JTF Rescues Indians, Arrests 17 over Oil Theft in N’Delta!

Three Indian nationals were reportedly rescued by a combined squad of 130 Battalion of the Joint Task Force, the Nigerian Navy and the State Security Department in Rivers State in Abissa,  a small fishing port in Akuku’ Toru, Local Government Area of Rivers State.

And in a related development,  troops of 3, 19 and 195 Battalions of Sector 1 anti illegal oil bunkering squads of the JTF have uncovered 12 illegal oil distillation camps at Agbede forest, Obi-Ayagha and Otegele communities in Etsako West, Ugheli South and Warri South West Local Government Areas of Delta State.

The Indians, Messrs. Kanishk Johrar, Mohinder Saini, and Balwinder Singh were abducted about a month ago   aboard a fishing trawler at Malabo and brought into the shores of Nigerian waters by the gang, which demanded a million dollar ransom.

Cancer Cases To Surge As World Population Ages!

According to a new report by the World Health Organization to mark World Cancer Day, the number of cancer diagnoses will reach 24 million a year by 2035 - up from it's current 14 million.

It says that the majority of the extra cases will be in the developing world.

As people in poorer countries become more wealthy they are likely to live longer, reaching an age when cancer becomes more likely.

They are also likely to adopt a Western diet high in sugar and fat.

Governments should do more to prevent cancer, the WHO said. Half the future cases could be avoided if people adopt healthier lifestyles.

That view was backed up by the World Cancer Research Fund, which released results from a survey showing that half the UK population is unaware that diet can affect the risk of cancer.

The charity's general manager, Amanda McLean, said: "About a third of the most common cancers could be prevented through being a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and being regularly physically active.

"These results show that many people still seem to mistakenly accept their chances of getting cancer as a throw of the dice.

"But by making lifestyle changes today, we can help prevent cancer tomorrow."

Meanwhile Cancer Research UK has launched a new smartphone game to help scientists find future cures. Gamers fly is a spaceship through an intergalactic assault course.

But the hazards and targets relate to DNA data from thousands of tumour samples - and the track taken by players will give scientists clues to key variations in the genetic sequences of patients.

Hannah Keartland, the citizen science lead for the charity said: "Our scientists' research produces colossal amounts of data, some of which can only be analysed by the human eye - a process which can take years.

"We hope that thousands of people worldwide will (try) Play to Cure: Genes in Space as often as possible, to help our researchers get through this data."

$20 billion still missing - Sanusi insists!

The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Sanusi insisted before the Senate investigative hearing over missing oil revenue on Tuesday that the sum of $20 billion is still missing. 

During the hearing which was chaired by Ahmed Makarfi, Sanusi said the issues raised by him in the letter he wrote to the Presidency concerning the CBN's observations, relate directly to why the NNPC is yet to remit money to the government account, insisting that what must be agreed is that the NNPC shipped $67 billion worth of crude, but what came to the CBN after all reconciliation, stands at $47 billion. 

"Let us know what happened to the remaining $20 billion, we have confirmed that the FIRS received $16 billion which was paid by IOCs. CBN has accepted that. We have accounted that out of $67 billion that NNPC shipped, $47 billion has come to CBN". He said 

Mr. Sanusi also said the NNPC’s claim on subsidy on kerosene cannot stand since a presidential directive had long barred such subsidy. According to him, “NNPC must show where it got the authority to buy kerosene at N150 and sell at N40, and then put the burden of loss on the federation account,”.

On his part, Ahmed Makarfi said some issues raised by CBN governor, Sanusi, in his letter to the committee, do not relate to the immediate subject of investigation. 

Stating further that the committee found the submission made by NNPC not comprehensible, Makarfi asked for a re-submission of a more detailed information latest Feb.14. While NEITI’s response which covered only 2011, should be resent with more information by February 7. 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Diezani Allison-Madueke were conspicuously absent  at the hearing due to ill health. But the committee expects that by next week, both Ministers would appear before the committee.

The meeting was adjourned to next week, Thursday, when according to  Mr. Makarfi, the committee will go into actual examination of issues when they would have received all responses from the parties.

Microsoft names Satya Nadella as new CEO, as Gates takes on tech adviser role!

News breaking in now says Microsoft has named Satya Nadella as its new CEO. While Co-founder Bill Gates will take on the role of technical adviser.




Congratulations to Satya Nadella , hope you take the mega company to even greater heights.

Photonews - Atiku, Tinubu, Ribadu, Akande, Others Re-Unite For APC Rally!

Pictured below: 
ACN 2011 presidential candidate Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, interim chairman of APC Chief Bisi Akande, former Lagos state governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state when the ACN leaders arrived at Yola Airport for the party’s rally in Yola.

At Yola Airport:

Family and friends recount Philip Seymour Hoffman's final hours!

The day before he was found dead in a Manhattan apartment, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman went to his favorite coffee shop for a four-shot espresso.

That night, he met two others for dinner at a West Village restaurant.

Nothing appeared out of the ordinary -- either that morning or that night.

But some of those who interacted with Hoffman during the day Saturday paint a different picture.

The mother of his children say he appeared high. A passerby who stopped to say hi to him said the actor appeared "out of it."

In New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood, where Hoffman lived, it was common to see him riding a bicycle and walking his children to the public school they attended.

The Police are reportedly trying to piece together the actor's movements last weekend as they look for anyone who might be linked to the drugs that apparently killed him.

Here is a timeline of what has emerged about Hoffman's final hours before the discovery of his body Sunday.

Saturday morning -- Hoffman stops in at Chocolate Bar on 8th Avenue for his regular order: a four-shot espresso over ice with a splash of milk. He is alone and chats with members of staff. "He seemed perfectly fine," manager Jonathan Hanson tells CNN. "He seemed in good spirits. He was very happy."

Around 1:30 p.m. -- When his  assistant spoke to him on the phone. She also thought he seemed fine, she tells police. The assistant says she had visited him at his rented apartment Friday and noticed nothing out of the ordinary either.

2 p.m. -- The first hint that something is amiss. Mimi O'Donnell, Hoffman's ex-partner and mother of their three children, sees him near his apartment. She later tells authorities she thought he appeared to be high, law enforcement sources say.

5 p.m. -- Hoffman is spotted walking along Greenwich Street by Paul Pabst, executive producer of the syndicated "Dan Patrick Show." Pabst is with his wife and his sister, who plucks up the courage to say hi to Hoffman. 

The actor -- bundled up in "a big, puffy coat" -- appears surprised a stranger recognized him.But he still responds, giving Pabst's sister "a half high-five" before continuing on his way. Pabst says his sister remarks that Hoffman seemed "out of it."

Saturday evening -- Hoffman has dinner with two companions at Automatic Slims, a restaurant and bar in the West Village that he frequently visited. It is a short meal, at which Hoffman reportedly had  cheeseburger, and a cranberry and soda to drink. A bartender at the restaurant, on Washington Street. she said it appeared to be a business dinner.

Around 8 p.m. -- O'Donnell talks to Hoffman on the phone. He again seems to be high, she later tells authorities. After their conversation.

Sunday, 9 a.m. -- Hoffman fails to show up at O'Donnell's home in the West Village to pick up his three children. His no-show causes concern.

11 a.m. -- O'Donnell asks a Hoffman friend, playwright David Katz, to check on the actor. Katz and another person subsequently go to the fourth-floor apartment, where they find him dead, lying on the bathroom floor with a syringe in his left arm. He is wearing shorts and a T-shirt, his eyeglasses still resting on his head, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the inquiry.

Around 11:30 a.m. -- Police are called. They arrive at the apartment shortly afterward. O'Donnell is told what has happened. She quickly picks up their son from the playground and brings him home.

Suspected heroin found in apartment

The aftermath -- Investigators discover close to 50 envelopes of what they believe is heroin in the apartment where Hoffman is found, the law enforcement sources say. They find used syringes, prescription drugs and empty bags that authorities suspect are used to hold heroin.

After the discovery of Hoffman's body, word of his death spreads through the neighborhood.

Prince George Has First Family Vacation at the Caribbean!

Prince George is getting his first taste of a family vacation as reports revealed that Kate Middleton and her baby boy have jetted away to the Caribbean.

The 32 year old mum and 6-month-old George traveled to the island of Mustique, and have also been joined by her parents Carole andMichael Middleton, brother James, and sister Pippa and her boyfriend Nico Jackson.