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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Nigerian Female Professor Wins $100,000 UNESCO Prize

A Nigerian female scientist has bagged a prize of $100,000, as one of the winners of the 2013 L’OrĂ©al-UNESCO Awards in Physical Sciences.
Professor Francisca Okeke, the first female Head of Department, University of Nigeria Nsukka bagged the 2013 Laureate award for her significant contributions “to the understanding of daily variations of the ion currents in the upper atmosphere which may further our understanding of climate change.”

 UNESCO says Professor Okeke has made the study of the ionosphere her lifetime work. The ionosphere lies between 50km and 1000kms above the earth surface. “A very thick layer of charged particles, the ionosphere produces changes in the magnetic field on earth’s surface that affect the planet in a host of ways. Her research could lead to a better understanding of climate change and help pinpoint sources of dramatic phenomena like tsunamis and earthquakes”, a summary of her research published by UNESCO read. 

The awards were announced last year October, but the award ceremony took place at the weekend in Paris. She was the only recipient in that category from Africa and the Arab nations and the third Nigerian Laureate since the UNESCO-L’Oreal partnership was established in 1998. Professor Okeke got a prize of $100,000. Four others also got awards in the Laureate category with each representing Europe, Latin America, North America and the Asia Pacific regions. 

UK Scientist Professor Pratibha Gai of York University won the 2013 European Laureate award. She was recognised for “ingeniously modifying her electron microscope so that she was able to observe chemical reactions occurring at surface atoms of catalysts which will help scientists in their development of new medicines or new energy sources. 

The second Nigerian award recipient, Dr Eucharia Nwaichi, an environmental bio-chemist from the University of Port Harcourt joined 15 other young scientists in the “International Fellows’’ category. Okeke told the Western Europe Correspondent of NAN that she would continue to encourage women to participate in the development of science and technology in the country.

She noted that cultural challenges were impeding on women’s participation in global innovations, stressing that “even though it is seen as a male dominated field, people like us inspire others’’. Similarly, Nwaichi, who was recognised for her research on “scientific solution to environmental pollution’’, stressed the need for increased motivation to support women in the field. 

Amb Mariam Katagum, Nigeria’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, said candidates who met the criteria were selected by a jury based on their submitted projects. “Two important elements are respecting the deadline and also making their submission through the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO, because that gives it authenticity. “For us as delegates, as soon as we knew we had possible candidates from Nigeria, we ensured that due process was followed. 

“There is no interference as you can see, an international jury determined the outcome,’’ she said, adding that the recipients had broken the frontiers in the field of science. According to her, they have become role models for girls, for us as a country, we need to encourage more girls to go into science. “We can only do that by providing the environment, access to quality education and making sure that the facilities that will make them interested in science subjects are in place,’’ she stressed. The international jury which selected the 2013 awardees was led by Nobel Prize winner, Mr Ahmed Zewail. [NAN]

Robbers Who Invaded Lagos Airport Arrested

Men of the Lagos State Police Command have apprehended the robbery gang that raided Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, three weeks ago, killing two policemen and injuring several others in the process. 

Reports say the suspects were arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja, who took over investigations on the instance of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar.

 Sources say the operatives acted on a tip-off, and arrested the bandits from their respective hideouts within Lagos. The suspects have so far confessed during interrogation on how they planned and carried out the operation, sources say. The suspects according to sources first raided the airport in February 2012, where N700 million was carted away.

 A 10-man robbery gang, armed with sophisticated weapons, had on March 13, 2013 invaded the airport at 9am and headed for the Bureau De Change, BDC, operators centre near the car park, firing indiscriminately.

 Two policemen were reportedly gunned killed while a member of the gang was also shot dead during a shoot-out between a team of policemen attached to the airport and the robbery gang, a gun duel that disturbed the robbers’ mission. The arrested suspects sources say will be paraded today by the Lagos State Police Command.

Bloody Easter As Gunmen Kill 20 Villagers In Kaduna

It was a bloody Easter celebration in Ataka village in Kaura Local Government of Kaduna State turned as gunmen, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, raided the area in the early hours of Sunday, killing over 20 residents. Several other people who were said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries were taken to unknown hospitals in the area.

 Chairman of Kaura local government, Kumai L.J Badun attributed the killing to a vengeance mission by the suspected Fulani herdsmen over the poisoning of two cows at Mafang Village. However, the police in the state said they were yet to ascertain the number of those killed. 

Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer , DSP Aminu Lawan while confirming the incident, said the Area Commander and military operatives were trying to ascertain the figure of those either killed or injured during the attack. Lawan said, “There was an attack.

 Well, people were actually killed but we are still contacting the Area Commander, who right now is accessing other security agencies, most especially the military, to get the exact figure of those who lost their lives. “Our area commander and the zonal commander as well as the military people are already at the place. And they are working hard to get the figure of those either killed or injured. “Let us wait and see if in a short while they will get the figures.

 The place is called Ataka, just a little bit far away and it is a border town with Plateau State. The place has a difficult terrain. “The incident , according to what we got, happened in the early hours of yesterday (Sunday), but because of the terrain, the hill and the mountains, definitely, it would be difficult for the operatives to get to the place. But we are still hoping to get to the root of the incident.

 “Our men are already there and they have already taken control of the place.” He added that the command had commenced investigation into the incident.

Monday, April 1, 2013

"GATE TO HELL" Discovered In Turkey

Archaeologists in Italy recently announced that they have found a “gate to hell” amongst ruins in southwestern Turkey. 

The site, now called Pamukkale, was found in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis. It is known as ‘Pluto’s Gate.’

It is believed that the cave was celebrated as the portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology and tradition. The opening is described as being filled with lethal mephitic vapours.

“This space is full of a vapour so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground,” Greek geographer Strabo (64/63 BC—about 24 AD) wrote in ancient texts. “Any animal that passes inside meets instant death. I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell.”

The finding was announced this month at a conference on Italian archaeology in Istanbul, Turkey. Francesco D’Andria, a professor of classic archaeology at the University of Salento, led the team that found the cave.

“We found the Plutonium by reconstructing the route of a thermal spring,” D’Andria told Discovery News. “Indeed, Pamukkale’ springs, which produce the famous white travertine terraces originate from this cave.”

Upon excavation of the site, archeologists also found Ionic semi-columns that had inscriptions of dedication to the deities of the underworld, Pluto and Kore.

“We could see the cave’s lethal properties during the excavation,” D’Andria continued. “Several birds died as they tried to get close to the arm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes.”

Other researchers agree that this is an astounding discovery.

“This is an exceptional discovery as it confirms and clarifies the information we have from the ancient literary and historic sources,” Alister Filippini, a researcher in Roman history at the Universities of Palermo, Italy, and Cologne, told Discovery News.

D’Andria is not a stranger to rare findings. Two years ago, he claimed to have discovered the tomb of Saint Philip, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.

D’Andria and his team are currently working on the digital reconstruction of the “gate to hell” site.

White House Releases APRIL FOOL's Message (VIDEO)


On Twitter this morning, the White House tweeted this message: "At 10:00 a.m. ET, the White House will release a special video message from the President." 


In the video (below) posted on WhiteHouse.gov, a small boy dressed in a suit stood at a White House podium as 'Hail to the Chief' played. 

“It looks like you were expecting somebody else, but April Fools on all of y’all,” said the boy. “I’m kid president and I hope everyone has an awesome day.” 

The boy also gave President Nixon's famous "v for victory" finger gestures, made fart noises as he walked off the podium and got a stuck in a doorway.

Psych Ward Patient Found With 17 Baggies Of Cocaine Between His Butt Cheeks


A patient at a psych ward in Bronx, New York, was found holding 17 bags of what is believed to be cocaine between his butt cheeks on Thursday night. 

The staff first rushed to this patient when he began yelling and screaming. They proceeded to give him a shot in his buttocks to calm him down. 

“Two bags of drugs fell down,” a source involved with the incident told New York Daily News. “Then he got a little more aggressive and defensive.” 

Closer inspection of the individual revealed 15 more bags that were then taken to the 40th Police Precinct. 

“The patient will be facing criminal charges,” the source said. “He’ll be taken to the precinct as soon as he’s discharged from the hospital.”

Sick Pimp Forces 13-Year-Old Runaway To Tattoo His Name On Her Eyelids


When a 13-year-old prostitute tried to leave her pimp, the Miami man forced her to tattoo his street name on her eyelids. 

The teenager now has her torturer’s nickname, Suave, on her right eyelid. On her left eyelid, she was inked with the word House, suggesting that she belonged to him.

Suave, known formally as Roman Thomas III, was arrested last Monday by Miami police. The 26-year-old and a female accomplice, Shanteria Sanders, “compelled and coerced” the young girl into becoming a prostitute, giving her drugs to keep her obedient. 

Nicknamed Sparkle, the teen ran away from a turbulent home. She met Thomas on March 12 at the USA Flea Market in Miami. One day later, he saw her again and convinced her to come home with him. He was living at the Miami Shores Motel. It was there that Thomas and Sanders took “provocative” photos of the girl, uploading them to the classifieds section on Backpage.com. Sparkle was advertised as the “new girl,” according to police reports.

Thomas and Sanders then forced the 13-year-old to become a prostitute. They gave her condoms and taught her how to speak with customers. They used drugs to keep Sparkle dependent on them — alcohol, marijuana and “Molly,” a form of MDMA. When johns came to the motel asking for her services, Thomas and Sanders charged them up to $100 per hour and counted the cash after every visit. 

Once, when the two realized that some money was missing, they duct-taped the young girl and “threatened to kill her.”

After Sparkle threatened to run away, Thomas and Sanders hauled her back to the Flea Market, where she was tattooed. 

“It’s outrageous that this girl would be branded for life at such an early age, on of all places her eyelids,” investigator Lt. Jose Alfonso told the Miami Herald.

Sanders, 23, also bears Thomas’ mark on her body. The word “Suave” is tattooed across her chest. 

Thomas was already serving five years of probation when Miami police took him into custody. He spent four years in prison for having sex with a minor. He was released in September with a GPS monitor strapped to his ankle. On March 10, Miami police received a warning from the device that the bracelet had been removed. That was just two days before he met Sparkle. 

The young girl’s mother managed to track her down, directing Miami police to her pimp. 

Sparkle is now receiving therapy from Project GOLD, a branch of the non-profit Kristi House that helps sexually exploited children deal with the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual repercussions of being abused. 

Both Thomas and Sanders face charges of human trafficking, false imprisonment, lewd and lascivious exhibition and delivery of a controlled substance to a child.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Female Student Expelled From Medical School For Wearing Hijab


An unnamed third-year student from Muslim-populated Dagestan had been expelled from the city’s medical school for wearing a headscarf, a local TV station in Krasnoyarsk city reported.
Russian prosecutors are now looking into the case following the reports.
“After the TV report was broadcast, the Krasnoyarsk district prosecutors launched a probe to check the legitimacy of the expulsion,” local prosecutor’s aid Yelena Pimonenko said.
Krasnoyarsk State Medical University confirmed that one of its students had been expelled for “violating internal regulations”, but declined to specify which rules.
According to the school’s rules issued in February and published on its website, students are forbidden from entering university premises in “items of clothing that stress their religious affiliation”, as well as headwear (except for medical items), beach wear and outer clothing.
The debate over hijabs in Russian schools ignited in October 2012 in the southern region of Stavropol, where a school barred several Muslim girls from attending school wearing headscarves.
The region’s authorities went on to impose a blanket ban on headscarves at local educational facilities.
Last week, a Stavropol court ruled against overturning the ban, which had been appealed by four residents of the region.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

My 'Oga At The Top' video is finally here!

If you haven't seen this video, please watch and cringe. The Lagos State Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) Mr Obafaiye Shem can't tell his organisation's web address. And when he eventually gave the web address, he gave the wrong one. Watch...

 

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