IGIHE

Author: Publisher

  • President Obama Wants Wi-Fi in Public Schools

    President Obama Wants Wi-Fi in Public Schools

    {{Creating a learning environment for kids to excel and grow is what the school system lives by, so adding special features like Wi-Fi to public schools could enhance the whole learning process.}}

    According to the Los Angeles Times, President Barack Obama plans to bring Wi-Fi to public schools with the help of companies like Apple, Microsoft, AT&T, and Verizon.

    He’s also going to use governmental resources from the Federal Communications Commission, and private support for approximately $2.75 billion of funds and supplies.

    This move to improve the education system in America is a step in the right direction. The Internet can be a powerful tool in learning, and access to Wi-Fi would allow for further research into ideas and concepts for students online, as well as aid them in doing their homework.

    This is a part of an effort labeled ConnectED that was illustrated in the State of the Union address this year.

    {celebritycafe}

  • Eight Trapped S.Africa Gold Miners Found Dead

    Eight Trapped S.Africa Gold Miners Found Dead

    {{Eight of the nine gold mineworkers trapped underground in a shaft west of Johannesburg have been found dead, the National Union of Mineworkers said Thursday.}}

    “Eight of the nine mineworkers who were missing at Doornkop Mine are found dead,” the union said in a statement. A search was ongoing for the ninth man still missing.

    The union said the bodies were discovered on Wednesday night by rescue teams.

    Initially 17 workers were trapped underground after a fire broke out about 1.7 kilometers (over a mile) beneath the surface at mining firm Harmony Gold’s Doornkop operations late Tuesday, in an accident that may have been triggered by a seismic event.

    Eight of the workers were rescued on Wednesday morning after escaping to a refuge chamber.

    The union said the damage to electric cables had triggered a fire underground after a rock fall.

    Despite efforts to reduce fatalities, accidents are still common in South Africa’s ultra-deep gold mines.

    One hundred and twenty eight people were killed in 2010, according to the latest figures published by local NGO Miningsafety.co.za.

    {AFP}

  • Nigerian Appointed Gambia’s Chief Justice

    Nigerian Appointed Gambia’s Chief Justice

    {{President Yahya Jammeh has appointed a Nigerian man as Gambia’s top judge after sacking the only woman to have held the post, his office said on Thursday.}}

    Emmanuel Fagbenle takes the role of “acting chief justice”, according to a presidential statement, after Ghanaian-born Mabel Yamoa Agyemang was “relieved of her appointment” without explanation on Monday.

    The brief communique gave no biographical details for Fagbenle, although he has been cited by local media as presiding over many high-profile cases in recent years and was sworn in as a Court of Appeal justice five years ago, according to a government release dated from 2009.

    Agyemang replaced another Nigerian, Joseph Wowo, who became mired in a bribery scandal in July last year and was jailed on a string of corruption charges in January.

    She had been practising law in Gambia since 2004, when she was appointed as an expert appeal court judge after working in her native Ghana.

    The president regularly reshuffles his cabinet and judiciary in what many observers say is a sign of insecurity and runs several key ministries himself, including defence and religious affairs.

    Jammeh sacked five cabinet ministers in August as part of a ruthless shake-up of the government which saw his justice minister lose her job.

    Jammeh, who has ruled mainland Africa’s smallest country with an aura of mysticism and an iron fist since seizing power in 1994, vowed ahead of his swearing-in for a fourth term in 2012 to eradicate corruption.

    {wirestory}

  • Chipolopolo Giant Dennis Lota Dies

    Chipolopolo Giant Dennis Lota Dies

    {{Ex-Chipolopolo star Dennis Lota has shockingly died at his base in South Africa where he was serving as assistant coach for Premier Soccer League side Moroka Swallows.}}

    According to bolazambia.com, Lota, who was recently in the country attending the CAF licence courses that were on offer for local coaches, is said to have died on Tuesday evening.

    “It’s a very sad day for us…my husband’s brother Dennis Lota passed on this evening,” wrote Memory Katambo Lota.

    Lota played for Zanaco, Nchanga Rangers, Kabwe Warriors and Konkola Blades before trekking to Switzerland where he turned up for FC Scion and later headed to South Africa where he played for Orlando Pirates, Moroka Swallows and Amazulu.

    Sources told bolazambia.com that Lota had fallen ill on Sunday and had been hospitalized before passing on.

    The 40-year-old fallen star graced four Nations Cups appearing at the 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002.

    Meanwhile, Kickoff.com Moroka Swallows are reeling with shock after assistant coach Lota passed away.

    Details of Lota’s death are still sketchy with an official statement from Swallows being awaited.

    Dube Birds coach Zeka Marques confirmed the terrible news of the passing away of his colleague.

    “Yes it’s true. I am at his house at the moment,” said Marques.

    He had two brothers who are also footballers, Charles Lota (younger) and Lawrence Lota (older).

    At the 2002 African Cup of Nations, Dennis played alongside Charles in the Zambian attack formation.

    In March 2011, Swallows have elevated Lota to the first team as one of the assistant coaches.

    -Zambia Reports

  • Russia Prepares Glitzy Sochi Opening

    Russia Prepares Glitzy Sochi Opening

    {{Russia on Friday officially opens its first ever Winter Olympics with a ceremony attended by dozens of heads of state and aimed at impressing a sceptical world with an unforgettable spectacle.}}

    With a hard act to follow after show-stopping Summer Olympics opening ceremonies in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London, Russia is expected to pull out all the stops to give the world a night to remember.

    Security concerns intensified as the United States announced a temporary ban on liquids and gels in hand luggage on Russia-bound flights, following a warning that militants could stuff explosives into toothpaste.

    But President Barack Obama said Moscow has an “enormous stake” in thwarting terror at the Games and Secretary of State John Kerry said if his own daughter wanted to attend Sochi “I’d say go”.

    The ceremony starts, with symbolic timing, at 2014 local time (1614 GMT) in the spectacular new Fisht Stadium on the shores of the Black Sea.

    Sporting action got under way on Thursday, with Russian veteran Yevgeny Plushenko rolling back the years to help the Olympic hosts lead the new team figure skating competition. Snowboarders and freestyle skiers also started competition.

    With an estimated price tag of $50 billion for building facilities and infrastructure in the underdeveloped southern Russian region, the Games are the most expensive in history and also among the most controversial.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has spearheaded the Sochi Games from the bid victory in 2007, will be at the ceremony along with more than 40 other heads of state and leaders.

    These will include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who is facing a protest uprising at home.

    {{‘Small hiccups here and there’}}

    For many older Russians, the ceremony may bring a pang of nostalgia for the 1980 Moscow Summer Games in the Soviet era, which are still remembered fondly, in particular for the cute mascot Misha the bear.

    But it remains to be seen whether the Sochi opening ceremony will shift the cloud of controversy hanging over the Games.

    Obama and a host of key EU leaders will be absent, in what is seen by some as a snub to Russia after it passed a widely condemned law banning the spread of gay propaganda to minors.

    In a symbolic gesture, Google marked the Winter Games by flying the gay flag Thursday in a search page Doodle that linked to a call for equality in the Olympic Charter.

    There has also been criticism that not all the facilities were ready on time, in particular accommodation for media.

    International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach admitted there “there is a small hiccup here or there” but said that so far operations were going smoothly.

    “So we can look to tonight full of anticipation and excitement that we will have a great opening ceremony for a great Olympic Games,” he said.

    {{‘One of the most exciting ever’}}

    Details have been kept under wraps but the head of the Sochi organising committee Dmitry Chernyshenko, said the ceremony “will be one of the most exciting and visual ever”.

    “This is a theatre with a 40,000-seat capacity” he said of the Fisht stadium. “It can allow the realisation of any creative thought.”

    Some of Russia’s most decorated cosmonauts — including Sergei Krikalev, who was famously stranded in space on the Mir station when the Soviet Union collapsed — will raise the Russian flag to the top of the stadium.

    However, who will light the Olympic cauldron is a closely guarded secret, with Putin insisting it is the choice of the organising committee and not for him to interfere.

    Russia’s team will be led out by flag-bearer Alexander Zubkov, a bobsleigh pilot and one of the most respected sportsmen in the country who has represented Russia in the sport at every Winter Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002.

    There have been persistent rumours that the Russian female pop duo Tatu — hugely popular a decade ago — will be involved in the ceremony in some form.

    {wirestory}

  • ICC Convenes Another Critical Meeting Over Uhuru

    ICC Convenes Another Critical Meeting Over Uhuru

    {{The International Criminal Court (ICC) has convened another critical meeting in The Hague to deliberate over the future of the case against President Uhuru Kenyatta.}}

    Kenya’s Attorney General Githu Muigai, who is the Government representative at the ICC, has been invited for the status conference scheduled for Thursday next week.

    “The parties, the Legal Representative for Victims and a representative of the Kenya Government, are invited to attend.

    The discussion will, in principle, take place in public session,” the three-judge bench said yesterday.

    During the meeting, judges will take oral submissions following complaints by ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda that the Government had failed to provide key evidence by clinging on to the financial records of President Kenyatta.

    Bensouda wants the judges to adjourn the case until the Government complies with her request even as Uhuru fights to have the proceedings terminated.

    “Withdrawing the charges now would reward the accused, who heads the Government that has obstructed the court’s work, and who is in a position to ensure that the GoK compiles with its treaty obligations, if he wishes to do so,” Bensouda maintained in one of her filings.

    Prof Muigai wants to be allowed to respond to allegations by the Prosecution by ‘setting the record straight’ on the provisions of the Kenyan Constitution and the International Crimes Act.

    He also wants to make submissions on the role of the President vis-a-vis other constitutional bodies concerning the issue of co-operation as well as separation of powers and independence of various organs of Government.

    The new meeting comes on the heels of another one held on Wednesday, when Uhuru’s defence team pleaded to terminate the case.

    “We repeatedly alerted the court and the prosecutor as to the inconsistencies and falsity of the evidence upon which they were seeking to relay. Our warnings were not heeded,” Uhuru’s lawyer Stephen Kay said.

    {Kenya Standard}

  • Fire Crew killed in Argentina Blaze

    Fire Crew killed in Argentina Blaze

    At least nine people have been killed in a fire in a warehouse in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

    Seven of the victims were firefighters and two civil defence workers who were tackling the blaze at a bank’s archive.

    Argentina’s Secretary for Security, Sergio Berni, said they were crushed when a 7m-high (23ft) wall collapsed on top of them.

    It took 10 fire crews several hours to get the blaze in Buenos Aires’ Barracas neighbourhood under control.

    It is not clear yet what caused the fire, which also left seven people injured.

    Rescuer workers had to remove rubble by hand to reach the dead and injured.

    Local official Guillermo Montenegro said more victims could still be trapped beneath the debris.

    {agencies}

  • Pakistan Government, Taliban ‘Begin Talks’

    Pakistan Government, Taliban ‘Begin Talks’

    {{Pakistan’s government and Taliban met Thursday for a first round of talks aimed at ending the militants’ bloody seven-year insurgency, sources said.}}

    The two sides gathered in Islamabad for a preliminary meeting likely to chart a “roadmap” for future discussions, amid deep scepticism over whether dialogue can yield a lasting peace deal.

    The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella grouping of numerous militant factions, has waged a campaign since 2007, killing thousands of people in gun and bomb attacks across the nuclear-armed state.

    An official close to Irfan Siddiqui, the chief government negotiator, told reporters the talks had begun on Thursday afternoon.

    Another official at the talks venue, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, confirmed that they had started.

    The peace initiative, which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced just as many were anticipating a major military offensive on TTP strongholds in North Waziristan tribal area, got off to a chaotic start earlier this week.

    AFP

  • Egyptian Army Denies Reports of Sisi’s Presidential Bid

    Egyptian Army Denies Reports of Sisi’s Presidential Bid

    {{The Egyptian army denied claims first reported Thursday in a Kuwaiti newspaper that army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had announced his candidacy for president.}}

    A few hours after the news was reported by Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah and ran widely in the international press, the army said the paper had “misinterpreted” Sisi’s intentions.

    The newspaper had quoted Sisi saying he had no alternative but to meet the Egyptian people’s wishes for him to run.

    “I will not reject the demand,” said Sisi, who is seen as a decisive figure who can ease political turmoil, which has hit Egypt’s economy hard.

    “I will present this to the Egyptian people to renew confidence through free voting.”

    If Sisi does announce his candidacy, the move would almost certainly lead to increased political tensions and anger amongst Islamist militants who have stepped up attacks on the state since Sisi ousted Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi in July.

    {agencies}

  • Rwandan Girls Get Connected to the “STEM” at U.S. Embassy Girls Tech Fair

    Rwandan Girls Get Connected to the “STEM” at U.S. Embassy Girls Tech Fair

    {{Kigali}} – {Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryan joined more than 130 Rwandan girls at the U.S. Embassy’s inaugural Girls Tech Fair held at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali Feb. 5. Empowering women and girls, especially to enter the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields, is a top priority for both the U.S. and Rwandan governments.}

    “You represent some of the brightest minds that are aiming at the brightest stars in the sky. Success in the current world economy will depend on ingenuity, creativity and hard work. I know you’re all capable of all of those things,” Assistant Secretary Ryan said.

    And those priorities can often be better addressed when government officials tap the vast resources of the private sector through public/private partnerships. Assistant Secretary Ryan joined a delegation of 40 women technology mentors from the U.S. Department of State’s TechWomen exchange program, which brings women in the technology and STEM fields from Africa and the Middle East to the United States and pairs them with mentors from some of Silicon Valley’s top technology firms.

    The Girls’ Tech Fair saw girls from 30 Rwandan secondary schools receive valuable, inspirational one-on-one time with some of Silicon Valley’s top women business people. Women representatives from companies like Twitter, Juniper Networks, Ericsson, Symantec Corporation and others – most of whom paid their own way to Kigali – shared their experiences, advice and motivations for becoming some of the top movers in the STEM and Information and Communications Technology, or ICT, fields. The Public Affairs Section at Embassy Kigali set up technology and experiment stations for the Rwandan girls to test their theories and see that STEM is more than a buzzword. Girls used Stomp Rockets with improvised range finders to experiment with angles and trigonometry. Snap Circuits educational toys showed the girls how trial and error can make electrons flow, and U.S. Embassy iPads loaded with the latest apps let girls use their imaginations to determine which new programs they could write in the coming years.

    Girls in attendance will know how important it is as well. Rwandan TechWomen Emerging Leader alumna Emma Marie Ndoringoma with the Promolec company noted the girls in attendance received effective advice and perspective that can help young people in an emerging economy take the steps needed to become successful.

    “These Rwandan girls got to learn the lessons and inspiration these successful American TechWomen wish they had learned early in their careers,” she said.