Mandela’s widow Graca Machel received the Global Citizenship Award on
the fourth day of the Clinton Global Initiative’s 10th Annual Meeting at
the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, yesterday. The award
recognises citizens whose works have extended from their home town to
the globe. Machel who came out of mourning her late husband in July
looked pretty in pink and shared her wisdom during her acceptance speech
and also during a session at the meeting.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Wishes pour in for Winne Mandela on her 78th birthday
Winnie Madikizela Mandela, affectionately referred to as “Mother of
the Nation” by many South Africans, celebrates her 78th Birthday this
Friday.
The struggle icon and wife of former president Nelson Mandela was
honoured with many birthday wishes on social media on Friday morning
from her own family and other well known South Africans.
She was born in Mbongweni village in the Eastern Cape in 1936.
After completing a degree in social work in 1955, she moved to
Johannesburg to become the first black qualified social worker at Chris
Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
She later joined the ANC and married Mandela in 1958. For most of her
married life she was separated from Mandela while he was imprisoned on
Robben Island.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
American couple get married on Mt. Kilimanjaro
The newly expected couple sitting together with their patron Ansiger Mtandika and Matron Neema Njau.
The newly expected couple Richard Miller and Kara Lee from America poses in a picture at Shira cave point shortly before heading to place where they exchanged vows in Mount Kilimanjaro yesterday.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Man murders daughter & 6 grandchildren
Man murders daughter, grand children the youngest just 6 months old in a mass shooting in USA. The 51 years old man then killed himself.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Punishment
These two Ugandan kids were punished (told to stand outside, in sacks)
simply for speaking their mother tongue in class. “Vernacular” is
forbidden, apparently. What’s wrong with being bi-lingual? What do they
gain from ostracising our own languages and making kids feel ashamed of
their culture?
Air France cancels flights as strike continues
PARIS - A pilots strike at Air France entered its second day on
Tuesday, with the two sides apparently no closer to resolving a dispute
over cost cuts that has forced the French carrier to cancel 60 percent
of flights.
The airline said it expected to operate "at least 40 percent of its
flights" on Wednesday, based on three fifths of pilots walking out, as
management prepared to hold further talks with unions later on Tuesday.
The pilots are carrying out a week-long strike over Air France's
plans to expand the low-cost operations of its Transavia brand by
setting up foreign bases to fight back against fierce competition from
European low-cost airlines.
"We're continuing to negotiate, we have made proposals, we have heard
the concerns of pilots who imagined that Transavia France could
suddenly replace all of Air France across France," airline chief
Frederic Gagey told Europe 1 radio.
The expansion of Transavia is part of a new strategic plan unveiled
last week aimed at boosting earnings that sees Transavia having a fleet
of 100 jets by 2017, up from about 50 now, and more than doubling
passengers to 20 million, with a goal of lifting it out of the red in
2018.
Gagey sought to reassure pilots, saying the Transavia fleet would be
limited to 30 aircraft in France and that the idea was not to replace
Air France but to complete the company's armoury "to attack a new
market, the leisure market".
But he ruled out giving Transavia pilots the same contracts as Air France colleagues.
Pay and conditions for pilots switching to Transavia are seen as the
biggest roadblock in the dispute, which Air France has said is costing
it about $12.95 to $19.43 million a day.
Shares in parent group Air France-KLM were down 3.9 percent on Tuesday for a two-day drop of 7 percent.
Gagey said he still hoped to reach operating break even over the full
year, although "the chances are diminishing as the strikes go on".
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Luxury car owners warned of new crime trend
JOHANNESBURG – Drivers of luxury cars are at risk of having their vehicles targeted by organized crime syndicates.
A new trend in luxury car thefts – involving the targeting of victims
through dealerships or social media – has been picked up by the South
African Insurance Crime Bureau.
It involves fraudsters pretending to be employees of dealerships – in
particular representatives from the service department or customer
service.
People tend to expect a speedy reaction from companies when they complain in a public forum or on social media.
Victims are either identified by their information on record at the
dealership, or through comments or complaints they post on social media
or other websites. Some of the victims have also been people who have
filed complaints directly with dealerships.
The customer is contacted by a syndicate member purporting to be
someone from the dealership. They explain that they don’t want any
negative publicity and will do whatever necessary not to inconvenience
them and offer to fetch the car from the client’s home and take it in
for repairs.
The syndicate member then makes an arrangement to pick up the car.
Only when the client contacts the dealership to find out what is
happening with the car is it discovered that there was misrepresentation
involved.
By that time the car is gone.
Six people were arrested in Botswana after they were found in possession of four of the stolen cars which they were taking to Zambia. One of them was also arrested in Zambia with a stolen car.
While the majority of the cases have been reported in Gauteng, there
have also been similar incidents in Nelspruit, Rustenburg, Klerksdorp
and Durban. “The suspects arrested are allegedly the individuals who collected the vehicles from the victims,” Van Zyl said. car owners could protect themselves
from being targeted by the scammers, Van Zyl said motorists should be
aware that social media is being used by criminals, who are watching for
posts they can use and target the writer.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Teacher Killed in Armed Robbery in South Darfur
A teacher was killed in armed robbery in Gireida locality, South Darfur, on Saturday.
"Four Janjaweed on camelback assaulted basic school teacher El Sadig
Ibrahim Daoud Sadiq when he was tending his farm near Hashaba village on
Saturday", a villager reported to Radio Dabanga.
"They wanted to take his donkey and mobile telephone. When he
protested, they shot him dead on the spot, took all his belongings, and
fled."
Nigeria Marks 140 Days Since Chibok Girls' Kidnap
The country marks 140 days since over 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in Borno State.
Guard killed in Soweto cash-in-transit robbery
A security guard was shot dead and four people were wounded on
Saturday during a cash-in-transit robbery in Diepkloof, Soweto, Gauteng
police said.
Four men approached G4S security guards around noon at the Diepkloof Black Chain shopping centre, Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini said.
The security guards had just collected money from a shop in the centre.
"Suspects fired shots at them and one security guard was fatally shot."
Another security guard and three members of the public were also shot and wounded.
Dlamini could not provide details on the extent of the injuries.
The robbers fled the scene with a cash box containing an undisclosed amount of money.
They were travelling in a white Chevrolet Cruze and a silver Volkswagen Jetta.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Philippines bombing plot failed
Three men arrested over a foiled attempt to bomb the Philippine
capital's airport were also planning to attack the Chinese embassy and
one of Manila's biggest malls, authorities said Tuesday.
The men, who were detained on Monday at the airport with an van
containing petrol bombs and firecrackers, had planned a series of
consecutive attacks, apparently to publicise their anti-China
grievances, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters.
"They claim to be defenders of the Filipino people and consider China
and (Filipino-Chinese) oligarch taipans' monopolistic business
practices and illegal mining as enemies," she said.
De Lima said the men appeared to be particularly angry at the
Philippine government's perceived "soft" stance towards China in a
long-running dispute over competing territorial claims in the South
China Sea.
De Lima said the group, which may involve more people than those
detained, had planned a series of attacks on Monday at buildings linked
to China or to the Chinese-Filipino business community.
"They also had plans yesterday to firebomb SM Mall of Asia in Pasay
city and strafing the Chinese embassy and the DMCI building," she said.
SM Mall of Asia is owned by Henry Sy, the Philippines' richest man who was born in China.
DMCI is a construction firm owned by David Consunji, another
ethnic-Chinese Filipino whom Forbes magazine lists as the country's
sixth richest man.
Nevertheless, de Lima said investigators were not convinced that the
group's real intention was to express anger against China and Chinese
interests.
"We want to know how big this group is, what is their capacity really
to create all this havoc, and what is their real agenda," de Lima said.
"Are they on their own or are there (people) behind them? We will investigate all these."
This is just comic relief to get attention... it is not a terrorist attack.
The men -- aged 43, 22 and 25 -- worked as security guards for a
textile company just outside Manila, according to investigators.
But De Lima said the leader of the group claimed to belong to a
secretive fraternity of police and military figures that had been linked
to coup attempts in the 1980s which failed to topple then-president
Corazon Aquino.
The current president is Benigno Aquino, Corazon's son, who has been
an extremely popular president during his four years in office but has
endured a few months of brutal political battles over a series of
controversies.
A senator-ally of Aquino alleged in July that retired military
officials were trying to recruit troops to destabilise the government.
The military reaffirmed its loyalty to Aquino following the senator's comments.
Despite the intense publicity and top-level concern that Monday's
arrests generated, it appeared the suspects' plans were unsophisticated
and they were not well armed, according to authorities.
The four bombs found in the van at the airport were plastic bottles
containing petrol that the attackers intended to plant at a toilet
block, Rommel Vallejo, one of the lead investigators, told reporters.
The bombs' fuses were from firecrackers that would have given the
suspects just eight seconds to flee after being lit, Vallejo said.
A small handgun was also seized from the men, but no other weapons or
ammunition had been found that would have enabled them to carry out any
other attacks, according to Vallejo.
De Lima said the three would be charged with illegal possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit terrorism.
However military chief General Gregorio Catapang ridiculed the suspects and their apparent plot.
"This is just comic relief to get attention... it is not a terrorist
attack," Catapang told reporters in a separate briefing, adding the
airport bombs were "just firecrackers".
Calls to a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Manila were unanswered.
Nurse raped at Helen Joseph hospital
A nurse was assaulted at Johannesburg's Helen Joseph Hospital, the Gauteng health department said on Tuesday.
"The Gauteng health department has beefed up security measures at the
Helen Joseph Hospital following the brutal attack on a phlebotomist
nurse," spokesman Prince Hamnca said.
DA Gauteng health spokesman Jack Bloom claimed she was raped.
"I am horrified by the reported rape of a health worker at the Helen
Joseph Hospital last week on Friday evening," he said in a statement.
Hamnca could not be immediately reached to confirm this.
Bloom said: "The Gauteng health department has now confirmed this
incident, but only after the wide circulation of an anonymous sms that
claimed that the victim had died and management was covering it up."
Hamnca said the attacker was someone who got into the hospital. "The person has not been apprehended," he said.
The attack took place at the Wits University-controlled area in the hospital on Friday night.
The nurse works for the National Health Laboratory Service and draws
blood from patients. "The nurse... is recovering well and is expected to
be discharged soon," said Hamnca.
Security guards had been assigned to escort health workers around the
hospital. "The university has also changed locks and put measures in
place to ensure that their area is secured," said Hamnca.
The person has not been apprehended
The hospital had set up a committee to review the effects of the new
security measures. It would take into account the concerns raised by
staff and patients.
"A case has been reported to the South African Police Service and we
want the perpetrator to be apprehended and face the full might of the
law," Hamnca said.
Bloom said the department spent around R150 million a year on private security and should be held accountable for the assault.
"If they are not performing they must be fired. Staff and patients
need to know that safety is always a high priority," Bloom said.
The Star newspaper quoted an unnamed doctor as saying: "I just found
out that a staff member... had been raped, gagged, stabbed, beaten on
the fourth floor of the hospital. Management has been all quiet about
this and did not say much to people working night shifts."
A female staff member told the publication: "I am seriously
considering hiring personal security but that would have to come out of
my own pocket. It's a joke that I even have to think like this."
Another doctor said: "Unlike Charlotte Maxeke, which has guards on
every floor of every block, Helen Joseph only has a few on duty and it's
grossly inadequate."
Police spokeswoman Constable Mikateko Bila could not confirm the crime.
Deadly knife attack at China school
A man stabbed three children and a teacher to death and wounded
several others in a rampage at a Chinese primary school that refused to enroll his daughter, state media said.
The attacker killed himself by jumping from the building following
Monday’s carnage at a school in Shiyan in the central province of Hubei, Five other students have been hospitalised, one of them seriously injured,
A female teacher, surnamed Liu, was stabbed in the chest and stomach and died of her injuries hours later. The
attacker, named as Chen Yanfu (43-year-old)jumped to death from the
fifth floor after he was tackled by a teacher."
"The school's headmaster said Chen did not say a word after entering
classrooms, just pulled out a knife and started stabbing anyone within
reach," the news agency reported.
Chen was allegedly upset that his daughter was not allowed to register at the school.
Monday was the first day of the new school year in many parts of China.
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