News Category: WORLD
- Created on 10 June 2013
Updated: Nelson Mandela Remains Hospitalized in 'Serious Condition’
Updated: June 10, 9:16 a.m. CDT: Former South African leader Nelson Mandela remained in intensive care Monday, two days after he was hospitalized with a recurring lung infection, CNN reports.
Earlier from News One:
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been admitted to the hospital in South Africa and his condition is listed as “serious but stable,” according to a presidential spokesperson.
As previously reported by NewsOne, Mandela, 94, has been battling a recurring lung infection, but his condition deteriorated rapidly overnight. Mandela, affectionately called Madida, is able to “breathe on his own,” according to spokesperson Mac Maharaj.
“As long as Tata [father] is still alive then poor people like me, people who are down down, single mothers like me, we still have hope,” said Mamoshomo Tswai, a trader in Pretoria. “South Africa is nothing without him.”
The BBC News reports:
“Naturally the immediate members of the family have access to him and it’s always good for the patient that he has been accompanied by one or other of them, and that has happened,” he said.
Mr Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, has cancelled a scheduled appearance at a meeting in London on Saturday.
‘Symbol of hope’“President Jacob Zuma, on behalf of government and the nation, wishes Madiba a speedy recovery and requests the media and the public to respect the privacy of Madiba and his family,” Mr Maharaj said in a statement.
On the streets of Pretoria, people expressed their affection for their former president and their concern.
[An] informal trader in Pretoria, who did not want give their name, said: “We must just accept that he is old. We love him, we all do, but we must start to accept that he is a very old man.”Keith Khoza, a spokesman for the governing ANC, said Mr Mandela continued to be “a symbol of hope, to be a symbol of reconciliation” for South Africa.
“We are certainly concerned about his health and we called on South Africans to pray for him and his family.
“Even if you have an elderly person in the family who is sick and you expect something – once it happens the shock is still there.”
Category: WORLD
- Created on 07 June 2013
NY Times: Obama 'Administration Has Now Lost All Credibility'
Category: WORLD
- Created on 22 May 2013
Man Brutally Murdered In London, Possible Terror Attack
Category: WORLD
- Created on 28 May 2013
10 Arrests in British Soldier's Slaying, Muslims Fear Backlash
Category: WORLD
- Created on 10 May 2013
Ex-Haitian leader criticizes gov't over poverty
Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, right, greets supporters outside the courthouse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, May 8, 2013. Aristide greeted a small group of onlookers after testifying before a judge investigating the slaying of one of the country's most prominent journalists. The judge is questioning Aristide about the killing in April 2000 of Jean Dominique, a friend of the former president. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide emerged from months of seclusion for a second straight day and took several swipes at the current government.
Speaking to a small group of mostly Haitian reporters and The Associated Press at his home in the capital Thursday, Aristide covered topics ranging from his shock at seeing the devastation caused by the 2010 earthquake to his political party's strength as the country heads to legislative and local elections.
He also thanked the thousands of supporters who cheered his motorcade Wednesday during a rare outing to answer a judge's questions in a closed-door testimony in the case of slain journalist. The crowds comprised one of the biggest demonstrations of its kind in years despite a police ban on all protests.
Aristide then took a few jabs at President Michel Martelly, saying the government has not done enough to address hunger in the impoverished country and called the administration's tax on international calls and money transfers to fund an education program a "problem."
"With all the respect that I have for the authorities in place, they are not able to solve the hunger problem by themselves," Aristide said in the office of his residence, calling it one of Haiti's "biggest problems."
"People know that when a dog is hungry it's doesn't play," Aristide said, quoting a Haitian proverb that roughly means hungry people can be unpredictable and even dangerous.
Aristide began to weep as he recalled watching images of Haiti's 2010 earthquake while in exile in South Africa. He said that before Wednesday he had ventured out of his house only once, on May 1, 2011, since his return earlier that year, but didn't say where he went.
He went before the judge after being summoned to answer questions in the case of a journalist's killing. Instead of returning straight to his home, he toured the capital shantytowns where he is still popular, drawing crowds of supporters as he passed through each neighborhood.
Aristide said the trek also allowed him to see the earthquake's devastation firsthand.
"I now know what it's like for you to be unable to leave the suffering caused by goudougoudou," Aristide said, using a common Haitian term for the quake.
Also on Thursday, Haiti's justice ministry said in a statement that three journalists who were covering the Wednesday march were roughed up by demonstrators and condemned the "act of aggression." The reporters worked for Radio-Tele Ginen, a media outlet that's long been seen as pro-government.
Aristide remains popular in Haiti, but was a divisive figure during his two presidential terms. He has kept a low profile since returning from exile in South Africa, showing up in public previously only for a brief television appearance from his home shortly after coming back.
The former leader acknowledged that he had been silent for two years, but said no one ordered him to keep quiet.
"I chose not to speak," he said. "I speak when I need to speak, and no one can stop me from speaking."
Aristide said he believed his Lavalas political party will be a contender during still unscheduled elections to fill 10 Senate seats and dozens of local posts. Haitian authorities are under pressure to organize the vote by year's end.
"If they have free and transparent elections, there's a good chance that we'll win a big portion of it," he said.
