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Showing posts from May 17, 2015

Iran sends troops to help retake key Iraqi oil refinery from Isis.

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US and allies have staged 22 air strikes against Isis since Friday US says it does not oppose Iranian-backed militias if under control of Baghdad An elderly Iraqi woman who fled the city of Ramadi, which is besieged by Isis militants, is pushed in a wheelbarrow as she waits to cross Bzeibez bridge. Photograph: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images Iran has entered the fight to retake a major Iraqi oil refinery from Islamic State militants, contributing small numbers of troops – some operating artillery and other heavy weapons – in support of advancing Iraqi ground forces, US defence officials said. The US and its allies, meanwhile, have staged 22 air strikes on Isis targets since Friday, including four near Ramadi, the city taken by the militants this week, the US military said on Saturday. Coalition forces also attacked five Isis sites in Syria between Friday and Saturday.

Report: Justice Finds Criminal Wrongdoing In GM Ignition Switch Case.

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The Justice Department has found criminal wrongdoing in General Motors' GM +0.34% actions related to its ignition defects, and is negotiating what is expected to be a record penalty, The New York Times reported Friday. A settlement is expected as soon as this summer, and a fine is expected to be greater than the $1.2 billion paid by Toyota last year in its unintended acceleration defects. The Times quoted people briefed on the inquiry who it did not identify.

Obama: We're not losing against ISIS

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Obama: ISIS strategy isn't failing 02:20 Washington (CNN) Assessing his war on ISIS after the group overtook the key Iraqi city of Ramadi, President Barack Obama said in an interview this week his strategy against the terrorists isn't failing. "I don't think we're losing," Obama said in the Tuesday interview with The Atlantic magazine, which posted online Thursday.

THROWBACK:UNILAG Produced The Youngest Ph.D holder In Africa.

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The youngest PhD in Mathematics on the African continent has emerged in the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on June 11, 2014, Wednesday. * Phenomenal 24-year-old Dr Olaoluwa Hallowed Oluwadara. Photo credit – Hallowed Oluwadara Facebook Ekiti-State-born Olaoluwa Hallowed Oluwadara set a new academic record and bagged the award of UNILAG postgraduate school overall best graduating student. * Oluwadara was able to finish the programme within the three years of stipulated period. Photo credit – osteelztv.com The 24-year-old scholar was shining with smiles, as he got on the podium to collect his award. He said his achievement was not only “a personal triumph but a triumph of Mathematics as a useful subject of study in Nigeria.”

From marriage to murder ... to release?

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Sani Garba holds the picture of his young daughter-in-law Wasila Tasiu. Tasiu was accused of poisoning her 35-year-old husband 17 days after an arranged marriage.Aminu Abubakar / AFP / Getty Images LAGOS, Nigeria — After months of legal motions, stop-and-start court proceedings and behind-the-scenes negotiating, prosecutors in northern Nigeria on Wednesday announced they would move to drop charges against Wasila Tasiu, a child bride who was accused of killing her newlywed husband and three others.

MailOnline writes story about 'human flesh' served in Nigerian restaurant, gets called out for using picture of Hawksmoor steak to illustrate it.

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Hawksmoor founder Will Beckett questioned the legality of the MailOnline using the image It may be difficult to source an image of cooked human flesh for the purpose of illustrating a story, but using a professional picture of a reputable restaurant’s distinctive steak dish is possibly not the best way to do it without complaint.

Prof Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande,The Scientist.

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Born Offa , Kwara State , Nigeria Nationality American Fields Electrical engineering Institutions Massachusetts Institute of Technology Alma mater Obafemi Awolowo University ( B.Eng. , M.Sc. ) Stanford University ( Ph.D ) Prof Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande. Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande [ 1 ] is a Nigerian American engineering [ 2 ] professor at the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology . [ 3 ] Early life and education Akintunde was born in Offa in Kwara State . He attended Government College, Ibadan . He earned his B.Sc. (1978), M.Sc (1981) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife and Ph.D. (1986) in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University , California. [ 1 ] Academic and Research Career Akinwande commenced work as a scientist at Honeywell Inc. Technology Center in Bloomington, Minnesota in 198

EU summit pledges €1.8bn to Ukraine but Russia remains elephant in room.

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European leaders in Riga accused of expecting Eastern Partnership countries to bring in reforms for little in return while Kremlin offers ‘cash with fewer strings’ Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, speaks at a media conference during the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Latvia on Friday. Photograph: Mindaugas Kulbis/AP European leaders pledged Ukraine €1.8bn (£1.3bn) and the vague prospect of visa-free travel at an EU summit in Riga where the Kremlin’s newly assertive policy in eastern Europe was the elephant in the room. While David Cameron was in the Latvian capital to discuss Britain’s demands ahead of a referendum on EU membership , the main topic of the broader summit was the Eastern Partnership, a programme set up in 2009 to bring six post-Soviet countries into Europe’s orbit and prise them away from Russia.

Prof Ayodele Awojobi,The Scientist.

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12 March 1937 Oshodi , Lagos State , Nigeria Mechanical engineer, social activist, author Ayodele Oluwatuminu Awojobi (12 March 1937 – 23 September 1984), also known by the nicknames "Dead Easy", [ 1 ] "The Akoka Giant", and "Macbeth", was a Nigerian academic, author, inventor, social crusader and activist. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] He was considered a scholarly genius by his teachers and peers alike. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] He quickly advanced in his field to become the youngest professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Lagos , Nigeria in 1974.

Prof.Bartholomew Nnaji,The Scientist.

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Barthlomew Nnaji Minister of Power and Steel In office July 2011 – 28 August 2012 President Goodluck Jonathan Federal Minister of Science and Technology In office 1993–1993 Personal details Born 13 July 1956 (age 58) Enugu State , Nigeria Bartholomew Nnaji is a Nigerian scientist , innovator and one of the inventors of the E-Design concept. Biography He was born in Enugu State , and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at St John's University, and then proceeded to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for post-graduate studies. He joined the faculty at University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1983. After a few years, he became the director and a founder of the Automation and Robotics Laboratory at the University. He was made a professor of mechanical and industrial engineering in 1992. As a researcher, he focused on three major topics: Computer Aided Design , Robotics and Computer Aided Engineering . Using th

Apple iOS 9 Leaks Reveal Major Feature And Smart New Look.

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iOS 8 will leave an interesting legacy. It has been one of the most regularly updated , ambitious, mysterious and controversial generations in iOS history. That said Apple AAPL +0.88% appears ready to move on… iOS 9 is coming. In fact we will get our first look at the new OS on 8 June when Apple holds its annual Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC). So it should come as no surprise that the first two key details – a major feature and a new look – have now leaked out courtesy of the ever reliable 9to5Mac.

U.S. threatens peace in South China Sea, Beijing says.

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Source: CNN Story highlights China points finger at Washington for increasing tensions in South China Sea region The U.S. says it plans to continue to assert freedom of navigation rights China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia have claimed all or parts of South China Sea (CNN) The Chinese government is calling U.S. surveillance flights over the South China Sea a threat to peace in the region and warning that they could lead to accidents in the air or at sea. The message was delivered after the U.S. military on Wednesday undertook a reconnaissance flight on which a CNN crew flew . "The recent surveillance activity by a U.S. plane posed potential threats to China's islands and reefs, making it highly possible to lead to misjudgment, which could cause maritime or air accidents," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, according to a report on state-run CNTV.

Apple Leaks New iPhone On Apple Store.

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New iPhone 5C/6C shown with clear Touch ID home button – Image credit Apple Apple AAPL +0.82% , famed as the world’s most secretive technology company, has accidentally posted photos of a new, unknown iPhone straight to its Apple Store website.

THROWBACK-DJ Xclusive won World Best DJ.

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DJ Xclusive Background information Birth name Rotimi Alakija Born United Kingdom Genres House , electro house , hip house , R'n'B , Naija Occupation(s) DJ, Producer, Artist Years active 2003–present Labels Empire Mates Entertainment Website Djxclusiveworld .com Rotimi Alakija (born on the 16th of October), better known as DJ Xclusive , is a British Nigerian disc jockey, record producer and recording artist. Early life Rotimi Alakija was born in the UK to Nigerian parents. At an early age, he moved back to Nigeria to pursue a high school education at King's College, Lagos . Rotimi Alakija moved back to the UK to study Physics and Computer Science at Reading University , where he earned a Bachelor's Degree. He later studied Financial Computing at Brunel University . Career and success DJ Xclusive started his professional disc jockey career in 2003 by performing at various night clubs, inclu

11 Things Ultra-Productive People Do Differently.

When it comes to productivity, we all face the same challenge—there are only 24 hours in a day. Yet some people seem to have twice the time; they have an uncanny ability to get things done. Even when juggling multiple projects, they reach their goals without fail. Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose. —Thomas Edison

How To Master The Digital First Impression.

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First impressions last. It’s more than a saying; recent studies in neurobiology have proven it. But in the Information Age, first impressions are less and less likely to be formed in person. Instead, they are delivered on computer screens via the results of a Google or LinkedIn search. Before ever connecting with you in the real world, people are using the web to get to know you, and they’re making decisions about you based on what they see. Surprisingly, many professionals still treat their online identity as a “nice to have but not an absolute must.” The implications of ignoring your online branding are vast. You could be sending the wrong message, making it hard to build an authentic relationship in the future. You could miss out on opportunities as well. You don’t know who might be researching you, then deciding not to contact you for a job or other opportunity because of their first virtual impression.

iPhone 6S And Galaxy Note 5 Leaks Reveal Shock Early Releases.

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iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Vs Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge In a world of endless next generation leaks, there is one reassuring constant: release dates. For years now Apple AAPL +0.14% and Samsung have released their flagship phones on a precise annual schedule. But is that about to change? Multiple reports this week claim both Apple and Samsung are looking to bring forward the release dates of their next major smartphones. For Apple they are the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus and for Samsung it’s the much anticipated Galaxy Note 5.

Showing How Developer Tools Should Be Done, Twilio Rolls Out New Product And Enhancements.

Twilio is a rocketship of a vendor. The company offers a broad communications platform that third-party application developers can build into their apps. What that means is that say, for example, you’re building the next Uber, and you want to allow your customers and suppliers to communicate via SMS, voice and other means. Rather than trying to build in all of that functionality yourself, you simply “plug in” Twilio, and it takes care of it all for you. For a company like Uber that not only scales incredibly quickly in terms of load, but also in terms of geographical spread, the benefits through using a developer tool are immense.

The Isaac Fadoyebo story.

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Isaac Fadoyebo was forever grateful to those strangers who had risked their lives to save his More than 450,000 Africans served in the British army during the second world war. Among the few who wrote at length of their experience was Isaac Fadoyebo, who has died aged 86.

Four Top Trends To Watch: HR Meets Technology.

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Photo Credit: Cindy via photopin ( license ) Congratulations, class of 2015! Another generation of students are tossing their caps into the air and setting forth into the talent pool. From my home base in Cambridge their elation and optimism is palpable, infectious, and admit it: slightly daunting. They live on their smartphones. Most likely that will turn into smartwatches in the blink of a screen.

The top 10 books about Nigeria.

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Author Barnaby Phillips chooses fiction and non-fiction that shows an often caricatured nation in all its rich variety Complexity and variety … a man walks on a pedestrian bridge overlooking traffic in Lagos. Photograph: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuter N igeria has a terrible image – as a land of email scammers, obscene corruption and religious bigotry and violence – but the stereotypes only tell part of a more complex, and often more attractive, truth. When I was based in Nigeria as a BBC correspondent, I learnt that the country I was covering had all the complexity and variety of an entire continent. From the oil-polluted swamps of the Niger Delta in the south, to the sharia-governed Muslim states in the arid north, Nigeria's regions and many ethnicities often have little in common. Of course this diversity is one of Nigeria's intrinsic problems but it is also what makes it such a stimulating place. Nigeria is a land of rich cultures, stunning

THROWBACK:Calls for Chinua Achebe Nobel prize 'obscene', says Wole Soyinka

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Soyinka, a Nobel laureate himself, also dismisses claims that Achebe was 'father of African literature' Wole Soyinka (left) and Chinua Achebe: 'It has gone beyond "sickening".' Photograph: Graeme Robertson/Craig Ruttle/AP Calls for the late Chinua Achebe to be awarded a posthumous Nobel prize for literature have "gone beyond 'sickening'" and become "obscene and irreverent", Achebe's fellow Nigerian author – and 1986 Nobel laureate – Wole Soyinka has said. In a wide-ranging and passionate interview with SaharaReporters , ahead of Achebe's funeral this week, Soyinka urged Achebe's "cohorts" to cease in their attempts "to confine Chinua's achievement space into a bunker over which hangs an unlit lamp labelled 'Nobel'". As a winner of the prize, Soyinka can nominate future laureates to the Swedish Academy, and said he had been receiving a series of letters b

What's Up With Verizon's Stock? It's A Buy On Telecom Giant's Bold Digital/Mobile Strategy.

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The unexpected decision by Verizon Communications (VZ) to acquire AOL (AOL) grabbed instant attention worldwide, but Wall Street was, well, underwhelmed. Many lauded the deal as a necessary move to shift Verizon’s focus towards a “digital strategy” as a way of acquiring an advertising platform to broaden its reach in mobile services.