U.S. instructed airlines to avoid Iraq, Iran, Gulf airspace

AN Iranian airport used to illustrate the story. [PHOTO CREDIT: Voice of Awerica]

The Federal Aviation Administration has banned U.S. aircraft from Iraq and Iran airspace following a retaliatory attack by Iran.
In the early hours of Wednesday, Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at two Iraqi bases which house U.S. troops.
Reports suggest there were no casualties, as early warnings were given to troops to reach shelters before the missiles struck.
The attack was in retaliation by Iran for the killing of its general, Qassem Soeimann, last week in Baghdad by a U.S. airstrike.
According to Reuters, the FAA said the airspace ban from Iraq, Iran, the Gulf of Oman and the waters between Iran and Saudi Arabia is “due to heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the Middle East, which present an inadvertent risk to U.S. civil aviation operations.”
Prior to the latest ban, warnings had already been issued by FAA prohibiting U.S. carriers from “flying below 26,000 feet over Iraq and from flying over an area of Iranian airspace above the Gulf and Gulf of Oman.”
Many airlines including Transport Canada, Singapore Airlines Ltd, Malaysia Airlines, Taiwan’s China Airlines, Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd, Dubai-based Emirates Airlines, Korean and Thai Airlines are all said to be avoiding that airspace and rerouting their flights.
Reuters also reported that “the coordination team operated by International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) was activated as a “standard precautionary measure,” in the event that contingency measures are required by airlines.”

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Buhari should lead by example by patronizing a Nigerian public hospital — PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to show example by patronizing a Nigerian public hospital on his next medical appointment.
The party said by doing so Buhari would be able to experience the healthcare reality that Nigerians had been subjected to under his government.
The opposition party was reacting to Buhari’s recent comment through the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, that Nigerians should stop going abroad for medical treatment.
The PDP in a statement by its national spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan said the comment was “self-indicting and raises public apprehensions on high-level deceits in governance.”
The statement read in part, “Our party describes as ridiculous, a situation where a President, who patronizes foreign hospitals for treatment and even check-ups; whose administration has failed to provide adequate healthcare in his country, could turn around to pontificate to other citizens against foreign treatment.

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Miss Jamaica Finally Crowned The Winner Of Miss World 2019

Toni-Ann Singh

Toni-Ann Singh, Miss Jamaica, was crowned Miss World 2019 in London on Saturday, Dec 14.
Ophely Mezino of France and Suman Rao of India were the first and second runners respectively.
Singh placed in the top 40 of the Top Model competition and won the talent competition, which granted her direct entry into the top 40 semifinals.
She joins Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss America, and Miss Teen USA as a 2019 titleholder. Her addition makes it another first for Black women as it is the first time black women have held the titles at the same time, across the five pageants.
She is also the fourth Jamaican woman to win Miss World.

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Nigerian Federal Government orders 78% increment in electricity tariffs

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Saturday announced the immediate review of electricity tariffs in the country from January 1.
The order was issued to the 11 electricity distribution companies (DISCos) on December 31, 2019, but published on the Commission’s website on Saturday.
Signed jointly by the Chairman of the Commission, Joseph Momoh, and the Commissioner for Legal, License & Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, the order was titled “December 2019 MYTO Minor Review Order” for the 11 DISCOs.

New tariffs

The various tariff reviews for all categories of consumers — except those consumers classified as residential (R1) — ranged from 59.7 per cent for consumers in Ikeja to 77.6 per cent in Enugu.
Under the new order, electricity consumers in Ikeja who used to pay about N13.34 per kWh since under the 2015 MYTO when the last review was carried out will from January 1 this year pay N21.80 per kWh, same as their R2 counterparts.
Their counterparts in Enugu who used to pay about N17.42 per kWh will, under the new order, pay about N30.93 kWh from January 1.
Their R2 and R3 counterparts who paid about N19.31 and N27.11 per kWh since 2015, will now be paying N34.28 and N48.12 per kWh.
Residential (R2) and R3 consumers in Ikeja, who have been paying N13.34 and N26.5 per kWh since 2015, will now be paying N21.30 and N21.80 per kWh.
Residential consumers are those categorised as those using singe phase and three-phase meters and electricity consumption of about 50 kWh in premises with flats exclusively for residential purposes.
The affected DISCos include Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Jos Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company and Yola Electricity Distribution Company.
The order, the Commission said, supersedes “other orders issued on the subject matter, and shall take effect from January 1, 2020.”
The R3 consumers who use maximum demand low voltage who have been paying N26.5 per kWh in Ikeja will now be paying N36.49 per kWh, compared to their counterparts in Abuja who have been N27.20 per kWh since 2015, who will now be paying N47.09 per kWh, same as their R4 consumers.
The review also affected the tariffs for other categories of consumers, namely commercial, industrial and special.
Commercial consumers are those who use premises for any purpose other than exclusively as residence or as a factory for manufacturing goods.
The industrial consumers are customers who use their premises for manufacturing goods including welding and iron monger.
The special customers include those involved in agriculture (excluding agro-allied enterprises involved in processing), water boards, religious houses, government and teaching hospitals, government research institutes and educational establishments.
Under the new tariff order, commercial customers who have been paying between N20.45 and N27.20 per kWh since 2015 will now be paying between N37.39 and N47.09 per kWh.
Their industrial customers who have been paying between N20.95 and N27.22 per kWh in Abuja, will now be paying between N36.07 and N47.09 per kWh under the new dispensation.
Also, those in the special category who have been paying about N20.06 per kWh in Abuja since 2015, will now be paying about N35.74 per kWh.

Enabling law

NERC said the order was pursuant to Section 32 and 76 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act aimed at providing a cost reflective tariffs that ensures prices charged by licensees are fair to consumers.
Besides, such prices are supposed to be sufficient for licensees to operate efficiently to recover the full costs of their activities, including reasonable returns on the capital invested in the business.
In issuing the order, Section 17 of the MYTO 2015 expects that changes in the variables in the economy outside the control of DISCOs, including inflation rates, foreign exchange rates, gas prices and available electricity generation capacity will be taken into consideration.
The order will also reflect the market shortfall for years 2019 and 2020 as well as determine the minimum remittances payable by the DISCOs in meeting their market obligations on the allowed tariff to allow the settlement of invoices by Nigerian Bulk Trading and the market operator.
NERC said the new order updates was based on actual changes in macroeconomic variables in generation capacity as at October 31, 2019, including inflation rate of 11.3 percent for January to October 2019.
The order was also based on exchange rates of N306.9 plus one percent premium which is about N309.97 to the dollar and gas price of $2.50 per million metric tons BTU and gas transportation cost of $0.80 per MMBTU
Basic assumptions that guided the review included exchange rate of N310, generation cost of N23 per kWh, transmission cost of N7.8 per kWh, transmission and admin cost of N3.99 per kWh
Under the new tariff order, NERC insists “All DISCos are obligated to settle their market invoices in full as adjusted and netted off by the applicable tariff shortfall.”
“In the determination for compliance to the minimum remittance threshold in this Order, the Commission shall consider verified receivables from MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies) for the settlement period and DISCos’ historical collection efficiency for MDAs.
“The commission shall hold the TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria) responsible for deviation from the economic dispatch order that adversely impact on the base weighed average cost of the wholesale of energy.

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9ice And Wife, Olasunkanmi Ajala Court Wedding Photos

Singer 9ice, aka Abolore Adegbola Akande and his heartbeat, Olasunkanmi have legalised their union just days after sharing their pre-wedding photos.
It held on Boxing day.
The couple share a 5-year-old daughter, Michelle.

See photos below

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Drama as Popular Herbalist storms church to collect his Juju back from pastor

The herbalist and his crew disrupted activities in the church while telling the pastor to return the Juju he collected from him.

In a video that has gone viral, Kwaku Bonsam was heard saying “I told you to be patient” but it was not certain if he was speaking directly with the pastor, who was totally confounded by the unexpected move of the herbalist.
In case you don’t know who Kwaku Bonsam is, in the year 2014 he was at war with Nigeria and Africa’s most popular seer, Prophet T.B Joshua, where he vowed to expose the Nigerian cleric and chase him out of Ghana.
Recently he stated in an interview that he has pastor-clients across the African continent – About 1700 of them – and they approach him for different charms to boost membership in their churches, Pulse NG reports.
“Over 1, 700 pastors and so called men of God from different parts of Africa have approached me, seeking powers to perform miracles, including Prophet T.B Joshua from Nigeria. He is my boy. I challenge him to come out and deny this.
Apart from the pastors, many prominent business people and celebrated church founders in Africa frequent my shrine for my services and if they deny, I am going to name them.”
Bonsam, who operates from a shrine at Sa-Peiman, a village on the outskirts of Nsawam in east Ghana, said his god is called Kofi-Kofi and provides him with supernatural powers that are desperately needed by pastors from all walks of life.

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How A Widowed “Akara” Seller Became A Landlord In Lagos – Lady Reveals

A lady took to twitter to narrated how a widowed lady who sells bean ball (akara), puff-puff, pap, fried yam is now a landlady of two 3-bedroom flats and still lives in a one room (face-me-I-slap-you) apartment. The lady who is a banker said the woman’s husband passed away some years back and the woman could not provide for herself and her five kids.
Read below the inspirational story of how the woman was able to make a living and also own a house.
” There’s a woman who lives two streets away from where I stay, her husband passed on years back. On my way back from work one day, I stopped at the suya spot close to my house to buy suya when this woman approached me & said she wanted to talk to me. After buying the suya, we both went to the house. She explained how rough things have been for her since her husband left & how her little kiosk wasn’t able to cater for her & her 5kids. She came to see if there was a way I could help with a loan of 50k payable in 3 months.
Inside I smiled; cos she sees me dress in suit & head out to work everyday she must assume my dad owns the bank & I can influence policy & get them to give a loan to a non-customer. Long serving customers find it difficult accessing loan’s let alone someone without an account. I told her I would get back to her in a day or two. I discussed it with husband when he returned & we decided to help her. The following day I sent someone to her place with cash & she showed up minutes later to come say thank you.
Few weeks later she shut down her kiosk on the street and moved further to the main road, picked a spot & started selling akara, yam, pufpuf, agege bread & ogi. She would head out very early cos I always see her on my way to work as early as 6/6.30am. In the evenings on my way back I would see her still there but this time with her kids. One Saturday she comes to the house to return the loan. She then says she wants me to help her with opening an account. I promised to get her account opening forms, guide how how to fill it & told her to go return it to the branch nearest to the house.
Few months later she pays us a visit, says she will hardly be at her spot as she will be spending time at a building site just after ikotun-egbe. Building, I asked? She said they have had the land for a very long time & she now wants to start building from the proceeds of her akara sales. Akara seller started constructing a one storey building meanwhile every morning I would wear suit, head to work & be called madam! 😢 We chatted & I wished her all the best. She eventually finished the first floor & stopped.
She visited to tell me she had finished the 1st floor so I asked if she was going to move & she said no! That she was going to put in a tenant since its a 3 bedroom flat, that whatever rent the tenant pays, she would use it to continue work on the top floor. Meanwhile she was still running her akara business with her kids. I asked why she wasn’t moving & why she preferred being a tenant in a face-me-i-slap-you apartment. She listed a few things that made me marvel at her street wisdom; she said the location where the house is isn’t good enough for her to transfer her akara business to.
That her current location, there are many primary/secondary schools around. So children on their way to school buy akara/pufpuf/yam etc from her daily. That there are bars close by that sell fish/cowtail peppersoup & they buy her ogi daily and i shouldn’t forget the bus stop where her spot is close to, many workers going or on their way back patronise her.
So she can’t afford to move from that spot. So she would rather finish her building & rent both flats out using the proceeds to pay rent at her small place while maintaining her akara business. She mentioned how beans/flour/corn/firewood sellers all give her credit & she pays end of the week. She said it would be difficult creating such business relationship in a new place. Akara seller turned to house owner in front of me.

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I can’t marry, I’m a man – Ex HIV/AIDS ambassador Joyce Dzidzor Mensah

A former HIV/AIDS ambassador in Ghana, Joyce Dzidzor Mensah has declared she is a man, and so it will not be possible for her to get married to another man. Joyce, in a post on her Facebook page, said that as a ‘man-woman’ it would be outright impossible for her to have a working relationship with another man.
She wrote;

“Marriage is not meant for everyone. Especially, some of us who are men in women body. Cool to have a boyfriend who stays very far from me and see each other in a while than to live together,”

She added;

“Two men cannot live in one room as husband and wife. It will not work. Check yourself and see if truly you’re a complete woman or the male hormone in you is much greater than the female hormone before you jump into marriage with your fellow man.

Dzidzor concluded;

“I don’t like anyone to control me. I don’t know how to wear ladies shoes. I don’t know how to hold a ladies bag. Who has ever seen me with ladies bag? I don’t know how to fix artificial nails and eyelashes.  I could go on and on. But I’ll end it here…Marriage is complicated,” 

Joyce, who has been married three times, might have just realised marriage is not her thing

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I regret ever going to church and believing in Jesus – Nigerian female traditionalist says

A Nigerian traditionalist identified as Purity Nick, has taken to her Facebook page to state that she regrets ever going to a church and believing in Jesus Christ. Purity in her post, said she does not believe in Heaven or that a man will someday take every believer to heaven.
Read what she wrote below:

 

 
 
 

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‘I have no hand in Naira Marley’s Arrest’ Ruggedman Says On Social Media

As we’ve heard all along, Ruggedman had previously been in a beef with Naira Marley, considering his songs that are allegedly ‘promoting Yahoo business’ in the country. Ruggedman previously slammed Naira Marley for this, and this caused a whole lot of controversy between the fans of both artistes.
There was also a time when Davido called out Naira Marley and Ruggedman to reconcile, but some days after, Naira Marley, alongside Zanku master, Zlatan, were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Comission (EFCC).

Many fans and followers suspect Ruggedman for reporting Naira Marley due to his previous allegations against the artiste. In addition, Ruggedman had said he was happy that Naira Marley got arrested. This obviously flared up suspicion from people. However, he clears their doubts by sharing this post:

My fellow Nigerians and the Distinguished members of the Press,
I have read and heard all sorts of comments pertaining to the Naira Marley case and seen the misinformation making the rounds which is quite unfortunate to say the least.
I do not know Naira Marley personally, the same way I do not know the over 300 Nigerians I have gotten justice for against police brutality. I do it because it is who I am.
All I did was caution a young artist, who has influence, against making utterances about an issue that by global standard is considered a crime.  I believe correcting this was the way to go as an elder, but got insulted for this even by those being misled.
I never responded to Naira Marley’s invectives nor those of his fans, same way I have not responded to any of the negative comments from social media.
I note that saying I was “happy in a way” about his arrest has evidently frayed some nerves and for that I apologise. It was in hope that it would serve as deterrent for persons who might consider the said ills or need to make a u-turn. It by no means was intended to wish for his downfall. It perhaps was not a good choice of word in hindsight. I do not look forward to anyone’s downfall but rather hope we all learn from the situation.
I hereby state categorically that I had nothing to do with his arrest. We all must recall that he glorified fraud on a public platform where security agencies like the Police, NDLEA and EFCC are also on. I am sure they saw his posts and captions the same way we all did. I, however, was the one that cautioned him. I guess this was what led all the darts and arrows my way as a literal mortal retribution to my person.
Despite the disrespect to my person, I got nothing against him and only longed for him to be discerning and utilise his position of influence appropriately.
May God bless you all and yes that includes those wishing me evil and threatening me. Nothing will change who I am and I will keep you all in my prayers.

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Wow! Tyra Banks Recreating This Bikini Look Is The Best 22 Year Challenge

Now 45 years old, top class model and media personality, Tyra Banks has recreated the look from 22 years ago. In 1997, she covered Sports Illustrated magazine, wearing a red and pink polka dot bikini. She copies that same look 22 years after, and now, instead of following the ’10-year challenge’, she breaks boundaries with her 22-year challenge.

Remember the 10 year challenge every one was doing on social? The one where you posted a photo of yourself now next to a photo of yourself 10 years ago?
Well, I guess this is my @si_swimsuit 22 year challenge. Scroll the pic to see. But to me, it’s not just about what I’m looking like. It’s about what I’m FEELING like. Back then, I knew I had a plan to do more than model. I knew I wanted to make a difference. I knew I had a calling to do more than for just myself. I just didn’t know HOW I was gonna do it.
Today, 22 years later, I rise out of bed everyday to show that yes, a woman who was a model (and is now a model again!) can indeed be powerful beyond pictures. Can indeed be a strong leader in changing the world’s perceptions of narrowly defined beauty. Can indeed be an example for others to follow so I can sit back one day when I’m old and gray to enjoy the things that YOU are doing to push my mission further than I ever dreamed possible.
Yeah, my 22 year challenge has a whole ‘nother meaning beyond what you just SEE.

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Regina Daniels Causes Uproar On Social Media With Husband’s Customized Ferrari

Regina Daniels was seen in photos she posted on Instagram with husband, Ned Nwoko’s customized ferrari. The actress looks spectacularly beautiful in the photos, and we’re gushing over how pretty she is.
The marriage between Ned and Regina is still yet to be confirmed by either party, but there are too many signs that the couple is married. She flashes many of his property around, and was also seen with him at FUPRE (Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun), Delta State, where  he earned an honorary degree.
Regina Daniels posted slay photos of herself with the ferrari in the background. The plate number reads ‘NMN 22’ which stands for ‘Ned Munir Nwoko’. The Igbo businessman and politician is also a Muslim, and that’s why he has Munir as his other name.

Etinosa and Tunde Ednut comment on the photos– Tunde Ednut says that Regina Daniels ‘flaunts’ her husband, Ned Nwoko’s customized ferrari ‘storming the streets of Abuja’ with Ned’s tight and extra security men; however, Etinosa tells Regina Daniels with the girls out there who might want to have a chance to get all these luxurious benefits.

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