2015-01-14 12:46
Abuja - The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on
Tuesday published names of 14 presidential candidates for the February
14 presidential election.
The commission also published the names
of 739 candidates for senatorial elections and 1780 candidates for the
House of Representatives elections.
Read the full list of Senatorial candidates: 2015-SENATORIAL-CANDIDATES-FINAL-LIST.xls-13.01.15
Full list of all the House of Reps candidates: 2015-HOUSE-OF-REPS-CANDIDATES-FINAL-LIST-1 (1) HOUSE OF REPS 2015 FINAL LIST
Full list of all the presidential candidates and their running mates: 2015-PRESIDENTIAL-LIST-FINAL-13 2015 PRESIDENTIAL LIST
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Boko Haram invade Borno town
2015-01-14 12:46
Biu - Suspected members of the dreaded Boko Haram launched an attack on a military checkpoint near the Army Barracks in Biu Local Government Area of Borno state, Premium Times reports.
The insurgents were said to have arrived early Wednesday through the southern part of the town, and moved to take over the army barracks in Biu, the largest town in Southern Borno state.
Also read: More killed as Boko Haram attacks Borno town
The casualty figure is yet unknown but residents said men of the Nigerian Army are presently engaging the insurgents in a fierce battle to prevent the taking over of the town by the insurgents.
An unspecified number of people were killed on Tuesday after suspected members of the Boko Haram group attacked Askira town in the same state.
Read more at Premium Times
Biu - Suspected members of the dreaded Boko Haram launched an attack on a military checkpoint near the Army Barracks in Biu Local Government Area of Borno state, Premium Times reports.
The insurgents were said to have arrived early Wednesday through the southern part of the town, and moved to take over the army barracks in Biu, the largest town in Southern Borno state.
Also read: More killed as Boko Haram attacks Borno town
The casualty figure is yet unknown but residents said men of the Nigerian Army are presently engaging the insurgents in a fierce battle to prevent the taking over of the town by the insurgents.
An unspecified number of people were killed on Tuesday after suspected members of the Boko Haram group attacked Askira town in the same state.
Read more at Premium Times
Terminally ill Eminem fan dies day after rapper's visit
015-01-14 06:59
Rochester Hills - A terminally ill Detroit-area teenager who was surprised by a visit from rapper Eminem has died.
Rainbow Connection Executive Director Mary Grace McCarter said on Tuesday that the parents of 17-year-old Gage Garmo told her that he died on Monday in their Rochester Hills home.
Gage had a wish fulfilled when Detroit native Eminem stopped by Sunday evening.
Also Read: Eminem becomes a Guinness World Record holder
The Detroit Free Press says the pair sat in the family's living room talking about hip-hop and football.
Gage was diagnosed with bone cancer three years ago, when he was a freshman at Rochester High School.
Friends and classmates used social media to spread Gage's wish to meet Eminem, his musical hero, after he learnt last week that he had just days left to live.
Michigan-based charity Rainbow Connection set up the meeting.
Rochester Hills - A terminally ill Detroit-area teenager who was surprised by a visit from rapper Eminem has died.
Rainbow Connection Executive Director Mary Grace McCarter said on Tuesday that the parents of 17-year-old Gage Garmo told her that he died on Monday in their Rochester Hills home.
Gage had a wish fulfilled when Detroit native Eminem stopped by Sunday evening.
Also Read: Eminem becomes a Guinness World Record holder
The Detroit Free Press says the pair sat in the family's living room talking about hip-hop and football.
Gage was diagnosed with bone cancer three years ago, when he was a freshman at Rochester High School.
Friends and classmates used social media to spread Gage's wish to meet Eminem, his musical hero, after he learnt last week that he had just days left to live.
Michigan-based charity Rainbow Connection set up the meeting.
Men more prone to jealousy over sexual infidelity
2015-01-14 10:12
A woman may have the reputation of turning into a green-eyed monster when her man sleeps with someone else, but new research suggests a man gets even more jealous in the same scenario.
Sexual infidelity in America
In a poll of nearly 64,000 Americans, sexual infidelity was most upsetting to men in heterosexual relationships, said study author David Frederick, an assistant professor of psychology at Chapman University in Orange, California.
"Men [in heterosexual couples] are more upset by sexual infidelity than women are," he said. "Women are more likely to be upset by emotional infidelity."
For the study, Frederick defined sexual infidelity as a partner having sex with another person but not being in love with them. He defined emotional infidelity as a partner falling in love with someone else but not having sex with them.
Also Read: Has he suddenly gone off sex?
The men and women in the study, aged 18 to 65, but mostly in their late 30s, answered an online poll in 2007. Participants identified themselves as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. All were given a "what if" scenario. They were told to imagine their partner had strayed sexually or strayed emotionally, and to tell if they would be upset.
Men in the heterosexual relationships really stood out from all the others, Frederick said, as they were the only group to be more upset by sexual infidelity than emotional betrayal.
Frederick said researchers have debated for years whether men and women differ in their reactions to infidelity.
Those who think that heterosexual men are most upset by sexual infidelity, as Frederick found, point to an evolutionary root for that rage.
Differences in men and women
According to that theory, men are more upset by sexual infidelity because they can't be sure a child their partner may later produce is theirs. Women are more upset by emotional infidelity, so the theory goes, because they would fear abandonment and loss of resources if the partner funnels them to the new love. They don't, of course, have to wonder about a child being theirs.
In the study, 54 percent of the heterosexual men were most upset by sexual infidelity, but only 35 percent of the heterosexual women were. Among heterosexual women, 65 percent said they would be most upset by emotional infidelity, compared to 46 percent of the heterosexual men.
Also Read: Court dissolves 35-year-old marriage over sex starvation
For all other groups, Frederick found, only about 30 percent said sexual infidelity would be most upsetting.
Ironically, according to studies cited by Frederick, about 34 percent of men, but only 24 percent of women, have engaged in extramarital sexual activity.
Study limitations
The study, while interesting, has some built-in limitations, said Gregory White, a professor of psychology at National University in San Diego, who has researched jealousy and written a book on the topic.
A better scenario, he said, would have been to have people report on their actual experiences while they were jealous due to infidelity, but he acknowledges that is very expensive and time-consuming. Still, the "what-if" scenario may not actually reflect how they would feel if the event actually happened, White said.
Also Read: Get out of that sex rut
"When you ask people what they think they would do, they are drawing on all their beliefs about themselves and past experiences," he said.
How jealous a person is, White said, can be affected by early experiences. "There is a kind of jealousy one gets when you have been burned, especially in the late teens to early 20s," he said. That can be hard to shake in future relationships, White noted.
It's normal, however, for everyone to feel a twinge of jealousy now and then, especially when they wonder if their relationship is threatened or they're feeling whatever happened to trigger the jealousy is lowering their self-esteem, White said.
A woman may have the reputation of turning into a green-eyed monster when her man sleeps with someone else, but new research suggests a man gets even more jealous in the same scenario.
Sexual infidelity in America
In a poll of nearly 64,000 Americans, sexual infidelity was most upsetting to men in heterosexual relationships, said study author David Frederick, an assistant professor of psychology at Chapman University in Orange, California.
"Men [in heterosexual couples] are more upset by sexual infidelity than women are," he said. "Women are more likely to be upset by emotional infidelity."
For the study, Frederick defined sexual infidelity as a partner having sex with another person but not being in love with them. He defined emotional infidelity as a partner falling in love with someone else but not having sex with them.
Also Read: Has he suddenly gone off sex?
The men and women in the study, aged 18 to 65, but mostly in their late 30s, answered an online poll in 2007. Participants identified themselves as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. All were given a "what if" scenario. They were told to imagine their partner had strayed sexually or strayed emotionally, and to tell if they would be upset.
Men in the heterosexual relationships really stood out from all the others, Frederick said, as they were the only group to be more upset by sexual infidelity than emotional betrayal.
Frederick said researchers have debated for years whether men and women differ in their reactions to infidelity.
Those who think that heterosexual men are most upset by sexual infidelity, as Frederick found, point to an evolutionary root for that rage.
Differences in men and women
According to that theory, men are more upset by sexual infidelity because they can't be sure a child their partner may later produce is theirs. Women are more upset by emotional infidelity, so the theory goes, because they would fear abandonment and loss of resources if the partner funnels them to the new love. They don't, of course, have to wonder about a child being theirs.
In the study, 54 percent of the heterosexual men were most upset by sexual infidelity, but only 35 percent of the heterosexual women were. Among heterosexual women, 65 percent said they would be most upset by emotional infidelity, compared to 46 percent of the heterosexual men.
Also Read: Court dissolves 35-year-old marriage over sex starvation
For all other groups, Frederick found, only about 30 percent said sexual infidelity would be most upsetting.
Ironically, according to studies cited by Frederick, about 34 percent of men, but only 24 percent of women, have engaged in extramarital sexual activity.
Study limitations
The study, while interesting, has some built-in limitations, said Gregory White, a professor of psychology at National University in San Diego, who has researched jealousy and written a book on the topic.
A better scenario, he said, would have been to have people report on their actual experiences while they were jealous due to infidelity, but he acknowledges that is very expensive and time-consuming. Still, the "what-if" scenario may not actually reflect how they would feel if the event actually happened, White said.
Also Read: Get out of that sex rut
"When you ask people what they think they would do, they are drawing on all their beliefs about themselves and past experiences," he said.
How jealous a person is, White said, can be affected by early experiences. "There is a kind of jealousy one gets when you have been burned, especially in the late teens to early 20s," he said. That can be hard to shake in future relationships, White noted.
It's normal, however, for everyone to feel a twinge of jealousy now and then, especially when they wonder if their relationship is threatened or they're feeling whatever happened to trigger the jealousy is lowering their self-esteem, White said.
Ronaldo's son is Messi's biggest fan
2015-01-14 08:03
Cristiano Ronaldo's son, Cristiano Jr, watches videos of Lionel Messi it has emerged, after Cristiano Jr met the Barcelona star at Monday night's Ballon d'Or awards ceremony.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who won his third Ballon d'Or title, was sitting backstage with his family when his fiercest competitor Lionel Messi walked past.
Also Read: Messi's purple patch of confusion
Ronaldo encouraged his son to meet Messi and while the two are chatting, Ronaldo quips to Messi that his son "watched a video of you online" and says "don't be embarrassed now".
It was a touching moment between the two rivals who are always fiercely pitted against each other, it seems like they do like each other after all.
Cristiano Ronaldo's son, Cristiano Jr, watches videos of Lionel Messi it has emerged, after Cristiano Jr met the Barcelona star at Monday night's Ballon d'Or awards ceremony.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who won his third Ballon d'Or title, was sitting backstage with his family when his fiercest competitor Lionel Messi walked past.
Also Read: Messi's purple patch of confusion
Ronaldo encouraged his son to meet Messi and while the two are chatting, Ronaldo quips to Messi that his son "watched a video of you online" and says "don't be embarrassed now".
It was a touching moment between the two rivals who are always fiercely pitted against each other, it seems like they do like each other after all.
France: Terror funding, attack weapons came from abroad
2015-01-14 08:03
Paris - France's prime minister demanded tougher anti-terrorism measures on Tuesday after deadly attacks that some call this country's September 11 — and that may already be leading to a crackdown on liberties in exchange for greater security.
Police told The Associated Press that the weapons used came from abroad, as authorities in several countries searched for possible accomplices and the sources of financing for last week's attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market and police. A new suspect was identified in Bulgaria.
"We must not lower our guard, at any time," Prime Minister Manuel Valls told Parliament, adding that "serious and very high risks remain".
Lawmakers in the often argumentative chamber lined up overwhelmingly behind the government, giving repeated standing ovations to Valls' rousing, indignant address — and then voted 488-1 to extend French airstrikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq.
War against terrorism
"France is at war against terrorism, jihadism, and radical Islamism," Valls declared. "France is not at war against Islam."
He called for increased surveillance of imprisoned radicals and told the interior minister to quickly come up with new security proposals.
French police say as many as six members of the terrorist cell that carried out the Paris attacks may still be at large, including a man seen driving a car registered to the widow of one of the gunmen. The country has deployed 10 000 troops to protect sensitive sites, including Jewish schools and synagogues, mosques and travel hubs.
Several people are being sought in connection with the "substantial" financing of the three gunmen behind the terror campaign, said Christophe Crepin, a French police union official. The gunmen's weapons stockpile came from abroad, and the size of it, plus the military sophistication of the attacks, indicated an organised terror network, he added.
"This cell did not include just those three. We think with all seriousness that they had accomplices, because of the weaponry, the logistics and the costs of it," Crepin said. "These are heavy weapons. When I talk about things like a rocket launcher — it's not like buying a baguette on the corner. It's for targeted acts."
Fundamental freedoms
In a sign that French judicial authorities were using laws against defending terrorism to their fullest extent, a man who had praised the terror attacks while resisting arrest on a drunk driving violation was swiftly sentenced to four years in prison.
While the attacks have left France in jitters, some warned against going as far as a French version of the US Patriot Act passed after September 11.
Also Read: West facing 'payback' for colonialism - China paper
"This must not lead to the renouncing of fundamental freedoms, otherwise we prove right those who come to fight on our soil," former Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on France-Inter radio.
The investigation spread to yet another country: A Bulgarian prosecutor announced that a Frenchman jailed since 1 January had ties to Cherif Kouachi, one of the brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack.
The man, identified by French prosecutors as Joachim Fritz-Joly, was arrested as he tried to cross into Turkey. He was facing two European arrest warrants, one citing his alleged links to a terrorist organisation and a second for allegedly kidnapping his 3-year-old son and smuggling him out of the country, said Darina Slavova, the regional prosecutor for Bulgaria's southern province of Haskovo.
Victims of terror attacks
"He met with Kouachi several times at the end of December," Slavova said. The child was sent back to his mother in France.
At a hearing in Haskovo on Tuesday, authorities decided to keep Fritz-Joly in custody until another hearing to determine whether he will be extradited to France. The Frenchman told the court he had known Cherif Kouachi since childhood.
"A man can have friends and they can do whatever they want, but I am simply going on vacation and have nothing to do with it," he told the court.
Kouachi and his older brother, Said, killed 12 people at the satirical paper's offices on 7 January, while their friend, Amedy Coulibaly, killed a French police officer on Thursday and four hostages on Friday in a Paris kosher grocery. All three claimed ties to Islamic extremists in the Middle East — the Kouachis to al-Qaeda in Yemen and Coulibaly to the Islamic State group.
Also Read: 6 Paris terror suspects may still be at large
All three gunmen died Friday in clashes with French police.
Authorities were searching around Paris for the Mini Cooper registered to Hayat Boumeddiene, Coulibaly's widow, who Turkish officials say is now in Syria. French police also sought the person or persons who filmed and posted a video of Coulibaly explaining how the attacks in Paris would unfold.
Earlier Tuesday, in ceremonies thousands of miles apart, France and Israel paid tribute to the victims of the terror attacks.
Funeral march
At police headquarters in Paris, French President Francois Hollande placed Legion of Honor medals on the flag-draped caskets of the three police officers killed in the attacks.
France will be "merciless in the face of anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim acts, and unrelenting against those who defend and carry out terrorism, notably the jihadists who go to Iraq and Syria", Hollande vowed.
As Chopin's funeral march played and the caskets were led from the building, a procession began in Jerusalem for the four Jewish victims at the kosher store.
Defying the bloodshed and terror of last week, a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad was to appear on Wednesday on the cover of the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo, weeping and holding a placard with the words "I am Charlie."
Criticism and threats immediately appeared on militant websites, with calls for more strikes against the newspaper and anonymous threats from radicals, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based terrorism monitor.
Charlie Hebdo, which lampoons religion indiscriminately, had received threats after depicting Muhammad before.
Paris - France's prime minister demanded tougher anti-terrorism measures on Tuesday after deadly attacks that some call this country's September 11 — and that may already be leading to a crackdown on liberties in exchange for greater security.
Police told The Associated Press that the weapons used came from abroad, as authorities in several countries searched for possible accomplices and the sources of financing for last week's attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market and police. A new suspect was identified in Bulgaria.
"We must not lower our guard, at any time," Prime Minister Manuel Valls told Parliament, adding that "serious and very high risks remain".
Lawmakers in the often argumentative chamber lined up overwhelmingly behind the government, giving repeated standing ovations to Valls' rousing, indignant address — and then voted 488-1 to extend French airstrikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq.
"France is at war against terrorism, jihadism, and radical Islamism," Valls declared. "France is not at war against Islam."
He called for increased surveillance of imprisoned radicals and told the interior minister to quickly come up with new security proposals.
French police say as many as six members of the terrorist cell that carried out the Paris attacks may still be at large, including a man seen driving a car registered to the widow of one of the gunmen. The country has deployed 10 000 troops to protect sensitive sites, including Jewish schools and synagogues, mosques and travel hubs.
Several people are being sought in connection with the "substantial" financing of the three gunmen behind the terror campaign, said Christophe Crepin, a French police union official. The gunmen's weapons stockpile came from abroad, and the size of it, plus the military sophistication of the attacks, indicated an organised terror network, he added.
"This cell did not include just those three. We think with all seriousness that they had accomplices, because of the weaponry, the logistics and the costs of it," Crepin said. "These are heavy weapons. When I talk about things like a rocket launcher — it's not like buying a baguette on the corner. It's for targeted acts."
Fundamental freedoms
In a sign that French judicial authorities were using laws against defending terrorism to their fullest extent, a man who had praised the terror attacks while resisting arrest on a drunk driving violation was swiftly sentenced to four years in prison.
While the attacks have left France in jitters, some warned against going as far as a French version of the US Patriot Act passed after September 11.
Also Read: West facing 'payback' for colonialism - China paper
"This must not lead to the renouncing of fundamental freedoms, otherwise we prove right those who come to fight on our soil," former Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on France-Inter radio.
The investigation spread to yet another country: A Bulgarian prosecutor announced that a Frenchman jailed since 1 January had ties to Cherif Kouachi, one of the brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack.
The man, identified by French prosecutors as Joachim Fritz-Joly, was arrested as he tried to cross into Turkey. He was facing two European arrest warrants, one citing his alleged links to a terrorist organisation and a second for allegedly kidnapping his 3-year-old son and smuggling him out of the country, said Darina Slavova, the regional prosecutor for Bulgaria's southern province of Haskovo.
Victims of terror attacks
"He met with Kouachi several times at the end of December," Slavova said. The child was sent back to his mother in France.
At a hearing in Haskovo on Tuesday, authorities decided to keep Fritz-Joly in custody until another hearing to determine whether he will be extradited to France. The Frenchman told the court he had known Cherif Kouachi since childhood.
"A man can have friends and they can do whatever they want, but I am simply going on vacation and have nothing to do with it," he told the court.
Kouachi and his older brother, Said, killed 12 people at the satirical paper's offices on 7 January, while their friend, Amedy Coulibaly, killed a French police officer on Thursday and four hostages on Friday in a Paris kosher grocery. All three claimed ties to Islamic extremists in the Middle East — the Kouachis to al-Qaeda in Yemen and Coulibaly to the Islamic State group.
Also Read: 6 Paris terror suspects may still be at large
All three gunmen died Friday in clashes with French police.
Authorities were searching around Paris for the Mini Cooper registered to Hayat Boumeddiene, Coulibaly's widow, who Turkish officials say is now in Syria. French police also sought the person or persons who filmed and posted a video of Coulibaly explaining how the attacks in Paris would unfold.
Earlier Tuesday, in ceremonies thousands of miles apart, France and Israel paid tribute to the victims of the terror attacks.
Funeral march
At police headquarters in Paris, French President Francois Hollande placed Legion of Honor medals on the flag-draped caskets of the three police officers killed in the attacks.
France will be "merciless in the face of anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim acts, and unrelenting against those who defend and carry out terrorism, notably the jihadists who go to Iraq and Syria", Hollande vowed.
As Chopin's funeral march played and the caskets were led from the building, a procession began in Jerusalem for the four Jewish victims at the kosher store.
Defying the bloodshed and terror of last week, a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad was to appear on Wednesday on the cover of the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo, weeping and holding a placard with the words "I am Charlie."
Criticism and threats immediately appeared on militant websites, with calls for more strikes against the newspaper and anonymous threats from radicals, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based terrorism monitor.
Charlie Hebdo, which lampoons religion indiscriminately, had received threats after depicting Muhammad before.
Malawi floods kill at least 48, damage crops
2015-01-14 10:12
Malawi - Malawi President Peter Mutharika has declared half the southern African country a disaster zone after torrential rains over the past few days killed at least 48 people and left around 70 000 homeless.
The heavy rains have also damaged crops in the country, which last year harvested a bumper 3.9 million tonnes of the staple maize crop, a surplus of almost a million tonnes.
Malawi's Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services has warned of heavy rainfall and flash floods in the country for the next two to three weeks.
"So far, it is estimated that 69 995 people have been displaced by the floods and 48 people have lost their lives. The floods have also damaged a lot of hectares of crops, washed away livestock and damaged infrastructure such as roads and bridges,"
Mutharika said in a statement late on Tuesday.
He also said many people remained stranded and would need to be rescued from low-lying areas prone to flooding.
"I declare all the 15 districts that have been affected by floods Disaster Areas... I appeal for humanitarian assistance, from the international donor community," he said.
The crop outlook in the country, where much agriculture is still done by subsistence farmers, has deteriorated after a late start to rains in the summer planting season which usually gets underway in October or November.
"Delayed and overall below-average cumulative rains since the start of the rainy season in October last year have adversely affected the 2015 cereal crops, but prolonged heavy rains may worsen the situation," said Jeffrey Luhanga, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Wet weather has also wreaked damage in neighbouring Mozambique, which has been hit periodically by catastrophic floods in the past.
Bridges have collapsed in the country and the newly elected government there has declared a "red alert" for the central and northern parts of the country and was sending rescue boats and aid to stricken areas.
Malawi - Malawi President Peter Mutharika has declared half the southern African country a disaster zone after torrential rains over the past few days killed at least 48 people and left around 70 000 homeless.
The heavy rains have also damaged crops in the country, which last year harvested a bumper 3.9 million tonnes of the staple maize crop, a surplus of almost a million tonnes.
Malawi's Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services has warned of heavy rainfall and flash floods in the country for the next two to three weeks.
"So far, it is estimated that 69 995 people have been displaced by the floods and 48 people have lost their lives. The floods have also damaged a lot of hectares of crops, washed away livestock and damaged infrastructure such as roads and bridges,"
Mutharika said in a statement late on Tuesday.
He also said many people remained stranded and would need to be rescued from low-lying areas prone to flooding.
"I declare all the 15 districts that have been affected by floods Disaster Areas... I appeal for humanitarian assistance, from the international donor community," he said.
The crop outlook in the country, where much agriculture is still done by subsistence farmers, has deteriorated after a late start to rains in the summer planting season which usually gets underway in October or November.
"Delayed and overall below-average cumulative rains since the start of the rainy season in October last year have adversely affected the 2015 cereal crops, but prolonged heavy rains may worsen the situation," said Jeffrey Luhanga, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Wet weather has also wreaked damage in neighbouring Mozambique, which has been hit periodically by catastrophic floods in the past.
Bridges have collapsed in the country and the newly elected government there has declared a "red alert" for the central and northern parts of the country and was sending rescue boats and aid to stricken areas.
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