IGIHE

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  • U.S. Soldier Freed After Afghan Prisoner Swap

    U.S. Soldier Freed After Afghan Prisoner Swap

    {{The sole American prisoner of war held in Afghanistan was being flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Sunday, after he was dramatically freed in a swap deal for five Taliban militants who were released from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.}}

    Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had been held for nearly five years and his release, following years of on-and-off negotiations, suddenly became possible after harder-line factions of the Afghan Taliban shifted course and agreed to back it, according to U.S. officials.

    A U.S. defence official said Bergdahl was able to walk and became emotional on his way to freedom, after being handed over to U.S. special forces in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday. “Once he was on the helicopter, he wrote on a paper plate, ‘SF?’” the official said, referring to the abbreviation for special forces. “The operators replied loudly: ‘Yes, we’ve been looking for you for a long time.’ And at this point, Sergeant Bergdahl broke down.”

    U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he hoped the successful prisoner exchange deal might lead to breakthroughs in reconciliation with the militants.

    “We had been … working to find ways to open up some possibilities with the Taliban to try to get Sergeant Bergdahl back. This didn’t just start,” Hagel told reporters travelling with him on a visit to Afghanistan.

    “This has been an ongoing effort that our government has been involved in at every level … We found some openings … that made sense to us,” he added. “The timing was right, the pieces came together.”

    Bergdahl, 28, was handed over about 6 p.m. local time on Saturday, a senior official said. The U.S. forces, who had flown in by helicopter, were on the ground very briefly, said the officials, who would not specify the precise location.

    “Fortunately … no shots were fired, there was no violence,” said Hagel. “It went as well, not only as we had expected and planned but I think as well as it could have.”

    reuters

  • Egypt to Collect Capital Gains From Foreigners

    Egypt to Collect Capital Gains From Foreigners

    {{Egypt will collect capital gains tax from foreigners with each transaction, the country’s finance minister Hany Dimian said in a television interview late on Saturday.}}

    The interim government agreed to impose a new 10 percent capital gains tax on profits made on the stock market last week as part of its first phase of tax reforms which it expects to bring in 10 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.42 billion).

    The 10 percent tax will be imposed on cash dividends and on net capital gains that Egyptians make at the end of the tax year. But Dimian said foreigners would be taxed with each transaction.

    “For foreigners… I will (collect) transaction-by-transaction because they can carry out a transaction and leave,” he said on private Egyptian television channel CBC.

    “The expected amount to be collected from this tax will range between 3.5 billion pounds and 4.5 billion pounds.”

    Egypt’s stock index opened 5 percent lower on Sunday after the news of the new tax.

    Egypt is eager to encourage investment but is also trying to find additional sources of revenue after more than three years of economic and political turmoil since a popular uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, deterring foreign investors and tourists.

    Profits from the stock market are currently tax-free, and Dimian said the new tax will not be retroactive.

    Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who toppled the country’s first freely-elected president Mohamed Mursi last year, won a presidential election with more than 90 percent of the vote last week, according to provisional results.

    ($1 = 7.0302 Egyptian Pounds)

  • Italian Priests & Canadian Nun Released in Cameroon

    Italian Priests & Canadian Nun Released in Cameroon

    {{ Two Italian priests and a Canadian nun kidnapped in northern Cameroon in early April by suspected Boko Haram gunmen have been released, Cameroon’s communications minister said.

    “I confirm the release of the two priests and the nun abducted a few weeks ago. They are in good health. They are now in a plane heading to Yaounde,” Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary told Reuters by phone.}}

  • SA Finance Minister Denies Recession

    SA Finance Minister Denies Recession

    South Africa’s economy is not heading into recession, despite contracting in the first quarter, new Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.

    Data last week showed that Africa’s most developed economy shrank 0.6 percent in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter, as mining production slumped by nearly a quarter due to a protracted strike in the platinum sector. [ID:nL6N0OD2CR]

    The quarterly contraction – the first since a 2009 recession – presents a challenge for Nene, who was appointed last week to steer an economy that has struggled to post convincing growth or generate new jobs in recent years. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarterly declines in gross domestic product.

    “My view is we are at the bottom of the curve, but we are not headed into a recession,” Nene told City Press newspaper.

    “Since 2009, our planning has always been for a difficult situation.”

    He also said that policy over the next five years would focus on improving business and investor confidence.

    That is line with the recently re-elected ruling African National Congress’s National Development Plan, which is broadly seen as a pro-business platform.

    Mining and manufacturing account for about a fifth of South Africa’s economy, but have been plagued by strikes in the last few years, reflecting rigid labour laws that critics say are a deterrent to investment.

    The current mining strike, over wages, is now in its fifth month and is the costliest and longest in South Africa’s history.

    reuters

  • Flight Attendant Lists Ridiculous Things By Passengers

    Flight Attendant Lists Ridiculous Things By Passengers

    {{A flight attendant explains the most ridiculous things passengers say and ask while on flight. The attendant says she is fed up with the same questions passengers keep popping out.}}

    1. “Do they pay for your hotel rooms?” I love this one. Can you imagine if the whole crew was staying in different places and the junior people were grabbing a park bench to sleep on, or couch surfing in their uniforms? Yes, the airline pays for hotels and arranges transportation to and from the hotel. Otherwise, every flight would be late while we figured out where so and so was staying.

    2. Where are the lines between the states? You would be surprised how many people think there are actual lines between the states like on a map.

    3. On night flights we will go through the cabin with trays of orange juice and water. Passengers will look at the tray and say: “Which one is the orange juice and which is the water?”

    4. “When do I change the time on my watch or will it change itself as we go?”

    5. “I don’t mean to scare you, but something out there has been following us for hours!” It’s the light on the wing.

    6. We ask, “would you like cream and sugar in your coffee?” and they hesitate like it’s a difficult ‘Jeopardy’ question.

    7. It takes years before you realize you can answer people’s questions with the wrong answer and they never know the difference. When they ask what river they are looking at, I always say Mississippi—no matter where we are in the country. Same thing with the circular irrigation circles you see in farm areas. “What are those circles out there?” Private helicopter landing pads.

    8. What country is Hawaii in?

    9. We point to where the bathroom is and the passenger just stands there. I’ll point to it again and they will say “it’s vacant.” They have no idea what the word vacant means, I guess we really shouldn’t use such fancy words like vacant.

    10. “Have we landed yet?”

    11. “Do you have a writing pen?”

    12. We no longer have pillows in the economy cabin. A passenger asked me for a pillow and I told him they were discontinued. He asked “were people choking on them?”

    13. “How do I move my seat forward?”

    14. “When did you guys start wearing uniforms?”

    15. On the customs and immigration form it says: Sex M-F. Passengers will ask if it means how many times they have sex Monday to Friday!!!

  • Sudan Woman on Death Row to Be Freed Soon

    Sudan Woman on Death Row to Be Freed Soon

    {{A Sudanese woman sentenced to death for converting to Christianity is expected to be released soon, a government official said on Saturday, after Khartoum came under diplomatic pressure to halt her execution.}}

    “The related authorities in the country are working to release Mariam (Yahya Ibrahim), who was sentenced to death for apostasy, through legal measures,” Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Abdelah Al-Azrak told media.

    “I expect her to be released soon,” he added.

    A Sudanese court this month imposed the death sentence on the pregnant 27-year-old woman, who is married to a Christian American, and ordered her to return to Islam.

    The sentence caused a diplomatic incident, with Britain urging Sudan to uphold what it called its international obligations on freedom of religion.

    Ibrahim’s lawyer, Mohaned Mostafa, said neither he nor the woman’s husband had been notified about any release.

    “But we do hope she will get released soon,” Mostafa told Reuters.

    Ibrahim was also sentenced to 100 lashes for what it deemed her adultery for marrying a Christian. Last week she gave birth in prison to a daughter, her second child by her American husband Daniel Wani.

  • Raila Odinga Wants Electoral Body Disbanded

    Raila Odinga Wants Electoral Body Disbanded

    {{Kenya’s Oppistion leader Raila Odinga has demanded for national dialogue on insecurity and corruption in 60 days and called for disbandment of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ( IEBC). }}

    Addressing a mammoth crowd at Uhuru Park, who had gathered to welcome him back after three months in the US, Raila said he will hold rallies countrywide.

    The places he will tour are: Nakuru, Kisumu, Kakamega, Garissa, Mombasa, Machakos, Nyeri, Bungoma, Kitale and Eldoret.

    The former Prime Minister also said peace and country’s economy must be restored and promised to keep Jubilee Government on toes. “I want to see peace returns in our country and IEBC must go home”, Raila said.

    He added that prices of basic items like food, fare and rent must be reduced. See also: Raila arrives at Uhuru Park grounds The pary leader further said CORD must remain united adding that Muslims and Christians in Mombasa must live harmonioulsy.

    Earlier, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula also addressed the rally and criticised IEBC on the ongoing voter registration. CORD Co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka told the rally the issues of insecurity must be dealt with and called for a national dialogue on July 7.

    Attemps by Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero to address the rally failed after the huge crowd rejected him despite Kalonzo’s plea to let him speak.

  • Uganda Music Duo Nominated for MAMA Award

    Uganda Music Duo Nominated for MAMA Award

    {{Ugandan music duo Moze Radio and Weasel have been nominated for the prestigious MTV Africa Music Award (MAMA).

    The music duo that is battling police cases over alleged possession of illegal drugs in their home and fighting in a bar last weekend, is gunning for the top prize in Best Collaboration category for their song Kiboko Changu in which they featured Kenyan songstress Amani.

    The song was released last year and was a club anthem for a while both here in Uganda and Kenya.

    Radio and Weasel, who recently fell out with their Goodlyfe manager Jeff Kiwanuka, were last weekend involved in brawls at a night Club in Kampala. }}

  • Uganda Bangs Madagascar 1-0

    Uganda Bangs Madagascar 1-0

    {{The Uganda Cranes made amends for their first leg shortfall by beating a visiting Madagascan side in front of a home crowd in full voice in their 2015 Africa Cup Nations qualifier.}}

    Ugandan striker Geoffrey Massa’s early first half goal was enough to seal the victory, but he should have added his name more on the score sheet after wasting more than two chances in front of goal.

    Saturday’s triumph kept Coach Micho Sredojevic’s side in touch with their campaign to Morocco, and the Serbian tactician will have been pleased with the nature of comeback his boys put up at Mandela National Stadium, especially after he admitted prior to the match that he had had a tough week trying to gather his foreign-based players.

    The result was exactly what the home fans needed out of their team, after questions were raised following Uganda’s defeat a fortnight ago to the Barea Stars, who sit 103 places below the Ugandans in the Fifa world rankings.

    Back on the artificial turf of the Rabermanjara stadium, the Ugandans were hit by a sobering reality check – that a better ranking does not necessarily guarantee a better result on pitch – and so they felt the urgency to make every bit of this rude awakening count back home.

    While the visitors needed only a draw to move on, the hosts knew a 1-0 win in their favour would guarantee them progress.

    The two sides had not met in this competition since April 1983, when Madagascar beat Uganda over two legs, riding on the away goals rule, to advance.

    Fast-forward to today, and you could say the hosts enjoyed the advantage of playing on a familiar ground as opposed to the artificial surface back in Madagascar on which they struggled.

    NV

  • Google Self Drive Car.‘Serious Competitive Threat’

    Google Self Drive Car.‘Serious Competitive Threat’

    {{Google Inc. could become a “serious competitive threat” to the auto industry if it continues to push its self-driving cars, said Mark Reuss, product-development chief at General Motors Co.}}

    GM, which is developing its own autonomous vehicle technology, isn’t in a race with Google to create driverless cars, he told reporters yesterday in Detroit.

    Google announced May 27 that it plans to deploy at least 100 fully autonomous vehicles that it designed in tests starting this year.

    The two-seat cars will have a top speed of 25 miles (40 kilometers) per hour and no steering wheel. The Mountain View, California-based company previously had been testing its technology in other vehicles, such as Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius.

    “Anybody can do anything with enough time and money,” Reuss said. “If they set their mind to it, I have no doubt” that they could become “a very serious competitive threat.”

    GM demonstrated last year what it calls Super Cruise technology, which will support semi-automated driving features including hands-off lane following, braking and speed control under certain conditions.

    GM also has an autonomous vehicle project called EN-V that it’s been developing in China. The soda machine-sized pods don’t look like normal cars.

    {{Creeping Change}}

    The industry will phase in autonomous vehicles over years, Reuss said.

    “It’s going to be a creep, it’s not going to be a mind- bending thing,” Reuss said. “I don’t think you’re going to see an autonomous vehicle take over the city anytime soon.”

    Reuss, saying he’s only seen Google’s little car in a photograph, described it as “kind of cool” adding that it looked similar to an old Volkswagen Beetle.

    Over the next two decades, self-driving cars are going to get a bigger share of the market. Such vehicles will reach 11.8 million in 2035, according to Egil Juliussen, an analyst at IHS Automotive.

    And by 2050, he expects almost all cars to become self-driving. They are estimated to fetch premiums that will start at $7,000 to $10,000 in 2025, he said.