Trump's attitudes toward the EU and NATO could lead to 'unprecedented changes in US foreign policy'

If President-elect Donald Trump's recent statements on the European Union and the NATO are any indication, his administration could bring unprecedented changes to longstanding alliances between Western countries.

In an interview published Sunday with the Times of London and Bild newspapers, Trump questioned the value of the NATO alliance when he was asked whether he understood why many in eastern Europe feared Russian aggression.

"I said a long time ago — that NATO had problems," Trump told The Times and Bild. "Number one it was obsolete, because it was, you know, designed many, many years ago. Number two — the countries aren't paying what they're supposed to pay."

He also appeared indifferent toward the EU.

Thunder kills 6 people at Zimbabwe funeral

On Sunday, Lightning struck and killed six people and left many others injured with severe burns at a funeral, which held in Binga District of Zimbabwe. According to Zim News, the people had taken shelter under a tree when a bolt of lightning struck, killing six people on the spot.
Speaking about the tragic incident, Chief Siachilaba from Binga said that they died while attending his late sister’s funeral at her homestead when the tragedy struck.

He said when it started raining, some of the people attending the funeral took shelter under the tree which was later struck by lightning.

Kylie Jenner Denies Launhing Cosmetics Line in Nigeria

Following reports that Kylie Jenner (Kardashian) has launched her cosmectics line in Nigeria, the reality star has come out to denial the story via twitter

When asked by a Nigerian on the micro blogging site, Kylie said her cosmetics line isn’t launching in Nigeria.

See the tweet and her response below.

MMM Nigeria Ponzi scheme yet to pay Nigerians after return

72 hours after its surprise return, popular Ponzi scheme MMM Nigeria is still yet to pay its investors according to reports.

The Cable claims that investors of MMM have not yet been paid as their accounts are still frozen. Kolade Ogunwande who spoke to the online news site said he invested N100,000 in November 2016, and also referred two people to the Ponzi scheme.

On Friday, January 13, 2017, his N100,000 had appreciated to N214,000. When he placed a request to withdraw his money he was not paid.

“They have not paid me anything, but, they said we should be wait patiently to be matched with participants willing to invest in MMM. I have no choice than to be optimistic,” Ogunwande told The Cable.

A woman named Lara Makanjuola also invested N100,000 in MMM Nigeria and is also facing the same problem of getting her money out.

Rolls-Royce apologises in court after settling bribery case

The engineering giant Rolls-Royce has apologised after it was found to have paid bribes including a luxury car and millions of pounds’ worth of cash to middlemen to secure orders in Indonesia, Russia and China and other countries.

Britain’s leading multinational manufacturer made the admissions on Tuesday at the high court in London, a day after it was revealed that it would pay £671m in penalties to settle long-running corruption allegations. In a statement read out in court, the firm said it “apologised unreservedly for the conduct which has been uncovered”.

The settlement was reached with investigators from three countries – the UK, US and Brazil – who five years ago started to scrutinise allegations that the firm had hired middlemen to pay bribes to win contracts.

Richard Whittam, a QC for the Serious Fraud Office, detailed the findings of what he said was the “largest individual investigation conducted by the SFO to date”. Whittam told the court that Rolls-Royce had admitted it had failed to stop corrupt payments in Nigeria and Indonesia, and had paid bribes in Russia. Other illicit payments were made in Thailand and Nigeria.

A string of points within the agreement between the firm and the SFO – called a deferred prosecution agreement – revealed Rolls-Royce’s systemic and long-running use of intermediaries. In Indonesia, Rolls-Royce employees admitted paying $2.25m (£1.8m) and gifting a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit car to an individual. The payment was made in order that the individual would “show favour to Rolls-Royce for a contract” to supply Trent engines to Garuda Airways, Whittam said.

peppers associated with 13% reduction in total mortality

Going back for centuries, peppers and spices have been thought to be beneficial in the treatment of diseases, but only one other study — conducted in China and published in 2015 — has previously examined chili pepper consumption and its association with mortality. This new study corroborates the earlier study’s findings.

Using National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) III data collected from more than 16,000 Americans who were followed for up to 23 years, medical student Mustafa Chopan ‘17 and Professor of Medicine Benjamin Littenberg, M.D., examined the baseline characteristics of the participants according to hot red chili pepper consumption.

They found that consumers of hot red chili peppers tended to be “younger, male, white, Mexican-American, married, and to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and consume more vegetables and meats . . . had lower High Density Lipo-protein (HDL)-cholesterol, lower income, and less education,” in comparison to participants who did not consume red chili peppers. They examined data from a median follow-up of 18.9 years and observed the number of deaths and then analyzed specific causes of death.

Sporadic gunshots heralded kidnapping of our staff, students -Principal Turkish int’l school

The Management   of Nigerian Turkish International Colleges, NTIC, located in   the Isheri area of Ogun State, has   given a blow-by-blow   account of how some   students and staff of the school were kidnapped by gunmen. From left: Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Barrister Taiwo Adeoluwa; Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Onanuga and Principal, Nigerian Tullip International School, Mr. Yunus Dogan when the deputy governor led a delegation of government officials to the school yesterday following the kidnap of some of its students and teachers The Principal of the school,   Yunus Emre Dogan, told   newsmen, yesterday, that the gunmen came into the school and started shooting sporadically. It was gathered that the gunmen stormed   the premises of the school, which is   located in a swampy, bushy area, around 9.20pm on Friday, and made away with eight persons including   three regular   students and two others   who   were preparing for Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, exams, and three members of staff. Dogan said   the abductors immediately made their way into the female hostel where three students were kidnapped, alongside the house mistress and a Turkish teacher who teaches mathematics in the school. A cook was also taken away from the kitchen.