samedi 31 mars 2018
vendredi 30 mars 2018
Senegal's Khalifa Sall, mayor of Dakar, jailed for fraud
One of Senegal's most popular
politicians has been jailed on charges of fraud which his supporters say are
politically motivated.
Khalifa Sall, mayor of the
capital Dakar, was sentenced to five years for embezzling $3.4m (£2.4m).
His conviction bars him from
next year's elections, when he had been expected to present a strong challenge
to President Macky Sall - no relation.
Senegal is one of the most
stable democracies in West Africa.
It is the only country on
mainland West Africa never to have had a military coup.
It has seen two peaceful
transfers of power following elections, most recently in 2012, when Macky Sall
became president.
Khalifa Sall, 62, was arrested
last year and successfully stood for parliament even though he was in detention
at the time.
His parliamentary immunity was
lifted so he could stand trial.
The court heard that he had
used fake receipts for rice and millet, and diverted the money for
"political purposes", reports the AFP news agency.
"I feel shame for my
country," deputy Dakar mayor Cheikh Gueye told Reuters.
"This decision is meant
to prevent Khalifa Sall from putting his name forward as presidential
candidate."
jeudi 29 mars 2018
mercredi 28 mars 2018
mardi 27 mars 2018
Little Blue Ben
Little Blue Ben, who lives in the glen,
Keeps a blue cat and one blue hen,
Which lays of blue eggs a score and ten ;
Where shall I find the little Blue Ben ?
lundi 26 mars 2018
samedi 24 mars 2018
vendredi 23 mars 2018
Child killings
Senegal's president promises to deal with child killings
Senegal's President Macky Sall has vowed to deal with a spate of kidnappings and killings targeting children.
Mr Sall told RFM radio station, "I have given the firmest instructions... to track down these criminals and bring them to justice."
In the latest case a toddler was found dead in Rufisque, a town close to the capital, Dakar.
Police said that two children had been murdered recently and five more had faced kidnap attempts.
The use of children in rituals has been blamed for the targeting of children but police have not given motive for the killings.
BBC
jeudi 22 mars 2018
mercredi 21 mars 2018
mardi 20 mars 2018
lundi 19 mars 2018
vendredi 16 mars 2018
jeudi 15 mars 2018
mercredi 14 mars 2018
mardi 13 mars 2018
lundi 12 mars 2018
samedi 10 mars 2018
vendredi 9 mars 2018
Meet Shahira Yusuf,
one of Britain's first
hijab-wearing models
"I don't want to be considered a token
girl"
Looking at 20-year-old Shahira
Yusuf, you might not guess she's tipped to be the fashion world's next big
star.
But London-born Shahira isn't
just any new kid on the runway. She is going to become one of Britain's first
hijab-wearing catwalk models.
"I was first spotted by a
modelling scout when I was 17. But I wasn't ready then," she says.
"When you are young you are naive and live in this unrealistic sphere,
you've got to be mature otherwise an industry like this can swallow you
up."
We meet her in the busy
offices of Storm management. Wearing a grey hijab, the softly-spoken model
tells us she has clear boundaries about what she will and won't do. All her
test shots show her fully clothed.
Image caption Shahira Yusuf
has been signed to major modelling agency Storm
She was discovered by the
agency's founder Sarah Doukas - who also discovered Kate Moss.
Last year, Shahira made
headlines after posting a viral tweet with pictures of herself in
an oversized grey suit. The caption read: "I ain't no Kendall Jenner but
I'm a black Muslim girl from east London that's about to finesse the modelling
industry."
Shahira was born in the UK but
her family is originally Somali.
"I'm conscious of the
fact that I'm visibly Muslim but it's not a huge deal," she says about
wearing the hijab.
"I don't want to be
considered the token girl. I don't want ethnic models or those from different
religious backgrounds to just pave the way - I want the way to stay there, to
become a norm within society because it is a norm outside of the modelling
sphere."
She's proud of the fact she
might be able to empower other young Muslim girls to do things they might
consider out of their reach.
"It's good to give hope and
motivation."
Shahira's agent Billy Mehmet
looks after 50 new faces at Storm. She says signing a young woman like Shahira
is not at odds with the usual demands of the fashion industry.
"The industry is
changing," she says. "Our clients want girls who are more than just
models, whether it's a girl who is an activist or an artist.
"Shahira will open the
doors to a lot of other girls who wear the hijab to be able to think they can
be a model and there is no reason why they can't be. Why shouldn't a girl with
a hijab be a catwalk model?"
It's not just Shahira breaking
new ground. More and more young British Muslim girls who wear the hijab are
using fashion to make a statement. They do so mainly on Twitter and Instagram
as beauty bloggers.
We see hundreds of them
excitedly streaming into a central London venue for a Modest Fashion event.
Wearing bright tunics, silk hijabs and long designer dresses, they take endless
numbers of selfies to post on social media.
Image caption London Modest
Fashion Week took place in February
They have serious spending
power and are here to look at what Muslim designers from all over the world
have to offer. Hijabs of every shape, size and colour are the accessory of
choice.
A booming market
There are designer headwraps,
head scarves and loose fitting maxi dresses, illustrating exactly why the
Islamic fashion market is set to be worth $368bn (£267bn) by 2021.
In the world of sport, an
impact is also being made. Earlier this year, sportswear giant Nike brought out
its first sports hijab with Zahra Lari - the first ever figure skater to
compete wearing a headscarf.
It's a real contrast to when
we were growing up in the UK. We are both from Muslim backgrounds, but wearing
the hijab was not the norm, especially among young women.
When it was worn, it wasn't
seen as a fashionable garment, but instead a quiet expression of conservative
Islam.
So how has the hijab grown in
popularity?
Mariah Idrissi has appeared in an advert for
H&M
Faeeza Vaid from the Muslim
Women's Network believes politics has played a part.
"While reasons for some
include 'religious reasons', the hijab is part of an expression of identity in
a context where their belonging is being challenged," she says.
"For many young people
today, their history begins after 9/11, and young Muslims have grown up with
nonsensical questions like 'are you British or Muslim?'. In being treated as an
'other' the need to belong becomes stronger, and so a shared religious identity
is where many seek solace."
This is certainly true for
25-year-old Mariah Idrissi. With more than 70,000
Instagram followers, she is one of the breakout stars of social media at this
Modest Fashion event. She's also appeared in an advert for H&M.
"I chose to wear a hijab
about eight years ago," she says.
"It is a part of me and
part of my career. It's part of my identity. I saw Western media not represent
Muslims anywhere. The only people I saw represented were bad. So I wanted to be
in the media and use the opportunity to do something different."
But if the hijab is about
averting the gaze from the wearers, how do these women justify being fashion
models?
Hijabs in fashion 'problematic' for some
There is a contradiction, some
Muslims scholars say, in the way some young women wear the hijab. Dr Haifaa
Jawad is the director of the Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at
the University of Birmingham.
She says Muslim girls with
immaculate make-up and fashionable clothes but wearing the hijab can be seen as
problematic.
"The aim of modest dress
is to look modest, it is not to attract attention. The heavy, fashionable
make-up defeats the aim of dressing modestly. The point of the hijab is not to
provoke attention."
While Mariah Idrissi admits
she does occasionally struggle with the balance, she also believes wearing a
hijab and caring about how you look aren't mutually exclusive. Many young
Muslim women won't hide away and instead feel more empowered by wearing the
hijab, she says.
Some people object to the
hijab entirely, seeing the cloth as oppressive and something to be feared. For
them, there is almost an unshakeable assumption that a woman who covers up is
being forced to do so by her father or husband.
There have been concerns that enforcement is happening
in the UK.
But for the women we speak to,
the key word is choice. If they wear the hijab, they say it's a sign of faith,
feminism and crucially - because they want to. They look at its inclusion in
the fashion world as a positive sign of integration.
For model Shahira Yusuf, the
hijab is not designed to divide and her ambitions reflect that.
"My dream? The cover of
British Vogue. That's my goal and my dream. After all I am
British."
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