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'Jihadi John' killer from Islamic State beheading videos named by media
In videos released by Islamic State (IS), the masked, black-clad militant brandishing a knife and speaking with an English accent appears to have carried out the beheadings of hostages including Americans and Britons. The Washington Post said Emwazi was believed to have travelled to Syria around 2012 and to have later joined IS. "His real name, according to friends and others familiar with his case, is Mohammed Emwazi, a Briton from a well-to-do family who grew up in West London and graduated from college with a degree in computer programming," the Post said. In each beheading video, he is dressed entirely in black, a balaclava covering all but his eyes and the ridge of his nose.
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Sophie Ndaba reveals her secret to weight loss
Actress and wedding planner Sophie Ndaba is looking sexy and slimmer these days thanks to a new diet plan. Speaking to Sowetan Live at the Royalty soapie awards nominations party, Ndaba said the key to her weight loss was cutting out sugar from her diet. “Instead of sugar I now take sweeteners in my tea, it’s amazing how much cutting down your sugar intake can make a difference in your diet,” she said.
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Nigeria: 10-Year-Old Nigerian in UK Varsity
Ten year old Esther Okade, one of UK's youngest students from Nigeria, has been accepted to start her maths degree at the Open University. Esther, who enrolled three weeks ago, is already top of her class, scoring 100 per cent in a recent test. Esther's mother, Efe, said the process of applying to the university was 'an interesting one because of her age. From the age of seven Esther has wanted to go to university.
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Zimbabwe: Mugabe Reveals Secret to Long Life
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, who has just turned 91, said on Thursday that one of his secrets to a long life was "not filling my stomach". In a televised interview ahead of a huge birthday party in Victoria Falls, Mugabe said: "I do certain things that I believe sustain life. You must eat well, and really not go for food because it's attractive and feed yourself until your tummy is full," the longtime Zimbabwean leader said. Mugabe's half sister, Regina Gata, recently confirmed her brother's disciplined habits, saying he neither smokes nor drinks.
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Envoy sorry for fake qualification - Politics | IOL News
REUTERS SA's ambassador to Japan, Mohau Pheko, says she is sorry she pretended to have a doctoral degree. Johannesburg - South Africa's ambassador to Japan, Mohau Pheko, told the SABC on Friday she regrets saying she has a doctoral degree, when she does not. Pheko claimed she received her PhD from the American La Salle University in 2000.
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White widow’s SA plot revealed - Politics | IOL News
INDEPENDENT MEDIA British citizen Samantha Lewthwaite, who lived in South Africa under a false identity, is linked to planned suicide bombings in South Africa. Johannesburg - South Africa’s State Security Agency (SSA) and foreign intelligence services foiled planned suicide bomb attacks by al-Qaeda in South Africa between 2007 and 2010, including one against a Jewish centre in Cape Town, according to secret SSA reports.
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Actress’s Oscar gown stolen from hotel - IOL Tonight
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Nigeria: Please Don't Catch Shekau Alive!
Within the space of 45 minutes, I was able to count thirteen Nigerian Air Force Hercules transporters. It was obvious to me that, at last, the Federal Government under President Goodluck Jonathan, had woken up to the need to act decisively. Boko Haram was allowed to metamorphose from a band of rag-tag Islamist outlaws to a fierce multinational military force that abducted 219 girls from their boarding school and established a separatist enclave that consisted of no fewer than sixteen local government areas in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. Some Northern leaders seemed overjoyed at the bloody "exploits" of Boko Haram though their own homeland and kinsmen were being decimated.
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Nike ultimatum to Ronaldo: Drop your CR7 footwear range or lose contract
Nike has forced Cristiano Ronaldo to withdraw his range of CR7 footwear and threatened to break off their contract with him.
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SA gives BRICS port entry visa
Business and diplomatic travellers from South Africa's BRICS partners --Brazil, Russia, India, and China -- are to receive a port of entry visa into South Africa, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Thursday. "... I have approved the issuance of port of entry visas to BRICS business executives for up to 10 years, with each visit not to exceed 30 days," he told the Cape Town Press Club.
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South Africa: What Would It Take to Defeat ISIS?
Against the backdrop of a South African couple liquidating their assets to travel to Iraq to join the extremist Islamist organisation, the Islamic State, which has established a caliphate in northern Iraq and Syria that it governs by sharia law, SACSIS caught up with Middle East expert, Na'eem Jeenah and put the question to him: "What would it take to defeat ISIS?"
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South Africa: Julius Malema's SONA 2015 Debate Speech Fact-Checked
The debate on President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address saw impassioned speeches by the leaders of South Africa's two main opposition parties. In his response to the State of the Nation Address, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema made a number of claims about education and child labour. When the matric pupils who completed school in 2014 started grade two in 2004 there were 1,085,570 of them. The claim: "[O]nly 204,522 new entrant opportunities at universities were available this year.
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E-toll scrapping call radical, says ANC - Politics | IOL News
Johannesburg - The ANC in the Gauteng legislature on Thursday called on opposition parties to stop trying to “sound radical” by calling for e-tolls to be scrapped. “The ANC resolved that in its current form we don't want e-tolls,” African National Congress MPL Jacob Khawe said during debate on premier David Makhura's state-of-the-province speech in Johannesburg. Makhura announced in his speech on Monday that the province was working with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on the e-toll matter. Earlier, the Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters, and Freedom Front Plus criticised Makhura for not announcing the scrapping of e-tolls.
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Nkhatha: I will miss Chiefs fans
Former Kaizer Chiefs striker Kingston Nkhatha says he’ll miss the Amakhosi fans despite the fact that he was on the receiving end of booing by them. Before leaving Chiefs for SuperSport United in January, Nkhatha was often booed by the Chiefs fans, especially when the team was not doing well. The supporters are the ones who come to the ground every week and they are an integral part of the Kaizer Chiefs set-up. “They have a marvellous support base and from all the clubs I have played at, they are the best I had come across in my career so far,” Nkhatha told the official PSL website.
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Fransman belongs in jail
This column is a plea to the African National Congress to desist from stoking the flames of anarchy. No sooner had we recovered from that spectacle, with the speaker and opposition members apologising to each other, when Marius Fransman and his followers obstructed the Western Cape provincial opening of parliament. Surely when the ANC allows its members to undermine our constitutional democracy, by using the minstrels as its shock troops, it embeds practices in the social fabric of the nation that will become second nature. Firstly, Marius Fransman should be in jail for allegedly appropriating National Lottery funds for the minstrels for party political purposes.
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Pistorius to stop murder charge acquittal appeal
Jailed Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has initiated a legal bid through his lawyers to stop prosecutors from appealing his acquittal on a murder charge relating to the fatal shooting of his model girlfriend Reeva SteenKamp. NPA spokesman Velekhaya Mgobhozi confirmed that the application would be heard by Judge Thokozile Masipa in the South Gauteng High Court on 13 March. Pistorius’ lawyer Brian Webber said the decision to apply for leave to appeal on Judge Thokozile Masipa’s ruling was because he believed she incorrectly allowed leave to appeal to the state. Webber said Masipa erred in allowing the appeal with regards to the matters of facts and law in the trial.
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Boko Haram kills dozens in Nigeria
DAMATURU/KANO — Suicide bombers struck two bus stations in different parts of northern Nigeria on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people. President Goodluck Jonathan blamed the attacks on Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which he said would soon be defeated. In the first, a suicide bomber rushed onto a bus in the northeastern town of Potiskum, and set off a blast that destroyed the bus and killed 16 people, security and hospital sources said. In Tuesday’s second attack, two suicide bombers in a car struck a major bus station in the north’s main city of Kano, killing at least 10 people, police spokesman Ibrahim Idris said.
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Malawi: Joyce Banda - Cashgate or No Cashgate, I Am Not Quitting Politics
Malawi ex-president Joyce Banda has snubbed family members' advice for her to quit frontline politics, Malawi24 understands. Family sources confided that they pleaded with JB to leave politics and instead focus her energy on charity work. It is alleged that JB's family are afraid that her continued active involvement in politics is very likely to arouse the wrath of President Peter Mutharika to press cashgate charges the ex-leader. "It is just a matter of time before the patience on Mutharika wanes and directs for her warrant of arrest if she continues to involve herself in politics.
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50 Surprising Facts In Black Music History
1. Prince reportedly sent Weird Al Yankovic a telegram back in 1986, commanding the comedian to avoid eye contact with him during the entirety of the American Music Awards show. 2. Though little was known about eating disorders in his heyday, Louis Armstrong showed signs of bulimia. 3. As a teen, Gil Scott-Heron wrote a number of short detective stories in the vein of Agatha Christie. 4. Snoop Dogg reportedly sold weed to Cameron Diaz back when the two attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
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Chelsea sign massive sponsorship deal - Premier League
Premier League leaders and Capital One Cup finalists Chelsea agreed one of the biggest shirt sponsorships ever signed with the Yokohama Rubber Company. London - Premier League leaders and Capital One Cup finalists Chelsea agreed “one of the biggest shirt sponsorships ever signed” with the Yokohama Rubber Company on Thursday.
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