Allo, Duo, Google Messenger, Hangouts. Google has three 'messenger' apps too many Commentary

Does Google really need four chat apps? This veteran social chatter says no.

One killer messenger app. That's all you need. Not the four that Google seems to think you do. At Google I/O, the Internet giant's annual conference for developers, Google unwrapped two new, very distinct messenger apps that will work on iOS and Android phones "this summer." There's Allo, for messages and emojis, and Duo for videoconferencing. This is already on top of Google Messenger and Hangouts, each of which handles both texts and video calls.

What gives, Google? Do we really need all these messaging apps?

Google says we do. Allo and Duo are both apps that Google built from scratch, not based on any existing code for Hangouts or Messenger. And both new communication apps draw deeply on machine learning as part of the artificial intelligence future that CEO Sundar Pichai champions as the way forward.

Allo's goal is to learn your rhythms and responses and offer suggestions in the form of quick replies. So if someone asks, "How're you doing?" the app might suggest you type in "Awesome!" alongside an emoji of dog doodoo. You choose the suggestion you want, or respond with something else, and behind the scenes Allo records and remembers your answer, maybe for next time.

Duo's flashiest video-calling trick is Knock-Knock, which essentially rings your buddy with a preview of what you look like and what you're doing this very minute. That means there can be no delays between broadcasting your goings-on and the moment the person on the other end receives the knock and picks up the call (or not).

Everything announced at this year's I/O
Google's CEO sums up his AI vision
All the news from Google I/O 2016
Allo and Duo work as they do, Google says, because the programs stand on their own; they're light and finely tuned, not burdened by too many features that do other things.

"We didn't want to weigh down the [engineering] team with decisions from previous products," Erik Kay, Google's engineering director for communication software, told CNET. Because coders were given the freedom to create from the ground up, Google said, they were able to concentrate on fresh, innovative ways to make next-gen talking tools.

Focused engineering may be Google's reason for keeping the two separate, but there are other considerations as well. These apps work on phones and tether to your phone number, whereas Hangouts is purposely cross-platform, so it works on desktops as nimbly as it does on mobile.

Google also says that different consumers use apps for different purposes, so you might turn to Hangouts for a certain group of friends and Facebook Messenger for another. Meanwhile, you might Skype your in-laws on the weekend but call up Duo's Knock-Knock video to chat with your sweetheart.

Maybe this is the behavior that winds up happening, but is it what we really want? I don't. I already use Hangouts and Facebook Messenger, texting, WeChat, What'sApp, Skype Messenger, Slack (for work) and sometimes even Twitter. (There's also Kik, Peach, Snapchat, and good ol' Yahoo Messenger too, of course.)

For my life, the plethora of messaging apps is simply too many. All these messengers are exhausting to juggle, and I'm constantly missing messages that slip through the cracks; notifications are easy to miss if I put aside my phone for awhile. Can this helter-skelter multiple-messenger monitoring really be what Google wants? Or is a simpler scenario, where one chat app reigns, the preferable path? (WhatsApp, for instance, tends to rule the roost in Europe, while WeChat dominates in Asia.)

With Allo, Duo, Hangouts and Messenger, Google is certainly in a position to snatch the messaging space from four corners, and could do it too. But it's more likely that Allo and Duo are Google's real investment for the future, with Hangouts and Messenger hedging those bets. Google is probably throwing Allo and Duo at the wall to see what sticks; then it'll strategize next steps from there.

Bayern clinch the double in emotional Pep’s last game in charge

 

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Pep Guardiola’s last match as Bayern Munich boss ended in a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal final on Saturday.
A 0-0 draw after extra-time ensured the contest was decided by spot-kicks, Bayern winning 4-3 as Manuel Neuer’s save from Sven Bender and Sokratis’ strike against the post proved decisive, meaning Joshua Kimmich’s miss went unpunished.
The victory ensures Bayern win a record 18th Pokal trophy as Guardiola finishes his three years in charge with an impressive double prior to joining Manchester City.
Dortmund are now without a major trophy for four seasons. They have lost three consecutive Pokal finals, the 2013 UEFA Champions League final and finished runners-up in the Bundesliga three times in the last four years.
Douglas Costa forced Roman Burki into a save with a left-footed drive and Aubameyang was off-target at the other end after his pace created an opening on the break as both sides struggled to threaten in a quiet first half.
Tempers flared near the dugouts shortly before half-time, with Gonzalo Castro and Franck Ribery both booked for going head-to-head, but the Bayern winger was lucky to avoid a stricter punishment having appeared to gouge the eye of his opponent.

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Both sides missed good chances early in the second half, with Robert Lewandowski stretching to divert Ribery’s cross just wide and Aubameyang shooting over from a presentable opening after being found by Marco Reus.

Another effort from Lewandowski was too high when he collected possession following Muller’s purposeful run, while Burki impressively saved a deflected Ribery strike.
Mats Hummels’ last appearance for Dortmund before joining Bayern ended through injury and he was replaced by Matthias Ginter after 78 minutes, before Tuchel’s men missed a golden opportunity to snatch a late winner.
It was again Aubameyang who had the chance, but he failed to adjust quickly enough to convert Lukasz Piszczek’s cross and struck wide.
Guardiola and Tuchel urged their sides on prior to extra-time, with Erik Durm making a crucial block on Lewandowski as he prepared to pull the trigger and Henrikh Mkhitaryan dragging an effort wide in the best openings of the added period.
Penalties saw Bender thwarted by Neuer and Sokratis strike the foot of the post as Dortmund missed two of their first three efforts, but Burki’s save from Kimmich gave them hope.
Thomas Muller and Douglas Costa converted for Bayern, however, to seal a 4-3 victory on spot-kicks, reducing Guardiola to tears

MANCHESTER UNITED 12TH FA CUP TITLE

Crystal Palace 1-2 Man U (10 men Man United defeat Palace to give Van Gaal first trophy)

These are the epic moments the United fans craved for.  The pulsating moments that defined the Sir Alex Ferguson era!

Man U defeated an energetic Crystal Palace side 2-1 to give Van Gaal his first taste of trophy,  even though that might not be enough to keep him at the club.

Man United scored an extra time winner to beat Crystal Palace in the final at Wembley tonight after defender Chris Smalling was given a red card for maliciously holding onto Bolasie while on the counter.

Goals from Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard were enough to give Man U it's first trophy since Alex Ferguson retired.
It was the first time Wayne Rooney had won the FA Cup despite being at Man U for over 10 years and rightly so as his good footwork was responsible for Man U's first goal scored by Juan Mata.

Van Gaal by this time tomorrow might not be Man U's coach according to reports this evening from England,  but he will surely be happy to leave with his head held high.

More photos

Oyo Begins Enumeration of Lands, Landed Properties

The Oyo State Government says it has begun the enumeration of lands and other landed properties in state for data gathering and planning purposes.

 

Ishmail Alli, the Secretary to the State Government, said this via a statement in Ibadan on Saturday.

The statement said that officers would be visiting residents with questionnaires to gather relevant information on the lands and properties.

 

                                                               Gov Isiaka Ajimobi

 

 

  It urged residents to cooperate with the field officers by providing necessary information to facilitate the exercise.

 

  

 

                                                                 OYO STATE LOGO

REVEALED: UNITED FA CUP FINAL SQUAD

Louis van Gaal has restored Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian, Morgan Schneiderlin and Marouane Fellaini are back but there is disappointment for one big player.

United's FA Cup final squad features some interesting changes
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has included Matteo Darmian, Marouane Fellaini, Morgan Schneiderlin and Marcos Rojo in his 18-man FA Cup final squad.

Fellaini is available against Crystal Palace after serving a three-match suspension, while Schneiderlin and Rojo return after missing the win over Bournemouth through illness and injury. Darmian suffered an ankle injury in the victory at Norwich two weeks ago, has also recovered in time for the trip to Wembley.

Memphis had, until Van Gaal made his Cup final selections, been included in all 58 of United's matchday squads this season but his chastening debut campaign at Old Trafford has ended agonisingly .

Borthwick-Jackson, a popular pick to start the final ahead of Rojo among supporters, has also suffered disappointment. Both he and Memphis left Carrington in their cars, while the 18-man United squad headed to Stockport station in the team bus.

Andreas Pereira and Guillermo Varela are the other two players included in Tuesday's squad to make way for United's returning quartet. It is understood Van Gaal informed players they would be in his Cup final squad on Thursday.

The Dutchman admitted on Thursday how difficult it would be breaking the good and bad news to his players ahead of today's final.

"I work a year with 27 players - all the 27 try to do their utmost best," he said on Thursday .

"I believe in that and then you have to say to a player he is not invited for the squad. He has to come to the stadium. That is not nice. They have all worked very hard. I do this individually, always, you cannot do it with the group."

The final could be Van Gaal's last match in charge of United and the Dutchman has decisively chosen to go with experience by omitting Borthwick-Jackson and Memphis, who has endured a difficult debut season in England.

In October, Memphis was withdrawn at the interval in the defeat to Arsenal, demoted from the United first-team at Everton and dropped from the Netherlands squad by new coach Danny Blind – only to be reinstated. Van Gaal has substituted Memphis at half-time three times – in the 3-1 win over Liverpool in September, the 3-0 loss at Arsenal and the 2-0 Boxing Day surrender at Stoke.

Borthwick-Jackson, who is understood not to be injured, might arguably feel more hard done by, given Rojo's recent poor form. Phil Jones, who has also made Van Gaal's 18-man squad, has not played in the senior side since January 2 and could receive a Cup final medal without playing in the tournament this season.

United FA Cup final squad: De Gea, Romero, Valencia, Darmian, Jones, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Fellaini, Herrera, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Lingard, Young, Mata, Rooney, Martial, Rashford

WE'RE READY FOR BURUNDI -AMUNEKE

Flying Eagles coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has said he is optimistic of victory in Saturday’s first leg Zambia 2017 CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi in Bujumbura.
Nigeria won their seventh African title without losing a match in the competition in Senegal last year.

Amuneke, who has named 15 members of the Chile 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup winning side for today’s game, declared the readiness of his players for the clash.
“We have prepared and have been working pretty hard for the match against Burundi. The players know what is expected of them and collectively as a team. We are looking forward to the match with optimism,” Amuneke told Cafonline.
“Individually and collectively, we are doing everything in order to be on the same page and when we get to Burundi, we are going to give a very good account of ourselves as a team.”
Burundi qualified for the second round of the qualifiers after the withdrawal of DR Congo from the first round qualifiers while the Flying Eagles got a bye from the first round.
Nigeria will bank on Chile 2015 highest scorer, Victor Osimhen, tournament’s Golden Ball winner Kelechi Nwakali and Bronze Shoe winner, Samuel Chukwueze for victory in Bujumbura.


Amuneke, who won bronze at the 1991 All Africa Games in Egypt, added, “I’m not under any pressure but our business now is qualification for the tournament in Zambia. I’m not going to discuss what I know about Burundi here but what I know is that we are going to face a formidable team; and I’m confident we would be ready to play them in their home and when they come for the return match.
“Though there are factors like high altitude as well as the timing of the match to deal with, our players are psychologically ready for these challenges.”
Despite reports that Osimhen, who suffered a shoulder injury in their warm-up match against the national Under-23 team last week, may not be fit for the clash, Amuneke said he was not relying solely on the Wolfsburg-bound player for goals.
“Victor is fine but this team is not only about Osimhen. We are not only looking up to Osimhen against Burundi. If he’s not available, there would be somebody to take his place. I don’t depend on only one or two players. We are building a team that can play collectively. Osimhen is important to our team but we have other important players in the team as well,” he concluded.
The return leg will take place on the weekend of June 10-12, with the winners advancing to the final round of the qualifiers that will give birth to seven teams to join hosts Zambia for the final tournament from February 26 to March 12, 2017.

Dele Momodu: The 2nd Coming Of General Buhari

Fellow Nigerians, let me start today’s epistle by saying time flies indeed. Over a year ago, the dream of Major General Muhammadu Buhari to return to power, after being toppled in a military coup by Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and company, was eventually realised after a record fourth attempt. History would record this monumental feat as one of the biggest miracles of our time. It was a testimony to the power of resilience and tenacity.

Not many people would ever have a second chance in life. In fact, a second chance is usually a rare and divine opportunity to correct past mistakes, make amends, atone for sins of omission and commission; and move forward to greater glory. In recent time, only two former Generals have been so favoured. The first Nigerian to return to power in 1999 was General Olusegun Matthew Aremu Okikiolakan Obasanjo. Obasanjo had left power in 1979, in a most controversial manner, after handing over power hurriedly to the newly elected President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari. That election would remain one of the most controversial in Africa’s most populous nation but Obasanjo was determined to quit power and he got a standing ovation from the global community.

Obasanjo remained vocal and relevant in retirement. He attained the enviable status of a statesman for his dexterous understanding of foreign affairs as well as his uncommon courage at fighting for Africa wherever his avuncular intervention was required. He was voluble in his acerbic criticism of his successors, especially President Babangida who had metamorphosed from military to civilian President and instantly acquired the sobriquet of “evil genius.” There were rumours that Babangida did not want to quit power as attested to by his endless transition deadlines which eventually culminated in the ill-fated June 12, 1993 election debacle and its resultant conundrum. The refusal to hand over to the presumptuous winner of that election, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the Yoruba generalissimo, would cost Nigeria some expensive and extensive repercussions.

President Babangida was left with no choice than to step aside after all his talismanic experiments failed. He handed over to a lame duck Interim National Government, headed by Chief Ernest Adegunle Shonekan, which crumbled in a jiffy when General Sani Abacha struck and sentenced Nigeria to years of servitude and excruciating dictatorship. Buhari was assigned a pivotal role under that dreaded government when he was asked to manage the Petroleum Trust Fund. Despite criticisms about his performance, many would attest to the fact that he applied the funds frugally and judiciously.

Abacha was a different kind of military ruler. Despite his well-known taciturnity, his actions were reverberatingly loud. Many of us dispersed and scattered in different directions. No one needed to tell us before we scampered into safety. It was during this eerie period that Olusegun Obasanjo and his former deputy, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, both retired army Generals simultaneously got into trouble when they were charged for treason. Abiola himself had been picked up from his home and kept in solitary confinement at God-knows-where. Abiola was a civilian warrior who fought ferociously for his inalienable right to be the President of Nigeria. Out of the three of them, only Obasanjo lived to tell the story. The other two died under mysterious circumstances yet to be unravelled till this day.

Obasanjo came out of prison looking gaunt and almost gone but God is awesome. The Bible-wielding leader effortlessly migrated from prison to the presidential villa in Abuja. It was a matter of destiny which no tribulation could stop or annihilate. The resurgence of Obasanjo was a done deal by the Nigerian Mafia. Chief Oluyemisi Falae, banker and economist, fought a spirited battle but failed to stop Obasanjo’s second coming.

Obasanjo, without doubt, knew Nigeria inside out and he had his game plan ready. He was able to hit the ground running from Day One. His style was blistering. He managed the economy well and was able to pay off Nigeria’s debts. He was fortunate that oil, Nigeria’s cash cow, sold at a premium. He reversed Nigeria’s pariah status in the comity of nations. He was personable and accommodating in his first term. But trouble came as he began to seek the second time. He wasted enough energy, time and resources fighting his Vice President and ancillary and imaginary enemies. His war against corruption became vengeful and ruthless. The crave for an unconstitutional third term was the height of it all. Whether he personally wanted it or was lured into it, this audacious move deemed and diminished the Obasanjo presidency. Despite the hoopla generated by the controversial plot, Obasanjo would be remembered as a leader who did so much for his country during his second coming.

It was during Obasanjo’s re-election contest in 2003 that Buhari threw his hat in the ring. No one knew how long he had nursed the ambition of returning to power. Buhari failed and cried foul. He headed to the courts but got no joy in return. In the twilight days of the Obasanjo government, Buhari tried his luck again but lost to Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, his fellow citizen from Katsina State. Again, Buhari cried wolf. In 2011, Buhari joined the presidential race again and was taunted as a serial candidate. He was soundly beaten by the incumbent President Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, who had been catapulted to power after the death of his ailing boss, President Yar’Adua. Out of acute frustration, or something else, Buhari sang a nunc dimittis and literally said goodbye to presidential contests. It didn’t come as a surprise to many. At nearly 70 years old, the perennial campaigns must have taken its toll on the body if not the soul. Buhari had crisscrossed several political parties. He had been called unprintable names including religious bigot, ruthless dictator, certificate dodger and forger, terrorist, and so on. But man proposes and God disposes.

Somehow, Buhari suddenly announced he would run again. When God is ready for you, you will find succour in your enemies. Those who would ordinarily not support Buhari all lined up for him. Buhari was repackaged and rebranded as a born again democrat. The recklessness of the PDP government and the war of attrition which ravaged the ruling party made Buhari’s journey a lot sleeker this time. What was thought impossible in the past ignited and exploded at home and abroad. Buhari was funky-fied and he became a brand we all identified with proudly.

Thus the expectations were raised for a Buhari presidency and this would later put so much pressure on the fledgling government. Buhari won the election convincingly this time and President Goodluck Jonathan was magnificent in defeat. For the first time we saw an incumbent Nigerian President concede defeat and even calling his opponent to offer congratulations. What if Jonathan had refused to give up power and chose to set up the nation in flames? Innocent people would have been killed for the sake of political gladiators. The joy in the land was unlimited. It reverberated across the seas.

Buhari was sworn in one year less eight days today. And it has been quite a tough and rough journey. The first challenge was how to assemble a good, competent and efficacious team to run the nation with the president we all knew to be incorruptible. That exercise alone took several months. There is no question, that sluggishness dampened the fire of change that had engulfed everywhere. The rumbling started from that moment when it seemed the momentum had waned substantially. The screening exercise also turned into another melodrama. It dragged on a bit before the cabinet was eventually constituted.

The ruling party APC had started on a precarious note when it could not gently elect its national assembly leaders. Like a house divided against itself, APC leaders have been tearing at each other’s throats. The battle has taken a full year in germinating and no one knows when the harvest time would come and the yield it would bring to all parties concerned in the imbroglio.

The economy has suffered miserably. Oil revenue has gone down drastically. Exchange rates have hit the rooftops beyond the ceiling. Imports have decreased. Government is not able to meet its commitments to the people. There have been flip-flops in terms of dashed or miscommunicated campaign promises. The social media is now agog with all manner of caricatures dissing the Buhari government. A battle is raging between the Buhari supporters and those who feel Buhari’s government is failing and falling apart. Some have already written off the second coming of Buhari as an anti-climax. Are they right or wrong? The answer is neither here nor there.

President Buhari did not come back at the right time. The comatose economy caused by atrocious corruption and reckless years of profligacy has hit the country by the jugular. One area the government has shown total passion without compassion is in the area of fighting corruption. The battle has been fierce and relentless. There have been allegations that Buhari is on a witch-hunt to take his pound of flesh on his critics and perceived enemies. PDP has been under siege. The banks are not having it easy over campaign funds that were warehoused in their vaults. There is panic in the financial sector. The tension is red hot. Buhari and his team must have their strategy and many are praying and hoping everything is on course and we shall arrive our destination safe and sound.

President Buhari has travelled far and wide within this first year in office. He’s been accorded the status of a rock star globally. He is well respected. How this would translate to concrete achievements remain to be seen. On a personal note, I believe despite the humongous challenges, it is too early to write off Buhari. This government has three years to show Nigerians its capabilities. In my next piece, I plan to elaborate on what I think President Buhari can and should do to redeem his government from the spiralling attacks. He should ignore the paranoia of those who are likely to find enemies where there are none.
It shall be well with our country

At ₦145/L price, Nigerians buy one of the cheapest Petrol in the world - Daramola Babalola

On the 12th of May, 2016 Nigerians woke up to the detestable reality that they will now have to pay ₦145 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol representing over 40% increase from the previous pump price, ₦86.50

While some are mobilizing for '#occupyNigeria season 2', labour unions in the country are currently planning to commence an indefinite nationwide strike action that will 'shutdown the economy' on Wednesday in a bid to protest the increase in fuel price.

Following the harsh economic realities Nigeria is currently facing, many Nigerians have labelled the Federal Government as being insensitive to the plight of its citizen by making fuel too expensive for consumption.

But really, how expensive is fuel in Nigeria, compared to other countries? and is the Nigerian government really insensitive? We are about to find out.

At ₦145/Litre, is fuel too expensive in Nigeria?
As surprising as it may seem, Nigeria is ranked 12th as per cheapest price of petrol in 173 countries even with the new  ₦145 per litre price according to Globalpetrolprices.com 

 In Nigeria, fuel now costs ₦145/L and with the current exchange rate that is fluctuating between ₦320-₦360 to a dollar, it means we are paying  about $0.44/L

It may however interest you to know that in United States, fuel is sold at the pump price of $0.65/L ( ₦214/L), In South Africa $0.84/L (₦277), In Russia $0.55/L (₦181/L), $0.91/L (₦300/L) in Canada, $0.92 (₦303/L) in Ghana, and it costs $0.93 (₦306/L) in China.

Some will argue that the countries above are not petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) like Nigeria, but what about OPEC member countries like Angola, where PMS is sold at $1/L (about ₦330), In Iraq at $0.64/L (₦211), In Venezuela pump price is $0.60/L (₦198/L) with President Nicolas Maduro calling the approximately ₦198/L pump price 'one of the cheapest in the world'.  

Even in the oil rich, United Arab Emirates (UAE) PMS is sold at $0.45/L which is about (₦148/L) which is more expensive than the price in Nigeria.

According to Globalpetrolprices.com In Hong Kong, the pump price is set at $1.85/L (about ₦610/L) making the country the most expensive seller of gasoline in the world.

With the facts and figures above, at ₦145/L fuel is not expensive, it's actually one of the cheapest in the world, but because of the poor living conditions of millions of Nigerians, it appears expensive and thus, many Nigerians struggle to afford it.

That is why the government needs to provide welfare programs, kill that disease called corruption, invest in electricity, education, fix refineries, provide jobs and increase minimum wage to reduce poverty in the country, because the current ₦18,000 minimum wage is too small compared to how much we buy petrol.

Is Nigeria the only country increasing pump price?

Again, the answer is a 'BIG NO'.The excruciating increase in pump price is not even limited to Nigeria alone, major oil rich countries of the world have increased their fuel price this year, some even by over 50%.

See examples below

Saudi Arabia 40% increase
In December 2015, Saudi Arabia increased fuel price in the country by 40%
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/saudi-arabia-hikes-petrol-prices-40-pump-151228154350415.html
Oil rich Saudi Arabia, last year announced a record $98bn budget deficit due to 'rock-bottom global petroleum prices'
Like Nigeria, Saudi Arabia suffered a sharp drop in revenues as oil prices have fallen more than 60 percent since mid-2014 to below $40 a barrel.
To address the situation, the Gulf kingdom increased fuel price by 40%

Venezuela increased fuel price in February, 2016
President Nicolas Maduro in February increased fuel price to $0.60 (₦198) as Venezuela's economy was pushed to the brink by the collapse in the oil price, which accounts for about 95% of the country's export revenues.
He said the price over 50% rise was "a necessary measure, a necessary action to balance things, I take responsibility for it."
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35600921?SThisFB

Fuel price increased in UAE in May, 2016
The oil rich, United Arab Emirates also increased pump price about 2 weeks ago.
Fuel is now sold at $0.45/L in UAE, which is about ₦148/L in Nigerian Naira, ₦3 more than the pump price in Nigeria today.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/business/energy/2016/04/28/Fuel-prices-in-the-UAE-will-increase-in-May.html

Qatar increased fuel price by 30% in January, 2016
The oil rich country that last increased petrol prices in 2011, also increased pump price in January, 2016 to $0.36 (₦118) which is the 5th cheapest pump price in the world.
http://dohanews.co/qatar-increases-petrol-prices-from-midnight-tonight/

50% increase in pump price in Bahrain in January, 2016
As a result of the unprecedented drop in global oil prices, which has seen the price of oil per barrel decline by over 60%.
The government in Bahrain followed the steps of fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries the country increased fuel price by 50% in January.
http://bna.bh/portal/en/news/705611

I could go on and on, to give more examples of oil rich countries like Nigeria that have increased pump price in 2016, Nigerians need to understand that this is not a Nigerian, Kachikwu, APC or PDP problem, this is a global problem we are dealing with affecting even the oil rich countries of the world.

We need to stop seeing the Federal government as insensitive, wicked, heartless, unfeeling, inconsiderate, thoughtless and hard-hearted for increasing the pump price to ₦145/L. We need to temporary sacrifice for the greater good, with the hope that as promised we will be better off in the long term.

To cushion the current challenges, the Federal Government must also sincerely provide social provisions for millions of poor Nigerians who will suffer from the fuel hike. Some of the oil rich countries listed above have increased fuel price this year, but due to the several welfare packages provided, the citizens can ease through this rough patch.

I am glad about the N500 billion social intervention programmes provided in the 2016 budget, which includes jobs, social safety allowance for the most vulnerable people, free schooling for students, soft loan to traders, investment in infrastructure etc. Hopefully Buhari's 'anti-corruption' centered government can channel the funds with 100% sincerity and accountability.

But why did the fuel price have to increase?

For that barber down the street who relies on petrol most times to power his small generator to keep his business running, it will be difficult for him to understand how the fuel price increase will benefit him in the long run. Infact, he will most likely rant everyday about the hardship the government is causing him.

I'm sure many have wondered why a country like Nigeria, blessed with oil suffer for it? But unfortunately, Crude oil price is an internationally traded commodity , the prices are not set by the countries that produce it. Neither do oil producing countries get a discount in the international market for producing this product.

While many think the current increase in fuel price is about removal of fuel subsidy, this notion is totally wrong because it was brought about by the non-availability of foreign exchange to import petroleum products. infact, there is no provision for subsidy in the 2016 budget according to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

Oil is selling at below 40 dollars and the currency (dollar) needed to purchase the refined petrol is no longer available, that is just simply the problem here.

Oil and gas make up more than 90 percent of exports in Nigeria, providing the critical source of Nigeria’s foreign exchange.

It’s that simple; a collapse in oil prices could lead to the same in Nigeria’s foreign exchange which is crucial to support consumption of imports. Foreign exchange rates also influence capital flows- investment funds that move into and out of a country. If oil prices continue to drop it would have an adverse effect on the country’s currency value, making it less attractive to foreign investors.

Since our local consumption of fuel is almost entirely imported. The NNPC exchanges crude from its joint venture share to provide about 50% of local fuel consumption. The remaining 50% is imported by major and independent marketers.

However marketers have drastically reduced their importation for several months due to a scarcity of FOREX, thus the need for them to source independent of CBN to be able to meet the nation’s demand arose.

Now any Nigerian entity is free to import the product, subject to existing quality specifications and other guidelines issued by Regulatory Agencies.

All oil marketers will be allowed to import PMS on the basis of FOREX procured from secondary sources.

It is expected that this new policy will lead to improved supply and competition and eventually drive down pump prices.

In addition, this will also lead to increased product availability and encourage investments in refineries and other parts of the downstream sector.

The difference between Jonathan's attempt to increase fuel price in 2012 and this? - And why the anti-₦145/L protests will fail
Former President Goodluck Jonathan ran into trouble after he removed fuel subsidy on New Year’s Day in 2012.

This took fuel price from ₦65 to ₦141 at filling stations. This led to massive protests by civil-rights groups, labour unions, and Nigerians generally. APC, the opposition party at that time, took political advantage of the situation by identifying with the suffering and criticizing the Jonathan administration for removing subsidy.

Four years later President Buhari officially removes fuel subsidy. Millions of Nigerians are angry. Nigerians are understandably accusing the present administration of cowardice, deception, and hypocrisy, but how true is this?

How much was oil price in 2011? Oil price was $113 per barrel. Today, oil price is just about $40 per barrel after going below $30  early this year.

And the exchange rate? Under Goodluck Jonathan’s leadership, the exchange rate was $1 to N162. Today, exchange rate is officially N199 to a dollar; N320-N360 in the parallel market.

And foreign reserves? Nigeria’s foreign reserves stood at $35billion in January 2012 and $29.61billion as at 28 May 2015, the eve of hand over to President Buhari. Today, foreign reserve is $27.1 billion, amid myriad of restrictive measures to stem the steady slide in the economy’s external sector.

 Under the previous administration, Nigeria was enjoying an economic-growth rate of 6% averagely. Thanks to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) riding on the back of a devalued Naira. President Jonathan also, largely, had the right economic mix. But corruption and terrorism were two of its greatest challenges. There were allegations of massive corruption, particularly what was reported to be a fuel-subsidy scam right under Goodluck Jonathan’s nose.

Rather than tackle these allegations by investigating and prosecuting those involved in the scam, President Jonathan decided to remove subsidy as the solution to the problem. The administration claimed removing fuel subsidy would free up funds for capital projects. But Nigerians had little or no trust in the administration. The administration was incompetent and corrupt. How can it be trusted to save for the future? This was a fundamental issue. So ‪#‎OccupyNigeria‬ shot down Nigeria’s economy in January 2012, not simply because Goodluck Jonathan increased fuel price but mainly because millions of Nigerians did not trust the administration with the money it claimed it would “save” for the future.

Today there are strong reasons to believe that if fuel-subsidy removal had been allowed in 2012, most of it would have ended up in private bank accounts.

Under Buhari administration, though partly due to some of its own reactive and over-restrictive economic policies, the Nigerian economy is sick. There is scarcity of foreign exchange. Oil marketers are finding it extremely difficult to import petroleum products into the country. FDI has nose-dived. The low international-oil price meant there was no need for it.

 Now that fuel price has increased internationally, we expected the government to subsidize to alleviate people’s suffering. The Buhari administration says ‘No. We don’t have enough foreign exchange to do so.” Oil marketers are having difficulties opening letters of credit to import petroleum products. The result is that NNPC alone has had to supply over 90% of petroleum products since October 2015. This has not always been so.

NNPC used to supply 48% of petroleum products. Since NNPC does not have what it takes to supply so much, there will continue to be fuel scarcity. To tackle the scarcity problem, the government painfully decides to free up the oil-supply system by allowing the international-oil price determine fuel price locally without any fiscal intervention. Oil marketers are now accessing foreign exchange (through secondary sources) to import petroleum products into the country since ₦145 naira per litre provides some reasonable profit margin after supply costs.

Meanwhile, the government is taking measures to block leakages through zero budgeting, Single Treasury Account (TSA), and its Anti-Corruption Agenda. We are now talking about refineries, public and private-owned refineries that will eventually make fuel scarcity a thing of the past.

Nigerians asked Jonathan to work on old refineries and build new ones, given the resources available at the time, and first kill the regime of fuel importation. Subsidy would have died a natural death and the process of privatization would have been smoother. Today, some of the refineries are functional again, which were not in Jonathan’s days. Government-owned outlets sell refined fuel today, at a far cheaper rate. Not the private ones.

As labour go all out on Wednesday to attempt to shutdown Nigeria, my prediction is that they will not even achieve up to 5% of what the 2012 #OccupyNigeria protests achieved, the protest is bound to be a massive failure, because more Nigerians trust the sincerity of Buhari's government unlike his predecessor. And while the ₦145/L price remains a hard pill to swallow, it's still the 12th cheapest price in the world, facts only.

CORRUPTION: BUHARI DIRECTS EFCC TO INVESTIGATE AREGBESOLA OVER ALLEGED DIVERSION OF L.G. FUNDS *AS EFCC INVITES CSO FOR FURTHER CLARIFICATION

As part of effort to get rid of menace of corruption in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to commence the investigation of alleged diversion of monthly Allocations of thirty (30) Local Governments area of Osun State leveled against the State governor, Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, and some officials his government by the State based Civil Society Organization (CSO), the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS).

However, the Ibadan Zonal Office of the anti-graft agency (EFCC) has written an invitation letter to the Chairman of the CSCEOS, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman to appear before it on 17th May, 2016 for further clarifications on the subject matter from the group as a result of its Petition Letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, calling for investigation and stoppage of releasing of Local Government Monthly Allocations to the State through Mr. Aregbesola.

According to the EFCC’s Invitation Letter, dated 13th May, 2016, with the reference No: CR: 3000/EFCC/IB/T.B/VOL.1/79 and titled: “Investigation Activities: Acknowledgement/Invitation Letter” signed by EFCC’s Zonal Head, Akaninyene Ezima which was made available to newsmen on Sunday.

The Invitation Letter reads thus: “This is to acknowledge the receipt of your petition dated 4th April, 2016, captioned Report of Illegal Diversion of 30 Local Governments monthly Allocations by the Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola.Why Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) is calling for investigation and stoppage of Releasing of Local Government Monthly Allocations to Osun State Through Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and to inform you that investigation has commenced.

“In view of the above, you are hereby requested to report to EFCC Zonal Office at No.16 Rev’d Oyebode Crescent, Iyaganku Ibadan G.R.A., Ibadan for an interview with the undersigned through the Head Team B, on the 17th May, 2016, at 10am prompt. You may wish to contact the office through 08098877321 for further clarification”.

It would be recalled that the group’s had earlier written President Buhari on the issue where the anti-graft agencies in the country were copied for notification and necessary action, demanding for the commencement of credible investigation and forensic audit of the account books of the 30 Constitutionally recognized local government areas of Osun State and to also investigate the roles of the then Executive Secretaries, Head of Local Government Administration(HLA) and Director of Finances as well as former Commissioner and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the criminal diversion of the monthly Allocation Funds accrued to the Local Government in the State.

It said, “It is duty bound on us as an organization that is craving for egalitarian and corrupt free society to draw the urgent attention of your good office(s) to the ongoing advancement of illegal and unconstitutional diversion of the monthly Allocations of 30 Local government areas of Osun State by Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola since November 2010.

“To affirm this illegality and unconstitutionality, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola suspended the democratic system in the constitutionally recognized 30 Local government areas of Osun State by appointing the grade level 14 local government staff as “Council Managers” to man the Council areas of the State instead of “democratically elected Chairmen and Councilors” as stipulated in the Section 7(1) of the amended 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria in order to give Aregbesola leeway in the criminal diversion of Local government funds”.

The group added, “That the Federal Government, National Assembly, and its anti-graft agencies should investigate the acclaimed road projects embarked upon by Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola on behalf of the Local Government areas of the State without following due process of Public Procurement Act. The violation of all due process in managing the public finances of Osun State by Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola has been seriously impacting negatively on lives of the State masses including the State and Local Government workers with their retiree are alike”.

AFRICA’S RICHEST MAN ALIKO DANGOTE SUSPENDS PRODUCTION OF TOMATO PASTE

Dangote Tomato Processing Factory, a newly commissioned company owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has suspended its operations due to the unavailability of its most important raw material – fresh tomatoes.

The Managing Director of the factory, Abdulkadir Kaita, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday that several tomato farms in in Kano, Jigawa, Plateau, Katsina and Kaduna states (all located in Nigeria’s northern region), were affected by Tuta Absoluta, a leaf mining moth and common tomato pest, which destroyed all the tomato farms – a situation that has resulted in scarcity and higher prices for the commodity.

Kaita however said that production would resume during the next irrigation season.
Dangote Group, the Nigerian conglomerate owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, launched the $20 million tomato processing facility in Kano state, northern Nigeria earlier this year. The tomato processing plant has a daily production capacity of 1,200 metric tones per day, and will primarily buy tomatoes from farmers in the Kadawa Valley in Kano state and will pay them a guaranteed price of about $700 per ton of tomatoes.

Colombia seizes more than 17,500 pounds of cocaine from drug gang

Police in Colombia seized more than 17,500 pounds of cocaine from a gang in a series of operations across the country in recent days, authorities said.

The drug bust was part of an offensive against a narcotrafficking criminal gang called Clan Úsuga, authorities said.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos congratulated police on Twitter for carrying out the operation, which he said resulted in the largest drug seizure ever.
The Colombian Defense Ministry called it the biggest cocaine seizure on Colombian territory in history.
Pictures released by police showed hundreds of pre-packaged bricks of drugs laid out by police.

Authorities also arrested four men and found a handful of weapons, according to a press release from Colombian National Police.
One of the men, whose alias is "Micolta," is charged with extortion and ordering homicides and is under investigation for a host of other crimes.

Clan Úsuga is one of Colombia's most powerful criminal gangs and has been designated as a narcotics trafficking group by the United States.
The U.S. Justice Department calls Clan Úsuga Colombia's "largest and most influential drug trafficking group" and has charged a handful of its alleged leaders with related crimes.
The State Department has offered $5 million for help that leads the capture of the group's leader, Dario "Otoniel" Úsuga.

It claims he leads Los Urabeños, "a heavily armed, extremely violent criminal organization comprised of former members of terrorist organizations that did not demobilize as part of the Colombian government's justice and peace process.

Bill Clinton Would Be 'In Charge of Revitalizing the Economy,' Hillary Clinton says

Hillary Clinton has always made known that she wants Bill Clinton to have some kind of role in the White House should she become president, but over the past few weeks she's begun to reveal more about what exactly that would be.

During a campaign event in Fort Mitchell today, the Democratic presidential candidate was more blunt than ever about what her husband's role could be in a future Clinton administration — saying she plans to to put the former president "in charge of economic revitalization."

"My husband, who I'm going to put in charge of revitalizing the economy, cause you know he knows how to do it," Clinton told the crowd at an outdoor organizing rally. "And especially in places like coal country and inner cities and other parts of our country that have really been left out."

Clinton made similar remarks earlier this month during her first visit to Kentucky, a state where Bill Clinton remains popular among the largely white, working class voters.

"I've told my husband he's got to come out of retirement and be in charge of this because you know he’s got more ideas a minute than anybody I know," she said, while talking about manufacturing and jobs.

Over the course of the campaign, Clinton has repeatedly said she would seek her husband's advice if she takes office.

Last month on ABC's "The View," she had this to say when asked about how she sees his role: "I think he'll, I hope he'll have a lot of involvement in starting the economy to really take off."

And last year, in an interview on MSNBC, she said this: "He's a great adviser and he knows as much about the economy and job creation as anyone I could talk to."

Man Receives First Penis Transplant in the United States

A man whose penis was removed because of cancer has
received the first penis transplant in the United States, at
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Thomas Manning, 64, a bank courier from Halifax, Mass.,
underwent the 15-hour transplant operation on May 8 and
9. The organ came from a deceased donor.

“I want to go back to being who I was,” Mr. Manning said
on Friday in an interview in his hospital room. Sitting up in
a chair, happy to be out of bed for the first time since the
operation, he said he felt well and had experienced hardly
any pain.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” said Dr. Curtis L. Cetrulo, a
plastic and reconstructive surgeon and a leader of the
surgical team. “It’s uncharted waters for us.”

The surgery is experimental, part of a research program
with the ultimate goal of helping combat veterans with
severe pelvic injuries, as well as cancer patients and
accident victims.

If all goes as planned, normal urination should be possible
for Mr. Manning within a few weeks, and sexual function in
weeks to months, Dr. Cetrulo said.

Mr. Manning welcomed questions and said he wanted to
speak out publicly to help dispel the shame and stigma
associated with genital cancers and injuries, and to let other
men know there was hope of having normal anatomy
restored.

“Don’t hide behind a rock,” he said.
He said he was not quite ready to take a close look at his
transplant.
Another patient, his penis destroyed by burns in a car
accident, will receive a transplant as soon as a matching
donor becomes available, Dr. Cetrulo said.

Surgeons at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
are also planning to perform penis transplants, and have
had a combat veteran, injured in Afghanistan, on the
waiting list for several months.

Dr. Cetrulo estimated the cost at $50,000 to $75,000. Both
hospitals are paying for the procedures, and the doctors are
donating their time.

Worldwide, only two other penis transplants have been
reported: a failed one in China in 2006 and a successful one
in South Africa in 2014, in which the recipient later
fathered a child.

Veterans are a major focus of transplant programs in the
United States because suicide rates are exceptionally high in
soldiers with severe damage to the genitals and urinary
tract, Dr. Cetrulo said. “They’re 18- to 20-year-old guys, and
they feel they have no hope of intimacy or a sexual life,” he
said. “They can’t even go to the bathroom standing up.”
Given the psychological toll, he said, a penis transplant can
be lifesaving.

Dr. Cetrulo said the team would most likely perfect its
techniques on civilian patients and then move on to injured
veterans. It will also train military surgeons to perform the
transplants. The Department of Defense, he said in an email,
“does not like to have wounded warriors undergo unproven
techniques — i.e., they do not want them to be ‘guinea pigs,’
as they have already sacrificed so much.”

His team is working on ways to minimize or even eliminate
the need for anti-rejection medicines, which transplant
patients typically have to take. That research is especially
important for veterans, he said, because many are young
and will risk serious adverse effects, like cancer and kidney
damage , if they have to take the drugs for decades.

From 2001 to 2013, 1,367 men in the military suffered so-
called genitourinary injuries in Iraq or Afghanistan,
according to the Department of Defense Trauma Registry.
Nearly all were under 35 and had been hurt by homemade
bombs, commonly called improvised explosive devices, or
I.E.D.s. Some lost part or all of their penises.

The Massachusetts General team spent three years preparing
for the penis transplants. The team did meticulous
dissections in a cadaver lab to map out anatomy, and
operated on five or six dead donors to practice removing the
tissue needed for the transplants. Mr. Manning’s operation
involved about a dozen surgeons and 30 other health care
workers.

Dr. Dicken Ko, a team leader and the director of the
hospital’s regional urology program, said the team had not
planned a set number of transplants. Instead, he said, the
hospital would evaluate candidates one at a time and decide
whether to allow surgery. For now, he said, the transplants
will be limited to cancer and trauma patients, and will not
be offered to transgender people.

An accident at work in 2012 brought Mr. Manning to the
hospital, and ultimately to the transplant team. Heavy
equipment had fallen on him, causing severe injuries. The
doctors treating him saw an abnormal growth on his penis
that he had not noticed.

Tests revealed an aggressive and potentially fatal cancer.
Penile cancer is rare, with about 2,030 new cases and 340
deaths expected in the United States this year.
If not for the accident, Mr. Manning said, “I would’ve been
in the ground two years ago.”

Doctors said that to save his life, they would have to remove
most of his penis, in an operation called a partial
penectomy. Mr. Manning’s urologic oncologist, Dr. Adam S.
Feldman, estimated that a few hundred men a year needed
full or partial penectomies because of cancer.

Mr. Manning was left with a stump about an inch long. He
had to sit to urinate. Intimacy was out of the picture. He
was single and was not involved with anyone when the
cancer was found. After the amputation, new relationships
were unthinkable. “I wouldn’t go near anybody,” he said.
He continued: “I couldn’t have a relationship with anybody.

You can’t tell a woman, ‘I had a penis amputation.’”
Some people close to him urged him to keep the operation a
secret, but he refused, saying that was like lying, and he had
nothing to be ashamed of.

“I didn’t advertise, but if people asked, I told them the
truth,” he said, adding that a few male friends made “guy
talk” jokes at his expense, but that it toughened him up.
“Men judge their masculinity with their bodies,” he said.
Before he had even left the hospital after the amputation, he
began asking Dr. Feldman about a transplant. No one at the
hospital was considering the idea yet, and Dr. Feldman
admits that he thought it was a bit outlandish.

But Mr. Manning never gave up hope. “I kept my eye on the
prize,” he said.
Soon Dr. Cetrulo and Dr. Ko began talking about
transplants. About three years later, Dr. Feldman called Mr.
Manning to ask if he still wanted the operation.
After a battery of medical tests, interviews and psychological
grilling — typical for transplant candidates, to make sure
they understand the risks and will take anti-rejection
medicine — Mr. Manning was on the waiting list. Two
weeks later, a donor with the right blood type and skin tone
became available.

Mr. Manning was stunned that it had happened so fast. Dr.
Cetrulo credits the New England Organ Bank, which asks
families of some dying patients to consider organ donation.
The organ bank said the donor’s family wished to remain
anonymous but had extended a message to Mr. Manning
saying they felt blessed and were delighted his recovery was
going well.

Organ banks do not assume that families who donate
internal organs like kidneys and livers will also be willing to
give visible, intimate parts like a face, hands or a penis.
Those requests are made separately. Several families have
agreed to allow the penis to be removed, and none have
declined, said Jill Stinebring, the organ bank’s regional
director of organ donation services.

So far, Mr. Manning has had one serious complication. The
day after his surgery, he began to hemorrhage and was
rushed back to the operating room.
Since then, his recovery has been smoother, he said. He
has no regrets. He looks forward to going back to work
and hopes to eventually have a love life again.
“If I’m lucky, I get 75 percent of what I used to be,” he said.
“Before the surgery I was 10 percent. But they made no
promises. That was part of the deal.”

Donald Trump's critical week closes with chaotic end

It was a chaotic end of the week for Donald Trump after what seemed like a promising start.

Just days after a positive meeting with GOP leaders, there is now a series of new concerns over his taxes, his honesty, even his former butler.

On Saturday morning, Hillary Clinton's campaign released a new ad attacking Trump for his refusal to release his income tax returns, citing that every major presidential nominee has done so for the past 40 years.

CBS News correspondent Julianna Goldman reports it was a critical week for Trump. He emerged from his meetings in Washington with some establishment Republicans warming up to him, and he's also nearing a deal to harness the Republican National Committee's vast fundraising infrastructure, but now he's trying to bat away a number of distractions that underscore the unpredictability of the presumptive GOP nominee.

Under fire for not releasing his tax returns, Trump refused to disclose his effective tax rate and rejected the idea that voters have a right to see his returns.

Women voters split on Trump, Clinton and the issues
"I don't think they do," he told ABC News. "When the audit ends, I'm going to present them. That should be before the election. I hope it's before the election."

Trump has maintained that he can't follow tradition and release his tax returns like all nominees have done since 1976 because the most recent years are under IRS audit.

The presumptive Republican nominee boasted that he pays the lowest rate possible and that voters wouldn't learn anything. But the documents would spell out how much he pays in taxes and shine a light on the billionaire businessman's wealth, charitable giving and companies.

"If he doesn't release his tax returns, I don't know if anyone cares," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told Fox News.

While Priebus is rushing to Trump's defense, others - from former Republican nominee Mitt Romney to Clinton - have asked what he's hiding.

Donald Trump denies posing as his own spokesperson
Meanwhile, Trump is also fighting back against a report that he posed as his own publicist under the pseudonyms John Barron or John Miller, like in a 1991 audio recording obtained by The Washington Post when his love life made for tabloid headlines.

"Actresses, people that you write about just call to see if they can go out with him and things," the man who identified himself as Miller in the recording said about Trump.

The Washington Post said that Trump had admitted he was Miller and called it a "joke gone awry," but pressed on Friday he adamantly denied it.

"I don't know anything about it," he told ABC. "You're telling me about it for the first time, and it doesn't sound like my voice at all. I have many, many people that are trying to imitate my voice."

On Friday afternoon, Washington Post reporters were 44 minutes into a phone interview with Trump to talk about his finances, and they asked him a question about Miller. They said, "Did you ever employ someone named John Miller as a spokesperson?"

The phone went silent, then dead. When the reporters called back and reached Trump's secretary, she said, "I heard you got disconnected. He can't take the call now. I don't know what happened."

Trump's ex-butler calls for Obama to be killed
Also, Trump's former butler is under investigation by the Secret Service.

Anthony Senecal, who worked at Trump's estate in Palm Beach, Florida, is coming under scrutiny for several violent and racist postings he made on his Facebook page.

They suggest President Obama should be hanged for treason. The Trump campaign is condemning what it calls "horrible remarks" and said the 74-year-old Senecal has not worked for Trump in seven years.

When Muslims ruled the civilised world

Beyond the paradox of celebrating a bygone Islamic civilization at the height of Islamophobia in the United States.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has just opened a magnificent exhibition of Islamic art of the Seljuqid period. That sentence would or should probably cause a double-take for right at the artistic and intellectual heartland of this beleaguered empire, Americans are celebrating one of the highest summits of Islamic civilization at a time when US Muslims are subject to one of the ugliest phases of Islamophobia in their recent history. 

Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs (April 27 to July 24, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Iris and B Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall) is curated with admirable care, competence, and grace. Along with the exhibition, scholars affiliated with the Met have published a beautifully edited volume under the same title, with insightful essays by the leading social and art historians. 

"Approximately 270 objects," as the curators of this rare exhibition explain, "including ceramics, glass, stucco, works on paper, woodwork, textiles, and metalwork - from American, European, and Middle Eastern public and private collections are shown."

Both Disliked, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Accentuate the Negatives

Voters weary of the taunts and insults of the 2016 primary season may pine for a White House campaign about issues. But the Hillary Clinton vs. Donald J. Trump showdown is almost sure to disappoint them. It has quickly deteriorated into a scorched-earth contest about personality and temperament, with each side exploiting voters’ strong dislike of the other candidate.

“We have an explosive environment with two extremely negative candidates,” said Ed Goeas, a Republican pollster. “This is going to be a race to the bottom. It’s who can drive up the negatives the most.”

Mr. Trump accused Mrs. Clinton over the weekend of abetting her husband’s infidelities by seeking to tarnish his accusers. He labeled her a “nasty, mean enabler.”

© Ty Wright for The New York Times Donald J. Trump in Charleston, W.Va., last week.

The Clinton campaign taunted Mr. Trump as “Dangerous Donald,” meant to raise fears of him gaining control of America’s nuclear arsenal, a charge soon to be echoed by more than $100 million in negative ads from a “super PAC” that successfully tarnished the 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.

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The skirmishing threatens to mask the profound differences the candidates have on issues: whether America should welcome or exclude illegal immigrants, whether to secure peace by asserting power abroad or becoming a fortress at home, whether Washington mainly needs the kinks ironed out — or a dose of shock therapy.

Live coverage of primaries on BreakingNews.com

Mrs. Clinton has vowed to stick to issues. “I’m not going to run an ugly race,” she said over the weekend.

With polls showing that Mr. Clinton and Mr. Trump, the likely nominees, are more unpopular than the candidates in any of the past 10 White House matchups, their campaigns are exploiting their rivals’ perceived flaws to appeal to certain demographic groups to reshape the Electoral College map.

Clinton allies, for example, see an opportunity to win the battleground state of North Carolina because of Mr. Trump’s sharply unfavorable ratings with women.

The Trump campaign believes the number of white Democratic voters who find Mrs. Clinton untrustworthy could help tip Ohio and Pennsylvania into its column.

“This election is not going to be about issues; it’s going to be a race about character and temperament between two of the most unpopular political candidates in history,” said Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain’s 2008 presidential race.

Even though Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump are among the best-known people in America, their unpopularity with the general electorate, as shown in polls, does not mean they can’t improve their images. Both President Obama in 2012 and George W. Bush in 2004 entered their re-election races with higher unfavorable ratings than their opponents but ultimately won.

The candidates’ selections of running mates, the national conventions and especially the three presidential debates in September and October will offer broad new canvases on which to create impressions.

Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said his approval ratings will improve as a wider universe of voters gets to know him.

“Look at the nationwide polls for Mr. Trump right now: His favorable/unfavorables have continuously improved,” he said. “The more people that see and meet Donald Trump, the better he’s going to do.”

Mr. Trump was viewed unfavorably by 57 percent of voters nationally in a CNN/ORC poll released this month, down from 67 percent in March, but he is still registering historic levels of unpopularity.

Mrs. Clinton was viewed unfavorably by 49 percent in the recent poll, an improvement from 56 percent in March.

“Democrats dislike Trump and Republicans dislike Hillary, but Hillary is better liked among the Democrats than Trump is among the Republicans,” said Mr. Goeas, who worked for an outside Republican group opposed to Mr. Trump but said he would now support him as the presumptive nominee.

“The first thing he needs to do is fix his problem with Republicans,” Mr. Goeas said. “The judgment on him has been passed on his personality, not his position on issues.”

Mr. Trump’s efforts to unify his party got off to a perilous start last week, with a former rival in the primary, Jeb Bush, saying he would not endorse him and the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, saying he was “just not ready” to back him.

The support of Republican leaders matters less to Mr. Trump than that of regular voters in a year in which he has channeled grass-roots fury at the establishment.

But his effort to broaden support will soon face a barrage of negative television and web ads from a super PAC backing Mrs. Clinton, which promises much tougher criticism than Mr. Trump’s Republican rivals delivered.

“It would be a huge mistake to think we’ve had a real-world litigation of any of these criticisms of Trump,” said Geoff Garin, a pollster for the group, Priorities USA Action.

The group plans $125 million worth of ads in the runup to Election Day. They will run in seven battleground states, emphasizing that Mr. Trump has “made his billions on the backs of others” and has a “temperament that’s ill suited to keep America safe,” said a spokesman, Justin Barasky.

“In some ways Hillary’s negatives are already baked in the cake, and that is simply not the case with Trump,” Mr. Garin said. “Virtually all of Trump’s negatives are the product of his bizarre conduct, as opposed to any specific set of facts people have at their command about his record or what the course of a Trump presidency is likely to be.”

Mr. Trump has been foreshadowing attacks on Mrs. Clinton’s temperament. He is highlighting what he claims is her lack of truthfulness about the attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya, an issue reflected in the high number of voters who tell pollsters she is untrustworthy.

“When they called her on Benghazi, she was sleeping, folks,” Mr. Trump told voters in Indiana last week.

The Trump campaign is well aware that it needs to work to close a steep deficit with women, and that for many independent women, national security is the top issue. “Women are looking for security in our country, and they know I’m going to do the best job,” Mr. Trump said in Indiana.

The Clinton campaign foreshadowed last week that it would direct withering fire at Mr. Trump’s personality. It released a pair of web ads, one using the words of his former Republican rivals against him (sample: “utterly amoral”), the other including a comment that he would be willing to use nuclear weapons against the Islamic State, even in Europe.

“You have to have people imagine Trump behind the desk in the Oval Office and have them be scared,” said Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser to Mr. Obama.

The Electoral College map will dictate the terms of engagement. Mr. Trump is counting on his appeal to blue-collar workers in the Rust Belt. After he became virtually assured of the nomination last week, he spoke of the “carnage” that trade deals wrecked on American manufacturing. His campaign believes the issue will put the industrial states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin into play, where no Republican nominee has won since the 1980s.

“He has excited a base of people that have not been excited before,” Mr. Lewandowski said.

But Mr. Trump’s deep unpopularity with Hispanic voters, after labeling Mexican migrants criminals and calling for a “deportation force,” complicates his prospects in the swing states of Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and, especially, Florida.

A CBS News poll in April measured his unpopularity among Hispanics at 82 percent.

“Many Hispanic voters see this as a watershed election, where Donald Trump has put the good name of their community on the ballot,” Mr. Garin said.

Manchester United fans tell David De Gea and Anthony Martial to join Real Madrid after West Ham defeat

Manchester United fans began telling David De Ge and Anthony Martial to join Real Madrid after losing 3-2 to West Ham on Tuesday evening.

It was an emotional night at Upton Park and Winston Reid put the icing on the cake for the home side with an 80th minute winner in what was the Hammers’ final match at the Boleyn Ground.

The result leaves Louis van Gaal’s side with a small chance of finishing in the top-four and several supporters have now reached the end of their tether with the Dutch manager.

De Gea was tipped to complete a move to Madrid last summer and only an administrative error stopped the goalkeeper leaving Old Trafford.

With the side looking unlikely to qualify for next season’s Champions League, many supporters were saying they would understand if the shot-stopper, as well as Martial, moved to the Bernabeu this summer.

Here’s how United fans reacted to the defeat on Tuesday night…

For de Gea's sake I hope he leaves for Madrid asap. Martial too. There is nothing left here for anyone

— hussain bandukwala (@hussain468) May 10, 2016
Can't wait for Madrid to come in a sign Martial and De Gea

— Jake (@Streams94) May 10, 2016
Martial and de gea please go to Madrid/Barcelona u don't deserve to exist in a cancerous club we've become

— Will (@DxleyBlxnd) May 10, 2016
Madrid please come get martial and de gea

— Taj May 12 (@badboiitaj) May 10, 2016
Real Madrid should offer 100m and take De gea and Martial.

— Taiwoluwole (@OluwoleTaiwo) May 10, 2016
Martial, please go to Madrid with De Gea, we don't deserve you.

— Roberto (@EljovenRoberto) May 10, 2016

Odua Defenders dare Niger Delta militants over threats to attack Lagos

The Odua Defenders’ Union, ODU, has described as an insult to the Yoruba race the recent threat by a new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, to attack Lagos within a matter of days.
In a statement signed by its President-General, Rabak Anthony, the group warned that any attempt to launch any attack on Lagos would spell doom for the Ijaw militants.

“This threat that was published in all the media, both electronic and print, cannot be taken for granted.

“Therefore, the Yoruba are ready to make the first move against the Ijaws in Lagos before their ‘brothers’ will storm Lagos.

“We fought the Ijaws here in Lagos before because of this their arrogance and they know we are ready for them. They came here about five years ago also to attack the Atlas Cove where Naval officers guarding tank farms were killed.

“So, we are not taking this threat without preparation. We are ready, let them make the move,” the statement warned.

The Odua Defenders’ Union leader said its members were across the whole South-West and could deal with the militants’ threat.

The group asked the security agents to go after the Niger Delta Avengers because the Yoruba youths were prepared to face them and other Ijaw militants in Lagos