Vincent Enyeama Makes List Of 2014′s Top 50 Footballers Of The World

The Vice captain of the Super Eagles, Vincent Enyeama has been named in the GOAL.COM’s TOP 50 footballers in the world 2014 – Spot 27.

Vincent Enyeama becomes the first Nigerian to ink his name in the exclusive list of outstanding footballers since its inception six years ago. The Goal 50 is a prestigious, annual award that recognises and ranks the world’s 50 best footballers of the season.

Check out the complete list below and big up to Africa Reps – Yaya Toure (19), Vincent Enyeama (27), Asamoah Gyan (35).

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
3. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
4. Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
5. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
6. James Rodriguez (AS Monaco)
7. Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
8. Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid)
9. Arturo Vidal (Juventus)
10. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)
12. Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla)
13. Angel di Maria (Real Madrid)
14. Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid)
15. Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)
16. Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)
17. Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)
18. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal)
19. Yaya Toure (Manchester City)
20. Miralem Pjanic (AS Roma)
21. Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)
22. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
23. Keylor Navas (Levante)
24. Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid)
25. Javier Mascherano (Barcelona)
26. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
27. Vincent Enyeama (Lille)
28. Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina)
29. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
30. Neymar (Barcelona)
31. Joel Campbell (Olympiakos)
32. Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain)
33. Enzo Perez (Benfica)
34. Charles Aranguiz (Internacional)
35. Asamoah Gyan (Al Ain)
36. Daley Blind (Ajax)
37. Gervinho (AS Roma)
38. Paul Pogba (Juventus)
39. Rafael Marquez (Leon)
40. Abdelmoumene Djabou (Club Africain)
41. Robin van Persie (Manchester United)
42. David Silva (Manchester City)
43. Ciro Immobile (Torino)
44. Serge Aurier (Toulouse)
45. Yoshito Okubo (Kawasaki Frontale)
46. Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City)
47. Caner Erkin (Fenerbahce)
48. Nadir Belhadj (Al-Sadd)
49. Kim Shin-Wook (Ulsan Hyundai)
50. Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls)

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Female Suicide Bomber Hits Kano Polytechnic, Kills Six

A female suicide bomber blew herself up in a college in Kano on Wednesday, killing six people and critically wounding another six in the fourth such attack by a woman in Kano in less than a week, a security source said.

The bomber targeted youths who were looking at a notice board for National Youth Service in Kano Polytechnic, the source said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although militant group Boko Haram, which is fighting for an Islamic state in Nigeria, has repeatedly bombed Kano as it radiates attacks outwards from its northeast heartlands.

Using female suicide bombers in the city appears to be a new tactic of Boko Haram, although they have used them on occasion for years in the northeast.

Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a trade show and a petrol station in northern Nigeria’s biggest city on Monday, killing one other person and injuring at least six others.

On Sunday, a female suicide bomber killed herself but no one else while trying to target Police officers.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, two suicide bombers killed 13 people in attacks on two mosques in the town of Potiskum, in Yobe State in the northeast, a medical official there told Reuters on Wednesday.

Though much of the violence is concentrated in the remote northeast, they have struck across Nigeria in several bomb attacks since April.

On Sunday, they mounted a cross-border attack into Cameroon, killing at least three people there and kidnapping the wife of the Vice Prime Minister.

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Ebola in Nigeria: Answers to key questions you have [MUST READ]

For decades, the global community, particularly the African continent, has been battling with diseases such as malaria, syphilis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, tetanus, measles, whooping cough, diarrhea, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS.

While nations and international health organisations continue to formulate ways – both scientific and unorthodox – to contain these diseases, a (relatively) new infection has crept in. It is known as Ebola.

What is Ebola?
Ebola virus (formerly labelled Zaire ebolavirus, or EBOV) is a virological taxon species included in the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, members are called Filovirus. It is the most dangerous of the six species of Ebola viruses of the Ebolavirus genus which are the causative agents of the disease.

The virus causes an extremely severe hemorrhagic fever in humans. It is a viral illness with a sudden onset that comes from direct contact with infected living or dead rainforest animals, including chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, fruit bats, forest antelope and porcupines. It kills up to 90% of those who are infected.

Its name, Ebola, is derived from the Ebola River – a river that was at first thought to be in close proximity to the area in Democratic Republic of Congo, where one of the first two villages to report cases in 1976 was located. The other was in Sudan.

Casualty record as at July 29, 2014.
Guinea: 427 cases, 319 deaths
Liberia: 249 cases, 129 deaths
Sierra Leone: 525 cases, 224 deaths
Nigeria: 1 case (a Liberian visiting Lagos), 1 death
Total mortality: 673 deaths / 1202+ cases (56.0%)

How is it transmitted?
The virus is passed from one human to another, carried in blood and bodily fluids and secretions, but also beds, sheets, clothes or other surfaces that a sick person has touched. Burial ceremonies that involve touching the body are also a risk. The virus enters the body through broken skin or mucous membrane.

The group at highest risk are health workers, caring for those with Ebola. They have to wear full protective clothing, including facemasks and goggles, and should change their gloves between one patient and the next.

What are the symptoms?
The early signs are sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and a sore throat. Vomiting and diarrhoea follow, raising the chances that the sick man or woman will infect somebody else. The kidney and liver are affected and there can be both internal and external bleeding, which is why it was originally called Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Patients are infectious once the symptoms show, which is two to 21 days after they have contracted the virus.


What is the treatment?
There is no cure and little treatment for the deadly virus, which has killed at least 673 people in some African countries. Patients will need intensive supportive care, with intravenous fluids or oral rehydration salts. They must be kept in isolation and their nurses and visitors must wear full protective suits. If people are to be nursed at home, their carers need instructions and equipment to safeguard themselves. There are no drugs to treat the disease or vaccine to prevent it, although research on a vaccine is under way.

Why is there no cure?
It has proved very hard to find drugs to treat viral diseases from animals, from influenza to HIV. Although the death rate is high, outbreaks of ebola are infrequent and have so far been contained each time. As with many of the so-called neglected tropical diseases, there is not a potentially lucrative market for drug companies, so they will be reluctant to invest in research and development.

If outbreaks can be contained and brought to a halt with good infection control, why do they return?
They can be contained in human populations but the viral reservoir still exists in animals. There will always be a risk that hunters will kill infected animals or that people will pick up those that have died of the infection in the forest and the virus will be reintroduced to the human population.

Will closing borders help?
Containment is key to the strategy against Ebola. Quarantine has been used in some outbreaks for the relatives of people who become sick. Because people are not infectious until they become obviously ill, it should in theory be possible to focus efforts on the community where the outbreak began. In the past, that has usually been villages in close proximity to rainforests.

Confirmation of a case in a city such as Lagos is a real concern, but transmission must involve direct contact with a sick individual, so is more likely in a family setting or a hospital. The biggest worry is probably that somebody showing symptoms will be taken to hospital where nursing staff are unprotected, because the disease is not recognised, sparking an outbreak that spreads to their families in turn.

Closing borders may not help keep the disease out because borders are permeable in much of Africa. The World Health Organisation says closures may hinder travel and trade without detecting cases.

Is the rest of the world threatened by ebola?
Clearly somebody infected with the virus could theoretically get on a plane and spark an outbreak – probably in a hospital – anywhere in the world. However, as with the Mers virus, which arrived in London via a patient who was taken to St Thomas’ hospital, infection control measures are so stringent in more affluent countries that it is probable the virus would be very rapidly contained.

Additional reporting by TheGuardian

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UPDATE ON CRUTECH NO FEE NO EXAM POLICY

Following appeals by Student Union Government (SUG), concerned parents, the public and the generally impressive response by fee owing students, Management of Cross River University of Technology has decided as follows:
Students who have cleared all outstanding fees expect for the current academic year only are eligible to sit for examination.

Students who are not qualified to sit for the examination but who do so will not have any results as their scripts will not be marked.

The MIS Unit is expected to make available names of students who have paid fees by the last day of examination to all Deans and Head of Departments for purposes of result compilation.

The University Portal will remain open for fee payment until the last day of examination.

Students who fail to meet up this fee regime on or before the end of examinations will be deemed to have forfeited the examinations.

Students are advised to clear all outstanding fees as no concessions will be granted to those still indebted for any subsequent semester examinations.
 
Signed

Emmanuel Ikpi
Registrar

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CRUTECH POLICY ON FEE PAYMENT

This is to inform the general public that the Management of Cross River University of Technology, Calabar has not increased Students’ fees and the current fee regime is still in operation. Parents, students and the general public should please note the following:
a. The policy of “no fees no examinations” will be fully implemented in all examinations with effect from the First Semester 2013/2014 academic session.

b. Examinations, earlier scheduled to commence on July 7, 2014, will now start on July 21, 2014 to allow Parents and Students pay all outstanding fees.

c. Consequently, CRUTECH Management has approved a one-week break with effect from July 7 – July 13, 2014 to enable indebted Students source and pay all their outstanding fees.

d. The University portal which is now open will finally close on July 19, 2014 for the payment of fees.

e. Failure to pay all outstanding fees at the close of the portal will earn the Student an automatic carry-over of all the semester courses to the next session.

f. Parents should please demand for evidence of fees paid by their wards as many students having received money for this purpose have refused to pay.

g. CRUTECH Management is prepared to enforce the policy of “no fees no examinations” as it cannot survive, like any other University in the world, without fee payment by students.

h. Parents, Student and the general public are urged to co-operate with CRUTECH Management to make the University achieve the dream of its founding fathers.


Signed
EMMANUEL IKPI
Registrar

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Charles Barkley Offers To Pay Funeral Costs For Youngest Carjacking Victims

On July 25, fifteen-year-old Keiearra Williams, 10-year-old Joseph Reed and 7-year-old Terrence Moore, were selling fruit for a church fundraiser in Philadelphia when they were mowed down by a sport utility vehicle. Joseph died at the scene; Terrence and Keiearra were pronounced dead at the hospital.
Cornelius Crawford was at the wheel of the vehicle, accompanied by his partner in crime, Johnathan Rosa. The pair had stolen the vehicle and sexually assaulted the owner before crashing the car into the children, killing all three and injuring their mother.
The crime saddened and angered Philadelphia residents, a town that has grown used to its share of bad news and tragedies. But this one felt different. You couldn’t look at the photos of those victims and conjure up some kind of excuse to make it somehow make sense. There was no sense to be had. They were just kids. They were with their mom. They weren’t doing anything wrong. And they were killed.
District Attorney Seth Williams said, about the tragedy, “All Philadelphians have been moved to tears by this crime.”
It turns out that at least one former Philadelphian was pretty moved, too. Former Seventy Sixer Charles Barkley has stepped in and offered to pay the funeral expenses for the children. Barkley recently contacted Williams who put him in touch directly with the children’s family.
Barkley was introduced to Philadelphia as the fifth pick in the first round in the 1984 draft (yes, the same draft that boasted Michael Jordan). His Philadelphia 76ers teammates at the time included Dr. J (Julius Erving), Moses Malone and Maurice “Mo” Cheeks. Barkley stayed with the Sixers through 1992 when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. He would eventually move onto the Houston Rockets before retiring. Despite his successes with the Suns and the Rockets, many of us in Philadelphia still consider him a Sixer. His response to the tragedy suggests that he still has a soft spot for the city, too.
While Barkley’s overture feels big-hearted and charitable, for tax purposes, it’s not – at least not the charitable part. There will be no federal income tax deduction available to Barkley if he pays the family or the funeral home directly. Remember: you can’t claim a charitable deduction for donations made to an individual or limited group of individuals, no matter how well deserving.
Donations are only deductible when made to a qualifying charitable organization (you can check online to see if an organization qualifies using the IRS Select Check Tool). Unfortunately, there aren’t many organizations in the U.S. that help defray the cost of funeral expenses.
And while the payment may feel, at first blush, like a taxable boost to the family, it’s not. Barkley’s offer was clearly made with no expectation of anything in return. It’s a gift for tax purposes and gifts are never included as income by the recipient. There may be a gift tax payable by the donor if the gift exceeds the annual exclusion for 2014 is $14,000 per person. Barkley hasn’t indicated publicly how much he might be paying but the average cost of a funeral is $6,600; cemetery services, including the gravesite and vault, can cost an additional $3,000, according to Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance.
As for those carjackers? Tips might have helped police track them down (though one eventually did turn himself in). A reward of more than $100,000 was offered for information leading to their arrests. The reward was originally $20,000 but grew quickly, including funds from the City of Philadelphia and the Fraternal Order of Police. It’s worth noting that donations to those organizations are tax deductible.
There’s no word yet on whether any of the reward money will actually be paid out to tipsters. When and if money is paid out, chances are that it’s not reportable for federal income tax purposes. According to the instructions for the form 1099-MISC :
A payment to an informer as an award, fee, or reward for information about criminal activity does not have to be reported if the payment is made by a federal, state, or local government agency, or by a nonprofit organization exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) that makes the payment to further the charitable purpose of lessening the burdens of government.
Barkley may be the only one here who walks away without a tax break. What he’s doing, however, is bigger than tax. Kudos to Barkley for his kindness.

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