IGIHE

Category: People

  • Man Arrested After Murder of Rwandan Model in UK

    A beauty queen has been stabbed to death at her home in east London.

    A murder investigation was launched after model Linah Keza, 29, was found dead by paramedics following the attack in the early hours of yesterday.

    A 38-year-old man has been arrested and was today being questioned by detectives over the killing.

    Ms Keza, said to be a mother of a three-year-old girl, is understood to have arrived in the UK from Rwanda 10 years ago. Tributes have poured in for the model, who was described by friends as “an angel”.

    Her brother, Jack Hodari, said: “It’s so tragic that good people die this young. I am not saying this because she was my sister, but the whole world can tell you this. Look at all the friends she had, see what they are saying.”

    Addressing his sister’s alleged killer on Facebook, he said: “I curse the day your were born. Your name and everything about you is bitter … We know you are coward. I curse you and I declare that you’ll know no peace and joy.”

    Ms Keza’s cousin Hazel Bamwanga Kagoro added: “You will be missed my dear, we will fight for your justice to the end. Rest in Peace and join our dear grandmother in heaven and the rest of our family that has gone to rest. We love you.”

    Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 4.29am yesterday to reports of a stabbing in King Edward Road, Leyton.

    Ghulam and Shazia Mohyuddin heard screams in the flat above them as the victim called for help.

    Mr Mohyuddin, 47, said: “My wife heard screaming and was really scared. There was screaming then the door upstairs banged. Someone came running down the stairs.”

    He said the victim lived with her daughter: “She must have been in the flat when this happened, they were always together.”

    He said Ms Keza was a doting mother and that all the neighbours in the flat block liked her. “She was lovely and her and her daughter were always smiling. It is such a shock, we can’t sleep because we think of the screams and what happened to that poor girl.” Detectives from the Homicide and

    Serious Crime Command have launched a murder investigation and a post-mortem examination was due to take place today at Walthamstow Mortuary.

    Ms Keza was born in Uganda before moving to Rwanda’s capital Kigali as a teenager. She was described as an “active member” of the Rwandan community in London. In an online tribute, friend Alex Vuningoma said: “Miss Linah Keza. I have trouble accepting the fact that you’re gone, so I won’t… It’ll be like we went for awhile without seeing each other.

    “But I can see why God would want you closer to him, cause you truly were an angel on Earth.

    {London Evening Standard}

  • Snowden Wins Political Asylum in Russia for a Year

    {{US National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden’s application for political asylum has been approved, and he has left a Moscow airport, Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told media.}}

    Snowden has legal status in Russia for one year, Kucherena said, but the attorney would not disclose his location, citing security reasons.

    “We would like to thank the Russian people and all those others who have helped to protect Mr. Snowden. We have won the battle — now the war,” WikiLeaks tweeted when the news hit.

    In another tweet, the group said, “Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia for a year and has now left Moscow airport under the care of WikiLeaks’ Sarah Harrison.”

    And another tweet: “FLASH: We can now confirm that Edward Snowden’s welfare has been continuously monitored by WikiLeaks staff since his presence in Hong Kong.”

  • I deserve State privileges, says former PM Raila Odinga

    {{Raila Odinga has said he deserves some State privileges by virtue of being a former Prime Minister.}}

    Mr Odinga dismissed claims by government spokesman Muthui Kariuki that he has mounted an illegal siren in one of his cars to manoeuvre his way through traffic.

    But responding to the accusations, Mr Odinga said he is entitled to some of the privileges he enjoys and deserves to have vehicles and bodyguards seconded to him by the government for having been a Prime Minister and a co-principal to former President Kibaki in the grand coalition government.

    “I am a former Prime Minister of this country and was a co-principal in the grand coalition government and so I am entitled to some of these privileges,” he told journalists at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi Wednesday night after arriving from Texas, US.

  • Bruni-Sarkozy threatens to sue over website claims

    France’s former first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on Sunday threatened legal action “to defend her honour” after an online petition demanded she repay 410,000 euros from the presidential budget that were used to fund her personal website while her husband was head of state.

    Some 77,000 web users had signed the petition by noon on Monday.

    Paris-based website developer Nicolas Bousquet, who started the petition, said it was “obscene” that such an amount personally benefited Bruni-Sarkozy and that the site should have cost less than 10,000 euros to create and run.

    The appeal was created in the wake of a July report by the French Court of Auditors that stated that Bruni “benefited from a personal website” dedicated to her position as First Lady.

    The site, her lawyers pointed out, is not the same as the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation site she maintains today. She denies any wrongdoing.

    “Carla Bruni-Sarkozy reserves the right to fight, through the courts, all claims that attack her personal honour, namely that the Foundation that bears her name benefited from financing that never existed,” her lawyer Richard Malka said in a statement.

    Malka said that the website mentioned by the Court of Auditors “ceased to exist” in May 2012 and that the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation had not received “a single cent” of public money.

    Following the lawyer’s statement, petition creator Bousquet wrote: “We are delighted to learn that the Foundation did not receive any public funds.

    “But it changes nothing – 410,000 euros were spent to finance web pages that promoted the activities of former first lady Carla Bruni Sarkozy.

    “She should still pay the money back.”

    Former model turned singer Bruni-Sarkozy is currently promoting her album “Little French Songs”.

    france24

  • Tutu Says He Cannot Worship ‘Homophobic’ God

    {{South African peace icon Desmond Tutu has said he would rather go to hell than worship a homophobic God, likening the fight against gay prejudice to the anti-apartheid struggle.}}

    Tutu made the comments on Friday at the launch of a United Nations gay equality campaign in Cape Town.

    “I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place,” the retired archbishop said.

    “I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this,” he said, condemning the use of religious justification for anti-gay prejudice.

    Launched by the UN Human Rights Office, the public education campaign “Free and Equal” aims to raise awareness of anti-gay violence and discrimination.

    Tutu, a Nobel laureate, compared the project to the fight South Africans waged to end the former white racist minority rule, a struggle in which he played a pivotal role.

    “I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level,” the 81-year-old said.

    Navi Pillay, head of the UN rights agency and herself South African, said same-sex relationships were illegal in more than a third of countries around the world and punishable by death in five.

    {{‘Worst cases’ }}

    Even in countries where gay rights are upheld challenges remain, she said, noting that South Africa has “some of the worst cases of homophobic violence” despite having some of the world’s best legal protections.

    The country has seen brutal, deadly attacks on lesbians, who also risk falling victim to what is known as “corrective rape”, which involves sexual assaults by men who claim they can change their victims’ sexual orientation to heterosexuality.

    A South African lesbian was last month found dead, having been sexually assaulted with a toilet brush.

    “People are literally paying for their love with their lives,” said Pillay.

    The campaign, which aims to push for legal reforms and public education against homophobia, will have a strong focus on working with governments.

    “I constantly hear governments tell me ‘but this is our culture, our tradition and we can’t change it’… So we have lots of work to do,” said Pillay.

    Source: Agencies

  • South African chef ‘too fat’ to live in New Zealand

    {{Authorities in New Zealand have told a South African chef he is too fat to be allowed to live in the country.}}

    Immigration officials said Albert Buitenhuis, who weighs 130kg (286 pounds), did not have “an acceptable standard of health”.

    He now faces expulsion despite shedding 30kg since he moved to the city of Christchurch six years ago

    New Zealand has one of the highest obesity rates in the developed world, with nearly 30% of people overweight.

    Mr Buitenhuis and his wife, Marthie, moved from South Africa to Christchurch in 2007. At the time, the chef weighed 160kg.

    Until now, their annual work visas had been renewed with “very little problem”, his wife said.

    “We applied year after year and there were no issues,” she said.

    “They never mentioned Albert’s weight or his health once and he was a lot heavier then.”

    But in early May, the couple was told their work visas had been declined because of Mr Buitenhuis’s weight.

    “The irony is that at the moment he weighs less than when we first arrived in New Zealand and also less than in his first medical, which was accepted by [immigration authorities],” his wife said.

    The couple has appealed to New Zealand’s immigration minister, citing the chef’s recent weight loss.

    An immigration spokesman said Mr Buitenhuis’s application had been rejected because his obesity put him at “significant risk” of complications including diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

    “It is important that all migrants have an acceptable standard of health to minimise costs and demands on New Zealand’s health services,” he said.

    {agencies}

  • Couple Stuck together in Nairobi Hotel

    Drama unfolded at a downtown city hotel on Friday, after reports went round that lovers were ‘stuck’ together.

    A huge crowd gathered outside the hotel on Ronald Ngala Street as police and the management sought ways of resolving the ‘problem.’

    “We have been told there is a couple stuck together in this hotel, but they have refused to let us in,” a witness said. “We want to see what is happening.”

    Nairobi Central police chief Patrick Oduma when reached for comment said “we have been informed of the incident and we are headed there to establish what exactly is happening.”

  • Less Activity Outside Mandela hospital

    {{Activity has diminished outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital, in Pretoria, where former president Nelson Mandela spent his 48th day on Thursday.}}

    Tshwane metro police still had Celliers Street cordoned off, but there was not a lot of traffic for them to direct.

    Local and international media remained stationed outside both entrances to the hospital.

    Street sweepers cleaned the pavements, and passers-by occasionally stopped to look at the wall of messages, flowers, banners, and flags left since the ailing icon was admitted on 8 June with a recurring lung infection.

    The most recent update from the presidency was that Mandela’s condition was improving.

    SAPA

  • Chiwoniso Maraire: Zimbabwe singer dies, 37

    {{One of Zimbabwe’s best known singers, Chiwoniso Maraire, has died aged 37, her manager says.}}

    Chiwoniso’s album Ancient Voices made her a star of the World Music scene in the 1990s.

    She played the mbira, or thumb piano, which only men were traditionally supposed to play in Zimbabwe.

    She died of suspected pneumonia, just a year after the death of her ex-husband, Andy Brown, also a prominent musician. The pair leave two children.

    Chiwoniso was the daughter of renowned Zimbabwean mbira player Dumisani Maraire, who taught at the University of Zimbabwe.

    The BBC’s Brian Hungwe in the capital, Harare, says Zimbabweans are shocked at the news of her death.

    She not only broke a taboo by playing the mbira, she also successfully fused the traditional sound with modern instruments.

    She was born in the US in 1976, before moving back to Zimbabwe at the age of seven.

    “She has been in hospital for the past 10 days suffering from chest pains,” her manager, Cosmas Zamangwe, told Zimbabwe’s state-owned Herald newspaper.

    “We are however still to ascertain the disease she was suffering from but we suspect it is pneumonia.”

    BBC

  • Britain: World Gets First Glimpse on new Prince

    {{The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have emerged from St Mary’s Hospital in west London with their new baby son.}}

    Walking out to cheers from staff and well-wishers, Kate cradled her son and said it was “a special time”.

    Prince William said they were “still working on a name”.

    The couple then went back inside the private Lindo Wing and placed their son in a car seat. A few minutes later they came outside again and the duke drove his family home to Kensington Palace.

    A small crowd had gathered outside the palace to greet them.

    Speaking to reporters outside the hospital earlier, the couple both said the experience was “very emotional”.

    William and Kate appeared relaxed and smiled as they appeared on the steps of the hospital shortly before 19:15 BST in front of a mass of photographers.

    Kate handed their baby, who was wrapped in a white shawl, over to her husband and the couple walked forward to speak to reporters.

    BBC