Madiba laid to rest!

Mourners sang Nkosi Sikelel, South Africa's national anthem with lyrics from several languages as Nelson Mandela was laid to rest at a ceremony in his home village of Qunu, ending a week of commemorations for the man whose tortured struggle for racial equality helped end white-minority rule. 

Police invade Rivers Assembly, fire live ammunition!

Confusion once again enveloped the Rivers State House of Assembly- Nigeria on Thursday as the police stormed the Assembly complex, shooting live ammunition and firing teargas canisters to disperse the sitting of 25 lawmakers loyal to the State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.

The 25 lawmakers met to hold the first plenary in the House since it was sealed off in July following a bloody fracas in the Assembly.

The pro-Amaechi lawmakers had converged on the Assembly complex following the ruling of a Federal High Court in Abuja which declared as illegal the order of the National Assembly to take over the functions of the Rivers Assembly.

On Thursday, however, trouble started as the police barred the 25 lawmakers from entering the Assembly chambers while the stunned lawmakers resolved to hold their sitting outside the complex.

Confusion ensued when the police suddenly began shooting teargas and live ammunition at the lawmakers, who ran in different directions to avoid being hit by the live bullets while tears dripped from many of them from the impact of the teargas canisters fired by the police.

It could not be ascertained if there was any casualty or the number of people injured in the melee.

Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Leyii Kwani, presided over the sitting.

The Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Ibim Semenitari, confirmed the invasion of ther Assembly by policemen, decrying the level of “impunity ravaging the country.”

She said, “It is an indication of the impunity ravaging the country and a clear indication that the PDP, under the present leadership, has lost all forms of democratic conduct.

“They can’t even pretend to wear a mien of civility. Rather, they are practising jackboot governance and repression worse than we have ever seen under the military.”

State Commissioner of  Police, Jospeh Mbu, could not be reached for comments.

Mandela Memorial: 'Fake' Interpreter apologizes!

The sign language interpreter widely ridiculed for his performance at the Nelson Mandela memorial stands by his work.

Thamsanqa Jantjie said Thursday that he is a fully qualified interpreter and has been trusted in the past with other big events.

"It has been many years I have been doing this job" he told CNN. "My portfolio shows that I have been a champion of what I have been doing."

Not so, says the head of the South Africa Translator's Institute.

There were complaints last year after Jantjie interpreted the proceedings at the ruling African National Congress elective conference, the institute's chairman, Johan Blaauw, told the South African Press Association.

But Jantjie stands by his work. "I have never in my life had anything that said I have interpreted wrong," he said.

"For the deaf association, if they think that I have done a wrong interpretation, I ask forgiveness."

He declined to provide details about his hire for the four-hour memorial service, watched by millions around the world, as a government inquiry looks into the matter.

He said he had been drawn to the job of interpreting because he was disabled.

"I am suffering from schizophrenia, which is controllable. I am under treatment," Jantjie said.

At a news conference Thursday, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, South Africa's deputy minister of women, children and people with disabilities, admitted that mistakes had happened at the memorial service but added that Jantjie was not a "fake."

She said there was no sign language standard in South Africa and deaf people spoke different dialects.

Sign educators on Mandela interpreter

Questions grow

Bogopane-Zulu also said the government tracked down the company Jantjie worked for, but the owners "seemed to have vanished."

"They have obviously been providing substandard service for years," she said.

Jantjie named his employer as a company called SA Interpreters. He did not give details about his training, saying his qualifications are filed with the company.

"You can look at my portfolio, it speaks for itself from the events that I have done in my country," he said.

As outrage over his interpretation skills have grown, so have questions about who hired him.

A spokesman for the ANC said the party had not hired him for the Mandela event.

"We have used him on some occasions. But yesterday was not an ANC event. So we cannot answer for yesterday," spokesman Jackson Mthembu said Wednesday.

The South African government was investigating the reports, said Collins Chabane, minister for performance monitoring and evaluation in the presidency.

Interpreter at Mandela memorial a fake, group says

'Fake interpreter'

The national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa sees it differently. He said Jantjie had been dubbed a "fake interpreter."

"The deaf community is in outrage," said Bruno Druchen. "He is not known by the Deaf Community in South Africa nor by the South African Sign Language interpreters working in the field."

The man showed no facial expressions, which are key in South African sign language, and his hand signals were meaningless, Druchen said. "It is a total mockery of the language," he added.

While dignitaries addressed the crowd at Johannesburg's FNB stadium, Jantjie produced a series of hand signals that experts said meant nothing.

"It was almost like he was doing baseball signs," deaf actress Marlee Matlin told CNN on Wednesday, through a sign language interpreter. "I was appalled."

Though each country has its own sign language, all of them entail facial expressions, she said. She called his lack of facial expression "a giveaway."

"I knew exactly right then and there that he wasn't authentic at all, and it was offensive; it was offensive to me."

Roving Informant thinks the guy's just hustling for his livelihood, no harm meant! lol

Domestic violence: Man abducts own children including one month old baby, to punish his wife!

A 29 year old caterer identified Angela Okwaroha has cried out against the domestic violence meted against her by her husband, asking relevant authorities to wade in and help rescue her children, including a month old baby allegedly abducted and and kept at an unknown location by her husband.  

According to Angela, she lived with her elder sister simply identified as Tina, before she got married to Anthony in October 2006, at the tender age of 22. 

The Akwa-Ibom state born mother of three said amidst tears, that she met Anthony who is in his 50s  for the first time when he came to their Ikorodu branch of the Lord's Chosen Charismatic Church and spotted her. He went to the pastor in charge of the church and asked for his permission to marry her, as according to him, he had found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Young Angela was called and informed of Anthony's decision, to which she agreed, thinking he would make a good husband. Her family was also contacted, and the rest was history as the next couple of months saw both families prepare for the marriage which today, resulted to the birth of three beautiful children. But as was gathered, it was also a marriage that was bedeviled with constant domestic violence.

Angela narrates her ordeal: "I got married at the age of 22 to Mr. Anthony Okwaroha in October 2006, he is  the one in charge of writing the bulletin and stickers at The Lord's Chosen Charismatic Church and we have been blessed with three children. 

"It happened that Anthony Okwaraha came to the Lord's Choosen Church branch where I worshiped, he spotted me and went straight to the pastor in-charge and told him that he has seen the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. I agreed to the proposal because  was young and naive, I lived with my elder sister then.  

"Not long after our wedding, I took in, but in the seventh month of the pregnancy, My husband started acting suspicious of my every move. He would wake up from sleep and tell me that he dreamt that i was abusing myself with another man, and I would be left with no choice but to defend my self from the imaginary affair. Early one morning, around 7am, he called me from work, and because the television was on, he heard the voice of the male news presenter and asked me who I brought into the house, that he heard the voice of a man, I told him the t.v was on, and the male voice he heard was from the t.v, but he insisted there was a man inside the house, that I should wait for him. I thought it was nothing, only for him to come home from work around 8pm. He kicked the door open, bounced on me, held my neck in an attempt to suffocate me, he beat and bit me on any part his teeth came in contact with, despite my condition.  There was blood all over. At that point I fought back, to protect myself and  pregnancy from him, because I know that if he hit my stomach at that point, I would give up. My scream attracted our neighbours who rushed to our house, they managed to separate us and asked what the matter was. They also expressed their disappointment in my husband, who they say normally preached in the estate every morning. More over we were newly wedded couple and just moved into the estate. Who do I know then, if not to go to work and return back home, talk less of inviting some one into the house. Later that night, because my husband locked me in, I managed to sneak out my phone to one of my neighbours Who saw my state and decided to help me contact my relations. I gave him my phone and quickly asked him to go through my phone and call my sister, so that I they would come and take me to the hospital. My sister came as soon as she was called and I was rushed to the hospital from where i was taken to her house. I still have some of the bite marks. Now that my son is a bit older, he would look as my hand and ask me how come I got the mark and I would not know what to tell him". She said a midst tears.

Continuing her story, Angela told how the okwarohas pleaded with her to return back to her husband, promising they would ensure she was never mal-handled again, but the beating increased when ever she was heavily pregnant to the point of putting to birth as not even members of his family was able to deliver Angela from Anthony's battering. she said:

"When I was discharged from the hospital,  my sister took me to her house. I was there, when Anthony came with his people to beg and ask me to return home, saying that they have been to the church and had settled everything. I asked him if he was sure he was okay, otherwise they should just allow me stay in peace in my father's house, because I thought that was how the world is. At that point, I was tired of everything. His brother said 'in short, I will be the one to marry you now, you won't experience that sort of ill treatment again'. Based on that assurance, I returned back. Things were normal between us until I took in for my second baby, when he unleashed his terror side again. He would say that he saw me in his dream where I was walking with one man. Then the fights and beatings would begin. When ever these beatings start, the neighbours would forcefully drag me away from him and hide me,  then they would call my sister to come and carry me before Anthony will kill me. When ever he beats me, he would make sure that I was deeply wounded. After I had recovered he would come with some members of his family to beg, then after much considerations, I would return to his house. Whenever I am not pregnant, he would be very caring and loving. But immediately I take in and at the point of almost putting to birth, when he notices that I wouldn't have any strength in me,   he would start his troubles in a very dangerous way.

"On November 8th, 2013,  I went into labour for the birth of my last child. Due to the fact that he was not always around during my pregnancy period, he would come check on us and then leave to the church where he works. I didn't experience much trouble with him. But on the day I went into labour, I was returning from a visit to a fellow caterer who i was working with when the child came pushing, i tried to at least walk home and see if i could get myself to the hospital, as my house was not too far from where I was, but my baby had a different plan. I gave birth at the gutter in front of one Prominent Nursery/ Primary and Secondary Schools Ikorodu. After that I used my leg to kick at the gate of another building nearby, the owner, a woman came out and saw me, she ran in, got a basin of water, took the baby, bath her, she cleaned me up and with the help of some other good Samaritans around, I was taken to a nearby hospital. My husband was called, but when he came, he refused to pay the bills, saying after all I did not give birth at the hospital, that it was at the gutter side I gave birth, therefore why would he pay to the hospital.

"Suspecting his normal trouble, one of the pastors of our church, who is also from Akwa-Ibom intervened and signed an agreement with the hospital that he would pay the bills. The hospital discharged me and he took me to my home. When my husband came home later on, he tied my hands and legs, asking me what gave me why I agreed to the pastor's decision to pay the bills, when I did not give birth at the hospital? He started beating and biting me again. I managed to flee for the third time to my sister's house.

"Some days later, my husband came, took my children including the new born baby to an unknown place. Up till now, I don't know where my children are, I have not set my eyes on them. My sister took the matter to court, but some members of our Church came and told her to retrieve the case, that they would help locate and get my children back. I am still waiting for that, but I want the whole world to hear my plight and help beg Anthony Okwaroha to please return my children back to me. My breasts are swollen with milk, I need to breast feed my new born. This is the worst thing that can be done to a woman. Please help me". she lamented.

Heavy snow and rainbow in the holy land!

It was reported that they have been heavy snow in most parts of Israel; it was revealed that year after year, Israelis earnestly await the snow as it is seen as a blessing, due to the fact that there is not much water in the region. 

According to the map below, the river Jordan flows from the height of Galilee mount, into the Kinaret lake, from the Kinaret lake it flows into the dead sea.

 

Hence it is always seen as a good sign when ever it snowed especially in Jerusalem and Galilee,  because it does not occur every year, peharps every 
3-5yrs.  After the snow then comes the rains. 

Pictures below:

The rainbow as it was sighted today

Justin Bieber visits Philippines to help Typhoon victims!

Justin Bieber arrived the Philippines Tuesday 10th December 2013, where he launched a campaign to help victims of November’s killer typhoon.

Adored by young fans worldwide for hits like “Baby”, Bieber, arrived on a special flight, Immigration officer Jerome Ollet said. 

Bieber is one of the several foreign and local celebrities and VIPs who have helped out.

Obama, Cameron 'selfie' at Mandela memorial creates online stir!

US President Barack Obama may have moved the masses attending Nelson Mandela's memorial service with his stirring eulogy, but it was his grinning "selfie" with the Danish and British premiers that set social networks abuzz.

In a candid moment captured by AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt, Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt can be seen holding up her smartphone, with Obama lending a helping hand, as they pose for a picture with David Cameron, all three of them smiling broadly in their seats at Soweto's World Cup stadium.

First Lady Michelle Obama, sitting to the left of her husband, does not join in with the lightheartedness, keeping her eyes firmly trained on the podium where world leaders were paying tribute to South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Mandela, who died Thursday aged 95.

The so-called selfie -- short for self-portrait -- was quickly picked up by major international news outlets and went viral on social media sites, with many questioning whether the moment of mirth was appropriate for the occasion.

"There should be a moratorium on 'selfies' during memorials and funerals, no?" tweeted @JeffryHalverson.

"Is This The Most Important Selfie Of 2013?" headlined the US-based social news website Buzzfeed, noting that Michelle Obama seemed "not amused" by the impromptu photoshoot.

A photo of the leaders photographing themselves was featured on the front pages of British media such as The Times, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror.

In the United States, the Washington Post also ran the photo of the trio on its website in a story on that incident and Obama shaking hands at the service with Cuban leader Raul Castro. It was not on the front page but rather in the Politics section. It noted the viral trajectory of the photo.

"All of it serves as a reminder ? as if we needed one ? that even the best-laid plans of politicians tend to veer wildly off course in this age of social media," the Post story said.

Cameron's Downing Street office said it had "no comment" on the photo, while the White House also made no comment. There was no immediate reaction from Copenhagen.

The act of taking selfies has become increasingly popular in recent years. The word itself was named word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries.

A selfie is defined as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website".

The AFP photographer who captured the leaders in their group shot said his picture showed the dignitaries in a rare unscripted moment.

"It was interesting to see politicians in a human light because usually when we see them it is in such a controlled environment. Maybe this would not be such an issue if we, as the press, would have more access to dignitaries and be able to show they are human as the rest of us," he said.

But Schmidt said he feared the photo's global impact could overshadow what was "a celebration for an obviously exceptional person".

"The AFP team worked hard to display the reaction that South African people had for the passing of someone they consider as a father. We moved about 500 pictures, trying to portray their true feelings, and this seemingly trivial image overshadowed everything else," he said.

"I think it's a sad reflection on how sometimes we focus, as a society, on trivial everyday happenings."

For those who thought these leaders acted "a lil out of order", you are entitled to your opinion and we respect that. 

However Roving Informant thought it was one of the best pictures taken, owing to it's simplicity. 

These world leaders were just keeping it real. The last time we checked, Barack Obama, Helle Thorning-Schmidt and David Cameron are still very much humans. A little laughter eases a whole lot of stress.
 Don't you think so???