MASTAA wakubwa wenye mafanikio ya kasi mithili ya moto wa petroli

MASTAA wakubwa wenye mafanikio ya kasi mithili ya moto wa petroli, Nasibu Abdul Juma ‘Diamond’ na Jacqueline Wolper Masawe, wanatajwa kuwa wafuasi wa imani ya jamii ya siri ya Freemasons, lakini swali zito limeibuka. Diamond na Wolper, wote wameshakanusha kuwa Freemasons japo chini kwa chini inasisitizwa, ila swali kuu ni kuhusu kafara, ikidodoswa ni nani wamemuua ili kufanikiwa?

Zipo taarifa kuwa masharti ya Freemasons ni kumtoa mzazi au ndugu wa damu kafara ili ukubalike kwenye jamii yao na kumwagiwa mafanikio ya utajiri wa haraka. Kutokana na maelezo hayo kuhusu kafara, swali linalogota ni kwamba kama ni kweli wao ni Freemasons na wanatakiwa kumtoa kafara mtu kama sadaka, mbona hawajawahi kuripotiwa kuwa na msiba wa ndugu au mzazi yeyote?

Mdau wa filamu, Jessica Marsha, alisema kuwa haamini kama Diamond na Wolper ni Freemasons kwa sababu hawajawahi kufiwa. “Tena ninavyojua mimi ni kwamba ukiingia Freemasons, mtu wa kwanza kumtoa kafara ni mama mzazi, Diamond na Wolper kila mmoja ana mama yake ambaye yupo hai,” alisema Jessica na kuongeza: “Wale wana mafanikio binafsi. Diamond anafanikiwa kwa kipaji chake cha muziki, Wolper yeye ni juhudi zake kwenye filamu na nyongeza kubwa anayopata kupitia kwa mchumba wake Dallas ambaye ni tajiri sana.” DIAMOND HAJUI KABISA

Kilichofanya watu wengi wakapaza sauti kwamba Diamond ni Freemason ni picha ambayo alipiga na jamaa wa Kizungu nchini Uingereza. Picha hiyo, ukitazama mavazi meusi ambayo Diamond alishabihiana na jamaa huyo pamoja na ishara ya vidole waliyoonesha, vipo kwenye mrengo wa Freemasons. Hata hivyo, Diamond anakanusha kuwa Freemasons na anadai jamaa huyo wa Kizungu alimlazimisha. Diamond: “Nakumbuka walinifuata watasha wengi tofauti lakini huyo mmoja alining’ang’ania sana nipige naye picha. “Kwa kweli alinilazimisha sana kwa sababu mwanzo nilikataa lakini baadaye nikaona isiwe ishu, nikampa ushirikiano alioutaka. Mimi sikuona matatizo alivyotaka tusalimiane kwa kugusisha vidole kwa sababu nilikuwa sijui chochote kuhusu Freemasons. Nimeijua baada ya mambo haya kuyasikia kwa sana hivi karibuni. “Kwa hiyo inawezekana siku hiyo waliniunganisha bila mimi kujua lakini mimi siyo Freemasons.” WOLPER AKIRI KUFUATWA

Katika maelezo yake, Wolper alisema kuwa anahisi watu wanasema yeye ni Freemasons kwa sababu ya mavazi yake, kwani baadhi ya watu husema yana alama za imani hiyo. Kuhusu yeye anavyojitambua, akasema: “Mimi siyo Freemasons, nakumbuka kuna siku watu walinifuata wakaniambia nijiunge Freemasons nitakuwa na mafanikio lakini sijakubaliana nao.” ELIMU YA KAFARA Mtaalamu wa nyota, aliye na elimu kubwa kuhusu jamii za siri, ikiwemo Freemasons, Maalim Hassan Yahya Hussein alisema kuwa msingi halisi wa Freemasons ni kutoa kafara lakini siyo lazima binadamu. Maalim Hassan alisema: “Mara nyingi hufanya kafara ya mnyama hasa mbuzi na kondoo. Anaweza kuwa hata ng’ombe mwenye pembe zilizochongoka ambazo hutengeneza ile alama ya vidole viwili katika salamu za Freemasons.”

WHAT Happened to Whitney Houston's funeral

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all-time.[1] Houston was one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American female artists to follow in her footsteps. Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only female artist to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Album") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release. The album was named Rolling Stone's best album of 1986, and was ranked at number 254 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Houston's first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992). The film's original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Its lead single "I Will Always Love You", became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act (solo or group, male or female) to sell more than a million copies of an album within a single week period under Nielsen SoundScan system.The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the best-selling albums of all time, at number four. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996). The Preacher's Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history

Only hundreds may have gathered in Newark, N.J. to celebrate the life and legacy of Whitney Houston; however, millions all over the world tuned in to pay tribute to the singer during a four-hour ceremony at the New Hope Baptist Church.

Over 1.7 million tuned into the live Internet stream of Houston's funeral while it also streamed delayed on network and cable television.

Celebrities took the stage to pay their respects to Houston, with stars revealing sides of the singer many never knew. Music industry "father," Clive Davis paid respects to the woman who was "always holding his hand," and Tyler Perry revealed how we may have never heard the singer's voice.

Kevin Costner gave one of the best speeches, sharing similarities between both him and the singer—they both grew up in baptist churches—and recalling behind the scenes knowledge of how Houston landed her role in "The Bodyguard." "She hadn't said four lines when they had to stop," Costner said of the screen test for her Hollywood debut. "She wanted to know what was wrong," Costner said. "I needed to know what she did in those 20 minutes. She said 'Nothing.'" What she did was reapply makeup before the screen test to look just perfect; however, the hot lights of the stage sent it streaming down her face.

Many performers had a tough time making it through their performances with Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and R. Kelly among the stars who paid tribute. Both Keys and Kelly had to pause during song.

Among those in the audience that didn't speak or perform included Oprah and Mariah Carey.

Djimon Hounsou: 'Blood Diamond' star's remarkable journey

From scavenging for food through garbage and sleeping in the streets, to becoming an international fashion model and a Hollywood A-lister, Djimon Hounsou's journey to stardom has been an astonishing one. The Benin-born actor, one of the most prominent film stars to come out of Africa, has appeared in blockbusters such as "Gladiator," "Amistad" and "Blood Diamond," and has worked with Hollywood royalty like Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. His role in the film "In America" made him the first black African man to be nominated for an Oscar, while his performance in "Blood Diamond" earned him a second nomination. See also: The best of African film It's a long way from where the soft-spoken actor imagined he would be while growing up under difficult conditions in the West African country of Benin. "I was just a very torn child, very wounded in so many areas, with no family support," recalls Hounsou, who grew up without his parents, who had moved to Ivory Coast. Djimon Hounsou's lonely upbringing Djimon Hounsou: Homeless to Hollywood Djimon Hounsou: Actor and activist "I happened to the be the fifth child of my family," he explains, "so everybody was already grown and had left home already." For Hounsou, who finally met his father for the first time around the age of 10, this was a "very lonely" period of his life. "The dream was to escape that surrounding," he says. At the age of 13 he left Benin to move to Paris with his older brother -- but the hardship continued. "The rocky time came right after I left school," remembers the acclaimed actor. "I spent a lot of time at night navigating the streets of Paris trying to find something to eat," he says. "I was not anymore legal because I'm no more a student and I could not work. So I was left out on the street, I couldn't walk around too much because obviously if you get caught, noticed or get stopped by the police you're deported immediately." Hounsou's good looks, however, did get noticed by a Paris photographer, who invited him to audition as a fashion model. There, Hounsou met famous French designer Thierry Mugler and soon established himself as a successful high-fashion model. The collaboration with Mugler also took Hounsou to the United States for the first time, where he quickly started working toward realizing his dream of becoming an actor. See also: The evolution of African cinema My passion is more about bringing the stories out from the African continent mixed with the West. Djimon Hounsou He made his foray into the industry by appearing in music videos and went on to feature in Roland Emmerich's 1994 film "Stargate." But the break-out moment in Hounsou's acting career came three years later with Steven Spielberg's "Amistad," where he appeared alongside Hollywood legends Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman. "It was one of the most powerful stories about Africans that define African Americans' legacy and that a lot of people were shy about wanting to hear, wanting to see," says Hounsou of the film. Another defining moment for Hounsou was his performance in 2006's "Blood Diamond," where he won rave reviews for portraying a fisherman forced to work in a diamond mine after being captured by rebels. The film was set in Sierra Leone in the 1990s -- a time of civil war and a period when more than 4% of all African diamonds were sold on the black market. "My passion is more about bringing the stories out from the African continent mixed with the West," says Hounsou. Hounsou, who is married to former fashion model Kimora Lee Simmons, is also an outspoken activist and a prominent campaigner in the fight against climate change. His desire to make a difference has seen him working with charities such as Oxfam and SOS, while in 2009 he spoke at the United Nations' Summit on Climate Change in New York -- a far cry from his early days as a lonely child in Benin. But despite all he's achieved so far, Hounsou says his remarkable life journey is just starting. He says: "It was a great journey, but I strongly feel like I'm still at the beginning of that journey". Djimon Hounsou is a film star from Benin who has appeared in movies including "Amistad," "Blood Diamond" and "In America."

Hounsou, a former model in Paris, is married to Kimora Lee Simmons, well-known in her own right for her career in the fashion industry.

Appearing alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond," Hounsou won rave reviews for his portrayal of a fisherman forced to work in a diamond mine after being captured by rebels.

Hounsou, who is a well-known activist, addresses the United Nations' Summit on Climate Change in New York on September 22, 2009.

Then U.S. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton attend the Washington premiere of "Amistad" on 4 December 1997.

Djimon Hounsou, Helen Mirren and Alan Cumming attend a party for the premiere of the 2010 film "The Tempest" on December 6, 2010 in Los Angeles. (CNN)

Algerian singer Warda dies in Cairo at 72

Along with Lebanon's Fayrouz and Egypt's late Umm Kalthoum, Warda was one of the legendary singers of the Arab world

Aldjazairia, or the Algerian Rose, was born in France in 1939 to an Algerian father and Lebanese mother [EPA] The Algerian singer Warda, whose sultry voice and range helped make her one of the giants of Arab song, has died aged 72. Egyptian state TV said Warda died on Thursday at her home in Cairo. The official MENA news agency said that her body will be flown to Algeria on Friday for burial. Along with Lebanon's Fayrouz and Egypt's late Oum Kalthoum, Warda was one of the legendary singers of the Arab world, with a voice that has been described as both sweet and powerful. Warda lived in Egypt on and off for more than 40 years, and it was in Egypt that she earned both her cinematic and singing breakthroughs that won her fame across the Middle East. She had at least five lead roles in Egyptian films, and about 300 songs to her name. Formidable team Warda Aldjazairia, or the Algerian Rose, was born in France in 1939 to an Algerian father and Lebanese mother. She began singing as a little girl, gaining a following among Arab children in France through her songs broadcast on local radio. Warda travelled to Algeria for the first time in 1962 after the country gained independence from it French colonial rulers. Warda Aldjazairia Born in Puteaux, France, in July 1939 Died May 17, 2012, in Cairo, Egypt, from a cardiac arrest Began singing professionally in 1951, at age 11, as a star in her father's Parisian cabaret, the Tam-Tam Famous for singing in support of the Algerian independence movement, including songs such as "Ya habibi ya mudjahid" (O friend, O fighter), "Bladi ya bladi" (O my Country), "Ya mrawah lelblad" (Thou who goest back to thy Country) Abandoned her professional career for a decade at the request of her first husband, an Algerian man Relaunched her musical career in 1972, moving to Cairo Married the Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi She married an Algerian and quit singing for ten years. After moving to Cairo, at the time the heart of the Arab cultural and artistic scene, she had her big break in the late 1970s with the hit "My Times Are Sweeter With You". She frequently worked with Egypt's, and the broader Arab world's, best-known composers, and eventually married one - Baligh Hamdy. They formed a formidable team, even after their divorce, making some of the most memorable Arab love songs, including "Stay Here, Stay" and "Listen To Me". Late Egyptian singer and composer Mohammed Abdel-Wahab said Warda had "a broad voice with special abilities that other singers lack". "I feel safe when she sings my tunes," he said. Warda sang in all Arab dialects, and although better known for her love songs, she also sang nationalistic songs for Algeria and the larger Arab world. She was first introduced to a wider audience in Egypt when she took part in a pan-Arab song in 1960 called "The Greater Nation" written under the-then Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel-Nasser. In the song, she sang the part referring to Algeria, earning her the moniker Aldjazairia, or The Algerian. Warda had a liver transplant ten years ago, which forced her to give up performing for a number of years. Her son told an Arab newspaper on Sunday that his mother was planning to film a new song in Algeria soon. Her last album was released in 2011, entitled: "The Years I lost."

Donna Summer died of lung cancer, but the singer wasn't a smoker

(CNN) -- Donna Summer died of lung cancer, but the singer wasn't a smoker, and the cancer wasn't related to smoking, her family's representative said Friday. Summer's family issued the announcement in the wake of how "various reports currently surfacing about the cause of Ms. Summer's death are not accurate," representative Brian Edward said. "Obviously, numerous factors can be attributed to the cause of cancer in general, but any details regarding the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of Ms. Summer's case remain between her family and team of doctors," Edwards said in a statement. Five-time Grammy winner Summer, 63, known as the "queen of disco" during the 1970s, died Thursday at age 63. Summer: A diva who defined the disco movement Disco legend Donna Summer Disco legend Donna Summer Much like the expressive era that her music defined, Summer danced her way through the 1970s with extraordinary success, posting successive hits that electrified dance floors and prompted her coronation as America's disco queen. But her own life was marked by the highs and lows of the ballads that she energetically sang, and even at the height of her popularity, she once took steps toward suicide -- only to be stopped by the interruption of hotel maids. She overcame the negative dimensions of relentless public attention, and her legacy as a genre-leading vocalist endures decades later among music enthusiasts, even resulting in an appearance a few years ago on "American Idol." Summer died surrounded by her family in Florida. Overheard on CNN: This 'last dance' goes out to Donna Summer The legacy of Donna Summer A look back at Donna Summer's career Remembering Donna Summer 'Queen of Soul' talks 'Queen of Disco' Gloria Gaynor's tribute to Donna Summer Said her family in a statement Thursday: "Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith. While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy." Summer, who was born in Boston and whose father was a butcher and mother a schoolteacher, sang from the moment she learned to talk, and her debut performance came in church at age 10 when the scheduled singer didn't show and the pastor asked Donna to step in. Summer later recalled that the church performance left worshipers in tears. While she is iconic in the disco genre, her Grammy wins were also in the R&B, rock, inspirational and dance categories. "Her talent was a true gift to the music industry," said Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy. At the height of her career, she and Casablanca Records created a sex symbol persona for her, and in an October 1977 cover story for Ebony, she remarked about her other nicknames: Queen of Love and Symbol of Eros. "Well, you have to get people's attention some kind of way," Summer told the magazine, "but I'm not just sex, sex, sex. I would never want to be a one-dimensional person like that. "I can sing songs like 'Love to Love You, Baby,' but I can also sing ballads, light opera, things from musical comedies, church hymns -- all kinds of things. Plus I can write, act and think." Listen to a playlist of Donna Summer's greatest hits Summer added that she didn't "want to be known for just one thing." In a 2003 interview with CNN, she said the initial absence of a manager led her to do provocative photo shoots. Her public image as a sex symbol and diva conflicted with her religious upbringing, she said. Her grandfather was a minister and her father a church deacon. "Yes, it was a big complex and the image was sort of created around me," Summer said. "I was sort of there, but not consciously there. And I didn't have anybody sort of on my side at that point, fighting for me, except for me, being in the middle. And then people would say, you know, 'Lay down here and do this.' And you know, whatever," Summer said. Her big break came when she was a teenager and auditioned in New York for a European version of "Hair." She landed a role and went to Europe. When she achieved success by her mid-20s, she wasn't able to handle it well. "It was tough," Summer said. "I think success is always a surprise, you know." She eventually suffered depression and found herself in an abusive relationship. "If people are in abusive relationships, I think they need to get out of them or at least get help," Summer said. She lived in fear during that relationship, she said. "Thank God this person was from Europe, so they were deported. And then I was able to sort of be free, but I was afraid for years," she said. Her hits included "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls" and "She Works Hard for the Money." Summer rose to fame the mid-1970s, thanks to "Love to Love You Baby." The song, with Summer's whispered vocals and orgasmic groans supported by heavily synthesized backing tracks, fueled the decade's disco mania and hit No. 2 in 1976. Summer followed the song with such hits as "I Feel Love," "Last Dance" and a disco version of the Richard Harris hit "MacArthur Park," which outdid Harris' version by hitting No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. It was Summer's first of four chart-toppers. But with her 1979 album "Bad Girls," Summer broke out of the disco mold as the genre, stimulated by the success of the Bee Gees' "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, was feeling a backlash. "Bad Girls" demonstrated Summer's vocal and stylistic range and produced two No. 1 hits, "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls," as well as a Top 10 ballad, "Dim All the Lights." However, Summer had some trouble adjusting to the changing times. Her next album, "The Wanderer," went for more of a rock feel. It produced a Top 10 hit in the title track but fared relatively poorly on the charts -- especially disappointing after the success of "Bad Girls," a double album that spent five weeks at No. 1. It wasn't until 1983's "She Works Hard for the Money," which became a ubiquitous video as well as a big radio hit, that Summer's fame approached its late-'70s zenith

'Sons of Anarchy' creator Kurt Sutter moves to documentary TV

"Sons of Anarchy" creator Kurt Sutter is putting the finishing touches on the final episodes of "Outlaw Empires." (CNN) -- For years, Kurt Sutter has told stories of criminal activity -- first as a writer for "The Shield" and then as the creator of FX's wildly popular "Sons of Anarchy," a dramatized version of an outlaw biker gang in California. Now he's branching out and focusing his lens on real-life criminal organizations. The Discovery Channel recently premiered "Kurt Sutter's Outlaw Empires," a six-part series that looks at the micro and macro reasons behind groups that have defined their existence outside the law. Episode one tackles famed Los Angeles gang the Crips, with subsequent shows exploring outlaw bikers, the Irish mob, the Italian mafia, the Nuestra Familia and the Aryan Brotherhood. "On 'Sons,' we exposed a lot of people to a new world," Sutter told CNN from Los Angeles. "It humanized what was a stereotype for a lot of people. Yes, our show is highly dramatic, and we take a lot of dramatic licenses. But the reality of it, and details of it are very true, very specific. For me, that's what I wanted to do with this series." The show sprang from a different concept Sutter was pitching that looked at criminal activity from two points of view, the criminals and law enforcement. For the final act, the two sides would be brought together in the same room. "The pitch was to have a high-level crime and get the point of view of the criminal party involved and law enforcement and hear their retelling of the same events," he said. "People were intrigued by the concept, but ultimately it felt a little too old school. Discovery was interested in a variation, and they've wanted to do a high-end documentary series." "Outlaw Empires" explores case studies of a few people involved in the criminal organization, using their stories and knowledge to make larger connections to the context of the outlaw group. Sutter pops up from time to time in cutaways to offer insights into the story he's trying to tell. He's not interested in getting law enforcement officials, psychologists or other talking heads to weigh in on why these people are "bad." Success, for Sutter, is telling a story that doesn't pass judgment. The approach that Sutter and his team took wasn't the typical "let's pick a subject and tell their story" usually associated with documentary storytelling. For him, they started small and worked outward. "We tapped into people that had relationships; some of these guys have been cleaning up their acts -- there's networks to get to these people," Sutter said. "We talked to people to see who had the most interesting story. It came out of character: who had the most interesting people with the most interesting stories. "It wasn't so much like 'Let's go do the Crips. Let's go do the Aryan Brotherhood.' It was about let's cast a wide net and be led into the worlds by the characters." Sutter is putting the finishing touches on the final episodes of "Outlaw Empires" while also in preproduction for the fifth season of "Sons." And like the way he portrays his fictional characters, he aims to give viewers a new look at a group of people who have been largely portrayed in a certain way. "It's a challenging thing to do when you're dealing with guys covered in swastikas," Sutter said. "You try to go in and give it some context, so people have some point of view to why people did what they did. It doesn't mean you're going to get behind it." He added, "The challenge is similar to writing 'Sons.' When you write an anti-hero, it's that balance between 'anti' and 'hero.' You can't make them too righteous and good so they don't feel dangerous or believable. But you can't write them so deplorable that the audience can't get behind them. It's similar with this series." "Kurt Sutter's Outlaw Empires" airs at 10 p.m. ET Mondays on Discovery