Two United Airlines planes collide on the ground at Chicago O'Hare Airport

 

 

 

 

Two United Airlines planes collided on the airfield at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, but thankfully no injuries were reported.

Around 4:20 p.m., Flight 645 was taxiing from Gate C30 when the aircraft’s left wing clipped the left wing of Flight 2746. Federal Aviation Administration rep Tony Molinaro confirmed that both United planes sustained damage to their wings in the accident.

the Portland-bound Flight 645 had passengers on board and the incident ultimately delayed their trip by two hours. Flight 2746, bound for Cleveland, was eventually canceled.
The FAA is investigating, the Sun-Times reported.
“I noticed a lot of people over by the windows looking out, wondering what was going on. A lot of airport employees, people with their cameras up,” witness Alexandra Carley told CBS.
“Our plane that was supposed to come into O’Hare had to circle around for a while after the accident and by that point, the weather got bad,” United passenger Melissa Wester said.
“This many planes in this area, this many times a week. Something is bound to happen at some point. I’d call that a minor accident,” United passenger Mark Ritchie, who witnessed the accident from a flight nearby, told the outlet. “Prior to its departure on Wednesday afternoon for Portland, Oregon, United flight 645’s wingtip came into contact with the wingtip of another aircraft parked at a nearby gate. There were no customers on board the parked aircraft at the time of the incident and no reported injuries on either aircraft," a spokesperson said.

 

 

Ailing 92 year old Facing Forced Removal From UK

 

                                       

Myrtle Cothill is a frail 92-year-old South African lady. She is at risk of being removed by the Home Office to a country where she has nobody to look after her and nowhere to stay. Myrtle has been living with Mary Wills, her British 66-year-old daughter who is also a qualified carer, since her arrival in the UK in February 2014. I am Myrtle's barrister and I have launched this petition on behalf of her to call on the Home Office to grant Mrytle leave to remain in the UK.
Suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and macular degeneration causing sight loss, Myrtle cannot walk unaided, has a chronic cough, poor vision, is hard of hearing and is experiencing increasing confusion. She is unable to care or cook for herself and relies on her daughter Mary for emotional and physical support: Mary helps her mother with her personal care, housework, cooking and shopping.
Mary and her 61year old British husband David, cannot move to South Africa to look after her mother there as they have no right to live in South Africa. David is also ill and unable to travel, suffering from Parkinson’s disease and COPD which severely affects his mobility and breathing. Both David’s and Myrtle’s medical conditions are degenerative and likely to deteriorate further in the future.   
Like any good daughter and wife, Mary deeply loves her husband and her mother and just wants to take care of them. However, the Home Office has refused Myrtle leave to remain in the UK and is expecting the 92-year-old to return to South Africa on her own. This would rip the family apart and leave them broken-hearted. The Courts have felt unable to overturn the Home Office decision, relying the stringent nature of the current Immigration Rules on adult dependent relatives (see below for detail).
“My mother just cannot live on her own,” says Mary, “and emotionally, to her as well as for myself, it would really tear strips out of our heart and probably would kill my mother (and maybe myself as well).”
The present immigration rule on adult dependant relatives introduced in 2012[1] makes it almost impossible for British citizens to bring their elderly parents to live with them in the UK in their declining years.
Those like Mary who want to help and do the right thing have to deal with the wedge this immigration rule drives between them. It breaks up families like Myrtle’s, Mary’s and David’s, leads to unspeakable heartache and undermines the very essence of family values.
We call on the Home Office and the Government to:
1)      Grant Myrtle Cothill leave to remain in the UK to live out what days she has left under the care of her daughter;
2)      Reverse the amendment of the immigration rule on adult dependant relatives which came into force in July 2012 radically changing the previous rule (which was in place for over 40yrs) which allowed British nationals and other settled persons (i.e. persons with indefinite leave to remain) to be joined by their parents/grandparents aged over 65yrs if they could be accommodated and financially supported by their children/grandchildren without reliance on the public purse. 
3)      Reinstate the previous immigration rule on family reunion to enable others like Myrtle to be granted leave to remain in the UK.

Footnote [1] The new immigration rule only allows British citizens, and other (non-EU) settled persons, to be joined by relatives where the long-term care they require is either not available or not affordable in their country of residence, but privately payable by them in the UK – this means that the only family members who will be allowed to join their families in the UK will be those who live in countries where medical care is more expensive than in the UK or entirely non-existent.
you may drop your comment we will appreciate it 

Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

The ride services company said it was suspending North American tests of its self-driving vehicles, which are currently going on in Arizona, Pittsburgh and Toronto.
So-called robot cars, when fully developed by companies including Uber, Alphabet Inc and General Motors Co, are expected to drastically cut down on motor vehicle fatalities and create billion-dollar businesses. But Monday’s accident underscored the possible challenges ahead for the promising technology as the cars confront real-world situations involving real people.
U.S. lawmakers have been debating legislation that would speed introduction of self-driving cars.
“This tragic accident underscores why we need to be exceptionally cautious when testing and deploying autonomous vehicle technologies on public roads,” said Democratic Senator Edward Markey, a member of the transportation committee, in a statement.
Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle outside the crosswalk on a four-lane road in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe about 10 p.m. MST Sunday (0400 GMT Monday) when she was struck by the Uber vehicle traveling at about 40 miles per hour (65 km per hour), police said. The Volvo XC90 SUV was in autonomous mode with an operator behind the wheel.
Herzberg later died from her injuries in a hospital, police said.
“The pedestrian was outside of the crosswalk. As soon as she walked into the lane of traffic she was struck,” Tempe Police Sergeant Ronald Elcock told reporters at a news conference. He said he did not yet know how close Herzberg was to the vehicle when she stepped into the lane.
Elcock said he believed Herzberg may have been homeless.
The San Francisco Chronicle late Monday reported that Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir said that from viewing videos taken from the vehicle “it’s very clear it would have been difficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode (autonomous or human-driven) based on how she came from the shadows right into the roadway." Moir told the Chronicle, “I suspect preliminarily it appears that the Uber would likely not be at fault in this accident,” but she did not rule out that charges could be filed against the operator in the Uber vehicle, the paper reported. The “Tempe Police Department does not determine fault in vehicular collisions,” the department said in a statement late Monday, in reply to questions from Reuters about the chief’s comments. “Ultimately the investigation will be submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review and any potential charges.”
Tempe authorities and federal officials are still investigating the incident. Canada’s transportation ministry in Ontario, where Uber conducts testing, also said it was reviewing the accident.
Volvo, the Swedish car brand owned by China’s Geely, said the software controlling the car in the crash was not its own.
Video footage will aid the ongoing investigation, and the case would be submitted to the district attorney, Elcock said.
“Our investigators have that information, and they will be using that in their investigation as well as the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office as part of their investigation,” said Elcock. “They are going to attempt to try to find who was possibly at fault and how we can better be safe, whether it’s pedestrians or whether it’s the vehicle itself.”

 

UNILAG generates N5m from waste recycling

 

                             

Mrs Sade Nubi, Senior Environmental Engineer, University of Lagos (UNILAG), said the institution through its recycling initiative realised about N5 million from waste generated by the university community.

Nubi disclosed that this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Cape Coast, Ghana at the ongoing Africa Cleanup conference.
She said that the university generates about 32.2 tons of wastes monthly from its 97,000 population including visitors.
“We try to make sure that the school environment is clean, we make sure that we sensitise people to know that an we can create wealth from waste.
“For UNILAG, despite the initial challenges of funding and negative attitude towards the initiative, we still moved ahead beyond the challenge to push forward and achieve our goal.
“We have been able to recycle as much as 23 tons of waste every month. We have recycling companies as partners who come to buy our waste.
“We have been able to create income for the institution as well as employment,” she said.
Nubi advised other institutions in the country to key into the recycling project and add value to their community.
“For other universities it is important for us not to just dump our waste at dump site or landfill, let’s put value to it by getting people to sort it and recycle.
“We also carry out research work. We can now categorise our waste which includes more of plastic bottles.
“We have been able to raise between N4 and N5 million for the institution since the inception of the initiative and employ about 50 workers at the sorting centre in the institution.’’
Nubi said UNILAG was ready to collaborate with other institutions on the recycling project, so as to generate funds, create employment and add value to the education sector.
 

This Woman Claims That She Is The World’s Hottest Grandma

I didn’t ever think that anyone out there would ever be proud about winning a title like ‘world’s hottest Grandma’ but apparently people want to be labelled in this way now and that’s what 36 year old mother of two Carrie Hilton is spending her time bragging abou

Images VIA

Hilton’s 17 year old daughter Clarice gave birth earlier this year and Carrie went straight to MailOnline to explain to everyone that she was now the hottest grandma in the world:

I was dubbed ‘Britain’s most glamorous granny’ in January and then the ‘world’s hottest granny’ by various media outlets around the world shortly after [eldest daughter Clarice gave birth].
When shop assistants and people at the gym hear Clarice saying ‘Mum’ they ask her to repeat herself. Then I tell them I’m a nanny and they go ‘No way!’,” Carrie told The Sun earlier this year.

I’ve always been fit and active. I don’t go out much, all I do is work and train, so I haven’t used the fact I’m a grandma to fend off any young men.
I’ve had lots of messages from admirers. Most of them asking for dates or sex. I’ve even had some people asking to marry me.

Oooh look at her eh? In fairness, Carrie doesn’t sound like a complete vacuous loser like most of these reality stars that brag about titles like ‘world’s hottest grandma’ as it doesn’t sound like she parties that much and she’s a six time silver medallist in internatiaonl kickboxing. That said though she has also had breast enlargement surgery, Botox, teeth whitening and hair extensions, spending £13,000 on surgery. I suppose you don’t get to be the world’s hottest grandma if you don’t put the work in though – this ain’t some kind of imaginary title that anyone can be awarded you know, it’s the real deal.

 

Taraba: Monarch, 7 villagers killed in savage herdsmen attack

Taraba: Monarch, 7 villagers killed in savage herdsmen attack

Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo

 at least eight persons are confirmed dead and several others severely injured by savage herdsmen who attacked villages around Danacha in Gasol local government area of Taraba state on Monday.

One of the deceased, Chief Hembaor Baki, who was the chief of Angwan Hembaor, was killed alongside his wife and two children on their farm, while four others were killed in the neighbouring Dinya village, also on their farm.
An eyewitness, Mr Benjamin Orakaa, who spoke to Daily Sun from Danacha, said that the tension in the area was too much for the people to move in to ascertain the actual number of deaths. kaki Hembaor was with his wife and two children on the farm this morning when they were attacked and killed, and four other persons were killed on another rice farm in Dinya where they were also farming. Several persons have been rushed to Danacha with severe injuries,” the witness said.
“For now, the herdsmen are still there shooting everywhere and people have deserted their homes and everything to run for their dear lives; so we can not even go back there to know how many persons are dead. We have only recovered these four bodies so far,” he said
Orakaa said that so far security operatives manning checkpoints in the area remain on their duty posts and other security vehicles have been seen on the highway, yet shooting in the villages have continued unabated.
Chairman of Gassol local Government Council Hon. Yahuza Yaya’u confirmed the attack in the area but said no life was lost.
“Nine people, mostly women, were badly injured and we are making efforts to take them to the hospital,” he said.the problem started in Dongon Ruwa and six women and three men were badly cut at the point of death, but no life was lost.
However, another eyewitness, Mr Terkimbi Tahav, who said he escaped death by the whiskers, told Daily Sun on the phone that he and others were in the farm at Dinya village in Gassol local government when nine armed Fulani men riding on three motorcycles came and forced them out of the farm.
“One of them told us that the land we were farming on was sold to them by the village head of Kwararafa (Dekechin Kwararafa), Alh. Ibrahim Isah,” Tahav said, recalling the incident.
“We were shocked and tried to resist their attempt to chase us out of our farm, but they started attacking us with cutlasses and we ran for our dear lives. it
was when we were running for safety that we discovered four of our relations dead on their farm. They had killed them earlier before proceeding to attack us.
“It’s only God that some of us are alive to tell our story,” said the witness.
The state Police Public Relations Officer ASP David Misal said he was yet to be briefed on the attack.
Herdsmen had only last week attacked a minor seminary in Jalingo, where they shot a priest, as part of a sustained attack on mostly farming communities across the state and region.

 

Civil War: Why Army was soft on Biafrans – President Buhari

Civil War: Why Army was soft on Biafrans – President Buhari

president Muhammadu Buhari on Monday spoke on why the Nigerian Army was soft on Biafrans during the Civil War.

   

According to the President, they had strict and formal instructions to exercise restraint against Biafrans during the three-year conflict between 1967 and 1970.
He recalled that every military commander was issued instructions in dispatches handed to them from then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, that Biafrans were not enemies but brothers and sisters to other Nigerians.
The President spoke at the Aso Rock Villa during his investiture as Grand Patron of the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS), where he promised to assist the organisation secure permanent office accommodations in Abuja.
Buhari praised Gowon for the clement gesture he described, and also the role of the Red Cross in bringing succour to victims of the war, even in dangerous circumstances, noting that the pathetic pictures of war-ravaged Biafrans were always heartrending.
“Earlier in my profession, during the Civil War, I know how much sacrifice members of the Nigerian Red Cross and their international counterparts did, both in the real front of operations and at the rear, on both sides. I think it is a lot of sacrifices, because anything can happen to you in the operational areas,” the President said.
“The risks they faced were real and I admire their courage and commitment to helping people who were in distress and were virtually in millions. Those photographs of people from the Biafra enclave spoke a lot.
“I remember with nostalgia the performance of the Commander-in-Chief, General Gowon. Every commander was given a copy of the Commander-in-Chief’s instructions that we were not fighting enemies, but that we were fighting our brothers. And thus, people were constrained to show a lot of restraint.
“The international observer teams were allowed to go as far as possible within and outside the front, and I think this was generous and very considerate of General Gowon. He is a highly committed Nigerian.”
On his promise to assist the organisation secure permanent office accommodations in Abuja, Buhari said, “I have taken note of your logistics, especially your request for office here i,
assure you that the government will do its best when you decide to build such facilities in terms of securing an area here within the Federal Capital Territory, and we hope you will not do the Nigerian ways of doing things.
“To use the words of a famous Nigerian Minister: ‘I hope you will not build an elephantine headquarters’ [but one] which is going to be functional because we have seen your activities throughout the country,” he said.
In his remarks, the head of delegation and National President of the NRCS, Chief Bolaji Anani, said the organization has over 800,000 trained volunteers based in communities across the 774 local government areas of the federation.
He petitioned the President to assent to the bill amending the Red Cross Act of 1960, whenever the National Assembly, which is debating it, eventually gives its approval. The Act has not been reviewed since it was passed in 1960. a review is long overdue. We note with pleasure that the current National Assembly is in the process of doing that. In fact, the revision has already undergone public hearing.
“We hope when the revised bill is passed by the National Assembly it will be graciously assented to by Mr. President,” Anani said.
He further appealed to President Buhari to restore federal government grants, subventions and programme support to the society to enable it discharge its mandate diligently.
Among other petitions Anani requested were operational vehicles for ease of the work, restoration of annual grants from the federal government, and special government recognition and awards to Red Cross officials and volunteers who have exceeded in service or even paid the ultimate price in service to the fatherland and humanity, in a bid to motivate more humanitarian gestures.
Anani lamented that the Nigerian Red Cross has been operating from rented premises since it moved its headquarters from Lagos to Abuja, with inadequate space to store relief materials and equipment.
NCRS is the Nigerian arm of the global humanitarian Red Cross and and Red Crescent Movement present in over 193 countries, and played a major role in providing relief materials to beleaguered and starving Biafrans during the Nigerian Civil War when Nigeria’s Southeast and South-South sought independence from the rest of the country.