gsh july 2013
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Africa Diaspora's comprehensive news and insightful publication.TRANSCRIPT
Business bosses pressure House to pass immigration bill P13
June - July 15, 2013 (347) 509-0778 / (678) 914-6701
New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, DC; Columbus OH... FREEInside The First Weeks With
Prince George P7
Ancestry: Vanessa Williams’
DNA traced to Ghana, other
African countries besides
European ancestry. P14
Obama Plans to ‘Power Africa’with a $7bn power initiative
Ghana’s Supreme Court preparesto deliver Historic Verdict P7
Africans AmericansDemandRight tolive inAfrica
P11Juror B39 says Zimmerman Verdict P10
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hina has been investingheavily in Africa and not tobe left behind, PresidentObama announced a huge
new initiative, Power Africa.
The goal is to bring 10 gigawatts (GW) of elec-tricity to sub-Saharan Africa, bringing energyto 20 million households and businesses forthe first time. Over the next five years, itwould double the people who have access toenergy. The US is chipping in $7 billion andseven companies that stand to benefit are in-vesting an initial $9 billion.
Energy resources cover the gamut - develop-ing oil and gas reserves, hydro and wind, solarand geothermal - both on- and off-grid - aswell as building out transmission infrastruc-ture.
It will initially focus on Ethiopia, Ghana,Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Tanzania, andwill partner with Uganda and Mozambique on"responsible" oil and gas resources manage-ment.
More than two-thirds of people living in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity, risingto 85% in rural areas. It will cost more than$300 billion to reach universal access by2030, the International Energy Agency says.
"Our primary interest when it comes to work-ing with Africa on energy issues has to do withhow do we power Africa so that it can be an ef-fective market creating jobs and opportunity,"Obama said at a news conference in SouthAfrica, Reuters reports. "We also then have
somebody to trade with and sell iPods to, andairplanes, and all kinds of good stuff."
Barack Obama Africa July 2013
Much of the support provided by the US gov-ernment will be in the form of export creditsand insurance.
The US effort is dwarfed by Chinese moneythat is flooding into the continent for energydevelopment. In March, Chinese President XiJinping offered $20 billion in loans to “helpAfrican countries turn resource endowmentinto development strength." US government support includes policy andregulatory best practices, pre-feasibility sup-
port and capacity building, long-term financ-ing, insurance, guarantees, credit enhance-ments and technical assistance.
It breaks down like this:
US Agency for International Development(USAID): $285 million in technical assistance,grants and risk mitigation
Overseas Private Investment Corporation(OPIC): up to $1.5 billion in financing and in-surance to energy projects
U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im): up to $5billion to support US exports that developpower projects
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC):
up to $1 billion for African power systems.OPIC and US Trade and Development
Agency (USTDA): up to $20 million in projectpreparation, feasibility and technical assis-tance grants to develop renewable energyprojects
U.S. African Development Foundation(USADF): $2 million Off-Grid Energy Chal-lenge will provide grants of up to $100,000 toAfrican-owned and operated enterprises todevelop or expand the use of proven technolo-gies for off-grid electricity benefitting ruraland marginal populations.
Private sector commitments are:
General Electric will help bring 5 GW of ca-pacity online in Tanzania and Ghana
Heirs Holdings will invest and finance $2.5billion for 2 GW of energy development
Symbion Power will catalyze $1.8 billion ininvestments for 1.5 GW of energy projects
Aldwych International will develop 400MW of wind power in Kenya and Tanzania –the first large-scale wind projects in each ofthese countries, for an investment of $1.1 bil-lion
Harith General Partners commits $70 mil-lion for wind energy in Kenya and $500 mil-lion across Africa via a new fund.
Husk Power Systems will install 200 decen-tralized biomass-based mini power plants inTanzania, providing affordable lighting for60,000 households
African Finance Corporation will invest$250 million in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria,catalyzing $1 billion in investment.
--The White House
Obama Unveils Massive Power Africa Initiative
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commodities boom, abundantforeign currency reserves, ademocratically elected govern-ment and a new generation ofeducated young people en-
dowed with huge potential. Sounds famil-iar? I am actually describing the Ghana of1957.
It is perhaps hard for young people today toimagine how optimistic my generation wasat the time of independence. Ours was oneof the richest countries in Africa.
Like today, our raw materials were in highdemand. Our national income was compa-rable to South Korea’s, and our prospectswere among the best in what was thencalled the “under-developed world.”
Yet, 30 years later, South Korea's annual in-come per head had risen to 10 times that ofGhana’s. It eventually joined the OECD clubof rich nations while we hope to become a“middle-income” country only by 2015. Ourearly hopes were dashed by exclusionarypolitics, poor economic management andcorruption, which created and perpetuatedpolitical instability.
Since then, we have steadily regained losteconomic ground and become a stabledemocracy, organising a series of credible
elections, leading to peaceful transfers ofpower. We can be proud of these achieve-ments. Once again, Ghana’s youth is full ofhope in the future.
With oil coming on stream, and strong ex-ports of other commodities, our economy isgrowing at a vigorous eight per cent, and wehave a second chance to raise Ghana intothe world’s premier league within a genera-tion.
But for this upbeat scenario to come truethis time, we must not score own-goals”.We have to invest the revenues from ournatural resources and agriculture intohealth, education and infrastructure for thebenefit of all Ghanaians. We must make themost of our second chance, for we do notknow whether there will be a third.
It is against this backdrop that Ghanaawaits the momentous ruling of theSupreme Court on last December’s presi-dential election. The court has already wonplaudits for its rigorous and professionalwork over the past months. The very uncer-tainty of the outcome speaks to the inde-pendence and credibility of the court. Whatmatters most is that its ruling be based on athorough and fair examination of all thefacts, leading to an impartial adjudicationof the competing claims before the court.
The ball will soon be back in the politicians’court. The successful party must overcomethe temptation to gloat, and the other sidemust avoid the urge to cast doubt on thecourt and its decision. Succumbing to eitherimpulse would be reckless and unworthy ofresponsible democratic leaders, and indeedof the people of Ghana, whose prospects de-pend on continued political stability.
Kofi Annan
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Ghana's second chance - Annan
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WORLD NEWS
Obama and Congress square off overNSA authority amendment in defense bill
he White Houseis raising thealarm over a con-gressional effortto terminate the
government's authority tocollect phone records of mil-lions of Americans in anamendment attached to a$598.3 million defensespending bill.
The proposition to end theNational Security Agency'sauthority under the USA Pa-triot Act would prevent thesecretive surveillance agency fromcollecting records unless an individualis under investigation, and has ex-posed sharp divisions among mem-bers of Congress.
"We oppose the current effort in theHouse to hastily dismantle one of ourIntelligence Community's counterter-rorism tools," White Housespokesman Jay Carney said in a late-night statement. "This blunt approachis not the product of an informed,open or deliberative process."
Additionally, in an unusual, last-
minute lobbying move, the adminis-tration dispatched Gen. Keith Alexan-der, head of the NSA, to Capitol Hillto urge lawmakers to oppose theamendment in separate, closed-doorsessions with Republicans and De-mocrats.
Carney said President Obama is stillopen to addressing privacy concernsin the wake of documents leaked lastmonth by former NSA systems analystEdward Snowden that revealed thatthe vast nature of the agency's phoneand Internet surveillance. But he saidObama wants an approach that prop-erly weighs what intelligence tools
best keep Americasafe.In another signthe White Housewas treating themeasure with se-rious concern, itsrebuke came di-rectly from thepress secretary,rather than themore routine no-tices fromObama's budgetoffice the WhiteHouse normally
uses to weigh in on pending legisla-tion.
The proposal offered by Rep. JustinAmash, R-Mich., dovetails with an-other amendment to the defense billto cut off funds for the NSA. TheHouse is likely to vote on the amend-ments Wednesday.
The fierce debate over privacy and na-tional security has divided Congress,transcending the partisan lines thattypically characterize legislative fights
BBRRIIEEFF NNEEWWSSPope Francis' visits Latin America
RIO DE JANEIRO(AP) — Pope Francislands in a Brazil elec-tric with anticipationfor the pontiff's firstinternational trip,heading into the openarms of his home con-tinent where mam-moth crowds areexpected to celebrateMass on Rio's Copaca-bana beach.
ALEPPO, Syria - TheSyrian military hasstepped up its campaign to drive rebels out of Aleppo, where fighters said they were holding firm, vowing to turn the country's largest city into the“regime's grave".- - - -NEW DELHI - Grid failure hit India for a second day, cuttingpower to hundreds of millions of people in the populous northernand eastern states including the capital Delhi and major cities suchas Kolkata.- - - -TOKYO - Japan on Tuesday flagged the Chinese army's growing role in shaping the country's foreign policy as a security risk, saying a sense of caution exists across East Asia about Beijing's ap-parent military expansion in the region.- - - -LONDON - All eyes will be on the swimming pool later whenMichael Phelps could make history by becoming the most deco-rated Olympian of all time and the first man to win the same eventon three occasions.- - - -SEOUL - A United Nations team will visit North Korea y to assessdamage from recent floods with a view to developing an aid plan, aU.N. official said, although the North's new leadership is yet tomake any detailed response to the disaster.- - - -WASHINGTON - Republican Mitt Romney's campaign tried tokeep the domestic political focus on the U.S. economy and jobs on Monday, although the effort was overshadowed by more contro-versy from a foreign trip after he made remarks that upset Pales-tinians.- - - -CENTENNIAL - The former graduate student accused of opening fire at a midnight screening of the new “Batman" film in Colorado,killing 12 people, was charged with 24 counts of first-degree mur-der, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.- - - -MOSCOW - Three members of a Russian female punk band wenton trial on Monday, facing up to seven years in jail for protesting against Vladimir Putin inside a Moscow cathedral, a prosecutionthey said was aimed at spreading fear and silencing dissent.- - - -SANAA - Fighting broke out in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on between government forces and tribesmen loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh trying to storm the Interior Ministryto demand jobs, a ministry source said.- - - -KHARKIV, Ukraine - A Ukrainian court resumed a tax evasion case against jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, but thenpostponed the hearing for two weeks after a wrangle over whethershe could take part in proceedings by video-link from her hospitalbed.
--Reuters
Pope Francis visits Brazil
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Obama Ends Africa Trip, VoicesConfidence in Future DAR ES SALAAM — U.S. PresidentBarack Obama ended his Africa tripTuesday, voicing confidence inAfrica's future with help from a newU.S. model for development assis-tance.
President Barack Obama and formerPresident George W. Bush (R) attenda memorial for the victims of the 1998U.S. Embassy bombing in Dar esSalaam, July 2, 2013.
In Tanzania, Obama and former U.S.president George W. Bush marked the1998 al-Qaida terrorist bombing. Co-ordinated truck bomb attacks on theU.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, andNairobi, Kenya on August 7, 1998 left224 people dead.
Just over three years later, al-Qaidaattacked the United States directly onhome soil on September 11, 2001.
In a brief ceremony at the new em-bassy building that opened in 2003,Obama and former president Bushlaid a wreath at the memorial to thosekilled in the attacks.
With five family members of victimsand those who survived the attack
nearby, they walked side by side to thememorial, and bowed their heads fora moment of silence.
Obama's Africa trip has been focusedprimarily on enhancing trade and in-vestment in the continent, based on anew model of aid, public-private part-nerships with African governmentsand reforms.
But security threats faced by Africannations, and the U.S. role in helping tocounter extremist groups, were on theagenda in his discussions from Sene-gal to South Africa and Tanzania.
In South Africa, Obama spoke of whathe called the “senseless terrorism thatall too often perverts the meaning ofIslam - one of the world’s great reli-
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The Obamas return from Africa trip
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AFRICA NEWS
he climax of the on-going electionpetition hearing filed by the NewPatriotic Party (NPP) begins todayas the nine distinguished panel ofjudges begin to analyse the various
addresses filed by the parties in the case, asthey prepare to give the much-awaited judge-ment
According to many observers and politicalwatchers, regardless of where the pendulumswings, the judgement will certainly serve as aspringboard for more refined electoral re-forms in the future.
For the next two weeks, the eyes of the worldwill be on Ghana; the charge will be whetherGhana, which is widely regarded as the beaconof hope in Africa, will once again come out vic-torious in the somewhat tricky and dicey wa-ters, particularly in the face of recklesscomments being spewed by some political afi-cionados if the outcome does not go their way.
Ghana has survived several election-relatedtests since the beginning of the fourth Repub-lic, even with the slimmest of margins in2008. But the election petition hearing pres-ents a major test for this country in view of itsunprecedented nature - the first time the legit-
imacy of a sitting president isbeing challenged at the lawcourts thereby making thestakes so high.
Mandate of the Court inthis case
The revered judges will take afinal decision based on two is-sues.
Firstly, the Supreme Courtwill seek to find out whetheror not there were statutory vi-olations, omissions, irregular-ities and malpractices in theconduct of the elections heldon December 7 and 8, 2012.
Secondly, it will then to seek to find outwhether or not the said violations, omissions,irregularities and malpractices (if any) af-fected the outcome of the results of the 2012election results, which was won by PresidentJohn Mahama according to the calculations ofthe Electoral Commission (EC), which is thethird respondent in the case.
Security concerns
The major concern in this case is whether thejudgement will have a wider acceptability or adisgruntled party to the suit could reject theoutcome if the judgement does not favour it.This major concern appears to have min-imised a bit following the jailing of some per-sons, whose utterances were deemed to becontemptuous.
There is still more to do these “last days” ac-
cording to many observers, hence the securityinitiatives by the police, the Peace Council,Civil Society Groups and the political partiesthemselves to educate the populace to acceptthe outcome of the judgement is quite laud-able.
The security services led by the Ghana Policeare leaving nothing to chance. The new policeunit will obviously play a crucial role inquelling any kind of insurgency which mightarise after the judgement. --GNA
Ghana At Crossroads As SupremeCourt Gets Set for Judgement
NDC/NPP must acceptSupreme Court verdict – IEAThe Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)on Friday urged all political parties toaccept the verdict of the Supreme Court(SC) in the on-going Presidential Elec-tion Petition case.
A statement by the IEA issued on Fri-day and signed by Mrs Jean Mensa, Ex-ecutive Director and copied to theGhana News Agency said the party theruling would favour should refrainfrom victory celebrations, provocationsand taunting of the other party.
“The leadership of the political partiesmust meet and jointly call on their rankand file to also accept the SC ruling.
“The Youth Wings and foot-soldiers ofthe political parties must not allowthemselves to be used as agents to fo-ment conflict and violence after the SCruling,” the statement said.
The IEA statement was issued at theend of a roundtable conference involv-ing representatives of political partiesincluding the National DemocraticCongress, New Patriotic Party, Conven-tion Peoples Party, as well as civil soci-ety groups, the academia, amongothers.
The roundtable was organised by theIEA, under the Ghana Political PartiesProgramme on the theme: “Post-elec-
toral disputes resolution: Fosteringpeace, national cohesion and reconcili-ation after the SC ruling”.
The statement also urged the ElectoralCommission and the political parties touse the Inter-Party Advisory Commit-tee platform to amend fronts, iron dif-ferences and rebuild trust after the SCruling.
It called on the Security Agencies to beprepared to secure Ghana’s safety andto assert their authority and maintainpeace, law and order after the Court’sruling without fear or favour.
It said the mediamust ensure that theymaintain absoluteimpartiality andavoid provocativediscussions thatcould inflame pas-sions.
The statement saidthe media must insti-tute peace and recon-ciliation campaignsand continue to advo-cate and appeal topolitical parties toban all kinds of vic-tory parade or cele--brations even before
the SC gives its ruling.
“All election stakeholders should collec-tively demand and submit proposals forvery thorough reform of the architec-ture of Ghana’s electoral governancebased on the issues raised in the elec-tion petition.
”The National Peace Council and Tradi-tional Authorities must begin to under-take interventions to calm nerves andinvoke their status to impress upon thecitizens to behave responsibly after theCourt’s ruling,” the statement con-cluded.
Source: Ghana | gna
Countdown
August 29, 2013
Ghana's secondchance - Annan
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I am confident that the election dispute can be resolved peace-fully through our institutions - provided the main parties re-spect the findings of the Court. Such an outcome will not onlyburnish our democratic credentials, but also bolster the hopesof a nation for a brighter, more prosperous tomorrow.
As the chairman of the African Union panel that mediated asettlement to the post-election violence in 2007/2008, I wasimpressed by how responsibly Kenyans handled the uncertain-ties that came out of their last elections in March. The politicalparties were at pains to discourage violence by their support-ers.
Elections are a means of regulating political rivalries in thebroader interest of the nation. As the Global Commission onElections, Democracy and Security highlighted in its 2012 re-port, the importance of elections with integrity lies in the legit-imacy they confer on the winners and the security they ensurefor the losers. Democracy is not about winner-takes-all poli-tics; it is about the winner serving all his or her people andshoring up the rule of law.
The winner has to be given a chance to lead, and the losershave to find their rightful place in opposition, keeping the gov-ernment in check and preparing rival policies to present to theelectorate the next time round.
In 1957, Kwame Nkrumah said, “We are prepared to pick it(Ghana) up and make it a nation that will be respected by everynation in the world.” Let us live up to Kwame Nkrumah’s aspi-rations today and show the world what we are capable of.
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Nana Akufo-Addo President John Mahama
Italian senator says black minister has
'features of orangutan'oberto Calderoli is condemnedafter speech in which he also saidCécile Kyenge should work asminister 'in her country'
Lizzy Davies in RomeThe Guardian,
Cécile Kyenge, whohas faced repeatedracial slurs since be-coming minister forintegration in April.Photograph: TizianoBrodolini/BarcroftMed
The Italian primeminister, EnricoLetta, has con-demned as unaccept-able comments madeby a senior rightwing senator in which hesuggested the country's first black govern-ment minister had "the features of anorangutan".
Cécile Kyenge, an eye surgeon who wasborn in the Democratic Republic of theCongo but has Italian citizenship, has facedrepeated racial slurs and threats since beingappointed minister for integration by Letta
in April.
She was once again on the receiving end ofgrossly offensive comments on Saturday
when RobertoCalderoli, a for-mer ministerunder SilvioBerlusconi andsenate vice-president of theNorthernLeague, told arally in thenorthern townof Trevigliothat Kyengewould be betteroff working as aminister "inher country".
According to theCorriere della Sera, which reported theevent, he added: "I love animals – bearsand wolves, as is known – but when I seethe pictures of Kyenge I cannot but think ofthe features of an orangutan, even if I'm notsaying she is one."
The remark provoked horror from the restof the Italian political class, especially in
Mohammed Morsi: Family Accuses Egypt’s Military of Abduction
he family of the ousted Egypt-ian President MohammedMorsi has accused the army ofabducting him.
Morsi’s daughter Shaimaa told a newsconference in Cairo that the family is tak-ing legal measures to defend her fatheragainst Egypt’s military.
The Egyptian military ousted Morsi, thenation’s first freely elected president, onJuly 3. The military suspended the con-stitution and installed an interim govern-ment, insisting it was responding to themillions of Egyptians who had opposedMorsi’s Islamist agenda, as well as his connec-tion with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Morsi has been held at an undisclosed locationwithout charge since he was removed from of-fice.
According to the BBC:
“The statement from Mr. Morsi’s family – thefirst since he was deposed from office – said itheld the military responsible for the formerleader’s ‘safety and security.’
“‘We are taking local and international legalmeasures against Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the
leader of the bloody military coup, and hisputschist group,’ Shaimaa Morsi told reporters.“The family was appealing to the InternationalCriminal Court to launch an investigation intothe events leading up to his removal frompower, she said.
“One of Mr. Morsi’s sons, Osama, said: ‘What isgoing on is a violation of human rights and ascandal in every sense of the word.’
“He described the manner in which the militarywere holding Mr. Morsi as an ‘abduction.’”
As it relates to his abduction, European diplo-mats and several other world leaders havejoined the called for the release of Morsi.
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Cécile Kyenge
igerians who live in areas targetedby Islamist insurgents Boko Harammust be observant and vigilantabout happenings around them,
said a bishop in an area hit by recent bomb-ings.
Bishop John Namaza Niyiring of Kano, innorthern Nigeria, said that citizens might no-tice unattended packages and should report
them to police before bombs are detonated.He spoke two days after a series of blasts killedat least 12 people in Sabon Gari, a region pri-marily inhabited by people from southernNigeria. Unofficial reports put the death toll at
more than 20. He also said one of the threeblasts occurred near a Catholic parish at theend of a prayer meeting. Several people werekilled and others remained hospitalised, hesaid.
“The people have also relaxed nowadays” asopposed to several months ago, after BokoHaram insurgents bombed Sabon Gari andkilled several passengers in a luxury bus that
was scheduled to travel toeastern Nigeria.
The bishop told AmericanCatholic News Service thatthe diocese has continuedto increase security aroundthe parishes. He saidyoung people had beentrained in how to identifysuspicious characters andcall police.
In May, the Nigerian gov-ernment declared a state ofemergency to fight BokoHaram, a sect that wantsto impose strict Islamiclaw. In recent months, thesect has targeted schools.The death toll in BokoHaram-related violence
since 2009 ranges from more than 2,000 to upto 3,600.
Nigeria: Bishop urges Nigerians to be on the
lookout for potential bombers
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People gather at the site of an explosion in Sabon Gari, Nigeria (AP)
By Peter Ajayi DadaCatholic Herald
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HEALTH/NUTRITION
Kate Middleton,Prince William:
Inside Their First Weeks With Prince George
rince George may be the future Kingof England, but Prince William andKate Middleton are bringing up athoroughly modern baby. After wel-coming their son on July 22, the
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 31,headed to Middleton's parents' home in Buck-lebury, England, to live a quiet life while ad-justing to parenthood
business was simple: sleep. What followed atthe Middleton house became a blissful rou-tine. Wake up. Tend to George. Eat. Repeat.Dinners might mean a simple Italian mealcooked with help of housekeeper AntonellaFresolone. And even with two future kings ofEngland at the table, "there's no special treat-ment," a family source tells Us Weekly."William still has to help load the dishwasherafter dinner. The same will apply to Georgewhen he's a grown boy."
The parents are making good on their plans togive Prince George Alexander Louis -- or
Georgie, as Prince Charles predicts he'll benicknamed -- a happy, pressure-free child-hood.
Now, as the pair spend their weeks in Buckle-bury getting to know their bundle of joy, par-enthood is as rewarding as they might haveimagined. "They're loving it," says a sourceclose to the couple. "Every day is bringing newthings to learn."
Though Fresolone has been offering an extraset of hands at diaper and feeding times, thecouple have no nanny, nor do they have plansto hire one for some time. "They're doing asmuch as they can by themselves," says thefamily source. "The baby is always with one ofthem, or asleep."
And it sounds like the new parents have beena doing a great job raising a healthy, growinglittle boy. A mutual pal of the couple tells Us,"He already looks really different from whenhe was in the hospital!"
P
he delay between diagnosis andfirst course of treatment for breastcancer is influenced by differentfactors forAfrican-
American andwhite women.
Using data fromthe CarolineBreast CancerStudy (CBCS)Phase III, scien-tists found that,among whitewomen, householdsize and losing ajob due to one's di-agnosis were reasons for delay in treatment.Among African-American women, the type oftreatment influenced delay.
Both African-American and white women ex-perienced delay if they underwent immediatebreast reconstruction following mastectomy.Notably, African-American women were
more likely (92.5%) than white women(60.6%) to experience delay associated withthis procedure.
This study was pub-lished in Cancer Epi-demiology, Biomarkers& Prevention (2013;doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-1432). Theresearchers categorizedwomen into two groups:those who receivedtreatment within 30days of diagnosis, andthose whose treatmentwas delayed by more
than 30 days.
"Our goal was to identify the factors that con-tribute to treatment delay and to assesswhether disparities in delay exist betweenAfrican-American and white women," saidSasha McGee, PhD, an epidemiology gradu-ate student at the University of North Car-
Different factors influence delay inbreast cancer treatment:
African-American and white women
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BUSINESSBUSINESS
Retailers scramble for Africaarclays recently released the resultsof a survey that questioned retailerson their attitudes towards interna-tional expansion. While, for now,
the USA and China remain firm favourites forBritish retailers, the island’s brands see Africa asthe retail growth story of the next decade.
Richard Lowe, Head of Retail & Wholesale atBarclays, said: "Many of the trends which havedriven the economic development of emergingeconomies in Asia and South America are begin-ning to take hold in Africa. Its rapidly expandingmiddle class increasingly need goods and serv-ices which cannot be catered for domestically,providing a golden opportunity for internation-ally-minded retailers. This is a truly "groundfloor" moment in many African economies."
Even though Africa remains one of the finalfrontiers for retail, Walmart’s recent acquisitionof South Africa’s Massmart shows how seriouslyglobal retailers are now taking the continent.Nearly a quarter of retailers surveyed stated thatAfrica will be the new retail growth story withina decade, with first mover advantage (33 per-cent) considered to be the most important con-sideration when expanding.
Only 21 percent of those retailers asked say theycurrently generate sales on the continent. Ofthose which do, more than half (53 percent) saySouth Africa is their top market. Interestingly,other markets which currently provide revenuesfor British retailers in Africa include Chad,Congo, Morocco and Nigeria.
When asked where in Africa they would con-sider expanding in future, South Africa re-mained the number one choice (18 percent).Ghana and Kenya were the second and third
choices with six per-cent and four per-cent respectively.The reasons givenfor this interest wasAfrica’s burgeoningmiddle class fol-lowed by the take upof mobile technol-ogy.
Africa aside, by farthe bulk of Britishretailers (46 percent)see the USA as thecurrent destinationof choice for the is-land’s retailers eventhough most believethat the USA re-mains the hardestmarket in which to achieve commercial success.
The survey found that the USA remains the topchoice and comes as reports surface that SirPhilip Green hopes to turn Topshop into a $1-billion US business within the next five yearsand Hobbs plans an expansion into the USA.
However, retailers also consider the USA to bethe most challenging market, despite the growthof online which provides a low-cost means ofentry and the seemingly similar cultures andvalues shared by British and American con-sumers.
China came in second with around a third of re-tailers (33 percent) saying they had experienceddifficulties when trying to set up shop. Asia,more widely, was third with 19 percent of thoseretailers questioned claiming they had experi-
enced difficulties.
"On the surface the USA would appear to be aneasy market in which to secure a foothold, butits sheer scale means achieving commercial suc-cess across the whole country is an incrediblefeat. As for China, nothing is impossible, buteverything is difficult," added Lowe.
Asked about future expansion elsewhere, nearlya quarter (23 percent) of retailers said Germanywas their number one choice for overseas ex-pansion in the next five years, closely followedby China and Australia.
It is clear to see why retailers are keen to exploreopportunities overseas. Between 2012 and 2016total UK retail spend is expect to grow byaround 11.5 percent to £345.6-billion. In the
USA this figure is nearer 17.5 percent (to£2.3-trillion by 2016) and in China this fig-ure is an overwhelming 85 percent (to£3.6-trillion by 2016), the highest in theworld. Russia and Brazil also enjoy stand-out growth predictions over the next fiveyears with 68 percent (£649.8-billion) and49 percent (£536 billion) respectively.
Lowe continues: "It would be unreason-able to say there is no further growth indomestic markets, but it is becoming in-creasingly difficult to extract in the currentclimate. The economic realities across thewestern world mean that retailers nowhave international expansion firmly ontheir radar."
The growth of the internet has presentedretailers with the opportunity to enter newmarkets without the need to commit to
building a large and expensive network ofstores. Therefore, it is no surprise that, whenasked how they plan to expand, nearly a third(33 percent) said online was their preferredroute to market. Among retailers which had al-ready gone abroad, this figure rose to 52 per-cent.
Second choice was wholesale which secured 10percent of responses, followed by franchise part-nerships with eight percent.
Only six percent of retailers plan to open physi-cal stores, although this figure is likely to growamongst those retailers who have already testeda new market successfully using online.
Research was carried out by Conlumino on be-half of Barclays.
B
less terrorism that all too often perverts themeaning of Islam - one of the world’s greatreligions - and takes the lives of countless in-nocent Africans.”
He also attempted to counter the notion thatthe United States is militarizing its involve-ment in Africa, saying ultimately Africansmust shoulder their own security responsi-bilities.
“I know there's a lot of talk of America’s mili-tary presence in Africa. But if you look atwhat we’re actually doing, time and again,we're putting muscle behind African efforts,”he said.
In the final event of his Africa trip, Obamavisited a formerly idle power plant broughtback to life through joint Tanzanian-U.S. ef-forts, highlighting his new initiative to dou-ble access to electricity in Africa.
Obama said this reflects his approach ofcombining public and private resources tospur economic progress.
He referred to other new initiatives, fromagriculture to education and health, and saidthe United States intends to be a strong part-
ner with Africa in years ahead.
“That is what all our efforts are going to beabout, is making sure that Africans have thetools to create a better life for their peopleand that the United States is a partner inthat process. It's going to good for Africa, it'sgoing to be good for the United States andit's going to be good for the world,” he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama participates ina joint news conference with Senegal's Presi-dent Macky Sall in Dakar, June 27, 2013.U.S.President Barack Obama participates in ajoint news conference with Senegal's Presi-dent Macky Sall in Dakar, June 27, 2013.Over a week of travel, Obama highlighteddemocratic progress and the importance ofcivil society and human rights in Senegal.
He held up South Africa's democratic transi-tion and progress against HIV/AIDS as amodel for Africa, met family members ofcritically ill former president Nelson Man-dela, and underscored the role of Africa'syouth in building the future.
As he left Tanzania he said he was inspired,and convinced that "with the right approachAfrica and its people can unleash a new eraof prosperity.”
Obama Ends Africa Trip,Voices Confidence in Future
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Obama Tours Africa
In Senegal meeting with President Hall President Obama speaks at Cape Town UniversityIn Tanzania to meet with President Kikwete
Former President Bush and Mrs.
Bush in rendezvous in Uganda
President Obama also visits with
Former President Nelson Mandela
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n some of his most extensive commentson U.S. race relations since entering theWhite House, President Obama on Fridaygave a very personal perspective of theshooting of 17-year-old African-American
Trayvon Martin and the subsequent trial ofGeorge Zimmerman, offering an explanation forwhy the case has created so much anxiety withinthe African-American community.
"When Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said thiscould've been my son. Another way of sayingthat is, Trayvon Martin could've been me 35years ago," Mr. Obama said in an unexpectedappearance in the White House briefing room,where reporters were gathered to questionWhite House spokesman Jay Carney.
"When you think about why in the African-American community, at least, there's a lot ofpain around what happened here, it's importantto recognize the African-American community islooking at this issue through a set of experiencesand history that doesn't go away."
After a Florida jury on July 16, 2013 acquittedZimmerman of murder, Mr. Obama gave a de-cidedly muted response, noting that the JusticeDepartment was reviewing the case. Some civilrights leaders called for more action from theadministration of the nation's first African-American president.
The president on laid out a series of actions thegovernment could take to help ease racial ten-sions at the community level, as well as foster abetter environment for African-American boys.He also spoke about the sort of negative experi-
ences that are common for young African-Amer-ican men -- some of which he said he has per-sonally experienced -- that have prompted thepassionate reactions to the Zimmerman verdict.
"There are very few African-American men inthis country who haven't had the experience ofbeing followed when they were shopping at a de-partment store, and that includes me," he said.He spoke about hearing the locks click on cardoors while crossing the street -- something Mr.Obama said he experienced before he was sena-tor -- or seeing a woman nervously clutch herpurse while in an elevator with an African-American man.
"I don't want to exaggerate this, but those sets ofexperiences inform how the African-Americancommunity interprets what happened one night
in Florida. It's inescapable forpeople to bring those experi-ences to bear."
Mr. Obama said that govern-ment at all levels could helpease race relations by workingwith local law enforcement tocreate racial sensitivity train-ing programs and best prac-tices. As a state senator inIllinois, Mr. Obama helpedpass racial profiling legisla-tion that required training forofficers on racial bias issues.He said that while police de-partments were initially re-
sistant, it allowedthem to build moretrust with their com-munities.
Next, Mr. Obamasaid, "I think it'd beuseful for us to exam-ine some state andlocal laws to see ifthey are designed insuch a way that theymay encourage thekind of altercationsand tragedies" thatoccurred in the Trayvon Martin case.
The president acknowledged that Florida's con-troversial "stand your ground" law was not part
of Zimmerman's defense. Nevertheless, Mr.Obama said that kind of law does not necessar-ily send a positive message.
"If we're sending a message in our societies ...that someone who is armed potentially has theright to use those firearms even if there is a wayfor them to exit from the situation, is that reallygoing to be contributing to the peace andorder?" he asked. "For those who resist thatidea, I'd just ask people to consider if TrayvonMartin was of age and armed, could he havestood his ground on that sidewalk? Do we actu-ally think he would've been justified in shootingMr. Zimmerman because he followed him in acar?"Mr. Obama also said the nation should consider
how to "bolster and reinforce our African-Amer-ican boys."
- CBS News
President Obama Speaks on the Zimmerman Verdict
President Obama remarks on the Zimmerman acqittal
I"Trayvon Martin could've been me 35 years ago"
he first member of the six-womanjury that acquitted George Zimmer-man to speak out publicly said thatZimmerman’s “heart was in theright place.” Now a second juror
has come forward and said she believes he gotaway with murder.
“George Zimmerman got away with murder,but you can’t get away from God. And at theend of the day, he’s going to have a lot ofquestions and answers he has to deal with,”juror B29, identified as “Maddy” on air, toldABC News’ Robin Roberts in an interviewthat aired Thursday. “The law couldn’t proveit, we just have to believe in the Lord that ifhe has to pay, he will pay.”
Juror B29, whom ABC identified as being ofPuerto Rican descent, was the only person ofcolor on the jury. She told Roberts that shewas the last holdout among her fellow jurorsin reaching a not guilty verdict. She said sheinitially wanted to convict Zimmerman of sec-ond-degree murder.The 29-year-old Zimmerman said he acted inself-defense when he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., in Febru-ary of 2012. Two weeks ago, juror B29 andfive others found Zimmerman not guilty on
charges of second-degree murder andmanslaughter. The acquittal set off protests incities across the country and renewed calls fora federal civil rights investigation into Mar-tin’s death.
NBC News reached out to Zimmerman’slawyer, Mark O’Mara, but he did not respondto a request for comment on the interview.
Like juror B37, who spoke to CNN’s AndersonCooper shortly after the verdict, juror B29said that she felt the jury reached the rightdecision based on Florida law. “I stand by thedecision because of the law,” she said. Never-theless, juror B29 told Roberts that she stillwonders if she did the right thing.
“I’m thinking to myself, did I go the right way,did I go the wrong way,” she said. “I know Iwent the right way because by the law, andthe way it was followed, is the way I went. ButIf I would have used my heart, I probablywould have went a hung jury.” Roberts askedif juror B29 regretted not forcing a hung jury.“Kind of,” juror 29 replied.
Asked by Roberts whether she felt “bullied”by the other jurors, juror B29 said “I don’tknow if I was bullied, I trust that I wasn’t bul-
lied but–”
“Did you feelyour voice washeard?”Robertsasked.
“My voice washeard, I wasthe loudest,that’s forsure,” jurorB29 said.
She also ad-dressed Martin’sparents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. “Iwould like to apologize because I feel like I letthem down, we just couldn’t prove anything,”she said.
“I feel that I was forcibly included in TrayvonMartin’s death,” she added. “I carry him onmy back. I’m hurting as much as TrayvonMartin’s mom is, cause no way that anymother should feel that pain. I wantTrayvon’s mom to know that I’m hurting. Ifshe thought that nobody cared about her son,I could speak for myself, I do care. I couldn’t
do anything about it.”
Fulton released a statement after the inter-view aired saying, “it is devastating for myfamily to hear the comments from juror B29,comments which we already knew in ourhearts to be true. That George Zimmermanliterally got away with murder.”
Note: George Zimmerman has sued NBCUniversal for defamation. The companystrongly denies the allegation.
Zimmerman juror comes forward and says he 'got away with murder'
George Zimmerman Trayvon Martin
Juror B29 in the George Zimmerman trial speaks to ABC’s
Robin Roberts in an interview aired July 25.
T
Caribbean News in Briefs
LIONFISH NOT STOPPED BY NATIVE PREDATORS IN CARIBBEAN
According to John Bruno, biology professor at the University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill, lionfish will continue to live in theCaribbean, having no natural predators. Bruno says the only way toresolve the problem of the “voracious” lionfish is to reduce their pop-ulation by fishing for them. Lionfish are natives of the Indo-Pacificarea, and they are popular with aquarium lovers because of their dra-matic appearance. They are an invasive species to the Caribbean,however, and threaten endangered native animal populations.
ORGANIC PRODUCT OF BANANAS VERSUS CONTROL OF DISEASES
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is pro-viding support for two Caribbean projects that appear to be contra-dictory. In one project, the organic production of bananas isencouraged, while in the other, chemical fungicides are promoted ascontrols for the worst scourge of the banana crop, black sigatoka. Theprojects focus on the Dominican Republic because it is a small pro-ducer and better suited to the specialized demands of the global mar-ket, said Kaison Chang, economist with the FAO IntergovernmentalGroup.
OFFICIALS FROM CARIBBEAN VISIT SINGAPOREGovernment ministers from ten Caribbean countries and CARICOM’sSecretary General are visiting Singapore at the invitation of Law K.Shanmugam, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The ministers are there forhigh-level exchange discussions that will address common economicand social concerns for Singapore and the Caribbean, including cli-mate change, urban development, ICT and public administration.
YVETTE CLARKE JOINS IN CALL FOR PROBE IN ZIMMERMAN CASE
Yvette D. Clarke, Caribbean-American congresswoman, has joinedother members of the New York City Congressional Delegation inasking for a “thorough” investigation of the Zimmerman case by theUnited States Department of Justice. In this case, a white neighbor-hood-watch volunteer shot and killed an unarmed 17-year-oldAfrican-American, Trayvon Martin, in Florida. On July 13, 2013, ajury comprising six white women returned a verdict of not guilty, al-lowing the shooter, George Zimmerman, to go free. Clarke believesthat Trayvon would still be alive if Zimmerman had not followed himarmed with a concealed handgun.
RIGHTS GROUPS IN HAITI CONDEMN THREATS TO GAY COMMUNITY
Mario Joseph, attorney, and Charlot Jeudy, a gay rights advocate,have given voice to groups in Haiti that believe gay people should beable to live their lives without being attacked or threatened. Jeudy,president of Kouraj, a gay rights group, held a news conference fol-lowing an appearance on national TV by a group called the HaitianCoalition of Religious and Moral Organizations to inform the countrythat it disagreed with laws in other nations that support marriageequality. The group plans to hold an anti-gay demonstration in Port-au-Prince.
SHIP CARRYING WEAPONS FROM CUBA TO NORTH KOREA SEIZED IN PANAMA
Authorities at the Panama Canal seized a ship traveling from Cubafor attempted arms trafficking. A ship sailing under a North Koreanflag was found to be carrying undeclared military cargo that appearedto include missiles and non-conventional arms. The weapons werehidden in containers of brown sugar. Authorities initially stopped theship on suspicion that it was carrying drugs.
JAMPRO SAYS JAMAICA’S BRAND IS SAFEThe Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) is encouraging Ja-maicans to realize that the nation’s brand remains strong, despitenegative publicity arising from allegations of doping by Jamaicanathletes. According to Mark Thomas, communications manager atJAMPRO, the country is not expected to suffer too much from theseevents. Jamaica is known for more than its athletes, he noted.
LAW NEEDED TO STOP TURF DEFENDERS, SAYS CHUCKDelroy Chuck, Opposition spokesman on Justice and National Secu-rity, is calling for a new anti-gang law that will target groups thatthreaten to keep people of differing political views from entering theircommunities. Chuck believes that gangs attempt to protect their turfand make threats to prevent those from other communities cominginto their areas. Chuck says a law is necessary to prevent this activity.
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he Association of Africans inthe Diaspora (AAD) on Fridaycalled on African governmentsto remove bottle-necks thathinder African-Americans
from coming to stay on the continent.
Ms Maisie Meggon Howell, AAD Rep-resentative said most times, whenAfrica- Americans arrive on the conti-nent they are given a huge welcomeand told they can come and stay, butthe reality comes when they have torenew their visas or to extend theirstay.
She therefore challenged the govern-ment to lead the way in offeringAfricans in the Diaspora a right ofabode.
Ms Howell made the call when sheopened a high level forum to discuss"Pan-Africanism and the African Ren-aissance- The Unfinished Agenda,"which was held as part of this year'sPANAFEST/Emancipation Day cele-bration.
The ceremony was attended by per-sonalities in the creative arts industryand people from other African coun-tries as well as chiefs and queen moth-ers.
Mr Victor Moffat, Convener of ThinkAfrica Forum kick-started the deliber-ations with an African Union touch.
Ms Pavelyn Tendai Musaka, Zim-babwe's Ambassador, who spoke onbehalf of the Diplomatic Corps notedthat the real dream of the AfricanUnion (AU) is yet to be achieved andadvised fellow Africans not to lookoutside for solutions to Africa's prob-lems.She explained that looking at othercontinents for solutions to Africa'sproblem is a major stumbling blockhindering an effective AU.
Mr Rashid Pelpou, Minister of StateResponsible for Public-Private Part-
nership, said the celebration ofPANAFEST/ Emancipation Dayshould be a rallying point to deliber-ate on things that plague the Africanfamily, which has become an impedi-ment for attaining social and eco-nomic advancement and totalfreedom.
Mr Pelpou who represented PresidentJohn Dramani Mahama said: "The oc-casion should ignite some passion inus to examine efforts being made atdifferent levels in our respective coun-tries, cities and communities to bringdevelopment to the doorsteps of thecitizenry."He noted that re-discovering theAfrican heritage is a foundation forbuilding the African future and em-phasised that the people of Africaought to be able to achieve dignity ofmanaging their own affairs.
Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister of For-eign Affairs and Regional Integration,who chaired the forum, urged the del-egates to give meaning to what the AUis doing for Africans.
Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Ministerof Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts,
expressed her determination to facili-tate a brand of tourism, which wouldenrich the experience of people ofAfrican descent and inspire them towork together for the betterment ofAfricans.
Professor Atukwei Okai, SecretaryGeneral of the Pan-African WritersAssociation (PANA) also gave a wake-up call on the need for the creation ofa United States of Africa, stressingthat the time is now.
He said: "Let us stop being dependenton the outside world because every-thing is within, the days when we al-lowed the world to overwhelm us isover."
Mr Richard Owusu, President of thePan African Youth Clubs appealed togovernment to help his organisationto form youth clubs in all secondaryschools in Ghana.
He expressed the hope that the futureof Africa lies in the hands of theyouth.
--Source: GNA
African-Americans demandthe right of abode in Africa
Different factors influence delay in breast cancer treatment:
African-American and white women
olina Gillings School of Global PublicHealth in Chapel Hill at the time ofthis study.
The study found that African-Ameri-can women between the ages of 20and 49 were more than three times aslikely as white women in this agerange to experience treatment delay.
"The study results suggest that specificpopulations of women need to be tar-geted when characterizing and ad-dressing determinants of treatmentdelay, and that younger African-American women may benefit frominterventions to reduce disparities in
treatment delay," said McGee.
The study population consisted of 601women with breast cancer betweenthe ages of 20 and 74 who were en-rolled in the CBCS between 2008 and2010. The CBCS is an ongoing popula-tion-based study that recruits womenfrom 44 counties in North Carolina.
"We used information from interviewsand questionnaires to collect socioeco-nomic data for each woman," McGeeadded. "Larger studies often use area-level information for groups of people[eg, census data] and apply these datato individuals in the study, which maynot always be accurate." Clinical andtreatment information were obtained
by reviewing the medical records foreach study participant.
"One of the goals of the CBCS PhaseIII is to assess five- and ten-year sur-vival for study participants once re-cruitment ends in 2014. Follow-upinterviews for study participants willcontinue for up to five years after di-agnosis, therefore not only will we beable to evaluate the impact of a treat-ment delay of more than 30 days onsurvival, but also the impact of barri-ers to treatment and healthcare ac-cess," said McGee.
Kathy Boltz, PhD, http://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com
I
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Ghana lacks vision, goodleadership, Pastor Otabil
astor Mensa Otabil says Ghana’sleadership lacks a clear idea toguide the country’s vision and de-velopment.
“…If you come tome as a Ghanaianand you say whatdoes Ghana want toachieve in the next10 years, I don’tknow, do you?” Dr.Otabil asked hiscongregation onThursday night inAccra during hisChurch’s 2013Greater WorksSummit.
According to him,“somebody will saywell, but there’s agovernment docu-ment so and so andso and when youlook at the govern-ment documentand the English andthe grammar thathas been used, you have to read about a1000 pages to get one idea, but there’s noone simple idea that is on the lips of everyGhanaian as to where we want to get in 10years or five years”.
“So if the nation doesn’t have such a simplemessage for everybody that is coherent withour aspirations, how do you expect the peo-ple to willingly follow,” the International
Central Gospel Church (ICGC) General Over-seer lamented.
He observed that Ghana’s lack of a simpleclear vision or idea as to
what the country wantsto achieve in the shortor long term is not a pe-culiar situation on theAfrican Continent.
“…I’m sure the samegoes for Nigeria orIvory Coast or mostAfrican Countries; theymay have an idea - I’mnot saying our leadersdon’t have an idea - butthe idea is so sometimestoo academic and some-times the idea is notclear; you don’t reallyknow what they want toachieve but they wantus to participate,” heobserved.
Pastor Otabil, who wasteaching the congrega-tion about good leader-
ship qualities said: “If a pastor wants to builda Church, he’ll come and say we are going tobuild a 2000-seater auditorium, which be-comes the mantra on the lips of every mem-ber of the congregation.
He used that analogy to draw the contrastbetween what, in his opinion, is better lead-ership within the Church than what pertainsat the national level.
Nigeria: Pastor’s DaughterKidnapped by Muslim Leader,
Forced to Convert to Islam
JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – A Mus-lim leader in central Nigeria has abducted apastor’s daughter and forced her to convertto Islam with the backing of a sharia (Islamiclaw) court, the church leader said.
Raymond Uzoechina, a pastor with the Re-deemed Christian Church of God in Abuja,told Morning Star News by phone that theEmir or Muslim leader of the Nupe ethnicgroup in Bida, Niger state, Alhaji YahayaAbubakar, abducted his daughter soon after24-year-old Charity Raymond Uzoechinawent to the town in February to study at theFederal Polytechnic-Bida.
After his daughter’s friends notified himthat she was missing, he discovered herwhereabouts as he made inquiries in thetown on March 1– he did not hear of herwhereabouts in an invitation from the emir’saides as the town emirate has claimed, hesaid.
“After a painstakingsearch, we found outthat she was beingheld captive in thepalace of the EtsuNupe, the [ethnicNupe] Muslim leaderof the town of Bida,”Pastor Uzoechinasaid. “I went to thepalace, and the Mus-lim leader told methat my daughter isnow a Muslim andthat she is under hiscustody. When I demanded to take her away,the Muslim leader said he would not releaseher because he said she has been entrustedunder his care by an Islamic court, the shariacourt in the town of Bida.”
“This Muslim leader changed the name of mydaughter to Aisha, an Islamic name,” he said.“I am sure that my daughter will never em-
brace Islam. She is being held against herwish and forced into a religion that is alien tous. Charity can never abandon the Christianfaith for Islam.”
Pastor Uzoechina said that he has learnedthat other Christian girls and women arebeing held captive at Abubakar’s home andforcibly converted to Islam.
“Apart from my daughter, there are so manyother Christian girls also that have been kid-napped and are being held at the palace,” hesaid. “There is need for the police to rescuethese Christian girls in that Islamic enclave.”
Pastor Mensa Otabil
Sharia court in Niger state backs alleged abduction of 24-year-old woman.
Charity Raymond as AishaCharity Raymond Uzoechina
Pastor Raymond Uzoechina of Re-
deemed Christian Church of God in Abuja
P
LAW / IMMIGRATIONBusiness bosses pressure
House to pass immigration billhe Americanbusiness com-munityweighed inTuesday on
immigration, firing off aletter to House leadersurging them to find thepolitical will to pass animmigration bill this year.
Sensing the chances for adeal slipping away, lead-ers from 428 businessesand umbrella organiza-tions such as the U.S.Chamber of Commercesigned the letter pleadingfor House members not tostand in the way.
“We already have beenengaged with many mem-bers of Congress — Republicans and Democrats — on nu-merous components of a modern immigration system, andwe urge that you not let this momentum slip and progressvanish,” the businesses wrote in their letter, addressed toHouse Speaker John A. Boehner and Minority LeaderNancy Pelosi.
Business leaders were silent on what should be part of leg-islation, and didn’t take a stand on the key thorny issue ofwhether a deal should include legalizing illegal immigrants.Instead, they pleaded for “meaningful” and “pro-growth”reforms.
“Thought leaders from across the ideological spectrumagree that enacting immigration reform now will accelerateU.S. economic growth at a critical time when it has strug-gled to recover, and will help to enable sustained growth
for decades to come,” they said.
The Senate has already passed an immigration bill that theCongressional Budget Office said would boost economicgrowth and produce new tax revenues for the federal gov-ernment over the next few decades, though it would alsohurt wages for some American workers.
Senators voted 68-32 for that bill, which legalizes illegalimmigrants, spends tens of billions of dollars on border se-curity and rewrites the legal immigration system.
House Republicans are debating how to proceed on theissue, but are inclined to divide it up into separate bills thatboost security and create new guest-worker programs. Stillto be decided is what sort of legalization bill the House willconsider.
-- By Stephen Dinan
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ew York CityMichaelBloomberg onTuesday vetoedtwo measures
meant to curb the city's contro-versial stop-and-frisk policingpolicy, setting up a likely show-down with the City Council.
Bloomberg called the billsdangerous and irresponsibleand said they would make thecity less safe.
One measure would create anindependent inspector generalto monitor the New York CityPolice Department. The otherwould expand the definition ofracial profiling and allow peo-ple who believe they have beenprofiled to sue police in statecourt.
Bloomberg has defended thepolicy of stopping, questioningand frisking suspected wrong-doers to fight crime.
Opponents of stop-and-frisk,among them minority groups,civil libertarians and some ofthe Democratic mayoral candi-dates, have said police officersdisproportionately targetyoung black and Hispanic men.
Each of the measures, togethercalled the Community SafetyAct, passed the 51-member CityCouncil with the two-thirdsmajority necessary to overridea veto.
City Council members whoback the measures vowed tooverride Bloomberg's vetoes.
"The Community Safety Actwill help us make New York a
place where everyone can walkthe streets without fear of vio-lence or discriminatory polic-ing," said Democratic councilmembers Jumaane Williamsand Brad Lander. "We look for-ward to overturning MayorBloomberg's veto and makingthis legislation law."Bloomberg argued that the first
measure would create not aninspector general but an offi-cial who would rival the policecommissioner on law enforce-ment policy and strategy.
"The consequences would bechaotic, dangerous, and evendeadly for our police officersand for our city," he wrote. Thesecond, he said, would unleashan avalanche of lawsuitsagainst the police department.
Communities United for PoliceReform, an organization thatadvocates an end to the stop-and-frisk policy, said it wasdisappointed by the vetoes,which it called "misguided."
"New York City must outlawracial profiling and all discrim-inatory profiling," it said in astatement.
One of the Democratic mayoralcandidates, Bill de Blasio, saidBloomberg was turning a blindeye to racial profiling.
"I believe we need a realchange, and encourage CityCouncil members to stand bytheir votes and override theMayor's veto," he said in astatement. "Our young mencannot afford for us to waver inthe face of intimidation fromCity Hall."
Mayor Bloomberg vetoes bills to limit
stop-and-frisk policy
Obama and Congress square off overNSA authority amendment in defense bill
--especially in the House.
Tea party conservatives and liberalDemocrats have backed the amend-ments, joined by libertarians likeAmash who have expressed seriousconcerns about the government's sur-veillance. But national security hawkshave strongly defended the programs,as have House leaders such asSpeaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, andHouse Intelligence Committee Chair-man Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
In the Democratic-controlled Senate,the leaders of the Senate IntelligenceCommittee have opposed the amend-ments, arguing that the surveillanceprograms have helped disrupt numer-ous attempted terrorist attacks.
"Any amendments to defund the pro-gram on appropriations bills would beunwise," Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the panel, andSaxby Chambliss of Georgia, its top
Republican, said in a statement Tues-day.Despite its insistence the NSA's au-thority should be preserved, the WhiteHouse said Obama welcomes discus-sions with Americans and Congressabout the proper balance between na-tional security and privacy. But civilliberties advocates have said that sen-timent is insufficient and hypocritical,pointing out that such a discussionwould have been impossible if theprograms hadn't been exposed bySnowden, who now faces felonycharges.
Alexander made the Tuesday trip toask lawmakers to reject the amend-ments at the request of the heads ofthe House Intelligence Committee,Rogers and Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppers-berger, D-Md. The two also warned ina statement that ending the program'sauthority would put the nation at riskof another terrorist attack.
Separately, seven Republican commit-tee chairmen sent a letter to col-leagues calling on them to oppose the
Amash amendment. Meanwhile,House Republican leaders struggledto limit amendments on the overallbill, concerned about hampering na-tional security and anti-terrorism ef-forts.
The defense spending bill would pro-vide the Pentagon with $512.5 billionfor weapons, personnel, aircraft andships plus $85.8 billion for the war inAfghanistan for the fiscal year begin-ning Oct. 1.
The bill is $5.1 billion below currentspending and has drawn a veto threatfrom the White House, which arguesthat it would force the administrationto cut education, health research andother domestic programs to boostspending for the Pentagon.
In a leap of faith, the bill assumes thatCongress and the administration willresolve the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that have forcedthe Pentagon to furlough workers andcut back on training. The bill projectsspending in the next fiscal year at
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New York City
T
New York Police Department officers stand in the Times
Square in New York, April 25, 2013.
--Reuters/Brendan McDermid
Actress Vanessa WilliamsExplains How DNA Powers Her Family Tree
he following appeared in the Los AngelesTimes, April 27, 2013. Written by Jessica P.Ogilvie.
ost of us are curious aboutour family lineage. ForVanessa Williams, who re-cently took part in the show“Who Do You Think YouAre” and explored her fam-
ily’s history, the task was both surprising and
informative. Here, she talks about what shelearned and how she plans to use that infor-mation.
How did you become interested in find-ing out about your lineage?
I’ve always been interested, but I was intro-duced to Ancestry.com [one of the websitesthat help people research their family back-grounds] before I even did a show called “WhoDo You Think You Are,” so I signed up as amember to document my own family tree, andmy DNA analysis was done as a part of doingthe show.
We ended up doing two stories on my father’sside. One of my great-great-grandfathers wasa soldier in the Civil War, and the other wasborn a slave but ended up being an educatorand principal, and one of the first black legis-lators in Tennessee back in 1885. The storiesare rich and informative and intriguing, butalso as an African American, you don’t always
have the luxury to know exactly where yourancestors are from.
What did you find out about your DNA?
My DNA breaks down as follows: I’m 23%from Ghana, 17% from the British Isles, 15%from Cameroon, 12% Finnish, 11% SouthernEuropean, 7% Togo, 6% Benin, 5% Senegaland 4% Portuguese.
Now, I can’t wait to go to Ghana andCameroon and Togo and Senegal — it’s a greatopportunity to see why the customs resonatewith you. I love to travel and I love to explore,and I have to admit that I was always jealousof people who knew their cultural background.Both my family and myself came out with lighteyes, so obviously there is a recessive genehere. Not knowing what that was just mademe very curious.
How did it feel to find out about allthese different parts of your lineage?
It’s fascinating! The first person I called wasmy mother, and I sent her my results andcopied all my kids so they know where half oftheir genetic makeup is from. I wish that myfather was still alive, because he was a hugehistory buff and interested in genealogy aswell. It allows a greater sense of history for thefamily and a bit of pride as well.
Why do you think this information is impor-tant? Is it just for your own knowledge or todo plan to use it for health purposes as well?
I remember my mother told me that when mybrother was a baby, they identified someblood issue with him, and they asked her if shehad any relatives from Italy because this par-ticular blood characteristic was consistentwith someone from Italy. My mother said,“No, no, nothing like that.” Well, now come tofind out 45 years later and obviously we havethe same genetic makeup that Southern Euro-pean is 11% of our makeup.
How did your family react to all this in-formation?
They loved it. They really can’t wait to go onour world tour of where we’re from. Thebiggest surprise was Finland. How did thathappen? Who is Finnish? That is definitelygoing to be one of my trips coming up. It’s allsurprising, really interesting and it’s really in-credible.
--Ancestry.com
Mby Ofeibea Quist-Arcton NPR
Genealogist reveals Vanessa Williams to Ghana, and other African countries
besides her European ancestry.
he World Health Or-ganization, WHO,has said 77 percent ofwomen in Nigeriause skin-lighteningproducts, the world’s
highest percentage. The figurecompares with 59 percent in Togo,and 27 percent in Senegal.
While WHO reports cite variedreasons for this practice, mostpeople said they use skin lighten-ers because they want “whiteskin.”
WHO also contends that skin bleaching comeswith hazardous health consequences. The dan-gers associated with the use of toxic compounds
for skin bleaching include, blood cancers such asleukemia and cancers of the liver and kidneys, aswell as severe skin conditions.
The organization reports that hard-core bleachers use illegal ointmentscontaining toxins like mercury, ametal that blocks production ofmelanin, which gives the skin itscolor, but can also be toxic.
The report said in many parts ofAfrica, lighter-skinned women areconsidered more beautiful and be-lieved to be more successful andlikely to find marriage. It also said it
is not only women who are ob-
Nigerian WomenLead in Skin Bleaching
* In extreme cases of skin bleaching, the skin can become
multi-coloured and marred with inflammation or scarring
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T
SPORTS
ABUJA, Nigeria — Players, team officialsand referees were banned for life and fouramateur clubs for 10 years after Nigeria’ssoccer federation found they fixed twolower-league playoff games that ended withscores of 79-0 and 67-0.
In findings of an investigation sent to TheAssociated Press on Tuesday, the NigerianFootball Federation ruled that there was “afraudulent conspiracy among the teams” tofix the games after Plateau United Feedersand Police Machine figured out that theyneeded to boost their goal tallies to beat theother to promotion to the lowest tier ofNigeria’s professional league.
Plateau United Feeders beat Akurba FC 79-0 and Police Machine was allowed to beatBabayaro FC 67-0 in the fixes, which wereplayed at the same time early this month.One player scored 14 goals in the PlateauUnited Feeders game, while another scored11 goals. On more than one occasion asmany as four goals were scored in a minutein the games.
In sweeping sanctions, Nigeria’s federationbanned every player involved. Also, all thecoaching and technical teams, the refereesand assistant referees and the match com-
missioners were thrown out of soccer forlife for “allowing the game to be broughtinto disrepute and for not using their pow-ers,” the NFF said in its report.
The NFF named 28 players as goal scorers— and own goal scorers — in the two games,
responsible for a scarcely-believable 146goals.
Akurba captain Anjide Said Timothy wasidentified by the NFF as one of the organiz-ers of the “scandalous” results. He scoredthree own goals in Akurba’s huge loss, the
NFF said.
The NFF did not find evidence ofany money being paid, but saidnone of the teams disputed thatthe games were fixed. A tellingclue was that the Police Ma-chine-Babayaro game was only2-0 at halftime, and 65 goalswere then scored in the secondhalf.
“While the winners were desper-ate to win, the losers were toowilling to lose,” the federationsaid. “Circumstantial evidencewas overwhelmingly high andpoints to only one conclusion, ofmatch-fixing of an unprece-dented nature, which hasbrought global embarrassmentto the Nigeria Football Federa-tion, in particular, and the na-tion in general.”
The head official at the center where thegames took place, in the northeastern cityof Bauchi, has had his case referred to theleague which oversaw the playoff tourna-ment.
Nigeria bans soccer players for life after determining that 79-0, 67-0 scores were fixed
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Italian senator says black ministerhas 'features of orangutan'
Kyenge's centre-left Democratic party.In a statement, Letta said the remarkswere unacceptable. "Full solidarity andsupport to Cécile," he added.
Asked about the comments, Kyengesaid it was not up to her to call onCalderoli to resign, but hoped all politi-cians would "reflect on their use ofcommunication". "I do not takeCalderoli's words as a personal insultbut they sadden me because of theimage they give of Italy," she told theAnsa news agency.
Ever since she was made minister inLetta's fractious grand coalition gov-ernment, Kyenge, 48, has been the tar-get of much criticism from the League.Some of it has been directed at herpolicies, particularly her desire tochange a harsh citizenship law to makeit easier for Italian-born children of
foreigners to gain full nationality be-fore they are 18.
But some of it has been very personaland vitriolic. Mario Borghezio, a mem-ber of the European parliament for theLeague, said in April that Kyengewanted to "impose her tribal traditionsfrom the Congo" and branded Letta'scoalition a "bongo bongo" government."She seems like a great housekeeperbut not a government minister."
In June a local councillor for theLeague was ejected from the party aftershe posted a message on Facebook sug-gesting Kyenge should be raped. Refer-ring to an alleged attempted rape inGenoa, Dolores Valandro wrote: "Whydoes no one rape her, so she can under-stand what the victim of this atrociouscrime felt?"
Asked on Sunday to explain the latestslur, Calderoli insisted he had been jok-
ing. "I was speaking at a rally and Imade a joke, an unfortunate one per-haps," he told Ansa. "I did not want tocause offence and if Minister Kyengehas been offended I apologise but myjoke came in the context of a muchbroader political speech that criticisedthe minister and her politics."
This is not the first time that the 57-year-old has caused controversy. In2006 he quit the government aftergoing on television in a T-shirt embla-zoned with cartoons of the prophetMuhammad – a move credited with in-spiring deadly riots outside the Italianconsulate in Libya.
Later that year, after Italy's footballteam beat France in the World Cup, hesaid the opposing side had been madeup of "niggers, Muslims and commu-nists". In 2007, he called for a "PigDay" protest against the constructionof a mosque in Bologna.
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