Wild fire spreads across California!

Reports revealed that California firefighters were currently battling wind-whipped wildfires on Friday, as some 125,000 people were reported to have fled their homes in the San Diego area and police arrested at least two people on arson-related charges.

The cluster of fires comes as California enters its peak fire season amid its worst drought in decades. Officials believe the fire may have been deliberately set and worry it could be a particularly dangerous year.

More pictures below:

FRSC official allegedly assaults an elderly woman in Lagos!

According to information received by the daughter to the woman in the picture below, identified as "@spikkylibral" on twitter; an FRSC official allegedly assaulted this elderly woman in Mushin area of Lagos - Nigeria.

It was gathered that happened when she was stopped for a crack windscreen and she was pleading that she is going for her daughter engagement.

It is however unclear what really transpired between the FRSC official and the elderly woman to warrant the alleged assault. But if this allegation is true, then the FRSC authority should please investigate this case and make sure that the assaulter is brought to book, to deter future occurrence.

If i am right, i think is main duty of the FRSC is "Making the highway safe for motorists and other road users. Recommending works and devices designed to eliminate or minimize accidents on the highways and advising the Federal and State Governments including the Federal Capital Territory Administration and relevant governmental agencies on the localities where such works and devices are required, and Educating motorists and members of the public on the importance of discipline on the highway. 

In particular the Commission is charged with the responsibilities for: Preventing or minimizing accidents on the highway; Clearing obstructions on any part of the highways; Educating drivers, motorists  and other members of the public generally on the proper use of the highways; Designing and producing the driver’s license to be used by various categories of vehicle operators; Determining, from time to time, the requirements to be satisfied by an applicant for a driver’s licence; Designing and producing vehicle number plates" .

There is nothing like assaulting commuters written here. so, the FRSC authorities should endevour that her officials on our highways adhere to the their duties.

Red carpet pose that gives you the slim look!

Wondering how your favorite celebrities look radiant and slim on the red carpet? Hair, makeup, and gorgeous gowns aside, truth be told, so much of mastering photo-ops is knowing how to stand, finding your best angles, and looking confident for the camera. And while taking flattering snapshots 100 percent of the time isn’t an easy skill to master, there are lots of tricks of the trade you can learn—just from studying the step-and-repeat. That’s why ELLE magazine dissected and analyzed thousands of photographs of our favorite leading ladies and culled Hollywood’s most popular poses. 

Pictures below:

Police Charge Reporter Over Report On #BringBackOurGirls Protest!

Report has it that the Police in Nasarawa state- Central Nigeria has charged a Nasarawa State correspondent of Daily Trust Newspapers, identified as Hir Joseph to court after keeping him in detention on Friday and Monday over a report on the #BringBackOurGirls protest in Lafia, the state capital.

The allegations filed by the Police were on the grounds of “Injurious Falsehood”, they also sought that Mr. Joseph be remanded in prison, with a reason that if he was granted bail, the reporter might interfere in police investigation, as well as do similar reports.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the police prosecutor, D.O. Abolanre at the Chief Magistrate Court II sitting in Lafia, the police “discovered that one Hir Joseph, a new reporter for the Nigerian Daily Trust Newspaper, with intent to injure or cast aspersion on the credibility of the Nigerian Police Force or achieve personal goals, falsely caused to be printed or reported on the Daily Trust….an article caption: Female NSCDC, Police Personnel Demand Rescue of Chibok Girls.”

Daily Trust newspapers reports:

“This he did with the aim to injure the credibility of the Nigeria Police or give the impression that Nigerian women police are against the wisdom of government of the Federal Government of Nigeria or the Inspector General of Police in steps being taken for the rescue of the Chibok schoolgirls.”

The FIR also said the reporter further injured the credibility of the state police command in a report that the command detained six female police officers over their involvement in the #BringBackOurGirls protest in Lafia, last week.

The reporter, who was docked at about 3:24pm, pleaded “not guilty” to the charges before Magistrate Yakubu Egga.

A team of counsels who appeared in court for the reporter, argued for the bail of the reporter, insisting that it was a bailable offence. The lawyers, lled by Barrister Mohammed Danjuma, were Barristers Abubakar Abubakar Dogara, Oshafu Mohammed Zakarai and Mohammed Abdul Ibrahim.

The leadership of the Lafia branch of Nigerian bar Association, led by the chairman, Barrister Ortan Gabriel Akaaka, was also in court alongside the team of lawyers who appeared for the reporter.

The judge granted the reporter bail in the sum of N150,000, or a shortee. State chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Daniel Yakubu, signed as shortee to bail the reporter.

Earlier, the reporter was held in police custody at the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) along Jos Road between 9am when he first reported their, to 2:15 when the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), Mr. Musa Akase alongside with the prosecutor herded him out of the station to board commercial motorcycles for the court along Shendam Road.

The police had, last Friday, invited and detained Joseph over his reporter of that day on the participation of policewomen in the chants to free the schoolgirls of Chibok. He was held in the custody between12:07, and later dragged into an over-crowded cell where he remained between minutes to 7pm and past 9pm.

Asari Dokubo leads anti #BringBackOurGirls Protest!

Even in the face of blaring evidence that over 200 high school girls were taken from their school hostels in Chibok Borno state, by members of the terrorist boko - haran sect, and held hostage since then, Nigerian controversial ex- militant Asari Dokubo in the picture below is seen championing an anti  #BringBackOurGirls Protest. 



One can not help but wonder what he is really up to this time around.....

We keep are fingers crossed and eyes open as events unfolds.

Iranian women defy Islamic dress code in online campaign!

Thousands of Iranian women have come together in an online campaign for greater social freedoms, posting pictures of themselves flouting the Islamic dress code required of all women in public.

According to reports, more than 146,000 people have supported the Facebook page “Stealthy Freedoms of Women in Iran,” which was created just 10 days ago with the aim of sparking debate on whether women should have the right to choose to wear the hijab.

It has yet to provoke an official response from the Iranian authorities, who fear people are letting Islamic values slip as they turn towards a more Western lifestyle.

The hijab, which is obligatory in Iran, requires women to cover their hair and much of their body in loose clothing in public. It has become a defining feature of Iran’s interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, since the 1979 revolution.

More than one hundred photos have already been posted on the page, with young women posing bare-headed in the countryside, suburbs, by the sea and even in cities.

“This is me committing a crime,” wrote a girl who posted an image of herself sitting in the middle of a secluded road in Nour Forest in northern Iran, with her headscarf resting on her shoulder. “Covertly, but in absolute peace,” her caption said.

Another photo shows a grandmother, a mother and her daughter together on a pavement.

“In one frame, three generations secure freedom at a corner of this street,” read the caption.

“Here’s hoping the day comes when the next generation can exercise its most basic right, before their hair goes grey.”

For more than a decade, the issue of the hijab has been hotly contested between hardline authorities and ordinary women pushing its boundaries.

A dedicated morality Police has long handed out fines, verbal notices or even arrests to women it considers are not observing the hijab rules properly.

The unit has reportedly been ordered to exercise more restraint since President Hassan Rouhani, a self-declared moderate, took office in August promising greater social freedoms.

But regime hardliners are opposed to any relaxing of the rules.

Parents identify their missing girls from video released by boko haram1

Some parents and some of the Chibok girls that escaped captivity on Tuesday viewed the video released by the Boko Haram and identified 54 of the girls in the clips.

The Borno State Government subsequently issued a statement to officially confirm the identity of the victims and also publish the names of those identified from the Boko Haram video.

According to reports, those that partook in the preview and identification of the teenagers in the video included some parents of the abducted girls and four escapees who were among the dozens that escaped after being kidnapped by the Boko Haram from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State on April 14.

The video was previewed in the office of the Chief of Staff, Government House, Abubakar Kari.

Information revealed that the Chairman of Chibok Local Government Area, Maina Lawan, who was among those that reviewed the video, behaved rashly towards journalists who accosted him while stepping out of the governor’s office after the preview.

He almost shattered the camera of some journalists for trying to take shots of the crew he brought from his local government for the verification exercise.

The identification of 54 of the girls throws more controversy on the identity of the remaining 83 of the 136 girls shown in the video; as well as the whereabouts of the remainder of the over 200 Chibok school girls believed to still be with the Boko Haram.

In the video, Mr. Shekau had claimed majority of the girls converted to Islam. The 136 girls shown were dressed in the Islamic hijab and reciting Quranic verses.

Mr. Shekau said he would not release the girls unless Boko Haram members in federal government jail were released. The government is yet to make a concrete and definite statement on the offer, but said it is reviewing all options.

Mr. Shekau did not give any reason why all the girls were not shown; while there have also been reports that some of the girls shown were not kidnapped from Chibok but were among those kidnapped from other Borno villages.

The Borno government, however, said the identification process has not been concluded.

A statement issued by Governor Kashim Shettima’s Adviser on Media, Isa Gusau, said the identification of the girls is still ongoing even as he listed the names of those identified.

“Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima has confirmed that young girls shown in a video released by the Boko Haram sect, are part of schoolgirls abducted at Government Secondary School Chibok following a night attack on April 14,2014”, said Mr. Gusau.

“Fifty four of the girls of the video have been identified by their names at an exercise that involved some parents of the girls, fellow students that include escapees from abduction, some teachers, security men and some officials of the Borno State Government led by the Chief of Staff to the Government House, Abubakar Kyari. The parents and students were conveyed to the Government House in Maiduguri to make for an open identification exercise.

“The names are currently being compared with school records as well as names published some days back to ensure accuracy. The exercise continues at the Government House and it is hoped that more names will be established by parents, students and teachers as well as management of the affected school”.

Names of the girls identified by their parents and fellow students:

1. Agnes Gafane
2. Saraya Stober
3. Hauwa Bitrus
4. Hajara Isa
5. Na’omi Philimun
6. Hauwa Abdu (1st Speaking)
7. Magret Yama
8. Shitta Abdu
9. Jummai Muta
10. Ladi Paul
11. Roda Peter
12. Filo Dauda
13. Godiya Bitrus
14. Saratu Tauji (2nd Speaking)
15. Ross Daniel
16. Hauwa Ali
17. Hajara Isa (Amira 3rd Speaking)
18. Luba Afga
19. Na’omi Luka
20. Saraya Emos Ali
21. Bilkisu Abdullahi
22. Mairama Ali
23. Maryam Ali Maiyanga
24. Dabora Abbas
25. Kabu Mala
26. Halima Ali
27. Yana Bukar
28. Solomi Pugu
29. Lydia Emmar
30. Luba Sanda
31. Saraya Samuel
32. Comfort Habila
33. Rejoice Shanki
34. Gloria Yaga
35. Mary Nkeki
36. Moda Baba
37. Hauwa Isuwa
38. Patient Jacob
39. Ladi Jajel
40. Abigel Bukar
41. Fanta Lawan
42. Zainabu Yaga
43. Aisha Lawan Zanna
44. Dokas Yakubu
45. Kabu Mala
46. Maryama Bashir
47. Hauwa M. Maina
48. Mary G. Dauda
49. Susana Yakubu
50. Maryam Abbas
51. Laraba John
52. Hanatu Nuhu
53. Na’ omi Bukar
54. Rifkatu Galang