Canary Updates

Bikini-clad Swedish policewoman 'stops thief'

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 09:08:00 -0700

Swedish police officer has been praised for tackling a suspected thief while she was off-duty sunbathing with friends in Stockholm.

Mikaela Kellner told the Aftonbladet daily that she and a fellow officer pursued the man when they realised he had taken one of their mobile phones.

She told the paper that she would have intervened "even if she were naked".
A photo of the incident on Ms Kellner's Instagram page has attracted more than 9,000 likes in less than two days.

The incident is said to have taken place in Stockholm's Ralambshov Park on Wednesday, where the off-duty policewoman was sunbathing with friends.

The group was approached by a man who claimed to be selling publications on behalf of the homeless.

Ms Kellner reportedly became suspicious when the man began lingering, setting some papers down over their blanket.

As soon as he left, collecting his papers, one of her friends noticed that her phone was missing.
"There was no time, so I ran after him, maybe 15 metres or so," Ms Kellner told Swedish news site, The Local.

"One of my friends is also a police officer, so we got hold of him. He tried to get away so we held onto him harder."

The stolen phone was swiftly recovered, and the man was arrested by a police patrol.
"I've had a lot of positive comments both from friends and colleagues," she told The Local.
"It happens all the time that valuables are taken like this... I mainly just wanted to raise awareness of how cunning these people are, almost like magicians."

Pop Francis trips in Mass in poland

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 10:26:00 -0700

Pope Francis tripped on a step and fell at the start of an outdoor Mass in Krakow, Poland, as he was blessing the altar on Thursday.

The 79-year-old was quickly helped up by aides and did not appear to be hurt. He then continued the Mass and read his homily as normal.

The Pope suffers from sciatica, a medical condition in which pain sometimes shoots down the leg from the lower back, which may have been a factor in the fall.

Seven year old Schoolgirl killed by rock thrown by elephant

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 10:17:00 -0700

The seven-year-old was having a picture outside its enclosure with her family when the tragedy
happened at the zoo in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

The elephant picked up the large stone in its trunk and threw it into the air, hitting her on the back of the head.

The youngster was knocked unconscious and died in a nearby hospital after failing to overcome her injuries.

Footage taken by a bystander on a mobile phone and posted on social media showed the girl lying on the ground being tended to by staff as her anguished family gathered round her.

Local reports said the girl's dad had lifted her up on his shoulders outside the elephant enclosure so her mum could take a snap of the two of them with their back to the animals when she was struck.

A zoo spokesman offered his condolences to the girl's family but said there had been no security breaches and she had not crossed into a protective area outside the enclosure.

He insisted: 'Accidents of this type are rare, unforeseeable and unusual.

'Accidents of this nature happened in international zoos, most recently in Disney World Orlando and the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States.'

Social media users said the ambulance took ages to arrive and said the zoo should have its own ambulance station.

One said: 'How is it possible that the place receives a large number of visitors but there is no ambulance station.'

The tragedy, which happened around 1pm local time on Tuesday, was the first of its kind since the zoo opened in 2012.

One fan who visited soon after it opened said on TripAdvisor: 'You forget what country you are in when you arrive at the new zoo in Rabat, Morocco.

'It is a world-class zoo and family friendly.

'You can easily navigate a baby stroller throughout the zoo.

'What is impressive is the large space and open feel.' Another added: 'We loved the zoo, especially the children but there was a lack of staff.'

Hillary Clinton makes history:Nominated for President

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 04:03:00 -0700

Democrats officially nominated Hillary Clinton as their standard-bearer in the presidential contest on Tuesday, sealing her position as the first female nominee of a major party in US history at the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia.

While Clinton had already met the threshold of the 2,383 delegates required to clinch the nomination and beat Bernie Sanders through her primary victories, the official vote was a significant moment in American political history despite lingering discord within the party.

Although Clinton finished the Democratic primary with 2,807 delegates, compared with Sanders’ 1,894, a faction of the Vermont senator’s supporters arrived at the convention threatening a floor fight – or contested vote on the floor – over the nomination. They were further emboldened by leaked emails showing personal bias toward Clinton among officials at the Democratic National Committee, a controversy that culminated on Sunday in the resignation of party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

But in a bid for party unity, the campaigns of both Clinton and Sanders agreed to hold a vote that allowed Sanders delegates to show their support for the progressive senator, who defied all expectations by creating a grassroots movement across the country.

In another symbolic gesture, it was Sanders who called for the party to unanimously nominate Clinton when the roll call vote reached its completion with the Vermont delegation. The moment echoed the 2008 Democratic convention, when Clinton ended the roll call vote with a similar call for acclamation for Barack Obama from the New York delegation.

Yet the overwhelming sense that a bigger glass ceiling was being shattered on Tuesday with the first steps down the path toward putting a woman in the White was on everyone’s lips in the Philadelphia hall.

Speaking from the floor of the arena as Clinton’s historic moment was announced, Grindly Johnson, a Virginia delegate from Richmond who is supporting Clinton, said: “I’m ecstatic. I don’t even have the words. I grew up in segregated America and now a woman might follow a black man in the White House. I wish my parents were alive to see this.”

“This is Democracy at its best,” said Sibal Holt, a Louisiana delegate from Alexandria, after Sanders nominated his 2016 rival.

Davante Lewis, a delegate from Louisiana who supported Sanders, said he had mixed emotions after the roll call.

“I’m proud of our party that we have nominated a woman and have broken that glass ceiling,” he said. But Lewis said he would follow Sanders’ example and support Clinton in November.

“We cannot let Donald Trump be president,” Lewis said. “And right now Bernie Sanders’ supporters are [the] biggest threat to [Trump’s] becoming president of the United States.”

Jerrold Nadler, a New York congressman who has known both Clinton and Sanders for decades, said he was confident the party would now come together.

The second man involved in the killing of a priest in a Normandy church has been identified by French prosecutors

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 03:49:00 -0700

The second man involved in the killing of a priest in a Normandy church on Tuesday has been identified as 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean.

Like the other attacker, Adel Kermiche, he was known to the security services.

The teenagers were shot dead by police outside the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where they
had killed Father Jacques Hamel, 86, and taken hostages.

So-called Islamic State (IS) released a video of what it said were the two men pledging allegiance to the group.

"Following DNA tests, it emerged that the terrorist has been identified as Abdel Malik Nabil Petitjean," a source in the Paris prosecutor's office said.

Petitjean, from a town in eastern France, had been on a watch list as a potential security threat since June after trying to enter Syria from Turkey.

He had been harder than Kermiche to identify because his body was badly disfigured in the police

shooting, but officers found an ID card belonging to him in Kermiche's home and confirmed his identity in a DNA match with his mother.

After Petitjean was named, his mother, Yamina, denied he could have been the killer.
"I know my kid, he is kind. I did not produce a devil. He never talked about IS," she told BFM television.

French media have reported sources close to the investigation as saying anti-terrorism police had been searching for a man in the days before the attack who "strongly resembled" Petitjean, after receiving a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency about an imminent attack.

A photograph of the man said to be planning the attack had been supplied but not his name.
Kermiche, also 19, was being monitored by police and was wearing a surveillance tag at the time of the attack.

He was arrested twice last year trying to reach Syria and was awaiting trial for alleged membership of a terrorist organisation.

The French government has faced strong criticism from political opponents over perceived security failings since the Bastille Day lorry attack in Nice two weeks ago in which more than 80 people died.

President Francois Hollande has said France will form a National Guard from reserve forces, in an attempt to prevent further attacks.

He has urged "patriots" to sign up to become reservists and has said parliamentary consultations on forming the Guard will take place in September "so this force can be created as fast as possible to protect the French".

The comments came two days after Kermiche and Petitjean stormed the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of Rouen, during morning Mass.

They slit the throat of the elderly priest before being killed by police.

One of four people taken hostage - said to be an elderly parishioner - suffered severe knife wounds.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said the attackers had been carrying a "fake explosive device covered in aluminium foil" along with hand-held weapons when they entered the Catholic church.

French church attack: 'Priest killer' was being monitored

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 03:38:00 -0700

One of the men suspected of killing a priest at a church in northern France was being monitored by police and was wearing a surveillance tag at the time of the attack, officials say.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said Adel Kermiche, 19, was arrested twice last year trying to reach Syria.

Kermiche and a fellow attacker stormed the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of Rouen, during morning Mass.
They slit the throat of the elderly priest before being killed by police.

One of four people taken hostage - said to be an elderly parishioner - suffered severe knife wounds, Mr Molins said.

Mr Molins said the two attackers had been carrying a "fake explosive device covered in aluminium foil" along with hand-held weapons when they entered the Catholic church.

As they targeted Father Jacques Hamel, in his 80s, some of the congregation were able to escape and alert the police, who sent in a team specialised in dealing with hostage situations.
Three of the hostages were used as human shields to block the police from entering the church, Mr Molins said.

When they were eventually let go, the two attackers followed them out of the church shouting "Allahu Akbar" before being killed, Mr Molins said.
Earlier, the so-called Islamic State (IS) claimed its "soldiers" carried out the attack.

A nun, who identified herself as Sister Danielle, had been in the church at the time and described what happened.

"They forced [Fr Hamel] to his knees. He wanted to defend himself, and that's when the tragedy happened," she told French media.

"They recorded themselves. They did a sort of sermon around the altar, in Arabic. It's a horror".

Residents of the town have reacted with shock and sadness to Fr Hamel's killing. They spoke of a well-loved priest who had been dedicated to his parish.

Local Imam Mohammed Karabila said he was "stunned by the death of my friend. He was someone who gave his life to others".

Congolese singer Koffi Olomide Arrested for kicking one of his Female dancers at the Airport

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 10:19:00 -0700

The 60-year-old rumba star denied in a Facebook post that he attacked the dancer and said he respected women.

In 2012, he was convicted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, his home country, of assaulting his producer.

The court gave the singer a three-month suspended prison sentence.
The altercation with his producer, Diego Lubaki, was over a debt of about $3,700 (£2,800), the court heard.

Olomide was arrested on Friday night, and was in police custody till Saturday morning. He was sent back to his home country via a Kenya Airways flight that left the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 11:35AM Kenyan time.

He had just been interviewed on Citizen TV before police apprehended him and his dancers. He was in Nairobi for a concert at Bomas of Kenya.

Koffi had apologised Friday evening after he saw the video, saying that he was defending his dancer from a lady who was threatening them at the airport.

“I watched the video with a lot of distress where it seems that I was assaulting one of my dancers. On the contrary I was defending my dancers from a lady who was threatening them at the airport,” he said in a Facebook post.

Kenyan police chief Joseph Boinnet had given notice and instructed airport police to take immediate action.

Amber Rose is siding with Kanye West in his feud with Taylor Swift.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 01:53:00 -0700

Amber Rose sides with Kanye West amid his feud with Taylor Swift (but admits she's irritated he didn't seek permission to use naked wax figure in Famous)

According to Daily mail Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian West took to Snapchat over the weekend to share footage of Kanye talking to the singer about his song 'Famous' - in which he calls Taylor a b*tch and says they might have sex - prompting Taylor to hit back and insist she never 'approved' the song.

However, his ex-girlfriend Amber says that Kanye was so contrite after interrupting Taylor's MTV VMAs speech in 2009 that she knew he would have sought Taylor's permission before releasing it

Speaking in a sneak peek of The Amber Rose Show, obtained by PEOPLE, she said: 'I want to talk about Kim and Kanye's Snapchat.

'So, I'm not the biggest fan of Kanye ... but I was next to him at the VMAs that year. I remember the repercussions after that.

'I remember Taylor's mother and father coming up to us and saying, 'One day Kanye, you'll have a daughter and somebody is going to do that to you'. He was so remorseful. I mean he really felt so bad, because it wasn't about Taylor. It was about Beyoncé and her video ...

'He didn't want to interrupt Taylor – he didn't even know who she was at the time.

'It was just a very hard time for him, and I was around to see that. I watched Lady Gaga cancel the tour. I watched people say that they did not want to work with him anymore because of it.

'And he really went through a lot of b******t and I know that Kanye would never ever go through that again by not calling Taylor and say, 'Heads up, I'm about to go write this verse real quick. Just wanted to make sure you're cool with it.' I know that about Kanye.'

However, Amber is not impressed that Kanye used a naked waxwork likeness of her in the 'Famous' video.

She said: 'So, I say all of that to say, why didn't I get a phone call for using a naked wax figure in your video Kanye? I mean, Taylor gets a call but I don't get a call. So please stay the f**k out of the news so I don't need to talk about your ass anymore.'

Canary Updates

A shooting at a Munich shopping centre which left nine people dead was carried out by one gunman who then killed himself

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 01:32:00 -0700

A shooting at a Munich shopping centre which left nine people dead was carried out by one gunman who then killed himself, German police have said.

The suspect was an 18-year-old German-Iranian dual national who lived in Munich, police told a news conference, but his motive is unclear.

Sixteen people were injured, three critically, police added.

A huge manhunt was launched following reports that up to three gunmen had been involved in the attack.

The body of the suspect was found about 1km (0.6 miles) from the Olympia shopping centre in the north-western suburb of Moosach.

Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae told the news conference early on Saturday that the suspect had not been known to police and there were no known links to terror groups, although investigations were continuing.

The reports of three suspected attackers came when witnesses saw two people leaving the scene in a car "at considerable speed", but they were later confirmed not to be involved, he added.

"The motive or explanation for this crime is completely unclear," he said.
Mr Andrae also said that children were among the casualties, but gave no further details.

Following the attack, the Bavarian capital's transport system was suspended and the central railway station evacuated. Public transport was reopened several hours later when police gave a cautious "all clear".
Thousands of people stranded by the emergency and unable to get home were offered shelter by local residents.

First reports of the shooting came in just before 18:00 (16:00 GMT) on Friday. Witnesses said the attacker opened fire on members of the public at a fast-food restaurant in Hanauer Street before moving to the nearby Olympia shopping centre.

A video circulated on social media showed a pistol-wielding man dressed in black walking away from a restaurant while firing on people as they fled.

Police described it as "an acute terror situation" although officials stressed that the motive was as yet unknown.

Witness Luan Zequiri, who was in the shopping centre, told German broadcaster N-TV that the attacker had been wearing military-style boots and a backpack.

"I looked in his direction and he shot two people on the stairs," he said.
Mr Zequiri said he hid in a shop but when he left he saw bodies of the dead and wounded on the ground.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, told national TV: "We cannot rule out that it is linked to terrorism but we can't confirm it either, but we are also investigating in this direction."
Mrs Merkel is to convene her government's security cabinet on Saturday.

Police urged the public to avoid speculation on social media and to desist from using photos or video of their deployments online.

German security forces have been on alert since a teenage migrant stabbed and injured five people on a train in Bavaria on Monday,

in an attack claimed by so-called Islamic State.The authorities had warned of the danger of further incidents.

Germany's allies rallied to give their support following Friday's attack.

US President Barack Obama said the US would give "all the support that they may need in dealing with these circumstances".

French President Francois Hollande offered his "sympathy and support to the German people in this difficult hour".

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was "shocked and appalled" by the attack.
"We stand ready to assist our friends in Germany," he added.

Canary Updates

Hillary Clinton selects Tim Kaine as her running mate

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 01:03:00 -0700

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has selected Tim Kaine, a centrist senator from Virginia, as her running mate.
Mrs Clinton broke the news in a tweet late on Friday. She plans a formal announcement on Saturday.

Mrs Clinton passed over more left-leaning candidates in favour of the 58-year-old senator, who is a strong supporter of free-trade agreements.
His home state of Virginia is a major battleground in the coming election.

Mr Kaine speaks fluent Spanish and could help the Clinton campaign maintain its support among Hispanic Americans - a growing voting bloc.

An experienced politician who has been toughly vetted, he is considered a "safe" choice for the vice-president slot. He personally opposes abortion but supports abortion rights.

Clinton went for substance not sizzle, a safe choice rather than a firebrand who could excite the party faithful.

She felt confident perhaps that she could keep left-leaning Democrats on her side while broadening her appeal with a centrist running mate, reach out to those independents and even moderate Republicans turned off by their party's candidate Donald Trump.

Most of all her aides had told me she wanted someone she felt comfortable working with for the next four, even eight years, someone who knew how to get things done, and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine's record as a former mayor and governor fits that description. He's also never lost an election.
He will disappoint some liberals namely because of his pro-trade position, which he will have to temper now.

The Republican National Committee dismissed the ticket as the ''failed Democratic status quo". But even some Republicans, like Arizona senator Jeff Flake, said Mr Kaine was an all around nice guy.
Mrs Clinton says her running mate has a relentless optimism, a much-needed attribute in an election season often described as dark because of the rhetoric of Donald Trump.

Mr Kaine was a finalist to be Barack Obama's running mate in 2008 and served as Virginia governor before his time in the Senate.

Mrs Clinton also reportedly interviewed liberal firebrand Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Senator Cory Booker, an African-American senator from New Jersey. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was said to have been on her shortlist.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in a text to his supporters, described President Obama, Mrs Clinton and Mr Kaine as "the ultimate insiders" and appealed to voters to not "let Obama have a third term".

Republican Party chief Reince Priebus tweeted scornfully: "Hillary Clinton's choice of Tim Kaine does nothing to unify a fractured Democrat base repelled by her dishonesty and cronyism."

Canary Updates

Nigerian girl who escaped Boko Haram reveals how she was rejected by her father

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:33:00 -0700

More than a year after she was snatched from her family she is free, but not only does she have the child of the man she was forced to marry, she’s an outcast, branded a sympathizer of the very men she fought so hard to escape.

‘They wanted to beat me up and make me confess, and kill me because I was a Boko Haram wife," she told the MailOnline.

Many of the girls have returned to their families pregnant, or with ‘Boko Haram babies’, and have been rejected by both their families and their communities – fearing they now have ‘bad blood’.

‘They (local community) thought I was here to spy on them,’ said Noor, 17, describing the night she escaped to the relative safety of Maiduguri in northern Nigeria.

Thousands of kidnapped schoolgirls have escaped as the Nigerian army is advancing in the northern state of Borno – but instead of being welcomed home with open arms, thousands of ‘Boko Haram wives’ are being shunned.

Picked up by a local vigilante who recognized her and called her parents, Noor was given the crushing news that her father wanted nothing to do with her or his grandchild.

‘My father asked him: “Why did you bring her? You should have left her in Bama”’, said Noor monotonously as she stared at the floor and recounted her horrendous ordeal.

Recalling the night she was kidnapped from Bama, her hometown in northeastern Nigeria, the teenager was hiding under the bed with her sister and brother’s wife when three men came.

‘We were so scared when we saw the men coming,’ Noor said in a low voice. The girls were spotted easily - the sparse room provide little cover.

‘We were begging them and crying "please let us stay here," but they said "no – your friends are with us and we’re teaching them and you must join them".'

The men – dressed in shalwar khameez and standard camouflage, guns draped over their shoulders, marched the girls to ‘prison’ – a series of gated mansions abandoned by their owners.

For months the girls were forced to recite the Koran by the wives of Boko Haram fighters, and were branded as ‘unbelievers’ over and over again.

Determined to escape, Noor tried six times to flee.

But each time she was spotted by former neighbours who were either sympathetic to the group, or terrified they would be punished if they could be implicated and complicit with her escape.

Once she got as far as mixing with a crowd walking to Maiduguri, but was recognized and forced back to the prison.

One day the fighters came to the girls and informed them they had been married.

‘They said we have found suitors for you and we will marry you off. We refused but they said you have to go and if you don’t we’re going to beat you. You have to go – the Imam has married you.’

Noor made one last ditch attempt to escape to her father’s house, but was followed and the men came again for her the next day.

‘When the men (Boko Haram militants) came to the house they said if you don’t bring her out we’ll kill you and we’ll take her anyway,’ she said.

Deflated, and resigned, Noor was sent to live with the Boko Haram militant just a few years older than her near Sambisa Forrest.

If she tried to escape again they she was told, they would kill her.

Noor was taken just kilometres from Chibok, where the kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls in April 2014 sparked international outcry and the ‘BringBackOurGirls’ campaign.

Two months ago, after more than a year in captivity she summoned the strength to try one final escape and finding herself alone, slipped out at dusk, saying she was going to visit her grandmother.

She walked for seven hours – finally reaching her village at 1am.

‘I felt so safe and happy when I saw my grandmother. I felt like I was at home – I felt so happy not in the village, but as if I was back in Bama. I felt so safe. My grandmother was sleeping, but when she woke up it was if she was dreaming.’

After a week with her grandparents, her grandmother sent her to Bama, where she was picked up by the Civilian JTF and taken to Maiduguri.

Noor's mother has left her husband to take care of her traumatized daughter, who had to live with a UNICEF volunteer for her protection when she first moved to the camp.

‘She’s associated with them – she cannot be trusted,’ her father tells his wife, who bravely insists on fighting for her daughter.

Now supported by her mother, Noor plays with her baby to distract her and it’s the only time during the interview that her eyes shine.

As Noor waited to be screened at the gates to the internally displaced people's (IDP) camp, huddled with hundreds of other women, her husband’s name rang out.

You should have left her in Bama
An informant had told to local JTF that a Boko Haram wife was in their midst and they shouted for her to reveal herself.

Noor did nothing. Then they called her father’s name.

Finally all the women were called out to be searched one by one, all the while telling the women to give her up.

‘If you don’t tell us, she could be a spy and could be carrying weapons and she could kill all of you,’ they shouted at the crowd before Noor came forward, sure she had nothing to hide.

By this point, the army and UNICEF community volunteers intervened, pleading to treat her gently and she was allowed to continue to wait to be screened.

Estimates say between 500 and 2,000 women and children (boys and girls) have been snatched since 2012, but UNICEF's Chief of Child Protection in Nigeria Rachel Harvey says it is clear the figure is much higher. As Boko Haram retreats from more and more areas, the scale of the abductions is becoming clear.

Efforts to retrieve the girls and to free up territory is making progress. Increasing numbers are coming back to their families who have largely fled to Maiduguri, the state capital increasingly under attack by militants posing as refugees or worse - women and children brainwashed and strapped with explosive vests.

As thousands of desperate families continue arrive seeking refuge from the violence and from famine, soldiers and the vigilante Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) groups screen the crowds for terrorist infiltrators.

Locals say it’s easy to identify Boko Haram fighters – they have sores where the straps of their Kalashnikov rifles have dug into their shoulder, or callouses on their trigger finger.

For 14-year-old Aisha, she is traumatised by the memory of these militants holding a gun to her father's head as she was abducted. It was the last time she saw him.

She had tried to keep herself hidden for five months while the so-called Islamic extremists combed Bama for girls to steal, rape and indoctrinate with their version of Islam.

It was not one Aisha recognized.

She was barely a teenager when she was taken and forced to march for two months through the jungle with hundreds of other girls.

‘I told myself that I wished I had just died. I didn’t know where my parents were, or if they were alive or not,’ she told MailOnline from the same IDP camp in Maiduguri.

‘At a certain point I wanted to commit suicide. But I thought if I commit suicide now, what will I tell god? So I decided to face it. I’ll face this difficulty and see how God will help me out of this situation,’ she said with a quiet resolution.

It took two years for her to escape, but which point she was pregnant by her Boko Haram ‘husband’, who was selected for her by faceless insurgents while she was imprisoned in a compound with other girls.

She dreamed up countless ways of escape.

But terrified she would be caught, Aisha couldn’t even confide in the other girls.

‘I wanted to escape, but if you tell anyone this someone will tell on you and tell them you are munafiq (hypocrites) so they will either punish you or kill you,’ she told MailOnline.

I wanted to commit suicide. But I thought if I kill myself now, what will I tell god? So I decided to face it.
Aisha
Aisha was finally rescued after overhearing an elderly woman in the area where she was being held railing against the brutal movement that had ransacked their countryside.

They walked all day to the next village, which was being liberated by the Nigerian army. Desperate, the pair hid themselves among the fleeing villagers and managed to cross to freedom.

Elated that she would finally be able to reunite with her family and fulfill her promise to her father, Aisha keenly asked for news of her parents and her brother, only to be told her father had died.

‘The last thing my father said to me was that this is the most difficult moments you will face, but you can come back anytime.

‘He told me: "You’re still welcome in this family,"’ she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Both girls who spoke to MailOnline believe they were being held near Sambisa Forrest – the location widely believed to be where the Chibok girls are being held, and also near to where Amina Ali was discovered, the first Chibok girl found by vigilante groups in May this year.

They also report being second and third wives to their ‘husbands’, and that they believed they other wives had not been abducted.

Both girls unsurprisingly only want to look forward, and forget the trauma of the last two years.

‘My mother tells me it’s my destiny that I’m back and it’s even better now because the worst is behind me,’ says Noor.

Aisha, is eager to get back to school to study Maths and English once she has her baby in a defiant stand against her captors.

‘I used to ask him why they call people unbelievers when they pray just like you do, they fast just like you, do so why are they killing them?’, she said.

‘He told me that education is haram, and these people still send their children to schools so they are kafir (unbelievers) so killing them is the best way to stop it.’

‘But when you go to school you get knowledge, and when you get knowledge you can get a job so then I can start taking care of myself and other people around me.’

UNICEF works with girls on a one on one basis to provide counselling, and also sets up peer networking support, where the girls can come together and talk about their experiences.

Equally important, says Rachel Harvey, is working with their families and the communities to help them come to terms with their trauma and understand the girl’s experiences, as many have been accused of not fighting hard enough to escape.

‘In the IDP camps people don’t want to share services with the girls, and they face verbal and physical abuse. The threat of violence – especially to their children [whose fathers were members of Boko Haram] is a very big concern for us,' she told MailOnline.

‘Without support these girls could face a second trauma – first the kidnapping, and now the stigmatization from their community and violence.'

Beyond belief! Man finds woman LIVING in his attic - who insists it's actually HER house

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 02:15:00 -0700

It's not unusual to find unwelcome bats, squirrels or termites in the attic, but one man was shocked to find something much more unusual - a woman.

Davis Wahlman was stunned when he heard rustling around in the upper levels of his Green Lake, Washington home Monday night, and pulled on the door to his office, only to find it locked.

In the unusual position of knocking on a door in his own home, he knocked a few times before a woman called out, 'Jimmy? Is that you, Jimmy?' according to KOMO.

Minutes earlier, Wahlman had also heard rummaging around in his attic, and thought that was strange.

But things got even more odd when the noises moved to his office, and then a dark-haired woman opened the door and Wahlman was confronted with the face of a total stranger.

Wahlman, who works for KOMO, said he told the woman, 'Who the heck are you? Why are you in my house?'

The woman then, according to the startled homeowner, insisted it was actually her house.

'This is my house. I live here. I've been here for three days. Jimmy said I could live here, Jimmy said I could stay here,' he said the woman told him.

'It's just weird,' he said of the unexpected encounter.

Wahlman, who had dialed 911 as soon as he heard someone in his office, tried to keep the woman engaged until police could arrive, but because Wahlman says they took almost 20 minutes to get there, the woman absconded before cops showed up.

'I absolutely support the cops, I love the police officers and I’m really happy they did show up, but as I’m telling someone on dispatch that there’s someone in my house, 'Hey, please bring help' and it took 18 minutes - that’s a little disappointing,' he told the outlet.

Cops, however, dispute his account. A spokesperson for the Seattle police said that Wahlman called 911 at 9:01pm and an officer was dispatched at 9:07pm.

However the spokesperson said that at 9:03pm Wahlman said the suspect had disappeared

The rattled homeowner says he has no idea how the woman entered his house, though there was a window screen in his bathtub and his fire escape ladder was hanging from the deck - something the suspect likely found after entering the home.

Wahlman said nothing was stolen and very little was out of place. It's unclear if he was in the home for the entire three days the woman also was 'living' there.

'To come into a house like this, in this neighborhood, that's clearly being lived in that's bold,' he said.

He has since had all of his locks changed.

The suspect is described as having dark, shoulder-length hair, wearing gym pants with a black track-style jacket and a white hood and also had a white-knit cap and carried a backpack.

Police are investigating.

David Cameron’s honours list has reportedly been blocked by mandarins over ethical concerns.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 02:03:00 -0700

David Cameron’s honours list has reportedly been blocked by mandarins over ethical concerns.

The former prime minister was expected to nominate a string of former aides and friends for knighthoods and peerages in his farewell honours list, risking charges of cronyism.

But, according to The Times, some of the names have not passed the first post – the Cabinet Office – over fears that they were unsuitable.

Concerns over those nominated for peerages were also raised by the Lords Appointments Commission which has to vet those being elevated to the Upper Chamber.

The list may have to be trimmed to ensure Mr Cameron gets as many of his appointments through as possible.

A source close to the honours process told the Times newspaper that Mr Cameron had put forward some names but ‘some of them did not even make it past the first hurdle, the Cabinet Office’.

The source added: ‘Cameron’s surviving team are having a series of difficult discussions with them to try to get through as many as possible.’

Some of those who are expected to receive peerages or honours include Ed Llewellyn, his former chief of staff, Camilla Cavendish, the head of his policy unit, and Gabby Bertin, his respected director of external communications. Mr Llewellyn was also tipped to become Britain’s ambassador to France to replace Sir Julian King, who is heading for Brussels to be the new Commissioner to the EU after Lord Hill of Oareford quit after the Brexit vote. Friends of George Osborne, the Chancellor, are also said to have been blocked.

Another source told The Times: ‘Given Cameron is well aware of what is involved, it should come as no surprise that they are running into difficulties and it is pretty brazen of him to have tried in the first place.’

One Whitehall source is reported as saying that the Cabinet Office ‘might show some flexibility’ but that the overall situation was ‘difficult’.

Mr Cameron has previously managed to reward a number of friends and aides with peerages.

The former ‘gatekeeper’ at Number 10, Kate Fall, the former policy chief, James O’Shaughnessy and political secretary, Stephen Gilbert, were appointed to the Lords last autumn.

It is understood that special advisers who feature on the list are not likely to be among the applications being questioned.

The resignation honours list could come out as early as next week if the stand-off is settled.

Earlier this month Downing Street played down the prospect of an early resignation honours list, pointing out it was discretionary.

Last night a Cabinet Office spokesman said: ‘This is speculation. Any list would need to go through the usual process and that inevitably takes time.’

John Major was the last outgoing prime minister to push through a formal resignation honours list.

Tony Blair ran into trouble with his nominations list following the allegations of ‘cash for honours’ which sparked a lengthy police inquiry.

Canary Updates

Prince George is three today! Poses in newly released photographs released by the Palace to celebrate his third birthday.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 01:48:00 -0700

Dressed in a striped jumper, Prince George looks cherubic as he poses in newly released photographs released by the Palace to celebrate his third birthday.

The image posted on Kensington Palace's Instagram page was captioned: 'The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to share four new photographs of Prince George to mark his third birthday. They were taken by photographer Matt Porteous at their home in Norfolk in mid-July.

A spokesman for Kensington Palace said: 'The Duke and Duchess hope that people will enjoy seeing these new photographs. They would like to thank everyone for all the lovely messages they have received as Prince George celebrates his third birthday.'

The three-year-old today enjoyed a birthday party with all the trimmings at the family's Norfolk mansion, Anmer Hall. He was joined by his grandparents, Michael and Carole Middleton, as well as friends from his nearby Montessori School, Westacre.

Fortunately for the mischievous toddler, who is third in line to the throne, granny and grandpa run one of the country's most successful online party goods companies – which helpfully sells a range of 3rd birthday-themed balloons, banners, sparklers and even piñatas – so the day is bound to go with a swing.

Born at the private Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital on July 22 2013, George was, apparently, quite a handful as a baby and caused the Duke and Duchess endless sleepless nights.

An equally energetic toddler, it seems as if becoming an elder brother to sister Princess Charlotte, one, has calmed the little prince down somewhat.

Recently Kate described her son as being a 'really lovely little boy' and admitted that her daughter may look cute but was developing 'quite a feisty side'. She even said she hoped that George 'would keep Charlotte in order!'

And on a series of recent public engagements, including an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony after Trooping the Colour and a visit to a country air show, the little future king has conducted himself with aplomb.

George's first birthday was marked with a party at their 20-room apartment in Kensington Palace with his great-grandmother, the Queen, as guest of honour, and a tuneful rendition of 'Happy Birthday' by the band of the Irish Guards.

But since then then William and Kate have made Anmer their main base and have celebrated all their major family events there.

The ten bedroom Georgian mansion, which was a gift from the Queen and underwent a multi-million refit before they moved in, has its own swimming pool and tennis court and is in set in acres of glorious parkland.

As part of the Queen's Sandringham Estate, it provides the Cambridges's with the privacy and seclusion they crave for their family.

Kate will have plenty of help from her parents who run a party paraphernalia business. She could even turn to newly engaged sister Pippa Middleton whose book Celebrate was marketed as a one-stop guide to entertaining - although it was mocked by some for its over-simplistic advice.

The Duke and Duchess usually release an official photograph to mark the prince's birthday.

George made a rare public appearance recently when he donned ear defenders to explore the aircraft at the Royal International Air Tattoo in RAF Fairford - in what was his first official engagement in the UK.

As a three-year-old, George will be becoming increasingly independent - and might now even be able to dress himself and prepare his own bowl of cereal.

The prince, who is enrolled in nursery for a few days a week, will soon be eligible for a free nursery place.

All three to four-year-olds in England are entitled to 570 hours of free early education or childcare per year - usually taken as 15 hours a week in term time.

He is due to start full-time school in September 2017, with the Duke revealing they are trying to decide where to send him.

Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge was born at St Mary's Hospital's private maternity unit, the Lindo Wing, at 4.24pm on July 22 2013, weighing 8lbs 6oz.

He made his public debut in front of the world's media on the hospital steps one day later, wrapped in a white merino wool shawl, cradled in his proud parents' arms.

A great-grandchild to the Queen, he will be the 43rd monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England if, as expected, he follows reigns by the Prince of Wales then William.

Canary Updates

Muslim Woman shares her story of how she forged an unlikely friendship with a woman who refused to sit next to her on a flight - after she saw her writing 'Allah' in a text

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 09:15:00 -0700

A Muslim passenger has revealed how she struck up an unlikely friendship with a woman who was too afraid to sit next to her on a flight - after the stranger saw her write a text with the word 'Allah' in it.

Jiva Akbor, who was flying from Glasgow to Malaga, took to Facebook in a post that's now
gone viral to reveal how the other passenger - called Beverley - was worried when she saw her texting in Arabic.

In her status, which has has more than 7,500 likes and the same amount of shares, Jiva revealed how Beverley had jumped up and immediately left her seat - leaving Jiva concerned.

However, in a turn of events an initial clash between the two women lead to understanding.

Jiva had been texting her friends in her Islamic group, Quran Revolution, sending them her condolences after their car was broke into.

She sent her friends the message: 'HasbiAllahu la ilaaha illaahu alayhi tawakaltu may Allah make the day easy for you all!'

However, the message startled the fellow passenger so much that she went to get two air hostesses.
'I looked at her face and she was in sheer panic, clearly flustered and didn't get into the seat immediately,' Jiva wrote.

'Then I heard one of the air hostesses say, 'You can take your seat ma'am,' to her. But she stood there, with a look of fright on her face. I was confused. For a split second I thought she had some health issue or something and was about to have a panic attack.

'At that moment she looked at me and said, "I saw you write a text message and you wrote Allah on it".'

Jiva explained that she felt as though her heart had stopped at that moment, and she didn't know what to say - however Beverley was getting teary.

The young woman explained that 'Allah' means God in Arabic.

Jiva wrote: 'I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

'This lady was actually scared to sit next to me on this flight and had gone to tell the staff that she saw me write the word "Allah" on a text message and wanted to now change seats.'

The woman, who was with her son, was told he could leave the flight, but chose to stay. Then a conversation was struck up.

Jiva said: 'Before too long I could see remorse in her tone, I think she was shocked at her own reaction and the realisation of what she had thought of me was setting in. In her own words she said, "It's so scary what the media can make us think" and "I just panicked".'

The woman explained her fear to Jiva, who was touched by the understanding the two developed.

In her Facebook post, Jiva wrote: ''Today I had one of the most interesting and most memorable
flights of my life. I made a friend called Beverley who made a mistake and acknowledged it.

'I met a lady who is deep down inside a wonderful, wonderful human and showed me that the fear-mongering purposely and strategically carried out in this world by the powers-that-be today are very, very real and can make an ordinary person have the most shocking of reactions.

'But if we're blessed enough ALLAH can easily turn them into the most amazing of life's moments.
'I know today was special for us both and many lessons learnt on both sides. We hugged, exchanged numbers and will definitely keep in touch.

'I know not all similar situations are as peachy and 'happily ever after' for many, many Muslims in the world right now. But I have all the love in the world for Beverley and pray we can only basque in the beautiful moments shared today.'

Hundreds, including many Muslims, have commented on the Facebook post sharing their support for Jiva and Beverly.

Rosmizawati Mohamed Salleh said: 'This is simply beautiful'.

Zahra Adan Kula said: 'U really showed her what islam is all about [sic]'
Loki Wati said: 'Allahu Akbar!! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful Jiva. With Allah's power and

blessings, may He protect us all in any situation. Aameen.'

Jennine NeNe Butler said: 'I read your story and it is truly inspirational. Thank you for sharing it with us xxx'.

Fahmida Uddin said: 'Every minute reading this was worth it for the outcome was amazing.'

Danish Aid Worker Shares Update On The Boy Labelled A Witch She Rescued

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 08:48:00 -0700

Founder of African Children’s Aid Education and Development Foundation (ACAEDF)/Danish AidWorker, Anja Ringgren Loven, has shared new updates on the little boy labelled a witch she rescued earlier on in the year.

In a post shared on her Facebook page, she wrote:

“I get a lot of questions about Hope and its so amazing all the love he and all our children are receiving from all over the world.

”Hope is doing great. He is a miracle! He is very strong and very intelligent. He is not talking but small words little by little are coming. We are still waiting for him to get his operation.

”As many Nigerians know the doctors at the University Teaching hospitals has been on strike for a long period so we have been very patience. Where there is love, there is life”

Canary Updates

Prince secretly bought the house from Purple Rain for $117,000 just months before he died

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 03:57:00 -0700

Prince bought the house that propelled him into Purple Rain fame in the 1980s eight months before he died, a real estate agent has claimed.

The house, located at 3420 Snelling Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, went up for sale a year ago.

It appeared in the 1984 movie in which Prince played budding musician The Kid - a performance that earned him the Academy Award for best original song score the following year.

Prince snatched the house in a secretive transaction eight months before his April 2016 death, real estate agent Deborah Larson of Coldwell Banker Burnet told the Star Tribune.

'I don't think he had a plan. I think he just wanted it,' Larson, who handled the sale, said.

A woman gave Larson a phone call last July around 5 pm saying she wanted to make an offer on the house without viewing it - and offered
to pay for it in full up front, Larson said.

Larson, who had heard a lot of bogus inquiries from fans until that point, was unconvinced at first. But she told the woman on the phone how to complete the transaction.
The woman followed through and called back within a couple of hours, having completed all the steps.

Larson understood Prince was behind the purchase when she saw the name of his company, NPG Music Publishing, on the paperwork, the Star Tribune reported.
Prince paid $117,000 for the two-story, three bedroom property, $7,000 beyond the asking price, which was set at $110,000.

The home, which was built in 1913, was in need of repair, the listing stated at the time.
Prince never settled inside the Snelling Avenue property. He lived at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, about 20 miles away, at the time of his death.

Canary Updates

Why Dark chocolate may be good for your health

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 03:03:00 -0700

When it comes to healthy foods, you probably don’t think dark chocolate belongs in the list. But many health experts know this chocolate can positively affect our body’s health. These health benefits are primarily attributed to the main ingredient in this snack: cocoa

Dark chocolate is made from the see of the cocoa plant. This plant itself contains several antioxidants that can improve our health. If you’re one of the few people who need more convincing about eating more dark chocolates, the following are good reasons why you should snack on them:

Vitamins and Minerals

A hundred grams of dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content can offer you with 98% manganese RDA, 89% copper RDA, and 11 grams of fiber. It also has magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, and phosphorus.

Antioxidants

The cocoa beans are responsible for the high amount of antioxidants in dark chocolates. These antioxidants include flavanols, catechins, and polyphenols among many others. There is one study that supports the high content of antioxidants in dark chocolates, beating other fruits, such as acai and blueberries.

For Blood Flow and Arteries
Eating more dark chocolates can provide you with ample amounts of flavanols, which can help stimulate the artery lining to relax the arteries, which can improve blood flow. This therefore lowers blood pressure. In this case, dark chocolates are good for people with hypertension.

For Healthy Cholesterol Levels

Aside from protecting against high blood pressure, dark chocolates can also help control cholesterol levels. This snack can prevent increase in LDL, which is considered the bad cholesterol, while increasing HDL, the good one. Once again, this can be credited to the cocoa content in the chocolate.

For the Heart

Since dark chocolates can prevent hypertension as well as high LDL cholesterol, they can lower the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. This has been proven in one 15-year-long study that involved 470 men who consumed cocoa. These men saw a reduced risk of death by cardiovascular disease by up to 50%.

For the Skin

Flavonols in the chocolates can also help in reducing sun damage. Eating more chocolates is said to improve blood flow throughout the skin as well as increasing hydration and skin density.

Chocolates are not created equal; dark chocolates are not favored by many over milk and other sweet chocolate variants. Cocoa makes dark chocolates bitter and that’s because of the 400 polyphenols found in it. While dark chocolates are very healthy, you may want to avoid eating too much since they still contain sugar and have about 600 calories per 100 grams.

Canary Updates

How I managed gestational diabetes.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 00:32:00 -0700

When I was pregnant I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

My heart was filled with fear and worry. I was ensured that following the right instructions will lead to a healthy delivery.

I was giving a blood glucose meter to check my sugar regularly before and after each meals.

I took it very seriously because I wanted to have a healthy baby.

I had big carvings for sweets in my pregnancy and I had to cut it of immediately.

Unhealthy eating during gestational diabetes may lead to Macrosomia - Macrosomia means a big baby. Babies weighing more than 4kg (8lb 8oz) at birth are called macrosomic.

Perinatal death - This means death around the time of birth and includes stillbirth (when a baby is dead at birth) and neonatal death (when a young baby dies).

Shoulder dystocia - Condition where the baby’s shoulder is stuck in your pelvis once the head has been born. This can squash the umbilical cord, so the team need to use additional interventions to deliver the baby quickly and safely.

If you are diagnosed with Gestational diabetes not to worry this easy steps will work out just fine

Get a book called Carbs & Cals it is recommended by diabetes specialists . It really worked for me

Make sure you check your sugar regularly at list 4 times a day

Be more active. Going for a walk, laundry, making the bed really helps with sugar or even a good shower. this usually helps when you have eaten over your carbs limit

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables eg strawberries, black berries, green apples, a hand full of grapes, cucumber,salad,green peppers,red peppers. this fruits are great for gestational diabetes .

Eat more protein even for snacks eg scrambled eggs with tomatoes Moi Moi worked out fine for me as a snack it is an African food made with beans. very high in protein. I will introduce you to the recipe.

Drink loads of water or drinks with low sugar. Ribena worked for me

Hope this easy Tips works out for you

Good luck

Jennifer Francies

Healthy Choice - GRILLED PINEAPPLE PRAWNS RECIPE

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 09:50:00 -0700

Ingredients

1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp, with tails on (at least 24)
2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into 16 chunks
1½ -2 orange bell peppers, seeds and stems removed, cut into 16 chunks
24 cherry tomatoes
½ cup organic pineapple juice
¼ cup tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 inch square cube fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 wood or metal skewers (make sure to soak wood skewers for one half hour ahead of time if cooking directly on the grill)

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the pineapple juice, tamari, mustard, garlic, ginger and olive oil. Stir to combine. Remove ¼ cup of the marinade to reserve for basting. Add honey, salt and pepper to the (¼ cup of) basting sauce and stir before setting aside. Place the shrimp in a non-reactive container just large enough to hold each piece lying flat in a single layer. Pour the remaining marinade evenly over the shrimp. Refrigerate and let marinate for one hour, turning shrimp once at the half-hour mark.

Add the tomatoes, pineapple and bell pepper to the marinating shrimp and stir to combine and coat. The shrimp no longer need to lie flat. Let marinate another 30-60 minutes, stirring several more times.

Using a 10-inch skewer, pierce the wide edge of a shrimp followed by a cherry tomato, then the tail of the shrimp, so that the tomato sits in the curve of the shrimp. The shrimp should look like the letter “C” surrounding a red ball. Next add a chunk of pineapple followed by a chunk of bell pepper. Repeat. End with a third shrimp around a tomato. Continue in this way until all 8 skewers are loaded.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or heat the grill to medium hot. Brush the topside of each kabob with the prepared basting sauce and cook on a roasting pan in the oven, a grill pan on the grill, or directly on the grill. After about 10 minutes in the oven, or 5-6 on the grill, flip the kabobs and brush to coat with the remaining basting sauce. Cook another 5 or so minutes until the shrimp is cooked through. Serve while still warm.
Makes 4 servings. Serving size is 2 kabobs.

Nutritional Breakdown

Protein: 35.5%
Carbohydrate: 47%
Fat: 17.4%

Totals Per Serving
Calories: 200
Protein: 18.4 grams
Carbohydrate: 24.4 grams
Fat: 4 grams
Cholesterol: 142.8 mg
Sodium: 1240 mg

HOW SUGAR AFFECTS YOUR SKIN

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 05:51:00 -0700

Sugar has zero nutritional value— it ruins both your figure and your skin. Sugar is highly addictive, affecting the brain like heroin, and it doesn’t contribute to satiety, so overeating is inevitable. Your skin represents your internal health, and the effects of sugar on both can be horrifying.

When excess sugar circulates in the bloodstream, it attaches to proteins in a process called glycation, producing advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs cause protein fibers to become stiff and malformed.

The proteins in your skin that are most prone to glycation, collagen and elastin, are the same ones that produce a youthful, radiant, supple complexion. AGEs accumulate in the collagen and elastin of your skin, causing it to become thin, discolored and rigid, resulting in sallowness, wrinkles and sagging.

Furthermore, AGEs deactivate your body’s natural antioxidants, leaving you more vulnerable to sun damage and environmental toxins. Youthful skin is more resilient, but the damage accumulates and starts to show its aging effect in your 30s. If you are young and not worried about aging yet, be aware that sugar and high-glycemic foods raise insulin levels and lead to total body inflammation.

In the skin, this presents as rashes, rosacea and acne breakouts. A 12-week randomized controlled trial looking at 23 males between the ages of 15 and 25 who adhered to a strict low-glycemic diet had significant improvement in their acne. Another study looked at 32 Korean adults, 20-27 years old, who ate a low-glycemic diet for 10 weeks. Skin biopsies revealed that both the size of the oil glands and amount of inflammatory cells were reduced.

• Most of your carbohydrates should come from vegetables and real foods. Avoid packaged and processed foods, as these quickly convert to sugar. Avoid hidden sugars in food— barley malt, dextrose, corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, maple syrup, molasses, turbinado, agave syrup and honey. Especially avoid high-fructose corn syrup, which produces more AGEs that other types.

• Include more antioxidants in your diet. Antioxidants have a protective effect against the formation of AGEs by preventing sugar from attaching to proteins. Colorful vegetables, berries, nuts and green tea are essential.

• Exercise. Regular exercise uses up excess sugar in the bloodstream as fuel, making it unavailable to produce AGEs. Keep moving!

• Supplement your diet with vitamins B1 and B6, which are potent AGE inhibitors. Chromium, B3, and magnesium improve blood sugar control, making sugar less available for AGE formation. The amino acid carnosine can protect against AGE buildup.

• Spice it up. Certain spices may help inhibit the formation of AGEs, among them cinnamon, cloves, oregano, allspice, ginger and garlic.

• Wear SPF 30-plus sunscreen with zinc oxide every day. AGEs occur more frequently in sun-exposed skin, and AGEs make skin more prone to UV damage, so daily broad-spectrum sun protection is crucial.

• Topical nourishment with retinoids (retinol, tretinoin, retin-A) nightly will help build new collagen and actually reverse some damage. SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Complex specifically targets AGEs in the skin. Every morning, use a high-quality topical vitamin C serum or cream underneath your sunscreen.

Canary Updates

Arrested Briton 'wanted to shoot Donald Trump'

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 10:40:00 -0700

A Briton who tried to grab a police officer's gun at a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas said he wanted to shoot the US candidate, court papers say.

Michael Steven Sandford, 20, did not enter a plea when he appeared before a judge in Nevada and was remanded in custody until a hearing on 5 July.

He is charged with an act of violence in a restricted area.

He had reportedly tried to seize the gun after saying he wanted Mr Trump's autograph at Saturday's rally.

He said he had been planning to try to shoot Mr Trump for about a year but had decided to act now because he finally felt confident enough to do so, court papers say.

Gun suspect described as 'a very quiet lad'

Mr Sandford is reported to be from Dorking, in Surrey.

He had originally travelled to the US to see a girlfriend, the Evening Standard reports, citing a friend of his mother.

A federal judge found Mr Sandford, who reportedly appeared in court in shackles, to be a danger and risk of non-appearance, and he was ordered detained pending his preliminary hearing.

When asked about the arrest of Michael Sandford, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are providing assistance following an arrest of a British national in Las Vegas."

The charge relates specifically to breaches of an area where someone protected by the Secret Service is visiting,
Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump fired his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who oversaw his triumph in the primary contests.

The US presidential election campaign of 2016 has been fringed with violence. Almost everywhere Donald Trump goes he attracts protests.

The tycoon often mocks the demonstrators and there have been clashes with his supporters, both

inside and outside of his packed, emotionally charged rallies. For some, the violence has stirred dark

memories of 1968 when Democratic presidential contender Robert Kennedy was assassinated and riots broke out at the party's convention in Chicago.

This year events have not descended to those awful depths but still, the country feels edgy and the Secret Service, which guards candidates as well as presidents, has been on high alert.

In March in Ohio agents swarmed around Mr Trump after a man apparently attempted to climb on to the stage where he was speaking. Other events have been cancelled because of security concerns.

With five months to go, many Americans are worried about where this election is heading.

According to the court papers, Mr Sandford said he had never fired a gun before but went to a range in Las Vegas on 17 June to learn how to shoot.

At Saturday's rally at the Treasure Island Casino, he allegedly tried to grab the officer's weapon because it was in an unlocked position and therefore, he said, the easiest way to get a gun to shoot Mr Trump.

Court documents say Mr Sandford acknowledged he knew he would only be able to fire one or two rounds, and expected to be killed during an attempt on Mr Trump's life.

According to the court papers, Mr Sandford said he had never fired a gun before but went to a range in Las Vegas on 17 June to learn how to shoot.

At Saturday's rally at the Treasure Island Casino, he allegedly tried to grab the officer's weapon because it was in an unlocked position and therefore, he said, the easiest way to get a gun to shoot Mr Trump.

Court documents say Mr Sandford acknowledged he knew he would only be able to fire one or two rounds, and expected to be killed during an attempt on Mr Trump's life.

He told police if he had not tried to kill Mr Trump at this rally he would have tried again at a rally in Phoenix, for which he had already booked tickets, the papers say.

He told investigators he had been in the US for one and a half years and drove to Las Vegas from California specifically to kill Mr Trump, the court papers say.

Court research showed he was unemployed, living out of his car and in the US illegally, the Associated Press news agency reports.

A federal public defender said he had autism and had attempted suicide, the agency adds.
Funding woes
Recent opinion polls suggest Mr Trump is trailing his Democrat opponent Hillary Clinton.

US media focused on the Republican candidate's fundraising woes over the weekend. The Trump

campaign had just $1.3m in cash at the start of June, compared with Mrs Clinton's $42 million.
Clinton outpaces Trump in fund-raising

She also has nearly ten times more staff, the New York Times reports.

Mr Trump's former campaign manager says he still supports his candidacy, despite being sacked.
Corey Lewandowski said the billionaire businessman had changed the way American politics was viewed for the better.

Reports in American media say he clashed with the more traditional strategists Mr Trump has hired recently to try to reshape his operation for the November election.

Mr Trump is facing strong resistance from senior members of his own party over his strident tone, hard-line immigration policy and falling poll numbers.

Americans go to the polls on 8 November to elect a president to succeed Democrat Barack Obama, who is stepping down after two terms in office, which have seen the Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress.

Source: BBC News

Supportive dad gets a tattoo to match his brave young son's brain cancer surgery scar

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 09:33:00 -0700

A father has gone to extraordinary lengths to show his love and support for his sick young son by

getting a tattoo on his head matching a scar the boy bears from brain surgery.

Gabriel Marshall of Kansas, eight, was diagnosed last year with an anaplastic astrocytoma, a type of malignant brain tumor, the treatment for which was surgery.

While the surgery didn't get all of the tumor out, it has been nine months since he stopped treatment and is currently stable.

However, after the surgery, Gabriel's father Josh, 28, became concerned about how the scar left behind on his son's head from the surgery was affecting his self-confidence.

In fact, the little boy told his dad that he felt like a 'monster' with the scar. A fact that simply broke his father's heart.

So, to help his son feel normal, Josh came up with the idea of getting a tattoo on his head to look identical to his son's cancer scar.

'I told him if people wanted to stare, they could stare at both of us,' the doting dad told BuzzFeed.

The moving gesture came to wide attention after Josh entered the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s #BestBaldDad competition in honor of Father's Day.

Canary Updates

Orlando terrorist used homosexual dating app and visited Pulse at least a dozen times

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 02:18:00 -0700

Evidence is mounting that Omar Mateen, the gunman who murdered 49 people in a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning, was himself gay.

Mateen's horrifying attack on Pulse nightclub was initially thought to be a homophobic attack rooted in extremist Islamic ideology.

But now his ex-wife and former police academy classmate have stepped forward to say they think Mateen was gay, the same day it was revealed that Mateen had made at least a dozen previous visits to Pulse, and was a user of gay dating app Jack'd.

Mateen's first wife, Sitora Yusufiy, whom he met online in 2009 and married soon after, spoke to a Brazilian TV station on Monday, Gawker reported.

Yusufiy was joined on the channel by her Brazilian fiance, Marcio Dias.

Speaking Portuguese, he told the channel that Yusufiy told him Mateen had 'gay tendencies' and had been called gay in front of her on several occasions by his father.

He also said that she didn't believe that Mateen's Islamic beliefs were at the root of his attack.

She had told the FBI that he he was unstable, and that she didn't believe he was part of a terrorist group - despite him pledging allegiance to ISIS before the attack and the terror group later claiming responsibility for it.

'The FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media,' he told the station.

Yusufiy sought divorce from Mateen in 2011, after he turned violent.

‘After a few months he started to beat me,’ she had said previously. ‘He was mentally unstable… he was obviously disturbed. I know he had a history of [taking] steroids.'

And talking to the Palm Beach Post, a former classmate of Mateen said that the mass-murderer once asked him out on a date.

The man, who did not wish to be named, was a classmate of Mateen's in 2006, when they both attended the Indian River Community College police academy.

He said that he would hang out with Mateen alone and in groups, and that they went to gay clubs together.

He also said that Mateen had asked him out on a date at one point. 'We went to a few gay bars with him, and I was not out at the time, so I declined his offer,' he said.

He told the newspaper that he thought Mateen was gay and closeted, and that he was an 'awkward' figure.

'He just wanted to fit in and no one liked him,' he said. 'He was always socially awkward.'

Mateen made his attack on Pulse early Sunday morning - but that wasn't the first time he'd been to the club,The Orlando Sentinel reported.

One regular at the club said he'd seen Mateen, at least a dozen times there before the massacre.

'Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself,' Ty Smith, who also uses the name Aries, told the Sentinel Monday.

'Other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,' he added.

Remarks that Mateen drank heavily conflict with his apparently strict adherence to his Muslim faith, including regular worship at a mosque in his home town of Port St. Lucie - where he was quiet and kept to himself.

Smith said he'd seen Mateen at Pulse 'at least a dozen times', joining three others who said they'd seen the shooter at the club before.

'We didn't really talk to him a lot, but I remember him saying things about his dad at times,' Smith said. 'He told us he had a wife and child.'

Chris Callen, who performs at Pulse under the name Kristina McLaughlin told The Canadian Press: 'He's been going to this bar for at least three years.'

And Kevin West, who was also a regular at Pulse, told the Los Angeles Times that Mateen has messaged him on gay dating app Jack'd several times in the year before the attack.

However, he said, he never actually met the man until the morning of the attack.

He saw Mateen crossing the street outside Pulse at around 1am - about an hour before the attack.

West, who was dropping off a friend at the club, recognized Mateen. 'He walked directly past me,' he said. 'I said, "Hey," and he turned and said, "Hey," and nodded his head,' West said.

West went to police as soon as he saw pictures of Mateen in news reports, handing over his phone and Jack'd login to FBI agents, who still had it as of Monday.

The FBI are also trying to hack into Mateen's own electronic devices to find out what had happened in the days leading up to the shooting, the LA Times reported.

Mateen married a second time after divorcing Yusufiy, to Noor Zahi Salman, with whom he had a son.

The pair got a mortgage together in 2013, but they were living at separate addresses when he went on his rampage.

His father, Seddique Mateen, told the Palm Beach Post that he didn't believe his son was gay. 'If he was gay, why would he do something like this?' he asked the paper.

And he had previously recounted a time when his son became furiously angry after seeing two men kissing in Florida.

But speaking to The Canadian Press, Smith said that the story was 'bullc***'.

'That's straight-up c***,' he said in an interview at the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida.

'He's been around us. Some of those people did a little more than (kiss) outside the bar... He was partying with the people who supposedly drove him to do this?'

Classmate Samuel King said Mateen was not homophobic when he knew him in the year after their 2004 graduation.

'What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday's when I worked there were gay,' he said.

'He clearly was not anti-(gay), at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us. He treated us all like the individuals we were. He always smiled and said hello.'

King, who characterized Mateen as friendly and talkative, said: 'Something must have changed.'

Canary Updates

Gordon Ramsay's wife suffers miscarriage at five months

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 23:38:00 -0700

Gordon Ramsay's wife, Tana, has suffered a miscarriage five months into her pregnancy.

The celebrity chef and his wife were expecting their fifth child.

He wrote on Facebook: "We had a devastating weekend as Tana has sadly miscarried our son at five months.

"We're together healing as a family, but we want to thank everyone again for all your amazing support and well wishes."

"I'd especially like to send a big thank you to the amazing team at Portland Hospital for everything they've done," he added.

The chef revealed the family were expecting another child on The Late Late Show with James Corden last month.

The couple have been married since 1996.

They are parents to 18-year-old Megan, twins Holly and Jack, 16, and Matilda, 14.

If a pregnancy ends before the 24th week, it is known as a miscarriage

Miscarriages are quite common in the first three months of pregnancy - around one in five confirmed
pregnancies ends this way and are often caused by problems with the foetus

Certain long-term health conditions in the mother, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or thyroid problems, can also increase the risk of a miscarriage

A later miscarriage may also be due to an infection, a poorly developed placenta or a weak cervix (neck of the womb) that opens too early in the pregnancy

Canary Updates