Festive goodwill took a backseat to sibling rivalry when Princes William and Harry faced each other in a traditional Christmas football match.

But the brothers ended the game on good terms with a friendly hug – after drawing 2-2.

Soccer-mad Harry – still sporting a full ginger beard – had bragging rights over older sibling William, 31, after scoring a goal in the Christmas Eve match.

His strike, from the edge of the area, made the game 1-1 in the 25th minute, after his brother’s side had taken an early lead.

Despite being president of the Football Association and wearing the claret and blue socks of his beloved Aston Villa, Wills failed to score any goals.

However, both brothers seemed to be having a great time as they exchanged jokes and banter with other players.

The princes play the match – between Castle Rising and the Sandringham estate workers and villagers team – every year near the estate in Norfolk.

Around 100 locals turned out to cheer the teams on.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/harry-william-face-each-other-on-football-pitch/

A notorious criminal described as a “desperate contract killer” has escaped from the hands of his police escorts in India after poisoning the food he offered them according to a Sky News report.

The incident occurred at the busy Old Delhi Railway Station in the capital on Wednesday as Vikram Paras, 27, was being escorted back from a Court appearance.

Paras, allegedly involved in dozens of cases of murder, extortion and robbery, was being brought back to Delhi by train after a court appearance at Bhatinda in neighbouring Punjab state.

Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said: “He is a desperate contract killer. We have launched an investigation based on the information that we have as of now. We are hopeful of nabbing him soon.”

Mr Bhagat said police were still trying to establish exactly what happened, after three of his guards were found unconscious at the railway station while the fourth was found dazed in a nearby street.

Railway police officer Surender Singh said: “They were mostly incoherent when a police team reached them.”

Paras offered food to the four officers at the station, which his accomplices had contaminated with drugs, before stealing their guns and fleeing, according to the Times of India.

The newspaper wrote: “Four of his accomplices were probably trailing him, possibly in police uniform, and were ready at the station with an SUV.

“They would have supplied the sedated food as well.”

The newspaper said this was not the first time that Mr Paras, who had been in custody since his arrest in March, has escaped his police guards.

In 2012, Paras, who gained notoriety as the right-hand man of a now slain criminal gang lord, fled after “luring his escorts into a store on the promise of buying them branded apparel”, the newspaper said.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/notorious-criminal-escapes-in-india-after-poisoning-his-police-escorts/

A United Methodist pastor from central Pennsylvania who officiated his son’s gay wedding in Massachusetts has been defrocked according to Sky News.

The Reverend Frank Schaefer disobeyed calls from church officials to follow the denomination’s Book of Discipline, saying it discriminated against gay people.

Rev Schaefer, who was already serving a suspension, said earlier this week he would not voluntarily surrender his credentials despite church officials calling for his resignation.

Following a short meeting on Thursday, church spokesman John Coleman said officials decided to defrock the reverend.

“When I went into the hearing this morning … I was hopeful it wouldn’t come to what it has come to – my defrockment,” Rev Schaefer said at a news conference.

“I said to myself: ‘I can’t see them taking my credentials. What I did was an act of love.’”

Rev Schaefer said several officials were in tears after the meeting and told him they still supported him but that they had to make the decision to ban him.

“I am upset and I am disappointed, but I am not upset at my colleagues or the church,” he said.

“I’m upset at the exclusionary policies that we have in place, and we must change those policies.

“I will not give up the fight. I am still a minister in my heart, and I will continue to minister and to be a voice for the LGBT community.”

Rev Schaefer initially was handed a 30-day suspension for officiating the 2007 wedding of his gay son in Massachusetts, where same-sex unions are legal.

Although the Methodist church accepts gay and lesbian members, it rejects the practise of homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching”.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/reverend-defrocked-after-conducting-sons-gay-wedding-in-the-us/

Details emerging over the circumstances surrounding the sacking of Andre Villa-Boas by Spurs have confirmed that he lost his job after he told Club chairman he would not include Emmanuel Adebayor in his attacking plan.

According to the Independent, shortly after the 5-0 defeat against Liverpool on Sunday, Andre Villa-Boas had a meeting with the club chairman, Daniel Levy, and technical director, Franco Baldini on Sunday evening.

At the meeting, sources learnt that Villa-Boas was given the suggestion to try a different, more attacking approach as a solution to the goal drought Spurs have suffered since the beginning of the season. They have scored only 15 goals in 16 league games.

Although Adebayor’s name was not mentioned at all by either Daniel Levy or Franco Baldini, Villa-Boas interpreted their advice as a suggestion that he should bring back the Togolese striker and he told his bosses, quite frankly, that there was no way he was including Adebayor in his team.

That was said to be the tipping point for Daniel Levy to take the decision to sack Villa Boas.

Villa-Boas had refused to budge on certain issues and this behavior was perceived as an indication that he was challenging the management to sack him.

The club would probably appoint Tim Sherwood, the team’s club’s technical co-ordinator as the interim coach till the end of the season.

It has been confirmed that Sherwood would be in charge of Wednesday’s Capital One quarter-finals match against West Ham. He would also be in charge against the Premier league game on Sunday against Southampton.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/villa-boas-sacked-after-he-refused-to-play-adebayor/

A Chinese man who had his right hand grafted to his ankle after he lost the hand in an accident at work has had it reattached successfully.

Xiao Wei had an accident in November, which severed his right hand completely and was taken to a hospital in Changsha, Hunan province, where he underwent reattachment surgery.

Doctors at the hospital he was taken to immediately after the accident had initially told him that there were not able to save his limb.

“I was just shocked and frozen to the spot, until colleagues unplugged the machine and retrieved my hand and took me to the hospital. Xiao Wei said.

“I am still young, and I couldn’t imagine life without a right hand.”

Solution was however, offered by doctors at a larger hospital who opted to sew the severed hand to his ankle to stop it from withering while his other injuries were being treated.

Wei’s doctor told Rex Features: “His injury was severe. Besides ripping injuries, his arm was also flattened. We had to clear and treat his injuries before taking on the hand reattachment surgery.”

Few weeks after the accident, Xiao Wei was well enough to undergo reattachment surgery.

Doctors are hopeful he will regain full function of his hand after undergoing several other medical procedures scheduled for the coming weeks.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/severed-hand-saved-by-being-sown-to-ankle/

Incrizz: You're far too kind..

Much appreciated.

Tomoarika:

OP nice one.
Very good if it's read with an unbiased mind

Thank you

I have said it before and will continue to say it, Nigeria’s enemies don’t need to do much to destroy our reputation: we (Nigerians) will do the rest for them.

Must everyone who calls himself/herself a blogger use the free platform provided by Google (Blogger) to propagate insults against Nigeria?

The other day when Ann Coulter insulted Nigeria publicity seeking bloggers were quick to propagate her insults against the country we call ‘ours’.

Now some shameless hacks who have gathered themselves together to publish an online version of a ‘rag’ called radaronline.com have joined the gang of attention seekers who throw cheap shots at Nigeria knowing very well that gossip peddlers like themselves operating within Nigeria’s cyberspace will use blogger to propagate their story.

There are over fifty million Nigerians connected to the Internet; over two million Facebook accounts belonging to Nigerians and well over a million Twitter accounts.

Nairaland.com alone receives millions of hits every single day.

The more Nigerians that share a link from a website on Facebook or retweet the link the higher the website will rank on search engines. I don’t have to explain what happens when a website ranks high on search engines.

This is the trick: “If you want your website to rank high on search engines insult Nigeria or Nigerians and they will help you spread the insult”.

Unfortunately, we fall for the trick always.

Listen: There are facts and there are opinions. All the tragic accidents, terrorist attacks and corrupt practices in Nigeria are facts that should be reported. They are actually happening even if they are negative and giving Nigeria a bad name. Covering them up will not help us deal with them properly.

However, when losers like Ted Cruz, Ann Coulter and online ‘rags’ like radaroline.com make negative comments about Nigeria they are simply expressing their racist, xenophobic and ignorant opinions about Nigeria. IT’S NOT NEWS AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO HELP THEM PROPAGATE IT!!!!!

In their recent publication, radaronline.com could not even get a simple fact right. The online ‘rag’ referred to ‘Nigerian 411 scams’. Not that we are proud of the label but it’s ‘419’ not ‘411’.

Like I said, it’s not as if we are proud of the ‘419’ label but the least an online ‘rag’ could do if they want to insult a country of over a hundred million citizens is get their facts right!

There is no shortage of negative opinions about the US and UK coming from countries like Iran and China but American and British journalists would simply not publish them.

Look, the internet is free for anybody to express their opinions but when a negative opinion about our country is expressed it not our job to help spread it. Journalists and bloggers from civilized countries don’t do that.

It smirks of desperation, desperation to be the first to spread a gossip.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/re-radaronline-comments-about-mariah-careys-performance-in-nigeria/

Incrizz: Nice.

Someone help me with a link to the OBJ full letter?

Here is the Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201312121385.html

I am going to start this write-up by talking about India, the world’s largest democracy. Please bear with me, I’ll get to Nigeria, Obasanjo and Jonathan presently.

I was having a chat with an Indian friend recently and he mentioned, ‘…the far right party in India…’

It immediately dawned on me why India is so successful in its democratic experience.

Let’s consider certain things about that Asian country: India has almost ten times more people than Nigeria and a majority of them are living in abject poverty. Illiteracy level is also very high in India.

Multiplicity of religions? Check. Indians believe in more gods than we have human beings in Nigeria. The Hindus alone have thousands of gods that they worship. Then you have the Sikhs, Buddhists, Hare Krishnas, Christians and Moslems.

Indians are no strangers to sectarian violence either, Pakistan and Bangladesh used to be part of India but Pakistan had to be separated in order to create another state for Moslems. Bangladesh used to be known as East Pakistan.

I could go on about the similarities between India and Nigeria but the one thing that takes the level of discrimination in India higher than whatever obtains in Nigeria is the caste-system in India. It is still a taboo for some Indian families to intermarry till today.

Lastly, there’s also a North-South dichotomy in India. The people from the North of India are more educated, richer and generally fare better than those from the South. They also have fairer complexion than their Southern compatriots and that is a big deal in India. As a matter of fact, the caste system is loosely determined by skin colour in India. The lighter your skin colour, the higher up the caste structure you are supposed be.

With all these socio-political complexities why has there not been a single military intervention in Indian politics since 1947? India has a strong military, by the way. They have nuclear weapons.

The answer is simple, Indian politics is based on ideology and not personalities like it is in Nigeria.

When people talk about Indian politics they talk about the ideologies that the parties represent and not so much about the personalities or characters that make up the parties.

The political spectrum is roughly divided into two broad groups, the right wing and the left wing.
At the extreme right you have the Fascists like the Nazi Party in Germany and at the extreme left you have the Communists like the Communists in the defunct Soviet Union. Let’s not talk about the demerits and merits of the two groups. That’ll be for another write-up.
Most political parties find their ideologies somewhere in between these two extreme groups.

For instance, the Republican Party in the US are to the right of the spectrum: they want decreased immigration, a smaller government, less taxes and fewer restrictions on gun control. They also oppose gay rights and want more restrictions on abortion.

The Democrats support more immigration, a welfare state, gay rights and less restriction on abortion.

The ideology governing the Democrats is bigger than the Obamas and the Clintons of the party.

In the UK, the Conservatives are like the Republicans while Labour Party has a similar ideology with the Democrats in the US.

Worthy of mention in the UK is a party known as the UK Independence Party, Ukip. They are a right wing party as well and their main manifesto is reduction of immigration and UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Ukip does not have a single MP in the British Parliament but they have members in the European Parliament, which is really their focus.

They have been gaining a lot of support recently among people who want the UK to withdraw from the EU because unlike Nigerian politicians Ukip politicians are seen as representing an ideology that the people identify with.

Opinion polls have shown that a lot of people who would traditionally support the conservative party are beginning to support Ukip now – the people who want the UK to withdraw from the EU.

If the conservatives – who are in power now – did nothing about their concerns these people will vote for Ukip at the next general elections, which will leave the Conservatives with fewer votes than the Labour party and they will lose the elections.

In response, David Cameron has made a promise that if the Conservatives win the 2015 elections there will be a referendum in 2017 on whether the UK should remain in the EU or not.

As if that was not enough, a Conservative MP has tabled a bill before the House to make the referendum Law such that even if the Conservatives lose the 2015 election there would still be a referendum on UK’s membership of the EU if the bill became Law.

Without having a single MP in the British Parliament, Ukip is forcing the hand of the government to make a law that will address the ideology that the party stands for.

That is how politics is played in civilized societies where the politicians believe in an ideology and not personal gain.

In Obasanjo’s letter, he was pleading with President Jonathan to save PDP. I really feel Obasanjo’s pain but how can you prevent a house that has no foundation from crumbling?

What identifiable ideology does PDP stand for? Are they to the right or left of the political spectrum?

What exactly binds politicians of any party in Nigeria together apart from greed for power and material wealth? Unsurprisingly, the two things that bind them together are the same ingredients for acrimony and discord.

The reason we are having so many problems in Nigeria today is because politics is about Jonathan, Ameachi, Obasanjo, Tinubu, Buhari just to name a few. It’s not about what the parties believe in as regards the economy, health or social welfare.

We, the electorates, are the only ones who can change that. We can always make a demand on the parties to tell us what they represent or continue to hope that one day a relative will get a political appointment and start giving us contracts. Statistically, the odds of the latter option happening are about one to a million.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/what-was-wrong-with-obasanjos-letter/

Following the legalisation of Marijuana in Uruguay, the UK government has been called upon to do the same thing.

This call was made in an article written by Owen Jones, a regular columnist with the Independent.

According to Jones, “In the five decades since its catastrophic inception, more people are using drugs than ever before, and the illegal market is booming”.

Statistics also reveal that the drug trade is worth over $330 billion annually worldwide – larger than the GDP of every single individual African country with the exception of South Africa.

Governments spend over $100 billion annually on combating drug trafficking with the US government reportedly having spent over a Trillion Dollars on it since the Nixon administration.

The columnist laments the racist dimensions that the fight against drugs has taken while noting that two-thirds of prisoners languishing in US prisons for drug related offences are either blacks or Hispanics when research suggests that Whites are as likely to be taking or selling drugs as much as blacks and Hispanics.

The statistics in the UK are just as grim: In the London, a black person is six times more likely to be stopped and searched on suspicion of drug possession despite the fact that they are less likely to use drugs according to drugs charity, Release. They also discovered that a black person found with cannabis on them is five times more likely to be charged than a white person.

Jones suggests that, “when it comes to problematic drug abuse and addiction, a more constructive approach would be to deal with the causes, not the symptoms”. According to him, drug addiction is more prevalent in poorer communities so the government should concentrate more on providing jobs and alleviating poverty not criminalising non-violent behaviour.

Jones concluded by saying that unless the British government started making moves towards legalising Marijuana “money will continue to be wasted, lives will be ruined, and people will keep dying”.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/uk-government-should-legalise-marijuana-british-columnist-suggests/

It’s amusing to see the same people who jailed Mandela several years ago falling over themselves to eulogise him at his death. This is not only because he showed in his life time that he is made of better material than all of them put together but also because we Africans allowed them to take centre stage.

Africans always allow Europeans and their American cousins to call the shots. It was Europeans who sent Mandela to jail and the same Europeans released him after he was considered more dangerous locked up than free.

They dismantled apartheid when it became an embarrassment to them.

Now they are the ones telling us Mandela’s life story and all the efforts other African countries, especially Nigeria, played to set him free have been carefully deleted from history.

A wise man once said, “history is merely a piece of fiction written by the Victors”.

When Mandela left prison a wiser and more matured man than when he was thrown into jail he confounded his captors who quickly switched gears and became his best friends.

On the other hand, a disappointed Mandela was hoping to find an independent Africa with progressive leadership but what he discovered was that most African countries were actually in a worse state than they were under colonial leadership when he went to jail.

It was only natural for him to become best friends with the same people who jailed him especially after he discovered that the economies of most African countries were still tied to the apron strings of their former colonial masters.

If Nelson Mandela died with any regrets it’s probably the fact that he was the only African leader that Europeans and Americans had any respect for.

Take for instance his memorial service where America’s president was given centre stage to read an eulogy. President Jonathan was at the same memorial service but no major media organisation acknowledged his presence.

Yeah, nobody acknowledged the presence of Goodluck Jonathan, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at Mandela’s memorial.
Nobody remembers that Nigeria spent millions of Dollars to support the African National Congress (ANC) members in exile.

It was Nigeria that led a successful boycott of the 1986 Commonwealth Games in protest against the attitude of the Thatcher led Conservative government to apartheid South Africa.

Nigerian passports were issued to opponents of the apartheid regime so that they could travel around the world and drum support for release of Nelson Mandela and dismantle apartheid when the South African government wouldn’t issue them passports.

For several years, Nigerian Civil Servants were contributing a part of their salaries to support the struggle against apartheid.

What we got paid in return is not appreciation but a complete airbrush from history and it’s not because Mandela and South Africans are ungrateful but because they are too ashamed to associate themselves with our leaders.

Mandela would sooner travel to a country where there is stable power supply and security; make friends with Clinton and Blair, who were held accountable to the people they governed, than hang around those who would treat him like a god while oppressing the people who elected them to office.

Mandela would rather associate himself with a country where a cabinet minister resigned over accusations he insulted Policemen on duty than hang around a President who refused to sack a minister facing legislative probe for spending $1.5 million dollars on bullet proof luxury cars.

Madiba avoided Africa because the state of affairs in so many African countries reminded him of how black South Africans were treated by white South African only worse because it’s now black Africans oppressing other black Africans.

When the tide turned around for Mandela, the organised western world – the same people who jailed him – made a decision to claim his legacy while his African brothers, who paid a price to get him freed, were busy tearing down the good work they built.

The same way he realised that the way forward for South Africa was forgiveness and reconciliation he also realised that the sensible thing to do was to fraternise with the people who jailed him and not the profligate and corruption ridden African leadership.

We pushed “our” Mandela back into the arms of his jailers even after he had been set free from a physical prison because he realised that African leaders may be parading themselves around in luxury cars and private jets but they were still ideologically imprisoned.

Since he didn’t want to go back to any kind of prison he aligned himself with those who put him in jail because they did not only set him free from a physical prison they also had the power to set him free from the ideological prison that other African leaders were still trapped in.

They are now the ones re-writing Mandela’s life story and thanks to our leaders our children will probably never know the role we played in setting him free from jail and South Africa from an evil political system.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/nigeria-airbrushed-out-of-mandelas-life-story/

GeneralJ: sad just sad
I promise you if this man was ibo or yoruba this topic would have at least 2 pages filled up with comments..i tire for nigerians

Walahi General J, no be lie! No one cares because he's Hausa. Yet we wonder why they are racist to us. Its because they know we hate one another. Our hatred for one another makes their agenda against us much simpler.

Anyway, latest news is that he's been deported now, on a private jet!

The picture below is the design for one of the venues to be used at Qatar 2022.

This was what Holly Baxter, a female blogger wrote about the design: ‘Perhaps the bigwigs behind the design (no doubt all male) should embrace this so-called faux pas and rebrand it as a deliberate nod towards the increasingly liberal Qatari policies concerning women in sport,’ she wrote. ‘In a world where sport and vaginas very rarely come together with such prominence (see every UK female footballer’s salary versus every UK male footballer’s salary), this can only be a good thing. And after all, why not have 45,000 people crammed inside a woman’s reproductive system? It’s not like they haven’t been there before.



’ - See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/seriously-does-this-design-look-like-a-vagina-to-you/#sthash.4SpYXqI4.dpuf

NB: She called Obama a "r.e.t.a.r.d" and not "slowpoke" (you can search for it on Google). Thanks to Nairaland mods for editing out inappropriate words but it sometimes kills the essence of a story.

It’s a shame that we Nigerians have decided to repeat the insult Ann Coulter, the American lawyer turned un-official spokesperson for racist Americans, has published about us.

Apart from racist Republican members and Tea Party activists nobody in America takes her seriously anymore. That is why she has decided to turn on
Nigerians because she has been told that we are our own worst enemies.

She knows Nigerians would help broadcast any insult she directs at us and in a way we may have justified her actions.

When this woman called President Obama (an associate college professor before he went to the Senate and eventually became US president) a “retard” nobody in Obama’s camp paid her any attention because they know people like her seek attention by insulting other people.

I will not condescend to Ann Coulter’s level by heaping insults on her but I will give you a list of things she has said in the past that have just been a reflection of her racist, xenophobic views completely devoid of reason. Views, which she wouldn’t have expressed if she had simply taken the time to verify them on Google.

Her anger was initially directed at Hispanic Americans but it appears she’s run out of things to say about them now or has simply decided to move homes after every prejudicial comment she’s made about them turned out to be untrue.

Here is a list of dumb, racist comments she’s made about Hispanics in the past:

She believes immigration reform will mark the “end of America” as the strongest economy in the world. Meanwhile most economists (people who actually think before they talk) agree that immigration reform will boost the overall economy, though labour competition will increase in some sectors.

She once said there were 20 million undocumented immigrants in the US. According to the Pew Hispanic Centre, there were about 11.1 million undocumented immigrants in the country as of 2011. Migration from Mexico, the country where the highest number of undocumented immigrants originate, now stands at zero or less.

She said Latinos are lazy: Records have shown that the Hispanic community is highly entrepreneurial. According to the US Census data cited by Businessweek, they opened twice as many businesses as the national average in the 2000s. It’s also a well known fact that undocumented Hispanics often work gruelling jobs, for longer hours and fewer benefits than native born whites and documented immigrants.

Undocumented immigrants want to live in the US illegally to receive government benefits. This statement is either evidence of dangerously abysmal ignorance or malicious manipulation of the truth. On a scale of 1 – 10, 1 being “very untrue” and 10 being “very true”. That statement is -5 (negative 5). Undocumented immigrants are under no circumstance eligible for government benefits. Even few documented immigrants are eligible for government benefits. Most undocumented immigrants would rather regularise their status than risk being caught applying for benefits.

She believes Hispanics become poorer over time: Research, however, shows that each generation of Latinos tends to do better, economically, than the previous generation. This research was carried out by the Migration Policy Institute in 2011.

She once tweeted that ‘Real’ Hispanics are on welfare. Meanwhile, study released last year by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted that non-Hispanic whites accounted for 64 percent of the population in 2010 and received 69 percent of entitlement benefits. Hispanics, on the other hand, made up 16 percent of the population but received 12 percent of the benefits.

Finally, this woman believes Hispanics automatically vote Democrats. That is laughable considering the number of prominent Hispanic politicians in the Republican Party. Marco Rubio is a well known United States Senator, who is Cuban-American and Republican.

Anyone remember Ted Cruz, the comedian who joked about Nigerian scammers running Obamacare? Okay, he’s a Republican US Senator whose father fled from Cuba. Talk about a house divided against itself.

It will be interesting to watch both of them talk about their beliefs at a Republican Party organised event some day.

I believe news sites or blogs should publish newsworthy events. The fact that Ann Coulter insults a non-white, non-republican voting community is not news. That’s second nature to her. It’s like seeing a headline tomorrow screaming, “Obama Goes To The Oval Office.” That’s not news, it’s what he does every working day.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/why-is-anyone-paying-attention-to-this-woman

God2man: Besides, what are the rich muslim countries doing to help these people?

God2man.

God bless sir, What are they doing with all their petrodollars?

I am writing this editorial to make a point but at the same time I am hoping someone would tell me this, “hey, get your facts right!” and point me in the right direction.

I am referring to the Typhoon disaster in the Philippines and the response (or lack of) from the Nigerian government.

The typhoon has been described as the biggest typhoon ever to hit the earth and death toll has been put at around 10,000 by certain sections of the press although this has been debunked by the Filipino president who put the number closer to 2,500.

Unless I’m missing something but I haven’t heard any response from the Nigerian government, let alone a promise to send relief material, money or any sort of aid for that matter. Like I mentioned above, if I’m wrong I beg to be corrected.

Hours after the Typhoon hit the Islands and while the damage was still being accessed politicians from the United Kingdom and the United States have been expressing their concern and speaking with those at the disaster zone to see what they can do to help.

The United States sent soldiers to help clear debris and distribute relief supplies while the British government announced that Britain would be giving £6 million to the Filipino government in aid. Shortly afterwards, David Cameron, British Prime Minister, announced that a team of British medical specialists have been dispatched to the affected zone to assist with the provision of medical care for the victims.

Why is it always those two countries that rush to disaster zones to aid the victims?

Yet, people wonder why Britain and America go and fight wars in other lands, spy on their citizens and generally want to dictate to them how to live their lives?

No, I’m not saying the relief material have been sent in preparation to dis-stabilise the Filipino government.

The fact of the matter is that US and Britain don’t only see themselves as the Policemen of the world they also see themselves as the only ‘good Samaritans’ and carers-in-chief. Giving so much in aid gives them the moral justification to invade other countries and spy on them.

They see themselves as ‘parents’ or guardians to other countries, punish them when they cross the line and care for them when they are hurting.

They can do this because other countries won’t. I really would like to know if any African country has sent any relief material to the Philippines..., no? They seem not to realise that at any point in time the citizens of any African country could find themselves in the situation that Filipinos are in at the moment. When that happens who are they going to rely on, Britain and America again?

This is the time when Nigeria and other so called emerging markets need to stand up and be counted by sending relief material to the Philippines with no strings attached, solely for humanitarian reasons and not with a view to scoring any political points.

The truth of the matter is that the Filipinos will not forget in a hurry and it will take the ‘burden’ of Britain and America.

A 44-yr-old man, Ben Igbinedion, has been convicted in London of killing his partner’s three-year-old nephew, Daniel Evbuomwan, because the toddler wet the bed they were sharing.

Daniel’s injuries were so severe that they were described as “catasctrophic” and likened to those caused by a car crash.

According to Skynews, the convicted man, Igbinedion, of Bromley, South London, had put Daniel back to sleep in a different bed but family members who tried to wake him up the next morning found him dead.

He was said to have suffered multiple injuries to his ribs and multiple fracture to his pelvis, while Professor Anthony Risdon, who carried out a post-mortem examination described Daniel’s injuries as “among the most severe he had seen”.

Daniel had been living with his grandmother, Rosemary, since earlier this year and was in normal physical health but the court heard that all that changed when he went to stay with Igbinedion and his family in March.

Jurors were further told that Daniel’s grandmother had wanted to go shopping and to church so it was decided that he should go over to his aunty, Sandra Okundaye, a nurse and her partner, Igbinedion, to stay.

Ms Okundaye was away working that night and Igbinedion was left in charge of looking after Daniel and his three children, the trial heard.

It was stated further that Igbinedion made Daniel and his youngest son sleep in his (igbinedion’s) room, while the other two children slept in another room.

One of the children was said to have been woken up by Igbinedion when he was telling Daniel off for wetting his bed in the early hours of March, 2.

According to Igbinedion, he treated Daniel as if he was his own son.

He claimed he had woken Daniel up at 5:30am to use the toilet and returned the boy to the children’s bedroom before turning the light off.

He agreed with the fact that Daniel had been well during the day but he could not explain the cause of his injuries.

Daniel had simply slumped from the bed to the floor after his cousins had made several attempts to wake him up in the morning.

He was taken to University Hospital in Lewisham, south east London, where he was pronounced dead at 11.25am.

Igbinedion denied murder but was convicted at the Old Bailey.

He will be sentenced on November 27.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/man-convicted-of-murdering-3-yr-old-for-bed-wetting

Scandal star, Kerry Washington, is expecting her first child with Nigerian NFL player, Nnamdi Asomugha.

“She’s about four months along,” a pal revealed to Us weekly recently.

Kerry Washington, who also stared alongside Oscar winner, Jamie Foxx, in ‘Django Unchained’, married San Fransico 49ers cornerback, Nnamdi Asomugha earlier this year in June.

The couple are said to have started dating sometime in the summer of 2012.

She was previously engaged to actor David Moscow.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/kerry-washington-expecting-first-child-with-nnamdi-asomugha

It has been confirmed that embattled aviation minister, Stella Oduah, did not sign the Bilateral Air Service Agreement between Nigeria and Israel on Monday.

Sources indicate that this may not be unrelated to the controversy surrounding her involvement in the purchase of two armoured BMWs at the cost of N255m for which she has been under scrutiny for the past couple of weeks.

President Jonathan came under fire from various anti corruption and media organisations over his decision to include the aviation minister in his entourage to Israel at a time many believe she should have been sacked.

The explanation given for her inclusion was that she was accompanying the president to Israel to participate in the signing of a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Israel.

It was, however, reported early on Monday that President Jonathan made a decision shortly after arriving in Israel that Ms Oduah would not be part of the BASA signing ceremony after all.

A top Presidency source on the entourage of the President in Israel told a Punch correspondent on the telephone that the decision to stop Oduah from signing the agreement was taken shortly after Jonathan arrived in Israel.

That same reason, he added, informed the decision of the President’s aides to distance the embattled minister from the President since their arrival in the country.

According to the Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, the BASA agreement was signed by Minister of State for Foreign affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri on behalf of the Nigerian government while Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Mr. Zeer Elkin signed on behalf of the Israeli government.

Dr. Abati also released the photograph of the signing ceremony on Monday and issued a statement confirming that Onwuliri signed on behalf of the federal government.

Abati did not however explain why Oduah was not allowed to sign the agreement despite the fact that the photograph released by her aides showed that she was present at the event.

A former Minister of Aviation, Mr.Femi Fani-Kayode, who shed light on the development, said Jonathan must have prevented her from signing the BASA because of the controversy surrounding the purchase of the cars.

He said, “BASA is supposed to be signed by the aviation minister or she could delegate it to the permanent secretary in the ministry. The agreement has nothing to do with the Foreign Affairs Ministry. I signed quite a few during my tenure.”



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/stella-oduah-edged-out-of-basa-signing

Certain online publications are jumping the gun and possibly risking a defamation suit by saying Chief instigator of the recent US government shutdown and Obamacare No 1 enemy, Ted Cruz, has apologised to Nigerians.

It will be recalled that the Hispanic Senator from Texas remarked that the Affordable Health Care Act commonly referred to as “Obamacare” is being run by Nigerian Internet scammers, thereby insulting Nigerians and Obama in one breath.

The letter referred to in the report was written by a certain David Sawyer, the senator’s South-East Texas Regional Director.

The letter reads inter alia, “Senator Cruz regrets any misunderstanding.”

That is not an apology y’all. (or how do Americans say it?)

There are certain words that should be included in a statement of apology, the phrases, “I am sorry…” or “I apologise for…” come to mind.
What he did was get an aide to write a letter stating that it was only meant as a joke and the aide (not even Cruz himself) expressed regret at what was said.

If he does not think he has to apologise that should be his cup of tea but until he writes a letter, signs it and the letter contains the words, “sorry” and “apologise” that son of a Cuban immigrant who wants to become the next POTUS hasn’t apologised.

The memorial service held in London for the second Centenary anniversary of the abolition of slave trade was overshadowed by the fact that then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, did not apologise on behalf of the British government for their involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.
He also danced around words like ‘regret’ and ‘unfortunate’ but he did not say, ‘sorry’ or ‘apologise’.

April 13, 1919, a certain Brigadier-General Reginald E H Dyer of the British Army ordered his troops to open fire at some Indians gathered for a peaceful demonstration at the Jallianwala Bagh garden in Amritsar, Punjab, killing between 370 to 1000 Indians in what is known today as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Almost a hundred years later, in February 2013, David Cameron became the first British Prime Minister to visit the memorial site built for the victims of the massacre. He laid a wreath at the site and made this statement: “a deeply shameful event in British history, one that Winston Churchill rightly described at that time as monstrous. We must never forget what happened here and we must ensure that the UK stands up for the right of peaceful protests”.

David Cameron’s statement was considered as short of an apology and condemned by many historians.

If that Cuban-Texan chooses not to apologise, as Nigerians we should rise above his myopic view of the world and watch him wreck himself slowly like the “Bongo-Bongo” politician in the UK.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/lets-set-the-records-straight-ted-cruz-has-not-apologised-to-nigerians

The annual tradition of setting the clock back an hour has taken place earlier today, Sunday 27th October 2013.

Throughout the summer months Nigerian time and UK time would be the same but that changes at the last weekend of October – as daylight hours start getting shorter – to make British time an hour behind the time in Nigeria until end of March when the clocks are re-set again to what is known as BST (British Summer Time).

Nigerians who have friends and families in the UK and, surprisingly enough, some Nigerians in the UK should take note that from today, 27th October 2013, till March 2014 Nigeria is an hour ahead of the United Kingdom.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/time-change-in-britain-today/

The official family portrait of the Windsor and Middleton families taken after the Christening of Prince George has been officially released.

In the picture, Her Majesty, the Queen, can be seen sitting down with prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge who is carrying the recently christened Prince George.

Prince George is dressed in a replica of the lace and satin christening gown made for Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria, the Princess Royal, in 1841.

Standing behind them from the left of the picture to the right is HRH Prince Phillips, HRH Prince Charles, Duchess of Cornwall, and HRH Prince Henry (Harry).

Standing next to Harry are Kate’s siblings, Miss Pippa Middleton and Mr. James Middleton who are standing beside their parents, Mrs Carole Middleton and Mr. Michael Middleton.

The picture was taken in the middle room of Clarence House, official residence of Prince Charles, shortly after the Christening.

The duke and duchess chose celebrity portrait photographer Jason Bell to take the official pictures to mark the christening at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.

The world had another opportunity to catch a glimpse of the future King George VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland during his Christening on Wednesday.

George appeared happy and content throughout the day and his father William even joked just before the ceremony began that his son was the “quietest” he had been.

In another picture, below, the Queen appears alone with the little Prince George, his father, HRH Prince William and grandfather, HRH Prince Charles.

It is an historic image as it shows the Queen with three future monarchs – Charles, William and George.

The photograph has similarities with a picture taken in July 1894 during the christening of the future Edward VIII, showing the royal baby with his father, later George V, grandfather, the future Edward VII, and great grandmother, Queen Victoria.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/official-christening-portrait-of-prince-george-released/

Wow! £500million!!! Never knew she was worth that much. Of course its daddy's money but its apparently acknowledged as hers.

The issue bruv, is that every magazine has its own rich list. lol.

Nice one bruv! Again, really grateful for the enlightenment. Really good to have peeps like you on Nairaland

Cheers.

MRbrownJAY: OP
NONSENSE!!!! get your facts RIGHT, this list is about richest "CELEBRITY" under 30 in the UK.........

here is a clue: both daughters of Bernie Ecclestone are richer than them. Tamara, is worth 9 times more than the whole group wealth combined, and Pedra 5 times! no need to dwell on the wealth of prince Harry and the likes.

On Second thoughts, I think the word missing is 'entertainers' actually. I don't think you have any proof that the Ecclestone girls and Prince Harry have more than £60m even then since they are not 'everyday people' they are celebrities. The list published is actually that of the richest people in the entertainment industry not just celebrities.

Anyway, still grateful for pointing attention to it.

MRbrownJAY: OP
NONSENSE!!!! get your facts RIGHT, this list is about richest "CELEBRITY" under 30 in the UK.........

here is a clue: both daughters of Bernie Ecclestone are richer than them. Tamara, is worth 9 times more than the whole group wealth combined, and Pedra 5 times! no need to dwell on the wealth of prince Harry and the likes.

Thanks MRbrownJAY for pointing that out. Didn't realise the word 'celebrity' was missing from the post.

British boy band group, One Direction, has topped the list of the richest people in Britain under 30 with assets worth about £60m (About N1.5billion) .

Alright, we know they are five but on the list they are considered as one entity.

It is particularly interesting that they did not know one another before they all turned up for their respective X-factor auditions and did not win the competition, which a certain Matt Cardle won.

Five individual acts in the ‘boys’ category were asked to come together to form a group that was named ‘One Direction’. Many cynics opined after the show that the name chosen was very apt because the only direction that the band was heading was down. They have proved the cynics wrong.

What is even more interesting is their popularity in Nigeria, where an earlier X-factor discovered group, JLS, which included a member with Nigerian ancestry, Oritshe Williams, is not known.

One Direction achieved international success almost overnight a couple of years ago, and have been likened to The Beatles in terms of the global impact they have had on the industry and their millions of adoring fans. They made history as the first ever UK group to debut at No.1 on the US Billboard chart with their album Up All Night.

The recently released richest list also include popular names like Kiera Knightley (Atonement, Bend it like Beckham) Daniel Radcliffe who played Harry Potter in the 7-part film franchise and Rupert Gingrich and Emma Watson, two of Radcliffe’s co-actors in the film franchise.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/one-direction-top-britains-rich-list/

CNN has just released a new video clip showing moments just before terrorists seized control of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi Kenya and shoppers scrambling to safety during the attack.

In the video, the attackers could be seen strolling around casually, firing at defenseless shoppers while speaking on their mobile phones.

In the video, one of the attackers could be seen praying while the others were on the lookout.

CNN warns that the video is graphic, chilling and certainly not suitable for children.

Viewer’s discretion is strongly advised:

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/cnn-releases-new-westgate-video/

The United Senate have announced that a deal has been reached among Senators to re-open the US government that was shut down 16 days ago and increase the debt ceiling.

The US government was forced to shut down sixteen days ago when the congress could not agree to pass the budget as the Republican members of the House of Representatives wanted amendments to ‘Obamacare’, which had already been passed into Law, but the Democrats in the House and the White House would not yield.

In the absence of a fully functional government the US Congress would be unable to reach an agreement to raise the US debt ceiling before Thursday 17 October 2013 when the US would have to meet its obligations to her creditors.

In theory, if the US debt ceiling is not raised by midnight 16th October 2013, the US economy could go into an unprecedented default, which many experts believe could have a devastating ripple effect on the rest of the world that would make the 2008 banking crisis look minor.

All eyes have been on the US for the past couple of weeks to see who would be the first to blink, the Republicans or the Democrats.

Members of the Senate have early Wednesday morning been working hard to iron out a deal.

Senator Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader and his Republican counterpart Senator Mitch Mcconnell, the Senate Minority leader, have announced on Wednesday that the Senate have reached a deal that would fund the government till January 15 2014 and raise the debt ceiling till February 17 2014.

The deal has been said to be only a suspension of the problem and not a permanent solution.

Read more at: http://www.urnaija.com/us-senate-reach-deal-to-open-govt-and-raise-debt-ceiling/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7cQ3b0iqLo&feature=youtu.be


See more at:http://www.urnaija.com/eminems-says-hes-rap-god/