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Hage Geingob: What To Know About Namibian President Who Died After Cancer Diagnosis

Published

3 months ago

February 4, 2024

Hage Geingob, Namibia’s longest-serving prime minister and third president, was an anti-apartheid activist turned statesman, who cut a reassuring figure.

Hage Geingob passed away early Sunday in a hospital in the capital Windhoek, where he was receiving treatment for cancer. He was 82.

Born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941, Hage Gottfried Geingob was the southern African country’s first president outside of the Ovambo ethnic group, which makes up more than half the country’s population.

He took up activism against South Africa’s apartheid regime, which at the time ruled over Namibia, from his early schooling years before being driven into exile.

He spent almost three decades in Botswana and the United States, leaving the former for the latter in 1964.

The tall, deep-voiced leader studied at Fordham University in New York, and much later in life received a PhD in the United Kingdom.

While in the US, Hage Geingob remained a vocal advocate for Namibia’s independence, representing the local liberation movement, SWAPO, now the ruling party, at the United Nations and across the Americas.

In the early 1970s he started a career working for the UN on governance issues.

Seen as a centrist, he returned to Namibia in 1989, a year before the country’s independence.

“I embraced the soil of Namibia after 27 years in exile. Looking back, the journey of building a new Namibia has been worthwhile,” he said in a Twitter post in 2020 posting a photo of his younger self kissing the tarmac after landing back home.

– Fish rot –

When SWAPO won the first vote in 1990, Geingob was appointed prime minister – a position he held for 12 years before returning to it again in 2012.

In 2014, as the party comfortably won yet another vote, riding on the legacy of its role in the liberation struggle, Geingob became president.

In between top jobs, the composed yet stern talking leader who sported wide-rimmed glasses and a tuft of grey hair on his chin, held various ministerial and internal party positions.

But his first term as president was tainted by a recession, high unemployment and graft allegations.

In 2019, documents published by WikiLeaks suggested that government officials took bribes from an Icelandic firm in exchange for continued access to Namibia’s fishing grounds.

The “fish rot” scandal threatened Geingob’s prospects of a second term, with the head of state also coming under fire for pumping money into a bloated administration and granting contracts to foreign rather than local companies.

His share of the vote dropped considerably in 2019 from the 2014 height of 87 percent, but he was still able to comfortably sail to victory with 56 percent of preferences.

– Hage Geingob, a Football lover –

He suffered a couple of health scares in his later years, having undergone brain surgery in 2013 and a heart valve surgery in South Africa in June 2023.

An avid football fan, he played the sport as a young man, which earned him the nickname “Danger Point”.

He was married three times, in 1967, 1993 and again in 2015 and had as many children. His last consort, Monica Geingos is a lawyer and businesswoman.

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Pop Star Justin Bieber Sparks Concern After Seen Crying Amid Rumours Of Rift With Wife

Published

10 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Editor

Pop sensation Justin Bieber has stirred concern among fans after posting a series of emotional selfies on Sunday, that has been linked to the rumoured split with his wife.

The 30-year-old singer took to Instagram over the weekend to share multiple photo dumps, offering glimpses into various aspects of his life.

From his surprise appearance at Coachella, where he performed during Tems’ set, to moments of leisure such as playing golf, enjoying the beach, smoking, and trying on different trainers, Justin Bieber’s posts provided a look into his world.

It was, however, one particular set of images that garnered significant attention from fans.

In a close-up series of selfies, Bieber appeared visibly distressed, with tears streaming down his face.

The pop star stared solemnly into the camera, his emotions laid bare for all to see, as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Despite the intimate portrayal of his emotions, Bieber offered no explanation or caption for his tearful display, leaving fans puzzled and concerned about his well-being.

Justin Bieber’s personal life has come under the spotlight since the recent rumors surrounding his marriage to wife Hailey Bieber (neé Baldwin), 27.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2018, has faced speculation about the state of their relationship on multiple occasions.

Concerns were raised recently when Hailey’s father, Stephen Baldwin, 57, requested “prayers” for the couple, fueling speculation about potential marital troubles.

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400 Bodies Found In Mass Grave In Gaza Hospital

Published

1 day ago

April 28, 2024

Editor

The government in Gaza have concluded their search of mass graves at a hospital in the south of the strip and said they have uncovered a total of 392 bodies, including some still wearing surgical gowns.

Speaking at a Thursday news conference at Rafah, on April 25, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said workers have identified 165 bodies at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.

According to Mohammed Al Mighayyer, they are still examining the remaining 227 bodies to determine their identities.

“We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue, and the third north of the dialysis building,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said any suggestion that it had buried Palestinian bodies in mass graves was false, and that a grave at the Nasser complex was dug by Palestinians in Gaza some months ago.

The Gaza Civil Defense acknowledged that around 100 bodies were buried in graves at the Nasser hospital before the IDF operation there.

CNN reports that people had buried the bodies of family members who had been killed on the grounds of the hospital as a temporary measure in January but when they returned after the Israeli military withdrew on April 7, they discovered the bodies had been dug up and then placed in at least one collective grave, not all in the initial spots they were buried in.

The Palestinian Civil Defense also showed graphic images on a TV screen at the news conference showing several almost unrecognizable bodies at the complex and bodies of decomposed children.

Al Mighayyer said the Civil Defense “witnessed the presence of children’s bodies in the mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex, which proves crimes of genocide.” While the group says it is still examining the bodies, they suspect at least 20 civilians were buried alive in the complex, but it did not explain how it knows this, or offer proof.

Al Mighayyer also claimed there had been cases of executions of patients who had been receiving treatment at the hospital. He said several bodies were found with gunshot wounds to their heads and injuries to their bodies.

Al Mighayyer said at the news conference that the Palestinian Gaza Civil Defense in Gaza “discovered torture marks on [some] bodies.” CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

“Israeli forces buried several bodies in plastic bags at a depth of three meters, which made them decompose quickly.”

“The occupation deliberately concealed evidence of its crimes in the Nasser Complex by changing the plastic shrouds more than once,” he claimed. Video recorded by CNN shows bodies wrapped in three different coloured shrouds: white, black and blue.

Amnesty International has also called for an investigation into the mass graves at the two Gaza hospitals.

I’m response, the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF said:“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance with the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined. The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.”

The IDF continued: “At the end of February, IDF forces conducted a precise and targeted operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Nasser Hospital area. During the operation, about 200 terrorists who were in the hospital were apprehended, medicines intended for Israeli hostages were found undelivered and unused, and a great deal of ammunition was confiscated. The activity was done in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff.”

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Watch Of Richest Titanic Passenger Sells For £1.17m

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

A gold watch found on the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic was auctioned in England for £1.17 million ($1.46 million) on Saturday.

It was a record sum for an object linked to the notorious 1912 shipping disaster, said auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son.

A US buyer won the bidding war, smashing the auctioneer’s pre-sale estimate of between £100,000 and £150,000.

The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to the US business magnate John Jacob Astor.

Astor was 47 when he died as the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. He was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world at the time.

He died after having helped his wife, Madeleine, on board one of the lifeboats. She survived the disaster.

Astor’s body was found a week after the disaster, with the watch among his personal belongings.

“The watch itself was completely restored after being returned to Colonel Astor’s family and worn by his son,” said a statement from the auction house.