Mass Stabbing In American School, 20 Injured

An American high school student stabbed or slashed 20 people, mostly teenagers, in a bloody 30-minute rampage in the classrooms and hallways of a Pittsburg high school on Wednesday, officials said.
Several had life threatening injuries, Chris Kaufmann, the trauma medical director at Forbes Regional Hospital, told CNN. The attack at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, a suburb of Pittsburg, began at 7:13 am (1213 GMT) as students began arriving for what should have been a routine day.
The assault was over by 7:45 am with the suspect taken into custody almost immediately, Dan Stevens, a spokesman for Westmoreland County emergency management, told AFP.
Stevens identified the suspect as a male student. Stevens said he was cornered by police officers who rushed to the scene. His age and identity were not immediately released.
“Twenty students were injured, four of those students were flown from the scene,” Stevens told AFP.
The victims, most of them aged 14 to 17, were slashed and stabbed in “numerous classrooms and hallways” of the high school, Stevens added.
A statement on the website of the Franklin Regional School District said a “critical incident” had occurred.
“All elementary schools are cancelled, the middle school and high school students are secure,” the statement said.
“We had two patients who went immediately to the operating room,” Kaufmann said. While most were students at the high school, an adult also was among those being treated at the hospital.
Wednesday’s attack comes after a long and frequent line of US school shootings that have inflamed a nationwide debate over gun control in the United States.
But even the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 young children and six adults were shot dead, ultimately failed to tighten gun ownership rules.
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/64047.html

Robbers Attack Cossy Orjiakor, Cart Away Valuables

Nigerian actress Cossy Orjiakor, famous for her humongous boobs was robbed by some thugs Monday night.
The controversial actress, who was reported to have agreed to a deal to insure her bloated mammary glands for a whopping $1.6million (N256million), said she sustained some injuries as a result of the unfortunate incident.
According to a post on her Twitter handle Wednesday, the robbers attacked her in her car at Orile Coker, a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria at night.
She said they broke her windows and made away with her phones and perfume.
"Robbed on d 7th at Orile Coker. They broke my window just to get to my 2 phones and perfume. Had minor cuts to my arms, and leg .hmmm," the actress tweeted.
Cossy made the headlines late last year for insuring her boobs for more than a million dollars stating she “specifically asked for $1.6 million.”
The deal included a limitation on how many men and women touch her boobs each month. Also her breasts have all been given names and must now be treated as human beings in future movie roles.

GAMING REVIEW: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Out Today

Snake moves across the dirt and rock with immaculate care, crawling in silence as rain soaks his suit. He blends into the darkness, and the passing chopper screeches overhead in ignorance of his trespassing. As the camera pans to reveal his face, each wrinkle on his brow betrays his great military experience and troubled past. But this is just another mission for the iconic hero, who returns to PlayStation today in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes for PS3 and PS4.

Following the events of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes finds Big Boss infiltrating a military compound in Cuba, with a mission to extract two high-value targets before they’re executed… or worse. Ground Zeroes establishes the initial story arc that will continue in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Think of Ground Zeroes as an appetizer to the main course.

The talented team at Kojima Productions have worked marvels on PS4, lending a breath-taking sense of realism to Ground Zeroes and the characters therein. The character models and animation have reached new heights for the series, while the large military base brims with detail, both large and small. Rain lashes down from the night sky in gouts, mechanized gates groan into motion as claxons blare, and the distant whir of an approaching jeep motor can send even an experienced player into a panic.

Special attention has been spent on Ground Zeroes’ controls, enabling players to move, crawl, dive, roll, and fight in fluid succession. In classic Metal Gear tradition, much of the fun comes from learning the behaviors of the soldiers on the base, and finding the best ways to deceive or dispatch them.

Snake has several tools for doing just that, including his trusty tranquilizer pistol, as well as a host of weapons on the base he can procure, from shotguns to rifles. Metal Gear fans will relish the return of other series standards, like engrossing radio chatter and a story steeped in intrigue. Although Ground Zeroes is but a taste of the full Metal Gear Solid V experience, it provides rich insight into Kojima’s future project.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes launches today for PS3 and PS4.

GAMING REVIEWS : PS4 Introducing Project Morpheus

› Shu Yoshida
  I had the pleasure to introduce Project Morpheus, SCE’s prototype virtual reality (VR) system that works with PS4. Virtual reality is the next innovation from SCE that we believe will shape the future of games.

I have long dreamed about VR and the possibilities it brings in regards to game development. This new technology will deliver a sense of presence, where you as the player actually feel like you’re inside the game and your emotions feel that much more real.

Our current prototype for Project Morpheus features a head mounted display with 1080p resolution and a 90 degree field of view. Accelerometer and gyroscope sensors built into the head mounted unit as well as PlayStation Camera accurately tracks head orientation and movement, so as your head rotates, the image of the virtual world rotates intuitively in real-time. Project Morpheus also features our new 3D audio technology that re-creates stereoscopic sounds in all directions and changes in real-time depending on your head orientation. In addition to PlayStation Camera, Project Morpheus works with DUALSHOCK 4 Wireless Controller and PlayStation Move to deliver an easy-to-use, plug-and-play VR experience.

The prototype for Project Morpheus is the culmination of our work over the last 3+ years as we’ve refined our vision for VR. This prototype will serve as the first development kit for PS4 developers that are as enthusiastic about this new medium as we are.

At GDC 2014 this week, attendees will be able to check out Project Morpheus in action at the SCEA booth through a handful of technology demos.

I Woke Up To Gushots & Bomb Blasts: First Hand Narrative Of The Maiduguri Attack

This morning I woke up by myself – no rude gunshots or
harsh bomb blasts woke me up. I was not so lucky on Friday
morning though..
I hate campus hostels so I live off campus very close to one
of the school’s numerous gates. But because the campus is
relatively safe, has more power supply and not subjected to
the 9-6 curfew imposed on Maiduguri, I usually end up
sleeping at a friend’s who lives with his mum in the staff
quarters. Well, Thursday night came and network was really
terrible over there so I decided to sleep at my place instead
to see if the network will be better since I had some 360nobs
job to do. I and my roommate Blaq walked home. By 6
o’clock the next morning, the alarm on my pebble smart
watch vibrated me awake. Since I didn’t have any lecture, I
out off the alarm continued sleeping. Checked the watch
again and it was quarter past seven. About five minutes
later, I heard a gunshot. It’s a normal occurrence over here
in Maiduguri so I paid it no mind. A few seconds later, there
was a burst of gunfire. I asked Blaq if he heard that just to
be sure. We got a continuous sound of gunfire in response.
We sprang up and started throwing clothes on. Blaq
suggested we get into the campus, I thought it was an
unnecessary risk since we will have to cross a major road
for us to get into the campus. Our only neighbour who
happens to be a young lady with a baby ran out of the house
with her sister and four others screaming at the top of their
heads for everyone to run out of the area. Turns out the
Boko Haram guys were coming through a dried out river
behind our house. I and Blaq said a short word of prayer to
God to direct us and then we headed out to the gate of our
compound. We met our other friends who thankfully were as
cool headed as us and we were trying to decide what course
of action to take. Yeah, meanwhile we could hear bombs
exploding – it was like on the fourth explosion by now – not
like I bothered to count though.
We decided to go out to the road to see what’s happening.
We saw thousands of youth – the ones called the civilian jtf
– on the road in front of our house brandishing all sorts of
weapons waiting for Boko Haram members to come.
Weapons from stuff you see in ancient medieval movies like
iron spikes, spears, mean ass,ugly swords to common tools
like hammers, axes and shovels. There were all sorts of
weapons though.
And different ages – pre teenagers to adults in their 30s. We
foolishly sat down by the roadside watching the civilian jtf
motivate themselves with chants, scraping their weapons on
the tarred road as they drove in cars teeming with their
members. They did all the macho shit they could do to get
their blood boiling. I moved closer to them and picked up
some of their conversation and from what I gathered, it
seems some Boko haram members one of the army bases
known as Giwa Barracks. It was said that the insurgent
came in full force but the soldiers were prepared for them so
they scattered them. Some said that more of the bad guys
were still coming in however. Did I mention that not once did
the gun fire stop? It was still raging but we were not certain
where from. It was an on and off thing. One guy mentioned
he saw about three of them at that same dried up river
shooting their assault rifles. I moved on from him and asked
someone what was happening. He responded that it was
Boko Haram trying to get into town. I was like so what’s it
gonna be? He confidently boasted that if they were coming
in, it will have to be through the road we were on and by God
they will not get through them. I hailed the fella and moved
back to my friends.
We chilled around those ruffians for a long while with some
soldiers around. Later on, a number of them came with a
bloodied fellow in their midst being beaten and brutalized.
From their shouts, it seems he was a Boko Haram member.
When the multitude that saw them coming they started
jubilating and running towards their comrades to lynch the
dude. One of them holding a heavy machete ran forward and
hit the captive on the head with the edge of the machete. The
dude sank from the brute force but he was still dragged on
while being beaten till he was eventually handed over to the
soldiers nearby. A fighter jet came on the scene doing some
fancy maneuvers. I saw it dip at an area behind our house
and then it rose again. Immediately there was heavy black
smoke around that area. Another jet showed up and they
started firing at the ground from a distance. Those shots
were very far away though, thankfully.
One of our neighbours came back from school and told us a
bomb exploded near s lecture hall. We refused to believe him
because we just couldn’t live with that possibility – school
has always been safe from all the attacks that have ever
occurred. We asked him how it was like and his details were
scketchy so we teased him and made fun of him concluding
that fear made him make up stories. We also got calls that a
girl was hit in the hostel from a stray bullet; one other girl
said her roommate dodged a bulled – we had a field day
with that one too and cracked jokes at the newly discovered
bullet-dodging power. .As usual, I decided not to believe
anything till I could confirm it for myself.
By noon, the jet was done and the gun fire eventually
ceased. I and my friends went back into the compound and
started preparing to eat our first meal of the day.
After eating, I drove into school and I confirmed that indeed a
girl had been hit by a stray bullet. I will later come to hear
that she passed away from the injury. Also, a guy was also
hit by a stray bullet while in the hostel and he gave up the
ghost too. I and a few friends drove to the lecture hall that
my neighbour claimed a bomb had exploded at and though
there was no bomb blast there as we earlier said (mostly in
jest) there was an explosion of sorts there which we
concluded must have been from a Rocket Propelled Grenade.
There was a small hole in front of the class while the glass
windows all around the front of the building were in pieces.
Also, shrapnel seemed to have penetrated through the metal
doors of the lecture hall while the walls of the class had so
many marks. It is a miracle people did not die from that one
alon
e.
It seemed that there were a lot of such damage of that sort
all over the campus. A friend shared a picture where such a
weapon tore through the fence of their compound. The most
sensible rumour concerning that was that the insurgents
were firing those weapons at the fighter jets and some of
them that missed the target found their way onto the
campus. I still cannot make sense of the stray bullets that
travelled so far to kill those two students though since no
shot was fired from within the campus.
I talked to my mum later on and found that the battle was
bad in the area near our family house. Seems that when the
Boko Haram members attacked the barracks and failed, they
tried to escape into that area and they were being gunned
down by the soldiers. Therefore, the area surrounding the
house was littered with dead bodies. My mum and cousins
had to go somewhere else to live the rest of the day.
All in all, it could have been far worse. But the military really
did well. The presence of the civilian JTF was also helpful
despite their wild, brutal, uncouth ways. They hacked a lot
of Boko Haram members to death on the spot even within
the campus. But we rather have the youth of the town in that
way rather than cowering in hiding whenever our city is
under attack. The upside of this most recent experience is
that the casualty suffered by the good guys was so low that
everyone is optimistic that maybe we are reaching the end of
this crisis in Maiduguri… Time will tell

Boko Haram: PDP demands probe of Sanusi

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said at the weekend that it is worried that the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, might be a sponsor of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents and, therefore, should be thoroughly investigated.

The observation of the party is contained in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, on Sunday.

The party said the best option to know how Sanusi expended monies at the apex bank while still completely in charge was for the government to institute a detailed forensic audit of all the accounts and financial activities of the CBN from 2009 till date.

Metuh, in the statement, also demanded that the audit must establish and publish all movement of monies from the CBN accounts such as contract sums, donations and other extra budgetary spending under Sanusi.

The party said the audit would reveal all contracts awarded by the apex bank within the period, the beneficiary companies and persons behind them as well as the value of the contracts and their status of execution.

It further said facts available to it, some of which have already been published by the Financial Reporting Council, show that within the period, the apex bank engaged in reckless award of inflated contracts through which over N680 billion was frittered away.

Aside from alleging that Sanusi put the monies into the pockets of “highly corrupt persons who have been hiding under the toga of anti-corruption crusaders and whistle blowers to siphon the nation’s resources,” the PDP said it has been established that there were huge infractions on the management of the bank’s funds, which made it impossible for it to properly prepare its financial statements since 2012, using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

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Boko Haram: PDP demands probe of Sanusi http://dailyindependentnig.com/2014/03/boko-haram-pdp-demands-probe-of-sanusi/

Survivors relive ordeal at NIS

Some of the survivors relived yesterday their “horrible experience”.

Blessing Uzor and Chinemen Isaac, who were recuperating at Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH) and Glory Hospital Ogbunabali in Port Harcourt, said the stampede at the Elekahia stadium was caused by the directive of the immigration officers that applicants should squat.

Uzor said she could recall when some military officers told them to squat which led to the disaster as those standing fell on them.

She said: “The only thing I can remember now is when soldiers who were assisting the Immigration officers ordered some of us to squat and while we were doing that many candidates were standing at our back.

“Five minutes later, the crowd fell on us. I regained consciousness at 4:45 am on Sunday. I began to ask for my bag and the other writing materials I took to the recruitment centre. I thank God that I can talk now.”

At the Glory Hospital, Isaac, who is still struggling with the shock , said it would be better to be alive and remain unemployed than to die unemployed.

“I didn’t know when they fell on me. I was squatting as directed because they were sharing question papers.

“Some people started pushing to make way for themselves. That was how they fell on top of one another. About 15 persons fell on me.

In Abuja, Kunle Ojelabi said: “I see it as a day when the unemployed in Nigeria all gathered to update themselves on how they are hustling to make a living. It would have been a better opportunity for the Bureau of Statistics to get accurate figure through head count of those who are jobless in Nigeria.

“The recruitment, which was meant to put smiles on faces, saw people struggling to enter the stadium. How does NIS expect to conduct a good recruitment test in a place like this?”

Some applicants who were invited for the recruitment examination in Lagos described it as a sham.

A large turnout of unemployed graduates who paid N1,000 each for the registration, caused massive traffic on Ikorodu Road and the Western Avenue which lead to the National Stadium, venue of the exam.

A candidate, who does not want to be named, said the main bowl of the stadium was nearly filled – with many unable to gain entry. The source said many candidates had to climb over locked gates to gain entry and to get out; the question papers were inadequate and many could not take the examination; even many of those that took could not submit because the officials were not available.

He said: “The exam was a sham. Those who organised it just did it to fulfill righteousness. They first told us they must sign our confirmation slips (which contained our identity details). I laughed because I knew it was impossible for them to sign all because of the crowd. When they got tired of signing, they told us all to submit the confirmation slips. We struggled to submit. After the exam, we saw the pile of slips scattered on the football pitch.

“Many people had to fight for question papers. While I looked for an official to submit my script to, some others had not got question paper to write.”

Another candidate, Yinka Adebisi said though there were three categories of questions, the officials made no distinctions on how they should be written.

“I eventually got to write the exam after much struggle. It got to an extent that the officials started throwing the questions on the field for candidates to scramble and pick. In fact, the whole thing was a sham. It was not well organised.

“There were three question types. I think Type 1 was for BSc holders; Type 2 for HND, and Type 3, ND holders. But the officials did not even specify which one was for which,” he said.

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