Over the weekend a UK based Sharon Kazinga was crowned Miss top of the World 2013 at Crystal Club in Latvia.
Sharon Kazinga is the first ever African to win this beauty pageant since its initiation. We had the chance to speak to her; she was a truly lovely, down to earth, and humble person.
Firstly well done Sharon on winning the title Miss top of the World. How does it feel? Sharon: I am still in shock, It hasn’t sunk in properly yet. I honestly never expected it.
You are the first African to win Miss top of the World, would you say this has and will open doors to other Africans? Sharon: Well previously during the competition Miss Nigeria and Miss Sierra Leone dropped out, so by winning this hopefully will encourage more blacks to participate in representing their country next year.
Did you enjoy your time in the competition? Sharon: I was honoured to represent my country and I had an amazing experience, we are not that well known in Africa. When you think of Africa the countries that tend to come into people’s heads are; Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.
Me representing my country means I am able to put them on the map and make history for us.
I Knew Mandela, is a documentary that features interviews with Graca Machel, former wife of Mandela, Winnie Madikazela-Mandela, Zindzi Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Pik Botha.
The documentary takes a look behind the man that is one of the greatest legend of our time by speaking to people that have met and knew him. Watch it and get an insight into the life of Nelson Mandela through the eyes of these people.
A young Nigerian couple has been jailed in the UK for being part of a criminal gang that scam people by stealing their bank data and money. Twenty-two-year-old Aderoju Bammeke and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Jessica Ogunyemi worked with other internet banking scammers that are based in Nigeria. Read the article below as reported by the Daily Mail, UK.
The couple were part of a global internet banking scam which could have netted a phenomenal £19million after hacking the accounts of nearly 2,500 people.
Aderoju Bammeke, 22, and his girlfriend Jessica Ogunyemi, 20, both of Manchester, were the UK ‘platform’ for a Nigerian ‘phishing’ scam that made £41,000 in just two months.
The plot, masterminded by a gang in the West African country, involved sending fake emails to customers of banks including Barclays and Halifax.
The emails told recipients that their accounts had been hacked and asked them to complete a form with their log-in details.
But when victims obliged, Bammeke stepped in and helped the gang log in to steal money.
Fashion marketing student Ogunyemi, his girlfriend at the time, helped him launder the proceeds by putting funds in accounts, hiding cash and allowing him to buy her a £2,400 Vauxhall Corsa.
Bammeke has now been jailed for three-and-a-half years at Manchester Crown Court after admitting conspiracy to commit fraud and unauthorised computer use.
Ogunyemi admitted five counts of money laundering and was given a suspended prison sentence.
Investigators found evidence of the scam on seven devices at Bammeke’s home, which had accessed 181 accounts from his address.
But Barclays found 2,439 customers had been affected and investigators say the true scale of the fraud will never be known.
Bammeke admitted he had been involved in the scam for more than a year. He played a ‘key role’ as England’s ‘platform’ for the scam, the court heard.
He said if the gang had tried to log into accounts from Nigeria it would have triggered the banks’ alarm systems.
Simon Nichol, defending Bammeke, said he felt regret and remorse for his actions.
He said his involvement – which began in an effort to tackle student debt – was ‘sporadic’ and although the scam was large scale with international dimensions, Bammeke’s part was not.
He added: ‘They needed a platform in this jurisdiction and they needed someone to provide that platform. He allowed them to use his computer remotely. He expresses further regret that he got his girlfriend involved in this.’
Michael Lavery, defending Ogunyemi, said she had brought shame on her family, including her train driver father and mother who works for Manchester council.
He said she had been ‘naive’, was predicted to get a first in her degree and was no longer in a relationship with Bammeke.
Bammeke had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiracy to commit fraud and unauthorised computer use while Ogunyemi admitted five counts of money laundering.
Sentencing Bammeke, Judge Recorder Gibson said: ‘This in my opinion was a sophisticated fraud, a clever fraud and a fraud which could very easily have resulted in very much more substantial money being stolen.’
He jailed Ogunyemi for a year, suspended for two years, and ordered her to complete 180 hours’ unpaid work.
After the hearing, Detective Superintendent Janet Hudson of TITAN, the North-West Regional Crime Unit, said: ‘The actions of Bammeke and Ogunyemi caused a great deal of stress and uncertainty to many affected bank customers who had their accounts accessed.
‘As a result of the investigation, no customers were left out of pocket and the offenders were arrested and ultimately sentenced. Internet banking is considered a safe and secure method of banking.
‘However, bank customers need to remain vigilant and aware of the danger posed by fraudsters. Customers should only ever navigate directly to an online bank website and should never click on any link sent to them through an email.
‘Additionally when accessing bank accounts online customers should always be aware of the exact address in order to ensure that they are actually on a legitimate banking website.’
How long do you think you can survive at the bottom of a sea? The 29 years old chef on the Jascon 4, an oil company’s ship; Harrison Okene shows that lasting 3 days underwater, sure can be done!
Due to heavy ocean swells, the boat Okene was on capsized and sank 100 feet into the ocean. The Nigerian man was found and survived 3 days after by breathing a supply of oxygen.
Okene Adds that there were “Three men in front of me and suddenly water rushed in full force… I knew these men were dead.” By the time Okene had been saved, relatives had been given the news that the sailors were dead.
Surviving off one bottle of Coke, Okene did not think he would make it alive. However he kept his faith in God, and believes his rescue is a sign of divine deliverance. “I started calling on the name of God,” Okene told the Nation. “I started reminiscing on the verses I read before I slept. I read the Bible from Psalms 54 to 92. My wife had sent me the verses to read that night when she called me before I went to bed.”
The DCN Driving team, attached Okene to an oxygen mask, put into a decompression chamber and safely returned to the surface.
A three-year-old boy drowned his newborn twin brother and left the other permanently brain damaged as he tried to bathe them while his alcoholic mother slept.
The boy said he wanted to make his siblings ‘nice and clean’ after their mother passed out having drunk four cans of super-strength lager.
The shocking sequence of events emerged in court when the mother – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – was given a one-year suspended prison sentence for neglect.
She had sought refuge at a Merseyside home with her children after escaping a relationship of domestic violence, Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday.
The jury heard she slept in a single bed with her eldest son, with the newborn babies cradled together in a drawer.
The mother, an insomniac, fell asleep in the afternoon after drinking four cans of Special Brew, which is nine per cent alcohol.
The toddler woke up and ran a 10-inch bath of cold water.
The mother found her infant children naked and unconscious, not breathing, when she awoke.
Sentenced: The mother received a one-year jail sentence, suspended for two years at Liverpool Crown Court
Judge Mrs Justice Cox said: ‘The drink certainly played a part in you going to sleep and failing to wake up when the toddler woke up and got out of bed.
‘While you slept the toddler decided to make the twins nice and clean and he put them in the bath.
‘When he woke you up you found both of your babies floating in the bath water. They were cold, naked and they weren’t breathing.’
The mother called police and paramedics, telling a 999 operator that she had found her newborn twins unresponsive.
Both babies were given CPR and were taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in West Derby, Liverpool, where they were put on life support.
Days later, one of the boys died in his father’s arms. His brother, who suffered a cardiac arrest, was left with severe brain damage.
The court heard he is likely to be severely affected by cerebral palsy and will need round-the-clock care for the rest of his life.
David McLaughlin, defending, said the mother will be haunted by what happened forever.
He said: ‘She bears full responsibility – not a day goes by when she doesn’t think about what happened.
‘Every morning she wakes up with a vision of her babies’ faces in the bath, a vision that will haunt her forever-more.’
Tragic: The toddler tried to clean his brothers but one has been left with cerebral palsy
He added: ‘She wants it to be known that she holds herself fully responsible for what occurred and she wants her toddler son to know, if ever that time should arise when he is older, that through her plea of guilty she accepts full responsibility for what occurred and no blame should be laid against him.’
She was handed a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a supervision order after pleading guilty to three counts of neglect.
Mrs Justice Cox revealed this is not the first time the mother has come into contact with social services.
She had previously been warned by health workers of the dangers of drinking while caring for children.
Mrs Justice Cox told her: ‘This was not a case involving positive and deliberate acts of abuse or ill-treatment. I accept you intended no harm.
‘But you chose to drink strong lager that day and its effects were devastating.
‘I have noted you had been advised by health workers as to the risks of alcohol misuse and caring properly for young children.
‘You were responsible for those young children in your care and there was a serious breach of the standards they were entitled to have.’
The judge described the mother as ‘in general terms, a loving and caring mother who understands the duties and responsibility of motherhood’.
She added: ‘Your real punishment will lie in the images that will stay with you, possibly permanently, of what happened that day.’
Originally grown in Ghana and derived from the Shea nut tree, Shea butter has become a growing success around the world. Parts of Shea butter can be found in cosmetic skin preparations; however, Raw Shea butter alone can truly go a long way. Instead of spending huge amounts buying a jar of cosmetic containing 10% (or less) Shea butter, why not buy a kilo of Shea butter and create your own mix? Not only is a kilo of raw Shea butter cheaper, it works more effectively!
The smell alone may be a little off-putting, but if Shea butter is not already a good friend of yours, then I am afraid to say. You really could get lonely.
Here are some reasons why Shea butter rocks: Healing Qualities: Shea butter Heals blemishes and keeps wrinkles at bay and also cures minor burns and tough skin on feet. It also offers sun and wind protection.
Hair benefits: It can be difficult to find a hair product that works well for Afro/Caribbean hair. Shea butter works as a good hair conditioner, and restores lost hair lustre. Shea butter also eliminates irritation in the scalp.
Skin Benefits: Natural skin products tend to benefit the skin in comparison to chemically processed products. Shea butter works as a brilliant skin moisturiser. It evens out the skin tone, offers sun and wind protection, and restores elasticity to the skin.
In addition, Shea butter benefits the skin by curing:
scars
eczema burns
rashes
acne
dry skin
blemishes
dark spots
skin discolorations
Phew! Who would have thought there would be so many benefits in just one small product!?
Nelson Mandela, South African freedom fighter and Former president died yesterday at the age of 95-years old. The news of his death came to everyone as a shock as he was revered by many of today’s politicians as a human rights icon.
But according to a new article by the Huffington Post, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s name was on the US Terrorist Watch List Until 2008 when former President George W. Bush signed a bill to remove the South African hero from it.
Speaking about the then US perception of Nelson Mandela by adding his name to the terrorist watch list, Condoleezza Rice, the US’s former Secretary of State called the restrictions a “rather embarrassing matter that I still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of South Africa, not to mention the great leader Nelson Mandela.”
“He had no place on our government’s terror watch list, and I’m pleased to see this bill finally become law,” then-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said in 2008.
Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) was designated as a terrorist organisation by the then South Africa’s apartheid regime for its fight against the nation’s legalised system of racial segregation that lasted between 1948 and 1994.
Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher also described Mandela’s ANC as a “typical terrorist organisation” in 1987. And she refused to impose sanctions on South Africa’s apartheid regime. Former US President, Ronald Reagan did the same as Thatcher.
In 1986, former Vice President Dick Cheney, then a congressman, voted along with 179 other members of the House against a non-binding resolution to recognise the ANC and call on the South African government to release Mandela from prison. The measure finally passed, but not before a veto attempt by Reagan.
In 2000, Cheney maintained that he’d cast the correct vote.
A sombre South African President Jacob Zuma announced Mandela’s death in a television address. Nelson Mandela, one of the most beloved leaders of the 20th century, died Thursday at the age of 95.
“Our nation has lost his greatest son. Our people have lost a father. Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss,” Zuma said.
“His tireless struggle for freedom earned him the respect of the world. His humility, his compassion and his humanity earned him their love.”
Zuma said he has ordered all flags in South Africa to be lowered to half-mast, where they will remain until after what will be a state funeral.
Swedish scientists have identified a new strain of HIV that appears to progress much faster than most previously identified variations of the virus.
The new strain, known as A3/02, is a recombinant, meaning it is a cross between two previously identified HIV strains. Writing in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, Lund University researchers said that the infection moves from HIV to full-blown AIDS in about five years, nearly two- to two-and-a-half years faster than most previously known strains.
