15 Around the world
guyanatimesgy.com
tuesday, dECember 10, 2013
Mandela's daughter recalls final hours
91 world leaders to honour Mandela
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elson Mandela’s daughter Makaziwe has told the BBC about the “wonderful” final hours of the former president, who died aged 95 last Thursday. Makaziwe said his wife Graca, the children and grandchildren were all there to say goodbye. South Africa is observing a series of commemorations over the next week, leading up to the funeral on Sunday. More than 100 current or former heads of state or government will attend the funeral or Tuesday’s national memorial. Makaziwe told the BBC’s Komla Dumor: “Until the last moment he had us, you know... The children were there, the grandchildren were there, Graca was there, so we are always around him and even at the last moment, we were sitting with him on Thursday the whole
A groundskeeper collects flowers left by visitors at the home of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday, December 9
M Makaziwe Mandela
day.” She said: “I think from last week, Friday until Thursday, it was a wonderful time, if you can say the process of death is wonderful. But Tata [Nelson Mandela] had a wonderful time, because we were there. “When the doctors told
us I think Thursday morning... that there was nothing that they could do, and said to me ‘Maki call everybody that is here that wants to see him and say bye bye’, it was a most wonderful day for us because the grandchildren were there, we were there.” (Excerpt from BBC News)
ore than 90 heads of state are on their way to South Africa for what is expected to be the largest gathering of world leaders in Africa’s history. It is a clear sign of what kind of impact Nelson Mandela left on the world. Mandela, the activist who spent 27 years in prison before becoming his country’s first black president, died Thursday at the age of 95. U.S. President Barack Obama left Washington for Johannesburg on Monday morning to attend the me-
morial service for Mandela, which will take place Tuesday in the city’s soccer stadium. The 90,000 seats probably would not be enough to house the many mourners wanting to pay tribute to the great antiapartheid leader. A state funeral will be held Sunday in Mandela’s ancestral hometown of Qunu in the Eastern Cape province. At least 91 heads of state and 10 former heads of state have said they are going to South Africa this week, gov-
ernment international relations spokesman Clayson Monyela said. In addition to Obama, former presidents Jimmy Carter, George W Bush and Bill Clinton will attend. More than two dozen U.S. lawmakers are also scheduled to attend. Other guests include the Prince of Wales, British Prime Minister David Cameron and UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon, as well as celebrities such as Bono, Oprah Winfrey and Naomi Campbell. (Excerpt from CNN)
Typhoon Haiyan death toll still rising Somali woman who
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ne month after Typhoon Haiyan tore through six Philippine islands, the death toll stands at 5924 and 1779 people are still missing, according to government figures released Sunday. More than 12 million people have been affected by the monster typhoon that left behind catastrophic scenes of destruction and despair when it made landfall on November 8, the government said. It left entire communities without immediate access to food and medical care. Several countries, including the U.S., have been aiding in the recovery. According to the Pentagon, the military effort, dubbed Operation Damayan, cost
reported rape sentenced
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A man reconstructs his house in the bay of Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines, on Wednesday, November 27
US$32 million. At their peak, the relief efforts involved more than 13,400 U.S. military personnel, 66 aircraft and 12
naval vessels. Two weeks ago, the U.S. scaled down its operation in the Philippines, but the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) continues to provide food and support as the recovery continues. (Excerpt from CNN)
Somali court has sentenced to jail a woman who said she was raped and two journalists who reported her story. The court passed the verdict on Monday in the capital Mogadishu, saying the journalists were guilty of defamation and insulting state institutions. The 19-year old woman, who is also a journalist, was handed a suspended six-month jail sentence for defamation and lying, during which time she will be confined to her home, said Judge Hashi Elmi Nur. The journalists are to serve out their sentences, of
one year and six months respectively, or pay a fine in order to win early release. It is the second time this year Somalia has jailed a woman for speaking out about rape and journalists for interviewing the victim. “The manager of Radio Shabelle, Abdilmalik Yusuf, was found guilty of offending state institutions, and therefore will serve a prison term of one year,” the judge told the court. “Journalist Mohamed Bashir was found guilty of defamation and making false rape accusations, so he is given a six-month jail term.” (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)
Putin tightens grip Egypt’s Brotherhood leader in court on media
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he leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has appeared in court for the first time since his arrest in August. Mohammed Badie was seized along with other Brotherhood figures after the Egyptian army ousted the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July. Hundreds of Morsi’s supporters were killed in clashes following the ousting. Badie, who is the movement’s general guide, denied the Brotherhood had acted violently. He is facing charges of inciting violence and murder over the deaths of eight anti-Brotherhood protesters outside the movement’s headquarters in Cairo.
Mohammed Badie
Badie was in court in Cairo along with other Brotherhood figures. He asked why the death
of his son and the burning down of Brotherhood offices were not being investigated instead.
Badie was a prominent figure at the Brotherhood’s protest camps in Cairo, but went into hiding as the military-backed interim government increased its efforts to shut down the protests. His 38-year-old son Ammar was killed in the protests. In a separate case, Egyptian prosecutors referred the secular activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and 24 others for trial. They are accused of breaking Egypt’s new laws against protests by demonstrating without permission last month. Fattah was prominent in the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak.
(Excerpt from BBC News)
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resident Vladimir Putin tightened his control over Russia’s media on Monday by dissolving the main state news agency and replacing it with an organisation that is to promote Moscow’s image abroad. The move to abolish RIA Novosti and create a news agency to be known as Rossiya Segodnya is the second in two weeks strengthening Putin’s hold on the media as he tries to reassert his authority after protests against his rule. Most Russian media outlets are already loyal to Putin, and opponents get little air time, but the shake-up underlined their importance to Putin keeping power and the Kremlin’s
concern about the president’s ratings and image. The head of the new agency, to be built from the ashes of RIA Novosti, is a conservative news anchor, Dmitry Kiselyov, who once caused outrage by saying the organs of homosexuals should not be used in transplants. “The main focus of... Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) is to highlight abroad the state policy and public life of the Russian Federation,” said a decree signed by Putin. Sergei Ivanov, the head of the presidential administration, told reporters that the changes were intended to save money and improve the state media.
(Excerpt from Reuters)