Syrian president says army 'has balance of power'

"The repercussions and wider dangers seem to be growing every day," reports Jim Muir in Beirut

Continue reading the main story

The Syrian army has scored "major victories" against rebels and now holds "the balance of power" in the conflict, President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly told a Lebanese TV station.

Mr Assad is also quoted as saying Syria has received the first shipment of an advanced Russian air defence system.
Russia vowed to go ahead with sending S-300 missiles earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the main opposition outside Syria said it would not take part in peace talks while massacres continued.
Speaking in Istanbul where the Syrian National Coalition is meeting, its interim head, George Sabra, said that talk of diplomatic conferences was farcical while Syrian government forces backed by the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah were carrying out heinous crimes.
'Major victories'

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Jonathan Marcus BBC Defence Correspondent

The delivery of S-300 missiles and their associated radars to Syria - if confirmed - is seen by experts as a potential game-changer: not just in terms of the country's air defence capabilities but also in terms of the signal it sends about Moscow's willingness to back the Syrian regime.
The S-300 is a highly capable Russian-built anti-aircraft system that is also able to shoot down in-coming ballistic missiles. In many ways it is an equivalent to the US Patriot system that Nato has deployed to Turkey to protect its airspace.
It takes some time for crews to become proficient in operating this kind of weapon and it might take further time to integrate it into Syria's wider air defence system.
But its presence would significantly complicate Israel's ability to operate in Syrian airspace and make the US and other Western air forces more cautious should there be renewed talk about establishing "no-fly" zones over Syria.

President Assad's interview with Hezbollah-linked al-Manar TV is set to be broadcast later on Thursday.

In excerpts from the interview published by Lebanon's pro-Syrian al-Akhbar newspaper, Mr Assad is quoted as saying: "The Syrian army has scored major victories against armed rebels on the ground and the balance of power is now with the Syrian army."
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem made similar comments on Wednesday, telling Lebanese media: "Our armed forces have regained the momentum.''
Mr Assad also admits in the interview with al-Manar that Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement are co-operating, or "on the same axis".
"Hezbollah fighters are deployed along the Lebanese-Syrian borders but the operations are conducted by the Syrian army until the "terrorist" groups are crushed", he is quoted as saying.
Mr Assad condemns backing for the rebels from Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, claiming there are now 100,000 foreign fighters on Syrian soil.

Gen Selim Idriss makes an appeal on the BBC's World Service: "We are dying, we are suffering, many, many people are now waiting to be killed"

'Invading' Earlier, a rebel leader accused Hezbollah of "invading" Syria.
Gen Selim Idriss, the military chief of the main umbrella group of Syrian rebels, the Free Syrian Army, claimed that more than 7,000 fighters of the Lebanese Shia movement were taking part in attacks on the rebel-held town of Qusair.

Continue reading the main story

Who are Hezbollah?

• Lebanese Shia Muslim group
• Name means the Party of God
• Defined by hostility to Israel since 1980s
• Fought Israel in a bitter and deadly war in 2006
• Made up of political and military wings
• Strongest member of Lebanon's pro-Syria bloc
• Consistently backs Assad rule in Syria
• Fighters known to be active inside Syria
• Branded a terrorist group by Washington

• Full profile: Hezbollah

He made an emotional appeal to Western powers on the BBC World Service's Newshour programme, saying: "We are dying. Please come and help us."

More than 50,000 residents were trapped in the town and a "massacre" would occur if it fell, he added.
Regime forces, backed by Hezbollah fighters, are reported to have retaken from rebels a disused military airfield north of Qusair.
Opposition groups and humanitarian organisations say conditions for the civilians and the wounded in Qusair are dire, with doctors saying oxygen and other medical supplies have run out.
Syrian government officials say that a corridor has been established to allow civilians to escape, and fighters who put down their arms are free to leave too.
Fears of further tension
"Syria has received the first shipment of Russian anti-aircraft S-300 rockets," Mr Assad is reported as saying in the TV interview.
"The rest of the shipment will arrive soon."
The S-300 is a highly capable surface-to-air missile system that, as well as targeting aircraft, also has the capacity to engage ballistic missiles.
The delivery of such missiles raises fears of further tension with Israel, as Mr Assad is also reported to have threatened to respond directly if Israel launches any further air attacks on Syria.
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday he had information suggesting the missiles had not yet been delivered, but if they were Israel would "know how to act".
On Thursday, Israeli Energy Minister Silvan Shalom told public radio that Israel did not want to "escalate" the situation with Syria, but would not allow the transfer of strategic weapons to Hezbollah.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the delivery of missiles could bring the region into extremely dangerous terrain.
If those missiles have in fact been supplied and the Israelis could figure out where they are and hit them, the regional superpower, Israel, would be hitting material provided by what used to be a global superpower and is still a very important international power, our correspondent says.

1. The long-range surveillance radar tracks objects over a range of 300km (185 miles) and relays information to the command vehicle, which assesses potential targets.
2. A target is identified and the command vehicle orders the engagement radar to launch missiles.
3. Launch data is sent to the best placed of the battalion's six launch vehicles and it releases two surface-to-air missiles.
4. The engagement radar helps guide the missiles towards the target. It can guide up to 12 missiles simultaneously, engaging up to six targets at once.

Efforts by the US and Russia to convene a peace conference in Geneva in June have suffered a further setback with the opposition Syrian National Coalition saying it will not take part while killing continues in Qusair.
Speaking in Istanbul, Mr Sabra appealed for international help for people that he said were trapped in Qusair - a strategically vital town on the border with Lebanon that has become a key battleground.
And he warned the Lebanese government over the involvement of Hezbollah, saying the Syrian people could not forgive the spilling of their blood.
Only last week, a spokesman for the National Coalition had said it would attend if Mr Assad agreed to step down.
The Syrian leader is quoted in the TV interview as saying the Syrian government would attend in principle but doubts the meeting will yield results.

Brunei’s wild riches

Located on the west coast of the

 island of Borneo, Brunei is a small, oil rich nation; and the Sultan’s wealth is on full display in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. But Ulu Temburong, Brunei’s only national park, displays riches of another kind. With much of Borneo’s rainforest being destroyed by logging and palm oil plantations, Ulu Temburong offers an increasingly rare chance to experience the incredible diversity of flora and fauna found in a virgin rainforest.
The adventure begins as soon as you leave Bandar Seri Begawan, with a 40-minute water taxi ride from the capital’s main jetty to Bangar, the only town in the Temburong district. From here it is an 18km road journey to the tiny settlement of Batang Duri where the road ends, and then onto a traditional longboat for the final 30-minute ride along the fast-flowing Temburong River to the Ulu Ulu Temburong Resort, the closest hotel to the canopy trail.
Getting from the banks of the Temburong to the canopy walkway is a hard slog, with a steady 1km climb along a steep jungle path in conditions that are humid even in the darkness of pre-dawn (the best time to experience the canopy walkway is at sunrise, when the jungle’s wildlife is most active). Yet the toughest challenge is not a physical one.
At first sight, the 50m-high metal cage appears to be little more than makeshift scaffolding, and with only six discrete steel cables supporting the structure, the sway of the platform is quite noticeable, even in a gentle breeze. It is no surprise that around a third of those who reach the base of the canopy walkway decide against climbing the metal ladders that loom overhead.
Those who do brave the 20 ladders that reach to the top of the walkway are rewarded with a prime viewpoint for observing Ulu Temburong’s rich variety of wildlife. Gibbons can occasionally be seen swinging through the canopy and are often heard screeching in the towering dipterocarp trees below, many of which are more than 100 years old; and hornbills fly overhead, their long beaks and colourful horns standing out against the surrounding jungle. Lucky visitors may even glimpse a flying squirrel leaping from tree to tree. But despite the cacophony of animal sounds coming from below, the canopy is dense and the view stretches for such a distance that visitors may spend a couple of hours on the walkway and see very little.
While most people visit Ulu Temburong to experience the view from the canopy walkway, the Ulu Ulu Temburong Resort also offers jungle hikes to see the park’s tumbling waterfalls, many of which offer the chance to have a refreshing swim in their natural pools. Night treks are a memorable way to experience the sounds of the jungle at their loudest, with frogs and cicadas competing for attention.
Ulu Ulu supervisor Mohammad Mutaqin is committed to making sure the resort plays an important role in the park’s conservation. While trekking along a jungle trail, he pointed out medicinal plants and described how locals have traditionally harvested and sold the jungle’s flora and fauna with little regard for conservation. Wild pigs have been hunted, while rare trees and plants such as tongkat ali – known for its aphrodisiac qualities – have been cut down to make medicines or for use in potions by those following indigenous belief systems.
Mutaqin pointed to neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia as places where jungles have been destroyed to harvest commercially lucrative resources, but due in part to Brunei’s modest population, the scale of harvesting in Ulu Temburong has been small until now. According to Mutaqin, if the resort can benefit the local community by offering employment and bringing in tourism money, there is hope that people will learn to appreciate the precious nature of the environment in which they live before it is severely damaged.

Brunei may not offer a ready-made luxury safari experience, and animal sightings do require a lot of effort as well as a fair amount of luck. But while humans have already encroached far into the wider Borneo jungle with devastating consequences, Temburong still offers access to a largely untouched, virgin rainforest; something that is becoming ever harder to find.
Practicalities
A permit is required to travel independently to Ulu Temburong. To avoid this hassle and the very high cost of organising private transfers, the majority of visitors make arrangements with one of the travel agencies based in Bandar Seri Begawan. The only way to reach Ulu Temburong’s canopy walkway early enough to see the sun rise is to stay overnight at the Ulu Ulu Temburong resort, where the wake-up call is at 4:30 am. If pre-dawn starts do not appeal, Freme Travel offers an itinerary that includes a mid-morning visit to the walkway. Their tours include transfers from Bandar Seri Begawan and an overnight stay at their own Rainforest Lodge, just outside the park.
Most travellers will stop one night in Bandar Seri Begawan at the beginning or end of their Temburong visit, with the luxurious Empire Hotel and Country Club (owned by the Sultan himself and used to house Heads of State when they visit) offering an affordable splash of glamour that may be welcome after a night in the jungle. The Brunei Hotel is a convenient business-style hotel in the city centre, across the road from the colourful morning market. See the Brunei Tourism website for more information.

Languages of love: 10 unusual terms of endearment

"Chouchou" is Carla Bruni's term for her husband, the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Samantha Cameron was heard on microphone saying "I love you babe" to her man, Prime Minister David Cameron - and Michelle Obama described the most-tweeted picture ever (above) with the words, "That's my honey giving me a hug."

Some terms of endearment can be used in many languages - "baby", "angel" and "sweetheart" for example. But some don't travel as well as you might think. If you call a French person "honey" ("miel") he or she may take it as a unflattering comparison with a sticky mess.
And how would you react if someone called you a cauliflower, a flea, or a baby elephant? Here is a quick guide to the language of love around the world - dominated by metaphors from cookery and the animal kingdom - with contributions by language coach Paul Noble.
1. Little cabbage (French) Petit chou
"Chou" (cabbage) is the French equivalent of "sweetheart". "Chou" conveys the idea of being small and round and is used to describe French puff pastry, often enjoyed as "chou a la creme". "Chou" is said to resemble a baby's or child's head too. Over the years, many French children have been told that boys were born in cabbages and girls in roses. You can double it too - "chouchou" is a standard translation for "darling".
2. Pumpkin (Brazil / Portuguese) Chuchuzinho
"Chuchu" is the word for "squash" - but strangely similar to the French "chouchou". Could a French word have sneaked into Portuguese as a fancy way to refer to a loved one (even though it refers to a different vegetable)? The ending "zinho", meaning "little", emphasises fondness.

A 19th Century print by Kitagawa Utamaro

3. Egg with eyes (Japanese) Tamago gata no kao
In Japan, women are frequently called "an egg with eyes" by those who love them. This is a great compliment, as having an oval, egg-shaped face is considered very attractive in Japanese culture - you can see this in Japanese paintings through the ages.
4. Lump of sugar (Spanish) Terron de azucar
Like "honey" in English, sweet foodstuffs of one kind or another make popular terms of endearment in numerous languages. This popular one in Spanish, "terron de azucar" also means "sugar cube". Apparently, it rates highly on the "tweeness" scale, so use sparingly.
5. Fruit of my heart (Indonesian) Buah hatiku
Although the term can be used romantically, featuring in love songs and poems, today it is most often used to express affection for children. Advertisers use the term to appeal to family-oriented customers, especially young middle-class couples: "The best gift/food/product for 'the fruit of your heart'". You will also find the term in almost all books and articles on parenting, and it frequently appears as the name of organisations focusing on children, including a hospital near Jakarta.
6. My flea (French) Ma puce
"Ma puce" is roughly equivalent to "sweetie" in English. One theory suggests that it could be linked to the historic relationship shared by humans and fleas - in times past, removing fleas from one another became a one-to-one grooming activity, and is alleged to have been a pleasant and sometimes intimate process.

7. Gazelle (Arabic) Ghazal
Classical Arabic poetry abounds with the imagery of beautiful gazelles (ie women, metaphorically speaking). There are numerous references to the "lethal spears" of a beautiful woman's gaze. If you believe the poets, hunters (ie men) can die of love-sickness after a single glance from a gazelle. Today too, a man may say to a woman, "You have the eyes of a gazelle" ("Laki uyounul ghazal"). This may imply that he has fallen under her spell sooner than she has his.
8. Little elephant (Thai) Chang noi
Elephants are the dearest of animals to Thai people. They are supposed to bring good luck, white elephants especially. The elephant symbol might derive from the Hindu God Ganesh reflecting the great influence that Indian culture exerted across this region. Elephants so captured the nation's heart that they once became an emblem on the country's flag.
9. Diving fish swooping geese (Chinese) Chen yu luo yan
There is a story surrounding the greatest beauty in Chinese history, a woman named Xi Shi. It's said that she was so beautiful that when she looked at fish in a pond, the fish were so dazzled by her beauty that they forgot to swim and gradually dived to the bottom. Likewise, it was said that when geese flew over a woman called Wang Zhaojun, they were so struck by her beauty that they would forget to flap their wings and would end up swooping to the ground. Because of this, to this day, when a young Chinese man is in love with a Chinese woman, he may indicate that, to him, she is as beautiful as Xi Shi or Wang Zhaojun. To do this, he will say just four words: "Diving fish, swooping geese".
10. Little dove (Russian) Golubchik (masc) / golubushka (fem)
Pushkin used the word "little dove" to refer affectionately to his elderly nanny in the lines of one of his best-known poems, but she could equally have used it to refer to him, when he was a child (and probably did). As a term of endearment it dates back at least to the Song of Songs, in the Old Testament ("O my dove... let me see thy countenance"), originally written in Hebrew. The Slavonic translation of the Bible had a profound influence on shaping the Russian language, so the Russian usage could have Biblical roots.
Language coach Paul Noble and consultants to Collins Dictionary contributed to this article. Paul Noble is the author of the Destination language courses (in Italian, French, and Spanish), published by Collins

Pew study: Two different tales of women earners

A new study shows that in 40% of US homes with children, the primary earners are women.

A Pew survey found that of the women supporting their families, 37% were married women who earned more than their husbands, while 63% were single mothers.
Compare that to the 1960s, when just 11% of families were supported primarily by mothers.
You'd think as someone who has written a book called Womenomics about the power of women in the workforce, I'd be thrilled by these numbers. And at first glance I was.
Struggle and success The problem is the Pew survey shows two very different stories. One is the happy reality of middle-class, college-educated women finally being paid what they deserve.

Women entered the workforce in droves starting around the time of World War II

The other is the more depressing tale of undereducated, poorer single mothers who are still struggling.
I'm not quite sure why Pew has put them together in the same report, because they are really different stories.
There is no breaking news about the unhappy position of so many single mothers in the US, there are just a lot more of them. They are by necessity the only bread winners in their families. They are more often working class, with no college education, and they are more often African American or Hispanic.
I am in awe of them every day.
There is not much in life that is harder than being a poor single mother, struggling, often with multiple badly paid jobs, to earn enough to feed and clothe your kids. (Of course, for every mother there is, somewhere, a dad, and I just wish we could be more effective in getting them fully engaged in rearing the children they fathered.)
The other story in this Pew survey concerns married women who are educated and have white collar jobs. Here there is confirmation of a new and significant trend.
'Important social shift'
I first heard news that American wives are earning more than their husbands last year from the Families and Work Institute. The Institute estimated that a quarter of all American women were bringing home more than their spouses. They think that percentage will rise to 50% within five years.

More from the report.

Based on census data, the Pew report looked at earning trends for US women.

• Married women with a higher income than their husbands tended to be older, white and college educated.
• Single mothers who support their family on average tended to be younger, more likely to be black or Hispanic, and less likely to have attended an institution of higher education.
• For married women who are the main earners in the family, the median total family income was almost $80,000 (£53,000) compared to the median income of $23,000 for the families of single mothers. The national median for all families with children is $57,100.
• About 25% of all US households are headed by a single mother.
• Women make up nearly half the national workforce.
• The employment rate among married women rose from 37% in 1968 to 65% in 2011.

This is an important social shift with serious implications for relations between husbands and wives, and parents and children. I can say from experience that when a woman starts earning more than her husband, something shifts in the balance at home.
It can often creep up. Unspoken but suddenly, the wife's career commitments are given priority.
Dads then have no choice but to make more lunch boxes, organise more play dates and fix the baby-sitting arrangements in order to free Mum up to take that business trip or make that meeting. This can be a source of great relief as financial pressures ease, but it can also be a source of tension as traditional roles are shaken up.
We are less than 75 years past the single biggest change in women entering the workforce - the emergence of Rosie the Riveter and the war that drew women in the millions into the workplace for the first time.
I'm prepared to stick my neck out now and say wives earning more than their husbands may well come to be seen as the second most significant shift that American professional women have ever seen. It's subtle, but as every working mother will tell you it is also significant.
Some of this income shift to women is caused by the positive trend of women finally starting to earn their due and some by the more negative trend of men losing their jobs at a faster rate than women in what became known after 2008 as the He-cession.
Conflicted country Women seem to be embracing their new role as bread winners. More of us say we want to work full time and fewer of us say we'd prefer not to work at all. There is little indication this trend will reverse course. Women are increasingly better educated than men. We earn more degrees, more post-graduate degrees, even more PhDs.
As we shift from an economy that increasingly values brains over brawn, the war for talent will keep drawing highly skilled women into the workforce and will keep paying them more.
Those are the numbers, but what about the attitudes? The Pew survey suggests a country still conflicted about all these breadwinning mothers.
When I was in college I assumed that when I had children I'd live in a world where there were just as many stay-at-home dads in the park as there were stay-at-home mums. How naive I was, and this Pew poll shows why.

Women now make up almost half of the workforce

According to these numbers, half of us still think children are better off if the mother stays at home, but only 8% feel the same about the father. Three-quarters say it is harder for a marriage to succeed when the mother works, even though it allows a family to live more comfortably.
For us breadwinning professional mothers, those are rather depressing statistics. I'd also say they are absurd.
Working mothers aren't going back to their traditional roles, the vast majority simply can't afford to. Women work because we enjoy it, we have educations to offer and because we simply have to.
The sheer numbers dictate that these attitudes - to poor single mothers and educated professional mothers - will have no choice but to catch up with the times.
I'm confident they will.

India village gets electricity after 65 years

Villagers blame government apathy for the delay in getting electricity

Continue reading the main story

A village in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh recently got electricity for the first time - 65 years after independence. The BBC Hindi's Nitin Srivastava visits Chibaukhera to find out how the lives of more than 100 families have changed.

Fifty-one-year old Ram Achal is a relaxed man these days.
For many years, he travelled to a neighbouring village daily to recharge his mobile phone because there was no electricity at home.
"We have been waiting for decades to get bulbs and fans in our homes. Despite being so close to the malls and colourful shopping complexes in Lucknow city, our lives revolved around kerosene lamps and candles. Not anymore," he says.
Chibaukhera is barely 15km (nine miles) from the airport in Lucknow, the bustling, brightly lit state capital. It's also a half-an-hour's drive from the residence of the state's chief minister.
Ram Achal's is one among the 100-odd families living in this sleepy farming village.
'Nightmare' "All this while, living here was a nightmare. Men in our village never received marriage proposals from outside as parents were afraid of sending their daughters or sisters into this darkness," he says.
A newly installed 100 kilowatt (KW) electric transformer has now changed the life of villagers in Chibaukhera.
Within days of its installation, many families bought bulbs, fans and refrigerator for their homes. Power cuts are still common, but people say they are happy with even eight to 10 hours of electricity a day.
Uttar Pradesh is one of India's most under-developed states and more than 10,000 of its 97,122 villages still languish without electricity.

Earlier, Ram Achal had to travel to another village to get his mobile phone charged

Senior power official MK Verma says the state has a power deficit of around 14%, which is considerably higher than the national average of 8.8%. And power outages are common throughout the state.
But why did Chibaukhera have to wait so long to get power despite being located so close to the state capital?
Residents say the village fell off the electrification map because of its small population - they say neighbouring villagers with more people got electrified much earlier.
Also, despite its proximity to Lucknow city, Chibaukhera is not very easy to reach - one has to cross a defunct, dry canal and walk along a muddy dirt track to reach the place.
Villagers also attribute the delay to sheer government apathy.
Power official MK Verma does not agree.
"The speed of electrification depends on the demand and supply situation. There is no such thing as giving importance to some villages, and neglecting others. Electrification is an ongoing process," he says.
Happy However, the residents of Chibaukhera are no longer complaining.
Children and women are glued to cricket and soaps on newly-installed TV sets and many homes are cooler with fans. Some villagers are even storing food in their new refrigerators for the first time in their lives.
When electricity officials reached their village in the first week of May this year, many families ordered sweets.
Malti, 23, now has two fans and a refrigerator installed at her home.

Despite outages, villagers are happy to have a few hours of electricity

As her parents start looking for a suitable groom for her, she is trying to make up for the lost time.
"I love stitching, but could not pursue my hobby after sunset. These days I continue doing that late into the night. And, of course, with the onset of summer, I am looking forward to sleeping well thanks to my new fan," she says.
"Now I also get to watch my favourite television serials at home. Earlier, we could only watch television while visiting relatives outside," she says.
For the villagers, mostly farmers, buying and ferrying water for irrigation of their fields was an arduous and expensive exercise.
"The biggest problem was hiring generators and water pumps to irrigate our farms. Now we are all thinking of buying pump sets," says Munnalal, a resident

We Shall Kill Nigerians In Pakistan If… – Families Of Kidnap Victims

Families of the five Pakistani nationals on board an oil vessel, Mt Matrix 1, abducted last Saturday at 40 nautical miles off the Bayelsa coast have told the management of the company, Matrix Energy, in Warri, Delta State, not to pay any ransom to the abductors to get them released.
They are promising to take revenge on Nigerians in their hundreds in Pakistan, if any of the victims was killed.
The abducted victims include the Captain, Chief Officer, cook and two others. They were conveying automated gasoline oil, AGO, from Lagos to Eket, when they were abducted at 9pm.
Sources said that relevant security agencies in Bayelsa State and Warri in Delta State, had been informed of the incident.
The source added  that the company had begun negotiation with the abductors, but that details of negotiations with the company on ransom were not disclosed.

We Shall Kill Nigerians In Pakistan If… – Families Of Kidnap Victims

Families of the five Pakistani nationals on board an oil vessel, Mt Matrix 1, abducted last Saturday at 40 nautical miles off the Bayelsa coast have told the management of the company, Matrix Energy, in Warri, Delta State, not to pay any ransom to the abductors to get them released.
They are promising to take revenge on Nigerians in their hundreds in Pakistan, if any of the victims was killed.
The abducted victims include the Captain, Chief Officer, cook and two others. They were conveying automated gasoline oil, AGO, from Lagos to Eket, when they were abducted at 9pm.
Sources said that relevant security agencies in Bayelsa State and Warri in Delta State, had been informed of the incident.
The source added  that the company had begun negotiation with the abductors, but that details of negotiations with the company on ransom were not disclosed.

Mimiko Challenges Amaechi Over NGF Video

Factional Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, yesterday, challenged the Governor Rotimi Amaechi faction to release to the public the video recording of the three-hour exercise.
Speaking at this years Democracy day lecture in Akure, Mimiko said that the Amaechi faction only released a 10 minutes part of the video that favours them.
The governor said: “Nigerians should ask the Pro-Amaechi’s group why he presided over an election which he is also contesting. I specifically raised that issue and insisted that he must resign but his supporters maintained that he should supervise the poll as a sitting chairman.
“They asked me whether I resigned my position while seeking a re-election for a second term in office and I replied them that it was not the same thing because the NGF is like an association not a democratic institution which had its existence entrenched in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“When it was obvious that we could not guarantee the source of the ballot boxes and papers brought by Amaechi, I protested again that we should conduct the election openly by raising up our hands in support of our preferred candidate, again, they rejected it.
“The ballot papers they produced were without serial numbers and we discovered this was a fraud, hence there were protests.
“They never captured all these facts in their video but merely recorded the fraction of the process which was in line with their pre-determined agenda.”
The Democracy lecture was delivered by Prof Bola Akinterinwa the Director General Nigerian Institute of International Affair NIIA with the title “”Democracy, security and Development, the challenges of Ondo state as a catalyst Agent”
Also the National Chairman of Labour Party Mr Dan Nwayanwun has faulted the purported emergence of Mr Rotimi Amaechi as the factional chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum(NGF).
Nwanyanwu said in Akure that the claim of Rivers State governor as NGF helmsman defiled all known moral and legal requirements.
However Dr Mimiko said the governors had a shouting match over the desperation of the former chairman to retain the seat at all means.

Don’t Join Others To Pull President Down, Uduaghan Urges Deltans

Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday, advised people of the South-South region to stop criticising President Goodluck Jonathan publicly.
He said that as a son of the region, the president should be given the support to enable him succeed, noting that “politics in Nigeria is still very regional.”
The governor, at a luncheon to mark this year’s Democracy Day in, Asaba, after commissioning a number of projects, told the gathering that he was on course in realising  his three-point agenda before the end of his tenure.
He said: “I need to say that the South-South, to which Delta State belongs, has produced the President, Dr. Jonathan. He is the first President from the region and I want to remind us that he was the Vice President, when President Umaru Yar’Adua died. Of course, he became the President and just before he could find his feet as President, there was an election in which he took part and eventually became the President.
“Today, Jonathan has effectively become the President of Nigeria. We will not forget that.  I am emphasising this because people compare his two years to eight years spent by other presidents. He has just spent two years in office and a lot has happened. I am sure many of you must have listened to his mid-term report today (yesterday). It is full in the areas of power, roads, airports. And so, because he is our son, we must give him maximum support.
“As a state government, we are giving him maximum support and I am urging all of us from Delta State to give him the support to succeed because the politics of Nigeria is still very regional. Every region is struggling for its interest. No other region is struggling for your interest  and we must understand that. It is a game of interests.”

Mark, Tambuwal, Others Advocate Perseverance

President of the Senate, David Mark, has said the declaration of emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states was justified in the face of break down of law and order.

The Senate President also called for the cooperation of all Nigerians in tackling the nation’s multi-dimensional problems.
He also assured Nigerians that the emergency rule would not be there for long, with  the level of commitment of the country’s armed forces.
Mark spoke at a church service  to mark the 2013 Democracy Day at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Apo, Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said,  “The state of emergency proclamation in three states was a  last resort to curtail the unabating insurgency.  And I know it is yielding positive result. Very soon, it will be over as our military formations are living up to the task.
“All we need is a collective resolve to confront our challenges and find a lasting solution to them.
“We can collectively resolve to say enough is enough. All our efforts towards development would come to naught if the crisis continues.”
Earlier in his message, Rev. Father  Innocent Jooji, called on religious leaders to do away with provocative statements that might generate crisis, saying Nigeria remained the only country of  all Nigerians.
Similarly, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, on wednesday called for transparency in governance, saying that it remained one of the principles of democracy.
In doing so, his Deputy, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, said leaders owed Nigerians gratitude for their patience in waiting for the dividends of democracy.
“Therefore, those in authority must be open and transparent in the conduct of their activities at all times”, a statement by the Speaker’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Imam Imam, quoted Tambuwal as saying.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing, Lands and Urban Development, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, has said Nigeria will not break up.
Speaking at his constituency office through his Media Officer, Mr. Babatunde Adegunju, Ashafa said ,”Nigeria will not break up, despite diverse challenges currently facing the country.”
He said the challenges were expected and normal in the process of nation-building, stressing that it was sign of disintegration

PHOTO: Big Brother Africa Housemates Engage In Kissing Galore

Barely few days into Africa’s top reality show, Big brother Africa Season 8, The Chase housemates are already getting cozy kissing one other and playing funny.
The first kiss of the season has been recorded in the Rubies House. Is this a trick to win more votes or is it for real?

A casual game of spin the bottle in the garden resulted in Ghana’s Selly reaching over to Angola’s Biguesas for a passionate kiss much to the amusement and applause of her fellow housemates. This was in between the housemates’ first nominations session in the game.

South Africa’s Koketso could not match up to Selly’s antics when it was her turn to kiss Zambia’s Sulu. Koketso simply hugged the dreadlocked Zambian and gave him a perk on the cheek.

However, it seemed to be Sulu’s lucky day as the green bottle pointed to Selly to give him a warm smooch, almost to make up for Koketso’s shortcomings.

After Koketso’s ‘cheating’, one housemate was heard suggesting that; “from now on it’s either we French kiss or we stop playing the game.” From then on, it was kissing galore on the lips.

Our eyes are wide open as we wait in anticipation of what these kisses will turn into.

Just when the housemates were starting to get acquainted, with some even starting to like each other in a suspicious way, Nigeria’s Beverley was the first to nominate Housemates to be evicted.

The rest of the Housemates were left in deep thought about their own nominations. Others, like Bassey, carried on doing their own thing and tried not to think a lot about what would be going down in the Diary Room.

While most Chasers were not entirely confident with their nominations, the likes of Pokello and LK4 kept their choices simple and their reasons clear, showing that they’ve given a lot of thought to the Nomination Session.

The rest of Housemates’ reasons were rather personal and unacceptable to Biggie, in which case Biggie asked them to give alternative and relevant reasoning.

All Housemates, however, insisted that none of the nominations were ‘personal’.

Stoke City Appoint Mark Hughes As New Manager To Replace Tony Pulis

Stoke City have confirmed the appointment of Mark Hughes as their new manager.

The Premier League side announced on Thursday morning that the former Fulham, Manchester City, Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers manager will replace Tony Pulis, who left the Potters last week.
The 49-year-old has been out of work since he was sacked by QPR in November.
Stoke chairman Peter Coates admitted the club needed a fresh direction following Pulis' departure and sees Hughes as the man to implement a more attractive style of football.
It has been reported that Mark Bowen will join Hughes at the Britannia Stadium as his No 2.
The Staffordshire club are to hold a news conference regarding Hughes's appointment at around 11am.
A club statement read: "The club will be holding a press conference to unveil Mark Hughes as their new manager.
"The event will take place at the Training Facility at Clayton Wood at 11.00am, with the media asked to report to the Press Room from 10.30am.
"New manager Mark Hughes, chairman Peter Coates and chief executive Tony Scholes will be present for the media to put their questions to at this press conference."

Are you In A Relationship? 10 Things Not To Do On Facebook

Now that you’re in a happy, healthy relationship, there are some Facebook rules that need following to ensure it stays that way.
10 things to never do on Facebook if you are in a relationship:
1. Hide things from your spouse or significant other.
If you don’t want your partner seeing who you’re chatting with online, that’s not a good sign. Facebook should not be a secretive escape from your relationship.
2. Befriend someone of the opposite sex your partner is uncomfortable with.
If your partner is uncomfortable with you “liking” photos of your ex — or chatting with your super-flirty co-worker online — respect his/her wishes. Don’t engage in behavior that will feed insecurities or threaten your partner. If you’re not currently Facebook friends with an ex, don’t add him. Especially in a long-term commitment relationship, you should each trust and respect each other enough to let each other veto online friendships with members of the opposite sex you’re not comfortable with.
3. Keep up old photos of exes.
Even if you never go back and look at old photos, some of your friends might. Respect your new relationship and delete old online mementos of your past relationships.
4. Change your relationship status without talking to your partner.
Relationship statuses should be discussed prior to any online changes. (Don’t abuse the status, either. Wait until it’s serious enough that most of your friends already know you’re dating someone awesome.)
5. Deny the relationship.
If your Facebook page has zero evidence that you’re in a relationship — no pictures, statuses, links that hint that you’re attached — and your partner wants to be acknowledged, show him/her that you’re proud to be with him/her, and simultaneously let your flirtatious Facebook friends know that certain online behaviors are now officially off-limits, by giving an occasional nod to your significant other.
6. Add his/her friends or family as “friends” before you’ve met them.
This is just creepy.
7. Complain about your partner or make a fight public.
If you’re in a real relationship, have real conversations. Seek conflict resolution in person, not online — and especially not on a Facebook wall. Don’t use Facebook as a place to vent, be passive-aggressive, or to humiliate your partner. Ever.
8. Gush too much. 
You’re in love. That’s great. But use terms of endearment and “I have the best boyfriend in the world!” statuses in moderation. Don’t alienate your loved ones — or incite major eye-rolling — by using Facebook strictly as an excuse to brag about your recent endorphin surge.
9. Post racy pics.
Don’t upload on-vacation bikini shots. Don’t share photos of your new man “just waking up.” Keep it classy. Respect your partner by not seeking attention from others with sexy poses and provocative statuses.
10. Have a shared Facebook profile.
Even if you’re married, the whole “2 become 1″ thing does not apply to Facebook. An old classmate might want to say hi without wondering which of you he’s talking to.

Ashley Cole Realizes Boyhood Dream As He Captains England

Ashley Cole said he had lived out a boyhood dream as he captained England in the 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Wednesday night.

The Chelsea full-back led out his country and received a commemorative golden cap in recognition of his 100th appearance for his country made against Brazil in February.
There had been some controversy over Roy Hodgson's decision to name Cole as skipper given his chequered past but the 32-year-old was grateful for the experience.
He said: "It probably ranks as number one in my career. I never expected to get 100 caps and I'd like to thank the fans for the reception I got, I didn't expect it but it was a very proud moment and one I'll never forget.
"I wanted to be captain. I don't really like speaking to the media but it was a dream come true and I've lived a little boy's dream tonight."
He could have even marked the occasion with his first international goal, but he was denied by a combination of Seamus Coleman and Sean St Ledger when his chance came in the second half.
He said: "My eyes lit up, I had my celebration ready, but it wasn't to be. I thought I could get on the end of it but it was great defending.
"We should've won," he continued. "It was a great atmosphere. Their fans were very good. It was always going to be a tough game but overall I think we deserved to win."

Amaechi: Jonathan Rallies PDP Leaders

President Goodluck Jonathan is today moving to check cracks in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, arising from the suspension of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State from the party at a dinner for senior officials and members of the party.
The move by the president is coming as Governor Babatunde Fashola, yesterday, described as disgraceful the conduct of some of his colleagues following the election of Amaechi as chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF. He tendered an apology to Nigerians on the issue.
The development came as some activists on the occasion of Democracy Day called for the abrogation of the NGF saying that it had become a waste to citizens governed by the governors. News of today’s dinner to be hosted by the president was given in a notice issued by the national publicity secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh.
Admission into the dinner couched as a “family dinner” is, however, strictly by invitation to party members who are expected to call two telephone numbers 08072579776, 08033145661 contained in the notice.
The president it was learnt is expected to use the dinner rouse party faithful to be steadfast and loyal to the party leadership in the face of increasing attacks from the opposition. It could not be confirmed if the president would mention the latest crisis arising from the suspension of Governor Amaechi from the party, but the issue is, however, expected to cast a large spectre at the meeting given increasing questions on the procedure used in the suspension of the governor without a hearing.
Senior party figures apparently not willing to be caught in the crossfire were, yesterday, escaping discussion on the matter. Nevertheless, Governor Fashola has expressed disappointment over the turn out of the issue and apologised to Nigerians.
Reacting to a question from the audience during an interactive broadcast on Lagos Television to mark his sixth anniversary in office, Fashola said: “I am not proud of what is happening with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF. I feel bad about it and as a governor, I should apologise to Nigerians over the way the election issue has been handled. We are sorry.”

Barcelona Chief Blasts Mourinho

Barcelona vice-president Carles Vilarrubi has hit out at Jose Mourinho and claims he will be a 'disaster' if, as expected, he returns to Chelsea after announcing his departure from Real Madrid.

Mourinho is ready to bid farewell to Spanish football after three eventful years at Santiago Bernabeu.
The enigmatic Portuguese coach has courted controversy throughout his time in Madrid, with regular clashes with arch-rivals Barca seeing him hit the headlines for events on and off the field.
Vilarrubi says no-one in Spain will miss Mourinho and his antics when he has gone and feels the Premier League would be ill-advised to welcome him back with open arms - six years after he brought a successful three-year stint at Stamford Bridge to a close.
The Barca chief told The Daily Telegraph: "It is not good for English football. Chelsea maybe think they had a good time from him in the past, but you will see the real Mourinho now.
"If he behaves like he did in Spain it will only be an unhappy relationship. A disaster. And at his age he is not going to change.
"My position is not because he was the coach of a rival, but because of who he is and what he did. His three years in Spain he only creates disagreements, arguments. There is nothing positive he brings.
"You can learn good things about life from watching people in football, or the circus, or the opera. There was nothing he brought that was good. There was no positive balance. I cannot see anything good about him. Not one thing. In sporting terms, maybe I am not the person to ask. But in cultural terms, he was a disaster.
"Apart from his aggression to the coach of Barca, the ambience he creates everywhere he goes, the relations with the players, with the press, are absolutely terrible. I am happy that he is leaving. And so is everyone in Spanish football.
"I am just glad he has gone. I am not interested in him. Go leave, goodbye."

Another Nollywood Actor Hit With Stroke, Needs N6m To Walk Again

The veteran actor, producer, filmmaker and architect of the distribution framework of the NFVCB, Yinka Ogundaisi is bedridden.
It was gathered that he has been on admission at the LUTH for spine injuries for over two months now.

Some of his close friends told us that, it might be partial stroke that has hit him due to his emaciated state.

A source said, “Uncle Yinka needs about 6million to undergo urgent treatment in India or the UK or else he will not walk again. We need to help this practitioner 'with ideas' get his groove back. No amount of assistance will be too small.”

For those who wish to help the ailing man, donations can be sent to- UBA, savings-2000204307 Olayinka Ogundaisi, Ilupeju branch. God bless you .He can be reached on 08023244456. God bless as we mobilize and use our various platforms to mobilize support for him.

The Grandfather Who Sells Human Head For N1000 Arrested (Photo)

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a grandfather, Mr. Segun Kayode, for allegedly exhuming and selling human parts.
According to the police, the suspect, who works at a cemetery in Epe area of the state, was arrested with a human skull.
Police sources said the suspect sold human parts for a living, adding that he had become notorious in the area for selling human parts.
It was learnt that the suspect was arrested following a report by a resident who saw him displaying a skull for sale.
The grandfather, who could not give his exact age, said he started selling human parts because he was poor and jobless.
He said, “I live at 2,Tungbehin Street, Epe. I have two children and I am a grandfather. I have always been poor all my life because I had no formal or informal education. I used to be a fisherman but when there were no longer fishes in rivers in my area, I became a gardener at Epe Local Government Secretariat
“About four years ago, the LG said they no longer needed my services so I started trimming grass at a cemetery in the area.”
The suspect, who did not deny the allegations, said there was nothing wrong in selling dead people’s parts since the dead never used them.
He said one day, while he was clearing weeds in the cemetery, he noticed a human skull which had been dug up.
He said, “Most times, when a corpse is not buried with a coffin, the possibility of the corpse resurfacing is very high. So, what workers at the cemetery do is to gather some of the corpses and burn them instead of burying them again.
“I realised that this was not a smart thing to do since it would be better to make money from it. The families of these dead people never care about them once they are buried and weeds had taken over the cemetery.”
The suspect said he sold only two corpses while he had on numerous occasions given them out for free.
He said, “I have sold only two human heads. I sold the first one for N1,000 while I sold the second one for N1,500. Last week, a resident approached me saying an herbalist needed the head so I got a decomposed head, for him, washed it and put it on a fence to dry.
“A resident saw me and raised the alarm and that was how I was arrested.”
PUNCH Metro had reported last week that five people, including an herbalist, were arrested for selling human parts.
A police source told one of our correspondents that the trend was common in areas where public cemeteries were situated.
“Areas which are not located in the metropolis and have cemeteries have become the hideout for cartels which specialise in sale of human parts. We (police) have reason to believe that some of these human parts dealers also engage in ritual killing,” he said.
The source added that efforts were going on to arrest other human parts sellers in the area.
When contacted on the telephone, the spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, confirmed Kayode’s arrest. She said he had been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.

Yoruba Actress, Liz Da Silva Not Sure Which Of Her 3 Lovers Impregnated Her

If gist reaching First Weekly Magazine is anything to by, then the short drama witnessed during the Bisi Ibidapo Obe/Dino Melaye saga might repeat itself again. But this time, it will shift to another Yoruba actress named Liz Da Silva.

Tale-bearers within the Yoruba film industry alleged that the upcoming sexy actress, Liz Da Silva, who recently held her baby shower in May in Lagos in the presence of few friends, is not sure, who is responsible for her pregnancy out of her three lovers.

According to speculations within the Yoruba movie industry circle, Lizzy, as she is fondly called by her friends, has allegedly taken her pregnancy to three different men, none of whom has accepted responsibility for the unborn baby.

Digs done by First Weekly Magazine showed that Liz Da Silva first went to MC Oluomo, who allegedly slept with her on the night of Oshodi Day, which held in December 2012, but MC Oluomo reportedly denied responsibility for the pregnancy.

Rumour-mongers told First Weekly that shortly after this, Liz turned to one Akeem, who shuttles between Nigeria and the UK, who she dated while she was shooting her movie, which she premiered in October 2012 at White House, Ikeja, Lagos, but that he also rejected the pregnancy.

Not done yet, the actress reportedly turned to one Khalid Soleye, who she met at Shoprite, Ikeja, Lagos in October 2012. Khalid, as we were told by the tale-bearers, works in an oil company.

We were further told that this rich guy stays in Warri, Delta State, but visits Lagos regularly. The gossips, who claimed to be in the know, also told First Weekly that in late 2012, after they started rubbing bodies together, Liz allegedly told Khalid that he should stop using condoms on her whenever they had any 'match' to play at the 'stadium'.

Khalid was said to have obliged the lady. But in February 2013, when the light-skinned actress allegedly informed Khalid of the pregnancy, he was said to have told her that he would only accept responsibility if a DNA test confirms that he is the father of the baby.

The industry tale-bearers also said that Liz was in the early stage of the pregnancy as at October 2012. We heard that even as at December 2012, when she went out with MC Oluomo, she had already taken in, but this was known to only few people.

The rumour monger said Lizzy might put to bed in June, all things being equal.

Chelsea Celebrate As Mourinho Agrees £40million 4-Year Deal

Chelsea officials are celebrating after Jose Mourinho agreed to return to Stamford Bridge last night.

The Sun says the Special One sealed a spectacular £40million four-year deal on Tuesday night.
A senior Blues source revealed: “It’s official Jose is a Chelsea man again! Everyone is delighted he’s coming back — the club, the players and the fans
“We are already looking forward to next season — we are sure it’s going to be very exciting.”
Mourinho finally put pen to paper during a two-day trip to London this week.
His cover story was attending the Crystal Palace-Watford play-off final at Wembley on Monday and visiting friends in the capital.
But the real purpose of the visit was to seal an emotional return to his beloved Blues along with right-hand man Rui Faria.
Now it is expected he will be unveiled next week in a blaze of publicity by the Europa League champions.

Williams Sisters Pulls Out of French Open Doubles

Serena and Venus Williams have pulled out of doubles at the French Open without playing a match.

The Williams sisters were supposed to compete as a pair in Paris for the first time since 2010 after receiving a wild card at Roland Garros.
But they withdrew from the tournament with no offical reason given by the French Open organisers.
Venus said she was bothered by back pain during a three-set loss in singles Sunday but Serena has advanced into the third round of singles.
They have won a total of 13 Grand Slam trophies in women's doubles, including the French Open in 1999 and 2010.
The sisters have played in only one doubles tournament this season, losing to eventual champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in the Australian Open quarter finals in January.

18 Categories Of Women Who Are Most Likely To Cheat

With female infidelity now at an all time high, more and more men who are married, or in committed relationships are asking themselves this question about their spouse of significant other.
Below are 18 categories of women who are more likely to cheat on their spouse.
1. She has lots of close male friends - A significant number of affairs begin as close friendships with members of the opposite sex.
The relationship may be platonic at the beginning, but chances are, it won’t stay that way. The closer the woman is to her platonic male friend, the more likely it is that he will eventually end up becoming her lover – unless he’s gay.

2. She has girlfriends who are cheating on their mates. - Never underestimate the power of peer pressure. Adults are susceptible to it, too. If a woman has one or more close female friends who are cheating on their husbands or boyfriends, she may eventually start cheating, too.

3. She has an excessive need for attention. – A woman who constantly craves attention may cheat on her mate if she feels she’s not getting enough attention from him. She will be easy prey for any man who showers with her the attention she feels she deserves.

4. She’s materialistic. - A materialistic woman is likely to have an affair with a wealthy man because of the material things he can provide. She can easily be seduced with jewelry, designer clothes, lavish vacations, or the cash to buy these and other expensive things.

5. She views séx as a statement of her femininity. - Her identity as a woman is tied to how many men she sleeps with. Seducing men to sleep with her is the focal point of her life. With this mental attitude, it’s hard for her to stay faithful to just one man.

6. She’s a thrill seeker or a risk taker. - If she’s the type who likes to live dangerously, she’ll cheat just for the thrill of it, or for the excitement of doing something forbidden, or for the challenge of seeing if she can pull it off without getting caught. She views infidelity as other people would view a high-risk sport.

7. She’s easily bored. – A woman who is easily bored, or who leads a dull, routine life may cheat on her mate just to alleviate her boredom or add some excitement to her life.

8. She has been cheated on by her mate. – If a woman’s husband or boyfriend has cheated on her, she may try to even the score by cheating on him in return. Many women who have been victims of infidelity will indulge in retaliatory cheating or have revenge affairs.

9. She likes being the center of attention. – If a woman thrives on being the center of attention at all times, she is sexually vulnerable to any man who fawns over her, or makes her feel like she’s #1

10. She’s addicted to alcohol or drugs. – Women who are substance abusers are much more likely to end up cheating on their mates. Female alcoholics are susceptible to infidelity because their inhibitions will be lowered and their judgment impaired. Female drug addicts may sell their bodies for drugs. Either type of woman is likely to cheat without realizing what she’s doing.

11. She has a reputation as a “party girl.” - If she’s the type of woman who runs with a fast crowd, or parties all the time, or hangs out until the wee hours of the night, her lifestyle makes her vulnerable to having an affair.

12. She’s a séx addict. - Women can be sex addicts, too. It’s an addiction that affects at least 6% of the American population. In the past these women were referred to as nymphomaniacs. This is a medical condition that requires professional medical help.

13. She has a sex drive greater than her partner’s. – If her sex drive greatly exceeds the sex drive of her husband or boyfriend, or her spouse or significant other is lacking in bedroom skills, she’s much more likely to cheat on her mate. She’ll find another man to make up for her mate’s deficiency.

14. She’s had lots of sexual experience. - If she has led a very active séx life, or has had lots of sex partners before settling down, she will find it extremely difficult to stay faithful to just one man.

15. She cheated before and got away with it. - That old saying “ Once a cheater, always a cheater will apply if she cheated in the past and didn’t suffer any negative consequences as a result of her infidelity. If she cheated before and didn’t get caught, she’s more likely to cheat again. The same applies if she cheated and her man readily forgave her without holding her accountable for her infidelity.

16. She has a big ego. - If she’s extremely egotistic, any man who feeds her inflated ego can easily get her into bed.

17. She suffers from low self esteem. - The opposite characteristic is also a danger sign. If she suffers from low-self esteem, she will be easy prey for the man who flatters her, makes her feel good about herself, and boosts her self esteem.

18. She views séx as a game. In her mind, sex is not connected to love. Sex is just a game in which she gets points for every man she beds. Even though she may be in love with her partner, she’ll have sex with as many men as possible so she can gain the maximum number of points and win the game.

The more of the above categories your wife or girlfriend fits into, the more likely it is that she will cheat on you.

Sacked EcoBank Workers Threaten Ecobank

Some disengaged workers of Ecobank Plc who were recently laid off by the bank, said they will sue the bank to court if their severance fee is not paid within two weeks.
The aggrieved said most of them were recently promoted for efficiency and productivity in their various departments, yet the bank said they were sacking for poor performance, adding two months after receiving their sack letters, the bank has refused to pay them their emoluments thereby subjecting them to untold hardship.
Speaking with National Mirror on Thursday, one of the workers, Mr. Dipo Ojutiku, in confirming the decision to take action against the bank, said for over two months since they were laid off for what the bank referred to as non-performance exit exercise and one month salary in lieu of notice given, that their severance package has not been paid.
Ojutiku explained that the management of the bank had bluntly refused to pay them, even though the sack letters stated that they were redundant, saying also that the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) had had series of meetings with the management of the bank to mediate and resolve the crisis, but to no avail.
He said ASSIBIFI had even suggested to the bank to apply similar exit package agreement used for the non-performance exit exercise in 2010 for the affected staff since both exercises are based on non-performance, a suggestion Ecobank refused.
Another disengaged staff, Mrs. Josephine Egbagbare, said she was a branch manager who supervised the construction of a branch from start to finish and grew the balance sheet to over N2bn within two years. Egbagbare lamented that a year after that feat was achieved, that the same set of staff were disengaged based on non-performance without paying them exit package after working for the bank for certain number of years with excellent performance.
She added in view of the above and the unlawful termination of their appointments, that the affected staff have given Ecobank a two week ultimatum to pay the affected staff severance package or face court action.
However, Ecobank Spokesman, Mr. Austin Osokpor, told National Mirror on the phone, that they former workers are only seeking to get attention. Osokpor said the bank has fulfilled all its obligations to the former workers, including all their entitlements, adding it was within the rights of the bank to “hire and fire”

'I Cannot Award Jonathen More Than 55 Percent - Professor of International law (VIDEO)

Akin Oyebode, Professor of International law and a trustee of the Awo Centre for Ideology and Democracy, on Wednesday assessed the performance of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration scoring it 55 percent.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television flagship News at 10, Mr Oyebode said President Jonathan just managed to flow along with the tide of the country insisting that the president hasn’t performed extraordinary.
He stated, “Being a Nigerian and living in Nigeria I cannot award him more than 55 percent; that’s a 2.2. He doesn’t qualify for a 2.1 nor can I offer him a first class.”

Anambra Governor Grants Amnesty To 21 Prisoners

The Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi on Wednesday granted amnesty to 21 prisoners drawn from Awka, Onitsha, Aguata and Enugu prisons, as part of activities to mark the Democracy Day.

This is contained in a statement signed in Awka by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mike Udah.
According to the statement, the exercise was in compliance with the constitutional powers of the governor.
The statement noted that three inmates: Chidiebele Okolisa, Nafiu Mohammed and Kenechukwu Nwobodo, were released from Awka Prison, while Chibuzo Ekweizu and Chukwudi Okonkwo were released from Aguata Prison.
"The beneficiaries from Onitsha Prison are Mmaduabuchi Ojimba, man-hood Iboro, Ikechukwu Nnamani, Amaechi Oloh, Chukwunonso Igbomalu, Sunday Udezulu and Ibrahim Ahmed.
"Other lucky ones from Onitsha Prison are Chinedum Ephraim, Adebayo Damilare, Christian Okeke, Julius Nweke, Sundy Ogugua, Chijioke Oforkalu, Nnamdi Nwabunwanne and Donatus Obioha."
The statement said that from Enugu Prison, Kennedy Okechukwu Okolonta and Onyeka Abugu had their terms reduced to 21 years from life imprisonment from the dates of their sentences, while Nnenna Obi from the same (Enugu) prison was also released.

Eric Abidal To Leave Barcelona After Six Years

Eric Abidal is to leave Barcelona after six years at the club.

The French defender, who fought back from liver cancer and a subsequent transplant to play ahead, had hoped for a new deal.
But he told a news conference on Thursday that his time at the Nou Camp would end when his current contract expires next month.
"I would have like to have stayed and played on at Barcelona but the club saw it differently and I have to respect their decision," an emotional Abidal said.
"I hope to return because it is a club (that is) very special to me."

UK Muslims face far-right revenge attacks

The murder of a UK soldier has led to a spike in hate crimes targeting Muslims.

Hate incidents targeting Muslims have spiked to more than 190 in the past week [Salim Bhorta/Al Jazeera]

London, UK - British Muslims fear they could become “sitting targets” for far-right violence following a spate of attacks on mosques and a spike in other reported hate incidents in the week since the murder of a British soldier on a London street. The most serious attack occurred in the east coast town of Grimsby on Sunday night when three petrol bombs were thrown at a mosque as a meeting was taking place inside. Other attacks were reported on mosques in the southern towns of Braintree and Gillingham within hours of last Wednesday's killing. Elsewhere, a petrol bomb was thrown at a mosque in Milton Keynes, bacon was left on the steps of a mosque in the Welsh capital Cardiff, and there were reports of vandalism at Islamic centres elsewhere. Meanwhile, about 1,000 supporters of the far-right English Defence League rallied in central London on Monday chanting “Muslim killers off our streets” and heard Tommy Robinson, the EDL's leader, call for further demonstrations. “They've had their Arab Spring. This is time for the English Spring,” said Robinson, whose group also saw its number of Facebook followers surge from 20,000 to more than 100,000. Spike in Islamophobia  Tell MAMA (Monitoring Anti-Muslim Attacks), a helpline set up to monitor instances of Islamophobia, said it had recorded 193 incidents since last Wednesday, compared to a usual tally of about four cases a day. “There is a background Islamophobia that is always rumbling,” Fiyaz Mughal, a director of the Faith Matters interfaith group that runs Tell MAMA, told Al Jazeera. “But if we take the latest figures, we are looking at about 40 cases a day and a ten-fold jump all of a sudden.” Salim Bhorat, a community activist in Bolton, a town in northwestern England with a large Muslim minority, said one mosque had been vandalised with spray paint, dog excrement had been thrown at another, and a woman had been attacked in the street. A car outside the mosque was also daubed with the words “Terrorist inside”. He said the killing of soldier Lee Rigby appeared to have reawakened the EDL in the area even as its influence appeared to be waning amid group infighting. “Nothing like this has happened in Bolton for a long time, so these attacks are a direct response to Woolwich and the mass hysteria afterwards,” Bhorat told Al Jazeera. “We've always had the EDL in Bolton and this has given them an excuse to rally their weary troops.” Bhorat said many local Muslims were nervous because unfounded rumours of attacks were spreading quickly via social networking and text messaging. “There has been a lot of scaremongering. People forward on messages without verifying them and that just creates a false sense of fear in the community.” 'We are afraid'  Sikander Sleemy, the secretary of a mosque attacked in the Essex town of Braintree, told Al Jazeera that a smoke grenade was thrown into the building last Wednesday evening by a man armed with two knives. “We were very fortunate because the prayer time was only 15 minutes away but there was only one person in the mosque. He was upstairs when he heard the bang and smelt the smoke and he could hear someone shouting and swearing downstairs, but he managed to escape onto the roof,” he said. These attacks and incidents are happening in areas where Muslims are the majority as well as the minority. Fiyaz Mughal, a director of Faith Matters , Sleemy said Braintree's small local Muslim community had never experienced any problems before. “We do feel part and parcel of the community and my personal feeling is that this was just an isolated rage attack. But if idiots like those guys in Woolwich, if there are any more attacks like that, God forbid that there are, then we are afraid that we will become sitting targets.” Amid shock and condemnation, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, visited Leicester last week in a show of interfaith solidarity with Muslim leaders, praising the diverse city, where just under a fifth of residents are Muslim, as a “a shining example of how communities work together”. Suleman Nagdi, a local Muslim civic leader, told Al Jazeera he believed the city's Muslim community was well established and confident enough to face down any threats against it. “Leicester has mature relations between members of the different faith communities. We have a situation up and down the country that is concerning to us but we built those bridges many, many years ago,” he said. But Mughal questioned the assumption that Muslims in cities such as Leicester were better protected than those in areas with smaller and less established Muslim populations. “The fact of the matter is these attacks and incidents are happening in areas where Muslims are the majority as well as the minority. In Leicester we had a cluster of incidents last year. It's quite a hot spot because there is a concentration of far-right supporters in the area around the city.” Mughal said far-right activists were increasingly using the internet not just for recruitment and dissemination purposes but also to attack Muslims online. “If you get a woman whose avatar has a hijab they will bombard here with sexual abuse to humiliate here. That is the kind of activity we are seeing.” He also cited concerns about social networking sites and new guidelines for police which have raised the threshold in terms of what is considered prosecutable as hate speech online. “Our biggest issue is constantly having thousands of tweets out there that are just promoting deeply anti-Islamic feeling. We've never had that before,” he said. Media coverage Others raised frustrations about the mainstream media's coverage of the Woolwich attack, including the labelling of the perpetrators as “Islamic terrorists”. Nick Robinson, the BBC's political editor, apologised later that day after quoting a source who described the attackers as being “of Muslim appearance”. “We are the only community, in the UK certainly, which whenever an act of terrorism has taken place, the whole community is put in the dock for the criminal activities of individuals,” said Nagdi. “Acts of terrorism affect us all but it does seems odd that when it is a Muslim you always expect Muslims to condemn it. We do condemn it but there is a history of bias in the reporting mechanism that it is expected.” Sleemy also condemned the airtime given to Anjem Choudary, a radical cleric formerly of the banned al Muhajiroun group, on the BBC's flagship Newsnight programme. “He is not the voice of Muslims. He is a very extreme fringe group, and if people are watching that and they've got very little knowledge they are building a picture of a Muslim that he has portrayed,” he said. Mughal said positive media coverage of Muslim communities would help address Islamophobia but added that tougher police action was urgently needed. “The police have failed miserably dealing with some cases we've put through to them. They need to understand Islamophobia as a phenomenon that is deeply corrosive and they need to act quickly.” He said it was hard to predict for how long the current upsurge of anti-Muslim attacks would continue as no comparable data was available for events such as the 2005 bombings on the London transport network. But he added: “The fact is these effects are cumulative, and this was such a significant and barbarous attack that it will certainly add to the cumulative effect over time.”

Source: Al Jazeera

Israel 'to build' new outposts in Jerusalem

NGO says Israel is preparing to build more than 1,000 new settler homes in mainly-Arab areas of the holy city.

Terrestrial Jerusalem, a non-governmental group, said that the plans were approved last year [Reuters]

Israel is preparing to build more than 1,000 new settler homes in east Jerusalem as the United States strives to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, according to an non-governmental organisation. Danny Seidemann, director of Jerusalem settlement watchdog Terrestrial Jerusalem, said on Wednesday that contracts for 300 homes in the northeastern settlement of Ramot were signed and another 797 plots were to be offered for sale in the southern Jerusalem settlement of Gilo, near the city of Jerusalem. Both are in mainly-Arab areas of the holy city. Seidemann said that the plans were approved last year before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quietly ordered a settlement freeze, but the latest steps in their implementation were leaked to media by the office of Uri Ariel, the Housing and Construction Minister. "This does not mean that the freeze is over, it does mean that Netanyahu's minister of construction is trying to achieve that," Seidemann said. Force of hand Seidemann said that Ariel was seeking to force Netanyahu into either giving a green-light or halting the work. Although the freeze was never officially confirmed, NGOs said that Netanyahu did not want to be seen as hampering US Secretary of State John Kerry's initiative to breathe fresh life into moribund peace efforts. "This is an attempt to force Netanyahu's hand," he said. The news came less than a week after Kerry's latest round of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on his fourth visit to the region since he took office in February. On Sunday he unveiled a $4bn US plan to boost the Palestinian economy but an advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the leadership would "not offer political concessions in exchange for economic benefits." Abbas himself called on Israel to "end the occupation of our lands", evacuate settlements and free Palestinian prisoners." The Palestinian leadership wants a total freeze on Israeli settlement construction before it resumes peace talks with Israel, which have been stalled for almost three years.

Source: Agencies

Dozens killed in Baghdad blasts

At least 28 killed, including members of bridal party, after explosions strike two neighbourhoods in capital.

There are growing fears that Iraq is slipping back into all-out sectarian fighting [AFP]

Multiple bomb blasts have struck two neighbourhoods in Iraq's capital Baghdad, killing at least 28 people, including several members of a wedding party. Wednesday's deadliest attack targeted a bridal party in the southern Jihad district, killing 16 people and wounding 42 others, police said. Many of those killed were cheering a bride passing by when the blast went off, according to authorities. Jihad district was one of the earliest flashpoints in Baghdad's descent into sectarian unrest in the years following the 2003 US-led invasion. Many of Jihad's Sunni residents earlier this year received threatening leaflets from a Shia armed group warning them to leave. Another 12 people were killed and 31 were wounded when a roadside bomb and then a car bomb exploded near a market in the western Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib, police said. Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release the information. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. Growing concerns The increasing wave of violence in the country is raising fears that Iraq is slipping back towards all-out sectarian fighting like that which nearly tore the country apart in 2006 and 2007. "We have major concerns. Because what is going on now is the same that led to what happened in 2006,'' Adnan Faihan, the head of the political bureau of the Shia armed group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said. Also on Wednesday, Iraqi officials raised the death toll from attacks the previous day that shook Baghdad and towns north of the capital to 28. Police said the deadliest of Tuesday's attacks struck the southern Dora neighborhood, where back-to-back bombings killed nine people and wounded 10. Bombs in the eastern neighborhood of Sadr City and in the northern Shaab area killed 12 and wounded 33. Blasts and shootings in Tarmiyah and Mosul killed seven other people.

Source: Agencies

'10 weeks of hell' for Somalis in Kenya

New report details beatings, rape, and extortion by Kenyan police against Somali refugees during anti-terror campaign.

Ubah Abdi Warsame in her apartment in Eastleigh, a Somali-majority area of Nairobi [James Reinl/Al Jazeera]

Nairobi, Kenya - Sitting on a mattress in her cramped flat in eastern Nairobi, Ubah Abdi Warsame, a refugee from war-torn Somalia, points to her left ear and says that is where a Kenyan police officer booted her in the head. She still feels pain, she told Al Jazeera. Memories of the December morning - when baton-wielding paramilitaries ransacked her apartment block and beat, detained and demanded cash from the Somali refugees inside - continue to disturb her sleep. According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, it was not a lone example. The rights group describes in a new report a 10-week campaign of police beatings, rapes and extortion against Somali refugees in a misguided attempt to combat terrorism. "We'd got used to hassle from the police and paying small bribes," Warsame, 32, said. "But when they started searching houses, beating Somalis and taking them to the cells, it was quite terrifying. I have nightmares because of the beatings I got from police." "Refugees told us how hundreds of Kenyan police unleashed 10 weeks of hell on communities close to the heart of Nairobi." - Gerry Simpson, Human Rights Watch The jobless mother-of-five, who fled violence and family strife in the central Somali region of Puntland in 2008, described being punched, kicked and manhandled by police officers wearing the red berets of Kenya's paramilitaries. Scores of refugees from the run-down area of Nairobi's Eastleigh, known as "Little Mogadishu" for its big Somali population, were carted off to police stations, she said. After spending eight hours in an excrement-ridden cell, a friend secured Warsame's release with a 5,000 shilling (US$60) bribe. In its 68-page report released on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said Kenyan police tortured, raped, abused or detained at least 1,000 refugees between mid-November last year and the end of January this year. "Refugees told us how hundreds of Kenyan police unleashed 10 weeks of hell on communities close to the heart of Nairobi, torturing, abusing, and stealing from some of the country's poorest and most vulnerable people," said the group's researcher Gerry Simpson. Kenyan police accused of torturing Somalians Seven women said they were raped by police. Officers repeatedly called the refugees "terrorists", linking them to the hardline al-Shabab militia that wages war against a UN-backed government in neighbouring Somalia, the report said. Masoud Mwinyi, a police spokesman, said its officers were unlikely to have committed such a large number of abuses, adding investigators would study the documents and assess whether the claims are credible. "It cannot be true," Mwinyi told Al Jazeera. "Remember, my brother, collecting 1,000 people is a big number, even if it were over a long period. Officers operate under a code of ethics and professionalism. I wouldn't imagine that such a thing could happen without us knowing." The rights group also criticises the UN agency for refugee protection, UNHCR, for standing by as police wreaked havoc in Eastleigh. Simpson described a "deafening silence" from the UN over the abuses "even though they happened within a half-hour drive from their Nairobi offices". A policeman patrols the Eastleigh suburb of Nairobi [Reuters] But UNHCR's deputy country director, Abel Mbilinyi, rejected the criticism. UN officials were on the ground in Eastleigh and other suburbs, securing the release of hundreds of Somali refugees that had been wrongfully locked up, he said. Many refugees suffered during the anti-terror crackdown, but abuses fell short of "torture", Mbilinyi added. Kenya generously hosted refugees from many African trouble-spots, but al-Shabab's security threat had "diluted their commitment" to the rights of those from Somalia, he said. East Africa's biggest economy is home to about half a million registered Somali refugees, who have fled more than two decades of drought, war and inter-clan bloodshed. About 450,000 live in the crowded and sun-baked camps at Dadaab, close to the Somali border. In December, when terrorist attacks were a regular occurrence, Kenyan officials described an "unbearable and uncontrollable threat", and ordered all 55,000 refugees and asylum-seekers living in Nairobi to relocate to camps. Al-Shabab, a hardline Islamist group with links to al-Qaeda, still causes alarm. The group made headlines again this month, when it emerged that one of the men accused of killing a British soldier in southeast London on May 22 had previously tried to join the Somali militia. Michael Adebolajo, a Muslim convert who was arrested over the hacking to death of army drummer Lee Rigby, appeared in a Kenyan court in 2010, when he was alleged to have been preparing to enlist in al-Shabab's ranks. The UN and rights campaigners say rounding up refugees is no substitute for intelligence-led anti-terrorism operations. Simpson said the crackdown was "hardly an effective way to protect Kenya's national security". Kenyan officials still seek to force all refugees out of towns and cities, but the order has been challenged in the courts by Kenyan human rights groups. Judges will decide whether the relocation is legal by June 30. Wasia Masitsa, a lawyer for Kituo cha Sheria, one of the groups fighting the relocation of refugees from cities to camps, said Kenya's government was breaking its own laws, as well as international agreements on refugees. "Somali refugees who are living in Eastleigh and other urban areas should be allowed to stay there, until such time as there is safety back home," Masitsa said. "When that repatriation occurs, it should be undertaken with dignity and respect for their rights." Dennis Likule, a lawyer for the Refugee Consortium of Kenya, said he expected judges to rule against the government's relocation plan. Action against Somali refugees was partly a populist move ahead of Kenya's elections, which took place in March. "Operations happened before the elections, so that the government could appear to be addressing the security situation to voters." - Dennis Likule, lawyer "Operations happened before the elections, so that the government could appear to be addressing the security situation to voters," said Likule. "The elections also occupied so much media attention that the harassment and abuses against refugees got very little coverage." At this month's London conference on Somalia, the recently-elected President Uhuru Kenyatta said Kenya shoulders the burden of hosting Somali refugees, and called for their return and resettlement in their homeland. Security gains and a new government in Mogadishu make this more likely. Thousands of Somalis have already left Kenya voluntarily, while many other diaspora have returned from Europe and North America to help rebuild their tattered country. But al-Shabab still controls swathes of countryside and sets off bombs in Mogadishu and other urban areas. Warsame remains cautious about safety back home and urges Kenyan not to be too quick to send Somalis packing. "You welcomed us in to your country because we suffered a 22-year civil war," she said. "Now you tell us to go back to Somalia, accusing us of contributing to insecurity in Kenya. But how can that be true? Why would we hurt somebody who is trying to feed us?" With additional reporting by Mohammed Kahiye Follow James Reinl on Twitter: @jamesreinl

Source: Al Jazeera