Cape Town - Chelsea are monitoring the situation developing at Barcelona
as the relationship between Argentine star forward Lionel Messi and
coach Luis Enrique continues to deteriorate.
AS report that 2015 will be the year Chelsea make their move for Lionel Messi.
The
Spanish newspaper report that Lionel Messi is unhappy with the way
coach Luis Enrique runs the dressing room at the Catalan giants and this
could lead to Chelsea reviving their interest.
Messi is reportedly grown "irritated by the excessive authoritarianism of the coach".
The situation between the coach and the club's star player is on tenterhooks.
El Mundo Deportivo has revealed
that the club's first training session of 2015 was marred by a war of
words between the two when Enrique failed to award a free-kick to Messi
during a 5-a-side game.
Barcelona have slipped into Real Madrid's
shadow this season with a number of defeats including a 1-0 loss to
David Moyes' Real Sociedad on Sunday evening.
Sport24
News, Events, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty, Inspiration and yes... Gossip! *Wink*
Monday, 5 January 2015
Indonesia cracks down on officials after AirAsia crash
2015-01-05 14:15
Pangkalanbun - Indonesia’s transportation ministry on Monday
revealed plans to implement stringent measures against everyone who
allowed AirAsia Flight 8501 to take off without proper permits -
including the suspension of the airport's operator and officials in the
control tower.
The licenses and schedules of all airlines flying in the country also will be examined to see if they are violating the rules, said Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation.
The crackdown comes as searchers continue to fight bad weather while combing the Java Sea for bodies and wreckage of the Airbus A320 that crashed on 28 December, killing all 162 passengers and crew on board.
The plane was travelling between Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and Singapore on a Sunday. Officials have since said its permit for the popular route was only for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and that AirAsia quietly switched three of those days.
Officials in Singapore, however, have said the plane was authorized to fly on Sundays from its end.
Banned flights
While the airline is being investigated, Indonesia announced on Saturday that it banned all AirAsia flights between Surabaya and Singapore.
Murjatmodjo said the ministry also issued a directive 31 December ordering all airlines to provide pilots with up-to-date weather reports before they take off. Currently, it's up to the captain and co-pilot to research and evaluate flying conditions before departing. In other countries, the carrier's flight operations department performs that task for them.
Dozens of airlines emerged after Indonesia deregulated its aviation industry in the 1990s, making air travel affordable for the first time for many in the world's fourth most populous nation.
But a string of accidents in recent years has raised urgent questions about the safety of Indonesia's booming airline sector, with experts saying poor maintenance, rule-bending, and a shortage of trained professionals are partly to blame.
AirAsia, which began operations in 2001 and quickly became one of the region's leaders in low-cost air travel, has not experienced any other crashes and is widely considered a benchmark for safety and professionalism.
Cause not yet known
The cause of Flight 8501’s crash into the Java Sea 42 minutes after taking off is not yet known. Just before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control that he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.
While it remains unclear what caused the disaster, bad weather appears to have been a factor, according to a report by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.
Since the plane's disappearance, a massive international hunt has been underway. So far, 37 bodies have been recovered, including three more on Monday, and sonar has identified five large pieces of what's believed to be the plane on the ocean floor. Divers have tried to get a visual on the objects, but strong currents, silt and mud have kept them from reaching it.
As bodies have been flown back to Surabaya, one by one, many victims' family members have struggled to deal with the slow process and fears that their loved ones may never be found.
On Monday, the relatives were offered a chance to visit the site where the plane crashed into the sea, to scatter flowers and say good-bye.
"I will facilitate the families of the victims who want to see the scene directly and how rescuers are battling high waves and bad weather to search for their loved ones and the plane," said General Moeldoko, Indonesia's top military commander.
"We'll prepare two aircraft and a warship for them to go there and throw flowers." AP
The licenses and schedules of all airlines flying in the country also will be examined to see if they are violating the rules, said Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation.
The crackdown comes as searchers continue to fight bad weather while combing the Java Sea for bodies and wreckage of the Airbus A320 that crashed on 28 December, killing all 162 passengers and crew on board.
The plane was travelling between Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and Singapore on a Sunday. Officials have since said its permit for the popular route was only for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and that AirAsia quietly switched three of those days.
Officials in Singapore, however, have said the plane was authorized to fly on Sundays from its end.
Banned flights
While the airline is being investigated, Indonesia announced on Saturday that it banned all AirAsia flights between Surabaya and Singapore.
Murjatmodjo said the ministry also issued a directive 31 December ordering all airlines to provide pilots with up-to-date weather reports before they take off. Currently, it's up to the captain and co-pilot to research and evaluate flying conditions before departing. In other countries, the carrier's flight operations department performs that task for them.
Dozens of airlines emerged after Indonesia deregulated its aviation industry in the 1990s, making air travel affordable for the first time for many in the world's fourth most populous nation.
But a string of accidents in recent years has raised urgent questions about the safety of Indonesia's booming airline sector, with experts saying poor maintenance, rule-bending, and a shortage of trained professionals are partly to blame.
AirAsia, which began operations in 2001 and quickly became one of the region's leaders in low-cost air travel, has not experienced any other crashes and is widely considered a benchmark for safety and professionalism.
Cause not yet known
The cause of Flight 8501’s crash into the Java Sea 42 minutes after taking off is not yet known. Just before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control that he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.
While it remains unclear what caused the disaster, bad weather appears to have been a factor, according to a report by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.
Since the plane's disappearance, a massive international hunt has been underway. So far, 37 bodies have been recovered, including three more on Monday, and sonar has identified five large pieces of what's believed to be the plane on the ocean floor. Divers have tried to get a visual on the objects, but strong currents, silt and mud have kept them from reaching it.
As bodies have been flown back to Surabaya, one by one, many victims' family members have struggled to deal with the slow process and fears that their loved ones may never be found.
On Monday, the relatives were offered a chance to visit the site where the plane crashed into the sea, to scatter flowers and say good-bye.
"I will facilitate the families of the victims who want to see the scene directly and how rescuers are battling high waves and bad weather to search for their loved ones and the plane," said General Moeldoko, Indonesia's top military commander.
"We'll prepare two aircraft and a warship for them to go there and throw flowers." AP
Saturday, 3 January 2015
France wants action on Libya
2015-01-03 11:17
Niamey - French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on
Friday world powers must tackle instability in Libya but he stopped
short of openly backing the military intervention called for by regional
powers in the Sahel.
Speaking shortly after meeting Le Drian in Niamey, Niger's president, Mahamadou Issoufou, reiterated calls for an international military intervention in Libya, a position supported by several other African leaders concerned about the impact of the country's lawlessness on the region.
The leaders of Mali and Senegal have called for action by the West in Libya to end to chaos they say stems from the 2011 intervention that helped oust Libya's longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.
'Libya is chaos'
While two rival governments compete for legitimacy in Tripoli, Libya's desert south has become a stronghold for armed groups, some with links to al Qaeda.
"Libya is chaos today and it is a breeding ground for terrorists that threaten the stability of Niger and, further afield, France," Le Drian said in Niamey.
"We think that the moment has come to ensure that the international community tackles the Libyan problem. I think this is also what President Issoufou believes," he said.
Le Drian had on Thursday visited a French military base at Madama, a remote fortress town at a crossroads of desert trade routes in northern Niger, near Libya's border.
Underscoring the scale of the task faced by French troops, the base is some 10 days' drive from Niger's capital and is battered by winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour.
'Political mess'
Le Drian said the location of the Madama deployment of some 200 men was key as it would allow troops to intervene in Niger quickly and efficiently, highlighting how France's intervention against Islamists in Mali in 2013 has mutated into a broader, regional mission to hunt down Islamists across the Sahel.
However, France has so far ruled out a direct military action in Libya and Le Drian said nothing to change that position during a trip to visit some of the 3 200 troops in the region this week.
Issoufou said the Sahel was "paying the price" for the political mess left behind after NATO military action helped remove Gaddafi and direct Western action was needed to fix the situation.
"I don't see how armed terrorist militias are going to bring about reconciliation in Libya," he said.
Reuters
Speaking shortly after meeting Le Drian in Niamey, Niger's president, Mahamadou Issoufou, reiterated calls for an international military intervention in Libya, a position supported by several other African leaders concerned about the impact of the country's lawlessness on the region.
The leaders of Mali and Senegal have called for action by the West in Libya to end to chaos they say stems from the 2011 intervention that helped oust Libya's longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.
'Libya is chaos'
While two rival governments compete for legitimacy in Tripoli, Libya's desert south has become a stronghold for armed groups, some with links to al Qaeda.
"Libya is chaos today and it is a breeding ground for terrorists that threaten the stability of Niger and, further afield, France," Le Drian said in Niamey.
"We think that the moment has come to ensure that the international community tackles the Libyan problem. I think this is also what President Issoufou believes," he said.
Le Drian had on Thursday visited a French military base at Madama, a remote fortress town at a crossroads of desert trade routes in northern Niger, near Libya's border.
Underscoring the scale of the task faced by French troops, the base is some 10 days' drive from Niger's capital and is battered by winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour.
'Political mess'
Le Drian said the location of the Madama deployment of some 200 men was key as it would allow troops to intervene in Niger quickly and efficiently, highlighting how France's intervention against Islamists in Mali in 2013 has mutated into a broader, regional mission to hunt down Islamists across the Sahel.
However, France has so far ruled out a direct military action in Libya and Le Drian said nothing to change that position during a trip to visit some of the 3 200 troops in the region this week.
Issoufou said the Sahel was "paying the price" for the political mess left behind after NATO military action helped remove Gaddafi and direct Western action was needed to fix the situation.
"I don't see how armed terrorist militias are going to bring about reconciliation in Libya," he said.
Reuters
Libyan on trial for US embassy bombings dies
Cairo - The wife of a Libyan accused of being an al-Qaeda member
involved in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa says he has
died of complications from liver surgery.
Um Abdullah, the wife of Abu Anas al-Libi, told The Associated Press on Saturday she learned of her husband's death from the Libyan Embassy in Washington.
Al-Libi, also known as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, was indicted more than a decade ago in US federal court of being involved in the twin 1998 bombings at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.
US forces in 2013 captured al-Libi in Libya and brought him to America for trial.
His wife on Saturday accused the American government of "kidnapping, mistreating and killing an innocent man".
AP
Um Abdullah, the wife of Abu Anas al-Libi, told The Associated Press on Saturday she learned of her husband's death from the Libyan Embassy in Washington.
Al-Libi, also known as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, was indicted more than a decade ago in US federal court of being involved in the twin 1998 bombings at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.
US forces in 2013 captured al-Libi in Libya and brought him to America for trial.
His wife on Saturday accused the American government of "kidnapping, mistreating and killing an innocent man".
AP
'Boko Haram' seizes 40 boys, men in northern Nigeria
2015-01-03 14:05
Kano - Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have kidnapped 40 boys and
young men in a remote village in northeast Nigerian Borno state on New
Year's Eve, residents who fled the isolated settlement said on Saturday.
Scores of Boko Haram militants stormed the Malari village and whisked away the males, aged between 10 and 23, into the nearby Sambisa forest, believed to be one of the Islamists' major bases.
The news of the abductions came out only days later, when residents who fled the village arrived in the state capital Maiduguri late on Friday.
"They came in pick-up trucks armed with guns and gathered all the men in the village outside the home of the village chief where they preached to us before singling out 40 of our boys and taking them away," Bulama Muhammad told AFP
Malari village lies 20km from the Sambisa forest and close to the town of Gwoza, which the militants captured last June declaring it part of their caliphate.
200 schoolgirls
"My two sons and three nephews were among those taken away by the Boko Haram gunmen and we believe they are going to use them as conscripts," Muhammad said.
"When we heard of the kidnap of 40 boys in Malari by Boko Haram we decided to leave because we could be the next target," said Alaramma Babagoni, who fled from the nearby village of Mulgwi.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from the military in Maiduguri.
Boko Haram is still holding in captivity more than 200 schoolgirls it abducted from their school in Chibok in Borno state last April.
The Islamists are believed to control large swathes of territory in Borno as well as several towns and villages in two other northeastern states, Adamawa and Yobe.
Boko Haram's five-year uprising in Nigeria has claimed more than 13 000 lives and has seen dozens of people, including women and children, kidnapped by the Islamists.
AFP
Scores of Boko Haram militants stormed the Malari village and whisked away the males, aged between 10 and 23, into the nearby Sambisa forest, believed to be one of the Islamists' major bases.
The news of the abductions came out only days later, when residents who fled the village arrived in the state capital Maiduguri late on Friday.
"They came in pick-up trucks armed with guns and gathered all the men in the village outside the home of the village chief where they preached to us before singling out 40 of our boys and taking them away," Bulama Muhammad told AFP
Malari village lies 20km from the Sambisa forest and close to the town of Gwoza, which the militants captured last June declaring it part of their caliphate.
200 schoolgirls
"My two sons and three nephews were among those taken away by the Boko Haram gunmen and we believe they are going to use them as conscripts," Muhammad said.
"When we heard of the kidnap of 40 boys in Malari by Boko Haram we decided to leave because we could be the next target," said Alaramma Babagoni, who fled from the nearby village of Mulgwi.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from the military in Maiduguri.
Boko Haram is still holding in captivity more than 200 schoolgirls it abducted from their school in Chibok in Borno state last April.
The Islamists are believed to control large swathes of territory in Borno as well as several towns and villages in two other northeastern states, Adamawa and Yobe.
Boko Haram's five-year uprising in Nigeria has claimed more than 13 000 lives and has seen dozens of people, including women and children, kidnapped by the Islamists.
AFP
'Boko Haram' seizes 40 boys, men in northern Nigeria
2015-01-03 14:05
Kano - Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have kidnapped 40 boys and
young men in a remote village in northeast Nigerian Borno state on New
Year's Eve, residents who fled the isolated settlement said on Saturday.
Scores of Boko Haram militants stormed the Malari village and whisked away the males, aged between 10 and 23, into the nearby Sambisa forest, believed to be one of the Islamists' major bases.
The news of the abductions came out only days later, when residents who fled the village arrived in the state capital Maiduguri late on Friday.
"They came in pick-up trucks armed with guns and gathered all the men in the village outside the home of the village chief where they preached to us before singling out 40 of our boys and taking them away," Bulama Muhammad told AFP
Malari village lies 20km from the Sambisa forest and close to the town of Gwoza, which the militants captured last June declaring it part of their caliphate.
200 schoolgirls
"My two sons and three nephews were among those taken away by the Boko Haram gunmen and we believe they are going to use them as conscripts," Muhammad said.
"When we heard of the kidnap of 40 boys in Malari by Boko Haram we decided to leave because we could be the next target," said Alaramma Babagoni, who fled from the nearby village of Mulgwi.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from the military in Maiduguri.
Boko Haram is still holding in captivity more than 200 schoolgirls it abducted from their school in Chibok in Borno state last April.
The Islamists are believed to control large swathes of territory in Borno as well as several towns and villages in two other northeastern states, Adamawa and Yobe.
Boko Haram's five-year uprising in Nigeria has claimed more than 13 000 lives and has seen dozens of people, including women and children, kidnapped by the Islamists.
AFP
Scores of Boko Haram militants stormed the Malari village and whisked away the males, aged between 10 and 23, into the nearby Sambisa forest, believed to be one of the Islamists' major bases.
The news of the abductions came out only days later, when residents who fled the village arrived in the state capital Maiduguri late on Friday.
"They came in pick-up trucks armed with guns and gathered all the men in the village outside the home of the village chief where they preached to us before singling out 40 of our boys and taking them away," Bulama Muhammad told AFP
Malari village lies 20km from the Sambisa forest and close to the town of Gwoza, which the militants captured last June declaring it part of their caliphate.
200 schoolgirls
"My two sons and three nephews were among those taken away by the Boko Haram gunmen and we believe they are going to use them as conscripts," Muhammad said.
"When we heard of the kidnap of 40 boys in Malari by Boko Haram we decided to leave because we could be the next target," said Alaramma Babagoni, who fled from the nearby village of Mulgwi.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from the military in Maiduguri.
Boko Haram is still holding in captivity more than 200 schoolgirls it abducted from their school in Chibok in Borno state last April.
The Islamists are believed to control large swathes of territory in Borno as well as several towns and villages in two other northeastern states, Adamawa and Yobe.
Boko Haram's five-year uprising in Nigeria has claimed more than 13 000 lives and has seen dozens of people, including women and children, kidnapped by the Islamists.
AFP
GENESIS AS HISTORY AND SCIENCE
Lately,
as I contemplated on the book of Genesis, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to
behold wonderful things out of it, and I am delighted to make my findings
available for Historians, Scientists, Linguists and Theologians. I am excited because my findings effectively
debunks the idea that Genesis is myth and not fact.
GENESIS AS HISTORY
Two
criteria for ascertaining what is history and what is not, are oral tradition
and written record. For the uninitiated,
oral tradition describes information that is handed down from generation to
generation, by word of mouth. Because
the tendency for oral tradition to be added to, or subtracted from, is there,
there is need to keep a written record of the tradition. Intellectuals will be surprised by my view
that Genesis has both!
An
obvious instance of oral tradition is the statement of Lamech: “And Lamech
lived a hundred eighty and two years and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, this
same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the
ground which the Lord hath cursed (Genesis 5:28-29). The Holy Spirit prompted this oral tradition
to the be recorded, as I shall demonstrate in the cause of this article, that
at that early period of human history, tradition could be relied upon,
considering the fact that the life span of humans was much longer then than
today. Adam and Methuselah for example
lived for over nine hundred years. Human
longevity on the one hand guaranteed stability to the tradition on the one
hand, and on the other, suggests that the human memory was sharper and
thoroughly dependable than it is today.
I will leave this aspect of the scripture for now, because it appears as
if I am theorizing.
GENESIS AS SCIENCE
Let
me say that Genesis is more scientific than secular science! The scientific method supposedly depends on
observation and experiment. My point is
that the reliability of the Genesis account of origins can be observed by
everyone who has eyes to see today.
First,
God’s creation of the world in six days and resting on the seventh day: “Thus the heavens and the earth were
finished, and all the host of them. And
on the seventh day, God ended His work which he had made” (Genesis 2:1-2). Nobody will doubt that the weekly circle is
made up of seven days. Furthermore,
chapter one repeatedly states: “And the
evening and the morning were the first day… And the evening and the morning
were the second day… And the evening and the morning were the third day… And
the evening and the morning were the fourth day… And the evening and the
morning were the fifth day… And the evening and the morning were the sixth day”
(Genesis 1:5-31). Everyone observes this
circle of evening and morning, which confirms that the Historian has in mind a
twenty-four hour day!
Second,
we observe the continuity of the punishment pronounced by God on Adam and Eve,
for eating the forbidden fruit: “In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return”
(Genesis 3:19). Every
cemetery in the world demonstrates that this is true.
Third,
note the statement which the Lord made after Noah and his sons came out of the Ark: “While the earth remaineth, seed time and
harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not
cease”. Can any one deny that this is so
today? (Genesis 8:22).
Fourth,
observe the confusion of human languages at Babel: “And the Lord said, behold, the people is
one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing
will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound
their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis
11:6-7). The diversity of human language
is a phenomenon we observe on a daily basis.
Moreover, linguists have discovered the existence of language families,
such as the Indo-European languages.
Furthermore, Genesis informs us how humans came to acquire the power of
speech: “So God created man in His own
image, in the image of God created he Him; male and female created he them”
(Genesis 1:27). This image
of God in humans explains the fact that humans are creative, and are able to
communicate with one another through speech, both spoken and written. Specifically, God gave Adam opportunity to
utilize his language skills, as recorded in Chapter three: “And out of the ground the Lord God formed
every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam
to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living
creature, that was the name thereof” (Genesis 2:19). Again, linguists have found that only humans
could use language, a fact that the Genesis account already informs us about.
CREATION OR EVOLUTION?
Fifth,
we are faced with the question: Were we
created, or did we evolve? The Genesis record
is not silent on this issue. First, it
makes an assertion: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Second, the Genealogy recorded in Genesis
demonstrates that this is what happens: “And Seth lived a hundred and five
years, and begat Enos… And E’nos lived ninety years and begat Cainan: And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight
hundred and fifteen years and begat sons and daughters:… And Cainan lived seventy
years, and begat Mahalaleel:…” (Genesis 5:6, 9, 10, 12). That we were created is proven by the fact
that, since recorded history, everyone who have lived on earth, had come
through procreation. So it is
unnecessary to consider whether we evolved or not, for everyone alive today has
a birthday! We can see that the real
myth is evolution, which nobody knows when it occurred. And if you ask me, I think it took place in
the head of evolutionists!
A WRITTEN RECORD
At
the outset, I stated that we find the two sources of history in Genesis,
namely, oral tradition and written record.
The writer of Genesis – Moses to be specific – made use of a written
record left behind by the most reliable human Adam himself!: “This is the book of the generations of
Adam. In the day that God created man,
in the likeness of God made he him;…” (Genesis 5:1). Hence, there is no prehistoric man for, Adam
was the first man of letters!
MOSES AS AUTHOR
Moses’
authorship of Genesis should not be doubted, for Stephen gives an interesting
piece of information about him: “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). The word ‘wisdom’ refers to philosophy, a
term which formerly define all branches of learning. It is a fact that philosophy originated in Egypt, but the Greeks took it,
refined it and passed it unto Western thought.
He was a scholar and mastered the Egyptian script called
Hyrografic. I present this finding for
consideration by all scholarly minded people.
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
Does
the universe operate by unalterable laws?
‘Secular’ scientists maintain that the universe operates by fixed laws
and they intend by this assertion that it did not emerge by a special act of
creation. Paul writes concerning these atheistic
scientists, that ‘they did not like to retain God in their knowledge’ (Romans
1). Admittedly, the universe is governed
by laws, but not laws based on blind chance!
For if these laws were products of chance, we should see the sun, moon, and
stars all shining perpetually at the same time!
The seas should overflow their banks, and there should be summer,
winter, day and night at the same time!
Again,
the laws by which the Universe runs, is revealed in Genesis: “And God said,
‘let there be light, and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). “While the earth remains, seedtime and
harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease”
(Genesis 8:22). There is no scientific
document outside the Bible that states these laws, and once more we see how
scientifically accurate the Bible is.
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