veteran Zimbabwean leader’s private home to be attended by more than 4 000 guests.}}

    Bona Mugabe, 24, will wed pilot Simba Chikore at her father’s home in the plush suburb of Borrowdale in the capital Harare.

    The wedding follows a traditional marriage last year after Chikore paid Mugabe $35 000 and 15 cattle as the bride price, in line with local custom.

    The holding of two marriage ceremonies is common in Zimbabwe, and other African countries, with one a traditional ceremony and the other a Western-style wedding.

    Bona is the eldest of Mugabe’s three children with his second wife Grace.

    Her wedding comes less than a week after Zimbabwe’s veteran president marked his 90th year birthday on Sunday with a celebration at a stadium near the capital Harare.

    Thousands turned out for the party, many of them school children bussed in for the occasion.

    Mugabe’s spokesperson confirmed the wedding but refused to comment, saying it was not a government event.

    Amongst the 4 000 invited guests are regional leaders, senior government officials, as well as close relatives and friends.

    – AFP

  • Post Office Returns Letter After 12 years

    Post Office Returns Letter After 12 years

    {{ A woman received an undelivered letter she posted 12 years ago, The Saturday Star reported}}.

    Deidre Allen was shocked to see a letter she posted in 2002 returned to her as undeliverable, according to the report.

    “This letter has been hanging around for the last 12 years and now it has come back to my postbox,” she told the newspaper.

    The letter was a brochure she sent from Johannesburg to KwaZulu-Natal advertising a workshop she was hosting.

    The letter raised concerns for Allen who still has not received as many as 14 Christmas cards from relatives overseas, the newspaper reported.

    She has complained to the post office, but has not received any response.

    Post office spokesperson Nobuhle Ngapha said a supervisor monitored specific delivery routes if the company received complaints about non-receipt of mail.

    “Our customer service centre keeps records of all feedback from customers and that is used to address operational issues,” she was quoted as saying.

    She said international mail could be affected by the erratic schedules of cargo ships and delayed by means out of the control of the Post Office.

    – SAPA

  • Ahmadinejad ‘Lookalike’ Banned From Acting

    Ahmadinejad ‘Lookalike’ Banned From Acting

    {Mahmoud Basiri has been given 8 years acting ban.}

    {{A well-known Iranian actor has said he was banned from acting for eight years because of his resemblance to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

    Mahmoud Basiri made the revelation in an interview with the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).}}

    He said he would not play the role of Mr Ahmadinejad unless he received consent from the former leader.

    The 66-year-old actor is renowned in Iran for playing mainly comic roles on TV during his long career.

    No laughing matter Mr Basiri, who is almost a decade older than the former president, said he had learned of the ban when he received calls from lawyers asking if he was aware that he was no longer allowed to perform.

    This was following the 2005 election which Mr Ahmadinejad won. “I used to laugh it off at first and could not believe it but the rumours gradually became a reality,” Mr Basiri said.

    He complained that apart from a few fellow actors, no-one else seemed to care about what happened to him after he was banned. Mr Basiri said his picture had even been removed from review clips of his TV shows in the eight years since he has been banned.

    He said he had no issue with anyone and that he was fundamentally against character roles that make fun of individuals. Mahmoud Basiri turned down a film offer that he said was “a project related to the presidential elections”.

    {agencies}

  • US to Withdraw Military Aid to S. Sudan

    US to Withdraw Military Aid to S. Sudan

    {{ The United States has reportedly taken a decision to withhold its military aid to war-torn South Sudan, despite officials in the new nation saying it had not been notified about the new development.}}

    The spokesperson of South Sudan’s foreign affairs ministry told Sudan Tribune on Friday that it has not received any official communication from the US or its affiliated financial institution about reports that the latter had decided to withhold military aid to the conflict-ridden East African nation.

    “There is no official communication that I know from the government of the United States notifying the government of the Republic of South Sudan about its decision to withhold any assistance,” said Mawien Makol.

    The official was reacting to reports that President Barak Obama’s administration had decided to withhold military aid to the new nation and transfer some of that money to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in support of the ceasefire monitoring efforts.

    Several officials and activists as well as experts on South Sudan and Sudan testified on Wednesday before the congress that the current developing political and security situation in the two countries require immediate attentions and actions through strong engagements.

    Ambassador Donald Booth declared in testimony to a House of Representatives panel that “business as usual” must cease in the case of strife-torn South Sudan.

    “As one sign of this”, he said, “I would note that our security assistance to South Sudan is not going forward at this time, and that some of it is being re-programmed to support the regional verification mission.”

    The top US envoy did not, however, specify the amount of US funding being transferred to the ceasefire monitoring and verification initiative being carried out by IGAD, a regional bloc that consists of Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti and Somalia as its seven founding members. Eritrea was admitted in 1993, but was suspended in 2007.

    South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan in 2011, became an IGAD member the same year it joined the United Nations and African Union bodies.

    The envoy also did not indicate how much funding for South Sudan’s army and police is being withheld by the US, though the research arm of the US Congress notes that aid to South Sudan’s security sector has totaled more than $300 million during the past 10 years.

    In his remarks on Wednesday, Ambassador Booth criticised the performance of South Sudan government, pointing out authorities in Juba “attempted to contain inter-communal violence without fully committing to the hard work of addressing its causes, which include trauma from decades of war, economic disparity, historical grievances between communities, human rights abuses, and political grievances due to real or perceived under-representation.”

    “On top of this”, Booth noted, “the government had also progressively reduced the space for political competition, within and outside the ruling party, and for independent media and civil society voices to be heard.”

    He endorsed the efforts by IIGAD, which is presently mediating the talks between the government and the rebels, who defected in mid-December, to try to resolve the conflict in the youngest nation.

    “Their premise, one with which I agree, is that the government must not be given the space to return to business as usual with a quick fix and political accommodations for the main protagonists, for the simple reason that this will not bring about a sustainable peace”.

    Meanwhile, John Prendergast, a leading US human and civil rights activist, also testified before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations on the developing situation Sudan and South Sudan.

    {sudantribune}

  • Bible in Driver’s Pocket Stops Bullets

    Bible in Driver’s Pocket Stops Bullets

    {{The Bible that a US bus driver kept in his pocket saved his life after it stopped two bullets from piercing his chest, stunned police said. }}

    “There was obviously some kind of intervention involved in this incident because he probably should not be here,” Sergeant Michael Pauley of the Dayton, Ohio police told reporters.

    Rickey Wagoner, 49, had stopped his bus to fix a problem in the early hours of Monday morning when he was approached by three teenagers in what appears to be gang-initiation attack, WCPO news reported.

    “He heard one of the suspects say it was time to kill a polar bear to get into a club,” Pauley said. “He fought for his life.” Wagoner was shot twice in the chest but managed to stay standing and struggled to wrestle the gun away from his attackers.

    “I had a book in my pocket,” Wagoner told a police dispatcher in a call released to local media. “At first I thought it went through. It just feels like I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer in the chest.”

    One of the teens slashed him in the arm with a knife while he fought for the gun, which went off during the struggle and shot him in the leg. But he managed to get both weapons away.

    “I stabbed one in the leg with my pen,” Wagoner said in the 911 call. “He hollered and that’s when they all ran.” Wagoner picked up the dropped gun and shot after the fleeing teens but told the dispatcher he didn’t think he hit them.

    AFP

  • France Striving to Stop Central African Republic Split

    France Striving to Stop Central African Republic Split

    {{President Francois Hollande flew to Central African Republic on Friday to tell its leaders and French forces stationed there that France will work to stop the country splitting in two.}}

    France’s parliament voted on Tuesday to extend the mission, despite tepid popular support at home for a military operation in the former colony where tens of thousands of people have been killed and around a million forced from their homes.

    France sent troops four months ago – its force now numbers 2,000 – to the majority Christian country where Muslim Seleka rebels seized power last March and have since been pushed back by Christian “anti-balaka” militia.

    Thousands of Muslims have fled northeast from the capital towards the border with Chad, creating a de facto division of the country which the U.N. human rights chief has said now faces “ethnic-religious cleansing”.

    “In the east and the north, we need to stop score-settling, establish the authority of government, allow it to engage in dialogue and avoid any temptation to partition the east of the Central African Republic,” Hollande told French soldiers gathered in a helicopter hanger at Bangui airport. He also said French troops would disarm militias and bandits that were “terrorizing the Muslim population”.

  • Kenya’s Elephant Population Stabilises

    Kenya’s Elephant Population Stabilises

    {{Sometime last month, Kenyan security agents assisted by their US and Chinese counterparts made a significant breakthrough when they pounced on a crime lord of Chinese origin, believed to be behind the current wave of illegal trafficking in ivory and rhino horns.}}

    The arrest of Li Xue brought with it the realisation that the new Conservation and Wildlife Management Act 2013 was beginning to bite, at last.

    The arrest and repatriation of Xue was a significant turning point in the war against poaching, which in the past three years has been on a climb, not just in Kenya, but also in Tanzania and Uganda, where it is rampant, thanks to laxities in park security.

    Around the same time, two Chinese traffickers faced hefty court fines and long prison terms for dealing in illicit ivory. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) acknowledges the threats posed by illegal trophy hunters but says the drop does not necessarily mean poaching has been on the ascent.

    KWS spokesperson Paul Mbugua said the decline was a function of multiple factors, including natural attrition and migration.

    “The numbers of elephants have dropped in Tsavo. They, however, are within a range that is considered healthy for the ecosystem. There are factors that can lead to a reduced population. These include poaching, natural attrition, migration to other ecosystems and also predation of the young. The next census will be critical in ascertaining the exact trend of this population.”

    While Kenya has recorded success in clamping down on poaching, a new report by Internal Environmental Security Sub-Directorate identifies Tanzania as the new hub for poachers.

    The report estimates that 30 elephants are butchered in Tanzania daily, translating to10,000 annually. By comparison, poachers killed about 800 in Kenya last year.

    To illustrate the seriousness of poaching in Tanzania, which affects Kenya’s herds, the country has seen a decline in stocks in Selous Game Reserve from 70,000 in 2006 to about 13,084 at present.

    KWS says over the same period, Kenya’s stocks had stabilised to sustainable levels.

    A perusal of recent reports on underworld activities of the crime rings involved in poaching suggests the 1,573 that died in Tsavo National Park alone since the last count in 2011 may have been enough to finance terror activities in Kenya and Somalia.

  • Guantanamo Briton Faces Syria Charge

    Guantanamo Briton Faces Syria Charge

    Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg and a 44-year-old woman have been charged with terror offences related to Syria, West Midlands Police have said.

    The force said Mr Begg, 45, of Hall Green, Birmingham, is accused of providing terrorist training and funding terrorism overseas.

    The woman, Gerrie Tahari, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, is charged with facilitating terrorism overseas.

    They will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Saturday.

    Both were arrested on Tuesday. Two other men arrested the same day remain in police custody.

    They are a 36-year-old man from Shirley, Solihull, and a 20-year-old man from Sparkhill, Birmingham, who were held on suspicion of facilitating terrorism overseas.

    {wirestory}

  • Can a half-Rwandan, half-Belgian Break Into English-Dominated music scene

    Can a half-Rwandan, half-Belgian Break Into English-Dominated music scene

    {{Can a half-Rwandan, half-Belgian French-speaking music sensation break through on an international, English-dominated music scene? Stromae took his charm offensive to London this week. }}

    Attempting to break through to any English-speaking market is no easy task for a Francophone artist, yet there is something about Stromae, Belgium’s latest coolest export, that makes it more likely.

    While his second studio album, “Racine Carré”, has been a chart-topper across much of Western Europe, the half- Belgian, half-Rwandan singer-songwriter still remains relatively unknown in the UK and the US.

    His debut single, “Alors On Danse”, nonetheless managed to peak at number 25 across the Channel – a rare feat for any foreign-language track in the UK – giving the 28-year-old some exposure in the summer of 2010.

    With 80 tour dates spanning from Berlin to Brussels, could Stromae’s (an anagram for ‘Maestro’) London gig be the springboard to greater things?

    {{Charisma and charm}}

    Playing at the Koko in London’s Camden last Thursday, on February 20, Stromae handily proved that wherever he performs, language is no barrier. What matters is the music, and how you deliver it.

    Tickets to Stromae’s second London show sold out quickly, with venues holding over 1400, while a few desperate fans resorted to vainly seeking to buy unwanted extra tickets from the rapidly forming queue.

    The vast majority of attendants were French-speaking, but a sizeable number of English speakers made their presence known, leading the Belgian star to offer multi-lingual speeches between sets.

    Stromae began the show with an animated short of his younger-self on an apparent journey before emerging from a lit doorway to perform “Ta fête”, alongside three backing musicians.

    His dress – a chequered turquoise cardigan, shorts and high-top socks – was no surprise to his fan base, nor his unorthodox dancing, which mainly consists of monster-like gestures and sporadic jumps. On anyone else, it might raise a few eyebrows; on Stromae, it’s part of his charisma and charm.

    The stage is quite simple: a background screen is occasionally used for video imagery, Stromae’s three backing musicians are present, as well as two lit square root symbols, which reference the name of his latest album. But what material Stromae may lack on stage is made up for by his electrifying performances.

    Despite the often sad and depressing subjects explored in his music, Stromae manages to keep the crowd moving. He appears genuinely moved as he sings his hit-single “Formidable”, wandering around the stage like the troubled drunkard depicted in the song’s video.

    Towards the end, he looks up at a single light, eyes moist, in a shockingly genuine performance.

    Even darker is the singer’s track “Quand C’est?” , about an imagined cancer striking his mother, and the vulnerability of children. A dark virus cell slithers across the background screen, and the audience falls silent.

    {{‘Belgian fries’}}

    Stromae pauses to give the crowd a cultural lesson, in the true meaning of his track “Moules Frites”.

    “The truth is they are not French fries… they’re Belgian fries!” he jokes, encouraging the Belgian fans waving their flags along the front of the stage.

    Moving onto his latest single “Tous les mêmes”, Stromae sits and begins applying make-up in order to convey the split between the male and female elements on stage – much like the song’s music video – while pink lights lit up when he starts singing the female parts, and green for the male.

    The crowd goes particularly crazy when he performs “Alors On Danse” and “Papaoutai”, his most distinctive, and career-setting, singles to date.

    Dancing alone on stage, singing with little fault, Stromae stood by his name’s meaning: the Belgian Maestro is a crowd pleaser.

    His distinct lack of pretension makes you feel he is ‘one of us’, his modesty leaves you wanting to like him. He even took the time to thank practically every member of his production team on an individual basis.

    To conclude, the Belgian star performed his non-vocal track “Merci” — a fitting closure. Supported by background visuals, the track reminded us that Stromae, beyond being simply a singer/performer, is, above all, a musician.

    As the track closes, Stromae gives one last “Merci” before pulling an invisible cord, leaving the stage in darkness and fans cheering for more.

    Stromae’s next tour dates see him return to France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium before two big dates in Montreal and New York in June, which may well define the rest of his career.

    {france24}

  • Ghana Ultimatum for ‘Missing Babies’

    Ghana Ultimatum for ‘Missing Babies’

    {{Ghana’s health minister has given a hospital in the city of Kumasi 14 days to produce the bodies of five babies that were allegedly stillborn.}}

    Seven people were charged with stealing and conspiracy to steal a baby from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital earlier in February.

    Suwaiba Mumuni, whose baby is among the five missing, told reporters she believes her child is still alive.

    The hospital, the second largest in Ghana, has denied the allegations.

    Youths stormed the hospital in Kumasi, 270km (167 miles) north-west of Accra, on Thursday, temporarily closing the maternity wards, he says.

    Ms Mumuni said after she gave birth on 5 February, she was told that her baby was stillborn and it was taken away by attendants.

    When her relatives arrived later in the day to collect the body for burial, it could not be found, she said.

    “The only news I am expecting to hear is that my baby has been found,” Ms Mumuni told media.

    “They told me my baby is dead, but they have not been able to produce the body… I am confident my baby is alive.”

    The bodies of another four babies allegedly delivered stillborn that day are also missing.

    “The ministry will leave no stone unturned until the truth is established,” Health Minister Sherry Ayittey said in a statement.

    Ms Ayittey said the hospital had 14 working days to find the bodies of the babies “for burial by the families”.

    Staff at the hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they often felt overwhelmed and there were inadequate resources to deal with demand.

    Our reporter says the seven people charged on Thursday over Ms Mumuni’s missing baby were given bail.

    BBC