I and 119 volunteers will serve the jail sentence — Auschwitz Memorial Director writes Buhari over 13-year-old boy sentenced to 10 years in prison for blasphemy in Kano

Piotr Cywinski, director of Auschwitz Memorial in Poland has written a letter addressed to President Buhari over the 10-year jail sentence handed to 13-year-old Umar Farouq over blasphemy in Kano.

My ancestors are Igbo, Bishop T.D Jakes reveals

A popular American preacher, Bishop T.D Jakes of the Potter’s House, has said that his ancestors are Igbo, from South-East of Nigeria. He said this in an interview with BBC Igbo. According to him: “Mine was traced back to West Africa, to Nigeria and particularly Igbo.

Baby boy dies as dad of 5 girls desperate for a son, slices open his pregnant wife’s stomach to check baby’s gender

The police in India have arrested a father of five girls, identified as Pannalal after he allegedly sliced open the stomach of his pregnant wife to find out if she was expecting a boy.

Man buys one plot of land on moon as wedding gift for wife

A 23-year-old Pakistani man, Sohaib Ahmed, who got married six months ago, has bought a one-acre plot of land on the moon as a wedding gift for his wife, Madiha.

A 25-year-old man in Georgia, Demario Wilson, was fatally shot by his “close friend” De’Ja Pierre-Ames last week after an argument over $5, according to the College Park Police Department.

A Chinese man has just been made chief in Ghana

A Chinese man, Sun Qiang, has been enstooled as a development chief (Nkosuohene) of Kwahu-Abetifi, a town in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The title Nkosuohene is often given to non-royals, who could be politicians or tourists engaged in development. In Kwahu-Abetifi, this title was conferred on a Chinese man, and some Ghanaians are not so enthused over the development.

Celebrating the trailblazing first female senate president of Jamaica who died at 82

It is pointless to acquire so much knowledge and experience and not share them with anyone. Otherwise, when you pass on, you go with what you learned. Jeanette Grant-Woodham was the first female president of the Senate of Jamaica who shared her knowledge with those she encountered and today she is hailed as a trailblazer. She died earlier this week.

The story behind why Winnie and Nelson Mandela could no longer be married

After he was sentenced to life in prison in 1964, iconic South African president Nelson Mandela stood in a court dock only one more time for the rest of his life when his wife Winnie Madikizela insisted on a very public divorce process. According to reports at the time, the first black president of South Africa had insisted on a private and amicable dissolution of the 38-year marriage which became in part, an odd symbolic anti-apartheid union.

Black activists took Congolese art from Dutch museum streaming the activity on Facebook

A group that says it was recovering stolen African art in Europe went to the Afrika Museum in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and took a Congolese statue, all the while streaming their operation on Facebook Live.

‘Racist’ ad by South African drug retailer triggers protests as stores are damaged

A shampoo advertisement shared on the website of South African drug retail giant Clicks Group on Friday drew the ire of locals who deemed it “racist”, triggering protests in the country. The protests forced the pharmaceutical company to close over 400 of its stores nationwide after seven were damaged by protesters who gathered there on Monday, Reuters reported.

Do you know the oil industry is lobbying the US gov’t to force African countries to take plastic waste?

An oil industry lobby is advising the US government to put pressure on Kenya to loosen its stance against plastic waste. Manufacturers of plastic are looking for new dumping grounds in Africa after China refused to take plastic waste any longer. Photo of the dumpsite in Kenya by Khadija Farah.

Jerusalema: How did a simple South African gospel dance song become a global hit?

When South African record producer and artiste Master KG says global reception to his song Jerusalema has been nothing short of a “dream come true”, it is a very believable sentiment. On Tuesday, Shazam, the audiovisual identification app, announced that Jerusalema had become the most sought song by users of the app.

A Jamaican spent 9 yrs in Bahamas jail despite never being convicted of crime. He now seeks $27m

A Jamaican national who was falsely imprisoned for more than nine years in The Bahamas is in a legal battle with the government, asking to be awarded $27 million in damages.

Islands apart: Why does Barbuda want to split from Antigua?

One of the world’s favorite holiday destinations, the twin-island country of Antigua and Barbuda may no longer be one nation if Barbudans have their way in an upcoming parliamentary resolution on Thursday, September 17. Prime Minister Gaston Browne has already described the calls by the Barbuda Council, the local administration in the other half of the country, as “treasonous threats” that will fail.

James Forten, the wealthy sail maker who used his money to buy freedom for slaves

James Forten was in his teens when he joined others at Independence Square in July 1776 for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. To a young Forten, the declaration document applied to all Americans, not only whites and so when the Revolutionary War began, a 14-year-old Forten volunteered on privateering ships which attacked British merchant vessels, said biographer Julie Winch.