Everyone knows about sleeping people
who get up and go for a walk, but far less is heard about the rare
cases of men who try to have sex in their sleep. One found himself in
serious trouble, reports the BBC's Sally Abrahams.
When Sarah
first met Tom at a friend's house, they immediately clicked. He was
warm, chatty, with a gentle sense of humour that reminded her of her
brother.
In the following weeks, they went on dates and spent
more time together. Sometimes Sarah would stay over at Tom's flat. At
other times, he would come to hers.
As they were getting to know
each other, something happened while they were in bed one night that
made Sarah feel uncomfortable. Tom began fondling her breasts, then
quickly began thrusting at her groin in a crude, unsensual kind of way.
It was early days in their relationship, and she decided not to say
anything about it.
"I guess I thought he was just being a bit frisky, so I
just brushed it off. Which is probably what always happened in the
past."
Gradually, they became closer, and settled into a routine
of meals out, cinema and long walks together. They enjoyed each other's
company and Sarah put aside her worries of that strange nocturnal
episode.
But one night, after they'd been to a party, where
they'd both been drinking, Sarah woke from a deep sleep to find Tom
trying to penetrate her through her underwear.
It was painful and
disturbing. The next day, she told him she'd had enough and wanted to
end the relationship. But Tom's response surprised her. "He didn't know
what I was talking about so he was quite defensive. And I was really
angry having been woken up and him just completely oblivious to the
whole thing," Sarah says.
Tom insisted he had no recollection at
all of trying to have sex with Sarah that night. He was devastated by
her account of what he had done and by the thought that he had hurt her.
Sarah
didn't know what to think. Tom's crude attempt to have sex that night
had been totally different from how he normally was; gentle, intimate,
sensual. But she remembered something Tom had told her when they first
met, before the relationship had even begun - that years ago, he had
been convicted of raping his ex-partner, Karen, and sentenced to seven
years in jail.
It had happened while he was on a
visit to spend time with their young child. He and Karen had had a
drink, watched a film and then shared a bed. Tom had fallen asleep
almost immediately, but had been woken about 45 minutes later by Karen
screaming and shouting at him: "What are you doing? This isn't you.
This is not like you. This isn't you." Confused, disorientated and shocked by her screaming, he grabbed his stuff and left her flat.
Between the point of drifting off to sleep and being shouted at by Karen, Tom said he had no recollection of anything at all.
Sarah
wondered if Tom's behaviour then - apparently so out of character -
might be related to his more recent attempt to force himself on her.
She
thought back to other strange things that Tom did in his sleep - like
the first time he stayed at hers. "He got up in the night, put his
trousers on, told me he was leaving. No top on. Didn't remember
anything about it in the morning," she says.
So Sarah encouraged
Tom to see his GP. He was referred to the sleep clinic at Guy's and St
Thomas' hospitals in London, where he spent a night with electrodes
attached to his scalp to monitor his brain activity. What the doctors discovered was to have a dramatic impact on Tom's life.
"His
brainwaves in his sleep study show something very unusual," says Dr Guy
Leschziner, the consultant neurologist in charge of Tom's case.
"He
appears to be awake and deeply asleep at the same time. During brief
periods we can see the large slow brainwaves of deep sleep, with
superimposed fast rhythms, suggesting simultaneously that he is awake."
The findings of the sleep study together with Sarah's
description of Tom's behaviour and his sleepwalking led Leschziner to
diagnose Tom with a rare type of sleep disorder called sexsomnia.
Sexsomnia
is related to sleepwalking, and to night terrors - when people exhibit
nightmare-like symptoms even though they are not in the dreaming phase
of sleep. All are forms of a sleep disorder known as "parasomnia", and
usually occur in the first part of the night, during very deep sleep,
says Prof Meir Kryger of Yale University.
"The person who
sleepwalks will appear to be awake but they're really not. And we know
this from monitoring their brainwaves," he says.
It's the parts
of the brain controlling vision, movement and emotion that appear to be
awake, says Guy Leschziner. "While areas of the brain involved in
memory, decision-making and rational thinking appear to remain in deep
sleep. So people in this state can talk, walk, eat, cook, drive or even
have sex, without clear consciousness or memory."
So could Tom's sexsomnia diagnosis have a bearing on his rape conviction?
"Without
having electrodes attached during the night of the rape, it's
impossible to be sure whether it was as a result of Tom's sleep
disorder," says Leschziner. "Tom was found guilty by a jury."
But
in the last few years, there have been several court cases involving
sleep disorders, including sexsomnia, which have resulted in acquittals.
The law must decide whether someone has criminal intent or is acting as
an automaton, without conscious awareness.
"There is a famous
case in Toronto where a gentleman got into a car, drove a long distance
and then murdered his mother-in-law and father-in-law. And the jury
decided that he was sleepwalking and he wasn't guilty," says Meir Kryger
of Yale University.
"There was another similar case in Arizona a
few years ago, where someone murdered his wife. And in that case he
alleged that he was sleepwalking, but he was convicted."
Because
defendants are never having their brainwaves measured when they carry
out the attack it can be hard to know for sure whether they were
conscious or not, says Mike Kopelman, emeritus professor of
neuropsychiatry at King's College London.
"If you find evidence of conscious deliberation, motivation or of recall, that rules out it having been an automatism," he says.
But if not, then the accused could be innocent.
"One has to
piece together what you know about the assailant's past history of a
sleep disorder and what the circumstances were and also the findings on
sleep recordings, which don't prove there was a parasomnia at the time
but provide corroborative evidence."
Sarah says Tom's sexsomnia
diagnosis has had a profound effect on him, because he'd always believed
he was falsely accused of rape.
"To come to terms with the
fact that he had actually done something that he had no recollection of
whatsoever and dealing with that sort of guilt... I mean, he didn't even
know that he did anything odd at night. He just doesn't remember in
the morning," she says.
There isn't a miracle cure for this kind
of extreme sleep disorder, but there are ways to help prevent it
happening. They include wearing clothing in bed, to reduce skin-to-skin
contact. Stress, alcohol and lack of sleep can also be triggers, as
well as sleeping in an unfamiliar environment.
By avoiding these
situations, Tom says there's been a dramatic improvement. Before seeking
treatment, he was experiencing sexsomnia every two or three months.
"I'm
very confident now to be able to say that the events of sexsomnia are
very controlled now. And there certainly hasn't been one in the last two
or three years."
French President Emmanuel Macron has
told Donald Trump he is "concerned" the US leader could unilaterally
recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Any decision on the
contested city's status must be "within the framework of negotiations
between Israelis and Palestinians", Mr Macron said.
Earlier, similar warnings came from a number of Arab and Muslim nations.
Reports say the US president will recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital this week.
Both Israelis and Palestinians claim the city as their capital.
The White House said Mr Trump would miss Monday's deadline to sign a
waiver delaying the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem.
But White House spokesman Hogan Gidley stressed that
"the president has been clear on this issue from the get-go: It's not a
matter of if, it's a matter of when".
Every president, including
Mr Trump, has signed the waiver every six months since US Congress
passed an act in 1995 calling for the embassy to be moved.
What's so contentious about the move?
The
status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of Israel's conflict with the
Palestinians, who are backed by the rest of the Arab and wider Islamic
world.
The city is home to key religious sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, especially in East Jerusalem.
Israel occupied the area in the 1967 Middle East war and regards the entire city as its indivisible capital.
The
Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and
according to 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, its final status is
meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks.
Israeli
sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognised internationally,
and all countries, including Israel's closest ally the US, maintain
their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Since 1967, Israel has built a dozen settlements, home to about
200,000 Jews, in East Jerusalem. These are considered illegal under
international law, though Israel disputes this.
If the US
recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital, it will put it out-of-step
with the rest of the international community and reinforce Israel's
position that settlements in the east are valid Israeli communities.
What has been the international reaction?
On Monday, Saudi Arabia
said such a move before a final settlement in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict would "have a detrimental impact on the peace process". Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has urged world leaders to intervene, saying "such a US decision would destroy the peace process". Jordan
has warned of "grave consequences", while Arab League chief Abul Gheit
has said such a move would "nourish fanaticism and violence". Turkish Deputy PM Bekir Bozdag has said this would be a "major catastrophe".
A hospital in the Indian capital Delhi has fired two doctors for mistakenly declaring a newborn dead.
The
doctors at the privately run Max Hospital had pronounced the baby dead
hours after his twin who was stillborn on 30 November.
The parents found that the baby was alive while they were on their way to his funeral.
The incident sparked outrage and a debate over the quality of private healthcare which is often costly.
The
privately run Max Hospital said in a statement that "this strict action
has been taken on the basis of our initial discussions with experts".
"While
the inquiry by the expert group which includes external experts from
Indian Medical Association is still in process, we have decided to
terminate the services of the two treating doctors," the hospital added.
The government's inquiry into the incident is ongoing.
The
incident came to light when the parents noticed one of the babies
squirming inside the plastic bag that doctors placed the infants in.
According
to the twins' grandfather, the stunned family rushed the newborn to a
nearby hospital where they were told that their baby was still alive,
local media reported.
This was the second instance in recent months where a private
hospital in India has been called out for negligent care. Last month, a
girl died of dengue fever in another hospital and the parents allege
they were overcharged for her treatment
During the Cold War, nuclear
strategists frequently asked "how much is enough" to guarantee
deterrence and the security of the nation. Planners in Pyongyang may be
asking the same question now.
After all, Wednesday's dramatic
launch by North Korea of its new Hwasong-15 long-range missile is, in
the eyes of some analysts, capable of striking as far afield as
Washington or New York.
After six nuclear tests since 2003 and
more than 20 missile launches in 2017, could the North have reached a
point where its military advances give it a de facto nuclear deterrent
credible enough to discourage the US from ever attacking North Korea?
The question is not an academic one.
If
Pyongyang feels secure - and the North's leaders have routinely claimed
that their nuclear and other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) assets
are purely for defensive purposes - then presumably Kim Jong-un can
negotiate from a position of strength with the US to secure a relaxation
of economic and political sanctions.
Such talks would allow Mr
Kim to realise his twin strategic priorities: military modernisation and
sustainable economic growth - in the process bolstering his leadership
legitimacy in the eyes of his people.
A prelude to further testing
Official
North Korean news statements accompanying the missile launch suggest
that the latest launch is the culmination of a long-term technological
mission - in the words of Kim Jong-un it was "a significant day when the
historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of
building a rocket power was realised".
Yet, the test - another
confirmation of the North's increasing technical sophistication - is
most likely a prelude to further testing.
While the US and its allies worry that the North is
inching closer to the date when it can put a nuclear warhead on an
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and deliver it with a measure
of accuracy against a US city, the evidence suggests that the North is
at least months or possibly a year or two away from reaching this goal.
It
will, therefore, need to test similar long-range missiles to refine its
strike capacity, including developing the targeting, and
heat-resistant, re-entry capabilities needed to guarantee a meaningful
deterrent.
Keep in mind that testing military hardware has
purposes beyond merely bolstering deterrence. It is a way of showing
strength and resisting pressure from one's enemies.
North Korean
officials frequently point out the need not to appear weak in the face
of external provocation, especially from Pyongyang's historic adversary,
the United States.
David and Goliath myth
President
Trump's "fire and fury" warning that he may feel compelled to totally
destroy" North Korea, his belittling of "rocket man" Kim Jong-un,
tighter US and international sanctions, and the latest decision by Trump
to re-list North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism are all evidence
in Pyongyang's eyes of hostile intent.
To President Trump, his
tough language may appear like a shrewd negotiating tactic, putting
pressure on both the North and on China to end the current deadlock, but
it is woefully short-sighted and unimaginative not to consider how the
actions may be seen from the North's perspective.
One senior
North Korean foreign ministry official has characterised Trump as
"crazy…a complete thug…just a pathetic guy and a scattermouth".
In
this context, and with the North's elaborate propaganda machinery at
home mobilised single-mindedly in gearing up its population for a
prospective war with the South, there seems very little reason for the
North to refrain from further tests.
More tests strengthen resolve at home and demonstrate the country's capacity to stand up to the US.
Pyongyang's
narrative of resistance against the US imperialist is a simple, if not
simplistic (and at heart disingenuous) re-telling of the David and
Goliath myth in which the North is depicted as a plucky and resilient
small state standing up to an international bully.
Trump's careless tweets and public bluster only serve to bolster this narrative.
Tipping the balance
For
now, there are no signs that the North wishes to engage in substantive
dialogue with the US; nor has it shown any willingness to respond to the
freeze-for-freeze initiative proposed by both China and Russia in which
the North would suspend testing in return for a halt to US-South Korean
joint military exercises.
The region can take some, very
limited, comfort from signs of partial restraint by Pyongyang. The
latest test is the first since 15 September and marks therefore the end
of almost two and a half months of relative quiet on the peninsula.
There
appears too to be a method and coherence in Kim's approach. He has, so
far, refrained from red-line crossing provocations, such as missile
launches at Guam or Hawaii.
But how long will this last?
An atmospheric nuclear test
remains a possibility, and there are other low level provocations such
as a cyber attack on US and South Korean command and control
capabilities, or a maritime clash around the Northern Limit Line to the
west of the peninsula, that might prompt a proportionate but
unambiguously tough US and South Korean counter-action.
This in
turn could be misread by the North as the prelude to more substantive
military action and heighten the risk of low-level conflict escalating
into something much bigger and mutually destructive.
In these situations, as in testing, the question of sufficiency remains paramount.
What
one side sees as the minimum to protect its interests and a cautionary
warning to its opponent, the other can easily view as a step too far and
a deliberate provocation.
Such actions may be enough to tip the
balance all too easily away from stability and predictability into
uncertainty and escalation with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Singida East MP Tundu Lissu has spoken of the last moments when two
armed men sprayed his car with a hail of bullets in a failed
assassination attempt.
In an interview with UK’s Financial Times,
Mr Lissu also blames the failed plot to kill him on what he sees as
Tanzania’s slide into a “dictatorship.”
The outspoken MP said in
his first interview with the media that he was shot at by two armed men
who leapt from a car that had been trailing him for three weeks.
He
said a split-second decision by his driver to throw him to the floor
perhaps saved his life during the September 7 shooting outside his home
in Dodoma.
“All hell broke loose,” says Mr Lissu, chief whip of
the Opposition. “I have been told, because I couldn’t count, that 38
bullets hit my car and out of those something like 16 hit me.”
He
said in the first interview since the attack that he believes he was the
target of an assassination attempt and linked it to an alleged campaign
to turn “the country into a dictatorship.” Mr Lissu had before his
shooting become one of the most vocal critics of President John
Magufuli. He had been in and out of police cells several times.
“He
[Magufuli] wants to crush the political parties, crush the press, crush
organised civil society and the trade unions, and silence the church,”
Mr Lissu told the Financial Times in Kenya, where he is receiving
medical treatment. “Every independent centre of power should be made to
comply with the demands of the big man,” he told the newspaper.
President
Magufuli is on record condemning the attack on Lissu as “barbaric” and
directed the police to investigate the incident. No progress has been
made in the investigation so far and the government has turned down a
request from Chadema to involve independent foreign investigators.
Financial
Times quoted government spokesman Hassan Abbasi dismissing Mr Lissu’s
assertion as “misplaced.” “If anyone, including Mr Lissu, has any
further evidence let him share [it] with investigators,” Mr Abbasi says.
“Tanzania is known for its unmatched peaceful and democratic political
processes which are conducted according to the laws.”
The
newspaper also quoted Kigoma Urban MP Zitto Kabwe on the state of
democracy in Tanzania and what Mr Lissu’s attack portend to equally
critical minds like him.
“By his own admission [Mr Magufuli]
doesn’t believe in multi-party democracy,” Mr Kabwe says. “He sees
parties as annoyances, including his own party. He wants to rule with no
encumbrances. He prefers to rule in an autocratic way.”
The motive for the attack on Mr Lissu was “to keep us quiet”, Mr Kabwe told Financial Times.
Mr
Lissu said he survived the shooting because the bullets missed his
torso and “hit me on the backside big time.” He has had 12 operations
and is still bed-ridden but can sit up.
“He’s managed to beat us
up real bad,” he says, referring to the president’s crackdown on
dissent. “The way Magufuli is, his temperament, his personality, his
recent actions, he’s turning the country into a dictatorship,” Mr Lissu
was quoted as saying
mmmm
Eventually, they choose a crossing point, and then the eighth wonder of the world unravels.
The
concentration of wildlife in one spot, their impulsive bursts of energy
and thundering hooves in their trail, culminates in an adrenalin rush
as tens of thousands of beasts plunge into the crocodile-infested
waters.
It is estimated that about 1.5 million wildebeest,
accompanied by large numbers of zebras, Grant’s gazelles, Thomson’s
gazelles, elands, and impalas, make an enormous loop every year between
the Serengeti in Tanzania and Maasai Mara in Kenya, in search of food.
The
event, naturally, has become an icon of the East African safari.
Baptised the Eighth Wonder of the World— others call it the World Cup of
Wildlife — it bestows Kenya’s and Tanzania’s important tourism industry
with significant economic value. Tourists start to camp by the river
weeks before the event, anxious to witness the frantic herds and scenes
of panic, confusion and triumph.
In the last two financial years
leading up to July 2017, according to Kenya Tourism Cabinet Secretary
Najib Balala, Nairobi spent Sh2 billion on marketing the Maasai Mara
abroad. This figure alone points to the significance of the event to the
regional tourism industry.
But of note is how crucial the
Mara-Serengeti — or Mamase — ecosystem, stretching 25,000 square
kilometers wide, is to the survival of these herbivores. Due to their
size and habits, wildebeests shape the ecosystems in which they live and
move, making them one of what zoologists consider a “keystone species”.
It is also an important ecological phenomenon that provides food to
predator populations that include lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and
African wild dogs, among others.
And that explains the
trepidation over the threat to this famed ecosystem straddling Kenya and
Tanzania with only one year-round river — the Mara — a trans-boundary
river shared between Kenya upstream and Tanzania downstream that is
formed by the confluence of the Amala and Nyangores rivers. It runs 395
kilometers through the Maasai Mara Game Reserve on the Kenyan side and
the Serengeti National Park on the Tanzanian side before spitting its
waters into Lake Victoria. Originating in the western side of the Mau
Escarpment, River Mara covers an area of 13,750 square kilometres, with
the upper 65 per cent (8,941 square kilometres) in Kenya and 35 per cent
in Tanzania
The Mwanza Regional Investment Guide is a brainchild of the region’s
authorities in partnership with the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) and the economic and social research foundation (ESRF)
Mwanza. Mwanza has launched its regional investment guide as it puts
itself on the right path to grow its contribution to Tanzania’s gross
domestic product (GDP) by the year 2025.
The Mwanza Regional
Investment Guide is a brainchild of the region’s authorities in
partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the
economic and social research foundation (ESRF).
It seeks to lead
Mwanza on the implementation of development projects in major economic
sectors including, agriculture, fishing, mining, manufacturing
industries and livestock, according to Regional Commissioner, Mr John
Mongella.
Currently, Mwanza contributes about Sh7.4 trillion to Tanzania’s Sh103 trillion GDP. It is second from Dar es Salaam.
“Our goal is to raise Mwanza’s contribution to GDP to Sh10 trillion per annum come the year 2025,” he said.
To
achieve the goal, in line with the launched regional investment guide,
there shall be established a special team from government institutions
which will be trusted with the powers of dealing with investment
licenses and certificates so as to cut beauracracy.
“This is not
really intended to oversight the current procedures…except we should go
away from beaucracy systems which sometimes hinder investment,” Mongella
said.
Mr Mongella mentioned the livestock sector, fishing,
tourism, mining, agriculture (irrigation) and other social services like
education, health and sports as key drivers for Mwanza’s economic
growth aspirations going forwards.
“Mwanza is the business hub for
member states of the East African Community and we intend to make use
of that opportunity to attract more investment and business,” Mongella
revealed
