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Facebook goes public, posts $16 billion in IPO |
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Saturday, 19 May 2012 09:25 |
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After an anxiety-filled half-hour delay, its stock began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market for the first time as investors were finally able to put a dollar value on the company that turned online social networking into a global cultural phenomenon.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 19 May 2012 09:40 |
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Twins With Two Heads Share One Body |
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Thursday, 17 May 2012 23:17 |
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Abby and Brittany Hensel (born March 7, 1990) are conjoined twins of whom each has a separate head, but whose bodies are joined. They have 2 heads with just a single body with little variation from normal proportion. In fact, several vital organs are doubled up, each twin having a separate heart, stomach, spine and spinal cord.
Each twin controls her half of their body, operating one of the arms and one of the legs. This means that as infants, the initial learning of physical processes that required bodily coordination, such as clapping, crawling, and walking required the cooperation of both children. While each is able to eat and write separately and simultaneously, activities such as running and swimming must be coordinated and alternate symmetrically. Other activities as diverse as brushing hair and driving a car require that each twin perform a sequence of quite separate actions that coordinate with the other.
Despite the curiosity that their condition has generated, the Hensel twins have managed to live private lives with relatively little press attention. At the age of 16, they gave an interview on The Learning Channel on December 17, 2006, in which they discussed aspects of their daily lives and plans for the future.
The Hensel twins both successfully passed their drivers license exams, both the written and driving tests. They had to take the tests twice, once for each twin. Abby controls the pedals, radio, heat, defogger, and other devices located to the right of the driver's seat, while Brittany controls the turn signal and lights; together, they control the steering wheel.
They both graduated from high school in 2008. They began college at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
In conversation, the twins are clearly distinct persons, with distinct likes and dislikes. Their preferences in food, clothing color, etc. differ. Some of their clothes are altered by their seamstress so that they have two separate necklines in order to emphasize their individuality. They will usually have separate meals, but sometimes will share a single meal for the sake of convenience (e.g., each takes a bite of the same hamburger). Abigail is better at mathematics and Brittany is better at writing. For tasks such as responding to e-mail, they type and respond as one, anticipating each other's feelings with little verbal communication between them. In such cases as the latter, their choice of grammatical person is to use the first person singular out of habit when they agree, but when their responses do differ, they use their names in the third person singular.
There is some concern about their ability to have continued good health because only four known sets of conjoined twins who share an undivided torso and two legs have ever survived into adulthood, and most have congenital heart defects or other organ anomalies. None have shown up in the Hensels' case. They have so far had no desire to make themselves available for any medical studies. They intend to make a rather limited number of media appearances in the future, primarily just to appease the world's curiosity and to reduce the number of people who might otherwise be taken aback by their unusual body configuration. They intensely dislike being stared at or photographed by strangers while going about their private lives. In the interviews made for Discovery Channel in 2006, the girls, then 16, said that they hoped to date, get married, and have children. They also stated that they hoped that by providing some information about themselves they would be able to lead otherwise fairly typical social lives as together they continue to make new friends.
Wikipedia
 Abby and Brittany Hensel (born March 7, 1990) are conjoined twins of whom each has a separate head, but whose bodies are joined. They have 2 heads with just a single body with little variation from normal proportion.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 17 May 2012 23:48 |
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Thursday, 17 May 2012 21:53 |
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The news comes as a surprise to those who were not aware that she was ill. The legendary superstar was publicly active as recently as last June, when she appeared as a guest panelist on Bravo's music reality show Platinum Hit.
However, a report by TMZ, which initially broke the story, notes that those close to the singer--known for mega-hits including "Last Dance" and "Bad Girls"--revealed she had been trying to hide how sick she was. A source said that Summer did not seem to be in that bad of shape two weeks ago.
[Related: No More Tears: Remembering Donna Summer's 10 Greatest Tracks]
She is survived by her adult daughters Mimi (by her first husband, actor Helmuth Sommer), Brooklyn and Amanda (by second husband Bruce Sudano).
In addition to her status as a pioneer in the dance music genre, Summer was a five-time Grammy Award winner, the first artist ever to score three back-to-back No. 1 double albums, and was nominated--but not chosen--for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. She is credited with influencing stars ranging from Madonna and Michael Jackson, to Beyonce and Rihanna. Her last album, Crayons, was released in 2008.
AP
The news comes as a surprise to those who were not aware that she was ill. The legendary superstar was publicly active as recently as last June, when she appeared as a guest panelist on Bravo's music reality show Platinum Hit.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 17 May 2012 23:10 |
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Importance of Father's Day |
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Thursday, 17 May 2012 06:50 |
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Father's Day festival is considered extremely important as it help acknowledge the contribution of fathers to individual families and to societies as large. Besides observance of Father's Day provide children an opportunity to express love and respect for their fathers.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 17 May 2012 06:58 |
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Charles Taylor Makes A Speech To International Court |
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Wednesday, 16 May 2012 17:25 |
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Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has accused the prosecution of paying and threatening witnesses in his war crimes trial.
Taylor, who was convicted last month, also told judges in The Hague he was "no threat to society".
It was the 64-year-old's last chance to speak at the international court before he is sentenced later this month.
Taylor was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during its civil war.
In its landmark ruling last month, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found Taylor guilty on 11 counts, relating to atrocities that included rape and murder.
The prosecution wants an 80-year prison term, which the defence says is excessive.
Delivering his statement from a witness box on Wednesday, Taylor - who insists he is innocent of all charges - said money had played a "corrupting, influential, significant and dominant role" in his trial.
"Witnesses were paid, coerced and in many cases threatened with prosecution if they did not give statements," he said.
He also questioned why former US President George W Bush, who he alleged had admitted to ordering torture, was not being brought to face a court, asking: "Is he above the law?"
He said he condemned atrocities across the world, and had the "deepest sympathy" for victims in Sierra Leone, but stopped short of expressing remorse or apologising for his part in the conflict.
Later, he asked the court to consider his age when making their decision.
"I'm a father of many children, grandchildren and great-grand.
"I say with respect: Reconciliation and healing, not retribution, should be the guiding principles in your honours' task."
At the end of his address, Mr Taylor also congratulated one of the judges, Julia Sebutinde of Uganda, the first African woman to sit at the International Court of Justice.
Prosecutors have said that Taylor's ill health and age, or the fact that he has a family, should have no impact on the sentence.
In written filings, prosecutors said a sentence of 80 years would reflect the severity of the crimes and the central role that Taylor had in facilitating them.
"The purposely cruel and savage crimes committed included public executions and amputations of civilians, the display of decapitated heads at checkpoints... public rapes of women and girls, and people burned alive in their homes," wrote prosecutor Brenda Hollis.
But defence lawyers said the recommended sentence was "manifestly disproportionate and excessive", and that Taylor had only been found guilty of an indirect role - aiding the rebels, rather than leading them.
They said their client should not be made to shoulder the blame alone for what happened in Sierra Leone's war.
The court should not support "attempts by the prosecution to provide the Sierra Leoneans with this external bogey man upon whom can be heaped the collective guilt of a nation for its predominantly self-inflicted wounds", his lawyers wrote.
During the 1991-2002 Sierra Leone civil war, Taylor supported Revolutionary United Front rebels who killed tens of thousands of people.
The war crimes included murder, rape, the use of child soldiers and the amputation of limbs. In return, Taylor received "blood diamonds".
The sentence is due to be handed down on 30 May.
Taylor is widely expected to appeal against any prison sentence and the hearing could continue for several more months.
Under a special arrangement with the international court, any prison term Taylor does receive will be served in Britain.
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has accused the prosecution of paying and threatening witnesses in his war crimes trial. Taylor, who was convicted last month, also told judges in The Hague he was "no threat to society".
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 17:38 |
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Snake Almost Bites Baby and Caught on Video |
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Tuesday, 15 May 2012 14:46 |
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A little Indian Baby is left to play alone by herself with a Cobra Snake. The king cobra which is almost 14ft (4.26m) long and weight about 20lbs (9kg) attacks the little baby as if it was scared of the child.
Although This is a traditional thing they do in tribal villages in India. This cobra has its fangs and venom removed. They use cobras such as these to train kids not to approach them.
Cobras are kept as pets in alot of tribal villages in India. They usually have their fangs and venom removed so as to make the snakes harmless. At an early age, children are taught to handle such snakes and eventually perform what is know as the snake dance.
The little baby in this video was never in any danger and was simply doing what comes naturally to a curious child.
Flick
A little Indian Baby is left to play alone by herself with a Cobra Snake. The king cobra which is almost 14ft (4.26m) long and weight about 20lbs (9kg) attacks the little baby as if it was scared of the child.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 15:50 |
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Bali Twins To Be Seperated |
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Tuesday, 15 May 2012 12:14 |
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Doctors assembled to separate Bali's conjoined twins said yesterday they were trying to wait as long as possible before surgery to maximise the chances that at least one baby would live.
But as the twins' health continued to deteriorate late yesterday, they said they could be forced to operate within hours.
Both girls had developed a fever last night and the one dubbed Baby Blue by doctors had weakened and was unable to move or cry.
Her health has been deteriorating over the past week, forcing doctors to draw up plans to potentially sacrifice her in an attempt to save her sister Baby Green.
Dr Ngurah Jaya Kusuma, who will lead the long and complex operation, said the eight-person team was on standby.
Surgery would take at least 48 hours and come with many risks, he said. If both twins were healthy, their chances of survival would be more than 80 per cent.
"But Baby Blue's chances are much lower because this baby has many problems inside," he said.
"We would prefer to wait until they are bigger because operating on babies while they are so small is very risky. The chances of survival would be very low. But we may not have a choice."
The 2 1/2-week-old twins are fused completely from their chests to their abdomens.
Baby Blue also suffers hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, swelling her head.
Doctors said yesterday they had also discovered she had a single heart ventricle, which lowered hopes she would survive.
Baby Green had a small hole in the heart but "we can fix that", Dr Kusuma said.
The separation will be the first operation of its kind attempted at Bali's flagship Sanglah Hospital.
"The only problem at Sanglah is we have no experience in this. We've had zero cases," Dr Kusuma said.
So five specialists from Surabaya's Dr Soetomo Hospital - a paediatrician, a paediatric surgeon, a heart surgeon, a thoracic surgeon and an anaesthetist who have had experience in separating conjoined twins - have been flown to Denpasar to join the medical team.
Doctors assembled to separate Bali's conjoined twins said yesterday they were trying to wait as long as possible before surgery to maximise the chances that at least one baby would live.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 12:30 |
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Kenyan Man Stuck inside Another Man's Wife and Video Taped |
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Tuesday, 15 May 2012 11:57 |
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A Kenyan man who was cheating with another man's wife got stuck in her this week in a guest house in Nairobi. The husband of the woman had suspected she was cheating on him, so he visited a witchdoctor who applied black magic on the wife, causing the cheating man to get stuck inside her during the act.
For hours, the police could not rescue him from the black magic, and the husband in blue jeans and white T-Shirt refused to be persuaded.
A big crowd swelled outside to witness the drama, as police ran out of options on how to help the two. The cheating man finally agreed to pay the husband Sh20,000 in compensation. Then a local pastor was called in to pray and the two were finally separated.
At the end of the video the cheating man was seen heading out to withdraw the money from an ATM.
A Kenyan man who was cheating with another man's wife got stuck in her this week in a guest house in Nairobi. The husband of the woman had suspected she was cheating on him........
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 12:54 |
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Nigeria: A ‘Pivotal Power’ In Emerging Markets? |
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Monday, 14 May 2012 11:08 |
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Some of the discussion at this week’s Emerging Markets Funds conference in London is around the notion of ‘pivotal powers’ and their role in politics and prosperity in a volatile world. Does it make sense to include Nigeria as such a power alongside the likes of Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran and Mexico?
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Last Updated on Monday, 14 May 2012 11:18 |
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Sex Scandal Caught On Tape: The Aftermath |
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Sunday, 13 May 2012 19:56 |
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A video of the sex scandal of Engineer Peter Otubu and student Judith Okosun at the Edo State-owned Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma. The incidence occurred in 2010.
The Peter Otubu and Judith Okosun sexual saga is a latent, or even a direct symptom of limited funds, lack of ethical teachers, deficient classrooms, and poor learning resources as these factors add up to adversely affect the institutional health and educational environment of higher institutions in a very challenging nation like Nigeria.
According to reports from Ms. Okosun’s Benin-based lawyer, Tom Oaikhinan, Judith did not give in to the sexual advances of the professor. When engineer P.O. Otubu failed her in his course, Judith and her classmates went to meet him to ask why he failed her in her course but he wouldn’t allow others into his office, requesting instead to meet Judith alone in his office. He asked her for her phone number and told her that she will pass the course if they can become romantically involved.
After the lecturer had obtained his client’s phone number, he started sending a series of amorous text messages to her and pestering her. When Judith would not give in, he promised to see her in her room to change the marks. But Judith was frustrated, and planned to expose the harassment. When he came into her room, he started getting aggressive with her, leading to a scuffle that attracted other students to the scene.
Asked why the lecturer was forced to sign a cheque under duress, he said it was never under duress, stating that he signed the cheque for Judith in order to get away with his crimes of sexual harassment. He said Mr. Otubu promised N500, 000 to Judith to buy her silence and that the N100, 000 cheque was his down payment. The cheque was Judith’s strong evidence that the lecturer was in her room and tried to buy her silence after she protested against his antics. The check was given to the police in Ekpoma.
Oaikhinan said that after Judith resisted his attempt to force her, he tried to flee the scene naked, but that the other students didn’t let it happen because they want to put an end to chronic problem of sexual harassment in the university. The lawyer disclosed described Judith (who is his own niece), as an “honest and ambitious” student who went to study engineering in order to prove the point that females can do great things in life. He lamented that “randy lecturers” in Nigeria’s higher institutions of learning simply ruin the lives of the young female students and “our chauvinistic society provides support by claiming that my client was a cultist, kidnapper and extortionist.”
Africanspotlight
A video of the sex scandal of Engineer Peter Otubu and student Judith Okosun at the Edo State-owned Ambrose Alli University in Nigeria. The incidence occurred in 2010. Click here to see the video.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 13 May 2012 21:08 |
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