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No African Leader worth to receive $5m award in 2012 award
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has confirmed that it will not be awarding the annual prize of $5 million (£3.5 million) this
year. No African leader could be identified to receive this award. This is the third time the award has not been offered.
presidents have been awarded the cash prize. This is the third
year it was no awarded. No award was given in 2009 and 2010.
Three former presidents have received the award. In 2011, the
former president of Cape Verde, Pedro Verona Pires won the prize.
In 2008 it was Festus Mogae of Botswana who was announced
the winner. In 2007 it was Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique.
Mo Ibrahim the founder of Mo Ibrahim Foundation
The award recognizes democratically elected African
leaders who excel in office and also leave when they are
supposed to. The committee awarding the prize stated that
after reviewing several former leaders, it decided that none
of them met the award criteria.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is based in London and gives
an annual prize of $5 million for good governance. It is
awarded to a former African heads of state. The fund was set
up by Mohammed Ibrahim, a British mobile phone magnate
who was born in Sudan. It is the biggest cash prize available to
former leaders of African countries.
Since it was launched six years ago, only three former
Bishop Desmond Tutu
Earlier this month Mo Ibrahim foundation gave a $1 million
grant to anti-apartheid hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu of
South Africa for “speaking truth to power.” The foundation
described Tutu as having been one of Africa’s great voices
for justice, freedom, democracy and responsible, responsive
government throughout his life.
‘Dead’ Dog Survives Being Poisoned, Buried Alive
Ethan, a Jack Russell terrier poisoned and left for dead inside a shallow grave ‘rose
again from the dead’. It was “flat as a pancake” according to rescue team
A pedestrian walking along the lakeside path near Ethan’s “grave” in northern France noticed the
ground moving and rushed to grab a shovel.
The vet says Ethan was “completely cold” and “barely breathing,” so he used hot water bottles to
warm him up and bring him back to life. A day later, the dog was already up and about. Police are
now looking for the person who poisoned Ethan. A microchip embedded in his body helped track
down his owner, who claims he recently gave Ethan away.
Man wins cockroach eating competition, dies
The winner of an insect-eating contest in South Florida collapsed and died after eating dozens
of live cockroaches and worms. Edward Archbold, 32, won the contest, had planned to sell the
python he won in the competition to a friend. Cockroaches are not unsafe to eat unless they are
contaminated with some pathogens”, says Michael Adams, professor of entomology.
The 50 most dangerous cities in the world
A list of 50 most dangerous cities in 2011 has been released by Mexican think tank
Citizens’ Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice.
20 of the most dangerous cities were in Latin America. Nine cities in the top 20 are from Mexico,
where more than 60,000 people have died in drug-related violence in the past six years. Other
dangerous cities were in Brazil, Honduras, El Salvador and Colombia. There are four cities from the US.
Other dangerous cities were located in South Africa Cape Town (34), Port Elizabeth (41), Durban
(49), and Johannesburg (50). Kingston in Jamaica was ranked 33.
None of the cities were in Europe or Asia. The ranking is based on murder rate per capita in 2011.
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