Monday, 19 August 2013
Genevieve Nnaji spotted rocking $10,000 Chanel Lego Bag
Suarez matter resolved —Rodgers
Suarez
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says that”everything has been resolved” regarding the future of Luis Suarez.
Arsenal has pursued the Uruguayan for
much of the summer but has not upped its bid from its most recent, which
was said to bemore than £40m, and the Reds boss was adamant on Friday
that the saga would not”sabotage” his club’s season.
The forward was in attendance as
Liverpool openedthe Premier League campaign with a 1-0 victory over
Stoke City, and Rodgersseemed content that there would be no more
question of an exit.
“The only thing I will say about Luis is
that Iam very satisfied how everything has been resolved and now we can
moveon,” Rodgers told reporters. “He is a part of this team and
thisclub. The supporters are a class act here, and it is the classic
Liverpool wayto support the players and the manager.”
Suarez is unavailable for the next five
games as hecontinues to serve a 10-match ban incurred last season for
biting Chelsea’sBranislav Ivanovic.
Prophet T O Obadare buried in Osun
Osun State governor, the Osun state executive council, church members, associates, friends, and family attended the burial yesterday to pay their last respect
I like them big and dangling ... - Lola Rae •Says my tattoos are from the Bible
My sojourn abroad.
IT was not that I went abroad for greener pasture. I relocated with my family. My mum, who is a Ghanaian and my dad, English and they both lived and worked in Nigeria for 50 years. They met and got married ; my three sisters and I were born in Nigeria and we lived in the country for fifteen years. We had to go back to school, but my dad insisted that he wants to die in this country because he loves Nigeria and claims to be a Nigerian. We all have Nigerian passports and this is the only country that I really know, that was why I go by the name Funmilola Rachel Garton because I am a Nigerian. I was born in Obalende, Lagos and I am proud to be a Nigerian.
Journey into entertainment.
I have always had the passion for music which is my talent. I feel like adding to what the likes of Tiwa Savage, Seyi Shay, Omawuni, Waje and a host of others have been doing so well in the entertainment industry. It is a way of making a statement in a distinctive dimension and discharge my God-given talent right from my tender age. I am 22 years old and I am willing to showcase my talent as well as make the young ones realise that they have got one talent or the other to create jobs and opportunities. Just as Wizkid could be described as the young chap who is making waves in the entertainment scene, especially among the male counterparts, I want to represent the Wizkid of the female fold booming the industry too. He started as a kid and I also want to start as a kid (Laughs…).
Growing up.
Growing up was interesting. I had my primary education at the St. Saviours School and my secondary education at Lekki British International High School, Lagos State. I later moved to Ghana for a year because my grandma was sick and I eventually relocated to England for my university education, and the best country I lived in is Nigeria.
How I discovered my music talent.
I had always loved to be a great singer. Despite the fact that I was signed to a record label in England, I still had it at the back of my mind that I don’t want to live in England. My mum advised me to leave the record deal and go back to Nigeria since I had made up my mind to relocate to Nigeria. Along the line, I met a guy called Rotimi, who started training me for Nigerian music and as a result of that, I released a video entitled “Watch my Tingo,” which is doing well in the industry. Although, I do jazz purposely because you are going to see a lot of soul and jazz stuff, but I am more comfortable in Afro Pop. I love Asha and Lagbaja and lots of old school songs. I could regard them as my role models. In fact, I really love Lagbaja’s music; he used to come to my parents parties without his mask, He used to be a family friend. Although, I can’t remember his face again because at that time’, I was a baby, but my dad promised he would arrange it for us meet and I am still waiting for the day.
Why I relocated to Nigeria.
I was already going to move back to Nigeria. I only went to England for my university education and that was the main reason I went there and now, I am done. I studied Fashion at Central St. Martin’s College of Arts and Design. It was very hard, but I thank God for the success story. Obviously, with my deep experience, I make all my clothes and performing outfits myself and I am bringing all that I have learnt over there to Nigeria.
My experience with Nigerian music.
To me, the experience is really good. You see, Nigeria is a very difficult country because we don’t really have a structure at the moment. Music, especially at the main stream, is very new to us so we are all trying to create a structure. It is difficult, because sometimes you will want to give out the best of you but there is no room for such which makes it interesting. I strongly believe that the entertainment industry will find its place in terms of structure in no time, and we will not relent to attain a well structured system. I am 100 per-cent ready to face the music and the many challenges I may encounter. I have nothing to fear about. I was born here in Nigeria and I am used to the system because I was in the for so long. At present, I am launching my coming back with a big bang. I am really enthused to carve a niche for myself and affect the industry positively. My management is taking necessary steps to stamp my come back.
My Relationship with Beyonce.
I have no relationship with her; I’m just a fan of her musicality and marketing schemes. She is truly an inspiration. I have never referred myself as ‘Beyonce’ and never will I. There is only one Beyonce and that is all the world needs.
Do I feel threatened as a girl among female counterparts in the industry?
No. why should I? I don’t and I don’t think I will find any threat to make my way in the industry amidst the female counterparts. To me, I see it as a source of inspiration because we all draw from each other. Some of us really draw from Tiwa Savage because she opened the door for all of us in Afro Pop. So, I don’t find it as a threat rather I should build on the relationship and help one another. I actually met Tiwa Savage recently at a salon and she was very nice.
Assessment of the Nigerian entertainment industry.
I am really impressed that the industry is growing quickly and big. Sometime ago, an American programme, BET 106 & Park featured me as the video of the week, I wondered how they found our details because only American artistes participate in it. As the first African person, I was wondering how they found the video and that made me understand that African music is growing, especially the Nigerian entertainment industry and the whole world is noticing its vast development. I can say our industry is behind in some certain things compared to what we have abroad. As I said earlier, our structure needs more attention. In other countries there are music laws, but Nigeria doesn’t have that yet because it is all new and it can be formalised in no time, but that doesn’t mean that we are behind.
Take on collaboration.
It is a welcome development. It is a way of creating harmony among either frontline or upcoming artistes because this could also be a means to enhance growth of the industry. I have featured Iyanya, Seli Bobo and a gentleman called Banky W who has always been advising me and a host of other artistes. I want Nigerians to be at alert and be on the lookout for my works. At present, I am working on two singles.
Fashion and music.
The fact that I have a deep knowledge of what fashion entails has really helped me define my style and my performance on stage. I have been able to combine my costumes and God willing, I intend to establish an affordable fashion line.
Definition of style.
I don’t have a definite answer to that but it depends on my mood and how I chose to look in a particular day. I may decide to look glamorous or casual. But my style is always unique.
Description of self.
I am a quiet and a very shy person in real life, but I am a total different person on stage; I am very loud and wild on stage. I always enjoy doing my kick.
Choice of accessories.
Shoes and hair are necessary because you cannot go out bare footed and it is also good for you to have a nice hair style. I also love bags and make-up too.
Beauty regimen.
I have a make-up artiste; she is a Ghanaian, Queen Adasa. She gives me the entire beauty regimen just to make sure I treat my skin well.
Favourite designers.
I don’t really have a favourite designer. I usually go for whatever catches my eye. I love In Africa Clan, Re Bahia in Nigeria and a host of other fantastic designers such as April by Kunbi and Deola Sagoe, who is taking Nigeria fashion to New York and that is amazing.
Favourite colour.
I don’t like too bright colours. I always cherish cream and green. It is not that I hate bright colours, I usually don’t go for bright colours expect when I am on stage.
Fashion items I cannot do without.
There are lots of them. I cannot do without shoes, make-up and ear rings; I like them big and dangling.
Fashion items I cannot be caught dead wearing.
I cannot be caught dead wearing flat shoes, I only wear slippers in door and you will never find me wearing slippers outside because I am short and I need to fool people (Laughs…). Even on stage, I dance with my high heels, and I don’t miss my steps because we were trained for it.
What I do to keep my shape.
I am still trying to keep my shape. I have really lost weight, I was very big before I shot my video , but now I have lost weight. I have a trainer and my manager makes me eat well, she makes me eat salad, but when I am in Nigeria, I can be eating pounded yam.
Special treat.
I am always a busy person, but I have always treated myself in special way at my leisure by watching TV programmes as well as eating my favourite food, jollof rice and snail.
Opinion on cosmetic surgery.
I don’t think it is ideal, except that you need it for medical condition. I would advise you go for it, but changing your face just because of vanity is uncalled for. Be happy with the face God has blessed you with and that is my personal opinion.
Take on provocative dressing.
It is not ideal to dress provocatively. You have to be a responsible lady and cover up. But when it comes to entertainment, you have to give somebody a glimpse of dreamy essence, something that you cannot see people do every day. When it comes to our performance outfits, I try to make them glamorous and sexy, but we always try to make it decent as well. So, it is half and half because in the entertainment industry, you have to appeal to your fans and your audience, look good and be exceptional.
Tattoo.
My tattoos are from a Biblical passage, 1 Corinthians 13: 13: “Faith, hope and love.” Those three words are extremely powerful.
Greatest physical asset.
My nose has always been the sight of attraction. It is the first thing people always make comments about and I don’t know what is special about it. A lot of people always say I have a nice pointed nose.
Male admirers.
My manager handles them. The fact is that I don’t have a phone and everything goes through my manager. If anybody wants anything, it has to go through her. My manager, is always there and we are always together.
Toni Braxton suffers wardrobe malfunction on stage
Former Nigerian female footballer, Iyabo Abade now living as a man
Now that you are a man, has it been easy playing men’s football?
I thank God for how far He has brought me. I have made every effort to get to the top as a footballer but there is no support from anywhere, even the Nigeria Football Federation. I am just trying on my own to get to the top but it hasn’t been easy. You go for trials and you do well and you are recruited but after sometime, they will start acting funny; they use my past against me. I try to ensure that I don’t let clubs know who I am. I don’t like telling them that I am the former Iyabo Abade; I have to go there like every other normal player and fight for a place in the team. But when they hear that former Iyabo Abade has signed for either Crown FC or Plateau United, they start discriminating against me.
Meanwhile I got there as James
Johnson but they keep asking, “Can she cope in the midst of guys?” They
have forgotten that I am a man and I met their requirements before they
signed me up. Once they now know my past, they won’t allow me to play
anymore. Were they blind when they signed me? With that, I feel
frustrated and discriminated against so I decided that there was no need
disturbing myself and I decided to quit. I am praying that God helps me
so that I can continue my career abroad. I think things will be better
over there.
Has the society accepted you for who you are?
Some do but some have not. Everybody
cannot like you for who you are, so you just have to take life the way
it is. My colleagues who we played together in the women’s league all
welcome me. Some people want to be my friends even when they don’t know
who I am and even when they know that I am the former Iyabo Abade turned
James Johnson, they are still happy to be my friends. I am happy with
that. There is no need for me to be feeling sad that God created me the
way I am. So, I am happy with life but I feel sad because some people
are out there to cut short your happiness. I will be happy playing
football but some people don’t like it.
What is your relationship with your Falcons teammates?
Some of them still welcome me; they see
me just like every other person. They don’t discriminate against me; we
grew up together and did things together even though I am no more in
their group. I am so happy about that. When the news first came out, a
lot of them were shocked because they didn’t even know anything about
hermaphrodite. But later, they sympathised with me; they said I am not
God and didn’t create myself. That was how it went and we are still
friends till now.
Your rehabilitation should be in stages. How far have you gone?
I am still on it. After I went for
check-up in 2009, I am due for the next stage, where a surgery will be
carried out to enable me become a full man and live a normal and perfect
life. But every effort has been futile; nothing is really happening and
I am looking up to God to intervene in this issue. I have made every
effort and gone to the NSC but they did nothing. I took a letter there
and was going there for about seven months. So I have to look elsewhere
to enable me complete the surgery. I also wrote to NFF when Sani Lulu
was the head and he gave me hope. He said, ‘Bring your letter and we
will see what we can do.’ But at the end, they said, ‘We don’t know what
happened to your letter.’ When it gets to releasing money, that is when
the letter gets missing. Only Family Worship helped me a great deal to
go for the check-up.
How much do you need for the surgery?
I will need about N12m for the final
surgery. My doctor says I have to stay in the US for one year, so that
he can monitor the final process. Aside the surgery, I will have to pay
for accommodation for one year and other things like feeding and
transportation.
Now that you haven’t finished the rehabilitation, would you say you are living a man’s life?
I would say I am living happily but my
joy will be to complete the whole stages of the rehabilitation. Then I
can boast of myself as a real man just like other guys. I will say I
still need the final surgery before I can answer your question further.
You once had the ambition of
becoming the first person ever to play for the female and male national
teams of a country but the dream seems dashed. How do you feel?
I feel rejected and frustrated because
football is my life but the NSC and the NFF are not in support of my
ambition. If we had a good sports commission, I won’t be in this
situation. Do they want me to cry to the US government? That will be a
disgrace to Nigeria.
Who are those that stood behind you during your trying times?
I want to thank former FCT ministers
Abba Gana and Nasir el-Rufai; they were very helpful. I wrote to the
former First Lady, Turai Yar’Adua, and Patience Jonathan, who was then
Second Lady. Though I didn’t get money from the First Lady but I was
given the opportunity to enter Aso Rock. Unfortunately, her husband fell
sick and she couldn’t attend to me. She asked some people to attend to
me but I didn’t hear from them. The present First Lady has not done
anything to help me despite all the efforts I have made to reach her, a
fellow Niger Deltan like her. If northerners can show concern for me,
why not her? Family Worship also gave me money for my check-up as well
as the Redeemed Christian Church of God. I appreciate all of them.
Would you accept if the US says you should naturalise and play for them?
I will accept it with both hands. It’s everybody’s dream to be a US citizen, so I will jump at the opportunity.
What is your advice to other hermaphrodites, who are ashamed to come out or don’t have the opportunity you have?
I have some already and I have given my
doctor in the US their contacts. They are two and they are into female
football. They say a problem shared is half solved. If people don’t know
your problem, you will die with it, so they just have to come out and
let the world know what they are passing through. They need to look unto
God. If not for God, I would have been a forgotten issue because at
times, I feel like committing suicide. You will want to run into a
moving truck but I thank God for being in charge of my life. I am happy
today and everybody wants to mingle with me. So, life goes on.
Are you thinking of setting up a foundation for hermaphrodites?
Yes, so that many people with such
issues can be treated. I hope to make it a worldwide foundation. There
are a lot of hermaphrodites but they are shy or afraid to come out.
There was a case that happened in Delta State when they almost killed a
hermaphrodite. They said she is a witch. But it is not proper because
these people didn’t create themselves. They should use me as a sign of
hope. They can also be treated and be happy just like myself. I won’t
blame them for not coming out because the support is not there in
Nigeria. If they come out, they will be discriminated against.
When ladies you approach realise later that you were once like them, do they run away?
I am loved by women, there’s no doubt
about that. They want to be my best friend. Everywhere I go, women
always appreciate me because of my looks even when they later get to
know about my issue. They always want to grab the opportunity to date
someone like me. Some of them are happy to be with me because they have
never seen such a person before. Every woman is mixing with James
Johnson.
How was your trip to the US in 2012 with the Marasata Soccer Academy?
Marasata Soccer Academy brought me back
to life because I felt so frustrated when I was neglected. The academy
brought me in to lead the female team because I once played female
football. That was how I became head of the coaching crew and with time,
I will get to the top. The trip to the US last year was a success.
Aside not having a club side, do you still play football?
Of course yes. Football is part of me
and I play every now and then, even with my boys in the academy. I
derive joy in football; I play with Karo All Stars in Abuja and we play
so many competitions.
If you look back now, is there a time you will recount with joy while playing female football?
Sometimes I feel sad that I didn’t
continue what I know how to do best in the midst of the girls but I
ignore it and let go. It’s not over, I still feel I will play for this
country one day as a man but whether I play or not, I am happy with
life. I was excluded from the 1999 Women’s World Cup but when the team
returned home, my club FCT Queens had a match against Pelican Stars,
which paraded all the superstars like Ann Agumanu, Mercy Akide, Eberechi
Opara and Stella Mbachu. I was the only star in my team. It’s a game
people still talk about. We were 2-1 down and I scored an incredible
goal from the flank. That goal helped us beat Pelican 3-2 and they were
complaining that why did they allow me to play the game after it was
discovered that I am a hermaphrodite. People still say it was the best
game they saw me play. My goal gingered my teammates to beat them. I
will never forget that game. FCT Queens also won the Challenge Cup and I
was one of the team’s trainers. That was how I got help to go for
surgery. We were hosted in Sheraton and the then FCT Minister Nasir
el-Rufai sponsored me to the US for the surgery.
Initially, was it easy blending from a female to male?
It was not easy in the beginning playing
with the men but I took up the challenge. I didn’t get support as a
male footballer. If I had remained as a female footballer, I knew where I
would be now. In men’s football, it’s all about who you know. If you
don’t have someone to back you up, forget it, no matter what you play. I
felt there was no need going to a club and telling them that I was
Iyabo Abade. I wanted to be there on merit but after signing, I faced
discrimination. I played for NEPA and Plateau United. At Plateau, they
brought me in always as a late substitute because they didn’t believe I
could play. But we were five they selected out of over 100 players that
came for trials. If I was not good, why did they pick me from such a
large number of players?
Do you sometimes feel like being a woman?
I chose to become a man because it is
what God wants me to be. I didn’t use money as my priority in opting to
be a man. If it was for money reasons, I would have remained as a woman
because I was getting to the top of female football in Nigeria. I am
happy with the decision I took. If I became a female, I probably
wouldn’t have been happy with my life. So I just decided to move on. I
am not regretting the step I made. I can tell you, women are running
after me like Usain Bolt and I think it is better for me. I like it that
way. I never expected it that way. Today, I am pleased that people want
to know me.
We know you have been very close to Agatha Agu for a very long time. Are you planning to get married to her?
She is a very good person and if God
says she is going to be my wife, I will be the happiest man because she
deserves it; she has always been there for me right from our days in
female football. She has been my backbone even when things are not
working well. I know by His grace, we will get there.
Can you tell us your best moment?
I don’t have any yet until I wear the
colours of the national team. If I cannot play for the main Eagles, at
least I can for the home-based Eagles. I will appreciate if I get the
opportunity.
If the home-based Eagles camp is thrown open ahead of the 2014 CHAN, do you think you can make it?
With God, I will make it. I am so sure of myself.
What is your word for coach Stephen Keshi?
I wish him the best. He has won the
AFCON trophy, so we should appreciate him even if he is making some
mistakes. We shouldn’t be criticising him always. He is a good coach and
he needs our support.
Source: Punch
Patience’s rally: Presidency violated INEC rules, says APC
Mrs. Patience Jonathan
The
All Progressives Congress has accused the Presidency of violating the
Independent National Electoral Commission’s rule which bars political
parties and aspirants from campaigning for the 2015 elections.
The party’s National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this in a statement on
Sunday, referred to the women’s rally organised in Abuja by President
Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, Patience on Thursday.
The APC asked the Presidency to tell
Nigerians why it had defied INEC rules by continuing to campaign for the
2015 elections contrary to INEC’s directive.
It urged the commission to sanction anyone responsible for the rally.
But the Presidency said the rally was
organised by the National Council of Women Societies in conjunction with
the President’s wife’s office and that it would be unpatriotic of
anybody to view the rally as a campaign for 2015 elections.
The APC said that Patience, at the rally, campaigned for her husband’s 2015 ambition.
The APC stance was in reaction to the
President’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin
Okupe’s criticisms of its leaders, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
and Lagos State former Governor, Bola Tinubu.
The opposition party’s statement read in
part, ‘’While one of the PDP gong-bearers, Okupe, was telling Nigerians
that President Jonathan has not informed anyone that he will contest in
2015, his wife was coercing hundreds of hapless women, including those
in uniform, into a show of shame tagged a “peace rally’’, but in
essence, a campaign for President Jonathan ahead of 2015.
“Defying INEC, this brazen campaign
featured women clad in specially-made ‘ankara’ that bore the picture of
President Jonathan and reminds one of the disgraceful days of the late
despot Mobutu Sese Seko of former Zaire, and the late clownish leader of
Uganda, Idi Amin. What a company to keep in the 21st century!
“In what must rank as the first of its
kind in Nigeria, women drawn from various security agencies – the same
that will be expected to provide security for the 2015 elections – were
coerced into a march of shame, as organisers of the campaign,
masquerading as a peace rally ,blocked traffic and prevented citizens
from earning their daily bread.”
The party called on “INEC to mete out
appropriate sanctions to anyone, who has violated its ban on early
campaigns for the 2015 elections, in view of the First Lady-driven
phantom peace rally that is actually a facade for electioneering
campaign, if the electoral umpire’s ban on such campaigns is to be taken
seriously.”
The APC challenged the Presidency’s
image- makers to tell Nigerians why the Peoples Democratic Party had
failed to lift the country in the past 14 years.
Reacting to APC’s allegations on Sunday,
Okupe said, “The first lady never organised a campaign. That (the
rally) was not a campaign. There was nothing PDP in that programme. That
programme was organised by the National Council of Women Societies.
Another aide of Jonathan, the
President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, told one
of our correspondents that the women’s rally was to promote peace,
describing opposition to the rally as unpatriotic.
Gulak said, “It is wrong to say that the
rally was for 2015 elections. The rally was for peace. This country
needs peace and anybody or group who is against peace is unpatriotic,
especially with the security challenges in parts of the country.
“On the use of the President’s
photographs on their clothes, President Jonathan is the leader of the
country and that is the reason. That does not mean that they were
campaigning for the President.”
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Egypt Islamists vow new demos after mosque stand-off
CAIRO: Egyptian Islamists announced fresh demonstrations for Sunday after police ended a tense stand-off with protesters in a Cairo mosque, as the death toll from four days of violence surpassed 750.
Security forces on Saturday dragged Islamist supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi from the Al-Fath mosque, passing through angry crowds who called them “terrorists” and tried to beat them.
The interior ministry said 385 people inside the mosque had been arrested.
The clashes came as the government said the country’s death toll had risen to more than 750 since Wednesday, when police cleared two camps of Morsi loyalists in the capital.
A statement by the Anti-Coup Alliance said several marches would take place in Cairo on Sunday afternoon, continuing the daily campaign of protests in defiance of an intensifying crackdown.
According to an AFP tally, more than 1,000 people have been killed since mass demonstrations at the end of June against the unpopular rule of Morsi, accused of concentrating political power in the hands of his Islamist backers and of failing to address economic woes.
Egyptian army officer (L) helps a woman to leave Cairo’s Al-Fath mosque on August 17, 2013
© AFP
He was deposed by the military on July 3 in what his supporters say was an armed “coup d’etat” that deepened splits in an already highly divided society.
Meanwhile, international criticism of the bloodshed mounted, with Germany and Qatar jointly condemning the “brutal violence” and United Nations boss Ban Ki-moon urging “maximum restraint” and “de-escalation” at what he termed a “dangerous moment” for Egypt.
The siege of the Al-Fath mosque in Ramses Square began on Friday, with security forces surrounding the building where Islamists were sheltering and trying to convince them to leave.
The Islamists had lined up the bodies of dozens of protesters who had been killed on Friday inside the mosque-turned-morgue.
By Saturday afternoon, the situation turned violent, with an AFP reporter at the scene saying gunmen inside the mosque were trading fire with police outside.
Police eventually dragged people from inside the mosque, firing in the air to hold back residents who tried to attack the Islamists with sticks and iron bars.
Both outside the mosque and in other parts of Cairo, residents targeted those suspected of being Islamists, often for no more than wearing a beard or a veil.
An Egyptian woman talks to policemen from the inside of Cairo’s Al-Fath mosque on August 17, 2013
© AFP
The tense siege came at the end of “Friday of anger” demonstrations called by Morsi’s supporters that left at least 173 people dead across the country, including 95 in the capital and 25 in Alexandria.
Among those killed on Friday was a son of Mohamed Badie, chief of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement.
The interior ministry said it had arrested 1,004 Brotherhood “elements” during the unrest, and on Saturday security sources said the brother of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri had been detained.
Security sources also said one soldier was killed in northern Sinai where militants have launched daily attacks against security forces.
An Egyptian boy runs after police exchanged gunfire with Morsi supporters holed up in a Cairo mosque on August 17, 2013
© AFP
Egypt’s interim army-backed government has defended the crackdown, with presidential adviser Mustafa Hegazy saying forces had acted with “a huge amount of self-restraint and self-control”.
The cabinet has also insisted the security services were acting to confront a “terrorist plot”.
But international criticism poured in on Saturday, with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle saying he and his Qatari counterpart were “deeply distressed by the ongoing and brutal violence in Egypt.”
Westerwelle urged the two sides to resume dialogue, citing a “danger of civil war.”
EU leaders have pledged a strong response to the violence, which the bloc’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has described as “shocking”.
Late Saturday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called his Egyptian counterpart to express London’s “condemnation of all acts of violence, whether disproportionate use of force by the security forces or violent actions by some demonstrators.”
Attacks on mosques and churches were “unacceptable,” stressed Hague. Islamists have torched churches of the country’s minority Christians, whom they accuse of backing Morsi’s ouster.
Elsewhere, thousands marched in Turkey against Morsi’s ouster, and the Vatican said Pope Francis was following events with “mounting concern.”
The pontiff was praying for the rival sides to “choose the path of dialogue and reconciliation,” the Vatican said.
The United States has announced the cancellation of its biannual military exercise with Egypt, but stopped short of suspending $1.3 billion in annual aid.
The US embassy in Cairo said it would stay shut on Sunday, a working day in Egypt, citing the possibility of fresh demonstrations nearby.
Anti-American sentiment has risen in Egypt with Washington’s criticism of the crackdown.
But the international response has been not uniformly critical. Saudi Arabia and Jordan said they backed Egypt’s fight against “terrorism”.
Iranian woman barred from office for being too beautiful
According to The Times of London, after news spread that Moradi had been elected, religious conservatives petitioned to have her disqualified because she's 'too attractive.' and would be a cause of distraction. "We don’t want a catwalk model on the council," a senior official in Qazvin said.
The review board later claimed Nina was disqualified not because she was too attractive but because of her 'non-observance of Islamic codes'. Some who opposed her election said she had only been elected because she is young and attractive.
A law expert in Qazvin, told Iran Wire that the review board violated election law with its decision to bar Moradi from taking a seat.
Tiwa Savage & TeeBillz pick November wedding date, white wedding to hold in Maldives
Big congrats to them. Oh and remember, you read it here first! :-)
Fred Amata and girlfriend Mor Okonkwo end relationship
Fred and Mor met in the US in 2011 and started dating a few months later. Unfortunately it didn't work out. Fred is now back in the singles market.
Mor, a single mother with two kids, is a Soul/Jazz artiste who contested in singing reality show - X Factor UK a few years back. She's currently a management consultant.
Foremost make-up artist Bayo Haastrup loses wife to cancer
Mrs Haastrup was a caterer by profession, owner of Rovin Pepper Catering Services. She's survived by her husband Bayo, three children and one grandchild. May her soul rest in peace. Amen.
Funeral arrangements: Service of songs at Salem Evangelical church Obanikoro Ilupeju on Thursday August 22nd. Burial service on Friday 23rd at All Souls Anglican Church Sere Close Ilupeju and interment follows immediately after service.
She Sings Too? Oh Yes! Media Personality/Actress Karen Igho features in her Brother’s Song “Jump & Pass”
Karen Igho‘s résumé keeps interesting.
Ever since she was announced as the co-winner of the Big Brother Amplified competition in 2011 and taking home a whooping $ 200,000, the former reality star has gotten gigs as a radio personality and starred in some Nollywood flicks.
Now you can add singer to that list. Karen Igho features on her brother Kido‘s new track, titled Jump and Pass. The rising music act is first to be signed to pro footballer Mikel Obi‘s record label.
Karen sure doesn’t fail in the track. She brings her full bubbly, no holding back character to the single.
Check it out!
Play Jump and Pass
Chris Brown ordered to 1,000 more hours of community service
Chris Brown will now redo his community service to make up for the hours that could not be fully verified based on logs submitted previously. This time Chris will perform his community service in LA and not his home state of Virginia.
To more interesting news - check out Chris Brown's new dope video ft Nicki Minaj after the cut...
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