Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch up for sale.Drive Hot News

Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch has gone up for sale with a price tag of $100m (£65m), reports the Wall Street Journal.

The Santa Barbara development was once home to a zoo, an amusement park and its own fire station.
Much of this has gone but there is still a floral clock and a railway.
Jackson bought the house in 1997 for $19.5m but struggled to pay for it, until an investment company stepped in to help him save it from auction.
The property is now called Sycamore Valley Ranch and has undergone extensive redevelopment since Jackson's death in 2009.



 Michael Jackson built a zoo and an amusement park in the grounds of Neverland 


The 2,800 acre (1,100 hectare) site is now being sold jointly by Sotheby's and Hilton & Hyland.
The estate agents have warned off fans hoping to get a glimpse inside the piece of Jackson history, anyone wanting to view the property would be subject to "extensive prequalification".
"We're not going to be giving tours," said Suzanne Perkins of Sotheby's International Realty.
Jackson bought Neverland in 1987 intending to create a fantasy land for children.
It is named after an island in the story Peter Pan, where children never grow up.
After he bought it, Jackson built a zoo and fairground but it was closed to the public in 2006 after he failed to pay his staff or maintain proper insurance.

Gossip.Zuena Quits NTV Drive Hot News

 Zuena Kirema Bebe Cool’s wife.

However, after issuing the statement, there has erupted rumors that she could have been advised by Bebe Cool to quit since he is an activist for nude picture victims.

Since NTV fired one of Bebe cool’s ‘clients’ (Fabiola), it could have left him furious, thus advising his wife to quit the station.
However, the real reason as to why she quit remains unknown though she claims to have family issues to handle.
Zuena joined the station in 2013 after the former Life stories show host-Justine Nameere quit the station over harassment from the then senior managers Her exit comes just days after Anita Fabiola was unceremoniously booted out of the same station over her leaked nude photos.Source Red paper

Employees who drink on the job.Drive Hot News

 When alcohol start making you miss deadlines, affect your productivity and gets you lifestyle crisis, then it turns to a problem and the obvious thing is get stressed. PHOTO | FILE

A year or so ago, journalists from the restive Ukambani area had a field day when a local story captured national imagination.

A doctor had passed by his local bar/changaa den and had two or more drinks, as was his custom, before heading to work.  But local residents who depended on him for medical assistance had had enough of it and decided to take action. They waited for him and as he walked into the hospital’s compound, blocked his path.

It’s true he was a talented physician but what use was he when he is always inebriated? Won’t he one day give wrong diagnosis? They had had enough — and evidence of their fury and agitation was captured on television for all and sundry to see.

Eventually the local police caught wind of the matter and rescued him from their righteous wrath.

This incident, coupled with tales of people failing to report to work because of having a little too much to drink  the night before are all to common. 

Employees failing to deliver on deadlines, being overly unkempt at the office environment and cases of stellar staff members’ productivity going haywire due to alcohol has been on the rise.

BOOZE FEST

During the recent National Authority for Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) Annual Conference,  current chairman Mr John Mututho, bemoaned the fact that alcohol has taken root in the lives of many working class people. 

According to Mr Mututho, every middle class estate has five to ten wines and spirits shops as well as local bars.

All this indicates an interesting pattern that is slowly creeping into the social fabric of Kenya’s labour force. 

“Our upbringing has taught us that alcohol is a bad man’s habit so we cannot blame this dependency on alcohol to our family and social background”, Dr Samson Oteyo a Vocational psychologist. So what changed?

“It’s not something that you can clearly put your finger on but you will agree with me the problem is especially severe among the young and middle aged employees of our economy,” says Dr Daniel Makori, A human resource expert and lecturer at KU. 

In a recent study by the Ministry of Labour titled National Manpower survey basic report, it was established that more than 69 per cent of potential employees are below 35 years of age.

These, Dr Makori adds, shows the problem is new thing brought by features characterising the current social lifestyles. “When a graduate gets employed and earns there first year salary, it appears cool to them to have a booze fest. To them is fun but this becomes a problem when it gets out of hand.”

Dr Oteyo, the vocational psychologist, concurs with the HR expert.  “Yes at first everything seems quite fine, but when alcohol start making you miss deadlines, affect your productivity and gets you lifestyle crisis, then it turns to a problem and the obvious thing is get stressed,” he says.

On his part, Pastor Morris Gacheru of Jubilee Christian Church (JCC), Nairobi thinks it’s all but a morality issue.

“When you slant a glass of water that is half full what happens?

SELF APPRAISAL

Not unless the glass is held it can either fall and pour the water, breaking also or turn back to its sitting position and only shove a little.” He explains that our society’s morality, like the glass, is sitting on the brink of disaster and needs to be put right for once and for all.

However, says Dr Oteyo, an alcoholic employee should not be sacked but rather offered support. “The first solution however lies with the employee him/herself.” This, says Dr Oteyo, is because it’s the employee in question who understands firsthand the effects of inebriation that he/she is going through. 

“If this has led to stress and it is affecting your productivity, the best way out is to first do self-appraisal and find the actual problem with you”, he offers.

Ask yourself why you are an alcoholic? What is your stage of dependency and how you can go about rescuing yourself?  

He explains: “For self-appraisal, there are two ways about it. You first look at all the pressures and demands on both your personal and professional life, and then check whether you have the resources to mitigate this pressures.”

As a sociological solution, Dr Wilson Otenga, A sociology lecturer at KU says the society’s elders have neglected their roles of guiding young people. Senior citizens, he explains, need to take their position in the society and level by being role models.

“By having values, we will be custodians of a measuring rod in which everybody is expected to amount to,” concludes the sociology lecturer.

Malaysia exhumes suspected migrant remains from graves.Drive Hot News

 The pictures show camps by the Malaysia-Thailand border which were abandoned by people-traffickers 

Malaysia has begun exhuming bodies suspected to be migrants buried in mass grave sites found by the Thai border.

Authorities believe migrants were held for ransom in jungle camps, and those who died were buried in 139 graves.
Thousands of migrants have left Myanmar and Bangladesh in recent weeks on boats and overland through Thailand and Malaysia. Some have ended up in the hands of human traffickers.
Thailand has meanwhile offered a "floating naval base" to help migrants.
Officials believe the camps were only abandoned recently, following a crackdown by Thailand on human traffickers after similar mass graves were found in its southern Songkhla province.
Some migrants were apparently held at the camps in "human cages" made of wood and barbed wire.
Malaysia's national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said there were signs that torture had been used, but he did not elaborate. "We were shocked by the cruelty," said Mr Khalid.
Referring to the "cages", he told reporters: "We think the migrants were imprisoned in these wooden pens...They were not allowed to move freely and traffickers kept watch at sentry posts."
Earlier this month, Thailand began cracking down on the routes used by traffickers to move Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar through its territory.
The migrants, who want to reach Malaysia, were instead being sent by sea, but thousands were left drifting as no country wanted to take them in.
The UN's refugee agency says about 3,000 people have now reached land, but estimates another 2,600 may still be out at sea.
Malaysia and Indonesia this week agreed to stop rejecting boats and to provide temporary shelter to the migrants.
But while Thailand said it would stop towing away boats from its territory, it said would not take in migrants.
On Monday, facing international pressure to do more, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the country would establish a "floating naval base" to help migrants.
A navy ship with surveillance aircraft will give supplies and medical treatment to migrants stranded in the Andaman Sea.
But only people with serious medical needs will be taken to land, where they will be considered illegal arrivals.
"If anyone is injured or sick, they can be treated at hospitals in Thailand but will face illegal entry charges - it is up to them to decide," he said.

How you treat yourself has an impact on your general outlook.Drive Hot News

 Negative self-talk can be in the form of generalisations, negative rationalisation and transposition. It always destroys you from within. ILLUSTRATION

Jacinta had just lost another client. As she walked back to her office, angry with herself, she mumbled, “I knew that I should never have agreed to take up that client!

I should have prepared more! I never do anything right!” She did not see Juma, the head of Human Resources, until it was too late.

Her files flew into the air as she and Juma collided on the corridor. “Sorry for that,” she offered apologetically as the two picked up the papers that were strewn all over the place.

As they organised the file, he commented, “You are Jacinta, our new marketing manager. Everyone tells me you are a great marketer. How are you doing?” 

Jacinta paused for a long moment, then replied, “I’ve not been doing too well,” she began. “Every time I undertake an assignment, it ends up in disaster. I seem to be causing more and more problems each day instead of coming up with solutions. I can’t take this anymore.

Each time I interact with a customer, I feel that I have not done as well as I could or should have. I have begun dreading these meetings because I come out feeling depressed and a total failure….” her voice trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes.

Juma said, “Actually, I have been told that you have great potential. I was coming to your office to brief you on a major assignment that you will be discussing with the Managing Director this afternoon. But first let me tell you something I learnt a few years ago.

FEEDBACK TO SELF

“You are not a failure. What you are going through is a process of giving yourself negative feedback and negative self-talk. The problem is not how you interact with your clients but how you interpret your interactions. Whenever you berate yourself, you lose self-confidence.

I have received reports that you are doing a great job, but you have been convincing yourself that you are doing a terrible job. Negative self-talk can be in the form of generalisations, negative rationalisation and transposition. It always destroys you from within.

Generalisation occurs when you have negative self-belief which then manifests in negative self-talk. For example, if you say, ‘I’m always messing up things’, this is not always true. You can think of many instances you have done a good job and not messed up!

Secondly, you irrationalise when you draw conclusions that are not supported by facts. For example, if you did a good job and your boss did not congratulate you, you conclude that you must have messed up somewhere, which is why he did not call to congratulate you. Or, if you had been told that women should not address crowds, you say, “I am a woman, I can’t address a crowd”. That is irrational.

Finally, you transpose negative feelings in one area of your life to other areas. For instance, if you are shy, you conclude that you have no leadership skills.

Jacinta was intrigued. She asked, “How do I change my negative self-talk?” Juma replied, “First, you must monitor your self-talk. What are you telling yourself? Which words do you continually use on yourself? Are the generalisations you make about yourself factual?

What you need to change is the feedback you have been giving yourself. Your response must be different and your negative self-talk must become positive self-talk.

Everything begins with the beliefs we have of ourselves and our abilities. These are often the beliefs we picked up from our parents and significant others as we grew up. Question the source and validity of your beliefs.

If need be, carry a notebook and note down how you talk to yourself in various situations. Some people say to themselves, “I am stupid”. You are not. Stop that negative self-talk before it stops you!”, Juma concluded.

Desire Luzinda gets new man, you won’t believe who it is

Desire Luzinda

 
Did Desire Luzinda just hint on a new relationship? The latest on the scene strongly predicts Desire must have landed herself an official man since she is seen around very many men who she claims are all her friends BUT everyone doubts it strongly.
She recently posted a photo on Facebook while holding hands with an anonymous man (See screenshot below) and captioned it with the following words: “Every body needs someone to hold their hand and tell them life will be ok”. The words sound so passionate and it shows there was indeed a lot attached to that caption and one shocking thing is this photo was taken from U.S.A where she is currently for 5 concerts in 5 different states.
As a few of us know, many people are currently attacking Desire Luzinda claiming why is it that majority of her friends (over 90%) are males and not females yet the actual truth is there is hardly any friendship with a man nowadays and most men befriend you and pretend to care so that they benefit after a certain time-span when you are more than close.
Very many people especially fans are strongly asking Desire to get a man and settle down and if this hint was true then its good for her. Just a few weeks when Desire posted a photo of her dancing with he daughter’s real father fans were asking her to make up with that man and raise their daughter together but the news just vanished like that.
You can see the screenshot of the post that hints on Desire Luzinda’s new relationship below:

Gossip-Judith Heard Turns Into Walking Chimney.Drive Hot News

On her recent trip to Dubai, she was spotted drowning herself in Shisha like there was no tomorrow, in what was speculated to be a measure of counter-attacking her problems.
While chilling in the desert, Heard was spotted inhaling the smoke like she was promised a free ticket to heaven the next day.
Apparently, she may be dealing with stress of denial after Rwandese born BBA flop Frankie turned down her love proposal citing age as the main obstacle.
As our snoops are on a mission to decode the woes around her life, Heard seems to be on a sinking boat that is going down faster than the titanic.
It should be noted that among the issues giving her unending worries, is the fact that her main rival in the bed-hopping business, Zari is now more international than she is.Source Red Paper

Zambia lifts ban on hunting of big cats.Drive Hot News

 Tourists observe a lion at the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Zambia has lifted a ban on the hunting of big cats. FILE

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA

Zambia has lifted a ban on the hunting of big cats that was imposed over allegations of corruption in the awarding of government hunting concessions, officials said on Wednesday.

The decision removes the last remaining restriction of a total ban on hunting introduced in January 2013 and gradually lifted since last August after the government said it was losing too much revenue.

"The hunting of lions will start during the 2016 to 2017 hunting season and this will be done very cautiously," Tourism Minister Jean Kapata told AFP, adding leopard hunting would resume this year.

"We made sure there were no complaints of corruption and only people that met the required standards were given the concessions."

She said the government was now satisfied with population sizes, with around 4,000 lions and 8,000 leopards in the southern African country.

Government-licensed hunting is common across the region, with tourists paying to shoot a small number of selected animals.

The practice is controversial but many wildlife experts accept that hunting can aid long-term conservation.

In neighbouring Botswana, a group of lawmakers is seeking to upend a ban on elephant hunting, saying the animals have multiplied in some areas to unmanageable levels.

Hungarian author wins British literary prize.Drive Hot News

 Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai won Britain's Man Booker International Prize for career achievement on Tuesday, saying he hoped it would allow him to access a wider audience. PHOTO

Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai won Britain's Man Booker International Prize for career achievement on Tuesday, saying he hoped it would allow him to access a wider audience.

In his acceptance speech at a ceremony in the Victoria & Albert Museum, the 61-year-old credited author Franz Kafka, singer Jimi Hendrix and the city of Kyoto in Japan for inspiration.

"I hope that with the help of this prize I will find new readers in the English-speaking world,after receiving the award.

Asked about the apocalyptic images in his work, he said: "Maybe I'm a writer who writes novels for readers who need the beauty in hell."

Best known in Germany and Hungary, Krasznahorkai is the author of Satantango (1985), which was later made into a film, The Melancholy of Resistance (1998) and Seiobo There Below (2008).

Previous winners of the Man Booker International Prize, which is awarded every two years, include US writer Philip Roth and Canada's Alice Munro.

South Sudanese artist Silver X longs to work with Sauti Sol.Drive Hot News

 South Sudanese born and Ugandan based artiste, Okuta Ceasar Malis alias Silver X , is learning Kiswahili and collaborating with local musicians in an effort to break into the Kenyan music market.

South Sudanese born and Ugandan based artiste, Okuta Ceasar Malis alias Silver X , is learning Kiswahili and collaborating with local musicians in an effort to break into the Kenyan music market.

 “I released “East African Lover” with Renee, after which I collaborated with Wyre, Kenrazy and Visita,” he adds.

This is not the first time that Silver X is trying to familiarise himself in the Kenyan music scene, having being nominated as the Best East African artiste in this year’s Bingwa music Awards, a title that he however lost to Ugandan sensation, Jose Chameleone.

TO RELEASE SIXTH ALBUM

It is this passion and hard work that has seen him release five albums including Wehe, Masuara, Carolina, and Ana Biwore, with the sixth one to be launched later this year.

He feels Kenya will give his music a fresh flavour that will distinguish him from his Ugandan and South Sudanese counterparts whose music , he says, resembles dancehall.

“I would say Kenya’s identity music, Kapuka is a unique beat and I would really want to incorporate that into my work,” he says.

His musical journey started eight years ago but he had to postpone his ambition to finish his A-level education, a dream that he revived three years later when he came back this time round with an album that not only left fans yearning for more, but also left a mark in his home country.

The album “Fetisu Sukol” which means looking for a job was a great inspiration as it was touching on matters close to most South Sudanese hearts.

“It was about the hardships of looking for a job in a time that my country was ravaged with the nightmare of nepotism and tribalism,” he adds.

It is a momentum that he intends to maintain even as he looks forward to work with other major Kenyan artistes and in particular Sauti Sol, and bring this kind of message to the East African fans.

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza postpones parliamentary polls to June 2.Drive Hot News

 Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza poses at the President's office in Bujumbura on May 17, 2015.

BUJUMBURA

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has postponed parliamentary elections by one week to June 2, presidential official Willy Nyamitwe told AFP Wednesday, following weeks of violent protests and a failed coup.

Legislative elections had been due on May 26, but were pushed back a week following "a proposal from the electoral commission, to respond to a request from opposition parties, and finally to answer calls of the region and the international community," Nyamitwe said.

No decision has been made as to whether a presidential poll set for June 26 would also be delayed. "Wait and see," Nyamitwe said.

The European Union joined the African Union on Tuesday calling for a delay to the elections, while South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said they should be "postponed indefinitely" after a meeting of Africa's Great Lakes bloc of nations.

FAILED COUP

At least 20 people died in weeks of street battles with security forces before demonstrations ended last week when generals launched a failed coup attempt, but protests resumed again this week.

Protesters clashed Wednesday with security forces, who fired warning shots and tear gas to break up the crowds, but who then swiftly regrouped elsewhere.

Opposition and rights groups say that Nkurunziza's bid for a third five-year term in power is against the constitution and the terms of the peace deal that brought an end to the country's 13-year civil war in 2006.

But Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader and born-again Christian who believes he has divine backing to lead the country, argues his first term in power did not count as he was elected by parliament, not directly by the people.

He has been accused by rights groups of launching a campaign of repression against opponents and trying to silence independent media since coup leaders admitted defeat on Friday after fierce fighting with loyalist troops.

But the presidency dismissed such claims Tuesday, saying it would never carry out "revenge" raids and promising fair trials for those arrested.

Almost a week on since the coup attempt led by a top general — which saw soldiers battling each other on the streets — troops have largely replaced the police to stem the protests.

More than 100,000 people have fled to neighbouring nations to escape political violence, according to the United Nations.

EAC softens stance as Burundi situation stabilizes.Drive Hot News

 Chairman of the East African Council of Ministers Harrison Mwakyembe (left) confers with council member Shem Bageine of Uganda (second left),  Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for East Africa Cooperation Abdallah Sadalla (second right) and East African Community Secretary-General Richard Sezibera during a meeting on the Burundi crisis yesterday.  PHOTO

Arusha. The Burundi elections may not be postponed as directed by the emergency East African Community Heads of State held in Dar es Salaam last week.

 Instead, the EAC will dispatch an observer mission to the parliamentary and presidential elections slated for May 26 and June 26, respectively, as initially planned, according to a senior Tanzanian government official.

 The change of heart apparently follows what has been perceived as a stabilizing of situation in Burundi, where renegade soldiers attempted to oust President Pierre Nkurunziza last Wednesday  after weeks of violent clashes between police and protesters.

 “There is no way the EAC can avoid supporting the government of Pierre Nkurunziza for now. The situation has somehow stabilized unlike before the attempted coup,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter.

 The official, who spoke on the sidelines of an emergency meeting of member states’ East African cooperation ministers at the EAC headquarters, said the partner states were relieved that peace was returning to Burundi in the wake of violence that left about 20 people dead.  However, he did not say whether the EAC had accepted President Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for a third term, which sparked the crisis.

It was resolved during last week’s summit that Burundi was not ready for free and fair elections given the fluid situation in Burundi following weeks of  violent demonstrations.

The leaders from Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda called upon the authorities in Bujumbura to postpone the elections for a period not beyond the mandate of the current government of President Nkurunziza.

 Summit chairman President Jakaya Kikwete hosted the meeting at State House, Dar es Salaam, and other leaders in attendance were presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya.

President Nkurunziza, was in Dar es Salaam, but did not attend the meeting following reports of an attempted coup against him.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe, told reporters in Dar es Salaam at the weekend that the security situation in Burundi was too fragile for elections to be held.

 He indicated that the EAC was about to propose that the eagerly-awaited elections be postponed to July this year “when the dust would have settled”, but not after August when Mr Nkurunziza’s term will come to an end.

Yesterday’s emergency meeting in Arusha, chaired by East Africa Cooperation minister Harrison Mwakyembe, discussed the Burundi crisis within the context of last Friday’s meeting of attorneys general from the five partner states.

Singapore nets 'biggest haul' including Sh500m worth of Kenyan ivory.Drive Hot News

 Kenya Wildlife Service officers display ivory seized at the Port of Mombasa on October 12, 2013. Singapore authorities seized the biggest illegal shipment of ivory and other exotic animal parts in more than a decade on Tuesday, with the haul from Kenya worth an estimated $6 million. FILE PHOTO

SINGAPORE

Singapore authorities seized the biggest illegal shipment of ivory and other exotic animal parts in more than a decade on Tuesday, with the haul from Kenya worth an estimated $6 million (about Sh570 million).

The animal parts were discovered stashed among bags of tea leaves in two 20-foot containers while transiting through the city-state to Vietnam, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and Singapore Customs said in a joint statement.

Authorities uncovered 1,783 pieces of raw ivory tusk hidden among the bags, the statement said.

Four pieces of rhino horn and 22 teeth believed to be from African big cats — cheetahs and leopards — were also found in the containers, it said.

The haul weighed 3.7 tonnes and is the largest seizure of illegal ivory in Singapore since 2002 when six tonnes of ivory were intercepted, the statement said.

SEABORNE TRADE

The shipping of ivory has been banned since 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) — to which Singapore, a major hub for seaborne trade, is a signatory.

In April last year, local authorities intercepted a shipment of illegal ivory worth Sg$2.0 million, labelled as coffee berries, transiting from Africa, according to the statement.

A similar cargo, also from Africa, worth Sg$2.5 million was uncovered in January 2013.

Ivory ornaments are coveted in Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand and China despite fears that the trade is pushing wild elephants to extinction.

Rhino horn is prized for its supposed medicinal properties.

Press freedom: Journalists working in increasingly intolerant conditions.Drive Hot News

 Citizen TV cameraman Reuben Ogachi recuperating at Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa after an attack by GSU officers in Tana River. As the World Press Freedom Day is marked, it has emerged that journalists are still working in a difficult environment. PHOTO

Even as the world marks World Press Freedom Day, it has emerged that journalists are operating in an environment that is becoming increasingly intolerant.

Governments across Africa have heightened efforts of reigning in the media and limiting free speech.

In East Africa alone, around 25 journalists have been interrogated by the police and security agencies.

On April 23, 2015, the Director of Criminal Investigations, Ndegwa Muhoro’s office wrote to the Nation Media Group (NMG) to compel two of its editors to appear for questioning, in a letter signed by Mr Joseph Ngisa.

The two were summoned over the publication of two articles in the Daily Nation on April 21 and April 22, indicating involving an intelligence officer.

K24 reporters were also summoned by the DCI for questioning over the coverage of the recent Garissa massacres.

In Eldoret, John Kituyi, editor and publisher of the Mirror was murdered by unknown assailants.

Nehemiah Okwemba of NTV and Reuben Ogacha of Citizen TV were attacked by the General Service Unit (GSU) officers while reporting on a story in Galana Kulalu Ranch in Tana River County.

Since January 2015, at least 20 newspapers have had editions of their publications confiscated on 45 different occasions by the country’s National Intelligence and Security Service.

In January 24, the leading regional newspaper, the East African was been banned from circulation in Tanzania, 20 years after it was launched to cover the region for 'circulating in the country without being properly registered, contrary to section 6 of the Newspaper Act number 3 of 1976’.