Doors of perception

On Monday, a letter was leaked in which Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita suggested to his prime minister that all Morocco government offices suspend their relationship with the German embassy in the capital, Rabat, as well as with other German cultural and political organizations in the country. Bourita said this was necessary because of "deep misunderstandings" on "issues fundamental for Morocco." The foreign minister said that his ministry had already suspended contact with German diplomatic representation in Rabat. Germany's embassy is in the Moroccan capital and it has two consulates in Casablanca and Agadir. Although there has been no official German government statement on the matter, the word from Berlin is that the German government sees no reason to disrupt the two nations' good relationship like this. The Moroccan ambassador had been invited to come to the German Foreign Office urgently and explain the letter, insiders said. Deliberate leak As one source, … [Read more...] about Behind Moroccan-German diplomatic crisis, a list of grudges

A MUM whose son died in a hit and run road collision, only for the driver responsible to serve just FIVE MONTHS imprisonment, is campaigning for stiffer jail terms. Louise Smyth, aged 49, was widowed 20 years ago, when husband Darren was killed in a motorbike accident after misjudging a bend in a road. It left her to bring up their two sons alone. She later had another son, from a different relationship. Her middle son Matt died aged 25 in a hit and run crash when his motorbike was hit by a delivery driver, who then fled the scene. She collected over 100,000 signatures on a petition calling for the law to be changed, which will be debated in Parliament later this year. Louise, from Duxford, Cambridgeshire, says: “Matt was my middle son, quite shy and quiet - a kind, thoughtful boy still living at home with me when he passed away. "He loved animals and Liverpool FC. He worked as a chef at a pub. Sometimes after a shift, he’d bring me home one of his fabulous brownies … [Read more...] about My son was going to hear his baby’s heartbeat – he was killed by a hit & run driver who served just 5 months in jail

NUMB with grief, Voletta Wallace looked out at the crowds lining the streets of Brooklyn to pay their respects to her son, Christopher - but didn’t shed a tear. The single mother had just buried her only child - known to the world as the Notorious B.I.G - after his tragic death at the age of 24. But, as she reveals in the new Netflix documentary Biggie: I Have A Story To Tell, it was not until she heard his album, prophetically named Life After Death, that she was able to cry. “Coming from that funeral I felt I was in a dream,” she says. “I wasn’t crying. That day it was just too heavy. I never shed a tear. I didn’t have any. “I saw the crowd. And thought ‘Oh my God, this kid was well loved. That’s when I saw the love.’ “It only really hit me when I listened [to his album]. I only listened to his album once, I didn’t want to listen twice. Then the tears came.” With exclusive access to family and childhood friends, the documentary looks at the life of B.I.G, … [Read more...] about Biggie Smalls’ mother reveals why she didn’t cry at his funeral as Netflix doc charts his rise from drug dealing teen

MARTIN Lewis is urging eligible households to apply for £5,000 Green Homes Grant vouchers amid rumours the scheme could be pulled. The Green Homes Grant initiative gives families money to spend on energy-saving measures around their home, such as insulation or a better boiler. The government says households could save more than £200 annually on energy bills thanks to the scheme. But speaking during his Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV last night, Martin said rumours are spreading that the project could close in March. The government has yet to officially make an announcement on whether these reports are true. The Green Homes Grant scheme has already been plagued with controversy, with funding to be slashed by around £1.5billion from April. What is the Green Homes Grant? THE Green Homes Grant sees the government cover at least two-thirds of the cost of certain green upgrades, up to a maximum £5,000. For example, a homeowner would pay £1,320 of a £4,000 … [Read more...] about Martin Lewis warning to apply for £5,000 Green Homes Grant vouchers after rumours it could be axed

For the past 53 years Eleni Tzima and her husband Nasos Tzimas have herded their livestock some 150 kilometers (241 miles) between summer pastures in northwest Greece's isolated highlands down to their winter home in the lowlands. The Tzimas family is part of a millennia-old tradition of transhumance , or the seasonal movement of animals between fixed grazing grounds. But it's a dying one: they are some of the last still practicing this way of farming in the country. During the summer months the couple, both in their 80s, live in a makeshift hut, using solar energy to power a radio, cellphones and lights. They're among the oldest pastoral shepherds to take part in an annual trek, known as "diava", in the mountainous Pindus National Park near Greece's border with Albania. Tzima, who says her husband's ill health means the 2020 trek would likely be their last, describes their way of life as hard but rewarding. "We struggle every day from dawn to dusk. I've never had a day … [Read more...] about A journey with Greece’s last nomadic shepherds