Welcome to Olamama's blog!!!: June 2017

Friday, 30 June 2017

Demand for Qatar to shut down Aljazeera is unacceptable and a threat to media freedom - UN

United Nations human rights chief said the demand by Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations for Qatar to close down its al-Jazeera TV channel is an "unacceptable attack" on the right to freedoms of expression and opinion. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said this on Friday after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates imposed a boycott on Qatar three weeks ago, accusing it of backing militants, then issued an ultimatum, including demanding that it shut down a Turkish military base in Doha, shutting Al Jazeera and curbing ties with Iran, Reuters reports.

Tennessee Titans cornerback Logan Ryan, left, surprised his older brother for his birthday by paying off the $82,000 student loan debt accumulated. The NFL star shared a photo via his Instagram page of himself with his brother who was smiling while holding a large check written to American Education Services for the $82,000. He captioned the photo;
"Surprised my big bro and paid off his student loans for his 29th Bday!! My man got accepted to college, graduated with honors, and now works as an engineer. He did everything the right way and still lives with a ridiculous amount of student loan debt. The system is broke and makes no sense!! I'm Fortunate and blessed to be able to take care of that for him.. Love you big bro you deserve it!! #Family #FinallyFree" Ryan recently signed a 3 year contract worth $30million with the Titans.

Over 100 building tested after Grenfell Tower has failed cladding safety check

Every single high-rise building tested – 120 in total – since the Grenfell Tower disaster has failed a fire safety check on its cladding, Theresa May has confirmed. The prime minister told the House of Commons that 120 buildings in 37 different local authorities across the UK have now been tested, with a 100% failure rate, as the government struggles to deal with the aftermath of this month's devastating fire at the building in west London.

German politicians have voted to legalise same-sex marriage. A total of 393 politicians voted to legalising "marriage for everybody", while 226 voted against and four abstained from voting. The snap vote took place today, only days after Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel changed her mind to allow a free vote. Ms Merkel, has always been against same-sex marriage, but she allowed for the vote after saying on Monday that politicians could take up the issue as a "question of conscience". As expected, she voted against the bill citing concerns over the welfare of children.

Three CNN journalists have resigned after the network retracted a story linking a top President Trump adviser to a Russian investment bank. CNN, which Trump has frequently referred to as "fake news", has come under a lot of criticism since retracting the story and making apologies. Thomas Frank (the author of the story), Eric Lichtblau (an editor in the CNN investigative unit that ran the story), and Lex Haris (who oversaw the unit) have all left CNN, the network made this known on Monday.
"In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published on CNN.com, CNN has accepted the resignations of the employees involved in the story's publication," a CNN spokesman said on Monday.

57-year-old grandma arrested while attempting to smuggle cocaine to Jeddah sentenced to 25 years in jail

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, sentenced 64-year-old Odeyemi Omolola, who is charged before the court alongside a Lagos socialite, Mrs. Funmilola Ogbuaya, also known as Funmilola Ogundipe, popularly known in social circles as Ariket, to 25 years imprisonment, for attempting to export 1.595 kilogrammes of cocaine to Saudi Arabia (You can read the story here). Trial judge, Justice Hadizat Rabiu-Shagari sentenced the convict, who is also known as Ariyo Monsurat Olabisi, after she changed her plea in an amended five counts of the charge. The convict was arraigned on three counts charge of conspiracy, unlawful possession of banned drug, and attempt to export the said banned drug to Saudi Arabia.

US President Donald Trump met with two freed Chibok girls at the White House on Tuesday. A photograph dated June 27 was posted to the official White House website and Twitter page on
Wednesday, showing Mr. Trump, along with his daughter, Ivanka, posing with two Chibok girls identified as Joy Bishara and Lydia Pogu.
The White House did not release a statement regarding the Chibok girls’ visit.

Dozens injured in New York subway train derailment

Dozens of people were injured Tuesday when two New York subway train cars careened off the tracks, leaving hundreds of people stuck for more than an hour, a fire department spokesman said. The incident which occurred mid-morning on the A train line between two stations in Harlem in northern Manhattan -- left 36 people with minor injuries, the spokesman told AFP. Evacuating everyone from the underground station took more than an hour and a half, he said. The cause of the derailment, which continued to disrupt traffic throughout the day, was not immediately clear.

Massachusetts woman who sent texts urging boyfriend to kill himself guilty of manslaughter

Michelle Carter (C)AP

A Massachusetts woman who sent her boyfriend a barrage of text messages encouraging him to kill himself has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. A juvenile court judge found that Michelle Carter caused the death of Conrad Roy III. Carter cried as the judge explained his reasoning Friday. Carter was 17 when she sent Roy dozens of messages urging him to take his own life (You can read the story here). Eighteen-year-old Roy was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in his truck in a store parking lot in Fairhaven in July 2014.
Carter's lawyer argued Roy had a history of depression and suicide attempts and was determined to end his own life.

The sum of $2m was sent to the 10-year-old daughter of a FIFA official prior to Qatar being awarded the hosting of the 2022 World Cup, according to Bild. The German daily published from Tuesday American independent investigator Michael Garcia’s report into alleged bribery and corruption during the bidding for the hosting of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (2nd L)

The Church of England "colluded" with and helped to hide the long-term sexual abuse of young men by one of its former bishops, the head of the church said Thursday. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby apologized to the victims of ex-bishop Peter Ball as his church published a damning report that detailed how senior leaders did little about allegations against Ball over years and even appeared to cover up the case. Welby ordered the independent report after Ball was convicted and imprisoned in 2015 for misconduct in public office and indecent assaults against teenagers and young men from the 1970s to 1990s. Ball, who admitted to abusing 18 young men, was released after serving 16 months.

Meet the serial killer with the record for longest time spent in solitary confinement

A notorious serial killer marked his birthday with an unwanted present - a new UK record for solitary confinement. Robert Maudsley turned 64 with a ‘celebration’ very like the previous four decades - locked up alone in prison .He has endured the same miserable existence for 39 years, or 14,235 consecutive days. On July 28, 1978, already serving life for double murder , Maudsley made a knife from a soup spoon and plunged it into the head of fellow inmate Salney Darwood, 46, in Wakefield jail, West Yorks., before garotting him.

A South African Church; The Afrikaanse Protestante Kerk church in Orania has barred blacks from attending service as the church on Sunday disallowed two black journalists from entering. They told the journalists “the church is only for whites”.

A strange health craze where spa goers get hit in the face and body with knives is becoming popular as people seek new ways to feel relaxed. Sharpened cleavers are pressed in rhythmic motions with nothing but a thin piece of material between the patient and the blade. Hsiao Mei Fang, the owner of Ancient Art of Knife Therapy Education Centre, in Taipei, Taiwan, has been performing the strange procedure for more than 13 years. But says people are now seeking out the treatment, which starts from around £30.
Ms Fang said: "The treatment is originally from China and is 2500 years old.
"But here we have created an original and new knife therapy. "Everything has a Yin and a Yang, so instead of using one knife we use two - this represents the Yin and Yang.

Brazil's top electoral court voted to acquit President Michel Temer and former President Dilma Rousseff following an investigation of allegations they received illegal campaign funds in the 2014 elections. The 4-3 decision gives Temer some breathing room, but he still faces a corruption investigation and street protests that threaten to force him from office before the next presidential elections in October 2018.
Temer, 76, was the vice-presidential candidate alongside Rousseff in 2014, but Rousseff was impeached last year for illegal fiscal maneuvers aimed at hiding the budget shortfall. She has denied the allegations. The prospect of a second Brazilian president being forced out of office in less than a year has unsettled markets and investors. The Brazilian economy has started to crawl out of the worst recession on record, thanks in part to Temer's efforts to push unpopular austerity measures through Congress. But with the corruption investigation heating up, it is not clear he will have the political backing to get key pension and other measures approved.

13 still missing after tourist boat sinks in Colombia

(C)AP

Scuba divers on Monday continued searching for bodies in a reservoir near the Colombian city of Medellin where a tourist boat packed with more than 150 passengers capsized, leaving at least seven people dead and 13 missing. After suspending their search overnight due to a lightning storm, scuba divers by mid-morning Monday had pulled a seventh body from the underwater wreckage. Authorities were also turning their attention to the causes of the sinking and whether the company that owned the boat named El Almirante contributed to the accident.

Disabled passenger forced by Japanese airline to crawl up stairs to board plane

(C)AP

An airline in Japan has apologised to a disabled passenger who was forced to crawl up a flight of stairs to board his plane. Hideto Kijima, who uses a wheelchair, had to hoist himself from the runway at a tiny airport on the resort island of Amami up to the aircraft door, after staff at Vanilla Air refused to allow his friends to carry him aboard. Kijima, who is paralysed from the waist down, has used 200 airports in 158 countries but said this was the first time he had been refused help boarding a flight.
The 44-year-old said he had been told before the flight to Osaka that it was not equipped with lifts to carry passengers with disabilities on to the plane. Vanilla Air is a budget airline affiliated with All Nippon Airways. A member of staff said safety regulations prohibited his friends from carrying him up the stairs and initially attempted to stop him pulling himself up the 17 steps to the plane door.

A 25-year-old domestic worker has been arrested for allegedly killing and burning the body of his 68-year-old employer after she turned down his love proposal in Zimbabwe.
Emmanuel Sibanda on Monday, June 26, appeared before Gweru magistrate Mr Musaiona Shortgame on a charge of murder.
He was not asked to plead and remanded in custody to July 7 for confirmation of his warned and cautioned statement. Sibanda was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
Prosecuting, Mr Daniel Tapfuma told the court that on June 21, Sibanda had a misunderstanding with his employer Mrs Jerina Chipato after she turned down his love proposal.

As Kenyan general elections draw closer, citizens have now been warned by the government to avoid sharing untruthful or inflammatory content on social media platforms or face a fine of up to Sh1 million or a jail term of five years if the proposed regulations to police web content is adopted. The Communications Authority and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in a statement said they have co-authored the draft rules that will punish Kenyans for being impolite, disrespectful or inciting violence when sharing political content.

Mauro Inzoli

Pope Francis has defrocked an Italian priest found guilty of the sexual abuse of minors, reversing an earlier decision to reduce his punishment, the diocese at the heart of the scandal said Wednesday. Mauro Inzoli, 67, was defrocked in 2012 after he was first accused of paedophilia, but that decision was reversed in 2014, when Pope Francis ordered him to stay away from minors and retire to “a life of prayer and humble discretion”.

Two boys who did not like the fact that the King of Thailand was vacationing near their home, decided to shoot him as has went by their home, according to police in Germany. Erding police said that they have arrested the two boys, 13 and 14, after being accused of using an airgun to shoot the King of Thailand. The 13-year-old boy was released without being charged as he is too young to face prosecution. The 14-year-old boy has been charged with attempted grievous bodily harm.

A Detroit mother accused of killing two of her children appeared in court on Monday where she pleaded guilty then went ahead to say that she is not sorry for her actions. Mitchelle Blair, 36, pleaded guilty to killing her 13-year-old daughter Stoni Blair and nine-year-old son Stephen Berry in Wayne County Court in Michigan. The bodies of the children were discovered in March, in a deep freezer at Blair's home as she was being served an eviction notice by court officers. Blair said she killed them because they sexually abused their younger brother who is now 8-years-old.

A soaking wet fugitive wanted in connection with a £1.2million cocaine smuggling inquiry handed himself in to Gibraltar police after swimming from Spain. Jason Waterman, nicknamed Jugs because of his “distinctive” large ears, arrived at the British territory on Monday “dripping” wet. The martial arts and boxing fan, who used to regularly work out in north London gyms, was clutching a bag of soggy clothing.
He gave himself up after watching a Crimewatch appeal that morning to help track him down. Police said Waterman, 32, originally from the Watford area, arrived “without warning” late on Monday night. He refused to say how he had reached Gibraltar, only that it wasn’t through the frontier. But it is believed he swam in a bid to avoid border guards and hand himself into the British Defence Police.

A new study found that women retain and carry living DNA from every man with whom they have unprotected sexual intercourse. The finding was made from the University of Seattle and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. It is not clear how solid these findings are but the study, which was focused on the female brain and genetics, found that 63% of women have brains that harbor DNA that originated from another individual.

Six teenage boys, aged between 14 and 16, are accused of stealing a Porsche and $200,000 during a Florida burglary - before blowing the cash on gold jewelry and teeth, and high end cars for themselves and their mothers. The teens; Rural Scott, 15, Jeremiah Laplace, 15, Michael Bush, 14, Joshua Sargeant, 14, Shomari Smith, 14, and Walter Walker, 16, all from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were charged with burglary and grand theft this week,Daily Mail reports.

The fear you might not realise you're suffering from that's making your life miserable . We all know people who suffer from phobias, from being scared of the dark to having an irrational fear of flying. But one of the less common phobias is trypophobia.
Officially defined as a "fear of holes", it may seem funny at first, but sufferers often flinch at the sight of things like bubbles, foam or other objects with clusters of holes or bumps. Upon seeing these shapes, some people say they shudder, feel their skin crawl, experience panic attacks, sweat, and feel nauseous or itchy. So it could be triggered by the dry seed pod of a lotus flower.

Companies across the globe are reporting that they have been struck by a major ransomware cyber-attack. The virus, the source of which is not yet known, freezes the user's computer until an untraceable ransom is paid in the digital Bitcoin currency. Ukrainian firms, including the state power company and Kiev's main airport, were among the first to report issues. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant has also had to monitor radiation levels manually after its Windows-based sensors were shut down.
In a statement, the US National Security Council said government agencies were investigating the attack and that the US was "determined to hold those responsible accountable". The US Department of Homeland Security advised victims not to pay the ransom, saying there was no guarantee that access to files would be restored.

R&B legends, Boys II Men, which includes members - Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanya Morris got a street named after them over the weekend in their hometown of Philadelphia, CBS Philly. The street is named Boys II Men Blvd.
Philly Councilman Kenyatta Johnson said the group's success has been an inspiration for the entire city. He said, “When they got their record deal, it was like we all made it. It was like everybody from the neighborhood made it because Boyz II Men made it.”

Facebook hits 2 billion users worldwide

Social networking giant, Facebook, has just achieved a new milestone by clocking 2 Billion users worldwide. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made the announcement on his Facebook page and wrote:

'As of this morning, the Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people! We're making progress connecting the world, and now let's bring the world closer together. It's an honor to be on this journey with you.

Maine confirms its first case of measles in 20 years

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a confirmed case of measles in Franklin County that it says is related to travel. The state says the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory confirmed the case. The last reported case of measles in the state was in 1997.
State epidemiologist Siiri Bennett says the Maine CDC is working with clinicians to identify potentially exposed individuals. The public may have been exposed if they visited several locations in Farmington and Kingfield between June 15 and 19. Locations include the Narrow Gauge Cinema in Farmington on June 15, in the afternoon and during the evening, and the Kingfield Woodsman in Kingfield in the late morning and early afternoon of June 18.
Other affected areas include Restaurant la Chocolaterie in Quebec, Canada, Farmington's Franklin Memorial Hospital Laboratory and Grantlee's Tavern and Grill, CBS affiliate WGME in Portland reports.
Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease that can cause pneumonia and death.

Woman throws coins at plane's engines for luck

(C)Twitter

An elderly airline passenger in China delayed a flight for several hours on Tuesday after she threw coins at one of the plane's engines to "pray for safety," state media reported. The superstitious 80-year-old threw the coins at the engine while she stood on the stairs waiting to board a China Southern Airlines flight from Shanghai to Guangzhou. Airline staff, who had been alerted by concerned witnesses, later found nine coins including one inside the engine.
The plane's captains said the coins could have disrupted the engine if it had sucked them in. The airline conducted a full examination of the plane before it finally took off more than five hours late. The woman was placed under investigation by airport police, however she was not found to have a mental illness. Neighbours of the woman said they suspected she was a Buddhist.

The dramatic moment an angry elephant overturns a car and goes on a rampage at a festival in India

A dramatic video shows an angry elephant acting out its frustration by overturning a car with its trunk. The aggressive elephant disrupted a local festival called Ambalapura that was taking place in Thrissur, Kerela in Southern India and went on a rampage, destroying things.
The elephant was appearing at the festival with its owner but during the celebration, the owner lost control of the elephant. The weather was hot and the crowd at the festival were noisy, as is expected at such big ceremonies, and it is believed these may have factored in getting the animal upset. In the video, the animal can be seen towering over the car, before lifting it with its trunk and sending it tumbling across the ground. It also did the same with the motorcycles parked close by.
Watch the video after the cut

A second landslide has struck the village in southwest China where rescue workers have been looking for nearly 100 people buried over the weekend by a massive wave of rocks and debris. Chinese state radio says the latest landslide struck the village of Xinmo in Sichuan province at around 11 a.m. Tuesday. Government teams were ordered to evacuate the site on Monday after radar detected shifts in the mountain, signaling another imminent collapse.
While no further casualties were reported, the second landslide sets back rescue teams searching for 93 people missing since early Saturday, when rugged mountains flanking the village gave away and buried its roughly 100 residents. Before rescue work stopped Monday, only three people had been rescued from the site and 10 bodies had been recovered.

Source: Associated Press

Ex-nurse convicted of killing 8 elderly people gets life sentence

A Canadian former nurse convicted of killing eight elderly people in her care was sentenced Monday to life imprisonment without possibility of parole for 25 years. Elizabeth Wettlaufer pleaded guilty last month to eight counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault in the notorious serial killings. The 50-year-old told the court on Monday that she is truly sorry and hopes her victims' families can find peace and healing.
"I caused tremendous pain and suffering and death. Sorry is much too small a word. I am extremely sorry," she said in court, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Seven things couples trying to conceive should note

Pregnancy occurs when the egg (scientifically called ovum) is fertilised by sperm.
Usually, a woman’s body produces one egg per month except in cases of superovulation where more than one is released while the man produces millions of sperm cells in every ejaculation but only one is required to fertilise the egg for pregnancy to occur.
If you have been trying to have a baby for some time without any success, here are seven pointers that may help.

Understand your monthly cycle
This is probably the first thing to do when trying to have a baby. When you know your menstrual cycle, you improve your chances of getting pregnant.
The first phase starts with the first day of bleeding during your period. Your body releases hormones, like follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), that make the eggs inside your ovaries grow. Between days 2 and 14, those hormones also help thicken the lining of your uterus to get ready for a fertilised egg. This is called the follicular stage.

A rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao could be on the cards if the legendary Filipino boxer wins his bout against Australian challenger Jeff Horn this weekend, his trainer said Tuesday. Pacquiao, who was outpointed by Mayweather in the “Fight of the Century” two years ago, will be the strong favourite when he defends his world title against the unbeaten Horn in Brisbane. But the Horn fight could be critical to whether the “Pac-Man” secures another superfight with his American rival, Freddie Roach told reporters in Brisbane.

During Justine Kish’s fight against Felice Herrig at UFC Fight 112 on Saturday, Kish was put in a submission that made her bowels fail. Herrig was able to pick up the win after the fight went all three rounds, but it almost came to an end sooner in the third round when she locked Kish in a rear-naked choke. Kish did not tap out but she ended up defecating right in the middle of the ring. The poop on the mat wasn’t discovered by referees during the fight or else the match would’ve been stopped immediately. After the fight, Kish embraced the moment on Twitter, acknowledging what happened in a “s--t happens” hashtag.

US-led coalition air strikes on a jail run by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria killed at least 57 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
"The strikes hit an IS jail in Mayadeen at dawn on Monday, killing 42 prisoners and 15 jihadists," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Mayadeen lies in the Euphrates Valley some 45km southeast of the provincial capital of Deir Ezzor.
The Britain-based Observatory said that according to its sources IS had paraded the bodies of the dead in the streets of the town. Most of Deir Ezzor province is controlled by the jihadists and it has been the target of air strikes by both the coalition and the Syrian army and its Russian ally.

Catholic Bishop goes hard on gays, says no communion, no funeral rites for them

Bishop of Springfield Thomas Paprocki has issued a formal decree calling on all members of the Catholic faith to enforce the Church’s longstanding policies on the issue of homosexuality. These policies include no same-sex marriages, no Communion for people in a same-sex union, and no funeral rites for unrepentant homosexuals, among other teachings.
“Jesus Christ himself affirmed the privileged place of marriage in human and Christian society by raising it to the dignity of a sacrament,” stated the Bishop in his decree.

A section of a bridge that is being constructed at a cost of 1.2 billion shillings in Budalang'i constituency in the county of Busia, Kenya, has collapsed.
Sigiri bridge which is being constructed by a Chinese company was expected to link several rural areas, markets, schools and hospitals within the constituency.
The bridge, one of the Jubilee Government flagship projects has collapsed just two weeks after President Uhuru Kenyatta inspected it.
While conducting the inspection, President Kenyatta noted that the bridge will significantly reduce the number of deaths in the area. It is not yet clear what caused the bridge to collapse.
Sigiri Bridge was designed to enable people cross River Nzoia where several people have died in the past while attempting to get across. Before the collapse, the bridge was 90 per cent complete and was expected to be operational from next month.

US President Donald Trump and an eight-year-old refugee from Syria, Bana Alabed, have been named by the Time Magazine among the most influential people online. With his legendary tweets, from #corrupthillary to the cryptic-slash-nonsensical "covfefe," the 45th US president made it to the "unranked" list along with 24 other cyber celebrities with powerful presence on social media and ability to make headlines. Trump has been famously using Twitter to push his policies and to rail against his enemies and critics.

Problems with the video technology system in use at the Confederations Cup must be solved if it is to be employed at the 2018 World Cup, Fifa says. Law-making body International Football Association Board will decide next March if video assistant referees will be used at next year's event in Russia. During the 12 Confederations Cup group games, the system helped correct six "game-changing decisions", said Fifa's head referee Massimo Busacca.
"We have really good results," he said.
"But many aspects should be improved."
Busacca said officials had ruled correctly on a further 29 "major incidents" after referring to the video replay team, and that Fifa was keen to convince member nations to use the technology (VAR). Spectators, players and team officials have complained of being left confused while officials have been making decisions with the help of VAR. Busacca said referees needed more training in how and when to use the technology, and added the system could be sped up.

Statistics shows 1.5 billion logged-in users visits YouTube monthly

This year at VidCon, YouTube shared some new metrics that really drive home how much it’s dominating mobile video usage and how quickly its service is gaining viewers on TVs. The highlight was the fact that there are now 1.5 billion logged-in users visiting the site every month. The distinction is important as there are undoubtedly still quite a few folks hopping on YouTube that aren’t necessarily using Google Accounts to do so.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft have created a joint forum to counter terrorism following years of criticisms that the technology corporations have failed to block violent extremists and propaganda on their platforms. The Silicon Valley companies announced the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism on Monday, saying the collaboration would focus on technological solutions, research and partnerships with governments and civic groups.

Japan’s Takata Corp , the airbag maker, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Japan. The company at the centre of the auto industry’s biggest ever product recall said it would seek $1.6 billion in aid from U.S.-based Key Safety Systems (KSS). In one of Japan’s biggest bankruptcies, Takata is facing tens of billions of dollars in costs and liabilities resulting from almost a decade of recalls and lawsuits.
Its airbags have been linked to at least 17 deaths and more than 180 injuries. Its U.S. arm filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Sunday with liabilities of $10 billion to $50 billion, while the Japanese parent filed for protection with the Tokyo District Court early on Monday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange said its shares would be delisted on July 27. The filings opened the door to the financial rescue from auto parts supplier KSS, which Takata tapped as its preferred sponsor to help it keep churning out millions of replacement airbag inflators. Proceeds from the sale will be used to settle a plea agreement with the U.S Department of Justice.

Russia only has only one percent of its chemical weapons stockpile left. The rest has been destroyed, according to the head of the country’s Federal Administration for the Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons, Major General Valery Kapashin.
Some “99 percent of the chemical weapons stored in Russia have been destroyed,” the high-ranking official said.

At least 13 prison officials face suspension over the issue of strippers performing a "strip show" for inmates at the Johannesburg Prison. This follows the Department of Correctional Services hastily organising a press conference to give clarity on saucy pictures that circulated social media and were also on Daily Sun which showed strippers entertaining prisoners at the prison. In one image, two strippers appear to be undressing a willing inmate while he holds his hands up and in another, a stripper is seen giving an inmate a hug.

Fifty-two migrants have been found dead in the deserts of central Niger, near Séguédine. A group of 75 set out in three vehicles but were abandoned by traffickers, who feared the security forces. A local official told the BBC that dozens of bodies had been buried, and 23 survivors were taken to the town, although one later died.
African migrants travel through the desert aiming to reach Libya and cross the Mediterranean to Europe. However, the journey is perilous as the migrants are crammed into pick-up trucks and have few supplies. Two weeks ago Niger troops rescued 92 migrants who were on the brink of death in the Sahara Desert. The group, which included women and children, was abandoned without water and food.

Monday, 26 June 2017

'We're very excited': Dutch scientists celebrate 6th meteorite ever to be found in Netherlands

Dutch scientists are celebrating a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite which fell in the Netherlands earlier this year, the sixth of its kind ever to be found in the country. The "very special" space rock is also being unveiled to the public. The fist-sized meteorite fell through the roof of a shed in the small village of Broek in Waterland in January and was discovered the morning after its descent to Earth, geologist Leo Kriegsman, from the Naturalis biodiversity center in Leiden, Netherlands, said in a YouTube video.
He went on to state that the meteorite is only the sixth to be found in the Netherlands, even though space rocks of its size likely fall onto the country once every four years. "You could say on average we find one every, say, 30 years. The chances of finding that small thing is very, very small... it's very unique, we're very excited about it," he said.

Eight Chadian soldiers were killed in fierce fighting with Boko Haram insurgents at the weekend on islands on Lake Chad, which borders four countries on the edge of the Sahara, the Chadian army said Monday.
“Our forces attacked Boko Haram elements on five islands near Nigeria on June 24 and 25,” said Colonel Azem, spokesman for Chad’s chief of staff, indicating eight soldiers had died and another 18 were wounded.
He also claimed troops had killed 162 Nigerian jihadists.

Source: AFP

Friday, 30 June 2017

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Wednesday, 28 June 2017

Tuesday, 27 June 2017

Monday, 26 June 2017