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Matt Walsh Asks Maasai Tribe “What is a Woman?”Matt travels to Africa to ask local villagers about transgenderism and if their notions of gender are as fluid as in the West. What they tell Matt is… different from many of the “experts”."There are things a woman can do that a man cannot, and things men can do that women cannot, hence, we have been created equally but different to ‘supplement’ each other by being what the other is not" ~ Maasai

The translator himself found some questions too dumb to translate."if you want to become a lady but you are a man, you have something wrong with you ..something wrong with your family." Maasai .One of the Maasai elders asked the translator in Maasai language "is this guy insane or what?" They were clearly holding back laughter out of kindness. As soon as Matt left they told all their friends back home and laughed at the outside world.This is the first time Matt looks so afraid not to offend people! And as someone from Africa, I can assure you that they were thinking what the hell is wrong with this man.Before the translator could finish the last question, the whole crowd was laughing.It is as if Matt proved to the Maasai tribe that the outside world is crazy.

Hyenas are typically aggressive animals who have been known to kill people, but on the outskirts of Harar, Yusuf has nonetheless established a special bond with the animals that allows him to sit in their midst with perfect ease.Far from behaving like vicious, depraved scavengers who demolish carcasses in a cackling frenzy - the prevailing view of hyenas in many cultures - they obediently wait their turn for the meat and then politely pluck it from Yusuf’s stick. Often they even clamber over Yusuf, in a playful dog-like manner, to get to the scraps.

Yusuf, who took over the Hyena Man role from his retired father, is in fact building on an even longer tradition in Harar of peaceful co-existence with the hyenas.For centuries, people in Harar have been deterring hyenas from attacking humans and livestock by ensuring that they don’t get too hungry. Holes were built in the city’s venerable walls and meat fed through them. Nowadays, the hyenas also have free rein over the scraps that come from the city’s landfill. This strategy works well, while hyenas sometimes attack people in neighbouring villages, such occurrences are believed not to have occurred in Harar for over 200 years. 

This tradition has now become entwined with Islamic practice: on the tenth day of the first month of the Islamic calendar and related to the festival of Al Ashura, locals feed bowls of porridge to the hyenas in special shrines.If the hyenas eat the porridge, it is considered to be a sign of good fortune. Yusuf’s bond with the hyenas is such that he has developed a special dialect to communicate with them and has special names for each animal. Incredibly, the hyenas have on at least one occasion even led Yusuf back to their den, where hyena cubs were living, demonstrating a very trusting relationship.Despite the many interesting historic attractions in Harar, this unique event is the main draw for most visitors - and for good reason. 

A white South African pastor convicted after planning to kill thousands of Black residents and overthrow the government. On June 6, a jury found 61-year-old Harry Johannes Knoesen of the National Christian Resistance Movement guilty of high treason, recruiting people to commit attacks and incitement to carry out violent attacks. The prosecution stated that Knoesen put together a group of individuals who thought of ways that a biological weapon could infect and kill Black people. Of their ideas, the group discussed the idea of poisoning of water reservoirs used by Black communities.

In addition to those charges, the Middelburg High Court charged the pastor with unlawful possession of firearms. At the time of his arrest, weapons and ammunition were recovered. South African police worked with other law enforcement agencies to prevent the attacks from happening in 2019. Members of Knoesen’s group reportedly provided authorities with evidence against the pastor after they were convicted of similar crimes.

Prosecutors argued that the 61-year-old had “highly racial views” and planned to justify his actions by using religion. Sources added that Knoesen intended to “reclaim South Africa for white people.” Monica Nyuswa (a spokeswoman for the National Prosecuting Authority) talked with The Associated Press saying, “To further this end, he planned to attack government institutions and more specifically police and military institutions.” Records show that the pastor used Facebook to recruit members of the South African military to join his plan. The Middelburg Observer alleges that in his testimony, Knoesen shared “recipes” on how to make explosives.

A similar plot was blocked in 2013 when a white supremacy group known as the Boeremag attempted to kill Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first Black president. The group also tried to overthrow the government and kill thousands of Black people.

Bazoule, in Burkina Faso, is a sprawling lakeside village around 30 kilometers from the capital Ouagadougou, with a very unique tradition for many generations residents of this village have been living in harmony with more than a hundred ferocious crocodiles that live in the village pond, the same pond where children swim and bath and the womenfolk fetch water from.

Bazoule’s crocodiles are a distant relative to the larger and more aggressive Nile crocodile. They are a species of their own Crocodylus suchus also known as the West African crocodile or desert crocodiles because they are mostly found in forested regions and open habitats. These crocodiles, or rather their ancestors, have adapted to the changing environment in northern Africa, from lush savannah and grasslands 10,000 years ago to the hot and arid Sahara that it is now.

Unlike the Nile crocodile, that typically prefers large seasonal rivers, the West African crocodile generally prefers lagoons and wetlands in forested regions. Some of these wetlands, called a guelta, forms only during rains or when underground springs collect in a depression. When the water evaporates, the crocodiles pass the summer in a kind of torpor. They don't eat and they keep movement down to a minimum.

Unlike the Nile crocodile, that typically prefers large seasonal rivers, the West African crocodile generally prefers lagoons and wetlands in forested regions. Some of these wetlands, called a guelta, forms only during rains or when underground springs collect in a depression. When the water evaporates, the crocodiles pass the summer in a kind of torpor. They don't eat and they keep movement down to a minimum.A celebration known as Koom Lakre is still held every year during which villagers make sacrifices and ask the animals to grant their wishes of health, prosperity and a good harvest.

An OnlyFans model with more than 2 million Instagram followers was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly stabbing her live-in boyfriend to death in their Miami apartment in April. Investigators said 26-year-old Courtney Clenney, who goes by the name of Courtney Tailor online, was arrested in Laupahoehoe on Hawaii’s Big Island on Aug. 10 on a warrant issued out of Miami-Dade County in Florida.

Clenney’s attorney told the news outlet she was on the island to obtain treatment for substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.The social media influencer has waived her right to extradition and is expected to be returned to Florida in the near future.Their neighbors had complained about the loud arguments coming from their luxury Miami apartment, and the complex was working though the process of evicting them, according to police.

Two months before allegedly killing her boyfriend, a security camera inside the elevator of their apartment complex captured Clenney beating Obumseli as he tried to push her away. Clenney was also arrested on a domestic battery charge in January of 2021 after she allegedly hurled a glass at Obumseli’s head while they were in Las Vegas, the New York Post reported. Evidence gathered during the investigation of Christian’s death shows that since November 2020, he and the defendant have been in an extremely combative relationship.

According to investigators, Clenney claimed Obumseli slammed her against a wall by her neck on April 3, and that she threw a knife at him in self-defense. She said she was about 10 feet away when she hurled the blade, according to Rolling Stone.But the OnlyFans star did not have injuries to corroborate her story, and the trajectory and slightly downward-angle of the three-inch stab wound in Obumseli’s chest proved she was lying about throwing the knife at him, according to the arrest warrant.

Dar es Salaam. Neema Magimba is the managing partner of Extent Corporate Advisory law firm, and co-founder of Sheria Kiganjani, a platform that provides readily accessible and affordable legal services. The two were both founded in 2019.Speaking to The Citizen Rising Woman recently, Neema shared the story of her career journey.After she finished a Bachelor of Laws programme at Mzumbe University in 2016, Ms Magimba went to the Law School of Tanzania where she passed. This enabled her to be admitted to practise law in 2018.“I and my two partners first started Extent Corporate Advisory immediately after our admission to the bar; right after we became advocates. This was also influenced by noticing a justice gap in the country,” says Ms Magimba - adding that they had corporate clients who could afford the fees. On the other hand, there were so many other people who needed legal services, but could not afford them.

“We came to realise that the problem was even bigger, people could not only afford the fees, there are people who do not know their rights, they do not know their position in legal services arena like seeking a lawyer within their residency,” says Ms Magimba. She revealed that people - especially people in the rural areas - do not know the right person to approach on legal services. Also, the fact that 90 percent of laws in Tanzania are in English poses as another challenge. “All these facts led to the establishment of ‘Sheria Kiganjani.’ We teamed up with an IT and tech company called Bluefin Solutions Limited and, together, we co-founded Sheria Kiganjani, which now serves people who cannot readily access legal services,” she says.Ms Magimba talks of the societal stereotypes that are set up, whereas youth startups are considered ‘not mature enough’. She reveals that the law platform is currently serving about 29,000 people in Tanzania.

“It was even more difficult with the law firm, because there is a narrative that a person cannot start their own law firm immediately after finishing law school. You have to first be an intern - or work at someone else’s law firm,” says Ms Magimba.This posed problems because clients do not easily trust a person fresh from school to work on their legal needs.“It was very difficult for us to get clients in Tanzania, and up until now 90 percent of our clients are foreigners,” Ms Magimba says.From the relatively young age of 10, Ms Magimba looked up to her three aunties who were lawyers - and admired their lifestyles: independent, financially free and oozing confidence.She says her passion to become a lawyer grew even more when she realised that a lawyer plays a big role in society.

Being the only woman at her law firm and platform made her even bolder. However, she says,her fellow cofounders and managing partners have never treated her any different but just a colleague.“We are equal when it comes to making decisions,” she says. They have also agreed that I lead them because they know that I am good at what I do because of my knowledge and experience,” says Ms Magimba.She recalls that there were difficult times during the transition from being employed as a lawyer to being one of the co-founders of their law firm that almost made her abandon her dreams.

“The culture in the places I worked at as an intern to gain experience made me realise that I had to have my own organisation to practise law, I did not have a voice as I could not be recognised for my work. Neither could I question anything because I was not even in senior management levels,” Ms Magimba explains. “Most of the work in the law firms I worked with were done by interns, who were barely appreciated, anyway! This made me ask myself whether I was really ready to work for four to five years in someone else’s law firm before I finally establish something of my own,” Ms Magimba says. She was in a fix, as she did not have any funds... Until the idea to cofound the law firm the Sheria Kiganjani platform came to mind.

“Women are not told that they can do more than just take care of others. This does not expose them to the reality that they can actually be anything they want in life,” she says. “It is time women learn to put themselves first, prioritize their careers and decisions that they are certain will fasten them to their life goals,” explans Ms Magimba.

The once-feared man – an al-Shabab co-founder, its former spokesperson and deputy leader – had been in a hideout for years before surrendering to the government in August 2017. He split with al-Shabab in 2013.

After intense negotiations with the state, Robow was delisted from the US terror list and denounced al-Shabab publicly.Some analysts believe the appointment could play a significant role in the fight against al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked group formed in 2007, which wants to overthrow Somalia’s internationally recognised government and impose strict Islamic law. Robow, 52, once had a $5m United States reward on his head. He is not the only high-ranking al-Shabab leader to have defected from the group, but remains the only one to have been handed a top ministerial role.

Abdirahman Turyare, the Somali government spy chief between 2014 and 2016, said Robow’s appointment signals the government’s commitment to battling the group. His appointment will help the government not only militarily but also ideologically, and would encourage those within al-Shabab that they can defect to the government and can be welcomed, and even pardoned, if they denounce. In December 2018, Robow made it known he had political ambitions and wanted to vie for Somalia’s South-West State regional presidency. Ultimately, however, he did not participate in the race and was put under house arrest.

More than 5,000 people attended a mass burial for 10 protesters killed during recent anti-UN demonstrations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There is disagreement over who shot the protesters activists say Monusco peacekeepers were to blame, while Monusco accuses some demonstrators of snatching weapons from Congolese police and opening fire.Most of those killed at the protests were under the age of 30, the youngest, an 11-year-old child. Those at the funerals have been holding up anti-UN banners demanding that its peacekeeping mission, Monusco, leaves the country.

Thursday's ceremony in the eastern city of Goma comes four days after a memorial service was held for UN workers who also died during the demonstrations. Protests erupted in Goma last week as civilians accused Monusco of failing in its mission to combat armed groups. Demands for the agency to leave spread to other parts of eastern DR Congo, where more people were killed. Tensions between the DR Congo authorities and the UN have reached an all-time high, and the Congolese government says it would like the peacekeeping mission to leave the country before the end of 2024.

A 12-year-old girl who was abducted and beaten by men trying to force her into a marriage was found being guarded by three lions who apparently had chased off her captors. The girl, missing for a week, had been taken by seven men who wanted to force her to marry one of them, said Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo, speaking by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, about 350 miles southwest of Addis Ababa.She was beaten repeatedly before she was found June 9 by police and relatives on the outskirts of Bita Genet, Wondimu said. She had been guarded by the lions for about half a day, he said.“They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest,” Wondimu said.

“If the lions had not come to her rescue, then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage,” he said. Tilahun Kassa, a local government official who corroborated Wondimu’s version of the events, said one of the men had wanted to marry the girl against her wishes. “Everyone thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people,” Wondimu said. “A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they didn’t eat her,” Williams said.

Ethiopia’s lions, famous for their large black manes, are the country’s national symbol and adorn statues and the local currency. Despite a recent crackdown, hunters kill the animals for their skins, which can fetch $1,000. Williams estimates that only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild.

It is the second time in less than a month heavy downpours have turned roads into muddy rivers and submerged underpasses. Some drivers described frightening scenes, including Tahar Trabelsi, a Tunisian engineer living in Dakar. "There were a lot of traffic jams, we were completely blocked," he said."We weren't moving forward and - with the rain - there was a lot of water coming in - and little by little, the water was rising. So we were all blocked. "Me, when I saw that the car began to fill with water, I took the decision to get out of the car and left."

"My car was flooded 100 percent." Flooding is common in Dakar at this time of year but on Friday 126 millimetres of rain fell in just six hours. But  the country's sandy roads are ill-equipped to deal with so much water and some are blaming the exceptional rainfall on global warming. Tahar Trabelsi says: "Nowadays, the intensity of the rain is huge.  It's not like the rains of the past."We know about climate change, it is not complicated. "And we are next to the ocean so the flow was not the usual intensity of the rain - it was a lot of rain in a small amount of time.

Many African sports have survived through the centuries. However, their structure and practice have continued to evolve. Today, there are lots of young Africans that are talented in traditional African sports. Indirectly, they are the custodians of these sports. Without the regular contests, these sports may have become extinct.In 2020, the Olympics committee announced that they would be incorporating traditional games in the competitions and many African sports qualify to be on their list.

 Kwepena is a popular game in Kampala, Uganda. This traditional African sport is mostly played by girls. The yard game is fun and widely enjoyed across the slums. The players take turns to dodge a soft ball usually made of plastic which are hurled by their opponents. In an attempt to make the game accepted by the Olympics, Simon Tumukunde, a sport developer, defined the court dimensions and introduced the regulation balls. To further grow the audience of the standardized game, Tumukunde is organizing competitions among schools and company staff. According to historians, the original game was played in West Africa. At that time, it was one of the drills used by fighters training for battle. Instead of soft ball, the players used rocks which often strikes a fatal blow.

Many African traditional sports appear to have an occasion tied to them, especially farming seasons. Nguni is a traditional sport from South Africa which was staged mostly by the Nguni herders. The game features two fighters who play defense and offense until one wins.Points for this game is usually rated by which body part was hit using the stick. The opponents perform several stances during the game, which lasts for up to five hours. When done in a controlled environment with defined rules, this game is entertaining to watch.

Donkey racing is a popular sporting event that happens in the Kenyan coastal town, Lamu. It attracts huge crowds of people who come to cheer their favorite riders. Also, the sport is common during the fiesta of the annual Maulidi, thereby bringing the people together.The sport is played by a rider who hops on the back of a donkey and nudges it to run for the finish line as quickly as it can. As these animals are domesticated and used primarily as a means of transportation, they are adequately adapted for this African sport.

Among the Betsileo people of Madagascar, bull riding is a tradition they use to pass culture across generations. The game is a rite of passage that is meant to signal that a man is ready to be a responsible society member. For the thrilling game, participants need to be physically fit.This is because when an angry bull is released from a cage, the man will attempt to hang on it for as long as possible. The winner is the one who manages to mount the bull for the longest time. Interestingly, the prize is a bragging right, nothing more. 

Laamb is an ancient wrestling game from Senegal that started as a recreational activity during harvesting periods. Furthermore, it resembles Dambe from Nigeria, only that wrapping arms with ropes is absent. Laamb takes place between two masculine men whose objective is to throw the opponent to the ground by lifting him up and over, usually outside a marked area. As a sporting activity that competes at the national level in Senegal, we feel it would be a great addition to the Olympics. This traditional African sport will surely add flavor and diversity to the Olympics. 

Sexual Minorities Uganda has been the nation's most prominent support group for LGBTQ people since 2004 but its leader, Frank Mugisha, said on Saturday the authorities had told him to suspend activities due to a lack of documentation. He said the case against the group stems from the name itself, which the registrar of companies considers to be unsuitable. A judge agreed and the group is awaiting the judgement of a higher court.

Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited in Uganda under a colonial Penal Code, dating from 1950, which criminalises acts which are, what it calls, 'against the order of nature.’ The law carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and applies to both men and women. In 2009 President Yoweri Museveni's government drafted legislation which proposed the death penalty for what it called aggravated acts of homosexuality. After international condemnation the bill was amended but LGBTQ communities in Uganda are regularly subjected to discrimination and violence.