TIMBUKTU'S MANUSCRIPTS

The Rush to Save Timbuktu's Crumbling Manuscripts

By Matthias Schulz and Anwen Roberts

Fabled Timbuktu, once the site of the world's southernmost Islamic university, harbors thousands upon thousands of long-forgotten manuscripts. A dozen academic instutions from around the world are now working frantically to save and evaluate the crumbling documents.

Susan Vogel / Icarus Films

The Grand Mosque at Djenne, Mali. The area's rich cultural heritage is only being slowly discovered.

Bundles of paper covered with ancient Arabic letters lie on tables and dusty leather stools. In the sweltering heat, a man wearing blue Muslim robes flips through a worn folio, while others are busy repairing yellowed pages.

An astonishing project is underway in Timbuktu, Mali, one of the world's poorest countries. On the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, experts are opening an enchanted Aladdin's Cave, filled with hundreds of thousands of ancient documents.

The Ahmed Baba Library alone contains more than 20,000 manuscripts, including works on herbal medicine and mathematics, yellowed volumes of poetry, music and Islamic law. Some are adorned with gilded letters, while others are written in the language of the Tuareg tribes. The contents remain a mystery.

Manuscript hunters are now scouring the environs of Timbuktu, descending into dark, clay basements and climbing up into attics. Twenty-four family-owned collections have already been discovered in the area. Most of the works stem from the late Middle Ages, when Timbuktu was an important crossroads for caravans. It was home to gold merchants and scholars, and it even boasted a university with 20,000 students. The old saying "the treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuktu" summed up the ancient city's appeal.

But the legacy of the oasis, written with ink made from gallnuts, is beginning to fade. Roughly a dozen academic institutions are now involved in saving and evaluating the documents. The French are developing a database, while the United States has donated a device to digitize the damaged documents. The Norwegian cities of Oslo and Bergen are training locals to become conservators. Shamil Jeppie, a Cape Town historian charged with managing the multinational effort, recently published a book, "The Meanings of Timbuktu," in which he describes the current status of the project. European colonialists suppressed the "intellectual history of West Africa," Jeppie writes, and now it is time to rediscover the site that some have referred to as an "African Oxford."

Hunting for Mali's Hidden Documents

This is an astonishing assessment, given Timbuktu's status as a desert town in the middle of nowhere. In 1825, a European managed to navigate the difficult route down to a bend in the Niger River, south of the Sahara. By the time he reached the oasis, he had run out of water and was barely alive. Shortly after entering the city he was murdered. Timbuktu was taboo -- off-limits to Christians.

Even today, Timbuktu is not an easy place to get to. From August to February, local riverboats called pinnaces bob their way up the Niger River, landing at the port town of Kabara, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Timbuktu. The landscape is dominated by sand dunes until shortly before the city's suburbs. The desert wind known as the Harmattan is about as pleasant as a dragon's breath.

Harlan Wallach/NUAMPS

Teams digitize rare works in the new studio in Timbuktu.

And yet the old section of the city is blanketed in an odd, heavy magic, filled with mosques topped by bulbous minarets and wealthy citizens' opulent houses, cube-shaped buildings with meter-thick walls made of baked clay.

According to an employee at the Ahmed Baba Library, Mali was overrun by the French colonial army after 1880. "The French didn't want us to have the manuscripts, and they tried to steal them," says the library worker. The documents were hidden to protect them.

But now the hunt is on. The house of Ismael Haidara, a historian whose ancestors include the Visigoths and jungle kings from southern Mali, has proven to be a treasure trove. Haidara, a private citizen, horded more than 2,000 bundles of papers, passed down through 11 generations of his family. "This is our family history," he says, pointing to a leather slipcase from the year 1519.

Albrecht Hofheinz, an Arabist from Oslo, estimates that there are up to 300,000 forgotten manuscripts in Mali. Insect bites have discolored the pages, he says. "The paper disintegrates, is destroyed by mold or eaten by termites." Time is of the essence. Some of the volumes are being photographed using a digital photo studio provided by the University of Chicago. The first of the documents are expected to be available on the Internet by the end of the year.

The contents of astronomical documents are already being analyzed. "So far 112 texts on astronomy have been discovered," explains Petra Schmidl, a historian of science at the University of Frankfurt am Main. They include calendar calculations, astrology and a depiction of the Ptolemaic world system.

Researchers are now looking forward to studying the tattered archives that contain reports on ancient oases and nomadic societies. The manuscripts also include lists of goods transported by caravans. Will the documents finally shed some light on the mysterious caravan trade?

There are many questions on how the trade thrived in the desert. The world's largest desert stretches 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from north to south. How did the caravans make it through? Archaeologists have not even scratched the surface at the caravans' destinations in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

But they have uncovered new finds in the Sahara, including traces of an ancient infrastructure. Water storage facilities have been found in the middle of the vast desert, as well as places fed by underground wells. Desert palaces once built by the Tuareg were unearthed in the Essouk oasis in northern Mali.

It is now clear that the Arabs were the first to conquer the inhospitable arid zone. While Rome's legions ventured no further than the edges of the desert, they penetrated far deeper into the Sahara.

There is evidence of a Moorish influence in Ghana by as early as 800 A.D. Vast gold deposits were found in the Ghanaian rain forest. Their owners, the Soninke kings, ruled a realm that stretched to the banks of the Senegal River.

Point of Departure for Desert Journeys

According to Arab accounts, the black rulers lived in tents guarded by large dogs wearing gold and silver collars and manacles. According to Arab geographer al-Bakir, one of these kings commanded an army of 200,000 soldiers.

Alyssa Banta

A private family library in the Tuareg village of Ber, 40 miles east of Timbuktu.

The country provided cola nuts, ivory, cotton and semiprecious stones. Local traders loaded their goods onto cargo boats and transported them on the Niger to Timbuktu. The city was the point of departure for journeys into the desert.

Camels stood at Timbuktu's water troughs. Its residents included Arabs, light-skinned Berbers and dark-skinned members of the Malinke tribe. The oasis smelled of lamb dung and fresh spices, and muezzins called out from its minarets. Gold, a form of payment, glistened everywhere -- as dust, nuggets and fist-sized lumps.

In 1324, when Kankan Mussa, one of the kings of Mali, went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, via Cairo, with his ostentatious entourage, he was so generous with the precious metal (he had brought along two tons of it) that gold prices on the Nile plunged. News of the wealthy black monarch even reached faraway Europe. A Catalan map of the world depicts him with thick lips and holding a scepter.

Kankan was so impressed by the palaces of the Orient that he brought home an architect, who created malleable mud-brick imitations of the Arab mosques in Timbuktu. The Djingerber Mosque, with its sugarloaf-shaped towers, still stands in the city today.

DER SPIEGEL

The historical trans-Saharan trading routes.

There is an even larger mosque in nearby Djenne, part fairytale castle and part termite hill. Each year after the rainy season, when cracks have formed in the outside walls, hundreds of workers participate in what has become a national pastime cum religious service. Men climb up along wooden scaffolding in the outside walls, praying as they climb, to apply fresh mud to the structure.

For many years, such customs were all but unknown in Europe (US ethnologist Susan Vogel filmed the annual mud plaster ceremony last year for the first time). In the past, those traveling to Timbuktu had to traverse seemingly endless volcanic plains and rocky plateaus -- at temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees Fahrenheit). The area south of Murzuk, an oasis notorious for its role in the slave trade, consists of a vast, shimmering sand bowl measuring 90,000 square kilometers (34,700 square miles, or about the size of Portugal).

Anyone who lost his way there was literally baked.

The Arabs only managed to complete the journey through the desert with the help of camels. A camel can drink 200 liters of water at a time, and its kidneys retrieve large amounts of water after urination. The Arabs also enlisted the help of the Tuareg tribes, which lived on ridges in the central Sahara.

Even there, surrounded by hyper-arid sand pans, volcanic basalt chimneys and pinnacles, life was possible. The Tuareg drilled deep wells, and they had their black slaves excavate long underground canals with slight inclines to bring in ground water.

Archaeologists have shown that an incredible system of underground canals up to 20,000 kilometers (12,422 miles) long once existed at Wadi al-Hayat in Libya. Thanks to such hydraulic marvels, the desert blossomed and crops sprouted in the fields of the Tuareg. In Essouk, they ate gazelles and dried perch, imported from the Niger River, 240 kilometers away. Murzuk, with its large slave market, was surrounded by a massive wall with seven gates -- in the middle of the Sahara.

A Source of African Pride

But nothing worked without the blue-robed Tuareg. They provided provisions for the caravans and led them to the oases. At times, they turned to blackmail and looting, and Timbuktu was attacked several times.

Researchers are anxious to discover more about the haggling between ethnic groups and how they divided up the spoils. In the late Middle Ages, Cairo was sending 12,000 camels a year to Mali. There were plenty of fortunes to be made.

The slave trade was especially lucrative. Guards carrying whips drove the slaves through the hot desert. "Only the youngest and strongest survived the two-month desert trek, and they were walking skeletons by the time they reached the Fezzan region, where they were fattened up," writes Austrian geographer Hans Weis.

The Koran also made its way into sub-Saharan Africa along these torturous routes. In its heyday, Timbuktu had 180 Koran schools. "A large library was built, where the fundamental theological and philosophical works were copied," explains Thomas Krings, an Africa expert at the University of Freiburg in southwestern Germany. The many documents that were penned then are now emerging in Mali as crumbling volumes. "Many people consider Timbuktu to be the end of the world," says Mahamoudou Baba Hasseye, the owner of a valuable private collection, "but it was an important center of Islamic scholarship."

Calligraphers once plied their trade in the desert. Some of the manuscripts uncovered in Timbuktu contain gold lettering, and some are written in the unusual Songhai and Fulfulbe tribal languages.

These treasures are still a long way from being saved. The libraries are filled with bits and pieces of paper, evidence of crumbling manuscripts. The government of South Africa promised to build a library in Timbuktu years ago, but nothing ever came of it.

But at least there are many who have come to Timbuktu to help save its ancient manuscripts. The project, which historian Petra Schmidl characterizes as being on the "extreme fringe of the Islamic academic community," is a source of great pride for Africans.

"Africa has repeatedly been portrayed as culturally inferior," says Essop Pahad, South Africa's Minister in the Presidency. "In Timbuktu, we are proving that the opposite is true."

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,569560,00.html

CHILD PROSTITUTION.....ARRESTS IN ITALY

A Nigerian lady was arrested at Benevento (Italy)for sexual exploitation of minors. Her accomplices had already escaped arrest by taking refuge in Nigeria.The lady,Vivian Osayamen (40years) a native of Benin City was arrested by the police mobile squad. She was condemned to a prison term which lasts till 26 Jan 2011 for breaking the laws on sexual t exploitation of children and pedo-pornographic offenses. The accomplice of this MADAM who escaped to Nigeria is still to be caught

Following an investigation on the activities of Some Nigerian criminal gangs in Modena, Bologna and surroundings since 2005, the mobile squad in June 2007 had to make the arrests of some members of this gang which is know to haves its logistic and operation Hq in Nigeria and France .
It ws discovered that this group had rooted itself so deep in the area tharefore any arrests made were immediately replaced with fresh recruits form their home country who came in to occupy the(piece of land) places left by the arrested persons With this system the group continued to maintain their criminal activities in spite of continuous fragmentations and arrests.
As in most of these cases the victim (child prostitute) has been under heavy physical and psychological pressure through intimidation with Voodo.
The girl was recruited in Nigeria where she was supposed to pay a sum between 30.000 to 50.000 euro.The pretext was her joining a Nigerian female football team In France . From France she was sent to Modena in Italy where she worked as a prostitute until her final liberation.

Translated/summarized by: Chukbyke

Donna nigeriana arrestata a Benevento per sfruttamento sessuale di minori. Il complice era già sfuggito alla cattura rifugiandosi in nigeria Si tratta di una cittadina extracomunitaria di 40 anni, Vivian Osayamen, di Benin City, in Nigeria, è stata arrestata dagli agenti della Squadra Mobile di Benevento in esecuzione dell'ordine di carcerazione emesso nella giornata di ieri dal Tribunale di Modena. La donna, che dovrà scontare una pena detentiva fino al 26 gennaio 2011, è stata riconosciuta colpevole della violazione della legge 38/2006 in materia di lotta contro lo sfruttamento sessuale dei bambini e la pedopornografia. L'ordine di carcerazione nei confronti della donna emesso dal Tribunale di Modena. Una breve sintesi della intera vicenda: Nel mese di giugno 2007 la Squadra Mobile di Modena - a seguito di attività di indagine condotta per episodi di sfruttamento e favoreggiamento della prostituzione minorile consumati a Modena ed altre province nel periodo compreso tra il mese di luglio 2005 ed il dicembre 2006 - ha dato l'avvio al procedimento penale a carico di alcuni dei componenti di un gruppo criminale nigeriano, tutti radicati nella provincia di Modena ed in quella limitrofa di Bologna, e con basi logistiche in Nigeria ed in Francia dediti ai reati connessi alla prostituzione di colore. L'operazione in questione, così come quelle analoghe concluse negli ultimi due anni, rientra nell'ambito di un piano strategico più generale e penetrante approntato dal Servizio Centrale Operativo della Direzione Centrale Anticrimine della Polizia di Stato e rappresenta l'ennesimo colpo inferto dalla Polizia di Stato a quelle organizzazioni criminali di etnia straniera (nel caso di specie centro africana) che negli ultimi anni hanno gestito in posizione di totale monopolio, sia a Modena che in tutto il resto del paese, le attività illecite connesse alla prostituzione ed ai reati a questa collegati (immigrazione clandestina, falsi documentali, ecc.). L'indagine si ricollega ed è la naturale prosecuzione anche delle pregresse operazioni della Polizia di Stato "Multilevel" (dell'aprile 2005), "Multilevel 2" (del maggio 2006), "Multilevel 3" (dell'ottobre 2006) e Multilevel 4 (del maggio 2007). Si tratta, infatti, delle diverse frange dello stesso gruppo criminale che si sono progressivamente sostituite e rimpiazzate a seguito della ciclica disarticolazione delle consorterie ad opera della Polizia di Stato di Modena negli ultimi anni. E' stato infatti riscontrato che la totale padronanze del territorio dei membri dei sodalizi ed il loro forte radicamento nella provincia di Modena, ha comportato il fatto che anche successivamente all'arresto dei componenti di turno, le porzioni di territorio da loro occupate siano state mantenute con l'immediata sostituzione dei soggetti tratti in arresto, con nuove e più fresche forze immediatamente giunte a Modena dai paesi di origine. In questo modo, pur accettando la frammentazione dei gruppi criminali, è stata comunque garantita continuità per diversi anni alle attività del gruppo delinquenziale. A conclusione dell'attività investigativa in argomento, che è stata coordinata dal Servizio Centrale Operativo della Polizia di Stato e dalla Direzione Centrale Anticrimine per tutta la sua durata, nelle primissime ore della mattinata odierna gli uomini della Polizia di Stato hanno dato esecuzione a 2 ordinanze di custodia cautelare in carcere emesse dal Giudice per le Indagini Preliminari presso il locale Tribunale su richiesta del Pubblico Ministero titolare dell'indagine, a carico di altrettanti soggetti tutti indagati per i reati di cui agli artt. 110 c.p. in relazione agli artt. 600 bis e sexies c.p. (prostituzione minorile ed altri reati minori, il tutto in concorso). Le operazioni di esecuzione sono state svolte nella città di Modena, Bologna - dove è statat arresta la cittadina nigeriana Osayamen Vivian, nata in Nigeria nel 1968, residente a Benevento ma domiciliata a Bologna - e Benevento. Resta da catturare il complice della madame, sempre nigeriano, che da alcuni mesi ha trovato riparo in Nigeria. Per le operazioni di arresto il personale della Polizia di Stato si è avvalso dell'ausilio della Squadre Mobili di Bologna e Benevento. Nel corso delle perquisizioni delegate dal Pubblico Ministero, effettuate presso 3 abitazioni dei soggetti sottoposti a provvedimenti restrittivi (una a Modena, una a Bologna ed una a Benevento), sono stati raccolti ulteriori elementi di prova attestanti le responsabilità dei due indagati per i reati loro contestati. I due soggetti indagati sono stati ritenuti responsabili dei reati loro contestati per episodi di sfruttamento di una giovane ragazza nigeriana nella città di Modena fino al dicembre 2006, quando la ragazza è stata poi sottratta all'egida del gruppo ed opportunamente collocata in struttura protetta. Anche in questa occasione le attività hanno consentito di appurare che la donna sfruttata è stata mantenuta in stato di totale soggezione psicologia e fisica mediante l'utilizzo di vari riti voodoo della Nigeria occidentale. La ragazza era stata acquistata dalla famiglia di origine in Nigeria (dove erano di stanza soggetti preposti al reclutamento) per una somma oscillante tra i 30.000 ed i 50.000 Euro, portata in Francia (a Parigi) con passaporto falso e con la scusa dell'aggregazione ad una squadra di calcio femminile nigeriana ed infine portata in Italia a Modena, dove ha esercitato l'attività di meretricio fino alla sua definitiva liberazione.

soft drinks and diabetes

Soft Drinks and Fruit Drinks Linked to Diabetes Risk in African American Women CME
News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Charles Vega, MD
Disclosures
Release Date: July 30, 2008;
Charles Vega, MD
Disclosure: Charles Vega, MD, has disclosed an advisor/consultant relationship to Novartis, Inc.

Brande Nicole Martin
Disclosure: Brande Nicole Martin has disclosed no relevant financial information.


July 30, 2008 — Regular intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit drinks is associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes in African American women, according to the results of a prospective follow-up study reported in the July 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"Type 2 diabetes mellitus is an increasingly serious health problem among African American women," write Julie R. Palmer, ScD, from Slone Epidemiology Center, Boston University in Massachusetts, and colleagues. "Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks was associated with an increased risk of diabetes in 2 studies but not in a third; however, to our knowledge, no data are available on African Americans regarding this issue. Our objective was to examine the association between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, weight gain, and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in African American women."
Since 1995, this study has observed 59,000 African American women, who reported on food and beverage consumption in 1995 and 2001 and completed biennial follow-up questionnaires to determine new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes. The present analyses involved data from 43,960 women who were free from diabetes at baseline and who provided complete dietary and weight information. The primary endpoint was the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
During 338,884 person-years of follow-up, 2713 incident cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus were identified. Higher intake of both sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit drinks was associated with a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The incidence rate ratio for 2 or more soft drinks per day was 1.24 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06 - 1.45), after adjustment for dietary factors and other confounding variables. The comparable incidence rate ratio for fruit drinks was 1.31 (95% CI, 1.13 - 1.52).
Although the association of diabetes with soft drink intake was almost entirely mediated by body mass index, the association with fruit drink consumption was independent of body mass index.
"Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit drinks is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in African American women," the study authors write. "While there has been increasing public awareness of the adverse health effects of soft drinks, little attention has been given to fruit drinks, which are often marketed as a healthier alternative to soft drinks."
Limitations of this study include beverage consumption data collected at baseline, creating possible misclassification of exposure, and incident cases of type 2 diabetes based on self-report.
"Consumption of fruit drinks conveyed as high an increase in risk as did consumption of soft drinks," the study authors conclude. "The public should be made aware that these drinks are not a healthy alternative to soft drinks with regard to risk of type 2 diabetes."
In an accompanying editorial, Mark N. Feinglos, MD, CM, and Susan E. Totten, RD, from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, note that the greatest increase in weight was seen in those women who drank the most soft drinks.
"The critical issue in the development of diabetes is total caloric intake and subsequent weight gain rather than individual macronutrient composition, [but] modification of specific macronutrients might make it easier to decrease total calories," Drs. Feinglos and Totten write. "Until we have more information, we have to assume that calories trump everything else, and that our number 1 goal for the reduction of new cases of type 2 DM [diabetes mellitus] should be to reduce the intake of high-energy, low-benefit foods, particularly in young members of the most vulnerable populations."
The National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases supported this study. Dr. Palmer has obtained funding. Another study author has received industry support from McNeil Consumer Healthcare and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Drs. Feinglos and Totten have disclosed no financial relationships.
Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:1485-1486, 1487-1492.
Clinical Context
High-fructose corn syrup is the main sweetener in sweetened soft drinks in the United States, and manufacturers may prefer this sweetener in a variety of foods because it is cheaper than sucrose while also offering a longer shelf life. An editorial by Feinglos and Totten reviews the effect of consumption of high-fructose corn syrup on health. Currently, high-fructose corn syrup accounts for 10% of the average total daily energy intake in the United States. Most consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is from soft drinks, and it appears that imbibing more soft drinks does not help to reduce appetite for more energy intake. However, there is conflicting evidence whether consumption of refined carbohydrates can contribute to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes when the total caloric intake remains stable.
The current study examines how consumption of both soft drinks and fruit drinks affects the risk for incident type 2 diabetes in African American women, a high-risk group for this disease.
Study Highlights
• Study data were drawn from an ongoing study of African American women, which began in 1995.
• 59,000 women between the ages of 21 and 69 years were included in the study cohort.
• A baseline questionnaire examined medical history and health habits. Only women who were at least 30 years old at the end of follow-up and did not report a history of diabetes, gestational diabetes, or cardiovascular disease were included in the current analysis.
• Incident type 2 diabetes was assessed via a participant self-report every 2 years during 5 cycles of follow-up. In a separate analysis, self-report of diabetes was found to be accurate in 94% of cases.
• The 68-item short-form Block-National Cancer Institute food frequency questionnaire was used to measure subjects' dietary habits.
• The main outcome of the study was the effect of soft drink (excluding diet soda) and juice drink (excluding orange juice and grapefruit juice) consumption on the risk for incident type 2 diabetes. This outcome was adjusted for potential confounders, including age, family history, physical activity, anthropometric factors, and other dietary habits.
• 43,960 women had data for analysis.
• 17% of participants reported drinking at least 1 sugar-sweetened soft drink per day, and 32% consumed at least 1 sweetened fruit drink per day.
• Intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks was inversely related to age, physical activity, and years of education, and cereal fiber intake. Soft-drink consumption was positively related to body mass index, cigarette smoking, total energy intake, and consumption of processed meats. Consumption of fruit drinks was positively associated with physical activity and a low-glycemic index diet.
• 2713 cases of type 2 diabetes were diagnosed during 10 years of follow-up.
• Increased consumption of soft drinks was associated with higher weight gain during follow-up, whereas reduced consumption of soft drinks was associated with weight loss. The relationship between juice drink consumption and weight change was less robust.
• Consumption of 2 or more soft drinks per day was associated with an increased risk for incident diabetes (incidence rate ratio, 1.24).
• Consumption of 2 or more fruit drinks per day was also associated with an increased risk for incident diabetes (incidence rate ratio, 1.31).
• Consumption of orange or grapefruit juice was not associated with an increased risk for incident diabetes.
• The effect of soft drinks on the risk for diabetes appeared to be mediated by body mass index, but the effects of fruit juice in increasing the risk for diabetes were unrelated to body mass index.
• Soft drinks were associated with an increased risk for diabetes regardless of baseline age or body mass index.
Pearls for Practice
• High-fructose corn syrup is cheaper and has a longer shelf life vs sucrose. It accounts for 10% of the average daily energy intake in the United States, but it is unclear if consumption of refined carbohydrates independently increases the risk for type 2 diabetes.
• In the current study, both soft drink and fruit drink consumption were associated with a higher risk for incident type 2 diabetes in a cohort of African American women.

Prostituzione Minorile...Donna Nigeriana arrestata

Donna nigeriana arrestata a Benevento per sfruttamento sessuale di minori. Il complice era già sfuggito alla cattura rifugiandosi in nigeria Si tratta di una cittadina extracomunitaria di 40 anni, Vivian Osayamen, di Benin City, in Nigeria, è stata arrestata dagli agenti della Squadra Mobile di Benevento in esecuzione dell'ordine di carcerazione emesso nella giornata di ieri dal Tribunale di Modena. La donna, che dovrà scontare una pena detentiva fino al 26 gennaio 2011, è stata riconosciuta colpevole della violazione della legge 38/2006 in materia di lotta contro lo sfruttamento sessuale dei bambini e la pedopornografia. L'ordine di carcerazione nei confronti della donna emesso dal Tribunale di Modena. Una breve sintesi della intera vicenda: Nel mese di giugno 2007 la Squadra Mobile di Modena - a seguito di attività di indagine condotta per episodi di sfruttamento e favoreggiamento della prostituzione minorile consumati a Modena ed altre province nel periodo compreso tra il mese di luglio 2005 ed il dicembre 2006 - ha dato l'avvio al procedimento penale a carico di alcuni dei componenti di un gruppo criminale nigeriano, tutti radicati nella provincia di Modena ed in quella limitrofa di Bologna, e con basi logistiche in Nigeria ed in Francia dediti ai reati connessi alla prostituzione di colore. L'operazione in questione, così come quelle analoghe concluse negli ultimi due anni, rientra nell'ambito di un piano strategico più generale e penetrante approntato dal Servizio Centrale Operativo della Direzione Centrale Anticrimine della Polizia di Stato e rappresenta l'ennesimo colpo inferto dalla Polizia di Stato a quelle organizzazioni criminali di etnia straniera (nel caso di specie centro africana) che negli ultimi anni hanno gestito in posizione di totale monopolio, sia a Modena che in tutto il resto del paese, le attività illecite connesse alla prostituzione ed ai reati a questa collegati (immigrazione clandestina, falsi documentali, ecc.). L'indagine si ricollega ed è la naturale prosecuzione anche delle pregresse operazioni della Polizia di Stato "Multilevel" (dell'aprile 2005), "Multilevel 2" (del maggio 2006), "Multilevel 3" (dell'ottobre 2006) e Multilevel 4 (del maggio 2007). Si tratta, infatti, delle diverse frange dello stesso gruppo criminale che si sono progressivamente sostituite e rimpiazzate a seguito della ciclica disarticolazione delle consorterie ad opera della Polizia di Stato di Modena negli ultimi anni. E' stato infatti riscontrato che la totale padronanze del territorio dei membri dei sodalizi ed il loro forte radicamento nella provincia di Modena, ha comportato il fatto che anche successivamente all'arresto dei componenti di turno, le porzioni di territorio da loro occupate siano state mantenute con l'immediata sostituzione dei soggetti tratti in arresto, con nuove e più fresche forze immediatamente giunte a Modena dai paesi di origine. In questo modo, pur accettando la frammentazione dei gruppi criminali, è stata comunque garantita continuità per diversi anni alle attività del gruppo delinquenziale. A conclusione dell'attività investigativa in argomento, che è stata coordinata dal Servizio Centrale Operativo della Polizia di Stato e dalla Direzione Centrale Anticrimine per tutta la sua durata, nelle primissime ore della mattinata odierna gli uomini della Polizia di Stato hanno dato esecuzione a 2 ordinanze di custodia cautelare in carcere emesse dal Giudice per le Indagini Preliminari presso il locale Tribunale su richiesta del Pubblico Ministero titolare dell'indagine, a carico di altrettanti soggetti tutti indagati per i reati di cui agli artt. 110 c.p. in relazione agli artt. 600 bis e sexies c.p. (prostituzione minorile ed altri reati minori, il tutto in concorso). Le operazioni di esecuzione sono state svolte nella città di Modena, Bologna - dove è statat arresta la cittadina nigeriana Osayamen Vivian, nata in Nigeria nel 1968, residente a Benevento ma domiciliata a Bologna - e Benevento. Resta da catturare il complice della madame, sempre nigeriano, che da alcuni mesi ha trovato riparo in Nigeria. Per le operazioni di arresto il personale della Polizia di Stato si è avvalso dell'ausilio della Squadre Mobili di Bologna e Benevento. Nel corso delle perquisizioni delegate dal Pubblico Ministero, effettuate presso 3 abitazioni dei soggetti sottoposti a provvedimenti restrittivi (una a Modena, una a Bologna ed una a Benevento), sono stati raccolti ulteriori elementi di prova attestanti le responsabilità dei due indagati per i reati loro contestati. I due soggetti indagati sono stati ritenuti responsabili dei reati loro contestati per episodi di sfruttamento di una giovane ragazza nigeriana nella città di Modena fino al dicembre 2006, quando la ragazza è stata poi sottratta all'egida del gruppo ed opportunamente collocata in struttura protetta. Anche in questa occasione le attività hanno consentito di appurare che la donna sfruttata è stata mantenuta in stato di totale soggezione psicologia e fisica mediante l'utilizzo di vari riti voodoo della Nigeria occidentale. La ragazza era stata acquistata dalla famiglia di origine in Nigeria (dove erano di stanza soggetti preposti al reclutamento) per una somma oscillante tra i 30.000 ed i 50.000 Euro, portata in Francia (a Parigi) con passaporto falso e con la scusa dell'aggregazione ad una squadra di calcio femminile nigeriana ed infine portata in Italia a Modena, dove ha esercitato l'attività di meretricio fino alla sua definitiva liberazione. http://lnx.82cento.it/page/leggitutto.php?idNews=4388

Why Germany Has No Obama

THE AUDACITY OF ANGST

By Markus Feldenkirchen

If Barack Obama accomplished one thing in Berlin, it was to make it painfully obvious just how uninspiring German politicians are.

American Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's speech had ended an hour before and the skies over Berlin were taking on an ethereal reddish hue as the sun set. But Julian Metz was still glowing with enthusiasm. He spoke with nervous excitement, his words tumbling happily out of his mouth as if he had just lost his virginity. As indeed he had: his political virginity.

DPA

Germans were infatuated by Barack Obama -- partly because politicians here tend to be uninspiring.

Julian Metz, a 27-year-old architecture student, had never before attended a speech by a politician, but he was determined to experience Obama. He arrived at Berlin's Victory Column three hours before the speech was scheduled to begin just so he could find a place at the front. He saw, heard and felt Obama, and in the end he even managed to shake the presidential candidate's hand. Metz was one of the few that got that close. Two-hundred thousand people turned out on the Strasse des 17. Juni to see Obama speak -- a crowd the likes of which one normally only sees if football is involved.

He had just become a part of history, or at least that is what Metz believed. "I felt that if he is voted into office, the world will change," he said, a tote bag from a local grocery store dangling from his wrist. He was electrified, infected with a new political bug, and he said that he now intends to become politically involved for the first time in his life. But there is only one problem. "Unfortunately," said Metz, "we have nothing comparable on the horizon in Germany."

For now, this is the one sobering message Barack Obama has left behind in Germany. His visit has raised a question, one that masks a deep longing: Why doesn't Germany have similarly inspiring politicians? Why can't Germany have its own Obama?

Germans may take some comfort in the fact that there is no Greek Obama, nor a Finnish or a South Korean Obama. The senator from Illinois appears to be the kind of rare political talent that even the United States sees only once in a great while. If John Kerry, the Democratic candidate in the 2004 presidential election, had given a speech in front of the Victory Column, his listeners would have been well-advised to bring along pillows -- just in case they happened to nod off during his remarks.

Nevertheless, the discrepancy between Obama and the political class in Germany couldn't be greater. The divide between the two is like the difference between night and day, between German folk singer Heino and the rock band Coldplay.

All it takes to recognize that difference is to compare their language. Obama's speech in downtown Berlin was a festival of big metaphors. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a keynote speech, her words are usually about as alluring as a ring binder. Her speeches are about mundane topics like commuter tax relief and pensions, and if she uses metaphors at all, they are more than likely references to holes that require plugging. And about the only image Social Democratic Party (SPD) Chairman Kurt Beck seems able to conjure up is of the butter everyone is scraping from his toast.

There is much to criticize about Obama, including his support of the death penalty and the fact that his speeches tend to be short on content. But what remains is an ability to generate public enthusiasm for politics that offsets many of his shortcomings.

This is how French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once described the key to instilling passion into people: "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, ... teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." Obama has made this sentiment his mantra.

Obama, notwithstanding his unique abilities, is a typical product of American culture, the outcome of an approach to developing a child's personality that begins in kindergarten. In the United States, even three-year-olds are encouraged to bring their favorite things to school and explain them to other children. In high school, the art of giving presentations is a fixed part of the curriculum. The goal is to teach young Americans early on how to talk about one thing above all else: themselves. This too explains the audacious nonchalance with which someone like Obama presents himself -- an attitude that Germans find nothing short of astonishing.

But this is only one reason why Germany, despite exceptions like former Chancellor and SPD Chairman Willy Brandt, has produced mainly sober and often uninspiring politicians throughout the last 60 years. The passion and love of the stage that has helped make Obama an icon could have quickly destroyed political careers in Germany. Those with visions were advised to see their doctors.

AP

A number of Germans would like to see an Obama-like politician in Germany.

Germans have had their fair share of experiences with charismatic speakers. After an entire people allowed itself to be seduced by Adolf Hitler, the architects of the postwar republic were more than justified in doing their utmost to protect the Germans from the seductive powers of an individual and, as a result, from themselves.

They devised a political system that emphasizes the party while placing little emphasis on the individual. They opted for an internal party selection process instead of the candidacy of individual politicians, a process that requires neither passion nor charisma, but does require a well padded behind. A political career in Germany depends far less on the people than on the party and its many manifestations, on entities like local party organizations, sub-districts, primary districts and intermediate districts.

But the party organizations value different characteristics than citizens do. Politicians can earn bonus points for a good attendance record and a pronounced ability to be patient. They can improve their prospects by spending the appropriate amount of time preparing the minutes of meetings, arranging for soft drinks at children's events or grilling bratwursts at summer barbecues. As praiseworthy as these activities are, they are easily performed without charisma.

The German system is designed to exclude demagogues, but it also cultivates mediocrity. It prevents the ascent of demons and geniuses alike, while paving the way for the political success of experts at the grill.

Unfortunately, the prospect of spending so many years grilling bratwursts and the like discourages many from becoming politically involved. Others eventually give up and move on to other fields. There were good reasons for Germany to place its trust in this system after the disgrace of the Nazi era. But now it seems that Germany is ready for change of its own.

It is no coincidence that there were so many young people in Obama's audience of 200,000 in Berlin. While not unaware of their own history, the generation of 25-year-olds feels far less inhibited by it than its predecessors. The younger generation is no longer susceptible to older Germans' instinctive aversion to passionate politicians. On the contrary, young Germans yearn for someone to inspire them instead of simply telling them what to do. They want to have the same rights as their generational counterparts in the United States.

For these reasons, it would make sense for Germany to open itself up to new forms when it comes to choosing its political leaders. Primary campaigns, in which candidates would have to present their cases to a broader public, would also increase interest in politics in general. And the political system in Germany would be instilled with new life if it could finally offer political outsiders real prospects.

Structures that were once conceived to protect democracy from its enemies are no longer necessarily current, now that 60 years have passed since they were created. The political parties should have the courage to change these structures, and thus to protect democracy from its new foes: lethargy and boredom.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,568876,00.html

ITALIA DIRITTI UMANI VIOLATI

Immigrati, Consiglio Europa: in Italia violati i diritti umani Reuters - da 20 minuti 29/07/2008 BRUXELLES (Reuters) - Il commissario per i diritti umani del Consiglio d'Europa ha criticato le misure attuate dall'Italia in materia di immigrazione dicendo che violano i diritti umani e potrebbero alimentare la xenofobia nel Paese. "Le misure attuate in Italia non tengono conto dei diritti umani e dei principi umanitari e potrebbero fomentare altri episodi xenofobi", ha detto il commissario Thomas Hammarberg nel suo rapporto sulla visita effettuata gli scorsi 19 e 20 giugno in Italia per discutere della nuova politica del governo Berlusconi in materia di immigrazione. Immigrati, Consiglio Europa: in Italia violati i diritti umani

---

LOOK TO THE IVORY COAST FOR INSPIRATION

I had the good fortune of living in Cote D'Ivoire for almost 7 years. It is a beautiful country with wonderful people, incredible music, great food and excellent beaches. I must confess that despite the recent insecurity and fighting that nation has experienced, Cote D'Ivoire and specifically, the city of Abidjan, will always have a special place in my heart.

Well, Cote D'Ivoire, or the Ivory Coast as non-French speakers call it, has done something that Nigeria's government should pay attention to. There was a riot in April when the government increased the price of diesel. In response, the Ivorian government has just announced that it will slash the salaries of Ministers by half to subsidize the lower cost of diesel for the masses.
This action is unparalleled in West Africa as far as I am aware. In fact, I have never heard of such happening anywhere. And, even though it could simply be a means to get votes for the upcoming November elections, the mere fact that the Ivorian government listened to the people and took a decisive step to make appease citizens is commendable. I do no know how far this decision will go to keep diesel prices at a manageable price for Ivorians, but the fact that Ministers will experience a pay cut shows that that nation's leaders are willing to bear the burdens of tough global economic times right alongside the common man. This is enough to give the people confidence in their government and hope that future disagreements will be solved by compromise.

Now, if only there was such unparalleled action in Nigeria on a whole host of issues....
http://www.nigeriancuriosity.com/2008/07/look-to-ivory-coast-for-inspiration.html

BABY SHOPPING...SHORT STORY FROM AFROLICIOUS BABE

I called in sick on Friday sounding like I could die the very next second then decided I was on diet and ate loads of beans…wore a maxi dress and went baby cloth shopping…No, Afro is not pregnant…My friend Fluffy got married a while ago and has a bun or a puff puff in the oven. Need to tell you the story of how I met Fluffy, very dramatic…The girl sabi panic no be small...Don't commit any crime with her cos you will be caught…Hence baby shopping donkey months before baby is due!

Hoping I wouldn't run into anyone as Oxford street is really close to my office I go into H&M, got some stuff for baby, couldn't resist a little something for myself.

While in the shop I felt a sudden sharp cramp which must have been a result of too much breakfast and leaned on a cloth rack holding my tummy. Now this is the image, I am in new born babies section, tiny cloths in one hand, using same hand to hold tummy and using other hand to hold on to cloth rack wearing a maxi dress.

I saw a shop girl rushing to me with a seat, followed closely by 2 other shop girls, she asked me to sit and they asked if it was my first baby, that was when I realised what was going on…Did I put them right? NO… told them it was my first then touched my head and said my blood sugar was low, one of them ran off and came back with a coke which I quickly took.lol..awoof!

Leaving the shop I see people collecting something, Afro does not know what it is but being the African that I am quickly rushed over to collect as well…Some new drink, I collect from 3 different people…yes, I got 3 bottles and immediately drank one…The coke had turned to blood sugar by then.Then I decided I needed to munch something and got 3 donuts and went to primark to do some more baby shopping, baby things look colourful and cheap, kai, the things I got for £5 at H & M are £2.50 here, so I go mad and shop my ass off, forgetting the money is not just for clothes…oh well…couldn't resist getting 3 sexy night wears for myself…kai, but primark nighties are cute…cheap but cute...lol...Anyway a shop attendant seeing as I am pregnant and saddled with load came and carriedthem to the till for me.

Then I have a large subway sandwich with my free drink, at this time even I had forgotten I wasn't really pregnant. Needed the energy for the trip home.

Went home and immediately fell asleep, the sign of good exercise, or maybe it was the pounded yam I had with the last free drink seeing as I didnt have lunch, I should have taken 4 of those drinks..., hmmmm next time!! I must have lost at least a kilo with all that walking around from shop to shop…Mrs Somebody and Calabar girl will be so proud of me…NOT!!!! Must do it more often though cos it was fun.

Later in the evening parakeet and I go to a naija show, Nice and Olu maintain (yahoozee) Didn't really dig Nice, maybe cos I don't understand a word of what he was saying but that olu maintain is an entertainer men…The guy gave a good interactive show while Nice mimed… It wasn't all fun though as the silly DJ hailed everyone and said we all looked nice in our primark dresses ( To those in naija, this is equivalent to being told your tejuosho dress looks good) The thing pained me big time because I got the cute dress I was wearing from primark…long hissssss!!!

Then Parakeet's ex bobo came to take us home, that was the second time I was meeting him but the same thought came to my mind…HOW IN HEAVENS NAME DO YOU UPGRADE ON PERFECTION??? His height, voice, good spoken English, clean, huuuuuuuuuu the joggers danggggg… I whispered to Parakeet, good luck upping that!! Why the hell is he ex anyway? I would forgive him any crime, in fact I'd beg him to commit a crime just so I could forgive him!!!

FG To Send Prince Erediauwa To Italy

Sunday, February 17, 2008

FG To Send Prince Erediauwa To Italy
FROM OGHOGHO OBAYUWANA, ABUJA

The complexion of the designation of Nigeria's ambassadors being posted out now has started to emerge.

The Guardian has confirmed by the weekend that Benin crown prince, Eheneden Erediauwa is being sent to Italy. He had served as Nigeria's plenipotentiary to Sweden and Angola.

Diplomatic sources confirmed that the Prince is now awaiting his agreement from Rome. The request for Agreement was sent almost three weeks ago.

The need to resurrect a positive image for Nigeria, historical antecedents as well as strengthening the war against human trafficking are said to be the factors that determined which of the ambassadors-designates is to be sent to Italy.

Edo State is reputed to have the highest number of Nigerians who have been trafficked to Italy within the last two decades.

A high-level foreign ministry source, who responded to The Guardian's enquiry, said, " Government has done its own home work. The ancient Benin kingdom used to exchange ambassadors with Portugal in the 16th and 17th centuries and had contacts with the Dutch before the British people came. We needed someone who can completely fulfill the mandate in Italy. It is citizens' diplomacy at work..."

Last week, the Italian government, through its embassy in Abuja, signed an agreement with Nigeria on "Preventing and combating trafficking of minors and young women from Nigeria to Italy (Phase 2)"

The Nigerian community in Italy has doubled in the last five years (11,378 in 1998, 19,505 in 2002, up to 24,986 in 2003)

NIGERIA & HER OIL