Latest News

SEPTEMBER 2003 - PART ONE

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Daughter Seed off to Portsmouth for pharmacy

It was a joyous day for the Seeds in London on Saturday 27th September, 2003 as they joined hands to encourage Daughter Seed. The entire Seeds family gathered for a get-together farewell party for Daughter Seed who is going to the University of Portsmouth to study pharmacy for the next four years. The family reminded daughter to work hard at the university in order to accomplished her goal. On Sunday 28th September, 2003 the family and friends escorted the lady to the University of Portsmouth where she is expected to start her studies on Monday.

The Seeds family presenting a laptop to Daughter Seed (centre holding the laptop) as a send off gift

Family and friends of the Seeds pose for a photo at Portsmouth on Sunday 28th September, 2003 as they escorted the lady

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A father of a 16-year-old girl jailed for life after cutting her throat

A Muslim father unable to tolerate the westernised lifestyle of his 16-year-old daughter was today jailed for life after cutting her throat. The murder of Heshu Yones is being treated by the Met as an "honour killing" because she was perceived to have brought shame on her family. After killing the girl, Abdullah Yones then jumped from a third-floor window. The schoolgirl had formed a sexual relationship with a Lebanese boyfriend who was a Christian and her father had found out. Yones, 48, who survived the fall, had pleaded guilty to murdering his daughter at their flat in Acton last October. Yones's counsel Icah Peart told the Old Bailey: "This really is a tragic story of irreconcilable cultural differences between a father with a traditional Kurdish upbringing and values and his beloved daughter who was a thoroughly westernised young woman." Yones sat in the dock as horrific details of his daughter's injuries were read out. She was found lying in the blood-spattered bathroom of the third-floor flat with multiple stab wounds, including a cut throat and wounds to her back, breasts and chest. More injuries to her hands and forearms showed she had tried desperately to defend herself. Immediately after killing her Yones left the flat, locking the door behind him, and leapt from the balcony, sustaining severe injuries which required four months in hospital. As he lay being treated by paramedics he could be heard saying repeatedly that he wanted to die. "He said he had done a terrible thing," said John McGuinness, QC, prosecuting. He said of Heshu: "The picture that emerged was that Heshu was a bubbly, cheeky, fun-loving girl, popular at school and with her friends. "Her father, a strict Muslim, didn't approve of her more westernised lifestyle - wanting to be with friends and having a mobile phone. "There was tension at home. Her father wanted her to live according to a strict Muslim lifestyle and cultural traditions."

Last summer the family went back to Kurdistan for five weeks and Heshu feared that her father was going to try to arrange a marriage for her. However, this did not happen. Initially she did not tell her parents of her relationship with her boyfriend. "She was extremely anxious that her father shouldn't find out about the relationship," said Mr McGuinness. "Sex before marriage was strictly forbidden, certainly with someone of the Muslim religion. She was extremely fearful of her father finding out." He said there was "... some evidence that the defendant might have discovered that she had a boyfriend and she was no longer a virgin. "This would have made an arranged marriage to a Muslim virtually impossible." The court was told that Yones was given political asylum in Britain when he arrived from Kurdistan 10 years ago. He and his family and many of their friends had suffered greatly at the hands of Saddam Hussein. Mr Peart told how Yones had never fully recovered from injuries sustained in a chemical weapons attack and although his daughter and sons had fully adjusted to European life he had been unable to do so. Outside the court Detective Inspector Brent Hyatt said: "If Heshu had gone to the police people could have recognised the extreme danger she was in. It is vitally important that anyone who thinks they are at risk should get in touch with us."

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Reviving Kenya tourism in Europe

Kenya's minister of tourism and wildlife Hon. Raphel Tuju and the entire tourism team have been in London for the week to promote the revival of Kenya's tourism industry in Europe. After several meetings in London the team crowned the campaign by the minister displaying the Kenyan tourism sceneries at the Kenya High Commission offices in Central London. Accompanying the minister were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Mrs. Rebecca M. Nabutola and Joan Mwangi. The minister continued to emphasise to the world that Kenya is safe to visit.

The minister of Tourism Hon. Tuju (second left) showing the tourism team the sceneries of Kenya tourism as they launched the revival of the Kenya tourism in Europe. From left is Joan Mwangi, Hon. Tuju, acting High Commissioner HE Daniel Koikai, John Dffy and PS Rebecca Nabutola

Later they visited the offices of the acting Kenya High Commissioner, HE Daniel Koikai at 45 Portland Place.

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Bye bye London after eight years

It started as joke on 14th April 1996 when Micah Karanja who had stayed for a year in London by then, met Mr. Seed on the streets of London and told him. "You know I feel like going  back home in Kenya to join my family - and you know what? You are the one who will escort me to the airport when the  time comes. I will keep you informed". A year passed and in 1997 he wrote in his house calendar that he was leaving on 11th December, 1997. Come 1997 he changed his mind to 1998. In September, 1998 he bought an air ticket for October 1998 and as usual he never left for Kenya. Everyone became tired of his false promises. In 2001 August, again he revived the issue assuring everyone that he was to leave in December 2001 and he bought  an air ticket,  not forgetting to mark the date in his house calendar for all to see.

He bought a new luggage case and box,  but when the date came , he changed his mind. When friends asked him what was  happening he wrote on the calendar where he had marked these words: "MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS". In October, 2002 he bought another ticket now declaring for sure that he was leaving in December 2002. As his usual habit he marked on the calendar. A week to the date he added the wordings "BUT NOT A MUST". December came and he never left for Kenya as he had explained it was not a must. Come to July, 2003 he bought yet another  ticket paying it in  instalments, to clear it by September 2003 declaring that he was to leave on 26th September, 2003. This time nobody wasted their time listening to him. On 4th September 2003, he visited Mr. Seed informing him that the time had come for him to go and as agreed in 1996 you were  to escort me to the airport. Mr. Seed agreed but after he left Mr. Seed commented to his wife "I don't think this man is serious and if he leaves I bet £20 pound". The man kept constant contact with Mr. Seed, and eventually he  left for Busia, Kenya. At 05.10 a.m. on Friday September 2003, Mr.  Karanja left through Heathrow Airport after staying in the UK for the last eight years.

This brings in mind the story of a Caribbean man who's a good friend of mine, One day he overheard me say; "You know one of these fine days I will be leaving for Kenya." The man replied: "Mr. Seed, you are my friend, let me tell you something, never tell me that you are leaving for Kenya again. I am  fed-up with such stories. My father came to UK in 1955, and I was born here in 1958. Every week, every month since I was young my father talks of going home and up to today he talks of going home and he has never gone home."

Micah Karanja's (left) and friends as they escorted him to the airport

"Kwaheri ya kuonana" as Karanja joins other travellers at the departure entrance at Heathrow Airport

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Missing Kenyatta's statue found at cleaner's depot

The missing statue of the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta reported to be missing at Madame Tassaud's in London has been found at the cleaner's depot. Daily Nation Correspondent Gitau wa Njenga traced and photographed the statue at the cleaners depot on Sunday 21st September, 2003. The statue has not been withdrawn but it will be taken back after cleaning. A number of Kenyans in London had communicated to Mr. Seed about the missing statue and then Gitau wa Njenga did what he is suppose to do - investigate the story.

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Blunkett pushes ID cards debate in UK

David Blunkett wants proposals for ID cards in the UK to be included in the forthcoming Queen's Speech. The home secretary told BBC One's Breakfast with Frost programme he wanted a bill for the introduction of national identity cards to go before Parliament in the autumn. Pressed on whether carrying a card would be mandatory, he said at the very least no-one should be able to work or claim benefits without one. Mr Blunkett admitted he did not know how many illegal immigrants are currently in the UK, but said ensuring they do not work illegally or draw from public funds and services remains a priority. He said the government is likely to remain in the dark over exact numbers until it introduces an enforceable identification system linked to a register of all immigrants in the country. "That is what we are debating in cabinet at the moment... [whether] we have a register of all those in the country and... an identification system that relates to it," he said. Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin told BBC News 24 the government had not thought the system through. "What we've had from ministers is a confusing set of semi-indications of a half-baked policy and that's no way to proceed," he said. "What's to stop someone from giving a false name if they are stopped by a policeman on the street and not produce their ID card, if they are to be voluntary?" An illegal immigrant is not going to apply for an ID card, he said. "If and when the government has worked out some practical system of dealing with these issues and they present a reasoned white paper that describes it, costs it, shows who's going to have to pay and how, examines the practical effects and shows us the civil liberties implications are outweighed by its good effects, then we cannot look at it constructively to see how we can proceed."

Compulsory issue

Mr Blunkett said he wanted to persuade cabinet colleagues that proposals for ID cards should be included in the Queen's Speech on 26 November. Civil liberties groups are worried the cards would be abused by the authorities and others have raised concerns about the cost, both to individuals and the Treasury. Campaign group Liberty said it could lead to thousands of ordinary people being criminalised if they refused to carry the cards. "Experience from other countries with ID cards show they are costly, unwieldy, unhelpful and a real threat to our civil liberties," said campaigns director Mark Littlewood. "The government should take a step back, a long deep breath and put these proposals where they belong - in the dustbin of history." He urged the cabinet to "rein in" the home secretary. It is expected the identity cards will carry name, date of birth, address, employment status, sex, photo, national insurance, passport and driving licence numbers, plus a password or PIN and "biometric information" such as an electronic fingerprint to prevent identity fraud. While everyone will need to register on a national database, being able to produce the card to the police is not expected to be compulsory. But debate over the issue remains a heated topic within government, Mr Blunkett said. "There are genuine scepticisms... there are really vigorous debates going on about how compulsory is compulsory. "But my own view is that the minimum is you can't actually work, or draw on services unless you have the card

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Our team at Africa Travel Centre

Joyce Kanja (left) and Leo Nganga Muigai (right) our team at  Africa Travel Centre, London. Joyce and Leo  are Travel Consultants, Africa Division. They have of late helped quite a number of Kenyans travelling to Kenya and elsewhere to secure low costs flights tickets. Here they are seen at a British Airways sponsored reception at Governor Hotel, Park Lane, Central London as they set themselves to welcome guests at the venue. Are you intending to travel to Kenya or to the US you can get a good deal with the team. Contact 08454501526- email joyce@africatravel.co.uk or visit http://www.africatravel.co.uk The theme at the reception was "A Touch of Africa" (click here for photos)

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Trying to catch up with the technology

The computer classes started on Tuesday 16th September, 2003 in London with Misterseed UK Limited. The target is the East African and ethnic minorities in the UK who have no knowledge of the computer. The short courses run on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as the targeted group cannot keep up with normal school timetable. Tuesdays the class runs as from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. This would give the students time to drop the children to school in the morning and give them enough time to pick them up after school. Wednesday classes runs as from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. targeting the working group. On the first day of the course the class was full and it was quite interesting to have a student who had never touched a computer before. After arrival the students are provided with package of books, a file, a floppy disk, a pen, and a CD all in a bag. Refreshments are available throughout the session. Students are also refunded their travel expenses as well as child care costs. If the courses are successful, other areas to be targeted include Oxford, Northampton,  Luton and Slough. For more information contact misterseed@yahoo.co.uk - This project is supported by a Fast Forward Grant, funded by the London Development Agency and the European Social Fund".

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Hanging under Tower Bridge for 44 days

No food....only water

At least he's got a good view from his box

A man has been charged with criminal damage and threatening behaviour after an alleged incident outside showman David Blaine's box. Police said Stephen Charles Field, 38, was arrested early on Tuesday and taken to a police station in south London. He's alleged to have climbed scaffolding before trying to cut through water and power cables. The US magician is planning to spend 44 days locked inside a tiny plastic box hanging above the River Thames in London. So far he's managed just 10 days, and this morning's attempt comes after loads of other people have already tried to wind him up. Blaine has had golf balls hit at him, eggs thrown at him and even had takeaway food waved near his box by a remote control helicopter.

There is a marked increase in police presence at the David Blaine show on Thursday. Two Met officers patrolled the area on foot throughout Wednesday night and the early hours. Blaine, however, was still subjected to a barrage of abuse from people coming out of pubs and clubs. But, there were fewer attacks on his glass box and no one got into the Tower Bridge compound where the American is in day 12 of his 44-day endurance feat. Representatives from a diet firm managed to take advantage of the stunt, projecting a laser slogan onto the GLA building reading: "There are easier ways to lose weight." But they nearly lost their £30,000 equipment as Blaine's security men tried to confiscate the projector, thinking the beam was aimed at his pod. A group of Iranian Londoners from Richmond, meanwhile, held a placard with a slogan in Farsi reading: "Yankee go home". Gloria Darvish, 21, said: "It's pathetic that anyone wants to do something like this." On Wednesday a man collapsed with a facial injury during a scuffle with a security guard. On Tuesday a man was arrested for allegedly attempting to cut the New Yorker's water supply. Eggs have been thrown at the 30-year-old's box and he has been the target of a golfer aiming at him from Tower Bridge. A Met spokeswoman said today: "We are monitoring the situation and are in dialogue with the representative of Sky (TV) and the local authorities to discuss safety issues around the presence of David Blaine and the impact it is having on the area."

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Shinning abroad with Kenyan culture

Action speaks better than words. The photos tells it all all. The name of the organisation is "Mum & Daughter African Crafts". Miriam Musila and her daughter were caught by Mr. Seed in a wedding in London on Saturday 13th Septmber, 2003. Mariam runs an African Crafts business in London and in Kenya promoting the Kenyan cultural abroad. If you would like African attire in the UK please call on 07960407976 or in Kenya 0733536628.

MUM&DAUGHTER

A TASTE OF AFRICA

CATER FOR: WEDDINGS, PARTIES, BIRTHDAYS CHRISTENING etc
CONTACT: MIRIAM MUSILA
76 JOULES HOUSE CHRIST CHURCH AVENUE LONDON NW6 7QW
TEL:07960407976
EMAIL :MIRIAMNTHENGE@HOTMAIL.COM.

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A traditional art

A group of young initiates celebrate in Kakamega town after coming out of murumbi (a secluded place for recovering from circumcision wounds) on being declared completely healed by the traditional circumciser - The Standard.

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A student for Miss World-Kenya

Miss World-Kenya 2003, Janet Kibugu (centre), poses for a photograph with Medina Hussein, first runners-up (left), and Isabel Munjiru, second runners-up, during the finals at The Stanley on Friday night - The Standard.

Miss World-Kenya Janet Muthoni Kibugu (left) is congratulated by Miss Tanzania 2003 Sylvia Bahame at the Miss World-Kenya final contest, at The Stanley in Nairobi on Friday night. The pageant was organised by Ashleys Hair and Beauty Academy and sponsored by Nation Media Group, among others. Cabinet Minister Linah Kilimo was chief guest - Daily Nation.

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Love turned sour

In Kenya, business tycoon Pius Mbugua Ngugi is expected today 10/09/03 in court to defend himself in a case in which two minors have sued him for withdrawing his monthly contribution of Sh0.2million for their upkeep. Ngugi has been summoned to appear personally at the Children’s Court in Nairobi for the hearing of suit number 255 of 2003 filed on August 5. Ngugi is chairman and majority shareholder of various companies including Amazon Motors Limited, Thika Coffee Mills limited, Kenya Nut Company and Kenya Alliance Company. The two minors aged seven and four, are suing through Esther Muthoni Passaris, the managing director of Adopt-A-Light Limited.  She is their mother and has been referred to as "guardian" on the face of the suit papers. The minors, who claim Ngugi is their biological father, also want him to be compelled to pay them Sh3 million, being arrears of alleged agreed maintenance at Sh0.2 million month from February 2002 to July 2003.

Ms Esther Muthoni Passaris outside the Children's Court, Nairobi, yesterday. Her children have sued tycoon Pius Mbugua Ngugi - Daily nation

Ms Esther Passaris (centre), whose two children have sued tycoon Pius Mbugua Ngugi for maintenance, with her friends Diana Kivuvani (left) and Nina Muthama at the Children's Court in Nairobi on Wednesday 10th Sept. 2003 - Daily Nation

Billionaire businessman Pius Mbugua Ngugi and Esther Passaris pictured in Monaco in August of 1995. Passaris has sued the tycoon for allegedly abandoning their two children.

They lived together for seven years, the prominent businesswoman and the multi-millionaire who owned a luxury car import business and his very own coffee mill. Life was sweet for the loving couple who had two children and took holidays in all the best places. They went together to Monaco, the Mediterranean haunt of the super-rich, but then their love turned sour. And yesterday the woman – Adopt-a-Light chief Esther Muthoni Passaris – took her former lover to court, claiming he failed to keep his promise to marry her. She also asked for damages for alleged fraud and deceit in the suit against Thika Coffee Mills owner Pius Mbugua Ngugi. Mrs Passaris also wants Mr Ngugi, whom she says fathered their two children, compelled to care for them. She says she lived with Mr Ngugi in upmarket Spring Valley, Nairobi, from 1992-2000 and that Mr Ngugi told her he had divorced his wife who had lived in London for 10 years. In October 1995, Mr Ngugi promised to marry her within two years, she claims, by which time his children from his previous marriage would have completed their education.

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DNA is increasingly useful

Every single person in the UK should be compelled to have their DNA on the national database in an effort to prevent crime, a senior police officer has argued. Currently about two million people who have been charged with criminal offences have their DNA profiles on the national database. But Kevin Morris, chairman of the Police Superintendents Association, told the Times newspaper opposition to extending the scheme to every man, woman and child was overstated. The association will call this week for the extension as a tool to revolutionise the fight against crime and solve hundreds of murders. Civil liberties campaigners have always opposed the suggestion, arguing it is intrusive to make such demands of people who have done nothing wrong. Campaigners also fear that data could eventually be used by insurers looking for genetic predispositions towards certain serious illnesses. They also argue that any such move would make all people feel like suspects.

But Mr Morris told the newspaper: "If we have a compulsory database to which every citizen is expected to donate their DNA as a responsibility within our society, I fervently believe we will not only detect crimes quicker but we will help prevent them in the first place. "With estimates suggesting that there are as many as 600 people in the UK who have committed murder but who escaped initial detection, the question has got to be asked why we can't do more. "Experience has shown that the general public come forward in their thousands when they believe their sample will help police to detect a serious crime." Mr Morris told the newspaper people would be more worried about abuses of the DNA by commercial companies than about being seen as suspects.

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Trickster Blaine 'cuts off' ear

Earache ... result of Blaine stunt

Grisly ... Blaine appears to cut off chunk of ear

In UK, top illusionist David Blaine produced a shocking trick on Monday 1st September, 2003 — appearing to cut off his own EAR. David, 30, was promoting his latest stunt when he started to hack off part of his ear with a knife in front of the world’s media. A journalist had asked him: “Have you got any new tricks?” David asked for a knife, started cutting and yelled as blood spurted over his shirt. As the Press gasped in horror, he stamped his foot and screamed: “This really f***ing hurts!” He then showed the piece of ear to photographers before being ushered from the stage at London’s Savoy Hotel and driven away. Magic Circle president Alan Shaxon said on Monday: “I think this was a very clever illusion, I don’t know how he did it.” The gory trick almost overshadowed the stunt David was promoting — hanging from a crane by Tower Bridge in a 7ft high, 3ft wide plexi-glass box without food for 44 days. He said the stunt could KILL him, adding: “This is worth it for my art even if I drop dead.” David will enter the box on Friday at 8.30pm, live on Sky One. - The Sun.

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Asteroid could hit Earth in 2014

Heading this way: an asteroid is on course to hit earth

An asteroid could collide with the Earth in 2014, astronomers have warned. The British agency responsible for identifying potentially hazardous asteroids says colleagues in the United States have warned that the collision may take place on 21 March of that year. However scientists have put the chances of the collision as being one in 909,000 - odds that are likely to decrease as more data is gathered. In the meantime they are to keep monitoring its progress because of its sheer size. The rock measures two thirds of a mile across, a tenth of the size of the asteroid thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs when it crashed into the Gulf Of Mexico 65 million years ago creating a fireball across North America that blanketed the world in smoke and ash for decades.

Today's asteroid is heading in our direction at 20 miles a second. It has been labelled "2003 QQ 47" and astronomers will be keeping an eye on it for the next two months. Plans to knock rogue asteroids off a potential course towards Earth are currently being studied with funding from the European Space Agency. The experiment would involve launching a pair of probe space craft, one of which would hit an asteroid at high speed, deflecting it slightly from its orbit, while its partner would keep an eye on it to measure the effects of the impact. The idea behind the mission is to tell scientists what force of impact would be required to knock an asteroid heading towards our planet off its course. Tiny changes to QQ47's path will become much larger over time, hopefully taking it away from a collision. Other ideas for diverting asteroids away from include using the United States "Son of Star Wars" anti-missile protection system.

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Doing PhD at Canterbury

Mrs. Lydia Kasera-Kwoba and family. A lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Kikuyu Campass is currently studying for a Doctorate Degree (Phd) at the University of Kent - Psycholinguistic Analysis of Language Learning. Contact lk20@cant.ac.uk

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A worm a day keeps the doctor away

A worm a day is the key to a healthy life, at least for one firefighter in Thailand.  Paisit Chanta, 39, has eaten a live worm every day for almost 30 years and says he has suffered nothing worse than a mild flu.  The father of two says it is like eating "mushy sticky rice", referring to the glutinous rice popular in many parts of South Asia.  But his friends are not convinced saying they think his habit is "strange and disgusting".  Mr Chanta's unusual dietary supplement was featured in the major Thai newspaper, Thai Rath. He said it started when he was fishing in his home village of Nakhon Nayok province, 90 km (60 miles) north-east of Bangkok. "One day, I was sitting there waiting for a fish to eat my bait for hours and was starving," he told Associated Press. "Suddenly, I realised fish don't die from eating worms so I shouldn't either. I ate them until I was full".

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Meet Prof. Kinina and his wife

Some of Kenyans in UK are flying high; here comes Professor Peter Kinina, a scholar in Business Management, Professor of Global Business Management - Chair Academic Advisors & Assessors of the most top prestigious European Universities, European Business School, University of Central Europe, (UCE), University College of Central Europe, (UCCE). He is a Certified International Financier, and, member of the International Society of Financiers, Inc, a Fellow of British Institute of Management, a Fellow of Institute of Sales Marketing Management, Chairman & CEO of icigroup including International Funds Managers, State Corporation International as well as the major shareholder.  Posing with him in Oxford is his wife and daughter. Currently they are living in Birmingham. More about him click www.icigroup.cc

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Doing PhD in Genetics

Miss Esther Maina a Kenyan on the move in the UK. Currently she is doing a PhD in Genetics at the University of Birmingham. Lately she has been in USA to deliver some lectures where she delivered very impressive topics on genetics and after her lectures three companies were on line to offer her a job. She is the daughter of Rev. Simon Maina of Anglican Church, Worthings.

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Our man flying high at Cardiff

Meet our man at Cardiff, UK. Dr. Karani and his wife lives at Cardiff. He has been in UK for the last 17 years. "Dr. George Karani  lectures on Environmental Health and Public Protection at University of Wales Cardiff. He is a member of local Health Board,  Environmental Protection Advisory Committee Wales and supports Liverpool and AFC leopards football clubs". Sometimes ago he was sent to Ukraine, Russia by WHO to investigate the chemical accident there. His contact gkarani@aol.com

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What is the meaning?

Mike Rua well known as One Man Guitar who is still in London was caught by Mr. Seed camera wearing a T-shirt printed these words "INO NI NGUI"  - What does it mean? Ask him at ruamike@yahoo.com

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