National and International

National and International-(Feb-2019)

• Shamila Batohi : Indian Origin Woman Appointed Head of South Africa’s Prosecuting Power

 Prominent Indian-origin lawyer Shamila Batohi has been appointed as the head of South Africa’s prosecuting authority. Batohi is the first woman to head the agency, which is facing criticism for its handling of the investigations against former president Jacob Zuma over corruption charges. She will start her new role as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) in February 2019. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Batohi during a nationally-televised address at the government headquarters, the Union Buildings, on December 4, 2018. Batohi started her public service as a junior prosecutor in the Chatsworth magistrates’ court in 1986 and steadily rose through the ranks to become the director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu Natal. Batohi has worked for the past nine years as a legal adviser to the prosecutor in the International Criminal Court  in The Hague.

• Jackie Chan

Martial arts film star releases new English memoir. Chan has revealed his battles with alcohol and admitted to throwing his son across the room in a blunt autobiography released for the first time in English. In the book Never Grow Up, first released in Chinese in 2015, he confesses to visiting prostitutes in the early days of his career and lays bare how his rise to fame affected his private life. In his book the Hong Kong native recalls after finding fame, he began to lead a carefree life, at one point taking $ 500,000 in cash and spending it on expensive watches.

• Isabella Rodriguez

Beauty queen who hails from a slum is crowned Miss Venezuela. The title of Miss Venezuela went to a woman from the country’s largest slum after a ceremony that traded glitz for frugality reflecting an acute economic free fall. The new beauty queen in a country that loves this kind of pageant is Isabella Rodriguez, 25, from a Caracas shantytown called Petare, home to well over half a million people. “From Petare to the world, dreams can in fact come true,” Rodriguez, who works as a model, said during the question and answer session of the contest.

• Tulsi Gabbard

The US Lawmaker is “seriously” considering running for the White House in 2020. “I’m seriously considering it,” the four-time Democratic legislator in the House of Representatives from Hawaii told MSNBC News in response to a question on her presidential aspirations. If she announced her candidature, she would be the first Hindu to be running for the US presidency. Other Democrats who may run for the 2020 primaries include Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Tim Kaine and Indian-origin senator Kamala Harris.