'Stormin Mormon' Romney survives Holyfield dust-up | ||
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Salt Lake City (United States) (AFP) - Former world boxing champion Evander Holyfield used ex-presidential candidate Mitt Romney as a punching bag for two rounds -- all in the name of good fun and charity. The 68-year-old Romney and the 52-year-old Holyfield squared off in the lighthearted spectacle that raised $1 million for Charity Vision, an organization that provides eye-sight operations. The fight didn't have the hype of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao mega showdown earlier this month in Las Vegas or the historical value of the Ali-Frazier "Thrilla in Manila," but it did reach its goal of raising enough money to enable thousands of blind people to see again. "Tonight @CharityVision raised $1 million which will help 40,000 people have their sight restored," Romney tweeted after the fight. Romney entered the ring wearing a red silk robe and a pair of red boxing trunks after a ring entrance walk to the song "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, blasted through the loud speakers at the Rail Event Center in Salt Lake. Romney, who went by the moniker "Stormin' Mormon," weighed in the day before at 179 pounds while "The Real Deal" Holyfield had an almost 60 pound advantage. Romney was joined initially in the ring by his wife, Ann, who has been active with her own charitable activities, including raising funds for multiple sclerosis, a disease which she has lived with for over 15 years. There were few real blows thrown as the 2012 Republican presidential nominee spent most of his time trying to duck the powder-puff punches coming from Holyfield, who won a bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics before going on to become the world champ in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. The former Massachusetts governor Romney's corner threw in the towel after the second round but not before Holyfield had stumbled to the canvas once earlier in the bout. "He's the oldest person I have ever fought," Holyfield told CNN. Many people wondered what Romney was doing getting into the ring with Holyfield, who once had a piece of his ear bitten off by "Iron" Mike Tyson. Romney said at times politics can be more cutthroat than boxing. "The good news is that Evander Holyfield always hits above the belt, and sometimes in politics that isn't the way things are done," Romney told CNN. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Eurovision gives voice to Romania's loneliest youngsters | ||
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Bucharest (AFP) - With just days to go before they perform at the Eurovision song contest, the Romanian pop-rock group Voltaj are rehearsing their hearts out. For them, the competition is not just about representing their country but also about giving voice to thousands of children who grow up alone in Romania, with parents forced to go West to find work. The five-member band is well established in the ex-communist state, now the European Union's second-poorest after Bulgaria, and home to some 20 million people. Their ballad "All Over Again" draws attention to an oft-ignored flipside of European migration -- the youngsters left behind. The problem affects "whole generations of children" who face "severe, long-term trauma" because they are forced to make it through their formative years without parents' support, Voltaj singer Calin Goia told AFP. "I've been asked whether I think the subject matter will interest a foreign audience. And I think it will, because the topic of child-parent relationships is universal," he said. To hit home the message, the group will sing the last refrain in English: "If the sky clouds over, with darkness never gone/ If the sun stays hidden, not waking in the dawn/ You will be the reason, you will be the reason to start/ To start all over again." "If I were British and had my child close to me, I'm sure I'd be able to understand how parents forced to leave their children behind might feel," Goia added. Some 350,000 Romanian children -- almost 10 percent of the country's total child population -- have at least one parent living abroad, according to Save the Children and Alternative Sociale, another NGO. The government puts the figure much lower at 82,339. In neighbouring Bulgaria, 267,000 children share their lot, according to a recent study by the Partners Bulgaria foundation. The children are cared for by grandparents or aunts and uncles, though some live in state-run households as they wait for their parents to return. Charities that work with these youngsters warn they often feel abandoned, making them vulnerable to depression. "My friend Gabi tells me he misses his mother a lot. The end of the school year is coming, and there is no one here (but his grandmother) to celebrate his results," nine-year-old Cornelia says. And while Cornelia now lives with her mother, she too suffered alone for four years. Jobless and homeless, both her parents had no choice but to emigrate. They found work in agriculture in Greece, Germany and Serbia.
- 'Mummy, mummy' - -
"Cornelia was a year and 10 months old when we left. I would hear her cry 'mummy, mummy' on the phone, and I would burst into tears," said 29-year-old Dana, who also has another daughter, now aged four. Dana's husband is still working in Belgium, but she returned home to a village in southern Romania to raise her daughters. They live in a house that is still under construction and whose walls have yet to be plastered and painted. The family's chickens run around inside the dining room, which has no doors or windows. Some three million Romanians emigrated to the West in two waves. One came after the fall of communist rule under Ceausescu in 1989, the second after Romania joined the EU in 2007. Most of the migrants work in Spain and Italy, and in 2014, they sent home 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in remittences. Every summer, some 60 percent of the adults living in Cornelia's village go abroad for seasonal work, said Elisabeta Vieru, a social worker at World Vision Romania, a charity that helps the families. But Vieru believes the families' difficulties can also have a positive impact. "Parents have realised it's not so easy to make it out without an education, so they encourage their children to study hard," she said. For Cornelia, the answer is clear. When she grows up, she wants to become a music teacher in her home country. "I want to work in Romania, to make my mother, sister and father happy, and so that we never have to separate," she beamed. Voltaj will perform in the May 19 semi-final of Eurovision, an annual televised glitzy pop fest now in its 60th year that pits hopefuls against each other in their quest to follow in the footsteps of ABBA and other past winners. The grand finale will be held in Vienna on May 23. After releasing the song, Voltaj set up an online project to provide support to children whose parents are working abroad. Here is the link to the website: www.delacapat.ro/en
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Prince Harry ends New Zealand, Australia visit on winning note | ||
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Auckland (New Zealand) (AFP) - Britain's Prince Harry wrapped up a visit to New Zealand and Australia on Saturday by scoring the winning goal in a football match and proving he can help capture a crocodile. The 30-year-old prince spent a week in New Zealand, which started with a pub quiz on an outer southern island, included learning a traditional haka at a military camp, and finished with a day of sport at Auckland. He also revealed during the official visit that he wants to have children and would like a partner to "share the pressure" of royal duties, but is still waiting for the right woman. As New Zealand prepares to hold a referendum on whether to change its flag, which features the British Blue Ensign, Harry used a farewell reception to highlight his family's ties with the country. "These links are of course central to the constitution of this nation, but they go much deeper than that," he said. "They are built on a profound personal fondness for this captivating country and its charming, talented people." He also touched on his love of rugby and although the sport featured prominently during his visit, he joked that he was not on a spying mission ahead of the World Cup in England later this year. "I've always wanted to know how you can be so damned good with such a small population. But don't worry, I am not here to spy on you. I come in peace, despite what people think." But it was with football that the fifth-in-line to the throne closed his public duties.
- 'Plays all right for a prince' -
He starred in a five-a-side match between New Zealand representatives and volunteers working at the FIFA U20 World Cup, which starts in New Zealand later this month. The score was locked at seven-all before Harry, nicknamed "Scholesy" for the game because of his red hair similar to former England player Paul Scholes, slammed home the winner. Harry was "not too shabby with the skills. (But) he can't do everything. His juggling wasn't the best," according to 14-year-old volunteer Sam Bottomley. Volunteer Antonio Hernandez, now of Auckland but originally from Mexico, let the prince know how "England sucked at the last World Cup!" and added Harry "was very relaxed. He can work on his skills, but he plays all right for a prince." Harry then visited the Millennium Institute, New Zealand's high performance sports hub, where he tried his hand at netball and weightlifting. The prince's tour of New Zealand came after he spent a month with the Australian Army, during which time he learned bush survival techniques, flew a helicopter and helped capture a crocodile. Prince Harry was welcomed to Australia by hundreds of well-wishers in Canberra on April 6 but his day-to-day activities with the Army were kept under wraps. It emerged on Saturday that the royal had helped to snare a crocodile from a trap while in the Northern Territory, pulling in the animal from Darwin Harbour and straddling it after its jaws had been taped closed. Ranger Erin Britton said Harry, who toured Afghanistan twice during a decade in the British Army, was not scared to get close to the crocodile, which was later taken to a local farm. "I was a little nervous at first when I was getting the snout rope on the croc because Harry was observing so closely, but he was so easy-going that I relaxed pretty quickly," she said. Rangers in the Northern Territory often have to remove crocodiles from waterways used for boating and fishing to limit the risk of fatalities and injuries. Prince Harry has been in Australia and New Zealand after calling time on his military career. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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