Cristiano Ronaldo climbs into the top 10 international goalscorers of all time after scoring 70th & 71st goal for Portugal

Football star, business man and World Footballer of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo has broken another record!

The Real Madrid star scored two goals against Hungary last week, his 69th and 70th goal for his country, Portugal, and then followed it up with another goal against Sweden his 71st, which automatically put him among the top 10 highest goalscorers for national sides in the history of football.

Attacks on Africans continues in India, female Kenyan student pulled out of car and brutally thrashed

A young Kenyan woman was attacked by a group of men in Greater Noida in the early hours of Wednesday two days after African nationals were attacked by a mob.

The woman was on her way to Greater Noida from Delhi when her car was stopped by unknown men near Knowledge Park, police said. She was dragged out, slapped and mercilessly thrashed by the men.
She was taken to a nearby private hospital where she was treated for trauma and placed on oxygen support for a few hours before being discharged. The Gautam Budh Nagar Police registered an FIR.
The incident comes two days after a mob went on a rampage in nearby Greater Noida and attacked Nigerian students at different locations. Two brothers, Precious and Endurance, who were attacked by a mob inside a mall, told CNN-News18 they could never figure out why the mob set on them.

 "We were attacked by Indians. I don't have any good reasons. We were at Ansal plaza. They attacked us with some metals. I have stitches. I am surprised. I can't come out in open I am afraid of being attacked. I just pray they don't attack again," Precious said. 

 Another African student, Imran, said he too was caught totally unawares by a mob.

Meanwhile, the African Students Association has released an advisory on their Facebook page asking the students to stay indoors. Officials from the Nigerian High Commission went to meet the injured students, while police and residents associations held meetings with representatives of African students.

In a press conference, police commissioner of SP (rural) Sujata Singh said,

"No complaint have been received so far. The girl seems nervous, she might come in the evening with the complaint. Also, in the African attack so far three FIRs have been registered.

Lionel Messi suspended for four games & fined $10,200 for insulting referee

Argentina star player and captain, Lionel Messi was fined the sum of $10,200 and suspended for Argentina's next 4 games for using insulting words on a match official, World football's ruling body, FIFA announced.

Assistant referee Emerson Carvalho ruled a foul against Messi in the second half of last week's Thursday’s game in Chile. Messi strongly disagreed with the ruling and waved his arms while shouting and hurling abuses at Carvalho.

 

FIFA after a thorough investigation found Messi guilty of insulting the referee as Messi after the game shook the hands of two officials, but did not shake Carvalho’s hand.

The ban which became effective from the moment it was announced on Tuesday, immediately ensured Messi missed out on Argentina's game with Bolivia on Tuesdaynight, a game they lost 2-0. The ban placed on Messi, however does not apply to his club, Barcelona, but his country's football federation insists they will appeal the ban.

“The federation will appeal, as it should,” the team secretary Jorge Miadosqui told Agence France-Presse. “We feel powerless, surprised.”

Argentina are now third in the South American qualifying standings after Tuesday’s games. Four teams advance automatically from the region, while the fifth team faces a playoff against a team from the Oceania region. With four games remaining, Argentina is a point out of fourth place.

16-year-old Bosnian set new records, breaks 111 building blocks with his head in 35 secs

Bosnian taekwondo champion, Kerim Ahmetspahic has achieved an incredible milestone for himself after breaking 111 building blocks with his head in 35 seconds. According to reports, the new record has paved way for the 16-year-old  into the Guinness World Record.

6 Aid workers killed in South Sudan

The UN's humanitarian coordinator, Eugene Owusu confirms that six aid workers were killed in an ambush in South Sudan on Saturday, March 25, 2017 as they were traveling from Juba to Pibor. He said:

"I am appalled and outraged by the heinous murder yesterday of six courageous humanitarians in South Sudan. These attacks against aid workers and aid assets are utterly reprehensible. They not only put the lives of aid workers at risk, they also threaten the lives of thousands of South Sudanese who rely on our assistance for their survival" Owusu said.

He said the ambush comes at a time when humanitarian needs have reached an unprecedented level in the troubled country.

12 aid workers have been killed so far this year in South Sudan and about 5 million people are suffering from famine in the war-torn country

The Secret Service can no longer afford the Trump family lifestyle

President Donald Trump’s frequent travel, large family and unusual living situation is apparently weighing heavily on the Secret Service’s budget.  

According to a Washington Post report, the agency recently requested an additional $60 million in spending for fiscal year 2018. Nearly $27 million of that was to be earmarked for security at the president’s private residence at Trump Tower in New York, where first lady Melania Trump lives with their 11-year-old son. 

 

The Secret Service also said it needed another $33 million to cover travel costs incurred by “the president, vice president and other visiting heads of state.”  

The Office of Management and Budget rejected the request which could potentially force the Secret Service to scale back on other operations, like investigations into cyber hacking, counterfeit currency, financial crimes or missing and exploited minors.  

Providing Secret Service details for the first lady and the rest of Trump’s family, including his four adult sons and daughters, has also led to mounting costs. Although this level of protection is standard for the first family, the specific needs of Trump’s older children have attracted scrutiny.  

At a press conference this week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said there was no hypocrisy here.  “Presidents always travel,” said Spicer. “The president, wherever he goes, he carries the apparatus of the White House with us. That is just something that happens.”

Jealous man poured acid over his girlfriend's face and set her on fire because of a photo of her ex's dog

A 24-year-old woman is in hospital receiving treatment for an acid burn inflicted on her by her jealous lover over something as simple as sharing the photo of her dog with her ex. 24-year-old Yekaterina M had to endure hours of torture as her boyfriend, Vyatcheslav, poured acid on her, pinned her down then set her on fire in an apartment in Moscow, Russia.
It had all started when she took a prank photo of her dog that she co-owned with her ex sitting on the door of the oven. Her current man saw the photo and told her not to share it with her ex, but she did and Vyatcheslav saw the chat, got angry and carried out the brutal attack on her.

"The shirt I was wearing immediately started to burn”, she said of the alleged assault in Moscow. I was trying to take it off, but he held me. Only later did he turn on the shower and put out the flames."

The victim suffered severe burns but Vyatcheslav, allegedly kept her in the flat away from medical treatment for two hours. Photos show the woman in hospital with her head, chest and arms covered in bandages. 

Explaining the attack, Yekaterina said it happened after a night in with friends after which she took the photo that cause the problem.

"He asked me not to share this photo, but I did, in our chat," she said. Then when he found the photo in her sent box, he became enraged and attacked her.

She said:

 "He thought that I wanted to get back with my ex. He told me that I had five minutes to leave the place. My dog was still in there, so I could not abandon it there. I was trying to make a joke out of the situation."

Police are currently investigating the man about the alleged attack, while medics are reportedly hopeful Yekaterina will make a full recovery.

Arsenal is better than Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Barca & Real Madrid - Arsene Wenger says

Arsenal's perturbed coach, Arsene Wenger has made a ridiculous claim that'll surely get him a lot of flak.

Despite the possibility of his club not qualifying for the Champions league, and going another season without silverware, he's said that Arsenal is the best club in the world and football isn't all about wining trophies.

 

The last time Arsenal won a major trophy was in 2004 and fan pressure for him to leave the club this summer reached an all time high after his 10-2 humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich in this season's champions League.

The veteran manager who has been at Arsenal since 1996 has leaped to the defence of his record, stressing that he has helped build ‘the best club in the world’.

‘For me Arsenal is the best club in the world and what we have built is absolutely remarkable, not only on the results front but on the values that this club, what we have built,’ Wenger told beIN Sports.

''Of course a football club is about winning, it’s as well about values.‘Nobody talks about that anymore but sport is as well about values and I think integrity, respect, humility, togetherness are very important qualities and if you would visit our club you would see that they really exist on a daily basis.

‘That is part of what I am proud as well.’You can basically say that if you don’t win the championship it is not a successful season and I can understand that but you take clubs like Liverpool and they have not won the Premier League, they are a big club. 

‘You have clubs like Man City, Man United, certainly the championship will be won by Chelsea so we have all, and no matter how many we are, Tottenham, all these clubs, every year only one will win it.’

Dubai is planning to launch driverless flying taxis this year

Dubai is moving on from amazing innovations like the world's first rotating skyscraper and 3D printed office to a new fleet of flying taxis. According to Dubai's Road and Transport Authority (RTA), they are small enough to fit into a car parking space when folded up, the one-seater passenger drones made by Chinese company Ehang are set to start picking up passengers in July this year. 


The electrically powered driverless drones named Ehang 184 have already been seen hovering above the sand dunes near the city's airfield during test flights. "The 184 provides a viable solution to the many challenges the transportation industry faces in a safe and energy-efficient way," said Ehang founder and CEO Huazhi Hu when the vehicle was unveiled during the 2016 CES gadget show in Las Vegas.

Powered by eight propellers, Ehang says the 184 (which stands for one person, eight propellers, four arms) will cruise at around 100 kilometers per hour. The routes will be programmed by a ground control center through an encrypted 4G network which will monitor the flight.

For the first time in football history, a woman will coach an Italian male national team

In a footballing first, a woman will coach a male outfit in Italy when former player Patrizia Panico takes the helm of the national under-16 team. Rated the best female footballer from Italy, Panico is assistant for the under-16s but the head coach Daniel Zoratto is set to take over the under-19 side temporarily, propelling her into the top post for a spell.

"There are many walls still to break down," said the 42-year-old Panico of the daily barriers women face in Italy, which lags some other countries in Europe when it comes to equality.

"But this will help them fall. To be the first woman to coach a male side is a huge success for me," added Panico, who scored 110 goals for Italy in a mammoth 204 international appearances.

The two games Panico will oversee while Zoratto is away are against Germany on March 22nd and 24th.

Social media platform Pintrest has been banned in China

China's Firewall is cracking down on Pinterest, the social media platform popular for letting users share, or pin, items of interest to a virtual board. For years, Pinterest has been freely accessible in China, because its users typically don't share content that would rattle Chinese censors. 
People mostly use the site to pin images and tips on home decor, hair styles, cooking, wedding planning and fashion.

However, according to watchdog group Greatfire.org, which monitors censorship and accessibility of websites in China, the Pinterest block started earlier this month.

The timing coincided with China's annual National People's Congress, a sensitive time in Beijing when China's top leadership and thousands of delegates gather to set the country's political and economic course for the year.

Pinterest's ban fits a pattern of China blocking sites that compete with emerging local rivals

Meet the second tallest basketball player in the world. He's only 16 and he's 7'7'

16 year old Robert Bobroczky is second tallest basketball player in the world and the tallest teen in the world. The 7-foot-7-inch teen, who was born in Romania, hit 7 feet at just 12 years old. His father is 7 '1', while his mum is 6 feet tall. He moved from Romania to the US when he  was 14. He lives in Austinburg, Ohio, and attends Grand River Academy, an all-boys boarding school.

Robert is a foot taller than LeBron and taller than every player in the NBA.

Robert hopes to play in the NBA someday but to do that, he needs to attend more weight. So as soon as classes are done, he heads over to Spire Institute, an elite training center for athletes, where he trains. Robert needs to put on about 40 pounds to be able to play professionally.

"Well, the main thing I'm working on is trying to get bigger, better," Robert said to Fox News

Woman suffers burns to her face and hands after her headphones caught fire during flight

A woman suffered burns to her face and hands after her headphones caught fire during a flight to Australia, officials said on Wednesday as they warned about the dangers of battery-operated devices on planes.

The unnamed passenger was listening to music on her own battery-operated headphones as she dozed on the flight from Beijing to Melbourne on February 19 when there was a loud explosion.

"As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face," she told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) which investigated the incident. I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck. I continued to feel burning so I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor. They were sparking and had small amounts of fire."

Flight attendants rushed to help and poured a bucket of water on the headphones, but the battery and its cover were both melted and stuck to the floor.

Pictures show the woman, who was not named, with a blackened face and neck and blisters on her hands, with passengers having to endure the smell of melted plastic, burnt electronics and burnt hair for the remainder of the flight.

"People were coughing and choking the entire way home," the woman added.

The transport safety bureau, which did not identify which airline was involved, assessed that the lithium-ion batteries in the device likely caught fire.

"As the range of products using batteries grows, the potential for in-flight issues increases," it said, reminding travellers using battery-powered devices they must be kept in an approved stowage unless in use.

Brave 4-year-old risks wolves and the subzero Siberia weather to get help for her grandmother

4-year-old Saglana Salchak has been called the bravest girl in Siberia after she walked five miles through a wolf-packed forest, across a frozen river to get help for her 60-year-old grandmother who was unconscious.
Saglana, who lives with her grandmother and blind grandfather in Tuva republic, Russia, set out with just a box of matches as temperatures dropped below 29 degrees. She walked for over three hours in the cold before she was seen by neighbours who took her to the hospital for check-up. Sadly, the grandmother she was trying to save had died of heart attack which was why she was motionless.

“I just walked, walked and got there,” the little girl later told a local newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, and revealed that her biggest concerns were not fear, but rather she was desperately cold and hungry.

Saglana's journey has led to an investigation by the Tuva Investigative Committee as to why there was no adequate phone or emergency communications in the district. The committee opened a criminal case against the young girl’s mother, Eleonora Salchak, for leaving a minor in danger. If charged, she could face a year in prison.

“She knew that the elderly lacked the ability to take measures to guarantee the child’s safety,” the committee said in a statement. 

Saglana now lives in a local social center. 

Oyo Government, FRSC go tough on 'Okada' operators

Today is the last day any commercial motorcycle rider can operate without a valid licence and crash helmet in Oyo state, according to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).

The commission has vowed it will deal decisively with defaulters, including those operating without a registration plate.

A communique from a safety awareness programmed organised by the community relations unit of the state government which had in attendance the Oyo Governor Isiaq Ajimobi insisted that motorcycles being used for Okada must be road worthy and must have the two side mirrors fixed on them.

Accordingly, operators must provide helmets for their passengers, will carry only one passenger at a time without any loading, and alcohol will no longer be sold in motor parks.

"Oyo State Government does not intend to ban okada riders but we are charged with the responsibility to protect the lives of our citizenry and that is why we need to partner with law enforcement agencies to enforce the usage of helmet. They must be cautious on the highway and must begin to use helmet,” the governor said through a representative.

'Thousands of helmets were distributed to them last year but we observe that some of them are not using it and are keeping it at home. They also engage on overload thereby endangering the lives of their passengers and creating social problems. All this are causing overstretching of government facilities in hospitals."‎

Oyo Sector ‎Commander of the FRSC,  Yussuf Salami, said: "Any Okada rider caught without helmet is fined N10, 000 but I think if we can increase the fine in partnership with the Oyo State Government, so many Okada rider will adhere strictly to the rules and regulation. ‎Many Okada riders in this state needs attitudinal change and are inpatient. They are even ungrateful to government because they should have banned them.

"If we now charge them N30, 000 for non-usage of safety helmet, I know they will change. I will even advice the state government to state conducting psychiatric test on them because most of them behave abnormal while riding. Even Okada riders unions unit that ought to discipline their members are only interested in their daily dues. So many deaths has been recorded in this state from Okada accidents"

He urged the state government to have a database for all Okada riders in the state and give them same uniform in order to curb crimes.‎

Similarly, the Special Adviser to the Government on Community Relations, Alhaji Abidemi Siyanbade said a typical Okada rider is not patient, adding that they ride the Okada as if they are the only people using the road.

He said: "Another appalling habit of Okada riders is harassment of other road users especially anytime‎ there is an accident involving one of them. Whether they are guilty or not, they will want to solidarise with their fellow Okada rider involved in an accident and in the process, harass and threaten other road users"

Meet Chau Smith: The 70-year-old woman who ran 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days

70 year-old Chau Smith wanted to challenge herself, so she decided to run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents and In January she accomplished that goal.  Between January 25 and January 31, Smith ran marathons in Perth, Australia; Singapore; Cairo; Amsterdam; Garden City, New York; Punta Arenas, Chile; and King George Island, Antarctica. Each day, Smith woke up and ran 26.2 miles. 
Then she'd get on a plane and fly to the next destination to do it all over again. Smith was born in Vietnam in 1947 during the First Indochina War, known in Vietnam as the French War. Her father, a teacher turned Viet Minh resistance fighter, was arrested and killed five months before she was born. During the war, Smith immigrated to the U.S., settling in Independence, Missouri, with her husband at the time.

After the couple divorced, Smith worked two jobs, in a factory and a restaurant to provide for her two girls as a single parent.

At a Christmas party in 1982, she met Michael Smith, who teased her for repeatedly returning to the buffet table for extra helpings. They married six months later. Michael Smith was a runner, and she had watched him run races.

But, at the time, she never thought running was for her. In 1995, at 48 years old, she ran her first race a 5Km in Kansas City. She was suffering from hay fever and taking antibiotics for a sinus infection. She recalls the race being difficult for her, and says she nearly passed out.

Smith estimates that she's run close to 70 marathons across the globe now. She was also at the Boston Marathon in 2013, and was about a quarter mile from the finish line when police stopped her because of the bombing.

Burundi loses 700 people in 3months as malaria 'epidemic' hits the country

At least 700 people have died from malaria in Burundi so far this year, with 1.8 million infections registered in the rising epidemic, the health minister said.

Burundi faces a malaria epidemic,' Josiane Nijimbere said Monday, commenting on a World Health Organization (WHO) report.

From January 1 to March 10 this year, 1.8 million infections were registered in Burundi, according to the WHO.

According to Nijimbere, the latest figures constitute a 17 percent increase from the same period last year.

'Some 700 deaths' have been registered since January, the minister added.

In 2016, an estimated 8.2 million people were infected and 3,000 people died in mountainous Burundi, which is home to around 11 million people.

UN officials and medical sources say Burundi's stock of anti-malaria medication is nearly empty.

Nijimbere put the cost of fighting malaria at $31 million (29 million euros), as she appealed for donations to help fight the disease.

Facebook now prohibits companies and organizations from using its services for surveillance

A new update to its policies on both Facebook and Instagram prohibits developers from using "data obtained from users to provide tools that are used for surveillance". The latest policy change comes on the heels of investigations from the ACLU, which found social media monitoring companies sold their services to law enforcement, who targeted individuals through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Social media surveillance is a growing concern, especially among people who use Facebook and Twitter for activism.

Law enforcement agencies rely on social media tools to track and monitor citizens. According to a study from the Brennan Center for Justice, 156 jurisdictions have spent a total of almost $6 million on these tools since 2010. And the public largely has no idea how they're being used.

In a blog post announcing its new policies, Facebook says it's already taken action against developers who used its platform for surveillance. Geofeedia, for instance, was cut off from Facebook following the ACLU investigation.

Employers in Europe are entitled to ban workers from wearing headscarves - Court rules

Europe's top court has ruled that Employers are entitled to ban workers from the "visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign" including headscarves, but the ban must be based on internal company rules requiring all employees to "dress neutrally", said the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
It cannot be based on the wishes of a customer, it said. It is the court's first decision on the issue of Islamic headscarves at work. The ECJ's ruling was prompted by the case of a receptionist fired for wearing a headscarf to work at the company G4S in Belgium.

Belgium's court of cassation had referred the case to the EU's top court for clarification after Samira Achbita was fired when after three years of employment, she began wearing a headscarf to work. She claimed she was being discriminated against on the grounds of her religion. But the company had amended workplace regulations to forbid employees "from wearing any visible signs of their political, philosophical or religious beliefs and/or from engaging in any observance of such beliefs", the court explained in its ruling. 

Did you know that cars have been banned in Mackinac Island, Michigan since 1898 till date

Unknown to a lot of people, there is a town in the U.S. that banned cars in the late 1890s. Mackinac Island, located in Lake Huron, between the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan, is completely car-free since 1898. The small island is only about 8 miles around and lies in the Straits of Mackinac. The island's name is French and has retained its French pronunciation.

The small island is home to only around 500 people but that number swells to 15,000 during tourism season. Transportation on Mackinac is limited to walking, horse-drawn carriages, and bicycling

Angelina Jolie got painful ‘protection’ symbolic tattoos by a Thai monk to bind her with Brad Pitt months before separation

Angelina Jolie who loves the intricate body art of tattooing, having amassed over 15 tattoos since she was a teenager, now has never-before-seen images of her back tattoo all over the internet. The photos how Brad Pete's estranged wife, being tattooed by former Thai monk, Ajarn Noo Kanpai alongside her estranged husband Brad Pitt in Siem Reap in Cambodia.

Jolie had flown the monk turned tattoo artist from Bangkok to Cambodia  in February 2016, so he could work on the tattoo that had symbolic meanings for her and Brad.

She got three new mystical sak yant back inkings from the Thai artist, a style which encompasses lines of script, geometric patterns and animal shapes. Using ancient handheld method, the artist used steel rods mounted with a surgical steel needle - which is supposed to be more painful but more accurate than a tattoo gun - to apply the tattoos to the skin.

Brad Pete also got tattooed by the monk, who tattooed the left side of his stomach with a Buddhist symbol.

Ironically, the tattoos they both got was supposed 'to symbolically bind them together as husband and wife', forever, unfortunately, their marriage ended September of the same year they got the tattoos.

Along with the symbolic binding, the new tattoos also included two ancient Thai Buddhist symbols and mantras, which are thought to help provide protection.

Former monk Ajarn is reportedly based in a temple near Bangkok and his designs are said to protect whoever has them.

150 designer handbags, cash, luxury cars seized from Malaysian LG chairman after his arrest

Malaysian anti graft agency seized 150 designer handbags and cash from state Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Abd Latif Bandi's house. The seizure was made in a raid conducted immediately after Abd Latif's arrest at 10.50am on Thursday, March 9th, by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers. 

The handbags included luxury brands such as Chanel, Prada, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton.
Also seized were luxury cars including a Toyota Vellfire, RM41,000 in cash,among other items. He appeared in court last Friday.

In a statement, MACC gave an assurance that its investigations would be conducted in a transparent manner.