'Have sex or die!' - Gunman holds businessman and wife hostage

Prosper Mkwaiwa and his wife Tina relate their ordeal at Legae Medi-Clinic after being shot by a man who demanded that they make love in front of him. Picture by Antonio Muchave.
Credit: Sundayworld

When you think you have heard it all, another queer one hits you in the face.

 

A popular south African businessman and his wife are currently recuperating in a Pretoria hospital after a gun man shot them for not complying with his demand.

But forgive the businessman for being confused, it is not the sort of demand armed men make of their victims very often. This particular gunman requested the businessman and his wife to undress and make love for his entertainment!

The yet unidentified Pretoria man stormed into the hotel room of businessman Prosper Mkwaiwa and his wife Tina and ordered them to make love in front of him or face the barrel.

 After dilly-dallying, the two were shot in their right legs and were rushed to Legae Medi-Clinic in Mabopane, north of Pretoria, where they are recuperating.

According to Sundayworld,  the incident happened at the Morula Sun Casino in Mabopane on Friday night.

Speaking to Sunday World from his hospital bed, Mkwaiwa says he was lying on the bed in the hotel room waiting for Tina, who was with her friends in another room.

He says after a few minutes Tina waltzed into the room with another man wearing a security uniform.

"I thought the guy was escorting her because he followed her into the room but I was wrong," he says.

Mkwaiwa says the man closed the door, drew his firearm and ordered Tina to lie prostrate on the cold floor.

 

He said the man pointed the gun at him and told him he was going to kill him and his wife and then turn the gun on himself.

"I asked him 'what is the problem? Do you want money? Tell us so we can sort you out and you can leave us alone'.

"He then took the magazine out and said 'you see I'm removing other bullets from the magazine and only three will remain in it. One is for you, one for her and one for me'.

"I pleaded with him not kill us and tell us what it is that we had done to him.

"He simply said 'I know who you are, guys, that's why I came here for you'," says Mkwaiwa, who is sporting a shiner.

Tina, who was lying on a bed next to her hubby's at the hospital, interjected: "He said 'I want you guys to make love in front of me'. Imagine me undressing and making love to my husband in front of him! I was so scared. That man is sick upstairs. Why would somebody do that to us? We don't have enemies," she said, crying hysterically.

Mkwaiwa, who was staring into the air as Tina was relating her version, also interrupted: "You know this man held us hostage for about an hour as we pleaded with him not to kill us.

"But as I was talking to him he kept on moving the gun from his left hand to his right one and then from the right to left one. It's like it was too heavy for him.

"When he repeated that we should make love in front of him, I jumped and grabbed the hand that was holding the gun. A bullet went out and hit her in the leg. He then turned the gun towards me and shot me twice in my right leg," he says, grimacing.

Mkwaiwa says he eventually wrenched the gun from the assailant.

"He then hit the glass door with his head and disappeared.

"I'm glad I rescued my wife and we are both alive.

"You can imagine what could have happened if I hadn't grabbed the gun from him. He would have probably shot and killed us," he says.

Mkwaiwa says they were rushed to the clinic in an ambulance called by the hotel management.

Samsung Shipped Twice As Many Smartphones As Apple in Q3

 

Worldwide handset shipments decreased 1.9% YoY to 387.3 million units in Q3 2012, according to new data from market intelligence firm ABI Research.

Worldwide smartphone shipments increased 32.8% YoY to 155.5 million over the same period.

Samsung retained the lead position in both handset and smartphone shipments. Underscoring its accomplishment, Samsung shipped more than double the smartphones of second place Apple.

"Samsung looks to be running away from the pack while Apple's new product portfolio continues to eat into its decreasing gross margins," says senior analyst Michael Morgan.

Apple will need to ship over 94 million smartphones in Q4 if it wants to match its 2011 shipment growth of 96 percent."

Handset and Smartphone Shipments by OEM (millions)

Vendor	Handset Shipments			Smartphone Shipments
	3Q 2012	3Q 2011	YoY	3Q 2012	3Q 2011	YoY
Samsung	102.6	85.0	20.7%	55.5	26.5	109.2%
Nokia	82.9	106.5	-22.2%	6.3	16.8	-62.5%
Apple	26.9	17.1	57.6%	26.9	17.1	57.6%
ZTE	17.6	18.9	-6.8%	8.3	3.1	168.4%
LG	14.4	21.1	-31.8%	7.0	5.7	22.8%
Huawei	12.1	14.2	-14.8%	7.6	5.0	52.4%
RIM	7.4	11.8	-37.2%	7.4	11.8	-37.2%
HTC	6.0	13.2	-54.6%	6.0	13.2	-54.6%
Others	117.4	107.0		30.4	17.8
Total	387.3	394.7		155.5	117.1
Growth (YoY)	-1.9%	12.6%		32.8%	44.3%
Growth (Sequential)	2.3%	3.8%		4.5%	9.9%

 

Nokia smartphone shipments declined 38% from Q2 2012 to 6.3 million as its current Lumia line of smartphones cannot be upgraded to the upcoming Windows Phone 8 software release.

 

With competing OEMs looking to take advantage of the WP8 platform, Nokia will have trouble remaining a top ten smartphone OEM in Q4. LG returned to profitability on the back of strong LTE smartphone shipment growth while ZTE showed the best YoY smartphone shipment growth of 168.4%.

 

RIM and HTC both continued to struggle with their smartphone strategies and portfolios by experiencing YoY smartphone shipment declines of 37.2% and 54.6% respectively.

 

Smartphone shipments accounted for 40.2% of all handset shipments in Q3 up from 39.3% in the previous quarter. As the overall handset market shifts towards a smartphone reality, OEMs will need to consider following Samsung's lead in offering a range of smartphone products at ever lower price points to maintain market share growth.

 

It is becoming clear that Samsung and Apple will continue to be the masters of the premium smartphone segment "The strain of rapid growth makes Apple appear to be running out of room at the high end," says senior practice director Jeff Orr.

 

"The company's warning of additional margin pressures with its new device line up make it increasingly difficult for Apple to move downstream to the rapidly growing low-cost smartphone market."

 

-CellularNews

Why you should never consent to being filmed having sex

Iris Kaingu, daughter of MP, former minister and deputy head of
the opposition, Michael Kaingu

What is it with young girls and nudity these days? If they are not snapping themselves in the nude, they are agreeing to filming their intimacy with their boyfriends.

The line is usually that it is not meant for public consumption. But then, what is meant for private consumption sometimes gets to be consumed publicly, and then, the consequences are always grave.

Nathan Silenga, filmed her romp with Iris and stored it on his laptop

The 20-year-old daughter of a top Zambian politician who became internet sensation last year when a sex video involving her and her boyfriend went viral has been found guilty of making obscene materials and fined $2,000.

I wonder though what sentence was handed to the male counterpart.

Iris Kaingu -- daughter of MP, former minister and deputy head of the opposition Michael Kaingu – was expelled from college where she was studying accountancy when the scandal broke last year.

In addition now, she has become a convict.

"I therefore impose a fine of 10 million kwacha on the convict," magistrate Prince Mwiinga said handing down the sentence.

Man attacks six young lesbians

A group of lesbians refuelling at a petrol station after leaving a gay-friendly club in Cape Town, South Africa have been attacked without provocation by a man.

One of the women, 22, said the man who looked "angry and energetic, as if he was on drugs" descended on one of the girls.

"He punched her until she was down on the ground. He kicked her in the face until blood trickled down her forehead. He slapped, shoved and punched anyone who tried to intervene... he was so strong, we felt powerless."

According to the report, he shouted: "These f***ing lesbians, we must beat them up until they stop".

The man eventually drove off in his car and the six women opened a case of assault at the Gugulethu police station.

FERMA engages 10,000 youths for road maintenance

Reprieve may be coming soon for road users as the Federal Road Maintenance Agency claims to have  engaged about 10,000 youths under the Subsidy Re-investment Empowerment Programme to ensure continuous maintenance of federal roads across the country.

The youths, who work in collaboration with FERMA engineers, are natives of the various communities located close to the highway.

Managing Director of FERMA, Mr. Gabriel Amuche, said in a statement on Thursday that the engagement of the youths was part of Federal Government’s job creation programme under the SURE-P.

98% robberies committed by okada riders – CP

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Umaru Manko, says 98 per cent of robbery incidents in the state are committed by okada riders.

 According to the Punch, Manko said this while receiving Toyota Hilux donated by Suru Charity Foundation at the state’s command on Wednesday.

The commissioner said, “If we give you the record of incidence of robberies in the state, 98 per cent are being committed by okada riders. They wait for people at the bank and other strategic places to rob them.

“I think the government of Lagos State is lenient with them. If I were to make law for okada riders, I will recommend that it should be banned completely. People should not read ethnic meanings to the new traffic laws. There is no tribe you cannot find among the riders.”

Manko also said nobody was above the traffic law, warning that anybody caught, including security operatives would be dealt with.

He said some policemen were arrested on Tuesday for riding on the expressway.

He said, “On my way to office yesterday, I saw some policemen on okada. I ordered their arrest. Those policemen, apart from facing what the law says, will face disciplinary action.

“Nobody is above this law and nobody will be above it for the period I am going to serve here. We will continue to enforce the law until the governor says otherwise.” 

UK immigration officer face jail term for faking visa for Nigerian nanny

Going to jail: James Mooney

A former Foreign office manager is facing jail after he today admitted faking a visa application to bring a Nigerian nanny into the country to work for just £300 a month.
 

James Mooney, 33 tried to bring housekeeper Rose Inah back to the UK with her as 'cheap labour.'

Mooney wrongly claimed that Ms Inah had been working for him in Nigeria for a year to ensure she would qualify for a visa.

On the second day of his trial at Inner London Crown Court he dramatically admitted he had only employed the woman for six months and that the visa application was false.

Judge Ian Darling warned Mooney faces jail for masterminding the plot and adjourned sentence until November 6.

His 36 year-old partner Natasha Vukic, who worked for the UK Border Agency, was cleared of involvement in the scam today after prosecutors offered no evidence.

Mooney admitted he faked Ms Inah's documents so she could work at the couple's home in Coulsdon, Surrey, for 11 hours a day, five days a week.  

She also cared for their three year-old son and was paid just £300 a month.

Both Mooney and Vukic had worked as immigration officers in Lagos, before Mooney took up his management position with the Foreign Office in the Nigerian capital.  

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones had told the jury: "The motive is one of greed. Had they succeeded, had Rose come to the UK for a period of a year, she would have worked for what can only be described as a pittance."

She said the plan was hatched in May 2011 at a secure compound where government staff were posted.

"They hit upon a plan that their Nigerian nanny and maid Rose would be the ideal candidate to continue to look after their son when Natasha worked in London."  

Mooney submitted the form on May 25 last year, together with a copy of the maid's contract claiming she had been working for the couple since May 10, 2010.

Miss Karmy-Jones told jurors that Ms Inah had only been working for the couple since November 2010 - six months less than they had written on her visa application.

Their application attracted the attention of visa issuing officer Lindsey Moore, who knew the couple and recalled a visiting their flat in the autumn of 2010 - and at the time the couple were annoyed at another unreliable maid they had employed.

Mrs Moore is then said to have heard that the couple had sacked the unreliable maid shortly afterwards and found a replacement called Rose - months later than claimed on the application form.

An interview with the former maid, and Mooney's staff emails confirmed the date of the Miss Inah's appointment.

The prosecutor claimed that the cost of child care in London had been an issue when the couple were transferred back to the UK.

Mooney, of St Andrews Road, Coulsdon, Surrey, admitted assisting unlawful immigration, while Vukic, of the same address, was cleared of the charge.

Police admit watching mob lynch UNIPORT students

The accused UNIPORT students

 

 The Police have unabashedly stated that the team of its men who attempted to rescue the four University of Port Harcourt students killed by a mob at Aluu, Rivers State, were unable to do so because the mob pelted them with stones!

The police also disclosed that their preliminary investigations revealed that they were not robbers afterall. They were allegedly set up by an individual who owed them an undisclosed amount of money.

Four students, Ugunna Obuzor, (18), Lloyd Toku, (19), Tekena Elkanah, (20) and Chiadaka Odinga, (20) were lynched on October 5, 2012 by a mob.

The police named Coxson Lucky, alias Bright, as the mastermind behind the killings.

The Force also said it had arrested 21 other persons, among them Segun Lawal, Felemo Solomon; Cynthia Chinwo; Ozioma Abajuo and Chigozie Samuel Evans said to have played key roles in the killings.

Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, who said Lucky raised the alarm that resulted in the lynching of the students, however, assured that all those found culpable in the killings would be prosecuted.

The victims, Abubakar, who spoke through the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, said had gone to the community that morning to demand money allegedly owed them by Lucky, who raised the alarm that they were armed robbers.

Although, Lucky, the police chief said, had gone underground, detectives were still on his trail.

He said, “Intelligence report implicated the traditional ruler of Omukiri community, Aluu, Alhaji Hassan Welewa, as being the person who incited the mob to unleash terror on the victims. Further investigation conducted by the police indicates that four suspects, namely: Felemo Solomon; Cynthia Chinwo; Ozioma Abajuo and Chigozie Samuel Evans have been closely linked to this barbarous act.”

The IG explained that the police patrol team sent to the scene of the lynching could not rescue the students from the mob as members of the team were pelted with stones.

He said, “Consequently, the patrol team called for reinforcements, but unfortunately, upon the arrival of the reinforcements, the alleged robbery suspects had been stoned and burnt to death, while the mob immediately took to their heels.

“Their corpses were recovered by the Police who by then had been joined by members of the Joint Task Force. The victims were later identified to be students of University of Port Harcourt.”

He said investigation was ongoing and efforts were being intensified to track down others who were involved in the incident.

Abubakar said he had deployed policemen in the area, including detectives to assist the State Police Command.

He said, “Normalcy has been restored, while the situation in the area, especially in the university and other tertiary institutions is being closely monitored with a view to forestalling any untoward reactions.” 

He appealed to Nigerians to see it as their civic obligation to assist security agencies in the discharge of their responsibility.

Study confirms African men are endowed

Well, it’s no myth now. African men are more endowed below the belt than their brothers on other continents.

A controversial new Penis Size Study purportedly conducted in 113 countries sets out to show 'who comes out on top' - when erect.

At the top of the list is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose men boasted an average of 7.1 inches.

Closely following them were Ecuadorians at 7.0 inches, Ghanaians at 6.8 inches; and Colombians at 6.7 inches.

In Europe, Italians were at the top of the list, with 6.2 inches.

South African men came in at 6 inches.

Next was Greece, at 5.8 inches and Germany at 5.7 inches. Britons measured in at 5.5 inches, beating out the French, who measured 5.3 inches.

Australia came in at 5.2 inches, and America came in at 5 inches.

Rounding out the list were North and South Korea, who both measure, on average, 3.8 inches.

But the study is not without its share of controversy – and not just because of the subject matter itself.

The paper was written by Richard Lynn, who mainly based the information from his study on a website. The website had ostensibly collected data on penis size from 113 countries, but it had not been verified by academics. Lynn is a professor emeritus at Ulster University in Northern Ireland and is a controversial figure in science, particularly due to his thesis which claimed that certain races have evolved to be more intelligent than others.

Jelte Wicherts, a professor of methodology at the Netherlands’ Tilburg University, said to The Sunday Times, “This is a brave paper in a controversial area but the data has no methodology and Lynn’s paper should not have been published”.

Penis size seems to be a bit of a preoccupation for men, causing a healthy industry that claims to have various methods of enlarging the male organ. Interestingly though, there is a significant number of men who claim to have small penises but are in fact quite normally endowed. Penile enhancements can come with a host of complications and side effects.

Richard Lynn’s study will be published in the journal Personality and Individual Difference.

IN NUMBERS - AVERAGE PENIS SIZE BY SELECTED COUNTRIES:

Republic of Congo - 7.1

Ecuador - 7

Ghana - 6.8

Columbia - 6.7

Iceland - 6.5

Italy - 6.2

South Africa - 6

Sweden - 5.9

Greece - 5.8

Germany - 5.7

New Zealand - 5.5

UK - 5.5

Canada - 5.5

Spain - 5.5

France - 5.3

Australia - 5.2

Russia - 5.2

USA - 5.1

Ireland - 5

Romania - 5

China - 4.3

India - 4

China - 4

Thailand - 4

Korea - 3.8

Source: Medicaldaily

Man sues prostitute for overdoing her work



A file image of a punisher dominatrix

A man in Germany has sued a prostitute he took home, accusing her of going beyond brief.

The gentleman hired a dominatrix for a night of painful pleasure, entailing him tying up and sensually punishing him. He told a Cologne district court  the lady put a knife to his throat before demanding his debit card and PIN number.

Cologne district court spokesman Dirk Esser said the plaintiff, a 49-year-old undertaker, also said the woman had detained him against his will for five hours.

The court decided that it was impossible to know for sure what really happened because both parties had consumed too much cocaine during their encounter.

It dropped the charges but ordered the prostitute to pay 200 euros to a local charity that supports crime victims as a penance.

The 35-year-old mother of four has been in pre-trial custody for the past five weeks, but declined to be compensated for time spent in jail, Esser said.

The dominatrix denied keeping the man against his will, adding that he had also asked if a transsexual colleague could join them.

 

Restaurants remove urinals shaped like woman's mouth

A sumptuous new French restaurant in Sydney said it would remove two urinals designed to resemble a woman's lipsticked mouth, apologising for any offence they have caused.

The Ananas Bar and Brasserie said the bright red-lipped urinals shaped like an open mouth were "a commonly used European design piece from female Dutch artist Meike van Schijndel".

"We sincerely apologise if they have caused offence. They are being removed today," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

The stylish restaurant opened three weeks ago, with the Sydney Morning Herald's food reviewer describing the urinals as "no real surprise here at Ananas, merely adding to the extraordinary collision of statements and intent".

But feminist, former political adviser and writer Anne Summers said the design was offensive. "Misogyny is very widespread, and this is just an example of misogyny," said Summers.

"The concept is pretty challenging and confronting. They're asking men to put their dicks in these mouths as urinals."

Australia is the grip of a fierce political debate about sexism after Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the nation's first woman leader, accused opposition leader Tony Abbott of being a misogynist.

The unmarried Gillard said Tuesday she had been personally offended by many of Abbott's remarks over the years -- from urging her to "make an honest woman of herself", to his cat-calling at her in parliament.

"If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror," she said in stinging comments.

Conversation with a Facebook fraudster

If a friend of yours on Facebook is asking you to send him phone credit urgently, activate your anti-fraud mode instantly, because chances are that he is a clone of your friend.

 

I’ve just concluded the conversation below with a fraudster who apparently has hijacked the account of an old time friend.

 

He has tried since Friday, October 5 to hold a conversation with me, but I’d been too busy.

 

Today, he tried again and made his request for a N2000 credit because he was in a meeting and he needed the airtime urgently. Snag was, the Ibe that I know (surname withheld) is a proud man, and would not request for a recharge card from anyone even if his life depended on it. Okay, maybe that’s exaggerated, but you get the picture.

 

Secondly, he was supposed to be in a high profile meeting, yet he was on Facebook for hours.

 

I offered to share him some of my credit, knowing that for that to happen, he would have to send me his number. He saw through that and declined. He instead requested me to send it through Facebook! He soon realised he was not going to 'hammer' and went offline.

 

Our youths want to be rich by all means and anyone or anything, is fair game. If they are not masquerading as a lady who needs love, they are hijacking the identity of others to dupe people. It’s the tragedy of a highly commercialised society, where people are not respected unless they have money, regardless of whether the money was ripped off a fellow man/woman.

 

This growing tribe of young swindlers are increasingly destroying trust and making the world a cruel place for the trusting and the dull.

 

May God help us.

 The conversation via Facebook chat

Ibe on Oct 5: Hello how are you \

 (No answer from me. Too busy to notice it.)

 

Today

Ibe @ 12:21: Hello. How are you doing ?

 

Me@ 12:22: I dey kampe. You nko, bros?
 

Ibe · 12:22: fine where are you right now ?

(Some time lapses, while I attended to other things)

 

Ibe · 14:03: hello
 

Me · 14:10: Bros, no vex jare. Juggling some work here. I'm doing PR now.

 

Ibe · 14:11: i want you to do me a favour right now ?

 

Me · 14:15: What?

 

Ibe · 14:17: I'm in a meeting right now and i want to make some important calls but i don't have much card on my phone i want you to help me with call card

can you help me out ?

 

Me · 14:25: Ok. But to get out to buy it may not be immediately possible, as I'm doing something right now, as I told you. Can I share you some small credit from my credit right now via share and sell?

 

Ibe · 14:26: airtel 2000 send it here

 

(Some time lapses)

 

Ibe: are you there ?

 

Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 hits Nigeria

Head of Marketing, Hand Held Products, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Abiodun Odejayi; Hand Held Products Marketing’s Ms. Olajumoke Okikiolu and Head of Sales, Hand Held Products, Mr. Olumide Ojo, all of Samsung Electronics West Africa, at the media launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 at Samsung Experience Store in Ikeja, Lagos

 

Samsung Electronics West Africa, has unveiled its highly anticipated GALAXY Note 10.1 for the Nigerian market. The device, positioned as a device that enhances productivity, creativity and learning capability is now available for purchase at Samsung’s Experience Store in Ikeja City Mall in Alausa, Lagos and at authorized retailers across the country.

 

Powered by Google's Android software Ice Cream Sandwich, the GALAXY Note 10.1 extends Samsung’s GALAXY Note category, building on the success of last year’s worldwide hit Smartphone and delivering the functionality and precision of pen and paper by combining the S Pen with a 10.1 inch large display. 

 

It is equipped with a quad-core processor that allows users to run multiple applications at a faster speed than the previous version, which had a dual-core processor. It also features a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.9-megapixel front camera, a microSD slot that allows for expansion by up to an extra 32GB of storage and a battery life that supports up to nine hours of usage.

 

The device also comes with a customized copy of Adobe Photoshop Touch, which allows users to do fine-grained, professional-quality photo editing; a universal television remote software that offers recommendations based on previous TV viewing habits and AllShare Play, which lets users share content with large groups in real-time, by connecting GALAXY Note 10.1 to Samsung HD TVs, phones, mobile tablets, laptops, and other consumer electronic devices on the same network.

 

"Our goal with the Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 was simple - redefine the tablet experience. The advanced technology and features included in the device give users the power to produce, create and customize communications. For the user, the resulting experience is completely new, thrilling and quite unexpected,” said Mr. Abiodun Odejayi, Head of Marketing, Hand Held Products at Samsung Electronics West Africa.

 

Olumide Ojo, Head of Sales, Hand Held Products, Samsung Electronics West Africa, said: “Other tablets multitask only in that they allow users to toggle between different applications, which is more or less single tasking. You are really only doing one thing at once with such tablets. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is unique in that its screen can display two applications at once, allowing the user to cut and paste material between the applications. For instance, a user can take notes while reading a book; look up some information while watching a movie or even copy an address from an online magazine onto the notepad.” 

Apple apologises for glitches on Maps

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook

Apple’s CEO

Source: http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/

We don’t welcome ex-convicts, New Zealand tells Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson's chequered past has come back to haunt him as his visa to New Zealand where he is to perform a one-man show has been cancelled just a day after it was issued. His promoter however says he's not giving up on this one quite yet.

Mike Tyson's visa  application was supported by a letter of recommendation purportedly written by Life Education Trust (LET). However, LET has withdrawn the letter, claiming that it was written by a volunteer who was not authorised to do such a thing in the first place.

New Zealand bans anyone from obtaining a visa if they have been sentenced to prison sentences of five years or more. Tyson served three years of a six-year sentence for his 1992 conviction. The visit by Tyson has been in the New Zealand media for weeks, and Prime Minister John Key opposed granting the visa.

Tyson, who spent time in jail after a 1992 rape conviction, was granted a special visa but the Associate Immigration Minister Kate Wilkinson overturned the decision to allow him into the country.  

Max Markson, the promoter behind the visit, says he's hoping to get the visa reissued.  “It would be a tragedy if Mike Tyson could not come to New Zealand to do his show,” he said, adding, “We'll see if we can get a visa issued again. They've issued it once, hopefully it might be issued again.”

Markson has previously arranged New Zealand appearances by President Clinton and Tony Blair, so he's got some experience in making big appearances happen. Tickets to the event are still on sale and platinum tickets are priced at $395.

Mike Tyson was due to arrive in New Zealand Nov. 15. Some say that he has done his time and reformed himself, so the conviction from 20 years ago should not impact his ability to get a visa.

Prior to the news that Tyson's visa was cancelled, he mentioned he was looking forward to the trip. He shared, “Fortunately, I am coming to New Zealand and there's nothing they can do about it and I'm so sorry, I'm sorry they feel disappointed and I'm just living my life.” So far Tyson hasn't commented publicly on the visa cancellation.