NIGERIAN ARMY, DEPARTMENT OF STATE SERVICES ARREST FOREIGN TERRORISTS

Nigerian Army troops in conjunction with elements of Department of State Services (DSS) after painstaking effort of tracking arrested 3 suspected Chadian Boko Haram terrorists that belonged to Albaranawi faction, in Gombe, Gombe State.

The 3 Chadian terrorists suspects, Bilal Muhammed Umar, Bashir Muhammed and Muhammed Maigari Abubakar were arrested at Arawa and Mallam Inna Areas of Gombe metropolis. They were reported to be members of Albarnawi faction of the Boko Haram that operates in Chad and mostly northern part of Borno State but came to Gombe State for another heinous assignment.   

During the operation, one of them, Bilal Muhammed Umar attempted to escape and was shot on the leg. He was however apprehended and is receiving medical treatment.

Here are all the winners of the 2017 Oscars

The 89th Academy Awards are taking place Sunday night, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on ABC. Critical darlings and hits including "La La Land," "Moonlight," and "Hidden Figures" are vying to take the top honors in Hollywood.

Below are all the Oscar winners from the live telecast, which we'll update as the show goes on: 

Best Lead Actress

Isabelle Huppert, "Elle"

Ruth Negga, "Loving"

Natalie Portman, "Jackie"

Emma Stone, "La La Land" - WINNER

Meryl Streep, "Florence Foster Jenkins"

Best Lead Actor

Casey Affleck, "Manchester by the Sea" - WINNER

Andrew Garfield, "Hacksaw Ridge"

Ryan Gosling, "La La Land"

Viggo Mortensen, "Captain Fantastic"

Denzel Washington, "Fences"

Salome Kwarwah, Liberian nurse who survived Ebola dies from pregnancy complications

 Salome Kwarwah, a Liberian nurse who survived the deadly Ebola epidemic passed away from pregnancy complications on February 22, 2017. She was age 28.

Salome thought her life was over when she tested positive for Ebola, which killed her parents.  But after recovering at the Elwa 3 Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Ebola treatment center in Monrovia,Liberia, she began working as a mental health counselor there, helping others to fight the virus. She told her story before her demise:

‘Game Of Thrones’ Actor Neil Fingleton Dies Aged 36

Game Of Thrones actor Neil Fingleton has died at age 36.

The actor played the character of giant Mag The Mighty in the HBO series. The cause of death has been reported as heart failure, according to Chronicle Live.

The British-born Fingleton was named the tallest man in the UK in 2007 with his height being measured at seven feet and seven inches.

Speaking to a local paper to his home county of Durham in 2007, Fingleton said of his height: “I do cause a bit of a stir wherever I go, with people pulling out cameras, but it doesn’t bother me.

Miss South Africa Accused of Drug Trafficking in London?

Following the report by metro-uk.com that the present Miss South Africa beauty pageant queen was arrested in London for drug trafficking, the organisers of the event has debunked the report. It was reported that she was apprehended by customs and border protection officers at London’s Heathrow Airport for carrying 2 kg of cocaine which was stuffed inside her two bags of coffee inside her briefcases. The organisers stated that they had wanted to ignore the report which they knew was false but because they have got queries from some legitimate media they decided to put the record straight. “In light of the fact that we have had queries from legitimate media outlets we would like to set the record straight. Ntando has not been arrested and she has not been caught with any drugs in her possession. She is currently in South Africa and is not in London; in fact she has never been there,” Sun International PR manager and a former Miss South Africa, Claudia Henkel
Liveofofo

Half-eaten shark on Florida beach raises speculation about what killed it

A half-eaten shark that washed up on a Florida beach Saturday raised questions about a bigger fish possibly lurking in the water.

A Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue lifeguard snapped a photo of the shark on New Smyrna Beach. Beach Safety spokeswoman Tammy Morris told News 4 Jax that the shark was “definitely” eaten by a bigger fish. She added that the shark was either a blacktip or spinner shark.

Snapchat has a huge problem with Android, and it's causing investors to worry

Snapchat executives faced tough questions from investors in New York on Tuesday. Most of all: why is user growth slowing?

So far, Snap Inc. has been quick to blame the slowdown on shaky Android performance.

Executives at the roadshow in New York on Tuesday said Android phone users had problems accessing the Snapchat app, particularly in the fourth quarter. They said the company hopes to alleviate issues by developing on Apple's iOS platform and on Android simultaneously. 

The company had previously put greater focus on the version of its app for iPhones, the device used by the majority of its users.   

To boost its numbers, Snapchat acknowledges it will need to cater to Android users too.   

Former Hong Kong leader, Donald Tsang sentenced to 20 months in jail for misconduct in public office

Hong Kong's former leader, Donald Tsang has been jailed for 20 months, making him the city's highest-ranking official to be put behind bars.According to broadcaster RTHK, Tsang, who was Chief Executive from 2005 to 2012, was jailed by the High Court for 20 months after he was found guilty by a jury of misconduct in public office.
Justice Andrew Chan told the court the seriousness of the case was due to Tsang's high position and the "breach of trust was an important and significant aspect in his criminality."

The sentencing comes after around 40 high profile Hong Kongers wrote letters in support of Tsang and calling for leniency, including the two front-runners to be the city's next Chief Executive.

Tsang also faces a potential retrial in September, after the jury failed to reach a verdict on a separate charge of bribery.

Trump administration widens net for immigrant deportation

The Trump administration has issued tough guidelines to widen the net for deporting illegal immigrants from the US, and speed up their removal.

Undocumented immigrants arrested for traffic violations or shop-lifting will be targeted along with those convicted of more serious crimes.

The memos do not alter US immigration laws, but take a much tougher approach towards enforcing existing measures.

There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the US.

Five questions ahead of new US travel ban

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday the new guidelines would not usher in mass deportations, but were designed to empower agents to enforce laws already on the books.

"The president wanted to take the shackles off individuals in these agencies," Mr Spicer said.

"The message from this White House and the Department of Homeland Security is that those people who are in this country, who pose a threat to our safety, or who have committed a crime, will be the first to go."

Four major US cities are seeing a surge in homicides — but not for the reasons you might think

Four major US cities are experiencing a surge in homicide rates and have neared or exceeded the numbers from the 1990s, according to a study from The Wall Street Journal.

The publication looked at homicide data stretching back to 1985 and found that murder rates in Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Memphis now look like numbers from the 1990s: an era wrought with gang violence and drug-trafficking.

The current spikes, however, were attributed in part to other factors — like poverty and unemployment, and diminishing police-community relations.

Here are a few facts from The Journal's analysis (emphasis ours):

The Era of Digital Anxiety ( smart phone addiction)

When David Erickson leaves his home in Long Beach, California to spend several days on Panama’s southern coast, he also reluctantly gives up his smartphone.

There’s no wireless internet where he’s going, and the phone’s data capabilities don’t work there, so there’ll be no checking social media or emails. He even has to walk to a certain spot on the property to make or receive calls. “My phone just becomes a clock,” says Erickson, the founder of a digital conference calling company.

#BreakFree 24 hour Party hosted by @SenseiUche

Hey guys, join me at the #BreakFree 24 hour Party happening from 12 noon 23rd to 12 noon 24th February at the Hard Rock Cafe.

 For invites visit www.breakfree.ng and use my unique Code UcheCliq to register and Win fantastic Prizes. 

Your invites Will be sent via your email. Thanks and Share with everyone. @SenseiUche

Russian Instagram queen who risked her life dangling from 1,000ft-high Dubai skyscraper for the perfect shot is dragged before police to vow never to do it again

A Russian Instagram model, who risked her life dangling from a 1,000ft-high Dubair skyscraper for a photoshoot, has been forced to sign a statement vowing to never do it again.
Viki Odintcova, 23, was held up only by the hand of a male assistant as she leaned out into thin air from the 1,004-foot tall Cayan Tower in Dubai in a bid to get the perfect Instagram shot.
The Russian model first tilted backwards over the huge drop, before dangling high above the ground from the arm of her bearded helper.


Her video and photos went viral and was brought to the attention of the local police, who dragged her into custody.
Shocking moment a model poses on the ledge of very tall skyscraper Major General Halil Ibragim Al-Mansuri, of the Dubai Police, told The Sun: 'The actions of the Russian woman put her life at risk.'
Despite the telling off, Ms Odintcova said the police should have thanked her for highlighting safety issues at the Cayan Tower.
The Instagram queen, who has more than three million followers on social media, admitted that she was a bit nervous before the stunt.

Agony of an Oxford Prof in Lagos

ALL the way from Oxford University where he is a Professor of Economics, Paul Collier, bearded like one of my favourite English writers D.H. Lawrence, had flown down to Lagos to give a lecture on how to develop Lagos into a modern city, as part of the annual birthday lecture series of Prof Pat Utomi’s Centre for Values in Leadership held on February 6, 2017. It was a lecture greeted with a standing ovation at the Muson Centre, Lagos. Governor Ambode of Lagos State was there, furiously taking down notes totaling four pages. Among the guests was the Ooni of Ife who came with his sizeable entourage, dressed in white.

At the end of the lecture, the exhausted Prof Collier carrying a heavy bag was mobbed by autograph-seeking youths who had some questions for him. As the English professor was leaving the hall, a rogue whom he mistook for one of the Ooni’s people asked to assist him with carrying the bag. He handed it to him trustingly and like magic, the thief vanished into the thin air in a twinkle of an eye, with everything gone—money, passport, air ticket and most painful of all, a laptop filled with the professor’s writings. “My soul is missing,” a distraught Prof. Collier told me, a day after. I had gone to interview Prof Utomi for a book I am writing on one of the icons of African business when I stumbled on this piece of shaming story about Nigeria. It is really, really shameful and embarrassing to think of how Nigerians have totally lost their sense of dignity. As he sat there moping and waiting for a miracle to happen, Collier initially didn’t want to talk.

60,000-year-old microbes found in Mexican mine: NASA scientist

NASA scientists have discovered living microorganisms trapped inside crystals for as long as 60,000 years in a mine in Mexico.

These strange ancient microbes have apparently evolved so they can survive on a diet of sulfite, manganese and copper oxide, said Penelope Boston of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute in a presentation over the weekend at a conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“This has profound effects on how we try to understand the evolutionary history of microbial life on this planet,” she said.

They were discovered in the Naica mine, a working lead, zinc and silver mine in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua.

The mine is famous for its huge crystals, some as long as 50 feet (15 meters).