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He called on Ogoni politicians to come together regardless of their political affiliations and find a lasting solution to the crisis and insecurity situation in Ogoniland.
The House of Representatives Committee on Army rounded off its fact finding visit to Rivers State with a visit to Yeghe, Zaakpon, Sime and Bori communities affected by the February 22 and 23 military invasion.
Members of the committee inspected the level of destruction of the house of ex-militant leader Solomon Ndigbara when they visited Yeghe community.
Other places visited by the federal lawmakers include Taabaa junction in Bori where over five people were killed including two Igbo brothers who operate a fast food in the area and a Berber.
The committee upon making a brief stop at Taaba junction at the Caravans where two Igbo brothers Kelechi and Linus Nwafor were shot dead allegedly by the Army, discovered litters of live bullets around the shops.
Members of the committee also met with family members of those killed and injured in Yeghe, Zaakpon and Bori communities as well as inspected the level of damage done to the senatorial office building of Senator Magnus Abe before rounding off their visit.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on January 08, 2015, on page 7.
Earlier this week, Khaled Khoja, the new head of the Syria opposition in exile, rejected a Russian proposal to attend talks in Moscow to end the Syrian conflict.
There has been confusion over precisely what Moscow wants for Syria. We know the Russians seek to hold meetings in Moscow with members of the Syrian regime and opposition groups, who presumably, when the time is right, would then talk with each other.
The idea of a transitional government, no matter how logical it may seem given Syria's realities, implicitly suggests a move away from Assad.
Once that happens, the Russians would be in a better position to bring the exiled opposition, along with the so-called internal opposition, together with the regime in a resolution project, giving Assad new legitimacy.
In that way, as circumstances change and the international community decides to move resolutely toward a peace plan for Syria, the Russians will be better placed to put their favored plan forward, perhaps in coordination with the U.N.
The Russians apparently understand something the Obama administration doesn't: that for any anti-ISIS campaign to be successful, the Syrian conflict must be brought to an end.
Barbara Lea, a jazz-influenced cabaret singer known for an intense fealty to words and music that resulted in interpretations of masterly subtlety, died last Monday in Raleigh, N.C. She was 82.
The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, a friend, Jeanie Wilson, said.
Ms. Lea, who began her career in the mid-1950s and recorded until a few years ago, had a supple voice whose gentle huskiness recalled the sound of a viola.
Though she was somewhat less well known than contemporaries like Barbara Cook and Julie Wilson, she was esteemed by lovers of American popular song for her pinpoint diction, sensitive musical phrasing (she had a degree in music theory from Wellesley) and nuanced attention to lyrics as a form of poetic speech.
Throughout her career she was concerned with contemplative, deliberately understated interpretation: what interested her was the exquisite confluence of text, timbre, tonality and timing encapsulated in the best popular songs.
She was heard often in New York clubs, including the Village Vanguard, the Rainbow Room, Michael’s Pub and Jan Wallman’s.
In midcareer, to combat lifelong stage fright, Ms. Lea began studying acting. This led to a second vocation as an actress in summer stock and regional theater.
Barbara Ann LeCocq was born in Detroit on April 10, 1929. (Her family later respelled its surname Leacock, which she shortened to Lea early in her career.) She starting singing in high school; over time, her greatest influence would be Lee Wiley, the singer of the 1930s and afterward known for bringing a jazz sensibili...
As a student at Wellesley Ms. Lea sang with the Crimson Stompers, a Harvard Dixieland band. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in 1951, she performed at clubs in Boston before moving to New York.
In the early 1970s she earned a master’s in drama from what is now California State University, Northridge, and embarked on a stage career. The timing was fortuitous: cabaret was then in decline, unable to withstand the sustained assault of rock ’n’ roll.
In 1976 Ms. Lea was featured twice on the radio series “American Popular Song With Alec Wilder and Friends,” broadcast on National Public Radio. Her appearances there brought about a renaissance in her cabaret career.
Ms. Lea, who lived in Manhattan and Raleigh, was married and divorced three times. No immediate family members survive.
If Ms. Lea’s style was too low key for some critics’ taste, then that, by her own account, was absolutely fine.
The stadium mostly reverberated with chants and cheers for India which won the match convincingly.
LUCKNOW: It was an exhilarating experience, hearing the jarring rhythmic chants of 'India, India' and 'Rohit' by a crowd of 50,000 spectators, punctuated with huge applause on every four and six scored by the 'men in blue' and fall of West Indian wickets. The stadium mostly reverberated with chants and cheers for India...
Earlier in the day, cricket lovers from all walks of life and ages converged on the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana cricket stadium to see the T20 match.
Cricket fans came from as far as Mumbai, Delhi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Sultanpur, Amethi, Hardoi, Barabanki came to watch Team India play.
As soon as players came out on the field for light net practice, the crowd erupted in joy and started taking pictures and posting them on social media.
Spectators began screaming when captain Rohit Sharma came out with Sanjay Manjrekar for toss. Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan were greeted with a huge applause when they came to open the innings.
A group of children from Old City had made a poster stating ' Muskuraiye Ki Aap Lucknow Mein Hain' and unfurled it as soon as the match began.
"In the initial three overs, not even a single boundary was scored. I became jittery thinking that India will not be able to put up a decent total but then Rohit started hitting fours and sixes and runs started flowing," said Tapan Das Gupta.
There was a little ebb in joy when Shikhar was caught in the deep and could not reach his half century.
But the young fans were soon jumping on their seats when Rohit started hitting boundaries and sixes.
The female fans of Rishabh Pant were heartbroken when he got out cheaply. "I had got up to head home immediately but then Rohit started hitting and his knock kept me hooked," said Sayali. The entire stadium erupted in celebration when Rohit completed his century and raised his bat towards the crowd.
When the Indian team took to fielding, spectators began screaming name of players in the deep. Most players waved back to a big applause.
The celebrations began soon as the first West Indies wicket fell in the second over. But the next man to walk in was the dangerous Darren Bravo. When Bravo got out, fans celebrated wildly with some tossing up water bottles in the air.
When Pollard was smashed a four there was pin drop silence in the stadium. However, pacer Bumrah caught him in the same over leading to celebrations as if India had already won.
Former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his family were also in the stadium to witness the first T20 International match in the city. Akhilesh waved at his fans who held aloft posters crediting him for the cricket stadium.
A New York county facing a measles outbreak has banned unvaccinated children in public, but New Jersey officials say they won't yet consider the same.
LAKEWOOD - While a growing measles outbreak has prompted officials in one New York county to ban unvaccinated children from public spaces, buses and trains, New Jersey officials say no similar plans are being considered in Ocean County despite a stubborn outbreak here.
As of last week, New Jersey had eight confirmed measles cases so far this year, and six of those were related to an ongoing outbreak in Ocean County, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. Two other cases in Bergen and Essex counties were isolated outbreaks related to international travel, said health depart...
In contrast, health officials in Rockland County, New York, a suburb north of New York City and Paramus, reported 153 cases of measles. About 82 percent of those cases happened in people who never received the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, according to the Rockland County Health Department.
On Tuesday, Rockland County officials banned unvaccinated minors from public places where 10 or more people congregate, such as churches and synagogues, parks, restaurants, day cares, schools and public buses and trains.
New Jersey Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal said New Jersey has no plans to follow Rockland County's measures.
“There are a number of interim steps we can take if we see a surge in the number of cases," he said.
Last year, for example, when Ocean County had 30 cases of measles, the county and state health departments set up tents in Lakewood to evaluate possible cases while limiting exposing others to the virus. More than 12,000 vaccines were also distributed throughout the area to help inoculate those who wanted to be vaccina...
In November, at the peak of the outbreak, the Ocean County Health Department encouraged schools and daycare programs to consider excluding unvaccinated children from programs to curtail the spread of the virus.
Those measures ended when that outbreak was declared over in January. But only a few weeks had passed before health officials received reports of new cases in Ocean County.
Measles is highly contagious and airborne and has the potential to infect someone on the other side of a room, said Elnahal.
Though measles is often a mild infection that includes fever, rash, cough and red eyes, the virus can be deadly. Measles kills about 100,000 people worldwide every year, and most of those deaths are in children under 5, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Even when not fatal, in severe cases measles can cause permanent hearing loss; encephalitis, or swelling of the brain; deafness; intellectual disability; and premature birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lakewood Mayor Raymond Coles said despite the outbreak in Lakewood, township officials are also not considering any measures like those undertaken in Rockland County.
"We're urging parents to make sure their children are properly vaccinated," Coles said. "Sometimes it's an uphill battle trying to counter the misinformation that's out there."
Both outbreaks have predominately affected people in the Orthodox Jewish communities. In Lakewood, the observant Jewish community has been divided between some parents who are passionate about vaccination choice and religious leaders who, on the advice of the medical community, are urging vaccination.
"For the safety of their children, themselves and their neighbors, vaccination is the smart thing to do," Coles said.
The outbreaks across the region are "completely preventable" and can be avoided by vaccination, said Elnahal, the state health commissioner.
Before vaccination, about 500,000 cases of measles were reported each year to the CDC. Among those cases, about 400 to 500 people died each year and 48,000 were hospitalized with serious complications, according to the CDC. Vaccination led to a 99 percent decrease in cases, according to the centers.
Elnahal said he would consider adopting a measure like Rockland County's ban on unvaccinated children in public if New Jersey's outbreak grows significantly. Currently, he said he has no such plans.
Attempts to control the spread so far are focused on vaccination, Elnahal said.
In Rockland County, noncompliance with the restrictions carries penalties of six months in jail or a $500 fine, but officials there said police would not seek proof of vaccination. They could refer people in violation to the District Attorney's office.
The Rockland County ban "makes no sense," said Mihaela Vomir of Manchester in a Facebook message to a reporter. "Why would completely healthy people be quarantined?"
Others have questioned whether the ban is even enforceable.
"Does everyone need to carry their shot records? How can this be enforced?" asked Brett Ulozas of the New Egypt section of Plumsted.
The ban will last for 30 days, according to Rockland County officials.
Did Trump Bribe Ukraine to Stop Cooperating With Mueller?The No. 1 rule in understanding Trump is that the lies are usually covering even worse lies.
President’s Medical Report Was Actually Written by Dr. Donald TrumpDr. Harold Bornstein reveals that the then-candidate dictated the infamous letter claiming he would be the “healthiest individual” ever elected.
How Surprising, Donald Trump Reportedly Dictated His Positive Health Report“I didn’t write that letter,” Trump’s ex-doctor Harold Bornstein said.
Trump Doctor Says He Feels ‘Raped’ After His Office Was ‘Raided’Harold Bornstein claimed that three people showed up and took all of the president’s medical records.
Harold Bornstein Thrilled to Now Be Second-Most-Notorious Trump DoctorNow, when somebody mentions “that crazy story with the Trump doctor,” people have to ask “Which one?” Advantage: Bornstein.
President Trump Takes a Hair-Growth Drug, According to His DoctorDr. Bornstein wants to be the White House physician, so he shared details about the president’s health and complained about the inauguration.
Trump’s Doctor Took Only 5 Minutes to Write Candidate’s Medical ReportThe rushed doctor, inspired by the candidate’s rhetoric, had declared that Trump would be the healthiest president in U.S. history.
To download a PDF of the festival’s full program, click on the icon below.
The 2011 National Arts Festival is set to flood the Caribbean-slope towns of Siquirres and Turrialba with 10 days of arts and cultural events from March 18 to 27.
Some 2,000 artists from Costa Rica and abroad will give more than 200 music, theater and dance performances, as well as a variety of workshops and activities for all ages. Also on the program is a film festival featuring approximately 45 Costa Rican productions.
The festival’s official inauguration is set for March 18 at 7 p.m. in Turrialba, and will feature a 360-degree multimedia show on the history of the region, projected on three giant screens, as well as aerial dance and circus shows.
The National Arts Festival takes place every two years in a different region of the country. Turrialba and Siquirres were selected to host this year’s festival because of the progress both communities have made in their cultural offerings in recent years, and because they had been excluded in past editions of the festi...
"All Star by Smashmouth but it gets 15% faster every time he says 'the'."
A new trend was started by this Bee Movie video where every time anyone says 'bee', the video speeds up.
I'm not sure how YouTube was able to recommend me the entire bee movie but every time they say bee it gets faster, but it was gold.
All Star by Smashmouth but it gets 15% faster every time he says "the"
Then the game changed all of a sudden.
And the trend has now stepped out of music videos altogether.
Next story in Decade in Review Will next decade be another bubble-popper?
This Aug. 30, 2005 file photo shows Evelyn Turner, right, with friends and family, waiting with the body of her common-law husband, Xavier Bowie, after he died in New Orleans. Xavier and Turner had decided to ride out Hurricane Katrina when they could not find away to leave the city. Xavier, who had lung cancer, died w...
Cybercrime never sleeps – but neither do most startup founders. "Large existing cybersecurity businesses aren't necessarily good sources of innovation. The new ideas are coming from smaller, faster-moving teams," says Alex van Someren, co-founder of Cyber London, the UK's first cybersecurity accelerator.
In November, the government announced a £165 million fund to support innovative cybersecurity strategies, part of plans to spend £1.9 billion on a viable cyber strategy over the next five years. The move followed the creation of the Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research initiative in 2011.
"We also have the government and civil services not only as investors, but as customers, and they are quite aggressive about imaginative new technology," says van Someren. "And of course, we have our really big financial-services industry, which is a major client for cyber-security products."
The next challenge? Securing the late-stage funding that's necessary to scale businesses. "They're at risk of not being able to grow because they can't attract the capital to scale up," says van Someren. "It's a recognised problem."
Vampire Weekend have ditched their preppy look for goth garbs in the video for their forthcoming single, ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’.
The video, which is set in the 1980s, sees the band and a host of their friends playing out the roles of various characters – both goth and non-goth.
The video was shot this week (July 16-17) at Jersey Shore, near the band’s hometown New York.
Frontman Ezra Kroenig told MTV News, that the band wanted to get more into acting for the video so chose to adopt the roles of gothic alter egos.
You can see a picture of the band’s new, Robert Smith inspired get-up online now.
These include putting into force the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), efforts to reform the UN Security Council, rehabilitation of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and providing employment to the continent's large young population. According to the AU, various conflicts across the African co...
On top of his list of African economic integration schemes is the AfCFTA, which is expected to formally start operations during the next AU summit in Niamey, capital of Niger, in July.
"Many African countries are already grouped under Regional Economic Communities (RECs), my chairmanship will focus on how RECs can be a vehicle to achieve wider continental economic integration," said el-Sisi.
"The start of operation of AfCFTA will not just ease movement of goods across African borders, but also facilitate the movement of African brainpower across the borders of African countries, adding social importance on top of political and economic benefits," he added.

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