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Ekweremadu: Boko Haram attacks worse under Buhari

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The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Thursday said the Boko Haram insurgency had worsened under President Muhammadu Buhari.</div>
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Ekweremadu said the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration had almost rolled back Boko Haram and its activities in the North-East.</div>
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The deputy senate president also expressed the fear the insurgents could also attack Abuja and the southern part of the country soon.</div>
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Speaking to journalists in Abuja, he chose not to answer questions on his alleged involvement in the forgery of senate rules but said he had been worried about the renewed attacks by Boko Haram.</div>
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He said, “I am worried about the resurgence of Boko Haram activities in Nigeria. Shortly before the inauguration of the present government, the country had almost rolled back Boko Haram and its activities in every part of Nigeria – from Adamawa to Borno to Yobe.</div>
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“I was hoping that when we come back in the 8th Assembly, that I will work with our colleagues from the North-East to develop a plan of action that will help to rehabilitate that part of Nigeria. I feel so concerned about the suffering of our people from the North-East of Nigeria.</div>
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“I had hoped that by now we would be tasking ourselves on how best to rebuild that part of Nigeria. Regrettably the actions of Boko Haram seem to have resurfaced now; not only in Borno, they have carried out their activities also in Plateau, they have gone to Adamawa and Kaduna.</div>
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“I am worried that if nothing is done, the next target would be Abuja. Maybe they will start going to the South. It is important for us as those in government, whether executive or legislature, to come together to find solutions to these problems.”</div>
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He therefore appealed to Nigeria’s neighbouring countries and the international community to support the country to roll back the activities of Boko Haram, stressing that there was no way the nation could achieve progress in the country without peace.</div>
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He said the Buhari administration should, as a matter of urgency, “deal with this security challenge no matter what it would cost us.”</div>
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He also called for collaboration between the executive and the legislature in order to deal with the scourge.</div>
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“We must be on the same page on this matter. I believe that it is time for us to have meetings with the executive as well as the security agencies in order to find out exactly what has happened – why the resurgence of these Boko Haram activities and what we can do as a people to ensure that this matter is dealt with decisively,” Ekweremadu said.</div>
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He expressed sympathy with the Boko Haram’s victims and called for an immediate action to stop the menace.</div>
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He said, “We believe our President would sit on top of this situation because we believe that Nigerians are worried about this situation and they would like to see an end to Boko Haram activities.</div>
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“We would like to do everything to encourage our President, to support him and bring this situation to an end so that we would be able to have peace within this area – the North-East of Nigeria and indeed all parts of Nigeria.</div>
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“Whatever has caused this insurgence, we need to address it and aggressively too before it gets too late. I am very worried about the situation. I do hope that we would be able to work together to find solution to this and come to the end of this Boko Haram activities.</div>
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“It is not giving us any good image, it is damaging our reputation all over the world, it is damaging our lives, and it is damaging our properties. It has disoriented our brothers and sisters in the North-East.</div>
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“The education sector has suffered there, even the economy of the place has suffered so much, and our brothers and sisters from other part of the country that lived there have since left the place. It is a big challenge we must all come together to deal with.”</div>
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The deputy senate president, nevertheless, expressed the hope that the nation would overcome the challenge.</div>
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“I will like to assure our friends and the international community that the challenge, though enormous, is not beyond our control,” he said.</div>
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In reaction, the Presidency said Ekweremadu was entitled to his opinion.</div>
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The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said this in an interview with one of our correspondents.</div>
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Adesina said the fact that the deputy president of the Senate made such statement did not make it right.</div>
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“Senator Ekweremadu is entitled to his opinion. That however does not mean that he is right,” the presidential spokesman said.</div>
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Meanwhile, the United States has said that defeating Boko Haram requires a comprehensive approach.</div>
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The US Deputy Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, assured Nigeria of America’s support “as Nigeria develops this comprehensive approach.”</div>
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Blinken stated that rescuing the abducted Chibok schoolgirls remained one of US priorities.</div>
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He said, “Defeating Boko Haram requires a comprehensive approach that involves the region and includes not only a strong military response, but also sustainable security for liberated areas, good governance, development, and opportunity for the civilian population.</div>
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“It also requires a strong commitment to human rights, the absence of which only alienates the people and drives them toward Boko Haram. As Nigeria develops this comprehensive approach, the United States will deepen our support.”</div>
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The deputy secretary of state said the US had been assisting Nigeria by providing training, equipment, advice, information, intelligence sharing and logistic support, adding that America recently donated $40m to the global security fund as part of the moves to promote joint efforts with the Lake Chad countries to strengthen cross-border security, cooperation and capacity to combat Boko Haram.</div>
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Also, Blinken stated that the US government, as part of the support package, released $5m to the Multinational Joint Task Force to strengthen the fight against the insurgents.</div>
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He assured that his country would begin training for investigators and training on border security, post-blast investigation and crisis management.</div>
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Blinken said, “I know there are many more young girls and women who are missing, our focus is on them as well. We will continue to provide assistance to the government in an attempt to look for them, find them and bring them home.”</div>

NEWS Ekweremadu: Boko Haram attacks worse under Buhari

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Thursday said the Boko Haram insurgency had worsened under President Muhammadu Buhari. ...

Imported poultry products unsafe for human consumption

19:52 Unknown 0

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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Customs impounds 7,000 cartons of products </span></div>
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THE Federal Government’s clampdown on imported poultry products may have been informed by assessed unsavory pangs of the items on human health and the economy. Indeed, authorities revealed that the imported products, which have emerged favourite delicacies among the populace, due to their affordable prices, contain health damaging formalin, used essentially in preserving them.</div>
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This discovery, which could harm the nation’s human resources prompted the authorities to further step up efforts at curtailing the product’s importation into the country.</div>
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On Tuesday, the officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), destroyed 7,000 cartons worth N80million of the products at Seme Border town in Lagos State. Speaking at the event, the President of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Dr. Ayoola Oduntan cautioned Nigerians against the health and economic risks of consuming imported poultry products.</div>
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Oduntan explained that poultry products imported into Nigeria are being preserved with poisonous chemicals‎. Oduntan, who was represented by the Director General of the association, Onallo Akpa, explained that over 500 metric tonnes of poultry products were being imported from European countries alone into the country, despite the efforts of Nigerian poultry farmers in raising local production level.</div>
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He said: “Formalin, which is the chemical used to embalm corpses, is the same that is used to preserve the frozen products before importation to the country and it is very dangerous to our health.</div>
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“Other than ruining the Nigerian economy, the destruction of the local poultry industry and the erosion of family livelihoods, Nigerians are worse off by the continued patronage of these unwholesome smuggled poultry products and it can bring a collapse to the economy. “We must not allow smuggling to destroy our economy; so we must work together to save our economy,” Oduntan added.</div>
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He explained that the continuous importation of poultry products will harm the economy of Nigeria, stating that the poultry industry in Nigeria has been able to contribute 85 percent of the agricultural domestic product in Nigerian economy with 14 million Nigerians involved in terms of employment generation.</div>
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Meanwhile, not less than 8,000 cartons of the smuggled products, valued at N70million were destroyed at the ceremony. Comptroller General of NCS, AbdullahiDikko, who flagged off renewed clampdown against smugglers of the products also directed anti-smuggling units to intensify operations especially around Lagos-Ogun-Oyo axis as part of measures to curtail smuggling of the products into the country.</div>
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According to the customs boss, the campaign tagged “Operation Hawk Descend”, which is expected to be for an initial period of three months is intended to achieve national food security and protection of Nigeria’s economy against smuggling of poultry products. Speaking at a meeting with stakeholders, the customs boss, who was represented by Deputy Comptroller General in charge of enforcement, investigation and inspection, Musa Tahir‎, said the service will ensure total compliance.</div>
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Dikko said: “The Hawk Descend is a special operation to fire shot in our war against smuggling of frozen chickens, turkeys and other poultry products into the country. “The operation will be conducted in the South-Western border axis covering our command and patrols in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States and it would be for three months.</div>
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“During this period, our operatives will intercept smuggled products which will be destroyed in line with the provision of extant laws and regulations. There will be no hiding place for smuggled chickens in our land because our hawks will descend and mop them out of circulation. “There are millions of patriotic Nigerians who have invested their hard earned resources in the local poultry sector so the unfair competition from smuggled chickens threatens their investment and capacity.</div>
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Any form of smuggling would not be tolerated”, said Dikko. Explaining further, he said: “Government in its wisdom has banned the importation of frozen chicken and turkey into Nigeria. However, it is a known fact that smugglers all over the world thrive on products whose trade is controlled, restricted or out rightly banned.</div>
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Though we have succeeded in bringing smuggling to a near standstill in the past, we are however witnessing a recent upsurge. “With the launch today, we are renewing our determination to strike a final blow to poultry products smugglers, as we roll out our guns smoking; we are strengthened by the outcome of recent medical research which confirmed our fears about the health hazards of consuming smuggled products”.</div>
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The customs boss explained that the destruction of seized poultry product is stretching the logistics of the Customs to its limits, adding that the manner of destruction equally raising serious environmental questions.</div>
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According to him, in the course of the “Operation Hawk Descend” customs will collaborate with Ministry of Environment at Federal and State levels, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), environmental activists and other interested stakeholders to pursue better ways of disposal in a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable </div>

NEWS Imported poultry products unsafe for human consumption

Customs impounds 7,000 cartons of products THE Federal Government’s clampdown on imported poultry products may have been informed by a...

U.S. pledges to aid Nigeria in war against insecurity, graft

19:50 Unknown 0

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THE United States (U.S.) has pledged to support Nigeria tackle insecurity and corruption facing the country, adding that the U.S. can do this by discussing practical ways to strengthen security, which is threatened by Boko Haram’s horrific acts of terror and violence. He further stressed that U.S. could help Nigeria develop its economy, combat corruption and make government more effective and transparent.</div>
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Meanwhile, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) in conjunction with United Peace Federation of Nigeria (UPFN) has reiterated the need to build peace mechanism around the country to tackle conflicts. In a statement in Abuja, Deputy Secretary of State, Anthony J. Blinken said that U.S. delegation’s presence in Nigeria this week was to help prepare for President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Washington on July 20.</div>
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He further said that the visit would also reflect the commitment of President Barack Obama and the U.S. to strengthening the partnership between America and Nigeria and to advance a more secure, prosperous and peaceful future for all of Nigeria’s citizens. “The partnership we are forging is based on mutual interests and mutual respect.</div>
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And it is grounded in the proposition that our relationship is defined not by what the U.S. can do for Nigeria, but rather what the U.S. can do with Nigeria. “Nigeria’s historic elections and peaceful transfer of power sent a powerful message to the region, to the continent and indeed to the world that leaders are accountable to their people.</div>
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We are proud to stand alongside the new government as it works to turn the promise of this moment into real progress for all the citizens of Nigeria.” Blinken noted that the U.S. strongly condemned the recent attacks that had taken hundreds of lives in some cases within the sanctuaries of churches and mosques and “our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who were murdered during this deeply painful time. “Defeating Boko Haram requires a comprehensive approach that involves the region and includes not only a strong military response, but also sustainable security for liberated areas, good governance, development, and opportunity for the civilian population.</div>
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“It also requires a strong commitment to human rights, the absence of which only alienates the people and drives them toward Boko Haram. As Nigeria develops this comprehensive approach, the United States will deepen our support.” According to him, as the government makes transparency and anti-corruption a priority, there is a vital and unique role for citizens and civil society to play in helping develop solutions to problems that government alone cannot.</div>
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He stated that they, together with other groups, community groups, NGOs, labour unions, charities, faith-based organisations, professional associations, and foundations drive innovation and spark new ideas that government can bring to a larger scale. “Indeed, we know that democracy is more much more than an election.</div>
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It is the hard, painstaking work every day to build accountable, transparent institutions, a vibrant civil society, open political space, and a strong commitment to the rule-of-law. “It requires those elected by the people to forge a government that reflects the values, advances the interests and protects the rights of all the citizens of the country.</div>
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The hard challenges of this moment are matched by its promise – when Nigeria can advance important security, economic and governance reforms that will help unlock its vast potential as a regional and indeed global leader,” he added.</div>
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The deputy secretary of state explained that they met with some governors noting that like the U.S., Nigeria has a strong federal system with enormous responsibility vested with governors and state governments.</div>
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“We discussed the challenges they face and the importance of their leadership in setting the entire nation on the right course. And there was a very interesting emphasis, besides security, on questions of education, health care, different industries like agriculture and building strong value chains along the entire line of production.”</div>
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They said that the move was one of the cardinal ways to promote reconciliation and co-operation beyond traditional boundaries of religion, race, ethnicity and nationality.</div>
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According to them, the phenomenon of conflict is evolving and dynamic adding that a strong mechanism would go along to nip conflicts in the bud around the country.</div>
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Speaking in Abuja yesterday at the Special Capacity Building Programme on Conflict Resolution and National Reconciliation for Ambassadors for Peace, the Director General, IPCR, Oshita .O. Oshita said that the institute was committed to building a peaceful environment devoid of conflicts in the country. According to him, the institute had early warning centres across the six geo-political zones in the country.</div>
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“The institute of peace has been doing a lot of work around advocacy work for peaceful conduct and it has been doing a lot of works for direct intervention in a conflict areas in parts of Nigeria,” he further stressed.</div>

NEWS U.S. pledges to aid Nigeria in war against insecurity, graft

THE United States (U.S.) has pledged to support Nigeria tackle insecurity and corruption facing the country, adding that the U.S. can do ...

Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny proudly posts to Facebook after proposing to girlfriend

19:44 Unknown 0

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Wojciech Szczesny is a proud man this evening, after his girlfriend said yes to his marriage proposal.</div>
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The ‘Pole in Goal’ posted to Facebook to confirm that girfriend Marina Luczenko, who is a musical artist, had said Yes to his marriage proposal, and the pair had a get-together with a group of friends to celebrate.</div>
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Szczesny has spent a romantic summer travelling with girlfriend-turned-fiance Luczenko, with the pair heading off the beaten track to Thailand.</div>
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Szczesny has had a difficult couple of seasons as far as football is concerned; having lost his place to David Ospina last season after being caught smoking by manager Arsene Wenger, he now has Petr Cech to contend with for competition.</div>
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Last season was the culmination of a tough couple of years, and after coming up through the ranks earmarked for greatness, the Pole’s form and development has undoubtedly tapered off from that prodigious beginning.</div>
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But off the pitch things appear to be going very smoothly chez Szczesny.</div>

NEWS Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny proudly posts to Facebook after proposing to girlfriend

Wojciech Szczesny is a proud man this evening, after his girlfriend said yes to his marriage proposal. The ‘Pole in Goal’ posted to Faceb...

U.S. intercepts Russian bombers off coast of Alaska, California

19:31 Unknown 0

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsKxDbiKljGZqi71BxqHTx5HM_gAmLYhyphenhyphen3U38QGEYqky-qlHEDsmBN3eS6k4aYYCzmwqHZXrx7b5RXVqKUdgHwQ2YAEMqrPizep2X8GQTg99vqE6UtgOtKYHW8C8SPEMB9MQYW12hz38C/s1600/usa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsKxDbiKljGZqi71BxqHTx5HM_gAmLYhyphenhyphen3U38QGEYqky-qlHEDsmBN3eS6k4aYYCzmwqHZXrx7b5RXVqKUdgHwQ2YAEMqrPizep2X8GQTg99vqE6UtgOtKYHW8C8SPEMB9MQYW12hz38C/s400/usa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<cite class="el-editorial-source" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700;">Washington (CNN)</cite>The same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent congratulations to the White House to mark July 4, the U.S. military was tracking Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska and California.</div>
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The U.S. military performed two intercepts of Russians aircraft, though they never entered U.S. airspace, according to a U.S. military official.</div>
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The official told CNN that while the U.S. intercepts were routine from a military point of view, the Pentagon views it as Putin "sending a message" to the U.S. on Independence Day, especially because of the congratulatory message to President Barack Obama.</div>
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<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/04/politics/putin-obama-independence-day/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s; box-sizing: border-box; color: #006598; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s;">READ: Putin congratulates Obama on Independence Day</a></div>
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In the message, Putin expressed confidence that the two countries can "find solutions to international issues and efficiently resist global threats and challenges as they base their dialogue on principles of equality and respect of each other's interests," according to a Kremlin press release.</div>
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In Alaska, F-22s took off to identify and track two TU-95 Bear bombers near the Southern coast. The two bombers were followed until they turned around.</div>
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Similarly off the coast of California, F-15s tracked two other TU-95s that had been detected near the coast of San Francisco. The incident in California was a rarity, because Russian forces don't generally travel that far South. However, this was reminiscent of a similar flight Russia performed off the West coast on July 4 three years prior.</div>

NEWS U.S. intercepts Russian bombers off coast of Alaska, California

Washington (CNN) The same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent congratulations to the White House to mark July 4, the U.S. ...

Greek debt plans 'to be submitted

11:25 Unknown 0

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<span style="font-size: small;">Greek debt crisis</span></h2>
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Greece will submit new proposals to its international lenders "shortly", its defence minister has said, after the country's cabinet met on Thursday.</div>
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Greece is due to present the proposals by 22:00 GMT on Thursday to secure a third bailout and prevent a possible exit from the eurozone.</div>
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Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been seeking agreement from his ministers.</div>
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The new proposals will be studied by eurozone finance ministers on Saturday and a full EU summit on Sunday.</div>
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Defence Minister and junior coalition party leader Panos Kammenos gave no further details of the agreed plans as he left the PM's official residence, where ministers had been meeting.</div>
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Mr Tsipras met his cabinet to get their support for the package, likely to include tax rises and pension reforms, before submitting it to Greece's creditors.</div>
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On Wednesday Greece formally submitted a request for an unspecified loan from the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund.</div>
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This would be a fresh loan "to meet Greece's debt obligations and to ensure stability of the financial system", Greece says - in other words, to avoid bankruptcy.</div>
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The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, who will chair Sunday's EU summit, said he hoped to receive "concrete and realistic proposals of reforms from Athens".</div>
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Such proposals "will have to be matched by an equally realistic proposal on debt sustainability from the creditors. Only then will we have a win-win situation," Mr Tusk added.</div>
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<figure class="media-landscape full-width has-caption" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 6.25px; margin-right: -24.640625px;"><figcaption class="media-caption" style="padding: 16px;"><span class="media-caption__text" style="line-height: 1.23077;">Mr Tsipras was applauded by his cabinet as he arrived in parliament on Thursday morning</span></figcaption></figure><figure class="media-landscape full-width has-caption" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 6.25px; margin-right: -24.640625px;"><figcaption class="media-caption" style="padding: 16px;"><span class="media-caption__text" style="line-height: 1.23077;">The PM's official residence was the venue for the Greek cabinet's meeting on Thursday afternoon</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px;">
However the German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that "a classic haircut" (meaning reducing the value of Greece's debts) was "out of the question" for her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px;">
All Greek to you? Debt jargon explained</div>
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Speaking in Sarajevo, Mrs Merkel said the eurozone had dealt with the issue of debt sustainability in 2012.</div>
<h2 class="story-body__crosshead" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 18px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">'Just do it'</span></h2>
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She described Sunday's EU summit as a decisive and important meeting.</div>
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"We must not forget that the Greek people are suffering at the moment," she said.</div>
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The German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble also ruled out debt relief for Greece, saying "there cannot be a haircut because it would infringe the system of the European Union".</div>
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Greece needs to implement reforms to win the trust of its eurozone partners, Mr Schaeuble said. He told a conference in Frankfurt that his message to the new Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos was: "Just do it!"</div>
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NEWS Greek debt plans 'to be submitted

Greek debt crisis Greece will submit new proposals to its international lenders "shortly", its defence minister has said, a...

Rihanna Net worth 2015 – Full Gross Earnings (Updated)

06:58 Unknown 0

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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">More money Details like tour and Albums sold amount and House:</span></span></div>
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“<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rihanna</em>” is a Barbadian singer, fashion designer and actress. Record producer<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Evan Rogers</em> and Rihanna met in the late <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2003</em>, enabling Rihanna to start her career through recorded demos.</div>
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Rihanna is currently having a net worth of <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$120 Million</span>. She earned <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$48 Million</em> in <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2014</em>, making her the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4th Highest Paid Women</em> <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in Music</em> </span>of that year. Currently having more than <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">90 million</em> and more than <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">37 million Facebook and Twitter followers </em>respectively.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRH7UTyjf929C5r34gaXmca81bHI0E4GUT8W-k6_udAzWr1xmJBZJxQg9AUWeCbTmPRg_408jfztSaZPjutHwXVxex5ng1h_z50Ll1aDwpsiYw2RXPsAZ_s2SOrRyZxkYwUJiDXF8YOG3/s1600/rihanna-singer-black-and-white-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRH7UTyjf929C5r34gaXmca81bHI0E4GUT8W-k6_udAzWr1xmJBZJxQg9AUWeCbTmPRg_408jfztSaZPjutHwXVxex5ng1h_z50Ll1aDwpsiYw2RXPsAZ_s2SOrRyZxkYwUJiDXF8YOG3/s320/rihanna-singer-black-and-white-image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 28.7999992370605px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She earned an estimated <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">$42 Million in 2013</span> through selling her <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Los Angles</em>home for <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">$5,030,000</em> and earning Gross revenue of <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">$140,000,000</span> in ticket sales for <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Diamonds World Tour</em>. Before reading forwards, I’ll recommend you guys to compare Rihanna net worth with these celebs:</div>
<ol style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 28.7999992370605px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.celebritiesmoney.com/beyonce-knowles-net-worth-2015-wealthiest-recording-artist-on-the-planet/" style="-webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease; border: 0px; color: #3b8dbd; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-timing-function: ease; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Beyonce">Beyoncé</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.celebritiesmoney.com/chris-brown-net-worth-rb-singer/" style="-webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease; border: 0px; color: #3b8dbd; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-timing-function: ease; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Chris Brown">Chris Brown</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.celebritiesmoney.com/katy-perry-net-worth-singer-songwriter/" style="-webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease; border: 0px; color: #3b8dbd; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-timing-function: ease; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Katy Perry">Katy Perry</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.celebritiesmoney.com/nicki-minaj-net-worth-rapper/" style="-webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease; border: 0px; color: #3b8dbd; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-timing-function: ease; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Nicki Minaj">Nicki Minaj</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.celebritiesmoney.com/leonardo-dicaprio-net-worth-actor/" style="-webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease; border: 0px; color: #3b8dbd; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-timing-function: ease; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Leonardo DiCaprio">Leonardo DiCaprio</a></li>
</ol>
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She received a per performance fee of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$800,000</em>, selling her <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pacific Palisades mansion</em> for <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$120,000,000</em> and earned <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$6,300,000</em> approximately from the sales of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3 million</em> copies of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unapologetic Album</em> Sales. This resulted to <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">$53 Million</span></em> earnings in <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2013</em>.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Songs earning:</span></span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 28.7999992370605px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: square; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Diamond: $8 mill</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: square; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">FourFiveSeconds: 3 mil</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: square; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We Found Love: $5 mil</li>
</ul>
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In the year <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2011</em>, she earned a total earnings of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$30 Million</em>. Got estimated earnings of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$10,500,000</em> from her <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Talk That Talk</em> album (<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3 Million</em> copies sold). She received Talk That Talk’s revenue of <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$7,100,000.</span> Ticket Sales of “<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Loud Tour”</em> earned her <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">$90,000,000</span>. She also got gross revenue from the<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reb’l Fleur fragrance</em> of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$30,000,000</em>.</div>
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Now you know <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">how much Rihanna net worth is in 2015</em></span>. The seller of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">150 million</em> records worldwide earned <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$410,000 per show</span> from <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Little Girl On Earth Tour</em> in <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2010</em>. In the same year she also earned a <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">80%</em> bonus of US$565,000 from a contract of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Box Office Sales</em>. Sale of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5.7 Million</em> copies of<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Loud Album</em> earned her <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US$12,000,000</em>.</div>

MUSIC Rihanna Net worth 2015 – Full Gross Earnings (Updated)

More money Details like tour and Albums sold amount and House: “ Rihanna ” is a Barbadian singer, fashion designer and actress. Record ...

The liver's weighty problem

06:53 Unknown 0

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<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 1.5;">A biopsy revealed striking damage to the patient's liver: so much fat crammed into the cells that it squashed their nuclei and other contents. Cirrhosis, or severe liver injury, was beginning as scar tissue ousted healthy cells. The patient essentially had the liver of a middle-aged alcoholic. Yet he was only 8 years old.</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 1.5;">The patient who walked into Joel Lavine's office at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), medical center one day in the mid-1990s didn't know how sick he really was. He was morbidly obese. A brownish blemish known as acanthosis nigricans sprawled over the nape of his neck and into his armpit, signaling that he probably had developed insulin resistance, a condition in which cells don't respond normally to the hormone that controls blood sugar.</span></h1>
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To Lavine, a pediatric hepatologist, it was clear the boy was suffering from nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). A condition usually associated with obesity, NASH results from excess fat in the liver and, as the name indicates, doesn't stem from the alcohol abuse that causes many cases of severe fatty liver disease. Because NASH can destroy the liver, patients can require a liver transplant or even die.</div>
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Although Lavine had come across a few kids with NASH earlier in the 1990s when he worked at Boston Children's Hospital, he found “it was rampant” in San Diego among the large Hispanic population. A dozen children suspected of having the illness were coming to his office every week for diagnosis. “It was clear we had an epidemic of sorts,” says Lavine, who is now at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons.</div>
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That epidemic has now spread throughout the country as our livers pay the price for our calorie-rich diets and sedentary lifestyles. About 20% to 30% of people in the United States who don't abuse alcohol carry extra fat in their livers, a precursor to NASH. The condition is even turning up in unlikely places such as rural India. “It's becoming an important problem everywhere,” says hepatologist Vlad Ratziu of the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris.</div>
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That's worrying, doctors and researchers say, because although such liver fat accumulation is usually benign, NASH develops in about 30% of people with fat in the liver. It can lead to liver failure, liver cancer, and death, and no drug treatments exist yet. A new liver is the only option for many people. NASH is now the number two reason for liver transplants, and it will probably rise to number one by the end of the decade as a new generation of antiviral drugs controls hepatitis C, currently the largest cause of liver failure, says hepatologist Naga Chalasani of the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">NASH WENT UNRECOGNIZED</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 1.5;">for decades, mainly because doctors confused it with alcoholic steatohepatitis, or ASH, which also involves fat buildup in the liver but results from heavy drinking. Although some people who had fat-flooded livers denied being alcoholics, doctors were convinced they were boozing in secret, says hepatologist Stephen Caldwell of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The assumption was “if you had liver disease, you were a drinker,” he says.</span>At the same time, the paths by which NASH develops and worsens are becoming clearer, sparking a surge of interest by pharmaceutical companies, which have more than 20 potential drugs in some stage of development. Several have performed well in early clinical trials, and one, obeticholic acid, recently impressed researchers by reducing the amount of liver scarring, a serious consequence of NASH. “We are at a pivotal time” in the history of NASH, Lavine says. “In 5 years we will have at least one treatment approved,” Ratziu predicts.</div>
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Then in 1980, pathologist Jurgen Ludwig of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues put the “N” in “NASH,” describing a cluster of people with fatty, damaged livers who were not alcoholics. The large number of kids subsequently found to have NASH helped dispel any lingering doubts that the illness wasn't alcohol-related, Lavine says.</div>
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Extra fat in the liver is now fairly easy to spot with imaging techniques. Gauging how many people have the severe form of fatty liver disease, NASH, is trickier. “The only way to know if your patient has NASH is a liver biopsy,” says gastroenterologist Stephen Harrison of the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Although he describes the procedure as “a nick in the skin” that doesn't involve surgery, people often refuse, which makes it hard to determine NASH's prevalence; researchers' estimates generally run between 2% and 5% of the population.</div>
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Ultimately, says molecular biologist Jay Horton of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, fatty liver “is a disease of caloric excess.” The imbalance between calories consumed and burned triggers a complex series of changes that transform the organ's character. Many of the diet-derived fatty acids in the bloodstream make their way to the liver, which directs them to other parts of the body. “The liver is your traffic cop” for these building blocks of fats, says Elizabeth Parks, a nutritional physiologist at the University of Missouri in Columbia. But the organ itself typically holds onto little fat. For instance, Parks says, a fairly fit 70-kg man will carry about 14 kg of body fat—and only 125 g will reside in the liver. “It's such as small pool, and there are lots of options that the liver uses to get rid of it,” she says.</div>
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In some people, however, the liver becomes a hoarder and starts stockpiling triglycerides, a fat variety, sometimes accumulating so much that the organ “can look like butter,” Lavine says. In addition to dietary fatty acids, fat in the liver can come from two other sources, researchers have found. Outside the liver, fat-storing cells known as adipocytes continually release some of their contents, which end up in the organ. And the liver itself synthesizes some fat.</div>
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All three sources ramp up in fatty liver disease. Parks and her team recently showed how the liver contributes to its own woes. They fed volunteers meals tagged with radioactive compounds, enabling them to track the synthesis of free fatty acids, precursors of triglycerides. People who had fatty liver disease manufactured three times more free fatty acids in their livers than did healthy subjects, the group reported last year in <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Gastroenterology</em>.</div>
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Of the many metabolic abnormalities that could drive accumulation of fat in the liver, insulin resistance seems key, Chalasani says. It develops when cells become less responsive to the hormone, usually because of a surfeit of nutrients from food, and it promotes fat buildup in the liver in several ways. For example, insulin normally prompts adipocytes to stop releasing fatty acids. But as Parks and her team showed in their study last year, insulin-resistant adipocytes continue to spill fatty acids into the blood. The liver can usually rid itself of some fat by exporting triglycerides, but insulin resistance prompts the organ to synthesize more triglycerides, overwhelming the disposal mechanism.</div>
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Other factors, from the types of microbes living in the intestine to genetics, may also induce fat accrual in the liver. Having a particular variant of the metabolic gene <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">PNPLA3</em> boosts the risk of developing a fatty liver, for instance.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">A RAFT OF HEALTH PROBLEMS</span> typically accompanies the fat buildup, including obesity and diabetes. But the liver's extra heft doesn't normally kill, Harrison says. Chances are, “you are going to grow old with your fatty liver,” he says.</div>
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The odds are worse for people who progress to NASH. About 25% of them eventually develop cirrhosis that devastates the liver. Compared with individuals with more benign fatty livers, NASH patients typically show two distinctive characteristics. The inflammation in their livers is more intense as white blood cells infiltrate the organ. And hepatocytes, the most abundant liver cells, swell to as much as twice their normal size, a condition known as ballooning that heralds their demise.</div>
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These two phenomena can segue to an insidious problem: fibrosis, or the buildup of scar tissue rich in the protein collagen. As scarring progresses, it takes over more and more of the liver, and fewer and fewer healthy cells remain, sometimes resulting in liver failure. Cirrhosis can also trigger liver cancer, although researchers haven't worked out exactly how.</div>
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The biggest question—why about one-third of people with fatty liver disease develop NASH—remains unanswered, notes UCSD hepatologist Rohit Loomba. Some scientists posit that the fat itself is poisonous to liver cells, whereas other evidence points to inflammation and oxidative stress.</div>
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Whether scar tissue accumulates in a fat-laden liver may depend on the organ's ability to heal itself. Hepatologist Anna Mae Diehl of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and her colleagues have found evidence that repair goes awry in the livers of NASH patients because of excessive activity by a molecular signaling pathway normally prominent in development. In an embryo, a protein called hedgehog and its partners help sculpt the brain, kidneys, intestines, and other parts of the body. The pathway all but shuts down in the livers of healthy adults, but it can ramp up again if the liver is injured. The pathway then spurs certain liver cells to transform into cells that produce scar tissue. The ballooned hepatocytes that accrue in the livers of NASH patients could be the culprit, Diehl and her team suggest. The bloated cells pour out proteins that activate the hedgehog pathway, the researchers revealed in a 2011 paper in <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The Journal of Pathology</em>.</div>
<div id="p-24" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline-style: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">DOCTORS NOW HAVE LITTLE TO OFFER</span> NASH patients apart from the recommendation to eat less and exercise more. If a patient worsens to the point where the liver starts to shut down, a transplant becomes a possibility. But at the moment, “the ability to rescue someone who is getting really sick is limited,” Caldwell says.</div>
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That grim outlook may soon change. Many biotech and pharmaceutical companies have launched NASH drug development efforts, enticed by the potentially huge demand for a chronic medication—a $35 billion annual market by one estimate. The drugs researchers have tested against NASH or hope to test include vitamin E, the diabetes treatment pioglitazone, and a raft of new compounds. “What's interesting is that almost all of them have a different mode of action,” Ratziu says.</div>
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One drug, aramchol, combines a synthetic fatty acid and bile acid; it is now in a phase II trial to determine how well it reduces fat accumulation in the liver. In contrast, cenicriviroc, also in a phase II trial, originated as an antiviral candidate because it blocks certain receptor molecules on immune cells that viruses use as entryways. But it also may stem inflammation and liver fibrosis.</div>
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At least two phase III clinical trials of potential NASH treatments are likely to begin this year, although one them is already starting with a strike against it. In March, the French pharmaceutical firm Genfit announced that GFT505, which stimulates cellular receptors that promote insulin sensitivity and spur fatty acid breakdown, didn't reduce the amounts of liver fat or fibrosis overall in a phase II trial of 274 NASH patients. But the most serious cases did show improvement, and Ratziu says the company plans to launch a phase III trial in 2500 patients with advanced NASH.</div>
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The most promising NASH treatment so far, several researchers say, is obeticholic acid. The liver produces bile acids to help the intestine absorb fats, which help manage fat and sugar metabolism. Obeticholic acid is a modified bile acid, and it prods a cellular receptor that promotes sensitivity to insulin and reduces the amount of triglycerides in the blood.</div>
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Last November, hepatologist Brent Neuschwander-Tetri of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and colleagues reported the results of the FLINT trial, a phase II study that found that obeticholic acid reduced the amount of fibrosis in NASH patients, suggesting the drug can reverse the disease. “That's something that's never been seen for a drug before,” says Lavine, who was on the trial's steering committee.</div>
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Still, researchers—and drug company investors—remain cautious. As Loomba points out, none of the drugs tested so far has benefitted more than 50% of NASH patients. And although obeticholic acid reduced fibrosis, it also increased the levels of LDL cholesterol, which promotes cardiovascular disease. That's worrying, Chalasani says, because “these people are already at greater risk for coronary artery events and cardiovascular disease.” Even so, a phase III trial of obeticholic acid in 2500 patients with severe liver fibrosis is scheduled to start later this summer. And the scientific community studying NASH is hopeful for the first time. Preventing or even reversing NASH, Neuschwander-Tetri says, finally seems “a reachable goal.”</div>

SCIENCE The liver's weighty problem

A biopsy revealed striking damage to the patient's liver: so much fat crammed into the cells that it squashed their nuclei and ot...

Strong Sales, but High Abandonment for Fitness Trackers

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Deepak Jayasimha's fitness tracker is now with his father-in-law in India, where it sits unused. Annabel Kelly foisted hers off on the kids. <a class="r_lapi" href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/virginia.htm" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: #2e538f; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;">Virginia</a>Atkinson took hers off to charge the battery and hasn't picked it up since February.</div>
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Although sales of Fitbit and other fitness trackers are strong, many of their owners lose enthusiasm for them once the novelty of knowing how many steps they've taken wears off. One research firm, Endeavour Partners, estimates that about a third of these trackers get abandoned after six months. A health care investment fund, Rock Health, says Fitbit's regulatory filings suggest that only half of Fitbit's nearly 20 million registered users were still active as of the first quarter of 2015.</div>
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"The question for investors is how long the market will continue to grow at this rate, and whether Fitbit can execute on growing engagement before ... the number of devices sold per year reaches saturation," Malay Gandhi, a managing director at Rock Health, wrote on a blog.</div>
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Abandonment affects all manufacturers of fitness trackers, which are relatively cheap at about $100 and are commonly given as gifts. Fitbit gets the spotlight because it started trading publicly last month and has 76 percent of the U.S. market share by revenue, up from 64 percent a year earlier, according to the NPD Group.</div>
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Investors and analysts are bullish on Fitbit's prospects. Its stock value has more than doubled since the initial public offering. Analyst William Power at Baird Equity Research said Fitbit had room to grow worldwide, as only a quarter of its revenue came from outside the U.S. last year. Power also wrote that Fitbits remain popular among employers and insurance companies looking for ways to keep people healthy. Fitbit is also profitable, earning $132 million last year on revenue of $745 million.</div>
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The company's market valuation of $8.6 billion is high compared with earnings so far, which could point to enormous growth potential — or simply overvaluation.</div>
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Fitbit now has competition from Apple Watch and other smartwatches that do what fitness trackers do and more, such as showing news updates and boarding passes for flights.</div>
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In a statement, Fitbit said it intends to remain a market leader through new features and services to boost user engagement and revenue. The company said it keeps users motivated by offering ways to compete with friends and family and awarding virtual badges for hitting fitness milestones. Fitbit added that people who regularly use their devices make healthier choices.</div>
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The statement didn't address Fitbit owners who've stopped using the device.</div>
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If people aren't using their trackers, they won't recommend them to friends and family or upgrade when a new model comes out, said Dan Ledger, who tracks wearable devices at Endeavour Partners. They also won't pay for premium subscription packages, a potential growth area for Fitbit.</div>
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Jayasimha, a New Yorker who walks three to four miles a day, said his Jawbone Up stopped giving him information he didn't already know. After it stopped working one day, he didn't bother getting it fixed for months. Even then, he never used it again. His wife used it for two weeks before sending it off overseas to her dad, who has yet to use it.</div>
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"I was just carrying through with the motion," Jayasimha said. "For someone who is not physically active, I think it will be useful. But once you get to a state where you are happy with the activities you do, it loses its efficacy."</div>

TECHNOLOGY Strong Sales, but High Abandonment for Fitness Trackers

Deepak Jayasimha's fitness tracker is now with his father-in-law in India, where it sits unused. Annabel Kelly foisted hers off o...