Thursday, April 21, 2011

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi

Colonel Gaddafi is the longest-serving leader in both Africa and the Arab world, having ruled Libya since he toppled King Idris I in a bloodless coup in 1969 aged 27.
Col Gaddafi presents himself as the spiritual guide of Libya
He may be ridiculed by some for his flamboyant dress-sense and female bodyguards, but Col Gaddafi is also a skilled political operator who moved swiftly to bring his country out of diplomatic isolation.
It was in 2003 - after some two decades of pariah status - that Tripoli took responsibility for the bombing of a Pan Am plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, paving the way for the UN to lift sanctions.
Months later, Col Gadaffi's regime abandoned efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction, triggering a fuller rapprochement with the West.
That saw him complete a transition from international outcast to an accepted, if unpredictable, leader.
Muammar Gaddafi was born in the desert near Sirte in 1942, and in his youth he was an admirer of Egyptian leader and Arab nationalist Gamal Abdel Nasser.
He first hatched plans to topple the monarchy at military college. He went to Britain for further army training before returning to the Libyan city of Benghazi and launching his coup there on September 1, 1969.
He laid out his political philosophy in the 1970s in his Green Book, which charted a home-grown alternative to both socialism and capitalism, combined with aspects of Islam.
On foreign trips he sets up camp in a luxury Bedouin tent and is accompanied by armed female bodyguards - he says they are less easily distracted than their male counterparts.
A tent is also used to receive visitors in Libya, where Col Gaddafi sits through meetings or interviews swishing the air with a horsehair or palm leaf fly-swatter.
The international community's rejection of Libya centred on Col Gaddafi's backing for a number of militant groups, including the Irish Republican Army and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
US president Ronald Reagan labelled him a "mad dog", and the US responded to Libya's alleged involvement in attacks in Europe with airstrikes on Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986.
Col Gaddafi was said to be badly shaken by the bombings, in which his adopted daughter was killed.
Spurned in his efforts to unite the Arab world, from the 1990s Col Gaddafi turned his gaze towards Africa, proposing a "United States" for the continent.
He adopted his dress accordingly, sporting clothes that carried emblems of the African continent or portraits of African leaders.
At the turn of the millennium, with Libya struggling under sanctions, he began to bring his country in from the cold.
It took several years but he achieved his goal and in 2008 reached a final compensation agreement over Lockerbie and other bombings, allowing normal ties with Washington to be restored.
"There will be no more wars, raids, or acts of terrorism," he said at the time.
At home, the Libyan leader presents himself as the spiritual guide of the nation, overseeing what he says is a version of direct democracy.
In practice, critics say, he has retained absolute power. Dissent has been ruthlessly crushed and the media remains under strict government control.
Human Rights Watch says hundreds of people have been imprisoned for opposing him, with some sentenced to death. Torture and disappearances have also been reported.
Although Libya's economy has been opened up to foreign investment, there has been little in the way of reform.
Many Libyans feel they have not benefited from the country's vast oil and gas reserves, with public services poor and corruption rife.

 



 


 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Rihanna


Birth Name : Robyn Rihanna Fenty
Nickname : RiRi, Caribbean Queen, The Barbados Babe
Height : 5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography
Rihanna was born in a county in Barbados called St. Michael. She lived the life of a normal island girl going to Combermere, a top sixth form school. Rihanna won numerous beauty pageants and performed Mariah Carey "Hero" in a school talent show. Her life changed forever when one of her friends introduced her to Evan Rodgers, a producer from New York who was in Barbados for a vacation with his wife, who is a native. Rodgers arranged for her to go to New York to meet Jay-Z, CEO of Def Jam Records. He heard her sing and knew she was going to be incredibly successful. She was 16 when she was signed to Def Jam. Since then, she's amassed phenomenal success.

Trade Mark
Leather outfits
Ever changing hairstyles
Bright red hair
Silky tone of voice
Bajan accent

Trivia
Was signed to Def Jam Records
Her musical inspirations include Alicia Keys, Beyoncé Knowles, and Mariah Carey.
Attended Combermere which is a sixth form school similar to technical school in America.
Performed Mariah Carey's "Hero" at her school's talent show.
Won a beauty pageant at her school.
Born to a black Barbadian father Ronald Fenty and a black Guyanese mother Monica Fenty.
She has two younger brothers Rorrey and Rajad.
Stated in an interview that her friend and former Island Def Jam record label artistFefe Dobson was someone that she admired and looked up to. Having a fellow black artist writing, singing, and performing the music she truly loves.
Ranked #8 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.
Sampled "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' " by Michael Jackson from his "Thriller" album in her song "Please Don't Stop the Music".
Ranked #15 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.
According to Fashion Lifestyle she's had over 150 hairstyles since her music career took off in 2005. Her trademarks are her Long Straight Brown (2006), Medium Length Black Bob (2007) and Short Cropped look (2008).
Made an estimated $15,000,000 in 2008. (Source) - Forbes Magazine.
Was tagged "The Digital Download Queen" due to her songs being downloaded over 75,000,000 times combined.
Has sold over 12 million albums worldwide in under 4 years. [September 2009].
Her 3rd studio album 'Good Girl Gone Bad' (2007) was the 3rd highest selling album in the world in 2007 and was the 8th highest 2008. It has sold just under 8 million copies worldwide and has spawned 3 number one Hot 100 hits and 2 worldwide number ones.
Appeared on the cover of Italian Vogue for there "Extreme Couture" edition. [September 2009].
Her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, was sentenced to five years of probation, six months of community service and one year of domestic violence counseling as a result of his attack on her in February, 2009 [August 29, 2009].
Is good friends with Katy Perry.
Her 3rd single 'Rude Boy', from her 4th studio album 'Rated R', became her sixth US number one single. This makes her the most successful female artist of the last 10 years.
She and then-boyfriend Chris Brown canceled their performance at the Grammys in February 2009 just hours before the show started after Brown was caught up in a late-night domestic dispute, which later turned out to be a physical attack on Rihanna.
She's the highest paid female celebrity to sit front row at fashion shows. She's paid an estimated $100,000, followed by Beyoncé Knowles, who is estimated at $80,000.
Is a big fan of The Prodigy and Chase & Status. She worked with Chase & Status on her album "Rated R" after calling member Saul Milton up at 3 AM.
Selling 62 million records since 2005, she's the most successful artist over the last decade. She also is the first ever artist ever to have 5, 3X platinum selling digital singles.
Broke her own record by scoring her 7th US number one. "Love The Way You Lie" with Eminem became her 7th number one single in 5 years. This gives her the most number ones from an artist in the last 10 years.
Has attained nine number one Hot 100 singles. Three of them were achieved in 2010. She become the only female in American history to have her first single to go number one after the second. [February 2011].
In the UK, she became the only female; and the only artist in 52 years to have three top ten songs at once on the 'UK Official Chart'. She also became the first female artist; in the history of the chart, to have a number one in five consecutive years.
She has Seven number one singles in Australia as of Febuary 2011, making her the only non Australian artist to do so in the last 20 years.
Her 5th studio album 'Loud', sold 2.8 million copies worldwide in 3 months. The album also marks the launch of her business "Rihanna Entertainment"[Febuary 2011].
Billboard named Rihanna the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade.
Is worth an estimated $143 million. [Forbes Febuary 2011].
Her controversial music video for "S&M", was banned in 11 countries within a day of it's release. This is Rihanna's second video to cause controversy as "Te Amo" was banned in many countries due to its same-sex nature.
As of March 1st, she's reached over 1.2 billion YouTube views on her official Vevo page.
Q Magazine named her one of the top 100 acts of the last century. [November 2009].
Became the youngest black female to grace the cover of American-Vogue [March 2011].

Friday, April 1, 2011

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