Chicks and mortar: Female builders break the mould

A FIRM that only employs women has taken on the male-dominated building industry.

A group of women are swapping glitz and glamour for nails and hammer in a bid to overhaul the male-dominated trade industry

Female Building and Interiors was founded by entrepreneur Philippa Tuttiett.

Her team of six are experts in plumbing, plastering, bricklaying and decorating.

Philippa, 29, said: “My father and grandfather were builders and I’ve been around the trade since I could walk. We’re banishing the stereotypes of big burly men looking to take you for a ride.”

“We’re banishing the stereotypes of big burly men looking to take you for a ride”

Philippa Tuttiett

Philippa, who was a regular builder on Channel 4’s The Renovation Game, added: “We have so many women and even men come directly to us because they want a trusted team who will give them impartial advice and a good service.

“Most of the girls have children and husbands to look after too, but we all love it and wouldn’t choose any other career.”

Holidays leave us with a hole in our wallets

The average Brit runs out of money halfway through a sunshine break.

Splashing out on holiday can often leave us strapped for cash

Despite saving an average of £600 for their trip, the typical tourist is skint after seven days of a fortnight’s holiday.

Many underestimate the cost of food and drink while others spend money on day trips and gifts.

“As much as we all try to stick to a budget, the results show how often things don’t go to plan”

A spokesman for Kalixa Pay

And a survey found that one in 10 splash all their cash within two days and 30% blow their entire budget in under five days. A spokesman for Kalixa Pay, which did the study, said: “As much as we all try to stick to a budget, the results show how often things don’t go to plan.

“This can be down to a combination of things such as getting confused about exchange rates, underestimating costs, being unaware of hidden payment charges from your bank or just getting lost in the moment.”

At least 60 dead as Egypt violence flares

EIGHT policemen and 52 protesters were killed yesterday as Egypt erupted into violence.

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted the Egyptian President march in protest towards Ramses Square

The carnage came during the so-called “Friday of Anger” march in the strife-torn country.

Hundreds were also hurt in clashes between security forces and the Muslim Brotherhood supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

Medics reported at least 30 deaths in the Ramses Square area of Cairo.

And over 20 deaths were reported outside the capital, including 12 in Nile Delta cities.

Egyptians carry a man wounded during clashes between security forces and Morsi's supporters

“The carnage came during the so-called “Friday of Anger” march”

The injured and dead were brought to Fatih Mosque overlooking Ramses Square, where hours earlier people had met for Friday prayers.

But the body count continued to rise during the day as violence broke out across Cairo and in other towns and cities.

Four protesters were killed during battles with security forces in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, while medical sources claimed eight were killed in Damietta.

Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood said last night that there would be a week of daily rallies across Egypt.

High School Girl Beaten And Gang-Raped By Numerous Men While Crowd Watched (PHOTO)

One man was sentenced to 33 years to life in prison Thursday and another was sentenced to 29 years to life for their roles in the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl outside a high school dance.

Contra Costa County Judge Barbara Zuniga gave the longer sentence to Jose Montano, 22, and the shorter term to Marcelles Peter, 20, because Peter was a minor at the time of the crime.

"I cannot overlook that," Zuniga said of Peter's age.

The victim, a sophomore known in court only as Jane Doe, did not attend the sentencing, but her dramatic testimony during the trial, the first in the case that involves six different defendants, helped lead to the men's convictions last month for the 2009 attack outside a homecoming dance at Richmond High School.

Authorities said the girl was beaten, robbed and sexually abused by numerous men over two hours while as many as 20 people watched. Police discovered her heavily intoxicated, partially nude and unconscious under a picnic table.

"It's beyond shocking that a human being can be dehumanized to the extent that Jane Doe was that night," the judge said at Thursday's sentencing, according to the Contra Costa Times. "She stopped being a human being to you. She became a thing for you to torture and play with."

A jury found Montano and Peter guilty of forcible rape, sexual penetration and forced oral copulation.

Both men had been eligible for the maximum sentence of 33 years to life that Montano received.

Two defendants had already taken plea deals in the case. Ari Morales was sentenced to 27 years in prison, Manuel Ortega to 30 years.

The final two defendants, John Crane and Elvis Torrentes, were awaiting trial on lesser sexual assault charges.

The victim received $4 million to settle a lawsuit against the West Contra Costa Unified School District in 2010.

FG Appoints US-based Nigerian Inventor as Ambassador

Jessica Mathews, a U.S.-based Nigerian, who invented energy generating football and skipping rope has been appointed as an ‘Entrepreneurship Ambassador’ by the Federal Government.

This has been disclosed by Dr. Olusegun Aganga, the Minister of Trade and Investments, on August 16, 2013, Friday, after the presentation and demonstration of the invented products to President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.

Dr. Aganga said, “Mathews is an inspiration to every Nigerian, especially children, and the product is portrayed as made by a Nigerian for the world.

“The product is actually versatile, it is not just about the electricity you see, you can use it to charge your mobile phones and fans so there are so many things for which it can be used.

“We are also looking at the possibilities of manufacturing it in Nigeria and see how we can make it cheaper in this country.

“I am glad that Matthews has also agreed to be our ambassador in terms of promoting entrepreneurship in our universities.

“What we want to do is to bring successful entrepreneurs like Matthew to inspire the students and make them more creative so that they can also be employers of labour,’’ the minister said.

Jessica Mathews is 25 years old, originates from Edo.

She studied Psychology and Economics in Havard University, U.S., and also got interested in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Jessica mainly taught this discipline herself. Her new knowledge helped her to develop and to demonstrate the soccer ball which is capable of generating three hours of electricity after 30 minutes of play and could store power for 72 hours.

The electricity generated by the ball, according to her, can be used as electricity source to power lighting points and household equipments.

Jessica Mathews and Co-founder of Uncharted play, said the airless football used as electricity power source when not in use, could span for 18-months before replacement.

She said her motivation to invent the ball and skipping rope came when she attended a wedding in Nigeria and there was a sudden power outage.

“I am a Nigerian and was in Nigeria, it was my Aunt’s wedding and we lost power. How many times, is there anyone who has not been affected?

“For me, I was raised to seek a solution when there is a problem. To be as creative as you can and be opened to different ways so you can address the situation,’’ she said.

Jessica Mathews, who spoke on why she chose to use football, explained: “to me, we all know that football is the most popular thing in the world.

“To most people, football form is the most convenient; any man on the street will be attracted to kicking football.

“So, the idea is to put something that people really love and get more out of it.

“These are the things we can use to see if we can amplify existing behaviour to bridge the gap between what is working and what is not working in this country that we love so much.

“We take our passion for sports that is so beautiful and we say okay, let’s give people renewable clean power that they can control.”

She said the innovation, which had been accepted and already in use in the U.S., would be affordable when mass-produced and introduced into the Nigerian market.

“Right now, if we are going to sell it here in Nigeria, it will be equivalent to what you will pay for a solar inverter.

“Right now, we have not started making them here, we are selling them in New York and in New York, we charge people a lot because it is New York,” she said.

Dr. Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, said Jonathan congratulated Mathews on her creativity and innovativeness.

“The president is particularly impressed that Matthew is multi-talented, and that she developed herself in science despite that she is a psychologist and economist.

“It is a proof of the quality of human resource we have in Nigeria and the president is proud of her,” Dr. Abati said.

Dr. Abati said the President assured that the invention would be used as a major tool to mobilise young children and encourage them to think more deeply.

(NAN) 

Why Nigerian Married Couples Aren't Having Enough Sex

“Why don’t we do this more often?  I love sex and I particularly enjoy it with my husband but getting started is just the problem,” exclaimed one wife after a counselling session in my office.

Another woman said, “It’s strange, but whenever we do make love, we always look at each other afterward and say“, Hey, that was terrific. Why don’t we do this more often? Why don’t we?

 Many married couples say that once things get rolling in sexually, they have no trouble responding to a sexual trip and escapade. But a couple’s inability to get started sexually is the greatest single cause of sexual infrequency and sexless marriage.

As much as many couples desire sex to be a “sudden inspiration,” impressive passionate, sex mostly happens in marriage when couples make initiating sex a conscious decision. Many couples have realised that while waiting endlessly for the time of feeling sexy, they usually are not feeling all that sexy until when they decide to have sex.

But “getting started” is only half the problem in most marriages. There’s also the question of who starts the initiation. Let’s look at the case of Bidemi and Lucky.

During the first seven years of Bidemi and Lucky’s marriage, Lucky had always initiated sex and five out of ten times, Bidemi had willingly acceded. But one evening, after a party, Bidemi reached under the bedcovers and began to caress her husband.

“He just pushed my hand away,” Bidemi recalled with obvious pain and resentment. “He told me I was drunk and he did not want to make love when I was like that. That my normal self would refuse sex and when he insists he wants it, I will always accuse him of raping me under the marriage law.”

Lucky cut in. “I told you that I simply wasn’t in the mood, I don’t want your ‘wahala’and I don’t want to pretend about it after all, you always refuse and say you don’t want to pretend about it. Why is my refusal painful now? This is what I go through day in day out since we have been married.”

 This escalated into cold war.  Bidemi was angry, and she began to pay Lucky back with his own coin. The next time he initiated sex, she begged off, saying that she was not in the mood. She refused again the next time, and the next. Lucky, humiliated, stopped initiating sex altogether. They had not made love in four years.

Bidemi and Lucky are on a very dangerous game of sexual relationship, which has lasted for years, one partner does not want sex because the other does;  refusing sex becomes a power play: “If you can say no, so can I.” This is typical of many marriages.

Why Nigerian Married Couples Aren't Having Enough Sex

17 August, 2013
Life and Style

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“Why don’t we do this more often?  I love sex and I particularly enjoy it with my husband but getting started is just the problem,” exclaimed one wife after a counselling session in my office.

Another woman said, “It’s strange, but whenever we do make love, we always look at each other afterward and say“, Hey, that was terrific. Why don’t we do this more often? Why don’t we?

 Many married couples say that once things get rolling in sexually, they have no trouble responding to a sexual trip and escapade. But a couple’s inability to get started sexually is the greatest single cause of sexual infrequency and sexless marriage.

As much as many couples desire sex to be a “sudden inspiration,” impressive passionate, sex mostly happens in marriage when couples make initiating sex a conscious decision. Many couples have realised that while waiting endlessly for the time of feeling sexy, they usually are not feeling all that sexy until when they decide to have sex.

But “getting started” is only half the problem in most marriages. There’s also the question of who starts the initiation. Let’s look at the case of Bidemi and Lucky.

During the first seven years of Bidemi and Lucky’s marriage, Lucky had always initiated sex and five out of ten times, Bidemi had willingly acceded. But one evening, after a party, Bidemi reached under the bedcovers and began to caress her husband.

“He just pushed my hand away,” Bidemi recalled with obvious pain and resentment. “He told me I was drunk and he did not want to make love when I was like that. That my normal self would refuse sex and when he insists he wants it, I will always accuse him of raping me under the marriage law.”

Lucky cut in. “I told you that I simply wasn’t in the mood, I don’t want your ‘wahala’and I don’t want to pretend about it after all, you always refuse and say you don’t want to pretend about it. Why is my refusal painful now? This is what I go through day in day out since we have been married.”

 This escalated into cold war.  Bidemi was angry, and she began to pay Lucky back with his own coin. The next time he initiated sex, she begged off, saying that she was not in the mood. She refused again the next time, and the next. Lucky, humiliated, stopped initiating sex altogether. They had not made love in four years.

Bidemi and Lucky are on a very dangerous game of sexual relationship, which has lasted for years, one partner does not want sex because the other does;  refusing sex becomes a power play: “If you can say no, so can I.” This is typical of many marriages.

Many spouses never initiate sex anymore because they regard one or two refusals as total rejection and denial, but sometimes, our partners may not be in the mood for sex, so sexual refusal should not be seen as rejection. The rejecting partner should always provide a ‘substitute other day’. If you have to refuse your partner, let there be a sincere tenable reason genuinely accepted by the person refused and a promise for a make up.

Lucky’s refusal of Bidemi’s advance, however, involved more than a passing mood; it is rooted deeply in cumulative rejections that has transcended into frustration and resentment. When he pushed his wife’s hand away, he was saying, loud and clear I have been discouraged and disconnected.

While Bidemi has only responded sometimes to her husband’s advance only when she wanted, she is  now so confused how to rectify things. She realised that there had been a serious sexual imbalance in her 7-year- old marriage and it wasn’t fair because her husband now  plays  ‘the external league’. I tried to show Bidemi that all along, she had been only a willing accomplice who has ignorantly  taken her husband for granted and she has always had the power to refuse even when the man begs on his kneel. But once she too starts initiating sex, he also refuses.

Because Lucky and Bidemi both wanted their marriage to work, I urged them to sincerely consider themselves and consciously give sex another chance even when either of them is not in the mood, or either of them has been unfaithful.

I knew that their accumulated anger was preventing them both from turning themselves on. I asked them to try the talking-touching exercise. Talking-touching is important; it connects partners and enables them to experience the long lost pleasure. Let your bodies make friends first. You can talk about the good old days. Once we allow ourselves to feel our partner’s heart-caressing speech and touching, it is difficult to stay adamant and angry. When we relax under a loving caress, frequencies of sex are rebirthed.

DIVORCE: Funke Akindele Is Moving On (PHOTOS)

Anybody who had expected that Funke Akindele would go and hide her head in shame after her separation from her erstwhile husband, Kehinde Oloyede would probably need to think again.

 The award-winning actress has put the past where it belongs –the past. A few weeks after her marriage crashed, she came out in full force, grooving and making merry.

A radiant Funke was sighted at a beauty pageant held recently in Lagos. And barely a week later, still in Lagos where she was honoured alongside Sir Shina Peters and Ambrose Somide, the diva grooved like never before.

Critics say the screen diva should have shunned the social circle for some time, while others are of the opinion that Funke is just putting up a front in order to show her ex and her critics that she is not bothered by the recent development.

No matter what anybody thinks anyway, Funke is back on the scene, that is if she was out of it in the first place, and it looks as if there is no stopping her, at least, not at the moment.

Crisis In Anambra As APGA Disqualifies Soludo

Fresh crises that might assume intractable dimensions are looming in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) with the disqualification Professor Chukwuma Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank, and other other governorship aspirants.

Barely a mere three weeks after the celebrated reconciliation of its warring factions, marked by the public embrace of its chairman, Victor Umeh with Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, at the Awka Government House, APGA has been thrown into turmoil.

The alleged insistence of Governor Peter Obi to interfere with the course of the gubernatorial primaries of the party for the gubernatorial election coming up on November 16, on the alleged prompting of the Presidency has all but ruined the party, insiders say.

Mr. Obi is said to be bent on imposing a candidate from the Anambra North senatorial zone of the state, which he says has never produced a governor.

There are widespread accusations within the party that Governor Obi’s efforts might not be best intentioned, as he is being accused of making those efforts to throw up a candidate that would be incapable of winning the election, as a way of doing some privileged outside interests a favour, at the detriment of his party.

The impending crises gained new currency with the recent reconciliation, following which APGA netted a very big fish in the person of the former Central Bank Governor, who resigned from the PDP under whose platform he had contested the 2010 gubernatorial election, to pitch his camp with APGA.

Mr. Soludo, in a major game-changing game in the political scene of the state, immediately signified his intention to contest the gubernatorial election under the APGA platform.

Said to be highly favoured by the leadership as well as the rank-and-file of the party in the state, who see in Mr. Soludo’s coming into the party a very bright prospect of victory for the party in the forthcoming election if such a man of clout who could be guaranteed of a state-wide support and even among the followership of the PDP, his entry into the party did not seem to excite Governor Obi and a band of his followers who were recently saved from an embarrassing predicament through the reconciliation, as they had practically lost out when the courts restored Mr. Umeh at the controls of the party.

However, as it was learnt, on the very day that Mr. Soludo joined APGA and became one of its hottest gubernatorial contenders, Governor Obi was said to have drafted his crony and the Executive Director of the Fidelity Bank, in which he owns controlling shares, into APGA and into the aspiration of the gubernatorial race.

CORRUPTION EXPOSED: Catholic Priests At War In Abia State

Catholic priests in the Aba Diocese of the church are locked in a renewed battle that can be described as a holy war, with a Rev. fr and his Bishop trading allegations of corruption.  

The war, which has been raging for some years now, has led to the suspension of some priests from the diocese and the dragging of the bishop to the Zone 9 headquarters of the Nigeria Police in Umuahia, Abia State where the Local Ordinary (Bishop) had gone on some occasions to defend himself against graft allegations levelled against him by one of the priests.

The current crisis, according to one of the priests placed on suspension, Rev. Fr. Onyebuchi Ig.  Nwoko, started few years back when he preached a homily in his parish, condemning what he described as an illicit partisan romance between the Catholic Church in Aba “and the failed-corrupt insensitive government in place in Abia State at the expense of the poor and unsuspecting citizens of the state.”

This Fr. Nwoko said coupled with his stance against absolute worship of money and colossal murder of spirituality and spiritual life that drags the image of the church to the mud and made people not to have respect for it any more, made him the target of the bishop.

This homily, Saturday Sun, gathered did not go down well with the Catholic Bishop of Aba, His Lordship, Vincent Valentine Ezeonyia who felt Rev. Fr. Nwoko went too far, and allegedly promised to “deal with the priest in question.”

This pronouncement, it was also gathered, was closely followed with a letter of reprimand entitled “Precept” which the Bishop was said to have ordered should be placed against the priest’s name in the Diocese’s Curia.

Rev. Fr. Nwoko, who is also a lawyer, took exception to a passage in the precept which said, “I (Bishop) also confine you to your self-chosen legal practice.”

With this, the priest felt he was being punished for telling the truth of what was going on in the diocese and the state at large and the battle line was drawn.

In his reply, the priest said: “Most of my legal practice is pro bono as many of our institutions, and the office of the education secretary can attest to. My bishop hates to see a priest that is empowered and who swims in excellence.

Kwankwaso Shuns Jonathan, Sambo At Abuja Avent

Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso shunned President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday in Abuja, during an award/gala night organised by the National Council of Women Societies in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady.

Kwankwaso, who was one of the five northern governors that had met with political leaders on the crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, played a hide-and-seek with Jonathan, Sambo and the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, at the event.

He refused to join other governors, who were on the same table with him when they all moved to the President’s table to exchange pleasantries with him; his wife, Patience; Sambo and his wife, Amina.

Tukur and the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Godswill Akpabio, were on the table beside that of the President.

The governors, who went to pay homage included  Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo); Peter Obi (Anambra); Adams Oshiomhole (Edo); Theodore Orji (Abia); Jonah Jang (Plateau); and Idris Wada (Kogi).

Others were the acting governor of Taraba, Garba Umar, and the deputy governor of Bayelsa, John Jonah.

Only Kwankwaso and his deputy, Abdullahi Ganduje, remained on their seats.

The governor also refused to recognise the presence of the President during the presentation of awards to the governors.

All the governors who received awards, on stepping down from the podium, moved to the President for a handshake before returning to their seats.

But immediately  Kwankwaso collected his award, he looked the other way, stepped down from the podium and returned to his seat.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan has expressed the fear that he might not be able to achieve the goals of his much-talked about transformation agenda without the full participation of women.

Jonathan raised the concern in a speech at the award/gala night.

At the event, the President was honoured with a “Lifetime Icon Award” for appointing many women into his government.

While Vice-President Namadi Sambo was honoured for supporting Jonathan’s administration to empower women during the award night, the governors of Ondo, Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Abia, Kano and Akwa Ibom received awards for the significance presence of women in their governments.

“I strongly believe that we cannot accomplish the goals of our transformation agenda if women comprising about 50 per cent of our population are not fully integrated into our development efforts and programmes,” the President said.

He argued that the Nigerian woman is not only an important part of the nation’s history, but also a part of the country’s future development as a nation.

He recalled that Nigerian women had championed significant national social transformation programmes that have had an enduring impact on the well-being of the country.

Jonathan said women had been playing important and visible roles in the current dispensation in ensuring a thriving democracy and adding value to the lives of the people.

He promised that his administration would continue to take every measure necessary to bring on board the huge resources and acumen that women have to offer.

Wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, renewed her call on the National Assembly to give legislative backing to the 35 per cent affirmative action on women representation in appointive and elective positions.

She said it was only by doing so that the gains of women in the present administration could be sustained.

She observed that the present situation where women only represent 6.4 per cent of the Senate and 6.7 per cent of the House of Representatives left much to be desired.

Quoting from data made available by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, she said Rwanda boasts of the highest number of women parliamentarians in the world with 56.3 per cent in the lower house and 38.5 per cent in the Senate.

She said women parliamentarians in Senegal represented 42.7 per cent; Tanzania, 45 per cent; Burundi, 56 per cent and Mozambique 39.2 per cent.

She added, “We want our men to appreciate that the women we are appealing for are their mothers, aunts, wives, daughters and sisters.

Boko Haram Strikes Again – At Least 11 Civilians, 2 Terrorists Dead in Borno

At least 13 persons were reportedly killed when members of the infamous terrorist group, Boko Haram, attacked Damboa Village, about 85 km north of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. The attack happened on the night of August 15, 2013, Thursday.

According to Ayamu Gwasha, who represents Konduga in the Borno State House of Assembly, the alleged Boko Haram gunmen invaded the agrarian village famous for producing most of the grocery requirements of the state at about 7.30 p.m.; and attacked several places including the security formations.

“Our people have been killed last night by these people. We had anticipated this attack, because we are border neighbour to Konduga where 44 persons were killed early this week, that was why we immediately alerted the security agencies for security beef up, which was being considered before they attacked,” said Mr. Gwasha.

Another source, representing security forces, name and position withheld, confirmed the incident.

“The incident happened at about 7.30 p.m. About 50 Boko Haram terrorists drove into Damboa in nine Volkswagen Golf cars and four motorcycles. They attacked Damboa police station, but the officers there effectively repelled them; they also attempted attacking the military post in the town but the soldiers also repelled them. While that was going on, another group were busy attacking the village and burning some of the houses.

“After the attack, which lasted till 12 a.m., eleven civilians died, two members of the Boko Haram were killed by the police,” said the security source.

“About 20 houses including that of the local government chairman and several shops were burnt down. The terrorists had also looted most of the shops and filled a truck with food items, but they were not lucky to escape with the loot as the laden vehicle got stuck in the muddy road.”

A local farmer, Mustapha Aji, who was lucky enough to escaped through the bushes to Maiduguri town, told the reporters that villagers had to flee their homes and spend the night in the bushes while the attack was going on. He said he believed that foreign mercenaries were among the terrorists who attacked.

“The shooting was too much; it started immediately after the Isha (late night) prayers. The shooters came in several cars and began to shoot and burning houses and shops. Some of them are aliens, because they were speaking Arab fluently. They were carrying big, big guns, some were throwing bombs. Everywhere was on fire I had to run for my life,” said 46-year-old Mr. Aji.

Damboa had suffered several similar attacks in the past one year which led to killing of several persons and destruction of properties.

Mr. Sagir Musa, the spokesman of JTF in Borno, could not be reached on the latest attack, as his telephone numbers are not available due to network problems in Borno. 

Noam Chomsky: Israel's West Bank plans will leave Palestinians very little

Noam Chomsky says Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is carving up the West Bank with illegal settlements.

Editor's note: Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among his recent books are Hegemony or Survival, Failed States, Power Systems, Occupy, and Hopes and Prospects. His web site is www.chomsky.info.

(CNN) -- The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks beginning in Jerusalem proceed within a framework of assumptions that merit careful thought.

One prevailing assumption is that there are two options: either a two-state settlement will be reached, or there will be a "shift to a nearly inevitable outcome of the one remaining reality -- a state'from the sea to the river'," an outcome posing "an immediate existential threat of the erasure of the identity of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state" because of what is termed "the demographic problem," a future Palestinian majority in the single state.

The policies are quite clear. Their roots go back to the 1967 war and they have been pursued with particular dedication since the Oslo Accords of September 1993.This particular formulation is by former Israeli Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin, but the basic assumptions are near universal in political commentary and scholarship. They are, however, crucially incomplete. There is a third option, the most realistic one: Israel will carry forward its current policies with full U.S. economic, military, and diplomatic support, sprinkled with some mild phrases of disapproval.

The Accords determined that Gaza and the West Bank are an indivisible territorial entity. Israel and the U.S. moved at once to separate them, which means that any autonomy Palestinians might gain in the West Bank will have no direct access to the outside world.

A second step was to carry forward the creation of a vastly expanded Greater Jerusalem, incorporating it within Israel, as its capital. This is in direct violation of Security Council orders and is a serious blow to any hope for a viable Palestinian entity. A corridor to the east of the new Greater Jerusalem incorporates the settler town of Ma'aleh Adumim, established in the 1970s but built primarily after the Oslo Accords, virtually bisecting the West Bank.

Corridors to the north including other settler towns divide what is to remain under some degree of Palestinian control -- "Bantustans," as they were called by one of the main architects of the policy, Ariel Sharon, in a reference to the territory set aside for black South Africans during the apartheid era.

Meanwhile Israel is incorporating the territory on the Israeli side of the "separation wall" cutting through the West Bank, taking arable land and water resources and Palestinian villages.

Included are the settlement blocs that "will remain part of Israel in any possible future peace agreement," as stated by Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev as the current negotiations were announced.

The International Court of Justice ruled that all of this is illegal, and the Security Council had already ruled that all of the settlements are illegal. The U.S. joined the world in accepting that conclusion in the early years of the occupation. But under Ronald Reagan, the position was changed to "harmful to peace," and Barack Obama has weakened it further to "not helpful to peace."

Israel has also been clearing the Jordan Valley of Palestinians while establishing Jewish settlements, sinking wells, and otherwise preparing for eventual integration of the region within Israel.

That will complete the isolation of any West Bank Palestinian entity. Meanwhile huge infrastructure projects throughout the West Bank, from which Palestinians are barred, carry forward the integration to Israel, and presumably eventual annexation.

The areas that Israel is taking over will be virtually free of Arabs. There will be no new "demographic problem" or civil rights or anti-apartheid struggle, contrary to what many advocates of Palestinian rights anticipate in a single state.

There remain open questions. Notably, pre-Obama, U.S. presidents have prevented Israel from building settlements on the E1 site -- a controversial area in the West Bank that Israel hopes to develop -- which would complete the separation of Greater Jerusalem from Palestinian-controlled area. What will happen here is uncertain.

As the negotiations opened, Israel made its intentions clear by announcing new construction in East Jerusalem and scattered settlements, while also extending its "national priority list" of settlements that receive special subsidies to encourage building and inducements for Jewish settlers.

Obama made his intentions clear by appointing as chief negotiator Martin Indyk, whose background is in the Israeli lobby, a close associate of negotiator and presidential adviser Dennis Ross, whose guiding principle has been that Israel has "needs," which plainly overcome mere Palestinian wants.

These developments bring to the fore a second common assumption: that Palestinians have been hindering the peace process by imposing preconditions. In reality, the U.S. and Israel impose crucial preconditions. One is that the process must be in the hands of the United States, which is an active participant in the conflict on Israel's side, not an "honest broker." A second is that the illegal Israel settlement activities must be allowed to continue.

There is an overwhelming international consensus in support of a two-state settlement on the internationally recognized border, perhaps with "minor and mutual adjustments" of this 1949 cease-fire line, in the wording of much earlier U.S. policy. The consensus includes the Arab states and the Organization of Islamic States (including Iran). It has been blocked by the U.S. and Israel since 1976, when the U.S. vetoed a resolution to this effect brought by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

The rejectionist record continues to the present. Washington's most recent veto of a Security Council resolution on Palestinian territorywas in February 2011, a resolution calling for implementation of official U.S. policy -- an end to expansion of Israel's illegal settlements. And the rejectionist record goes far beyond the Security Council.

Also misleading is the question whether the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would accept a "Palestinian state." In fact, his administration was the first to countenance this possibility when it came into office in 1996, following Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, who rejected this outcome. Netanyahu's associate David bar-Illan explained that some areas would be left to Palestinians, and if they wanted to call them "a state," Israel would not object -- or they could call them "fried chicken."

His response reflects the operative attitude of the U.S.-Israel coalition to Palestinian rights.

In the region, there is great skepticism about Washington's current revival of the "peace process." It is not hard to see why.

More clashes feared as protesters vow 'Friday of anger' in Egypt

Cairo (CNN) -- As Egypt faces the gruesome aftermath of clashes that left hundreds dead, demonstrators plan to defy an emergency order and take to the streets to mark "Friday of anger."

The Muslim Brotherhood promised huge protests, and Egypt's military government showed no sign of easing its crackdown, setting the stage for what could become another catastrophic encounter of security forces and protesters.

"The struggle to overthrow this illegitimate regime is an obligation," the Muslim Brotherhood said on its website Friday, while urging people to protest peacefully.

Military vehicles were deployed Friday across Cairo and Giza, taking up positions in squares and securing important institutions, the state-run EGYNews reported. The agency said armored vehicles and barbed wire blocked all entrances to Tahrir Square, and 22 armored vehicles were in Mustafa Mahmoud Square.

The state-run agency said the military increased checkpoints at all entrances to Cairo to prevent arms smuggling to protesters.

A police officer was killed and another was wounded Friday in an attack on a checkpoint in New Cairo, a suburb southeast of the Egyptian capital, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

Police will use live ammunition to subdue any attack against police facilities, state media said.

Also Friday, at least 20 police officers were wounded when assailants fired on two security cars north of Cairo, according to EGYNews.

The leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom will have phone conversations to discuss Egypt, the office of French President Francois Hollande said. Hollande planned to talk to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Egyptian authorities rejected criticism from President Barack Obama and other world leaders for Wednesday's ferocious clashes, which left at least 580 people dead when security forces broke up huge sit-ins in Cairo, according to the Health Ministry.

More than 4,000 were injured. Casualties included civilians, police officers and bystanders.

The protesters support former President Mohamed Morsy, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader elected president in 2012 whom the military removed July 3. Morsy and some other Brotherhood leaders are under arrest.

On Thursday, state media said Morsy supporters were attacking police stations, hospitals and government buildings outside Cairo. The Interior Ministry said police would use live ammunition against any further attacks.

There also were dozens of reports of attacks, blamed on Morsy supporters, on churches and other Christian facilities across the country .

The "Friday of Anger" will begin with marches from mosques around Cairo, which will converge in central Ramses Square, according to tweets from Gehad El-Haddad, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman.

The Muslim Brotherhood's senior leader still at large, Essam Elerian, said Thursday the protests will continue until Morsy is returned to office.

"They can arrest me and 100 of us, but they can't arrest every honorable citizen in Egypt," Elerian told CNN. "They can't stop this glorious revolution."

Obama cancels joint military exercises

Obama on Thursday announced he had canceled joint U.S.-Egyptian military exercises, which had been scheduled for September.

"Our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back," the president said.

He called on the Egyptian government to lift a state of emergency decree limiting public gatherings. Addressing the government's opponents, Obama added, "We call on those who are protesting to do so peacefully and condemn the attacks that we've seen by protesters, including on churches."

Churches, schools reported attacked

Dalia Ziada of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies said Thursday that her group had documented the burning of 29 churches and Coptic facilities across the country.

The Bible Society of Egypt said 15 churches and three Christian schools had been attacked, some set on fire.

State-run Nile TV reported Morsy supporters attacked a church Thursday in Fayoum, southwest of Cairo.

At least 84 people, including Muslim Brotherhood members, have been referred to military prosecutors for charges including murder and the burning of churches, the EGYNews site reported.

Echoes of violence

The violence echoed the upheaval that preceded the fall of Hosni Mubarak from the presidency in 2011. The military removed Mubarak after protests against his authoritarian rule, but not before an estimated 840 people were killed.

The generals yielded power to Morsy after elections, but the new president soon was accused of pursuing an Islamist agenda and excluding other factions from the government. Morsy's supporters say the deposed president wasn't given a fair chance and that the military has returned to its authoritarian practices of the Mubarak era.

The government reinforced the comparison by imposing a monthlong state of emergency, a favored tactic of Mubarak.

Obama warns 'further steps' could be taken

Obama, who has resisted calls to cut off military aid to Egypt and label Morsy's ouster a coup, on Thursday stressed the United States would not support one political faction over another.

"We appreciate the complexity of the situation," the president said. "While Mohamed Morsy was elected president in a democratic election, his government was not inclusive and did not respect the views of all Egyptians. We know that many Egyptians, millions of Egyptians, perhaps even a majority of Egyptians, were calling for a change in course."

But he said he may take unspecified "further steps" because of the government's crackdown.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay asked for an investigation into the violence.

"The number of people killed or injured, even according to the government's figures, point to an excessive, even extreme, use of force against demonstrators," she said.

Germany, France and other nations summoned Egypt's ambassadors to their nations to express dismay over the violence, with Italy typical among them in criticizing the "force used by police (as) brutal, disproportionate and ... not justifiable."

Denmark suspended economic aid to the country.

Even predominantly Muslim nations voiced displeasure, with Turkey recalling its ambassador in Egypt to return to Ankara in light of the crisis, a Turkish foreign ministry representative said.

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Nigeria Will Win The 2014 Fifa World Cup - Kanu Nwankwo

Former Arsenal and Nigeria legend Nwankwo Kanu spoke exclusively to Goal about Nigerian football and the future of the game in Africa

Goal: How highly do you rate the current Nigerian squad?

Kanu: We have a good squad that is competent enough to take us to the World Cup and make us shine on the world map.
Goal: What is your take on the coach Stephen Keshi?
Kanu: When he came in to the squad many people were very negative about him but he has proved that he is the best coach we ever had. He is a great guy and what is important is that he knows what he is doing with the players, as he is a former player as well.
Goal: How do you think he is coping with being a local coach, compared to Europeans who normally coach Africa's top nations?
Kanu: Fortunately, the players love and respect him a lot. As you know that he is a straight talker so the players know what is expected from them.

Kanu watches the Super Eagles
Goal: Speaking about players respecting him, it seems like Nigeria is trying out many new faces, and how are they shaping the squad going ahead?
Kanu: We want players that are hungry for success and players who will play for the country with pride and dignity. That is the main reason we have such a squad. Although we can still have experienced players, nobody owns a space, they all need to work hard.
Goal: What is your expectation for Nigeria's upcoming match against Malawi and qualifying for the World Cup?
Kanu: We are definitely going to the World Cup next year, and we want to win the Cup for Africa. About the Malawi match - we are ready for it and we will do our best.
Goal: Most critics argue that the current Nigeria team is not as good as your generation. Yet, they won the 2013 Afcon. What do you think has brought back the passion in the squad?

Kanu: We have a great coaching team behind them. And, that is what makes us the best in Africa.