BREAKING NEWS: ASUU Officially Calls Off Strike, Orders Lecturers To Resume On Tuesday | SoTechNaija

The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) has officially announced a conditional suspension of its over 5-week old nationwide strike.
The President of the Union, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, announced the suspension while addressing a news conference at about 9.30 pm on Monday night after another round of meeting with the government delegation led by the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige in Abuja.
The union also directed its members to return to the classroom with immediate effect – tomorrow, Tuesday.

The ASUU President said it was suspending the strike till end of October for government to fulfill its pledges.

He said that the union will not hesitate to resume the suspended action if the government renege on the signed agreement which he called Memorandum of Action, adding that the signed agreement was backed by a definite timeline for implementation.

He warned that the government must not deliberately dishonor the agreement, pointing out that the continuous breach of signed agreement has been responsible for the constant strike action in the Universities.

Ogunyemi said that the current agreement with the government is based on mutual trust between the union and the government, adding that the trust of the union must be respected by the government.

It is understood that the meeting, which started about 4.00pm was supposed to last for about one hour, but dragged for about four hours before agreement was reached on all contending issues.

Source: 360nob.com

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Politics: Trump Humiliated Jeff Sessions After Mueller Appointment

President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Oval Office in February.

According to a popular political news blog The New York Times reported that Shortly after learning in May that a special counsel had been appointed to investigate links between his campaign associates and Russia, President Trump berated Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an Oval Office meeting and said the attorney general should resign, according to current and former administration officials and others briefed on the matter.

The president blamed the appointment of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, on Mr. Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s Russia investigation — a move Mr. Trump believes was the moment his administration effectively lost control over the inquiry. Accusing Mr. Sessions of “disloyalty,” Mr. Trump unleashed a string of insults on his attorney general.

Ashen and emotional, Mr. Sessions told the president he would quit and sent a resignation letter to the White House, according to four people who were told details of the meeting. Mr. Sessions would later tell associates that the demeaning way the president addressed him was the most humiliating experience in decades of public life.

The Oval Office meeting, details of which have not previously been reported, shows the intensity of Mr. Trump’s emotions as the Russia investigation gained steam and how he appeared to immediately see Mr. Mueller’s appointment as a looming problem for his administration. It also illustrates the depth of antipathy Mr. Trump has had for Mr. Sessions — one of his earliest campaign supporters — and how the president interprets “disloyalty” within his circle of advisers.

Mr. Trump ended up rejecting Mr. Sessions’s May resignation letter after senior members of his administration argued that dismissing the attorney general would only create more problems for a president who had already fired an F.B.I. director and a national security adviser. Mr. Trump once again, in July, told aides he wanted to remove Mr. Sessions, but for a second time didn’t take action.

The relationship between the two men has improved marginally since midsummer, as Mr. Sessions has made a public display of hunting for the leakers among the administration’s national security officials. His allies said that despite the humiliation, the attorney general has stayed in the job because he sees a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity as the nation’s top law enforcement official to toughen the country’s immigration policies.

But he may be losing that battle as well. Mr. Sessions played a prominent role announcing the end of the Obama-era program that provided protection to the children of undocumented immigrants, only to see his boss backtrack on the policy. On Thursday morning, Mr. Trump confirmed he had reached a deal with Democrats to provide protections for the so-called “Dreamers.”

This account is based on interviews with seven administration officials and others familiar with the interactions between Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions in recent months who requested anonymity because they are not permitted to speak publicly about confidential conversations between the president and his aides. Politico first reported in July that Mr. Sessions had once offered his resignation letter, but the circumstances that prompted the letter — and Mr. Trump’s dressing down of the attorney general — have not previously been reported.

Spokespeople for the White House and Justice Department declined to comment.

The president’s outburst came in the middle of an Oval Office meeting Mr. Trump had with top advisers on May 17, to discuss candidates to take over the F.B.I. after the president fired its director, James B. Comey, earlier that month. In addition to Mr. Sessions, Vice President Mike Pence, Donald F. McGahn III, the White House counsel, and several other aides attended the meeting.

In the middle of the meeting, Mr. McGahn received a phone call from Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who had been overseeing the Russia investigation since Mr. Sessions recused himself from the inquiry months earlier. Mr. Sessions had stepped aside after it was revealed he had not provided accurate testimony to Congress about his meetings with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign.

In the telephone call to Mr. McGahn, Mr. Rosenstein said he had decided to appoint Mr. Mueller to be a special counsel for the investigation. Congress had been putting pressure on Mr. Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel to put distance between the Trump administration and the Russia investigation, and just the day before The New York Times had revealed that Mr. Trump had once asked Mr. Comey to end the F.B.I.’s investigation into Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser.

When the phone call ended, Mr. McGahn relayed the news to the president and his aides. Almost immediately, Mr. Trump lobbed a volley of insults at Mr. Sessions, telling the attorney general it was his fault they were in the current situation. Mr. Trump told Mr. Sessions that choosing him to be attorney general was one of the worst decisions he had made, called him an “idiot,” and said that he should resign.

An emotional Mr. Sessions told the president he would resign and left the Oval Office. That evening, as the Justice Department publicly announced the appointment of Mr. Mueller, the attorney general wrote a brief resignation letter to the president that was later sent to the White House. A person familiar with the events raised the possibility that Mr. Sessions had become emotional because the impact of his recusal was becoming clear.

In the hours after the Oval Office meeting, however, Mr. Trump’s top advisers intervened to save Mr. Sessions’s job. Mr. Pence, Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist at the time, and Reince Priebus, his chief of staff, all advised that accepting Mr. Sessions’s resignation would only sow more chaos inside the administration and rally Republicans in Congress against the president. Mr. Sessions, a former Alabama senator, served in the Senate for two decades.

The president relented, and eventually returned the resignation letter to Mr. Sessions — with a handwritten response on it.

For Mr. Sessions, the aggressiveness with which Mr. Trump has sought his removal was a blow. The son of a general store owner in a small town in Alabama, Mr. Sessions had long wanted to be the nation’s top federal law enforcement official or to serve in another top law enforcement or judicial post. He earned a reputation in the Senate as someone tough on immigration, and was the first senator to back Mr. Trump in the presidential campaign.

But their relationship began to deteriorate little more than a month after Mr. Trump was sworn in as president, after Mr. Sessions’s announcement that he was recusing himself from the Russia inquiry caught Mr. Trump by surprise.

The president spent months stewing about the recusal. In a July 19 interview with The Times, Mr. Trump said he never would have appointed Mr. Sessions to be attorney general if he knew he was going to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Mr. Trump called the decision “very unfair to the president.”

Days after the Times interview, Mr. Trump told aides he wanted to replace Mr. Sessions. Some of the president’s aides, not sure if Mr. Trump really wanted the attorney general gone or was just working through his anger, were able to delay the firing until the president’s anger passed.

But Mr. Trump continued his public attacks in the days that followed, including taking to Twitter to call him “weak” — a word that is among the harshest criticisms in Mr. Trump’s arsenal.

Administration officials and some of Mr. Trump’s outside advisers have puzzled at Mr. Sessions’s decision to stay on. But people close to Mr. Sessions said that he did not leave because he had a chance to have an impact on what he sees as an issue of his career: curtailing legal and illegal immigration.

In recent weeks, he has spearheaded the effort to undo what he believed to be the Obama administration’s dangerously lenient immigration policies, including the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program.

Mr. Sessions had no illusions about converting Mr. Trump to his side of the argument — Mr. Trump remains deeply ambivalent — and he had no illusions about repairing a damaged relationship he had once regarded as a friendship. But he told people he felt he had successfully pushed the president toward ending the Obama immigration policy, and thought it had given him increased leverage in the West Wing.

The president agreed to terminate the program, and on Sept. 5 Mr. Sessions stood alone at a lectern — a moment that seemed to be a significant victory for the attorney general.

But his satisfaction was fleeting. Mr. Trump quickly undercut Mr. Sessions in a tweet by saying he would reconsider whether or not to end the program, leading the attorney general to tell allies that he was frustrated that the president had muddled months of work leading to the announcement of the new policy.

On Wednesday evening, Democrats announced they had reached a deal with the president to quickly extend protections for young undocumented immigrants.

On Thursday morning, taking a vastly different position than the one Mr. Sessions had announced on Sept. 5, the president tweeted about the need for protections for people brought here “through no fault of their own.”

Glenn Thrush contributed report and

SoTechNaija contributed report

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This Woman Holds the Guinness World Record for Longest Eyelashes

When you think of beauty-related Guinness World Records, those unbelievably long, curly fingernails probably come to mind. But forget everything you thought you knew: The actual wildest body-part-related record definitely goes to the world's longest eyelashes. They're almost 5 inches long and took their owner nearly 50 years to grow. NBD.According to the Guinness World Records, You Jianxia of Shanghai, who was born in 1968, has a lash on her left upper eyelid that measures a whopping 12.4 centimeters (about 4.88 inches). And since the record was actually set on June 28, 2016, it's possible that Jianxia's eyelashes have grown even longer in the past 14 months. Do they grow that fast, though? Does she trim them? Has she considered shampooing them? Do they get split ends? Do they tickle her face? Has she ever tried Latisse? I NEED answers.

All the Guinness World Records publishers shared about Jianxia in a press release promoting the 2018 edition, which includes Jianxia's record, is that she discovered the scarily long lash "during an 18-month nature retreat she embarked on in 2013." According to the publishers, "She puts the growth down to the life she leads at one with nature." BRB, scheduling a camping trip to grow out my lashes.



Jianxia will be in good company in the Guinness World Records 2018 book, which hit shelves last week, according to the release. One particular addition includes a shockingly long set of fingernails. The latest record was set by Houston-based nail artist Ayanna Williams, 60, who grew out her nails for 23 years until they reached their current length of almost 19 feet. In case you were wondering, they can take almost an entire week to paint and make putting on pants extra difficult. And if you're interested in giving Williams a run for her money, her strategy for growing out her nails includes cleaning them daily with antibacterial soap and avoiding washing the dishes (I'm sold!).
 See photos:

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Bitcion Predicted to crash: Jamie Dimon Slams Bitcoin as a ‘Fraud’

• Dimon compares bitcoin to tulip mania, predicting a collapse
• Still, he says, it’s a good option for murderers, drug dealers

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said he would fire any employee trading bitcoin for being “stupid.”
The cryptocurrency “won’t end well,” he told an investor conference in New York on Tuesday, predicting it will eventually blow up. “It’s a fraud” and “worse than tulip bulbs.”
If a JPMorgan trader began trading in bitcoin, he said, “I’d fire them in a second. For two reasons: It’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous.”
Bitcoin has soared in recent months, spurred by greater acceptance of the blockchain technology that underpins the exchange method and optimism that faster transaction times will encourage broader use of the cryptocurrency. Prices have climbed more than four-fold this year -- a run that has drawn debate over whether that’s a bubble.
Bitcoin slipped after Dimon’s remarks. It was down 1 percent as of 4 p.m. in New York. Last week, it slumped after reports that China plans to ban trading of virtual currencies on domestic exchanges, dealing another blow to the $150 billion cryptocurrency market.

Tulips are a reference to the mania that swept Holland in the 17th century, with speculators driving up prices of virtually worthless tulip bulbs to exorbitant levels. That didn’t end well.
In bitcoin’s case, Dimon said he’s skeptical authorities will allow a currency to exist without state oversight, especially if something goes wrong. “Someone’s going to get killed and then the government’s going to come down,” he said. “You just saw in China, governments like to control their money supply.”
Dimon differentiated between the bitcoin currency and the underlying blockchain technology, which he said can be useful. Still, he said banks’ application of blockchain “won’t be overnight.”



The bank chief said he wouldn’t short bitcoin because there’s no telling how high it will go before it collapses. The best argument he’s heard, he said, is that it can be useful to people in places with no other options -- so long as the supply of coins doesn’t surge.
“If you were in Venezuela or Ecuador or North Korea or a bunch of parts like that, or if you were a drug dealer, a murderer, stuff like that, you are better off doing it in bitcoin than U.S. dollars,” he said. “So there may be a market for that, but it’d be a limited market.”

To be sure, Dimon later noted that his daughter purchased some bitcoin.
One place where cryptocurrencies and traditional finance are coming together is at CBOE Holdings Inc., the owner of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Last month, the firm teamed up with Gemini Trust Co. -- the startup created by the Winklevoss twins made famous by the 2010 Facebook film “The Social Network” -- with a plan to offer bitcoin futures.
CBOE’s chairman and CEO, Ed Tilly, defended such efforts after Dimon’s remarks.
“Like it or not, people want exposure to bitcoin,” Tilly said. Believers can bet on its rise, and Dimon is welcome to take the other side, he said. “We’re happy to be the ones in the middle.”

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Nnamdi Kanu: Police react as soldiers ‘storm’ Nnamdi Kanu’s residence

Two conflicting accounts have emerged about the incident that played out at the home of separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in Abia State on Sunday.
While Mr. Kanu said the soldiers stormed his residence and injured occupants in an attempt to take his life; the police said military personnel were only carrying out a procession to test a new armoured carrier.

“There was no attack on the home of Nnamdi Kanu,” Abia police commissioner, Leye Oyebade, told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Sunday evening.

“What happened was that the military was parading a new armoured carrier and passed through Nnamdi Kanu’s residence.

“It was while they were passing that some people threw stones and other things at them,” Mr. Oyebade explained.

The police chief said normalcy has been restored and no life was lost during the minor skirmish and Mr. Kanu was neither targeted nor arrested.
But Mr. Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had painted a different account of what transpired at the home of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, saying there was a siege.
In a statement Mr. Ejiofor accused the Buhari administration of attempting to take his client’s life.

“Just to alert the world that the Nigeria military personnel under the command of Chief of Army Staff is presently laying a siege on my client (Nnamdi Kanu) country home in umuahia.

“They had continued to shot sporadically into the air through which assault, about five of his family members were brutally wounded and some unfortunately killed. There is no doubt that the present deployment of troops to the South East is to haunt for my client and possibly eliminate him,” the statement said.

Mr. Ejiofor added that if something goes wrong with his client’s life, the international would hold the country’s president responsible.

 “Let the whole world know that if anything untoward happen to my client, that President Buhari and his Chief of Army Staff should be held responsible by the international Community.

” We are presently counting the number of casualties as the onslaught progress.  The world should be immediately notified about the tension in Biafra land, created by the government in power.  We must adopt all know legal mechanism to resist the unconstitutional but violent approach in dealing with unarmed people merely operating within the confines of law. Buhari must be held responsible.
“We are ready to present our case once more before the International Court of Justice.



The families that lost their beloved ones in the last year may 29th violent attack by the military are yet to recover from the shock of losing their love ones. This situation must be arrested in time. ”
The Army spokesperson, Sani Usman, did not respond to calls to seek the Army’s official reaction to the incident.

The Nigerian government is currently pursuing revocation of Mr. Kanu’s bail, after the IPOB leader allegedly breached the conditions of his bail which was granted to him by the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, where he faces treason charges.
The revocation motion, which was filed by the Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, is expected to be heard in October.

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#servitude: A Glimpse Of A Changing Niger Delta _A Solo Exhibition By Benjamin Ejiohuo

Port Harcourt based Artist Benjamin Ejiohuo has finally unvailed creativity into the city of port Harcourt through his two Weeks at Exhibition set to End this Friday 1st-september-2017 at Ediz Wine Bar.

Benjamin who explained some of his works during his official opening stated that most of his arts are based on issues bothering the Niger delta region of Nigeria and the African nation at large.

Benjamin was born in the city of lagos , but hails from rundele in Emouha Local Government Area of Rivers Sate.

Pls Do Well To Visit Ediz Wine Bar at G.R.A for a glimpse of His Art Works.

See More Photos From The Exhibition Below:

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Jamb Sets To Announce New Policies Today Being Tuesday

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, which began a meeting on Monday, is expected to formally announce a new holistic policy Today, when the body is expected to conclude its ongoing deliberation.
The meeting, which involves admission officers of Nigerian tertiary institutions, is taking place at the National Judicial Institute in Abuja.

Issues discussed at the meeting include the introduction of Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) to ensure quality control, transparency and credibility of the admission process, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
An attendee at Monday’s meeting explained that the new policy is expected to make provision for a ‘market place’ in the JAMB portal where institutions can go and ‘request for students in Nigeria who score their cut off points.'
These institutions will write to JAMB to request for the students and also give them (students) three days to respond. Also, only three universities can request for a candidate if the policy is adopted.
The new policy is also expected to allow institutions in Nigeria peg their cut off point after meeting with their respective senates.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the new policy will also give the academic board or senate of an institution the power to ‘allocate percentages to JAMB, the school and O’level results as these will be calculated to get the students’ cut off marks for post-UTME.’
It was also learnt that JAMB wants to ensure there is a unified time for closing admission in all universities.

If the policy sails through, there will be a portal for admission which will be based on cut off points, quota system and catchment areas.
“The new system is such that institutions can only admit those who meet their cut off points,” an admission officer for a tertiary institution who was at the meeting told PREMIUM TIMRS. “If a candidate does not meet the cut off, no matter whom he or she knows, such person cannot be admitted.”
The official said the system was demonstrated to all the attendees at Monday’s meeting, most of whom expressed satisfaction with it.

Also, the policy intends to make provisions for candidates to accept and reject any admission being offered to them.
The intended policy also looks out for candidates who are unable to go for National Youth Service, NYSC, because they do not have JAMB admission letters. This set of students could be asked to pay a fee, about N10,000 for regularisation and would be able to go for the youth service.
JAMB is expected to formally brief journalists on these new policies Today afternoon

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Charly boy protest with gang: Resume or Resign | Nigerians says

A coalition of civil society and pro democracy group under the aegis of Concerned Nigerians have staged a peaceful protest march in Abuja asking ailing Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to resume or resign his office after he has spent 92 days in London for medical treatment without a definite date for return to work.
The placard carrying protesters converged at the Unity Fountain near Transcorp Hilton with the following inscriptions; “Resume or Resign Nigerians say enough is enough”; “Buhari ! Where are you?” “We Are Tired of Being Enslaved in Our Country,” “Our Mumu Don Do”; “Buhari Called For Impeachment When Yar’adua Was Sick, Now We Are Calling For Same.”

Heavily armed mobile police are accompanying the protesters as they are moving toward the gate of the Presidential Villa where they vowed to occupy until the President accede to their demands.
The protest was led by flamboyant musician, Charles Oputa aka Charly Boy and the convener Deji Adeyanju. Adeyanju regretted the failure of the leadership of the National Assembly to launch an investigation or set up a panel to look into the true status of President Buhari’s health, adding the group believes the legislators have been compromised and are working with an infamous cabal in the executive branch against the Nigerian people.

He explained that the leadership of the National Assembly must choose between the Nigerian people and the cabal. “90 days is too long for a president to be away from his country without any explanation to the people that voted him into office.

The group insisted that if Buhari has become incapacitated, he should do the honorable thing and resign because he cannot continue to hold the country to ransom noting that a group of few people in the government have taken advantage of the president’s ill health to loot the treasury with impunity.

“We hereby demand that the National Assembly invoke Section 144 sub Section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution and direct the setting up of a medical panel in conjunction with the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to ascertain whether the President is incapacitated,” he stated.
The group vowed to continue with the daily sit- out irrespective of the intimidation from the police.


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Match result: Chelsea 2 - 3 Bayern Munich

Alvaro Morata helped set up a goal on his Chelsea debut but could not prevent a 3-2 friendly defeat against Bayern Munich in Singapore.


The £60million signing from Real Madrid came on as a second-half substitute with his new side trailing by two goals, and teed up Michy Batshuayi for his fifth goal of pre-season.


But Chelsea paid the price for a slow start, falling 3-0 behind in the first half. First Brazilian full-back Rafinha came forward and pinged a low shot from 25 yards which found its way into the corner, before Thomas Muller struck twice.

Marcos Alonso drilled in Victor Moses' square pass just before half-time to make it 3-1, before Morata came on to make his first appearance in a Blues shirt 15 minutes into the second half.
Morata made his mark with six minutes remaining, flicking on a Fabregas corner at the near post to leave Batshuayi with a tap-in - but it was not enough for the Blues.
Relive the key events with Standard Sport's live coverage.

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Game of Thrones, season 7 episode 2, 'Stormborn' recap

Game of Thrones, season 7 episode 2, 'Stormborn' recap

Explosions! Great groaning battle-ships! A lunatic in guy-liner! And that was just the closing five minutes. It’s been a cautious start to Game of Thrones season seven. But, following further, patience-testing re-arranging of the chess pieces, episode two went out in a literal blaze of glory. Euron Greyjoy –  Captain Jack Sparrow, if Johnny Depp was slim, Scandinavian and twice as over the top – was staging a smash and grab raid on close family/ sworn enemies Theon and Yara. Galleons piled into one another, Sand Snakes perished (was it wrong to cheer?), the thrill factor blew through the roof.

Euron's appearance was one of those Game of Throne moments you’ll always remember seeing for the first time. One minute Yara "I’ll snog anything that moves" Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan) was cuddling with Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma), the next Euron had invited himself on board via a giant spiky battering ram straight from a Medieval retelling of Mad Max. Whatever else the sociopathic seadog (Pilou Asbæk) gets up to this year he can already claim the prize for best Game of Thrones entrance ever.

With the action came a devastating catharsis. Theon (Alfie Allen) regressed into former-person Reek and legged it overboard, leaving Yara and Ellaria to their unpleasant fate (presumably involving being presented to Cersei with big shiny bow on top). Our minds had been blown, emotions reduced to a smoking pyre.

This is the rest of what we learned.

Is Euron Game of Thrones’s silliest villain yet? 

Joffrey was a loathsome wimp, Ramsay a psychopath with a bad haircut. But Euron is something far more familiar – a bonkers villain of the old school. There are no hidden depths to the new ruler of the Iron Islands, unless you count the layers of emo make-up he’s mysteriously acquired this season. He just wants to kill, maim and burn –  if he can achieve all three at once, so much the merrier.

Yet, with his latest antics, he has more than earned his place in the show’s rogues’s gallery. Armed with a post-apocalyptic battering ram, he ransacked Theon and Yara’s fleet – as a bonus cutting down the (still annoying) Sand Snakes.
"Give your uncle a kiss," Euron proceeded to leer at Yara as he charged into action – an aside sure to go down as one of the season’s outstanding one-liners. It was all too much for Theon, still clearly working through his time as Ramsay’s crippled man-servant. Over the side the Prince of the Pyke jumped – a leap with echoes of his vault over the Winterfell battlements with Sansa. That had been the moment Reek was reborn as Theon once again. But who was he now? Also – is Yara Euron’s prisoner or has he merely slit her throat?

All is far from sunny in Dragonstone. 

Daenerys’s return to the family seat and place of her birth, was not quite the jubilee she had anticipated. In a draughty castle, she gravely surveyed a raging storm. Where were the approving crowds, the Targaryen loyalists ready to sweep her back to power?

That the Mother of Dragons (Emilia Clarke) was determined to bring the people onside rather than burn Westeros to the ground with her dragons was testament to her sense of right and wrong (a moral compass that hasn’t always pointed in the correct direction) But that isn’t to suggest she has gone soft and Varys (Conleth Hill), aka most Machiavellian soul in Westeros, bore the brunt of her suspicions. He was a Robert supporter who’d turned on the Baratheons – what was to stop him similarly deserting Daenerys in the event of a more desirable candidate present themselves?

"You wish to know where my loyalties lie…with the people," said the former Master of Whisperers – who hadn’t sounded this single-minded since bunging Tyrion into that wine crate at the start of season five. This was enough to keep Daenerys onside – but was the show laying groundwork for violent disagreements to come? 

After Ed Sheeran, it was time for a surprise cameo from the Lady in Red

Sensitive souls are still haunted by the ginger halfling’s shock appearance last week. Now came another divisive figure with a reputation for making children scream in terror. Exiled by Jon Snow, the Red Woman (Carice van Houten) had fetched up on Daenerys’s doorstep.

She was here at the behest of the Great God of Plot Devices. "I believe you have a role to play…as does the King in the North, Jon Snow," said Melisandre, a spectacularly unsubtle hint that the Mother of Dragons and the lord of Winterfell might find common cause. "If he does rule the north, he'll make an excellent ally," chimed Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), with equal lack of artfulness.  A Daenerys–Jon alliance has admittedly long been on the cards – but did Game of Thrones have to spell it out so clunkily? Let’s hope the series rediscovers its flair of understatement as the season continues. 

Will Jon Snow bend the knee to the Mother of Dragons? 

Daenerys is very much up for an alliance with Jon Snow – albeit on her terms. In Winterfell, Sansa –  in her new position as Jon's neurotic frenemy – warned of a possible Targaryen trap. An alternative perspective was offered by Ser Davos. Dragons breath fire – and fire destroys Walkers. The logic appealed to Snow – but is he risking all by agreeing to a face-to-face meeting with the Mother of Dragons?

One thing he definitely isn’t sitting on the fence about is Littlefinger’s baleful influence on Sansa (Sophie Turner). The King in the North understandably lost his cool after Lord Baelish (Aidan Gillen) confessed to pervy uncle feelings for Sansa. Eeeugh. What big brother wouldn’t have lashed out as precisely as Jon had?

Is Game of Thrones trying to make us lose our dinner? 

After last week’s bed-pan rhapsody, it was back to Oldtown for further gross-out visual humour. As Ser Jorah (Iain Glen) chomped on a leather strap, Sam (John Bradley-West) merrily hacked at his Greyscale infection – an excuse for Game of Thrones to delight our senses with the crunch of splintering skin and the wet pop of diseased flesh. The final hilarious flourish came with a cut to a chap chomping a pie. Cheers Game of Thrones – it’s going be years before we can even think about Cornish Pasty for lunch.

The episode felt like the Game of Thrones version of the Avengers 

Enemies of Cersei… assemble! Under the same roof were gathered Daenerys, Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg), Ellaria Sand (pre-Euron Greyjoy run-in), Yara and Theon and Tyrion Lannister. Opinions differed as to the smartest way of conquering the Seven Kingdoms. Olenna and Ellaria were of the "torch first, ask questions later" school – but Daenerys and Tyrion had a more subtle plan. The Lannisters would be neutralised via a smash and grab raid by the Unsullied on the House's seat at Casterly Rock. Cunning! But the machinations were in truth an afterthought. The thrill was seeing all of these great players gathered around a table together, nattering as if they’d been best mates forever.

Can Cersei top her Wildfire moment? 

It’s been an understated season for Cersei (Lena Headey) thus far. Mostly the show has asked her to prance around in black robes and look quietly gaga.  However, this week we had a glimpse of what she’s planning by way of encore after destroying the Sept of Balor last year. In the bowels of the Red Keep Qyburn (Anton Lesser) and the boys in r ’n d had worked up a prototype giant crossbow – perfect for shooting pesky dragons from the sky.  Surrounded by enemies, with even Jaime doubting her, you wanted to applaud Cersei for always having a trick up her sleeve – "trick" in this case being the largest projectile weapon the Seven Kingdoms have yet witnessed. Is it wrong to root for her?

Will Arya stop trying to kill everyone now?

"Jon Snow came down from Castle Black with a Wildling army and won the Battle of the Bastards – he's King in the North now." Hot Pie’s newsflash was just the excuse Arya (Maisie Williams) needed to abandon Operation Kill Everyone (next on the list was Cersei Lannister) and instead set course for Winterfell.

The first of what will presumably be many tearful reunions followed as she reconnected with beloved Direwolf Nymeria. Alas, the primordial pooch wasn’t interested in a long-term get together. But she at least persuaded her fellow peckish predators to forbear from ripping Arya to pieces. By Game of Thrones standards, this constituted a properly heart-warming moment. Also: how novel to sit through an episode in which Arya didn’t poison/stab/ feed someone their own kin in baked snack form.

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John Heard: Home Alone actor dies aged 71 mourned by followers

The actor John Heard, best known for his role in the Home Alone films, has died at the age of 71.(this got the "Home alone" show followers week hearten and sobered).

Heard was found dead on Friday in his hotel room in Palo Alto, California.

The Santa Clara medical examiner's office confirmed the death. The cause is unknown.
Heard had reportedly been staying at the hotel after "minor back surgery" this week.
"Our officers responded with the Fire Department to a hotel in our city on a report of a person in need of medical aid," the Palo Alto police department said.
"The person was determined to be deceased. While still under investigation, the death is not considered suspicious at this time."

Actor "Jeff Bridges" paid tribute to 'a wonderful actor'

'Artistry and dedication'

Arguably Heard's most memorable role was as Peter McCallister, the father of Macaulay Culkin's character in the Home Alone films, in the 1990s.
But he first started acting in the 1970s, appearing on the stage, on television and in film

He went on to play leading roles in films including Cutter's Way, C.H.U.D and Gladiator, opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr.
In 1999 he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as Vin Makazian - a corrupt New Jersey police detective - in television series The Sopranos.
Marlon Wayans, who worked with Heard on the 2004 comedy White Chicks, wrote on Instagram: "He was a great guy". Shared a lot of laughs. Sad to see such a good spirit and actor taken."
 
Also read: Pokémon Go Fest attendees to get refunds as technical disappointment breaks the event

According to: BBC

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Etisalat Escapes from loosing customers: Changes it Name to "9Mobile"

Story line on Etisalat journey of living Nigeria, came as follow's;

     The embattled Etisalat Nigeria on Thursday rallied to move away from the shadows of its troubles by taking a new brand name.
At end of a crucial management meeting of the telecom firm in Lagos, 9Mobile was unanimously adopted by the company as its new brand name.

Last Monday, the chief executive of Etisalat International, Hatem Dowidar, said Etisalat Group would, in the next three weeks, phase out the brand name in Nigeria.
The decision followed Emirates Telecommunications Group (Etisalat Group) withdrawal of further involvement in the ownership of the Nigerian subsidiary.

Until June 15, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, group was a major shareholder in Etisalat Nigeria, along with United Arab Emirates Sovereign Wealth Fund through Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi.
The two affiliates controlled a combined 85 per cent equity in the telecom firm, with Myacinth holding 15 per cent stake through Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services, EMTS Holding BV, owned by former United Bank for Africa, UBA, Chairman, Hakeem Bello-Osagie.

Opting to part ways with the company followed the crisis in the wake of the $1.2 billion (N377.4 billion) syndicated loan the telecom firm took in 2013 from a consortium of 13 Nigerian banks.
Etisalat Nigeria, Emirates Group disclosed in a filing with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange it had transferred 100 per cent of its shares with EMTS Holding BV, a special purpose vehicle established in Netherlands, to United Capital Trustees Limited, legal trustees of the banks.
However, following the resignation a fortnight ago of its immediate past Chairman, Mr. Bello-Osagie, and last week’s reconstitution of the company’s Board of directors, the issue of the trading name the embattled firm would carry brought fresh headache to its management.

EMTS Vice President Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Ibrahim Dikko, had weighed in with an explanation that the company had a valid and subsisting agreement with its former parent company, to continue using the Etisalat brand regardless of the recent restructuring of the Company.

Mr. Dikko gave a hint as to what the new name of the company could be. He recalled that at the launch of EMTS in Nigeria in 2008, “0809ja” was adopted, to affirm the “Nigerianness” of its origin and the company’s sphere of influence.
Following Thursday’s announcement of the new brand name, SoTechNaija learnt all staff of the company nationwide were sent notices of the change of name. The company’s new name is yet to be unveiled officially to the public.

Early this week, Mr. Dikko said the new brand name would not affect the company’s operations.
New chief executive, Boye Olusanya said the new management was mandated to ensure the business was run as profitable venture.
“What is most important now is to ensure the business runs and meets its obligations. We will focuss on getting the company back on track as soon as possible,” he said.

As explained by: PREMIUM TIMES

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Murder: As two brother behaeded in PortHarcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

     Suspected cultist(unidentified)  have killed and beheaded two brothres from Rumuokparali community, in Obio/Akpor Local government Area of Rivers State. The vitims, identified as Ifeanyi and Emeka Wobo, were found dead with their head severed on Tuesday, around Elekahia Housing Estate, in the same LGA. They were said to be the sons of late chief Oliver Wobo.
  It was gathered yesterday that the gruesome murder of the two brothers has thrown the Rumuopkarali in sorrow, even as youths have called on the police to find out the perpetrators of the dastardly act and prosecute them.
      A source, which pleaded anonymity, said the deceased had taken a taxi at Rumuokparali o Monday evening and the police discovered their decapitated bodies the next day.
The source further disclose that the police found Ifeanyi's wallet and discovered his identity card with which he was traced to the company he acquired pipeline welding skill.
      The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the number, revealing that efforts were on to unravel the circumstance that led to their death.

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Indian Railways set to Launch New App That helps You Book Flight Tickets and Taxis

A new mobile app from the Indian Railways will now let you book flight tickets, among other things. The app, which is set to launch this week, will offer users options like booking a porter, retiring room, or ordering food apart from booking train tickets, of course, in an effort to create an integrated Railways app.

According to a senior Railway Ministry official, the app looks to provide an easier way for passengers to find what they are looking for when travelling, PTI reports. There are multiple apps of the Railways that offer specific services, but the official said that most of them are limited to a single service, and that there was a need for an app that offers multiple services in a single window interface. 

In addition to train-related features, the app can also be used to book taxis, hotels and notably, even flight tickets.

The Integrated Railway Mobile App project was first announced during the Rail Budget 2016-17. It is being developed by the CRIS, the Railways' software arm, at a cost of Rs. 7 crores.

"Presently we have different digital solutions for ticketing, grievance redressal and other issues. We intend to integrate all such facilities into two mobile apps, one dealing with all ticketing issues and the other for receipt and redressal of complaints and suggestions related to all our services," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had said in his budget speech.

Separately, the Indian Railways on Wednesday will be launching RailCloud, a virtual server with an inbuilt security system that promises to provide faster connectivity at lower cost. This is being developed by PSU RailTel at an estimated cost of about Rs. 53 corers.

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Trending update; As Nvidia GPUs Tuned for Cryptocurrency Mining Appear Online; AMD Partners Also Readying Modified Graphics Cards

 

Highlights of post atom..

• Asus is advertising mining-specific cards with both AMD and Nvidia GPUs
• Nvidia has developed a specially tuned version of its GP106 GPU
• Mining-specific cards have shorter warranties and display outputs

High-end graphics cards are out of stock all over the world and even if you can find one, chances are that prices have jumped considerably. People are finding that they can even sell their own cards second-hand, and often get more for them than they paid a year or more ago.
 The reason is simply that professional cryptocurrency miners use these cards to perform math-intensive

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Mark Zuckerberg meets with Nigerian founder of FIN, Lola Omolola as agreed

 

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg received Lola Omolola, Chicago-based Nigerian founder of Facebook group, Females In Nigeria (FIN) at Facebook Headquarters on

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Navy and police bloody clash in Calabar

While Cross River State is still trying to come to terms with the Calabar football viewing centre tragedy that claimed some lives, the capital city was recently caught in the negative spotlight again. A traffic light tiff between some naval officers and Police traffic controllers degenerated into loss of lives and mindless destruction of public

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iphone 7 materials becomes more costly than previous versions in 2017

Higher BOM costs for the iPhone 7 are more in line with Samsung smartphones, but Apple still maintains better margins

LONDON (September 20, 2016) –The bill of materials (BOM) for an iPhone 7 equipped with 32 gigabytes (GB) of NAND flash memory carries $219.80 in bill of materials costs, according to a preliminary estimate from IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and

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Samsung to beat IOS and other mobile competitors by continuing innovations — Revmatas, Samsung Director

Mobile boundaries and it competetion
 As competition takes over the world at large in technological aspect, Mobile Technology terms to be the fastest growing as their designers strive more harder to achieve the best from their product
To maintain market lead in the

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