Kuzey Kibris Türk Cumhuriyet

Happy Anniversary to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyperus @31 following it's long time seperation as a republic under the Turkish Republic. We do hope the two sides of the republic; the north and the South of Cyprus will be repatriated soon as their are still on-going  diplomatic discussion. 

On our side, we everyone both the Greek and Turk Cypriot a happy anniversary, better said in Turkish as:  "Kuzey Kibris Türk Cumhuriyet 31 yil dönümü kutlu olsun...

 

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Tragic: Author and poet Maya Angelou was found dead in her home in North Carolina on Wednesday

Civil rights activist, groundbreaking poet and author who wrote "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Maya Angelou is dead at 86.

According to reports, a caretaker found her dead at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, this morning, 28th May 2014.

She had been struggling with health problems in recent weeks and had recently canceled a May 30 appearance at the 2014 MLB Beacon Award Luncheon in Houston, where she was to be honored with the 'Beacon Life Award.'

The civil rights icon blamed her failing health for missing the event.

An official at the Winston-Salem mayor's office confirmed that the poet had passed away.

Angelou has been celebrated as one of the greatest writers of her generation, bringing light to the struggles of women and African Americans -- as well as  the human condition, at large.

She was the first African American woman to be honored with a Pulitzer Prize and had received countless other accolades for her work including  the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for her collected works of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, including her groundbreaking memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made history as one of the first nonfiction best-sellers by an African-American woman.

The famed author has received more than 30 honorary degrees from universities around the world.  She published 7 autobiographies, 3 books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies,and television shows spanning more than 50 years.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
-Maya Angelou

Nothing will work unless you do.
-Maya Angelou

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
-Maya Angelou

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
-Maya Angelou

I first learnt about Maya Angelou many years ago through her quotes, but I became even more familiar and fascinated with her work after she was featured by actor/producer Tyler Perry in on one of his Madea movies.

She was indeed an Icon. May her soul rest in peace, Amen. 

Thanks

Why Late Mandela Is In Hell – Jim Solouki and Martin Baker

This is absolutely unbelievable. A Christian blog run by “Christians” wrote this article with reason’s why Nelson Mandela is in hell fire…(Its shocking but just read and decide..They also used the photos in this article with the captions)

Greetings True Christians!

Today Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, ended his worldly life and entered the depths of Hell. Mandela was an unsaved heathen, and died without knowing the Lord.

Not only did Mandela influence American Democrat Barack Hussein Obama, but he also practiced a heathen African tribal religion.

Unfortunately, while Mandela did some great things for the nation of South Africa by ending apartheid, Heaven is like an exclusive club, unsaved unwelcome. Mandela died unsaved, and is therefore not welcome in Heaven.
Nelson Mandela was also influenced by Darwinism and Communism! Mandela was an avid reader of Marx in the 1950s, and everybody knows that God hates Communists!

Mandela allied himself with Communists and heathen Indian Gandhi, who is also in Hell. Instead of seeking a Christian approach to freedom from apartheid, Mandela instead turned entirely to heathens. In fact, Mandela and Gandhi even are rumored to have engaged in rampant homosexual acts with each other while planning protests!
Mandela was also friendly toward Muslims, God’s hated people!

Mandela was linked to the American Civil Rights movement, and many members of this movement were Muslims. Know what the Muslims did after they got African Americans equal rights? They crashed airplanes into buildings and started sectarian wars in the Middle East. Nelson Mandela was allied with these heathen scum, and is now being punished for his earthly mistakes.

Tonight I watched many news stations. On every channel, they showed Africans lining the streets of South Africa, doing happy dappy heathen dances, perhaps in hopes that the voodoo rain god might look with favor upon the soul of Mandela.

Unfortunately, these savages are of the same cloth as Mandela. Nelson Mandela may have been a great AFRICAN nature, but by world standards, he was rather lacking. But alas, this is the best that Africa can do. Africa is a heathen continent filled with heathens, and it is no wonder that God allowed the people of Africa to be enslaved.

I implore those Africans still living to reject the sinful ways of Nelson Mandela and embrace Christianity so that they might not follow Mandela into Hell. Let us pray for the Africans, out of love.

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, please lead the Africans away from heathen religions and to You. Please lead the Africans to Christianity so that they may stop being punished with AIDS, poverty, and dirty water, and so that they may avoid the fate of Nelson Mandela and avoid being cast into hell. This we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A heartfelt Christian messages from your friends,

- Jim Solouki and Martin Baker

Culled: Tiwa Blog

After reading this I was just speechless... so we want to hear from you what you think about what Jim Solouki and Martin Baker has said. I wonder why some people will speak evil of the dead. Please share your thought and expression.

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Fact You Didn't Know About Nelson Mandela

1. He was born in July 18 1918 into the Xhosa- speaking Thembu people in a small village in the Eastern Cape of South Africa 

2. He was named Rolihlahla Dalibhunga by his parents and was given his English name, Nelson, by a teacher at his school. 

3. He is also sometimes called Madiba, which is his traditional clan name. 

4. Mandela has been called both ‘the world’s most famous political prisoner’ and ‘South Africa’s Great Black Hope.’ 

5. His father, a counsellor to the Thembu royal family, died when Nelson Mandela was nine, and he was placed in the care of the acting regent of the Thembu people, Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo. 

6. He was circumcised at the age of 16 

7. Nelson Mandela was an activist against apartheid, and he was the leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress. 

8. Nelson Mandela was the first South African President who was elected in a completely democratic election. 

9. He was elected at the age of 77 

10. Mr Mandela set up South Africa’s first black law firm with Oliver Tambo 

11. Nelson Mandela was an activist against apartheid, and he was the leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress. 

12. Nelson Mandela spent twenty-seven years in prison. 

13. Nelson Mandela won the Nobel prize in 1993. 

14. In 1994 he published his autobiography ‘long walk to freedom’ which he wrote secretly while in prison. 

15. In his spare time, Nelson Mandela studied to become a lawyer. 

16. Nelson Mandela’s favorite breakfast is plain porridge, with fresh fruit and fresh milk. 

17. Nelson Mandela has honorary degrees from more than 50 international universities. 

18. During his 27-year jail term, he stayed in cell number 46664 

19. Besides campaigning globally for peace, Mandela focused his still prodigious energies increasingly on empowering disadvantaged children and fighting against HIV/Aids. 

20. He was diagnosed of prostate cancer in 2001 

21. In June 2004 aged 85, Mandela officially retired from public life. His parting gift – a R1-billion endowment to South Africa, to be raised by the three charitable organisations that bear his name: the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and the Nelson Mandela Rhodes Foundation. 

22. He was incarcerated on Robben island for 18 of his 27 years in prison. 

23. While in jail on Robben Island in the 1980s, the former president contracted tuberculosis. 

24. Nelson Mandela retired from Public life in June 1999 and currently resides in his birth place 

25. Mandela’s birth name – Rolihlahla – is an isiXhosa name that means ‘pulling the branch of the tree’. Colloquially it also means ‘troublemaker’. His English name, Nelson, was given to him by a missionary

schoolteacher. 

26. He was expelled from the University of Fort Hare after joining a student protest. He later completed his degree through Unisa, which he followed up with a law degree from Wits University. 

27. He fled the Eastern Cape for Johannesburg after Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the leader of the Tembu people, tried to set up an arranged marriage for him. After arriving in the city, he found work as a night watchman at a mine. 

28. He lived in Alexandra township at first but later moved in with close friend Walter Sisulu and Sisulu’s mother in Orlando, Soweto. 

29. Mandela’s first wife, Evelyn Mase, was a nurse and Walter Sisulu’s cousin. She was the breadwinner in the family and supported Mandela while he studied law at Wits University and became further involved in politics. They had four children together and divorced in 1958. 

30. He was the first commander in chief of the ANC’s armed wing. 

31. In 1962, he left the country to garner support for the armed struggle. During this time he received guerilla training in Morocco and Ethiopia. 

32. The circumstances surrounding his arrest at a police roadblock outside of Howick later that year remain unclear but it is believed that an American CIA agent tipped off the police about his whereabouts. He was convicted of sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government. 

33. During his time in prison, Mandela was restricted to a 2m x 2.5m cell, with nothing but a bedroll on the floor and a bucket for sanitation in it. He was consigned to hard labour in a lime quarry for much of that time and was, at first, only allowed one visitor and one letter every six months. 

34. The apartheid government offered to release Mandela on no less than six occasions but he rejected them each time. On one such occasion Mandela released a statement saying: ‘I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom … What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people [the ANC] remains banned?‘ 

35. Mandela wrote a memoir during the 70s, copies of which were wrapped in plastic containers and buried in a vegetable garden which he kept at prison. It was hoped that fellow prisoner Mac Maharaj, who was due for release, would be able to smuggle it out. But the containers were discovered when prison authorities began building a wall through the garden. As punishment, Mandela’s study privileges were revoked. 

36. After he was separated from his second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, he asked struggle stalwart Amina Cachalia, with whom he had a long relationship, to marry him but she turned him down. On his 80th birthday, Mandela married, the widow of Mozambique’s former president Samora Machel. 

37. The ANC was labelled a terrorist organisation by the apartheid government and was recognised as such by countries including the US and Britain. It was only in 2008 that the United States finally removed Mandela and other ANC members from its terror list. 

38. The United Nations declared his birthday, July 18, Nelson Mandela International Day. This was the first time the UN dedicated a particular day to a person. 

39. Hundreds of awards and honours have been bestowed on Mandela. Among others, he was an honorary citizen of Canada, an honorary member of the British Labour Party, and an honorary member of Manchester United. He also had a nuclear particle (the ‘Mandela particle’), a prehistoric woodpecker (Australopicus nelsonmandelai) and an orchid (Paravanda Nelson Mandela) named after him. 

40. When Mandela was 9 years old, his father died of lung disease, causing his life to change dramatically.

Live on great Madiba...

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The Life Of An Hero: Nelson Mandela ( 1918 - 2013

Born in 1918, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1943, as a law student.

He and other ANC leaders campaigned against apartheid. Initially he campaigned peacefully but in the 1960s the ANC began to advocate violence, and Mr Mandela was made the commander of its armed wing.

He was arrested for sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, serving most of his sentence on Robben Island.

It was forbidden to quote him or publish his photo, but he and other ANC leaders were able to smuggle out messages of guidance to the anti-apartheid movement.

He was released in 1990 as South Africa began to move away from strict racial segregation - a process completed by the first multi-racial elections in 1994.

Mr Mandela served a single term as president before stepping down in 1999.

After leaving office, he became South Africa's highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup, where he made his last public appearance since his official retiring in 2004.

He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere.

The young as well as older people have been deeply affected by his death. The Madiba has been credited with uniting South Africans of every colour.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 along with FW de Klerk, South Africa's last white president.

Mr Mandela won admiration around the world and he will be remembered for preaching reconciliation after being freed from almost three decades of imprisonment in Apartheid South Africa. 

All around the world flags are flying at half-mast from the buildings in Washington DC, Paris and across South Africa. World football body Fifa also ordered its flags to be lowered. What a great way to honour a man!

"He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today, he has gone home," said US President Barack Obama.

However, the parliament in Pretoria is expected to hold a special joint session to reflect on Mr Mandela's life and legacy.

Books of condolence will be opened at public buildings in South Africa and at the country's embassies throughout the world.

Mr Mandela's body will lie in state for three days at the Union buildings in Pretoria before a funeral is held on Saturday in Qunu, the village in Eastern Cape where he was born.

"We love you great Madiba... The great legend... Our hero, our Pride. We do not mourn you rather we celebrate you. You are a true leader and we are happy that you finish the race well. We do hope that other world leaders will emulate this and make the world a better place"- posh diva.

From us at Bosydeprincess's Blog, you "showed us that none of us are free until all of us are free. we pay tribute to his moral fortitude and to his humility. With these qualities, Nelson Mandela inspired countless people around the world. For us  Madiba means freedom. Our sorrow runs deep with his passing. We extend deep sympathy and condolences to his wife Graça Machel, and his family and the people of South Africa"

Adieu!

The big question that kept bugging my heart is, "have you ever wondered what you will be reminded of when you depart Mother Earth, what significance has your life giving to the world today?, I know you have projects, plans and aspirations to change the world, wouldn't it be the right time to start?"

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Policeman Breaks An Ivorian Man's Leg In The City of Nicosia

Dozens of bystanders in Nicosia witnessed a police officer using excessive force against Sylvain Somé, who is from the Ivory Coast.

From his hospital bed, the victim described it as a “racist attack”.

In mid-afternoon on Wednesday November 27th, three police officers stopped an Ivorian on a busy road in the Greek Cypriot capital’s historic centre to ask for his identity documents. They checked his documents in their electronic system, and found he resides in Cyprus lawfully. Klitos Papastylianou, who works at Kisa, told FRANCE 24 “racial profiling in Cyprus is illegal, but the police do it all the time. We get at least one complaint about it a week.”

The video below was published by Kisa, complete with Greek subtitles where the audio is poor. The video shows two officers and one African witness the officer breaking Sylvain Somé’s leg. Around one minute into the footage, an officer exclaims: “you broke his leg”, while the other shouts at his colleague “stop, are you an asshole?”.

“The police here stop Africans, try to find something wrong, and then fine us”

Sylvain Somé has lived in Cyprus for seven years. He is married to a Cypriot woman.

I asked the police officers: “why have you stopped me like this?” One officer replied, the one who later broke my leg: “this is Cyprus! If you don’t like it, you can go back to your country, where you can teach the police how to behave.” I told him he hadn’t answered my question, and that I knew he had a job to do but that I had a right to speak freely. I didn’t want to end up handcuffed and taken to the police station, I just wanted to ask a question. The officer warned if I kept talking he’d arrest me, I replied saying I hadn’t done anything to be arrested for.

That’s when he threw me to the ground, and broke my leg. And then he started saying he would take me to the hospital in his car, and he was trying to handcuff me. I wasn’t going to get in his car with a broken leg, I wanted to wait for an ambulance! I didn’t trust him, he might have taken me to a detention centre and done worse things to me. I waited for an ambulance, which took me to Nicosia General Hospital.

I was stopped like a criminal. Imagine if I’d been with my daughter, who’s only a little girl. The police here are racist. It’s by no means the first time I’ve been stopped in the street: it’s happened to me dozens of times. The police here stop Africans, try to find something wrong, and then fine us. That’s what they do.

When FRANCE 24 spoke to Sylvain Somé two days after the incident, he was in hospital waiting to hear if he would need an operation.

According to Kisa, the local police department initially refused to accept Sylvain Somé’s complaint against the police officer who broke his leg. After Kisa intervened, the department agreed to receive the complaint but Sylvain Somé has still been charged with resisting arrest. It is not yet clear whether the officer will be investigated. France 24 has contacted the local and national police to obtain a reaction to the case.

This article was written by france24.com

See the video of the assault below... viewers discretion is allowed...

Culled from: AfricanSpotlight


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Are You Wearing ORANGE?

Are you wearing orange?

See why you should wear orange this month.

Violence against women has always been with us. While civilized nations do their best to institute laws that protect women and ensure that violators of such laws are made to feel the full wrath of the Law, most developing nations with patriarchal cultures tend to be less aggressive about women's rights. 

In Nigeria, even though Chapter 2 of the 1999 constitution provides for the adequate protection of women, most crimes against women are usually treated with kid gloves. Starting from rape, the complicity of the male influenced legal system which demands for the victim to provide two witness, has impeded on the rights of victims to access justice. 

Domestic violence has on another hand been left to assume different dimensions of its own with husbands hacking down wives with kitchen knives and men pouring acid on women who spurn their advances. In as much as I think the government and security agencies need to do a lot more to reform the Laws governing Women and Minority rights in Nigeria, I think much has to be done in the re-orientation of women across the country. 

I have watched with dismay how young women have been brainwashed to accept violent behaviour from men. There are times I hear friends and close acquaintances make excuses for men who unleash their rage on hapless

women and in those times, I just shake my head.

In such cases we have potential victims who have swallowed the lie that a real man is a man who uses his fist to drive home his point. Even more horrifying is the habitual masochist who boldly tells me that she gets bored when a man does not display any form of aggression towards her. "It is almost as if he is not a real man. I like it when my boyfriend slaps me." I asked the lady in question if she realizes that encouraging her boyfriend to slap or hit her might lead to other dangerous misadventures. 

Her reply?

 "Oh, I don't think of that. Things like that add spice to the relationship.

" Really?!!! 

Cases such as these are the very reason why I advocate for grass roots projects by local and international NGOs that seek to educate women on the evils of domestic or sexual violence. This is why i joined the UN WOMEN Forum Organization who in their bid has made awareness over violence and domestic abuse of women and young girls across the continent.

As long as women continue to think that it is cool to be slapped around by their boyfriends of husbands, there will be no shortage of victims of domestic violence. So while the country has to introduce measures that address this issue, women themselves need to understand that it is not okay for men to hit them. 

If you are a woman reading this and have suffered the occasional slap or push, let me assure you that it will get worse. So every time you examine the swollen puffs your eyes have become and wince with pain when you touch a mouth that now contains broken and chipped teeth, ask yourself 

"IS THIS THE PRICE I PAY FOR LOVE?"...

In view of this, this month the UN WOmen from 25 November 2013 to 10 December 2013, marks the  beginning of the 16 days of activism against Gender Violence. People around the world come together to SayNo- Unite to End VIolence Against Women and girls.

So are you wearing orange?

Below is some of the people wearing orange have to say..

Woman Dies of Over Weight, Weighing Almost 300kg

The tragic story of a mother-of-six’s battle with her weight after she ballooned to 49 STONE has been made into a poignant documentary.

Dominique Lanoise was house bound for 20 years and had to be fed and washed by her daughters because she was so incapacitated by her size.

Her struggles with food have now been charted in the film 600lb Mom: Race Against Time. Dominique died in March this year, aged just 41.

The fly-on-the-wall show reveals how she was put on a strict diet in 2011 to drop from 606lbs to the 500lbs maximum weight she needed to reach to qualify for gastric bypass surgery.

The mum lost more than 100lbs in 10 months but when she went for a hospital weigh-in four months later she had piled on even more weight.

Dominique’s doctor found one surgeon who agreed to do the surgery when the mum of six weighed 600lbs.

He asked Dominique to lose weight in the three months before the procedure – but at the next check-up her weight had ballooned to 689lbs.

Doctors still reduced her stomach to the size of an egg and Dominique lost 55lbs in just four days.

But after being referred to rehab and hating it she checked herself out after two days. Just nine weeks later she fell ill and died on March 10, weighing 43 stone

Dominique first came to the media’s attention in 2010 when she was forced to stay in Haiti for three months after the earthquake, because she was too heavy for commercial airlines. Instead she was forced to travel back to the US in a military cargo plane.

Despite doctors’ orders to eat more healthily, she continued to indulge in her favorite Haitian dishes and sprinkled her meals with appetite-suppressing powder, wrongly thinking it would counteract the calories.

The Story of A Young Somali Immigrant In Italy!

Hassan Ali is a 23-year-old Somali who survived gun battles and poverty in his youth in his native country before deciding in 2009 to embark onTahrib, the perilous journey from Africa to the Italian island of Lampedusa. Thousands of Somalis make this trip every year, and this month it made headlines after a boat caught fire and capsized on October 3, killing over 300 would-be immigrants. Eight days later, a different vessel capsized in an accident that claimed at least 34 lives. Here, Hassan speaks about his troubled life before the trip and the horrors he experienced en route to Europe.

The cannibalism didn't start until our second boat journey, from Libya to Lampedusa. We had already been traveling for ten days; people were dying and there was no food. I actually saw one guy cutting a piece of flesh from another man's body.

I'm still one of the lucky ones.

I grew up in Beled Hawo, near the Kenyan border. I love my city but life there wasn't very happy for me. I lived in a flat with my parents, a younger sister, and two older brothers. When I was ten years old the inter-clan fighting began. One afternoon while I was in the mosque, a fierce gunfight erupted outside. There were bullets flying everywhere. I was all alone in there and I didn't know what to do, I was just looking around trying to find a way out and all the while bullets were echoing off every side of the mosque. I eventually found a way out and ran towards my home, but just before I got in the door two guys with AK-47s started firing at me. I ducked, ran inside, and fell into my parents' arms. After five hours the fighting finally stopped. But I knew then that my future wasn't in Beled Hawo.

I always wanted to be an astronaut. At night I would watch the stars and the moon with amazement and dream that one day I could be among them. That sort of dream can never come true for a Somali.

I first heard about Tahrib on the radio when I was 19. There were people in Europe talking about their new lives and how they'd traveled there from Somalia by boat. It sounded like a good idea. After a while I told my parents I planned to leave. They were shocked. "Are you mad?" my mother said. "You're a young boy, what has gotten into you?" I told them how I thought Tahrib was my only way forward, that I could only find a better life in Europe. They thought I was joking. When I called them from the first boat months later, they were terrified.

Mukhalas are people who connect you with illegal businesses. They're considered among the worst people in Somalia. The guy who started me off on Tahrib was no different. He was a disgusting guy, really nasty, and known in the town as a thief and a bandit. Through him I found a few other people who wanted to make the journey. They were all scared of him, telling me horrific stories. I shut them out of my mind. I should have walked away there and then but I paid him $800 for Tahrib, donated by friends and family who didn't know what I was using the money for.

Our first trip was from Beled Hawo to Bosaso, a port city on the northern shore of Somalia. It wasn't the worst journey, but we had hardly any food and the people who drove us there were being very cruel, shouting at us and hitting people occasionally. I was only a kid—I missed my hometown already and everyone seemed so sad even though they were heading off for this exciting new life.

When we arrived in Bosaso, a burning hot place, the people taking us insisted the journey would be comfortable and our boat would be fine and spacious. But after a couple of days when it showed up, we were horrified: it was a broken, dilapidated old wreck, far too small to carry dozens of people. For two whole days we were packed inside that tiny vessel, sleeping on top of each other. Some people almost suffocated to death below deck but the captain and his crew, who had guns, kept telling us to shut up or they'd kick us overboard.

At one point I called my brother and told him I was on Tahrib. He was so shocked he couldn't speak. For the rest of the journey my family kept calling my cellphone, making sure I was still alive. Right then all those terrible stories I'd heard back home came flooding back. I could barely breathe.

When we landed in Libya things only got worse. I made it across the border with four men and five women, all of us jaded from days without good food and the terrifying trip we'd just experienced. We were told to get to this small desert town but on the way 15 to 20 armed men captured us. We thought they were border guards. It wasn't until the torture began that we realized they were outlaws.

The men were tied together in the blistering heat for seven days straight. The guys who had captured us gave us hardly any food and told us the women were being beaten and raped nearby. When we all escaped, after having our relatives wire us $300 each, we found out those claims were true. All I wanted was to be back in Beled Hawo with my parents. I didn't care if I ever made it to Europe. Even if, miraculously, we survived the journey, how would the Europeans treat us? Would I get a visa? Would I be thrown in jail? I was terrified.

It took another ten days to find a boat from Libya to Lampedusa. Then the real horror began. There was only bread and biscuits on board and the heat was unbearable. People were dropping dead and the captain did nothing. People started eating each other: it was like something from a scary movie right in front of my eyes. That leg of the journey took three days. It felt like years.

Everyone knows that politicians in Europe and Africa are doing nowhere near enough to address the dangers of Tahrib. Otherwise all those people would not have died near Lampedusa this month. No one is addressing the real issues—the violence, the poverty—that led me away from Somalia.

People tell me Lampedusa is beautiful. I have no idea. I can barely remember any of the landscape I saw: everything was so terrifying. But, Alhamdulillah[praise to God], I made it there alive and, amazingly, got an Italian visa after three months of being held at a camp. Some people I traveled with waited years and others never got one. I love Italy, though. I lived there for three years and made a small living working in various jobs. I may never be an astronaut but Italy let me rebuild a life that was destroyed. I'm back in Somalia now—not in Beled Hawo but another city. I hope I get to visit Italy again some day. But I hope no one ever has to embark on Tahrib again.

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Newly invented anti-rape underwear to protect women from attacks

Every two seconds a sexual assault occurs in the US and across the continent. This equals over 237,000 per year. Over the last few years companies have begun making “anti-rape” clothing. These undergarments supposedly help to stop an attack before it happens. There are different pieces of clothing that include leggings, running shorts, and panties.

The company that puts out these garments is called AR Wear which is based in Nyack, NY. They have a video that explains how the clothes are used and exactly what they can do to prevent rape. The panties that they make can only be taken off by the person who is wearing them. There are also locks on the waistband and the thigh. They cannot be cut and cannot be ripped apart either. The company boasts that you can walk around in confidence with these garments on.

While the intention of the clothing line is good, it may not really be that effective. Since victims  of rape are usually assaulted at the hands of someone that they know. This means that they probably would not be wearing these things around that such people or person. If they are going out to a club to meet someone, or hanging out with friends, they most likely would not be wearing these either if they are expecting to go home with someone that night. 

My question now is, how effective can this type of clothing be if the only time you can actually wear it is when you are walking on the street alone in the dark? Uhmmm

AR Wear has put up a campaign on Indiegogo to try and raise the $50,000 to start this line of clothing for women. They also say that they will donate clothing to shelters for women who may not be able to afford them. It is a good idea, but most likely will never go anywhere because it is not about what the victim wears. If someone is out to assault another person, they will find a way. The best protection is to take a self-defense course and always be safe while walking on the street.

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Another Nigerian Dead in India’s Goa

A group of Nigerian Nationals yesterday Thursday (October 31) attacked the police van carrying the body of a fellow National who was found stabbed to death in India's beach state Goa.

The body of the Nigerian man found with stabbed wounds in Mapusa town, and triggered protests with Nigerians blocking the roads and allegedly attacking a police vehicle.

`Police have not filed a murder case due to which these Nigerians are protesting and they have blocked the road as well. They have blocked the highway from last two hours and police are just waiting and looking at the situation, "said Joseph, a local resident.

Nigerian nationals removed the body from the van and kept it on the road, blocking traffic in the area.

The chief of India's Goa state, Manohar Parrikar, said the murder charge would be investigated, while 53 Nigerians had been detained for allegedly attacking the police.

Shey na like this we go dey go, i kept wondering what the government of Nigeria are doing to protect the lives of its citizens abroad, couple of months ago two youthful inspiring citizen were killed in the island of Cyprus. These are young minds which could have make a difference. My opinion is that of a misplaced government which lack focus.

May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

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Africa The New Mecca For Luxury Brand

For a long time, interest in the global luxury market has been confined to Asia; after all, the region is set to account for over half of the luxury goods market in the next decade, according one estimation. But, as Africans become wealthier, leading luxury brands are starting to eye the continent. So which labels are set to be trailblazers and what are the challenges ahead? Report by Sherelle Jacobs. 

Africa’s wealthy class is growing. In 2012 the region’s segment of high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) grew by 9.9%, the second-highest growth rate in the world after North America, and above the global average growth rate of 9.2%, according to the latest World Wealth Report by the consulting firm Capgemini. 

During the same period, the growth rate for African HNWI wealth increased 11.5% to $1.3 trillion, 1.5% above the global average. The number of billionaires in Africa could grow 117% over the next decade, the second-fastest regional rate of growth in the world after Asia. 

The number of millionaires in Africa is also growing. Johannesburg is now home to 23,400 dollar millionaires, according to a report by UK-based New World Wealth, a UK-based information provider on the wealth sector in Africa. 

Lagos hosts almost 10,000 dollar millionaires, Cape Town around 9,000. The number of dollar millionaires in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, is expected to spike 62% to over 8,000 dollar millionaires. 

Ledbury Research also estimates that the continent has 280,000 millionaires, or 1.6% of the world total. Although the figure is modest in comparison with elsewhere (for example, China, which has 1.6m millionaires) Ledbury Research estimates that by 2017 that number will double to 645,000, or 2.6% of the global figure. 

According to Euromonitor International data, the wealthiest class in African countries is set to grow significantly. For example, Kenya’s Social Class A is projected to grow 28% from 2011 to 2020, one of the highest forecasts in the world; in China, for example, the Social Class A is only set to grow 4% to 2020. Meanwhile, the total number of people comprising Social Classes A and B in Nigeria will be 25m by 2020 according to Euromonitor, 23% more than the UK and Germany combined. 

Africa’s youthful demographics also bode well for the future of the luxury market. Around 65% of Africa’s population is under 35 years old, according to the Youth Division of the African Union Commission. By 2020, three out of four people will have an average age of 20. Ten million young Africans currently come into the labour pool for the first time every year. 

“Africa is a long way behind both emerging Asia and Latin America in terms of the size of its middle class, but the combination of rapidly growing economies and youthful populations augers well for the next  10 years (and beyond),” says Fflur Roberts, head of Luxury at Euromonitor International. 

“Equally, a recent spate of oil and gas discoveries – and the high probability of more to come, for example, in Ghana (oil) and in Tanzania (gas) – could provide a get-rich-quick spawning ground for a new generation of high-net-worth individuals,” Roberts adds. 

African twist to American dream 

The development of an intriguing and unique luxury culture also underlies much of the growth. For example, although Nigeria’s “growing bling-fuelled consumption culture, driven mainly by men and characterised by a hunger for luxury brands that are big on logos and even bigger on prestige credentials” is “fairly typical of any fledgling luxury goods market”, according to Roberts, other distinctly African characteristics are shaping attitudes to luxury, which could turn out to be powerful long-term forces. 

“What is arguably different in Nigeria to other emerging markets is the pervasive sense of opportunity, even among the poor. It is an African twist on the American dream. People from low-income backgrounds [in Lagos, especially] believe their time will come – and in part this is down to a new offshoot of Christian religion, preaching financial prosperity.” 

Luxury firms from a number of sectors are making inroads in Africa as a result of all of these developments on the wealth front. In the fashion stakes, Italian menswear company Ermenegildo Zegna opened a store in Lagos in April. The label is considering opening stores in Mozambique and Angola too. 

Meanwhile, Hugo Boss opened a new flagship store in the recently developed Palms Mall in Nigeria in February. Prada is also opening a store in Angola later this year and may also be set to enter Nigeria next year. The luxury watch market is another area where activity has been exciting. The main trailblazer is high-end watch brand Cartier, known for the impressive global reach of its product range; it is distributing its luxury goods in several African countries, a trend that is only likely to increase as Africa grows more wealthy. 

There is also movement in the cosmetics sector. High-end make-up brand MAC, which has a reputation for entering emerging markets before other luxury brands, is also proving keen on Africa; in February the firm opened a store in Lagos. It plans to open an outlet in Zambia in December and another in Botswana in January 2014. South Africa’s luxury cosmetics industry also grew impressively with retail spending having a compound annual growth rate of 15% between 2006 and 2011. It was worth $773m by 2011. 

Luxury alcohol is another sector in which there has been a lot of activity. The market pulling in the most interest is Nigeria. The country is now the second-fastest growing market in the world for Champagne. In 2012, Champagne consumption in Nigeria was worth $59m and it could reach $105m, or 1.1m litres, by 2017. 

New brands are also entering the market. For example, Nigerian business mogul Jide Adenuga has recently introduced Champagne label Montaudon into the Nigerian market. Meanwhile, whisky has become South Africa’s fastest-growing liquor in sales terms, with premium and super premium brands constituting 87% of all units sold. Nigeria’s cognac market is now bigger than Canada’s and the country is in the top 10 largest markets for Hennessy cognac.

Leading distillery companies offering a strong line of luxury products, like Diageo, have also been performing particularly well. For the year ended 30th June 2013, the firm’s reported net sales in South Africa grew 5%. In East Africa, the figure was 13%, in Nigeria 6%. 

Rival Pernod Ricard has also been trying to position itself in Africa. In the first half of this year, it experienced 12% growth in Africa. Last year it opened commercial units in a host of African countries, including Angola, Ghana and Kenya. In April, a distribution agreement between Pernod Ricard Nigeria and the CFAO Group in Nigeria came into action, which covers Pernod Ricard’s whole portfolio but the Martell, Absolut and Chivas Regal brands in particular. There has also been a lot of movement in the premium car market recently. Last spring, German car manufacturer Porsche opened a luxury showroom in Nigeria’s most exclusive neighbourhood, Victoria Island. It hopes to sell roughly 300 units every year. It also recently opened a new dealership in the similarly affluent capital of Angola, Luanda. 

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz South Africa has been enjoying steady progress in Africa. “Most of the luxury car markets in Africa are small markets, but have been very stable over the past years, such as in Nigeria,” says Mareike Jahnle, a spokesperson for Daimler. Although South Africa remains the firm’s biggest market, “Botswana and Namibia have been very stable and continue to grow in line with our expectations. We do not have Mercedes-Benz passenger cars presence in Swaziland and Lesotho currently, however this may be a consideration in the future,” says Jahnle. Other car brands have also been trying to target Africa’s market, such as Range Rover; it has been pushing its Evoque model, which has special appeal for the younger market. Jaguar, owned by India’s Tata Motors, is acquiring a dedicated following in several African countries. The car’s sleek, muscular lines and its promise of top-level performance is rapidly making it a very desirable object. 

Poor infrastructure gets in the way 

But Africa’s luxury market still has some way to go. Big luxury brands, especially in the fashion sector, are yet to expand outside of South Africa. Last year, Francesco Trapani, chief executive of the jewellery and watches division at LVMH, said that, for the company, Africa was “still a very, very small market”. 

Guillaume de Seynes, managing director of French luxury group Hermès International also said that Africa could be “a new frontier” but for the seventh generation. 

As the company is currently in its sixth family generation, the comment implies that the firm does not envisage pursuing an Africa strategy in the immediate future. “We have not yet found any opportunities to make business in Africa or to open a store in Africa. We’ve looked at Egypt, Morocco, South Africa,” said de Seynes. “These markets are maybe not yet mature enough to welcome a Hermès store.” 

Fashion labels clearly see Africa as a risky venture. Even those that have entered the market first, like Zegna, have done so using a franchise model, making use of local knowledge on the ground. 

Some even believe that the eventual expansion of such brands into Africa in the long term may not be guaranteed, partly due to the growing importance of online shopping. “To some extent, as the world has become increasingly interconnected, through faster shipping and connectivity increasing daily with the internet, sometimes having a virtual presence is enough,” says Roberts. “As the internet becomes ever more accessible, luxury brands can track where their brands are becoming popular by using web analytics software.” 

The tradition of shopping abroad amongst the African elite may also prove a disincentive for luxury retailers. Many Africans travel to New York or European cities such as Paris and London to shop for designer items. Nigerians are now the fourth-biggest foreign spenders in the UK and spend an average of £500 in every high-end shop they frequent. A major reason which is likely to be holding such brands back is the region’s underdeveloped real estate infrastructure. In particular, this amounts to a lack of identifiably high-end shopping districts and shopping malls outside of South Africa. Poor access to equity financing due to the high risks involved in large-scale property development in African countries is a big challenge getting in the way of building more luxury shopping malls. 

Basic infrastructure challenges, like electricity shortages, are also an issue. However, there have been rumblings of progress. In 2006, Nigeria opened a new luxury shopping centre, The Palms, a 45,000 square metre space in Lekki peninsula. In 2008, the Accra Mall opened in Ghana, the country’s first high-end large- scale shopping space. Kenya is awaiting the opening of Garden City, a new 130,000 square metre shopping space in Nairobi, which will be the largest in East Africa and is due to open in mid 2014. 

In the luxury car sector, investment in growth will not be without its challenges. “Porsche knows, for example, that Nigeria’s roads are so badly maintained that anyone buying one of its sports cars is unlikely to be able to drive it very fast, or even very far,” says Roberts. “For the moment, wealthy Nigerians are buying Porsche not for performance but as a badge of status.” Jahnle at Daimler points to another issue: “Successful future expansion on such a diverse continent would require a greater level of coordination from a governments in terms of regulatory and legal policies, political stability and financial systems. Other challenges surely are logistics and infrastructure,” she says. 

“A globally competitive local supplier base is also critical to overall success of an expansion business model for Africa,” Jahnle adds.  Yet, despite such sticking points, Africa’s ‘time’ in terms of the luxury market seems to be fast approaching. Current developments, in a way, echo the history of the luxury market in China. 

For example, Zegna was the first luxury menswear brand to open a fully-owned store in mainland China in 1991, a move which was questioned by many at the time. If the parallels with China follow through, then the race to lure Africa’s rising affluent class may not be far off. 

Source: African Business Magazine

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Brazilian Ex-footballer's Head Found In A Paper Bag Near Rio de Janeiro!

Police in Brazil have launched a manhunt after the severed head of a former professional footballer was left on the doorstep of his home. The horrified wife of Joao Rodrigo Silva Santos, 35, made the gruesome discovery as she left the house in Rio de Janeiro for work early yesterday morning. 

The player's eyes and tongue had been cut out and his head placed inside one of his own rucksacks, police said. Mr Santos retired from football two years ago after a successful career playing for several teams in Rio de Janeiro, as well as for clubs in Sweden and Honduras. He had recently set up his own business selling health foods and dietary supplements. 

Continue... 

Police said today that Mr Santos is believed to have been snatched from outside the shop he had opened in the Realengo district of Rio as he closed up at around 7.45pm on Monday. Witnesses said they saw several men bundling him into his car, a Hyundai i30, and speeding off just before midnight, a spokesman said.

 He was reported missing by his wife at 9pm on Monday. Mr Santos' brother-in-law, who didn't want to be named, told Brazil's Globo G1 website that the player's wife, Geisa Silva, 31, stayed up all night after her husband failed to arrive home.

He said: 'Every time a car passed by she would go to see. 'She was getting ready to go to work at around 5.30am when she heard a noise, opened the front door and saw his rucksack. 'When she opened it she discovered it contained his head.

'I did not want to look but the people who saw it said they had gouged out his eyes and cut off his tongue,' said the horrified relative.

Neighbours living close to the crime scene reported hearing a woman screaming: 'My God, it's Joao!

It’s Joao’s head.'

From what I know, he didn't have any enemies and neither did his wife,' the relative added.

In a statement Mr Santos' widow said the couple had not been subjected to any threats. Lead murder investigator Rafael Rangel from the 14th Military Police Battalion (BPM) in Rio, said witnesses saw armed men kidnap the businessman. 'We believe that the people who took him knew the family’s routine,' said Rangel. Investigators are working on the hypothesis that Mr Santos could have been murdered by a drugs gang because of Mrs Silva's work at a military police base in a local slum.

The Police Pacification Unit in the Morro do Sao Carlos is one of dozens set up in Rio's favelas to retake control of the city's slums from violent drug traffickers. 

However, according to police chief Rafael Rangel,Mrs Silva worked as a social worker in the base and didn't patrol the streets or make arrests like other police officers.

He told Brazil's O Dia newspaper the motives of the murder are still unclear. He said: 'Mrs Silva has no idea who would have done this. Neither she, her husband or any other member of the family have suffered any type of threat as far as she knows.

'There is nothing that would justify such a barbarous crime.' Santos did not have a police record. Later today Brazilian police said body parts dumped beside a city river were believed to be those of Mr Santos.

The player's brother-in-law told Brazil's Globo G1 website that family members had positively identified a torso found next to the Guandu river in Queimados, greater Rio de Janeiro, by a birth mark on Mr Santos' stomach.

A police spokesman said other body parts had also been found in the area and were being DNA tested. He said the murder bears the hallmarks of an execution by drug gangsters, but stressed that "every line of investigation" is still open. 

The couple had been together for 11 years and were described as ‘lovely’ by neighbours. 'They were a happy, quiet couple,' said a neighbour, who asked not to be identified. 'But you never know what may have motivated a crime as stupid and as senseless as this.' 

Mr Santos’ played as a professional footballer between 1996 and 2005 - during which he scored 33 goals in 103 matches as a striker.  Nicknamed

Humble Hero, he was signed to a number of second division teams. He also played abroad for Swedish Club Oster Vaxjo  and Olimpia in Honduras.

A recent United Nations report into drug trafficking- related crime in Brazil found that more than half of the homicides, robberies and thefts have a direct or indirect link with this criminal activity.

Culled from UK Daily Mail

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Ghana Achieves Breakthrough In Heart Surgery

The National Cardiothoraic Centre (NCTC)of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has successfully carried out a ground-breaking heart surgery without opening the chest of the patient.

The one-hour coronary stenting surgery on a 50-year old Nigerian could have taken five hours if the heart surgeons had used the normal open-heart procedure.

A coronary stenting surgery involves placing a tube in the coronary arteries which supply the heart with blood to keep the arteries open in the treatment of coronary heart disease; the most common type of heart disease that leads to heart attack.

A stent is a tiny, expandable mesh tube made of medical-grade stainless steel or cobalt alloy metal.

The three doctors led by the Director of NCC; Dr. Lawrence Agyemang Sereboe, performed the surgery on the Patient (Muhammed Diggol) who is from Kano State, Nigeria. He was earlier in the year diagnosed of severe heart pain which made it difficult for him to breathe propserly.

Other members of the surgery team were Dr. Abdul Samed Tanko, Head of the Cardiology, and Dr. Martin Adu Adade, a cardiologist.

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