London Latest News May, 2009
Man fathers 21 children by 11 different women... and he's only 29
A man aged 29 has fathered 21 children with 11 different women, it emerged yesterday. Desmond Hatchett's brood came to light after authorities in Tennessee in the U.S. took him to court for non-payment of child support. He has apparently set a U.S. record but said: 'It just happened.'
He's the daddy: Desmond Hatchett speaks to reporters about his prolific brood
He added that he would not have any more children. 'I'm done. I'll say I'm done,' he said. Hatchett, who earns a minimal wage, told TV reporters he knows the names and ages of all his offspring. Their ages range from newborn to 11 years old. Authorities in Knoxville said they plan to take half of his monthly salary to pay for the youngsters but officials said that would work out to just over ?1 a week for each. His lawyer Keith Pope said: 'The children can't all be supported by Desmond, so the state of Tennessee has had to step in.' Many Knoxville residents called for him to be castrated. He even boasted of fathering four children by different women in the same year. Hatchett's name appeared on court documents 11 times representing 15 of his 21 children. U.S. authorities are now braced for more women coming forward to claim Hatchett is the father of their children after he appeared on local TV. He said the women he was involved with all knew he had other children. One mother, who has two children with Hatchett, said she should get ?44 a month but rarely receives any child support. 'It's frustrating, but usually, when I ask he gives it to me,' she said. Authorities in Knoxville ordered Hatchett to court to explain how he intends to pay child support. He arrived for the hearing with just over ?300.
Three-year-old girl shoots dead brother, 2, after finding gun
A girl accidentally shot dead her two-year-old brother after finding a gun hidden under a mattress. The children are thought to have been playing when they found the gun at their home in Bakersfield, California yesterday afternoon. The boy, named locally as Ruben Soto III, was rushed to a nearby hospital but died of a wound to his chest.
The home where a little girl accidentally shot her brother dead
Police said the children's mother was at home but in another part of the house when the tragedy occurred. Their father was at work. Under state law, the parents of the dead infant could be prosecuted for not ensuring that the firearm was stored where it could not be accessed by their children. Police said they were called to the home shortly after 4pm to find the toddler had been shot once in the chest. He was later pronounced dead at Kern Medical Centre. Initial inquiries suggested the three-year-old sister had taken the gun - a .45 calibre semiautomatic handgun - from her parents' bedroom where it had been stuffed underneath the mattress. Sgt Greg Terry of Bakersfield Police said: 'It appears to be a horrible accident - I cannot imagine what the family is going through.' Under Californian law, all gun owners must ensure that their weapons are stored in a way so that children cannot access them.
Book of Psalms deflects bullet, saves Pastor
An Argentine evangelical pastor was born again after a book of Psalms he was holding deflected a bullet fired at close range, officials in the western province of Mendoza said.
The pastor said God had saved his life Enlarge photo
Mauricio Zanes Condori, 38, was trying to talk two thieves out of robbing his church, located in the town of Rodeo del Medio, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west of Buenos Aires, local judicial authorities reported. One of the thieves aimed his handgun at Zanes Condori's chest and fired at a distance of two meters (about seven feet). The criminals immediately fled, and churchgoers who were watching in horror as the event unfolded, called for an ambulance. But the bullet hit the book of Psalms that Zanes Condori was holding to his chest. A medic who arrived at the scene said the book slowed down the bullet and deflected its trajectory, so in the end it only scratched Zanes Condori's chest. The official report said that a Bible had stopped the bullet, but Zanes Condori later clarified that it was a book of Psalsm "That leads me to beieve in a God that takes care of me," Zanes Condor told the online publication, Los Andes.
Europe's 48-hour working week will be 'catastrophic' for patients, says UK's top surgeon
Patients’ lives will be put at risk and hospitals forced to close because of new European rules which limit doctors’ working hours, according to the country’s top surgeon. John Black, president of The Royal College of Surgeons, has warned of an impending ‘catastrophe’ in the NHS if all doctors are forced to comply with a directive which limits them to working a 48-hour week.Most doctors – and particularly those still in training – work considerably longer than 48 hours and Mr Black says restricting their working week will lead to a ‘shortage of surgeons’, with not enough staff to keep hospitals open. He said it is ‘not an exaggeration’ to say that the new rules, which come into force on August 1, will lead to operations being cancelled and wards closed down. He said patients’ lives are already being endangered as doctors’ hours are driven down in advance of the legislation taking effect. He believes that there is a ‘scandalous lack of political will’ to address the problems. Writing in The Mail on Sunday tomorrow Mr Black says: ‘Unless the Government comes to its senses, the result will be catastrophic for the NHS with patient safety on a knife edge, surgeons not being properly trained, waiting lists going up again and even hospitals closing. ‘We have already reached the point where patients’ health has been endangered. 'There is a serious risk of units in hospitals having to close to emergencies, with resulting chaos, not to mention the danger and inconvenience brought about by patients going long distances to a hospital that has enough staff to stay open. 'This is truly a nightmare, and I despair that the Government will not take action.’ Hospitals have been told they face steep financial penalties for failing to comply with the new regulations. The European Working Time Directive, drawn up by Brussels, is designed to limit the working hours of all employees in the EU to an average of 48 hours a week.It has applied to most employees since 1988 with the exception of doctors in training. In August 2007 junior doctors’ hours were limited to 56, which will be reduced to 48 on August 1 this year. Many EU countries are ignoring the directive, while the UK has been working towards implementing it for ten years. Mr Black said junior doctors will be ‘worse off’ because they will work shorter but busier hours and have less time to train. Trainees will have to spend more time dealing with emergencies, rather than spending time with senior surgeons. Some fear it could lead to a shortage of newly qualified specialists including cardiologists, neurologists, plastic surgeons and obstetricians.Mr Black adds: ‘Having one doctor where there should be three makes an already difficult job much more difficult. It is chaotic and frankly dangerous.’He is calling for the Government to agree to junior doctors voluntarily working a 65-hour week but Health Secretary Alan Johnson has described that plan as ‘mission impossible’. He said the NHS is prepared to comply with the directive by the August deadline. However, he said that Government has notified the European Commission that it plans to operate a ‘derogation’ of the rules in places where there is a shortage of trainee doctors.
This will allow them to work a 56-hour week.
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘Everyone’s overriding objectives is the quality and safety of patient care. Where there are problems we will work together with the professions and staff on the ground to implement sustainable solutions.’
Skilled Dog Dribbles Ball
With control like that, this pup could certainly play the field. The dog plays with a basketball and dances around it with skill. Dribbling the ball around the room, it's pretty impressive stuff, for a dog.
First picture of neglected 'Mowgli' girl, 5, who was raised by dogs
This is the first picture of Natasha Mikhailova, the five year old 'Mowgli' girl who was raised by dogs after her parents neglected her. She speaks no words, laps up her food and drink with her tongue, and walks on all fours. Though living in filthy conditions in the same home as her father Viktor Lozhkin, 27, and grandparents in the Siberian city of Chita, child experts say she was treated as one of the dogs and cats.
Under-developed: Natasha Mikhailova is actually five but looks more like a two-year-old
Lozhkin, and the girl's mother Yana Mikhailova, 25, who has had no contact with her for two years, were both arrested on suspicion of neglecting her. 'They never let her out, we didn't know she existed,' said one neighbour. 'They have three really vicious and angry ones which they took for walks - but we never saw this child.' The girl, physically underdeveloped and more like a two-year-old, was not registered with local doctors or hospitals. Natasha is now under close observation in a local social rehabilitation centre. Specialists are shocked at the way she jumps on people and plays dog games yet they say she is not mentally retarded, but starved of love and attention from humans. 'When I went out of the room, she jumped at the door and started barking, not just mewing or something, but barking,' said Nina Yemelchugova, chief of the centre. 'She eats well, she's got a good appetite but she can't behave at the table, she throws away the spoon and laps up food from the plate.' Natasha shuns the company of other children and gets nervous when she hears unexpected noises. Local police chief Larisa Popova said officers entered the flat on Monday after a tip off from neighbours. 'We had to fight to get this girl away,' she said.
Her father not there but the dogs sought to protect her. 'The child was living in absolute filthy conditions, the flat smells awful. There were a lot of animals, dogs and cats, and the girl was living with them. 'When we went into the flat we were almost knocked over by the stink.' Natasha was wearing torn and soiled clothes. Yekaterina Novikova, who lives nearby, said: 'These neighbours are unsociable, they only come out at night or early in the morning to avoid meeting with other locals and they never open the door.' The mother - who has three other children living at another address - was arrested after going to police following local TV coverage of the girl being taken into care. She claimed that Natasha had been 'kidnapped' by her father several years ago, but seems to have made no effort to get her back. Experts hope Natasha can recover with intensive education. She showed delight when an art teacher drew a picture of a flower. The parents could face around three years in jail, according to Russian media reports.
Still from The Jungle Book (1942). Russian police have discovered a 'Mowgli' girl who, neglected by her parents, now barks like the dogs she lived with
This is the latest of a number of cases of feral children in the former Soviet Union. Neglected by their parents, these youngsters sought love and solace from animals, usually dogs.Psychologists call the phenomenon Mowgli Syndrome after the character in Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book.who was raised by wolves. They blame the social dislocation and economic woes which followed the break-up of the USSR. Feral children are the stuff of folklore all over the world and usually exhibit the behaviour of the animals with whom they have had closest contact.
Workers lifted my car, painted yellow lines under it and put it down... then the wardens came and towed it away
Ruth Ducker always legally parks her Volkswagen Golf around the corner from her house, so it came as a shock when she discovered it had disappeared from its spot - and in its place was double yellow lines. Her confusion deepened when Lambeth council claimed to have no knowledge of where her car was. It took three weeks for the council to admit its contractors were behind the disappearance, and then add insult to injury by telling the 44-year-old graphic designer she owed more than £800 in fines.
Parking scandal: Lambeth council lifted Ruth Ducker's Volkswagen out of the way as they painted double yellow lines - but then replaced it on the new restrictions
'Initial inquiries with the council found no trace of the car. It was three weeks before I received my first official notification.' It took a further two months and the involvement of her local MP Kate Hoey to make the council back down and waive the fines, which by now totalled £2,240.
Pictured: Record-breaking £30m cocaine haul discovered on London-bound lorry
A record-breaking haul of pure cocaine with a street value of more than £30million has been found hidden on a British lorry heading for London. The driver and a passenger were questioned by police on Thursday after being arrested in the South of France on their way from Spain. Their lorry held 684kg of the drug - more than half a metric ton. This is almost double what British police usually seize in a year.
Sacre bleu! Customs officials unload the £30m of cocaine from the lorry in France
The cocaine was tightly packed into crates
Both denied knowing anything about the cocaine, but said they had been delivering their load to London, which is at the centre of the largest cocaine trade in Europe. They said it would have been distributed around England and Scotland. French traffic police became suspicious when the lorry was seen being driven erratically on the Mediterranean coast motorway outside Montpellier. When it was pulled over for routine customs and excise checks, a scanner revealed the presence of the 'abnormal load'. Coffee beans had been placed around the drugs to disguise the smell and confuse sniffer dogs, police said. The cocaine was concealed at the back of the lorry trailer, behind a pile of peat. Masses of white powder were distributed around 32 freshly painted cash registers which had been placed on two wooden boards. Customs officers said the drug had also been packaged ‘with great care’ inside a number of plastic bags or rubber containers sealed with silicon.
In case you ever wondered what £30 worth of cocaine looked like - this is it. Cameramen film the record haul
‘The drugs were found on the lorry as it travelled through France from Spain. It’s likely that its ultimate destination was London,' said a local customs spokesman. ‘Police are currently questioning the driver and passenger who were on board, both of whom are thought to be British nationals. ‘At the moment they can be held for up to four days, but clearly this period will be extended if they are charged. ‘This is such an important find that budget minister Eric Woerth is coming to examine the drugs personally later this week.’ Spain is the main entry point for cocaine into Europe, with most of it originally coming from South America and Africa. A report released this month by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) revealed that the street price of pure cocaine had increased from an average of £35,000 per kilo two years ago to about £45,000 today. Between 2002-2008, the British police made 19,054 cocaine seizures, totaling 351 kilos of the drug. The multi-billion pound cocaine industry has grown rapidly in recent years as the potentially deadly powder is used in night clubs, and even at middle class dinner parties.
Families hit by hike in water bills as industry giant announces soaring profits
The bills of 3million customers will rise by around £26 a year
Families face a hike in water bills despite an industry giant announcing higher-than-expected profits today. In the face of tough economic conditions, United Utilities saw its profits rise by 11 per cent over the year. However, it said the average household bill would still rise by seven pence a day - or around £26 a year - within five years. The news will anger hard-pressed consumers, who have struggled to cope with crippling rises in both their food and utility bills. However, United Utilities, which covers north west England and has more than three million customers, claimed people would still be getting 'excellent value for money'. Water customers across Britain face punishing increases in their bills. The rises were outlined in December, when the nation's big water and sewerage companies submitted their investment and price rise plans for 2010 through to 2015. They will reignite frustration that water industry bosses have cashed in since the industry was privatised in 1989. Profits have soared on the back of two decades of inflation-busting increases in bills. United's profit before tax for the 12 months to March 31 rose to £529.8million from £478.3million the previous year. Its revenues increased after Ofwat allowed the company to increase its prices by 7.8 per cent in order to support investment in infrastructure. In its business plan submitted to the regulator, United expects infrastructure spending of around £3.7 billion in the 2010-15 period, leading to an average annual price increase of 1.8 per cent across its customer base. Yesterday it justified the increases, saying the water sector was very different to the gas and electricity sector, as prices are set every five years and not subject to the 'quite large fluctuations' of energy bills. It has also promised to plough an extra £12million into a hardship fund for people who are struggling to pay their bills. However, some groups said the rises were unjustified at a time when the firm was making huge profits and ordinary people were struggling. Phil McCabe, of the Forum of Private Business, said: 'Both entrepreneurs and home owners will view United Utilities' latest price rise with despair. 'For small businesses struggling to survive the recession, spiralling utilities costs can be the final nail in the coffin. 'They are likely to question claims that they are receiving value for money, given that many are now being charged much more for waste water collection and treatment following recent changes to the billing process. 'United Utilities is championing its environmental credentials, but, for many, these successive price rises are hardly sustainable.' Water regulator Ofwat said it had to make some 'tough decisions' in 2004, when it last set price limits for the industry, to balance investment needs against keeping bills low. 'No one wants to see big increases, especially in these tough economic times, but over the last 20 years we have made sure that these essential investments have delivered very real benefits for us all,' a spokesman said. United Utilities said its service currently costs households an average of £1 a day, which will increase to £1.07 by 2015. A spokesman said: 'We are phasing in a modest increase in bills over the next five years, to help fund vital improvements to the region's water services. 'Customers will end up paying just over a pound a day for their water and sewage services - which still represents great value for money. 'The plans strike a sensible balance between keeping bills affordable during the credit crunch, and ensuring the water network gets the investment it needs. 'We'll also be putting an extra £12million into our hardship fund, for those who are struggling with bills.'
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: 'If MPs have done something bad enough to feel that they have to stand down, then surely they should go now.' Susie Squire, campaigns manager with the Taxpayers' Alliance, called for a ban on parachute payments for those forced out in disgrace.
There's no way that any guilty MPs should receive payoffs,' she said. 'It is only going to further anger and frustrate taxpayers.' Miss Kirkbride abandoned a week-long campaign to save her job, saying she could not face the 'unbearable' pressure of public criticism. She will follow her MP husband Andrew Mackay into retirement.
There was sadness in Tory ranks for Miss Kirkbride, who was seen as a good constituency MP, but relief that her family soap opera was over.
Petition: Miss Kirkbride succumbed to pressure as voters in her consistuency signed a call to remove her as their MP
Alston wants team formed to probe human rights abuses
Army men transport bodies of Sabaot Land Defence Force members in Land Rovers from Kapkoto Military Base in Mt Elgon District to Cheptais DO' compound in the area for further identification in May 2008. Prof Alston recommends that investigatioons into rights abuses should include the reasons for the lengthy delay in government intervention to stop SLDF.
The Kenya government should set up an independent commission to investigate human rights abuses between 2005 and 2008, a report by United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston proposes. Prof Alston also says President Kibaki should “publicly acknowledge his commitment to ending unlawful killings by the police”. Prof Alston recommends that the investigations include abuses by the Sabaot Land Defence Force, the role of officials who support SLDF, abuses by police and the military and the reasons for the lengthy delay in government intervention to stop SLDF. He wants an independent forensic analysis of the mass graves in Mt Elgon conducted and recommends that all military units involved in “Operation Okoa Maisha” against the SLDF be barred from taking part in UN or African Union peacekeeping operations until the independent investigations had taken place. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe acknowledged seeing the report, but said the government would make its presentation to the 11th session of the UN Human Rights Council scheduled to be held next week in Geneva. Prof Alston also wants the government to publish in three months a report on the steps it has taken to prevent and prosecute those who intimidate human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur, who was in the country for 10 days between February 16 and 25, says that Kenya should amend the death penalty laws to apply to crimes of intentional deprivation of life. He wants reports by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) presented to the Justice minister and tabled in Parliament. The government, he, says should then provide a substantive response within reasonable time to all the reports. However, Prof Alston is concerned that those responsible for the post-election violence, including police officers blamed for extrajudicial executions and officials who organised or instigated violence, still remain immune from prosecution 18 months after it all happened. He warns that ignoring or denying the existence of extrajudicial killings will lead to chaos and large-scale violence. The Special Rapporteur insists that the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General should be sacked. He says the police boss has become the single major obstacle to reform in the police force.
Major obstacle
“While the current police commissioner was originally seen as a potential reformer and rapidly established a highly centralised style, he has since become the major single obstacle to police reform,” the report says. Prof Alston recommends that the Attorney General resign to restore public trust in the office and end its role in “promoting impunity”. He calls for elimination of political control over prosecutions and further recommends termination of the tenures of majority of existing judges and replacing them with competent appointees. The UN Special Rapporteur also wants Mungiki members to cease their harassment, abuse and murder of Kenyans.
Kenya seeks to spruce up its image in the United States
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson addresses a news conference in Kenya's capital Nairobi on Wednesday. Growing political tensions in Kenya must not be allowed to turn into a crisis that could lead to a return of the 2008 devastating post-election violence, Carson, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, said on Tuesday. Photo/REUTERS
Nairobi, Thursday, 28th May 2009. With its image battered by political rows, Kenya is walking the global market looking for an image maker who will also push its interest among foreign governments and international agencies. It has launched a search for a public relations and lobby firm to be based in the United States, where much of its work will be in Washington and New York.
Washington is the seat of the United States Government, now headed by Mr Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan and New York is the home of the United Nations, where key decisions in international diplomacy are determined.
The gravity of this image building assignment is underlined in an advertisement appearing in last week’s issue of The Economist, which stresses that applying firms must have more than five years’ experience “working for foreign governments in managing relations with key government and public institutions.”
Clearly, the Grand Coalition is convinced that its diplomatic representatives in the world’s most powerful nation need help in the delicate task of pushing for support, influencing decisions and defending the unsavoury aspect of its decisions and deeds back home.
Image is important for governments. It can make all the difference between economic growth and shrinkage and will easily determine the clout a head of State wields in the corridors of foreign ministries overseas, in this case the State Department, Congress, the Senate, the White House and the United Nations.
Kenya has two missions in the United States – one in Washington headed by the country’s ambassador to the United States and another in New York representing Nairobi at the United Nations. Have the two been found wanting or has the government simply decided to be more aggressive in the pursuit of its interests under an Obama government?
The man in charge of Washington, Mr Rateng’ Ogego, also oversees a consular office in Los Angeles, on the west coast. Mr Obama’s historic electoral victory left Mr Ogego, once a left-leaning political activist opposed to the dictatorship of Daniel arap Moi, in a rather awkward position.
As envoy, he had crossed swords with the fast-rising Illinois senator when Mr Obama visited Kenya and criticised the Kibaki government’s handling of corruption in the wake of the Anglo Leasing scandal and its governance record.
Mr Obama had complained in a speech at the University of Nairobi that corruption and tribalism had reached a crisis point, but Mr Ogego in a letter to the senator retorted that the attack was uninformed and in bad taste. There was obviously nothing personal.
Mr Ogego’s defenders will argue that he was simply pushing the line laid out by Nairobi, where Foreign minister Raphael Tuju had similarly issued a stinging attack on Mr Obama, questioning the senator’s understanding of Kenyan affairs.
In turning to an image maker, the Kenyan Government is taking a well-trodden path. A similar initiative by the Museveni government next door has stoked a furious controversy and attracted a parliamentary investigation.
Nigeria, whose nationals feature prominently but not exclusively, in drug arrests at foreign airports and in the infamous cash transfer swindles, last month launched a “brand Nigeria” campaign and set up a department within the Information Ministry to refurbish its foreign reputation. One of its tasks is to clean up the perception of Nigerians as con artists.
Under President Obama, lobby work is set to become harder. His government has pledged to reduce lobby influence in Washington and has barred White House aides who leave government from lobbying or working on issues they previously were involved in.
“We need to close the revolving door that lets lobbyists come into government freely and lets them use their time in public service to promote their own interests when they leave,” President Obama said.
Deeply concerned
The tender for consultancy was advertised just days before US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson flew to Nairobi to express Washington’s discomfort with turf wars in the Grand Coalition Government.
“We have seen and have felt, as far away as Washington, concerns about the stability of the coalition ... we are deeply concerned and worried whether the events of the last several weeks were again a prelude to a round of instability,” Mr Carson, himself a former US ambassador to Kenya, told reporters on the day he separately met President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
“The political tensions must not be allowed to turn into a political crisis, and a political crisis must not be allowed to turn into political violence,” he said. Kenya has been fighting hard to restore a badly battered image that started with the violence tied to the disputed December 2007 elections that left more than 1,000 dead and thousands of others displaced.
Kenya: Obama, Kikwete secret talks on Kenya
President Barack Obama meets with Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete in the Oval Office Thursday, May 21, 2009. This was the President's first meeting with an African Head of State. A bust of Martin Luther King is at far left. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)
Nairobi. President Barack Obama’s administration could deploy its clout to force Kenya to hasten constitutional reforms.
For the second time on Saturday, the US Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, told The Standard on Sunday various options are available, including travel bans.
His statement reinforced another this month by Obama’s official emissary to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Johnnie Carson, who made it clear his brief was to "warn a friend" America could soon "flex its muscles". Ranneberger spoke against the backdrop of a closed-door meeting between Obama and Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete. It is believed Kenya’s troubled coalition and the gradual loss of grip by the weak-kneed Somali government featured at the meeting.
A secure Kenya is viewed by America and the European Union as guaranteed vanguard against the spill over of terrorism from lawless Somalia.
The turn of events, coming at a time the local economy and political fabric are tattered, rekindle memories of the first months of last year, when then US President George Bush sent messages to Kibaki and Raila that power sharing was not a matter of personal preference but inevitable.
Again like it is today one man, who played a big role in breaking the ice between Kibaki and Raila, was in the loop – President Kikwete who had just been crowned the African Union chairman. Bush flew into Tanzania – and it is after they met that Kikwete crossed over to Kenya with a message now believed to have been choosing between power sharing and dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers.
At the time, before Bush landed and with Kibaki having named a half-Cabinet with Kalonzo Musyoka as Vice-President, the VP flew to Tanzania to meet Kikwete.
This round again Kalonzo left the funeral of Water Minister Charity Ngilu’s mother, saying he was flying to Tanzania to meet Kikwete. While there, his press service as well as the Tanzanian Press, curiously did not mention he had had closely-guarded talks with Kikwete, who was about to travel to the US. It is the journey that made him the first African leader to meet Obama as President.
As Kenya was told by Rannerberger, Obama would not set foot here, despite this being his ancestral roots, because of political disorder and jolt to the reform process.
Meanwhile, Ghana was celebrating Obama’s decision to choose her as his first stop as the President of the world’s only superpower.
In what our sources described as a "critical encounter", Kalonzo met Kikwete on May 15.
According to a report filed from Washington in Saturday’s Daily News of Tanzania, Kikwete and Obama discussed Kenya’s political situation and "other trouble regions of Darfur, DRC and Somalia".
Raila’s one-week tour
The details of the discussions were however scanty, but given the stand US ambassador in Kenya has taken on the confusion in the Grand Coalition, and the slow pace of reforms, and with Kikwete’s perceived ‘expertise’ on Kenya’s affairs, it cannot be ruled out the issues raised by Rannerberger featured.
Asked what was discussed by the two world leaders on Saturday, the ambassador, who has adopted grassroots-based healing and reconciliation effort among communities scarred by post-election violence, said he did not know.
Interestingly, Kikwete’s visit to the US also coincided with that of Raila’s one-week tour of the superpower nation, where a few weeks ago, his wife Ida, met Mrs Mitchell Obama.
Raila’s team was tight-lipped on whether he tried or may even have talked to Obama, or even what Ida discussed with US first black First Lady.
From Tanzania, the regular VPPS dispatches captured events involving Tanzania’s VP, Ali Mohammed Shein.
"The two (Kikwete and Kalonzo) met although no details were divulged and we have been warned against running the story," an editor of Rai, Tanzania’s weekly political newspaper, confirmed to The Standard on Sunday.
According to the journalist, Kalonzo flew to Dar on Friday, and was met by his Tanzanian counterpart who drove him straight to State House for a meeting with Kikwete.
"Officially, your Vice-President’s host during the two-day trip was Dr Shein and not Kikwete. We could not run this story because State House officials confided to us President Kikwete was sensitive over the Kenyan affair as he did not wish to be seen to favour any side of the political divide," the editor said in a telephone interview.
Although details of the Kalonzo-Kikwete meeting remain hazy, chances are the encounter was linked to the Obama meeting at the Oval Office on Thursday.
Kalonzo, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, played the same role, flying into African States shortly after the disputed presidential election, to give the PNU account to the international community.
It is not clear whether Raila was also in touch with the Tanzanian leader ahead of his meeting with Obama. The Standard on Sunday also could not establish whether Raila was scheduled to meet Obama, although Kenya’s ambassador to the US, Peter Ogego, said the PM was not expected in Washington.
A fortnight ago Obama warned President Kibaki and PM to ease political tension and fully execute the National Accord as crafted by former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
His message, through Carson, was blunt: "The US is ready to take necessary steps should the coalition fail to implement the Annan agreement."
Tattered economy
The apparent scramble for Kikwete’s attention by local leaders is understandable. The Kenyan situation after all formed part of the agenda of Obama-Kikwete talks.
Obama’s dissatisfaction with the local political leadership comes in the wake of a gloomy Economic Survey report by Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya. With a just 1.7 per cent growth, Kenya’s economy is no better than warring Somalia’s 2.6 per cent.
And even as the US is increasingly lumps Kenya with failed States in the region, the disturbing aspect of the unfolding drama is the country’s inability to tap and take advantage of the US President’s roots.
The one man, who is running away first with possible political and economic advantage from Obama, is Kikwete. Since election as Tanzania’s President in 2006, Kikwete has enjoyed closer ties with the ‘Big Brother’. That was the case during the reign of 43rd US President George W Bush.
His country’s clout and fortune have correspondingly risen as Kenya’s plummet.
In mid-2006, for instance, Kenyans reacted angrily when news filtered through that Bush and Kikwete had discussed Kenya, during a bilateral meeting in Washington. Foreign Affairs Minister, Moses Wetangula, then an Assistant Minister, demanded a public apology from the two leaders.
Two years later, Bush flew to Tanzania when the country was burning, from where he issued threats to Kenyans to stop further bloodshed and form a coalition government. Kikwete delivered the message and it worked.
Today, Kikwete still occupies that special and envious place in the eyes of American leadership.
Last Thursday, he met Obama in Washington. When Kikwete invited Obama to Tanzania, which former President Clinton like Bush, visited and snubbed Kenya, the new US leader’s response was more than curious.
"I would like to visit Tanzania. Last time I saw your country from the other side of Serengeti National Park," he said, referring to his 2006 visit to Kenya.
Then, Kibaki’s spokesman, Alfred Mutua, dismissed Obama as, "a junior Senator from Illinois". Mutua was reacting to Obama’s assertion corruption is undermining Kenya’s development.
Britain's longest married couple celebrate their 81st anniversary
London.
They credit a little arguing and a happy outlook, but whatever the secret is to a long-lasting marriage Frank and Anita Milford must be doing something right as they celebrate their 81st wedding anniversary today. Devoted Frank Milford, 101, and wife Anita, 100, tied the knot on May 26, 1928, after meeting at a YMCA dance. The pair already hold the record for the UK's longest living marriage and say their secret is 'a little argument every day'. They are now just eight months short of breaking the overall record of Britain's longest ever marriage of 81 years and 260 days.
For richer, for poorer: After 81 years, Frank and Anita Milford who married May 26, 1928 are Britain's longest married couple
Frank and Anita have two children Frank, 74 and Marie, 79, as well as six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
The devoted couple are celebrating with family and friends to mark the incredible milestone at their care home in Plymouth, Devon.
Their son, Frank Jnr said: 'They are all right. They are being well looked after in the home - they are happy.
'They spend most of their time together, with dad being almost completely deaf and blind, so it's very difficult for him. Mum is a chatterbox and nothing has changed there.
'My wife and I are very, very proud of them for what they have achieved.'
The couple met at a YMCA dance, in 1926, two years before their wedding at Torpoint Register Office in Cornwall.
They stayed in Plymouth throughout the Second World War and twice narrowly escaped bombing raids - including one which hit their house.
Speaking last year, retired dockyard worker Frank said: 'We're always here for each other. It is all about give and take on both sides.
'You need a happy outlook and to just get on with it. I don't know where the years have gone to. It's marvellous really.'
They say the secret to a lasting marriage is to iron out your arguments before bedtime and share a kiss and a cuddle every night before bed.
Mrs Milford said: 'It's our golden rule. Couples these days don't last long because they often don't take enough time for each other.
'Our advice to young couples would be to make time for a little romance every day.'
Mr Milford added: 'To win over your sweetheart you need a dose of old-fashioned chivalry and don't let your standards slip. We do everything together.'
On June 15, 2008, the couple entered the record books ahead of Percy and Florence Arrowsmith who were wed for 80 years 13 days.
Percy and Florence, of Hereford, celebrated their 80th anniversary in 2006 but Percy sadly died 13 days later.
Now Frank and Anita are coming close to beating the longest-ever marriage in Britain, which was set by Thomas and Elizabeth Morgan of Caerleon, Wales.
They wed on May 4, 1809 and remained married for 81 years 260 days until Elizabeth's death on January 19, 1891.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world's longest recorded marriage was for a couple who were wed for 86 years.
Cousins Sir Temulji Bhicaji Narima and Lady Narima, who lived in India, were married from 1853 to 1940.
Family time? We can spare 45 minutes for a TV dinner
If you had just 45 minutes a day with your family, how would you spend it? Watching TV, apparently, or eating. In fact, according to the latest picture of family life in Britain, many of us probably do both at the same time. The findings, from a poll of 3,000 children and parents, signal a worrying deterioration of the family unit thanks to what campaigners call a 'family-unfriendly culture'.
TV dinners: More than one in five families said this described their time together in a survey by to celebrate National Family Week
London,
27th May 2009.
Even more worryingly, parents were twice as likely to identify themselves as 'TV and digital families' than 'caring families' when asked to describe themselves. One in three said they spent most time with the family eating and one in six said watching TV or playing computer games was their family time. While shopping and holidays were also popular, traditional pastimes for parents and children were on the decline. Just 5 per cent said they spent family time doing sports, 3 per cent read stories and only 2 per cent helped with homework. And with women juggling family responsibilities with long working hours, more than half of parents admitted they did not spend enough time with their children. Apart from work and lack of money, 35 per cent of mothers blamed household chores for cutting into family time. Twenty-three per cent of fathers said spending time with friends got in the way. Work was less of a problem for teenage mothers - they were more likely to blame hobbies, friends and socialising for reducing family time. Asked to identify with a selection of family types, 21 per cent of parents - the biggest group - defined themselves as 'TV and digital families'. Just one in ten saw themselves as part of a 'caring family' where the priority is to look after each other's well-being. A further one in ten defined themselves as a 'food family' or an 'out and about family' who go out together at least twice a week. The online survey, by YoungPoll and OnePoll, marks the start of the first National Family Week. There will be 4,000 family-friendly events across the country to encourage families to enjoy being together.
Teen is youngest pub owner
Pumped up: Rebecca Cashmore-Thorley by her pub
London, Tuesday, May 26, 2009. A teenager has become oneof Britain's youngest landladies - just months after leaving school. Rebecca Cashmore-Thorley turned 19 and took over the village pub days later. 'My mates can't believe I am running a pub!' she said. 'They all come down for a drink and all think they can get a free pint – but they can't.' The boss learned her trade at the elbows of her parents – who ran the very same pub in Pentraeth, Anglesey, in the 1990s. 'The regulars here can't believe I am just 19 and the landlady but they have been fantastic,' the teenager added. 'The getting up is the worst part after a late night behind the bar but it is worth it.'
TRINITY CHURCH DALLAS
Trinity Kenyan Ministry is an outreach ministry of Trinity Church in Dallas, Texas, the only Church which preaches in ‘KIKUYU VERNACULAR' in whole of Texas State of USA. MORE
Burglar apologises for waking victim
 Sorry mate, wrong house'
A burglar apologised for interrupting his victim's sleep and said he had got the 'wrong house,' according to police.
A burglar apologised for interrupting his victim's sleep and said he had got the 'wrong house,' according to police.
The burglar said 'Sorry mate, wrong house' and quickly left the room. The awakened man followed him downstairs, and saw the thief leave his home through the door into the back garden. The burglar escaped with cash and ornaments, suggesting that perhaps he'd got the right house after all. Some items were later recovered near the property.
I could do this standing on my head
Tuesday, May 26, 2009. Wang Xiaoyu, 35, gives a model a haircut while standing on his head near his barbershop in Changsha, Hunan Province on May 22.
Wang Xiaoyu performs the headstand haircut
Tuesday, 26 May, 2009. Wang, a barber of 15 years who has had 18 years of training in martial arts, is now trying to attract more customers by giving haircuts whilst adopting a headstand, local media reported. We cannot imagine what could possibly go wrong.
It's carnival time as Luton brings in the exotic dancers
Tuesday, May 26, 2009. Bedfordshire competes with Brazil in Luton's International Carnival
Luton Carnival brings a taste of Brazil to Bedfodshire
Rio? No, this is Luton: Exotic dancers showed that you don't need to go to Brazil to enjoy a carnival. About 100,000 people turned out for Luton International Carnival - Britain's largest one-day carnival. The event features music and dance from around the world.
MPs demand Mungiki arrests
 A priest conducts prayers during the funeral service of 12 people at Ndiriti Primary School in Kirinyaga West District last week.
MPs have asked the Government to expose and apprehend the financiers of the outlawed Mungiki sect. This came up on Wednesday when Parliament interrupted its normal business to discuss the recent killings in parts of Central Province by people who are believed to be members of the illegal group.
In what appeared to be a blame game, MPs accused the government of laxity in dealing with illegal gangs as Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojodeh challenged legislators and religious leaders to come out and openly condemn the gangs. Government Chief Whip George Thuo (Juja, PNU) moved the motion of adjournment that allowed the House to discuss the matter for an hour. Former Cabinet minister Martha Karua (Gichugu, PNU) said individuals behind the killings should be apprehended. Ms Karua said 44 and not 29 people were killed in the Mathira mayhem, saying 15 suspected sect members were lynched by vigilante groups. She accused the police of abdicating their responsibility of taking charge of security during the entire week when the mayhem occurred. “A criminal act is a criminal act by whatever name,” she said. She claimed the latest information indicated that the vigilante groups were escorted by the police when they fished out and killed suspects. She further alleged that at least 3,000 attackers rode into the area on motorcycles, brandishing all manner of weapons. “It is as if security apparatus had gone to sleep,” she said, demanding that the police give an explanation on their whereabouts during the period of attack. Mathira MP Ephraim Maina (Safina) revisited the events of the night of April 21 when the killings were executed, claiming outsiders were involved. He said it was clear the gang was funded and protected and the attack well-planned. “It takes money to have all these people attack a very peaceful village in the way they did,” he said, claiming further that those who came in a convoy of motorcycles had passed by security road blocks. Seconding the motion, Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa (PNU) said the Mathira killings were a massacre and a national problem. Kisumu Town East MP Shabir Shakeel (ODM) said lack of understanding and commitment was part of the problem. Protect officers “People don’t trust and no longer rely on security forces to protect them,” he said. But Mr Ojode defended police officers from accusations of laxity. “When police officers are killed not a single person comes out to say it wrong. We must also protect our officers,” he said. The assistant minister hit out at leaders questioning their silence on the matter. “The truth must come out. How come some of you colleagues come out to defend these gangs when police officers arrest them? Why do some colleagues suggest that we negotiate and how come even Christians do not openly condemn them?” He told the gangs their days are numbered. “We shall never negotiate with criminals when I am still the assistant minister in this office,” he said.
France tops sleeping and eating lists
 A sleeping woman: she's probably French
The average French person sleeps almost nine hours every night, more than an hour longer than the average Japanese and Korean, who sleep the least in a survey of 18 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Despite their siesta habit, Spaniards rank only third in the poll after Americans, who sleep more than 8.5 hours. And while more and more French people grab a bite at fast-food chains these days or wolf down a sandwich at their desk, they still spend more than two hours a day eating. That means their meals are twice as long as those of the average Mexican, who dedicates just over an hour a day to food, the OECD's 'Society at a Glance' report on work, health and leisure in Asia, Europe and North and South America found. The Japanese, scrimping on sleep and burdened with long commutes and working hours, still manage to spend close to two hours a day eating and drinking, placing them third behind New Zealanders. The Japanese like to spend what remains of their scarce free time watching television or listening to the radio. This takes up 47 percent of leisure time in Japan. Turks, on the other hand, are the most sociable population, spending more than a third of their leisure time entertaining friends. Despite the moderate amount of time Americans spend eating each day - about an hour and a quarter - U.S. obesity rates are the highest in the study, with 34 percent of the American population having a Body Mass Index, or BMI, over the critical 30 mark. The lowest obesity rates are found in Korea, followed by Japan, with less than 4 percent of the population with a BMI over 30. The survey showed that the split between work and leisure time within certain countries is striking. 'Italian men have nearly 80 minutes a day of leisure more than women. Much of the additional work of Italian women is apparently spent cleaning the house,' the OECD said in a statement. The OECD has 30 members. The survey covers only the countries for which appropriate figures were available.
Firebomb plotter is convicted
A NEWHAM man has been found guilty of plotting to firebomb a publisher's home days before a novel about the Prophet Mohammed was published.
Abbas Taj, 30, of Field Road,Forest Gate, was on Friday convicted of conspiracy to recklessly damage property and endanger life at Croydon Crown Court.
Two others, Ali Beheshti, 41, and Abrar Mirza, 23, admitted the same offence.
Martin Rynja's home in Lonsdale Square, Islington, was attacked in September last year. Taj had denied the charge.
The attack took place days before the Jewel of Medina, about the Prophet's child bride A'isha, was due to be published in the UK.
During the trial the court heard how Taj, a minicab driver, waited in a car as the other two men poured diesel through the letterbox and lit a fire at Mr Rynjas home, which was also his office.
Taj, Behesti, unemployed man of from Ilford, and Mirza, a mobile phone salesman from Walthamstow, were planning to spend the night at Regent's Park Mosque, as part of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
But shortly after they arrived, the trio set out with "fire-making equipment" for Lonsdale Square.
Diesel bought by Beheshti was transferred to the boot of Taj's Honda Accord the evening before the arson attack, the court heard.
Taj and Beheshti, 41, then drove to pick up Mirza near the Queen's Road Mosque in Walthamstow.
Taj had claimed to have "no idea" about the plot and said he was simply "giving a lift" to the two men, an account the jury rejected.
Previously at the trial, prosecutor David Waters QC said publisher Random House had planned to print the novel but abandoned the plans over concerns about offending Muslims.
Speaking at Taj's trial, Mr Rynja said he decided to print the novel in the UK after reading it and speaking to its American author Sherry Jones.
Sentencing was adjourned until July.
Taj had dropped Beheshti and Mirza close to Lonsdale Square just before they attacked the property. He was to be their getaway driver, but was stopped in his car and arrested by armed police near Angel tube station in the early hours of September 27 2008, just after they had set fire to the premises.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner John McDowall, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command and Senior National Co-ordinator Counter Terrorism, said: "These men planned to carry out arson as a violent reaction and protest against the publishing of a book.
"They did not care whether anybody would be killed or injured when they poured diesel through the letterbox and set fire to it. "This was a professional, proactive investigation which left Ali Beheshti and Abrar Mirza with no choice but to admit their guilt when faced with overwhelming evidence."Abbas Taj denied being a part of the conspiracy, claiming he was an innocent party who was merely giving his friends a lift. But the jury has seen through his lies and convicted him today."
Taj's car was found to have Jihadi tape recordings in it, as well as mobile phones belonging to Mirza which contained photographs that Mirza had taken on a previous reconnaissance of Lonsdale Square on September 9 2008. |
