Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Reps Approve Emergency Rule Extension In Borno, Yobe, Adamawa States The House of Representatives has followed in the footsteps of the Senate by approving President Goodluck Jonathan’s request to extend the emergency rule he declared on May 12, 2013, in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states by six months. President Jonathan had based his request in line with the provisions of Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The Rep members passed a resolution approving the extension after a closed-door meeting with service chiefs that ended at about 2pm on Wednesday. The meeting was presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal
England squad: Who should go to the World Cup?
England squad: Who should go to the World Cup?
Germany coach
Joachim Low - with a style and grace matched by his team - ended his
victory speech with thanks to England for their Wembley invitation and
the words: "See you in Brazil."
England must hope they hang around long enough in South America to even be in the later stages with the German side.
If you wanted to add further mischief to Low's message you could suggest he would be only too happy to
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England 0-1 Germany: Roy Hodgson rues 'disappointing' defeat
Two defeats without a goal. A defeat without a shot on target against Germany - even though Hodgson indulged in a spot of straw-clutching by suggesting Andros Townsend's shot against the post actually qualified under that category. Sorry Roy, not really.
So no shots on target, statisticians gleefully revealing this is the first time the fate had befallen England since the 1-0 defeat to Scotland in November 1999, and jeered off for the second Wembley game in succession. It was a freezing night when England felt the cold chill of reality in their bones.
England eventually negotiated their way out of their World Cup qualifying group but Chile and Germany represent the sharp end of what they might face in Brazil, and the indicators were not good.
Hodgson insists these two games have been an important fact-finding exercise as he considers his squad for Brazil. He will be hard pushed to find many positives with only one more friendly, at home to Denmark in March, before he has to put pen to paper on the provisional party that will fly to the World Cup.
Chile's sharp passing and mobility exposed England as a ponderous, plodding side while Germany, a reduced Germany without Mesut Ozil, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer, Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez, Thomas Muller and the seriously injured Sami Khedira, won at their leisure in front of a discontented Wembley.
How did Hart do?
England captain Steven Gerrard insisted before the game that the gap between the countries had narrowed since that harrowing day in Bloemfontein at the South Africa World Cup in 2010 when Fabio Capello's men were beaten 4-1.
When all the facts and evidence were taken into account here, it may not have narrowed by much.
If England have improved, so have Germany. The gulf remains.
Hodgson declined to take too many positives but once again, as he did after Chile, suggested he had learned lessons. They were harsh ones.
Germany were more assured in possession, more incisive in and around the penalty area and boasted strength in depth Hodgson can only admire, even if he would not confess to envy.
He may even have learned, in his more brutally honest moments, that this England team has "last 16" written all over it for next summer's World Cup - last eight if they touch lucky in the draw. Not Hodgson's fault, simply the reality he is dealing with.
Hodgson can take small solace in the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Joe Hart, who demonstrated the natural ability that still exists despite his authority being reduced by a run of poor form and eroded confidence.
So with that single friendly left to play, where do England stand as Hodgson pores over his plans for six months hence? And what has Hodgson learned?
GOALKEEPERS
Joe Hart's display on Tuesday confirmed that it would take something bordering on catastrophic, or injury, to stop him taking his place in England's goal for their opening World Cup game in Brazil. He is England's undisputed first choice.The intrigue surrounds who will accompany him. Celtic's Fraser Forster emerged unscathed from his debut in defeat to Chile but Norwich City's John Ruddy never got his chance.
This suggests Ruddy is vulnerable once Ben Foster, who counts Hodgson as a major fan after their time together at West Bromwich Albion, is fit again but Forster may yet come under challenge from Jack Butland if he can get some serious game time between now and the end of the season.
RIGHT-BACK
Liverpool's Glen Johnson and Tottenham rival Kyle Walker were both vulnerable against Chile and Germany respectively and injury may yet play a part - but Johnson's previous record under Hodgson and greater experience suggests he is in pole position for Brazil right now.LEFT-BACK
England's hottest selection topic is no nearer resolution today than it was before these friendlies. Everton's Leighton Baines was uncharacteristically poor against Chile after two outstanding World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland but Ashley Cole, while not making any serious mistakes against Germany, is not playing with the authority of old. He is also susceptible to injury and was taken off with a recurrence of his rib problem.This one could run and run until the first game at the World Cup.
CENTRAL DEFENCE
England's World Cup qualifying pairing of Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka seem certain starters but the back-up of Manchester United pair Chris Smalling and Phil Jones has not looked convincing over their past two friendlies.Cahill and Jagielka are two fine Premier League performers but may be found out by the world's best at the World Cup - and there is not a huge amount of pace about.
A little bandwagon has started rolling, at a snail's pace admittedly, in favour of dusting off the retired Chelsea veteran John Terry. This will not happen and has more than a whiff of desperation anyway. He is past his best and will hardly provide an answer to that lack of pace.
MIDFIELD
Plenty for Hodgson to ponder here. Will he take all three of his 30-somethings in Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick? That is unlikely.Gerrard will go as captain so the lack of a quality holding midfield player may leave 35-year-old Lampard at risk. He had a quiet game on his 103rd England appearance against Chile but Carrick is currently out for six weeks and Gerrard has been suffering a slight hip problem in recent times.
Andros Townsend looks likely to go to Brazil
Jack Wilshere is not at his best and suffers injury but he will go if fit. Everton's Ross Barkley has great potential but is still developing at this level. The teenager's best position is also just behind the striker and with Wayne Rooney a candidate for that role he may find himself pushed out of the squad - but this is a very gifted youngster and he could yet offer a persuasive case.
Liverpool's Jordan Henderson is another Hodgson likes but will he do enough to stand out from the crowd?
On the flanks Hodgson will at least be heartened by the emergence of Tottenham's Andros Townsend and is clearly taken with Southampton's Adam Lallana. The reliable James Milner looks certain to go as a workhorse but Hodgson will also hope Arsenal pair Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can return to form and stake claims.
Manchester United's Ashley Young has done little to suggest he should be worthy of serious consideration.
ATTACK
Wayne Rooney, as ever, holds the key. He has been outstanding for Manchester United and, while he was quiet against Chile and Germany, will carry England's attacking burden in Brazil, either as a striker or playing just off the striker.
Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge is yet to show his club form for England
Southampton's Rickie Lambert is still in the shake up while Jermain Defoe will hope to get enough games and goals at Spurs to keep Hodgson's attention.
Manchester United's Danny Welbeck will almost certainly be on the plane to Brazil if all stays fair with him. He gives Hodgson goals as a striker as well as an adaptability to play on the left flank - and actually looks a more likely scorer for country than club.
Hodgson has one more game before he names England's provisional 30-man squad for Brazil. Two defeats and two lifeless Wembley performances have provided him with plenty of food for thought.
The most spectacular staircases in the world
The most spectacular staircases in the world
- Infinity and beyond
- The
architecture of the staircase combines form and function, upper and
lower space. It can represent power or status, or symbolise spiritual
elevation and the climb to knowledge. A new book published by Thames
& Hudson, The Staircase: The Architecture of Ascent
explores the history and meaning of the staircase, from the simple,
straight-flight steps of the Mayan pyramids, to the radical spiral ramp
of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum and the computer-aided designs
of today.
The steps of the Toltec-Maya pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico are an early example of the simple, straight-flight staircase - the ancestor of all stair design. Appearing to stretch up to the sky, this style of staircase came to symbolise an ascent to heaven and infinity, and has captured artists’ imaginations from the Odessa Steps in Eisenstein’s film Battleship Potemkin to the steps in Orson Welles’s The Trial. (All images courtesy of Thames & Hudson from The Staircase: The Architecture of Ascent by Oscar Tusquets Blanca, Martine Diot, Adelaïde de Savray, Jérôme Coignard and Jean Dethier.)
Wrongly Convicted Man Released After 34 Years
Wrongly Convicted Man Released After 34 Years
Kash D. Register, 53, who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1979, was released after his conviction was overturned.
“I’m just at a numb feeling right now. It just hasn’t really set in yet. I know it’s real, but it just hasn’t truly set in yet. It’s a beautiful feeling though,” Register told reporters as he got out.
It’s a moment that his mother, 76-year-old Wilma Register, has been waiting for a long time.
“That was victory. That was what I have prayed for, for the world to see that this is not the right man. The system can make mistakes, but nobody believes that until it happens to them,” she said.
The victory came on Thursday in a Los Angeles Superior Courtroom. A camera captured the moment Kash Register heard the news he would soon be a free man, all thanks to the efforts of a handful of Loyola Law School students who worked tirelessly for more than a year to win his release.
“This man’s life was at stake and even though we worked so hard, it didn’t feel like it because we felt like we were doing something really important,” said law student Aaron Elster.
The students are part of Loyola Law School’s Project for the Innocent, led by Professor Laurie Levenson.
“The only reason he was convicted was some witnesses lied and then the prosecution and police hid some valuable evidence,” said Levenson.
Register was 18 years old when he was sent to prison. The evidence against him was an eyewitness who claimed he was the suspect in a robbery homicide. Fast forward 34 years, and it was testimony from the sister of the original witness that set him free.
“I just kept faith. I got acquainted with some nice people to help me legally. Once that happened, it took off. It took awhile, but it took off,” said Register.
Register was up for parole 11 times. All he had to say was he was guilty in this crime, but he always maintained his innocence. He said he would rather serve time than say he was guilty for a crime that he did not commit.
Singaporean Man is Crazy About Dolls, Has 9,000 of Them
Singaporean Man is Crazy About Dolls, Has 9,000 of Them
Yang’s passion for dolls began in his childhood days, when he wanted a doll but wasn’t allowed to have one. As he recalls, “before I knew anything about social norms, I was a boy that watched this on TV, liked it and wasn’t allowed to have one. As I grew older, got my own allowance, that’s where I started getting the freedom to buy whatever I wanted”. Step by step, a simple wish became a “crazy obsession”. His friends support him, his family have understood and learned to accept his passion, but his love life is affected, since his girlfriends see the the doll collection as the competition. As Yang confesses, “I’ve also got the ex-girlfriends who get insecure about this kind of stuff … They look at dolls and go ‘OK, that’s the competition’, which is quite troubling but it’s a reality”.
Indeed, it may be surprising for everyone, not only for women, to see a regular man collect that many dolls and displaying them in his apparently regular house. Yang describes himself as “incongruous”. “When you meet me outside of this, I’m not that kind of guy. I’m not what you expect from a guy that collects dolls.” What appears from the outside as a manly house has the interior every little girl dreams of. Three of Yang’s four living-room walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling glass cases full of dolls, and the 9 cabinets and the shelves in his study are also packed with plastic toys. Moreover, nothing suits Yang’s living room collection better than its pink floor, which is custom painted with the Barbie signature Pantom 219 C color.
The owner of this impressive collection notices how tastes shift away from traditional items, such as the Barbie dolls, and move towards unconventional ones, such as Monster High. “That’s where Mattel has taken it. They have taken the craze of ugly is hot and made Monster High because they know Barbie will never be the monster” Yang explains. However, the man believes that despite the 12% fall in the Barbie doll sales registered between April and June 2013, this brand will continue to be popular. he sure won’t stop buying them.
Frederick Sanger: Double Nobel Prize winner dies at 95
Frederick Sanger: Double Nobel Prize winner dies at 95
Frederick Sanger, the British biochemist who twice won the Nobel Prize, has died at the age of 95.
Fellow researchers have described him as "one of the greatest
scientists of any generation" and as "a real hero" of British science. He is considered the "father of genomics" after pioneering methods to work out the exact sequence of the building blocks of DNA.
Dr Sanger also developed techniques to determine the structure of proteins.
He was born in 1918 in Gloucestershire and initially planned to follow his father into medicine.
However, he followed a career in biochemistry at the University of Cambridge.
Continue reading the main story
Glittering success
“Start Quote
Prof Colin BlakemoreIt is impossible to exaggerate the impact of Fred Sanger's work on modern biomedical science.”
He is the only Briton to win two Nobel Prizes and the only scientist to have been awarded the prize for Chemistry twice.
The first came in 1958 for developing techniques to work out the precise chemical structure of proteins. Proteins are made up of amino-acids. Dr Sanger was able to determine which amino-acids and in what order were used to build the hormone insulin.
He then turned to DNA and its building blocks, bases.
Dr Sanger's group produced the first whole genome sequence, made up of more than 5,000 pairs of bases, in a virus.
He was awarded his second Nobel Prize in 1980 for developing "Sanger sequencing" - a technique which is still used today.
At the time he attributed his success to fellow researchers and his wife: "I was married to Margaret Joan Howe in 1940. Although not a scientist herself she has contributed more to my work than anyone else by providing a peaceful and happy home."
He was awarded one of Britain's highest honours - the Order of Merit - in 1986. However, he declined a knighthood as he did not want to be called a "Sir".
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire, which specialises in the understanding of the genome, is named after him.
When the founding director of the institute, John Sulston, asked Dr Sanger if he was comfortable with the site being named after him, the response was: "It had better be good".
He worked until the age of 65 when he retired to spend more time gardening and "messing about in boats".
Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said: "I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Fred Sanger, one of the greatest scientists of any generation and the only Briton to have been honoured with two Nobel Prizes.
"Fred can fairly be called the father of the genomic era. His work laid the foundations of humanity's ability to read and understand the genetic code, which has revolutionised biology and is today contributing to transformative improvements in healthcare."
Prof Colin Blakemore, the former chief executive of the UK Medical Research Council, said: "The death of a great person usually provokes hyperbole, but it is impossible to exaggerate the impact of Fred Sanger's work on modern biomedical science.
"His invention of the two critical technical advances - for sequencing proteins and nucleic acids - opened up the fields of molecular biology, genetics and genomics.
"He remains the only person to have won two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry - recognising his unique contribution to the modern world.
"Yet he was a disarmingly modest man, who once said: 'I was just a chap who messed about in his lab'.
"Fred Sanger was a real hero of twentieth-century British science.
Gold bars worth $1.1m found in plane toilet in India
Gold bars worth $1.1m found in plane toilet in India
As gold import duties have risen in an effort to curb domestic demand, the incentive to smuggle gold has risen
A
stash of 24 gold bars worth more than $1.1m has been discovered in the
toilet compartment of a commercial plane in eastern India.
Cleaners found the haul in two bags on board a Jet Airways flight at Kolkata airport, officials said.India is one of the world's main gold consumers and imports are seen as a major contributor to the country's account deficit.
It recently raised duty on imports of gold jewellery to 15% from 10%.
It was the third increase this year as the government attempts to curb demand for the precious metal, which many Indians traditionally hoard in the belief it will bring financial security.
The plane on which the 1kg (2.2lb) gold bars were found on Tuesday had reportedly come from Bangkok, local media reported, before making stops in India.
"The cleaning staff of the airport were going though their routine duties and found two bags in the toilets of the plane," airport director BP Mishra told AFP news agency.
He was quoted as saying that no arrest had been made in connection with the find, though OneIndia News said a suspect was being questioned.
The gold has been valued at between 70m and 90m rupees (up to $1.4m or £890,000)
Iran nuclear talks: Tehran 'will not step back one iota'
Iran nuclear talks: Tehran 'will not step back one iota'
Ayatollah Khamenei warned the P5+1 not to "ratchet up the pressure on Iran"
Iran's
Supreme Leader has warned his country will not step back "one iota"
from its nuclear rights, as it resumes talks with world powers in
Geneva.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he would not intervene directly
in the negotiations, but that he had set "red lines" for Iran's
representatives.President Barack Obama meanwhile urged US senators not to impose new sanctions on Iran to allow time for diplomacy.
He was unsure if it would be possible to reach an interim agreement soon.
"We don't know if we'll be able to close a deal with Iran this week or next week," he told a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) forum in Washington on Tuesday.
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Calling Israel "the roguish, filthy, rabid dog of the region",
Iran's Supreme Leader is clearly angry at its campaign against any
nuclear deal that would allow uranium enrichment to continue.
Delivering such harsh words in front of Iran's paramilitary Basij militia, which is affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards, serves two purposes.
Ayatollah Khamenei wants to reassure the core of Iran's hardliners that if a deal is struck it will not be a sign of surrender by the Islamic Republic, which has feasted on anti-American, anti-Israeli rhetoric for three decades.
But he is also sending a message to the West that if there is no deal with terms Iran has accepted so far, they will face a more defiant country, where smiling diplomats would be replaced by revolutionaries who are ready to pick a fight.
Analysis
Delivering such harsh words in front of Iran's paramilitary Basij militia, which is affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards, serves two purposes.
Ayatollah Khamenei wants to reassure the core of Iran's hardliners that if a deal is struck it will not be a sign of surrender by the Islamic Republic, which has feasted on anti-American, anti-Israeli rhetoric for three decades.
But he is also sending a message to the West that if there is no deal with terms Iran has accepted so far, they will face a more defiant country, where smiling diplomats would be replaced by revolutionaries who are ready to pick a fight.
Iran stresses that its nuclear
programme is for peaceful purposes only, but world powers suspect it is
seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
'Way forward'
In a televised speech to Basij militiamen on Wednesday,
Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran's negotiators had been set clear limits
before they travelled to Switzerland for two days of meetings with
representatives of the P5+1 - the US, UK, France, China and Russia, plus
Germany.They failed to agree a deal at a previous round of talks earlier this month mainly because of what diplomats said was Iran's insistence on formal recognition of its "right" to enrich uranium and France's concerns about the heavy-water reactor being built at Arak.
"We do insist that we will not step back one iota from our rights," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
But he added: "We do not intervene in the details of these talks. There are certain red lines and limits. These have to be observed."
The Supreme Leader, who has final say in Iran's nuclear matters, warned the P5+1 not to "ratchet up the pressure".
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Javid Zarif's YouTube message: "Nuclear energy is not about joining club or threatening others"
Continue reading the main story
Negotiating positions for interim deal
P5+1 wants Iran to:- Halt uranium enrichment to medium level of purity, or 20%
- Reduce concentration of existing stockpile of 20%-enriched uranium or convert it to oxide form
- Not allow Arak heavy-water reactor to go into operation
- Commit to permitting more inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- Recognise its "right" to enrich uranium
- End international and unilateral sanctions
Ayatollah Khamenei also said
French leaders were "not only succumbing to the United States, but they
are kneeling before" Israel, which he described as "the rabid dog of the
region".
A French foreign ministry spokeswoman said President Francois
Hollande believed the comments were "unacceptable" and would complicate
negotiations.The talks in Geneva will be led in the first instance by the EU's foreign policy chief, Baroness Catherine Ashton, and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
In a video message posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Mr Zarif urged the P5+1 to deal with Iran on an "equal footing" and stressed that for his country nuclear energy was "about securing the future of our children, about diversifying our economy, about stopping the burning of our oil, and about generating clean power".
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister David Cameron spoke to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani by telephone. It was the first such conversation between British and Iranian leaders for more than a decade.
'Open the spigot' Mr Obama told the WSJ forum that any interim agreement - expected to last six months - would see the bulk of international and US sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme remain in place.
One contentious issue at the talks has been Iran's heavy-water reactor at Arak
"In return, what we would do would be to open up the spigot a little bit for a very modest amount of relief that is entirely subject to reinstatement if, in fact, they violated any part of this early agreement," he said.
During a visit to Israel on Sunday, President Hollande said Iran would have to agree to halting its enrichment of uranium to a medium level of purity, or 20%; reducing its existing stockpile of enriched uranium, and stopping the construction of the Arak heavy-water reactor.
Experts say Iran's 20%-enriched uranium could be enriched to weapons-grade, or 90%, in a relatively short time, while spent fuel from the Arak reactor will contain plutonium suitable for use in nuclear weapons
112m Nigerians Lack Access To Improved Sanitation
112m Nigerians Lack Access To Improved Sanitation
This is contained in a statement to mark the World Toilet Day, signed by Mr Oluseyi Abdulmalik, the Communication and Campaigns Manager of the organisation in Abuja.
According to the statement, 37 million Nigerians, representing 23 percent of the population, still practise open defecation, with only two years to the 2015 deadline to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
The statement also noted that nearly 100,000 children under five die of diarrhoea in the country annually due to poor level access to sanitation and water.
It further said that the lack of decent sanitation also affected productivity and livelihoods.
“It is not just about the unhygienic conditions; without a private toilet, women and girls are vulnerable to violence, intimidation and indignity.
“Women and girls living in Nigeria without toilet facilities spend 3.1 billion hours each year finding a place to go to the toilet in the open.
“Sanitation remains the most neglected and off-track of the MDGs, with little funding, resources or political will to address the crisis
“This has damaged developing economies where an estimated five per cent of the countries’ GDP is lost to illness and deaths caused by dirty water and lack of sanitation.
“There has also been little or no progress towards the agreed target of allocating 0.5 per cent of GDP to sanitation,” the statement said.
It said that the lack of such essential services had created a “massive crisis for developing countries, undermining health systems, education, economic development, and progress on gender equality”.
It listed other impediments to include poor water, sanitation and hygiene.
According to the statement, the World Bank has estimated that for every $1 invested in sanitation, $8 was returned to the economy.
This it noted, could be one of the most effective investments that Nigeria could make to grow its economy.
It expressed regret that in spite of the numerous national and international commitments, politicians were still not paying adequate attention to the poor sanitation situation in the country.
“The Nigerian Government has pledged to increase the rate of sanitation access from 31 percent currently to 65 percent and water access from 61 per cent to 75 percent by 2015.
“These are ambitious targets, particularly considering that Nigeria is one of the few African countries where the rate of access to sanitation actually fell from 37 percent in 1990 to 31 percent this year.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Toilet Day was created in 2001 to raise global awareness to the daily struggle of 2.5 billion people for proper sanitation. [NAN
An underwater hotel opens in Africa
Joining a list of other experimental under-the-sea hotel rooms in Florida, Sweden and the Maldives, the underwater room at Manta Resort
on remote Pemba Island in Tanzania’s Zanzibar Archipelago immerses
guests 4m below the surface. The room sits on the bottom of a
three-level floating structure, located 250m from shore in the Indian
Ocean.
Above
and below each of the room’s eight windows, spotlights illuminate the
sea life that swims by. Frequent visitors include a trumpet fish known
as Nick, as well as squid and octopus at night. Above the underwater
space, guests can climb a ladder to the water level, which contains a
bathroom and lounge, or ascend to the rooftop to soak up the sun or lay
beneath the stars.The floating structure was designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg, who also constructed the structurally similar Utter Inn in Sweden’s Lake Malaren. For this project, he sought a more remote location with clearer waters, and found it off Pemba’s coast in the form of “the blue hole”, a circular clearing within the coral reef, measuring about 50m in diameter. The open space made it the ideal location to anchor the new underwater structure.
The room officially opened for guests on 1 November. Since Manta Resort has only one underwater space within the now 17-room resort, single nights in the room can be added to an existing stay for $1,500 per
This British Hairdresser is Blind, Yet Attracts Customers
This British Hairdresser is Blind, Yet Attracts Customers
Dianah, 56, lost her eyesight after suffering a brain injury – and was classed as too blind to drive.
But loyal customers pledged to stand by Dianah because she has cut their hair so well over the years.
She keeps wielding the scissors despite her vision being massively impaired by 50% – and keeps the customers happy.
Shopkeeper Sara Allan, 34, said: “My husband teases me about going to a blind hairdresser but she’s the best.
“I wouldn’t go anywhere else – she never fails.
“I’ve never left with a cut I didn’t like. She knows what I like so well that she could do it with her eyes closed anyway.”
Mum-of-two Dianah suffered bleeding on the brain – and she was warned she might never work again.
The cause of the bleed remains unknown but came on suddenly one day when she was working in her salon.
She was left with impaired peripheral vision which means she can only see a small box shape when she peers at her customers’ locks at Just Cuts in Pencoed, near Bridgend, South Wales.
But her customers kept on coming back after she was away for three months.
She said: “They tease me about my eyesight – saying who’d have a cut from a blind hairdresser.
“But I don’t mind.
“Losing some of my sight and surviving is better than the other option.
“Now that my condition has settled down it only affects my peripheral vision.
“So I trip up and can’t judge distances very well at all but if a head of hair is in front of me I can see well enough to give my usual great standard of cut.”
EXPLICIT PHOTOS: Girl Goes Unclad On Stage At Glo Concert
EXPLICIT PHOTOS: Girl Goes Unclad On Stage At Glo Concert
A young lady got a little crazy at Accra’s edition of Glo ‘Slide And Bounce’ concert which took place this past Saturday at Accra Sports Stadium.See pics below and let us know what you think.
Artistes like P-square, M.I, Edem, Sherifa Gunu, Kwabena Kwabena, Asem and Gyedu Blay Ambolley treated their fans to wonderful performances at the concert.
‘A World Cup Without Me Is Nothing To Watch’ – Ibrahimovic
‘A World Cup Without Me Is Nothing To Watch’ – Ibrahimovic
The Sweden international could not prevent his side’s hopes of making it to Brazil from being dashed despite scoring a double, as Cristiano Ronaldo stole the show with an outstanding hat-trick to win the match for Portugal in the second leg play-off 3-2 (4-2 on aggregate).
The 32-year-old, who admits it might be his last attempt to reach a World Cup, says the major tournament being held next June will not be worth following now that he will not be involved.
“It was probably the last attempt to reach the World Cup with the national team for me. One thing is for sure, a World Cup without me is nothing to watch so it is not worth while to wait for the World Cup,” he said to his app Zlatan unplugged.
“Congratulations to Portugal, but both teams deserved to get to the World Cup.
“The disappointment of course is great now that the World Cup in Brazil will remain a dream for the Swedish national team,” Ibrahimovic said.
chest ON FULL DISPLAY: You’re A Big Shame To Womanhood—Angry Fans Blast Rukky Sanda
chest ON FULL DISPLAY: You’re A Big Shame To Womanhood—Angry Fans Blast Rukky Sanda
Nollywood actress, Rukky Sanda who is known for exposing her body when it comes to her dressing probably took it to far this time as fans blasted her for her indecency.
Rukky Sanda wore this b**bs revealing dress to a birthday party of London’s best cook for African dishes, Adenike Mustapha in London in company of two of her colleagues, Ebube Nwagbo and Oge Okoye.
Fans have blasted her for her mode of dressing saying she is a disgrace to womanhood but it seems Rukky isn’t moved let alone bothered by what anyone thinks of her dressing.
However, after the picture of the party hit the internet, she received massive lashing from fans, who were obviously not happy at her supposedly shameful behaviors. Some of them were not merciful in describing her in unprintable names. They wondered why a public figure would dress the way she did to an event.
According to some fans ‘Rukky Sanda should be ashamed of herself,’‘That is why actresses are seen as women of easy virtue, they behave just like them.’ One of the vividly angry fans said ‘she is just a big disgrace to womanhood, she should be taught a good lesson.
Meet Martin Strel, the Extraordinary Man Who Swims the Entire Length of Rivers
Meet Martin Strel, the Extraordinary Man Who Swims the Entire Length of Rivers
The now 58-year-old Slovenian Martin Strel has broken the Guinness World Record for long distance swimming multiple times. The first was in 2000, when he swam the length of the Danube river, 3004 kilometers (1867 miles), in 58 days. A year later, in 2001, he broke another record by swimming 504 kilometers (313 miles) non-stop, in 84 hours, also on the Danube. In 2002, Strel changed continents and went to North America, where he became the first person to swim the entire length of the Mississippi river (3797 kilometers/ 2360 miles) in 68 days, thus breaking another Guinness World Record. In 2003, he swam the length of the Parana River (1930 kilometers/1200 miles) in South America, in just 24 days. In 2004, Strel became the first person to swim the length of the Yangtze river (4003 kilometers/ 2488 miles), in 51 days. It took him almost 3 years to prepare for the longest and most dangerous river in the world, but in 2007 he succeeded in breaking the record again: he swam the 5268 kilometers (3274 miles) of the Amazon river, in South America, in 66 days. Strel dedicated his most important and most difficult swim to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and to the preservation of the rainforest.
Strel’s healthy philosophy is remarkable and highly motivational. With ideas such as his, everyone would come closer to achieving their goals. “I am a regular man, a regular common guy who just has higher goals than usual. I want to show everybody around the world that if you set a goal that is a little bit unusual or higher, you have to try to achieve it. If you keep working and don’t quit right away, you will come to the end. This could be whatever. I chose to swim the Amazon.” How does he do it? Sperl believes that in addition to hard work, there is a type of red wine that works miracles for him. “It helps me a lot, believe me. I could swim 10-12 hours every day like this. I tested many different sorts of wines , and I found this one in 2000. My feeling was <Beautiful!> and we’ve been together ever since.”
Breaking the Guinness World Record so many times and at Sperl’s age clearly wasn’t easy, but the man succeeded because he practiced what he preached. “No limits” – indeed, there are none for this modern hero. Hats off to you, Martin Sperl!
Sekibo: Bayelsa Govt. Declares 3-Day Mourning
Sekibo: Bayelsa Govt. Declares 3-Day Mourning
SENATOR TARI SEKIBO
This information is contained in a statement issued by Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor in Yenagoa on Tuesday.
The statement described the death of the INC president as a great loss not only to the Ijaw nation, but Nigeria as a whole.
“The late Sekibo’s wealth of experience and contribution to the development of Ijaw nation will remain indelible.
“He will be remembered for his truthfulness, doggedness, leadership style and selfless service to the development of the Ijaw nation and Nigeria as a whole,’’ the statement said.
It also stated that Dickson has postponed his planned ‘Thank You Tour’ of the eight Local Government Areas of the state as a mark of honour to the deceased.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tour which was earlier scheduled to commence on Nov. 20 has now been shifted to Nov. 25.
The statement further said Dickson had directed that all flags in public buildings in the state be flown at half-mast for three days, beginning from Nov. 19.
According to the statement, burial arrangement for the INC leader would be announced later by his family and the Okrika Council of Chiefs.
The statement said the Bayelsa government would consult with the INC, the Sekibo family and the Okrika council of chiefs to work out the burial arrangements. (NAN)
Anambra Election Protesters Hired By Ngige, APC From Osun, Imo, Says Gov. Obi’s Aide
Anambra Election Protesters Hired By Ngige, APC From Osun, Imo, Says Gov. Obi’s Aide
The
protests by different groups in Awka on Monday over the November 16
governorship election in Anambra State, has been described as
stage-managed and sponsored by the candidate of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), Senator Chris Ngige.He said: “Chris Ngige and his group wanted protests at all costs, but when our people, who already know him for what he is, refused, they had to go to Osun State.
“Even when they imported some boys from Imo State to protest as students, the Vice Chancellor of Nnandi Azikiwe University, Prof. Egboka, was alarmed when contacted on phone. He had to rush down to the school for investigations. Having discovered that those involved were not his students, he warned against those who lost and said he had checked with all his relevant officials who confirmed that the story of UNIZIK students was fallacious. We have our respects, belief and integrity”.
Gov. Obi’s media aide added that upon further investigation and interrogation of the boys, they confessed that some persons purportedly from the APC paid them N1,500 each and chartered the buses that conveyed them from Imo State to Anambra
Wamakko Fires Back At Presidency, “Show Me Respect And Gratitude” For Helping To Revive PDP In Sokoto
Wamakko Fires Back At Presidency, “Show Me Respect And Gratitude” For Helping To Revive PDP In Sokoto
Governor
Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State has said that the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, would not have won a single seat in the state in the 2007
general elections if not for his timely intervention.Wamakko said that Gulak’s claims, which were laughable and borne out of ignorance and mischief, were deliberately aimed at scoring cheap political points.
The governor, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Press Affairs, Abubakar Dangusa, noted that Gulak was deliberately trying to twist the facts of his entry into the PDP and downplay the very strategic role he played in salvaging the party from the brink of extinction in Sokoto State at the time.
The governor said: “The Presidency and the PDP leadership should show me respect and gratitude after begging me to leave my party and join them so as to help them win the state from the reigning ANPP at the time.
“Gulak should be bold enough to tell the world that it was Wamakko that made it possible for the dead PDP in Sokoto to come back to life and begin to win elections from the ward to the national level.
“The coming of Wamakko to the PDP conquered the state for the party and paved the way for it to be heard in the state. The records are there for all to see”
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Apple discloses what it's sharing with governments
Apple discloses what it's sharing with governments
But what about Apple?
The Cupertino-based corporation, not yet caught up in the NSA scandals, has decided to take disclosure into its own hands. They've issued a report detailing what type of information they are sharing with what national governments.
"We have reported all the information we are legally allowed to share," the seven-page .pdf explains, "and Apple will continue to advocate for greater transparency about the requests we receive."
The heart of the report is a table listing 31 countries that have demanded and received information. For each country, the table lists such statistics as the number of law enforcement account requests and in how many of those data was disclosed.
The numbers are intriguing. For instance, Germany has made 93 requests, yet Apple has only disclosed data on five of them. "In cases where no data was disclosed, Apple may have objected to a government request for legal reasons or searched our records and discovered that we have no relevant information."
But the real shock comes when you scroll down to the bottom of the alphabetical table and check the stats for the United States. Not only are the numbers vastly larger; they're also approximations. Whereas the United Kingdom has made 127 law enforcement account requests, the US has made somewhere between 1000 and 2000.
Is Apple unsure? Of course not. "At the time of this report, the U.S. government does not allow Apple to disclose, except in broad ranges, the number of national security orders, the number of accounts affected by the orders, or whether content, such as emails, was disclosed."
At least in public, Apple is taking the moral high road. "We strongly oppose this gag order, and Apple has made the case for relief from these restrictions in meetings and discussions with the White House, the U.S. Attorney General, congressional leaders, and the courts."
It's not all about international terrorism. "The most common account requests involve robberies and other crimes or requests from law enforcement officers searching for missing persons or children, finding a kidnapping victim, or hoping to prevent a suicide."
Mostly they share "information about an account holder’s iTunes or iCloud account, such as a name and an address. In very rare cases, we are asked to provide stored photos or email. We consider these requests very carefully and only provide account content in extremely limited circumstances."
Apple deserves praise for this sort of disclosure, but they're not above using the report to tweak the nose of their competition--especially Google. "Apple offers customers a single, straightforward privacy policy…our business does not depend on collecting personal data. We have no interest in amassing personal information about our customers."
When you base your business model on selling hardware at a very high profit margin, you may not need to spy on your customers. But if Apple is truly protecting its customers as much as it claims, good for them
Chidinma s*x TAPE SCANDAL: The True Story Behind The Video Revealed (EXPLICIT PHOTOS)
Chidinma s*x TAPE SCANDAL: The True Story Behind The Video Revealed (EXPLICIT PHOTOS)
Popular Nigerian singer, Chidinma has been in the middle of a s*x tape controversy recently.Chidinma came out herself yesterday to deny these allegations, claiming she is still a virgin.
On a closer look at the video, fans have also come to conclude that the lady in the tape is only a Chidinma lool-alike, and not the singer herself.
View a few snapshots from the video below;
Jonathan Postpones Presentation Of 2014 Budget
Jonathan Postpones Presentation Of 2014 Budget
The presentation of the 2014 budget scheduled for Tuesday is postponed.
The
decision to postpone the presentation is contained in a letter sent by
the President Goodluck Jonathan to both chambers of the National
Assembly.In his letter, Jonathan explained that “there is a need for both chambers to harmonise the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Financial Strategy Paper (FSP) before the presentation” of the next year’s budget.
“[I]n the circumstance, it has become necessary to defer the presentation of the 2014 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly until such a time when both respected chambers would have harmonised their positions on the MTEF,” said the President, adding that he hopes that harmonisation will be done “in the shortest possible time.”
After the announcement, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila told Channels Television, that President “gave a very cogent reason why the budget could not be presented. Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, as you will be aware, the budget is predicated upon the MTEF and the MTEF has not been passed” noting that the Senate passed a version of it with a benchmark at $76.50 and the House has passed $79 per barrel benchmark. Despite the setback, the House Minority Leader maintained that “we cannot sacrifice a proper budget at the altar of timeousness.”
Last week’s session was shifted because the MTEF, the government’s financial outlay for the next three years, was not adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Romance Continues: Jim Iyke Takes Nadia On A World Tour To Mark Her Birthday (PHOTO)
The Romance Continues: Jim Iyke Takes Nadia On A World Tour To Mark Her Birthday (PHOTO)
Ghanaian actress Nadia Buari will be year older on the 21st of November and her bff, Jim Iyke has decided to spoil her silly on her day.One never knows with these two. One minute they are together, the next they are not. Anyway, for now, it looks like they are together.
Maybe it’s time we accept the fact that they may just be friends or BFF’s as he calls it.
Do you think they are just best friends?
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