Monday, November 4, 2019

Pirates kidnap nine from Norwegian ship off Benin


A Beninese anti-piracy guard patrolling the seaImage copyright
Image captionThe Benin navy's anti-piracy team on patrol in the Bight of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea
Pirates have kidnapped nine crew members from a Norwegian shipping vessel off the coast of Benin in West Africa.
The vessel was carrying gypsum, a mineral used as a fertiliser, and was at anchor, owner JJ Ugland said.
The Gulf of Guinea is world's most dangerous piracy hotspot, says the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
Some 62 seafarers have been captured off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon this year.
The Norwegian-flagged MV Bonita's remaining crew notified the local authorities after the attack early on Saturday and the vessel docked in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, later the same day, JJ Ugland said in a statement.
Although piracy has decreased worldwide, it continues to rise in Benin and there are fears that the area could emulate Somalia in terms of the threat to shipping.
Media captionBBC Africa Experts: Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
Several abductions have been reported in the Gulf of Guinea in recent months, including eight crew members taken from a German-owned vessel off Cameroon in August, and 10 Turkish sailors off the coast of Nigeria in July.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

American football coach is suspended after team scores too much


Stock image of US football coachImage copyright
Image captionThe coach will be absent from the sidelines of his team's game on Saturday (stock photo)
A Long Island football coach has been reprimanded after his team thrashed another high school 61-13 in a game.
Plainedge High School's head coach, Rob Shaver, was suspended for one game after violating the local county "lopsided scores policy".
Under the rule, coaches have to explain their winning margin to a committee if it exceeds more than 42 points.
The policy has been in place for three years and is intended to prevent poor sportsmanship.
Mr Shaver is reportedly the first to be punished under the unusual rule.
The head coach of the team who lost by 48 points told Newsday he had "no issue with how the game went" on 25 October.
"I had spoken to coach Shaver, I told him I had no issues," South Side coach Phil Onesto said.
But the victory led to Mr Shaver being called before Nassau County's "lopsided score committee" who were apparently left unsatisfied with his failure to substitute his first-team players despite holding a comfortable lead.
In an interview with the Newsday newspaper, Mr Shaver denied that he "ran up the score" on purpose.
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"The spirit of the rule is to prevent better teams from running up on lesser programs and sportsmanship and dignity and all that stuff. I get it. That didn't happen," he said.
The one-game ban means he will miss his team's final regular season game on Saturday.
The local superintendent for Plainedge High School's district has spoken out in the coach's defence and labelled the punishment "unjustified".
"Who said they are experts on sportsmanship?" he asked in a public letter. "Who appointed these people to run this kangaroo court, being the judge, jury and executioners?"
Media captionWill Americans ever care about football?
Matt McLees said it was developed to stop "excessive scores", which the committee felt "took away from the experience of young men playing football".
He also said the unusual rule seems to work - with a sharp decrease in excessively lopsided scores recorded there since it came into force.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

BE PATIENT

Be Patient and Trust the Process! 👇🏽 An elephant and a dog became pregnant at same time. Three months down the line the dog gave birth to six puppies. Six months later the dog was pregnant again, and nine months on it gave birth to another dozen puppies. The pattern continued. On the eighteenth month the dog approached the elephant questioning, _"Are you sure that you are pregnant? We became pregnant on the same date, I have given birth three times to a dozen puppies and they are now grown to become big dogs, yet you are still pregnant. Whats going on?". The elephant replied, _"There is something I want you to understand. What I am carrying is not a puppy but an elephant. I only give birth to one in two years. When my baby hits the ground, the earth feels it. When my baby crosses the road, human beings stop and watch in admiration, what I carry draws attention. So what I'm carrying is mighty and great.". Don't lose faith when you see others achieving their success. Don't be envious of others results. If you haven't received your success, don't despair. Say to yourself "My time is coming, and when it hits the surface of the earth, people shall yield in admiration.
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Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Ni kwanini Kanisa katoliki limewaruhusu wanaume waliooa kuwa mapadri?


papa
Maaskofu wa kanisa katoliki wamepiga kura kuruhusu wanaume waliooa kuwa mapadri katika eneo moja la pembezoni ili kuweza kupata mwanya wa kuhubiri katika eneo la Amazon.
Hatua hiyo imekuja mara baada ya Papa Francis kutoa ombi kuwa ni vyema kutoa ruhusa kwa wanaume walioa kuwa mapadri kwenye sehemu maalum katika eneo hilola Amazon.
Eneo ambalo waumini wengi wanaotaka kushiriki misa na kupokea mkate wa komunio hawaonagi mapadri kwa zaidi ya miezi kadhaa na muda mwingine hata miaka.
Amesema yeye na washiriki wengine wanaojulikana kama 'synod' wapo wazi kwa mawazo ya kutafuta njia mpya itakayosaidia kusambaza imani hiyo.
Watahitajika kupata wanaume wanaoheshimika na kulingana na stakhabadhi hizo watafanya kazi katika jamii wanazotoka.
Maaskofu wa Marekani Kusini wamepigania juhudi hizo ili kukabiliana na upungufu wa mapadri katika eneo hilo.
mapadreHaki miliki ya pichaAFP
Lakini wakosoaji wamedai kuwa papa anapaswa kuhamasisha mapadri wasioe, ingawaje katika karne ya kwanza ya kanisa, mapadri waliruhusiwa kuoa, na karibia mapapa wote wa mwanzo walikuwa wameoa.
Vilevile kuruhusu wanaume walioa katika sehemu za Amazon ambazo zinakabiliana na ukosefu wa mapadri, kutaenda kinyume na sheria za kikatoliki ambazo zimekuwepo kwa miaka kadhaa sasa.
Kwa sasa papa anaruhusu wanaume walioa kuwa mapadri katika makanisa ya mashariki ya kati pekee.
Deacons like Shainkiam Yampik Wananch minister to Catholics in the Peruvian AmazonHaki miliki ya picha
Upigaji kura ukiwa unafikia ukingoni huko Vatican kutokana na uhaba wa mapadre ili mapendekezo hayo yaanze kufanya kazi rasmi.
Wengi wakiwa wanahofia mabadiliko hayo katika kanisa kwa kuanzisha utaratibu mpya katika kanisa.
Kura zimechukuliwa kwa kipindi cha wiki tatu,kwa maaskofu 180 wa mjini Rome.
Wakiwa wanaangalia majukumu ya wanawake katika kanisa na namna mazingira yatakavyoweza ruhusu.
Kanisa katoliki ni taasisi kongwe ya kidini ambayo imekuwa na historia kwa zaidi ya miaka 2000 iliyopita huku ikiwa na mabilioni ya waumini.
Huku inakadiriwa kuwa karibu 85% ya vijiji huko Amazon haviwezi kusherehekea Misa kila wiki kwa sababu ya uhaba huu na wengine huonana na makuhani mara moja tu kwa mwaka.

Rwanda yazindua magari rafiki kwa mazingira


Rwanda ikishirikiana Kampuni ya Volkswagen na Siemens imezindua magari ya kwanza ya umeme
Rwanda ikishirikiana na kampuni ya Volkswagen na Siemens imezindua magari ya kwanza ya umeme nchini humo yatakayokuwa rafiki kwa mazingira .
Mradi huo ulioanza na magari 50 ambayo yametengenezwa kwa ajili ya majaribio hivyo yatakuwa yakitumiwa kama magari ya uchukuzi wa abiria jijini Kigali na kwingineko nchini humo.
Mkurugenzi mkuu wa Volkswagen Group ya Afrika kusini, Thomas Schäfer amebainisha kuwa magari haya yamo bado katika majaribio na kwamba yametengenezwa 40 aina ya e.Golf na kwamba malengo kwanza si kuuzwa ghali ingawa bei bado haijatangazwa.
''Magari haya hayana mpango wa kuuzwa kwa wateja kwa sasa. Tunalenga kwanza kuyafanyia majaribio na kujua yanafanya kazi vipi na ndipo tutakapowajulisha iwapo zitauzwa au la. Magari haya ni ghali ikilinganishwa na yale ya kawaida, kutokana na betri yake.
Betri peke yake ina gharimu kiasi cha dola 8000 za Kimarekani lakini umeme ukilinganishwa na mafuta ni bei nafuu.
Lakini iwapo serikali ikiwasaidia kwa kuweka sera mfano kwa kupata faida nafuu ,yamkini hali ikawa nzuri zaidi.
Angalia Uchina serikali iliazimia kwamba asilimia 25 ya magari yanayouzwa yawe yanayotumia umeme.''
Magari ya umeme
Serge Iyakoze ni kiongozi wa madereva wa kampuni ya Valkswagen akihusika pia kutoa warsha kwa madereva wenza katika matumizi ta teknolojia ya magari hayo ambaye ameiambia BBC kuhusu wasiwasi au hofu kuhusu mwendo wa kimya wa magari hayo na iwapo hawatarajii kusababisha ajali za barabarani kwa watu waliozoea milio na honi za magari kuwashtua wanaotembea kwa miguu.
''Unapoelekea kupata ajali kawaida huna budi kupiga honi kwani dereva ana uwezo kuangalia kwa upana mkubwa mbele yake,kwa muda mfupi.
Dereva huwa na hisia za kujua kinachoelekea kutokea kwa wakati mfupi. Unapomuona mtu akizubaa unaweza kumpigia honi. Lakini huwezi kwenda ukipiga honi ovyo ovyo,kwani hata mpita njia anao uwezo kuona gari na unaweza pia kumwashia mataa.''
Kampuni imeeleza kuwa inalenga kupanua wigo wa kazi zake katika mataifa mengi ya Afrika .
Baada ya Rwanda, Ghana ndiyo inatarajia kufuata na hatimae kwingineko.
Wakati mataifa ya Ulaya yanalenga kufikia mwaka 2030 kuwa yamekwisha achana na magari yanayotumia mafuta, Afrika ndiyo imeanza safari ambayo hatima yake haijawa wazi ila waliozungumza na BBC wameelezea kuwa hatimae wao pia watafika.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Nguo ya ndani ya kiongozi wa IS 'iliibiwa' kufanya uchunguzi wa DNA


Baghdadi akihutubia wafuasi wake mjini Mosul mwaka 2014Haki miliki ya picha
Image caption
Vikosi vya muungano vya Syria (SDF) vinavyoongozwa na wapiganaji wa Kikurdi vinasema majasusi waliiba nguo za ndani za Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ambayo ilitumiwa kufanya uchunguzi wa chembe chembe za vinasaba, DNA kabla auawe.
Kamanda wa mwandamizi wa SDF Polat Can anadai kuwa wapelelezi wao walichangia kwa kiasi kikubwa juhudi za kupata maficho ya kiongozi wa kundi la Islamic State (IS) kabla ya oparesheni ya vikosi maalum vya Marekani nchini Syria.
Baghdadi alijilipua na kujiua mwenyewe wakati wa oparesheni ya kumsaka.
Marekani imepuuza jukumu la vikosi vya Kikurdi katika oparesheni hiyo.
Akizungumzia oparesheni hiyo Oktoba 27, Rais wa Marekani Donald Trump alisema vikosi hivyo "vilisaidia" kutoa habari lakini akaongeza hawakufanya ''jukumu lolote la kijeshi".
Bwana Can alisisitiza kuwa SDF ilichangia sehemu muhimu ya oparesheni hiyo katika ujumbe wa twitter alioandika Jumatatu.
Ujuzi wote na ufikiaji wa al-Baghdadi na kitambulisho cha mahali pake kilikuwa ni matokeo ya kazi yetu wenyewe
"mchakato wote wa kiintelijensia wa kumtafuta al-Baghdadi na utambuzi wa mahali alipokuwa umetokana na juhudi zetu wenyewe. Maafisa wetu wa intelijensia walihusika katika mawasiliano na kutoa muongozo uliochangia kufaulu kwa oparesheni hiyo hadi dakika ya mwisho," alisema.
Bwana Can aliongeza kuwa SDF imekuwa ikifanya kazi CIA kumtafuta Baghdadi tangu Mei 15, na kwamba waligundua alikuwa akijificha katika mkoa wa Idlib, mahali ambako oparesheni hiyo ilitekelezwa.
Vyanzo vya habari vinasema Bwana Can, alibaini kuwa kiongozi huyo wa IS alikuwa karibu kuhamia eneo jingine mjini Jarablus.
SDF wamekuwa washirika muhimu wa Marekani katka mapambano dhidi ya kundi la Islamic State (IS), lakini mapema mwezi huu rais Trump aliwaondoa wanajeshi wa Marekani kaskazini mwa Syria.
Wachambuzi wanasema hatua ya Marekani kuondoa wanajeshi wake iliipatia nafasi Uturuki kuanzisha mashambulio ya mpakani katika eneo hilo.
Raisi Donald Trump amethibitisha kwenye ukurasa wake wa Twitter kuwa Operesheni hiyo pia imefanikiwa kumuua msaidizi namba moja wa al- Baghdad
Map of where the raid took place
Tunafahamu nini kuhusu oparasheni hiyo?
Washirika kadhaa wa Marekani au washirika wakuu katika eneo hilo waliarifiwa kuhusu oparesheni hiyo,ikiwemo Uturuki, Iraq, vikosi vya Kikurdi kaskazini mashariki mwa Syria, na Urusi, ambayo inadhibiti anga juu ya Idlib.
Rais Trump alisema kwamba vitengo vya ujasusi nchini Marekani vilimchunguza Baghdad kwa wiki kadhaa kabla ya operesheni na kwamba walijua eneo hilo lilikuwa na mahandaki kadhaa, huku mengi yakiwa na mwisho wake.
Siku ya Jumamosi, rais aliamrisha ujumbe uliohusisha kundi moja la wanajeshi maalum, ndege nane na meli nyingine nyingi.
Ndege aina ya helikopta iliyokuwa ikisafirisha kikosi maalum cha Marekani kiliondoka kutoka eneo ambalo halikutajwa baada mwendo wa saa kumi na moja saa za Marekani siku ya Jumamosi.
Ndege hizo zilipaa juu ya anga ya Uturuki, mbali na maeneo yanayodhibitiwa na majeshi ya Syria pamoja na yale ya Urusi.
Urusi ilishirikiana na kufungua anga yake kwa operesheni hiyo ya Marekani licha ya kutoambiwa kile kilichokuwa kikijiri kulingana na rais Trump.
''Operesheni hiyo ya kuingia na kutoka ilikuwa hatari mno. Kulikuwa na wakati ambapo tungekabiliwa vilivyo'' , alisema .
''Ndege zetu zilipaa chini chini lakini kwa mwendo wa kasi''.
Huku ndege hizo zikikaribia katika nyumba hiyo zilishambuliwa lakini Trump anasema mashambulizi hayo yalimalizwa haraka.
Wanajeshi walishuka kwa mashambulio makubwa ya risasi ardhini, ripoti zilisema.
Baada ya hapo vikosi vya Marekani vilimtaka Baghdadi, ambaye alikuwa amejificha ndani ya pango kutoka nje na kujisalimisha .
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi akizungumza na wafuasi wake
Katika hutuba isiyo ya kawaida siku ya Jumapili , Rais Trump alisema Baghdadi alikufa baada ya kufika ukingoni alipokuwa akitoroka huko "akilia na kupiga mayowe wakati anafukuzwa na mbwa wa Marekani".
Baghdadi wakati huo alikuwa anatoroka akiandamana na watoto wake watatu wadogo ,lakini hatimae akajilipua kwa bomu alilokuwa amevaa baada ya kugundua kuwa amezingirwa.
Katika mlipuko huo Baghdadi na hao watoto wake wote watatu walifariki papohapo.
Rais Trump alisema japo mwili wa Baghdadi ulikuwa umechanika lakini waliweza kumtambua baada ya kuufanyia uchunguzi.
"Jambazi ambae alijitahidi sana kuwaogofya na kuwahangaisha wengine siku zake za mwisho alionekana mwenye mahangaiko,taharuki kubwa na kuchanganyikiwa ,alionekana mwenye uoga kupindukia alipogundua kikosi cha Marekani kilikuwa kinamkaribia , Rais Trump alisema.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi alijilipua wakati alipozingirwa na kikosi maalum cha Marekani.
Trump alisema matokeo ya uchunguzi uliofanyiwa maiti "ilitoa ishara malum, ambayo ilibaini moja kwa moja" kuwa ni Baghdadi.
Uchunguzi ulifanywa na wataalamu walioandamana na kikosi maalum katika eneo la tukio na walikuwa wamebeba sampuli ya chembe chembe za vinasaba DNA, ripoti ilisema.
Walitumia teknolojia mchanganyiko ya kutambua sura pamoja na mtambo mdogo wa kusoma matokeo ya DNA wakiwa ndani ya ndege kupata matokeo, kwa mujibu wa gazeti ya Daily Beast.
Wataalamu hao pia walibeba "kipande" cha mwili ili kuthibitisha matokeo ya uchunguzi wao.