Girl dumped at three months, missing 14 years after

Augustina



A 14-year-old pupil of Command Children Primary School, Ikeja Military Cantonment, Lagos, Miss Augustina Ilevbare, is missing.

Augustina was last seen on Monday, August 5, 2013.

Until the fateful day, Augustina had been living with her father, Peter Ilevbare, a lance corporal with the Nigerian Army, 9 Brigade Garrison, Ikeja Cantonment and her stepmother, at CBQ 75, Room 14 of the barracks.

Ilevbare, from Uroe Owen East Local Government Area of Edo State, when contacted on the phone, told PUNCH Metro that he had been living with Augustina since 1999.

He added that the girl left home without telling anyone where she was going.

He said Augustina was not born by his current wife, stressing that her mother abandoned her when she was three months old.

Ilevbare said he and the missing child’s mother were not properly married when she got pregnant for him.

He added, “Since that time, she had been living happily with me and her stepmother. Ever since her mother, whom I have severed relationship with, dumped her in my place when she was three months, I have not set my eyes on her.

“The Sunday preceding her disappearance, we (the family including Augustina), went to an eatery. That is why her disappearance is giving me cause for concern. I enquired from my wife whether they had a disagreement, she answered to the contrary.”

The soldier said they had searched every nook and cranny for her but to no avail.

“Since that time, nobody has heard any information about her. She does not have phone for us to call. I searched for her mother’s place, but she said she did not see our daughter.

“Why I am also disturbed is that nobody has called us for ransom to suspect that she must have been kidnapped,” he said.

Ilevbare said he had already reported the matter at Akinpelu Police Division in Oshodi.

He also said the matter had been reported to the Military Police office at the Ikeja Military Cantonment.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, said she could not reach the Divisional Police Officer of the station where the case was reported, adding that she would call back.



#punch

Testicle eating fish discovered in the Scandinavian waters! Swimmers beware!!

Black Pacu (Colossoma macropomum)


If you're going swimming in Scandinavia, wear your trunks!

Authorities are warning skinny dippers about the Pacu, a fish similar to the piranha that really enjoys cracking nuts with its strong jaws. They've also been known to mistake testicles for something nice and crunchy, and they're strong enough to take off a finger.

Fisherman discovered the horrifying little creature, which is native to South America, in the Danish/Swedish strait of Oresund, CNN reports. The Pacu can grow to 55 pounds, has giant teeth and looks angry, but is usually the more friendly cousin of the piranha. That is, until it sees a testicle.

Experts at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, who were notified of the Pacu sighting, warn: "Anyone choosing to bathe in the Oresund these days had best keep their swimsuits well tied."

Locals in Papua New Guinea say they have firsthand knowledge of a fatal testicle bite. Two fisherman are said to have died of blood loss after a Pacu chomped off their testicles, according to Metro. That said, such attacks are uncommon.

Last year, two Pacus were reportedly spotted in Lake Lou Yaeger in Illinois. Officials think amateur exotic fish collectors are the ones releasing their pets into waters where they don't belong. Anyone caught dumping exotic fish can be criminally charged.

It's unclear how the fish got into Scandinavian waters.

Kim Kardashian And Kanye West Turn Down Millions For Baby's First Pics

Don't be fooled this is not a photo of Kim Kardashian holding North West.

According to TMZ , Kim Kardashian And Kanye West have already passed on several impressive offers , including one as high as $3 million for the first photos of North West.

Sources told the website that the couple thought about selling photos of little North West, and then donating the money to charity the way other stars have done, but they decided against it.

 There has been alot of stunts and fake  photos of North West  in recent weeks.

Nigeria...A country so corrupt it is better to flush away or burn your cash than to give money in aid

An article about Nigeria culled from dailymail...Read and let's know your views...

Nigeria is not quite the most corrupt country on earth. But according to Transparency International, which monitors international financial corruption, it is not far off — coming a shameful 172nd worst among the 215 nations surveyed.

Only countries as dysfunctional, derelict and downright dangerous as Haiti or the Congo are more corrupt.

In theory, Nigeria’s 170 million-strong population should be prospering in a country that in recent years has launched four satellites into space and now has a burgeoning space programme.

Frankly, we might as well flush our cash away or burn it for all the good it's doing for ordinary Nigerians

Moreover, Nigeria is sitting on crude oil reserves estimated at 35 billion barrels (enough to fuel the entire world for more than a year), not to mention 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

It also manages to pay its legislators the highest salaries in the world, with a basic wage of £122,000, nearly double what British MPs earn and many hundreds of times that of the country’s ordinary citizens.

The oil industry is highly corrupt, with 136 million barrels of crude oil worth $11¿billion (£7.79 billion) were illegally siphoned off in just two years from 2009 to 2011

No wonder the ruling elite can afford luxury homes in London or Paris, and top-end cars that, across West Africa, have led to the sobriquet ‘Wabenzi’, or people of the Mercedes-Benz.

Yet 70 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty line of £1.29 a day, struggling with a failing infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages because of a lack of petrol refining capacity, even though their country produces more crude oil than Texas.

And that poverty is not for want of assistance from the wider world.

70 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty line of £1.29 a day, struggling with a failing infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages

Since gaining its independence in 1960, Nigeria has received  $400 billion (£257 billion) in aid —  six times what the U.S. pumped into reconstructing the whole of Western Europe after World War II.

Nigeria suffers from what economists call the ‘resource curse’ — the paradox that developing countries with an abundance of natural reserves tend to enjoy worse economic growth than countries without minerals and fuels.

The huge flow of oil wealth means the government does not rely on taxpayers for its income, so does not have to answer to the people — a situation that fosters rampant corruption and economic sclerosis because there is no investment in infrastructure as the country’s leaders cream off its wealth.

Nigerian police can often be easily bribed to look the other way in a country where corruption in Nigeria is endemic

Corruption in Nigeria is endemic — from parents bribing teachers to get hold of exam papers for their children through clerks handed ‘dash’ money to get round the country’s stifling bureaucracy to policemen taking money for turning a blind eye.

It is at its most blatant, perhaps, in the oil industry, where 136 million barrels of crude oil worth $11 billion (£7.79 billion) were illegally siphoned off in just two years from 2009 to 2011, while hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies were given to fuel merchants to deliver petrol that never materialised.

Whether the country is ruled by civilians or soldiers, who invariably proclaim their burning desire to eradicate civilian corruption, it makes absolutely no difference.

The huge flow of oil wealth means the government does not rely on taxpayers for its income, so does not have to answer to the people

The military ruled Nigeria between 1966 and 1979 and from 1983 to 1999, but if anything, corruption was worse when they were in charge since they had a habit of killing anyone threatening to expose them.

It is estimated that since 1960, about $380 billion  (£245 billion) of government money has been stolen — almost the total sum Nigeria has received in foreign aid.

And that even when successive governments attempt to recover the stolen money, much of this is looted again.

President Sani Abacha, a military dictator who ruled in the Nineties, had accrued a staggering $4¿billion (£2.58¿billion) fortune by the time he died

In essence, 80 per cent of the country’s substantial oil revenues go to the government, which disburses cash to  individual governors and hundreds of their cronies, so  effectively these huge sums  remain in the hands of a  mere 1 per cent of the Nigerian population.

 

  

Political power is universally regarded as a chance to reap  the fortunes of office by the ruling elite and its families and tribes.

The most egregious example was President Abacha, a military dictator who ruled in the Nineties and accrued a staggering $4 billion (£2.58 billion) fortune by the time he died of a heart attack while in bed with two Indian prostitutes at his palace in the nation’s capital, Abuja, in 1998. Abacha’s business associates did nicely, too — one of them deposited £122 million in a Jersey offshore account after selling Nigerian army trucks for five times their worth.

Public office is so lucrative that people will kill to get it. Nigeria has 36 state governors, 31 of whom are under federal investigation for corruption.

In one of the smallest states, a candidate for the governorship occupied by one Ayo Fayose received texts signed by the ‘Fayose M Squad’ — and it was clear the ‘M’ was for ‘Murder’ when they stabbed and bludgeoned a third candidate to death in his own bed.

By the end of its term of office, the British Government will have handed over £1 billion in aid to Nigeria.

Given the appalling levels of  corruption in that nation, this largesse is utterly sickening — for the money will only  be recycled into bank accounts in the Channel Islands or Switzerland.

Frankly, we might as well flush our cash away or burn it for all the good it’s doing for ordinary Nigerians.

 

Nigeria boutiques creating high-end Lagos fashion hub

A customer tries on accessories at boutique Temple Muse in Lagos on June 14, 2013. Most of Nigeria's roughly 160 million people live in extreme poverty, but the upper class number among the wealthiest in Africa. (AFP)

Designer and owner of LDA fashions, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, stands beside her creations made with local fabrics, in Lagos, on June 14, 2013. A growing number of boutique owners and designers are working to change the fashion scene in Nigeria. (AFP)

Managing director of Temple Muse, Indian-born Avinash Wadhwani, speaks about fashion trends in Lagos, on June 14, 2013. He and his brother saw there was a gap in the city's luxury market. (AFP)

LAGOS (AFP) –  Shoppers ready to spend lavishly on clothes by elite designers sip champagne in a discreetly located store that only those in-the-know know exists.

Perhaps it's not an unusual scene in Manhattan or Milan, but in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa's largest city, shops like Temple Muse are a novelty. A growing number of boutique owners and fashion designers however are working to change that.

Most of Nigeria's roughly 160 million people live in extreme poverty, but the upper class here number among the wealthiest in Africa, including those who have profited from the continent's largest oil industry.

Nigerians' sense of style is also well-known, and the country boasts several fashion designers who have made their mark internationally.

Just ask Michelle Obama, who wore a blouse by Nigeria's Maki Oh on a recent trip to South Africa.

Or take the Wadhwani brothers, who are Indian but were raised in Lagos. They saw there was a gap in the city's luxury market.

The brothers opened a store that aims to serve Nigeria's ultra-high-end shoppers who typically hop on planes to Europe when their wardrobes need an upgrade.

"I found a niche in the market," said Avinash Wadhwani, co-owner of Temple Muse boutique in the posh Victoria Island neighbourhood of Lagos.

He previously worked as a buyer for the London department store Selfridges, learning first-hand the appeal of Europe's top fashion lines. But he insisted Nigeria's rich are also seeking a local look.

Some Nigerians "travel by plane every other week and shop in the best boutiques around the globe, but they still have that sense of pride and everyone wants something from (their) own heritage," he said.

Temple Muse, which opened five years ago, is protected from the hectic mega-city outside by a thick metal door and is equipped with a champagne bar and a cafe. Some garments come with pricetags of $3,000 (2,300 euros), and there are fashion mavens ready to snap up several of them.

Odun Ogunbiyi, a customer who claimed plenty of foreign shopping experience, told AFP the outfits she buys in Nigeria are admired wherever she goes.

"I travel a lot. I go to Miami, I go to London to visit friends and family. and they ask me 'where did you get that from?'," said Ogunbiyi, a TV host.

When she tells people the outfit is Nigerian, they say they "can't believe it," she said.

"It's gotten to the point where we are on standard with international brands, which is great!"

Wadhwani agreed that Nigerian designers are becoming increasingly respected abroad.

The US First Lady's recent appearance in a Maki Oh blouse was seen as evidence of growing exposure for designers here.

But Wadhwani knows that his local clients also want to wear premium European names, so he stocks the embroidered dresses of Nigerian designer Lanre Da Silva Ajayi alongside Givenchy and Italy's Emilio Pucci.

Tope Edu is another fashion seller hoping that wealthy Nigerians will shop more in Lagos. She manages the Ermenegildo Zegna store on Victoria Island, the Italian line's first and only outlet in sub-Saharan Africa, which opened in April.

But in a reminder of the perils of doing business in Nigeria, Edu said it took seven years to get the luxury franchise opened.

Zegna first needed to be sure that there was a consumer base to support the store but faced a lack of reliable consumer data.

A series of made-to-measure Zegna events were successful, giving confidence that a full-time ready-to-wear store could survive.

Company chief executive Gildo Zegna also had faith in the buying power of Africa's super-rich.

He told the Financial Times that customers from the continent on average spent 50 percent more in Zegna's stores than buyers from other regions.

The next challenge was the venue and ensuring, as Edu explained, that the Lagos "Zegna store looked exactly like a Zegna store elsewhere in the world."

"It's a very difficult process," she conceded, citing Nigeria's nightmarish bureaucracy.

The stand-alone shop is on a street lined with office buildings which hardly offers the majestic surroundings of Paris's Champs-Elysees but inside business appears to be thriving.

Especially on smart-casual items like polo shirts, which are being scooped up at just under $500 each, Edu told AFP.

She debunked the notion that Nigeria's elite are committed to exclusively shopping abroad.

"Once (they) know it's available, I think that same customer will purchase from here," she said.

Like Zegna, Folake Folarin-Cocker has growing faith in the Nigerian and wider African market.

Her Tiffany Amber line, launched in 1998 and Nigeria's first ready-to-wear brand, has four standalone stores in the country.

Her designs are also sold in Ghana and South Africa, and will soon be available in oil-rich Angola.

Shoppers in Milan and London can also buy Tiffany Amber items, but for Folarin-Cocker, the European and US markets are mainly for publicity.

Those markets "are saturated. Africa is untapped," she said.

While her work is currently priced at luxury rates, she is preparing a lower cost line because she believes the continent is craving an accessible, ready-to-wear brand.

An H&M or "Zara with an African accent," she explained, referring to popular European clothes shops.

Like the owners and shoppers at Temple Muse, Folarin-Cocker takes pride in the growing respect and exposure being given to Nigerian designers and said that talent in the fashion industry can help change perceptions of the continent.

"Fashion is one of the ways we are going to be able to rebrand Africa," she said. "It's not 'We Are The World, We Are the Children' anymore."

PHOTOS: Woman Killed And Many Injured As Truck Crushes Six Vehicles In Abuja

 

                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tragedy struck in Abuja on Saturday when a woman was crushed to death by a heavy-duty  truck and injured many others at Biaji Road in Kubwa .
The accident which occurred at 12. 00pm was attributed to the brake failure from the truck which made the driver to lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a woman who about to climb a motorcycle known as (Okada) and killed her on the spot while many others were said to have broken their hands and legs.

An eyewitness who pleaded anonymity said that the truck hit the woman, throwing her body parts and her body into pieces.

The vehicle somersaulted several times before it plunged into the ditch. “The car was coming from Biaji to Kubwa Village and was loaded with beer but if not because of these bumps (speed breakers) the truck would have rammed into the residential building and kill many people.

The woman wanted to climb a motorcycle but was hit from behind by the truck, and the okada man escaped unhurt.

The accident, which involved six cars includes;  a Toyota Carina 11,  Gulf 3, Saloon Jeta,  Mercedes Benz (230), Nissan Sunny and a Toyota Rav 4 were all damaged beyond repair. The  vehicles were parked along the shoulder of the road while the owners were said to have been relaxing at a beer joint nearby.

As  the time of filing this report the body parts of the woman were still scattered about the scene of the accident while the Toyota Carina and Saloon Jeta was trapped under the truck as large numbers of onlookers  gathered at the scene.

 Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Nigerian Police were seen at the scene of the accident collating necessary information on how the accident occurred. The Kubwa-Biaji road has become a death trap in the recent times as many people have met their untimely death as a result of incessant crashes of vehicles and motorcycles. Residents of this area have made several appeals to the Bwari Area Council and the authorities  of the  Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to come to their aid to no avail. It would be recalled that some people lost their lives recently in a fatal motor accident in Zuba when a truck rammed into several commercial vehicles, including BRT bus popularly called (El-Rufai) .





#saharareporters

Switzerland apologizes to Oprah Winfrey after racist incident

Switzerland's national tourism board has issued an apology on behalf of the country saying, "We are very sorry for what happened to her." Asking for Oprah Winfrey's forgiveness after a racist shop assistant in Zurich refused to show her a handbag because it was "too expensive" for Oprah.

The board also begged for Oprah's forgiveness on Twitter ... saying the shop assistant "acted terribly wrong."

The incident occurred last month, when Oprah was in Zurich to attend Tina Turner's wedding and walked into the upscale Trois Pomme boutique where she noticed a $40,000 handbag. When Oprah asked to see it, the shop assistant refused... insisting it was out of O's price range. RACIST!!!!

Oprah described the exchange:

"One more time, I tried. I said, 'But I really do just want to see that one,' and the shopkeeper said, 'Oh, I don't want to hurt your feelings,' and I said, 'Okay, thank you so much. You're probably right, I can't afford it.' And I walked out of the store."


FYI, Oprah reportedly made $77 million dollars last year ...



#tmz

Robot falls in love with woman!...Meet Kenji, a third generation humanoid Robot programmed to fall in love

Ten mnths ago, researchers at Toshiba’s Akimu Robotic Research Institute were thrilled when they successfully programmed Kenji, a third generation humanoid robot made to convincingly emulate certain human emotions.

At the time, they even claimed that Kenji was capable of the robot equivalent of love, but now they fear that the robot is going too far and his programming has taken an extreme turn for the worst.







Kenji was part of an experiment involving several robots loaded with custom software designed to let them react emotionally to external stimuli. After some limited environmental conditioning, Kenji first demonstrated love by bonding with a a stuffed doll in his enclosure, which he would embrace for hours at a time. He would then make simple, but insistent, inquiries about the doll if it were out of sight. Researchers attributed this behavior to his programmed qualities of devotion and empathy and called the experiment a success.

What they didn’t count on were the effects of several months of self-iteration within the complex machine-learning code which gave Kenji his initial tenderness. As of last week, Kenji’s love for the doll, and indeed anybody he sets his ‘eyes’ on, is so intense that Dr. Takahashi and his team now fear to show him to outsiders.

The trouble all started when a young female intern began to spend several hours each day with Kenji, testing his systems and loading new software routines. When it came time to leave one evening, however, Kenji refused to let her out of his lab enclosure and used his bulky mechanical body to block her exit and hug her repeatedly. The intern was only able to escape after she had frantically phoned two senior staff members to come and temporarily de-activate Kenji.

“Despite our initial enthusiasm, it has become clear that Kenji’s impulses and behavior are not entirely rational or genuine,” conceded Dr. Takahashi.

After that incident, each time Kenji is re-activated, he instantaneously bonds with the first technician to meet his gaze and rushes to embrace them with his two 100kg hydraulic arms. It doesn’t help that Kenji uses only pre-recorded dog and cat noises to communicate and is able to vocalize his love through a 20 watt speaker in his chest.

Dr. Takahashi admits that they will more than likely have to decommission Kenji permanently, but he’s optimistic about one day succeeding where Kenji failed.

“This is only a minor setback. I have full faith that we will one day live side by side with, and eventually love and be loved by, robots,” he said.


#realitypod.com

Oprah Winfrey 'was victim of racism' in Switzerland

US talk show host Oprah Winfrey says she was the victim of racism during a recent visit to Switzerland.

She said an assistant refused to serve her in an upmarket handbag shop in Zurich.

Winfrey, one of the world's richest women, was apparently told the bags on display were "too expensive" for her.

Her claims, made to a US television programme, come amid a political row over plans by some Swiss towns to ban asylum-seekers from some public places.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Berne says human rights groups have likened the plans - which include banning asylum-seekers from swimming pools, playing fields and libraries - to apartheid.

 

The star made an estimated $77m last year

Winfrey, who stars in Lee Daniels' new film The Butler, visited Zurich last month to attend singer Tina Turner's wedding. The Oprah Winfrey Show is not shown in Switzerland.

Winfrey said she left the shop calmly without arguing, but that the experience was proof that racism continues to be a problem.

"There's two different ways to handle it," she said.

"I could've had the whole blow-up thing... but it still exists, of course it does."

Shop owner Trudy Gotz told the BBC that an assistant had shown Winfrey several other items before the "misunderstanding" over a $35,000 (£22,500) bag, which was kept behind a screen.

Winfrey's claims are a public relations disaster for Switzerland, BBC correspondent says.

About 48,000 people are currently seeking asylum in Switzerland. It has twice as many asylum seekers as the European average.

Officials say the curbs, which will also see asylum-seekers housed in special centres, are aimed at preventing tensions with residents.

The country's asylum laws were tightened in June.

Girl (2) and mother horribly savaged by tapir at the Dublin Zoo

the Dublin Zoo tapir involved in an attack on a two-year-old girl yesterday, with her new calf

Rio,

 

A TWO-year old girl is in serious condition in hospital after being attacked by an animal in Dublin Zoo.

The young girl received serious abdominal and arm injuries after she was attacked by a female tapir in the zoo.

The toddler's mother was also hurt when she tried to intervene and stop the usually docile animal from savaging her young daughter.

The horrific incident happened yesterday afternoon during a supervised encounter visit to the Brazilian tapir enclosure.

It is understood to have left the child unconscious and with deep lacerations on her stomach and arm caused by the animal's powerful jaws.

The child was last night continuing to receive treatment from surgeons at Temple Street Children's Hospital while the toddler's mother was treated in the Mater Hospital.

The incident happened after the family were allowed to view the animals from a closer vantage point than most visitors.

Despite being closely monitored by expert workers, it is understood the female tapir called Rio, who just gave birth to a calf last month, was panicked.

The attack followed, resulting in the child receiving serious injuries.

A Dublin Zoo spokesperson said "there was an unfortunate accident involving a mother and her child in the Brazilian tapir area" during one of the facility's "regular supervised animal visits".

She said zoo managers have launched an investigation into what exactly happened. As a result of the incident they are reviewing all procedures, especially in relation to supervised animal visits.

"Dublin Zoo would like to underline this was very much an isolated incident. We would also like to emphasise that our immediate concern is the health and well-being of the visitors involved in this accident."

"The staff of Dublin Zoo are deeply upset by this incident and their utmost concern lies with the visitors and their speedy recovery," she added.

A tapir is a Brazilian animal that looks similar to an anteater. The usually docile animal is fast and powerful.

Rio gave birth to a baby tapir in the zoo recently. The calf was the second to be born to the tapir at the zoo.

In 1998 a zookeeper lost her arm after being attacked by a tapir at the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Zoo officials were not certain why the tapir, a female from Malaysia, attacked the keeper, who was feeding the animal before the zoo opened to visitors. The tapir's two-month-old calf was also in the cage at the time.

Irish Independent

VIDEO: Derek Medina Posts Photo Of Wife's Body, Murder Confession To Facebook!

                                     

A horrifying crime scene in South Miami hit Facebook Thursday when a man posted a photo of his dead wife -- and a confession that he had killed her.

Derek Medina posted the photo some time around noon Thursday, with the words "Rip Jennifer Alfonso." The image shows his wife's leggings-clad body slumped backwards on the floor in what appears to be the couple's kitchen. Her face and left arm are covered in blood.

"You will see me in the news," reads a confessional status update posted minutes before the photo:
"Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys miss you guys takecare Facebook people you will see me in the news" my wife was punching me and I am not going to stand anymore with the abuse so I did what I did I hope u understand me "
According to an arrest affidavit by Miami-Dade Police, Medina told investigators he and Alfonso had a verbal dispute around 10:00 a.m., during which he grabbed a gun from a closet and pointed it at his wife. She reportedly told Medina she was leaving him before the dispute moved downstairs.

There, Medina told police, Alfonso began punching him. He retrieved the gun from upstairs and again confronted his wife, prompting her to pick up a knife. He told detectives that when he took the knife away, his wife began hitting him again, at which point he shot her several times.

After first changing his clothes and making contact with relatives, according to investigators, Medina drove to the South Miami Police Department and turned himself in.

When officers responded to the home, they found Alfonso dead from apparent gunshot wounds.

They also found her 10-year-old daughter upstairs, physically unharmed. She was removed from the house covered in a blanket, according to WSVN.

Miami New Times reports Medina has authored a number of self-help e-books, including one titled "How I Saved Someone's Life and Marriage and Family Problems Thru Communication."

A neighbor told NBC6 that Medina "walks around with a concealed gun, so he tries to be the neighborhood watchguy."

"He's always there late night and he's weird to me," said Yoshi Dade. "He's always kind of looking around and trying to be a hero."

Medina's father told WSVN that the couple had a troubled relationship, and had remarried last year after previously getting a divorce.

Incredibly, Medina's grisly posts remained published on Facebook until just before 5 p.m. Thursday, when they appeared to have been removed.

"The content was reported to us," a Facebook spokeswoman told The Associated Press. "We took action on the profile -- removing the content and disabling the profile, and we reached out to law enforcement. We take action on all content that violates our terms, which are clearly laid out on our site."


*This is horrible! So sickening for him to brag about it! He could have just walked away from the marriage...there is absolutely no excuse for such!

Click below to watch video:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#huffingtonpost

 

British Airways jet forced to make TWO emergency landings in 24 hours

Passengers had screamed and been physically sick as the Heathrow-bound Boeing 747 had to turn round and make an emergency landing (right) and dump 20 tonnes of fuel (left) at King Khalid International in Saudi Arabia shortly after take-off when its wing flaps jammed.

Astonishingly, when they boarded the same plane yesterday the same problem occurred and they had to return to the capital Riyadh again.

In the terminal there was 'mayhem' (centre) as just one BA worker tried to deal with more than 300 furious passengers who staged a sit-in while other ground crew 'hid' in a back office, said passenger Dean Jones. 'Fights broke out and the military turned up,' he added.

The sit-in organiser, who remained anonymous, said: ‘It was extremely hot but we had to make a stand. But nobody came to speak to us.’

Last night BA apologised and said a replacement plane should arrive this morning. It said it was offering passengers compensation, expenses and complimentary tickets, and had arranged hotel accommodation for them.





Source

Woman commits suicide four months after giving birth to twins

Muji, the twins and the well

 

Punch - A nursing mother has committed suicide, four months after giving birth to a set of twins, on Oremerin Street, Ladilak, Somolu, Lagos State.

The woman, Mrs. Muji Kazeem, a hairdresser, was found dead in a well on Tuesday morning. The well was located two houses to the apartment that Muji and her husband, Adewale, were staying.

Our correspondent, who visited the Kazeems, learnt that the twins came after five years of marriage.

Kazeem, 28, said his wife was found dead in the well two days after she was declared missing.

He said, “We were together on Sunday night having prayers around 9.30pm. Then, the babies started crying, so I told her to go and breast-feed them.

“By the time I finished praying, she had slept off with the twins on the bed. I spread a mat on the floor by the entrance and slept off.

“Muji woke up around 11.30pm and went outside. One of my friends told me that he saw her at that time taking cool air before he went inside to sleep.”

Kazeem said he was awaken by the wailing of the twins around 1am. He said he searched for their mother without success.

When the day broke, Kazeem raised the alarm that his wife was missing. The neighbourhood was said to have been thrown into confusion as a search party was organised to look for her without success. The matter was later reported at the Pedro Police Station.

Kazeem said, “We saw her clothes near the well on Monday night and became hopeful. We intensified prayers for her. But it was 7am the following day that a woman, who wanted to draw water from the well, observed that the drawer did not get water. She got a torchlight, pointed it down the well and saw the swollen corpse of my wife.”

He said Muji had been buried at the Atan Cemetry at Yaba in line with Islamic rites.

“We buried her at the Atan Cemetery after obtaining police report. My mother has taken the babies for care,” he said.

Kazeem described his late wife as a gentle and cheerful woman, who never fought or quarrelled with anyone since he met her.

He said, “We have never had any reason to fight or disagree. I don’t know if she offended anyone who decided not to forgive her. But for me, I have taken this as my destiny.”

However, PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased had been depressed a few days before her death.

A source within the area, said the 25-year-old mother, could sometimes be lost in thought for several hours and would not respond to greetings until people shouted at her.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, promised to get back to the Punch correspondent when she was contacted on the telephone.

Chris Brown: I'm Quitting Music!

Chris Brown took to Twitter on Tuesday to tell the world that he plans to quit music after the release of "X," his upcoming LP.
The R&B singer said he's "tired of being famous for a mistake" he made when he was 18, referencing when he assaulted Rihanna.
Both Brown, who has had a string of other post-assault altercations and incidents on his rap sheet, and the music industry, which has promoted and booked Brown since shortly after the assault, have faced near constant criticism since the horrific event that took place before the 2009 Grammys.

@chrisbrown
Chris Brown

Don't worry mainstream America.After this X album, it'll probably be my last album.

August 6, 2013 1:27 pm via Twitter for iPhone Reply Retweet Favorite

@chrisbrown
Chris Brown

Being famous is amazing when it's for ur music and talent. I'm tired of being famous for a mistake I made when i was 18. I'm cool & over it!

August 6, 2013 1:34 pm via Twitter for iPhone Reply Retweet Favorite

Brown's tweets have been littered with inspirational messages as of late. "I'm not a performer nor do I have to be," he said in one tweet. "We are all children pretending to be gods!"
"Aspire to be great and the person you wanna be," he wrote in another. "Don't conform because [your] worth is more than any money or status. We live. We die."
"X," Brown's sixth studio album, is out in stores on Aug. 20. It's worth noting that plenty of other performers have claimed they were retiring before, including Jay Z, who returned in 2006 following a three-year hiatus that he later admitted was "the worst retirement in history."




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'Tribe of Ghosts': Inside the centre where Tanzania's outcast albinos find refuge from murderers who kill them for their body parts

• Kabanaga Protectorate Centre in Kabanga is home to more than 70 albinos
• Most were driven from their communities as outcasts or fled in fear for lives
• In parts of Africa, albinos are butchered for their body parts for potions
• There is a belief they are the product of witchcraft or affairs with white men
• Associated Press staff photojournalist Jacquelyn Martin visited the centre and met its members
• She says: 'The children break your heart - they are uniquely beautiful people'

The Kabanaga Protectorate Centre in the town of Kabanaga in the north-west of the East African country, close to the Burundi border, caters to the nation's albinos, who are known as the 'tribe of ghosts', 'zeros' or 'the invisibles'.

They have suffered appalling treatment at the hands of their own neighbours and are murdered for their body parts, which are believed to bring good fortune and cure all manner of ills.

 

Surrogate: Lightness Philbert, who doesn't know her age and was abandoned at the Kabanga Protectorate Center, in Kabanga, Tanzania, nurses a baby who was brought by there by her mother

 

Bright future: Yonge, four, closes her eyes against the bright sunlight. Albinism also affects her eyes with light sensitivity and low vision. The child was abandoned by her parents

Associated Press staff photojournalist Jacquelyn Martin, based in Washington in the U.S, visited the centre to chronicle those who are treated with fear and contempt for a simple genetic fluke.

'The children break your heart,' says Jacquelyn, who travelled to the centre as part of the personal project. 'Especially the ones who have been abandoned - They are uniquely beautiful people.'

The 70-or-so albinos, who range in age from newborns to sexagenarians, are at the centre for a combination of factors.

Sometimes the parents are afraid of their children, sometimes they are forced to give up their beloved offspring because they fear the prejudices of the people in their own community.

'Despite everything they've been through and what they are probably going to have to face in the future,' says Jacquelyn. 'They really wanted to go back to their villages and live a normal life.

'There's a sense of community in the centre, where older people take care of the babies and younger children.'

 

Joy in the face of prejudice: Girls chatter playfully by a small store just outside the gates of the Kabanga Protectorate Center

 

 

Epifania 'Happiness' Ezra, 16, poses for a portrait in Matiazo Village, Tanzania. She has only ever met one other person with albinism in her life

MURDERED FOR THEIR HAIR, BONES AND GENITALS: THE HORRIFYING PLIGHT OF ALBINOS IN TANZANIA:



Albinism is a genetic condition characterised by a deficiency of melanin pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes which protects from the sun's ultraviolet rays.

In many African nations - but most commonly in Tanzania - albinos are butchered in the street.

Their remains are used in the macabre human potions used by traditional healers to treat the sick

Believing it will bring them good luck and big catches, fishermen on the shores Lake Victoria weave albino hair into nets.

Bones are ground down and buried in the earth by miners, who believe they will be transformed into diamonds.

The genitals are also sometimes made into treatments to boost sexual potency.

One of the albinos is 17-year-old Angel, who was visited by her mother from a remote and poor part of the country for the first time in four years.


When she was born her father called her 'a gift from God'.


But his joy was not that of a new father - he wanted to butcher the girl and sell her body parts for thousands of dollars, a fortune to the average family in Tanzania

Angel's mother was filled with love for her daughter and managed to deter the father for years, but when Angel was 13 he led a group to attack her.


Angel got away, but her mother's own parents were killed in the attack as they fought to protect their granddaughter.

But Jacquelyn says she will never escape the prejudice that follows her wherever she goes.


'There's a market close to the centre and the women went together in a group as a safety measure because it's harder to kidnap someone in a group,' says Jacquelyn. 'Angel was in a shop and the woman behind the counter couldn't look her in the eyes.


'She just took her money. That was something that struck me.'


Ignorance about the condition is rife - there is even a belief that their mothers slept with white men to give them the condition.

'Sometimes it's less about beliefs than pure economics,' says Jacquelyn. '[But] there was this note of strength in all of the ones I met; all of them had hopes for something greater.'

'One wanted to be a politician to help other albinos, another wanted to be a lawyer to fight for their rights, one wanted to be a teacher to educate people about the condition and another wanted to be a journalist to report about people with albinism.'

But it is a long and steep slope to climb before Tanzania truly wakes up to the terrible plight that faces each albino born into this world.

In February attackers collecting body parts of albinos for witchcraft hacked off the hand of a seven-year-old boy, officials said.

The boy, called Mwigulu Magessa, was ambushed by the men as he walked home with his friends in Tanzania. He survived but many such victims of ignorance are not so lucky.


Just days earlier an albino mother of four had her arm chopped off by machete-wielding men and a month before that an albino child died in Tanzania's Tabora region after attackers hacked off his arm.'

 

Tribe of ghosts: Eumen Ezekiel, 13, was attacked in 2007 and hasn't seen his mother since. 'I want to be a member of parliament and defend others living with albinism,' he said

 

 

Zainab, 12, left, stands in a doorway at the Kabanga Protectorate Center, in Kabanga, Tanzania. Zainab and other children and adults have been placed in centres to protect them from being hunted for their body parts


There is very little being done by the government other than putting them in centres to ensure their safety,' Jacquelyn adds. 'They are just sweeping them under the rug, there isn't a long-term solution.

'It was hard to leave the children in this situation and I hope my photography has put a human face on the issue and I hope they see themselves as I see them - beautiful people who deserve a chance in life.'

Jacquelyn collaborated with the non-profit organisation Asante Mariamu during her trip to the centre, which is housed in the Kabanga Primary School, a government boarding school for disabled children.

The organisation is dedicated to raising awareness about the ongoing human rights crisis impacting people with albinism in East Africa.

They seek to teach people with albinism about the condition, so that they can better understand how to protect themselves from skin cancer.

They also work to dispel the myths surrounding the condition to increase acceptance in society.

Providing direct relief with sun protective gear and sunscreen, Asante Mariamu also seeks to empower people with albinism by providing opportunities for education so that they can become vital and valuable members of society.



 

Angel Salvatory, 17, who has skin cancer, buys cloth at the Kabanga Village market in Kabanga, Tanzania on Monday. The photographer says the woman serving her would not look Angel in the eye

 

 

 

 

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VIDEO: Michelle Obama Hip Hop Album set to be released on September 30th.... First Lady Fights Obesity Through Music

A hip hop album by Michelle Obama? Yet another example of the expanding influence and impact of the music.

Just a few weeks ago, Nas was honored with a hip hop fellowship in his name at Harvard University. Teachers are using hip hop in their classrooms to get students interested in math and science, and now the first lady, Michelle Obama is utilizing hip hop as a platform to educate and influence young people.

Her “Let’s Move!” program plans to release a hip hop album complete with 19 songs and 10 music videos in conjunction with the Partnership for a Healthier America and Hip Hop Public Health.

The album, set to be released on September 30th features artists including Run DMC, Ashanti, Doug E. Fresh and Jordin Sparks. The video above, called “Everybody” was released in June and features an appearance from the First Lady and Dr. Oz.

The rest of the videos will be distributed across the country beginning with 40 schools in New York City and expanding to other major cities, according to US News And World Reports.

"Throughout history, music has been a great teacher and motivator, from ABC’s and nursery rhymes to religious hymns and national anthems. It is time to harness this power for health,” explained Founder of Hip Hop Public Health Dr. Olajide Williams.

The directors of the project are looking to create a strong resonance within the African American community. Close to 50 percent of African American children are overweight, according to a 2011 National Healthcare Disparities Report.

"Cultural leaders and visionaries in our country can give these messages to kids in a way that's not preachy. Kids are going to be dancing and listening to the music,"Let's Move! Executive Director and White House assistant chef, Sam Kass explained. "I think hip hop in particular – so many kids love hip hop. It's such a core part of our culture ...and particularly in the African-American community and the Latino community which is being disproportionately affected by those health issues."










CLICK LINK TO WATCH




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