Headline

Drought: Avert Famine In Somalia, President Begs Global Community

Published

2 years ago

June 9, 2022

Somalia’s newly elected President Hassan Mohamud used his inauguration speech on Thursday to appeal for international help to avert a famine that posed threats to his drought-stricken country.

Aid agencies had warned of an approaching famine as cases of severe malnutrition among children shot up in the troubled nation of the Horn of Africa, which was battling a record drought following four failed rainy seasons.

“There are fears that starvation may strike in some areas,” Mohamud said, urging “the diaspora and the world to play a role in saving our people who were affected by the drought.”

“These conditions were caused by accumulated problems including climate change, destruction of our economic resources, and the weakness of our government institutions. Therefore, my government will establish an agency for environmental matters,” he said.

Multiple appeals for aid had gone largely unnoticed so far, with nearly half the country’s population going hungry and more than 200,000 people on the brink of starvation, the United Nations said Monday.

The drought crisis has also hit Somalia’s neighbours, Ethiopia and Kenya, whose presidents were among the foreign leaders attending Thursday’s ceremony, held under heavy security in the Mogadishu airport complex.

In addition to tackling the looming famine, Mohamud, who previously served as president between 2012 and 2017, faces a grinding Islamist insurgency in parts of the country, making humanitarian access a challenge.

In a sign of the lingering threat, militants fired several rounds of mortar shells in neighbourhoods near the airport in an overnight attack.

He vowed Thursday to foster “political stability through consultation, mutual endorsement, and unity among the Federal Government and Federal member states,” striking a contrasting tone to his confrontational predecessor Mohamed Mohamed, better known as Farmajo.

Somalia’s international partners had welcomed the election of Mohamud, with many hoping that it would draw a line under a long-running political crisis that had distracted the government from tackling the Al-Shabaab insurgency and the devastating drought.

The United Nations mission in Somalia issued a statement on Twitter saying it “congratulates President Hassan Mohamud on his inauguration today, and looks forward to working with his administration in support of achieving national priorities.”

Meanwhile, calls for international aid had raised less than 20 percent of the money needed to avert a repeat of the 2011 famine in Somalia that killed 260,000 people — half of them children under the age of six.

AFP

Headline

Woman Who Took Dead Uncle To Bank To Secure Loan, Arrested [VIDEO]

Published

1 hour ago

April 18, 2024

Editor

A Brazilian woman who wheeled her uncle’s dead body into her local bank and tried to take out a loan in his name, has been arrested.

The lady identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes was captured on video during the incident at a bank in Rio de Janeiro. She appeared to have a corpse with her as she attempted to secure some financing for a $3,400 loan.

The video is quite eerie as she tried to force him to sign paperwork with his limp hand. She was seen talking to her dead uncle at various points, asking him if he could hear her and if he was listening, instructing him to sign even though he was clearly not talking back. The woman also attempts to hold his head straight as it constantly tilts and falls back.

Employees at the bank weren’t convinced, ultimately calling in the police who arrested Erika. Authorities confirmed the victim’s name was Paulo Roberto Braga, and he was dead for hours before being wheeled into the bank on Tuesday, April 16.

Erika may be charged with theft through fraud, embezzlement, as well as abuse of a corpse and cops are trying to determine how he died and if other family members were involved.

🇧🇷 | En un hecho insólito en Bangu, Río de Janeiro, Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes fue descubierta intentando retirar un préstamo bancario usando el cadáver de su tío, Paulo Roberto Braga, de 68 años.https://t.co/IyGeG0Ax5X
— UHN PLUS (@UHN_Plus) April 17, 2024

Headline

VIDEO: Guinness World Record: Nigerian Onakoya Begins 58-hour Chess Marathon In New York

Published

19 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Editor

Renowned chess master, Tunde Onakoya, has embarked on a mission to surpass the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.

Onakoya announced the commencement of the via his X account with the caption, “Game time.”

The event, which is underway at New York City’s iconic Times Square, started at 10am on Wednesday, April 17, and is scheduled to end at 8pm on April 19.

Onakoya is set to engage in an intense chess marathon, aiming to play for 58 hours without a single defeat.

The current Guinness World Record, set by Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad of Norway on November 11, 2018, stands at 56 hours, 9 minutes, and 37 seconds.

Renowned chess master, Tunde Onakoya, has embarked on a mission to surpass the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.

Watch video below:

We are live from NYC @Tunde_OD pic.twitter.com/2rrU1BlBkJ
— The Gift of Chess (@thegiftofchess) April 17, 2024

Headline

B-I-Z-A-R-E: Woman Wheels Dead Uncle’s Corpse Into Bank To “Sign Off” Loan In Her Name [VIDEO]

Published

21 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Editor

A Brazilian woman reportedly wheeled the corpse of an elderly man into a Rio de Janeiro bank on Tuesday, April 16, to try to get him to co-sign on a loan.

The bank customer, identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes, was captured on video standing next to the deceased seated in a chair and seemingly holding up his drooping head.

The footage captured Nunes talking to the dead man, whom she addressed as her “uncle,” and asking him to sign financial documents that would allow her to take out a $3,400 loan.

“Uncle, are you listening? You need to sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, because I can’t sign for you,” Nunes says in the video, while pushing a pen between his limp fingers and instructing him to hold it “hard.”

“Sign so you don’t give me any more headaches, I can’t take it anymore,” she adds.

When a bank worker tries to point out that the man’s color looks off and he appears “not well,” Nunes dismisses his concerns.

“He is like that. He doesn’t say anything,” Nunes says. “Uncle, do you want to go to the [hospital] again?”

Bank staffers quickly called the police, who arrived and arrested Nunes.

It was later determined that the deceased, identified as 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga, had been dead for several hours before his trip to the bank.

“She tried to pretend to get him to sign the loan. He already entered the bank dead,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz told TV Globo. “The main thing is to continue the investigation to identify other family members, and find out more about this loan.”

Cops said they will look into the circumstances of Braga’s death and will try to determine whether Nunes is actually his niece, and whether other relatives were involved in the alleged attempt to commit bank fraud.

Nunes could face charges of theft through fraud, or embezzlement, and abuse of corpse.

Watch the video below.

in Rio de Janeiro Brazil a women (Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes) took the corpse of an elderly man into a bank to try to take out a loan of R$17,000 (USD $3,400), local Brazil media reported.
Suspicious bank employees filmed the incident and called the police.… pic.twitter.com/kzEzG6ORBP
— interessingworld (@interssingworld) April 17, 2024