Quiz of the Week: Who did Kanye West almost interrupt at February's Grammy awards

Who did Kanye West almost interrupt at February's Grammy awards when crashing the stage and then thinking better of it?

• Beck
• Taylor Swift
• Ed Sheeran

Miss Universe : Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez was mistakenly named winner of the 2015 Miss Universe contest

The host of the Miss Universe has apologised after mistakenly naming the wrong woman as winner, leaving Miss Colombia empty-handed.

After the error, Ariadna Gutierrez was instead declared runner-up and surrendered her crown to Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.
#MissUniverse2015 became Twitter's biggest trend of the night as social media users expressed their disbelief.
Ms Wurtzbach has since told reporters that she wishes Ms Gutierrez well.
"I'm very sorry, I did not take the crown away from her and I wish her well in whatever she wants to pursue after this pageant," she said.
Ms Gutierrez also addressed fans in a backstage video that has been shared on the pageant's official page.
She said: "Everything happens for a reason so I'm happy for all that I did."
At the end of the night in Las Vegas, Ms Gutierrez was named first runner-up followed by Olivia Jordan from the United States.

 

The host Steve Harvey responded, saying it was "his mistake" and he would take responsibility for not reading the winning card correctly.
He made another mistake when he misspelled both Colombia and the Philippines in an initial tweet. The tweet was later deleted.
"I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible," he tweeted in a second attempt. The message was re-tweeted more than 70,000 times.
"I don't want to take away from this amazing night and pageant. As well as the wonderful contestants - they were all amazing."

'Miss Information'

Shock and disbelief erupted online following the incident.
"Talk about awkward," described one Twitter user who "couldn't help" but find the gaffe "hilarious".
Another user, Mark Critch from Canada, said: "And the winner is - Miss Information."

Image caption Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach reacts to the announcement establishing her as winner

Facebook users also expressed their opinions on a post shared on the pageant's official page.
It was shared more than 62,000 times and received more than 17,000 comments from viewers across the world.
"That was poorly handled. Both of these gorgeous ladies deserve an apology because that was embarrassing for both of them. I literally felt both of their pain," read a top comment by Lemmy Cliff.
"That was the most annoying Miss Universe contest ever," said another commenter Andres Felipe Arbelaez. "The host was horrible and Miss Colombia should have won."
Pageant fans from the Philippines also began to express anger at the incident.
"Our Miss Philippines didn't get her shining moment," said a fan on Facebook. "It feels like she and our country were robbed of the winning moment, shame!"

Image caption The Filipina beauty queen was then crowned Miss Universe 2015 

 

While some Twitter users remained upset over the mistake, others began to tweet out messages of support.
"Don't feel terrible. Everyone makes mistakes," said Pedro Da Cunha.
"To err is human... to forgive is divine," said another user in reply to Mr Harvey's apology.
In an incident apparently unconnected to the competition, at least one person was killed and dozens injured after a car ploughed into a crowd next to the Miss Universe venue.

Pres. Buhari Denies Receiving $300,000 from Dasuki

Who will get named next in the #DasukiGate arms deal saga? There are so many rumours about certain people’s involvement floating around.

And this time, President Buhari’s name has somehow come up, as it is being alleged that he received $300,000 from ex National Security Adviser,  Sambo Dasuki. 

The presidency has denied the allegations via the following statement, Vanguard reports:

Our attention has been drawn to reports making the rounds, especially on internet-based media, that President Muhammadu Buhari received $300,000.00 and up to five armoured SUVs from the Office of the National Security Adviser in the aftermath of the attack on his convoy in Kaduna last year.

We unequivocally deny that President Buhari received $300,000.00 or any monetary compensation whatsoever from the Jonathan Presidency or any of its officials, in the aftermath of that attack, or at any other time since then.

While it is true that one armoured SUV and one untreated SUV were sent to the President in the aftermath of the attack, the vehicles were in keeping with his entitlements as a former Head of State under the Remuneration of Former Presidents and Heads of State (And other Ancillary Matters) Decree of 1999.

Section 3, Sub Section 1 of that Decree provides that three vehicles will be provided for former heads of state and replaced every four years.

There was therefore nothing untoward, illegal or tending to corruption in former Head of State Buhari and Presidential aspirant, as he then was, receiving vehicles, to which he was statutorily entitled, from the Federal Government of Nigeria.

President Buhari had in keeping with his austere, spartan and frugal disposition shunned most of his entitlements as a former Head of State, but was prevailed upon by his supporters to accept the two vehicles for his personal safety in the aftermath of the dastardly attempt to assassinate him.

It is preposterous to think that the President will allow his acclaimed reputation of honesty and incorruptibility to be tarnished by accepting a questionable monetary compensation from a discredited regime.

#BuhariGate Trends on Twitter: public reacts...

Following rumours of Buhari‘s involvement in the Sambo Dasuki arms deal saga, the Nigerian Twittersphere is weighing in on the matter:

"Quote of the week"

How to let go of Guilt??

Guilt isn’t always a rational thing; it’s a weight that will crush you whether you deserve it or not.

Guilt is the price we pay when our behavior violates one of our learned ideals or beliefs.  The symptoms range from minor emotional discomfort to substantial feelings of self-doubt and despair, and thus it’s one of the most common reasons people seek coaching or therapy, since they can’t let go of the guilt they feel.
Excess guilt is one of the heaviest and unhealthiest weights a person can hold.  It’s like strapping an extra 100+ pounds to your forehead and trying to go about your day.  Fortunately, just as a change in how you approach your body can help shed excess body weight (i.e. eating healthy and exercising), a change in how you approach your thoughts can help you shed excess guilt.
If you feel like you’re carrying around excess guilt right now, here are some simple reminders to help you let go and ease your mind:

1. A guilty, suffering spirit is far more open to love and grace than an uncaring or smug soul.  So, in a backwards way, it’s good news if you’re feeling like you’ve done wrong – it means you actually care to be better than you have been.  And starting now, you can be.
2. Guilt is not a response to other people’s sadness or anger; it’s a response to your own actions or lack thereof, and it can be positive.  If guilt leads to change then it can be useful, since it’s then no longer just guilt but the beginning of knowledge and growth.  That’s the key – channeling your initial feelings of guilt into positive action.  Let the way you feel change the way you live.
3. There’s no reason to feel perpetually guilty for making a sincere mistake.  To make a mistake is to be human.  Mistakes are part of life – everyone makes them, and everyone feels a little guilty sometimes.  But – and this is a BIG BUT – some people learn from their mistakes and some end up making the same ones again and again.  It’s up to you to decide if you’ll learn from your mistakes and use them to your advantage.  (Read The Gifts of Imperfection.)
4. If you feel guilty about something you did or didn’t do, don’t be ashamed to apologize.  An apology may seem like a sign of weakness, but having the courage to go up to someone and say “I’m sorry” is a great strength!
5. We’re all a little selfish sometimes.  It’s human nature.  A selfish person can still love someone else, can’t they?  Even when they’ve hurt them and let them down?  The answer is yes, as long a lesson is learned and not deliberately repeated.
6. Every one of us is guilty in some way – for all the good we didn’t do – the kind words never spoken, and the good deeds left undone.  We can’t change that now – the past is behind us – but we can still make the best use of today and every day going forward.  Yes, perhaps there’s a lot more we all could have done, but we just have to let the guilt remind us to do better next time.
7. Some people like passing guilt and blame on to others.  Beware of this.  It’s strange the way someone who wants to play the blame game and find you guilty can pass judgments, tell stories, and actually make you believe in your own guilt, even when you know you’re innocent (or deserve forgiveness).  Beware of this phenomenon and don’t condemn yourself just to satisfy other people’s drama.  (Angel and I discuss this in more detail in the “Relationships” chapter of 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.)
8. If you decide to make positive changes, let it be out of generosity and respect for yourself and others, not because you fear guilt or retribution in any way.
9. When you think EVERYONE is looking at you, it’s usually just you looking at yourself.  Understand this.  Understand that the fear of judgment is the mark of excessive guilt and the burden of insecurity.
10. If someone says they hate you, whatever the reason, everything they say about you after that is more or less meaningless.  Hate is irrational – when hatred judges, the verdict is always guilty.  The same is true when we hate ourselves for something – we can’t possibly vindicate ourselves and grow from the experience.  The bottom line is that we may feel guilt, give reasons, and even have excuses, but in the end it’s an act of cowardice to not give yourself another chance.  It’s time to show yourself some love and respect.
11. If you can’t reconcile things with yourself, and you don’t feel ready to talk it out with someone else, write it down.  Write your heart out!  So often when we’re feeling guilty we’re in a state of denial.  We’ve denied, trivialized or distorted our own experiences and feelings.  Writing is an important path for healing because it gives you the opportunity to sort out your thoughts and define your own reality.  You can say: “This did happen to me.  It was that bad.  It was a terrible mistake.  I’ve grown from it.  I was – and am – worthy of my own love and forgiveness.”
12. You may have lots of moments that aren’t too bad, and yet there’s always something you’re struggling with, or feeling guilty about.  You may just assume you need to try harder, but you find it difficult to sustain that level of effort.  If that sounds at all familiar, it’s time to let go of control, at least a little bit.  It’s time to stop feeling guilty about not being able to control the uncontrollable.

Curled from  Marc Chernoff

The Interview???

Has it ever occurred to you what life brings after death...?? So many times I try to ponder over this same question. The true answer is Guilt !!

Yes Guilt !! of what haven't been done or what have to be  done.
What comes after death is just suffering...as some persons will end up being in the discomfort place arranged by the creator...or Maybe Paradise as our religious scholars taught us..But One thing i know have to be done is prepare for death as if you attending an Interview.

An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewee.
Alright lets bring it to real existence..the Interviewer which happens to be the creator and the Interviewee which could be any of us.. 

What are the expected questions we all need to evaluate ourselves with ??

Believe it or not, the kind of questions you ask determine the kind of life you lead. That’s because your questions trigger its own set of answers, which lead to certain emotions, which then lead to certain actions (or in-actions), followed by results. If you ask yourself limiting questions, you’ll get limited results. If you ask yourself mind-opening, forwarding questions, you’ll gain a lot more out of them.
Some people like to ask questions like “Why am I so unlucky?”, “What if I had done this earlier?” and “Why am I always in such a situation?”. Because these questions are backward looking, the answers you get with them are naturally dis-empowering. On the other hand, questions like “What can I learn from this experience?”, “What can I do differently move forward?” and “What am I grateful for?” are empowering. They provoke you and get you thinking, putting you on the path to a better life.
Okay back to the evaluating questions...the expected questions one should evaluate him/herself with are the following: 
Here they are:

1. Who are you?
2. What are you passionate about?
3. What are the achievements you are most proud of?
4. What are you most grateful for in life? (Day 14 of Live a Better Life in 30 Days Program is about expressing gratitude.)
5. What are the most important things to you in life?
6. How would you describe yourself?
7. What are your values? What do you represent? What do you want to embody? (On Day 15 of Live a Better Life in 30 Days Program, you will identify your values.)
8. Do you love yourself?
9. … Why or Why not?
10. How can you love yourself more today?
11. What is your ideal self? What does it mean to be your highest self?
12. Look at your life now. Are you living the life of your dreams?
13. If you have one year left to live, what would you do?
14. If you have one month left to live, what would you do?
15. If you have one week left to live, what would you do?
16. If you have one day left to live, what would you do?
17. If you have an hour left to live, what would you do?
18. If you have one minute left to live, what would you do?
    
19. What would you do today if there is no more tomorrow?
20. What are the biggest things you’ve learned in life to date?
21. What advice would you give to yourself 3 years ago?
    
22. If you are yourself 1 year from the future, how would you advise the you now? (On Day 22 of Live a Better Life in 30 Days Program, we travel to the future to give advice to the us today.)
23. Is there something you’re still holding on to? Is it time to let it go?
24. What are you busy with today? Will this matter 1 year from now? 3 years? 5 years?
25. What are your Quadrant 2 tasks?
26. What opportunities are you looking for?
27. How can you create these opportunities?
28. What are your biggest goals and dreams?
29. What’s stopping you from pursuing them? …Why? How can you overcome them?
30. If you are to do something for free for the rest of your life, what would you want to do?
31. What would you do if you cannot fail; if there are no limitations in money, resources, time or networks?
    
32. What do you want to achieve 1 year from now?
33. … 3 years?
34. … 5 years?
35. … 10 years?
36. How important are these goals to you?
37. What if these goals are doubled? Tripled? Magnified by 10? How would you feel? Would you prefer to achieve these or your previous goals?
38. Who are the people who have achieved similar goals? … What can you learn from them?
39. Are you putting any parts of your life on hold? … Why?
40. What’s the top priority in your life right now?
41. What are you doing about it?
42. If you were to die tomorrow, what would be your biggest regret? What can you do now to make sure that doesn’t happen?
43. For every experience you get: What are the biggest things you have learned?
44. How can you do this better the next time?
45. If you have 1 million dollars, what will you do with it?
    
46. Do you love your job?
47. What is your ideal career?
48. How can you start creating your ideal career starting today?
49. What is your ideal diet?
50. What do you need to do to achieve your ideal diet?
51. What is your ideal home like?
52. What do you need to do to achieve your ideal home?
53. What is your ideal physical look?
54. What do you need to do to achieve your ideal physical look?
55. What is your ideal life?
56. What can you do to start living your ideal life?
57. What would you want to say to yourself 1 year in the future?
58. … 3 years?
59. … 5 years?
60. … 10 years?
61. What do you fear most in life?
62. Is there anything you are running away from?
63. Are you settling for less than what you are worth? … Why?
64. What is your inner dialogue like? (Day 26 of Be a Better Me in 30 Days Program is about uncovering your limiting thoughts.)
65. What limiting beliefs are you holding on to?
66. Are they helping you achieve your goals?
67. If not, is it time to let them go?
68. What empowering beliefs can you take on to help you achieve your goals?
69. What bad habits do you want to break?
70. What good habits do you want to cultivate?
71. What are the biggest actions you can take now to create the biggest results in your life?
72. Where are you living right now – the past, future or present?
73. Are you living your life to the fullest right now?
74. What is the meaning of life?
75. What is your purpose in life? Why do you exist? What is your mission?
    
76. How can you make your life more meaningful, starting today?
77. What drives you?
78. What are the times you are most inspired, most motivated, most charged up?
79. What did you do during those times? How can you do more of that starting today?
80. How can you change someone’s life for the better today?
81. Who are the 5 people you spend the most time with?
82. Are these people enabling you or holding you back?
    
83. What qualities do you want to embody? (Refer to Q7: Values and Q11: Ideal Self) Where can you meet people who embody these qualities?
84. Who inspire you the most?
85. How can you be like them?
86. What is your ideal life partner like?
87. Where can you find him/her?
88. How can you get to know him/her?
89. Are you afraid of letting others get close to you?
90. … Why?
    
91. Who is/are the most important person(s) to you in the world?
92. Are you giving them the attention you want to give?
93. How can you spend more time with them starting today?
94. What kind of person do you enjoy spending time with?
95. How can you be this person to others?
96. Who do you want to be like in 1 year?
97. … 3 years?
98. … 5 years?
99. … 10 years?
100. Who are your mentors in life? (formal or informal)
101. What is one thing you’re going to do differently after reading this article?

Written by: Teniola  Adedotun  Michael

Cesc Fabregas - players must justify 'big wages'

Chelsea's players need to justify their "big wages" and start playing like "big players", says Cesc Fabregas.

The Premier League champions are only one point above the relegation zone after Monday's defeat at Leicester, their ninth loss of the season.
After the game, boss Jose Mourinho said his "work was betrayed" by his players.
"If you are a big player and paid like a big player, you must play like a big player and behave like a big player," said Blues midfielder Fabregas.
"I am not saying you can't have a bad season and bad games but the attitude must be spot on.
"We must always be at the top of our games and the behaviour has to be better than what we are seeing right now from every single Chelsea player."

Relegation is a possibility - Nevin

Chelsea are 16th with only 15 points following the defeat by table-topping Leicester.
In Premier League history, when teams have had 15 points from 16 games, they have finished, on average, in 17th position - one place above the drop zone.
Mourinho says he does not believe the Stamford Bridge club are in a relegation battle.

However, former Blues winger Pat Nevin told BBC Radio 5 live that the Portuguese should not "ignore the concept" of going down.
Nevin also said that injuries could make it "even more difficult" to avoid being dragged into a "battle" to avoid the drop.
"You have to be realistic about relegation," he said. "Absolutely do not ignore it. When you lack confidence, that can spread through the team and it all can go against you.
"I don't think they'll go down, but don't bury your head in the sand. It's a possibility, so don't ignore it.
"I didn't think they'd be down there after 16 games. What about 20 games? What about 23 or 24? Then you start thinking about it."
Fabregas, speaking at a Facebook question and answer session, added: "Right now is not the time to think of where we might finish."

Credit :  BBC SPORT

Rihanna revealed a teaser from her upcoming album

Rihanna is all set to release her 8th album very soon, but she decided to make us wait by revealing a teaser from her opus “ANTI“.

PUBLICITÉ

The release of her new album is coming soon. Despite the fact that she’s known for postponing her project, Rihanna is a real working girl. Indeed she decided to position herself out of the world of music, e.g. creating a beauty agency and launching a cannabis business.
Plus, in the beginning of this month, Riri revealed the cover of her project which represents her as little girl wearing a crown. Now she posted on a website called Antidiary.com a fifteen-seconds-clip of ANTI with weird coded pictures. In the background of this mini clip we can hear an extract of her hit “BBHMM”.
This video is quite special as it keeps us on the edge of our seats; thirsty to hear her project! Keep your eyes and ears open, “ANTI” is coming sooner than expected.

Nicki Minaj felt bad for J-Lo’s rendition of Anaconda at the AMA’s 2015

During the American Music Awards ceremony, Jennifer Lopez‘s dance performance on Nicki Minaj‘s Anaconda didn’t convince the rapper, at all.

PUBLICITÉ

Jennifer Lopez was the host at the 43rd edition American Music Awards that took place on Sunday, November 22nd at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. All the top names in the music industry were in attendance and J-Lo went all out to provide them with one of the greatest award shows.
“Jenny from the block” opened the ceremony with a spectacular show which consisted of her and her team of professional dancers moving and shaking to some of this year’s greatest hits. From Beyoncé’s “7/11″ to Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” and even Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”, the bomba latina didn’t forget any hits. But her performance on Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda was the one that got everybody talking.
Indeed, while the 46 year-old entertainer was giving one of her best booty-shaking demonstration, the tv production had the good idea to point the cameras on Nicki Minaj to see her reaction. And clearly she wasn’t impressed. The rapper looked away, indifferent and her pout tells us she was kind of amused and confused at the same time.

J Cole visits a fan in Hospital!

Young Tae Stackhouse is fighting cancer at the North Carolina Cancer Hospital.
Forest Hills Drive’s J. Cole recently visited a fan in hospital that is suffering from cancer.
Tae Stackhouse — a resident of J. Cole’s hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina — is a big fan of the rapper, and his Mother and Aunt had reached out to Cole to come and visit.
According to reports from VIBE, J. Cole subsequently visited Stackhouse at the hospital, where he is currently a patient.
“I really appreciate this,” Stackhouse posted on Facebook, “just wanna give a big s/o to my mom and my aunt for bringing my favorite rapper to see me I’m proud to say that I’m blessed even tho I have cancer he told me to keep positive so that’s what Ima do thanks j.cole #RoleModel.”
More rappers should be doing things like this – giving back to your community in any way possible.
I love J Cole for this!

Celebrity break up alert - Kylie Jenner and Tyga calls it quit

Kylie Jenner ended her relationship with the rapper on his 26th birthday.Quite sad...lol

PUBLICITÉ

On November 19th, Tyga celebrated his 26th birthday at Los Angeles celebrity hot spot The Nice Guy where many superstars attended from A$ap Rocky to Wiz Khalifa and Leo DiCaprio. But his reality TV star girlfriend was nowhere to be found. Indeed, Kylie Jenner who was inseparable from Tyga  didn’t show up to his birthday party. And now we understand why.
The 18-year-old model reportedly dumped the guy as soon as she got back from her trip to Australia with her sister Kendall. According to sources, Kylie has finally succumb to pressure from the Kardashian squad to end her relationship with the rapper Tyga. But another source connected to Kylie revealed “It’s something Tyga did,” without being specific.
Poor sorry Tyga !

TY Bello writes…He not only shaved off all my hair. He took off every strand….

The first time I cut my hair was when I was nine. I had been giving my mum hell on Sunday evenings when it was time to get it woven for school. She just decided to put an end to my nonsense and took me to Baba Barber in Obalende . I remember being strapped to his squeaky old, reclined metal and torn brown leather-chair. It must have taken four adults to hold me down . I can never forget. How can I? Baba gave me the full treatment. He was determined to impress my mother. He not only shaved off all my hair. He took off every strand that lined my face and replaced it with a sharp concave line from ear to ear with his manual rusty clippers. I was devastated. I walked into class the next day greeted with what sounded like a silent but long eeeeeeew from every one . The experience marred me. I’ve seen baba in a few nightmares attempting to dispossess me of my Afro. So imagine my horror when my hair started dramatically falling out two months after my boys were born. I was deluded by someone who told me I was lucky to be carrying boys as ‘boys don’t take you hair away’ they give you even more. She was right. Initially at least. Never had better hair than when I was pregnant. So slowly but surely Baba barber was beckoning another visit. But I decided that this time around. It was going to be on my own terms, I was going to love my scalp back to a happy place and then cut hair myself when the time was right. Just to start over. Today was that day, a shoot didn’t happen so I had a lil time in my hands I chopped it all off. Not with old rusty clippers but my own scissors, It makes me look even more like my mum. So will I be missing my big afro? Absolutely!! But then again, I’m a Nigerian woman in 2015 and I watch YouTube I know a thousand ways to get that baby bouncing in air again In a heartbeat. I’ll just have fun with this in the mean time. I think I did better than baba barber tho….

Hit Alert: Runtown – “Lagos To Kampala” feat. Wizkid

 

Off Eric Many’s act, Runtown’s debut album, dubbed “Ghetto University”, here is one of the power packed tracks off the album.
The record is titled “Lagos To Kampala” and it features Star Boy’s, Wizkid.
Listen/Download below!
http://my.soundcity.tv/index.php?a=track&id=263

Davido bags first acting role in New Action movie " John Zerebe"

The HKN Gang front man Davido  is making his big screen acting debut alongside label mate Sina Rambo in a new movie titled ‘John Zerebe’. The action packed film was produced by Ikey Ojeoguw. In addition to his acting role, Davido also partnered with the production company in the making of the movie.

Check out more pix below.
     

Omawumi or Praiz: Who sang Adele’s “Hello” better?

The X3M Music artist Praiz gave an awesome and powerful rendition of the British singer-songwriter Adele’s chart topping single “Hello”.

The song marked Adele’s return to the music industry after her hiatus and is co-written by Adele and producer Greg Kurstin.

Check out Praiz’s powerful rendition of the ballad below and let us know what you think.

Embed:

 

 

https://youtu.be/mkX8LonuGME

 

 

 

 

Omawumi, a.k.a 'Wonder Woman', also jumped on Adele’s new tune, singing her own reggae version of “Hello”.

And fam, she totally did justice to the track. The track was produced by E.Kelly. Check it out below.

Mali's Terrosrist were looking for Air France staff at Radisson Hotel

Security guards say attackers were looking to kill French citizens in retaliation for the country's military campaign in Mali

The terrorists behind Friday's assault on a hotel in Mali were actively hunting for an Air France crew who were staying there, security guards who witnessed the attack have claimed.

Members of special forces are seen inside the Radisson Blu hotel   Photo: AFP/Getty

Kasim Haidara, who was on duty when the gunmen stormed the Radisson hotel in Bamako, told The Telegraph that they confronted a colleague and demanded to know which floor the Air France crew were staying on.

The fellow guard deliberately directed them to the wrong floor, Mr Haidara said, for which he was later shot dead by the terrorists.

An injured rescued hostage is carried from the Radisson Hotel by security forces in Bamako, Mali  Photo: EPA

Mr Haidara's account would suggest that the group, who killed 19 people, was prioritising French citizens because of the country's two-year long military campaign against Islamists in northern Mali. It might also explain the Air France's decision to suspend its twice daily flights from Paris to Bamako shortly afterwards.
Speaking of the "shocking, frightening" attack, Mr Haidara, 28, said that his colleague, Moussa Tiema-Konate, had been on the fifth floor of the hotel at the time.
UN officials exit the Radisson hotel in Bamako after the hostage situation was concluded  Photo: Joe Penney/Reuters
"When they got up there, the terrorists asked him: 'where are the staff of Air France?' He told them that they were on the seventh floor instead, and when they realised later that he had given them wrong information, they came back down and killed him."
• Footage from inside Mali hotel shows scenes of disarray
Bullet holes are seen at a staircase of the Radisson hotel in Bamako, Mali, after the attack  Photo: Joe Penney/Reuters
Air France has not commented on whether its staff were deliberately targeted or not, although did not confirm that 12 crew - including two pilots - were safely evacuated.
Mr Haidara's claims emerged as a chef who worked in the hotel's kitchens said that one of the terrorists had calmly cooked himself a meal during the siege, which lasted nine hours.
Ali Yazbeck, 30, who suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, told the New York Times that the gunman came into the kitchen, grilled some meat taken from a fridge, and then ate it before resuming combat.
Ali Yazbeck in a local clinic in Bamako  Photo: Jerome Delay/AP
• Why the Radisson Hotel in Mali was a prime target
Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Al-Murabitoun group, an Al-Qaeda affiliate led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Algerian militant behind the 2013 Amenas gas refinery attack in Algeria that killed 40 hostages, including six Britons.
Reports that the Mali attackers spoke in English with a Nigerian accent have raised speculation that the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram could also have been involved. However, security officials say they would have expected the group to have made a claim of responsibility by now.
Malian security forces say they are still hunting for "more than three" people who may have been involved in the attack, in which two of the gunmen were killed.
On Sunday, a leader of one of Mali’s secular northern separatist movement described the hotel attack as an attempt to derail long-running peace talks with the government.
Tight security surrounds Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as he visits the Radisson Blu hotel after the attack  Photo: Jerome Delay/AP
The Radisson had been set to host a meeting on implementing the latest accords, said Sidi Brahim Ould Sidati, of the Coordination of Azawad Movements, an ethnic Arab and Tuareg coalition. It was an alliance of convenience between Tuareg and Arab groups and al-Qaeda that sparked the French military campaign in 2013.
"The jihadis are in different groups but their goal is the same, and that's to hinder implementation of the peace accord," Mr Sidati said. His comments have been welcomed by western diplomats, who hope the one silver lining of the hotel attack may be to encourage more moderate rebel groups to commit more firmly to peace.
The carnage at the Radisson was also condemned yesterday by Pope Francis, who begins a tour of Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic later this week aimed at promoting Muslim-Christian relations.
Due to recent fighting in the Central African Republic, the Pontiff's top bodyguard is doing a last-minute security visit there in advance.

Mugabe's wife - Grace claims mini-skirts invite rape...is this right?

First lady tells thousands of supporters at provincial rally that if they showed off their thighs then any sexual assault would be their "fault"

Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe addresses party supporters at a rally in Harare Photo: AP

Grace Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s outspoken first lady who is thought to be tilting for the presidency after her husband dies, has sparked outrage for saying that if women wear short skirts they deserved to be raped.

Mrs Mugabe, 50, a mother-of-four and former typist who admits she is as “thick-skinned as a crocodile”, made her comments in the local language Shona to thousands of supporters at a rally in Mberengwa, southern Zimbabwe on Saturday.

“If you walk around wearing mini skirts displaying your thighs and inviting men to drool over you, then you want to complain when you have been raped?" he was reported as saying in local media. “That is unfortunate because it will be your fault.”

The remarks put her at odds with her husband who said two months ago that his government was "seriously" considering castrating rapists.

• Killing Cecil the lion was no big deal, says Grace Mugabe “

"Don’t say Mr Mugabe is becoming cruel because we want to protect our women. So men, take care,” he told MPs during a lunch to mark the opening of parliament.
Many Zimbabwe and and South African women complained on Twitter about Mrs Mugabe's assumptions.
"Just heart broken by what a woman Grace Mugabe said about women,” said one.
• Grace Mugabe: From first lady to President of Zimbabwe? Nobody's laughing now
Another, Womyn Power, wrote: “When women blame other women for being raped a piece of me dies inside and then there’s Grace Mugabe.”
“Grandmothers are getting raped daily in rural areas and they wear no mini skirts. Grace Mugabe is a disgrace," a South African student wrote.

When women blame other women for being raped a piece of me dies inside and then there's Grace Mugabe.

— Womyn Power (@MissMadiba) November 21, 2015

Mrs Mugabe, 50, began an affair with President Robert Mugabe, 91, when she was a teenage mother-of one while the former first lady, Sally Mugabe, was dying of kidney disease.
Grace Marufu with Robert Mugabe on their wedding day  Photo: Joao Silva/AP
Since declaring an interest in politics last year and securing a place in the powerful politburo of the ruling party, Zanu-PF, by becoming the party's womens' represenative, she has mesmerised poor people with her colorful rallies and well-organised road show. She also regularly donates state assets, such as tractors and tones of food at her rallies.
At present, she is touring the country ahead of Zanu PF’s annual conference next month. During the same rally, she also raised the hunger of thousands of Zimbabweans because of a savage drought and the shrinking economy. “I regularly give up a meal in solidarity with those who are hungry,” she told supporters.
She denied that she wants to succeed her nonagenarian husband, saying people want him to remain in power. "We are going to create a special wheelchair for President Mugabe so he rules until he is 100 years-old, because that is what we want," she said.

Photo of the day: Can anyone see the police car in the picture??

Article: Mossad – The World’s Most Efficient Killing Machine

“Mossad agents in Nigeria have provided important details on al-Quaeda in that country.”
Standing on a canteen table in down-town Tel Aviv, Israel’s spymaster studied the men and women of Mossad.
In the few weeks since taking over Mossad, Meir Dagan knew he already commanded something his recent predecessors never managed. Respect.
Barely raising his voice he spoke.
“When I was fighting in Lebanon, I witnessed the aftermath of a family feud. The patriarch’s head had been split open, his brain on the floor. Around him lay his wife and some of his children. All dead. Before I could do anything, one of the murderers scooped up a handful of brain and swallowed it. This is how you will all now operate. Otherwise someone will eat your brain.”
His every word held them in thrall – even if they sent a shudder through some of his listeners, hardened as they were.
In the canteen were those who had killed many times already. Killing enemies who could not be brought to trial because they were hidden deep inside Israel’s Arab neighbours.
Only Mossad could find and kill them. Rafi Eitan, the legendary former Operations Chief of Mossad told me when we sat together in his living room in a north Tel Aviv suburb:
“I always tried to kill when I could see the whites of a person’s eyes. So I could see the fear. Smell it on his breath. Sometimes I used my hands. A knife, or a silenced gun. I never felt a moment’s regret over a killing.”
Meir Amit, when he had been director of Mossad, later insisted “we are like the official hangman or the doctor on Death Row who administers the lethal injection. Our actions are all endorsed by the State of Israel. When Mossad kills it is not breaking the law. It is fulfilling a sentence sanctioned by the prime minister of the day”.
We spoke as he walked me through Mossad’s own unique memorial in Tel Aviv to the dead – a concrete maze shaped in the form of a brain. Each name engraved on the concrete was of an agent who had been killed while trying to destroy Israel’s enemies.

Meir Dagan

Some of those agents had one thing in common. Amit had sent them to their deaths.
“We did all we could to protect them. We trained them better than any other secret service. Sometimes, out on a mission, the dice is against you. But there will always be brave men ready to roll the dice,” he said.
Dagan, his listeners in the canteen knew, was cast in the same mould. He would protect them with every means he knew – legal or illegal. He would allow them to use proscribed nerve toxins. Dum-dum bullets. Ways of killing that not even the Mafia, the former KGB or China’s secret service use. But he would not hesitate to expose them to death – if it was for the greater good of Israel.
That was the deal those in the canteen had accepted when they were recruited. They, too, were ready to roll the dice.
Dagan, only the tenth man to head Mossad and bear the title of memune – “first among equals in Hebrew” – reminded his listeners sat on their plastic-form chairs what Meir Amit had once said. Then Dagan added:
“I am here to tell you those days are back. The dice is ready to roll.”
Dagan jumped down from the table and walked out of the canteen in total silence. Only then did the applause start.
Shortly afterwards came the Mombasa massacre of eleven days ago. An explosive-laden land-cruiser drove into the reception area of the island’s Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel.

Mossad: Depicted in a movie

Fifteen people died and 80 were seriously injured. Two shoulder-fired missiles nearly downed an Israeli passenger plane bringing tourists back to Tel Aviv from Kenya. Two hundred and seventy-five barely missed a Lockerbie-style death.
Meir Dagan immediately suspected it was the work of Osama bin-Laden’s al-Quaeda and that the missiles had come from Iraq’s arsenal.
But to suspect and prove would be the greatest challenge Mossad had faced since the War on Terrorism was launched by President Bush.
“Mossad would not be operating in its own backyard against suicide bombers. It would be working 1,500 miles away in a hostile environment. There would only be lip-service support from the authorities on the ground. Other intelligence services would be trawling through the evidence looking for clues that would fit their agendas. The CIA for a fix on bin-Laden. MI6 for a lead back to a threat to Britain. The same for the Germans,” a senior intelligence man in Tel Aviv told me.
But for Meir Dagan it was time to roll the dice. Every person with proven field experience was on a plane to Kenya within an hour of the massacre.
They would sift and search the wreckage, using sophisticated equipment to do so. Detectors that could detect a sliver of metal deep inside a corpse – metal that would show where the explosives came from. And much else.
The team who would “roll the dice” travelled separately – as they always did. They had their own aircraft, their own pilots. They were the men and women of kidon, Mossad’s ultra-secret assassination unit.
Their sole job in Mombasa was to find and kill the perpetrators of the massacre: those behind the three bombers who had gone to their deaths laughing. The kidon would kill the planners of the massacre after they had traced them to their lair – wherever it was. It might take months – as it had with avenging the murder of the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. But the kidon would find the men behind the Mombasa outrage and kill them.
They would use a small laboratory of poisons, sealed in vials until the moment came to strike. They had long and short-blade knives. Piano wire to strangle. Explosives no bigger than a throat lozenge capable fo blowing off a person’s head. An arsenal of guns: short-barrel pistols, sniper rifles with a mile killing range.
The team chosen to go to Mombasa had local language skills. They could pass for Arabs or for Indian traders. Between them, they spoke Swahili and other dialects. They dressed the part; they looked the part. They also understood the closed language of their world.
They had learned how to memorise fibres – precise physical descriptions of people. Neviof , how to break into an office, a bedroom, or any other given target and plant listening bugs – or a bomb. Masluh, the skill of shaking off a tail.
The women had learned how to use their sex. To be ever ready to sleep with someone to obtain vital information. The link between intelligence work and sexual entrapment is as old as spying itself. Meir Amit had said when he was Mossad’s chief:
“Sex is a woman’s weapon. Pillow talk is not a problem for her. But it takes a special kind of courage. It is not just sleeping with an enemy. It is to obtain information.”
The kidon team had passed the two years course at the Mossad training school at Henzelia, near Tel Aviv. They had been sent to a special camp in the Negev desert. There they had learned to kill.
“They are taught how to use the weapon appropriate for the target. Strangulation with a cheese-cutter if the victim is to be killed at night. A handgun fitted with a silencer. A nerve agent delivered by an aerosol or injection,” explained Victor Ostrovsky, a former member of kidon.
Ostrovsky, who today lives in Arizona, will not say who he has killed. But he quit Mossad – saying he could not “stomach the way they did things”.
My sources in Mossad say he is “long past his sell-by date. We do things differently now”.
And, by all accounts, more ruthlessly.
The man known to Mossad as “The Engineer” was a top Hamas bomb-maker. He lived on the West Bank, protected by gunmen.
One day he received a visitor – a distant cousin from Gaza. The young man spoke like so many from that hotbed of Islamic fanaticism.
Over mint tea, the two men spoke far into the evening. Finally, The Engineer invited his guest to stay over. The offer was accepted. The youth asked if he could use The Engineer’s mobile phone to call his own family to say they should not worry.
He asked if he could make the call from outside the house to improve reception. The Engineer nodded. The call over, the two men fell asleep on the floor.
Next day, the youth left to return to Gaza. That morning, The Engineer received a call on the mobile. As he put the phone to his mouth and started to speak, his head was blown off.
The youth had been recruited by Mossad to plant a powerful explosive inside the phone. The detonation signal had come from a kidon half a mile away.
No one had seen him arrive. No one saw him go.
Over the past years, Mossad have killed scores of Israel’s enemies by such methods.
“We try to never use the same method twice. Our technicians spend all their time devising new ways to kill,” a Mossad source told me last week.
Their roll-call of Mission Successful includes; Fathi Shkaki, the leader of Islamic Jihad, and Gerald Bull, the rogue Canadian investor of Saddam’s supergun.
The usual composition of a hit team is four. One is the “target locator”. His task is to keep tabs on the victim’s movements. Another is the “transporter”, to get the team safely away from the killing area.
The remaining two men perform the execution. In the case of Gerald Bull they knocked on his front door late in the evening. The ballistic expert had just moved in. He had been assured he was safe by his Iraqi minders. But they had been lured away by some of the kidon back-up team.
These are known as sayanim – the Hebrew word for helpers. Throughout the world there are tens of thousands. Each has been carefully recruited to provide the kind of help that the kidon unit required to kill Bull.
The assassination was simple. Both kidon wore FedEx courier uniforms. One carried a package. The other knocked on the door. When Bull opened it, the package was thrust at him. As he stepped back he was shot – once in the forehead and once in the throat. He flew backwards into the hall. The package was retrieved, the door closed behind the dead Bull. Both men calmly walked away to where the “transporter” was waiting. In hours, the team was back in Tel Aviv.
Preparation for an assassination can take weeks, even months. The hit team, once selected, is moved to a Mossad safe house, one of many in Israel.
Eli Cohen, a former Mossad agent, told me that “a safe house looks like it was furnished from a car boot sale”.
It was in one such safe house that the plan to assassinate Saddam Hussein was prepared.
It was elaborate even by Mossad standards. It revolved around killing Saddam during a visit to one of his mistresses.
Mossad agents in Baghdad had discovered that the woman, the widow of a serving Iraqi officer who had died mysteriously, would be driven from the palace to keep a tryst with Saddam in a desert villa outside the city.
Heavily guarded, the villa would be a hard target to hit.
But Mossad believed there was a window of opportunity between the time Saddam would land in his helicopter near the villa and enter its well-protected compound.
The plan to kill Saddam has long been on Mossad’s agenda. But previous attempts had failed due to Saddam’s obsession with changing his movements at the last moment.
Mossad believed he would not do so this time.
“The woman is irresistible,” said a report from one of its Baghdad undercover agents.
Mossad had scouted an air corridor through which it believed a kidon could be flown in below Iraqi radar.
A final rehearsal was held in the Negev desert. Israeli commandos doubled as Saddam and his bodyguards – a party of five.
As they landed close to a replica of the villa, the kidon were in position. They were equipped with specially adapted shoulder-firing missiles. But their weapons were to only fire blanks for the rehearsal.
In a tragic mistake, one of the missiles had been replaced with a live one. It killed the make-believe Saddam and his bodyguards.
The operation was cancelled.
But last week Meir Dagan was said to be considering adapting it to once more try and kill Saddam.
After eleven days investigation, his teams in Mombasa confirmed the massacre had all the hallmarks of being an Iraqi-sponsored act carried out by al-Quaeda.
How and when Mossad will strike against Saddam is, understandably, a closely guarded secret.
But an intelligence sources suggested to me that a successful assassination of Saddam could see the looming threat of war recede.
“With Saddam out of the way there is no reason to invade Iraq. The people themselves will rise,” said the source.
Dagan, the Mossad chief who could possible achieve that was born on a train between Russia and Poland. He speaks several languages. He is an action man, working 18 hour days. His private life is simple: he eschews the trappings of power that goes with the job of running MI6 or the CIA. His salary is a fraction of what their directors get. Three months into the job, he is adored by his staff.
In the past years, Mossad has experienced many publicised failures, a loss of morale and, worst of all, growing public criticism among its own people.
All that Meir Dagan is determined to change.
In his open neck shirt and chain store pants and sneakers, Dagan is no James Bond. The only spy fiction he is known to read is John Le Carre – because, he has told friends, he can at least empathise with its hero, Smiley.
Meir Dagan is also an avid reader of history of other intelligence services. It is said he knows more about the CIA and MI6 than many of its current employees.
He constantly reminds his staff that action cannot wait for certainty. That motive and deception are at the centre of their endeavours. That they must create situations which seek to draw fact out of darkness. For him the art of informed conjecture is an essential weapon.
Since Mombasa, Dagan has virtually worked and slept in his office. Its windows look eastwards to the Judean Hills. Beyond are the tribal badlands of Pakistan – where Dagan is convinced Osama bin-Laden is hiding – and the desert of Iraq through which Dagan believes Saddam will try and escape if war starts. The Mossad chief will be waiting.
Meantime, he is preoccupied with the latest news from Mombasa – and all those points east where his kidon team are tracking the planners of the outrage.
Some have gone to the Philippines. Others to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Mossad’s scientists and pathologists, as well as field agents, katsas, have combed and bagged the clues from the Paradise hotel disaster area.
Every day an El Al plane has flown northwards to Israel with the evidence despite behind-the-scene protests by the Kenyan intelligence service.
Mossad agents in Nigeria have provided important details on al-Quaeda in that country. Katsas in South Africa have joined colleagues in Mombasa. From Rome, Malta and Cyprus, other Mossad agents sped down through Africa into the country’s fierce heat.
Dagan’s men are polite to the counter-intelligence officers from the CIA, MI6 and European services.
“But these are Israelis who are dead or injured. This is Mossad’s job. And everybody had better remember that,” said one Mossad source.
Mossad has made no friends on the ground. They rarely do. That is their style: go it alone. They believe they know more than anyone else in fighting terrorism. And they may be right.
In Tel Aviv, having done all he could for the moment, Meir Dagan waits.
The 57 years-old, battle-hardened hero of past wars in Lebanon, in all those places in the Middle East where the alleys have no names, has earned his reputation as a no-holds barred leader. In those days, with a handgun in his pocket and his dog at his heel, he had led from the front. Twice he had been wounded, so that nowadays he sometimes uses a walking stick. He dislikes doing so. He detests any sign of weakness in himself or in others.
Dagan is a blunt man, proud and imperious and prepared to stand on his record. He crushed the first Intifada in Gaza in 1971. Two years later he fought in the Yom Kippur War.
For him, Mossad, and ultimately Israel, the Mombasa massacre is a test – to show that Mossad is back on centre stage with a vengeance.
No other intelligence service has a better history of operations in Central Africa. In the 1960s Mossad drove out the vaunted Chinese Secret Intelligence Service. It stopped Cuba’s Fidel Castro exporting his revolution into Africa. It beat the KGB at its own plans to turn the Congo into its playground. It was a dirty and deadly war.
A terrorist group ambushed a Mossad katsa in the Congo and fed him to the crocodiles. They filmed his last, threshing moments in the water – and sent the footage to the local Mossad station chief. He retaliated by placing a two-pound bomb under the toilet seat of the terrorist leader. It blew the villa apart. Twelve terrorists died.
Mossad built up a relationship with BOSS, the security service of the South African apartheid government. It sent a team to Pretoria to teach BOSS the art of sophisticated methods of interrogation. Israeli instructors showed them the black art of sleep deprivation, hooding, forcing a suspect to stand facing a wall for long hours, and mental tortures such as mock tortures.
“The one certainty is that if the Mombasa killers are caught Mossad won’t bother with mock executions,” said a Mossad source.
The methods Mossad uses are often outside the law. They have a unit that specialises in burglary – using far more sophisticated means than those employed by the infamous Watergate burglars. Their ineptitude led to the downfall of President Nixon.
They have a special team of scientists working at the Institute for Biological Research in Tel Aviv. They prepare the deadly toxins for the kidon.
Where other intelligence agencies no longer allow their agents to kill, kidon have no such restraint. They remain fully licensed to assassinate in the name of Israel once they have routinely convinced the incumbent prime minister of the need to do so.
Ariel Sharon needs little convincing.
Mossad’s assassins routinely witness some of Israel’s leading forensic pathologists at work so as to better understand how to make an assassination look like an accident.
They learn how a pinprick or small blemish left on a victim’s skin can be a give away. They are shown how to ensure against this.
It makes them probably the most sophisticated lawfully-approved killers in the world.
This morning (Sunday) Meir Dagan, as he has done every day since the Mombasa attack, will awaken from a combat veteran’s light sleep. This squat, barrel-chested man will take his customary cold water shower and eat his daily breakfast of natural yogurt, toast spread with honey washed down with several cups of strong black coffee.
Next he will study the latest reports from not only East Africa – but from all those areas where his team of hunters have now moved.
After briefing the prime minister on the scrambler phone that links Dagan to Ariel Sharon, the memune may spend an hour at an easel in the corner of his office – touching up one of the watercolour paintings which are the only known passion in his life.
But like everything else about him, they will remain under lock and key. Just as with his plan to assassinate Saddam Hussein, the first the world will know, if Mossad is successful, will be after it has happened.
READ MORE on Gordon’s Book
Mossad – The World’s Most Efficient Killing Machine

Obagoal (Obefemi Martins) voted the Most Valuable Player 2015 for Seattle Sounders,USA

Obafemi Martins of Seattle Sounders

Super Eagles of Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins has received applause from football fans in the country after he was named as the 2015 Most Valuable Player (MVP) of American Major League Soccer (MLS) clubside, Seattle Sounders.
Martins was voted the Sounders’ Most Valuable Player and won the team’s Golden Boot as the club announced their 2015 end-of-year awards on Friday morning.
The twitter has been awash with messages of congratulations to Martins after the awards were announced as Nigerian football fans took their turns to pay glowing tributes to a compatriot who has not only done himself proud in the American soccer league, but the entire country.
While congratulating Martins, Super Eagles Media Officer, Toyin Ibitoye writing on his Twitter handle @Toyin_ibitoye said: “This is the main man ‘ObaGoal’ @Obafemimartins. #SoarSuperEagles.Happy days are back.”
Abayomi Gbeleyi wrote “@Obafemimartins great one obagol.”
Gbadebo Adekunle said: “@Obafemimartins Congrats Omo Akin…”, while Sulaymon Tadese said: “@Obafemimartins the king of goal…”
Not only did the Nigerian fans take to Twitter to congratulate their own on his feat in far away America, even Martins’ admirers in Seattle hailed the Nigerian star on the social media.
Writing on @eloquentoctopus, Nicole, a Seattle female fan said that the awards given to Martins were “well deserved”, while Josh Jones said “@Obafemimartins You earned it. Looking forward to next season!”
Andrea Blukis wrote “@Obafemimartins …and that’s why you’re the MVP! congratulations.”
Meanwhile, Martins has also responded to the congratulatory messages he has been receiving. While acknowledging the love the fans have for him, he said that the credit of the awards go to all members of the team; from the players to the technical crew.
The former Inter Milan of Italy forward said: “Humbled to again be named team MVP. However, all credit due to my teammates and coaches. Already focusing on 2016.”
Despite missing two months with an injured groin this summer, Martins still led the club with 15 goals to go along with six assists. The 2015 MLS MVP runner up finished third in the league with 0.71 goals per game and notched either a goal or assist in 15 of his 21 regular-season appearances.
Other award winners of the year at Seattle Sounders are goalkeeper Stefan Freic who is the team Defender of the Year, while defender Brad Evans is the Humanitarian of the Year.
Frei set career highs in saves (111) and shutouts (10) while setting the tone for a defence that finished tied for fewest goals allowed in the league. He also became just the eighth goalkeeper in MLS history to accumulate 14 wins, 10 shutouts and 110 saves in a single year.
Evans, who helped raise $83,000 for Ronald McDonald House in Seattle and was active with the local Humane Society, finished second for the league’s Humanitarian of the Year award behind Columbus’ Kei Kamara.