Having the right skills to make yourself up like a pro, takes a lot of learning and paying attention to details. If you do it well, your make up will come out flawless and you’ll be looking like a diva. But if you do it wrongly, you would wish you never had them on in the first place.
Mandela’s Funeral: ANC Accused Of Pettiness For Exempting Desmond Tutu
One of the most important personalities in South Africa, that played a vital role in ending the apartheid, Retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, was exempted from Nelson Mandela’s funeral that will be taking place on Sunday. The move has been described as a politically motivated snub.
The country’s ruling party, ANC has been accused of pettiness for exempting Desmond Tutu from Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Desmond Tutu was very vocal in the campaign for Mandela’s freedom from prison.
About 5,000 people will be attending the funeral that is scheduled to place on Sunday in Qunu, a village in Eastern Cape province where Mandela grew up. Amongst them are, Prince Charles, Malawian president Joyce Banda and many other dignitaries
“The archbishop is not an accredited clergyperson for the event and will thus not be attending,” Tutu’s daughter Mpho, chief executive of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, said on Friday.
Desmond Tutu has become a strong critic of the ANC and even compared their regime to that of the apartheid era of South Africa.
Asked if that was the reason he was exempted, Holomisa said, “They cannot use that. Mandela and Tutu were like brothers. Mandela had time for Tutu and Tutu had time for Mandela. It doesn’t sound good at all.” Aubrey Matshiqi, a research fellow at the Helen Suzman Foundation, said: “It’s quite sad that he’s not been invited. Is it the family or is it the government? Is it both? Did the family come under pressure not to invite him?
“It’s a very bad decision, given how close they were. In the absence of a convincing explanation, it looks petty.”
ALSO SEE: Nelson Mandela Was On The US Terrorist Watch List Until 2008.
Read the full report from the Guardian
White Christmas? Snow Covers Egypt For First Time In 100 Years
In Cairo, no one ever dreamt of having a white Christmas this year, but it seems like that is what they are going to get. The country was hit with the worst snowstorm in more than 50 years, spreading over the Middle East, as well as overtaking Cairo, Jerusalem and parts of Syria.
For over 100 years, this is the first time that Egypt had seen snow. Pictures of snowballs fights, white landscapes and trees were uploaded to Instagram. However, in areas like Palestine, some were caught off guard.
The United Nations says they are worried about the situation because of the refugees that will be caught in the cold.
According to Al Jazeera, many families will not get support from the UN because the are not registered with the organisation.
Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, was left with no choice, but to temporarily close its doors after its main highway were clogged with snow.
ALSO SEE: Travel: Head Over To Pemba Beach Hotel And Spa In Mozambique.
Youtube Reveals The Most-watched Videos In Nigeria In 2013
Online video streaming giant, YouTube has released a list of Videos, YouTube channels and music video that were the most watched in Nigeria. This list is not about the total views a particular video or channel received but about the ones that were watched by people living in Nigeria.
Below are the lists.
Instagram Introduce New Feature: Instagram Direct
Online photo and video sharing platform, Instagram, has released a new feature known as “Instagram Direct”. According to them, Instagram Direct will allow choose who you want to share your photos and videos with. Read below, how it was announced by the Instagram team.
Today, we’re excited to bring you Instagram Direct, a new way to send photo and video messages to friends.
Over the past three years, the Instagram community has grown to over 150 million people capturing and sharing moments all around the globe. As we’ve grown, Instagram has evolved not only into a community of photographers, but also into a means of visual communication. From a photo of your daily coffee to a sunrise shared from the top of a mountain hike, every Instagram moment contains something you find special—something you broadcast to your followers when you tap “share.”
There are, however, moments in our lives that we want to share, but that will be the most relevant only to a smaller group of people—an inside joke between friends captured on the go, a special family moment or even just one more photo of your new puppy. Instagram Direct helps you share these moments.
From how you capture photos and videos to the way you start conversations through likes and comments, we built Instagram Direct to feel natural to the Instagram experience you already know. When you open Instagram, you’ll now see a new icon in the top right corner of your home feed. Tap it to open your inbox where you’ll see photos and videos that people have sent to you. To send a photo or video to specific people, tap the camera button to enter the same simple photo or video capture and editing screens. At the top of the share screen, you’ll see the option to share with your followers (“Followers”) or to send to specific people (“Direct”). To send using Direct, tap the names of the people you want to send your photo or video to, write your caption, tap “send” and you’re done.
After sending, you’ll be able to find out who’s seen your photo or video, see who’s liked it and watch your recipients commenting in real time as the conversation unfolds.
Photos and videos that you receive from people you follow will appear immediately. If someone you’re not following sends you a photo or video on Instagram, it will go to your requests so you can decide if you want to view it.
Oprah Winfrey Says Her Kids Would Have Hated Her
While Oprah Winfrey undoubtedly has a killer career, the media mogul has made many sacrifices in her personal life, one of those being motherhood.
During a sit-down interview with The Hollywood Reporter (THR) – the 59-year-old star, who received a Screen Actors Guild Award Nomination for her work in Lee Daniels’ The Butler this morning—opened up about her decision to forego having children while admitting she doesn’t regret her choice.
“If I had kids, my kids would hate me,” the former talk show host told THR. “They would have ended up on the equivalent of the Oprah show talking about me; because something [in my life] would have had to suffer and it would’ve probably been them.”
ALSO SEE: Oprah Winfrey Tops Forbes List of Highest Paid Celebrities for the Fourth Year in a Row.
Winfrey also admitted she’s never found the idea of parenthood particularly appealing—even when she was a little girl—and always had different dreams than her peers.
“Gayle [King, Winfrey’s best friend and now a mother of two] was the kind of kid who, in seventh grade Home Ec class, was writing down her name and the names of her children,” she recalled. “While she was having those kind of daydreams, I was having daydreams about how I could be Martin Luther King.”
While Winfrey may not have children of her own, the star of Lee Daniels’ The Butlerdedicates a great deal of time to the students attending the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, the school which she opened in 2007 and to which she has contributed more than $100 million.
Oprah tells THR she begins her day every morning at 7:30 a.m. (no alarm clock needed!) by exchanging emails with the girls.
“I’m responding to everything from ‘I’m feeling lost’ to ‘I need advice about a boy,'” she shared.
The busy OWN boss also makes time to visit the school twice a year, and she most recently opened up her Montecito home for a Thanksgiving dinner with former students who are attending U.S. universities.
So, while Winfrey will openly admit she’s never had babies on her brain; she is still dishing out motherly advice every day.
Culled from E! Online
Travel: Three Places That Will Make You Forget Las Vegas
Las Vegas is a fantastic place to visit, with some awesomely crazy architecture and spectacular destinations outside the city itself. But it’s not the only place on the planet that’s worth considering if you’re planning a casino holiday.
We’ve picked three superb cities on three different continents to inspire your next trip – any one of them is more than a match for Vegas, and all of them are sure to raise eyebrows when you tell people where you went…
Macau
Look at the money flowing in and out of Macau’s casinos, and you’ll realise it’s a worthy competitor for Vegas. The city’s 33 gaming houses turn over around five times as much money as Nevada’s Sin City. Macau started booming only a decade ago when new companies were encouraged into the market, and today its amazing atmosphere crackles with excitement.
ALSO SEE: Places And Things To Do In London During Your Next Visit.
Baccarat is the most popular table game here, but there’s no shortage of opportunities to play hold ‘em and blackjack, or roulette if you prefer. Some of the finest casinos include the Venetian (which dwarfs the Vegas Venetian), and Macau’s original casino, the Lisboa.
Monte Carlo
One for the high rollers now! You need to know two things about Monte Carlo; firstly, there’s really only one place to go to gamble, and that’s the world-famous Monte Carlo Casino. Secondly, you’ll need to bring either a suitcase full of Euros or a wallet full of credit cards.
The tiny city-state is full of smartly-dressed, achingly wealthy folk from all over the world, many of whom will have arrived by yacht or helicopter. The casino itself is as stylish and elegant as casinos get – in many ways the place is the opposite of Vegas. Bizarrely, citizens of Monaco are forbidden from gambling here!
If you’re planning a trip, it’d be wise to practice your skills online beforehand at a site like the Gaming Club casino – it’s possible to win (and lose) an awful lot of money in Monte Carlo so you’ll want to be on top form!
Sun City
Finally, a resort that was famous in days gone by as a symbol of apartheid South Africa. In 1985 a supergroup including Bobby Womack and Jimmy Cliff recorded a hit song designed to persuade other acts not to play at the venue.
These days Sun City is a fantastic vacation spot with plenty to interest the gambler. The Sun City Hotel casino caters to all comers with table games and an array of slots. The Salon Privé offers higher stakes facilities for the steely of nerve. The range of activities is huge, including Big Five safaris and two excellent golf courses. It’s a whole different experience from the Strip in Vegas, and the Palace Of The Lost City Hotel is world-class.
ALSO READ: Head Over To Pemba Beach Hotel And Spa In Mozambique.
(Images courtesy of phillip.greenspun.com, chinatravel.net, freehdw.com, crickettravel.com.au)
By Simon Fitzpatrick 12.13.13
South2North Celebrates Nelson Mandela
This Friday on Al Jazeera’s global talk show South2North, Redi Tlhabi will celebrate the life of Nobel Prize laureate and former South African president Nelson Mandela.
“With South Africa in mourning, this edition of South2North is dedicated to the memory of South Africa’s first democratically elected leader, Nelson Mandela,” says Redi, who hosts South2North from Johannesburg. “Those who’ve been in Nelson Mandela’s presence can testify that he had a magnetic personality and today we are feeling this loss profoundly. Madiba lived a deep and meaningful life, a life filled with loss, love, defeat and outstanding triumph. Film directors from all over the world have captured aspects of his life in their work. Some of them were privileged to have precious moments with him. We’ve asked three filmmakers to select some of their best footage about Mandela and share that with us as we celebrate his legacy.”
Redi is joined in studio by filmmakers Angus Gibson, Khalo Matabane and Xoliswa Sithole, who have all made documentaries on Mandela.
Angus Gibson co-directed the Oscar-nominated Mandela: Son of Africa, made just before Madiba became president.
On South2North, he shares clips of Madiba reflecting on his initiation as a 16-year-old; of Madiba remembering how his first teacher gave him his ‘Christian name’ of Nelson and how his mother called him Nelisile, because she couldn’t pronounce his ‘white name’ properly; of Mandela explaining why he refused to wear a bowtie to his inauguration; and of Winnie Madikizele-Mandela talking about her first date with her future husband.
Xoliswa Sithole got her break in the film industry playing Zinzi Mandela in 1987’s Emmy-nominated Mandela. A BAFTA and Peabody Award winning filmmaker, Xoliswa produced the documentary Projek Mandela in 2009. The gripping political thriller looks at the 13-year period from 1977 to 1990 and how the apartheid government agonized over the release of Nelson Mandela.
On South2North, she shares some of the surprises from her research: like the contents of the Apartheid government’s secret file on Mandela and the role the German government played in pressuring the Apartheid government to keep Mandela alive in prison.
Speaking about her conversations with Apartheid spies during the making of her film, she says, “In spite of the fact that they were working for the Nationalist government and were there to promote Apartheid, all of them say he [Mandela] was a decent human being. That is what he represents to me. He has the ability to see the God in everybody.”
She also shares her own experience of meeting Mandela and having him flirt charmingly with her.
Khalo Matabane directed A Letter to Mandela, which won the Special Jury Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in November 2103. In A Letter to Mandela, Khalo interviews the likes of Wole Soyinka, the Dalai Lama and George Bizos to understand the influence of Mandela’s philosophies on people all over the world.
“Whenever I travelled, people used to say to me, ‘If only we had Nelson Mandela in our country, our lives would be different,’ says Khalo. “I wanted to understand what is it about this figure that everyone gravitates towards him.”
Khalo speaks about filming Nelson Mandela Squatter Camp. “What do you do when they name a shantytown after you? As tragic as Nelson Mandela’s death is, it [may] actually liberate the country in terms of discussing critical issues they never spoke about.”
The episode ends with a clip of Mandela talking about his own death in Mandela: Son of Africa. “Death is something inevitable,” he says. ”When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is therefore why I will sleep for the eternity.”
Rest in peace, Madiba.
Do Not Join Issues With Chief Obasanjo Over His Leaked Letter: President Jonathan
This morning, Premium Times reported that it had access to an 18-page-letter that written by the former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and addressed to President Ebele Goodluck Jonathan. In the latter, Obasanjo accused Jonathan of ineptitude and taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria.
Now, the presidency has made a reply to the letter in which it called it “self-serving, hypocritical, malicious, indecent, and very disrespectful of the highest office in the land.” Do not join issues with Chief Obasanjo over the alleged leaked letter, President Goodluck is said to have advised his aides and other government officials.
Read below, the presesidency’s response by the special adviser to the President Reuben Abati.
We have noted the publication on several websites today of a letter recently written by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
The Presidency acknowledges that it has indeed received the said letter from Chief Obasanjo. We however find it highly unbecoming, mischievous and provocative that a letter written by a former Head of State and respected elder statesman to President Jonathan has been deliberately leaked to the mass media in a deplorable effort to impugn the integrity of the President and denigrate his commitment to giving Nigeria the best possible leadership.
While many patriotic, objective and well-meaning Nigerians have already condemned the leaked letter as self-serving, hypocritical, malicious, indecent, and very disrespectful of the highest office in the land, President Jonathan has directed that none of his aides or any government official should join issues with Chief Obasanjo over it.
The President himself will, at the appropriate time, offer a full personal response to the most reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous charges levied against him and his administration by the former Head of State.
Reuben Abati Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity)
You’ve Betrayed God And Nigerians: Olusegun Obasanjo To President Goodluck Jonathan
According to a report by Premium Times, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly wrote an 18 page-letter to the country’s incumbent Head of States, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. In the letter, the former president is said to have accused President Goodluck Jonathan of “ineptitude and of taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria.” He also said Jonathan has ‘betrayed God and Nigerians,‘ for not keeping to his promise of staying as the country’s president for only one term.
To read the full letter, follow this link. Or read the excerpts of the 18-page-letter as published by Premium Times.
Nigeria is bleeding and the hemorrhage must be stopped.
He said Mr. Jonathan has failed to deliver on his promises to the Nigerian people, stem corruption, promote national unity and strengthen national security.
He said in the letter titled “Before it is too late” that rather than take steps to advance Nigeria’s interest and up the standards of living of Nigerians, Mr. Jonathan had betrayed God and the Nigerian people that brought him to power, and has been pursuing selfish personal and political interests based on advice he receives from “self-centred aides”.
In the detailed letter, dripping of anger, frustration and what appears a genuine concern to rescue a nation on the brink, Mr. Obasanjo lamented that Mr. Jonathan had become terribly divisive and clannish, destroying his own party, polarizing the country along regional and religious lines and ridiculing Nigeria in the comity of nations.
Without mincing words, Mr. Obasanjo blamed Mr. Jonathan for the crises tearing the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, apart.
He said apart from using party chairman Bamanga Tukur to cause multiple crises and divide the ranks of the party, the president’s failure to keep a promise he made not to seek a second term is also generating tension within the ruling party.
“It would be unfair to continue to level full blames on the Chairman (Tukur) for all that goes wrong with the party,” Mr. Obasanjo said. “The chairman is playing the tune dictated by the paymaster (Jonathan). But the paymaster is acting for a definitive purpose for which deceit and deception seem to be the major ingredients.”
“Up till two months ago, Mr. President, you told me that you have not told anybody that you would contest in 2015. I quickly pointed out to you that the signs and the measures on the ground do not tally with your statement. You said the same to one other person who shared his observation with me. And only a fool would believe that statement you made to me judging by what is going on. I must say it is not ingenious. You may wish to pursue a more credible and more honorable path.”
The former President said Mr. Jonathan told him before the 2011 election he would not seek a second term, and made the same promise to governors, party stakeholders and Nigerians.
The president’s refusal to keep that promise cast him as a man without honour, Mr. Obasanjo said.
Saying it would be “fatally morally flawed” for Mr. Jonathan to contest in 2015, Mr. Obasanjo added, “As a leader, two things you must cherish and hold dear among others are trust and honour both of which are important ingredients of character. I will want to see anyone in the Office of the Presidency of Nigeria as a man or woman who can be trusted, a person of honour in his words and character.”
Mr. Obasanjo also accused Mr. Jonathan of anti-party conducts – supporting opposition parties’ candidates in governorship elections in Lagos, Ondo, Edo and Anambra states at the detriment of PDP’s own candidates –, and of pitting party members against one another.
Saying the President had failed to address the underlying causes of the Boko Haram menace, Mr. Obasanjo urged Mr. Jonathan to adopt a carrot and stick approach in dealing with the insurgency explaining that “conventional military actions based on standard phases of military operations alone will not permanently and effectively deal with the issue of Boko Haram”.
Mr. Obasanjo also tackled Mr. Jonathan for allegedly being clannish. “For you to allow yourself to be “possessed”, so to say, to the exclusion of most of the rest of Nigerians as an “Ijaw man” is a mistake that should never have been allowed to happen. Yes, you have to be born in one part of Nigeria to be Nigerian if not naturalized but the Nigerian President must be above ethnic factionalism. And those who prop you up as of, and for ‘Ijaw nation’ are not your friends genuinely, not friends of Nigeria nor friends of “Ijaw nation” they tout about.
“To allow or tacitly encourage people of “Ijaw nation” to throw insults on other Nigerians from other parts of the country and threaten fire and brimstone to protect your interest as an Ijaw man is myopic and your not openly quieting them is even more unfortunate.
Two Ijaw men, ex-militant Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, and a former federal commissioner for information, Edwin Clark, who carries himself around as the political godfather of the president, are known to talk down on people opposed to the president.
Mr. Obasanjo also accused Mr. Jonathan of placing over 1000 Nigerians on political watch list and “training snipers and other armed personnel secretly and clandestinely acquiring weapons to match for political purposes like Abacha and training them where Abacha trained his killers”.
He wondered why the Presidency was providing assistance for a murderer to evade justice.
“Presidential assistance for a murderer to evade justice and presidential delegation to welcome him home can only be in bad taste generally but particularly to the family of his victim,” Mr. Obasanjo said. “Assisting criminals to evade justice cannot be part of the job of the presidency. Or, as it is viewed in some quarters, is he being recruited to do for you what he had done for Abacha in the past? Hopefully, he should have learned his lesson. Let us continue to watch.”
Mr. Obasanjo did not mention the name of the murderer he accused the President of protecting but he seems to be referring to Hamza Al-Mustapha, a former security aide to late Head of State,General Sani Abacha, who is facing trial for allegedly masterminding the killing of Kudirat Abiola, the wife of Moshood Abiola, the winner of the annulled 1993 presidential election.
Mr. Al-Mustapha was freed by the appeal court in July but the Lagos state government has since appealed the judgment at the Supreme Court.
The former President also called on the National Assembly to rise up and take decisive action over the recent allegation in the country that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation failed to remit billions of dollars in proceeds of crude oil sales to the federation account.
“This allegation will not fly away by non-action, cover-up, denial or bribing possible investigators,” Mr. Obasanjo told the President. “Please deal with this allegation transparently and let the truth be known.”
“The dramatis personae in this allegation and who they are working for will one day be public knowledge. Those who know are watching if the National Assembly will not be accomplice in the heinous crime and naked grand corruption. May God grant you the grace for at least one effective corrective action against high corruption which seems to stink all around you in your government.”
Mr. Obasanjo said he wrote the letter in the national interest, saying nothing, at this stage of his life, would prevent him from standing up for whatever he considers to be in the best interest of Nigeria, Africa and the world.
He said he was ready for whatever backlash his letter would provoke from the presidency.
“Knowing what happens around you most of which you know of and condone or deny, this letter will proke cacophony from hired and unhired attackers but I will maintain my serenity because by this letter, I have done my duty to you as I have always done, to your government, to the party, PDP, and to our country, Nigeria…,” Mr. Obasanjo said.
“I have passed the stage of being flattered, intimidated, threatened, frightened, induced or bought… Death is the end of all human beings and may it come when God wills it to come.”