What jihadists are doing in Syria and Iraq while Gaza grabs the headlines By Ishaan Tharoor

An image grab taken from a propaganda video released on July 5, 2014, by al-Furqan Media allegedly shows the leader of the Islamic State  jihadist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a.k.a Caliph Ibrahim, adressing Muslim worshippers at a mosque in the militant-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul. 

The world is transfixed by the conflict in Gaza, as the death tolls of both Palestinians and Israelis killed in the fighting continue to rise. It has animated global public opinion and sparked protests in myriad far-flung cities.
But as the rockets and bombs fell, a deadlier war next door rolls on. The Syrian civil war has claimed 170,000 lives in three years; this past weekend's death toll in Syria was greater than what took place in Gaza. Meanwhile, the extremist insurgents of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), have continued their ravages over a swath of territory stretching from eastern Syria to the environs of Baghdad, Iraq's capital; the spike in violence in Iraq has led to more than 5,500 civilian deaths in the first six months of this year.

Celebrity Birthday: Jennifer Lopez Is 45! She Looks Amazing! Check Out Some Of Her Amazing Pics

 Happy birthday. More stunning pics of Jennifer Lopez after cut.

Two Suicide Bombs In Nigeria Kill At Least 82

At least 25 people were killed in Kaduna, Nigeria, on Wednesday after a bomb targeting an Islamic cleric exploded in a busy commercial area, police said. A second explosion in Kaduna's Kawo market killed 50.
In the first explosion, the bomb was reportedly thrown from the back of a moving motorcycle in an attempted assassination of Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, who led prayers in Murtala Muhammed Square shortly before the explosion, eyewitnesses told Reuters. The cleric was unharmed in the attack.

Israel, Hamas show no signs of bowing to pressure for truce

 
Israeli airstrikes continued and tanks plowed through Palestinian neighborhoods in Gaza on Thursday with no clear sign of progress in international efforts to broker a truce.
Hamas militants stood by their demand that Israel and Egypt lift the economic blockade of the seaside strip that borders both nations before they would lay down their arms. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed resolve that the fighting would go on until Israel accomplishes more of its military goal to destroy Hamas rocket caches and border tunnels used to infiltrate Israel.

As Ethiopia's 'Zone 9' bloggers get popular, they get charged with terror

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  Ethiopia has charged 10 reform-minded bloggers and journalists with terrorism offenses – marking the latest in a long line of repressive acts against civil society by a key US partner in the Horn of Africa.
  Seven of the 10 bloggers are part of a social media group called Zone 9. The group are mostly young urban professionals known for a fresh and reasoned approach to peaceful change -- and who are increasingly well-respected – in an authoritarian nation known for a history of stifling free expression. With elections coming, some say the charges are an easy way for the government to link dissidents to terrorist groups and undermine them.
  

Photos: EEF In Wanton Destrution Of Guateng Legislature

 Economic Freedom fighters members hurl stones and other projectiles as they try to access the Gauteng Legislature building.

The Economic Freedom Fighters, The third largest political party in South Africa led by its dynamic and young leader Julius Malema, protested on tuesday at the Gauteng Legislature in Johannesburg.
The EFF were kicked out of parliament because of their red attires which contradicts the parliament's dressing code.
The EFF destroyed the parliament's door and engaged in running battles with the police.
More pics after cut...

Several Nigerians Say 'No' to U.S.$1 Billion Insurgency Loan: Do You?

Nigerians from across the various segments of the country have rejected President Goodluck Jonathan's request for approval of the National Assembly to borrow a whooping $1 billion to fight insurgency.

Jonathan had on Wednesday forwarded a letter to the National Assembly, asking the lawmakers to urgently approve a $1 billion external loan for the Federal Government to confront the Boko Haram insurgency.

The President's letter, seeking the lawmakers' approval to borrow the money, was read during the plenary in Abuja on Wednesday. He said the money would be used to upgrade the equipment of the Armed Forces.

Do you share Mr President's view or otherwise?

Why Impeached Adamawa State Governor, Muritala Nyako Fled Nigeria - - Aide

Rtd Admiral Muritala Nyako


There was a clear indication last night that former Adamawa State Governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako, who was sacked last week, had fled the country.

A competent source confirmed to Vanguard exclusively that the governor was not in Nigeria, having left the shores shortly after he was impeached by the state House of Assembly over alleged gross misconduct.

Although the source close to Nyako claimed that the man had travelled out of Nigeria to take a deserved rest after many years on the saddle, it was learnt that the retired naval chief fled the country in a bid to avoid being harassed by security agents, who have been looking for him.

More than 100 Palestinians dead in worst day of Gaza conflict; Israel denies soldier captured :The Washington Post

Day 13 was the bloodiest so far. More than 100 Palestinians were killed in heavy bombardment and street battles in Gaza on Sunday and 13 Israeli soldiers were slain in the most intense day of fighting in Israel’s current offensive against Hamas, officials said.

Israel said it pummeled a neighborhood in east Gaza because the warren of shops and concrete-block homes was the site of frequent rocket launches and concealed a network of tunnels dug by Hamas fighters and allied militant factions.

Ukraine military renews assault on rebels in region where airliner was downed :The Washington Post

: Malaysia plane crashes in Ukraine: A Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people and traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, falls in a Ukrainian field.

The Ukrainian military on Monday renewed its assault on this rebel-held city, even as international investigators in the region were trying to secure the remains of all 298 passengers and crew killed in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet.

Explosions and artillery fire could be heard in central Donetsk from the direction of the city’s train station and airport, and a spokesman for the pro-Russian rebels said there was also fighting near the central market. Portions of the city 40 miles from the crash site were closed off.

Photos: 67 minutes for Madiba

 Staff of BMW help clean at the SOS Children's Village in Mamelodi on 18 July 2014 for Mandela Day. 
 More pics after cut....

South Africa launches limited edition Mandela coins in birthday tribute

 Former political prisoner Ahmed Kathrada holds a 24-carat gold coin
honouring former president Nelson Mandela at the South African Reserve Bank in Pretoria, July 18, 2014.


South Africa launched a set of limited edition gold and silver coins on Friday to honor former president Nelson Mandela on what would have been the late anti-apartheid hero's 96th birthday.
The South African Reserve Bank said the set of three coins was a tribute to South Africa's first democratic president's "dedication to life-long learning".

10 quotes that explain the history of the Gaza conflict

Israel is in the midst of its second ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in six years. Here's the story of the ceaseless conflict, told through historic quotes.

The origins

"We are a generation that settles the land, and without the steel helmet and the cannon's fire we will not be able to plant a tree and build a home.”

This is from a funeral oration delivered in April 1956 by Moshe Dayan, then chief of the Israel Defense Forces. Dayan, a seminal figure in Israeli history, was honoring a settler killed in a kibbutz near the border with the Gaza Strip, then technically under Egyptian control. The thin slice of land had seen an influx of Palestinian refugees after Israel's 1948 war of independence, as Israeli forces seized and razed myriad Palestinian villages. Neighboring Arab states had fought against Israel's creation.

Exclusive Pictures From Saturday's Nite MBGN 2014

  .The 2014 Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant was held on saturday, July 18th in Bayelsa and was won by model, Iheoma Nnadi, who is 19 and signed to Boss Models in South Africa. more pic after cut...

14 Tricks To Improve Your Decision Making

When faced with a decision, we generally consider only the most obvious and visible information, according to Chip and Dan Heath, authors of "Decisive: How To Make Better Choices in Life and Work."
However, that's rarely all we need to make a good decision, because we end up missing important facts outside of our immediate view.
In their book, the Heath brothers share the "four villains of decision making," which often mislead us in our choices:

• Narrow framing causes you to focus so much on your immediate choices that you miss other options. 
• Confirmation bias leads you to seek out information that will confirm what you already believe.
• Short-term emotion blinds you from making the right choice, even if it should be completely obvious.
• Overconfidence makes you believe you know more than you actually do. 

Fortunately, the Heath brothers also share some solutions to these problems. Here are their 14 best strategies for making wiser decisions in any situation.