'Islamists who slaughtered soldier' are British born with Nigerian background

Sources today named one of the suspects as Michael Adebolajo (pictured) who, along with his fellow alleged killer, is a British citizen who converted to a radical form of Islam. They are not thought to have links to terror groups based in Nigeria, such as the jihadist militant organisation Boko Haram. The Foreign Office warns of a high threat from terrorism in the West African nation and raises the prospect of a risk of retaliatory attacks following the French intervention in Mali.

As they apparently tried to decapitate him they were chanting 'Allah Akbar!’ – an Islamic phrase meaning ‘God is great’ - and yelling 'this is what God would have wanted'.
A blood-soaked Adebolajo, who was still holding a number of weapons in his red-stained hands, then ranted on camera in a clear London accent saying: 'You people will never be safe' before telling a passer-by they had not fled because they were waiting to 'shoot the police'.
Within 20 minutes armed officers arrived and the fundamentalists charged at them wielding firearms, knives and a machete.
Police opened fire, shooting six bullets, leaving one seriously injured. The pair remain under armed guard in two separate London hospitals.

Charles Taylor's family ejected from calabar mansion

According to a story in Encomium magazine, the family of former Liberian president and war crimes prisoner, Charles Taylor, have been ejected from their N2.5million per year rented mansion in Diamond Hills in Calabar, Cross Rivers state, Nigeria. The family he left behind in Calabar as he faced criminal charges in The Hague were ejected because they were unable to per their rent. The house belongs to Dr. Joseph Wayas, the Second Republic Senate President.

His wife and kids, who have since been abandoned by the former president's friends and business associates, now live in a small flat at the state housing estate along Murtala Mohammed highway in Calabar. No aides, no cruising of luxury cars, no partying, no money to spend lavishly. That's their new life now.

Charles Taylor was forced to resign as president and take up political asylum in Nigeria. He arrived Nigeria with his family on August 12, 2003 but was extradited in 2006 to stand trial for war crimes.

In 2012, he was found guilty of all 11 counts of "aiding and abetting" war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kenyan machete killer who butchered 400 people in his homeland can stay in UK on benefits

A murderer who killed up to 400 people in his homeland has been granted asylum in Britain.
John Thuo, 27, who butchered many of his victims in machete attacks in his native Kenya, has spent a decade living here in rent-free accommodation provided by the National Asylum Support Service.
He is believed to receive an allowance of up to £160 a month from the service, the Home Office unit responsible for asylum seekers’ housing.
Thuo, who was a member of the outlawed Mungiki sect in Kenya, admitted at an immigration tribunal that he killed ‘about 100 to 400 people’.
He also took part in female genital mutilation.
He was granted leave to remain in the UK for three years after an appeal, under the Human Rights Act, to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.
He says deporting him would infringe his human rights because he would face execution by the sect on his return.
Approached at his home in suburban Coventry, where neighbours knew nothing about his brutal history, he said: ‘It’s true – I killed a lot of people. I don’t like talking about my past. I feel guilty for what I’ve done. I feel remorse.’
Thuo, who has done a stint as a removal man in the UK, said: ‘I’ve started a new life here and I’m looking for regular work. If I go back, they’ll behead me.’
Asked if he is monitored by the Home Office, he said: ‘No, I don’t have to meet anyone. I’m free.’
One of his neighbours in the West Midlands city said: ‘I had no idea about him killing all those people. It’s terrifying. There’s a lot of children who live in this street.’
The neighbour added: ‘He’s quite a big drinker. He’ll buy bottles of vodka and get drunk. When he does that he gets aggressive.’


Thuo’s appeal against being removed from the UK was granted in March after an expert witness testified that Mungiki members were known to behead those who had fled the organisation.
The judge also took into consideration Thuo’s mental health, and threats that he would kill himself if he was deported.
After his three years are up, he will have to apply for an extension or be removed.Thuo told the hearing in London he had joined the Mungiki in Nairobi when he was just ten, but rose through the ranks to become a senior member running a security racket.


In 2002 he took part in a revenge attack on villagers who had killed two members of the sect. He butchered two civilians with a machete. In another incident, he killed two police officers.
The Mungiki was outlawed in Kenya in 2002, and Thuo arrived here as an illegal immigrant in August 2003.
He kept his identity a secret until he needed NHS help for mental health problems.
Paul Flynn, the Labour MP for Newport, said: ‘It is extremely worrying that someone who has admitted to killing so many people is not being investigated by the police in this country.
And it is even more worrying he is able to successfully claim asylum despite what he says he has done.’
A spokesman for the Aegis Trust, which campaigns to prevent crimes against humanity, said: ‘Anyone suspected of international crimes should be held to account.’
The Home Office said: ‘We are disappointed by the tribunal’s decision, but we can only appeal when a specific error of law is identified in the ruling. In this case there were no grounds for appeal.’

Balotelli hit by more racist abuse as Fiorentina fans target Milan striker boarding train following controversial win at Siena

AC Milan’s Mario Balotelli had to be dragged away from a confrontation with rival fans after they hurled racist insults at him - the second time in two weeks he has been targeted by supporters of other clubs.
Balotelli, 22, was singled out by followers of Fiorentina as he and his AC Milan team-mates boarded a train from Florence, after they had beaten nearby Siena 2-1, with the former Manchester City striker scoring a controversial late penalty to level the game.
As they entered the station around 30 Fiorentina fans hurled racist chants at Balotelli, as well as abuse at his team-mates, accusing them of 'stealing' the match, which meant that AC Milan secured the last Champions League spot ahead of La Viola.


Furious Fiorentina fans claimed that Balotelli’s spot kick should not have been awarded and were incensed that it allowed AC Milan to clinch the third and final Champions League spot, while they were left with the Europa League.
Mobile phone footage posted on Italian news websites showed the supporters gathered by the coach and insults aimed at Balotelli could clearly be heard. At one point there appeared to be a scuffle as he and team-mate Robinho tried to approach the group.
Witnesses said club officials and police had to pull Balotelli away and police were also called in to restore order and the AC Milan train eventually left at 1am, almost half an hour behind schedule.


It was the second time he has been targeted by racists - earlier this month AC Milan’s game against Roma was briefly halted while the stadium announcer told the crowd to stop insulting Balotelli.
He has already vowed that he will walk off if he is targeted in the future and later he went on Twitter to vent his anger: 'This rule about racist booing needs to be changed, if I walk off I’m going to leave my team in 10. It’s not human, take a look at it.'
On his Twitter page he also posted several pictures of him and his team-mates celebrating their win over Siena and a picture of a piglet which he said was his lucky mascot.

Teenager invents revolutionary device which has the potential to charge a cell phone within just 20 SECONDS

Culled from Dailymail.

A California teen has attracted the attention of tech giants Google for her potentially revolutionary invention which charges a phone in 20 seconds flat.
The super-fast charging device has been dubbed a supercapacitor by 18-year-old Esha Khare, of Saratoga - as she took home $50,000 from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which took place in Phoenix this week.
The device will make waiting hours for a phone to charge a thing of the past and the gizmo packs more energy into a smaller space than traditional phone batteries and holds the charge for longer.


So far, Khare has only used her supercapacitor to power a light-emitting diode or LED - but she sees a bright future that one day will see her invention powering cellphones, cars and any gadget that requires a rechargeable battery.
Heading to Harvard, Khare told CBS San Francisco that this is only the start and that she will 'be setting the world on fire' from here.


'My cellphone battery always dies,' she told NBC News when asked what inspired her to work on the energy-storage technology.
Specializing in nanochemistry allowed Khare to reduve the size of her invention. 'Really working at the nanoscale to make significant advances in many different fields.'


'It is also flexible, so it can be used in rollup displays and clothing and fabric,' Khare added.
'It has a lot of different applications and advantages over batteries in that sense.'
The supercapacitor is flexible and tiny, and is able to handle 10,000 recharge cycles, more than normal batteries by a factor of 10.
How an 18-year-old girl has managed to figure out something that multi-national corporations have not has led to her being flooded with offers for her amazing leap forward.
Google have been in contact with Khare to explore how she plans to change the makeup of cell phone battery life.

The world's most luxurious rail station... that the King of Saudi Arabia has ordered to be built in just four years

Commuters on London Underground will no doubt cast an envious eye at these pictures of what will shortly become the world's most luxurious metro system.
Looking more like the inside of five-star hotel, the proposed network, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will boast a space age design featuring marbled walkways, gold-plated walls and, naturally in one of the hottest places on earth, air conditioning.
The facade will apparently be designed to let in light while keeping out the harsh desert sun, while the overall shape is meant to recall the country's wind-blown sand dunes.


Amazingly, the new six-line network has been ordered to be completed by the ruling King Abdullah in just four years - the amount of time it took builders in New York to renovate just one station.

What will frustrate weary London commuters even more is that the main feature of the new system, a three-way interchange at the city's busiest station, has been designed by half-British architect Zaha Hadid, who has been behind a string of developments around the world.
The London-based designer, who is half-Iraqi, was the brains behind developments in the Capital's Hoxton Square and Eaton Place, as well as international projects in cities including New York, Singapore and Dubai.

Talented: Zaha Hadid, the architect behind the scheme, is based in London as has helped design a number of buildings around the world..

Hilarious moment husband caught cheating wife - as her boyfriend escapes from window

 In a stunning example of a soap opera come to life, a video has surfaced from Brazil that depicts the hilarious struggle of a man attempting to escape a cheating woman’s bedroom after her husband has come home.
And it’s out a third story window.
As the drama begins, a husband and wife are seen arguing on the third-floor patio of an urban apartment building.


‘Who shirt is this,’ demands the husband in Portuguese.
The wife angrily flings the shirt into a whooping crowd that has gathered below.


Their fight is juicy enough as is, but just off to the side a man appears in the couple's window.
Shirtless and angry, the man may be an adulterer but he's awfully quick-thinking.


He tosses out the window an escape rope he's managed to fashion from knotted t-shirts and bravely begins to climb down.
On a window sill below, he stops. The cackling crowd mocks both him and the woman’s husband.
‘Cornudo,’ the growing audience yells at the husband, a Portuguese word for a man being cheated on.


As if a Hollywood celebrity had just fallen from the sky, the passersby hoot and ogle and snap photos.
They chant ‘JUMP!’ as emergency workers arrive to assist the struggling man. And he does just that.
A soft mat is placed below the shirtless man and the crowd cheers as leaps and bounces down to the street.
Barefoot and scowling, the shirtless man gives the woman and her husband a good shake of the fist, then shakes it at the crowd for good measure and marches out of view.

King of Swaziland wants to make me his (14th) virgin bride... so you must let me stay in the UK: Woman's plea for asylum after fleeing African monarch

Fears: Miss Ngobeni believes she could be arrested or even killed if she has to return to Swaziland

A young woman is seeking  asylum in Britain after she spurned the advances of the polyamorous King Mswati III of Swaziland and refused to join his harem of 13 wives.

Tintswalo Ngobeni, 22, fled to England from the southern African nation as a teenager after she caught the attention of the millionaire monarch, a notoriously oppressive ruler known for his lavish lifestyle.

As part of Swazi custom, King Mswati III, 45, is permitted to choose a new bride every year.

Miss Ngobeni, who now lives in Birmingham, was just 15 when the King made his advances after seeing her at the palace of his fourth wife, LaNgangaza. She said she was ‘terrified’ when she learned of his marriage intentions.

She added: ‘He started calling me at boarding school. He would ask me if I wanted to be a part of the royal family. I had to keep quiet about my fears but I knew I didn’t want to get married to him and have a life devoted to the king. 

'His wives are kept in their palace, surrounded by bodyguards, and they can’t really go anywhere unless the king says so. The only thing they do is go to America once a year, as the king gives them a shopping allowance.'

Miss Ngobeni was forced to abandon a comfortable lifestyle in a private boarding school as her aunt, who was her chief guardian, arranged the escape to England to join her mother, who moved to Birmingham five years earlier, fleeing an abusive husband.

‘I didn’t have a choice,’ she said. ‘Nobody has ever turned down the king or dares to disobey him, so I just disappeared.’
Since her arrival in England, Miss Ngobeni has become a vocal opponent of the oppressive Swazi regime, where political opposition parties are banned and activists routinely arrested or assaulted.

However, Miss Ngobeni’s high-profile activities, including weekly protests outside the Swazi embassy in London with activist group Swazi Vigil, have caught the attention of the authorities in her home country and she now believes she is in more danger than ever.

Culture: The Reed Dance ceremony, pictured, is known as Umhlanga and sees thousands of Swaziland's 'prettiest virgins' dance topless for King Mswati III, every August, hoping to be his next wife.

She said: ‘Recently I had news that people had been sent from Swaziland to come and get me, which really scares me. If I went back, I would be arrested or much worse as there are people there who are tortured, beaten up or killed for being politically active.’
Miss Ngobeni now lives in fear of having to return to Swaziland, after her first plea for political asylum in England in 2007 was denied in 2011.
Last month, she was arrested and taken to an immigration detention centre after 18 months of reporting weekly to the authorities.
However, after pressure from the TUC and the office of Roger Godsiff, Labour MP for Birmingham, Miss Ngobeni was released and has now been granted an appeal by the Home Office.
Mr Godsiff said yesterday: ‘We were very pleased solicitors were successful in achieving a judicial review into Miss Ngobeni’s case.’
The father of 27 children, King Mswati III was a guest at the William and Kate wedding as well as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations last summer.
The king’s sixth wife escaped from the royal harem last year, citing years of ‘emotional and physical abuse’ by her husband.
A spokesman from the Home Office refused to comment.

Amorous: As part of Swazi custom, King Mswati II, 45, is permitted to choose a new bride every year

David Beckham joins his sons on pitch to say a tearful goodbye to the beautiful game as Posh and Harper cheer from stands

David Beckham burst into floods of tears as he played his final ever game as a professional footballer in Paris this evening. With his wife Victoria and their four children watching from the stands, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star, 38, was given the honour of captaining Paris St Germain during their final home game of the season. After spraying some of his trademark 50-yard passes around the pitch, and assisting a goal, Beckham was substituted to a standing ovation on 81 minutes. Inconsolable, he hugged almost every single teammate and waved to fans as he left the field. And the retirement celebrations began after the full-time whistle as Beckham was tossed in the air by the players in the centre of the pitch.

Couple who left their baby to die from pneumonia after ignoring relative's plea to call an ambulance as they threw an all-night drunken party are told they face being jailed

A couple who left their four-month-old baby to die of pneumonia on a winter's night while they threw a drunken party are facing jail.
Matthew Atherton, 23, girlfriend Anne Turnbull, 30, and three friends sank 60 cans of lager, Jack Daniels whiskey and wine whilst little Liam Atherton was succumbing to the effects of cold and hunger.
The infant had been diagnosed with a cold earlier that day yet had been left in a downstairs room whilst the back door was left open to allow the cigarette smoke from the party to filter outside.
Despite the youngster suffering a seizure, his unconcerned parents ignored pleas by guests to call an ambulance.
He was eventually found lifeless in his moses basket at 11.15am the following morning after Turnbull went to check on him. He was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.
Police who went to the house in Blackburn, Lancs., following the tragedy in January 2011 found a wheelie bin stuffed full of empty lager cans and wine bottles. The kitchen tops were also covered with empty alcohol cans.
Blood tests ordered by the police showed Atherton was three times the drink drive limit at the time Liam was discovered. It emerged the party had gone on until 7am. The couple were known to social services who had been giving them support.

At Preston Crown Court, Atherton and Turnbull, both admitted a charge of child neglect and were warned they could be jailed.
Earlier the hearing was told Liam had been born prematurely in September 2010 and spent his first few weeks of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

His early arrival meant the boy was taking special medication to encourage his development. On the day of the tragedy he had been seen by the health visitor and she had diagnosed him with a cold.
But despite his vulnerable condition his parents decided to throw a party at their terraced home and invited a handful of friends.
When the party was in full flow Turnbull invited her sister Zoe Heap and her partner to visit.
As they arrived, Miss Heap discovered the front room where Liam was sleeping was cold and became angry after noticing the baby was hungry and in a wet nappy.
Miss Heap changed Liam and fed him and then passed him to her partner for him to settle. But the youngster then suffered a 'fit or seizure'.
Turnbull and Atherton, who have two other children under the age of two, were told about the seizure - but they refused to call an ambulance despite being encouraged by Miss Heap and her partner.
Atherton attributed the fit down to Liam having a cold and the tot was put back in his moses basket.
Police began investigating after being notified of Liam's sudden death by a nurse at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.
A post-mortem examination at the time did not reveal any significant injuries but a coroner later ruled Liam had died from pneumonia. His parents were charged with neglect three weeks later.

Atherton initially denied wrongdoing but changed his mind and pleaded guilty on the second day of his trial.
Both he and Turnbull were bailed for the preparation of reports but were told by Judge Christopher Cornwall: 'All sentencing options remain open.' Both will be sentenced on June 21.
After the case Detective Sergeant Sarah Hargreaves, of Blackburn police public protection unit, said: 'The conclusion of this case comes after a protracted and sensitive inquiry. I hope the sentence will reflect the gravity and the seriousness of this offence.'
At the time of the tragedy neighbours said they saw Turnbull shouting and screaming in the street after dialing 999. One said: 'She had gone to sleep on the couch, with the baby put in his rocker. But when she woke up, he wasn't breathing.
'Then there was a lot of commotion. It is devastating news. You just think of your own children at a time like this - I couldn't live through something like that.'
A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said: 'This is a tragic case, the family were known to children's services and we had previously been supporting them.
'We are working closely with the police and fully co-operating with the ongoing investigation.'

Meet the husband who battled breast cancer alongside his wife - but HE was the one to undergo a mastectomy

A man has told how he and his wife battled breast cancer at the same time, and adding to the unusual turn of events, he was the one to undergo a mastectomy.
Ron Bush, from Fort Mill, South Carolina, explained to WBTV that he was focused on looking after his wife, Phyllis, who was diagnosed with Paget's disease - a rare form of cancer in the skin around the nipple area - last fall.
But in the midst of her treatment, he developed a lump on the right side of his chest and a biopsy confirmed he had an 'aggressive' and 'invasive' form of breast cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes.

'I just didn't think it was something that men get,' he explained.
'It stung. It took something out of me. I went from being a caretaker for my wife, to her being the caretaker for me.'

Breast cancer in men is very rare and their lifetime risk of getting the disease is about one in 1,000, compared to one in eight for women.
It was Mr Bush's wife who first convinced him to go and seek help last December after she noticed a small lump on his right breast.

'I was just running my hand over my husband's chest and I felt this knot and I said: ''What's this?"' Mrs Bush recalled.
After much persuasion Mr Bush went to get a mammogram. Recounting the appointment he joked: 'They were trying to squeeze something that wasn't there!'
However, the results did not look good and he was sent on for an ultrasound and biopsy. Five days later, doctors broke the news that he also had breast cancer.
His wife of ten years had been diagnosed with the disease in her right breast just three months earlier.
Her treatment involved radiation and two lumpectomies, one in October and one in November, which meant she could keep her breast.
But Mr Bush was told because of the severity of his cancer, he would need immediate surgery to remove all of the skin over the breast, the lymph nodes underneath the arm, and the chest muscle.
Dr Sharon Giordano, a men's breast cancer specialist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas previously highlighted that in many cases men have a delayed diagnosis because they don't think they could be at risk.

'Men on average have an advanced disease because you have to have a lump to identify it. They don't examine their nipples,' she said.
Thankful that he caught his cancer early, Mr Bush is now raising awareness in his local church community about the importance of checking for symptoms.
'Men need to know.  It's not just a woman's disease. This is now my mission,' he said.
Mrs Bush, who is also back to health, concluded: 'This disease does not discriminate . . . on race, economic status or gender.'

WHAT IS BREAST CANCER IN MEN?
Many people do not realize that men have breast tissue and that they can develop breast cancer.
The American Cancer Society estimates that in the U.S. in 2012 about 2,190 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men and about 410 men will die from the disease.
Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women, and the lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000. The number of breast cancer cases in men, relative to the population, has been fairly stable over the last 30 years. The outlook for men with breast cancer was once thought to be worse than that for women, but recent studies have not found this to be true.
In fact, men and women with the same stage of breast cancer have fairly similar chances of survival.
SOURCE: www.cancer.org

Map shows world's 'most racist' countries (and the answers may surprise you)

An international poll has revealed the world's least tolerant countries - with Hong Kong at the top of the list and Britain near the bottom.
The global social attitudes study claims that the most racially intolerant populations are all in the developing world, with Bangladesh, Jordan and India in the top five.
By contrast, the study of 80 countries over three decades found Western countries were most accepting of other cultures with Britain, the U.S., Canada and Australia more tolerant than anywhere else.


The data come from the World Value Survey, which has long been measuring the social attitudes of people in different countries, as reported by the Washington Post.
The survey asked people what types of people they would refuse to live next to, and counted how many people chose the option 'people of a different race'.

Researchers have suggested that societies where more people do not want neighbours from other races can be considered less racially tolerant.
The country with the highest proportion of 'intolerant' people who wanted neighbours similar to them was Hong Kong, where 71.8 per cent of the population would refuse to live next to someone of a different race. Next were Bangladesh on 71.7 per cent, Jordan on 51.4 per cent and India with 43.5 per cent.

Racist views are strikingly rare in the U.S., according to the survey, which claims that only 3.8 per cent of residents are reluctant to have a neighbour of another race.
Other English-speaking countries once part of the British Empire shared the same tolerant attitude - fewer than five per cent of Britons, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders showed signs of racism.
People in the UK are also tolerant of other differences such as speaking a foreign language or practising an alternative religion - for example, fewer than two per cent of Britons would object to having neighbours of a different faith to them.
Similarly, fewer than one in 20 people in most South American countries admitted harbouring prejudice against other races.


The Middle East, which is currently dealing with large numbers of low-skilled immigrants from south Asia, seems to be a hotbed of racial tension, however.
Europe is remarkably split - the west of the continent is generally more tolerant than the east, but France is a striking outlier with 22.7 per cent of the French rejecting neighbourhood diversity.
Some have pointed out problems in the survey data, claiming that because the polls span a long period of time they are an unreliable guide to current attitudes.
However, a more serious flaw could be the fact that in most Western countries racism is so taboo than many people will hide their intolerant views and lie to the questioners.
Max Fisher of the Washington Post suggested that maybe 'Americans are conditioned by their education and media to keep these sorts of racial preferences private, i.e. to lie about them on surveys, in a way that Indians might not be'.


THE LEAST TOLERANT COUNTRIES...
1) Hong Kong - 71.8% of people do not want to live next to someone of a different race
2) Bangladesh - 71.7%
3) Jordan - 51.4%
4) India - 43.5%
5) Saudi Arabia - 37.7%


...AND THE MOST OPEN-MINDED
1) Sweden - 1.4% of people do not want to live next to someone of a different race
2) Argentina - 2.0%
3) Norway - 2.8%
4) Canada - 2.9%
5) U.S. - 3.8%

England star David Beckham brings to an end his glittering football career as he retires at 38

The ex-England captain, who has played 115 times for his country, has decided to call it a day after winning the French league title with Paris St Germain, starring in his last game at the weekend, right. Beckham said: 'I'm thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level.' Whatever his connections to Manchester United, England fans will be forever grateful for his last-minute free-kick against Greece, above centre, in 2001 which secured a place in the 2002 World Cup. Becks will now be able to spend more time with his family, wife Victoria, daughter Harper and sons Brooklyn, Cruz and Romeo, all pictured left. Pictured right he is shown holding the Champions League trophy after Man Utd defeated Bayern Munich in 1999, then, clockwise with Real Madrid's Spanish SuperCup in 2003, winning the French Ligue 1 title with PSG and the MLS championship with LA Galaxy in 2012. He also played for AC Milan on loan and, way back in 1994, Preston North End.

Kenyans release pigs in front of the parliament to protest members’ greed

A policeman tries to control pigs left by protestors outside the parliament buildings during a demonstration in Nairobi. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

A group of Kenyans unhappy with the members of parliament who demanded a reversal of the government’s decision to slash their pay found an unusual way to protest Tuesday.

Protesters said the parliamentarians are greedy to demand the higher pay and they released three dozen pigs and spilled pig’s blood at the entrance of the Kenyan parliament, referring to the MPs as “MPigs.” According to the Associated Press, about 250 protesters marched through Nairobi and staged a sit-in at the parliament entrance. One of the protesters interviewed by the AP said they protested with the pigs to show the MPs what they have become.

Kenya’s MPs, who are said to have among the highest salaries in the world, are demanding a salary of $10,000 per month, says the BBC, following a decision by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to bring down the pay to $6,300.

The idea of releasing pigs with painted message on their bodies was met with sarcasm as well as criticism on the web. Here are some reactions:

Angelina Jolie has a double mastectomy: Film star takes agonising decision to have both breasts removed after learning she had an 87% risk of getting cancer

Angelina Jolie today revealed that she was forced to make the agonizing decision to have a preventative double mastectomy, after tests showed she had an 87 per cent chance of contracting cancer.
The actress opened up about her traumatic experience in the New York Times, saying that she made the decision to undergo the procedure in February after learning that she is a carrier of the deadly BRCA1 cancer gene.
The 37-year-old's mother Marcheline Bertrand died at the age of 56 from ovarian cancer, which Angelina revealed she had a high chance of contracting.
But the Hollywood star has not let the life-changing operation interfere with public engagements - she visited the Republic of Congo on March 26 on humanitarian duties and attended the G8 summit in London on April 11 with William Hague, after her initial operations but before the all the procedures had finished.


Writing in an editorial piece entitled 'My Medical Choice' in the New York Times, Angelina explained her decision, revealing that she had the initial procedure on February 16th before having the reconstruction operation on April 20th.
She wrote: 'My doctors estimated that I had an 87 per cent risk of breast cancer and a 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.
'Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 per cent risk of getting it, on average.
'Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.
'I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.
'On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work.'
The star's surgery was successful and doctors say Angelina's chances of developing breast cancer have now lowered to less than 5 per cent.
'I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy,' she wrote. 'But it is one I am very happy that I made.
'My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 per cent to under 5 per cent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.'


'I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries.
'We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has.'
Angelina assured that having the double mastectomy hasn't changed the way she feels about herself and her womanliness, and added that results of reconstructive surgery 'can be beautiful'.
'On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman,' she said. 'I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.'
In addition, the brave star hopes that she can encourage other women to be informed and consider their options.


'I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness.
'But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action.'
Angelina added: 'For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.
'I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be will able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options.
'Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.'


Foreign Secretary William Hague, who in March visited refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo with Jolie as part of a campaign to highlight the problem of mass rape in conflict areas, said she was 'a brave lady' who would be 'an inspiration to many'.
Mr Hague told Sky News: 'She is a courageous lady and a very professional lady. She’s done a lot of work with me in recent months.
'She also came over to the G8 foreign ministers’ summit in London to work with me on our initiative on preventing sexual violence in conflict and travelled with me through some difficult places in the Congo.
'She gave no sign that she was undergoing such treatment and I think she’s a very brave lady, not only to carry on with her work so well during such treatment, but also to write about it now and talk about it. I think that she’s a brave lady and will be an inspiration to many.'


Angelina isn't the only celebrity to make the difficult decision to have a preventative mastectomy after discovering she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene.
Sharon Osbourne revealed last year that she had undergone the procedure after previously battling colon cancer back in 2002.
Explaining the decision, Sharon said at the time: 'As soon as I found out I had the breast cancer gene, I thought, "The odds are not in my favour."
'I’ve had cancer before and I didn’t want to live under that cloud. I decided to just take everything off, and had a double mastectomy.'
Former Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton also underwent a preventative double mastectomy after discovering she carried the BRCA2 gene, meaning she had up to an 80% chance of getting breast cancer.
Speaking about Angelina's decision on Daybreak on Tuesday morning, Michelle said: 'I can't even stress how much of an impact that I had talking to women to say that I was going through this, it was such a huge impact. Imagine what impact somebody as huge as Angelina Jolie can have on this.'
And E! News presenter Giuliana Rancic, who had a double mastectomy in December 2012 after being diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2011, was quick to tweet her support for Angelina, writing: 'Proud of her for using her incredible platform to educate women.'