By Asunta Simoloka
Uterine fibroids are abnormal growths found in the wall and surface of the uterus.

If you are wondering why so many women are having uterine fibroids, look no further than what is on your plate.

Ask any woman with uterine fibroids if they eat a lot of broiler chicken, I guarantee you the answer will be a ‘yes’; I have only come across one ‘no’ to this question, the answer I usually get is ‘yes’ and here is why.

Industrial chickens are raised on hormones and antibiotics and they grow at an unnaturally fast rate in order to meet demand.

These birds get slaughtered and end up on your plate with these unhealthy additives still in the systems of the chickens.

Eating too much broiler chicken causes these hormones and antibiotics to build up in your body and that is a major contributing factor to a number of reproductive health issues one of them being uterine fibroids.

The hormones and antibiotics in broiler chickens not only bring about uterine fibroids, they also feed the fibroids thus encouraging these tumors to grow even bigger.

In order to stop these fibroids from growing you need to starve them by reducing the amount of broiler chicken in your diet or better even eliminating this type of chicken altogether.

Village chicken does not have these hormones and antibiotics but it also needs to be eaten in moderation.

The best diet adjustment is to introduce more plant foods and reduce all meat as much as possible.

The best substitutes for meat are legumes like bambara nuts known locally as ntoyo, cow peas also known as nyangu, beans, lentils, and groundnuts.

These foods not only prevent fibroids, they have compounds that cut off blood supply to these fibroids, a process that makes the tumors even smaller.  Turmeric, a key ingredient in curry powder is also known to have anti inflammatory activity which helps to shrink fibroids.

This is one more reason to follow a mostly plant based diet of unprocessed foods, like is the case in rural Africa where uterine fibroids are rare.

The Human Rights Commission in Zambia has disclosed that the International Community are keenly monitoring the happenings in the country.

Commission Principal Information Officer, Simon Mulumbi said the International Community is following with interest the events of alleged violation of human rights as the country is a signatory to the International conventions. He said if it is proven beyond doubt, the International Community will decide on the course of action which may in some case be the freezing of aid and imposing other sanctions.

His comments comes  in the wake of alleged continued violation of human rights in the country. He has since called for dialogue among stakeholders to address the perceived misunderstanding that has resulted in violation of human rights.

Mulumbi was speaking in an interview in Lusaka on Wednesday June 19,2013. He said the selective application of the law is also another cause of great concern as it is likely to instigate violence in the country.

He said failure to apply the law equally cause  aggrieved parties to want to use other means air their grievance.
Three opposition political party leaders, Dr Nevers Mumba, Hakainde Hichilema, and Sakwiba Sikota together with some Civil Society Organisation have reported the country to the Commonwealth over abuse of human rights.

A report released today by UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, says that more people are refugees or internally displaced than at any time since 1994[i], with the crisis in Syria having emerged as a major new factor in global displacement.

UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report covers displacement that occurred during 2012 based on data from governments, NGO partners, and UNHCR itself.

The report shows that as of the end of 2012, more than 45.2 million people were in situations of displacement compared to 42.5 million at the end of 2011. This includes 15.4 million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers[ii], and 28.8 million people forced to flee within the borders of their own countries.

War remains the dominant cause. A full 55 per cent of all refugees listed in UNHCR’s report come from just five war-affected countries, namely Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria and Sudan.

The report also charts major new displacement from Mali, in Democratic Republic of the Congo, and from Sudan into South Sudan and Ethiopia.

“These truly are alarming numbers. They reflect individual suffering on a huge scale and they reflect the difficulties of the international community in preventing conflicts and promoting timely solutions for them,” said António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and head of UNHCR.

The report highlights worrisome trends in several areas, one of which is the rate at which people are today being forced into situations of displacement. During 2012 some 7.6 million people became newly displaced, 1.1 million of them as refugees and 6.5 million as internally displaced people.

This translates to a new refugee or internally displaced person every 4.1 seconds.

Also evident is a continuing gap between richer and poorer countries when it comes to who is hosting refugees. Of the 10.5 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate (a further 4.9 million Palestinian refugees fall under the mandate of our sister-agency, the UN Relief and Works Agency), half are being hosted by countries that have a per capita GDP of less than US$5,000.

In all, developing countries host 81 per cent of the world’s refugees compared to 70 per cent a decade ago.

Children below age 18 make up 46 per cent of all refugees. In addition, a record 21,300 asylum applications submitted during 2012 were from children who were unaccompanied or separated from their parents. This is the highest number of unaccompanied or separated children that UNHCR has recorded.

Global displacement for any year is the sum of new displacement, existing unresolved displacement, and resolved displacement (a minus figure) – for example, people returning home or being allowed to settle permanently outside their home country through citizenship or some other solution.

UNHCR works to help people who are forcibly displaced, including by providing aid and immediate practical help, and by finding solutions to their plight. The year 2012 saw an end to displacement for 2.7 million people, including 526,000 refugees and 2.1 million[i] internally displaced people. Among those for whom solutions were found are 74,800 people submitted by UNHCR for resettlement in third countries.

Last year saw little change from 2011 in the rankings of the world’s major refugee hosting countries. Pakistan continued to host more refugees than any other nation (1.6 million), followed by Iran (868,200) and Germany (589,700).

Afghanistan remained the world’s top producer of refugees, a position it has held for 32 years. On average, one out of every four refugees worldwide is Afghan, with 95 per cent located in Pakistan or Iran. Somalia, another protracted conflict, was the world’s second largest refugee producing nation during 2012, however there the rate of refugee outflow slowed. Iraqis were the third largest refugee group (746,700persons), followed by Syrians (471,400).

With people displaced inside their own countries, the figure of 28.8 million for 2012 is the highest level in more than two decades. This includes 17.7 million who are being helped by the UN refugee agency. UNHCR assistance to IDPs is not automatic but occurs at the request of governments. Significant new internal displacement was seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria.

The Global Trends report is UNHCR’s leading annual report on the state of forced displacement.

It’s thought that up to a billion dollars worth was stashed in South Africa – and the government says it will give it back to the Libyans. South Africa will return assets and cash stashed by the slain Libyan dictator Moamer Gaddafi in the country after reaching an agreement with Tripoli, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
The two governments agreed on “the repatriation from South Africa of Libyan funds” that are thought to include diamonds and gold worth more than $1 billion.

The assets were placed in South Africa by the Libya Investment Authority, the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio and the Libya Africa Investment Company — funds closely controlled by Gaddafi’s regime.

South Africa’s treasury said the assets will be returned in line with UN rules.

South African media last week reported that Libyan investigators had approached the treasury with evidence that the assets were held by four local banks and two security companies.

“The decision was informed by the fact that the government of Libya established a single body in 2012 to coordinate the repatriation of assets to Libya,” the South African government said.

A letter sent by Libyan investigators said large amounts of cash from Libya’s state investment funds had been uncovered in South Africa and neighbouring states.

South Africa opposed NATO’s military intervention in Libya during the rebel uprising against Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.

The veteran leader was captured and killed in October 2011 while he was trying to flee his hometown of Sirte.

Libyan investigators learned of state funds stashed in South Africa from Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, who is currently in a Libyan prison after being extradited from Mauritania.

Part of the missing money is allegedly controlled by Gaddafi’s former chief of staff Bashir Saleh.

Saleh, who headed Libya’s $40-billion sovereign wealth fund, is wanted in Libya for fraud and is the target of an Interpol arrest warrant under the alias Bashir al-Shrkawi.

Several high-ranking officials linked to Gaddafi’s regime, including members of his family, have been linked to corruption scandals that emerged after his death.

Last month, Libya’s new government adopted a law barring Gaddafi -era officials from holding government posts.

Under the law, all those who held key official posts from September 1, 1969, when Gaddafi took power, until the fall of his regime in October 2011 will be excluded from government.
SOURCE: DAILY NATION.

The tribunal constituted to probe the alledged misconduct of Judges has failed to take off in Lusaka.

This is because Judge Philip Musonda who was to be investigated is said to be on sick leave until June 27,2013. Tribunal Chairperson, Judge  Lovemore Chikopa of Malawi has since revealed that the sitting will start on June 28,2014.

Judge Chikopa also stated that the tribunal will only look at the unproffessional conduct and not other cases against Judge Musonda.
The Chairperson has also cautioned the media against writting statements that may be prejudicial to the case.

Another by election is in the offing as the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) loses its first seat through a petition.
This is after the Supreme Court nullified the election of Hastings Sililo as Mulobezi Member of Parliament.
Supreme Court Elizabeth Muyovwe nullified the election of Sililo on ground that it was marred with corruption and other forms of electoral malpractice.
Sililo who becomes the first UPND MP in this sitting of parliament said he welcomed the outcome though expressed disappointment with the ruling.
The election result were petitioned by the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) losing candidate in the 2011 election, Albertina Mwanamwalye.
The nullification comes days after the Supreme Court nullified the election of MMD MP,Maxwell Mwale for Malambo constituency in Eastern Province .
The ruling PF petitioned almost all the parliamentary which they lost.

Government and the European Union (EU) have signed a 118.6 million Euros about KR826 million worth contract for the rehabilitation of the Great East Road from Luangwa Bridge to Mwami border in Chipata, Eastern province.

The government has also signed an MOU with the EU meant to upscale conservation Farming valued at 11.1 million Euros and a Financing Agreement for capacity Building for Non State Actors amounting to 5.5 million Euros.

Speaking during the signing ceremony last night, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda who signed on behalf of the Zambian government described EU’s financial support to Zambia as confirmation of its commitment to ensuring such assistance is demand driven and in line with the national development plans and priorities.

Mr. Chikwanda said the Patriotic Front (PF) government is looking to strengthening sustainability especially around the areas of job creation and rural development.

He further disclosed that his government is also in the process of reviewing the Sixth National Development Plan so that it is sequenced in such a way as to implement infrastructure projects which on the overall will increase human welfare and productivity.

The Finance Minister has also appealed to the EU to consider supporting Zambia to develop and sustain hydro power generation and transmission Infrastructure.

And speaking at same event, EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs commended Zambia’s strides in implementing projects meant for poverty reduction.

Commissioner Piebalgs also applauded Zambia’s sustained commitment to regional integration.

SOURCE: QFM.

ZED president Mutesa

Zambia Empowerment and Democracy (ZED) President Frederick Mutesa has called for the setting up of the commission of inquiry to establish the persons behind the shooting of citizens.

And Dr. Mutesa has charged that Patriotic Front (PF)  top officials are behind the  recent attacks of the opposition members and citizens by PF cadres. He said there is need to thoroughly investigate the people that are directing defence and security wings to shoot at the innocent Zambians before the situation comes to uncontrollable levels.

Dr. Mutesa said the shooting of citizens is also serious which needs to be addressed. He said it is unfortunate that in the case of Kampasa shootings of Chongwe people are losing lives while looking for land which government could provide them with.

He has since asked President Michael Sata to come out open and condemn the killings. Dr. Mutesa said the President should also make sure that those responsible for the killings are made to account. He has also observed that the recent attacks of the citizens by PF cadres has a blessing of top officials.

The ZED President argued that there is no way cadres could have that courage to attack other people on their own. He said the fact that they have not been arrested confirms that they are being sent by senior individuals.

Dr. Mutesa said this when he featured on Let the People Talk Programme on Radio Phoenix on Tuesday June 18.

Lubanseshi Independent Member of Parliament Patrick Mucheleka has noted  that the unplanned development the Patriotic Front (PF)  wants to undertake will take Zambia back into another debt.
Mucheleka observed that the PF is undertaking unplanned and uncoordinated developments which is going to force them into borrowing to finance them. He said this will be putting the country into debt considering that the PF government is also struggling to repay the recently borrowed Eurobond money.
He said PF are for no reasons in a hurry to take development just to impress people. He said this was the reason why the PF removed subsidies because the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave them conditionalities to lend them the money for the many unplanned programmes.
The parliamentarian has also condemned the PF for doing away with useful policies such as the Sixth National Development Plan which was left by the previous MMD government.
He said it was uncalled for that the PF erased the policy which was giving direction to development stating that the policy was developed not by MMD government or politicians but by civil servants and technocrats who are stil serving in government.

Vice Presiident Guy Scott says the construction of the coumtry’s fourth mordern stadium in Livingstone will start soon.
He said governmemt has already advertised the tenderfor the stadium stating construction will start as soon as the contractor is picked.
He also disclosed that government has also allocated KR 3 million in the 2013 for land clearance of the stadium.
Dr. Scott said this in parliament on Tuesday June 18,2013.
He was responding to a question by Rufunsa MMD Member of Parliament Kenneth Chipungu who wanted to know the progress of the construction of the stadium.
The Vice President said the stadium will among other things help improve living stands of the residents and promote tourism in the tourist capital.
The stadium which will be fourth after the Levy Mwanawasa, Lusaka stadium and one to be constructed in Mongu will improve sports infrastructure and brighten the country’s chances of bidding for the hosting of the 2019 AFCON tournament.