After having countless sexual encounters there is a cheat version to make a woman a virgin all over again.

CVonservative voices say virginity is a must for a happy marriage, and this has fuelled commerce in products that allegedly 'restore' one's womanhood.

First it was virgin soap and now the master of all has arrived. It's called "virginity kit" and one can find it locally on the black market if they don't have access to buy it online from shops such as amazon.com or ebay.com

A dealer in Bulawayo who in the past introduced virgin soap and manhood enlargement pumps into the local market said anyone can be fooled by the kit.

"When it is shoved into the female anatomy, it will expand a little and make you feel tight. When your lover penetrates, it will ooze out a liquid that appears like blood, not too much but just the right amount," he said.

For such a con product, one has to employ acting tactics (women are said to be good at faking it anyway) that is where the man should be made to believe it is a woman's first time.

"The woman should then add a few moans and groans and she will pass through undetectable," he added.

The good part about the fake virginity is that it has no side effects, at least to the woman, but has a great risk of convincing the guy to opt for unprotected sex, which might yield fatal side effects.

"It's easy to use, clinically proven, non-toxic to humans and has no side effects (to women only of course), not painful to use and there is no allergic reaction," he claimed.

But the packets that are available underground have instructions written in Chinese, thus making use without asking for instructions from the dealer is a mission impossible.

"You simply insert it 15 to 20 minutes before intercourse. Then wash after 'bleeding'," he said.

The product is selling for US$60 in Bulawayo considering the importance of one's virginity. Surprisingly, despite knowing how important it is to be a virgin, women continue losing their virginity well before marriage.

"My target is people who lost it and they wish it never happened. But strangely I even have married women buying from me. I guess maybe it is for fun or they are buying for their teenage relatives or daughters. I never ask anyway," he revealed.

The product is readily available in the first world even though it is a new phenomenon. However, it is reported that in nations where virginity can be a literal issue of life and death, the Artificial Hymen Kit is controversial.

During the day, she will give your hair the most refined look, albeit in a makeshift saloon, but when night falls across Botswana's capital Gaborone, Debra Ncube (not her real name) exchanges sex for money.

Routinely, every evening, Ncube, who is in her early 30s, sashays up Notwane road at Extension 12, a high- density suburb in Gaborone, in a tight, short skirt in search for customers.

She is usually joined by a few other young women, also thought to be her compatriots.

They strategically position themselves some 100m from Notwane bar, but Ncube picks her spot, a tree opposite the car park illuminated by headlights.

She says she has been a sex worker for five years and has been bedded by several men, earning an average of $52 per night.

Every evening, after knocking off from her "other" job, she joins her friends at their usual spot to target clients who usually frequent the three bars in the neighbourhood.

She is part of many Zimbabwean women in Gaborone who travelled southwards to take on the oldest profession – prostitution – when Zimbabwe's economy got rough some years ago.

"This is what most women from my country do. In fact, I can safely say it is most of us who work as hairdressers at the roadside salons. During the day, we while up time doing people's hair, which doesn't really pay. The real work starts in the evening, around 1900hrs," she says.

She adds that there are a few who worked as maids during the day and then added-on to their meagre salaries by selling their bodies.

A recent report released by Botswana's Health ministry indicates that there are more than 1 500 Zimbabwean sex workers in the southern Africa country. The survey conducted between 2012 and 2013 focused on three centres – Gaborone, Francistown and Kasane.

The capital Gaborone has more than 1 200 Zimbabwean sex workers while 300 operate in Francistown near the Plumtree border post. The resort town, Kasane, has 100 Zimbabwean sex workers and others are scattered in various urban areas in Botswana.

There are almost 4 153 commercial sex workers in the three towns. More than 70% of the women cite financial gain and lack of employment as reasons for engaging in this trade.

Those who work at the makeshift saloon earn an average of P800 ($93) a month. The cheapest, room in Bontleng, where Ncube stays, probably costs her P400 ($46).

She says there was absolutely no way she could survive on the peanuts she makes at the salon.

"For most people, the saloon is just to cover up our act in case people start suspecting, especially those who know us. On a good night, I can make more than half the money I earn in a month at the saloon," she says.

Through that, she has managed to acquire a few belongings for her lodgings in Botswana and is able to send money back home every month end.

She stays with a friend, identified only as Thoko (not real name) in Bontleng, which is adjacent to Extension 12 and a stone's throw from the Gaborone central business district.

Their house is strategically located near a petrol station at the South Ring Mall, where they occasionally check for potential clients when the bars have closed.

Ncube is hardly at home and is not worried about not having electricity supply.

"What would I need electricity for? The house is just for me to keep my belongings. The only time you find me at home, I will be sleeping."

During the day, she is at work. From there, she just comes home to bathe and head to her spot. I only come home in the early hours of the following day, and at times I get clients who would want to stay with me for a few days. If I don't do that, I will not survive," she explains.

Although she would not discuss her prices, indications are that her clients pay P70 ($8) for a short time, and P350 ($40) for the whole night.

Of late, the police have been descending tough on Ncube and her friends, who do not have the required documents to live and work in Botswana. But she has mastered a way of beating their raids.

"We now know them. Most of them are now our friends. When they come, we either pay them a bribe or just do a short time with them for free," she says.

But that strategy only works when they are dealing with men officers, as she reveals that women were always uncompromising.

A few years ago, the government announced new regulations that compelled beer halls to close early.

President Ian Khama blamed alcoholism for HIV and Aids and other ills bedevilling Botswana.

And then Botswana followed up with a campaign that sex workers would either be detained if they were locals, or deported if they were foreigners for their "disorderly and indecent" behaviour. And this has hit hard on Ncube's business.

"Many people would rather buy beer and take it home, than drink at the bar. We used to get most of our clients around midnight, but now we have to get them earlier as there will be no-one at the bars around that time."

But Ncube has found her way around the situation.

She keeps contacts of every man she sleeps with and every day, she will call them and ask if they would need her services.

"On any given day, there is always at least one of them who would want me to come and spend the night with them," she reveals. Botswana is second after Swaziland in terms of HIV and Aids prevalence rate in Africa.

In 2012, it was estimated at least 400 000 people aged between 15 and 49 in Botswana were living with HIV and Aids.

Botswana has a population of two million.And Ncube is aware of those statistics and the danger her night job comes with. One of the ways is insisting on using protection all the time.

She adds: "I know there are issues about HIV and Aids, but the challenge now is to make sure we use protection always. Every business has its risks, and even ours. One just has to find ways of handling the risks without endangering my life or getting my family know this is what I have been doing."

Back home in Bulawayo, her relatives think she is secretary at a construction company. She holds a secretarial certificate, but claims it was hard to get a proper job because she was a foreigner.

"Most companies prefer locals for such positions because when they employ foreigners, they need to start doing permits," she says.

But Ncube also has to ensure she does not get people who know her parents visiting her.

"My parents and everyone around our family think I work for a construction company as a secretary. That's what I also told my boyfriend. What else would I do, this is the only way I can survive here in Gaborone. This is not a good life, but there is nothing I can do, otherwise I would die a pauper" she said.

Thoko recaps the situation of many Zimbabwean women, saying: "Back home, many people believe we hold senior positions at big companies, but that is not the case."

Most Botswana women are more qualified and dominate the marketplace, leaving only a few good jobs for foreigners.  

"Most of the stories you hear about people working at banks, diamond companies are lies. We know some Zimbabwean women who have bought properties through this (prostitution)."

With the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe still unstable, Ncube and her friends look set to hang on a bit in Botswana to make a-no-so-decent living. - Africa review

THE HIV virus that causes AIDS could soon be harnessed and used as a tool that improves and extends the lives of people with multiplicity of diseases including against HIV infection itself according to a British medical journal, eLIFE.

According to eLIFE, three medical researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark described adopting the viruses as carriers of designer nucleause proteins, providing efficient targeted gene disruption in vector-treated cell lines and primary cells.

The potential application of such a technique could be used to treat hereditary diseases, as well as HIV itself, writes Aarhus University in a press release on their website.

"Now we can simultaneously cut out the part of the genome that is broken in sick cells, and patch the gap that arises in the genetic information which we have removed from the genome. The new aspect here is that we can bring the scissors and the patch together in the HIV particles in a fashion that no one else has done before," says associate professor in genetics Jacob Giehm Mikkelsen from Aarhus University.

"So in this way HIV can in time become a tool in the fight against HIV," Yujia Cai of the research team added.
The president of the Hospitals Doctors Association, Dr Charles Moyo said although he had not come across the journal, any efforts to solve the HIV mystery was welcome.

"I have not read the medical journal, but such a cure would be welcome. I cannot comment any further until I have read the findings myself," he said.

HIV is notorious for how quickly it mutates, which is yet another reason why researchers have had such a difficult time killing the virus entirely. Despite these challenges, there have been encouraging advances in trying to combat the virus.

Researchers have made headway this year in the search for HIV treatment. In January, the Immunity Project announced it was developing a vaccine for HIV based on the cells of rare "controllers" who are naturally immune to the virus.

A machine-learning algorithm is used to examine the cells of these individuals and then to recreate the same resistance in others.
The project’s creators say that a working vaccine could be made available to the public by 2016.

A preliminary report by the Ministry of Health and Child Care said the number of people dying from HIV and Aids has significantly dropped in the country from a high of 170 000 in 2003 to about 60 000 last year, a development attributed to Government programmes in administering anti-retroviral therapy. The numbers include both adults and children.

According to a preliminary report of the 2013 HIV estimates, the number of adults who died in 2013 has gone down from 50 230 in 2012 to 49 605 in 2013.

The number of deaths among children between 0 and 14 years has also declined from about 36 000 (2003 statistics) to 10 795 in 2013. About 12 004 child deaths were recorded in 2012.

ACADEMICS and the Bulawayo Provincial Education office have expressed concern over the employment of Shona-speaking and other non-Ndebele speaking teachers in primary schools in the Matabeleland region saying this was contributing to the low pass rate at these schools.

Speaking during a workshop on indigenous languages and non-fiction writing, organised by the Zimbabwe Academic and Non-fiction Authors Association (Zana) Bulawayo chapter last Saturday, deputy provincial education director for Bulawayo province, Mr Richard Swene, stirred a hornet's nest when he blasted the Civil Service Commission for employing primary school teachers whose first language was not Ndebele.

He said it was essential to realise that teaching children between the ages of seven and nine was essential as this was the only way to fully introduce them to the education system thus the only way to do such was to teach them in a language which they understood.

"Our primary education policy clearly stipulates that children between the ages of seven and nine must be taught in their mother tongue. It becomes impossible for us to achieve good results when we have non-Ndebele speaking teachers teaching these young children.

"My child who is currently a doctor, during his studies at one of these universities in the Mashonaland region told me that when he started there the lecturers were teaching in Shona, my advice to him was to simply hang in there because it is their region. Therefore we must also take advantage of that within our schools in the region because naturally it is easy to understand something that you are being taught in your mother tongue," said Mr Swene.

The deputy provincial education director said the onus was on the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to employ more Ndebele speaking teachers especially at primary school level.

"One thing we must always have in mind is that the mother tongue is always in the centre of development, it is also disappointing that even our institutions in the Matabeleland region do not offer indigenous languages courses or at least train our teachers that is why you find people have to travel all the way to Gweru just to learn Ndebele, which in itself causes all these problems we are facing.
 
"The fact that we allow our primary school children to be taught by teachers with Shona as their first language proves that we are in a crisis. We must take a cue from our national constitution which recognises 16 official languages and ensure that as civil servants we accept this and continue nurturing our mother tongue," said Mr Swene.

Speaking at the same workshop, a teacher at a Nkayi primary school claimed the situation was even worse in the rural areas as at the school he taught he was the only Ndebele speaking teacher, the rest being Shona-speaking teachers.

"The situation is more pathetic in the rural areas because you find us spending most of our time assisting our counterparts, because they will be failing to teach the children in Ndebele, at the end of the day you find people talking about the low pass rate but what you should understand is that this is not done on purpose," said the teacher who declined to be named for professional reasons.

A few months ago Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in the Metropolitan Province of Bulawayo, Cde Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo, shot down a proposal in the National Assembly that locals should be given preference in employment and education opportunities.

The minister argued that she was not a tribalist hence she would not support such calls.

Cde Moyo was quoted as saying: "First of all, I am not a tribalist. Secondly, I serve Zimbabwe. Thirdly, I will support anyone who has the right documents to occupy a vacancy."

Her statement was met with mixed feelings from educationists and analysts who accused the Government of letting down the education sector by creating a handicap that could easily be avoided, which goes on to affect the overall pass rate within the schools.

Meanwhile, speaking at the same workshop, Provincial Education Director for Bulawayo Province, Mr Dan Moyo, urged authors in Bulawayo to embrace the culture of writing in indigenous languages stating that it was the only way of promoting local cultures.

He said in the past there has been an outcry that the so-called minority languages were not recognised and were playing second fiddle to English, Ndebele and Shona languages in the country but the Government had recognised 16 official languages in the constitution.

"Zimbabwe, being a nation of diverse people has according to the constitution 16 officially recognised languages. The constitution states that the State and all institutions and agencies of Government at every level must take into account the language preferences of people affected by governmental measures .It is also the prerogative of the State to promote and advance the use of all languages used in Zimbabwe, including sign language", he said.

SCORES of Zimbabweans travelling to Tanzania and Zambia are purchasing fake yellow fever certificates instead of administering the yellow fever vaccine, exposing the country to the deadly yellow fever epidemic, investigations have revealed.

Tanzanian and Zambian authorities require that all visitors must be vaccinated against yellow fever and be able to produce a valid yellow fever certificate together with their passport at all points of entry and exit.

This is to prevent the international spread of the disease by protecting countries from the risk of importing or spreading the yellow fever virus. It is also to protect individual travellers who may be exposed to yellow fever infection.

Yellow fever is a tropical viral disease affecting the liver and kidneys, causing fever and jaundice and is often fatal. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and is incurable.

Tanzania has seen an upsurge in Zimbabweans travelling to the port of Dar es Salaam to collect cars imported from Japan.

Vendors at the Lusaka Bus Intercity Station were openly selling yellow fever vaccination certificates to Zimbabweans who had disembarked from the bus for recess. The travellers, who were interviewed by the paper, said the yellow fever vaccine cost was high in the country forcing them to purchase the fake certificate for $5.

City pharmaceutical companies surveyed by the news crew were selling the vaccine shot for an average of $60 while city doctors charged about $10 to administer the vaccine.

Mr Peter Nkomo, who was en route to Dar es Salaam to collect a car shipped from Japan, said he chose to buy the fake yellow fever certificate instead of getting vaccinated to cut his expenses.

"The yellow fever vaccine is unaffordable back home, maybe if the Government subsidises it then we will buy the required vaccine but now we are improvising by buying the yellow fever certificates so that we can enter Tanzania otherwise if we do not the Tanzanian authorities will turn us away. Bus costs $100, which adds to $150 if you include other expenses that you encounter along the journey as the trip to Dar es Salaam takes two days. If you factor in the vaccine the travelling costs can easily sky rocket to $250," he said.

Mpilo Hospital clinical director Dr Wedu Ndebele said yellow fever was a lethal viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes and those that purchase yellow fever certificates fraudulently put their lives and the country at large at risk.

"If you purchase the yellow fever certificate through fraudulent means, you are endangering your health because in actuality your body system is not protected from the infection. Furthermore, once an infected person returns to the country with the infection the whole country is susceptible to infection because once a mosquito bites an infected person, and moves to another person, it will transmit the virus," Dr Ndebele said.

He added that like all viral diseases, yellow fever was incurable. Additionally, he encouraged all travellers to yellow fever-prone areas to administer the vaccine.

Another city doctor Amos Ndiweni said while Zimbabwe did not require one to produce the yellow fever certificate while returning from Zambia or Tanzania the possibility of being infected was still high.

"If you look at the Zimbabwe immigration rules they do not require Zambians and Tanzanians to produce a yellow fever vaccine certificate because WHO has determined that Tanzania is a low-risk area, so for one to catch yellow fever he has to be exposed and bitten by a lot of mosquitoes," said Dr Ndiweni.

He said if anyone in Zimbabwe were to be infected with yellow fever, the effects would be fatal for the whole country as we still have mosquitoes that have a potential of transferring the infection throughout the country.

"Yellow fever is incurable and those going to Tanzania should be inoculated, to protect the country against the potential scourge of yellow fever no matter how much the infection risks are said to be low," he said.

South Africa also requires all travellers journeying from yellow fever risk countries to show proof of yellow fever vaccination by means of a valid yellow fever certificate.

This also applies to those who have travelled to low-risk countries such as Somalia, Tanzania and Zambia or have transited through a yellow fever risk country.

The certificates, which are valid for 10 years, must be approved by the World Health Organisation, and should be administered at a yellow fever approved vaccination centre at least 10 days before departure to South Africa, as the vaccine only offers protection 10 days after administration.

Failure to produce a valid yellow fever vaccination certificate at a South African port of entry could lead to refusal of entry, or quarantine until the traveller’s certificate becomes valid.

According to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention yellow fever virus has three transmission cycles: jungle (sylvatic), inter­mediate (savannah), and urban. The jungle (sylvatic) cycle involves transmission of the virus between non-human primates (monkeys) and mosquito species found in the forest canopy.

The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes from monkeys to humans when humans are visiting or working in the jungle. In Africa, an intermediate (savannah) cycle exists that involves transmission of the virus from mosquitoes to humans living or working in jungle border areas.

In this cycle, the virus can be transmitted from monkey to human or from human to human via mosquitoes. The urban cycle involves trans­mission of the virus between humans and urban mosquitoes. The virus is usually brought to the urban setting by a viremic human who was infected in the jungle or savannah.

About 200 000 cases of yellow fever occur annually, 90 percent of them in Africa. A dramatic resurgence of yellow fever has occurred since the 1980s in both sub-Saharan Africa and South America.

A study into marital infidelity has found that longer penises are linked to wives cheating on their spouses.

The study, published in the online Journal PloS One, was led by US and Kenyan researchers, found that every extra inch boosts the likelihood of wives engaging in extramarital affairs.

"We included this variable because of the interest and controversies that surround men's pursuit of penile enlargement ostensibly to sexually satisfy their spouses while women do not necessarily approve of it," the researchers wrote.

"Surprisingly, [having a] spouse [with a] longer fully erect penis was associated with increased likelihood of the women having extra-marital partnerships. From these results, every one inch longer penis increased the likelihood of women being involved in extra-marital partnership by almost one-and-half times," the researchers wrote.

This is apparently because a longer penis increases sexual discomfort. The researchers quoted one of the women in the study as saying, "some penises may be large yet my vagina is small, when he tries to insert it inside, it hurts so much that I will have to look for another man who has a smaller one [penis] and can do it in a way I can enjoy".

According to the study, domestic violence and denying a woman a preferred sex position also increased the likelihood of extra-marital relationships.

Meanwhile factors which reduce the likelihood of a wife cheating on her husband are her age (older wives were less likely to cheat), and how sexually satisfied she is.

"Some [men] just take a minute and leaves you there when you are still 'hanging'. You cannot even tell if this thing is over or still continuing. Sometime we aren't satisfied yet we can't explain it [to our partners]. However, when we get men who can satisfy us, we do not waste such chances," one woman told the researchers. - Source: Timeslive

Over a quarter of a million Zimbabweans are living in suspense waiting for the South African Government to make a final announcement on what will happen to the special Zimbabwe Dispensation work permits issued in September 2010.

The South African government is in limbos with renewing the permits specifically because of the precedence that it set on itself when the permits were initially issued. It is on record that there was heavy debates and resistance from opposition parties, ordinary South Africans and other foreigners resident in South Africa when the permits were first issued.

It must be noted that when the South African government made out the call for the permits it was faced with an immigration crisis where millions of Zimbabweans were resident in South Africa on suspected forged South African identity documents. In trying to come up with a solution, the government invited all Zimbabweans with the fraudulent South African identities to come forward and surrender them under an amnesty where no questions on the source of the documents were going to be asked.

Unlike what the government expected the response was very poor. The very people who they had targeted to come forward did not come forward. Very few people responded and surrendered the South African identity documents. The majority of those that responded were people who already had been provided with political asylum temporary permits by the South African government and very few who did not have any documentation at all. To make matters worse the Zmbabwean government in its desperation celebrated into the opening by the South African government and opened registrar general's offices in the foreign country. Zimbabweans were invited to get new documents from birth certificate to identity card to passports. Because of the time frame that was allowed the process was weakened of thorough vetting. Evidence is there that several none Zimbabweans especially Mozambiqueans and Nigerians and some Malawians and Zambians found themselves corruptly getting Zimbabwean documentation and getting passports and permits.

Initially when the permits were discussed, the South African government wanted to make them five year permits which would have given the applicants a chance to apply for a permanent residence status obviously in recognition of the time that the people had lived in South Africa on the illegal documents. However, due to pressure from the opposition the government reduced the permits to four years and left the renewal close unspecified.

With the coming of new immigration laws in South Africa, the permits given to Zimbabweans now completely fall off the provisions of the gazetted residence permits in that country. The only permit now available in SA is the Permanent Residence Permit and the rest being Visas and such visas are applied for at the foreign person's country of citizen and not in South Africa. The only likely visa that may be available for Zimbabweans hoping to stay and work in South Africa under the current laws will be the Special Skills Visa which a majority of the 250 000 special permits holders will fail to meet.

If the debates in the South African parliament are anything to go by, opposition parties are waiting on the sideline to see how the ruling ANC government is going to flout its own new rules and issue Zimbabweans with permits outside the stipulated ones. Further complications are coming through from other Africans resident in South Africa particularly those from crisis ridden states like Somalia, Eritria and Ethiopia who are questioning why Zimbabweans are being accorded the special favour when according to them Zimbabwe "is at peace and enjoying relative democracy".

Ordinary South African citizens are also putting pressure on the government threatening xenophobic attacks if Zimbabweans are allowed to continue staying in the country and according to them taking their jobs and services. The South Africans strongly believe that Zimbabweans have every chance in the world to go back to Zimbabwe and vote out the ZANU PF government if Zimbabweans feel that the ZANU PF government is failing them.

In the meantime, the South African Police Service and Immigration officials have already started sporadic raids and stop and search blitz in most major urban centres of the country arresting and deporting any foreigners found with improper documentation or none at all. Several Zimbabweans in Cape Town and Johannesburg were arrested and sent for repatriation in the recent weeks.

Incidentally, the notorious Lindela Repatriation Centre in Western Johannesburg is currently under going major refurbishments and extensions which could spell a warning that the SA immigration officials are gearing themselves for action soon. Zimbabwean Minister of Home Affairs has been holding talks with the South African counterparts but is suspiciously not in a state to make any meaningful explanation of what has come out of those meetings.

So the hard truth of the matter could just be that the South African government will be soon announcing a 12 to at most 24 months extension of the permits giving Zimbabweans in South Africa notice to leave the republic.

Oh my gosh, Thabiso Phiri is no longer Miss Zimbabwe? What Happened? Oh I hear she had nude pictures posted by some douchebag ex-lover person in her life? Haven't we heard this one before?

Anyway today I will give some advice to the young people before you go ahead and make a s*x tape.

Ladies, make sure that if you are going to make a s*x tape, usually it's your boyfriend's idea because he needs it for personal reasons later involving self-gratification with his one-armed bandit better known as 'five aside'. So if you are going to strip down for your man, make sure he strips down for you, but also make him wear your underwear, that way he will never think of ever releasing any pictures of you!

If you are going to nudes, please remember that Google never forgets. Stunner and Pokello released their s*x tape in 2011, but if you google it today you will find everything.

If you are going to release a set tape, make sure it's a very professional performance by you, because let's face it guys, you don't want to have a s*x tape leak and show off just how terrible you are in bed. I won't mention names coz you all know who I'm talking about.

If you are an artist or a businessperson, make sure you promote your business somehow, through the s*x tape. Stunner could have had a poster of his next show on the background and Pokello could have worn some of her shoes to generate some kind of income from the s*x tape. Unless one is a prostitute, then the s*x tape itself and maybe her contact details are all she needs to turn the s*x tape into an income generating project.

Nothing beats me more than a s*x tape or leaked photos of terrible underwear. Make sure you pop down to just lingerie or something to pick out some matching lingerie for your man.

Also get the best camera when producing your s*x tape. You will get super crisp resolution VS compression giving you the most awesome s*x tape out there.

Spirit Embassy founder Prophet Uebert Angel counts himself among some of the richest pastors in Africa and says he is worth $60 million and insists that his fortune is from his business empire and not the church.

He is among a number of Pentecostal church leaders who seem to have easily acquired wealth over a short period of time anchored by huge church followers inspired by the gospel of prosperity in search of material wealth.

Although he has not publicly declared his net worth, United Family International Church leader Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa has also done well for himself as he is believed to personally own shares in blue chip companies as well as prime real estate especially in Harare.

A spokesperson for the church has said that these are Makandiwa's personal assets and as his career has been only in the church, there is no prize for guessing how the aggrandisement came about.

Makandiwa has constructed a huge church in Chitungwiza.
Prophet Walter Magaya of the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries also seems to be amassing great wealth. He recently donated a house to a destitute man in Harare, a repeat act of charity.

Magaya also reportedly disbursed over $20 000 to settle debts owed by adult dancer Bev during the latter's ill-fated flirtation with the ministry. Yet unlike the others, he eschews a flashy life and drives a simple Mazda Demio and has very ascetic tastes.

But none of Zimbabwe's big fish has made an impact in the world ocean by appearing on the international list of richest church leaders. Unless they have undeclared income and they will have to spur their followers on to reach the levels of their West African spiritual fathers. Nigeria has five names in the top 10.

1. Bishop T D Jakes: Bishop Jakes lives in a $1,7 million mansion, he has been called America's best preacher and has been featured on the cover of TIME Magazine. He is a writer, preacher and movie producer.

Thomas Dexter "T. D." Jakes, Sr: Is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter's House, a non-denominational American mega church, with 30 000 members, located in Dallas, Texas. TD Jakes wears custom made suits and sports a diamond ring the size of a coin. This man of God has been endowed with a $150 million net worth.

2. Bishop David Oyedepo: Bishop David Oyedepo is a Nigerian preacher, Christian author, founder and presiding Bishop of Winners Chapel known as Living Faith Church World Wide. Has been hailed as the wealthiest preacher in Nigeria with a total net worth of $150 million and properties like four private jets and homes in the United States and England.

After the foundation of the Living Faith Outreach Ministry in 1981, it has evolved to be one of the largest congregations in Africa and has a flourishing mission in Nairobi.

3. Enoch Adeboye: This messenger of God was listed in an African magazine, NEWSWEEK, as the most powerful man in Africa and one of the top 50 global power elites in 2008/ 2009, among others such as President Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy. Pastor Adeboye heads the Redeemed Christian Church of God, something he has done for the last 28 years.

Among his possessions are private jets. Earlier this year, Bishop Oyedepo was barred from entering the United Kingdom after his church was accused of "cynically exploiting supporters".

4. Benny Hinn: Israeli televangelist,Toufik Benedictus "Benny" Hinn has an estimated net worth of $42 million. He is best known for his regular "Miracle Crusades" — revival meeting/faith healing summits that are usually held in large stadiums in major cities, which are later broadcast worldwide on his television programme, "This Is Your Day". Hinn was born on December 3, 1952.

5. Chris Oyakhilome: This is the man behind Believers' Loveworld Ministries, aka Christ Embassy. His church has an estimated net worth of $50 million.
The charismatic preacher was recently at the centre of a $35 million money laundering case in which he was accused but eventually cleared of siphoning funds from his church to foreign banks.

Christ Embassy, boasts more than 40 000 members, several of whom are successful business executives and politicians. Oyakhilome's diversified interests include newspapers, magazines, a local television station, a record label, satellite TV, hotels and extensive real estate.

His Loveworld TV Network is the first Christian network to broadcast from Africa to the rest of the world on a 24 hour basis.

6. Creflo Dollar: American Bible teacher, pastor, and the founder of World Changers Church International located in Fulton, Georgia. As his name suggests, this preacher's "manna" comes in the form of the green back.

Creflo Dollar is estimated to have a net worth of $27 million, most of which came from his ministerial establishments around the United States. Creflo Dollar International covenant association, Arrow records, and the Creflo Dollar ministries are jointly overseen by the popular TV evangelist and his wife.

In 1984, Creflo Dollar was awarded a Bachelor degree in sciences by West Georgia College. Oral Roberts University awarded him an honorary doctorate degree in 1998.

His ministry's first ever gathering was held in a cafeteria with only eight people in attendance.
In 2006, the overall cash revenue received in his church was about $69 million. His congregation has grown in leaps and bounds over the years, today his ministry boasts of over 30 000 members.

His church auditorium named the World Dome was built with $18 million without any bank loans. He is the publisher of Change Magazine with over 100 000 readers around the US.

7. Kenneth Copeland: He runs Kenneth Copeland Ministries and was one of several televangelists whose finances were investigated from 2007 to 2011 by Republican Senato Charles Grassley of Iowa.

According to an article by the Associated Press that ran in 2008, "His ministry's 1 500-acre campus, behind an iron gate a half-hour drive from Fort Worth includes a church, a private airstrip, a hangar for the ministry's $17,5 million jet and other aircraft, and a $6 million church owned lake-front mansion.

The article later added that while Copeland has not released up-to-date salary statements, "the church disclosed in a property-tax exemption application that his wages were $364 577 in 1995; Copeland's wife, Gloria, earned $292 593. It's not clear whether those figures include other earnings, such as special offerings for guest preaching or book royalties."

8. Billy Graham: American evangelical Christian evangelist, William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr., has a net worth of $25 million.
The Southern Baptist evangelist rose to celebrity status as his sermons started getting broadcast on radio and television. Graham was born on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina in 1918, he has conducted many evangelistic crusades since 1948.

He is now a world renowned televangelist raking in millions of dollars.

9. Matthew Ashimolowo: Ashimolowo, the owner of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) gets an annual income of $200 000.
Having his humble beginnings as a priest in Foursquare Gospel Church, a Nigerian church that sent him to open a satellite branch in London.

Pastor Matthew had other ideas and decided to set up his own church instead. Today, his KICC is reportedly the largest Pentecostal church in the whole of the United Kingdom.

His net worth has been put at $6 million and the source of his wealth comes from varied business interests including his media company, Matthew Ashimolowo media, which churns out Christian literature and documentaries.

In 2009, Kingsway International Christian Centre posted profits of close to $10 million and assets worth $40 million.
His Winning Ways programme is aired daily on Premier Radio (London) and Spirit FM (Amsterdam) and on television in Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, TV Africa, the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and Europe on The God Channel and Inspirational Network.

10. TB Joshua: Nigeria's most controversial clergyman is also one of its richest and most philanthropic. T.B Joshua heads the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN), a congregation he founded in 1987, which accommodates over 15 000 worshippers on Sundays.

The Pastor has remained controversial for several years for his inexplicable powers to heal all sorts of incurable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, cancer and paralysis. He has an estimated net worth of $15 million.

For miracle-craving worshippers, it's the perfect seduction. The church currently has branches all over Africa, the United Kingdom, Asia and Greece. In the past three years, he has given over $20 million to causes in education, healthcare and rehabilitation programmes for former Niger Delta militants. He owns Emmanuel TV, a Christian television network, and is close friends with Ghanaian President Atta Mills.

Cindy Trimm: No women made it into the top ten, but this one is worth mentioning.
Dr Cindy Trimm has an estimated net worth of $15 million. She earned her net worth as a former senator, an author and a life coach. As a spiritual leader, she has established a multi-million dollar speaking, writing, and publishing empire that operates in several countries around the world.

With her endeavors in humanitarian and business fields, she has been recognized in many countries.
She has received distinctions from the Queen of England, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Governor of Bermuda, and the Ambassador of the State of Tennessee.

She has been included in the "Power 100" list by Ebony Magazine as one of the most influential people currently working around the world along with Michael Jordan. She was also named an Outstanding Christian Woman of the Year.

In order to address global problems, she founded the Trimm Foundation with focus on the social reconstruction as well as supports on health, housing, education, and community development initiatives around the world. Her schedule as a preacher would take her to a maximum of six countries in a month.

Dr Cindy Trimm is the author of The Prayer Warriors Way as well as other books on faith and empowerment. She is also a pastor at the Embassy Worship Centre in Fort Lauderdaile, Florida.

Joyce Meyer is also another rich female preacher who lives a rock star life. She employs her family members in the ministry and owns a fabulous mansion. S VibeWeekly.com/The Saturday Lifestyle.

An asteroid heading for Earth will cause destruction of biblical proportions, change the climate of the globe and devastate human life, scientists say - but not until 16 March 2880.

The 1950 DA asteroid measures one kilometre in diameter and is travelling at nine miles a second relative to Earth - meaning it will hit the planet at 38,000 miles per hour.

However, although the likelihood of the rock hitting the Earth is relatively high in asteroid terms at 300/1, scientists are confident that, with 35 generations to go until its arrival, the disaster can be averted.

And scientists say that appreciation for the field has grown since an undetected meteor injured 1,500 people in a Russian city last year.

"Following the February 2013 asteroid impact in Chelyabinsk, Russia, there is renewed interest in figuring out how to deal with the potential hazard of an asteroid impact," University of Tennessee postdoctoral researcher Ben Rozitis told The Independent.

Another interest in this particular asteroid stems from its high-speed rotation that is so quick it 'defies gravity' and stops it from breaking apart.- metro

It is already well known that masturbation helps prevent prostate cancer in men, now a German study has found it also boosts the immune system. According to the study, which is available on Pubmed, the investigators got 11 male volunteers to masturbate until orgasm, and to perform a control activity that didn't involve any sex at all.

OBJECTIVE:
Sexual arousal and orgasm induce an increase in sympathetic activity as well as in catecholamine and prolactin plasma concentrations. However, the effects of sexual arousal and orgasm on immune functions in man are unknown. Thus, this study investigated the effects of masturbation-induced orgasm on lymphocyte circulation and cytokine production in healthy young males.

METHODS:
In a crossover design, 11 volunteers completed an experimental condition in which they were asked to masturbate until orgasm and to participate in a control condition without sexual activity. Blood was drawn continuously for determination of endocrine parameters. In addition, leukocyte and lymphocyte subsets were analyzed via flow cytometry, and the production of lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha was measured before and then 5 and 45 min after the orgasm.

RESULTS:
The results confirmed transient increases in adrenaline and prolactin plasma concentrations. Sexual arousal and orgasm increased the absolute number of leukocytes, in particular natural killer cells (CD3-CD16+CD56+), in the peripheral blood. In contrast, T cell (CD3+) and B cell (CD3-CD20+) subpopulations as well as the production of interleukin 6 and tumor necrosins factor alpha remained unaffected by sexual activity.

CONCLUSION:
These findings demonstrate that components of the innate immune system are activated by sexual arousal and orgasm. - Pubmed

A HIGHLY addictive concoction of anti-retroviral drugs, mandrax and rat poison - Nyaope - has reportedly hit the streets of Bulawayo, with users reportedly parting with large sums of money just to get their hands on it. Following a two-week investigation by this paper, it was discovered that the drug mixture, which originates from South Africa, is being peddled openly in the city, with officials from the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) professing ignorance of its existence or possible measures to contain it.

The concoction includes ARV tablets, milk powder, rat poison, bicarbonate of soda, mandrax and pool cleaner, which are crushed together to form a fine mixture, mixed with marijuana and then taken through smoking.

Sunday News managed to get the concoction tested at a local laboratory and officials confirmed that it contained efavirenz, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor used as part of highly active antiretroviral therapy.

"While the other ingredients were not conclusive, we discovered that it contains significant levels of efavirenz," said the laboratory official.

Efavirenz is also used in combination with other anti-retroviral agents as part of an expanded post-exposure prophylaxis regimen to reduce the risk of HIV infection in people exposed to a significant risk.

Nyaope is also known as whoonga or wunga. At times it is also mixed with heroine and chlorine and is available in two colours - green or white.

In South Africa, where it was discovered last year, gangs went to the extent of robbing clinics of ARVs just to fulfil their needs for this drug.
A single hit in Bulawayo can cost between $30 and $150 for a parcel or straw and is smoked by heating the cocktail of ingredients and inhaling the fumes.
Contacted for comment on this new drug, MCAZ spokesperson, Mr Richard Rukwata, professed ignorance, saying he was unaware of the drug, stating that they would dispatch their teams to investigate the matter as the only way to deal with a new drug was to contain it in its infancy.

"I am honestly not aware of that drug but since you have brought it to our knowledge, we will now dispatch our teams to investigate it, that is, with the assistance of the police as we have limited resources and no arresting powers at all.

"We would, however, need members of the public to really assist us because when dealing with a new drug it becomes difficult to unravel how the peddling circle operates," Mr Rukwata said.

He also bemoaned the authority’s lack of arresting powers, noting that this affected their endeavour to curb the peddling of illegal substances in the country.

"We are not only short of resources but the fact that we do not have arresting powers means we have to always rely on the police. Therefore, under such circumstances we can only report to the police who have the necessary resources to conduct investigations but to be frank, at the moment I am not even aware what that drug is and whether it has made it to the streets of Bulawayo," said Mr Rukwata.

A Sunday News crew managed to go undercover to purchase the drug and discovered that quite a number of youths were prepared to part with large sums of money to buy it.

Questioned on how he runs his business, one of the peddlers claimed he had been successfully operating for the past six months.

"I have previously been based in South Africa where this drug is much more famous; here I discovered that it is much easier to access the ARVs, where I simply contact some of my friends working as nurses who supply me with weekly batches.

"As for the other ingredients, they are openly available on the streets. It is the mixture that is rather complicated as it needs some expert hands to do it. That is what makes it quite expensive because no one can just get the mixture correct," said the drug peddler who spoke to our reporter.

Questioned on the dangers of this drug to its users, the peddler said most users were fully aware of the consequences when they purchased it.
"When one uses such drugs they are fully aware of the consequences, we do not force them at all although we are also out to make a profit.

"I can tell you that people literally come with their property to purchase this drug and for that reason I would say I am benefiting from this small business of mine regardless of its illegality," said the peddler.

Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Paul Chimedza, said while he was not aware of the said drug or the alleged abuse of ARVs, it was his hope that the responsible authorities would act accordingly to deal with the matter before it went out of hand.

"It is disappointing that this comes at a time when we want to have more ARVs in the country as per the new World Health Organisation’s guidelines. Instead of abusing the drugs we must consider that there are some people out there who really need them.

"I believe the responsible authorities, mainly the police, should move with speed to address this issue and ensure that these ARVs are not abused by these unscrupulous individuals," said Dr Chimedza.

According to health24.com, users of Nyaope report that when using the drug, they can go for days without eating, which in turn weakens their immune system and makes them vulnerable to infection.

"Initially users feel euphoric or, when using heavier doses, a wonderful sense of relaxation but the effects soon wear off and another hit is required. For some the less pleasant side effects include a painful stomach, muscle cramps and generally feeling really ill, but when these ease up, they use again.

"Withdrawal is said to be especially harrowing and includes symptoms of stomach cramps, insomnia, diarrhoea and vomiting. Experts say just using it once is enough to get users hooked, similar to heroin addiction," the website reads.

A senior official at Ingutsheni Hospital who preferred to remain anonymous, said many people were coming for counselling at the hospital after abusing drugs.

"Drug abuse is very common in the city and the country at large. Drugs which are being abused are marijuana and crystal meth. Hospitals and police in the city refer people who could be drug addicts or are abusing drugs to us so that we can help them.

"When they come to us we refer them to our psychiatric doctor who will counsel them.
"When the doctor feels or sees that the patient is now better he or she can be taken back to the police or hospitals that referred them to us," the official said.

Active Youth Zimbabwe director, Mr Romio Matshazi, said drug abuse was on increase in the country because of the accessibility of cheaper options.

"Youths are constantly involved in drug abuse. Some of the drugs they abuse include a cough syrup called Broncleer which is mostly known as Ngoma, and marijuana," said Mr Matshazi.

"They (youths) consume drugs for fun and at the end they become drug addicts. Instructions will be clear but they don’t bother to read them. As an organisation we are therefore striving to ensure that we have a drug-free environment.

"Broncleer is a cough syrup meant for alleviating colds and coughs as per instructions contained on the leaflet, but some people are finding pleasure drinking down 50ml to 100ml instead of the prescribed 10ml at a time for adults."

The cough syrup is sold for between $3 and $4 per 100ml bottle on the streets.

AIDS was once considered a virtual death sentence. Scientific advances have turned it into a manageable disease. Now there's reason to hope that final victory - a vaccine preventing infection, and an actual cure - may be possible in the foreseeable future.

The struggle against Aids and HIV, the virus that causes Aids, has been taking place for 35 years. The gloom of the early days began to dissipate in the mid-1990s when effective anti-HIV drugs were discovered.

And the discoveries keep coming. Vaccine researchers keep finding weak spots in HIV vulnerable to powerful "broadly neutralising" antibodies.
Last week, another weak spot, the seventh discovered so far and the third this year alone, was reported. All three have been identified by teams including scientists from The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, a major centre of vaccine research.

Aids researchers who have worked in the field from the beginning, such as Dr Anthony Fauci, marvel at the change in patient survival that anti-HIV drugs have accomplished.

"In the early 1980s, the median survival time of my patients was six to eight months," said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"Today, if a 25-year-old comes into the same clinic that I took care of them 30 years ago . . . you can project they will live another 50 — that is five-zero — years."

This staggering transformation of one of the most relentless diseases into something that can be lived with bears evidence that the expenditure of billions of dollars and untold hours of research and treatment are paying off.

HIV has been attacked from nearly every conceivable angle, from drug therapy to discouraging risky behaviour. Public health programs such as providing condoms and promoting education about avoiding high-risk behaviours complement the medical and scientific advances in understanding and blocking HIV.

And under a program called PEPFAR, created in 2003 by President George W Bush, lifesaving HIV drugs have been sent abroad to impoverished populations who can't afford them.

The result of this kitchen-sink approach, Fauci said, is that over the past 10 years, the number of deaths from HIV worldwide has dropped by 35 percent, as has the number of new infections.

And while no effective vaccine is available, creative use of drugs to block HIV infection provides the next best thing. Using what is called "pre-exposure prophylaxis," medication is given to those at high risk, such as non-monogamous gay men and intravenous drug users, who can pass along fluids containing HIV.

"If you give them one pill a day of a drug called Truvada, you can dramatically diminish the likelihood that they will be infected," Fauci said.

Treating infected people to bring their viral levels below the limits of detection also greatly lessens the chance they will pass along HIV to an uninfected partner. – San Diego News

A British researcher claims that regular sex could be the secret to looking up to seven years younger.

Dr. David Weeks, former head of old age psychology at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, spoke on July 5 at a British Psychological Society conference about the health benefits of sex, especially for older people.

Weeks claims that regular sex can shave off between five and seven years because it releases endorphins, the "feel good" chemical that acts as a natural painkiller and reduces anxiety; boosts circulation, which is good for the heart; and also causes human growth hormone to be released, which makes the skin look more elastic, reports The Telegraph in the UK.

"My message is that lovemaking is good. The stereotype of an elderly person is that when they get their pension and bus pass, they stop having sex and that's not true," he said in a press release.

"Sexual satisfaction is a major contributor to quality of life, ranking at least as high as spiritual or religious commitment and other morale factors, so more positive attitudes towards mature sex should be vigorously promoted. Sexuality is definitely not the prerogative of younger people and nor should it be," he added.

He cites a Welsh heart disease study from 1997 that found mortality risk was 50% lower in a group of men who had orgasms twice a week or more compared to those who had fewer orgasms.

Prior research has also found an association between regular lovemaking and a reduced risk of early death.

A creature discovered by engineers building a dam in the Amazon is a type of caecilian, a limbless amphibian that resembles an earthworm or as some are noting, part of the male anatomy. The 'penis snake' has caused stir as its photos can easily be mistaken for a 'hungry' penis.

The animal was discovered while draining a portion of the Madeira River - a major tributary of the Amazon - for a controversial hydroelectric project. Six individuals were found according to biologist Julian Tupan, who identified the species as Atretochoana eiselti.

Little else is known about the species, although it is thought to be aquatic and lacks lungs, breathing through its skin instead. Other individuals have been found near the mouth of the Amazon, more than 2,500 km away.

Caecilians are typically predators, feeding on small fish, worms, and other aquatic invertebrates. They have poor eye-sight and navigate primarily though smell.

Atretochoana eiselti is the largest known caecilian, attaining a length of 81 cm (32 inches), or more than twice the size of the next-largest known species.

Atretochoana eiselti's population status is unknown, but the area where it was most recently discovered will soon be impacted by the Santo Antonio Dam near Porto Velho in Rondonia. Environmentalists have criticized the project, noting it will flood rainforest and require degazetting a section of national park.

Brazil is currently in the midst of a dam-building spree in the Amazon, with 30 dams on tap for 2020. Ecologists warn the dam-building activity could affect fish migration and nutrient flows through the Amazon basin.

The origin of the Aids pandemic has been traced to the 1920s in the city of Kinshasa, in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, scientists say.

An international team of scientists say a "perfect storm" of population growth, sex and railways allowed HIV to spread.

A feat of viral archaeology was used to find the pandemic's origin, the team report in the journal Science. They used archived samples of HIV's genetic code to trace its source, with evidence pointing to 1920s Kinshasa. Their report says a roaring sex trade, rapid population growth and unsterilised needles used in health clinics probably spread the virus.

Meanwhile Belgium-backed railways had one million people flowing through the city each year, taking the virus to neighbouring regions. Experts said it was a fascinating insight into the start of the pandemic.

HIV came to global attention in the 1980s and has infected nearly 75 million people. It has a much longer history in Africa, but where the pandemic started has remained the source of considerable debate.

Family affair

A team at the University of Oxford and the University of Leuven, in Belgium, tried to reconstruct HIV's "family tree" and find out where its oldest ancestors came from.

The research group analysed mutations in HIV's genetic code.

"You can see the footprints of history in today's genomes, it has left a record, a mutation mark in the HIV genome that can't be eradicated," Prof Oliver Pybus from the University of Oxford told the BBC.

By reading those mutational marks, the research team rebuilt the family tree and traced its roots.

HIV is a mutated version of a chimpanzee virus, known as simian immunodeficiency virus, which probably made the species-jump through contact with infected blood while handling bush meat.

The virus made the jump on multiple occasions. One event led to HIV-1 subgroup O which affects tens of thousands in Cameroon.

Yet only one cross-species jump, HIV-1 subgroup M, went on to infect millions of people across every country in the world.

The answer to why this happened lies in the era of black and white film and the tail-end of the European empires.

In the 1920s, Kinshasa (called Leopoldville until 1966) was part of the Belgian Congo.

Prof Oliver Pybus said: "It was a very large and very rapidly growing area and colonial medical records show there was a high incidence of various sexually transmitted diseases."

Sex and railways

Large numbers of male labourers were drawn to the city, distorting the gender balance until men outnumbered women two to one, eventually leading to a roaring sex trade.

Prof Pybus added: "There are two aspects of infrastructure that could have helped. Public health campaigns to treat people for various infectious diseases with injections seem a plausible route [for spreading the virus]. The second really interesting aspect is the transport networks that enabled people to move round a huge country."

Around one million people were using Kinshasa's railways by the end of the 1940s.

The virus spread, with neighbouring Brazzaville and the mining province, Katanga, rapidly hit.

However, a California a lawyer tried suing the U.S. government, claiming that the HIV-AIDS virus is a man made virus developed and manufactured in the United States with the knowledge of the U.S. government. Prominent lawyer and AIDS researcher, Dr. Boyd E Graves JD* appeared before Judge Jeffrey T. Miller in a San Diego court, claiming that the HIV virus, the virus that causes AIDS, is a virus that was manufactured in American laboratories between 1962 and 1978.

Jakob Segal (1911–1995), a professor at Humboldt University in then-East Germany, also proposed that HIV was engineered at a U.S. military laboratory at Fort Detrick, by splicing together two other viruses, Visna and HTLV-1.

According to his theory, the new virus, created between 1977 and 1978, was tested on prison inmates who had volunteered for the experiment in exchange for early release. He further suggested that it was through these prisoners that the virus was spread to the population at large. After the end of the cold war, however, the former KGB agents Wassili Nikititsch Mitrochin and Oleg Gordijewski revealed independently of each other that the Fort Detrick hypothesis was a propaganda operation devised by the KGB's First Chief Directorate under the codename "infektion".

Later it was also supported by the section X of East Germany's Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung as admitted by its officer Günther Bohnensack. It is not entirely clear whether Segal pursued the hypothesis independently on his own accord or whether he was simply following orders.

Segal himself always denied the latter and kept pursuing the hypothesis even after the operation had been canceled and the cold war had ended. It is known that Segal was in close contact with Russian KGB officers and Mitrochin mentioned him as a central asset of the operation. - BBC / MyZim

Zimbabwe's Justice Minister, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday escaped unhurt after being involved in a road accident along Hebert Chitepo Avenue in Harare near the US Embassy. The minister was reportedly driving alone when a minibus crashed into his Mercedes Benz. He reportedly escaped unhurt.

Minister Mnangagwa's seemingly natural accident has reignited debate over the mysterious deaths of Zimbabwean politicians that have haunted the ruling Zanu-PF party since its days in exile.

The mystery deaths have generally occurred at times when Zanu-PF has been torn by factional conflict.

Since independence, rumour and speculation have swirled around the "accidental" deaths of former defence minister Moven Mahachi, former industry and commerce minister Chris Ushewokunze, army captain Edwin Nleya, former Zanu-PF political commissars Border Gezi and Elliot Manyika and retired army general and Zanu-PF heavyweight Solomon Majuru.

Among the most controversial deaths are those of:

* Hebert Chitepo, who was killed in March 1975 by a car bomb in Lusaka. Several investigations have been hampered by lack of evidence, and theories about the motive and perpetrator abound. Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda instituted an inquiry which made damning findings about infighting in Zanu-PF in exile. The inquiry also fingered Josiah Tongogara, the commander of Zanu's guerrilla army.
     
* Josiah Tongogara himself was killed in a car crash in Mozambique in 1979 while on his way to Zimbabwe, six days after the Lancaster House agreement was concluded. His vehicle rammed an army truck parked on the side of the road. The charismatic Zanla commander had clashed with Mugabe over the need for a government of national unity with Joshua Nkomo and speculation was also highlighted by his “ambition, popularity and decisive style".

Last year it was reported that his wife, Angeline Tongogara, had demanded to be driven to the scene of her husband's fatal accident, saying she felt bitter about the way Mugabe and Zanu-PF had handled the death. The party released a statement by an undertaker that Tongagara's injuries were consistent with a car accident, but no autopsy results have ever been released.

* Chris Ushewokunze, a former minister of industry and commerce, died at the age of 49 after a mysterious car accident at Suri Suri, about 110km from Bulawayo, on the road to Harare, in 1994. He had differed with Mugabe on economic policy.
     
* Zororo Duri was rising rapidly through Zanu-PF ranks as one of the young technocrats seen as poised to take over the party in the mid-1990s. Party bosses had told him not to contest the chair of Manicaland province against Kumbirai Kangai, but he went ahead and won. Appointed ambassador to Cuba, he was killed in a car accident on the Mutare-Harare road in 1996.
     
* Moven Mahachi was minister of defence at the time of his death in a car accident in 2001 on the Mutare-Nyanga road after attending a Zanu-PF Manicaland meeting as national political commissar. In 2009 Enos Nkala, one of Zanu's founders, claimed that Mahachi was eliminated because of his robust opposition to Zanu-PF's looting of diamonds in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
     
* Paul Armstrong Gunda, a brigadier general and hero of the liberation war, died after his car allegedly collided with a train on the Harare-Marondera road in 2007. Before his death, regarded as suspicious by many Zimbabweans, there were persistent allegations that the 1 Brigade commander was among the military officers involved in a failed plot to topple Mugabe.  Tatenda Gunda, his widow, published advertisements insinuating that he had died in suspicious circumstances. In an interview this week she said the damage to the car was not serious enough to have been caused by a train and Gunda had had a mysterious back injury. A board of inquiry set up under the defence force's disciplinary regulations found no foul play.

* Eliot Manyika, former youth minister, died in a road accident on the Zvishavane-Mbalabala road in 2008. In his capacity as national commissar he was travelling from Mutare to Gwanda on a Zanu-PF restructuring mission that could have upset the leadership ambitions of some top party officials. Manyika's family asked police to investigate, claiming that his injuries were inconsistent with a road accident. A close relative also claimed that he had received anonymous death threats. A tyre from his official Mercedes-Benz was sent to South Africa for forensic analysis, but the inquest found his death was consistent with a traffic accident.
     
* Border Gezi was killed when his car careered out of control after it had a blow-out on the Harare-Masvingo road. Gezi was travelling to Masvingo to address party supporters and reshuffle the political leadership in the province. Some theorists hold that he had decided to speak out against the seizure of white-owned farms. It is also believed that the Zanu-PF old guard was unhappy with his meteoric rise through the party's ranks.
     
* Solomon Mujuru  died, allegedly in a fire accident, at his farm in Beatrice in 2011. Many politically neutral Zimbabweans, and even some Zanu-PF supporters, believe Mujuru was murdered, and the speculation became so intense that his widow, Vice-President Joice Mujuru, had to appeal for calm. His family's request to have his remains exhumed and re-examined in a second postmortem by a South African pathologist were turned down. In his report,  the director of Zimbabwe's forensic science laboratory, Birthwell Mutandiro, said there were indications that Mujuru had died before the fire spread to the room in which his remains were found.  

Edward Chindori-Chininga the Outspoken Guruve South MP was in June 2013 involved in a road accident that claimed his life. Chindori-Chininga was the vocal chairperson of a parliamentary committee that had just released a highly critical report on Zimbabwe's diamond industry. News reports pointed out that his car, which veered off the road into a tree, had left no skid marks.


ALSO READ: Minister Mnangagwa in another car crash as Zanu PF succession battle turns ugly

 

There's good news for the Casanovas of the world – having sex with numerous women could help to protect men from prostate cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Montreal and INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier found that men who had slept with more than 20 women during their lifetime were 28 per cent less likely to develop the disease.

They were also 19 per cent less likely to develop an aggressive type of cancer, compared to those who had had only one female sexual partner.

However, the same did not apply to gay men, according to the Canadian scientists. They found that having more than 20 male partners doubled the risk of prostate cancer and made an aggressive cancer five times more likely. Sleeping with one male partner did not affect the risk.

Meanwhile, men who were virgins were almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as those who were sexually experienced.

The findings are from the Prostate Cancer & Environment Study in which 3,208 men answered questions about their lifestyle and sex lives.

Of these men, 1,590 were diagnosed with prostate cancer between September 2005 and August 2009, while 1,618 men were part of the control group.

Overall, men with prostate cancer were twice as likely as others to have a relative with cancer, but the study also found a possible link with their number of sexual partners.

Lead researcher Professor Marie-Elise Parent, from the University of Montreal, said: "It is possible that having many female sexual partners results in a higher frequency of ejaculations, whose protective effect against prostate cancer has been previously observed in cohort studies."

According to one theory, large numbers of ejaculations may reduce the concentration of cancer-causing substances in prostatic fluid, a constituent of semen.

They may also lead to fewer crystal-like structures in the prostate that have been associated with prostate cancer.

Suggesting why the same did not apply to male partners Professor Parent admitted she could only provide "highly speculative" explanations.

One explanation she said "could be that anal intercourse produces a physical trauma to the prostate".

The age at which men first had sexual intercourse, and the number of times they had been infected by a sexually transmitted disease, had no bearing on prostate cancer risk.

A total of 12 per cent of the group reported having had at least one sexually transmitted infection (STI) in their lifetime.

Professor Parent added: "We were fortunate to have participants from Montreal who were comfortable talking about their sexuality, no matter what sexual experiences they have had, and this openness would probably not have been the same 20 or 30 years ago.

"Indeed, thanks to them, we now know that the number and type of partners must be taken into account to better understand the causes of prostate cancer."

On the question of whether promiscuity might now be recommended in health advice to men, she said: "We're not there yet."

The research is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology

Zimbabwe Republic Police's Inspector Muhoni has brought good news to many motorists who are forced to pay unscrupulous fines by police.

The police boss has revealed that anyone who is made to pay a fine at a traffic roadblock and is not sure how much he should have paid must immediately take the admission of guilt receipt to the nearest police station and get confirmation if they had been rightfully charged. If over charged they can immediately get their money refunded.

Sergeant Mujuru who handles National Police Complaints also echoed Muhoni's sentiments saying that anyone who feels cheated has a right to call the National Complaints Hotline on 04 7036311 where their complaints will be attended to immediately.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police recently also launched a national WhatsApp hotline where members of the public can register their complaints to the police via Whatsapp. The ZRP National Whatsapp hotline number is +263782475000.

Meanwhile, below is a list of OFFICIAL fines that guilty motorists must pay as far as Zimbabwe Government's Traffic Regulations are concerned. My Zimbabwe News recommends that you print this charge sheet and keep it in your car.

ZIMBABWE VEHICLE REGISTRATION & LICENSING ACT CHAPTER 12:14

Fail to Display current vehicle licence: $5
Fail to produce documents within 7 days to Police: $5
Fail to produce documents within 7 days to VID: $10
Licence vehicle registered vehicle-all classes: $10
Fail to Display registration mark and Number Plate OR its illegible: $10
Fail to Notify change of ownership – 14 days:$10
No Number plate: $10
No rear Number plate light: $5
No Drivers licence: $20
No Insurance: $10
No white front reflectors: $5
No red read reflectors:  $5
No red 'T' on rear trailer: $10
Motor vehicle + Trailer longer than 8 Mt: $5
No amber side reflectors @ 4mt – each: $5
No red triangles: $15
No horn, fail to use or abuse horn: $10
No Stopping, No parking, no left or right turn: $5
Proceed against red robot: $20
Proceed against amber robot: $10
Encroach over white line at a robot: $10
Fail to stop at flash lights – Railway crossing: $20
Overtaking over solid white line: $20
Double parking: $5
Stop or park within 7.5 mt. of intersection:  $15
Fail to give way to right-uncontrolled intersection: $15
Cut corner when turning right: $10

Fail to:
Signal – slow down, stop turn left or right: $10
Stop – minor accident: $20
Stop – serious accident: court
No headlights, one headlight or no side lights: $5
No headlights or side lights: $10
Headlights causing dazzle: $15
No dip switch: $10
 Foot brakes not working: $20
Hand brakes not working at all – max: $15
Unable to keep vehicle static when brake applied: $15
No windscreen wiper: $5
Windscreen not providing clear undistorted vision: $10
No exhaust silencer: $10
Inefficient exhaust silencer: $5
Causing excessive smoke: $10
Leaks of oil and fuel onto road: $5
Dangerous tyre – canvas showing – per tyre: $5

Axles Loading:
 1-50: $10
51-200: $15
201-400: $20
+ 400: court
No Safety belt: $5
Spit in or from vehicle: $5
Discard rubbish fro vehicle: $5
Abusive behaviour: $10

Speeding - extra kilometres per hour:
6-15: $5
16-25: $10
26-35: $15
36-50: $20
50+: court

Production of documents 7 days:
Fail to produce Documents: $5
Fail to produce Drivers licence: $20
Fail to produce Insurance: $5
Fail to produce Registration book to VID $10
Police Officers must give rank, name and number.
Spot fines – Form Z69(j) Admission of Guilt.
Form 265 to pay fine at police station within 7 days.
Senior Inspector PHIRI: Public Relations. Nat. Complaints Line: 04 703 631 (24 hr service)
Senior Inspector NCUBE: 077 2719 730 or 071 2769 768
Senior Inspector KANGWARE: 071 2415 491
Spokesperson Traffic Inspector CHIGOME: 077 2965 030 - myzimbabwe/iharare

I just watched the video posted by your husband Patrick with much sadness in my heart. I want you to know that I am writing this open letter to you as a woman who has been shamed and publicly humiliated by a sister in law who was supposed to protect me. Darling Faith, your husband taking a video of you crying begging for forgiveness then posting it on social media, including your private WhatsApp messages shows that this man is evil to the core, not only is he ugly outside, he's also very ugly inside and he never loved you dear. Please take it from a woman who has walked this road.

My blog is not only about fighting spiritual and sexual abuse, my blog is about fighting emotional and domestic abuse too and enlightening my readers on the issues surrounding all forms of abuse facing women especially in the African society. Often in Zimbabwe, when a woman marries a man, unfortunately she marries his mother and sisters too, the entire clan. Its so bad that the mother and sister at times will even have a say on what happens on the matrimonial bed. I am writing this because I am talking from experience. Its a culture that's rotten to the core, and I hate it!  I have also found that its not as common in other African societies, Zimbabwe seems to have the biggest problem regarding this issue. Zimbabwe seems to be extremely harsh on women within the society.  

Faith dear, read the book of John, there was a woman caught in the very act of adultery. She was brought to Christ so that they would stone her. But Christ said he who was without sin should cast the first stone. Everyone fled, and there was not even one person left to condemn her. Why, because they were worse off sinners than her. Christ told the poor woman that he did not even condemn her, but she should go and sin no more. Faith dear, I am telling you today that JESUS CHRIST DOES NOT CONDEMN YOU either. I saw your tears and shame, you repented and its over. God remembers your sin no more. You said sorry to your husband, he chose not to forgive you but to divorce you publicly and humiliate you. The man is pure evil. No man with a good heart does that to the mother of his children. The bible says even Joseph was a good man. Do you know why Faith, because he chose to put away Mary privately when he thought she had committed adultery. The bible specifically says Joseph did not want to publicly humiliate his wife! A man who does that has a wicked heart.

Now Faith, I pray you read this letter. You were shamed on social media, I am supporting you on social media! I want you to dry those tears, girl you have cried enough. Stop crying, and find it within yourself to fight back. God is close to the broken hearted, and He is moved by your tears. Faith darling, do you know that the tears of a woman forsaken are so powerful that they move the heart of God? Heaven literally stopped when you cried like that. God loves women, and He hates it when His Princesses are treated like dirt. In the video you said you wanted to die. You said you would rather die. No darling, no humiliation is worth you taking your life, and no man is worth you taking your life either. You have three beautiful babies who adore you. Be strong for them. You do not need a man to define who you are or to bring you happiness. You can find inner piece and happiness within yourself.

God can turn this tragedy and public humiliation into a triumph okay. Yes its a man's world darling, I get it. I know so. Your husband Patrick is a well known serial womanizer, but that okay, forget him. We as women live in a man's world. But as women, God has given us the power to turn mockery into victory. Thats something men can never do. When a man falls, hes fallen, he can never rise from that. But we women are so different. God has a soft spot for us. Thats why Jesus Christ ONLY ever ministered to women with pasts. Women who were publicly humiliated by society. Thats why there are only five women mentioned in Mathew's genealogy of Christ. Among those women is Rahab the harlot. Faith darling, did you know that Rahab the harlot is today one of the most powerful women to ever be used by God in the bible. She is a hero of faith, and the only woman to be mentioned on the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. God turned a prostitute into a powerful spiritual woman who became a wife and mother in her own right. And her husband was blessed to have Rahab as wife, she was actually a virtuous woman.

Please take it from me Faith, firstly that Patrick guy is way too ugly for you darling you are too damn pretty for him. Where on earth did you pick him Faith, he's as ugly as hell. Not only is he a total loser who doesn't know how to make you feel good, hes also a douche bag, an ugly one for that! Secondly you are way too strong a woman for his family too, they are all a bunch of baboons, trust me I am talking from experience. Faith, being publicly put away by your husband is probably the best thing to ever happen to you. If you are smart enough, and I think you are and stay in your prayer closet, this will work out for your own good. Trust me.

Right now stay away from men, that lover boy of yours is no good for you either. He too doesn't love you. Purify yourself, get close to God, smile, be happy, look after your children, stay with the people who love you, get your hair and nails done, watch a movie (I recommend Think Like A Man), stay positive and you will be just fine. I know its hard, but you can do it. Right now you are very vulnerable, and men can take advantage of you easily. So you need to stay clear off men, and find yourself, and be strong. Trust me darling, God will give you a husband in the fullness of time. A husband who will not put you away, okay. A husband who will adore you, and worship the ground you walk on. A husband with a family who will love you and treat you like a daughter.  A husband who will redeem you and take away your reproach. A husband who will not deny you. You will be the one saying, "not tonight babe I have so much work to do."

If you ever read this Faith, contact me personally via email and I will give you ideas and help you on how you can turn this saga for your own good and move on with your life. By the way you looked absolutely stunning in the video, even when you cry you still pretty, and the dress you were wearing was just ace, you see you have a good fashion sense, and I personally think that horrible tete of yours is just jealous of you, she's probably challenged in the looks department by the sounds of it. On a positive note Faith,  at least you were given your token of divorce (gupuro) by that tete woman face to face,  mine was given over the phone by some  woman called Lucy Mukucha Musuka who then threatened to burn my house down in the process. All because I reported Walter Masocha to the police. At least no one is threatening to kill you hun. Stay strong and keep your head high, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Yours truly from experience

Jean Gasho (Now based in UK)