IKO NINI BWANA SEED JULY PART TWO

Kenya Property Exhibition in London well known as Property Expo takes place in London this weekend on Saturday 1st August, 2009 in London. The all-day exhibition takes place at the Holiday Inn Hotel Regent's Park, London. The housing minister from Mr. Hon. Soita Shitanda arrived in London on Wednesday 29th July, 2009 for the official opening of the ceremony on Friday night. The Invest in Africa - Build Africa Exhibition will provide you with information from various experts ranging from property developers to finance professionals on how to invest in the real estate market and stock markets. Exhibitors will be present to explain the process of purchasing, developing and managing your property and other investments. In addition, there will be consultations on how best to perform these processes away from home. There will be experts and professionals to offer advice on Legal issues, Property Management, Maintenance costs, Sale process, Transaction periods etc. There will be an official opening and networking dinner held on Friday the 31st of July 2009 at the same venue-Holiday Inn Hotel Regent's Park courtesy of the Kenya High Commission and Minister for Housing by invitation only. For invitation and more information please contact – Tel: 07950383595 - lgathoga@googlemail.com - CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

The opening ceremony for the Kenya Property Exhibition well known as Exhibition Expo will be officially opened by the minister of Housing in Kenya Hon. Soita Shitanda (left) and Kenya High Commissioner in the UK Hon. Joseph Muchemi (right). Invitation by card only.

Notably among the exhibitors are the Ndatani Plots Sale who have hundreds of plots to sell in Nairobi and Mombasa - CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Family and friends of the last weekend Forest Gate accident on Saturday 25th July, 2009 continues to visit and support the two families. The two families lives two miles apart at Thornton Health. During the accident two ladies passed away Miss Perpetua 'Wendie' Muchemi and Miss Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga a.k.a ‘Michelle’. A joint memorial has been arranged for Tuesday 4th August, 2009 at St. Albans Church, 1 Whitehorse Lane, London SE25 6RD at 6pm.

On the left photos is Mr. Charles an Elder of PCEA UK Outreach Church delivering the Word of the day at the residence of Perpetua parents in South London and on the right photo is the photo of Perpetua Muthoni's parents Mr. Stephen Muchemi Njoroge (left white shirt) and his wife Mrs. Ruth Warucu Mwangi being confirmed by friends.

The mother of the late Miss Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga a.k.a ‘Michelle’ Mrs Elizabeth Njenga (third from left with dotted dress) being comforted by Mr. Seed (far left) in her house on Wednesday 29th July, 2009. And on the right photo is a youth member a friend of the two ladies explaining how the youth is planning to do for their late friends. - Photo by John Kimani of Pichavision

* The driver Mr. Lewis Ndegwa Mburu was released from hospital on Tuesday 28th July, 2009

* The organising committee of Perpetua 'Wendie' Muchemi who tragically died in a road accident in Stratford East London will be having a Harambee on Saturday the 1st of August at St. Albans Church Hall,1 Whitehorse Lane, London SE25 6RD at 4pm. For more details you can contact Mwangi on 07947781980 or contact the deceased's family on 0208 2408108.

* The crash victim Perpetua Muthoni Muchemi aka Wendie was the only child of the family who are members of PCEA Church London

* The organising committee of Miss Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga a.k.a ‘Michelle’ who tragically died in a road accident in Stratford East London will be having a Harambee on Sunday 2nd August, 2009 at St. Jude Church Hall, Thornton Road, Thornton Health, CR6 7BA as from 3.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. For information contact Tel: 02082409741 or 07958140007.

* Father of the the late Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga - Dr. John Njenga Kimemia and his sister are flying to London for the burial which is expected to be on Friday 7th August, 2009 (to be confirmed).

* The youth - friends of the late Miss Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga are arranging a SEND OFF PARTY at a date to be confirmed.

* A joint memorial service for the two victims will be on Tuesday 4th August, 2009 at St. Albans Church, 1 Whitehorse Lane, London SE25 6RD as from 6.00 p.m.

* The bodies of the deceased have not been released by the coroners and is expected to be released on Wednesday 29th July, 2009

* The crash victim Perpetua Muthoni Muchemi aka Wendie body is being taken back to Kenya and the burial takes place on Friday 7th August, 2009 at Naru Molo, Nyeri North

* The BMW vehicle which was involved in the accident was a stolen car from a Kenyan family in London.

* The late Miss Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga a.k.a ‘Michelle’ is the last born in a family of three.

Veteran Kenyan comedians Mama Kayai and Ojwang of the popular TV show Vitimbi seen entertaining fans in New Jersey have now Performed in six states. They have four more performances before they wind up their 2009 U.S. tour. Accompanying the duo on the tour are Walter Monagare aka Nyambane of Redykyulass and singer Linda Muthama. To view photos of the tour, CLICK here. Visit WWW.KE411.COM for the remaining dates and venues.

The Vitimbi TV Show group wound like to come the UK on their way from USA - If you think you can be able to organise something for them please contact 07931747952.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has unveiled the final design of the controversial national identity card. The card will be offered to members of the public in the Greater Manchester area from the end of this year. Ministers plan to launch the £30 biometric ID Card nationwide in 2011 or 2012 - but it will not be compulsory. But the government faces increasing opposition over the card with critics saying it breaches privacy as well as being useless and a waste of money. Ministers say the card, which follows the launch of the foreign national ID card, will provide an easy way of safely proving identity. They say this system, backed up by a national identity register, will help combat identity fraud, crime and terrorism. The card is very similar in look to a UK driving licence but holds more data, including two fingerprints and a photograph encoded on a chip. chip and its unique number in turn links the card to a national identity register which, under current legislation, could hold more information about the identity of the individual. If the scheme goes ahead, the card could be used as a travel document within Europe, separate to the passport, similar to arrangements between other EU member states. Unveiling the card, Mr Johnson said: "The introduction of ID cards today reaches another milestone, enabling the people of Manchester to prove and protect their identity in a quick, simple and secure way.

"Given the growing problem of identity fraud and the inconvenience of having to carry passports, coupled with gas bills or six months worth of bank statements to prove identity, I believe the ID card will be welcomed as an important addition to the many plastic cards that most people already carry." The Home Office has faced increasing pressure over the ID Card programme in recent months. Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said the government had signed contracts worth £1bn before last month's u-turn. "Alan Johnson today launches a wing-and-a-prayer scheme based on the hope that people across the North West will sign up for a glossy ID card, and send a message to their counterparts in other parts of the country that the ID card is the hottest property since Susan Boyle," said Mr Grayling. "The government has already wasted £200m that we cannot afford. "The scheme will cost hundreds of million pounds more, even if the cards are voluntary. It is time this scheme was completely scrapped." And Chris Huhne of the Liberal Democrats said: "It doesn't matter how fancy the packaging is when the product is a colossal waste of money that achieves nothing. "A designer piece of plastic is not going to combat identity fraud, crime or terrorism. This intrusive scheme should be scrapped immediately." But Mr Johnson said the card was a "no brainer" and that the opposition had initially supported the plans before changing their position.

Last month, the Home Office dropped plans to make the ID Card compulsory for 200,000 airport workers amid widespread opposition from inside the industry that it would do nothing to improve the strict security procedures already in place. That announcement means only some foreign nationals are currently obliged to hold a card, although the Home Office still wants to press ahead with an 18-month trial at Manchester and London City airports. No2ID, a national pressure group, is launching a counter-campaign across North-West England to derail the Home Office's plan. Dave Page, from the organisation, said: "Once you are on that database, you can never come off it. "From the moment you're registered you'll have to tell the authorities of any change in your circumstances for the rest of your life - and pay whatever fees they ask for the 'service'. "You'll never know who's looking at your details. It won't protect our safety. It won't be convenient - except for Whitehall. This scheme is an expensive and dangerous con."

London, Wednesday 29th July, 2009. More pain for debt-hit BAA as travellers cut back on flying. Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports owner BAA slumped to a loss of £545 million in the first six months of the year, as recession-hit travellers cut back on trips and its pension fund deficit ballooned. The debt-laden operator, which is owned by Spanish building group Ferrovial, also said that it was still in ongoing talks with several potential buyers of Gatwick, despite recent reports that the two main bidders had walked away. Colin Matthews, BAA's chief executive, said that given the economic circumstances, with passenger numbers falling for 14 consecutive months, the group's financial results were good. He said: “We invested more than £500 million in improvements, particularly at Heathrow Terminal Four and Terminal Two, and these results are in line with our expectations.” Matthews emphasised that BAA is still investing for the future at the three airports and is seeing improved returns where work has been completed.

Cash generated from operations rose 42% in the first six months to £431 million, while pre-tax losses before non-cash exceptional pension charges and depreciation doubled from £71.4 million to £140 million. BAA was ordered to sell both Gatwick and Stansted by the Competition Commission earlier this year, but last month it was reported that a consortium led by Manchester Airport Group had walked away from a deal after offering £1.4 billion — £100 million less than the asking price. Analysts are worried that without a sale of Gatwick BAA would have difficulty repaying £1 billion of its £12 billion of debt which falls due in the spring of next year. Matthews declined to comment in detail on sale talks, but said: “What this level of cash flow shows is that we will be able to repay our 2010 debt maturities with or without a Gatwick sale. We still have multiple players interested in Gatwick and talks are still going on. But we don't have to sell Gatwick if we don't reckon we are getting a decent price.” Today's numbers clearly show that Heathrow is holding up better than the more holiday-oriented Gatwick and Stansted. Heathrow's passenger numbers are down by less, while the amount spent by customers in terminal shops and bars and on services like car parking has climbed more quickly than at the other airports.

Mr. Joseph Ndung'u Kariuki of Githunguri Division, Kiriko village near the D.O's place was killed dumped in a Nairobi road this week. Ndung'u was brutally killed by unknown people and was found dumped on Mombasa Road unconscious. A good Samaritan took him to hospital on 27/7/09 morning but he lost the battle after brain surgery. He was beloved husband to Mercy Ndung'u of NSSF Nairobi. A much loved son to late Simon Kariuki Mucina and Sarah Wanjiku Kariuki. A cherished brother to late Paul Mucina Kariuki {Githunguri}, Nancy Njenga {Nairobi}, Poly Gaitho {Nyeri}, Margaret Njanja Kamau {Nairobi}, Anne Gathoni Kariuki {Githunguri}, Grace Njeri Muthua {Nairobi}, Esther Nduta {UK} and Naomi Wanjeri. Prayer meetings in Nairobi and Githunguri. There will be prayers at Esther's place in Feltham London. You are welcome from 6pm today. Contact Esther for directions on 07956632833.

"A 'no' prevents many mistakes but a 'yes' gives more opportunities" - Sanity, Grace Njeri, Oxford

CCBC Swahili Service, Barking welcomes you to a nyama choma barbecue on Saturday 1st August, 2009 as from 2.00 p.m. Venue: Greatfield Church, King Edwards Road, Barking, IG11 7TR. For more information contact 0786607578.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants come to Britain just to get welfare benefits, a senior judge declared yesterday. Judge Ian Trigger said the cost of the handouts has helped to double the national debt. He spoke out as he gave a two-year jail sentence to a Jamaican drug minder who disappeared from the notice of immigration authorities after claiming asylum. He told Lucien McClearley, 31, at Liverpool Crown Court: 'Your case illustrates all too clearly the completely lax immigration policy that exists and has existed over recent years.' Sentencing McClearley, he added: 'People like you, and there are literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people like you, come to these shores to avail themselves of the generous welfare benefits that exist here. 'In the past ten years the national debt of this country has risen to extraordinary heights, largely because central Government has wasted billions of pounds. Much of that has been wasted on welfare payments. 'For every £1 that the decent citizen, who is hard-working, pays in taxes, nearly 10 per cent goes on servicing that national debt. That is twice the amount it was in 1997 when this Government came to power.'

Judge Ian Trigger said the cost of handouts has helped to double the national debt and the 65-year-old judge said he 'hoped and trusted' McClearley would be deported immediately on release.

McClearley arrived legally in Britain in November 2001 on a visitor's visa. He was arrested in October 2002 after it ran out but claimed asylum and was released while this was being processed. He then 'disappeared from the radar of the authorities', the court heard. His application was rejected in 2004 but he was only arrested this February after police stopped a car he was driving and noticed it smelled of cannabis. A search of the house where McClearley was staying in Everton uncovered cannabis worth £7,200, a gram of cocaine and a fake passport. He admitted taking a vehicle without consent, possessing cannabis and cocaine, possessing a class-B drug with intent and two counts of possessing false identity documents. Judge Trigger, who is also a part-time immigration judge, told McClearley: 'The fact that it took nearly two years to process your claim shows how desperate the situation in this country has become.' The 65-year-old judge said he 'hoped and trusted' McClearley would be deported immediately on release. He admitted taking a vehicle without consent, possessing cannabis and cocaine, possessing a class-B drug with intent and two counts of possessing false identity documents. m Judge Trigger, who is also a part-time immigration judge, told McClearley: 'The fact that it took nearly two years to process your claim shows how desperate the situation in this country has become.'

"Anger, attachment, jealously, hatred... these are the real enemy." - The Little Book of Wisdom, Dalai Lama

A festival goer enjoys a mud bath during the 34th Paleo Festival, in Nyon, Switzerland and the Japanese synchronized swim team perform at the FINA Swimming World Championships

Ms Mary Wanjiku Ndirangu (Leeds, UK), Elizabeth Muthoni (Aunt Mso, Barking, UK), Peter Mangi Migo (Thatched House, London) and Esther Wangari (Bedford, UK) and the entire family would like to thank all those who helped them during the sad times when they lost their brother back in Kenya the late Daniel Ndachi Ndirangu of Githunguri on 3rd of July, 2009. They sincerely thank those who helped either financially and in prayers, pastors who came to console us especially pastors of CCBC Swahili Service London. For more information contacts Aunt Mso 07950508993.

Uganda has rejected a preliminary survey report indicating disputed Migingo Island is in Kenya, and now plans to take matter to the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The country’s first Deputy Prime Minister Eriya Kategaya said they were also exploring possibilities of involving another country to help resolve the dispute if the two countries failed to agree.

"Someone Is always observing you Who is capable of greatly blessing you." - The Wisdom Keys, Dr. Mike Murdock

Woman wins Sh 92m award from divorced husband. They fell in love over 20 years ago in India, and took the marriage vows soon after. But both felt that their future, like many of their forebears, lay in a faraway land, somewhere beyond the Indian Ocean. And so it came to be that Dr Kuwaljeet Singh Rekhi and Ms Gurbeen Kaur Rekhi settled at the Kenyan Coast and built a solid future together. - MORE

"We need to do something about "drink and drive" Mr. Seed, I have just come back from Kenya and it is even worse in Kenya. A friend of my Mr. Kairu who has been working in a bank here in Central London is now dead. He move to Kenya and secured a managerial job in a bank and now is he gone." - Mr. Wainana, London

You will need a brolly on holiday in the UK in August - the Met Office is issuing a revised forecast for more unsettled weather well into the month. It is a far cry from the "barbecue summer" it predicted back in April. The news will raise questions about the Met Office's ability to make reliable seasonal forecasts. But the organisation has defended its record, saying people have already forgotten the hot weather experienced across many parts of Britain in June. It also highlights the absence of the sort of major floods that blighted 2007 and 2008; and the largely fine weather for the Wimbledon tennis championship, the cricket Tests and the Open golf. The Met Office also says temperatures have been around or above normal, and that the end of August might be better again. It did indeed stress at the time of the summer forecast in April that the odds of a scorching summer were 65%. It explains that it coined the phrase "barbecue summer" to help journalists' headlines. But this has come back to bite the organisation because many people do not feel like they have been enjoying a "good" summer, especially compared with previous searing years.

"Stop looking for excuses to fail. Start looking for reasons to succeed. Overcoming is a choice." - The Seeds Wisdom, Dr. Mike Murdock

Nairobi, Wednesday 29th July, 2009. There seems to be no end in sight in the controversy surrounding the eviction of illegal settlers from the Mau water catchments area with political leaders differing strongly on how and when evictions from the forest should be carried out. National heritage minister William Ole Ntimama has termed calls for compensation of Mau settlers as delay tactics aimed at derailing government's efforts to conserve the forest. However, some members of parliament particularly those from the Rift Valley insist that the settlers are faultless and should be fully compensated before they can be evacuated. According to Ntimama, masses are trooping into the forest daily so as to benefit from the said compensation, further destroying the fragile ecosystem. Ntimama says there are no legal landowners in the Mau. The Narok MP said Mau destruction has caused pastoralists to lose their livelihoods as their cattle die due to lack of pasture and water. However a section of MPs from the rift Valley has maintained that communities living in the forest will not move out until they are allocated alternative land. Mau is one of Kenya's largest water towers and its destruction continues to pose a threat to the country's water supply.

Ntimama lashed out at the section of the Rift Valley MPs opposed to the eviction of settlers accusing them of frustrating government's efforts to restore the degenerated Mau forest complex. Ntimama has rubbished the compensation demands for the settlers as hypocritical, saying they were being used to gain political mileage and to form ethnic alliances for the coming general elections. "Instead of saving the Mau, some politicians are using the catastrophic situation facing this country to forge unholy political alliances creating tribal blocks in preparation for 2012," said Ntimama. "15 million people are victims of destruction of the Mau in Kenya and East Africa, we are warning the government to be careful not to reward grabbers and criminals," he said. "Where is the government going to get money to compensate all those people, previous evictees from mount Kenya and Aberdares forests were never compensated, these are people who have illegally crossed boundaries and forcefully invaded Mau," he added.

He defended Prime Minister Raila Odinga on his stand about the Mau issue noting that the PM was defending the interests of majority of Kenyans. Ntimama called on the government and environment minister Mr. John Michuki to come out and quickly act to save the complex immediately. "The leadership of this country must not allow parochial political interests of a few politicians to hold the country hostage," he said. The Ministers remarks come after Rift Valley MPs backed by agriculture minister William Ruto declared they would protest the eviction of the Mau settlers. Ruto along with four MPs from Rift Valley insisted that the Prime Minister must respect an agreement reached in his office stipulating the time frame that those who have encroached on the Mau should vacate the forest. The MPs were in Kisii in their first public meeting to reconcile the two communities after the 2007 post election violence. Ruto who has firmly declared that there should be no eviction without full compensation maintained that the exercise must be done gradually and not forcefully. Education Minister Professor Sam Ongeri on his part said the government should steer the negotiations in order to resolve the evictions issue amicably. Once again it appears the coalition government is being torn down the middle by the Mau issue, particularly the ODM party with its leader Raila Odinga and his point man in the Rift Valley William Ruto seeming to be pulling at different end.

This route number 4 matatu was caught on the wrong side of the road this afternoon on Race Course road by traffic and regular police. The driver was arrested but crashed on a blue pickup which was driving from Kirinyaga road. Who will stop these mindless Kenyans from killing us this way? The driver was aware that there two sets of laws in Kenya - with money you cannot sleep in a police cell - without money you can easily die there. - Photo by Mr. Karuga wa Njuguna - taken on Tuesday 28th July, 2009.

Cabinet Minister William Ole Ntimama has objected to the proposed compensation of Mau settlers and said it could set bad precedent. The Narok North MP said on Tuesday that the action amounted to rewarding land grabbers who had destroyed the forest for more than a decade. - VIDEO

Watching on an inside story which was aired on KTN in Kenya recently, I literally came to understand that actually Mombasa is a death trap town for our little girls. I had always thought that luxury at the Kenyan Coast involved having some good time at the beaches, cottages and hotels without the indulgence of sex. It seems that those who often spend their holidays at the coast will usually have some hidden agenda - just to go there and exploit young girls 17 Year olds are the biggest target. They are lured to posh hotels at the coast of Kenya for only Ksh.1000 (£1) per night. Sex is thriving there and the most astonishing thing is that nobody tends to care about the use of a condom. Somebody tells us that even the White Hotel and the Sun and Sand hotels could have been involved in this scandal by allowing their visitors come in with their young girls. All this is in the name of making money. Do you know how much they charge per night? Just enter Mombasa in this Hotel rating tool and you will be amazed. The Kenya government needs to do something to safeguard Kenya's next generation. - The Ultimate African's Ideaz Club.

LEFT: The Daily Mail leads with increased fears over the cancer threat from suntan beds, after leading world health experts said the treatment belonged in the same category as smoking. The Daily Mail leads with increased fears over the cancer threat from suntan beds, after leading world health experts said the treatment belonged in the same category as smoking. CENTRE: A judge's stark criticism of the Government's immigration policy fronts the Daily Express. The paper also devotes part of its front page to the murder of Amy Leigh Barnes, after her killer was sentenced to life yesterday. RIGHT: There will be a renewed call of 'British jobs for British workers' from the unions after the British Council switches 100 jobs to India, says The Times.

Illegal immigrants are found in baby-food lorry

The UK Border Agency has thwarted an attempt by six illegal immigrants to smuggle themselves into the United Kingdom, stowed away in a lorryload of baby food. The Hungarian-registered lorry was stopped at Calais at 0525 on Thursday 16 July. When UK Border Agency officers based in France checked the lorry with a carbon dioxide probe, it showed an elevated reading - indicating that there were people inside. A search of the load revealed six Afghan men hidden among the load of baby food. They appeared to have cut their way in through the roof of the trailer. The lorry was en route from Germany to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, but was stopped before it could board a ferry across the Channel. A UK Border Agency spokesman said:

'We have hundreds of UK Border Agency officers based at ports in France and Belgium, carrying out checks to stop illegal immigrants before they get to the UK.

'As well as carbon dioxide detectors, which helped us find these would-be illegal entrants, we also use heartbeat detectors and sniffer dogs to find stowaways trying to get into the UK illegally.

'Our juxtaposed controls continue to prevent illegal migrants from entering the UK, stopping over 28,000 illegal attempts to enter the UK last year.'

PHOENIX (AP) - Officers responding to a report of hysterical screams found an 8-year-old girl partially clothed and four boys, barely in their teens, running from an empty shed. The boys, ages 9 to 14, face charges ranging from sexual assault to kidnapping, police said Thursday. Authorities in Phoenix say it's one of the most horrific cases they've ever seen. Investigators said the boys lured the girl to an empty shed on July 16 under the pretense of offering her gum. The boys then held the girl down while they took turns raping her, police said. "She was brutally sexually assaulted for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes," police Sgt. Andy Hill said. The 14-year-old boy was charged Wednesday as an adult with two counts of sexual assault and kidnapping, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said. He appeared in court Thursday and was being held without bond. He does not yet have a defense lawyer. The other boys - ages 9, 10, and 13 - were charged as juveniles with sexual assault. The 10- and 13-year-old boys also were charged with kidnapping, the office said Thursday. "This is a deeply disturbing case that has gripped our community," Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said. "Our office will seek justice for the young victim in this heartrending situation." The outrage over the allegations has intensified when police said the girl's parents criticized her after the attack and blamed her for bringing shame on the family. "The father told the case worker and an officer in her presence that he didn't want her back. He said 'Take her, I don't want her,"' Hill said.

Hill cited the family's background as the reason the family shunned the girl. All five children are refugees from the West African nation of Liberia. In some parts of Africa, women often are blamed for being raped for enticing men or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Girls who are raped often are shunned by their families. "It's a shame-based culture, so the crime is not as important as protecting the family name and the name of the community," said Tony Weedor, a Liberian refugee in Littleton, Colo., and co-founder of the CenterPoint International Foundation, which helps Liberians resettle in the United States. "I just feel so sorry for this little girl," he said. "Some of these people will not care about the trauma she's going through - they're more concerned about the shame she brought on the family." In recent years, Liberia has made efforts to combat rape under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who has sought to dispel the stigma associated with sexual assault by publicly acknowledging that she was herself the victim of attempted rape during the country's civil war. The girl's healing process will be particularly difficult, said Paul Penzone of Childhelp, which aids young victims of crime. Authorities said the victim was in the care of Child Protective Services. "These four boys used what was a ploy to entice her to a place where they could take advantage of her almost like a pack of wolves," he said. "And what's so disturbing beyond the initial crime is the fact that a child needs to have somewhere to feel safe, and you would think that would be in a home with her own family," not in state custody, Penzone said.

It had to happen some time. A New Zealand woman used a topical - but unsuccessful - defence when she appeared in court on a drunk-driving charge... she said it was swine flu's fault. Business manager Deborah Karen Graham asked for clemency over the charge on Monday, saying the three glasses of wine she had consumed were more potent than normal because she was recovering from the virus. 'She had swine flu. She was just getting over it ... and she thinks because she had the flu it may have hit her harder,' said Graham's defence counsel Nicole Murphy, in the court in in the southern city of Queenstown.

Raymond Cutkelvin, 58, with his partner Alan Rees shortly before he travelled to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to commit suicide in 2007

A doctor who helped pay for a London businessman to commit suicide today called on police to arrest him. Michael Irwin, 77, says he wants to become a "martyr" to highlight the plight of relatives who face 14 years in jail for helping someone kill themselves. The retired GP says he has evidence for the police which includes a cheque book counterfoil showing he paid £1,500 towards the cost of funding Raymond Cutkelvin's death. Such a payment is a criminal offence under British law. He told the Standard: "I've done this before (help assisted suicide) and I would do it again if someone is terminally ill. It's so wrong that people have to travel abroad to die when they could die here at home with dignity. I say to the police 'arrest me'.'' His bid to be prosecuted will increase pressure on the Government which has so far resisted attempts for assisted suicide to become legal in the UK. It comes as Britain's highest court will rule this Thursday on the rights of relatives to travel to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich to help terminally ill patients die.

A new column coming up in the website: Wananchi Agony Aunts comments (see below).

Re: Forestgate Accident

As we write regarding the Saturday 25th July 2009 accident, first and foremost our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. This is a shock to the community as well as a lesson to be learnt.

We may lose the real facts here and all start majoring on the minors rather than thinking the way forward and how to avoid such recurrences within the community. We are all aware that accidents can happen however, others can be avoided. We may be trying to ignore all the circumstance regarding this horrible accident but as a community we must act for the good of our generations to come. This mainly because we are as it is settled in this country and therefore we must start to abide with the laws and act responsibly. It is hurting to hear that those whose loved ones survived are more concerned on their names not being released as opposed to thinking how and what are the parents of the two dead girls going through.

Bravo to Misterseed for providing a community website for information on community issues without fear or favour. This is necessary as it provides a healing and reconciliation process. We are requesting to be allowed this week to respond to all issues regarding our community and answer any questions or offer any support regarding our society. We will be responding to any issues that are written with decency. We may also respond to you privately if it is a very private issue so long as you give your email address and request for confidentiality.

LEFT: Lauren Shanley, 52, fashion designer. "My coat is decorated with a Dolce and Gabbana scarf I bought in Italy and cut up." CENTRE: Laverne Hunt, 44, film-maker. "I'm wearing an eight-panel embroidered and appliquéd coat made from recycled hand-dyed silk by Lauren Shanley. The necklace is by my friend, the jeweller Amanda Caines." RIGHT: Richard Dale, 40, TV producer. "I like the Englishman-abroad look. The suit is from Alfred Dunhill and the hat is by Italian hat-maker Borsalino."

Market Kenya aggressively, President tells envoys

Kenyan envoys have been challenged to aggressively market the country as an attractive and preferred investment destination in their countries of accreditation. President Mwai Kibaki threw the challenge while addressing the envoys at Leisure lodge Resort in Mombasa during the official opening of the 15th Biennial Kenya Ambassadors/High Commissioners Conference Monday noted that an aggressive campaign to improve the country" image abroad was important to accelerate the economic developmental goals as outlined in the Vision 2030. The Head of State told the diplomats to continuously promote both the country's broad and strategic interests particularly those that would catalyze the attainment of Kenya's priority economic goals. The President observed, "This can only be possible if you become proactive and evolve strategies that will market Kenya as an attractive and competitive destination with excellent opportunities and facilities for foreign investors, businessmen and tourists." In this regard the, President Kibaki noted that the diplomats had a duty to project the image of the country positively by availing reliable information about the country during their interactions with government's of countries of representation. "This is particularly critical as we must repackage our image which was dented by the political difficulties that we faced early last year," the President said.

President Mwai Kibaki makes his address during the official opening of the 15th biennial Ambassadors/High Commissioners conference at Leisure Lodge, Mombasa.

The Head of State reaffirmed that the diplomats had a significant role to play in the implementation of Vision 2030 by engaging development partners and attracting investors to collaborate with the government in funding projects in key sectors of the economy. Said the President, "This is where your role as Kenya's top diplomats is very critical. We expect you to devise aggressive strategies for attracting investors to partner with the Government in infrastructure development." The President who expressed the commitment of the government to make Kenya a globally competitive nation said that among the priority areas of partnerships with donors are infrastructural development, trade and investment. He told the top diplomats to enlarge their focus from the traditional markets for Kenya's products and instead to explore new markets and attract foreign direct investments. President Kibaki said, "You are, therefore, expected to engage our partners more vigorously and also strengthen trade support networks through our Embassies as a means of trade facilitation and enhanced competitiveness."

The President stated that due to the volatility of the global economy, the country must diversify its economic activities to hedge against unpredictable outcomes such as the current economic meltdown. "I, therefore, urge you to explore new ways and means and even propose bold choices that will enable us to fully leverage our considerable diplomatic potential in support of Kenya's competitiveness," the Head of State said. He further called on the diplomats to strengthen relations with development partners in support of programmes in the social sector particularly the free primary education and free tuition in secondary schools. The President observed, "To sustain these important programmes, we expect you to help us in continuously engaging our friends and partners who have been assisting in funding our free education programmes." The Head of State expressed satisfaction that the emphasis the government has put on manpower and skills development over the years, the country has become a net exporter of skilled manpower and affirmed the importance of integrating the Diaspora in national development as well as in foreign policy formulation. "The Diaspora is not only crucial for remittances back home but perhaps more importantly for transfer of skills, knowledge and technology. I am pleased to note that you will be devoting a substantial part of your discussions on the Diaspora and you have even gone a step ahead and invited representatives of the large Kenyan Diaspora to take part in the discussions," declared the President. The President at the same told the diplomats to seek ways of unveiling Kenyans into the international labour market.

He, however, pointed out that the country's economic success depended largely on peace, security and amicable resolution of conflicts both internally and regionally. "That is why we are fully engaged in finding a lasting solution to the difficulties in Somalia. The escalating crisis in Somalia and the related problem of piracy off Somalia's coastline are of great concern to our security and competitiveness," he observed." During the occasion President Kibaki affirmed Kenya's commitment to integration as well as shared prosperity adding that the country will continue participating actively in various regional, continental and international bodies. The Head of State said, "This explains our active participation in regional bodies such as the East African Community, IGAD and COMESA. We must also remain active in the African Union and the United Nations as well as international organizations such as the Commonwealth and the Non-Aligned Movement." He commended the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for proactively changing with time to competently address complex and fast shifting global issues as evidenced by the preparation and submission of a new foreign policy framework for cabinet approval. In this regard the President called for patriotic and effective management of Kenya's foreign missions to supplement government efforts of creating a stable and prosperous nation whose citizens enjoy high and quality living standards.

Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang'ula in his welcoming address said a new foreign policy with emphasis on trade and economic diplomacy has been designed as a principle for interaction with the rest of the world. The new policy, Mr. Wetang'ula added has undergone all the stages of stakeholder consultation and was ready for submission to the cabinet. On rationalization in the ministry, Mr Wetang'ula said the Shs. 847 m saved annually from privatizing non-core activities has facilitated the opening of seven new diplomatic missions in Madrid, Bujumbura, Seoul, Kuwait, Dublin, Bangkok and Brasilia. Thanking the President for officially opening the new high commission offices in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, the minister proposed the utilization of pension funds to acquire or construct new embassy premises overseas. "The Ministry should borrow a leaf from Tanzanians who are constructing their mission offices in Nairobi using pension funds and partner with NSSF and RBA to invest in the low-risk acquisition of mission offices project abroad", Mr. Wetangula suggested. The conference whose theme is "Leveraging Kenya's Diplomacy for Enhanced Competitiveness" would consider how best Kenyans in the Diaspora could be integrated in the national development efforts and review the effects of post election challenges and the global financial crisis in relation to future diplomatic engagements. The conference was attended by Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Foreign Affairs Assistant Minister Richard Onyonka and permanent secretaries Thuita Mwangi and Francis Kimemia among other senior government officials.

Dear friends.

I feel very excited that yesterday we launched the transformations institute, which wil be offering personal development courses with an aim to arouse the dormant potential that most people have comfortably massaged for years.I am always and will be passionate to develop my community, nation and the world as long as am strong and living.

Personal development is a training that gives you confidence to look at life with pessimism. It challenges you to passionately grab life's opportunities to better your shortlived life before you exit into the world of no dreams. We all have a short detuor here on earth and sometimes we make it even shorter by the things that we do.

You can make best of yourself through maximising your potential utilisations. Some of us have the ability to produce double or more of our current output using the same energy but of course needs different skills. High performance is not necessarily the donkey work rather working smart. Working smart in this case means using skills, talents and gifts, grabbing the opportunity, having faith and casting out fear.

I therefore welcome every person to try and develop one self for life is not a rehearsal. Do not disqualify yourself from this training on the basis of age, gender or profession. We all can climb higher than we re if only we have a desire.
I will be offering some lessons on Mondays/Tuesday/Thursdays evenings and day time depending on your availability. Please contact me to book for a session and we will discuss how to do it at whatever area you are in .It is extremely affordable and for your good.

Familyrebuild@yahoo.co.uk /Tel 07940105578

Peter Wangaruro.

The Kenya Christians constitutional forum has opposed the inclusion and expansion of Kadhis courts in the new constitution. The forum maintains that religion must remain separate from the state. Addressing a press conference in Nairobi on Monday, Nairobi Pentecostal church leader Bishop Boniface Adoyo said the group had made submissions to the committee against the inclusion of any religious courts in the proposed constitution since the issue had emerged as contentious. "These religious courts should not be incorporated in the conditions because there is no legal, philosophical or rational basis in constitutional making world over for religious entities in a secular constitution" said the clergy Bishop Adoyo said Christians had previously rejected the religious courts, in opinion polls with 67 percent of Kenyans having rejected it on the basis that it may lead to religious tensions.

A construction worker died and five others sustained serious injuries when a wall at a construction site collapsed in Nakuru. The workers were buried under the debris with ill-equipped members of the public working frantically to pull them from under the rubble and rush the survivors to Rift Valley Provincial Hospital. The construction workers were laying slabs on the foundation of the New Kasarani Hotel which is under construction when tragedy struck. The supporting wall is said to have been shaky after the short rains in the area and finally gave way burying the workers under the rubble. Members of the public who were first to arrive at the scene managed to pull out the five survivors, one of the workers however did not survive. Area DC said the construction work had been properly authorized by the municipal council. An emergency meeting of the municipal engineering department and the ministry of public works decided to halt any further construction work on the site until the proprietors put up satisfactory safety measures.

Nairobi, Tuesday 28th July, 2009. Twenty eight illegal immigrants have been arrested at Bondeni area in Mombasa. Mombasa OCPD Tom Odero says 14 of them are of Somali origin while the other 14 are from Ethiopia. The immigrants had pitched camp for two weeks at a guesthouse in Mombasa before police caught up with them. Odero says only one of them produced a Kenyan identity card which police are investigating to ascertain its legality. He said investigations were still underway to establish the identity of the foreigners and how they got into the country. Odero says Kenya was being used as a transit point by illegal immigrants who come to process their travel documents for other destinations. Police have now embarked on tracing agents who are processing the documents for the illegal immigrants. He said in recent weeks, his office has been receiving information about an influx of aliens entering the town illegally.

Elsewhere Nakuru Central Police Station was Tuesday temporarily turned into a battle field when police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of members of the Somali community who claimed two of their members were shot dead by police on Sunday night. Chanting "Taqbir" and "Allah Akbar", the mourners were repulsed three times by the police but each time they regrouped and marched back before OCPD Daniel Kimeu Ngao agreed to address them. Ngao said the two who were together with another man who is yet to be identified were shot in a case of mistaken identity and said investigations were ongoing to unravel the circumstances under which they were shot. He said members of the crack Spiv Squad who were in pursuit of carjackers who had stolen a car and abandoned it near Kabarak mistook the three for thieves and shot them at the Eldama Ravine junction where the trio were waiting for means of transport. The community claimed the two, 24-year old Mohamed Iman and Adan Abshir, 25 were butchers and goat merchants and had just delivered a cargo of goats and a camel to the Mogotio slaughter house, when they hired a motorcycle taxi to Kambi Moto where they expected to catch one of the buses travelling from Eldoret. The community leaders speaking at the police station claimed that the police officers had turned rogue and had robbed the youth of their lives. After the OCPD addressed them the mourners dispersed peacefully and went to bury the dead at the Nakuru Muslim Cemetery.

A father and his two sons who used dozens of Chinese "slaves" to pull off Britain's biggest DVD piracy scam were jailed for up to six years each today. The "sophisticated" operation, which made up to £7 million, hid behind a "veneer of respectability" as it imported cutting edge equipment from the Far East. Khalid Sheikh, 53, and sons Rafi, 26, and Sami, 28, used it to "burn" the latest box office hits like Ice Age 2, the Da Vinci Code and Iron Man to "the best industry standards possible". Quite often the lucrative productions were being touted on street corners for as little as £3 each even before their big screen debuts. The family, whose members were claiming benefits, further boosted their multi-million pound turnover by reproducing so many porn and bestiality films some sex film shops were driven out of business. London's Southwark Crown Court heard a hallmark of the success of the three-year fraud was the purchase of a £658,000 warehouse headquarters in Essex just two years after starting in a small shop in Walthamstow, east London. They farmed their business out to a string of cramped "factories" - semi-detached houses scattered across the capital - with enough raw materials to copy hundreds of thousands of DVDs. They were staffed by "largely illegal Chinese immigrants", some of whom are thought to have been smuggled into the UK. John Hardy, QC, prosecuting, told the court they "worked round-the-clock in conditions of virtual slavery". Police believe much of the gang's "vast" ill-gotten gains have been smuggled out of the country. However, tens of thousands were spent by some of the conspirators on first class flights to luxury holiday destinations around the world. Also on their pleasure list were numerous visits to lap dancing clubs, including Spearmint Rhino. A confiscation hearing will be held later. Rafi and Sami Sheikh, of Larkshall Road, North Chingford, Essex, were each jailed for six years while their father, who lived with them, was jailed for four years.

London, Tuesday 28th July, 2009. UK Border controls were strengthened today as thousands of customs and immigration officers, sharing wide ranging powers, created a new unified force at the border following Royal Assent of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. Frontline customs and immigration officers now work together as the UK Border Agency with the power to quiz passengers on immigration and customs matters. This means many passengers will face just one primary check point when coming in to the United Kingdom, speeding up their journey. Since the creation of the UK Border Agency in April 2008, bringing together immigration, customs and visa checks, more than 3,500 officers have already been trained with the skills to carry out passport and customs checks. From 5 August 2009, 4,500 HM Revenue and Customs staff will formally become part of the UK Border Agency. This is a further step in the transformation of the Agency and strengthens its ability to crack down on those attempting to smuggle drugs and weapons in to the UK and ensures Britain continues to have one of the strongest borders in the world.

The UK Border Agency, since April 2008, has already:

'This is part of the biggest transformation of our border controls in a generation. A unified force at the Border with the powers to carry out customs and immigration checks allows us to continue the crack down on illegal immigration and the smuggling of drugs and weapons. 'I am determined that Britain's border remains one of the strongest in the world. This Act is an important part of ensuring it stays that way.'

The Act also ensures that migrants who want to become British citizens earn the right to stay by speaking English, paying taxes and obeying the law. It will speed up the path to citizenship for those who contribute to the community by being active citizens. Under the new system full access to benefits and social housing will be reserved for citizens and permanent residents - a route that can take up to ten years.

Mr Woolas added:

'This new Act ensures that those who want to stay earn the right to do so, learn to speak English and play by the rules. Those that don't will not be allowed to become citizens, making our system both firmer and fairer. 'I want to go further and within the next few weeks we will publish a consultation to examine how the current points based system for economic migrants, which has proved to be an effective and powerful tool for controlling migration, could be applied to citizenship.'

In the next few weeks the Home Office will publish proposals to extend the points based system to citizenship. This will build on the reforms to citizenship in the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act, providing even greater controls over the number of people who want to settle permanently in the United Kingdom. It will allow for a more flexible approach with the ability to raise and lower the threshold depending on the needs of the United Kingdom.

LEFT: The Daily Express leads on new research which shows half an hour's strenuous exercise every day can cut chances of dying from cancer. CENTRE: The Daily Mail claims the banks are failing to pass on cuts in interest rates to homeowners meaning they are paying £1,800 extra a year for their mortgages. RIGHT: British and US envoys are attempting to open talks with the Taliban, in an attempt to bring a breakthrough in the conflict, the Guardian claims.

Immigration staff in UK vote to strike. Holidaymakers are facing disruption after the PCS union said immigration officials working for the UK Border Agency have voted for strike action. In a ballot, 78% voted to stage a walkout over plans to merge the duties of immigration and customs staff, the PCS's Alex Flynn said. It gives the go-ahead for a possible two-day strike beginning 5 August. The UK Border Agency said contingency plans would be put into place to minimise disruption. In a statement, it said it was "very disappointed that one union branch has taken this action". But the union said travellers would face delays if the dispute was not resolved and the 1,200 staff affected were to take action. The dispute centres around changes to working practices and shift patterns following the merger of immigration and customs staff after the creation of the UK Border Agency. According to the PCS, the merger means immigration staff would have to carry out custom officers' duties for which they have not been trained, such as strip searches. The union also says proposed changes to shift patterns would mean a reduction in take-home pay. Mr Flynn said the union had been holding talks with management which were due to be discussed by the executive committee of the PCS's immigration section. "Obviously we want to avoid inconveniencing the public," Mr Flynn added. "But our members want to continue doing the jobs they signed up for. "Management were trying to introduce changes so that you would have immigration officers doing jobs for which they were not trained." Jonathan Sedgwick, deputy chief executive of the UK Border Agency said they had made "concerted efforts" to reach an agreement. "It is revealing that only around 25% of the union's staff voted to strike," he said. "However, we have taken all necessary steps to ensure the border remains secure and the public protected. "While we are committed to keep talking to avert any action, we are confident that if it does take place it will have very little effect on the operation of our business." The results of the PCS ballot come after unions representing 14,000 cabin crew at British Airways have warned of strikes over management plans for job losses and a wage freeze.

A brave little boy who lost both legs to meningitis took his first steps on new bionic limbs on Monday. Three-year-old Archie Barton insisted the £12,500 lightweight legs, bought with NHS funding, had to be his favourite colour - red. Mother Nicky, 42, of Plymouth, said: 'He can't wait to get them on in the morning. He's like a new boy.' Archie lost his legs, fingers and much of his sight two years ago.

Fancy a British passport? Just moveto Scotland:

HomeOffice's 'absurd' new plan to tackle immigration

London, Tuesday 28th July, 2009. Immigrants who want a British passport will have a better chance if they agree to move to Scotland under ‘absurd’ new Home Office plans. Concerns about a huge expected increase in the population over the next 20 years have forced the Government to propose a points-based system for those seeking citizenship. The population of 61million is expected to hit 70million by 2029 and ministers want to make it harder for migrants on work permits to stay permanently. But yesterday, the Scottish Secretary revealed that if immigrants were willing to live in under-populated parts of Britain, they would find it easier to pass the test. Jim Murphy said: ‘Having lived and worked in Scotland is proposed as one way to earn points.’ The move, contained in a draft consultation to be released in the next few weeks, means prospective British citizens already settled in Britain may flock north of the border to ensure they have enough points to be successful. But it is unknown what measures will be taken to police the system and prevent abuses. Critics point out it will be extremely difficult to check that an applicant is living and working in Scotland and whether they will stay there. Also, once a passport application is approved, the Government has no control over the person’s movements. Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: ‘This is completely absurd. Is the Government proposing to rebuild Hadrian’s Wall to prevent people from crossing the border? ‘It is a completely inappropriate idea for solving problems in Scotland or the rest of the UK.’ Campaigners said it could damage a sound Home Office policy that is designed to make it tougher for migrants to settle in Britain. At present, there is a firm link between a migrant obtaining a visa to work here, and going on to receive a British passport.

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy (left) said living and working in Scotland will be one way to earn points under new Home Office immigration plans. Shadow immigration minister Damian Green (right) has described the plans as 'absurd'

Under these rules, the number of British passports given to migrants is set to hit a record of almost 220,000 this year. During the first three months of 2009, 54,615 citizenship applications were rubber-stamped by the Home Office – up 57 per cent on the same period a year earlier, and the equivalent of nearly one every two minutes. At current rates, the number of immigrants receiving passports – and with them the right to claim full benefits – will obliterate the previous record of 164,540 approvals, set in 2007. Last year, the number of passports granted was 129,310, and when Labour came to power in 1997, just 37,010 people were given citizenship. Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the campaign group Migrationwatch UK, said: ‘It is an excellent scheme to split economic migration from the right to settle, but it makes no sense to treat Scotland differently. ‘A condition requiring residency in Scotland is completely unenforceable. ‘England receives over 90 per cent of immigration, and faces 95 per cent of the extra 10million population now projected for the next 20 years. We cannot allow the tail to wag the dog on a matter that is so important to the future of our society.’ A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The points system has already proved to be a powerful tool for controlling migration, which is why we are now looking at applying its principles to the path to citizenship. ‘The measures require migrants to earn citizenship. ‘This is the first step towards breaking the automatic link between temporary residence and permanent settlement. ‘But, we want to look at raising the bar even more.’

Belarus has begun to celebrate its fire-leaping Ivan Kupala festival. Belarussians put on traditional dress for the annual event and revellers leap over fires as part of the ancient heathen festival.

Nairobi, Tuesday 28th July, 2009. ODM MPs have scoffed at Agriculture Minister William Ruto’s threat to break ranks with Prime Minister Raila Odinga over the Mau forest issue. Speaking separately, the MPs told Ruto not to drag ODM into Government plans to evict settlers. Kisumu Town West MP Olago Aluoch dared Ruto to make good his threat. "We have pampered Ruto for too long," he said. "It is high time he made up his mind instead of rocking the party. He is playing cheap populist politics on matters of national and environmental concern." He told the Eldoret North MP to stop reducing the Mau forest saga, an international crisis, to an ODM issue. Medical Services Minister Anyang’ Nyong’o told Ruto to stop misleading Kenyans on the Government’s stand on getting settlers out of the water tower. "The Government stand is clear: Only genuine holders of title deeds will be compensated," said Prof Nyong’o. "There must be order in the Government," he said, urging Rift Valley Province leaders to go slow over the matter. He told Ruto to stop defending opportunists who have illegally encroached on key water catchments and were eyeing compensation. "Some leaders are setting a bad precedent by rallying behind such opportunists," he said. Nyando MP Fred Outa told Ruto and his colleagues to stop issuing threats. "The Mau issue will be solved amicably and there is no need to issue threats," he said. Education Assistant Minister Ayiecho Olweny accused Ruto of being stubborn. "It is becoming difficult to work with Ruto in ODM. He and his rude supporters are disturbing the party," said Prof Olweny. "What is his agenda with the continued attack on the PM? Every weekend his team takes on Raila. He started with discontent over nomination of councillors, then Cabinet and ODM national positions.

MPs Oyugi Magwanga, Shakeel Shabbir, Nicholas Gumbo and Pollyns Ochieng’ called for patience among the MPs opposing Mau evictions. However, backing Agriculuture ministers sentiments Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto insisted that Raila had reneged on their earlier agreement on how the Goverment would handle the evictions. He said during their meeting with the PM, it was agreed that elders be used to help demarcate the forestland. They also agreed there would be no use of force in the evictions. The MPs were also to participate in convincing those found to have encroached into the forest, to move out. "We agreed the Government through the PM’s influence, would look for money to compensate all those to be affected, but when he turns round and says the Sh38 billion will be for conserving the forest, that means all we discussed was merely a public relations exercise. We will not continue working with dishonest leaders," said Ruto. He said they were opposed to any forced and unstructured evictions. Agriculture Minister William Ruto was on Monday quoted as saying he was ready to sever links with Raila if Mau Forest settlers were evicted without compensation. Mr Ruto was accompanied with five Rift Valley MPs said he parted ways with President Kibaki in 2005 following the eviction of settlers from the forest. "I am ready to cut links with Raila if the Government repeats what it did to settlers in 2005," he said. In 2005, police forcefully evicted some settlers in the forest, torching down houses. The PM and Michuki (Environment Minister) should be careful in the way they handle this issue. We are still healing from wounds of 2005 incident," he said. - The Standard.

A boy jumps off a promenade into the river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Varanasi. and on right a plane from "Pioneer Team" performs a part of their aerobatic formation displays during an exhibition in Vigo, northern Spain.

Whether he was tricked or bought the gift to his former lover for appeasement, the man now regrets the decision he made four years ago. Captain Moses Kariuki Wachira will never recover a prime property at Nyari area, a leafy suburb, west of Nairobi. This was after the High Court dashed his hopes. In the case, Mr Wachira was married to a Ms Monica, with whom he got two children, a boy and a girl. The couple later divorced, and his wife moved to the US, where she married a Mr Kenneth Ronald James. The couple tied the knot at Santa Ana, California. Nine years later, on July 19, 2005, Mr Wachira bought the property and handed it over to his former wife, ostensibly to appease her for bearing him the two children named after his father and mother. According to Mrs James, the property was a gift for naming the children after his parents. She said the purchase was unconditional and on his own volition. But according to Mr Wachira, he registered the property in her name as a trustee. He argued that as a trustee, it did not confer any proprietary rights to her.

A few years ago, said Mr Wachira, he begun building residential houses on the plot. He further told the court that he nominated an advocate and gave her the power of attorney to deal with any matter as pertains to the property. This was denied by Mrs James who told court that she was registered as the owner of the property and never a trustee. She also dismissed allegations of donating the power of attorney to the advocate appointed by her former husband. Mrs James further said that upon registering the land in her name, her former husband had no interest in the property. She said from then, she had the legal right to sell it or transfer it to any person she desired and true to her word, she sold the property to Mr Joseph Muriithi Kanyita. The same property was used to secure a loan of Sh18 million from Investment and Mortgage Bank ltd. Mr Kanyita later sold the property to Mr John Mburu who immediately took possession of the land until he was forcibly evicted from the plot in May this year, on orders obtained from court by Mr Wachira. Mr Wachira subsequently stopped the transfer of the property to Mr Mburu until his case was heard and determined. He also made a complaint to the police and the matter is still under investigation.

Former lovers In his ruling, Mr Justice Luka Kimaru said it was apparent that at the time the property was being transferred, the two former lovers were in no relationship recognised in law, other than being the parents of the two children. “She was someone else’s wife,” said the judge. The judge said a gift of registered land becomes effective with delivery of the transfer, and cannot be recalled even if the receiver has not been registered as a proprietor. Mr Justice Kimaru said although Mr Wachira alleged he had registered the property to his former wife as a trustee, there was no evidence. He said once the property was transferred to Mrs James’ name, she was free to deal with it in a manner she deemed fit, including selling it to a third party. Mr Wachira had complained that the property was sold at a “grossly undervalued price.” But the court ruled that Mrs James was at liberty to sell the property at any price. “It is clear that the plaintiff (Mr Wachira) has an uphill task to establish a prima facie case in respect of a property that has passed hands several times. “In the case of the plaintiff, the horse has already bolted out of the stable. The closing of the doors of the stable may not be of much help to the plaintiff,” said the judge. - Daily Nation.

President Mwai Kibaki flanked by Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga witness the on going expansion of the Kisumu International Airport, Kisumu.

President Kibaki concludes his Nyanza tour

President Mwai Kibaki concluded his three day tour of Nyanza Province by joining worshippers for an interfaith Harvest Festival Service at the magnificent Kisumu Pentecostal Church. During the colourful service on Sunday, Elder Joel Enane of the church who delivered the sermon extolled the virtue of hard work as required in the Holy Scriptures adding that determination pays handsomely. The elder castigated the misuse and mismanagement of vital natural resources in the country, particularly forests, adding that man was given the Garden to Eden to tend and keep it. He said, "Everything we do must be in God's plan. Our productivity goes down once we deviate from God's original purpose. God also culls unproductive parts of His creation once its gets out of His divine guidance." He noted that the diversity of Kenyan communities was a major complementary towards resolving critical challenges confronting the nation. Mr Enane reaffirmed, "The unity and diversity of talent that Kenya enjoys from various communities can propel the country to unprecedented levels of prosperity and development. The country does not need to borrow development funds from donor countries."

In his address to the delighted congregation, the President who was accompanied by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga, termed his tour as not only successful but also fulfilling and thanked area residents for the warm welcome they accorded the government delegation. The Head of State reiterated the commitment of the Grand Coalition Government in fostering peace and unity among all Kenyans which he termed as the panacea to accelerated socio-economic development of the country. President Kibaki called on the area residents to take advantage of the numerous government projects and programmes being implemented with an intention to empower them economically. The President said, "The many projects being implemented by the government would be rendered irrelevant if you do not fully utilize them to uplift your individual living standards." With regard to the expansion works at the Kisumu Airport which he commissioned earlier, President Kibaki appealed to the local community to plan ahead which specialized services and commercial goods to offer at both the regional and international market failure to which other investors will fill the gap. The President said, "Strategize to utilize the airport fully because the entire world is aware about this project and will assemble here in Kisumu. This project is funded by both the World Bank and the Government and is the gateway to East African Community, Great Lakes region and the continent at large." President Kibaki noted that with the completion of the expansion works, it will be possible to airlift fish and other farm produce to Europe and other parts of the world thus reducing the cost of doing business and maximizing profits. He further reaffirmed the Government's commitment to install the necessary infrastructure in Kisumu City to make it the EAC regional headquarters. "We are rehabilitating and reconstructing roads in this region to facilitate business among our people. Strategize to maximize the potentiality of this region. Shift your focus on other products too apart from fish,"

He further challenged the local farmers to abandon the archaic subsistence farming which the Head of State termed not only as mere ‘survival farming' and cannot guarantee them economic prosperity. The President observed, "Inadequate production in this region will undermine the purpose of the government's heavy investment in various projects." On his part the Prime Minister reaffirmed that peace and unity are the cornerstone of accelerated socio-economic development of any nation and urged Kenyans to shun tribalism. Hon Odinga assured Kenyans that the Coalition Government was unwavering in its plans to build a strong and united country whose citizens enjoyed quality living standards. "As a government we are committed to move the country's status to that of a developed nation where all Kenyans enjoy their fundamental rights unhindered," remarked the Prime Minister. He further challenged the church and the clergy to avoid divisive gospel and to also avoid partisan viewpoints in national debates in order to guide the nation in the path of healing and reconciliation. During the Harvest Festival Service various prayer items were made by bishops from various faiths among them prayers for the nation, for peace, unity, prosperity and for the needy in the society. Assorted goods were also collected to be presented to disadvantaged members of the community particularly the orphans and widows. The two leaders later addressed a joint roadside rally in Kisumu town where they thanked the area residents for their warm welcome and appealed to them to join hands with the government in building a strong and united nation.

Kenya to address brain drain

Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday called on professionals trained locally to commit a fraction of their careers to serving the country after training before they go abroad for greener pastures if they must. The PM said the government is not opposed to Kenyans seeking greener pastures abroad saying the immigrants contribute to the economy through remittances but there should be a balance. "We need some amount of service from our citizens to our country after we have trained them. We need to strike a balance that ensure our services do not suffer and that we pay back to our country after it has trained us before we can fly abroad for greener pastures. That is not asking for too much," the PM said. Odinga decried the losses the country is incurring through migration of intellectuals and professionals to greener pastures abroad. He attributed the brain drain to lack of high caliber research institutions that would enable intellectuals keep abreast with the latest developments in their fields. He said the government has spelt out measures to respond to this scenario in its Vision 2030, but called for a strong involvement of the private sector to stem the tide migrations to the developed world. Odinga was speaking when he met His Highness the Aga Khan, who called on him.The premier said that the government is keen to make Kenya the hub for medical facilities, including hospitals and healthcare providers for the region. "The government spends a lot of money to train just one doctor. Yet those doctors leave almost immediately for greener pastures abroad, leaving us exposed. It is a trend we must reverse," the PM said. "A good number of the intellectuals leaving the country are not driven by desire for money. Many are disappointed by the lack of research facilities that could enable them further their knowledge, be at par with their counterparts abroad and gain intellectual satisfaction from their work," he added.

He said the government is addressing the problem by sourcing funds for the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Technology. The PM said that because of absence of adequate research facilities, Kenya currently spends a lot of money taking patients abroad, where in some cases they are treated by Kenyans who fled to greener pastures. He said the few facilities Kenya has still remain critical in providing health services to people from the Eastern Africa region. The Aga Khan, who is in the country for a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Aga Khan University, said he is keen to help Kenya attain higher standards in provision of healthcare and training of health workers. He said his network is keen to put up an institution for training of more doctors at nurses at graduate and post graduate level and provide research facilities to keep the professionals around. The Aga Khan said that currently, Kenya and India are the highest suppliers of doctors and nurses to the developed world, a situation he said is unfortunate. "We must provide sufficient reasons to make the doctors see the need to remain here. We need institutions with best practises. We suffer brain drain because we have no institutions that thrive on best practices" he observed

"When you love somebody, be ready to take the intensity of emotions. Be jealous, anxious. Love with all your might. Take the pain and everything that comes with it. Just make sure that the person is worth it." - Love quote

Five top civil servants are emerging as possible successors of Kenya's ailing Head of Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura. They include permanent secretaries Francis Kimemia (Internal Security), Thuita Mwangi (Foreign Affairs) and Romano Kiome (Agriculture). Others are former State House Comptroller Nick Wanjohi and Principal Administrative Secretary, Cabinet Office, Samuel Mwale. The Head of Civil Service provides leadership and direction to public enterprises. He also gives advice on the appointment and deployment of PSs and other top government workers, among other things. Mr Muthaura’s absence from office was evident on Monday when Mr Kimemia, who has been playing Mr Muthaura’s role since he was hospitalised, failed to show up for official duty as Internal Security PS. - Daily Nation.

There's something about bank customer service that gets people taking. My suggestion last year that Abbey was Britain's best bank in terms of rates had, how can I put it mildly, some of you spitting vitriol, and the idea that First Direct had Britain's best current account created an equally big discussion. But a bank's mettle often isn't tested until something goes wrong, and we can spend years content with our bank account, only for it to go awry in a matter of days. So, in an attempt to separate the men from the boys in the banking world, we took a snapshot of the nation's banking habits. Our short survey of 700 people found some interesting results... Overall winner in the bank customer service was First Direct. A whopping 93% of you said it was either 'excellent' or 'good' in terms of customer service, and only 0.8% said they were 'terrible'. First Direct always gets a mention when a current account article is written, and several of you have praised its great customer service and efficiency. First Direct promises that you'll get through to a real person every time, with no automated telephone systems in sight. The bank may have come top in terms of customer service, but you'll also have to be a pretty high earner if you want to bank with them. In order to qualify for its 1st Account, fee free, you'll have to deposit £1,500 a month (approx. £23,500 a year in salary terms). As a reward, First Direct will give you £100 if you join them. In fact, they're so confident you'll love the service that if you don't, they'll give you another £100 to leave! In second place was Smile.

Over four fifths (89%) of you said its customer service was either excellent or good, and not a single person said service was terrible. Smile has also been praised by readers in the past for its excellent customer service, with real people at the other end of the phone, even at ungodly hours, and an ethical policy shared by its parent, the Co-operative bank. Of the 'big four' banks, Royal Bank of Scotland came out on top for customer service, with 60% of you giving it your thumbs up. HSBC was a close-ish second, with a 52% approval rating, and Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest all scored just under 50%. This wasn't high enough to beat satisfied building society customers, which had a 68% customer satisfaction rating. At the other end of the scale, Abbey performed the worst out of the 15 banks in the survey, with only 22.8% saying its service was either excellent or good. Nearly a third of Abbey customers (31.4%) said its service was poor, while 28.6% said it was terrible. So, according to lovemoney.com readers, Abbey is the worst bank in Britain! Abbey, explain yourself please.... Meanwhile, Abbey's sister bank, Alliance & Leicester fared much better, with 57% of its customers saying it provided excellent or good customer service. But even though you may be satisfied with your bank in terms of service, it seems there's no such thing as loyalty in the banking world. Nearly all (92%) of people surveyed have products with another provider, showing that when it comes to picking your financial products, you don't like to put all your eggs in one basket. Good for you!

We also asked you the things your bank is getting right and wrong. First Direct came top in all five categories, which included friendliness, efficiency, and being able to deal with problems when they go wrong, scoring an average of 95% across all categories. Call centres were one of your biggest gripes, and while the smaller banks tended to get things right, it's the main area where the bigger banks faltered. The big four were only getting it right for half of the people surveyed, while over two thirds (70%) of Abbey customers said call centre staff were getting it wrong. There was also the issue of switching account. Three fifths (60%) of those who took our survey had switched accounts. But for those who say cash is king better think again. When it comes to switching current accounts, 60% of you said you switched not because of a cash reward, but because you thought the customer service was better. After all, you can't put a price on good service. The second most common reason you switched was for a better interest rate, with 22% citing this reason. With big names such as HSBC , Lloyds and NatWest paying interest rates as low as 0.1% and in the case of HSBC , nothing, it's little wonder why these people have moved to greener pastures. However, more than two fifths of you (41%) have never switched bank accounts. With cash incentives such as £100 on offer, and specialist switching teams on hand to move all your direct debits and salary details over, switching today is easier than you think.

The European Union on Monday told the Kenyan Government to quickly form a special tribunal to try election violence suspects. In a critical and wide ranging assessment of the Grand Coalition, the EU council of ministers asked Kenyan politicians to stop divisive talk and speed up reforms to protect Kenya from election upheavals in future. The meeting, in Brussels, Belgium, said the slow pace of reforms — caused by lack of political will — could hurt the country. The EU, however, said it was ready to help in the reforms. - MORE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 27 - A man who allegedly lied that he had lost a child in the Nakumatt fire tragedy and even got paid Sh100, 000 shillings for burial expenses has been arrested and charged before a Nairobi Court. Yusuf Hassan Mwarari was arrested at the weekend after a close member of his family tipped the police at the Central Police Station. He was presented before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei where he denied obtaining money by false pretence and was released on a cash bail of Sh50,000 pending his trial on August 20. The man had presented himself to forensics experts at the time who declared that his DNA samples matched those of human remains collected from the fire site. Mr Mwarari had presented a claim for his “late son” Hassan Kijonga. The DNA was carried out by Biotech Forensics Ltd, a private firm which was contracted by Nakumatt Holdings to help in the identification process. The firm’s Managing Director Lynn Farah told Capital News they carried out DNA tests on the man and had positive results. “The man is among the Nakumatt customers who presented himself and his samples did match that of one of the body remains. I am not aware of this latest development,” Ms Farah said when reached on telephone on Monday. And even as she defended the outcome of their firm’s DNA report, a senior police officer at the Central Police station told Capital News they had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the man had lied at the time. Questions were being raised on how DNA samples from remains of the Nakumatt fire tragedy matched those collected from the man who went to claim the death of his son yet he did not die there. Police launched investigations into the matter when the man’s relative went to them last week and sought to clarify that the son they had reported burnt to death during the Nakumatt fire tragedy, had actually died of ailment some five years ago.

“We are in possession of a death certificate and medical receipts and it shows the said son died five years ago,” a senior police officer who requested to remain anonymous said. “Investigations are going on and the man is expected to appear in court later on Monday,” he added. The man was likely to face charges of giving false information but our source said: “That is just the initial one, more charges would be preferred.” Alfred Ng'ang'a, the Group Account Manager for Ogilvy Public Relations which coordinates communications for Nakumatt Holdings told Capital News: “The man was among customers who received Sh100,000 which was paid to families whose relatives were burnt to death in January inferno.” “According to my records, Mr Yusuf Hassan Mwarari reported the death of his son Hassan Kijonga in the Downtown tragedy. He duly followed the processes including DNA testing,” he said in response to an e-mail from Capital News. Mr Ng’ang’a said Mr Mwarari qualified to receive the Sh100,000 for funeral expenses: “Upon filing the requisite documents with the Ministry of Special Programmes.” He has clarified that the Sh100,000 paid to the Nakumatt customers was not compensation but just “a donation towards funeral expenses.” Compensation to be paid to the families by the Insurer but it is not clear if that was paid to them. It is also unclear if any of the families including that of Mr Mwarari received money from the Nakumatt and Molo fire tragedies funds that was launched by the government. No comment was immediately available from officials at the Special Programmes Ministry which coordinates disaster management including the Nakumatt fire tragedy. Up to 40 people were reported missing during the Nakumatt fire tragedy but only remains of 27 people were positively identified through a DNA exercise. They include five Nakumatt staff who were burnt to death in the supermarket fire. - CapitalFM

A foreigner detained in Kenya at the Industrial Area Remand Prison for six years without trial is to be flown to Papua New Guinea. On, the State produced a letter in court showing Mr Edman Scott is to leave the country on Saturday 1st August, 2009. Immigration Authorities at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport arrested him in 2003 for allegedly being in the country illegally. The State is expected to foot his travel costs following orders issued by the High Court a few months ago. In the letter addressed to Australian High Commissioner in Kenya, Mr Josiah Musili for the director of Immigration stated Scott is to leave Nairobi via Duba and Brisbane before landing in Papua New Guinea, where he was born. Justice Mohammed Warsame ordered the case be mentioned on August 16 to ascertain whether the 37-year-old is still in Kenya. - The Standard.

Two Kenyans have died in London through a road accident on Saturday morning 25th July, 2009 at Forest Lane, Forest Gate, Stratford, London. The two women died after the car they were travelling in crashed into a house in East London. The passengers were being driven in a BMW saloon when it crashed into the property at Forest Lane, Stratford, just before 0730 BST on Saturday. Both women, believed to be in their early 20s, died at the scene. The driver suffered a broken arm and he is in hospital. The dead are Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga a.k.a ‘Michelle’ 19 years old, a first year law student at Cambridge University and Miss Perpetua Muthoni Muchemi alias Wendie Muthoni both of Thornton Health, South London. The driver in hospital is identified as Lewis Ndegwa Mburu of Stratford, London. Miss Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga was daughter of Dr. John Njenga Kimemia of Kiambu, Kenya and Mrs Elizabeth Njenga, sister to Bedan & Wambui Kiigi-Njenga (Canada), Eddie & Purity Njenga, Kush Gichohi, Lydia Wanini-Njenga, Grace Nganga, and Steve Ngugi all of London U.K.

Friends are meeting daily from Sunday 26th July 2009 for prayers and funeral arrangements at Mrs Elizabeth Njenga’s house at 95 Gonville Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon CR7 6DF, Surrey, Tel: 02082409741 or 07958140007 from 6:00 pm. For further information please contact Pastor Pascalina Kamau on 07932770824 or Pastor Jessie Nderito on 07903984578. Any financial assistance will be highly appreciated and can be paid to: Account Name: Mrs. Elizabeth Njenga, Bank: Barclays Bank, A/C No: 50045195, Sort Code: 20-24-64. Miss Tabitha Wanjiru Njenga was daughter of Dr. John Njenga Kimemia of Kiambu, Kenya and Mrs Elizabeth Njenga, sister to Bedan & Wambui Kiigi-Njenga (Canada), Eddie & Purity Njenga, Kush Gichohi, Lydia Wanini-Njenga, Grace Nganga, and Steve Ngugi all of London U.K. Friends are meeting daily from Sunday 26th July 2009 for prayers and funeral arrangements at Mrs Elizabeth Njenga’s house at 95 Gonville Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon CR7 6DF, Surrey, Tel: 02082409741 or 07958140007 from 6:00 pm. For further information please contact Pastor Pascalina Kamau on 07932770824 or Pastor Jessie Nderito on 07903984578. Any financial assistance will be highly appreciated and can be paid to: Account Name: Mrs. Elizabeth Njenga, Bank: Barclays Bank, A/C No: 50045195, Sort Code: 20-24-64.

Miss Perpetua Muthoni Muchemi alias Wendie Muthoni was daughter to Ruth Warucu Mwangi (former teacher in Kanjuku Secondary School, Kamwangi, Thika District and currently working with London Eye) and Stephen Muchemi Njoroge (formerly a teacher at Ngarissa High School). Prayers will be held at the family home: 126 Whitehorse Lane, South Norwood, London, SE25 6XB as from 6.00 p.m.. For more information you can contact Stephen on 07931313575 or Ruth on 07939071594. The prayer meetings will be held every day as from 6.00 p.m. Co-ordinators for the meetings will be Mr Mwangi 07947781980 and Mr Simon 07908228646.

If you feel you would like to contribute to these arrangements, the account details are listed below:

The fatal crash on the corner of Ash road and Forest Lane Stratford - MAP OF THE CRASH SCENE

Immigrants who choose to live and work in Scotland could earn British citizenship more readily, according to Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy. Writing in Scotland on Sunday, he says moving to Scotland could see immigrants earn points towards their application. Points are granted according to things like skills, age and potential salary. Mr Murphy said he wants to see Scotland become a melting pot - but he stressed new arrivals must be controlled under a tight immigration policy. There is to be a consultation process on the proposal, but in his article Mr Murphy writes of the demographic challenge facing Scotland, with an ageing population and the need to recruit in sectors such as tourism. The article says a new "points-based" test for citizenship will credit applicants if they have set up home in parts of the country in need of increased population. Scotland has been singled out by the Home Office as a place where points could be earned, because its own population is likely to fall over the long term. Mr Murphy wrote: "Our need for a growing population is ranked along with the need to recruit to shortage occupations." The current system means foreigners can apply for British citizenship on the basis they are settled and have lived in the country for a specified period of time.

Jim Murphy wants to see Scotland become a melting pot

A taste of African food at

DAKS restaurant, 14 St. George’s road, Forest Gate, London, E7 the newly refurbished Kenya/Uganda restaurant have proved to be one of the best African foods restaurants in London. The restaurant is now serving African buffet at the weekends and you would find Matoke and groundnuts soup. Kenyan cuisine (Githeri, Ugali & sukuma, Chapati, Sweet potatoes, Arrow roots, pilau etc), kids dishes also available. The buffet starts at 2pm to 9pm. Eat as much as you can at a reasonable price at an offer of under £10 and half price for kids at a relaxing and family friendly environment. They have also created a backyard area for private parties and functions. One of the partners Mr. Joseph Kuria is well known because he has been formerly with Josda Restaurant. Mr. Ken Ng'ang'a (right) a visitor from Nairobi is seen having a taste of the African dish and he has this to say: "Very nice food here, you can't get such nice restaurants in Nairobi."

LEFT: The Independent reports on fresh pessimism felt by businesses leaders over the state of the UK economy. CENTRE: The Financial Times warns that lenders in the UK are bracing themselves for a rising number of customers who default on their credit card repayments. RIGHT: The Daily Express reports some local councils are paying neighbours to spy on each other - in order to cut down on fly-tipping and dog fouling.

Conjoined twins shown off in Indonesia

Indonesia's state news agency has said the conjoined twins were born in a single body with two heads, weighing seven pounds. Antara reported on Saturday that the babies share all of their vital organs, except that each has his own heart. They have not yet been named and their identity is being kept a secret. Andreas Makmur, a member of the medical team working on the twins in Riau province, said that their circulation and lungs were "in a bad shape." Hospital director Dr. Rasul Alim was quoted as saying it would be medically impossible to separate the twins and that the hospital would take care of them as best it could.

A rare whale was discovered wedged on to the bow of a cruise ship when it docked in a Canadian port. The 70ft fin whale, a threatened species in Canada, was found when the Sapphire Princess docked at the Port of Vancouver, the cruise company said. It said it had "strict whale avoidance" measures and it was unclear where, when or how the whale became stuck. Tourists looked on as the dead whale was examined by fisheries department staff. The cruise ship had arrived from Alaska about 0630 local time on Saturday. "We are not aware that any whales were sighted as the ship sailed through the Inside Passage to Vancouver," Princess Cruises said. The whale was on top of the bulbous bow, the part of the bow that goes through the water, Princess Cruises said.

A Kenyan man has passed away in Opelika in Alabama, USA. Mr. Timothy Muraguri Ndegwa passed away through a road accident that occurred on I-85 in Opelika in Alabama on Thursday 23rd July, 2009. Mr. Muraguri was husband to Jane Muraguri, father to Joram Muraguri and Jackline Muraguri and brother to Robert Wambugu Ndegwa all of Acworth, Georgia. Friends, family and well wishers are meeting daily for prayers on the following venues:

Friday, Monday and Tuesday at 7-9PM at Muraguris residence, 5070 Oak Branch Lane, Acworth, GA. 30102.
Saturday at 7-9PM at KACC, 771 Elberta Dr. Marietta, GA 30066
Sunday at 3-5PM at KACC, 771 Elberta Dr. Marietta, GA 30066
Wednesday at 7-9PM at KACC, 771 Elberta, Dr. Marietta, GA. 30066
More details will be conveyed at it becomes available.
Your Prayers, Presence and Financial support will be highly appreciated.

More information please contact:
Raphael Wanjohi: 404-388-6111
John Kinyua: 770-608-8245
Christopher Njaramba: 404-702-6310
Simon Nderi: 770-527-8925
KACC: 770-427-0555

The Auburn Police Division is investigating a Thursday morning accident involving two tractor trailer trucks that left one driver dead and another with life threatening injuries, according to Auburn Police Division Assistant Chief Tommy Dawson. At 3:15 a.m., Auburn police responded to an accident on Interstate 85 near the 57 mile marker where they found a tractor trailer stopped on the shoulder of the southbound lanes that had been struck by a second tractor-trailer travelling in the same direction. Timothy N. Muraguri, 42, of Acworth, Ga., outside the rig at the time of the collision, was killed instantly according to Lee County Chief Deputy Coroner Gene Manning. Muraguri was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:30 a.m. of blunt force injuries.

The female driver of the second tractor-trailer, whose name has not been released, was transported to East Alabama Medical Center and later to UAB Hospital in Birmingham with critical injuries. She was listed in critical but stable condition. Muraguri’s truck had broken down and he had pulled to the side of the interstate but was unable to get his truck completely out of the roadway when another southbound tractor-trailer struck his semi from behind while he was partially in the roadway, killing him according to a coroner’s report. No other vehicles were involved in the accident. Alcohol is not suspected to be a factor in the incident, according to Lee County Coroner Bill Harris in a statement. The accident closed down the southbound lanes of Interstate 85 and caused traffic to be diverted until 9:30 a.m.

LEFT: Overwhelming public support for a change in the law to allow medically assisted suicide is revealed in a poll for The Times. CENTRE: The FT tells how the stock market surged higher for the tenth day in a row - the longest winning streak since 2003 - as investors shrugged off news of Britain's biggest economic contraction in more than 60 years. RIGHT: Michael Jackson had a false nose that was missing as he lay in the morgue, the Mirror claims.

Nairobi, Saturday 25th July, 2009. President Kibaki landed in the ODM stronghold of Nyanza to a tumultuous reception and announced the disputed Migingo Island belonged to Kenya. He said Kenyans should not worry over the island as it had been established that it was on the Kenyan side of the lake. The remarks are expected to draw immediate reaction from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, whose forces have staked a claim on the island. Speaking at Kendu Bay town in Karachuonyo constituency at the start of his three-day tour of Nyanza, President Kibaki received a standing ovation when he broke his silence on the island. The island stirred a diplomatic row between the two countries after Uganda expelled Kenya policemen early this year and deployed its military. President Kibaki’s declaration that the island belongs to Kenya came only two weeks after a joint survey to help resolve the row collapsed when Ugandan experts boycotted the exercise and returned home. A preliminary report complied by Kenyan surveyors and which was exclusively published in The Standard last week showed the island was 510m inside Kenya. On Friday, the President was forced to comment on the island issue by the crowd that demanded he speaks on the issue. The President was about to end his speech after commissioning the construction of the Kendu-Homa Bay road when residents asked about Migingo. Looking surprised, the President said: "Hii maneno ya kilele ni ya kitu gani?" (what is all the noise all about?" he asked. He then gave the crowd the answer it wanted. "This island belongs to Kenya and every one knows this," he said, as applause drowned his voice. He added: "Don’t let us waste time on this matter. Migingo has belonged to Kenya from the beginning." Prime Minister Raila Odinga who welcomed President Kibaki to Nyanza had told the crowd that Migingo was in Kenya.

The President arrived at the Kisumu airport shortly after 9.30 am and flew again in two military helicopters to Kendu Bay where he inaugurate the Sh3.4 billion road project. At Kendu By, he was met by dancing women and local politicians who sang and waved miniature flags to welcome him. The President’s Party of National Unity (PNU) was heavily represented at the function. Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, Pubic Health Minister Beth Mugo, Special Projects Minister Naomi Shaban and Sam Ongeri and several MPs accompanied him. Almost all the ODM ministers were present when the President and his team landed. But the ecstatic crowd were largely disappointed after President Kibaki skirted weighty political issues. Appeals from wananchi to him to speak politics fell on deaf ears. Instead, President Kibaki appealed to Nyanza residents to work hard and generate wealth. He challenged the locals to use the good roads being built to improve their lives. "I want to tell you that your destiny lies in your hands. It will be sad to remain poor when a good tarmacked road passes near your home. Ask yourself how the road can help you to prosper," he said. Area MP James Rege had earlier appealed to the President to help remove the water hyacinth from the lake, saying the weed had paralysed fishing. Rege also called for the establishment of a second police station in the new district to address security issues. The President later commissioned the Sondu Miriu hydropower project in Nyakach District where he was joined by more PNU leaders led by Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi. ODM ministers present included Dalmas Otieno, Otieno Kajwang’, James Orengo, Anyang’ Nyong’o and Fred Gumo. - The Standard.

Mrs. Marion Njeri Kamau of CCBC Swahili Choir (third left), London has lost her mother back in Kenya. The late Marion Thirimu Gatagia of Gachie Village, Kiambu, passed away on Wednesday 15th July, 2009. She laid to rest on Thursday 24th July, 2009. There was a memorial service in London on the same day where her daughter and family attended the ceremony at Greatfield Temple, Barking, Essex. The ceremony was officiated by Pastor Patrick Thuku of CCBC Swahili Service. After the ceremony the family posed for a photo. She is the wife of Mr. Kahara Kamau (far right) of CCBC Swahili Service.

They've already tried making frogs get married - now drought-hit Indian farmers are turning to naked women for help. Farmers in the eastern Indian state of Bihar have asked their unmarried daughters to plough parched fields naked, in a bid to embarrass the weather gods to bring some badly needed monsoon rain. Witnesses said the naked girls in Bihar state ploughed the fields and chanted ancient hymns after sunset to invoke the gods. The witnesses also said that elderly village women helped the girls drag the ploughs. 'They believe their acts would get the weather gods badly embarrassed, who in turn would ensure bumper crops by sending rains,' Upendra Kumar, a village council official, said from Bihar's remote Banke Bazaar town. 'This is the most trusted social custom in the area and the villagers have vowed to continue this practice until it rains very heavily.' India this year suffered its worst start to the vital monsoon rains in eight decades, causing drought in some states. Earlier this week, farmers in West Bengal state held a marriage ceremony for frogs, in another attempt to make the rains come.

Nairobi, Thursday 23rd July, 2009. President Kibaki has said all steps must be taken to cushion Kenyans against the current food and water shortages and the shortfall in the energy production due to reduced rains. He was speaking when he received a comprehensive report on the current water, food and energy situation in the country at his Harambee House office on Thursday. During the meeting, which was also attended by Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Ministers for Water and Irrigation, Agriculture, Special Programmes, Livestock and Energy briefed the President on the water, food and energy crises and discussed the mitigation measures put in place to address the shortages. In January this year, President Kibaki declared the food crisis a national disaster. Since then the Government has taken various measures to address the food and water shortage that was worsened by reduced rains in the last season. In her report, Water and Irrigation Minister Charity Ngilu said the Government targets to drill 250 water boreholes across the country, 50 of which will be in Nairobi to address the acute water shortage. The Water Minister noted that already 15 boreholes have been drilled in Nairobi and the remaining 35 will be completed by August 31st this year.

In his brief, Agriculture Minister William Ruto outlined the measures his Ministry is taking to bridge the grain shortfall in the country occasioned by insufficient rains in the main grain producing areas in the country. The measures include the extension of the importation of duty -free maize to January next year. The Agriculture Minister said the Government has also made arrangements to ensure there is adequate free and subsidized fertilizers and certified seeds to boost production. Energy Minister Kiraitu said his ministry has taken measures to ensure the production of an extra 246 megawatts to meet the country's increasing demand for electricity. The Energy Minister pointed out that while Kshs 10.2 billion is required for running emergency power capacity, Kshs 4.5 billion has already been provided for emergency power supply in this year's budget. In his presentation, Livestock Minister Dr. Mohammed Kuti noted that the ongoing drought in parts of the country has affected 3.3 million cattle, 9 million sheep and goats, 150,000 donkeys and the lives of 524,000 households. In this regard he called for urgent measures to address the situation. Other ministers who presented reports included Forestry and Wildlife Minister Dr. Noah Wekesa, Development of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands Minister Ibrahim Elmi Mohammed. The meeting was also attended by ministers Prof. George Saitoti, John Michuki and Chirau Ali Mwakwere and Permanent Secretaries from the line ministries. - CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

LEFT: The Independent has a special report on the cocaine epidemic sweeping Britain. It says the number of users has increased by 25% in a year to almost one million. CENTRE: Britain will face spending cuts of more than 16% to key public services, such as law and order and higher education, if Labour and the Tories deliver on their goals to protect schools, hospitals and defence, reports The Guardian. RIGHT: The Telegraph says swine flu infected at least 100,000 Britons last week, with Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, saying there are now 840 patients in hospital in England, 63 of them in intensive care.

Some came dressed with tree leaves (left) and the winner was Rachel Christie who is the first black lady to win the title -

Mr. Seed this has been a very busy summer for us with big events up and down the country. That includes your son's wedding! Last weekend, Sunday the 19th and Monday 20th I was privileged to be the Official non-press photographer for Miss England 2009, having been appointed by the Pageant Director. Ours was to supply an Event Studio facility for the contestants, VIPs and guests as well as covering the general feel of the event. Over these two days, Hilton Metropole, London was transformed into a hive of beauty, full of beautiful girls, their relatives, friends and others obviously looking their best for the national media, which was there in plenty. This pageant is held annually to pick the most beautiful girl to represent England in various areas including Miss World Beauty Pageant. Its an ambassador's role. As I always believe in, everything is achievable by anyone as long as it is contested on a level playing ground. Rachel Christie, niece to Linford Christie proved me right when she was pronounced the winner, beating stiff competition from many other contestants - I guess there were just two black contestants in the competition (excluding Asians), the other who was Helen, the current Miss Black Britain who was fast-tracked to the final 15.

In the contest, the panel of seven judges included model Caprice and the Public Vote. The girl who got the most public votes was fast tracked to the final fifteen. On this vote alone it is reported that Rachel got just 9 and the public vote winner got over 2000 votes. This has cast a cloud of political cloud over the popularity of the black Miss England 2009 (Dairy Miror). However, according to the organisers, the rules were that the public vote would pick the people's favourite to join the judges' final 14. The 15 would together be put before the judgement of the judges at the finals. Therefore the argument that the best lost does not hold any water in my opinion. Further to that and having spoken to the Angie Beasley, the operator of Miss England I can say that she is out to create an even playing ground, fair to everyone.

When Angie was previously asked of the fairness of Miss England, its inclusiveness of all races and the existence of a black-only pageant (Miss Black Britain) she said, "I don't know if there is any need to hold a black-only competition. I think it segregates black girls even more. Ours (Miss England) is a multi-cultural competition. Anyone can enter". She went on to say that in 2008 entrants to Miss England were about 60% white and 40% Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds, but for some reason black girls in particular are very under-represented.

I have been involved in several beauty pageants including Miss Black Britain, model search Top Model of Colour UK and others and I can say that there is a big difference between the black-only competitions on one hand and a pageant like Miss England on the other. I believe that the two are serving their purposes well. Whilst Miss England is an absolute cut-throat, all-inclusive competition where only the best can win, most black-only competitions will have an undertone of a "campaign" in them, causing them to look racist while they are fighting racism in the true terms. They attract a lot of entrants who would otherwise not have the confidence to enter highly acclaimed pageants like Miss England. But how long can they sustain this campaign, especially with Black winners (Rachel Christie) being pronounced winners in these in high places?

To the critics of the decision to crown Rachel I say that you can have the public vote for singers and musicians based on performance because they are the ones who will buy the music but you cannot have the public vote a winner in a pageant. Beauty is not skin deep. How can one judge the ability to be an ambassador from a photo shoot image? Moreover, using the public vote could produce very undesired results, with generally unpopular persons using the Facebook or other networking sites' friends to vote for them (from Russia to Tonga and Iraq) to become Miss England.

Please see accompanying pictures. More of our pictures on www.njehu.com and also to follow on www.missengland.info.

Writes Njehu
www.njehu.com
Official Event Photographers
Miss England 2009

Kenvideo now well known as AfricanActs are not only good in holding video cameras - they are also good at photographic photos. They took the above photo of Hon. Karua and Mr. Seed in a London hotel in June this year and has just released the photo to us.

Illegal water users put on notice for Nairobi water pumps

Residents of Nairobi are now being urged to stop connecting electric boosters to their water pumps. The Managing Director of the Nairobi Water Company Francis Mugo said the habit has become common place in such estates as Donholm, Sunrise, Savanna, Greenfields, Tena, Umoja, Tassia, Amana, Midland, South C and South B. In a public notice issued Thursday, the company warned that those found flouting the directive will be prosecuted and their water supply disconnected. Mugo says the pumps are distorting the water flow dynamics, creating negative pressures and consequently denying other consumers in the neighbourhood their rightful ration of water. This Mugo says has hampered the Company's effectiveness and the habit has continued despite the fact that the consumers have received several warnings to discontinue the illegal act. "Before reinstatement of the services, a consumer will be required to pay Ksh 5,000 plus a double deposit or the cost of disconnection and reconnection whichever is higher," Mugo said. "Consumers found to have illegally connected water will pay a fine of Ksh 15,000, while those with illegal commercial, industry or construction connection will pay Ksh 30,000 and any other payment deemed necessary under the law," he added. Nairobi residents have been experiencing an acute shortage of water with some residents having gone without water for over a month. Residents have resorted to purchasing water with unscrupulous vendors selling the commodity at exorbitant prices. In some estates a 20 litre jerrycan of water is being sold for 100 shillings. The Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company has undertaken a rigorous rationing programme with most estates getting water a maximum of three days per week. The shortage has been attributed to various factors including the prevailing drought in the country and the destruction of the major water catchment areas across the country. The debate on the invasion by squatters of Mau Forest which is a major water tower rages on with some politicians opposing their removal for what is ostensibly being seen as a battle for political supremacy in the Rift Valley.

Microsoft has reported disappointing results for the April to June quarter, with profits down by almost a third. Net profit for the period was $3.1bn (£1.9bn), down by 29% from the same period a year earlier. Revenue came in at $13.1bn, down 17% from a year ago. The results were worse than analysts had been expecting. The world's largest software maker said it had been affected by weakness in the global personal computer (PC) and server markets.

Lorry drivers pulling in to Warwick Services (northbound) on the M40 yesterday were met by immigration officers from the UK Border Agency cracking down on illegal migrants who try to sneak into the United Kingdom. The message is getting out to would-be illegal migrants and organised smuggling gangs that we will catch them, we will detain them and we will deport them Simon Excell, UK Border Agency deputy director. Officers from the UK Border Agency's West Midlands headquarters, supported by Warwickshire police officers, used special Co2 probes to detect human breathing in the backs of lorries. The operation started at midday as officers patrolled the lorry park. They talked to lorry drivers about immigrants who may have hidden in their vehicles at key border crossings to the United Kingdom such as Calais, gathering intelligence to help catch stowaways sooner. Drivers were also warned about the heavy financial penalties they could face if they fail to secure their lorries properly. Simon Excell, UK Border Agency deputy director, said: 'We have already seen a significant fall in illegal immigrants sneaking in to the United Kingdom thanks to high profile operations like this one and the deployment of a mobile detention van which patrols the motorways of the Midlands and East of England.

'The message is getting out to would-be illegal migrants and organised smuggling gangs that we will catch them, we will detain them and we will deport them.' The Warwick crackdown falls in the middle of three weeks of action led by the UK Border Agency at lorry hotspots across the Midlands and East of England. Officers have already detained and impounded several vehicles after drivers and haulage companies were identified as not having paid civil penalties for failing to secure their vehicles during previous immigration checks. Over £15,000 has so far been recovered in unpaid civil penalties from drivers and haulage companies. Simon Excell added: 'Our top priority is to stop would-be illegal immigrants before they reach the United Kingdom. That's why we've got hundreds of British immigration officers based overseas. 'Since April 2008 our officers based in France and Belgium have stopped over 30,000 individual attempts by illegal migrants to get into Britain. 'We are leading this crackdown to show that there is no hiding place for those who try to cheat their way across the border.'

A snake on the loose has brought panic to the legislative assembly of the Indian state of Orissa. The assembly had to be adjourned for the day and legislators rushed outside after a cleaner spotted the reptile inside the assembly building. Forest officials, policemen, sniffer dogs and workers on a snake helpline have been scouring the assembly but the search has so far proved futile. A member of the search team said it was possible the snake had already left.

It's a story that should be made into a Disney movie. Blind border collie Clyde relies on his best friend Bonnie to lead him everywhere. The pair were rescued wandering the streets, dumped during a rain storm and brought to an animal shelter. Bonnie stays close to Clyde's side while guiding him on walks or to food or water, and lets him rest his head on her haunches whenever he becomes disorientated. When they are together, five-year-old Clyde seems as capable as a fully-sighted dog – but he refuses to move unless two-year-old Bonnie is nearby to guide him. Now Bonnie and Clyde are looking for a new home in the countryside. 'He totally relies on her the whole time. When she walks she tends to stop and make sure he's there – she does look out for him,' said Cherie Cootes, 40, who runs the Meadow Green Dog Rescue centre in Loddon, Norfolk. 'There's absolutely no option of homing them separately – they have to go as a pair. Vicky Bell, a spokeswoman for Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, said she had never heard of a dog voluntarily acting as a guide dog for another dog. 'This is a very unusual case – it's such a lovely story,' she said. 'Some dogs take to guiding better than others because they naturally have the right temperament.'

Science has now proved that money is indeed the root of many ills. Researchers from the University of Nairobi and the Kenya Medical Research Institute collected coins circulating in Nairobi, Kenya analysed them in the laboratory and are now warning the public that these are covered with disease causing agents. ‘‘With cholera, typhoid and swine flu hanging over the city, we urge people to handle money with care because it is evident that both paper currency and coins are highly contaminated with disease causing organisms,” says the study published in the current issue of the East African Medical Journal. They single out coins collected from food handlers, with butchers topping the lists followed closely by roadside maize roasters and food kiosks. Some of their coins were found to be contaminated with faecal organisms. The fact that there was heavy contamination with agents from human faeces, the researchers say, is an indication that people are either not using toilet paper, are using it improperly or the tissue does not stop the transmission of disease causing organisms to the hands. The researchers call on the public to wash their hands constantly and discourage children from playing with coins especially when it comes to popping them in their mouths as this could be a very quick route to infection. One of the parasites found on the coins was the cryptosporidium that causes serious diarrhoea in children. Coins collected from matatu touts ranked very highly in the amount of disease causing organisms they carry, topping in the amount of moulds on them and only second to butchers in levels of bacteria exhibited. The team did not, however, collect coins tithed in churches to determine how clean they were, but say they are no better considering that some of the germs found on the monies such as E. coli and Salmonella enteritis can survive for 11 and nine days respectively. - Daily Nation.

The first undersea fibre optic cable went live in five African countries simultaneously on Thursday, marking the beginning of an era of faster and cheaper internet connections. A privately-funded consortium, Seacom, commissioned its Sh59 billion ($760m) undersea cable in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda and South Africa with Rwanda set to be linked up in the next two weeks. This effectively means that Kenya is now part of the global information superhighway and will be able to compete on a more level platform with more established economies. The commissioning in Mombasa, was marked with a live telecast by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete in Dar es Salaam, who was linked with journalists in Kampala, Maputo, Johannesburg, London and Marseille. “The arrival of this cable signals the beginning of a new era in the telecommunications sector,” said Mr Kikwete. “History has been made.” Eastern Africa has been the only region in the world not connected through an undersea fibre optic cable and has had to rely on the more expensive satellites whose charges have been as high as Sh540,000 ($7,000) per megabyte. “Today is the day technology has arrived in Africa,” said Cisco Systems vice-president Le Roux, whose firm provided the technology for the cable. Seacom announced that it would offer wholesale prices in the range of Sh7,700 ($100) per megabyte, with even more subsidised costs of between Sh770 and Sh1,925 ($10-$25) to schools, research and health institutions. “Broadband will change the connectivity and economy of Africa,” said Seacom president Brian Herlihy in a live feed from the Tanzanian capital. Five yet-to-be-named internet companies were the first to access the 6,500 kilometre-cable and will now connect their equipment to the marine cable as they prepare to link offices and homes. However, the consortium warned the public that they will have to wait a little longer for cheaper Internet as industry players will first want to recoup their investments. - Daily Nation.

Credit Reports

According to the Bank of England's Credit Conditions survey, most lenders expect to see a small increase in the amount of credit on offer in the coming months.

It sounds like good news. The problem is would-be borrowers need a better-than-ever credit rating, especially if they want credit cards or loans.

So are you ready for a credit check? Take this quiz to find out if you can apply today – or have work to do before you get the offer you want.

a) A mortgage and one credit card that you pay off every month – it's easier to keep on top of things if you have fewer accounts

b) A car loan, a personal loan and two credit cards that you juggle, generally successfully

c) So many cards and loans that you've lost count – you never know when you may need more credit

a) Check your credit report to see your credit history, as well as using information from your application

a) Regularly, to make sure that everything is up to date and accurate – you don't want a clerical error to spoil your chances of accessing a good deal

b) A few years ago, after you were turned down – why bother unless there's a problem?

You've got a great chance of passing a credit check with flying colours. You may get peace of mind from checking your credit report more frequently, which would not only help you to stay on top of your finances but also protect you from identity fraud and allow you to spot any suspicious applications.

• Close joint accounts if you split with a partner, or their credit problems could affect you

• Protect your identity – criminals can borrow money in your name and damage your credit rating.

A system that can deliver power to devices without the need for wires has been shown off at a hi-tech conference. The technique exploits simple physics and can be used to charge a range of electronic devices. Eric Giler, chief executive of US firm Witricity, showed mobile phones and televisions charging wirelessly at the TED Global conference in Oxford. He said the system could replace the miles of expensive power cables and billions of disposable batteries. "There is something like 40 billion disposable batteries built every year for power that, generally speaking, is used within a few inches or feet of where there is very inexpensive power," he said. Trillions of dollars, he said, had also been invested building an infrastructure of wires "to get power from where it is created to where it is used." "We love this stuff [electricity] so much," he said. Mr Giler showed off a Google G1 phone and an Apple iPhone that could be charged using the system. - VIDEO

Parents in UK fare to be made to sign contracts ensuring their children behave in school – and face £1,000 fines if they do not comply. The 'home school agreements' would become compulsory for all pupils in England and must be signed at the beginning of each year, ministers said. Other measures to improve discipline include giving parents new powers to complain about the mothers and fathers of other children who misbehave in class. If they do not feel schools are being firm enough with disruptive pupils, they can take their case to the local education authority. The proposals were welcomed by campaigners although they warned they could lead to a Soviet-style 'informant culture'. Voluntary HSAs are used in many primary and secondary schools already. Children's secretary Ed Balls vowed to introduce them in all English state schools. Parents and guardians would have to sign the agreements as part of the admissions process and renew them every year. Breaking the contract could lead to magistrates imposing a parenting order. If behaviour does not improve, fines of up to £1,000 could be imposed, it is suggested. Mr Balls said: 'If the large majority of parents are doing the right thing but a small minority do not engage, you can have one lesson for 30 kids disrupted by one child. 'If other parents feel the HSA is not being enforced against other parents, they will be able to tell the local education authority.' Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: 'School discipline is so important and someone has got to get a grip with it if standards are going to rise and youngsters succeed. 'But the idea of reporting other parents could create an informants' culture, similar to what there's been in Eastern Europe.' The measures will form part of a new education bill, expected to be published and go before parliament later this year.

LEFT: The Daily Telegraph says education spending will be cut for the first time in more than two decades despite Gordon Brown's pledge to safeguard funding for schools and universities. CENTRE: Funding for several prestigious cultural projects is also in doubt because a £100m black hole has been discovered in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's budget, reports The Guardian. RIGHT: The Times says the Church of England is trying to "make peace" with cohabiting couples who have children by introducing combined wedding and baptism services.

The annual property Expo ‘Invest in Africa Build Africa’ is scheduled to take place on 31st July to 1st August 2009 at Holiday Inn, Regent Park, London. The main objectives have been to encourage the Kenya Diaspora and foreign investors to invest in Kenya.

This year’s Expo which is organized by Realken International Ltd will be opened at a Dinner event on Friday 31st July 2009, organized by the High Commission of Kenya and the Ministry for Housing, at Holiday Inn, Regent Park. The Minister for Housing HON. SOITA SHITANDA, EGH, MP will be the Chief Guest. Invitations can be obtained from the High Commission of Kenya.

For the third year running, we are pleased to invite you to participate in Kenya’s must-attend event for any investor serious about investing in Kenya’s real estate market.

In 2007, we organised the first-ever Kenyan property exhibition to be held in London. The inaugural exhibition was attended by 15 exhibitors and over 600 investors from the Diaspora. In 2008, the exhibition, dubbed Invest in Africa – Build Africa, attracted 20 exhibitors and over 800 investors from the Diaspora. All who attended can testify that it was definitely BIGGER AND BETTER.

· network and understand the needs of the Diaspora market e.g. the kind of houses they require, the services they need, and the problems they encounter/face as they invest in their own country.

Research has shown many members of the Kenyan Diaspora are returning back to Kenya, and want to buy a plot or put up a home where they can come to live in. The Expo will allow our dear Kenyans in the Diaspora to buy and own a home or plot in Kenya with the least effort.

We are pleased to also announce that Realken International Ltd is also organizing a similar Expo in USA in November this year.

Our key objective has always been: “POSITIONING KENYA FIRMLY AS AN INVESTMENT DESTINATION BOTH FOR AFRICANS IN THE DIASPORA AS WELL AS INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS”.

A 13-year-old girl has been arrested by armed Met police after a sub-machinegun was found in her wardrobe. The weapon was discovered when a specialist anti-gang crime squad of 15 officers with hydraulic battering rams and combat shields raided the girl's home in Croydon. She was detained on suspicion of possessing a firearm, an offence which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for adults and three for juveniles. The raid, which police say is likely to be followed by further arrests, will prompt renewed fears that older criminals are involving children in gun and gang crime and using them to look after weapons. Police declined to comment on the background to the arrest but said the raid was part of an operation by the Aries squad in Croydon which targets criminal gangs. A Met spokesman said: “A 13-year-old girl was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm and taken to a south London police station. The weapon was a sub-machinegun. She has been bailed and further arrests are anticipated.” Sergeant Darin Birmingham, who led the raid, added: “We received information that the young man living here, who is a known gang member, had access to firearms.” In the raid yesterday afternoon, armed officers sealed off the Monks Hill Estate in Shirley and people were told to stay in their houses. A hydraulic battering ram was used to force the door of the flat where the girl was in Tedder Road.

President Mwai Kibaki has appointed Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat the Chairman of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission-TJRC for a period of two years. President Mwai Kibaki on Wednesday appointed commissioners of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. In a gazette notice, the President in exercise of powers conferred upon him and pursuant to section 10 of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission Act no 6 of 2008, appointed Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat as the Chairman of the Commission. Ms Betty Murungi will be the Vice Chairperson. Other members of the Commission are Tom Ojienda, Ms. Margaret Wambui Shava, Ms. Tecla Namachanja and Maj. Gen (Rtd) Ahmed Sheikh Farah. The Commission members also include international experts who are Ms. Gertrude Chawatama from Zambia, Berhanu Dinka from Ethiopia and Ronald Siye from United States of America. The Commissioners will serve for a period of two years.

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida , a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.

He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.

His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.

Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator..

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father's fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, 'But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn't let go.'

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you.

The Scripture teaches that God loves you. You are a child of God He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins - and if you have the scars of His love on your arms, be very, very grateful. He did not and will not ever let you go.

The Bank of England today defended the shock decision not to extend its programme for printing money this month amid fresh signs the UK economy remains deep in the mire. Threadneedle Street stunned financial markets two weeks ago when it decided to leave the amount of money it plans to pump into the economy through buying gilts and corporate bonds at £125 billion. The City had expected the monetary policy committee, chaired by the Bank's Governor, Mervyn King, to raise the quantitative easing target to the £150 billion limit set by Chancellor Alistair Darling to stimulate economic growth and prevent a bout of dangerously low inflation. But MPC minutes published today said: “There had not been enough clear evidence to suggest that the £125 billion target should be changed,” a stance which was supported unanimously by the committee, showing just how wrong City forecasts were. The decision to leave interest rates at 0.5% was also unanimous. The Bank left the door open to expand the programme in future, possibly as early as next month when it publishes its latest quarterly report on the state of the economy. It said the August inflation report “offered an opportunity to reassess the stock of asset purchases in the light of a fully updated assessment of the outlook for inflation and growth at its next meeting”. City economists were split over what the Bank will do next, with some arguing “that is it” for quantitative easing. It came as the CBI warned that manufacturing faces a long, hard slog out of the steepest recession since the Second World War.

Since President Kibaki’s first son, Jimmy, began touring the country, many questions have been raised as to the intention. He has been a frequent visitor in his father’s Othaya constituency, meeting local business community and youth groups. His latest such visit was on Thursday. Jimmy has been spearheading the Simama Kenya, an initiative which, he says, is aimed at empowering the youth. And, even though he insists it is a non-political cause, but his entourage has been largely made up of politicians. The effort which Jimmy, a businessman, is pushing on with a group of “youthful” MPs is causing disquiet in the political and NGO circles. According to the businessman, Simama Kenya Youth Initiative – to be registered as a trust soon – is intended to economically support young people between 18 and 40 years and reconcile communities. He says the campaign was motivated by last year’s post-election violence which exposed the country as polarised. Jimmy says his campaign was also borne out of the fact that 70 per cent of the Kenyan population comprised the youth, many of them jobless and impoverished. “We want to fight poverty and promote a non-violent culture among the youth by involving them in productive business activities to improve their living standards,” Jimmy told the Nation in an interview. “We are a voluntary and non-partisan group that also aims to create a new brand of young leadership,” adds the Nairobi-based businessman. Raundi hii hakuna mchezo (Jokes aside this time) is the clarion call for the lobby. The crusade kicked off last month in Mr Kiema Kilonzo’s Mutito constituency. The ODM Kenya MP and Mr Tony Gachoka, the former director of protocol in Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s office, are the founder members. Other MPs associated with the group are Mr Abdulrahman Hassan of Wajir South, Mr Kambi Kazungu (Kaloleni), Cherengany’s Joshua Kutuny, Jeremiah Kioni of Ndaragwa and Agriculture assistant minister Kareke Mbiuki. The Nation has also learnt that key trustees of the initiative comprise some influential and youthful businesspeople in the country. But critics of Simama Kenya such as National Youth Convention and the Youth Agenda have cast doubts on the group’s primary motive. - Daily Nation.

New York/Washington (Reuters) - U.S. small businesses say they feel slighted by the Obama administration and efforts to shore up the economy, with large companies taking much of the government's attention and stimulus cash. The government decision last week against bailing out small business lender CIT Group raised fears of thousands of companies left without funding for day-to-day operations, and the lack of support showed big corporations can get bailout cash but small business interests are less pressing, some say. With only some potential relief buried in the healthcare reform proposals in Congress, small businesses feel pushed aside in the stimulus and recovery efforts, they say. "There has been nothing really in all the stimulus package that has really helped small business in general," said Kelli Glasser, president of Exhibit Concepts in Dayton, Ohio, whose 87 employees build trade show and museum exhibits. "Most of the help has been in the form of supporting loans, but we're not looking for loans right now," she said. "We're not looking to heavily invest in equipment. We're just trying to keep our doors open." Small business is not that small, representing 99.7 percent of all U.S. employer firms. The U.S. Small Business Administration got $730 million this year to recharge the small business lending market, nearly doubling its budget. However, some say the package was not well structured and dwarfed by the $180 billion the government committed to save insurer American International Group.

Two of America’s biggest banks, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, on Wednesday threw into sharp relief the mounting woes of the US commercial property market when they reported large losses and surging bad loans. The disappointing second-quarter results for two of the largest lenders and investors in office, retail and industrial property across the US confirmed investors’ fears that commercial real estate would be the next front in the financial crisis after the collapse of the housing market.

Kenya has promised to reinforce its border with Somalia after several abductions near the frontier. Officials have been discussing how to stop incursions since the weekend, when militants snatched three foreign aid workers from the town of Mandera. A defence spokesman promised to try to stop the militants, but said it was often difficult to identify them. Meanwhile, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki blamed Somali insurgents for an influx of illegal weapons into his country. Defence spokesman Bogita Ongeri said his forces were working with other nations to try to keep Somali militias such as the radical al-Shabab group at bay. "The challenge that we have at border points is that these people come from the same clan, and you find that sometimes to identify who is al-Shabab and who is not is a problem," he said. "Our borders are porous and it is not a place where you can totally keep al-Shabab at bay. But we are trying our best." The BBC's Ruth Nesoba, in Nairobi, says a series of incidents on the Somali border has raised questions about the ability of Kenyan security agents to keep the country safe. On Saturday alleged members of al-Shabab crossed into Kenya, kidnapped three aid workers in Mandera and returned to Somalia - apparently without any resistance. Our correspondent says the incident came just days after militants were reportedly sighted trying to recruit young men outside a local school on the Kenyan side of the border. During a speech to the armed forces, President Kibaki linked the insurgency in Somalia to the rise of insecurity and crime in his country. "The continued fighting in neighbouring Somalia has contributed immensely to the infiltration of these illicit arms into our country," he said. "My government will not spare any efforts to mop up illicit arms that are used by criminals to carry out banditry attacks." Earlier this year militants from Somalia abducted two Italians nuns from the same border area. The two were released a few weeks later after ransom money was paid.

A colourful wedding took place in London on Saturday 11th July, 2009 between Mr. Jackson Karanja Njiiri (web moderator) and Miss Sharon Njeri Thiong'o. The wedding took place at Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church, Prayer Temple, Docklands, London, 119 East India Dock Road, Poplar, London at 11.00 a.m. It was officiated by Pastor Patrick Thuku of CCBC Swahili Service, Bishop Francis Sarpong and Bishop Samuel Kamuri Muya from Elburgon, Kenya who delivered the word of the day. The Kenya High Commissioner in the UK HE Joseph Muchemi and his wife Mrs. Cecilia Muchemi also attended the ceremony. Later the reception followed thereafter at Pavillion Banqueting Suite, 324 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, E17 9PX as from 2.00 p.m. Over 1,000 guests attended the ceremony. (Above the wife of the High Commissioner Mrs. Cecilia Muchemi joined the "mugithi" as the couple opened the floor (right). - CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE PHOTOS

Nairobi, Kenya, Jul 21 - Two police officers were killed early on Tuesday and two others wounded in separate attacks in the Kenyan Capital, just hours before President Mwai Kibaki ordered security chiefs to hunt down and disarm criminals in efforts to stem rising crime. The two officers were stabbed to death in the city’s Dandora estate, bringing to six the number of law enforcement officers killed within a month, according to the police. The Head of State who was presiding over a passing-out parade of Administration Police recruits in Embakasi, said he was concerned at the escalating state of insecurity in the country.

Michael Jackson's father has gone on TV to publicly accuse his son's doctor of killing the star. Joe Jackson made the outburst on Larry King's show, saying Dr Conrad Murray gave Jacko 'something to make him rest and then he don't wake up no more'. He suggested Dr Murray's disappearance after the death was telling, adding: 'He ran away. They had to look for him three days to find him. To me that is foul play.' Mr Jackson echoed claims by daughter La Toya that the star was bumped off. But his allegations were trumped by promoter Leonard Rowe, who implied rivals AEG were involved – despite lining him up for 50 shows at the 02 Arena. There was 'suspicious activity' during Jacko's final days, said Rowe. The star was 'controlled and manipulated' by 'the people who were paying his bills'. 'It was the promoters that were promoting in London – AEG,' he added Rowe then questioned why Jackson had a doctor in his house when AEG said he was in perfect health. Mr Jackson, 79, also denied he was estranged from Michael, insisting he wanted to help him with his drug problem but was banned by his son's security guards. 'I could never get to him, I tried all I could, they cut me off,' he said. He denied reports that he planned to take Jackson's three children on the road to perform. Police interviewed Dr Murray but have said he is not a suspect. AEG was unavailable for comment.

Nairobi, Tuesday 21st July, 2009. President Mwai Kibaki has directed the Ministry of Information and Communication to put in place an elaborate databank that will ensure all mobile telephone subscribers are registered within six months. The President expressed concern that there was increase in crime perpetuated through mobile telephony due to the fact that the owners of mobile handsets and SIM cards were not registered. "To guard against these tendencies, I am directing the Ministry of Information and Communication to put in place within six months from now, an elaborate databank that will ensure all mobile telephone subscribers are registered," he said. In a speech read on his behalf by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka during a gala dinner to commemorate the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) 10th anniversary and an ICT industry Expo at the Carnivore on Monday evening, the President said the Government was committed to ensuring that all Kenyans have access to ICT services. He noted that the Government will this year spend Kshs. 1.3 billion in purchasing mobile computer laboratories for each constituency for use by secondary schools and another Kshs. 15 billion to support the purchase of lap tops. The president said such projects will ensure that youths in the rural areas were well equipped with key ICT skills to enable them participate effectively in the unfolding digital economy.

To redress the rural/urban divide in access to ICT services, the President said the Government has amended the law to facilitate the creation of Universal Service Fund to finance the deployment of communication services in un-served areas of the country. He said that in the 2009/10 financial year, the Government has given numerous incentives to the ICT sub-sector by lowering taxes and giving rebates on key capital intensive investment areas and asked the industry to take advantage of the situation. President Kibaki said the Government recognizes the telecommunication sector as a key player in the emerging digital economy, noting that the future of the world in the highly digitalized global village was entirely dependent on the extend to which people embraced ICT innovations. "The ICT era has brought with it an unprecedented expansion of the democratic space and a tendency and yearning everywhere for free enterprise and entrepreneurship,'' said President Kibaki. He said in the current situation of innovation and free enterprise, regulation was important to maintaining order and avoids misuse of technology. The President said the Government has identified ICT as a key pillar of Vision 2030 where the Business Process Outsourcing sub-sector has been singled out as the next frontier of growth and employment creation for the youth. "To ensure that this becomes a reality, the Government has facilitated the construction of high speed international fiber-optic infrastructure to connect the country to the international network,'' he said, adding that the arrival of the fiber optic cable in Kenya was expected to revolutionize communications in the country and the region. President Kibaki further called for enhanced collaboration between the Government and the private sector in ensuring that the underserved areas which presented the next business frontier were reached.

A fall in government income is the lead for the Independent, which it claims could mean large-scale tax rises and on right The Sun has an interview with Jermain Jackson who says Michael shouldn't be buried with "bad people" at a public cemetary

A Kenyan has been jailed for more than 16 years in Nursing home slaying in USA. A Kenyan man who beat and strangled an elderly woman outside a Federal Way nursing home last year was sentenced today to more than 16 years in prison. Joseph Njonge was found guilty of second-degree murder during a jury trial last month. The 25-year-old man maintains his innocence. Jane Britt, 75, was strangled in the parking lot of her husband's Federal Way nursing home on March 18, 2008. Her body was found in the trunk of her car parked outside the Garden Terrace Alzheimer's Center of Excellence the following day. Police said that Britt fought furiously against her attacker, scratching him so hard that investigators were able to cull a complete DNA profile from the skin cells found under her fingernails. Njonge's DNA matched the cells found underneath Britt's nails. Her husband's Costco card was found in Njonge's wallet. Howard Britt, the slain woman's son, said after the sentencing hearing this morning that he is working hard to forgive Njonge. He said that every day he says to himself "I forgive Njonge." "I miss her very much," Britt said about his mother.

"I wish him [Njonge] well. I wish when he finishes his sentence the Lord blesses his life." Njonge declined to speak at today's sentencing hearing. His sister, Ann Njonge, of Seattle, said that he's not guilty. "I don't know what happened, but I know Joseph is innocent," Ann Njonge testified. Superior Court Judge Laura Middaugh said that her decision to give Njonge a middle of the range sentence, when he has no prior criminal history, was based on Britt's age and the fact that Njonge was trusted by the Britt family. "This was very ugly," Middaugh said. "This impacted the community in no way I probably would have thought of." Defense attorney Phil Sayles, said that when Njonge completes his sentence he will likely be deported to Kenya. Sayles said he has appealed the conviction based on errors he believes Middaugh made during pre-trial hearings. Sayles was requesting a sentence of about 10 years in prison. Senior Deputy Prosecutor Carla Carlstrom said in court that she still believes that Njonge should have been found guilty of first-degree, premeditated murder. Copyright 2009 -The Seattle Times Company

A man who abducted a nurse and tied her up in her car boot has been sentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison, with a lifelong restriction order. Justice Ngema, 35, used Magdeline Makola's bank cards to fund a Christmas shopping spree while she lay shivering in sub-zero temperatures. Ms Makola, 38, spent 10 days locked in the boot before she was found suffering from hypothermia on Boxing Day 2008. She disappeared after work at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on 15 December. When Ngema was sentenced on Tuesday at the High Court in Glasgow, he was told by judge Lord Menzies that he may never be released from prison. It will be up to the parole board to assess whether he should be released after he has served the minimum eight year punishment part of the sentence, Lord Menzies said. After he has completed his prison sentence, Ngema will be deported back to South Africa. Lord Menzies told Ngema that he had inflicted a "truly dreadful physical and mental ordeal on a young woman who had done you no harm at all". The judge also said it "must have been incredibly uncomfortable and terrifying for her, the stuff of nightmares." "If the weather had been different or if she had not been so strong she could easily have died," he added. The judge said the medical evidence was that Ms Makola would not have survived another two days in the boot. South African-born Ms Makola, 38, was reported as saying after the verdict she had been most worried by the rope that had been put round her neck by Ngema. She added: "All of a sudden I just started making friends with death.

"I tried to kick the boot but I started to lose hope. I said, 'what else could I do?' because people were not hearing me at all." A Lothian and Borders police spokesman said: "Tuesday's sentence reflects the severity of the offences committed by Justice Ngema. "We would like to thank those members of the public who provided us with information during our enquiries, and whose assistance was vital in providing overwhelming evidence that ensured a guilty plea. "It is clear that Justice Ngema is an individual who has no qualms about preying on others for his own personal gain, and it is typical of his character that he has shown no remorse for his actions." Ngema, who was in the country using his brother's passport, had only known his victim briefly before the attack at her home in Livingston, West Lothian. At a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh in April he pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including theft from a cash machine and a string of frauds using Ms Makola's bank cards at designer shops in the run up to Christmas. Despite her ordeal - which left her with scars and nerve damage - Ms Makola said she felt no anger towards Ngema, and that her faith in God helped her through the trauma. In a statement read by police outside court on her behalf in April she said: "I am pleased that Justice Ngema has pleaded guilty today and I want people to know that I feel no anger towards him, only pity. "I wish him well in the future and I will pray for him." Ms Makola was reported missing on 18 December when she failed to turn up for her shift. An investigation was launched and the nurse was discovered by police in her red Vauxhall Astra in Airdrie, Lanarkshire. Ngema, who is also known as Sifiso Praise God Ngema, was in the country despite being deported in 2002 after a failed claim for asylum.

Justice Ngema, 35, left Magdeline Makola in her car boot and on right Ms Makola has said she has forgiven her abductor

Irish detectives are now questioning whether Farah Swaleh Noor, a Kenyan immigrant who was living in Ireland may have lied to the police when he claimed that he had murdered a 17 year old teenager Raonaid Murray. Detectives are looking into new clues that point to the murderer being a female. Farah was one of the chief suspects after he went around telling his friends that he was responsible for Raonaid's death. In a strange turn of events, Farah was himself murdered by two irish sisters (Charlotte and Linda Mulhall) whose mother (Kathleen Mulhall) he was dating. The Kenyan was murdered in a Dublin flat during a heavy drinking session with the three women when he made a pass at one of the sisters. She later picked up a knife and stabbed Farah repeatedly and the sisters multilated his body several times and threw the pieces in the Royal Canal in March 2005. To this day, his head has never been found. After the murder, the sisters' mother fled and went to Britain but later came back and was charged with cleaning up and trying to conceal the crime.

A group of tearaway baboons are wreaking havoc on a safari park after learning to crack open rooftop luggage boxes and escaping with visitors' goods. Keepers at Knowsley Safari Park have been forced to issue warnings after the opportunistic primates developed a taste for human possessions. The cheeky monkeys - who are known for tearing off the odd wiper or wing mirror - have been targeting cars carrying the roof boxes before pouncing on the unsuspecting visitors, who are forced to watch helplessly as their things disappear. Now bosses at the Merseyside park have slapped the artful animals with what they call 'Anti Social Baboon Orders' and have warned visitors not to travel through the infamous monkey jungle with luggage on their roof. With the holiday season in full swing, people are now being urged to watch the 140 baboons at play from the safety of the car-friendly route, around the outside of the baboon enclosure. Safari Park general manager, David Ross, said when the first luggage box was broken into, staff didn't really take much notice as they thought it was a one-off incident.

But they soon realised they had a problem on their hands when visitors reported the pesky primates kept stealing their things. 'Their technique involves the largest baboons jumping up and down on the box, flexing it until the lock bursts open, then the rest of the baboons pile in to see what they can find,' Mr Ross said. 'Obviously, we're well used to them helping themselves to the odd wing mirror or wiper blade, but this has taken things to a whole new level. 'Let's face it, nobody wants to see a baboon running up a tree with their underwear.' But Mr Ross said some visitors continued to ignore the warnings and paid a high price, with staff forced to re-enact the scenario for park guests so they could see the effect for themselves. 'Unfortunately though, we still get drivers who don't think it will happen to them and they decide to take a chance,' he said 'That's why we recently staged a demonstration to show the reality of the risks drivers face. 'The baboons were into the luggage box on our car within minutes and absolute mayhem ensued. 'We will now be able to show photographs of this incident to visitors with cargo boxes who may be thinking of playing "Russian roulette" in the monkey jungle.' There are currently more than 140 baboons at Knowsley Safari Park and visitor surveys consistently show them to be the attraction's most popular exhibit.

Total outstanding government debt in the UK has risen to a record £799bn, or 56.6% of UK GDP - the highest since records began in 1974. New borrowing in June was £13bn, almost twice as much as a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said, after the downturn shrank tax receipts. The figures also reflect the cost of bank bail-outs and higher spending on social security benefits. One economist described the state of the public finances as "dire". "The figures are modestly better than expected. It doesn't take away from the fact that the state of public finances is dire and that a considerable degree of fiscal tightening will be required," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec. "The figures are volatile on a month-on-month basis. The size of the shortfall and volatility mean there is little to celebrate." Analysts had forecast borrowing of £15.5bn in June. The UK is on track to meet Chancellor Alistair Darling's forecast of £175bn of borrowing this financial year. Public borrowing for May was revised down to £18.6bn from an initial estimate of £19.9bn. Business groups warned that, although it appears that public borrowing is in line with the chancellor's forecast, the government must not sit back. "It would be wrong to tighten policy while the recession continues, but maintaining Britain's international credibility requires a robust plan for restoring our public finances over the medium-term," said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce. "This must focus on curtailing public spending across the board, while avoiding damaging measures that would harm wealth-creating businesses." Meanwhile, a National Audit Office (NAO) report said that tax receipts fell by 10% in the past year - the biggest fall since 1923.

Thousands of London families face having to cope without electricity until Thursday after vandals caused the capital's biggest blackout for years. Up to 60,000 homes across a swathe of south-east London including Bexley, Orpington, Bromley, Dartford and Welling were left without power when a fire damaged four main electricity circuits. Police said vandals started the fire on a cable bridge in Dartford just before 1pm yesterday and may have been trying to steal equipment. It is London's biggest power cut since August 2003, when 500,000 people lost their electricity. Hundreds of shops across south-east London and north Kent were forced to close and commuters spoke of “incredibly frightening” conditions on the roads as traffic lights failed. Street lights were dark last night and many residents were forced to leave their homes and find alternative accommodation until their electricity is restored. The London Fire Brigade received a number of calls from people trapped in lifts by the sudden power failure. French-owned power company EDF said that “many thousands” of people could remain without power for more than 36 hours into tomorrow

Nairobi, Kenya, Jul 20 - The Kenyan Cabinet failed to agree for the second time in a week on the mode of prosecuting alleged perpetrators of last year's post election violence. Sources privy to the goings on at State House said rivals in the Coalition government who are fronting divergent positions dug in making it impossible to reach consensus on a Bill to set up a local tribunal fronted by Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo. A dispatch from the Presidential Press Service said another meeting would take place next week to allow a team led by Mr Kilonzo to work on the proposals that were discussed at the failed meeting. "The Ministers discussed The Rome Statute, the International Crimes Act as well as minutes of the meeting between International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo and the Government delegation on July 3," said the PPS statement. Last Tuesday the Cabinet failed to agree on a home-based trial for the suspects with Ministers disagreeing sharply. Some Ministers disagreed with Mr Kilonzo's proposal of establishing a local tribunal despite his assurances that measures had been put in place to ensure it is not manipulated.

Their differences were even more evident over the weekend with Ministers and Members of Parliament supporting either The Hague or a local solution. Parliament, which shot down the government's initial attempt at a local tribunal in February, was set to resume sittings on Tuesday. The MPs who voted against it said they had no faith in a local set up and that it could be easily manipulated. On Monday morning, city Lawyer Betty Murungi said failure by the Cabinet to agree on the way forward would send a bad signal on Kenya's quest to address the culture of impunity. "It will just be a demonstration of unwillingness to give Kenyans an accountability mechanism," she said. She appealed to the political class to stop fixing their minds on either of the two and focus on a local solution since engineers of the violence were too many and not all of them could be tried at the ICC. "For those who think The Hague is this terrible place for prisoners, it's very nice. They think it's a place like Kamiti Maximum Prison, hell no, they (inmates) have spousal visits, and they have lap tops, heated cells, good food, way better livelihoods than most of the African population live in," she said. Ms Murungi however cautioned politicians against making daring statements saying they should not underrate the interest Kenya draws internationally. She argued that due to Kenya's geo-political importance, one could not be sure if International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo may decide to prioritise the Kenyan case. - CapitalFM

Londoners Joan Watson, Hannah Thomas and Paula Simmons at the Race for Life in Hyde park and about 13,000 women took part in the Race for Life in Hyde Park

The UK Border Agency is changing its published policy on judicial review challenges in cases where we are seeking to remove people from the United Kingdom. The changes to the policy will come into effect on 3 August 2009. are making these changes as part of our drive to establish a swift end-to-end process for concluding asylum cases and deporting foreign national prisoners. Any decision that the UK Border Agency makes can be challenged in the courts under the process known as 'judicial review', if it is believed that the decision was made unlawfully or irrationally or was otherwise flawed. Immigration cases should not reach the stage of judicial review until they have been through the entire appeals system. The change to our policy covers situations where a person's case has been finally determined and they have exhausted all statutory rights of appeal. If they then issue a claim for a judicial review up to three months after their statutory appeal was concluded, our current policy is normally to suspend their removal. Under the new policy, we will normally proceed with the removal, although we will still defer removal in appropriate cases. In addition, we are extending our current policy on people who issue a claim for judicial review up to three months after a judge has refused permission on a previous judicial review application. This revised policy, which came into effect on 30 January 2009, currently applies only to cases where people have been detained. From 3 August it will be extended to include non-detained cases. These changes in policy will only affect those cases where the claimant has raised nothing new (having lodged the same or virtually identical grounds) to the material that was previously considered or that could reasonably have been raised previously during the statutory appeal. We will inform any individuals affected by the new policy, and their representatives, that we intend to proceed with removal and that they will therefore need to obtain an injunction in order to prevent their removal.

While sisters are known for their love of sharing, Mormon siblings Katie and Priscilla Churcher have chosen to share more than most in their choice of husband Travis. The pair live with their husband and eight children in a large house in Salt Lake City in the American state of Utah and insist they are very happy with their choice. They have three cars, a big garden, wardrobes full of stylish clothes and a mountain of toys for all their offspring. "People might think it's weird to share your husband with your sister, but it's not to us," said Katie, 28. "It makes Travis a better husband he's more patient. He's had to learn how to cope with two different women with different personalities, and to remember how to make each of us feel special and loved. While he's got to check in with both of us, I've got more freedom to see my friends and there's always someone to help with the childcare. Katie met Travis, an office manager, through her brother and they started dating when she was 17. Both came from Fundamentalist Mormon families where polygamy was the norm Katie's father had three wives and Travis's had two. Having been brought up that way, we were both open to being in a polygamist relationship and we discussed Travis having lots of wives early on, said Katie. When the couple married in 1998, Katie's younger sister Priscilla was one of the many guests. Within months, Katie fell pregnant with first child Legacy and by 2003 the couple had two more children, Travis and Benny. Katie said was a mutual decision for Travis to ask Priscilla if she wanted to marry him too. We'd always wondered whether polygamy could work for us, because I'd loved having so many brothers and sisters when I was young and wanted the same for my kids, explained Katie. I could see a lot of positives to this way of life because you have more independence. We felt we'd all get along but wanted to make sure Priscilla would fit in so I asked if she'd consider getting to know us better. Priscilla was shocked to be asked, but eventually agreed to go out for dinner with Travis while Katie babysat the children.

It was weird at first, said Priscilla, now 24. Because he was married to my sister I tried not to let myself get too close, but I could see he was compassionate husband and a great dad and I wanted that too. After months of regular dates to the cinema and romantic walks, Priscilla realised she was falling in love and with Katie's blessing got engaged to Travis. Because polygamy is banned in the US, Travis couldn't legally take another wife, but vowed his love to Priscilla in an unofficial church ceremony as Katie looked on. Priscilla's younger than me and I was worried he'd end up loving her more but I told myself it was worth the risk to have the lifestyle I wanted. I wanted to challenge myself to live with another wife so I could grow as a person, and become stronger, more understanding and caring, Katie admitted Now each woman has their own bedroom and Travis will alternate between the two. The sisters go on individual dates with Travis and they also spend time together as friends. The three of us will go to see plays and concerts and movies together, said Katie. If I start to feel bitter because Travis is spending time with Katie I take a step back and think 'well she needs to see him too' and I don't want to deprive my sister of her happiness, said Priscilla. When Priscilla first moved in it was sometimes hard for me to adjust, Katie added. There were simple things that could leave people feeling hurt. Like who would sit in the front seat when Travis drives us somewhere. But we talked about it and after about a year it finally began to feel normal. Katie's children are: Legacy, 10, Travis, 8, Benny, 7, Jackson, 4 and Grace, 10 months. Priscilla's children are: Simmy, 4, Lady, 3 and Junie, 3 months. Both women plan to have more children.

Polygamy is illegal in the US butthe family feels the law is depriving them of their religious freedom granted by the constitution. The area where the family lives, just outside Salt Lake City in Mid-West America, is famous for its large Mormon population and amongst them are fundamentalists who practice polygamy. Katie insisted she never felt pressurised to follow a polygamist lifestyle by her family. My parents always said that I should do whatever makes me happy, she said. In fact my mother was an only wife before she met my dad but that husband died. So she had experience of both and said she preferred being a plural wife. Their unorthodox lifestyle sometimes causes problems in the community. Katie said: When we lived in a different town some of the parents wouldn't let our children play with their kids in the park. They would drag them off when they tried to play. They were only five-years-old, what did they think a five year old would do brainwash them or something? We don't want people to think we're criminals. This is just the way we choose to live. Katie and Priscilla send their children to mainstream schools where they mix with peers of all different backgrounds and religions. The family currently has no plans for Travis to take any more wives. Travis has got enough on his plate with two wives and eight children, said Katie. But we certainly wouldn't rule out another wife joining us. For his part, Travis said both his wives were fun to be around. They both have different attitudes and personalities, Katie is good with finances, and Priscilla loves teaching preschool to our little ones, he said I've had to learn to be more patient and to communicate well.

Police are investigating a motorway pile-up involving 259 cars in Germany. Ambulances and a helicopter were called to the A2 at Peine near Hanover, where injured drivers and passengers were treated in a makeshift roadside tent. Emergency services said it was lucky nobody died. Firefighter Klaus Wulfes said: "I have not seen anything like this before. I have seen many accidents but never a pile-up this size." A young father described how cars started crashing into each other in front of him when he saw another car in his back mirror approach at high speed. "All I did was turn around to check on my little son, our son. That was my only thought," the man said

YOU are GROWING – From Small acorns grow big Oak Trees – Every journey starts with a single step!!

The economic crisis has seen the number of fraud cases in UK courts reach a 21-year record in the first six months of this year, accountancy firm KPMG said today Monday 20th July, 2009. Charges of serious fraud, where more than £100,000 is embezzled, totalled 163 in the first half of this year, with a combined value of £636 million. And if the figure is matched in the second half of the year, it will exceed the current highest annual total of £1.2 billion set in 1995. KPMG's fraud barometer, which has been carried out for the past 21 years, found investors were the worst hit, as they suffered losses of £321 million - more than half the overall amount in just 17 cases. The Government was the next biggest victim, with almost £153 million taken in 38 cases, mostly in the form of tax and duty evasion and fraudulent benefit claims. Financial institutions suffered 44 cases of fraud, totalling more than £111 million. Hitesh Patel, a partner at KPMG Forensic, said: "These figures are bad, but the worst is yet to come. It will be a number of years before the impact of recession fully feeds through into the fraud statistic." The economic crisis takes some of the blame, according to Mr Patel: "Hard times mean more people driven to fraud by personal pressures, and more investors willing to believe in cooked-up investment schemes."

Professional criminals were responsible for the vast majority of frauds, in both combined value and number of cases. Gangs of fraudsters embezzled more than £447 million from their victims in 70 cases. Managers stole almost £150 million from their own companies in the period in 32 cases and other employees took nearly £24 million in 31 cases. Mr Patel said: "Companies too remain vulnerable to the threat within - their staff - as evidenced by the £150 million of fraud that managers have been tried for in the last six months alone." Property scams played a key role, with some high-profile cases proving lucrative for con-artists. A large buy-to-let fraud in the North East tricked as many as 2,000 investors out of £80 million, as they put money into properties which often turned out to be little more than derelict shells. Mortgage fraud accounted for £24 million in the first half of the year, and KMPG expects home loan scams to rise as the recession continues. "Britain's fraud problem remains a serious one," Mr Patel continued. "The authorities have become very active in the fight against fraud, but it is especially challenging in times of recession." The report found determined and audacious fraudsters took money in innovative and ruthless scams. A Hartlepool-based food product company had £2.5 million siphoned by its managing director over a 12-month period, and a charity finance manager in Manchester paid herself nearly £500,000 over a decade by processing bogus payments. One social worker in the North West made up an entire children's home called Cherrywood which did not exist. She authorised payments for the home and its 'staff' into her own bank account, taking more than £600,000 of public funds over five years.

"In equity you find love but in equality often contention." - Sanity, Grace Njeri, Oxford

David Beckham got involved in an ugly confrontation with fans at his home return game in Los Angeles. The former England captain attempted to jump over a barrier as he left the field at half-time to remonstrate with a section of the crowd that had been jeering him. He was held back by security staff, members of whom were also needed to restrain an angry fan who left his seat and rushed towards the footballer. Beckham received a less than friendly welcome at his first home game for LA Galaxy after returning from a five-month loan spell at AC Milan - the team LA faced. A hardcore section of the crowd booed Beckham every time he touched the ball and held aloft signs reading "Go Home Fraud" and "23: Repent" in reference to his shirt number. Another read: "Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here after You, Here Despite You" while one stated: "Is evil something u are...or something u do?"

A passenger on a jet liner was stung by a scorpion in his luggage. Douglas Herbstsommer, 44, said he felt his left hand go numb after rummaging through his bag half an hour before landing. When the Southwest plane landed in the US city of Indianapolis the toxic bark scorpion and five babies were killed and the aircraft itself fumigated. The scorpions - which grow to around three inches long - are poisonous but their sting is rarely poisonous. Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said she had never heard of a scorpion climbing on to a plane before.

"When we are motivated by wisdom an compassion, the result of our actions benefit everyone, not just our individual selves or some immediate convenience." - The Little Book of Wisdom

Isiolo, Kenya, Jul 20 - Tension remained high in Isiolo District following the killing of eight people and the displacement of 8000 more at the weekend, police and aid workers said. The Kenya Red Cross reported that they feared the number of displaced persons in the region could increase because "villagers were still fleeing their homes on Monday." The humanitarian agency also expressed worry about inadequate food and water following a rising need by men, women and children at the camps where a crisis was unfolding. "The residents are already vulnerable due to prolonged drought, acute shortage of water, animal deaths and cholera outbreak experienced since the beginning of the year," Titus Mung'ou of the Communications department at the Kenya Red Cross said. Police Spokesman Erick Kiraithe said security deployments had been beefed up to maintain law and order. "Combined units from various departments are on the ground patrolling the region in search of the stolen cattle and the raiders," Mr Kiraithe said. Nearly 2,000 heads of cattle were stolen when rustlers raided remote villages of Bullagardud and Akadeli. According to police, trouble started when the raiders and retaliated and killed eight people after one of them was shot dead by home guards on Tuesday. This resulted in the closure of three primary schools, affecting over 1,000 pupils and displacing 600 families who camped in Kambi Juu Catholic Church. During the skirmishes, 36 homes were reported to have been damaged and household goods stolen. On Friday, at least 50 raiders attacked Gambela residents leaving six people dead and two others injured. Among the dead was an Administration Policeman, civilians and four home guards. Over 1,000 animals were stolen during the raid. After the news of the attacks reached Isiolo town, members of one community were roughed up before security officers moved in and transported them to safety in Ngaremara, about 30km from Isiolo. On Saturday, two members of one community were killed in Isiolo town, heightening tension in the area. The Kenya Red Cross said it was supplying the displaced civilian population with humanitarian assistance such as food, non-food items, water and healthcare. - CapitalFM

A German who tried to fix his leaky air mattress managed to blow up his apartment instead, the fire brigade in the western city of Duesseldorf said on Wednesday. The 45-year-old man used tyre repair solvent to plug a hole in his airbed and left it overnight. But it blew up when he went to inflate it the next day. 'A spark from the electric air pump ignited it,' a fire brigade spokesman said. The blast pushed his living room wall into the building's stairwell and caused extensive damage to walls, windows and furniture. Fire fighters evacuated the 12-apartment building and a neighbouring housing block while they checked for structural damage. The man suffered burns on his arms, while a three-year-old girl suffered first degree burns.

Weird Fact of the Day (that you probably didn't know)

Want to prove yourself the king of strange trivia when you're down the pub? Every day (well, most days), we'll be regaling you with an odd fact about the world - each one of them guaranteed 100% absolutely probably true, and not just taken from Wikipedia*.

Friday, July 17: Neil Armstrong may have been the first man to walk on the moon, but Buzz Aldrin was the first man to urinate on it. He paused briefly to relieve himself in his suit's urine collection device shortly after he left the lunar module, while being watched by millions on TV.

Thursday, July 16: A family of blue-skinned people famously lived in a remote part of Kentucky - caused by a combination of inbreeding and a rare hereditary condition called methemoglobinemia (which reduces the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity), the Fulgate family of Troublesome Creek had numerous blue-skinned members during the 1800s and 1900s.

Wednesday, July 15: Frederick the Great, the king of Prussia, was no fan of coffee. In 1777, he declared: 'It is disgusting to notice the increase in the quantity of coffee used by my subjects… Everybody is using coffee. If possible, this must be prevented. My people must drink beer.'

Tuesday, July 14: Inventor and concrete furniture enthusiast Thomas Edison, frustrated that his wife didn't match his levels of genius, once wrote in his diary 'Mrs Mary Edison My wife Dearly Beloved Cannot invent worth a Damn!!' and (on Valentine's Day) 'My Wife Popsy Wopsy Can't Invent.'

Monday, July 13: If you've ever been unable to find a cash machine when you really need one, spare a thought for the residents of Antarctica: there's just one cash machine on the entire continent, at US research centre McMurdo Station. Then again, there's also not many late night kebab shops either, so it probably evens out.

Friday, July 10: Genius inventor Thomas Edison is best remembered for the movie camera, the lightbulb, and the phonograph, and less well-remembered for his ill-fated attempts at making concrete furniture - including a concrete piano. It never caught on, surprisingly.

Tuesday, July 07: Sir Francis Bacon, the pioneering scientist and philosopher, is said to have died when, in 1626, he decided to experiment with stuffing a chicken full of snow to preserve the meat - and died from pneumonia accentuated by the cold.

Thursday, July 02: Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho broke any number of taboos - notably, it was the first mainstream American film ever to show a toilet being flushed on screen, when Janet Leigh's character attempts to dispose of incriminating evidence.

Wednesday, July 01: The microwave oven was invented after an accident in 1945, when American engineer Percy Spencer was standing in front of a magnetron (the device that produces the microwave radio signals in radar systems) and noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted.

For the second time in a few days, significant quantities of Class A drugs have been seized at Dover Ferry Port. A man from North Wales is due to appear in court today after officers from the UK Border Agency seized approximately 120kg of heroin, worth about £5,400,000, and about 6kg of amphetamine sulphate, worth about £60,000, at Dover's Eastern Docks. Early on the morning of Thursday 16 July, a lorry was stopped in the freight controls after it had disembarked a ferry. During a search of the vehicle, which was carrying a load of mixed general cargo, UK Border Agency officers discovered a large number of brown-taped packages hidden within the structure of the trailer. The contents of some of the packages tested positive for heroin. Following the detection, the case was passed to HM Revenue & Customs investigation officers to continue enquiries. The driver of the vehicle, 47-year-old David Lewis from Buckley in North Wales, was interviewed and subsequently charged with attempting to smuggle drugs into the United Kingdom. He is due to appear before Folkestone Magistrates this morning, Friday 17 July. HM Revenue & Customs enquiries are continuing. Bob Gaiger, HM Revenue & Customs Dover spokesman, said:

'This was another excellent detection by UK Border Agency officers which led to the seizure of a very significant amount of drugs. HM Revenue & Customs together with the UK Border Agency play a vital role in the fight to prevent illegal drugs from entering the UK and in protecting our communities from the violence and corruption that always accompany this hideous trade.

'Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to drugs smuggling should call our 24-hour Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000.'

A Saudi Arabian princess who had an illegitimate child with a British man has secretly been granted asylum in this country after she claimed she would face the death penalty if she were forced to return home. The young woman, who has been granted anonymity by the courts, won her claim for refugee status after telling a judge that her adulterous affair made her liable to death by stoning. Her case is one of a small number of claims for asylum brought by citizens of Saudi Arabia which are not openly acknowledged by either government. British diplomats believe that to do so would in effect be to highlight the persecution of women in Saudi Arabia, which would be viewed as open criticism of the House of Saud and lead to embarrassing publicity for both governments. The woman, who comes from a very wealthy Saudi family, says she met her English boyfriend – who is not a Muslim – during a visit to London. They struck up a relationship. She became pregnant the following year and worried that her elderly husband – a member of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia – had become suspicious of her behaviour, she persuaded him to let her visit the UK again to give birth in secret. She feared for her life if she returned to Saudi Arabia. She persuaded the court that if she returned to the Gulf state she and her child would be subject to capital punishment under Sharia law – specifically flogging and stoning to death. She was also worried about the possibility of an honour killing. Since she fled Saudi Arabia, her family and her husband's family have broken off contact with her. The woman has been granted permanent leave to remain in the UK after the Immigration and Asylum tribunal allowed her appeal. The Home Office yesterday declined to discuss the case.

A spokesman for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London said that he would call back but subsequently became unavailable. Relations between the UK and Saudi Arabia have been strained in recent years and were brought to a head in 2006 when Tony Blair intervened to end a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry into alleged kickbacks paid in a multibillion military aircraft deal between the two states. The Saudi royal family was deeply concerned about the idea that the investigators might try o open up their Swiss bank accounts, it was alleged at the time. This led the Saudis to threaten to restrict the sharing of intelligence relating to terror activity if the prosecution went ahead. They also threatened to pull out of other highly-lucrative arms deals. Last year, the House of Lords ruled that the SFO's decision to drop the corruption investigation into the £43bn Saudi arms deal with BAE Systems was unlawful. In a hard-hitting ruling, two High Court judges described the SFO's decision as "an outrage". One of them, Lord Justice Moses, said the SFO and the Government had given into "blatant threats" that Saudi intelligence co-operation would end unless the probe into corruption was halted. "No one, whether within this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice," he said. "It is the failure of government and the defendant to bear that essential principle in mind that justifies the intervention of this court." The Middle East state has been shrouded in controversy over oppressive policies against women and homosexuals. Secrecy surrounds much of the Saudi legal system, but in a recent report on the use of the death penalty in the kingdom, the human rights group Amnesty International highlighted its extensive use against men and women.

Adulterers face public stonings and floggings and, in the most serious cases, beheadings and hangings. The high numbers of executions in Saudi Arabia in 2007 continued into 2008. There were at least 102 executions of men and women last year – at an average rate of two every week. Amnesty is aware of at least 136 individuals currently awaiting execution. Last week, Saudi Arabia's religious police were blamed for the death of two sisters who were murdered in what was deemed an "honour killing" by their brother, after the sisters were arrested for allegedly mixing with men to whom they were not related. The Society for Defending Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia said that the religious police had arrested the two sisters, aged 19 and 21, thus putting their lives in danger. Their brother shot them dead in front of their father when they left a women's shelter in Riyadh on 5 July, according to Saudi news reports. In 2007, in a case that shocked Saudis, a woman from Qatif was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison after being gang-raped. She offended cultural expectations because she was unaccompanied when she got into a car with a former boyfriend. The man had agreed to hand back a photograph of the woman who was about to marry another man, but as they drove along a street they were stopped and seized by seven men who raped them both. The woman was originally sentenced to 90 lashes but the sentence was increased when she appealed. Eventually, after an international outcry, she was pardoned. In 2007, King Abdullah II of Saudi Arabia was jeered during a state visit to Britain as dozens of demonstrators turned out to protest at his country's human rights record.

Former President Moi is leading efforts to reconcile communities in the vast Rift Valley region to prevent a future outbreak of violence. Mr Moi, who has threatened to “name and shame” local politicians trying to incite their constituents into fresh violence, held various peace rallies in the area, and hosted a number of delegations at his Kabarak home. The retired President has always accused Rift Valley politicians of fanning the violence during the 2007 campaigns that later turned chaotic following the declaration of President Kibaki of PNU the winner against ODM’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Mr Moi supported President Kibaki’s re-election and campaigned for him. Three of his sons, Gideon (Baringo Central) Jonathan (Eldama Ravine) and Raymond (Rongai), also ran on Kanu tickets. They all lost. Mr Moi’s property in Eldama Ravine and Kuresoi was destroyed during the violence. - MORE

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are preventing holidaymakers suspected of having swine flu from boarding, according to The Times. CENTRE: A Saudi Arabian princess has been granted asylum in the UK to escape death by stoning for having an illegitimate child with a British man, The Independent claims. RIGHT: The Guardian leads on a report which argues students who study at home should not have to pay fees.

Burger lovers beware: People who eat red meat every day have a higher risk of dying over a 10-year period -- mostly because of cardiovascular disease or cancer --than their peers who eat less red or processed meat, according to a new study of about half a million people. People who ate the most red meat had about a 30 percent greater risk of dying than those who ate the least. "This is the biggest and highest quality study like this," says Barry M. Popkin, Ph.D., from the University of North Carolina, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study, which was published Monday in Archives of Internal Medicine. "They collected the diet data very carefully, and it's saying to people, 'You don't have to eat red meat every day.' " In the study, a research team led by Rashmi Sinha, Ph.D., from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, looked at more than 500,000 people who were aged 50 to 71 when they enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health study. Over a 10-year period, people who ate the most red meat every day (about 62.5 grams per 1,000 calories per day, equivalent to a quarter-pound burger or small steak per day) had about a 30 percent greater risk of dying compared with those who consumed the least amount of red meat (a median of 9.8 grams per 1,000 calories per day). The excess mortality was mostly the result of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The red meat in the study included all types of beef and pork, including bacon, cold cuts, ham, hamburgers, hot dogs, and steak, as well as meat in pizza, chili, lasagna, and stew.In addition, those who ate the largest amounts of processed meat (defined as about 22.6 grams per 1,000 calories per day of bacon, red-meat sausage, poultry sausage, cold cuts, ham, regular hot dogs, and low-fat hot dogs) also had a slightly higher mortality risk than those who consumed the least. In contrast, people who ate the most white meat seemed to have a slightly lower mortality risk during the study than those who consumed the least amount of white meat. White meat included chicken, turkey, and fish, as well as some poultry products and canned tuna. The researchers estimate that 11 percent of deaths in men and 16 percent of deaths in women during the study could have been prevented by reducing consumption of red meat. The American Institute of Cancer Research recommends that people consume less than 18 ounces of red meat per week (the equivalent of a child-size fast-food hamburger per day) to reduce the risk for cancer, and the American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fats to less than 7 percent of total daily calories. (Animal products, such as meat and dairy, tend to be higher in saturated fat.) The United States Department of Agriculture food pyramid recommends two to three daily servings of protein, which can include lean meat, but can also come from plant sources. "It is important that people understand that they do not need to give up eating red meat, but should pay a little closer attention to how much they eat," says Lona Sandon, R.D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and an assistant professor at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. "Many people, particularly women, come up short on the nutrients that red meat has to offer."

Red meat contains protein, iron, zinc, selenium, and B vitamins that are important to the body and help prevent nutrient deficiency, says Sandon. Sandon recommends that people replace high-fat red and processed meats with protein-rich foods such as poultry or fish, beans, eggs, and low-fat dairy. Also, she adds, filling half a plate with vegetables and a quarter with meat will help keep portions in control. Health.com: Fiber, starch, fats, and "What we need to keep in mind about this study is that it does not prove that red meat causes increased death; it simply shows an association," she says. "The study relied on people's recall of what they typically eat, which does not always match what they actually consumed." Popkin says that consuming meat in moderation is important for our diet, as well as the health of the planet. Americans consume around four times more meat and dairy than the rest of the world, which may contribute to a number of global concerns, including an increased demand and price for meat, increased greenhouse gases, and a rise in disease, he says. "All we have to do is eat red meat more infrequently and cut out the sausages and hot dogs," he says. "If we cut ours down just a little bit, it would be all it took because we consume so much."

Nelson Mandela - statesman, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, former South African president and apartheid prisoner - has turned 91. Here he is seen earlier this year at a lunch for his Mandela Children's Foundation, where he met celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

The Daily Express claims proposals have been made for patients to pay £20 to see a GP.

Nairobi, Kenya, Jul 18 -Lands Minister James Orengo on Saturday 18th July, 2009 differed with his Cabinet colleague Najib Balala over the prosecution of suspects linked to the post-election violence. Mr Orengo said those adversely mentioned in the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) over possible links to the violence should resign and face trial. "The leaders must first face trial and be allowed to ask for forgiveness, let them lead by example since Kenyans have come of age’’ He said. He emphasised that the government has a huge responsibility to fight impunity saying reconciliation and forgiveness was not sufficient enough to ensure justice. Speaking in Lunga Lunga in Msambweni constituency when he handed over 2,000 title deeds in the area, Mr Orengo said the government must fight impunity before talking about reconciliation and forgiveness. He said days when leaders were above the law are long gone and called on those elected to public office to be at the forefront in respecting the law. However, Mr Balala who is among those adversely mentioned in the report said he will not resign but will instead sue KNCHR for linking him to the post elections skirmishes. He said KNCHR lacked the capacity to conduct such investigations, and based its findings on malice and hearsay. The Mvita MP claimed the report was a scheme to clip his political fortunes. "I had banned the culture of hand outs in my constituency and when I took to the streets to protest they rigged election, I was within my democratic right to do so’’ he stated. Should he move to court he will become the second cabinet Minister to sue KNCHR over their involvement in the 2007 post poll violence. On Friday the commission released a report in which 219 suspects were listed. 7 cabinet Ministers and 11 MPs were in the list which also named religious leaders, politicians, businesspeople and some vernacular radio stations. They are alleged to have led to the killings of 1,300 people and displacement of about 600,000 others. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan already handed over the secret envelope to International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo who has already opened the envelope. - CapitalFM.

One of the Seeds relatives Mrs. Ann Wanjiru Kiruthi (far left on left photo) offered herself to provide the services of porridge at Jackson and Sharon wedding on Saturday 11th July, 2009. After feeding her newly married husband and the family the bride took some porridge to the wife of the Kenya High Commissioner Mrs. Cecilia Muchemi who waited patiently for "mugithi" dance at the reception. (All photos and story coming up on Tuesday 21st July, 2009).

Two Bournemouth businesses have been fined a total of more than £40,000 for employing illegal workers. Jee Foo Chinese takeaway has been fined £12,500 for employing three illegal staff, while Taj Mahal Indian restaurant must pay £30,000 after it employed six illegal workers - the largest single fine handed out to a business in Dorset since civil penalties for employers were introduced by the Government last year. Officers from the UK Border Agency visited both businesses late last year after receiving intelligence about potential illegal workers. These substantial fines show how seriously we are taking the problem of illegal working. Jane Farleigh, regional director for Wales and South West. On 23 October 2008, a team from our Poole office went to Taj Mahal in Poole Road, entering shortly after 2000.

The immigration status of the staff was checked, and six Bangladeshi men - aged 25, 28, 28, 28, 30 and 68 - were found to have no legal right to work in the United Kingdom, despite being employed in the kitchen and as waiters. Immigration officers issued Taj Mahal with an on-the-spot notice, warning the employers that they might receive a large fine unless they could provide proof that they had carried out the necessary document checks (such as asking for passports or work permits) before giving the men jobs. No evidence was provided, and the employers have now been given a £30,000 civil penalty fine. A wek later, on 1 November 2008, the Agency visited Jee Foo Chinese takeaway on Charminster Road. Following checks on staff, three Chinese nationals - a 31-year-old woman and two men aged 30 and 35 - were found to have no legal right to work in the United Kingdom. Again, the employers were issued with a notice warning that they would be fined unless they could prove that the legally required document checks had been carried out. They were unable to do so, and have now been handed a £12,500 fine for employing illegal workers. Jane Farleigh, regional director of the UK Border Agency in Wales and the South West, said:

'These substantial fines show how seriously we are taking the problem of illegal working.

'The use of illegal workers presents a serious risk to legitimate competition and is unfair on honest employers.

'The UK Border Agency works with employers so they understand the rules, but businesses have a responsibility to carry out the right checks before they give migrant workers jobs. 'If they don't, they could end up having to pay the kind of fine imposed on these employers in Bournemouth.'

The businesses have also been named on the UK Border Agency website, which publishes the details of employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty. The civil penalty system was introduced by the Government last year and provides a swift and effective means of tackling employers who make inadequate checks on their workers from outside Europe. A penalty of up to £10,000 can be handed out for each illegal worker found at a business. The new measures also introduced a new criminal offence of knowingly employing an illegal migrant worker. This will apply in the more serious cases where rogue employers knowingly and deliberately use illegal migrant workers, often for personal financial gain. It will carry a maximum two-year custodial sentence and/or an unlimited fine. If you are an employer and you are unsure of the steps you must take to avoid employing illegal workers, you can visit www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers or call the UK Border Agency employers' helpline on 0845 010 6677.

The mother of the bridegroom Pastor Jane Njiiri feeding his son Jackson Njiiri with porridge in a calabash (left) and on right she is feeding the bride during their wedding on Saturday 11th July, 2009 - Photo by Njehu

IMMIGRATION? NO NEED TO CAP IT, SAYS BROWN

GORDON Brown sparked fresh fury over mass immigration yesterday by explicitly ruling out a limit on Britain’s spiralling population growth. The Prime Minister insisted the country should continue to “draw on the skills and talents of people around the world”. He claimed any attempt to put a cap on immigration would be “ineffective” and indicated that Labour would do nothing to prevent the population exceeding 70 million within 20 years, as official figures have forecast. Last night, critics condemned the Prime Minister’s relaxed attitude to the influx of migrants. Mr Brown’s remarks to a committee of senior MPs yesterday came just days after new Home Secretary Alan Johnson admitted he did not “lie awake at night worrying” about the prospect of the UK population soaring by another nine million. Mr Brown confirmed the Government’s commitment to a continuing influx of migrant workers while being quizzed by senior MPs yesterday. He told the House of Commons Liaison Committee: “Let’s get the balance right here. We want to be a country that can draw on the skills and talents of people around the world. We want those people that come to our country to have a contribution they can make.” Under questioning from Commons Home Affairs Committee chairman and Labour MP Keith Vaz, Mr Brown ruled out capping Britain’s population at 70 million. He claimed the points-based system for assessing migrants’ skills was adequate. Mr Brown: “The points system creates the opportunity for us to be clear about the skills we need and whether we want them. We can adjust that system whenever it is necessary to do so. “A cap ends up with proposals that exclude so many people and so many groups of people from that cap that it’s not an effective cap at all.”

He claimed new measures would reduce arrivals this year. He made no reference to evidence of growing pressure on schools, hospitals and housing. Mr Vaz had asked the Prime Minister: “Your immigration minister has in the past suggested that there ought to be a cap on the number of people coming here … do you believe, as Prime Minister, there is a cap? That it should be put at, say, 70 million?” His remarks contrasted with indications from Immigration Minister Phil Woolas that 70 million was the limit, allowing population to grow from 61 million. Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “This Labour Government has lost control of our borders. A Conservative government would set a limit to ensure our public services are not put under more pressure.” Sir Andrew Green, of the population think-tank Migrationwatch, said: “The Prime Minister has been appallingly badly briefed. Unless major steps are taken to reduce immigration our population will hit 70 million and then 80 million. The changes to the points-based system are trivial compared to what is needed.” And former Labour minister Frank Field, of the Commons Cross-Party Group on Balanced Migration, said Mr Brown’s comments clashed with the Government’s supposed “British jobs for British workers” policy. He said: “How does this square with Building Britain’s Future issued last week which promised to cut the link between coming here to work and automatically gaining permanent settlement?”

Fourteen illegal immigrants have been caught trying to enter the United Kingdom in the back of a lorry carrying wheelie bins to Coventry. The Romanian-registered lorry was stopped at Calais at 0745 on Wednesday 1 July. Using a carbon dioxide probe which detects breathing, UK Border Agency officers uncovered the lorry's hidden human cargo. On opening the lorry, they found 14 Vietnamese nationals hiding among the wheelie bins, which were due to be delivered in Coventry. The lorry was allowed to continue its journey to the United Kingdom once the stowaways had been removed and handed over to the French authorities. UK Border Agency director Tom Dowdall, who heads operations in northern France, said:

'We have hundreds of UK Border Agency officers, based at ports in France and Belgium, carrying out checks to stop illegal immigrants before they get to the United Kingdom.

'We use sniffer dogs, carbon dioxide and heart beat detectors to find stowaways trying to get into the UK illegally.

'Our British controls in northern France continue to prevent illegal migrants from entering the UK, stopping over 28,000 attempts to enter the UK in 2008.'

The lorry driver and his employer could now face a fine of up to £2,000 per illegal immigrant for failing to secure the vehicle properly.

The housing market is showing the first signs of an upturn since 2006, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) has said. The body's survey of Britain's major home builders found 60% of those asked had seen an increase in sales compared to the same time last year. The HBF says the industry has been through the economic equivalent of a tsunami, with an estimated 250,000 construction jobs lost in a year. It says the biggest hurdle to recovery is now the availability of mortgages. Chancellor Alistair Darling is to meet with the banks next week to remind them of their legally-binding obligation to lend more money to homebuyers. Steve Turner, spokesman for the HBF, said the survey results were a welcome boost. "It's been a very difficult year, but what we are starting to see is a consistent set of modest but positive results now in terms of visitor levels, in terms of reservations. "I think for the first time in a number of months the industry is starting to feel more positive." But BBC correspondent Keith Doyle said experts were warning that the industry was still fragile because although new home sales had increased, they were at an extremely low level last year. James Corcoran, who is a few weeks away from completing on a new home, said he felt it was the right time to buy. "Confidence is slowly coming back because people have got to move on with their lives - like myself. "I've got a young family and need to move so I'm comfortable that the decision I've made is the right one for me and my family."

The first over-the-counter paternity test kit will be on sale within weeks. The £30 pack will allow a man to check his DNA against a child's to identify whether he is the biological father. International Biosciences, the British company launching the kits in chemists, claimed they were legal, safe and at least 99.9 per cent reliable. In pharmacies within weeks: The DNA Paternity Test Collection Kit. But medical ethical experts warned that DIY paternity tests would foster a 'culture of suspicion' and could cause heartbreak for rejected children. DNA testing is a growing industry, fuelled in part by daytime talk shows such as The Jeremy Kyle Show, where bitter paternity disputes are played out in front of the cameras. International Biosciences claims the kits 'offer consumers a quick, convenient and affordable solution that doesn't require any courts, doctors or solicitors'. Ian Meekins, head of the company in the UK, said the packs had been available on the internet for years. 'They are aimed at everybody,' he said. 'We have ladies who aren't sure who the father of a child is, and there are chaps who want to find out. We don't stand as moral guardians and we don't judge. We give people factual information.' The kits come with six swabs for collecting samples of DNA, which is then sent to New Mexico, America, for testing at an additional fee of £119. The results are posted, emailed or given over the phone in just one week. Mr Meekins said the tests showed whether the man was not the father a 100 per cent of the time. They were 99.9 per cent effective in showing he was the father. But if a mother's DNA was also submitted, then a positive test was also 100 per cent accurate, he said. The results will not be accepted as evidence in court.

It is illegal in Britain to take DNA from an adult without consent. But it is legal to take a swab from those under 16 as long as consent is obtained from a guardian. That would allow a father to test whether he is a child's biological parent without the mother's knowledge. Josephine Quintavalle, of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said the easy availability of paternity tests raised deep concerns. 'One of the big problems with genetic testing is that the information isn't neutral - it isn't just wheeled out in a moral vacuum,' she said. 'The discovery that a child isn't related to their father can have a huge impact on that child.' The kit is being supported by the National Pharmacy Association, which represents 98 per cent of high street chemists. A spokesman said the association was happy that the tests were accurate and the American laboratory was reliable. Some DNA testing services have been criticised for giving unreliable results. However, International Biosciences said its New Mexico lab met 'international accreditation standards'.

Migration and social housing
07-Jul-2009
Commenting on the Human Rights and Equality Commission report into the allocation of social housing, the Co-Chairmen of the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration said...

COMMENT ON "BUILDING BRITAIN'S FUTURE"
29-Jun-2009
Commenting on proposals contained in “Building Britain’s Future”, the Co-Chairmen of the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration said...

Tiny lizard falls like a feather

A tiny species of lizard is so light that it falls to the ground like a feather, scientists have discovered. Outwardly, little of the animal's body seems adapted to flying, gliding or moving through the air in any way. But a slow-motion camera has revealed that when the lizard jumps from a height, it can slow the rate of its descent and land gently on the ground. The lizard's surprising aerial ability might help explain how some animals became true gliders. Details of the little lizard's talents are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Active flight, powered by the flapping of wings, has evolved in three living lineages of animals: birds, bats and insects. But at least 30 different types of animal have evolved the ability to control their aerial descent, by parachuting or gliding to ground. For example, gliding frogs use huge webbed feet, flying squirrels use long flaps of skin between their legs, and flying fish use their fins to glide.

Other animals have less obvious morphological adaptations. Gliding snakes flatten and undulate their bodies, which helps to slow their fall while some species of ant are so tiny they can jump out of trees and freefall gently to lower on the trunk without hurting themselves. So Bieke Vanhooydonck of the University of Antwerp became extremely interested when she read some old scientific papers reporting anecdotal evidence that a relatively ordinary species of lizard might also be able to glide from tree to tree. Holaspis guentheri belongs to a group of lizards known as lacertids, which live in the Old World. Though colourful, they do not stand out in terms of their behaviour, morphology or ecology. "Also, compared to other gliding lizard species, it does not have any conspicuous morphological adaptations to an aerial lifestyle, ie no cutaneous flaps, webbed feet etc," says Vanhooydonck. "It made me very curious about whether these animals were really able to 'glide' and if so, how they were accomplishing it." So Vanhooydonck and colleagues in Belgium and France filmed individual lizards leaping from a platform two metres above ground. They compared the performance of H.guentheri with a rock-dwelling lizard (Podarcis muralis) that never takes to the air, and a highly specialised leaping gecko (Ptychozoon kuhli) that has a range of skin flaps that it uses to parachute to the ground. For each, they examined the duration of each species' descent, the horizontal distance it covered and at what speed.

Both the rock-dwelling lizard and H.guentheri landed 50 centimetres from the base of the platform, while the gecko landed up to 1m away. But H.guentheri fell for longer, and more slowly than its rock-dwelling competitor. "Much to our surprise, H. guentheri is able to slow down its descent and has low impact forces upon landing," says Vanhooydonck. In fact, the lizard weighs just 1.5g, which is one third of the rock-dwelling lizard's weight and one-tenth of the gecko's. Once weight was factored in, the researchers found that H.guentheri landed 20cm further away that it should have done had it fallen like a stone "Also its wing loading, the ratio of mass to surface area, is extremely low and in the same range as that of the gekko." However, the two species achieve this aerial ability in different ways. As a result of its webbed feet and body flaps, the gecko achieves a low wing loading by having a large surface area. H. guentheri has a low wing loading too, but by being so light. X-ray scans of the lizard's body revealed its bones are packed full of air spaces. Although the lizard's light weight and ability to fall gently are linked, it is still unclear whether its air-filled bones are an adaptation for parachuting, or whether they evolved for another reason. It is also unclear whether H.guentheri glides from tree to tree to escape predators or move about more efficiently. "Because of [the lizards'] secretive lifestyle, it is very hard to observe them in the wild, but it seems plausible they use it as an escape response," says Vanhooydonck. And that could be just how other gliding animals took the first evolutionary steps towards an aerial lifestyle, she says.

Henry Allingham, the world's oldest man and one of the last surviving World War I servicemen, has died at the age of 113, his care home has said. Mr Allingham served with the Royal Naval Air Service in WWI, later transferring to the Royal Air Force at the time of its creation Last month, Mr Allingham, born in 1896, became the world's oldest man. The Queen said he was "one of the generation who sacrificed so much for us all". A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen's "thoughts are with his family during this time". Bosses at his Brighton care home said everybody was "saddened by Henry's loss and our sympathy goes to his family". His funeral will take place later this month at St Nicholas' Church in Brighton.

London, Thursday 16th July, 2009. A Spanish woman who gave birth to twins when she was 67 has died, two-and-a-half years after becoming the world's oldest mother. Carmen Bousada, who lied about her age to receive donor eggs and sperm in the US, died at 69 after suffering from cancer - leaving her two young boys parentless. Her brother told Spanish newspaper El Periodico de Catalunya her illness was "very hard, she was in a really bad state recently". It was not clear who would now raise Ms Bousada's sons, Cristian and Pau. In an interview with Spanish television in December 2007, shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer, she said family members could care for them if she died. "I have a nephew, and their godfather is very good with the children. They are not going to be alone," she said at the time.

Ms Bousada gave birth on December 26, 2006, at a hospital in Barcelona after being artificially inseminated at a fertility clinic in Los Angeles. She later admitted she had filled out forms claiming she was 55, in order to get around the centre's age limit for single women. She had hormone therapy to 'rejuvenate' her uterus as she had gone through the menopause 18 years earlier. The arrival of her healthy babies made her the oldest woman known to have given birth. Her death is likely to reignite controversy over older women undergoing fertility treatment to become mothers. In May the issue was debated again in Britain after businesswoman Elizabeth Adeney, who had IVF treatment in Ukraine, gave birth to a baby boy Jolyon at the age of 66. An Indian woman, Omkari Panwar, claimed to be 70 years old when she gave birth to twins last year, but she has no birth certificate to prove her age.

The Kimaru's family and the organising committee would cordially invite you to a fundraising in aid of their mum who has been admitted in Agah Khan Hospital. Mrs Beatrice Wangui Kimaru (55) is the mum to Jane Kabochi (Mama Waringa) of Chessington Surrey, Felister Wainaina (Kabura) of Tolworth Surrey and Anthony Gathogo (Kasongo) of Coventry. She was taken ill on the beginning of March 2009 and admitted to Masaba hospital for three weeks. She continued ailing and was admitted at the Aga Khan hospital on the May 23rd 2009 into the high dependency unit for 3 weeks and onto the medical ward for four weeks. After several tests she was diagnosed with cancer. She had her first cycle of chemotherapy and her kidneys failed. She is still undergoing dialysis and continues cancer treatment at the Aga Khan hospital and the bill is now over 1.6 million Kenya shillings.

Therefore we will be holding a fundraising in aid of the above on Saturday 25th July, 2009 as from 6.00 p.m. at:

Your prayers, support and generous contributions are highly appreciated. You can also deposit your donations:

LEFT: Many papers highlight the rise in deaths of people who contracted swine flu. The Guardian highlights a prediction by chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson that 65,000 could die from it in the UK in a worst case scenario. CENTRE: The Daily Express breaks down Sir Liam's prediction another way - saying swine flu could kill 350 people a day. RIGHT: The Daily Star goes with claims that pop star Michael Jackson could not father children naturally because of childhood beatings. He was kicked so hard in the groin that he was left infertile, it was alleged.

The death toll in Britain from swine flu soared to 29 tonight. The Government's chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said 26 people had died in England and three in Scotland since the epidemic began.There have been 12 deaths since Monday. In seven days to last Thursday 55,000 new suspected cases had been recorded. Health officials are now preparing for a “worst case scenario” of 65,000 deaths this year in what they fear may only be the first wave of the disease.They believe 30 per cent of the population could be infected and expect 0.35 per cent of those people to die. The latest deaths are those of people who contracted swine flu but many are believed to have had underlying medical conditions. Six-year-old Chloe Buckley, from West Drayton, died on Thursday night two days after going to hospital. Health officials are refusing to disclose if she was killed by the disease itself. Today it was also revealed that Cherie Blair, the wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, may have swine flu. She pulled out of a ceremony to receive an honorary doctorate at Liverpool Cathedral today. The BBC said this was because Mrs Blair had the virus. It came as doctors warned that patients were swamping GPs' surgeries and called for extra medics to be drafted in. Mrs Blair was said to have felt unwell this week and to have taken Tamiflu. She has reportedly cancelled other engagements while she recuperates. She is not believed to have passed on the virus and is expected to make a full recovery within days. The Standard has learned that at least one GP practice is so busy it has cut the number of consultations available for non-swine flu patients. The Amersham Vale practice at the Waldron Health Centre in Lewisham is receiving so many calls from people worried about swine flu that a GP has been taken off normal duties to carry out telephone consultations. Dr Louise Irvine, who works at the practice, said: “Locum doctors are needed and they should be deployed to the surgeries under strain.” In total 652 people have now been treated in hospital in England for swine flu. Most of the cases have involved children under the age of 14.

Bishop Samuel Muya and his wife Esther Kamuri are in London. The bishop is among the visiting team from Kenya who came to witness the wedding ceremony of Mr. Jackson Karanja Njiiri and Sharon Njeri Thiongo which took place on Saturday 11th July, 2009. After preaching at the wedding on Saturday the bishop also preached on Sunday 12th July, 2009 at the CCBC Swahili Service, Barking where he took the congregation by storm. The Bishop preached from the book of 2 Kings 2: 19. and Deuteronomy 7: 9. .On Sunday the Bishop who at the beginning of this year received a DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL from His Excellency the President of the republic of Kenya Hon Mwai Kibaki will be speaking at Proclaimers Sanctuary, Grays School of Media Arts College, Hathaway Road, Grays, RM17. On Sunday 26th July he will be speaking in Swindon Enlightenment ministry St Pauls Church St Paul's Rd Covingham Swindon. His wife Mrs. Esther Kamuri will be leaving for USA on Tuesday 21st July, 2009. Bishop Muya's contact in UK is 07556113850. Bishop Muya's wife contact in the US as from Wednesday 23rd July, 2009 - 001-97890-61976.

“By the way Mr. Seed, that was one of the best weddings in London that I have been to! The food and the serving was new to our people and you set a high standard!” – A email from a guest who attended the Seed's wedding.

We have been looking forward to hearing from you about our lost son. I have sent you several emails hoping to hear of the progress, without success. Kindly respond, with whatever progress you might have made. This is a very desperate situation.

NAMES: MOSES ARTHUR CAMPBELL
D.O.B: FEB 1973
PASSPORT NO: 305469991
DATE OF DEPARTURE: 10TH OR 13TH JUNE 2008
LAST ADDRESS: 47 LONGHILL RD, CARTFORD SE6-ENGLAND
Departed from Kenya on June 10th 2008 and has not been seen.
Kindly email me on any information - Peninah - terzahnia@yahoo.com

This message was sent to Mr. Seed by a desperate mother who is looking for her lost son in the UK. If you know him you can contact her on or Mr. Seed

Dear Mr. Seed - This is his photo as we last saw him. Probably looks different now. Have you looked in prisons, hospitals, addiction rehabilitation places, mental institutions, homeless places, parks, everywhere? Kindly look into all the unimaginable options, he could just be found in such places, and please update me on any progress. Thank you so much, in advance. You are God sent.

Mzee Daniel Waithaka Mwangi (far right) and his wife Kesiah Waithaka (third left) are in London. The couple from Nyahururu who owns Nyahuru Elite Schools are guests of Mr. Stanley Njuguna and his wife. They attended CCBC Swahili Service, Barking on Sunday 12th July, 2009. From left is Mrs. Margaret Karanja (Mr. Seed's mother), Mrs. Njuguna, Mrs. Kesiah Waithaka, Mrs. Esther Kamuri (wife of Bishop Muya), Mrs. Jane Ngari and Mr. Daniel Waithaka Mwangi whose contact number in London is 07821162060 - If you are interested in school for your children in Kenya you can contact him on 06522536 or 0723130004.

It seems it a season for Kenyans musicians to visit the USA. Over ten Kenyans musicians are heading to the US this week going up to August, 2009. Gospel Musician Rachel Njeri based in London will be leaving for USA on Tuesday 21st July, 2009. Her first meeting will start on 24th July at Upendo Church in Dallas, then St. Louis, Georgia and she will end up in Boston. Vitimbi group are already in the UK, Ben Githae will be going to US at the beginning of August, Loise Kim and Man Solo - Machang'i and Peninna Mbugua of Inooro FM are already in the US. Sarah Kiarie, Mary Githinji among others are on their way.

It was a surprise to the Seed's family on the morning of the wedding day when Baby Seed (Dennis Njiiri - in red left photo) dressed up for the occasion. He dressed with a red short, shoes and T-shirt. He explained that he has shopped the fittings from USA with internet for the last one year. What else to say - welcome to the wedding. He is third-year law student at Nottingham University. On right photo are the Seed's family before entering the church for the occasion.

President Kibaki has named Nairobi Provincial Commissioner James Waweru as the new Permanent Secretary for Youth and Sports. Mr Waweru replaces former PS in the ministry Mr Kinuthia Murugu, who died last week in hospital where he was receiving treatment for gunshot wounds. Mr Njoroge Ndirangu takes over as the new Nairobi PC. Other PCs appointed by the President are: Ms Claire Omollo (Eastern), Mr Osman Warfa (Rift Valley), Mr S M Kilele (Western), Mr Ole Serian (North Eastern) and Mr Francis Mutie (Nyanza). Mr Ernest G Munyi (Coast) and Mr Japhter K Rugut (Central) retained their positions. Mr Paul Olando, Mr Abdul Mwasera , Mr David Jakaiti, Mr Hassan Noor Hassan and Mr Josephat Maingi have been dropped as PCs for Nyanza, Western, Eastern, North Eastern and Rift Valley respectively President Kibaki has also appointed Mr Mutea Iringo as Senior Director Administration/Secretary incharge of Internal Security and Mr Victor Okioma as Senior Director Administration/Secretary incharge of Provincial Administration He has also appointed 20 Senior Area Deputy Provincial Commissioners at Director level Job Group S to man strategic regions for effective administration as follows: The officers will be incharge of a cluster of 15-20 Districts unlike the current situation where some Provincial Commissioners are incharge of over 60 Districts. The twenty officers will be responsible to the Permanent Secretary, Provincial Administration and Internal Security through their respective Provincial Commissioners and will be located in strategic locations within the Province for ease of administration and management. The strategy will strengthen the coordination, mobilisation and supervision of human and material resources down to the grassroots. The move is important following the increased devolved funds and activities at Constituency/District level. It is expected that development coordination will be enhanced and special attention accorded to programmes with multiple effects such as Kazi Kwa Vijana, Youth and Women Enterprise Funds. The twenty (20) senior officers will be expected to re-map the security architecture, strengthen the District Security and Intelligence Committees including Community Policing. The officers will also be expected to fast-track social integration, inter-communal harmony, conflict resolution, national reconciliation and healing. The appointments take effect immediately, said a statement from the Presidential Press Service. - Daily Nation.

Come for Buffet every Sunday and enjoy Kenyan cuisine (Githeri, Ugali & sukuma, Chapati, Matoke, Sweet potatoes, Arrow roots, pilau etc), kids dishes also available. The buffet starts at 2pm to 9pm. Eat as much as you can at a resonable price at an offer of under £10 and half price for kids at a relaxing and family friendly environment.

Kenya: Kosgey Sued Over Sh174 Million Land Deal

The public pensions manager has taken the Higher Education minister, Dr Sally Kosgey, to court over the sale of a property for Sh174 million belonging to the Kenya Railways Corporation. It accuses the minister of using her powers and coercing the board of trustees to enter into a contract to buy the prime property in Parklands, Nairobi. Dr Kosgey was then the Head of Civil Service in former president Moi's government. Commercial Court judge Justice Luka Kimaru yesterday ordered the matter to be mentioned on July 29 when the parties appeared in court for the hearing.It is alleged that Dr Kosgey, on diverse dates between August 1995 and January 1996, procured the property LRNo.209/6439 after she entered into a deal with Kenya Railways Corporation. The minister sold the lucrative asset to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Board of Trustees at an inflated price of Sh174 million and paid Sh77 million to the Kenya Railways. The workers' pension fund, in suit papers, claims it had no provision for the property but the minister coerced it into buying it.

The minister is also accused of using her influential powers to force relevant government departments in the Lands and Local Government ministries to change user of the property to commercial status to attract higher market value. Denied accusationsShe has been sued alongside her company, Guardian International, and has denied all accusations levelled against her by NSSF. She says the transaction was conducted in accordance to laid down procedures without any anomalies. Dr Kosgey states in court papers that the valuation was agreed by both parties before the sale. She was represented by lawyer O.Okwatch, while NSSF is represented by Desterio Oyatsi of Sharpley and Barret Advocate.

A book titled "The Obama Church Drama , My Story", that recently hit the book shelves, has continued to generate massive interest among readers. Written by Joe Caster, the book is about a Kenyan lady who was chased out of her church in Fairfield, California, after showing up for Sunday service last year with an SUV that was decorated with signs supporting Barack Obama's successful presidential bid. read more

Elizabeth Caster, the Kenyan woman who was chased out of a church for supporting Barack Obama relaxes in her house in California - Watch the related video below - CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Here we go again. Another Roman Catholic priest is in the news for taking a stand against Barack Obama. This comes on the heels of Father Jay Scott Newman who wrote that those parishioners who voted for Barack Obama should not take communion. Enter Father Sebastian Meyer of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Fairfield. According to CBS13.com,

Elizabeth Caster says her priest chased her out of Sunday services because of her political beliefs. The woman says she was singled out for supporting Barack Obama. That's because her priest was for John McCain and retaliated with humiliation and the threat of a tow truck. "I've been going to that church for six good years. Every Sunday," says Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Caster and her little boy were in the front pew Sunday, when she says the priest got on the microphone demanding the driver of the SUV to move it.

"If you don't move your car in ten minutes I will tow it away. It was so embarrassing. There were 500 people inside the church," explains Elizabeth.

He had a serious problem with her vehicle because she made reference to Barack Obama. Well, if this isn't totally ridiculous, then I don't know what else to call it.

"He said you cannot park any place here, you have to go. He said you have to go and he said you cannot have a car with an Obama sign parked in there," Elizabeth told CBS13.

CBS13 could not find Father Sebastian today to get his side of the story, but a newspaper tried yesterday, and claims the priest physically and verbally attacked the reporter. They told CBS13 that the Father even clawed at his arm to get his notepad. The reporter has since filed a police report and the story ended up on the front page of his newspaper.

As I stated before, it is not the pastor place to use his or her pulpit to make a political statement. The Internal Revenue Service needs to yank their tax exempt status if they are going to become so vocal. That goes for John Hagee, Pat Robertson, Eddie L. Long, Creflo Dollar, Father Pfleger and all the others who feel that they should dictate to their congregants who they need to vote for.

What is equally disturbing are the allegations that Father Sebastian got violent with a reporter. A shameful act that should not go unpunished by the court system. What about a "a soft answer turneth away wrath...."

Flying squad officer killed in Ngara

A flying squad police officer was shot dead and his colleague injured after armed gangsters ambushed them in the city's Ngara estate. The officer attached to the flying squad police unit together with his colleague were attacked on Wednesday night outside their living quarters along Desai road. According to the head of flying squad Musa Yego, the officers were returning home from work when gunmen ambushed them and sprayed their car with bullets. The gang is also said to have made away with one of the officers' gun during the incident. The injured officer is recuperating at the Nairobi hospital. Police have launched an operation involving the special crime prevention unit and the flying squad to hunt the killers. The incident comes barely a month ago after two CID police officers attached to the Athi river police station were murdered in similar circumstances. There has been concern over the rising levels of insecurity in the country. The Government has admitted that an upsurge of insecurity was a major challenge, saying police reforms were necessary.

The European Union envoys on Thursday warned Kenya that their countries will help the International Criminal Court to deal with election violence suspects. They said the EU will extend the same kind of help to the ICC it gave in the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In that case, Belgium arrested former DRC vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba and handed him over to the Hague where he is awaiting trial for crimes against humanity. Ms Anna Brandt, the representative of the EU presidency in Nairobi, gave a strong indication that European countries would help to arrest Cabinet ministers and business people who will be indicted by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. However, she did not specify the exact form of assistance the EU would extend to the ICC. - MORE

A man in the United States popped out to his local petrol station to buy a pack of cigarettes - only to find his card charged $23,148,855,308,184,500. That is $23 quadrillion (£14 quadrillion) - many times the US national debt. "I thought somebody had bought Europe with my credit card," said Josh Muszynski, from New Hampshire. He says his appeals to his bank first met with little understanding, though it eventually corrected the error. It also waived the usual $15 overdraft fee. "It was all back to normal," Mr Muszynski told his local television station, WMUR. "They reversed the negative balance fee, which was nice." His nightmare began when he checked his online bank account a few hours after buying the cigarettes. He thought he would be a couple of hundred dollars in the black. But his overdraft had pushed him into the red - by an amount equivalent to many times the entire US national debt. "It is a lot of money in the negative," he said. "Something I could never, ever, afford to pay back. "My children could not afford it, grandchildren, nothing like that." In panic, Mr Muszynski rushed back to the petrol station, but they were unable to help. He says he then spent two hours on the phone with the Bank of America. Eventually, it assured him it would be fixed - and the next morning, it had been. But no-one has yet explained to Mr Muszynski how such a astonishing error could have been made.

The moderator of this website Mr. Jackson Karanja Njiiri married on Saturday 11th July, 2009 in London. He was escorted to the ceremony by the entire Seeds family and friends. The bride - Miss Sharon Njeri Thiongo was also escorted by her parents. (see below).

From top left: Jackson Njiiri the bridegroom, his mother Pastor Jane Njiiri, his grandmother Mrs. Margaret Karanja, Daughter Seed Margaret Njiiri, Mr. Seed's sister Esther Kamanu and lastly Mr. Seed and his next son Mr. Joseph Njiiri.

The family of the bride (Sharon Njeri - above top left) then her mum and dad Mr. Ken Nganga

London, Thursday 16th July, 2009. The jobless count rose by 281,000 last quarter - the biggest jump in nearly 40 years. Today’s official unemployment figures were even more gruesome than expected: the number of people out of work in the UK jumped to 2.38m in the three months to May, equivalent to 7.6% of the workforce. This amounts to a rise of 281,000, the biggest quarterly increase since records began in 1971. It’s hardly a surprise to hear that unemployment is still headed in the wrong direction, but nobody expected the numbers to be quite this grim. And with higher unemployment likely to equal lower spending, it doesn’t bode well for the UK’s chances of a speedy recovery...

Interdenominational World Revival Ministry (I.W.R.M) invites you to our thanksgiving luncheon on Saturday 18th July 2009 at 5.00pm in our Church premise, Manor Park Community Centre, 524 High Street North, Manor Park, London, E12 6QN. This will be to thank you for your support and update you on our church building project. Your presence will be highly appreciated. Nyama choma kwa wingi. Equity Bank chairman Mr. Munga will be in attendance and people will be opening Equity bank accounts at the venue: For more information click below: http://www.iwrm.co.uk/Thismonthatiwrm.html

That's the only way the Government can get public debt under control in the next decade, a think tank claims. We're all going to have to suffer if the Government wants to balance the books in the coming years, according to the National Institute for Economic and Social Research. The influential think-tank reckons there are only three possible ways to plug the giant hole in the public finances: extend the retirement age to 70 (eek), hike the basic rate of income tax by about 15p (ouch), or slash public spending by about 10% (yuck). Either way, we'd all be feeling the pain for a long time to come...

For dinner ticket contact or more information Office 02079347023 or 07715109559.

You are invited with your friends and family for an Open Day Nyama Choma. Venue: Crystal Palace Park, SE19 2BB as from 2.00 p.m. 5.00 p.m. All welcomed. For more information please contact 07903984578.

London, Wednesday 15th July, 2009. UK unemployment rose by a record 281,000 to 2.38 million, in the three months to May, the Office for National Statistics has said. The jobless rate increased to 7.6%, the highest in more than 10 years. The number of people claiming unemployment benefit increased by 23,800 in June to 1.56 million, which was less than analysts had forecast. Businesses have been cutting jobs as they seek to reduce costs in the wake of the global downturn. Young people - those up to 24 years old - have been particularly hard hit with unemployment leaping to a 16-year high of 726,000. And the number of those out of work for more than a year rose by 46,000 to 528,000, the highest for 11 years. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "It's particularly worrying that over half a million unemployed people have been out of work for at least a year, including 133,000 young unemployed people." "With a new generation of school and college leavers soon starting to look for work, our unemployment crisis will get even bigger. Separately on Wednesday a BBC survey showed two-thirds of people across the UK know someone who has lost a job in the recession, a BBC survey suggests. A further four in 10 fear losing their job in the current climate, the survey of 1,048 people by ComRes indicates.

Even though economic conditions may be stabilising, economists expect unemployment to continue rising this year, as financial uncertainty persists. Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics said the latest figures contained "conflicting signals about whether conditions in the labour market are getting better or worse". "The claimant count measure of unemployment in June posted its smallest rise in a year. However, the wider ILO measure posted its biggest rise on record." But, she said, unemployment was unlikely to fall until economic growth returned to its trend rate, and this would take a long time. Average UK earnings including bonuses increased at their highest rate since December, up 2.3% in the three months to May from a year ago. However, excluding bonuses average earnings rose at 2.6% - the lowest rate since records started in 2001. David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce described the figures as "grim reading". "On the basis of these numbers, we reaffirm our forecast that unemployment will peak at around 3.2 million next year." The number of unemployed men increased by almost 200,000 to 1.46 million, and 84,000 more women were out of work, putting female unemployment at 923,000.

LEFT: The Daily Star reports on what it calls the "emotional public salute" seen in the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett. CENTRE: The Sun says the hearses "passed slowly through a human corridor in a heartbreaking homecoming" in Wootton Bassett. RIGHT: The Daily Express claims swine flu panic is sweeping the UK.

In a radio advertisement at the centre of a controversy in Kenya, a distraught teenage girl asks for help after having unprotected sex." What shall I do? I'm still in college. What happens to my future, my friends, my family, my life?" she sobs. The assistance offered is the emergency contraceptive pill - or morning-after pill. The so-called "e-pill", which is also being advertised in popular magazines with a free bookmark, is now the buzz-word in town among young sexually active women. "I do use e-pills," Florence, a university student in Nairobi, told the BBC. "The main reason is because sometimes I have not considered having sex with my boy and then we just find ourselves [having it], so that calls for the use of e-pills." Gillian, also a university student, says she uses them as one of her main forms of contraception. "Sex is very sweet. You cannot go having sex with a condom - so why go for the condom when I know the e-pills are there? I know I won't get pregnant," she said. It is this attitude which is worrying various organisations. They believe the advertising campaign is influencing young people to be sexually reckless. Many young people are now using the e-pill routinely, some even buying the pills in advance. Josephine Kibaru, head of family health in the ministry of health, is a strong advocate of contraception. But she has some reservations about the intense media campaign promoting the emergency pill. "The impression I get is that university girls are using these pills irresponsibly... If they are needing them it means they have had unprotected sex," she said. "My concern actually is about the HIV/Aids… it is something that will ruin their lives forever." "I would rather those adverts showed more mature women. And I would want to see the message go beyond the emergency." The Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya has also voiced concerned about long-term use of the e-pill. Besides side-effects, like nausea, heavy bleeding and cramps, regular use of the emergency contraception may cause infertility and in some instances increase the risk of cancer.

"The youth are getting the message that it's OK to go out and have fun because you won't get pregnant," says Dominic Karanja, chair of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya. "They have changed the attitude of the youth even shifted them from thinking about STDs [sexually transmitted diseases] - about HIV/Aids - to thinking about getting pregnant." There is a notable increase in the sale of the pills during school holidays and weekends, Dr Karanja says. According to Kenya's Pharmacy and Poisons board, it is against Kenyan law to advertise such drugs to the public. However, the US non-governmental organisation funding the campaign - Populations Services International - says it has the government's approval to run the adverts. In fact the advertisements that have been appearing in local newspapers have been endorsed by the government. The Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya has also asked the PSI to stop the adverts. But PSI country director Daun Fest says it is not promoting specific products but creating awareness in Kenya, where it is illegal to have an abortion. She argues that the use of the emergency pill decreases the high incidences of unsafe and botched abortions. "The reality is that we're presenting choices," says Ms Fest. "Research shows young people start their sexual lives at about the age of 17 - and they're starting without correct information, without knowing what the options are." She disagrees with critics who argue that the e-pill increases the risk of contracting HIV by encouraging unprotected sex. "No research has ever proved that any reproductive health product has increased promiscuity. "In fact much of the research shows that the younger you start education, the more likely you're likely you're going to have lower teenage pregnancy." Health experts in Kenya believe that the government is not able to stop such campaigns because they depend on organisations like PSI to fund some of its health programmes. Like abortion and other reproductive health issues in Kenya, the debate over the use of e-pills will continue to be divisive and controversial.

Umbrella jousting and cucumber sandwich discus at Bedford Sqaure, Bloomsbury, London. It's a very British affair as men wearing bowler hats joust with brollies while riding bicycles at the Chap Olympiad. Staged in Bedford Square, in Bloomsbury, London, it also included the cucumber sandwich discus, quill throwing and the Martini knockout relay. Hosted by Chap Magazine, the event claims to be a 'celebration of athletic ineptitude and immaculate trouser creases'.

The great migration of wildebeests from Serengeti plains in Tanzania to the Masai Mara Game Reserve is on. And the spellbinding exodus has kicked off the annual tourist peak season in the game reserve. An estimated 1.5 million gnus are expected to cross the crocodile-infested Mara River into Kenya as more than 160 hotels forecast high bed occupancy. In 2006, the annual migration was named the Seventh Wonder of the world by an American TV station, ABC, which beamed the event live as the animals crossed the river from Serengeti National Park. The Narok County Council estimates that about 500,000 tourists have visited the famous reserve in the last three years. A check in most hotels at the weekend, indicated bookings would reduce in early October, when the wildebeests cross back to Serengeti to calve. At this time of the year, there is high concentration of lions and other scavengers, which prey on the gnus. "The forecast is good and if all goes well, we will have many guests visiting the Mara this year compared to last year," said Council Clerk Joseph Malinda. Last month, the council raised park entry fees from 40 to 60 dollars. In the current financial year it projects to collect 95 per cent revenue from tourism activities, while five per cent will come from other sources including markets and agricultural activities. The council also plans to increase bed occupancy in the hotels inside the park from 600 to 1,000 in line with Vision 2030. Mr Malinda said from next month they would introduce an electronic payment system to check on corruption by some officers manning the gates. "A big per cent of park entry fees are stolen and that is why we want to introduce a system that is tamper-proof," he said. The system, he said, has worked well in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, adding that a management plan for the park was ready and hoped the council would adopt it at the full council meeting. - The Standard.

The ICC's headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. Kenya’s Cabinet Tuesday disagreed over whether those suspected to hold higher responsibility for post-election violence should be tried at The Hague or by a local tribunal.

A key measure of inflation has fallen below the Bank of England's target rate of 2% for the first time since 2007. Lower food prices caused the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to drop to an annual rate of 1.8% in June from 2.2% in May, official statistics showed. The Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation measure, which includes mortgage interest payments and housing costs, fell to -1.6% from -1.1%. The RPI is now at its lowest since ONS records started in 1948. The Bank of England aims to keep inflation at 2% to maintain price stability and more broadly, economic stability. Lower prices for meat, milk and fruit last month were the main reason for the fall in inflation. "A significant downward effect also came from furniture prices, which rose by less than last year," the Office for National Statistics said. It also pointed to a large upward pressure on the CPI rate from the recreation and culture sector, with computer games in particular rising by more than a year ago.

The CPI is far below what it was last September, when the rate hit 5.2% because of high oil and food prices. The Bank of England is now predicting CPI will fall below 1% this year, as the downturn hits demand and sends prices lower. "The figures are bang on consensus," said economist Philip Shaw of Investec. "We note that food prices fell back on the month and the increase in petrol prices was a little less than we'd factored in." He added that the RPI measure was negative because of "aggressive" cuts in interest rates since last autumn. Interest rates are now at a record low of 0.5%. "To call this a period of deflation would be totally wrong," he said But not everyone agreed. David Kern, head economist at the British Chambers of Commerce said: "The figures confirm the BCC's assessment that in the short-term, the main policy priority must be countering the risks posed by recession and deflation". In the near future the BBC is urging the Bank of England to expand the scale of quantitative easing well beyond £125bn. Having lowered interest rates sharply the government has aimed to increase the amount of money circulating to boost the economy, though quantitative easing. Stephen Bell, of hedge fund GLC, said: "Underlying inflation will remain low for some time, which is good news for home [loan] borrowers." While it will be a "long hard struggle to recovery" he said the positive message was that the UK economy was recovering faster than other economies.

DJs: Josh Paps & Mann Jeff from Milton Keynes.
Contacts: 07838 818994, 07838 856291, 07828 913597.

Swiss court releases Mobutu money

A Swiss court has ruled that the assets of Mobutu Sese Seko, former leader of Zaire, now the DR Congo, who died in 1997, be returned to his family. The court rejected an appeal to extend a freeze on assets worth more than $6m that are held in Swiss bank accounts. Switzerland had repeatedly blocked the release of the funds, which were said to have been gained illegally. But the court said the Democratic Republic of Congo had waited too long to seek the return of the money. The appeal was brought by Mark Pieth, a criminology professor at Basel University. He described the court's decision as a "harsh setback" for DR Congo, and for all those who had sought the return of the money. Mobutu seized power in Congo in 1965 and changed its name to Zaire in 1971. He governed for nearly 32 years, living in extreme luxury whilst most people lived in poverty. He was overthrown in 1997 by Laurent Kabila, the father of DR Congo's current President Joseph Kabila. Mobutu died a few months after his overthrow while in exile in Morocco. The Swiss banks blocked his accounts, starting years of legal wrangling. The DR Congo government said the money had been stolen. But Swiss prosecutors said the DR Congo authorities took too long to ask for the return of the money, under the statute of limitations.

A judge in the US state of South Carolina has ordered the closure of a funeral home where an employee cut off the legs of a 6ft 7in (2m) body. The worker used an electric saw to sever James Hines's legs at the calf to make his body fit the coffin in 2004. The owner had contested the revocation of his licence, saying he was absent when the incident happened and pointing to an otherwise unblemished record. But after a brief hearing, the judge confirmed the business should close. Earlier this year the owner of the funeral parlour in Allendale admitted that his father, who helped with cleaning and embalming bodies, had sawn off Mr Hines's legs. The admission came after a former employee told police about the incident, four years after it happened. In April South Carolina's funeral board exhumed the body and found the severed legs in the coffin. Mr Hines has since been reburied in another coffin.

Kenyan authorities have seized 300kg (660 lbs) of illegal ivory hidden in coffins on a plane bound for Laos. The haul included 16 elephant tusks and black rhinoceros horns. Officials said the blood on the ivory suggested the animals had been killed very recently. The flight - which stopped in Nairobi - originated in Mozambique and was bound for Thailand and then Laos. The haul of ivory may have had a value of about one million dollars (£614,000,000), Reuters reports. Officials from Kenya's Wildlife Service said the ivory might have come from Tanzania or South Africa. The black rhino is found only in eastern and southern Africa. The international ivory trade has been banned since 1989. The sale of ivory is illegal if the ivory is not from pre-1989 stockpiles. However, some countries have done little to enforce the ban.

The US carrier Southwest Airlines has inspected about 200 planes after a hole opened up in the passenger cabin during a flight, forcing an emergency landing. The one-foot-square (30cmx30cm) hole appeared as the Boeing 737 was flying from Nashville to Baltimore on Monday. Passenger Brian Cunningham told NBC television he had been woken up by "the loudest roar I'd ever heard", and saw the hole above his seat. People then calmly put on oxygen masks, he said. No-one was injured. The plane, with 131 passengers and crew on board, made the emergency landed in Charleston, West Virginia. "After we landed... the pilot came out and looked up through the hole, and everybody applauded, shook his hand, a couple of people gave him hugs," Mr Cunningham said. The cause of the damage is not known. On Tuesday Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told the Associated Press news agency that the airline had inspected 200 Boeing 737-300 jets across the country overnight. No similar problem was identified and Southwest is operating a normal schedule of flights, she said.

During the Cabinet meeting Tuesday, PNU reportedly insisted it wants a local tribunal to be headed by Chief Justice and trials to be conducted through national institutions. Others argued Kenya is a sovereign State and should not take orders from outsiders. Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno is said to have led the onslaught against the formation of a local tribunal saying it would create more chaos. Internal Security Minister George Saitoti is said to have reminded his colleagues what happened to Kanu and take international community seriously. Saitoti appealed to his colleagues to stop demonising Annan, saying his experience had taught him that people like Annan are so networked that by the time they take a position, the entire world is behind them. Saitoti reportedly said his view was the international community was on Kenya’s case just as it were during push for multipartism and Kenya would not escape. Other ministers reasoned that the fighting is over and politicians who once fought each other are now sharing one Cabinet table. Some are said to have supported The Hague saying it takes forever, and that in Congo and Uganda, after decades of war, only about four people have been charged. A minister who was in the delegation that signed an agreement with Ocampo argued the Government had signed an agreement that the special tribunal must borrow from the international principles of ICC. - The Standard.

Cases of kidnappings in Kenya have grabbed media headlines in the recent past with Kenyans living in fear of the emerging crime wave. However it is now turning out that some fraudulent Kenyans might be staging self kidnaps to counter the ongoing economic meltdown. This emerged following the tracking and subsequent arrest of a woman who police believe had feigned an abduction to extort 150,000 shillings from her family. 29-year-old Maureen Achieng' Odera, a primary school teacher in Nairobi is the subject of police investigations after she was apprehended after reports were filed that she had been kidnapped. Odera and her two male companions were allegedly kidnapped on the third day of this month by 8 armed gangsters. She claims that she underwent torture at the hands of the alleged abductors. However police have dismissed her account as a swindling project gone sour. Police are said to have become suspicious of the distress calls that she made after inconsistencies were detected in her signal location. Police also noticed that she could easily communicate with her family.

Maureen Achieng Odera has been arrested for reportedly faking her own kidnapping

Police investigations indicate that on the day of the purported abduction Odera travelled from Garissa to Nairobi using an E- coach bus before checking into a city lodging. The records also indicate that she then embarked on a journey to Migori using Lavender Coach the following day and spent a night at Cally Lodge under the false name of Jacqueline Adhiambo. According to police, at the time Odera was making these journeys she was still alleging to be at the mercies of her abductors. Police are said to have arrested her outside a bookshop in Migori town before transferring her to Nairobi where she will be charged with giving false information to the police. Police might have cracked Odera's mystery kidnap but the incident has brought into the fore the possibility of a new form of crime that might emerge in the Kenyan society probably to break even from the effects of the global economic meltdown. Hers seems to be a mockery of the kidnapping cases that have been on the increase causing untold suffering to the families of the victims. Recently a similar case was reported in Nyanza Province where a teacher faked his own kidnap and tried to extort 150 000 shillings from his family. However police were able to trace him when he presented himself to the bank to withdraw the money that the family had paid as ransom. Upon being questioned the man claimed he had taken the drastic step as he was facing financial woes and had seen no other way out.

A colourful wedding took place in London on Saturday 11th July, 2009 between Mr. Jackson Karanja Njiiri (web moderator) and Miss Sharon Njeri Thiong'o. The wedding took place at Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church, Prayer Temple, Docklands, London, 119 East India Dock Road, Poplar, London at 11.00 a.m. It was officiated by Pastor Patrick Thuku of CCBC Swahili Service, Bishop Francis Sarpong and Bishop Samuel Kamuri Muya from Elburgon, Kenya who delivered the word of the day. The Kenya High Commissioner in the UK HE Joseph Muchemi and his wife Mrs. Cecilia Muchemi also attended the ceremony. Later the reception followed thereafter at Pavillion Banqueting Suite, 324 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, E17 9PX as from 2.00 p.m. Over 1,000 guests attended the ceremony. Left photo - The High Comissioner HE Joseph Muchemi and his wife Cecilia being welcomed by Mr. Seed and Bishop Sarpong and on right photo - Mr. Ken Nga'ang'a and his wife escorting their daughter (Sharon Njeri) into the church. (Full story and photos coming soon).

The bridal party (left) and CCBC Swahili Service Choir (right) who provided the music

in the church caught up with the colours of the day - the boys were not left behind

Nairobi, Monday 13th July, 2009. Politician Nazlin Umar Rajpoot was on Monday charged with stealing. Nazlin who vied for presidency in 2007 pleaded not guilty and was released on a cash bail of 400,000 shillings. Nazlin was arraigned in court after spending the weekend at Muthaiga police station. It is alleged that on unknown dates between 24th April and 7th July this year in Nairobi she stole three unregistered Range Rovers all valued at 21 million shillings which she received on account of Tariq Mahmood Hussain for sale. She faces another count of stealing mobile phones all valued at 75,000 shillings. Nazlin who is also accused of stealing a certificate of insurance policy pleaded not guilty arguing that her constitutional rights are being violated by police for not releasing her on a bond and not allowing her access to medical check ups. The prosecution however dismissed the allegations. She was released on a cash bail of 400,000 shillings. Police arrested Umar last Friday afternoon and took her to Muthaiga Police Station after doubts were raised over who is the legitimate owner of the cars. His lawyers claimed his client had been denied access to a hospital even after she raised concerns over her health. Armed with documents from the Kenya Revenue Authority, the family said they were the rightful owners of the motor vehicles under investigation. Detectives are said to be investigating how the politician acquired the three top of the range cars even after the bill of landing showed that the vehicles were on transit to Uganda. However, her lawyer says a consensual agreement between his client and the vehicle owner was reached after the latter failed to honor the terms of payment of a loan. He said his client's arrest could be a plot to derail an earlier suit on threats to her life. Police are also said to be investigating the authenticity of one of the vehicles' registration numbers after it was impounded outside a city hotel. Elsewhere in Thika, nine Mungiki suspects were charged with holding an illegal assembly and being in possession of dangerous weapons in a manner to commit felony. They pleaded not guilty and were released on a cash bail of 100,000 shillings each.

Nazlin was arraigned in court after spending the weekend at Muthaiga police station.

Louis Njenga (Baba Alicia of Luton), UK And Irine Wairimu Ngugi Of Birmingham has lost their father back in Kenya the late Samuel Ngugi Njenga of Gachie, Kiambu, Kenya on Saturday 11th of July, 2009 in Kenya. Friends and family are meeting at Njenga's house, 78 Elm Park Close, Houghton Regis, Luton, LU5 5PW. Evening Prayers will be held on Monday 13th; Wednesday the 15th from 06.00 to 09.00. You may contact Louis Njenga at 07903833011, Irine Wairimu at 07958204970.

After arriving in London for the Seeds wedding on Thursday 9th July, 2009, some of the visitors visited London for the final shopping. They took time to visit the Mayor of London area on Tower Bridge where they experienced a state of art water pattern. One minute the water is gone and the next minute the world is sprinkling everywhere. From right is Mr. George Kiratu from Elburgon, Kenya (Tel: 07536825991), Mr. Derick Kibe from Gilgil (Tel: 07536201057) and Mr. Ken Ng'ang'a from Kitengela the father of the bride (Tel: 07536825995).

The UK has about 30,000 criminals who are members of organised crime gangs, and who cost the country up to £40bn a year, a report says. The Home Office is planning a new strategy to tackle criminals, using tax powers to prosecute them. And the joint Home Office and Cabinet Office report also said criminal gangs were using new technology. Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the strategy "goes further than ever before" in fighting organised crime. The report also warned that gang violence would increase during the downturn as gangs battled for market share, and said the recession would create "new opportunities" for organised criminals. And it also suggested there was an increasing level of co-operation between organised gangs and failed states such as Somalia. The report includes plans for a new strategic centre within the Home Office, which would improve monitoring of efforts to tackle the problem. And the new strategy includes plans to use tax powers to pin down elusive criminals, shutting down "front" businesses like saunas and massage parlours used for criminal ends, and seeking to block the use of mobile phones in prisons. The strategy would also investigate the UK-based assets of overseas criminals and step up the approach to international organised crime through better co-ordination overseas. This will target the emergence of criminal networks in weak and failing states, the Home Office said. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), set up in 2006 with the specific aim of tackling the problem, estimates there are 6,000 major criminals in the UK. But Soca admits not all can be prosecuted for their crimes, which include drugs and people trafficking and money laundering. As a result, ministers plan to target criminals for non-payment of tax.

A new pilot project involving officials from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Soca and Acpo will launch later this year, aimed at increasing the number of gang bosses prosecuted through tax laws. Mr Johnson said the UK is known as a "world leader" in the fight against serious organised crime. He also said the threat of criminal gangs "continues to evolve and it is right that we update and strengthen our response to match it. "This strategy goes further than ever before in taking the fight to organised criminals - from the hard-to-reach criminal bosses to the lower-level players that are harming our communities." But deputy chief constable Jon Murphy, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said political decisions could be behind the "gap" between the scale of the problem and the ability of law enforcement agencies to tackle it. Mr Murphy said: "I think we all acknowledge that gap does exist. Why does it exist? "Arguably, it could be because it's a political decision. I think equally it's because of the changing nature of criminality." He added: "British organised crime gangs are fluid, flexible and opportunistic. There are no set ranks, rules or structures which you can see with international crime gangs. "At the very top level, the number of 'Mr Bigs' is relatively small, and those individuals and groups associated with the most harm are subject to the highest level of enforcement and intervention."

Freestyle Australian motocross star Robbie Maddison leaping over the open span of London's Tower Bridge and Robbie Maddison on his bike over an open expanse above the Thames

Robbie Maddison sailed through the air more than 100 feet over the Thames and Robbie Maddison celebrates his jump

An illegal immigrant was today removed from the United Kingdom after being arrested on his wedding day last week. UK Border Agency officers arrested a 29 year old man from Jamaica just before he was due to marry his British fiancée on Friday 3 July at Birmingham Register Office. The illegal immigrant, who was living in Birmingham, had overstayed his visitor's visa. Acting on intelligence, immigration officers arrested him outside the Register Office on Holliday Street before the ceremony could take place. The man was then taken to an immigration detention centre where he remained until being returned to Jamaica today. The arrest of the man who never made it up the aisle came hot on the heels of UK Border Agency officers catching two illegal immigrants working at a clothing retailer in Birmingham. Acting on intelligence, officers swooped on Sweety Fashions, Alum Rock Road on Tuesday 30 June. They sealed all exits and searched the premises before questioning the workforce and checking their identity documents. An Indian male and a man from Afghanistan were found cutting cloth despite having no permission to work in the United Kingdom. The UK Border Agency is now taking steps to remove both men from the United Kingdom as soon as possible. The business was issued with an on-the-spot penalty notice for employing illegal workers and may now face a fine of up to £20,000. To avoid a heavy fine, the business must prove to the UK Border Agency that they carried out the correct right-to-work checks for employing workers from outside the European Union. Gail Adams, UK Border Agency regional director, said:

'We will not tolerate immigration abuse and will punish those who break the immigration laws.

'These cases show how effective identity cards will be in preventing immigration abuse. Individuals will be locked down to one identity through their facial image and fingerprints.

'Foreign nationals must obey the laws of this country in the same way as everybody else. Last year we removed someone every eight minutes and this year we will deport more foreign law breakers than ever before.'

"Faith is stepping on the hand of God when you cannot see his face." - Sanity, Grace, Njeri Oxford - gracenjeri77@yahoo.com

Wannabe rock stars from across the UK have turned out in their hundreds to smash the world record for the most drummers playing the same beat at one time. A total of 582 drummers assembled at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena keen to make their way into the Guinness Book of World Records and raise money for charity. The group of celebrities, band members and children broke the record shortly before 4pm. Among the participants were Slade's Don Powell and Cold Feet star John Thomson. Organiser Craig Glover said: "It's been absolutely fantastic. Everyone has really enjoyed themselves - it was a really good atmosphere. "We did a simple rock groove and played for at least 10 minutes. "We have video evidence and certificates, which we will now send off to get verified by Guinness (World Records)." The event, named Stick It To MS, has so far raised £20,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society but organisers are hoping that number will rise to £50,000. The record was previously set by 533 musicians in America three years ago.

London, Sunday 12th July, 2009. A Kenyan man has been found dead in his flat at Yeovil UK. The man has been identified as Fred Gichuhi. Sources say that, Fred reported at work on Saturday the 5th July 2009. He was sent home as was complaining of feeling unwell. Fred passed by a friends house, he told the friend that he was not feeling well and that he needed to go to his flat for a rest. That was the last time Fred was seen. On the Friday the 10th, colleagues at work became concerned that Fred had not turned up to work and that he had not contacted them as to when he goes back to work. The colleagues decided to call on his phone, but there was no response, they therefore decided to call at his (Freds) flat. They knocked on door but there was no response. Police were contacted and on arrival, the police broke into the flat but sadly they found him lying dead on the floor. After browsing his mobile phone the police managed to get the contacts of a Kenyan friend in London. The late Fred's body is at the hands of the police and the coroner as investigations has been launched to find out the cause of his death. His family in Kenya has already been informed. Contact details at the moment: Shiromaish on 07930137606. - You can deposit your help through Account no. 2003 8555, Sort code 20-96-55, Barclays Bank, J W Njogu. Where is Yeovil in UK? - CLICK HERE FOR THE MAP

State admits Kenya crime soaring

Nairobi, Kenya, Jul 13 – Internal Security Minister Professor George Saitoti on Monday publicly admitted that the country’s security had deteriorated. Prof Saitoti told reporters that the government was concerned at the soaring crime in the country and assured that adequate measures had been taken to stem it. “Indeed we (the government) are aware there has been a rise of that carjacking and other criminal activities but we have taken measures,” he said without divulging any statistics. It was the first time the government admitted that there has been rising crime. Previously, the Internal Security Minister and Police Commissioner Major General Mohammed Hussein Ali have insisted that the security status of the country was at manageable levels. When taken to task by Capital News to explain the specific measures taken, he said: “A number of criminals have actually been arrested and others have been dealt a blow whenever they have tried to kill other people.” Prof Saitoti said law enforcement agencies were under instructions to devise ways of reducing the emerging trends of sophisticated crime like kidnapping, mainly in Nairobi where police recently announced they were investigating 11 new cases. “Kidnapping is another nuisance, a new one that has come in and we are dealing with it,” he said.

There have been a high number of armed robberies and murders targeting high-profile personalities in Nairobi which include the killing of the Youth and Sports Permanent Secretary Kinuthia Murugu who was shot by gangsters in June but died last week at the Intensive Care Unit in Nairobi hospital. Police are yet to make any head way in the investigations into Mr Murugu’s killing. A female companion who was with the PS on the night he was shot was briefly detained for questioning by the police and released later. No charges were preferred against her. Two weeks ago, three CID officers who bumped onto a robbery at a fuel station in Athi River while on patrol were gunned down and their rifles stolen by gun men. Head of the Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) Richard Katola whose department was assigned the task of searching for them told Capital News that three of them have since been killed and two firearms recovered while the fourth one was arrested. Two others are still at large. A week ago, five gun men stormed the home of Assistant Justice Minister William Cheptumo in Lang’ata and held him and his family hostage for more than three hours before they grabbed some Sh300,000, electronic goods and fled using his vehicle which was later recovered at the crime-infested Mathare slum. None of the suspect has been arrested, police said. And on Saturday night, gangsters shot and seriously wounded a city businessman Ashit Sharma who led Operation Reduce Crime (ORC), one of the most vibrant community policing initiative for Parklands residents.

Mr Sharma was attacked on Forest Road as he stood at an accident scene involving two vehicles. Police said the businessman who was driving a vehicle fitted with high frequency communication gadgets which he had just parked at the scene to talk to the motorists was shot by gangsters whom they believe recognised him and his vehicle. “It appears they knew him because they just opened fire at him and stole his licensed pistol,” Gigiri divisional police chief David Kerina said. Mr Sharma is recuperating at the Aga Khan Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Police records show that at least ten carjacking and armed robberies occur in Nairobi every week. Three or more of these involve cases where people are wounded by gun shots or just killed by the gangsters. Meanwhile, Kenyans have been urged to use their mobile phones to improve their security by putting a trusted friend or a security agency on their speed dial. KK security manager Sasha Nginja stated on Monday that doing this would help other people to be aware when one is in trouble. “It really makes a difference. If you are being attacked or whatever the case may be it is calling and someone is hearing what is going on,” he said. He further cautioned against panic when under attack saying that it may aggravate the situation. - CapitalFM

As part of our ongoing series: "Jobs and the Recession: What you need to know" we examine an industry that, despite the recession, seems to be booming

Are online jobs the next big thing? As the U.S. economy continues to free-fall, millions of American are finding themselves without jobs, sufficient retirement or paychecks coming in. In March alone the number of unemployed increased by 694,000 to 13.2 million. Throughout history those on the cutting edge have adapted and prospered by knowing how to adapt to current economic climates, and this trend may once again be taking place on the internet. With more time on their hands, many document.write(state); London, City of residents (And people around the country and world) are getting creative and turning to the online world for help. For years we've all heard the stories of people making internet millions and now, it appears you don't have to be a technology guru at all to quickly get started making a decent income online. It's called Google Money Master and it's taking the internet and business communities alike by storm. While researching the online-job phenomenon for this article I found countless stories of every day people making between $250 - $1000 a day from their homes. They explain that they're posting links on websites using hugely popular text advertising applications like Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN Adcenter.

"Basically I actually make around $5,500 to $7,000 a month from Google. Not a ton of money. But, very solid and good. I was able to replace my previous job's income, working less than 10 hours a week on my computer at home." - Kevin H.

Nairobi, Monday 13th July, 2009. The Kenya government has appointed 36 new District Commissioners (DC) bringing their total number to 254. The Commissioners' responsibilities will involve coordinating government business effectively and efficiently at the district level. Speaking Monday Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security, Prof. George Saitoti, told the new administrators to take a leading role in tackling security challenges, resolving conflicts in society and fostering development through effective coordination of government activities. "You must monitor and ensure proper utilization of government resources and be at the fore front in the campaign against corruption and other social ills," added Saitoti. He said the government had allocated Ksh 435 million for ongoing projects and Kshs. 2.1 billion to build 70 district head quarters. The funds will be channelled through the Ministry of Public Works within the next six months, Saitoti added. Speaking during the commissioning of the D.C's, the Permanent Secretary, Francis Kimemia, emphasized that they should conduct at least two public baraza's per month and schedule days when wananchi can consult them in their offices. This is to ensure free flow of information between the government and the citizens. All the newly appointed commissioners are to get a phone to be able to communicate and a computer through which they will later be able to access the internet to mould them into the appropriate culture of an administrator of the 21st Century, Kimemia added. He challenged them to be well informed and be interested in the activities and performance of the people, institutions and general environment to ensure fairness and accountability . "Your role is to operationalize the plans to attain the level of zero tolerance to corruption" Kimemia said adding that each district and province has developed Corruption Prevention strategy customized from Ministerial corruption plan.

We don’t Twitter, says London teenager who shocked internet’s biggest bosses

A London teenager's report into his friends' media habits has caused a sensation among some of the world's most powerful internet bosses. Matthew Robson, 15, who is doing work experience at Morgan Stanley, was asked by the bank's European media analysts to write a research note into the media consumption of his peers. When he revealed that teenagers don't use Twitter, have little time for TV and find advertising “annoying”, his report was described by Morgan Stanley as “one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights”. This led the City bank to publish Matthew's findings — and it became the talk of the Allen & Co conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. The annual event — held behind closed doors — features some of the most influential figures in new media, including Google's Eric Schmidt and Larry Page, Twitter boss Evan Williams, Facebook's Mark Zuckerburg, and media moguls Barry Diller and Rupert Murdoch. Matthew's research note said: “Teenagers do not use Twitter. Updating the micro-blogging service from mobile phones costs valuable credit” and “they realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their tweets are pointless”. He said his peers find it hard to make time for television, instead watching online, and would rather listen to advert-free music on websites such as Last.fm than tune into traditional radio.

“Even online, teens find advertising extremely annoying and pointless,” Matthew added. “Their time and money is spent instead on cinema, concerts and video game consoles which now double as a more attractive vehicle for chatting with friends than the phone.” Edward Hill-Wood, head of Morgan Stanley's European media analysts, revealed that Matthew's report generated six times more feedback than the team's normal reports. He said: “It was one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen. So we published it. “We've had dozens and dozens of fund managers, and several CEOs, e-mailing and calling all day.” Matthew also said in his report that none of his friends regularly reads a newspaper as most could not “be bothered to read pages and pages of text”, rather than seeing summaries online or on TV. The teenager's verdict that tomorrow's consumer may be using more media but is increasingly unwilling to pay for it has been seen as confirming doubts raised this weekend by some of the executives at the conference. Many are speculating whether popular but expensive-to-run sites such as Twitter and YouTube could ever be profitable. There had been speculation that the event could spark a deal to buy the micro-blogging site Twitter, but those attending said the economic slump had deterred possible buyers.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With U.S. unemployment at a 20-year high, some Americans are working for free while looking for a job, but experts are split over whether it is a sign of dedication or desperation. Unpaid job seekers can keep their resumes fresh by boosting their experience and learning new skills, experts say, but others warn businesses may take advantage of the jobless and that it is illegal for commercial companies not to pay workers. Dana Lin, 22, is one of the 14.7 million unemployed workers in the United States. She lost her marketing job at a technology company near San Francisco in April and since then has been working for free for about five hours a week for Internet company Jobnob.com. "Every company has thousands of people applying for each job, and I realized I needed more appeal," said Lin, a graduate of Cornell University. Since being laid off, she has applied unsuccessfully for about 50 jobs. "In some cases companies might be getting the better end of it (by having unpaid workers)," she said.

"But it's nice to have something occupy yourself with and when speaking to prospective employers it's nice to say 'I haven't just been sitting around all day, I've actually been doing something.'" It's not only the unemployed taking on free work. Some employed people are being asked by bosses to go without pay. British Airways last month asked its British-based employees to volunteer for up to a month's unpaid work. Some companies and U.S. state and city governments have made staff take unpaid furloughs, but some employees still work anyway to keep up or because they are worried about losing their job. Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Washington D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, warns that while people can volunteer time for non-profit groups and government, it is illegal for commercial companies to not pay workers. "It's not just a bad idea, it's illegal," Eisenbrey. "The law says (companies) may not suffer or permit employees to work for less than the minimum wage. "The more desperate people get, they will do things like this to try and make themselves more appealing to an employer," he said. "The short-term prospects for most of the unemployed are very bad. They aren't going to be made much better by working off the books or working for nothing."

Job seeker Lin started working with Jobnob.com, a website that tracks salaries, after the company held its first so-called "happy hour" -- to link unemployed people with mostly start-up businesses that have work but are unable to pay. "The job seekers have time," said Julie Greenberg, co-founder of Jobnob.com. "It's really dangerous for them because once you are unemployed for a few months, there's this proverbial white space on your resume that's growing." "They immediately see the benefits, they need references, they need to keep their skills sharp, a lot of people are learning new skills," she said. "I don't think there's anybody who feels taken advantage of because they understand that ... we wish we had revenue, we wish we could pay you." Greenberg said more than 300 job seekers attended the first two "happy hours" and more such events have been planned.

LEFT: The Daily Mail says that a number of senior soldiers have launched an attack on Gordon Brown over his handling of the war in Afghanistan. CENTRE: The Daily Express says that energy bills are set to rise by more than £200 a month because of 'green' taxes. RIGHT: The Daily Star says that La Toya Jackson has named the people she alleges are responsible for the death of her brother Michael.

London, Sunday 12th July, 2009. The driver of a black cab decapitated himself in his taxi today after tying one end of a rope to his neck and the other to a lamp post. The man, believed to be in his thirties, is said to have then driven off at full speed shortly after midnight. His head was found yards from the vehicle in Great Suffolk Street in Southwark near an informal depot for taxi drivers. One of his colleagues, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “One of the drivers was at the scene just afterwards. He saw the cab all smashed up against a pillar, with the driver's body still inside the vehicle. “He then saw the head lying on the side of the road next to some rope. It is horrific.” He added: “The driver who arrived at the scene just afterwards alerted the police and ambulance service. Some people from the flats nearby also came running out of their homes when they heard the crash.” The death happened at the entrance to a disused Texaco petrol station which has a café and a number of spare parts shops on it. Witnesses said the cab was surrounded by police tape and ambulance crews after the incident. One, who asked not to be named, said: “It is unbelievable he would do that.” Mark Wilson, 43, was working in the nearby Union Jack pub when the driver committed suicide. He said: “I was clearing tables when I saw ambulances turn up. “I looked up and saw the taxi jutting out from the garage with police tape across the entrance. “At first I thought there had been a stabbing but now I know it wasn't.” The dead driver is believed to have been working a night shift before apparently killing himself. Scotland Yard said the death was not being treated as suspicious but it was investigating. Ambulance services attended at 12.40am and the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Police were trying to trace the driver's next of kin today. They were also trying to establish if the dead man was a genuine black-cab driver.

Climbing into bed the hard way

Artist Tiago Primo climbs into bed, positioned just above his dining room table. He and brother Gabriel have bemused onlookers by spending up to 14 hours a day in their 'house' on the side of an art gallery in Rio.

A boy of 12 collapsed after downing a one-litre bottle of energy drink. Reece Stiddard suffered severe chest pains after drinking caffeine-based Red Rooster. 'He collapsed on a path and was lying on the floor holding his chest, short of breath and crying,' said his 35-year-old father Grant, from Bristol. The pains on Friday were caused by a racing heartbeat, tests showed. 'The product label clarifies that it is not suitable for children, pregnant women and persons sensitive to caffeine,' said a Red Rooster spokesman.

LEFT: Stunning photos from space have been released by NASA, including this breathtaking image of the Sarychev Volcano on the Kuril Islands, seen from the International Space Station. RIGHT: NASA's Terra satellite took this natural-color image of Saharan sand blowing off the coasts of Mauritania and Senegal.

A 33-year-old Kenyan man has admitted to using the identities of dead people to rort about $330,000 from Centrelink and sending some of the money overseas. Bernard Monyenye on Friday 10th July, 2009 pleaded guilty in Perth Magistrates Court to a range of fraud charges including 23 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial benefits from Centrelink, one count of exporting money which were proceeds of crime and attempting to obtain money from Centrelink. When the Australian Federal Police charged Monyenye last November, they said he used his position at Medicare to access Centrelink records of dead people to obtain tax file numbers and create false claims for baby bonus payments for 58 fictitious children. It is understood Mr Monyenye defrauded the Federal Government of about $318,000 while he tried to obtain another $10,000. Commonwealth prosecutor Patricia Aloi said between about mid-August and mid-November last year, Mr Monyenye transferred more than $19,000 overseas It is understood the money was sent to more than one country - which included his home nation Kenya. The charge of attempting to dishonestly obtain a financial advantage from Centrelink stems from an incomplete transaction about the time of Mr Monyenye's arrest late last year. Mr Monyenye initially faced 48 charges, but the court was told that prosecutors decided to drop 23 charges because of "no evidence". The charges that were withdrawn included the abuse of public office while he worked for Medicare. Outside court, Ms Aloi said the prosecution was proceeding with the more appropriate charges based on their evidence. Magistrate Pamela Hogan ordered pre-sentence and psychiatric reports before she renewed Mr Monyenye's bail until his sentencing in the Perth District Court next month.

"Forgive a wife-slammer if you can. But you don't have to live with him. Forgive a husband who is abusing your children if you can. But only after you kick him out of the house. And if you can't get him out, get help. It's available. In the meantime, don't let him near the kids, and don't let anyone tell you that if you forgive him it means you have to stay with him. [There's an important difference between forgiving a person and tolerating their bad behaviour.]" - Lewis B. Smedes - The Art of Forgiving: When You Need To Forgive And Don't Know How

A drunk German sparked a slow-speed police chase after stealing a tractor to get home from a nightclub after his girlfriend left without him, said police, who used pepper spray to try to stop the vehicle. 'After his girlfriend abandoned him in a night club, the 23-year-old driver, who doesn't own a licence, commandeered the vehicle to make his way home,' a police spokesman said on Monday. Six police cars began trailing the tractor, which was chugging along at 12 miles an hour, after they were alerted to the theft at about 5 am on Saturday. Officers tried holding up stop signs and directing pepper spray through the open window to bring the driver to a halt. They then tried unsuccessfully to end his getaway by throwing nail belts on the road, but the tractor's tyres proved too thick, said the police spokesman. The 40-minute chase finally came to an end when officers shot at the tractor's tyres after it rammed into a police car and collided with another vehicle.

Thursday, June 25: It only takes eight minutes for sunlight to travel from the sun to the earth, which also means that if you see the sun go out, it actually went out eight minutes ago and if the sun stopped shining it would take eight minutes for us to realise.

Wednesday, June 24: King Charles VI of France - also, rather aptly it seems, known as Charles the Mad - suffered from the delusion that he was made of glass. He had protective iron bars sewn into his clothing to prevent him from shattering if he fell.

Tuesday, June 23: The inventor of the light bulb, Thomas Edison, is said to have been afraid of the dark.

Monday, June 22: In space, no one can hear you cry. Because you can't. Astronauts are unable to cry properly because there is no gravity and tears cannot flow properly as they would on Earth. It is possible to produce tears in space - but they would leave the eye and float around.

Friday, June 19: The first modern dishwashing machine was invented by wealthy American socialite Josephine Cochrane in 1886 - not to reduce the amount of kitchenwork she had to do, because she never did any, but because she was annoyed with her servants chipping her china.

Thursday, June 18: In addition to achieving fame with his tales of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also helped to introduce skiing to Switzerland in 1894. 'I am convinced that the time will come when hundreds of Englishmen will come to Switzerland for the skiing season,' he wrote.

Wednesday, June 17: Charles Dickens always slept facing north, in an effort to battle insomnia - when he travelled, he would carry a compass with him and move his bed around so it was correctly aligned. He also liked to face north while writing, believing it aided his creativity.

Tuesday, June 16: From the bizarre experiments file: in 1960, sleep researcher Ian Oswald of the University of Edinburgh performed an experiment to see if volunteers would be able to fall asleep even if he tape their eyelids open. The answer, it turned out, was yes.

Monday, June 15: The first ever blood transfusion in a human was performed on June 15, 1667 – when French physician Jean-Baptiste Denis treated a feverish young man by giving him about 340ml of lamb's blood. The patient apparently recovered well.

Friday, June 12: At the party to celebrate the drafting of the United States constitution in September 1787, the bar bill included 60 bottles of claret, 54 of Madeira, 22 of porter, 12 of beer, 8 of cider, 8 of whiskey and 7 large bowls of punch. That was for 55 people. Hardcore.

Thursday, June 11: The earliest known chain letter in history spread around America in 1888 - asking for people to donate a dime to the education of poor children in the Cumberlands region of Tennessee, and asking the recipient to forward the letter to four friends.

Wednesday, June 10: Le Bateau, a piece by the great French artist Henri Matisse, was accidentally hung upside down when displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1961. Nobody noticed the error for forty-seven days.

Tuesday, June 9: The first picture anybody ever clicked on the web was a promotional photograph of Les Horribles Cernettes, a girl group formed at particle physics research centre CERN, who sing about high energy physics. They had an office next door to web creator Tim Berners-Lee.

Monday, June 8: Nicotine gum was invented in Sweden in the late 1960s, after the Swedish government asked a pharmaceutical company to investigate ways of preventing sailors in their navy becoming grumpy after spending days at sea on their smoke-free ships.

Friday, June 5: King Charles II is said to have had a fondness for collecting the dust that fell from the skin of Egyptian mummies, and rubbing it on his own skin - under the belief that the greatness of the ancients would rub off on him.

Wednesday, June 3: When an iceberg melts, it makes a loud fizzing noise, caused by all the trapped high-pressure air bubbles in the ice being released. This noise has the rather wonderful name of 'Bergy Seltzer.'

Tuesday, June 2: In 1970, baseball pitcher Dock Ellis played an entire match while high on LSD, following a mix-up about when he was playing. Despite having difficulty feeling the ball or seeing the batter, he threw a 'no-hitter' (preventing the opposition from ever hitting the ball) and his team won.

Friday, May 29: King Otto of Bavaria - who 'ruled' from 1886 to 1913, and was quite mad - is reputed to have exercised his right to shoot one peasant every day. Luckily for Bavaria's peasants, his attendants gave him pistols loaded with blanks and dressed up as peasants, playing dead whenever he 'shot' them.

Thursday, May 28: Bacteria have an impressive, if unfortunate, tendency to get everywhere - last year, Japanese scientists discovered a new species of bacteria, Microbacterium hatanonis, which lives in hairspray. It's not yet known if it could infect humans.

Wednesday, May 27: The city of Richmond, Virginia is a historic one in the world of beer cans. The very first canned beer was sold there in 1935 (a can of Krueger's Finest Beer), while the 'stay-on tab' ring pull was invented there by Dan Cudzik of Reynolds Metals in 1975.

Tuesday, May 26: The equals sign was invented by a Welshman - physician and mathematician Robert Recorde, who created the = sign in 1557, on the grounds that writing 'is equal to' repeatedly was 'tedious'. He chose two parallel lines because 'noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle'.

Thursday, May 21: The first lighter was invented before the first friction-based match. The lighter, known as 'Döbereiner's lamp', was created by German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner in 1823 - three years before English chemist John Walker invented the friction match.

Wednesday, May 20: The small town of Codell in Kansas was hit by a deadly tornado on May 20th, 1918. Not especially remarkable - except it had also been hit by tornados at around the same time in the evening, on the same day, in 1917 and 1916 as well.

Monday, May 18: It is reputed that when John Hetherington, the inventor of the top hat, first wore his creation in London, it caused a riot in which a child's arm was broken. He was prosecuted for his hat crime, on the grounds that the design was 'calculated to frighten timid people'.

Friday, May 15: The microscopic parasite Toxoplasma gondii has an interesting effect when it infects rats and mice - it makes become unafraid of cats. This is pretty helpful to the Toxoplasma, which can only sexually reproduce if its host is eaten by a cat.

Thursday, May 14: When the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in Paris in 1911, one of the people arrested on suspicion of its theft was Pablo Picasso. He'd been implicated by his friend, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire; both men were questioned, and eventually released.

Tuesday, May 12: The 'Sinner's Bible' is a version of the Bible printed in 1631 which, thanks to a typesetting error in the Ten Commandments, said 'Thou shalt commit adultery' instead of 'Thous shalt not commit adultery.' The printers were fined £300, and almost all the copies were destroyed.

Monday, May 11: In 1809, a rise in ticket prices at the newly rebuilt Covent Garden Theatre caused such outrage among theatre-goers that it sparked an ongoing series of riots - the 'Old Price Riots' - which lasted for almost three months.

Friday, May 08: Prompted by Atlanta's 1886 prohibition of alcohol, chemist John S. Pemberton decided to market a non-alcoholic version of his popular medicinal wine, which also included kola nut and coca leaves. As a result, on May 8 that year, the first Coca-Cola in the world was sold.

Thursday, May 07: The oldest condoms ever discovered by archaeologists date back to the 1640s. They were found in a former toilet in Dudley Castle in the West Midlands. They are thought to have been made from fish bladders or animal intestines.

Wednesday, May 06: King Charles VI of France, also known as Charles the Mad, suffered from the delusion he was made of glass. He even had protective iron bars sewn into his clothes to prevent him from shattering if he fell.

Tuesday, May 05: In 1988, Tiáo, a bad-tempered chimpanzee at Rio de Janeiro Zoo, who had a habit of flinging excrement at visitors, was nominated by a satirical magazine to stand in Rio's Mayoral election. He got over 400,000 votes, coming third out of twelve candidates.

Friday, May 01: On May 1st 1978, the first spam email was written by a man named Gary Thuerk. Sent out two days later to around 600 unwilling recipients, it advertised open houses on America's west coast for computer company Digital Equipment Corp. And so a phenomenon was born.

Thursday, April 30: While everybody's worried about a global pandemic, here's something to take your mind off those fears: since 1945, it's thought that at least 50 nuclear weapons have been lost around the world, and were never recovered.

Wednesday, April 29: The largest raindrops ever recorded were almost 1cm in diameter, spotted by scientists over Brazil and the Marshall Islands in 2004. Normally, raindrops over 5mm in diameter break apart - it's thought the 1cm drops may have been formed around large soot particles.

Tuesday, April 28: The legendary baseball player Babe Ruth was reputed to have an innovative method of keeping cool during games - he was said to place an iced cabbage leaf on his head, hidden under his cap.

A bridegroom and his parents who invented injuries to claim compensation after a minor crash on his wedding day have each been jailed for a year. Andrew Singh, 26, his father Graham, 53, and mother Niramella, 49, were caught out when a video showed them dancing just hours after the accident. Manchester Crown Court heard they tried to sue Hollins Travel for whiplash. All three, from Old Trafford, had admitted perjury and conspiracy to defraud, at an earlier hearing. Recorder David Heaton QC was told that on the day of the wedding, in July 2004, two of their wedding coaches were involved in minor crashes. The first collided with a car, with only the driver receiving serious injuries and the second coach crashed into a wall in the car park of the wedding venue in Preston, Lancashire. The court heard that all of the guests involved in the collisions managed to enjoy the wedding party that evening. Singh, the bridegroom, was even lifted up in the air and carried by the crowds while his parents danced on energetically. Their deceit was only uncovered when the Singhs handed in the wedding video as part of their case against the travel firm, Hollins. They used it in their evidence against the coach firm to show they were on board the vehicles when they crashed. However, shots of them partying after the footage of the collisions sparked suspicions. The Singhs' attempts to claim £1,500 each for their non-existent injuries were dismissed by the civil court and instead they were each ordered to pay £73,000 in court costs. The case was then passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Crown Prosecution Service who decided the three should face criminal charges. Speaking after the sentencing, Det Con Chris Harrison said: "These claims may well have caused Hollins, a small, local company, to go bust. "This was not only an attempt to make a false insurance claim for money; this was also an insult to the civil courts system. These three family members knowingly lied during a civil hearing in front of a judge. "False insurance claims are criminal, fraudulent offences. The Singh family is lucky that the sentence was not more severe, as new legislation does not apply to this case."

The Singhs admitted perjury and conspiracy to defraud and on right the Singhs tried to claim £1,500 for their fake injuries

Nairobi, Kenya, July 10 - Cabinet Minister William ole Ntimama on Friday criticised the government over what he termed as a slow system in protecting the ecosystem, especially the Mau complex. Mr Ntimama said the destruction of the water tower was going on daily despite the concerns that had been raised over the years. “I have been yelling, screaming, talking and writing articles. That is the best I can do,” he said. “The Mau complex is so large but I am particularly interested on Southern Mau which is in my constituency (Narok North) and the direct effects and suffering of our own people is being felt right there on the ground,” he added. The Minister was speaking at an annual luncheon of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya, where the Chairman Jackson Maingi said Kenyans were the greatest threat to their own environment. Mr Maingi called for balance between environmental conservation and human interest. “Government policies, societal values and norms must be positively geared in order to avoid wanton destruction of the environment which would in turn create a negative impact on sustainable environmental management,” he said. “By destroying the environment, the human race seems headed towards self destruction and this is tragic,” Mr Maingi added. The Minister on the other hand noted that the Mau complex which is the biggest water tower in East and Central Africa apart from the Congo rain forests has suffered invasion from local communities. “This has actually been encouraged and facilitated by government officials in Narok and Nairobi, local and national leaders,” he claimed. Prime Minister Raila Odinga is yet to make public a report by a 21- member Mau taskforce he set up to make recommendations on the conservation of the forest. The taskforce was set up mid last year to formulate concrete actions of restoring the forest. It was also expected to develop a time bound implementation plan for conserving the forest including eviction of the people living in the forest. - CapitalFM

A day after former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan handed over the envelope with the list of post-election violence suspects to The Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC) swung into action and set up a team to deal with the Kenyan case. - MORE

Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura who underwent a heart surgery in South Africa is in stable condition. His physicians Frank Mwongera and Charles Kariuki said Muthaura would leave ICU to the ward later Friday. "He has continued to make excellent progress and is in good cheer. His family and doctors are happy with his progress" his doctors said in a statement. Muthaura who is admitted to Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg had a successful heart surgery on Wednesday morning. Muthaura 61 was taken ill on Monday and was rushed to the Nairobi Hospital where he was hospitalized for three days before being flown to SA. Government spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua said Muthaura had narrowed arteries to his heart.

Nairobi, Kenya, July 10 - Former UN chief Kofi Annan has now sent the envelope containing the list of post poll violence perpetrators to prosecutor at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Capital News has learnt that Annan dispatched the secret list to Luis Moreno Ocampo following his meetings with Kenyan officials in Geneva recently. He said his action follows talks he held with government officials led by Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo, Lands Minister James Orengo and Attorney General Amos Wako last week. Mr Annan says in a letter dated July 9 to Prime Minister Raila Odinga: “I wish to inform you that the Panel of Eminent African Personalities has handed over to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the sealed envelope and supporting materials entrusted to me by the Waki Commission on 17th October 2008.” The chief mediator further avers: “I have written in similar terms to President Kibaki.” Mr Annan recalled the meeting he held with the Kenya Government delegation last week: “We discussed the status of the implementation of the National Accord and progress on Agenda Item Four reforms including modalities of the establishment of a Special Tribunal, as recommended by the Commission of Inquiry into the post election violence in Kenya.” The envelop has been handed over to Mr Ocampo together with supporting materials that were given to Mr Annan by Justice Philip Waki last October. When Mr Kilonzo, Mr Orengo and the AG left the country a week ago, it had been expected that they would plead with Mr Annan to suspend sending the names to The Hague. The three later met Mr Ocampo in the Netherlands. The government made a bid to introduce a Bill to establish a local Tribunal but it was defeated by backbenchers. The backbenchers have recently made it clear that they will shoot any similar Bill taken to the House, insisting that the perpetrators of the violence should face trial at The Hague. It had been feared that a local Tribunal would be susceptible to manipulation whereas The Hague option provides a real opportunity to end the culture of impunity.

The final wedding team for the Seeds wedding arrived in London on Thursday 9th July, 2009. The team of five arrived at Heathrow Airport in the morning via Dubai. On the photo taking a cup of tea after arrival is from right is Mr. George Kiratu a businessman from Elburgon, Kenya, Mrs. Esther Kamuri (wife of Bishop Muya), Bishop Samuel Muya and Mr. Joe Mwai who went to welcome them. The wedding takes place on Saturday 11th July, 2009.

London, Friday 10th July, 2009. A young man - reported to be British - has been gored to death in the traditional running of the bulls in Pamplona, northern Spain. The man was gored in the neck on Friday, during the fourth bull run of the San Fermin festival. Three other runners were injured in the incident. Spanish media said the British man had emergency surgery in hospital but died of his injuries. He has not been named. The last fatal goring at the week-long festival was in 1995. A light-brown bull called Capuchino ploughed into a group of runners and spectators on Friday after getting separated from the main pack. The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Madrid says the running of the bulls - opposed by animal rights activists - is a defining event in Spanish culture. Popularised by the writer Ernest Hemingway, it attracts thousands of foreign tourists each year - many of whom choose to take part. Friday's incident happened close to the start of the 850-metre (yard) run through the streets of Pamplona.

Janet Buerki Narh sadly passed away on 20th June 2009 at a West London hospital at 2.30pm. This site is dedicated to celebrating the life of Janet Narh and is an official source of information for all her viewers, listeners, supporters, friends and family. - MORE

A place where the great old flavour of East African cuisine come alive, at a relaxing and family friendly environment. We’ll be serving Kenyan dishes on Friday, Saturday & Sunday come & enjoy nyama choma, githeri, chapatti, mukimo, fish, matoke, kuku fry.etc. There will also be a buffet every Sunday afternoon, bring your family & friends “eat as much as you can” at a reasonable price. Starting this weekend of the 10/07/09.

We also offer outside catering, birthday parties, wedding or any other events.

Nairobi, Kenya, Jul 9 - Youth and Sports Permanent Secretary Kinuthia Murugu who was admitted to the Nairobi hospital following a shooting incident three weeks ago has died. Hospital sources told Capital News that the former PS succumbed to the injuries at 3.35 am while at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Government Spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua later said the government was saddened by the death. "The Govt is sad to announce that PS Murugu succumbed to his injuries and passed away at 3:35 am this morning (Thursday) at Nairobi hospital. May the Lord rest his soul in eternal peace," he said in a statement. Mr Murugu was shot by gangsters who accosted him on Muringa road in the upmarket Kilimani area three weeks ago. Police said that the PS was shot after he allegedly tried to reverse his vehicle to escape the gang that had waylaid him. "The suspects then opened fire, wounding him on the shoulder and made his vehicle to land in a ditch," Deputy Police Spokesman Charles Owino said. He has since remained in the ICU after undergoing an operation to remove a bullet that was lodged in his body. Carjackings have been on the rise in the city in the recent past. On June 9, Khwisero MP Evans Bulimo Akula was carjacked and robbed but was later freed unharmed after a three-hour ordeal. He described the crime to Capital News as "the worst incident in his life" but said he was lucky to be alive for cooperating with the heavily armed gangsters. The lawmaker said he was attacked as he was about to enter his compound on Rhapta Road at about 11 pm. "When they asked for money, I said I could get them Sh50,000 and that was what was in the ATM. They stopped the vehicle and one of them asked for my PIN and went to the cash point," he said. "That is what saved me because when they got the money, they drove to Upper Hill and said it was a convenient location to abandon me," he said. The MP's vehicle was recovered the next day at Kamai area in Kahawa West. No arrests have been made yet. - CapitalFM.

The number of people in UK drinking themselves to death has soared by 40 per cent in the past ten years. There were 7,341 deaths last year compared with 5,287 people who died in 1999, figures showed. Worryingly, the number of women who lost their lives to drink has risen by 32 per cent to 2,501 while the number of men has soared by 43 per cent to 4,840. There has also been a 24 per cent rise in the number of young adults - under the age of 40 - who died from alcohol. Shadow home office minister James Brokenshire, who obtained the figures following a Parliamentary question, said the government 'seemed completely unaware of the enormity of the problem'. He added: 'The impact on services like the NHS really can't go on.' Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said Britain's 'drinking culture' was to blame. 'This is horrifying evidence of the scale of the alcohol crisis,' he added. 'Ministers cannot continue to ignore the fact that thousands of people are dying because of excessive alcohol consumption.' Alcohol Concern said the price of drinks should be raised as a deterrent. Chief executive Don Shenker said: 'There's no magic bullet to change our drinking culture but putting a stop to the irresponsible sale of low cost alcohol would be an effective step in the right direction.' Ministers said they were spending millions educating people to the dangers of alcohol with every pound spent saving the public purse £1.20. 'Alcohol is one of the most challenging public health issues we face. We are working harder than ever to reduce alcohol-related hospital admissions and to help those who regularly drink too much,' said a government spokesman.

Several guests have already arrived for the Seeds wedding in London on Saturday 11th July, 2009. Over 10 relatives and friends managed to get visa and several others from US other areas are on their way. Some guests from New Zealand made a surprise call that they are already in UK. The wedding of Jackson Njiiri and Sharon Njeri takes place on Saturday. (See below). Arriving at Heathrow Airport are five family members while another team of five arrives on Thursday. Bishop Samuel Muya and his wife will be arriving on Thursday 9th July, 2009. The team was caught at Dubai airport on Wednesday morning as they await a connection to London.

The Wedding of Jackson Karanja Njiiri (Mr. Seed's son) and Miss Sharon Njeri takes place on Saturday 11th July, 2009 at Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church, head office Prayer Temple, Docklands, London, 119 East India Dock Road, Poplar, London E14 6DE as from 10.00 a.m. A reception will follow thereafter at Pavillion Banqueting Suite, 324 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, E17 9PX as from 2.00 p.m. till late. All guest are requested to be seated by 4.00 p.m. as the food service will take place between 4.00 and 5.30 prompt. The reception hall is 2 minutes walk from Wathamstow underground station. All cars will be parked at Wathamstow Central Station Public Car Park where they will be security upto to midnight. The park charges £2 for the full day.

Luton Young Leaders Academy (LYLA) invites you to attend an evening with Mukoma Ngugi, Nominee Of The Kain Price Awards 2009, son of the renowned African writer/author Dr Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Professor of Languages & Cultures at Irvine University, California. Poetry will be followed by a discussion. Books and other items will be on sale. Refreshments will also be available. Venue: Lewsey Farm Learning Centre Trust, 92 Tomlinson Avenue, Luton LU4 0QQ Time: 6:30 - 9:30 Entry: Free Contact Juliet 07957 147547 and Allan 07887 518131.

LEFT: The Daily Express leads with claims that a new pill could extend the lifespan of people by up to 23 years. CENTRE: The Daily Mail claims British taxpayers are providing £1m for a jail in Nigeria for people whose crimes were committed in the UK. RIGHT: A 16-year-old girl who is facing a life sentence after luring a teenage boy to his death in an horrific "honey trap" murder.

The government is considering "no fee degrees", in which students in England would not pay tuition fees - but would not get any loans or other support. These could be aimed at university students living at home with their parents, allowing them to avoid debt. The proposal is in a draft framework for the future of higher education. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills says it might not be in the final version - and discussion of the plan remains "speculative". But university leaders suggest the radical idea remains active and under consultation. The no-fee degrees proposal would offer students the option of avoiding the cost of paying tuition fees, which are £3,225 per year from next year. If fees were to be waived in this way, in exchange students would not be able to claim the package of financial support which can include low-interest loans and means-tested bursaries. It is anticipated that this might be of interest to the growing number of students who now live at home while studying for degrees. It might also appeal to students taking higher education courses in further education colleges. The director general of the Russell Group of prestigious universities, Wendy Piatt, said there were concerns that such approaches should not reduce the quality of university courses. The chair-elect of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities, Paul Wellings, says he welcomes "a diverse range of higher education provision", but emphasises the importance of maintaining quality. "To ensure quality any new proposals must be fully funded by government - we will be cautious of any new proposals that result in cut-price, lower quality degrees of a lower value to students, particularly in terms of graduate employability," said Prof Wellings.

But a spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: "As part of the higher education framework we are considering a number of measures to increase access to higher education and maintain our sector's world class status. "Ahead of its publication any discussion of the proposals it will contain are purely speculative." As well as the framework setting out future priorities, the government is to begin a separate review of student fees in the autumn - trying to reconcile the demands for more funding from the universities with the unpopularity of raising tuition fees. At present, universities are not allowed to raise tuition fees above the fixed cap - and the fees review will have to decide whether this upper limit should be raised or removed altogether. The proposal for a no-fee degree would provide another option - saving the government the expense of financial support, while allowing students and their families to avoid fees and student debt. This would depend on students having families that are able and willing to support them. For parents, it would mean that in financial terms, sending a child to university would be similar to their being in the sixth form at school or college, with the family typically providing accommodation but with no fees for tuition. There have been warnings that students from poorer families are more debt averse and this could have the appeal of a simple system, with no debts attached. But it is also likely to raise concerns about inequalities in the student funding system - with different students facing different levels of debts. There is growing pressure on the university system - and increasingly urgent calls for more funding. The downturn in the jobs market has sparked a surge of applications for university, with warnings that this is going to create a demand that cannot be met. Universities have been calling for extra funding to provide more places, but the government faces its own pressures on public spending.

A pensioner has broken Britain's Guinness World Records after somehow managing to produce a giant cucumber that's still growing. Former bus driver Yitzhak Yizdanpana, has grown a goliath 1.2 metre cucumber that is still growing at 2 cm a week. Yitzhak said that he did not use any fertiliser or add anything to the soil and that when the cucumber stops growing he will put it up for a Guinness World Record. His neighbour's son five-year-old Yanir loves to measure his height next to the green giant. The previous world record for the Longest Cucumber was a 91cm cucumber which was grown by Alf Cobb of Nottinghamshire.

Kibaki rejects new State House limos

State House on Tuesday rejected eight new luxury cars, signalling the government’s determination to observe austerity measures. A statement from State House quoted President Kibaki and First Lady Lucy Kibaki saying they did not order and were not aware of the purchase of the cars that had just been delivered. The Nation learnt that the cars — four luxury Mercedes Benz limousines, three 4-wheel-drive Toyota Land Cruiser Prados and one Nissan Hardbody — were bought last month. The purchase of the vehicles appears to have been part of last month’s last-minute spending by ministries and government departments to avoid returning unused funds to the Treasury. The Presidential Press Services (PPS) said that the decision was meant to give support to measures announced by Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta to cut down government expenditure. The minister, in his Budget speech last month, announced that Cabinet ministers will be limited to cars of not more than 1800cc. The number of cars allocated to each minister was also reduced, but some ministers have openly ridiculed the measure and announced that they would not surrender their limousines and fuel-guzzling 4x4s. “State House will support austerity measures announced by the Minister for Finance on a freeze in the purchase of new vehicles. As an immediate measure, we are ordering the return of the eight vehicles that were purchased without our knowledge. We also appeal to all ministries to support the efforts by the Finance minister to cut down on government costs,” said the President and the First Lady. - Daily Nation.

A two-timing schoolgirl who lured her 16-year-old boyfriend into a 'honeytrap' which saw him stabbed to death was facing a life sentence yesterday. Wearing a short see-through dress, Samantha Joseph, 15, tricked lovestruck Shakilus Townsend into following her to an alleyway where he was ambushed by a gang of six masked and hooded teenagers. The youngster bled to death after being beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed six times in a 'relentless and merciless attack' led by a jealous love rival who was also dating Joseph. One of the killers was out on bail at the time. - FULL STORY

The UK government is set to announce its plans to reform the financial system to prevent future crises. But the White Paper will leave many questions unanswered about the role of the key regulators. The Lib Dems say it is unlikely to go far enough. New powers will be proposed to curb bank lending and prevent asset bubbles, such as the housing boom, undermining the real economy. The government has put up more than £1 trillion to bail out failing banks. The aim, according to Chancellor Alistair Darling, is a "significant toughening up of the regulatory system" in order to "learn the lesson of what went wrong... and make sure we reduce those risks". However, many of the detailed proposals in the White Paper will need further discussion with international regulators and the financial services industry, so only a limited number will be included in parliamentary legislation this autumn - leaving the next government to sort out many tricky issues. Angela Knight, head of the British Bankers' Association, said that the government should move cautiously in order not to make the recession worse. The government plan will build on the proposals made by Lord Turner, the head of the FSA, in March, and endorsed by the G20 summit in April. The US is expected to introduce broadly similar legislation later this week.

Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said the reforms expected in the White Paper were unlikely to go far enough. "The big issue of the day, which I don't think this White Paper will address at all, is that since it took over the banks... the government's let the situation drift," he told the BBC. "An enormous amount of taxpayers' money's gone in. It's not clear that credit is coming out to perfectly good solvent companies. "We've still got a credit crisis. The bonus culture is running amok and the government is adopting an entirely passive role through its shareholding body UKFI and that's not good enough." BBC business editor Robert Peston says the government will endorse the current tripartite system - where responsibility in a financial crisis is shared between the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority, and the Treasury - but will also give the Bank of England increased responsibility for assessing financial markets. The governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has said that without increased powers his role is merely to "preach sermons". However, our correspondent says it is uncertain whether the governor will think he is getting the powers he needs from the Treasury. The FSA, which currently has the power to declare individual banks insolvent and trigger a government takeover, says it is more important to resolve how banks are regulated than by whom. However, if the Conservatives win the next election, they have pledged to give the Bank of England a lead role in financial regulation.

The key issue in the White Paper will be how to implement the new objective of "macro-prudential" regulation, which aims to ensure that the whole system, and not just individual banks, is prevented from collapse. One approach, which will be endorsed by the White Paper, is to raise the capital requirements of banks so that they have to put aside more of their funds for a rainy day - and also hold more in cash equivalents, to prevent a bank run. But there will also be a discussion of other ways to prevent risk - such as self-insurance by banks; more open and transparent derivatives markets; and further restrictions on bank lending. Another important issue that is unlikely to be resolved by the White Paper is whether banks should be allowed to grow so big that they pose a risk to the global financial system. Last month, Mr King said: "If some banks are thought to be too big to fail, then, in the words of a distinguished American economist, they are too big." But although the crisis has produced a wave of consolidations within banking, it could prove legally and economically difficult to unravel bank mergers. One possibility would be to tax big banks more heavily, perhaps with some form of windfall tax to cut their profits in good times. Another would be a return to the US-style separation of investment banking and retail banking, as in the Glass-Steagall Act which was repealed in 1999.

What do you get when you mix the world's longest legs with the world's smallest man? A fantastic photo opportunity that's what.

A Kenyan has passed away in the UK. Ms Regina Njeri Mwangi 44, passed away on Monday 6th July, 2009 after a short illness at the Leicester Infirmary Hospital UK. Regina was originally from Gathera, Maragua, Muranga, Kenya. She was the loving mother to Kevin Mugambi of Leicester UK. Regina was the daughter to Charity Wangeci Macharia, of Kimathi Estate, Thika, Kenya, and the late Newton Mwangi Macharia. She was sister to Peter Kariuki, a businessman in Nairobi, James Macharia, Samuel Muchugu, of Thika, sister to Alice Muthoni, sister in law to Peter Muturu, a businessman in Thika. Regina was cousin to Jane Wanjiru Mburu, UK, Denis Njuguna ,of UK, Teri Mwangi of Milton Keynes, UK, Esther Kariuki of Grove Park, London, UK, Susan Mwangi, Kenya and Charles Njonjo Kenya. We are appealing to all Regina’s friends to help raise the money to send her body back to Kenya for burial. Donations can be sent to Jane Mburu, Natwest Bank, Account No. 58739521 sort code 60-23-36. Meetings and prayers are being held at 22 Brunswick Park Gardens, New Southgate, London N11 1ES from 6pm. You can contact Jane Mburu on 07956271641 and 0208 361 8490. Regina’s friends and well wishers in the Midlands are meeting at 34 Guild Road, Coventry, CV6 5PH from 6pm. Contact Connie on 07886 824 287.

The United Kingdom government is to invest a further £15 million to strengthen its border controls in France, under a declaration signed with the French government yesterday. The additional funding will be used to pilot extra security controls and technology at Calais, which will be rolled out to other French ports if successful. In return, the French government will increase the number of flights used to return illegal migrants home from northern France. Since 2004, an agreement on 'juxtaposed controls' has enabled United Kingdom immigration officers to carry out immigration checks at certain locations in France. Now the UK Border Agency will work alongside French police to create a single control point in France, using advanced technology to increase the number of vehicle checks. If they suspect untoward activity, our officers will then search the vehicle (using body detection dogs and other equipment) to locate and remove any illegal migrants. Additionally, UK Border Agency officers will come together with the Serious Organised Crime Agency and police agencies on both sides of the Channel in a single intelligence unit, which will crack down on the criminals behind illegal migration through Calais. Cooperation between the United Kingdom and France has already turned Calais into one of the strongest border crossings in the world. In the past five years, almost 90,000 attempts to enter the United Kingdom illegally have been stopped by our immigration staff in France - and more than two-thirds of these attempts were stopped in Calais. Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas, who was one of the signatories to the 6 July declaration, said:

'We have one of the strongest borders in the world, and today's agreement has made it even more secure.

'An extra £15 million has been invested to pay for new technology as part of a hi-tech pilot in Calais. This will see the latest state-of-the-art technology being used to boost searches of vehicles and goods heading for Britain. The UK Border Agency will roll out the latest detection technology to ports in Boulogne, Dunkirk and Coquelles.

'The French government is determined to return more illegal migrants by stepping up removal flights. The UK recognises this effort and maintains its own commitment to removing foreign nationals with no right to be in the UK.

'Last year we stopped 28,000 individual attempts to cross the Channel, and searched one million lorries - these changes will further strengthen the ring of steel that protects Britain.'

Justice Nicholas Ombija, (right), and Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya. They hit it off as willing seller and willing buyer but from Monday they’ll be in court over a piece of property in Nairobi’s leafy suburbs. High Court judge, Justice Nicholas Ombija and Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya struck a Sh13.5 million deal for a house on ‘as-is’ basis. Ombija is arguing Oparanya ‘vandalised’ the house after selling it to him. - MORE

Mrs. Janet Nana (abave right) is dead. The OBE TV presenter and Ghanaian Media Star passed away in London on Saturday 20th June 2009. Janet a resident of London is well known in the Kenyan community circles where she has been acting as a master of ceremony in many occasions. She was last seen acting as master of ceremony last year at the residence of the Kenya High Commissioner HE Joseph Muchemi (above photo) next to Mrs. Muchemi during the Commonwealth Party last July. Janet was a campaigner for the current Ghana government and she was offered a diplomatic post last month. She fell ill while in Ghana and she was diagnosed with cancer. She passed away last month in a London hospital. Her husband passed away two years ago. She has left behind a 14-year-old daughter.

The Kenya government will phase out the P1 teachers’ training course, whose graduates account for 170,000 of the instructors in public primary schools countrywide. Once the course is scrapped, all the 18 primary teachers’ training colleges will be upgraded to offer diploma courses with the graduates being hired to work in primary schools. The announcement came as it emerged that the number of applicants to the colleges had hit a record 39,000 this year although only 7,000 will be admitted.

A Nigerian man who tried to smuggle cocaine into the West Midlands has been jailed for six years at Manchester Crown Court. Edwin Atuegwu Mbonu was stopped at Birmingham International Airport by UK Border Agency officers on 7 June, when he arrived on a flight from Nigeria via Amsterdam. Officers searched Mbonu's luggage and found 60 small packets of cocaine concealed in tubs of hand cream. They also discovered that he had swallowed another 25 pellets of cocaine. Almost 1kg of the Class A drug, estimated to be worth £45,000, was recovered from him. Mbonu was carrying around £2,000 in cash, which was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. He claimed that he was planning to use the money to buy women's clothes in Birmingham for his business back in Nigeria. Mike O'Grady, assistant director of investigation for HM Revenue & Customs, said:

'We are working at the forefront in the fight to stop drugs entering the country, alongside our partners in the UK Border Agency. It never fails to amaze that people take such huge risks with their health and freedom to try and make what they think is easy money. This shows, yet again, we will catch and prosecute anyone attempting to smuggle drugs through our regional airports - our stance is one of zero tolerance.'

Part of a herd of some 1.5 million wildebeests crosses the Mara River in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve during an annual migration in August, 2006. More than a million snorting wildebeests, and media endorsement of their migration, may well cause a tourist stampede in the Maasai Mara. The wildebeest migration season is here once again, and the number of visitors is set to increase as the spectacle unfolds. The first crossing of wildebeests across the Mara River, according to Mr Brian Heath of the Mara Conservancy, was witnessed on Monday, signalling the beginning of the event many people now categorise as a wonder of the world. “In a few days, we shall witness the crossing in full swing,” Mr Heath told the Nation by telephone. But concerns are being raised that the continued destruction of the Mau water catchment area will have a disastrous effect on the marvel that has put Kenya on the world tourism map. Kenya Wildlife Service corporate communications manager Paul Udoto said the destruction of the forests would indeed have severe effects on the migration soon. Statistics show that more than one million wildebeests are usually on the move during the event that occurs between June and October. The wildebeest migrate between the Serengeti and Mara Savannah in Tanzania and Kenya respectively, in search of pasture and water. - Daily Nation.

Baby Seed (Dennis Njiiri) holding the gun as the family awaits the crossing of the wildebeests at the Mara River in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve during the family tour in in July 2006. It was a such a spectacular scene as the animals crossed the river where about 5,000 animals died while crossing. All the lodges are usually fully booked during this season.

"How many times should you forgive your household bruiser? You should not even think about forgiving him. Not yet. Not as long as he has his foot on your neck. Your problem at this point is not forgiving. Your problem is how to get out of his reach. Once you get away from him, you can think about forgiving him." - Lewis B. Smedes - The Art of Forgiving: When You Need To Forgive And Don't Know How

A man has been jailed for six years for attempting to bring eight people into Britain illegally. 48-year-old Ghulam Ahmadi, a naturalised British citizen, was unanimously found guilty of eight counts of facilitation on 24 June by a jury at Isleworth Crown Court. The investigation followed the arrival of eight Afghan nationals who claimed asylum at Heathrow airport on 6 December 2008. They had travelled on a flight from Paris. Further enquiries made by the UK Border Agency's Heathrow Immigration Prosecution Unit established that the group had boarded a flight to the United Kingdom using the identities and passports of Mr Ahmadi's family, and that he had travelled with them.

Trafficking is an appalling crime, and we are doing everything possible to make the United Kingdom a hostile environment for the perpetrators of it Philip Astle, UK Border Agency

Just a few days later, he was arrested by UK Border Agency officers during a raid on an address in Summers Lane, North Finchley. Around £6,000 in cash was also seized. The UK Border Agency's Heathrow director, Philip Astle, said:

'This prosecution, and the sentence handed down as a result of it, shows how seriously we and the courts take this form of crime.

'My officers, often working with colleagues from the police and other law enforcement agencies, have had a great deal of success in stopping traffickers bringing people into the country illegally.

'Trafficking is an appalling crime, and we are doing everything possible to make the United Kingdom a hostile environment for the perpetrators of it.'

London, Tuesday 7th July, 2009. There is no evidence that immigrants jump the housing queue, an authoritative report found today. Research for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission showed that just 11 per cent of new arrivals to the UK managed to get low-cost public homes. Only two per cent of social rented homes and flats are occupied by immigrants who have moved to Britain in the past five years. Once immigrants gain residency, exactly the same proportion live in council homes as UK-born tenants. Gordon Brown was accused of giving in to the BNP last week after he announced moves to allow local people to get greater priority for social housing. EHRC chairman Trevor Phillips today blamed a "failure of social housing supply" for concerns that migrants jumped queues. The report - based on figures from the 2007 Labour Force Survey -was carried out by the centre-Left Institute for Public Policy Research think tank. According to the study, 64 per cent of people who arrived in the UK within the past five years live in private rented accommodation. After five years, when many immigrants become entitled to government help, one in six live in social housing. Mr Phillips said "Much public concern about the impact of migration on social housing has, at its heart, the failure of social housing supply to meet the demands of the population." Housing minister John Healey today agreed it was a "myth" that migrants jump queues, but said "perceptions" of bias must be tackled. He added that councils would get powers to give a better chance to those who live locally, who have been on lists for a long time or who have specific skills.

The Queen is to have her own £3million private plane - under plans to cut the royal family's travel costs. The royal family currently uses two planes from 32 Squadron at RAF Northolt but the aircraft are more than 20 years old and deemed unreliable. In the past year, the royals have spent £193,000 chartering aircraft because the RAF planes had either broken down or were being used elsewhere. It also emerged today that Prince William is to embark on his first official overseas visit to Australia instead of the Queen. He will go as the representative of Buckingham Palace at the request of the Foreign Office. The prince let the plans for the visit slip to an Australian tourist at the Tower of London. After posing for a picture with Camilla Doyle, 15, he asked: "Where are you from?" The teenager replied Melbourne, to which Prince William said: "I'm visiting there soon."

London, Tuesday 7th July, 2009. Lord Malloch Brown, the minister for Africa, Asia and the United Nations, has resigned from the Government. In a statement, the minister said he had always maintained he would "never do the job forever". He stated that "personal and family reasons" were behind his decision and stressed that his move was not motivated by the political situation. Lord Malloch Brown said he "greatly admired" the prime minister and continued to support the government. "I came into government as a professional not a politician," he said. "My decision to step down at the end of July is not in any way a commentary on the political situation. "I joined the Government at his invitation to help promote his international priorities. It has been a great privilege to do that, and to work with him and with David Miliband." The peer worked under Kofi Annan as deputy secretary-general of the UN from April to December 2006 and was previously his right-hand man. He was also in charge of the UN Development Programme from July 1999 to August 2005. Gordon Brown's government has been hit by several, recent high-profile departures including Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell.

The worst of the UK's recession is over, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) business group, but talk of a recovery is premature. Its report, based on a survey of 5,600 companies, found there had been "welcome progress" in confidence levels between April and June. But the BCC still expects unemployment to reach 3.2 million by 2010. However, official data showed that manufacturing output fell 0.5% in May. Analysts had forecast a rise of 0.2%. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the monthly fall was driven by a 2% decline in the paper, printing and publishing industries. Industrial production, a wider measure which includes energy supply, mining and oil and gas as well as manufacturing, fell 0.6% against forecasts of a rise of 0.2%.

Kenya Airways (KQ) is expected to launch a direct flight between Nairobi and Gaborone in the next four weeks, press reports say. Botswana private weekly, The Monitor reported on Monday that Kenya Airways officials are expected to hold a press conference in Gaborone on Tuesday (7-7-2009) about the development. The paper said Kenya Airways plan to operate three flights a week between Nairobi and Gaborone. It reported that the Nairobi-Gaborone route is one of several routes that Kenya Airways want to introduce after it acquired a new Boeing aircraft. The Gaborone route is tentatively scheduled to be launched in the next three weeks, subject to the timely delivery of the new aircraft. Last year, Kenya Airways established a sales and ticketing office in Gaborone. Direct flights between Nairobi and Gaborone by Air Botswana and Kenya Airways were halted in the 1990s due to un-profitability. Kenya and Botswana has been trying to revive the flights since 2000. The Monitor reported that Kenya Airways is looking at the Johannesburg-Gaborone route, which is currently operated by Air Botswana, South African Airways (SAA) and South African Express. It is said that Kenya Airways has ambitious plans to launch flights from all the African capitals to save the continent’s travelers the inconvenience of multiple connecting flights. - Daily Nation.

Making the most of their not insignificant weight advantage, three circus elephants scored a decisive victory over three human competitive eaters at a cross-species eating contest on Friday. The elephants triumphed by forcing down down 505 hot dog buns in six minutes - while the humans could only manage 143 buns in the same time, in the contest at Brooklyn's Coney Island. The elephants, Bunny, Susie and Minnie - all in their 40s - ate at what appeared to be a leisurely pace from behind a table piled high with buns. They even paused to eat some fresh fruit, which was not counted toward scoring. Their human competitors were far more focused. Eric 'Badlands' Booker, a New York City subway conductor who is the world champion in corned beef hash eating, took a double-fisted approach, dipping two buns at once into liquid to make them go down easier. Juliet Lee, a petite 43-year-old, pushed several buns into her stretched mouth simultaneously. Contest organizers called the results a 'setback for humanity'. Originally from China, Lee is the world cranberry sauce champion, a title she won by eating 13.23 pounds of the sauce in eight minutes. Tim 'Gravy' Brown, whose claim to fame is having eaten 8.47 pounds (3.84 kilograms) of blueberry pie in an eight-minute, handsfree competition, rounded out the team. 'We went all out, hungry and focused,' said Booker, who like the others was preparing for Saturday's annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. Contest organizers called the results a 'setback for humanity,' but it wasn't an entirely fair match. The humans weigh about 500lb collectively, while the Asian elephants weigh about 9 tons, the organizers said.

Britons who have been enjoying the sunshine should brace themselves for 'much more changeable and considerably cooler' weather. Rain is also likely as the country waves goodbye to temperatures of more than 30°C (86°F) and prepares for 'fresher and more typical British weather', according to weatherman John Kettley. 'It could be a wise move to jet off sooner rather than later if you've been waiting for a dip in Britain's weather fortunes before venturing abroad,' he said. August shows little hope of bringing the sunshine back, with a mix of good and bad weather expected, he added.

Corner prime commercial/ residential plot in Fedha/Tassia estate which measures approximately 0.168h/0.5 acres costing KShs. 20 million which is negotiable. It contains a finished 4 bedroom with en suite, close to the main road which near Mombasa road.

The land is subdivided into a smaller portion 0.25 of an acre costing 6.5 million also negotiable. All these plots are situated in a good area both for business and residential. (see photos on the property secton).

America to remove HIV visa ban after Briton's protest

Campaigner persuades Washington to alter laws that forced travellers to lie on entry forms

His statement read: "The US government gives people who have HIV one of two choices. The first is to actually be dishonest on the visa application or visa-waiver form, commit a felony by lying to US immigration, and become a criminal. The second choice is to be honest, and have a visa rejected because you are considered an undesirable person, and unfit to enter the US. To my mind either being a criminal or an undesirable isn't much of a choice. I don't want to be either." Michael Birt, executive director of the summit, said he had been "saddened" by the news that Thorn was unable to attend. "However, his absence made an even greater statement about the challenges we still face to address HIV policy. And the impact, it seems, is that real change is under way so that perhaps others will not face a similar predicament in the future." McDermott, a Democratic party representative for Washington state, acknowledged that George Bush had begun the process of repealing the law while president, but said the changes had never been implemented. "I am very pleased with this decision because it enables the United States to fully assume its proper leadership role in combating the scourge of HIV/Aids," he told the Observer, praising the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation.

Thorn, who campaigns for HIV and TB sufferers to gain access to treatment, said that he was amazed how quickly things had moved: "I am an advocate and I am used to advocacy being a very long process." He said he had written the statement in anger: "I tried to keep it as unemotional as possible, but it is quite barbed in places and it was clearly designed to cause embarrassment." As someone who has been HIV positive since 1988, Thorn said he found the policy undermining: "I want this legislation to be in its grave for good." He pointed out that the question asking whether he was HIV positive on the visa-waiver form was alongside those asking if he was a terrorist or Nazi. Rowan Harvey, parliamentary and campaigns manager at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said the law was unfair. "Imagine if you're HIV positive and you've not told your employer and you are then required to travel for work purposes," she said. She described one case in which a group of activists who were HIV positive were even banned from changing flights in the US. Harvey said no other western countries imposed such a ban. However, China, Iraq, Sudan and Yemen were among a handful of countries that discriminated. "The idea that the ban might go within a couple of months is absolutely fantastic," she said.

Six MPs from both PNU and ODM have predicted fresh violence if the constitution review process is not concluded before the 2012 General Election. Mr Peter Kenneth (Gatanga), Dr Julius Kones (Konoin), Mburi Muiru (Tharaka), Barnabas Muturi (Kiharu), Elias Mbau (Maragua) and Thomas Mwandeghu (Wundanyi) said a repeat of the mayhem was inevitable unless new laws were adopted. Speaking at a funds drive at Matakiri Secondary School in Tharaka District, the MPs said Kenyans would only feel at ease with each other after a new constitution is adopted. - Daily Nation.

World Aids experts say the failure to act upon 25-year-old evidence that male circumcision plays a major role in preventing transmission of the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) may have cost "millions of lives", especially in Africa. In 1985 researchers discovered that circumcised men who visited prostitutes in Kenya were much less likely to contract HIV. Some 30 studies on the issue were done during the 1990s, but it was not until 2004 that formal double-blind trials were commissioned by international Aids agencies. As a result of "overwhelming results" from these, pilot programmes for mass circumcision of men began in a number of African countries late last year. It is now accepted by the World Health Organisation and other bodies that circumcision reduces chances of HIV infection by about 60%, and that up to 3 million deaths and 5.7 million infections could be prevented over the next 20 years. About 30 million people are thought to have died from Aids-related illnesses since 1981. Dr Catherine Hankins, the chief scientific adviser to UNAids, the United Nations special agency for the epidemic, said that the failure to test the findings in the 1990s was "hard to explain". "There's a good question to be asked of the research agencies: why they did not start the trials earlier," said Hankins. "We had 20 years of observational data on circumcision. I can't think of another product, or a technique, that waited for so long before trials." Circumcision has now been proved a very cost-effective way of reducing the rate of HIV infection, she said.

Daniel Halperin, a senior lecturer in public health at Harvard Medical School, who used to advise the US government on HIV prevention, says international Aids agencies such as UNAids and the World Health Organisation avoided the circumcision issue because they wanted a technological solution to the epidemic. "If you had a trial that showed a vaccine had a 75% success rate, you wouldn't hesitate to get it into production."There were also cultural and political factors involved, said Elizabeth Pisani, a former epidemiologist with UNAids, and the author of a book on the international Aids "industry". Agencies did not want to prescribe the "self-mutilation" of men, and they feared blurring the message that safe sex and abstinence were the best ways to avoid HIV/Aids. "Epidemiologists come across some evidence, and then decide the public is too stupid to be trusted with it. Essentially it was thought that, if people knew that circumcision made sex safer, they would not bother to use condoms. We didn't want to distract them," she said. Professor Francis Plummer, who led the University of Nairobi research team that first discovered the circumcision-HIV link in Kenya in the 1980s, said millions of lives might have been saved if his research had been acted upon sooner. "There's been a failure of global public health institutions. We haven't done it very well. It's a frustration I've lived with for a very long time," Plummer said. Halperin and Pisani agreed with Plummer's estimate that millions of lives could have been saved by earlier action. UNAids insisted last week that it "has consistently promoted and encouraged research into male circumcision as a tool for HIV prevention".

In unity, determination and resilience, I have found the ability to make many of my dreams come true. My wife AlyceJo Mwangi and I have been able to reach our 33rd year of marriage as a result of God's love, His unmerited favor and faithfulness.

On July 3, 1976 AlyceJo and I wedded in what proved to be a union that has led to the achievement of providing a safe haven for our three children. Almost 200 orphans in Kenya are educated, given hope and an unbreakable bond of love, care, and family.

We came together a day before American Independence Day 33 years ago, and 200 years after our forefathers took their leap of faith together, to create this great country. The parallels between the events may not seem significant, but to me they are symbolic of unity, hope and what is possible. Neither they nor I could have anticipated the times that we find ourselves in today, July 3, 2009-- but on those respective days we both made stands for what we believed in.

This is a crucial time for the people of America and especially the citizens of California. In these hard times, the people of California are having their moral fiber tested, and fighting to maintain a quality of life that is a part of the American way.
I, Joe Mwangi Symmon, hereby make the announcement of my intention to become the next Governor of the State of California in 2010 and am reaching out to you to ask for your support in my candidacy.

In a time of uncertainty and struggle, I wish to become the leader who can provide hope for those who need it and a moral voice for those that believe that together we can achieve strength, stability, and success in California. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are those values which were the vision of the forefathers of our country; and as Americans we seek to honor their vision and continue to build upon their dreams.

It was July 4, 1776 when America decided to declare independence and seek the values that we are still striving towards today. I would like to honor the dreams of our forefathers and wish to all of my associates a Happy Independence Day this Fourth of July.
It has taken 233 years for our country to get to where we currently find ourselves today and the struggles which we faced then, we are still facing today. Like then, we are seeking to support our families, a quality of life, and the ability to make a living. The hard work, hope, love, and sacrifices that our ancestors demonstrated, are the methods that we must continue to live by in these hard times. We must band together and stride towards the dream of prosperity that our forefathers fought so bravely for. With unity, California and the rest of America will be able to achieve stability and get back to prominence.

Thirty-three, and Two-Hundred and Thirty-three years later I can say that my marriage and our country are still standing strong and in goo d faith. On this day I ask that you all make a stand for what you believe in and embrace me and my wife AlyceJo as we embark upon our journey to Sacramento.

As we begin this endeavor I hope that we may gain your support and that together, the people of California can extinguish the charades in Sacramento, and bring the values that we believe in back to Sacramento. Thank you and God bless!

Some like it hot. Others like it stupidly hot and daredevil nurse Keith Malcolm is one of them. The part-time stuntman loves nothing more than dousing himself in petrol and setting himself on fire. And the 39-year-old was celebrating breaking the world record for running the farthest distance while on fire. Clad in four layers of fire-proof underwear, a Formula One fireproof jacket, three pairs of overalls, three fire hoods and a motorcycle helmet, he managed 79m (259ft) to set the record. 'It was amazing, a textbook run which could not have gone any better,' he said. 'I have always wanted to do two things in life: being set on fire and breaking a world record and I have done both.' He took up his bizarre hobby only last year after photographing veteran stuntman Mark Stannage. 'I will never forget when one day he turned to me and said he would set me on fire a little bit. I said: “What do you mean a little bit?” We struck up a friendship from there and that was it and I have had the bug ever since.' Mr Malcolm, from Widley, Hampshire, was cheered on by his wife, Anna-Marie, at the Alton and North East Hampshire Show when he broke the record. 'The risks are obvious but I am not mad. It is about having a respect for fire and its unpredictability,' he added. 'When I am running I can see and hear everything and the crowd was absolutely phenomenal.'

Nairobi, Sunday 5th July, 2009. Swine Flu: 34 British students leave Kenya. The 33 Nottingum University students and their supervisor who were quarantined at a Kisumu Hotel after one of them was diagnosed with the H1N1 influenza or swine flu virus Saturday evening left Kisumu Town for Nairobi amid tight security. The students traveling in three Mololine Prestige Shuttles left town at around 8.30 pm under the watchful eye of Kenya Police. They were also accompanied by relatives of the owner of the charity organization that had invited the medical students for humanitarian works in Alendu Primary School in Nyando Constituency. The students were on a volunteer mission near the lakeside town when of them was positively diagnosed for the H1N1 flu. As they were transported to the bus station, journalist pursued the group that has so far been kept away from the media since news of the first case of swine flu broke out early this month in the country. The group was expected to board a British Airways plane destined for Britain on Sunday morning. Elsewhere, Medical personnel in Garissa are on high alert following the detection of eight suspected cases of the HINI virus. Anxiety gripped the district after news that a family from Britain had been detected with the virus. According to the district medical officer of health, Dr. Abdullahi Abagira initial tests from members of one family had shown traces of the virus. Since detection of the virus the government intensified its surveillance at all airports, screening all persons entering into the country even as the world health organization declared the virus as unstoppable.

Ms Mary Wanjiku Ndirangu (left), Ms Elizabeth Muthoni (Aunt Mso, Barking, UK (second left) and Esther Wangari (third left) has lost their brother the late Daniel Ndachi Ndirangu back in Kenya on Friday 3rd July, 2009. Seen on far right comforting them is Ms. Mary Waruinu a relative of the famous Wangu wa Makeri of Koimbi, Weithaga, Muranga who ruled from 1902 to 1909. Family and friends are meeting in London, Bedford and Leeds for prayers and arrangements. In London the meeting takes place every day at 60 Marsia House, 104 Hart Lane, Barking, IG11 8LP. Those in Bedford the meeting takes place at 58 Brittania House, Palgrave Road, Bedford, MK42 9BY. Those in Leeds the meeting takes place at Victoria Pub, Leeds - 192 Saltaire Rd. Shipley, BD18 3JF. For more information contacts in London - Aunt Mso 07950508993, Ngina 07985379065 or Mwangi 07960605057. Bedford contact is Esther 07904469015. Leeds contact is Aunt Mary 07544660285.

The grandchildren of Wangu wa Makeri the famous Kikuyu ruler (Kenyans in the UK refers the Queen of England as Wangu wa Makeri) lives in the UK. A close source from the family describes them as tough and with self conference. We are try to trace them and we will bring their profile here.

People in a rural part of South Carolina have cancelled Independence Day events and are arming themselves in fear of a killer after five shootings. A girl of 15 injured in an attack which killed her father on Thursday has died in hospital, the Cherokee County coroner announced. Police are linking their deaths to the shooting of two women and a man days before, and suspect a serial killer. They believe the suspect is a man in his 40s, driving a Ford Explorer. The killings have taken place in or around the small town of Gaffney. For some residents, the recent events are a reminder of the "Gaffney Strangler", who terrorised the community in the late 1960s. The strangler, Lee Roy Martin, killed four women over 10 days in 1968 and vowed to kill more, before being arrested. Police have released a sketch of a male who is said to be tall with salt and pepper hair. "We're knee-deep in the investigation," said County Sheriff Bill Blanton. "There's fear and concern here and there should be concern." He would not say how the five deaths were related but it is known that all victims were shot:

• Abby Tyler died on Saturday after being wounded on Thursday as she worked with her father in an appliances store in Gaffney; Stephen Tyler, 45, was found dead at the scene

• Relatives found Hazel Linder, 83, and her daughter Gena Linder, 50, bound and shot to death in their home on Wednesday, seven miles from the scene of the Tyler shootings

• Peach farmer Kline Cash, 63, was found dead in his home by his wife on Saturday (27 June)

The shootings all occurred within about 10 miles (16km) of each other in Cherokee County, a rural community of 54,000 people set amid peach orchards and farms some 50 miles west of Charlotte, North Carolina. Dozens of local, state and federal investigators have been assigned to the case. Cherokee County resident Hazel Smith, 47, told the Associated Press news agency her neighbours felt vulnerable. "If he killed once, he'll kill again," she said. "Tonight, I'm going to stay inside and pray, pray a little harder that he gets caught."

Pastor Sammy Nene of Kimende Akorino Church is on a mission to the United States with a message of hope and faith in God. The ministry of this big-hearted but humble musician has taken him to Boston and Lowel in Massachussetts, St. Louis Missouri and Dallas Texas. Last Sunday, Nene attended All Nations Worship Service at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas where he was joined by other Akorino from Texas. His song Geithia Mundu electrified the congregation who responded by greeting and hugging one another. Pastor Nene will be in Austin Texas this weekend before returning to Dallas to preach at a service on July 12. His last service which this gospel music star will do will be in All Nations Gospel Outreach in Baltimore Maryland (http://www.ango.us/) where he will be hosted by Pastor Patrick Kibui. Wherever he has preached and sung, Kenyans are acknowledging that just as The Standard had described him, Nene is “arguably the most accomplished Akorino gospel musician.” His life story can be read in the Standard at http://www.eastandard.net/mag/InsidePage.php?id=1144004830&cid=499&.