News Extra
By Rachel Ogbu
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Eight-year-old Girl's Marriage Quashed
A court in Yemen ended the marriage of an eight-year-old girl two weeks ago because she had not reached puberty. The court also ordered the child's family to pay about $250 in compensation to her 30-year-old ex-husband. Shatha Nasser, the girl's lawyer, who is also a human rights activist, said the minor had filed a suit in April asking for divorce and told the court that her husband had been physically abusing her and forcing her to have "sex with him after hitting her." One of the people attending the trial volunteered to pay the compensation. The lawyer did not explain the reason why the court ordered the compensation. The ruling terminated the marriage instead of granting a divorce to prevent the husband from seeking to reinstate the marriage.
Many under-aged girls in Arab countries that observe tribal traditions are married to older husbands but not before puberty. Such marriages are also driven by poverty in countries like Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa.
Man Eats own Ballot paper
Ballot stuffing took on a new meaning in Italy's parliamentary election recently when a man ate his ballot paper in protest against the country's politicians. The 41-year-old businessman said all Italian politicians and politics "are crap" and he was protesting "against the system."
Police in Naples said they had charged the businessman with destroying election materials.
DNA tests on polygamist Sect children
The authorities in Texas have started running DNA tests on over 400 children removed from a polygamist compound in west Texas to determine if some were born to under-aged mothers. This activity followed a judge's order to determine parentage and relationships within the community. However, the children must remain in the department's custody. This incidence has been tagged the largest child welfare case in Texas history.
Evidence from the DNA results could be key in an investigation of possible abuse at the secret compound linked to a breakaway Mormon sect run by followers of Warren Jeffs, a jailed polygamist.
"It is a cheek swab and it is very non-invasive," said Patrick Crimmins of the Texas Department of Children and Family Services, of the tests. Crimmins said the DNA tests would continue for several days. For the tests to be useful, the adults would also have to give DNA samples. But the law protects them from doing so and this could complicate matters further and delay legal decisions about the fate of the children.
The case began earlier this month when authorities removed the children from a remote Texas ranch in response to a complaint of abuse there. It is the latest legal confrontation between the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that regards plural marriage as ordained by God and civil authorities.
In November, Jeff's the sect's spiritual leader was sentenced in a Utah court to 10 years imprisonment as an accomplice to rape. A 14-year-old girl was forced to marry her 19-year-old first cousin.
Polygamy is outlawed in the United States. Male followers of such sects typically marry one woman officially and take the others as "spiritual wives."
New Code of Behaviour in Serbia
A new code of conduct released early this month in Serbia has ordered civil servants to always answer queries with a smile and stop wearing shorts to work. Although it does not set a dress code, it ruled out "disproportionately short skirts, tops with revealing décolletage or narrow straps, short or see-through blouses and short pants."
The code also said civil servants "must act professionally and kindly," "provide true and timely information" and "respect citizens' personality and dignity." They must keep citizens' business confidential and behave with dignity in public. Serbia has some 250,000 civil servants, a bloated number from when it was the centre of much larger socialist Yugoslavia.
Nude photo of France's First Lady sold for $91,000
A nude photograph of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, French first lady, standing in a pigeon-toed pose and covering her modesty with her hands, was sold last week in New York for $91,000, more than 20 times its expected price. A buyer for a Chinese art collector bought the black-and-white image, taken by Michel Comte, a photographer, in 1993 during her modelling days. The sale of the photograph has attracted attention since Bruni married Nicolas Sarkozy, French President in February.
The photograph had been expected to fetch between $3,000 and $4,000. It was auctioned as part of a sale of 140 photographs from Gert Elfering, a German collector.
Women to padlock pants
A bid by a local government in Indonesia to curb prostitution by asking masseuses to wear a padlock on their pants has been received in bad taste. The minister for women's empowerment described the policy recently introduced as an insult especially when massage parlors in an Indonesian town told its female workers to padlock their skirts and pants to make it clear they're offering only massages, not sex. Meuthia Hatta, state minister for Women's Empowerment said the policy was misguided. "It is not the right way to prevent promiscuity. It insults women as if they are the ones in the wrong," she said.
The Jakarta Post newspaper showed a photograph of a masseuse with a padlock on the waistband of her trousers and said the local administration's move was aimed at curbing prostitution and maintaining Batu's image as a popular tourist destination. The best way to curb prostitution in massage parlors was to improve security systems including installing CCTV, Hatta said.
Batu, 75 km (46 miles) south of Surabaya, Indonesia's second-biggest city, is a popular tourist destination for its cool climate, hot springs and mountain scenery. Indonesia has a flourishing sex industry and massage parlors are frequently a front for prostitution. But there has been a vigorous debate over morality in recent years, exposing deep divisions in the Southeast Asian Muslim nation.
I'm in the Right place, the Right Time
Rita Dominic, 33, a star actress in Nollywood knew right from her childhood that she would end up on the big screen. She was just five years old when she developed interest in the movie industry. That was after participating in TV programmes like Children's Variety and Junior Debate. Little wonder that after her post primary education, she decided to study Theatre Arts at the University of Port-Harcourt. Since graduation Dominic has been one of the actresses that is most sort after by movie producers. She has since acted in more than 50 films, some of which are Hostile Hostage, Indecent Acts and Nights of Riot.
However, her ultimate goal is to act with some of the world's renowned actors and actresses in Hollywood. In this interview with Rachel Ogbu, staff writer, she speaks about her passion for acting, her marriage plans and her latest films. Excerpts:
Newswatch: Since this year, how many films have you acted in?
Dominic: I have done about three that are currently in the market. They include Amstel Malta White Water, Distance Between and Saidi's Song. And they have all been very tasking, especially the ones I shot late last year which are the ones I hold to heart really. One of them is Saidi's Song. That was shot in London and that was also the time my dad died.
Newswatch: That must have been very difficult for you?
Dominic: It was but I had to pull through and try and to remain focused.
Newswatch: So many times you have said that your dream is to work with the best movie stars in Hollywood. How close are you to actualising that dream?
Dominic: Well, first of all, what I have done is to try to improve my skills in the market- that's the first thing and secondly I'd say the steps I've taken in that lane is the film I did in England. We had international stars from different countries. We had an actor who is Nigerian but is American trained from Hollywood, Raz Adoti. So, we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Newswatch: It's really sad hearing about your father's death, knowing it happened only a few years after you lost your mother. How are you coping?
Dominic: Em… well, I am a big girl. But you never get used to not having them around you. You know sometimes you try to be strong but you can never really forget them, especially as I am the last child. I was really close to them, I lost my mum in 2001 and then I just lost my dad last year. It was hard but I'm pulling through.
Newswatch: Do you feel empty without them?
Dominic: Yes, and it's just painful because my mum wasn't around when the whole Nollywood thing started happening for me and she was a strong force behind my talent. My dad as well, though he witnessed part of my success before he died last year but it's so unfortunate that when a lot of things are going to happen in my life they are not going to be there. Luckily, I have elder brothers who are always there for me.
Newswatch: How did your parents feel when you decided to take to acting as a career?
Dominic: That's the funny thing; my parents were quite liberal and they were both from the medical field. My mum was a chief nursing officer and my dad was a medical doctor, yet none of my siblings is actually a medical doctor. They always wanted us to follow our dreams. And it has always been like that since I can remember. Right from when I was five years old, I have always had encouragement from my parents. When the time came for me to go to the university and study theatre arts, my dad never objected as long as that was what I wanted to do.
Newswatch: Your fans and friends call you Silky Skin and every Monday you have a beauty treatment ritual. Why do you think it's so important to treat your skin and invest in your looks?
Dominic: Well, to start with, we live in very harsh conditions. I mean the weather and secondly, because of the kind of job I do, you get to shoot under harsh lights as well. So you need to exfoliate your skin because your pores tend to get blocked, then you need a massage. It's important for the kind of job I do.
Newswatch: Obviously acting is paying so well for you. But has it always been this way?
Dominic: Well, this is what I always say to two of my other colleagues who are big names in the industry today. When we came into the industry, we were not doing it for the money because there was no money. We were just passionate; we just wanted to act because we loved acting. Along the line, the industry grew and things started getting better, thank God. Probably the pioneers would say the same thing as well. But the truth of the matter is that, obviously, we are lucky because we were in it when the industry took off and when it became good.
Newswatch: So how much money do you make?
Dominic: I can't answer that question because I never discuss my fees. I just thank God that I am not begging for food.
Newswatch: You play romantic roles most of the time in your movies. Sometimes you play the villain but it's like you are more comfortable playing the girlfriend, aren't you?
Dominic: I don't feel more at home with those kinds of roles because that's not me. It's a challenge in itself because you are playing something different from you and I can play any kind of role really, as long as it is challenging and the role has a lot to do with the main story.
Newswatch: But what role are you looking forward to that would break you beyond what you are already accustomed to?
Dominic: I know, I…I. It's just, something…how do I put it? Maybe if I can play a role that would make me face my worst fears. Do you understand?
Newswatch: Not, unless I know your worst fears. What are they?
Dominic: (Laughs) Let's leave that out for now, please. Let's not go there.
Newswatch: Just one?
Dominic: Em… No, No, I'm not going to say it.
Newswatch: Okay, how about marriage?
Dominic: I thought we were talking about my work? Not my private life. But when you talk about marriage, what do you mean?
Newswatch: Well, I mean settling down, having kids, being a Mrs. Somebody, When you talked about your facing your fears just now, marriage could be one of them don't you think so?
Dominic: Okay, let me put it this way; marriage will come when it will come despite my career or whatever I'm doing.
Newswatch: You have acted with so many of Nigeria's hottest actors in the industry, if not all of them. Who would you say you had the best on-set chemistry with?
Dominic: I can't just say one person because every story brings its own chemistry just like every character brings it's own challenges as well. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? But I would say Richard Mofe Damijo, Ramsey Noah, Jim Iyke, Emeka Ike and it all depends on the story.
Newswatch: Outside acting now, I'm sure you have tried your hands on some other vocations or business. Would you share some of them with us?
Dominic: Well, there is something we are keeping under our arms but I'm not ready to talk about it now. However, my management and I are working on something.
Newswatch: Are you that secretive? Tell us if what you are working on is still in the entertainment industry?
Dominic: (Smiles) You will find out soon.
Newswatch: Congratulations on your nomination as Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the African Movies Academy Award, AMAA. How do you feel about it?
Dominic: Thank you very much. It's exciting and I am happy.
Newswatch: Have you done any advertisement yet?
Dominic: No, I haven't actually.
Newswatch: But you graced the cover of a book tiled The Governor's Wife by Bisi Ojediran. How did you feel when you saw it?
Dominic: When it came up, I liked what it was all about and it was something different. I also like the writer. So, I felt good to see my face on the cover of the book.
|
