Warmth beyond a hot sandwich - another version of "pay it forward"

Little things like holding the door for a stranger to get in, walking an old man through a heavy traffic, giving your place in the bus to an elderly person, making human values prosper and boosting people with the energy of giving without waiting for a return. 

This story is on this same path, if not an even better one.

Two guys enter a small coffee shop in order to get a hot beverage. Meanwhile waiting for their order, two ladies come by the counter and shout: 4 coffees please, two take away and two suspended please. Then they pay for their order, get their two cups and leave. The first guy took a sip of his hot coffee and asks his friend: What does suspended coffee mean?

I can explain to you, but it is better you wait until you see by yourself – his friend replied.

A few other people have started coming in. One guy ordered an Americano for himself and left. Next order had five suspended coffees on them. It was made by a family of three. Then many other suspended coffees followed on next orders.

The first guy was wondering what was the deal with these suspended coffees, challenged by his patience and itched by curiosity; he started looking through the window watching pedestrians passing by under the rain.

Then all of a sudden, an old man looking like a homeless, with unkempt clothes, gets close to the counter and kindly asked: Are there any suspended coffees please?

The idea is very simple. People would pay in advance for someone they do not need who might be in need, of a hot beverage, of a bite or just a little warmth. This trend of suspended coffees has seen light first in Naples then has spread all around the world.

A few guys in Morocco have heard this story and started their own trend of hot snacks in the little snack-house of their neighbourhood. They order a meal for themselves then put another meal on “suspended” for somebody to share their exact same food.

Beggars, homeless guys, and hungry children come around it frequently seeking to fill their stomach and to feel some warmth – the feeling of being taken care of by someone they have never met.

The snack-house owner has found joy transmitting the message around his “colleagues” who appreciated the idea. It is easy to create a movement this way, a chain of good vibes and giving among strangers.

In Belgium also, a group of people have been inspired by the story of suspended coffees and tried to structure it. For them, it’s all about unconditional giving, in all forms. They do not only target coffee shops but also restaurants, supermarkets, butchers… then offer stickers to them where it says something like “awaiting present” so it would be recognizable for people who seek them.

A chain of giving, a spontaneous act of kindness like this one in every corner of the world and nobody would ever have to sleep with an empty stomach or without warmth in their heart.

Louay Benaabdelaali

Michael Schumacher, Skiing and Safety as the Olympics begin

Former Formula One racer Michael Schumacher is recognized throughout the world of sports as the greatest F-1 driver of all time. An athlete since he was four years old, Schumacher is undoubtedly a veteran of the sport. His F-1 career spanning 21 years was filled with an exceptional amount of achievements. A seven-time Formula One World Champion, among many other titles and records; he retired most recently, in 2012, but is still a large part of the racing world.

Schumacher after winning the US Grand Prix in 2006. Source: F-1

Affectionately called “Schumi” by his fans, he started his F-1 career at Benetton and won the first of his 7 World Championships there. In 1995, after winning his second Championship, he shifted to Ferrari and has forever since been associated with the iconic red car with its prancing horse. He retired for the first time, a 7 time champion, in 2007 and continued with Ferrari till 2009 as an assistant race director. From 2010 to 2012, he raced for the Mercedes team under former boss Ross Brawn and retired, for a second time, in 2012.

Schumacher skiing in Meribel, France. Source: People

Recently though, he has been in the news, to his fans and the racing community at large, for the direst of reasons. While vacationing in the French Alps, in December 2013, Schumacher suffered a near fatal head injury from a skiing accident. His accident happened over a

month ago, yet the media glare surrounding him and his condition has not waned. Constant medical and public attention has followed Schumacher since his nearly fatal accident (and, subsequent coma) last month; this has intensified in the past 24 hours, as rumors spread that he was slowly being lifted out of his coma.

           Site of Schumacher's accident at Meribel, France. Source: grandprix247                               

Throughout the entire ordeal, Schumacher’s family has requested absolute privacy in regards to his condition, yet information leaked this week revealing doctors’ plans to gently release his sedation. No prognoses have yet been confirmed by Schumacher’s doctors at the clinic in Grenoble, France, where he is being treated at. Regardless, fellow athletes around the world, who are eager for Schumacher’s recovery, have come out with messages of hope and good wishes towards the veteran driver and his family.

Recovery, in this circumstance, is not entirely guaranteed. The severe trauma Schumacher sustained to his skull caused his brain to swell at a rate that forced doctors to medically induce a coma in him. While in a coma, his brain will, hopefully, stop swelling and return to a more stable and treatable condition. Doctors have expressed their concerns that even if Schumacher wakes up from his coma, he may never be the same person, let alone the supreme athlete that he was before.

Schumacher’s accident and, now, early stages of recovery are happening at a time when the world’s eyes are intensely focused on sports. With the Sochi Olympics having begun yesterday, both athletes and avid skiers have been focusing more and more of their attention on winter sports.

Schumacher’s accident brings up an extremely important aspect of these sports: safety. While Schumacher’s condition leaves the world hoping for his full recovery, it also leaves us questioning our safety practices when it comes to activities like skiing. Safety should never be taken lightly and hopefully the many athletes participating in the Games will reinforce our knowledge and understanding of proper safety in regards to winter sports. As we watch the Olympics this year, we will not only hope for safety for all of the athletes competing, but we will continue hoping for Schumacher’s recovery as well.

-Brynn Rollo

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World Cup Weekly: Ticket Sales Soar and Teams Setup Shop

Good news. Finally...

A good week for Brazil’s 2014 World Cup endeavor saw ticket sales skyrocketing and the 32 participating teams finalizing their base camp venues.

With the deadline for this stage of ticket sales fast approaching (this Friday, in fact!), fans have been clamoring to get tickets for this summer’s premier sporting event. FIFA have announced that, already, 3.5 million tickets have been requested from over half a million fans from 199 countries.

The Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo, under construction in 2013

Of course, about 80 percent of those requests came from the football (soccer) hungry Brazillians and the remaining 20 percent, from fans abroad, for whom there is a permanently reserved 16 percent seating availability at every game of the sporting spectacle.

Tickets are being allocated by the Caixa Economica Federal bank, Brazil’s Ministry of Sport and a notary public, through a public draw scheduled this month after which, successful applicants will be notified by March 11.

The competing teams on the other hand, finalized their travel plans and their base of operations. Teams chose their base camps from FIFA’s approved list of 83 venues, each a combination of hotel and training center, spread across Brazil, and revealed their choices this past Monday.

Sao Paulo and Rio were the top two choices by competing teams with the former playing host to 15 teams including former WC winner France, Portugal and the four Central and South American teams of Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia and Honduras. The party, though, is going to be at Rio where the hosts Brazil are going to be camped out along with European heavyweights Italy, England and the Netherlands. Minas Gerais and Bahia will host 3 teams each, aside from Rio and Sao Paulo. As a consequence, the Brazilian south-east will be where the party is this summer.

Meanwhile, across the pond...

Across the Atlantic, WC fever seems to be spreading in Europe, with Algeria and England announcing welcome news to their fans with regards to their respective teams.

Algeria’s sports ministry has announced plans wherein fans of the team may travel with the team if they want to and have opened registrations for this opportunity. Registering for this option would cover return flights, a three-star hotel accommodation, travel to the stadiums and tickets for the 3 first round games as well as one round of 16 match, should the Algerian team, which is going to be based in Sao Paulo, qualify. This a costly endeavor, however, for fans with the price set at $4,465 per person.

England fans at a pub during the 2010 WC. Source: Daily Echo

In England, Prime Minister David Cameron called for a rethink of pub opening hours after the UK Home Office turned down requests for extended operating hours on the England team’s match-days. English match-day pub culture is a hugely significant part of their football culture and the PM said that there was “significant national interest” in allowing watering holes to close their taps during England’s matches, especially the group stage game against Italy which kicks off at 11pm BST. The pubs have asked to be given permission to serve patrons until 1 am on this particular match-day and have also requested longer trading hours during the opening and closing weekends of the WC. The latter request is still “under consultation”.

-Firdose Moonda

Firdose Moonda is The Atlantic Post’s Southern Africa Correspondent, and also covers sports news. She is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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World Cup Weekly- Curitaba's lack of progress threatens WC schedule

Arena de Baixaba, Curitaba in December 2013. Source: Folha

Last week, Brazil’s largest southern city, Curitiba, was put on notice. Since Curitiba has already missed the deadline for the completion of its stadium, FIFA has given the city until February 18 to provide evidence the stadium will be complete in time for the tournament or if alternate venues need to be found.

The teams directly affected by the stadium’s readiness will be Australia, Spain, Honduras, Ecuador, Iran, Nigeria, Algeria and Russia, who all have group stage matches scheduled in the city. Construction delays are synonymous with major tournaments and have affected everything from the Sochi Winter Olympics to the Korean Grand Prix. The Brazilian hold ups have attracted attention as well as severe criticism this week.

Carlos Alberto Parreira, who coached Brazil to victory at the 1994 event and is Brazil’s assistant coach, told Radio CBN he thinks the Brazilian government “missed an opportunity” to benefit its own population by not starting infrastructure projects earlier. Although Parreira is confident the stadiums will be ready in time for kick-off, he made the point that “fans can’t live in a stadium.”

Carlos Alberto Parreira (right) with former WC winning coach Zagallo. Source: Google

He lashed out at Brazilian administration for not being more timely in its upgrades to public amenities, such as airports and hotels. The bidding process to work on transport hubs only opens in March, even though Brazil has known for the last seven years that it will host the World Cup.

Parriera was particularly critical of Rio de Janeiro, the place he says can become more user-friendly for its own people. “Rio will always continue to attract tourists. It’s a wonderful city. But we all know that it could offer us a lot more comfort, a lot more safety and a better quality of life,” he said.

-Firdose Moonda

Firdose is The Atlantic Post's Correspondent in Southern Africa. She writes and analyzes Cricket and Football news around the world.

>>For more on the situation and latest updates on the protests, click here

Interview: Nidal Ibourk from Arab station MBC's "The Voice"

Nidal Ibourk at MBC's "The Voice"

The competition is heating up at Arab satellite station MBC's "The Voice", where impressive music talents from all over the Middle East have been pitting their voices against each other. The show is similar to its namesake, here, in the US and its contestants being judged by Arab singing legends Assi El Halani of Lebanon, Shirine Abdel Wahab of Egypt, Kathem El Saher of Iraq and Saber Robai of Tunisia, each of them household names in the Middle East.

The Atlantic Post's Jamal Laoudi spoke with Nidal Ibourk, a Moroccan-American vocalist who passed stage 1 of the competition last week, and discussed a wide range of topics from competition formats to team selections to preparations.

Here are a few excerpts from the interview-

On her choice of song: …I chose a hard song because I belong to the classical school and that song shows my vocal capabilities. Also, because I wanted to differentiate myself from the rest and the judges congratulated me on the choice and my performance…

On her performance: …I was focusing on my performance and my presence on stage. I knew that more than 1 judge would turn because I trust my voice and I have a unique style from the rest of the contestants.

On her choice of team: My initial option was between Kathem and Assi. I feel their background is very close to mine both in terms of classical or Lebanese styles especially since I sing Fayrouz and Rahabina’s songs…

On her plan going forward: I am focused on showing my uniqueness, vocally and presence-wise. I am happy that a lot of people are noticing that already, and that I positively represent my country in the competition.

On the rest of the competitors: …I have got to know some great people and friends. We are becoming closer as some of us left the competition after the blinds…

Read the full interview here.

Watch her perform at "The Voice" here.

-Ajay Venkataraman

Fears over athletes' safety as Russian government's anti-homosexual attitude mars Sochi Olympics excitement

Official Logo of the Sochi Winter Olympics 2014

Sporting events bring together massive amounts of athletes, friends, family, journalists and spectators. In a world where athletics seems to be the closest thing we all have to a universal language, it is never a welcomed thought to think that a worldwide event, such as the Olympics, would have such a negative connotation to it. The Sochi Winter Olympics, scheduled to start in under a week, has been surrounded by surprisingly hateful ideas.

The Olympics has always intended to hold a humane standard, meaning that any athlete, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, can equally compete. These have been (or attempted to be) the standards for the Games for years. This is debatably the greatest aspect of the Olympic games: equality. The Olympics focus on athletic ability. It is not concerned with and does not discriminate against where you are born, what kind of accent you speak with, or what your political views are.

However, the Olympics is a sporting event just like any other, and it comes with a great deal of publicity. Citizens of host countries have often used sporting events to publicize either their political or social reform efforts within their countries. Protests, marches, and strikes are all tactics used by groups of people attempting to force change, or at the least force some global attention onto their country’s problems.

Gay rights activists in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 2013. Source: Bloomberg

This year, the major theme surrounding the Sochi Olympics, is Russia and its anti-gay laws and attitudes. Even though Russia’s constitution claims equality and rights for all people, it has not stopped the mayor of Sochi from claiming that homosexuality will not be tolerated, and has never been tolerated in Russia. Russia claims to respect their citizens’ privacy, while at the same time condemning any homosexual activity and publicity.

Countries around the world, especially the United States, have been making efforts to boycott these Olympics. They have been concerned about the safety of their athletes, but Olympic committees around the world have deemed it more beneficial to participate in the Games, as opposed to causing a global disagreement. 

Sochi has promised the Games’ attendees’ safety, in exchange for their respect of Russia. This hypocritical view has left many in a state of confusion. Journalists have been attempting to challenge these statements in order to gain some clarity. Not much progress has been made on this account because when the mayor of Sochi- Mr. Antoly Pakhomov of President Putin's United Russia Party, was questioned about his views on homosexuality, he stated that Sochi has simply never had homosexuals thus far and therefore will never have them in the future as well.

Sochi Mayor says no gays in his town Source: BBC

It is unfortunate that any negative attitudes are being created in regards to the Olympics, an event that is supposed to unite the world in a common goal. Regardless of disputes and disagreements, athletes everywhere wish for a peaceful Games during which they can compete at the highest caliber against the best competition. As the Games get closer and closer, we must keep not only our ears open but also our minds, and hopefully our divided world can come together again for such an important event – The Olympic Games.

-Brynn Rollo

>>Click here to read more on protests against the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia

World Cup Weekly

Official FIFA WC Logo. Source: FIFA

The Football World Cup is the largest single-sport competition around, which attracts viewership from almost half the world. In 2010, when the tournament was last held, an estimated 3.2 billion people (46.4% of the population at the time) watched some part of the event. 

With global reach that wide, the 17 countries who have hosted the tournament are in elite company. Brazil, as one of only three to have organised the World Cup twice, is in an even more distinguished group. 

The South American giants last saw the competition played on their soil before there was color television, in 1950. Theirs was the first World Cup played after the Second World War and was in many ways representative of the world order at the time. 

Germany and Japan, who were both still occupied by Allied forces, were not allowed to compete. Eastern European teams, which included most nations behind the Iron Curtain such as the Soviet Union, Hungary and France refused to take part. 

Argentina, Ecuador and Peru withdrew during qualifying because of disputes with the Brazilian federation in Argentina’s case and financial worries. India pulled out after qualifying ostensibly because they would not be allowed to play barefoot, which they had done at the 1948 Olympics, but logistical issues also hampered their case. Turkey could not afford to travel and France did not arrive after citing too much travel in their group. 

That left 13, out of which Brazil were expected to triumph. They reached the final, only to lose to Uruguay. They see 2014 as a chance to put that, and many other things, right. 

This competition will be bigger and better than the one before. Instead of 13 teams, there are 32. Instead of six venues, there are 12. Instead of 1,045,246 people at the games, there are expected to be more than three million. 

The 32 national teams playing this summer in Brazil. Source: DailyMail

Making that happen has not been easy. Brazil has had to prep and prime and still has some way to go. Those who want to bring attention to the plight of people in favellas to those who are campaigning against worker’s wages have punctuated the planning with protests. Income inequality has been highlighted. So has fiery passion for the game that has been said to unite the world. And now, the event is less than six months away. 

For those of you who are busy buying your nations' colors and planning a trip to Brazil in the summer, here are some things you can look forward to:

Venue Update:

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke will conclude his four-day inspection visit to Brazil on Thursday when he will meet with members of the local organizing committee in Rio.

Valcke’s trip started with a trip to Sao Paulo where the tournament will kick off with the match between Brazil and Croatia on June 12. The construction of the stadium has been severely delayed after two workers were killed when a crane collapsed late last year. He urged Brazilians to work together to ensure the arena is built and the opening game takes place without incident. “The pressure is a little bit bigger here. It’s the first game. It has to be a success. The world will be watching,” he said. 

The Itaquerao Stadium is expected to be ready in mid-April and is one of six stadiums that missed the December deadline. Arena da Baixada in the southern city of Curitiba, is another. Valcke changed his travel plans to inspect this venue and then moved to Natal to look at the Arena das Dunas. 

Travel Planning: 

If you’re worried about visiting the theaters of dreams described above, your concerns will be eased with the knowledge that a second Brazilian airline has agreed to cap fares. Avianca Brazil has joined Azul in putting a limit on one-way fares. The most travelers will pay is 999 reals (US$425). 

Brazil is expecting more than half a million tourists, who will join the throngs of locals in trekking across the country to watch their teams but prices threatened to  quash their plans. Airlines and hotels had inflated their charges, much to the criticism of the local government and are now responding. 

Even with the lower prices, there may not be enough flights to go around. TAM, the largest airline the country, may put on an additional 1,000 flights in the World Cup period but airlines have asked for at least 523 more to be added to the schedule. With limited infrastructure, an agreement on this has yet to be reached. 

Local News: 

Should you get no further than Sao Paulo or Rio, don’t despair. There will be something to watch there, especially this weekend. Around 1,000 people are expected to gather at the JK Shopping Center with 8,000 expected at a mall in Rio in a flash-mob, known as a “rolezinho,” to protest against racism and inequality. 

The Financial Times quoted academic Rafael Alcadipani as saying the current demonstrations can be seen as a continuation as last year’s protests, Brazil’s biggest in two decades. But, Alcadipani says this  time is includes “people from the city’s periphery.” 

One such movement has already taken place. Last week, 6,000 teenagers occupied a shopping center in Sao Paulo and numerous other groups sprang up around the city. They were organised via social media, with Facebook in particular, playing a role and military police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up the protests. The demonstrations are believed to be a way of Brazilian citizens voicing their concerns over inequality. 

Wednesdays’ World Cup Weekly is the Atlantic Post’s watch on the World Cup. Every seven days, we’ll bring you a selection of the most important updates from Brazil as we approach the tournament. 

-Firdose Moonda

Firdose is The Atlantic Post's Correspondent in Southern Africa. She writes and analyzes Cricket and Football news around the world.