Happenings

Thousands of revelers and samba dancers took to the street for the opening night of the annual carnival celebrations Samba dancers wearing bodypaint, feathers, glitter- and not a lot else – have taken to the streets of Sao Paulo for the opening of the country’s wild carnival festivities. Dancers from local samba schools put on a spectacular parade through the huge Sambadrome arena as up to 30,000 revellers looked on. Similar to Mardi Gras, the five-day-long street party builds up to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Christian season of Lent. The carnival’s excesses are considered an “act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh,” before Lent, during which Christians are supposed to abstain from bodily pleasures. Carnival is celebrated in towns and villages throughout Brazil, but the festivities in Sao Paulo and capital Brasilia  are the biggest – with around half a million foreign tourists flocking to the country every year. More photos:

A pastor from a church in Dandora Phase 2, an eastern  suburb  in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, has ordered all female members to go to the church ‘free’ – That is without bras and panties for Christ to enter their lives. Reverend Njohi of the Lord’s Propeller Redemption Church has advised female worshippers against wearing any undergarments to the church, calling them ungodly. In a meeting chaired by him, a law was passed banning the wearing of inner wears. Njohi claims that when going to church, people need to be free in ‘body’ and ‘spirit’ to receive Christ. He went ahead to warn members of dire consequences if they secretly put on their inner wears. A member of the church who pleaded anonymity said at last Sunday’s service, women dressed as the pastor had ordered without bras and panties. Mothers were also advised to do same and check their daughters when coming to church on Sundays so as to receive Christ too.