Oscar First

Actress Lupita Nyong’o is the first ever Kenyan Oscar nominee. Nyong’o earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film 12 Years A Slave, in which she played the role of a slave girl who becomes the sexual object of desire for her master. The film also earned a best actor Oscar nomination for Nigerian actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. News Roundup Nyong’o also won the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Award for 12 Years a Slave during the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two BAFTA nominations for her role. She has received The Palm Spring Film Festival “Breakthrough Award” and the 2013 Hollywood Film Awards “New Hollywood Award” and was named one of Variety’s “10 Actors to Watch.”

Richest Man

Ma Huateng, Chairman and CEO of Tencent, China’s largest Internet company by revenue, became the richest man on China’s mainland amid rising share prices for his Hong Kong-listed company, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index that was updated in January. Ma’s net wealth is estimated at $13 billion with Tencent’s share price surging to HK$512.5 ($66) on January 16, 2014 from the company’s IPO price of HK$3.7 ($0.48) in 2004.