Tunisian prosecutor demands death penalty for Ben Ali

Former Tunisian President Zine al Abidine Ben Ali

A Tunisian military prosecutor has demanded that the death penalty be imposed in absentia on ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali over his alleged role in the deaths of protesters in the towns where the Arab Spring began.

Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia as protests swept Tunisa on January 14, 2011, has already been sentenced to decades in jail on charges ranging from corruption to torture.

He has not so far been convicted of any charges that carry the death penalty, which is rarely carried out in the North African country.

The state TAP news agency said the prosecutor in the western town of Kef also called for maximum penalties to be imposed on all those charged in connection with the deaths of protesters in the towns of Kasserine, Tala, Kairouan and Tajrouine.

More than 300 people were killed and many more wounded during the uprising that ousted Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring revolts across the region.

Two policemen have so far been sentenced for killing a protester but no senior officials have yet been convicted over the deaths, causing much anger among victims’ families.

Tunisia’s government has faced persistent criticism over its failure to persuade Saudi Arabia to hand over Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi, a former hairdresser whose lavish lifestyle and clique of wealthy relatives had come to be seen by many Tunisians as symbols of Ben Ali’s corrupt rule.

During his 23 years in office, members of Ben Ali’s extended family are believed to have accumulated fortunes, stashing money in foreign accounts, while his security forces arrested anyone who dared to dissent.

Tunisia’s justice minister told Reuters on Tuesday that he believed Ben Ali was still benefiting from the hidden funds.

Defence lawyers at Wednesday’s hearing dismissed calls for the death penalty as having no basis in law, TAP said.

Former interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem is among those facing charges over the deaths.

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World’s Richest Woman: Gina Rinehart, 58, makes £1m every hour

by Chi Ibe

58 years old Gina Rinehart has become the world’s richest woman. What does she do? She’s into mining and earns more than £1m an hour. What does she mine? Iron Ore, a mineral we have a great amount of in Nigeria. What do we do with ours then? Biko, don’t ask.

Rinehart has now pushed Walmart heiress Christy Walton to second place and has taken the title as the world’s wealthiest female, Australian business magazine BRW, reports.

Rinehart’s personal wealth increased last year to £18 billion.

Rinehart, who is described as an intensely private businesswoman, is said to have made her money through Australia’s mining boom providing iron ore and coal to emerging markets such as China and BRW Rich List editor Andrew Heathcote said if the demand for natural resources remains strong, additional multi-billion mines are almost inevitable.

“There is a real possibility that Rinehart will become not just the richest woman in the world but the richest person in the world,” Heathcote said.

However, there is always a price to be paid. Sky News reports that her huge wealth has not made life completely stress free.

Three of Rinehart’s four children – John Hancock, Bianca Rinehart and Hope Welker – launched a lawsuit against their mother last September in a bid to oust her as trustee of the multi-billion-dollar family trust established by her late father Lang Hancock.

But, it’s worthy to note that unlike many wealthy heirs, Rinehart has not just maintained her fortune but multiplied it many times over. The first time she appeared on the rich list was in 1992 after her father’s death, then her net wealth was estimated at $75m aus.

Now she is worth 386 times that amount.

Source: Sky News

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Zimbabwe: Roki Keeps Viewers in Suspense

So far a lot has been said about Zimbabwean housemate Roki whether good or bad it seems the bloke’s strategy of less is more is keeping everyone in suspense. More often than not, viewers think Roki was the right person to represent Zimbabwe

with all his love for women, booze and smoke. Up to now, most viewers don’t seem to understand why he appears to be high all the time.

Big Brother reality show is by its nature a game of suspense and when you have characters like Roki who from time to time promise viewers lots of surprises the last thing you would want is to see him exit Big Brother StarGame.

Call it strategy or lack of it, Roki is fast turning out to be a frontrunner and there is nothing at this point which can stop him from staying the 91-day course and or eventually win the prize money of US$300 000 up for grabs.

But before fans even think about the “moola” as fans call it on the strap line, two notable events happened in the past week.

The first one is the love/hate relationship between Roki and countrywoman Maneta. Big Brother fans would be reminded of the same sort of relationship that existed between former Zimbabwean housemates — Kristal Culverwell and Itai Makumbe.

The two just didn’t get along well and where it mattered most, the Zimbabwean housemates were at odds against each other. However, somehow such kind of relationships didn’t help either of the two and the worst was they got evicted when the going got tough.

Drawing parallels to that, Roki never mind the badboy or macho man tag that he is known for back home, he tried to reach out or was it flirting with Maneta and was rebuffed.

Instead of building an alliance not an affair with Roki, Maneta simply repelled his advances and seemed preoccupied with Roki’s bad reputation as a “baby maker”.

It seemed Maneta never liked the idea of seeing Roki in the Upville house and as he tried to be “nice” to her the more she was irritated. From that time, there was a gap between the two and Roki who has withdrawal tendencies quickly showed Maneta the other side of him which everyone knows — “good boy gone bad”.

And just as well Roki told Maneta how much he hates her after she refused to hug him.

So during this week’s nomination it was hardly surprising that Roki of all the housemates he could nominate he chose Maneta together with Mampi.

“My second nomination is Maneta, Maneta came to Big Brother in combination with her sister.

Now she’s here (Upville), she has joined another combination with Mampi.

“She is fading into Mampi and she might just be used . . . the two of them besides the gossip and all the stuff they’re doing, this show is gonna turn crazy just now and they might not be able to handle it.” Roki told Big Brother.

Roki has on several occasions told viewers to keep glued to the screens let’s see how far he will go but one thing is for sure when he does his thing he brings drama.

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Egyptians back at the polls to pick president

Egypt resumed its first free presidential election on Thursday after a first day of voting that passed off mostly calmly, apart from a stone-throwing attack on candidate Ahmed Shafiq, who was premier for a few days before Hosni Mubarak fell.The race broadly pits Islamist candidates against secular ones like Shafiq and Amr Moussa, the former Arab League chief who previously served as Mubarak’s foreign minister.

Turnout on Wednesday seemed lower than in an earlier parliamentary vote when Islamists swept up most seats. Long queues and a scorching sun deterred some voters and many government workers will have delayed voting to Thursday, when they have a day off.

“I came yesterday and found it very crowded so I came today,” said Khaled Abdou, a 25-year-old engineer. “I must participate in choosing the president and I hope this leads to stability and the change needed.”

More than 100 voters were already queuing at one Cairo voting station when the polls reopened at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT).

The vote is a crucial stage in a turbulent army-led transition racked by protests, violence and political disputes. The generals who took charge when Mubarak was ousted on February 11, 2011, have promised to hand over to the new president by July 1.

Even then the army, with its privileges and vast business interests, is expected to wield influence for years to come. A tussle over who should write the constitution also means the new president will not know his own powers when he is elected.

Whoever wins faces the daunting tasks of mending a broken economy and re-establishing security, both big public concerns.

The Muslim Brotherhood said its candidate, Mohamed Mursi, was ahead after Wednesday’s voting. Moussa’s campaign office also put Mursi in the lead with the former League chief second.

Voters revelled in their new ability to influence a genuinely contested election after decades of rigged votes under Mubarak, a military man like all Egypt’s previous presidents.

“This is the first time that I vote in my entire life. I didn’t take part in past elections because we knew who would be president. This is the first time we don’t know,” said Mohamed Mustafa, a 52-year-old engineer in Cairo’s Zamalek district.

If, as expected, no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round between the top two candidates will be held on June 16 and 17. First-round results may be clear by Saturday, but an official announcement is not due until Tuesday.

After a campaign that gave Egyptians their first U.S.-style presidential TV debate, some voters found themselves waiting with candidates who made a point of not pushing to the front.

Independent Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, 60, was clapped on joining a Cairo queue. Mursi, 60, said after voting in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig that Egyptians would not accept anyone from Mubarak’s “corrupt former regime.”

When Shafiq, 70, arrived to vote in Cairo, protesters hurled shoes and stones at him. “The coward is here. The criminal is here,” they cried. “Down with military rule.” Like Mubarak, Shafiq commanded the air force before joining the cabinet.

The former prime minister, who was appointed days before Mubarak fell and who quit soon afterwards amid protests against him in Tahrir Square, is one of the most divisive candidates.

He appeals to those who want a strongman to restore order, but others see him as embodying everything they want changed.

Moussa, 75, left Mubarak’s cabinet a decade before the uprising. At the Arab League, he built on his popularity with criticism of Israel and U.S. policy in the region. Yet some still brand him a remnant of the old order.

For many of those who cannot stomach Islamists or Mubarak-era ministers, the favourite is leftist Hamdeen Sabahy, 57.

Independent monitors noted minor infringements in Wednesday’s voting, such as campaigning outside polling stations, but said they did not undermine its validity.

Mubarak, 84, is on trial for ordering the killing of protesters and for corruption. A verdict is due on June 2.

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#ThisShouldConcernYou: “INDIAFRICA: A shared future” initiative unveiled in Lagos

by Stanley Azuakola

The thriving relationship between India and Africa received a boost on Wednesday May 23, 2012 when the ‘INDIAFRICA: A Shared Future’ initiative was publicly unveiled in Lagos, Nigeria.

The programme was initiated and is being executed by Theideaworks, a design and strategy firm with headquarters in Delhi, and supported by the Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, and is a three year initiative that was launched in 2011.

At the public unveiling, Gbenga Aliyu, from AIESEC (one of the partners,) said, “The initiative would open new frontiers between India and Nigeria, as well as develop and engage young individuals, giving them the opportunity to explore and learn about the world.”

Other partners of the initiative include the Lagos Business School and EDC.

Udita Das, a Director at Theideaworks explained that the idea is “to reach out to as many young people as possible and to create a platform for youths in India and Africa to compete, co-create and collaborate,” while noting, “Africa and India have a demographic advantage in terms of their sizeable youth population.”

The INDIAFRICA initiative will feature a contest series in the areas of business plans, essay writing, photography, and poster design. The aim of the contest is to help create a platform for talented young Indians and Africans to exchange ideas about emergent realities, successes and challenges, and explore future collaborations in business, design, and culture.

For each contest category, cash prizes of US$1,000 will be awarded to three winners from each of the following regions: Eastern Africa, Western Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Northern Africa, and India.

There is also the Young Visionaries Fellowship programme which will identify promising young entrepreneurs in India and Africa and offer them opportunities for growth and collaboration. The driving vision is to encourage cross-fertilization of ideas, increased future trade, and a better understanding of the challenges, and opportunities of doing business in the two geographies.

Each winning Young Visionary will be awarded a five-day tour of India or Africa (depending on country of origin) that will comprise relevant meetings, seminars and trade shows, as well as platforms to interact with potential contacts for commercial or collaborative purposes. The final short listed participants will be eligible to compete for a financial grant of US$10,000 to develop a collaborative project with India/Africa.

Registration for the initiative is open till July 31, 2012, and more information is available at www.indiafrica.in.

As part of the launch, a campus outreach event will hold at the Multipurpose Hall C, University of Lagos on Thursday, May 24, 2012 by 12.30pm. The event will also feature a live performance by Cornel Ogar and popular Indian rock band Parikrama from 5pm.

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