Nigerian genius amazes the world by breaking record in Japan

The next time someone sits beside you and says Nigerians are clueless and not intelligent, be sure to give the person good reasons never to underestimate the smart people of this nation again.

Nigerian surgeon removes baby from mother's womb, operates on her tumor & returns her back

LynLee Hope who suffered from a tumor know as 'sacrococcygeal teratoma' underwent a crucial operation at 23 weeks and then returned to her mother's womb. She healed and continued to grow until she was born again at 36 weeks. This amazing feat was performed by a surgeon who is nigerian but based in the U.S , Dr Oluyinka Olutoye, and his surgeon partner , Dr. Darrell Cass of Texas Children's Hospital

Why Iceland is the best place in the world to be a woman

Since 1975, the Nordic country has blazed the trail in gender equality and now, from infancy to maternity, women and girls enjoy a progressive lifestyle. But how did they achieve it.

Rebekka is so tiny that, even on her tiptoes, arms aloft, she cannot reach. So her teacher lifts her up to the unvarnished wooden monkey bar. “One, two, three,” her classmates count. She hangs on, determinedly. When she reaches 10, she jumps to the ground. “I am strong,” she shouts proudly.

It’s an ordinary morning for this single-sex class of three-year-olds at Laufásborg nursery school in Reykjavik. No dolls or cup-cake decorating on the lesson plan here. Instead, as Margrét Pála Ólafsdóttir, the school’s founder, tells me: “We are training [our girls] to use their voice. We are training them in physical strength. We are training them in courage.”

It’s a fascinating approach to education. And a popular one. In a country of only 330,000 people, there are 19 such primary and nursery schools, empowering girls from an early age.

For the past six years, Iceland has topped the World Economic Forum’s gender gap index and looks likely to do so again this week. The Economist recently named Iceland the world’s best place for working women – in comparison, the UK came in at No. 24. Ólafsdóttir’s philosophy seems to sit well with the nation’s progressive accomplishments, but her network of schools has been going for less than 20 years. So, if preschoolers trained in feminism aren’t the reason for this gender success story, what is?

History may provide us with clues. For centuries, this seafaring nation’s women stayed at home as their husbands traversed the oceans. Without men at home, women played the roles of farmer, hunter, architect, builder. They managed household finances and were crucial to the country’s ability to prosper.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Daughters of Reykjavik are a feminist rap collective who rap about gender issues. Photograph: ITV News

By 1975, Icelandic women were fed up. It wasn’t just that they weren’t being properly paid for their labour, they also were sick of their lack of political representation: only nine women had ever won seats in parliament. So, against the backdrop of the global feminist movement, Iceland’s women decided to take things into their own hands.
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An outpouring of women on to the streets was, by then, a well-trodden form of activism. In 1970, tens of thousands of women had protested on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. In the UK, that same year, 20,000 women marched in Leeds against discriminatory wages. But what made Iceland’s day of protest on 24 October 1975so effective was the number of women who participated. It was not just the impact of 25,000 women – which, at the time, was a fifth of the female population – that gathered on the streets of Reykjavik, but the 90% of Iceland’s female population who went on all-out professional and domestic strike. Teachers, nurses, office workers, housewives put down tools and didn’t go to work, provide childcare or even cook in their kitchens. All to prove how indispensable they were.

Thordis Loa Thorhallsdottir, CEO of a tourism company, was on the streets that day: “I was 10 at the time, and I remember it very clearly, standing there with my mother, fighting. I can still feel the crowd and the power that was there. The big message was that if women don’t work, the whole community is paralysed – the whole society.”

Grassroots activism at such a scale unsurprisingly had a significant material impact. Within five years, the country had the world’s first democratically elected female president – Vigdis Finnbogadottir. Now in her 80s, this steely-eyed powerhouse tells me of the impact that day of protest had on her own career trajectory.

“I would never have been elected in 1980 if it hadn’t been for the women’s day of action … because when my predecessor announced that he was not going to stand again, the voices were immediately heard: now we have to have a woman among the candidates.”
‘Iceland is a good place to be a woman.’ Photograph: Loftur Ásgeirsson/Reykjavik City Museum

Other landmarks soon followed. An all-female political party – the Women’s Alliance – was established. More women were elected to parliament; by 1999, more than a third of MPs were women.

And then, in 2000, parental leave legislation came into effect: whichevery person I spoke to highlighted this moment as key to Iceland’s march to the top of the gender-equality table. Today, every parent receives three months’ paid leave that is non-transferable. Parents then have an additional three months to share as they like.

Because the pay is significant – 80% of salary up to a ceiling of £2,300 a month – and because it’s on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, 90% of Icelandic fathers take up their paternal leave. This piece of social engineering has had a profound impact on men as well as women. Not only do women return to work after giving birth faster than before, they return to their pre-childbirth working hours faster, too. Research shows that, after taking the three months’ leave, fathers continue to be significantly more involved in childcare and do more housework. Sharing the parental responsibilities and chores from the beginning, it seems, makes a difference.

“It’s a good place to be a woman,” says Thorhallsdottir. And it is. Almost 80% of Icelandic women work. Thanks to mandatory quotas, almost half of board members of listed companies are now women, while 65% of Iceland’s university students and 41% of MPs are female.

Yet, women I met on my journey were also clear that the country has a long way to go. They still have less economic power than men – only 22% of managers are women; only 30% of experts on TV are women and, overall, men earn 14% more. Iceland’s record on all of these fronts is better than most countries; in the UK, women’s hourly pay is 18% less than men.

It is the gender pay gap that puzzles me the most. How can it be that it is still so significant given the huge efforts the state has put into mitigating the “mummy penalty”? Not only when it comes to parental leave, but with heavily subsidised nursery schools and after-school care?

Explanations vary: from women going into less well-paid professions, to the penalty paid for working part-time that we’ve found in the UK as well, to the time it takes for employers’ implicit gender biases to shift.

Iceland: the world's most feminist country

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Steiney Skuladottir, one of Reykjavíkurdætur (or the Daughters of Reykjavik) – a feminist rap collective who rap about gender issues – puts the blame in part on women’s reluctance to ask for sufficient pay compensation. Fellow rapper Bloer Johanusdottir concurs. “It’s like we can’t be cocky. We are supposed to be modest.”

Back at the school, Ólafsdóttir has this to say: “If you are learning from a young age that you are not getting your rightful share, if you are taught and trained in waiting, what do you expect?”

The Icelandic government has pledged to close the gender pay gap by 2022. And the women of the country continue to be highly organised and socially aware; an astonishing one- third of Iceland’s women are members of a Facebook group – ironically named Beauty Tips – in which they actively discuss gender issues.

History teaches us that progress doesn’t come about in a vacuum and that grassroots pressure plus investment in politics is a very powerful catalyst for change. In Iceland, it seems that they have both. In spades.

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Nigeria confirms release of 21 girls kidnapped in Chibok by Boko Haram.

Boko Haram Islamist have released 21 of more than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists in 2014 in the northern town of Chibok, the Nigerian government said on Thursday.

Outcome of negotiations between the administration and the Boko Haram brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government," a presidency statement said. "The negotiations will continue."
Around 270 girls were taken from their school in Chibok in April 2014. Dozens escaped in the initial melee, but more than 200 are still missing.
The kidnapping triggered worldwide outrage promoted by a Twitter hashtag #bringbackourgirls.
The presidency gave no details on the deal, saying only that the 21 girls were very tired and would first rest in the custody of the national security agency.
Afterwards the girls would be handed over to Vice President Yemi Obinsajo, the statement said. President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to Germany on Thursday.
Authorities said in May that one of the missing girls had been found and President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to rescue the others.
Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency to create an Islamic state in the northeast has led to the deaths of 15,000 people and displaced more than two million.
The Nigerian military has been carrying out a large-scale offensive in the Sambisa forest, Boko Haram's stronghold, in the last few days.
The jihadist group, which last year pledged loyalty to the militant group Islamic State, controlled a swathe of land around the size of Belgium at the start of 2015.
But under Nigeria's army, aided by troops from neighbouring countries, has recaptured most of the territory that had been lost. The group still stages suicide bombings in the northeast, as well as in neighbouring Niger and Cameroon.
Boko Haram published a video in August apparently showing recent footage of dozens of the girls. In the video they said some of the girls were killed in air strikes.
Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children but the kidnapping of the Chibok girls brought worldwide attention to the group.
In the last few months Buhari has said his government was prepared to negotiate with Boko Haram over the release of the girls.

British Officer Tiger Hunting lead Him Found This Strange Cave, And You Won’t Believe What’s Inside!

Simply amazing. It really makes you wonder what other secrets may still be hiding out there, waiting to be discovered by adventurous souls!

In April of 1819, British officer John Smith was pursuing a tiger through the jungle outside of Mumbai when he stumbled upon a strange cave entrance hidden in the brush.

Something seemed oddly deliberate about the cave entrance and so he decided to abandon his hunt to investigate further. He soon discovered what appeared to be ornate carvings in the rock. Little did he know that was just the beginning.

In 1819, British officer John Smith was hunting a tiger in the forest outside of Mumbai when he stumbled across a strange cave.




Inside were what appeared to be man-made carvings. But that was just the beginning.



Further investigation revealed an entire system of shrines and monuments carved directly into the rock.


And 30 different caves.



Experts believe that they were constructed around 200 BCE as a retreat for Buddhist monks during the terrible monsoon season.



Each of the caves is unique, with its own intricately designed entrances and interiors.



The caves were largely abandoned by the 7th century, but remained a sacred place for locals.



Many of the carvings depict the life of Buddha and his many incarnations.




There are also a large number of paintings, many of which are remarkably well-preserved.



It’s amazing how much color and detail still remains after all those years.



One of the more popular theories surrounding the caves is that they were built to align with the solstices and other cosmological events.



Caves 19 and 26 do actually align perfectly with the winter and summer solstices, respectively.



On their designated days, the sun shines straight through holes in their roofs, illuminating the religious displays within.


Even after centuries, the interiors are still absolutely stunning.



The effort and precision required to build these elaborate structures is truly mind-boggling.



Especially considering they had to do it with comparatively limited tools.



We may never know exactly how they managed to build these incredible caves.