Philippine church leaders urge followers to oppose same-sex marriage

The Guardian Nigeria|AFP

Leaders of the Philippines’ dominant Catholic church have called on individuals and politicians to actively oppose same-sex marriage, after new efforts by activists to have same-sex unions legalised in the conservative nation.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement Sunday saying individuals should refuse to take part in ceremonies celebrating same-sex relationships and politicians should resist legalising marriages of homosexual couples.
“A homosexual union is not and can never be a marriage as properly understood and so-called,” the CBCP said in the statement posted on its website.

Afghan Taliban admit covering up Mullah Omar’s death

Afghan Taliban admit covering up Mullah Omar’s death

The Guardian Nigeria|AFP

The Taliban on Monday admitted covering up longtime leader Mullah Omar’s death for more than two years, saying he died in 2013 as was first claimed by the Afghan intelligence.
The group had continued as recently as July to release official statements in the name of Omar, who had not been seen in public since the Taliban were toppled from power in Kabul in 2001.
They confirmed on July 30 that he had died but did not say when, deepening internal divisions as many insurgents accused the leadership of covering up his death for two years.
A Taliban statement Monday admitted for the first time that he died on April 23, 2013. The detail was buried in a biography of new leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, Omar’s longtime deputy.
“Several key members of the supreme leading council of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) and authentic religious scholars together decided on concealing the tragic news of passing away of (Omar)… and keep this secret limited to the very few colleagues who were already informed of this incorrigible loss,” the biography said.

Despite recent decline, Rafael Nadal headlines Day 1 of the U.S. Open

Goodell, Brady due in court for 'Deflategate' case

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View photo

New England Patriots' Tom Brady (12) scrambles as Carolina Panthers' Kony Ealy (94) pursues during the first half of a preseason NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Aug. 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)

IS destroys part of famed Palmyra temple: monitor, activists

The Guardian Nigeria|AFP

ISThe Islamic State jihadist group has blown up parts of the Temple of Bel in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, a monitor and activists said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late Sunday that the jihadist group had placed explosives inside the famed temple, at least partially destroying the building considered Palmyra’s most significant.
Mohamed Hassan al-Homsi, an activist from Palmyra, also reported the partial destruction on Sunday night, a week after IS destroyed the Baal Shamin temple at the historic Greco-Roman site.
“They laid the explosives today, using booby-trapped boxes and barrels that were already prepared by IS,” he said.

BMW 3 Series: 40 years old, and still the ultimate driving machine

Focusing on driving dynamics and technology has kept BMW at the top for six generations.

The BMW 3 Series throughout the ages, with the F30 and E21 in the foreground.

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   The BMW 3 Series throughout the ages, with the F30 and E21 in the foreground.
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Follow These 11 Steps to Reach Your Goal Weight

FitSugar|Jenny-Sugar

The jeans don't lie. You knew you let yourself go a little bit, and after throwing the stupid bathroom scale away because it said you were (insert red-flag number here), you went for the true test - slipping on your favorite jeans. Ugh. Not being able to pull your pants past your thighs sure does tell you something. If you're at a loss as to how to begin, here's a no-fuss, straightforward, 11-step guide to losing weight.

Reinvent Comfort With Spaghetti Squash Mac and Cheese

FitSugar|Lizzie-Fuhr

Is there anything more comforting than macaroni and cheese? Cool nights call for this warming classic. If you're looking to lighten things up the next time you dig into this indulgent dish, opt for this twist on tradition that amps up the nutritional value as it cuts back on calories and carbs.
Versatile and nutrient-rich spaghetti squash lays the base to this recipe, while broccoli adds even more vitamin A to this Fall recipe. The best part of all? The mix of lower-fat cheeses that results in a dreamy, rich-tasting sauce you can enjoy sans guilt.

From Lizzie Fuhr, POPSUGAR Fitness

Joe Biden Faces Tough Road to White House, Starting With Iowa

As vice president considers a 2016 bid, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders gather staff, support

By

Peter Nicholas And

MINNEAPOLIS—As Vice President Joe Biden weighs a presidential bid, he must confront a number of fundamental questions. Among them: Does he have a viable path through an electoral map that is becoming only more treacherous the longer he stays on the sidelines?

Gorvernors Fight Their Predecessors

By Tonnie Iredia
Last week Saturday, I was greatly entertained by a drama piece I watched as a guest of my Bauchi State born colleague, Comrade Yakubu. The play, an exciting satire was about enemies who are fond of publicly professing friendship.

Tinubu and Fashola

The brilliant way the intrigues in the scenes were arranged made me to ask Yakubu if aides of the present governor of his state would not introduce some of those intrigues to him in his fight with his predecessor, Isa Yuguda. Naively, Yakubu assured me that no such thing would happen in Bauchi because elders of the state would intervene to save the day.

Areas of concentration for President Buhari (3)

By Douglas Anele
Remember, a committee of the Senate of the Second Republic, headed by the late Dr.Olusola Saraki, was about to scrutinise the Ayo Irikefe Report concerning the purported missing NNPC funds when Buhari came to power through a military coup in December 31, 1993. Since then, the Report seems to have disappeared without trace. So where is the Irikefe Report? Was Buhari cleared or indicted by the panel?

Buhari

If he was cleared, why was the findings not made public before he was overthrown in August 1985? As far as I am concerned, silly insults and shibboleths from Buharimaniacs notwithstanding, President Buhari’s anti-corruption reputation remains tainted unless contents of the Irikefe Report are made public or he publicly addresses the matter himself.

How 7 die in Kaduna Air Force plane crash

By Luka Binniyat, Kaduna
A light military plane, Dornier 2k,  has   crashed in Kaduna with all seven on board feared dead.

Scene of the crash of the Nigerian Air Force plane crash at NDA, Kaduna

The plane, which took off   from Dana Airport, operated by the Nigeria Air Force, NAF, in Kaduna, came down some minutes after at the Kantoma Army Barracks, otherwise known as the NDA Barracks, around 6. 45 am, a source told Sunday Vanguard.
At the time of this report, all movement into and outside the barracks  was barred.
But a top military brass in Kaduna, who spoke shortly after leaving the scene of the accident, said all on board perished.

World Athletics Championships 2015: day eight – in pictures

The best images from Beijing including Mo Farah’s ‘triple-double’, the second half of the men’s decathlon as well as the finals of the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay

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  Athletes compete in the men’s 50km race walk final

  Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

• The athletes move out on to the streets of Beijing outside the Bird’s Nest stadium

  Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
  

Taking on immigrants in US could be time-bomb for Trump

Billionaire Donald Trump has soared in opinion polls for the Republican presidential primary, but inflammatory anti-immigrant rhetoric could cost him the crucial Latino vote in the 2016 White House race.
“What Trump is doing is political suicide,” says Patricio Zamorano, executive director of the consulting firm Infoamericas.info.
Since launching his campaign in June, “The Donald” has catapulted to the top of the Republican polls, ahead of 16 other candidates, and at 28 percent this week he is streaking away from his nearest rival by 16 points.

Nepal honours quake victims in festival of the dead

|AFP

PHOTO: www.cbc.caThousands of Nepalis walked in procession through the Kathmandu valley Sunday in a festival to commemorate the dead, which many mourning family members who died in a devastating earthquake.
The 7.8-magnitude quake on April 25 killed nearly 8,900 people and reduced some 600,000 houses to rubble across the impoverished Himalayan nation.

Burkina bars ex-leader’s party candidate from presidential vote

Burkina Faso’s Constitutional Council on Saturday provisionally cleared 16 candidates for presidential elections in October, but declared the nominee of ousted president Blaise Compaore’s party ineligible.
Eddie Constance Konboigo, head of Compaore’s Congress for Democracy and Progress party, was among six candidates barred from running, along with Gilbert Noel Ouedraogo of the ADF/RDA grouping that was allied to the former strongman’s administration.

We are open, we are looking, says Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits he is unsure whether he will be able to bring in any more new signings before the end of the transfer window.
With Tuesday’s deadline approaching, Wenger is under mounting pressure to bolster his squad in his efforts to add a 14th English title to the north London club’s collection, 11 years after their most recent.

Yvette Cooper to raise prospect of legal challenge to trade union bill

Labour leadership candidate will say it is unprecedented for a government to abuse its small Commons majority to try to cripple an opposition party

Yvette Cooper will say she has received legal advice suggesting the legislation would undermine article 11 of the European convention on human rights. Photograph: Peter Hogan/Demotix/Corbis

Yvette Cooper will raise the prospect this week of a legal challenge to the trade union bill, which threatens Labour’s funding and limits the right to strike.
The Labour leadership candidate will say she has received legal advice suggesting the legislation would undermine freedom of association as set out in article 11 of the European convention on human rights.

Mourinho won’t buy his way out of trouble

Jose Mourinho has no plans to spend big in the final few days of the transfer window in a bid to end champions Chelsea’s early season Premier League malaise.
Chelsea’s shock 2-1 loss at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday left Mourinho’s men a significant eight points behind leaders Manchester City just four games into the current campaign.
Those four league matches have now yielded two defeats, including a 3-0 reverse at City, compared to just three losses in the whole of last season’s league programme.

17-year-old migrant killed in shootout at sea with Greek police

A 17-year-old migrant was killed during a shootout at sea between Greek port police and human smugglers, the government said late Saturday.
“A serious incident occurred off the island of Symi when a yacht carrying 70 migrants from Turkey’s western shores tried to illegally enter (Greek waters),” the marine ministry said in a statement.
Greek port police and officials from the EU border agency Frontex managed to halt and board the boat.

S. Sudan rebels accuse army of violating ceasefire

The Guardian Nigeria|AFP

South Sudan soldiersSouth Sudan rebels on Sunday accused the army of violating a ceasefire, just hours after it came into effect, by bombarding their positions along the White Nile river.

“A military convoy — two barges, seven gunboats — has been moving from Bor to Panijar. Whenever they see our positions on the banks, they shell,” said rebel spokesman Dickson Gatluak.
“The cessation of hostilities started at midnight on Saturday but the government has broken it. They are not committed to it,” he added.

Widows commend C/River Govt. over proposed mass employment

The Guardian Nigeria|NAN

Some widows in Cross River have commended the state government over its plan to offer them mass employment in its newly-established garment factory.
A cross section of the widows made the commendation in Calabar in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.
The present administration has concluded plans to inaugurate the factory to mark Gov. Ben Ayade’s 100 days in office.

Chrissie Hynde criticised over rape remarks

Pretenders singer condemned after saying it can be a woman’s fault if she is raped, and blamed herself for performing sexual acts under threat of violence

Chrissie Hynde: ‘If I’m walking around in my underwear and I’m drunk? Who else’s fault can it be?’ Photograph: Eamonn M McCormack/Getty Images

Singer Chrissie Hynde has been criticised for saying it can be a woman’s fault if she is raped.
The Pretenders star, 63, said she blamed herself for being forced to perform sexual acts under the threat of violence.
She told the Sunday Times magazine that when she was 21 an Ohio motorcycle gang member promised to take her to a party but instead took her to an empty house, yet she claimed to take “full responsibility” for what happened.

John Daly taken to hospital after collapsing on golf course

• Forty-nine-year-old was playing at an event in Jackson, Mississippi
• ‘We’re all hoping it’s nothing serious and that he was just dehydrated’

John Daly in action at the recent US PGA Championship. Photograph: Chris Carlson/AP

John Daly collapsed near the end of a round of golf on Saturday and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
The 49-year-old Daly was playing in a small event at Deerfield Golf Club in Jackson, Mississippi’s northern suburbs. Daly’s friend, Billy Allen, who was with Daly at the hospital, said the two-time major champion’s vital signs were good but doctors were checking on possible injuries to his ribs and fingers.

World Athletics Championships 2015: day nine – live!

Christine Ohuruogu will run for Great Britain in the final of the 4x400m relay. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA

Nick Miller

Hello. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whatever the hell time it is where you are. It’s 11.11am in London, the sky is grey, the tea is stewed, and somewhere on the planet a bunch of people already ran a marathon while you were just about coming to terms with a Sunday ahead dealing with a hangover.
The specific marathon in mind was of course in Beijing, where Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba won the women’s race by just one second from Kenya’s Helah Kiprop in 2:27:35. Bahrain’s (Kenya-born) Eunice Kirwa took bronze.

Amaechi fires back: Wike also corrupt; I won’t appear before his commission

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME
Immediate past governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, yesterday, accused his successor, Mr Nyesom Wike, of also being  corrupt.
The former governor spoke, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, while addressing loyalists of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Amaechi said he was in the Rivers State capital  to quietly attend a church program and will leave same day, adding that he had clear documents pointing at the alleged corruption acts  of the governor.
Amaechi vowed never to appear before  the Justice  George Omereji Commission of Inquiry investigating alleged sale of  the  assets of the state by his government, insisting that the establishment of the commission did not comply with constitutional provisions.

Economy Worse In 90 Days Of APC – PDP

By Henry Umoru

NATIONAL leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, took a swipe at the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, saying the nation’s economy under the Buhari administration is worse in 90 days.

Buhari

According to the PDP, Nigerians have been scammed with empty promises since the President was inaugurated on May 29.
In a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the opposition  stressed that   instead of gains, official reports showed that the last three months under the APC-led government had brought a sudden decline in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with attendant losses and hardship to the citizens, while government embarks on propaganda of imaginary achievements, in addition to attempts to foist harsh economic regime to cover its ineptitude.
Metuh said, “The   shambolic state of the nation’s economy within the period, which represents the worst in the nation’s contemporary history, is a direct fallout of uncertainty created by the inability of the Buhari-led government to chart a clear-cut economic policy, worsened by abuse of regulations, and flagrant violation of constitutional provisions.

On the Iran Nuclear Deal: Yes, but . . .

Author: Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations
August 28, 2015
Wall Street Journal

The agreement to constrain Iran’s nuclear capacity, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the U.S. Congress will vote on next month, places significant limits on Iran’s nuclear program for a decade or longer. At the same time, the accord allows Iran access to resources that will enhance its ability to carry out a worrisome agenda throughout much of the Middle East. In addition, the agreement in no way resolves the problems posed by Iran’s nuclear program. To the contrary, these problems could well grow as most of the restrictions on centrifuges and enriched uranium run out after 10 and 15 years respectively.

The Zucchini Bread Recipe That'll Save You Over 100 Calories

FitSugar|Jenny-Sugar

While the idea of zucchini bread may sound healthy, don't be fooled! Most are loaded with sugar and butter, which means they're also loaded with calories - we're talking 340 per slice!
Naturally sweetened with ripe banana, this recipe is also vegan, which cuts back on fat and cholesterol but doesn't compromise on flavor.

White supremacist takes stand in Jewish site shootings

AP News

By BILL DRAPER Associated Press

AP Photo/SHANE KEYSER OLATHE, Kan. (AP) -- A white supremacist charged with killing three people at Jewish sites in suburban Kansas City spent more than two hours Friday telling jurors how he planned the attacks and is sorry he didn't kill more people. Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., who is acting as his own attorney, called himself to the witness stand and spoke of his military history and of how he started a group in North Carolina called the White Patriot Party. Miller also told jurors the prosecutor had a "slam dunk" and he knew they would put him on death row.