African Entrepreneurs take on society's toughest problems By Jane Wales 08-14-2014

From telecomms tycoons to inclusive bankers, Africa's entrepreneurs are pooling ideas and resources to drive progress across the continent. Jane Wales, chief executive of the Global Philanthropy Forum tells us who's who and how they're approaching social and environmental challenges.In fast-growing economies like Africa an increasing number of entrepreneurs are building businesses and forming philanthropic organisations to address some of society’s toughest problems. They are tackling such challenges as endemic poverty, infectious diseases, climate change, food insecurity, violent conflict and government corruption. As entrepreneurs mobilise, strategic giving is a growing trend, with African members joining the Giving Pledge, growing the Synergos’ Global Philanthropists Circle and making the African Philanthropy Forum (APF) the fastest growing affiliate of the Global Philanthropy Forum. So who are these entrepreneurs and what are they doing? Mo Ibrahim: fostering good governance For telecom billionaire Mo Ibrahim, good governance is a primary philanthropic objective. The Sudanese-born founder of Celtel created a multi-million dollar prize, which provides retirement security for African leaders who exit government through a process of democratic elections – and do so without appropriating public resources for private or personal gain along the way. Through the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, he created the Ibrahim Index, which offers quantitative data on governance in Africa, providing the tools to assess government policy and the reliability of the delivery of public goods and services. The values that guide Ibrahim are apparent in the philosophy and philanthropy of his daughter Hadeel, the founding Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. An effective advocate and savvy strategist, she is among the next-gen philanthropists to watch. She shares her parents’ convictions (her mother, Hania, a radiologist, has established a hospital in Khartoum) but is very much her own person. Beyond her foundation obligations, she chairs and champions the new Africa Center, formerly known as the Museum for African Art. It will be housed in a magnificent (and hip) building on Fifth Avenue and 110th Street, on the edge of Harlem and Central Park. Noting that all of humanity has its roots in Africa, her vision for the Center is one of a policy institute, a museum, and a forum to explore and perhaps solve hard problems—together. Aliko Dangote: building resilience in zones of conflict. Patrice and Precious Motsepe: promoting health and development.​ Hakeem and Myma Belo-Osagie: support for values-based leadership. Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa: widening access to education. James Mwangi: financial services for the poor. Tony Elumelu: leveraging markets. While the Ibrahims have taken on the improvement of governments, others prefer the more familiar territory of the private sector, taking advantage of their investment prowess to achieve their social goals. By doubling down, they hope to create both financial and social value. Pioneers Post

Laura Pausini Le Cose Che Vivi

Laura Pausini The Greatest Hits World Tour 2014 Laura Pausini at The Greek Theater Los Angeles, Saturday, October 18, 2014 and at The Chicago Theater Chicago Thursday, October 23, 2014.

Boy found in basement says he was beaten, threatened by father, stepmom By Oralandar Brand-Williams

Detroit — Charlie Bothuell V, the 12-year-old boy whose disappearance last month made national headlines, told authorities he was beaten with a PVC pipe by his father, Charlie Bothuell IV, and threatened by his stepmother not to make any noise while he was barricaded in the basement of the family’s home while police searched for him for 11 days. The boy, reported missing by his parents, was found June 25 shivering and hungry in the family’s home on Nicolet Place in Lafayette Park, near downtown. The allegations of physical and verbal abuse are contained in a six-page Michigan Department of Human Services report filed with the family division of the Wayne County Circuit Court seeking to terminate the parental rights of Charles and Monique Dillard-Bothuell. According to the allegations, Charlie Bothuell was subjected to marathon sessions of exercise where he was forced to get up at 5 a.m. and do two grueling workouts a day every day of the week. The youngster’s morning exercise regimen included 100 pushups, 200 sit-ups, 100 jumping jacks, 25 arm curls per arm with a 25-pound weight and 5,000 revolutions on the elliptical trainer. A near-identical workout was done in the evening. The child also told investigators he was physically disciplined by his father with a PVC pipe on his buttocks, feet, chest, head, thighs, sides and arms. The child said he was often too sore to sit or walk. According to the petition, the adolescent Charlie was beat so severely by his father with the PVC pipe that “the skin on his buttocks split opened in several areas.” The boy was examined at Children’s Hospital June 25, the day he was found in the home’s basement. A doctor at the hospital found evidence of physical abuse and found a scar on the youngster’s chest and buttocks. FBI agents found a PVC pipe, which had blood on it, at the family’s residence during a search. The youngster said he also had also been punched by his stepmother Monique Dillard-Bothuell. In the report, the boy said Dillard-Bothuell once told him “unlike you, I know where the sharp knives are” and “I can make you disappear.” Dillard-Bothuell has a hearing Friday on allegations of probation violations for having an unlicensed gun in the family’s home last month. Charlie Bothuell V has lived with his father and stepmother for the past two years. The 12-year-old said his stepmother led him to the family’s basement June 14 when she became upset with him about his extreme workouts. The boy said Dillard-Bothuell told him “if you don’t want anything bad to happen, you better get out my face” and then “I’ve got a place for you to go.” According to the state’s report, the woman led the child back into the basement area along a wall. He said he was ecstatic when police and other authorities found him. “I was so excited when I heard they were going to move the box I was behind, because I knew they were going to find me, ” according to the state’s report filed with the court. A hearing on whether the parental rights of Charlie Bothuell’s father and stepmother should be terminated by the state will continue July 17 in Wayne County Juvenile Court. The state’s petition also seeks termination of parental rights for Charlie Bothuell’s other children, a 4-year-old son and an 11-month-old daughter. The Detroit News

Bruce Springsteen

Streets of Philadelphia

Outrage as Costa Concordia Schettino lectures Rome students on panic management

The participation of the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise that shipwrecked in 2012 in a criminology university seminar prompted fierce condemnation and outrage of Italian education authorities and media. On July 5, Francesco Schettino took part in the “From the crime scene to the investigation” seminar at Rome's La Sapienza University where he was invited to lecture students on emergency procedures. But it was today when Italian media revealed Schettino’s controversial participation with Italy’s Education Minister Stefania Giannini considering it “disconcerting” and the head of the Sapienza University saying “academic freedom can not be irresponsible.” Schettino is on trial for manslaughter and accused of causing the incident and abandoning the 114,500-tonne luxury liner after it struck rocks and sank off the Italian coast, precipitating a chaotic nighttime evacuation. According to some participants of the seminar, Schettino held a 15-minute video conference giving details on the Costa Concordia sea accident and lecturing students on “panic management” at times of crisis. The Florence daily La Nazione, however, said today the captain gave a two-hour lecture instead. Professor in the spotlight Meanwhile, the professor who invited the disgraced captain to speak at the criminology seminar has been referred to the ethics committee at La Sapienza University, the university said on today. Professor Vincenzo Mastronardi held the seminar last month reconstructing the January 2012 shipwreck in which 32 people died, complete with 3D graphics and comments from the ship's captain Francesco Schettino, the university confirmed. A coastguard's order to Schettino to "Get back on board, damn it!" spread quickly in Italy and was printed on t-shirts. "Everyone remembers the exchange between the coast guard and Schettino, with the curt order to return to the ship," La Sapienza said in a statement. "This is quite enough to brand Professor Mastronardi's actions as contrary to the objectives of any academic event." La Repubblica newspaper quoted Mastronardi as saying he would clear up any misunderstanding with La Sapienza, saying the seminar had been reserved for specialists. The ethics committee was expected to decide whether to take disciplinary action against the professor. La Sapienza said Mastronardi's faux-pas was made more serious by the fact that legal action was still ongoing and that there was no one there to represent the other side, such as a passenger or someone who lost a relative in the disaster. Schettino, who was in charge of the ship when it performed the maritime display known as a "salute", which brought it dangerously close to shore, denies the charges. The Costa Concordia, a floating hotel as long as three football pitches laid end to end, was towed in July to the Italian port of Genoa to be broken up for scrap after wallowing by the Tuscan island of Giglio for two and a half years. A chorus of Twitter users responded to Italian media reports that the seminar had happened, with the hashtag "#sapienza" appearing alongside witticisms such as "Get back to your desk, damn it!." Buenos Aires Herald