Actress Reese Witherspoon is recovering after being hit by a car while out jogging.The 35-year-old Oscar winner was rushed to hospital after being struck in the upmarket Santa Monica area of Los Angeles.

Officers were called to a pedestrian crossing and discovered Witherspoon injured at the scene.It is understood the star is now recovering at home. The 84-year-old driver of the vehicle was interviewed and released after being reprimanded for failing to stop at a pedestrian crossing. Police said that the car was travelling at about 20mph

-Sky News

Naira Suffers 11-week Low over High Dollar Demand
The Nigerian currency, Naira suffered an 11-week low against the U.S dollar on the interbank market on Wednesday, following strong demand from banks buying the greenback for their foreign exchange change outlets.

The local currency closed at 156.15 to the dollar, its weakest since June 25, compared with 155.75 to the dollar at the close of trading on Tuesday, according to Reuters report. Traders said strong demand for dollars from lenders to re-sell to their exchange bureau outlets coupled with the depreciation of the naira at the central bank's bi-weekly auction put pressure on the local currency. At the official window, the central bank sold $400 million at 153.16 to the dollar, short of the $436 million demanded by end-users. The regulator sold $400 million at 152.81 to a dollar at the auction on Monday.

Traders said three oil companies, French Total, Agip and NPDC sold a total of $44.5 million to some lenders on Wednesday, but high demand reduced the impact of the inflows on the market. "We are expecting NNPC (state-owned energy company) and few others to sell dollars before Friday. This could provide some relief to the market and help support the naira, otherwise the naira will continue to depreciate," one dealer said. Dealers also said the naira could face pressure if the central bank continued to cut its price at official window.

"The central bank is the biggest supplier of forex to the market, so if it continues to allow the depreciation of the naira at its window, then the interbank market will take a cue from that," one dealer said

700lb Californian woman, the world's fattest woman - 'I blame it on my genes'
After reaching 700 pounds, Pauline Potter has officially entered the record books as the world's heaviest woman.

But the 47-year-old from Sacramento, California, now says she wants to lose weight so she can enjoy every day life again. Mrs Potter had boasted that men think she is a 'sex goddess' and she has 'fantastic sex every day', but she now struggles with daily life and cannot turn over in bed and or fit in her car. She wants to lose as much as 500 pounds in order to be able to go dancing, go on road trips and fit in seats at the theatre.

The world record holder, who currently weighs 643 pounds, blames her upbringing as the main reason for her size. She said that being overweight is in her genes and that as a child there was an 'overabundance' of food. 'My mom was over 400 pounds and my dad over 600,' she said. 'I have eight siblings all which are over 300, except one.We were just raised, that if it was happy we'd celebrate with food, if it was sad, oh you fell down and skinned your knee, here's ice-cream.'

Mrs Potter said that she has repeatedly postponed losing weight, but has decided it is now time to do something about her size as daily life is becoming very difficult and she has to rely on her son for help. 'Everything is difficult from getting dressed to taking a bath,' she said. 'To reaching, you know, I can't put my own socks on. 'As far as my daily activity I do, everything is very difficult and thank goodness I have a very good relationship with my son and he is very helpful. He helps me do anything that's difficult.'
The Californian mother tries to keep mobile by going to a warm water rehabilitation pool three to five times a week where she does laps. But she has to use a mobility scooter to get around and can no longer get into her car. Mrs Potter said that one of her problems is that she likes all foods, except sauerkraut and Brussels sprouts, and said she has food every one or two hours. 'I'd be happy at 200 [pounds] maybe 300 but probably more 200 would be my ideal weight,' she said. 'I would be in seventh heaven. I could dance, I could go watch Baseball games, I could walk into a Theatre and sit in the seats, I could go on road trips again with my son, we could go to Reno and gamble.'

Mrs Potter is looking for a nutritionist and doctor to help her, but said she also has the support of her network of friends online. 'I have a lot of friends online,' she said. 'I go online there's a support group on there with other heavy friends, so we talk quite a bit online, we exchange phone numbers, we talk on the phone or we email.' Mrs Potter said she regrets getting as big as she has and would not recommend her lifestyle to anyone. 'I don't even know how to say, it's not fun, it's not fun at all,' she said. 'There is no physical freedom.' 'As far as even rolling over in the bed. Thank goodness I have an electric hospital bed, and I can grab on to the bars to roll over. 'I am mobile to a certain extent but it's difficult. I just struggle every day to hang on to what little bit of mobility I have. It's very hard.'

Firefighters gain some control over deadly Texas blaze
Firefighters on Wednesday gained ground for the first time in their days-long battle against a monstrous and deadly wildfire southeast of Austin, officials said.

The 34,356-acre Bastrop County Complex fire, which has caused the evacuation of some 5,000 people in the rural community, was about 30 percent contained and that number was expected to grow throughout the afternoon, said Mike Fisher, the county's emergency management coordinator. "We're feeling like we're gaining enough control that we're not going to lose a lot more acreage today," Fisher said. "Perhaps today, we'll have the perimeter secure and the fire will not get larger."


The fire has killed two people and claimed 785 homes, the most ever destroyed by a single fire in Texas history, the Texas Forest Service reported Wednesday morning. County officials have given a lower number of homes destroyed. Fire service officials said they're not sure why the discrepancy but that the assessments are continuing. Firefighters who have fought the blaze since Sunday were helped overnight by decreased winds and cooler temperatures, conditions expected to continue today, officials said.

All of this is cold comfort to William Clements. He learned Tuesday that his home in Bastrop is one of those lost to the massive fire. "It was kind of a shock when we came up and saw that it was gone," he said. "But we are recovering from the shock, and landing on our feet."
The Bastrop County fire, the largest current blaze, stretches 24 miles long and 20 miles wide at its widest point. It is one of nearly 200 fires that have broken out across Texas in the past week, officials said.

A list of 243 homes confirmed destroyed was posted for residents to check at the county's shelters and in a command center, but it only accounted for a fraction of the houses officials say have been burned.

FEMA ON THE GROUND
The U.S. Forest Service has sent a team to the area to help coordinate the efforts, which include nearly 400 firefighters, and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are on the ground assessing the damages. Also assisting are about 100 members of Texas Task Force 1, an elite wide-area search team that will be combing "every inch" of the enormous fire zone, Fisher said. "Essentially, the mission is to find whatever's out there that we need to deal with," Fisher said.

"If we have environmental hazards out there, ecohazards out there, dead animals. You've got to understand that we need to have some experts out there that are equipped and trained to deal with whatever hazards are there." The team was used on site after the New York City 9/11 attacks and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. A DC-10 air tanker contracted by the federal service and capable of carrying 12,000 gallons of retardant to drop onto the flames -- four times the normal capacity for retardant bombers -- landed in Austin on Tuesday night and will fly on Friday after it takes a federally mandated break, said Warren Bielenberg, information officer with the Texas Forest Service. The craft is leased through a private company in California and had been used in other fires in the U.S. before arriving in Austin, he said.

It had not yet been determined Wednesday whether the DC-10 would be used in Bastrop or sent to other sites in Texas, officials said. That will depend on what the fire needs are over the next few days. So far, four people have died in the Labor Day weekend fires, including a mother and infant daughter who died in northeast Texas on Sunday. Wildfires sweeping across drought-stricken Texas have destroyed more than 1,000 homes and forced thousands of evacuations in the last several days.

More than 3.6 million acres in Texas have been scorched by wildfires since November, fed by a continuing drought that has caused more than $5 billion in damage to the state's agricultural industry and that shows no sign of easing.

Source: Reuters

Former Playboy Playmate Gets 9 Years in PRISON For Shooting Husband

1968 Playboy playmate of the year Angela Dorian has just been sentenced to 9 YEARS behind bars for shooting her husband in the back in 2010. 66-year-old Dorian -- aka Victoria Rathgeb -- aka Victoria Vetri -- pled no contest to attempted voluntary manslaughter in L.A. County Superior Court.

On top of the 9 year sentence -- Dorian was ordered to pay $70 thousand into California's victim restitution fund. Angela grabbed a handgun a fired one shot at Bruce Rathgeb following a heated argument inside their Hollywood apartment. Bruce underwent surgery to remove a bullet fragment from his body -- but he's reportedly doing OK.

Potato diet for LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE, and NO WEIGHT GAIN!
They have long been maligned as fattening and shunned by those following the Dukan and other low-carb diets. But potatoes could be the latest superfood. For eating a portion twice a day can lower blood pressure, researchers say. What is more, it seems there is no weight gain involved.

However, before you get out the roasting tin or rush to the chip shop, read on.


Microwaved spuds, free of butter, oil or ketchup, are best for health, scientists say. Baked potatoes and boiled spuds, including mash, are also acceptable. In the study, 18 men and women were asked to eat six to eight golf ball-sized potatoes with their lunch and dinner, as part of their normal diet. Most of those taking part were overweight or obese and on pills to lower blood pressure. After a month of the ‘tattie treatment’, their blood pressure readings dropped significantly – suggesting the potatoes were powerful enough to take over when the tablets could not do any more.

In addition, none of the volunteers put on any weight. Potatoes are thought to have a satiating effect but it is also likely that those taking part in the study cut back on other foods, the American Chemical Society’s annual conference reported. Those used in the U.S. agriculture department-funded study were purple and so small that they contained as few as 12 calories each, but the researchers believe that ordinary potatoes should also benefit health. They should be cooked – ideally in the microwave – with their skins on. This is because many of the health-boosting, blood pressure-lowering chemicals are in the skin.

Microwaving is preferred because, unlike the high temperatures used to fry and roast, it preserves most of the goodness. Researcher Joe Vinson, from Scranton University in Pennsylvania, said: ‘Mention “potato” and people think “fattening, high carbs, empty calories”. ‘We hope our research helps to remake the potato’s popular nutritional image.’
Dr Vinson, who likes his potatoes baked and topped with salad cream, added that lowering blood pressure cuts the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Previous research has shown potatoes contain phyto, or plant, chemicals similar to those found in blood pressure drugs.

Saw this and I liked it:

1 Dubai trip = 1 plot of land
1 Brazilian hair = 68 bags of cement
1 Handbag = 10 Tankers of water
1 Quality shoe = 1 Trailer of sand
1 BB Torch = 1500 Blocks

Just these are enough to build a 2-bedroom flat. Babes PLEEEEEEEEASE let your boyfriend be a LANDLORD. We beg you all. Abeg abeg abeg!!!

Potato diet for LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE,  and NO WEIGHT GAIN!
They have long been maligned as fattening and shunned by those  following the Dukan and other low-carb diets. But potatoes could be the latest superfood. For eating a portion twice a day can lower blood pressure, researchers say. What is more, it seems there is no weight gain involved.

However, before you get out the roasting tin or rush to the chip shop, read on.


Microwaved spuds, free of butter, oil or ketchup, are best for health, scientists say. Baked potatoes and boiled spuds, including mash, are also acceptable. In the study, 18 men and women were asked to eat six to eight golf ball-sized potatoes with their lunch and dinner, as part of their normal diet. Most of those taking part were overweight or obese and on pills to lower blood pressure. After a month of the ‘tattie treatment’, their blood pressure readings dropped significantly – suggesting the potatoes were powerful enough to take over when the tablets could not do any more.

In addition, none of the volunteers put on any weight. Potatoes are thought to have a satiating effect but it is also likely that those taking part in the study cut back on other foods, the American Chemical Society’s annual conference reported. Those used in the U.S. agriculture department-funded study were purple and so small that they contained as few as 12 calories each, but the researchers believe that ordinary potatoes should also benefit health. They should be cooked – ideally in the microwave – with their skins on. This is because many of the health-boosting, blood pressure-lowering chemicals are in the skin.

Microwaving is preferred because, unlike the high temperatures used to fry and roast, it preserves most of the goodness. Researcher Joe Vinson, from Scranton University in Pennsylvania, said: ‘Mention “potato” and people think “fattening, high carbs, empty calories”. ‘We hope our research helps to remake the potato’s popular nutritional image.’ 
Dr Vinson, who likes his potatoes baked and topped with salad cream, added that lowering blood pressure cuts the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Previous research has shown potatoes contain phyto, or plant, chemicals similar to those found in blood pressure drugs.

Gulf Coast residents from Texas to Florida braced for a third day of severe weather on Monday with one death reported as the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee continued to lash the region. Flood and flash flood watches and warnings were in effect from coastal Texas into the Gulf states, with 10 to 15 inches of rain expected, the National Weather Service said on Monday.

Tornado warnings also were in effect in some Alabama and Florida counties. A Corinth, Mississippi man drowned late Sunday. Tishomingo County coroner Mack Wilemon said Howard Anderson, Jr., 57, was swept into floodwaters and drowned around 11 p.m. while awaiting rescue from a vehicle. Heavy rains will continue to expand northeastward into the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachian mountains through Tuesday, with rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches expected and isolated amounts of 12 inches possible. "These may cause life threatening flash floods and mudslides," the weather service said.


Thunderstorms plowed through Mobile, Baldwin and Washington counties in Alabama on Monday morning, downing trees and power lines from Dauphin Island to Citronelle. The National Weather Service in Mobile issued tornado warnings for Bullock, Covington, Escambia, Macon and Monroe counties in Alabama and Escambia and Okaloosa counties in northwest Florida. Meanwhile, flash flood warnings remain in effect until 4:45 p.m. for Covington, Forrest, Jones, Lamar, Lauderdale, Newton, Scott and Smith counties in southern Mississippi.

Keith Williams with the National Weather Service in Mobile said one tornado had been confirmed on Sunday in the Destin, Florida, area, but the extent of damage was not yet known.

TEEN SWEPT AWAY
Baldwin County authorities have not released the name of a 16-year-old boy Birmingham, Alabama, boy swept out into the surf on Sunday afternoon just east of Fort Morgan, Alabama. Maj. Anthony Lowery with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office said three teens were standing near the coastline when a large wave hit, carrying two of them into the surf. One was able to make it back to shore, and rescuers retrieved the mother of the second who tried unsuccessfully to reach her son in the 10-foot waves. The boy remained missing on Monday.

Rupert Lacy, emergency management director in Harrison County, said at least five homes in the coastal Mississippi county were damaged on Sunday by suspected tornado activity in the Saucier community. No injuries were reported. Lacy said at least one Harrison County resident was taken to a local hospital after he was injured when lightning traveled through a phone line. "Highway 90 is one of my big concerns. In some places you can't be sure if you're on the beach or the highway," he said.

Lacy said the Mississippi Department of Transportation would be bringing in reinforcements from the Hattiesburg, Mississippi, area to assist in damage assessments on Monday. Response crews are attuned to the threat of tornadoes after devastating twisters ravaged northern Alabama on April 27, killing more than 230 people and leveling portions of Tuscaloosa, Concord and Pleasant Grove. Rainfall totals on Monday have ranged from 4 to 5 inches in the northern portion of coastal counties in Alabama and Mississippi to as much as 12 inches near the coast, Williams said. The Florida Panhandle received between 5 and 6 inches. "We're not really sure about (Monday) because this thing's really moving slow. But there is definitely the possibility of continued rains," Williams said, noting at least 1 to 3 inches of additional rain could be expected.

A coastal flood watch was in effect for the affected areas until 7 p.m. with tides expected to be as much as 3 feet above normal with waves of 7 to 10 feet.

An unchecked wildfire southeast of Austin, Texas, destroyed 300 homes, scorched thousands of acres and stretched across a 16-mile area Monday, authorities said. Another blaze in eastern Texas killed a mother and her 18-month-old child when flames engulfed their mobile home Sunday near Gladewater, the Gregg County Sheriff's Department said.

"The wildfire situation in Texas is severe and all necessary state resources are being made available to protect lives and property," Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement. "I urge Texans to take extreme caution as we continue to see the devastating effects of sweeping wildfires impacting both rural and urban areas of the state." There are dozens of fires burning across the state, the Texas Forest Service said Monday.


Texas is battling its worst fire season in state history. A record 3.5 million acres have burned since the start of the season in November as hot and dry weather, coupled with a historic drought, made conditions ripe for rapid fire growth. Over the weekend, officials said low relative humidity and strong winds from Lee, which made landfall as a tropical storm but has weakened to a tropical depression, further fanned the flames. The outbreak of wildfires prompted Perry to head back to Texas from South Carolina, where he was scheduled to participate in a forum for Republican presidential candidates.

Meanwhile, the massive, uncontained fire in Bastrop County, near Austin, was the state's largest on Monday. In less than a day, it had destroyed 300 homes and threatened about 1,000 others, officials with the forest service's incident management team reported. About 5,000 residents evacuated as flames approached, officials said. Lisa Ross learned she needed to leave her Bastrop home when her husband called 911 after realizing a looming fire had darkened the skies above. "You learn what is valuable in life, and it isn't the stuff," she said. "It's people in your life, and what means something to you."

Cars crammed with belongings and pets packed a gas station on a highway near Austin, attorney Jonathan A. Zendeh Del said. "I've lived in Texas almost all my life, and I've never seen a fire that big in central Texas," he said. Dark clouds of smoke billowing across the sky could be seen miles away from the fire Monday. "Today is expected to be as bad, if not worse, than yesterday," Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot told reporters. Satellite images Monday showed the fire stretching over about 25,000 acres, jumping the Colorado River and a highway, the Texas Forest Service said.

More evacuations are likely as the fire spreads, officials said. Already, hundreds of people are in shelters as dangerous flames keep them from finding out whether their homes survived. "It was like a storm coming through. You could smell the earth burning," said Julian Ochoa, who was evacuated from a Bastrop subdivision Sunday afternoon. The 23-year-old grabbed his dog, a toothbrush, his birth certificate and a few pictures as he left. He didn't know Sunday what happened to his home. "All of Bastrop is a giant smoke cloud," he said.

Firefighters planned to use Black Hawk helicopters to douse flames with a mixture of water and fire retardant Monday, the incident management team said. The fire forced parts of state highways 71 and 21 to shut and additional road closures were expected, fire officials said Sunday. At least 63 new fires across Texas on Sunday burned nearly 33,000 acres, the state's fire service said. Fires were reported in at least 17 counties.

Source: CNN

1025:

the presidential election petition is the main reason for the removal of salami. the same method through which two igbo national pdp chaimen were removed. it is a shame that our democracy has no respect for oposition.

spot on!

Banks and Government Policies is Killing Manufacturing Sector - Stakeholders
Stakeholders in the manufacturing sector of the nation’s economy have blamed government policies on importation of raw materials and high interest charges by banks in the country as the bane of manufacturers.

Speaking at a media visit to Nosak Distilleries Limited’s ethanol plant in Lagos, Chairman and Group Managing Director, Mr. Toni Ogunbor, said delay of export rebate has overtime discouraged local manufacturers from exporting finished goods abroad. He stated that government should revisit interest subsidy, tax reform and export rebate as a deliberate effort to revive the ailing manufacturing sector.

Ogunbor called on the Federal Government to increase the sector’s intervention fund with the Bank of Industry (BOI), so as to reduce the burden of high charges by banks stressing that no enterprise could survive with interest charges as high as 20 per cent. He also urged the government to reduce the tariff on imported raw material for ethanol production from 10 per cent to 5 per cent because of its importance to the health sector.

Ogunbor argued that collecting tariff on exported goods whose imported raw material has already attracted a tariff of as much as 10 per cent is illogical, stressing that government should expedite action at reviewing the process. He decried a situation where brown sugar, a raw material for making sugar attracts 5 per cent tariff while processed raw material for making ethanol attracts as much as 10 per cent.

Ogunbor who disclosed that his company had invested a whopping N300 million in providing electricity said such an amount would have been deployed into ventures that will generate jobs opportunities for the teaming unemployed youths in the country. According to him, “Infrastructural challenge is one of the major problems we are facing. Roads are bad, you provide electricity, you provide water and you are expected to pay multiple taxes. The road through the Apapa port is barely motorable and all imported processed raw material and vital equipments comes through that road. How do you survive this kind of environment?

“As we speak I can tell you authoritatively that many companies have closed shop and jobs are gone as a result. This is a country where one job takes care of several dependants. Government will always preach policies but if there are no committed citizens, the policies will not make headway. The only way the manufacturing sector can grow is for government to give incentives that will encourage more entrepreneurs to invest in this country.”

He further stated that the situation in the country encouraged traders to take advantage of manufacturers stressing that the result was the mass unemployment in the country. He said: “ The average manufacturer do not make as much as a trader in this country. This is because a trader does not need to invest in infrastructure, all they need do is go to China and import ready made products and sell.

“This is why it is reasonable for government to do everything it can to support the private sector to grow this country’s economy. As a company, we are proud to be part of the efforts at moving this country forward. Beyond what we are doing here we are looking at the future already. Our plan is to invest $30 million in the agro-allied sector to enable us source our raw materials locally.”

Ogunbor who said he had invested over N5 billion in the plant said the investment enabled it to retain the leadership position in the industry. “We have increased our daily production capacity to 250,000 litters per day from 100,000 litters. To maintain our position in the industry, we will commission our third plan in October this year and that will bring the daily combined production capacity to 540,000 litters, “he said.

Justice Ayo Salami's Successor Reshuffles Presidential Election Tribunal
The acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dalhatu Adamu, has redeployed a member of the Presidential Election Tribunal, Justice Mohammed Garba, possibly setting the stage for the reconstitution of the panel.

Garba has been replaced with Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa from the Yola Division of the Court of Appeal. Garba, who is believed to be a close ally of the suspended President of the court, Justice Ayo Salami, it was learnt, was transferred to the Calabar Division of the court. Another justice who is also an associate of Salami, Justice Paul Galinje, has been transferred from the Abuja Division of the court to the Port Harcourt Division. Until his transfer last week, Garba was the presiding justice of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

Last Monday, he presided over the hearing of the petition filed by the Congress for Progressive Change challenging the declaration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the winner of the April presidential election. It could not be confirmed if the tribunal which comprises Justice M.A. Owoade, I.I. Agbube and Ogbande Ogbuinya will be completely disbanded to pave the way for its reconstitution. Salami’s suspension had reduced the panel membership from five to four. Prior to his suspension, Salami chaired the presidential election petition tribunal.

The tribunal, which began sitting in May, has six months under the law to conclude hearing of the petition on the presidential election. If the panel is disbanded, a new set of justices would have to begin afresh the hearing into the CPC’s petition, thus making the determination of the presidential election petition within six months a challenge to conclude. The National Judicial Council suspended Salami on August 25 and recommended him for retirement from the bench following his refusal to apologise to the council and the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, after a panel of the council found him to have wrongly accused the former CJN of arresting the judgment of the Court of Appeal on the Sokoto State governorship election dispute.

The redeployment of the two justices came in the wake of movement of some registrars of the court. Prior to the redeployment of Garba and Galinje, Adamu was said to be under pressure to reconstitute the presidential election petition tribunal and shake up the Court of Appeal. It was learnt that Adamu was being pressured to reconstitute the presidential election petition tribunal, a move which some lawyers and politicians said would send the dangerous signal to the public.

While acknowledging that Adamu has the constitutional powers to redeploy any justice of the Court of Appeal, a legal expert explained that his action could be misinterpreted given the circumstances under which he came into office. But one of the counsel in the petition before the tribunal said: “If the panel is reconstituted, none of the parties will lose anything because we have not reached the hearing stage. “We are still at the preliminary stage which can be handled by any judge. Once a petition is at the hearing stage, you cannot change the judges. “But I don’t think outright disbandment will be okay because once such a step is taken, petitioners will start to read meanings into it. To me, there is nothing in the petition of the CPC; the panel should be allowed to remain or else, we will end up with a well-deserved judgment being beclouded by political sentiments.”

The CPC had alleged after Salami’s suspension that his removal was aimed at frustrating its petition. The party, in a statement in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Engr. Rotimi Fashakin, had queried what it described as “the hush-hush manner” in which President Goodluck Jonathan approved the NJC’s recommendation for the suspension of the former President of the Court of Appeal. Last week, the National Chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, described Salami’s suspension as an attempt by Jonathan to defeat justice in the presidential election petition tribunal.

He alleged that Salami’s suspension had given credibility to speculations that Jonathan would interfere with the decision of the presidential election petition tribunal, claiming that Salami was suspended to pave the way for manipulation at the tribunal. “What has happened has further given credibility to our speculations, the judiciary is once more being used as tool by the executive arm of government,” he said.

61 yr old woman trampled to death by cows after 'her dog's barking spooked them'

A retired mother of two was trampled to death by cows as she walked her dog in a field. Marilyn Duffy, 61, a former school secretary, was killed by the 20-strong herd on her regular morning route near her home.

Police believe her dog’s barking may have spooked the cattle, which are highly protective of young calves. Mrs Duffy was knocked down and crushed by the cows, thought to be Friesians, which weigh about half a ton each. The tragedy is the latest in a spate of fatal tramplings, and happened just two miles from a field in which a woman was killed two years ago. Yesterday a memorial site to Mrs Duffy was set up on Facebook. Her husband Roger, 65, and their daughters Caroline, 33 and Angela, 31, were too upset to talk about the incident, which happened on Monday afternoon in the village of Radyr, Cardiff.

Police would not confirm what happened to Mrs Duffy’s pet following the stampede.
A neighbour said: ‘She was walking her dog and unfortunately the cows took exception to it and she was killed by the cows. They are not domesticated animals, they are wild beasts and it was just an unfortunate thing.’

Another local resident added that dog owners had stopped taking their pets along the path since the attack. ‘She must have worried the cows because obviously they’ve got calves there, and the cows surrounded her and trampled her,’ she said.

:d

:d

Jay-Z's 40/40 Club is undergoing a remodeling in New York City and a local union is protesting the fact they aren't using union workers for the job, but some protestors have gone too far by hurling racial slurs.

The New York City District Council of Carpenters erected giant inflatable rodents outside the club as part of their protests, claiming the company that was hired to do the job does not meet "area labor standards" and is paying their workers a "substandard wage."

A rep for the club informed they are in a non-union building and are not required to use union contractors. The rep also claim some protestors have been using racial slurs against the workers they are using, which the rep called a "poor tactic" to try intimidate people and scare away business. The club is scheduled to re-open on November 1.

Source: TMZ

guru01:

Great article

:d

Slow-moving Tropical Storm Lee strengthened as it lumbered toward the Louisiana coast on Saturday, bringing torrential rains that will put the flood defenses of low-lying New Orleans to the test.

The storm is expected to reach the Louisiana coast later on Saturday and bring 10-15 inches of rain to southeast Louisiana over the next few days, including to New Orleans, which was battered by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Early on Saturday, Lee was 15 miles south-southeast of Intracoastal City, with maximum winds of 60 miles per hour, the hurricane center said. Lee's winds were expected to stay below the 74 mph threshold of hurricane strength.

But the prospect of flooding in low-lying New Orleans evoked memories of Hurricane Katrina, which flooded 80 percent of the city, killed 1,500 people and caused more than $80 billion in damage. Lee was just expected to spur localized flooding in coastal and low-lying areas, New Orleans officials said. The city's extensive levee system is capable of processing about one inch of rainfall per hour, but the storm's slow-moving nature could bring challenges, officials said.

"The extended rainfall changes the dynamic a bit and makes it harder to manage over the course of the weekend," said Craig Taffaro, St. Bernard Parish president, speaking on local television.

Low-lying parishes around New Orleans saw rising waters, which covered some roadways in Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes, but no homes or businesses were threatened.
"We need to get this thing onshore and get it through here," Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser told local television. Lee will weaken once it hits land, but it will lose strength more slowly than normal due to the marshy nature of the Louisiana coast, the hurricane center said. Lee's northeasterly track could bring heavy rains to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Appalachian Mountains next week.

Major offshore producers like Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp and BP Plc shut down platforms and evacuated staff earlier this week. About half the U.S. offshore oil production, all based in the Gulf of Mexico, and a third of offshore gas production were shut as of Friday, according to the U.S. government. Most of that output should quickly return once the storm passes. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on Friday warned that heavy rains, substantial winds and tidal surges from the Gulf of Mexico could produce flash flooding in parts of New Orleans throughout the Labor Day holiday weekend.

"Get ready for the wind, get ready for the rain, it's coming and it's going to be here for a while," Jindal said at a briefing in Baton Rouge. Jindal has declared a state of emergency for Louisiana, and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour made a similar ruling for seven coastal counties.

Source: Reuters

IMO there's more to this fraud cases opening up now!

4 Lagos State Government Employees In Prison For Fraud Again!
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court on Friday remanded four employees of the Lagos State Government in prison custody for allegedly defrauding the government of more than N106 million.

Magistrate Olufemi Isaacs ordered them remanded at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons after dismissing their bail application. The accused are Bashorun Kamar, 39, Momoh Adewale, 34, Attahir Olaosebikan, 43 and Salami Rasaq, 45. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) opposed their bail applications filed by their lawyer, Mr. Kehinde Ogundare, at their arraignment on August 25.

The prosecuting counsel, Mr. Femi Adamson, urged the court to deny them bail pending their re-arraignment at the high court, saying the accused had conspired to commit a serious offence. NAN reports that the accused persons were arraigned at the magistrates’ court on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit felony to wit, forgery and stealing.

The counsel told the court that the accused, with others at large, perpetrated the fraud between May 2010 and December 2010 at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa. He said that the accused forged the Lagos State Government Staff Salary Scale which they used in stealing a total sum of N106,291,000 from the coffers of the government. The four civil servants were also alleged to have falsified Lagos State Accounts documents and knowingly permitted false entries to be made in the account records.

According to the counsel, the offence contravenes Sections 390, 438, 467,477 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap. C.17, Vol.2, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003. The matter has been adjourned to October 3 pending further advice from the DPP.

An amorous couple were forced to put the brakes on their moment of passion after accidentally sending their car shooting through a 60ft-high rooftop crash barrier.

The couple from Changsha, Hunan province, southern China, had driven to a lay-by on a rooftop car park for a few minutes of intimacy in what they thought were safe surroundings. And as the loved-up pair's clinch began to get steamy, the two decided to keep the engine running on their car so they could make use of the air conditioning.

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But in the heat of the moment, Qiao Hou kicked the car into reverse, sending it lurching backwards towards a horrifying 60ft drop. The pair were saved from a deadly fall when passers-by were alerted to the screams of 43-year-old Hou's girlfriend, Lili Tang, who could be heard yelling terror as the car dangled from the rooftop. Witnesses managed to get to their aid and pull the couple from the car, which was only stopped by its exhuast catching on the broken barrier. One onlooker, Hui Ying Wu, said: 'They were very embarrassed but grateful to be alive.'

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