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As hundreds of dead birds fall from the skies across the United States, about a hundred birds again fell off in Sweden shortly before midnight on Tuesday, just as millions of dead fish surfaced in a bay in Maryland, United States. Similar unexplained mass fish deaths occurred in Brazil and New Zealand.
The Baltimore Sun reports that an estimated 2 million fish were found dead in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, mostly adult spot with some juvenile croakers in the mix, as well. In New Zealand, hundreds of dead snapper fish washed up on Coromandel Peninsula beaches, many found with their eyes missing, The New Zealand Herald reports. However Maryland Department of the Environment spokesperson Dawn Stoltzfus says “cold-water stress” is believed to be the culprit..
PHOTO:Rescue chief, Christer Olofsson, poses with a dead bird in Falkoping. Photo: REUTERS
Residents in Falköping, southeast of Skövde, found 50 to 100 jackdaw birds on a street further echoing the unexplained incidents that commenced earlier in the week across the Atlantic in southern US. A Swedish county veterinarian, Robert ter Horst believes that the birds may have been literally scared to death by fireworks set off on Tuesday night.
“We have received information from local residents last night. Our main theory is that the birds were scared away because of the fireworks and landed on the road, but couldn’t fly away from the stress and were hit by a car,” he explained to a Swedish online news platform — The Local on Wednesday.
“We will continue to look at whether there are other theories, but then we have to do an autopsy on the birds. The birds just now are in a car on the way to a laboratory in Uppsala. We don’t know exactly what happened yet, but we will continue the investigation,” he added.
Mr Horst noted that he has also received some reports about pigeons, but the incident has happened too quickly to assume that it is related to the untimely demise of the jackdaws. The site where the birds were found has now been blocked for a veterinary inspection of the birds. Emergency services had cordoned off the area earlier on Wednesday. Across the Atlantic, an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 blackbirds crashed into homes, cars and each other in central Arkansas on New Year eve. Another 500 birds were killed and littered the highway in Louisiana. Diverse theories such as fireworks and power lines sparks have been propounded. It’s almost certainly a coincidence the events happened within days of each other, Louisiana’s state wildlife veterinarian Jim LaCour said on Tuesday.
“I haven’t found anything to link the two at this point.” Anders Wirdheim of the Swedish Ornithological Society (Sveriges ornitologiska förening, SOF) believes the nocturnal birds were likely frightened in the middle of the night, then flew around in the dark and collided with various objects. Bird deaths and fish kills at smaller numbers aren’t all that uncommon, though the size and proximity of some of the recent events have led people to allege their relation, though officials deny the frequency of these wildlife deaths as being anything other than coincidence.
Israeli archaeologists said Monday they may have found the earliest evidence yet for the existence of modern man, and if so, it could upset
theories of the origin of humans.
A Tel Aviv University team excavating a cave in central Israel said teeth found in the cave are about 400,000 years old and resemble those of other remains of modern man, known scientifically as Homo sapiens, found in Israel. The earliest Homo sapiens remains found until now are half as old.
"It's very exciting to come to this conclusion," said archaeologist Avi Gopher, whose team examined the teeth with X-rays and CT scans and dated them according to the layers of earth where they were found.
He stressed that further research is needed to solidify the claim. If it does, he says, "this changes the whole picture of evolution."
The accepted scientific theory is that Homo sapiens originated in Africa and migrated out of the continent. Gopher said if the remains are definitively linked to modern human's ancestors, it could mean that modern man in fact originated in what is now Israel..
Sir Paul Mellars, a prehistory expert at Cambridge University, said the study is reputable, and the find is "important" because remains from that critical time period are scarce, but it is premature to say the remains are human.
"Based on the evidence they've cited, it's a very tenuous and frankly rather remote possibility," Mellars said. He said the remains are more likely related to modern man's ancient relatives, the Neanderthals.
According to today's accepted scientific theories, modern humans and Neanderthals stemmed from a common ancestor who lived in Africa about 700,000 years ago. One group of descendants migrated to Europe and developed into Neanderthals, later becoming extinct. Another group stayed in Africa and evolved into Homo sapiens — modern humans.
Teeth are often unreliable indicators of origin, and analyses of skull remains would more definitively identify the species found in the Israeli cave, Mellars said.
Gopher, the Israeli archaeologist, said he is confident his team will find skulls and bones as they continue their dig.
The prehistoric Qesem cave was discovered in 2000, and excavations began in 2004. Researchers Gopher, Ran Barkai and Israel Hershkowitz published their study in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
For three boys from the Tokelau Islands the word miracle has a whole new meaning.
After going missing following a sporting event in October, and after several unsuccessful searches by New Zealand's air force, they were presumed dead. About 500 people on the island held a memorial service for them.
But for Samuel Perez and Filo Filo, both 15, and Edward Nasau, 14, this story ended in the most unbelievable way - being rescued by a tuna ship near Fiji after 50 days at sea, according to Radio New Zealand.
Since October 5, the three survived with limited supply. They shared a single raw seagull and drank a tiny bit of rainwater. They eventually resorted to drinking small amounts of sea water, Australia's Herald Sun reported.
On Wednesday afternoon, their saga finally came to an end when the tuna boat, the San Nikunau, saw their small aluminum boat floating in the middle of open waters. They were and 807 miles (1,300 km) away from where they went missing....
'We got to them in a miracle," the first mate, Tai Fredricsen, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"They were in reasonably good spirits for how long they'd been adrift," Fredricsen told the Herald Sun. "They were very badly sunburnt. They were in the open during the day up in the tropics there. But really they just needed basic first aid."
Call it a miracle, or call it luck, but for these boys, it was a rescue that might not have happened if not for chance.
The tuna boat was fishing far from where it usually does, the crew told the Herald Sun. It was taking a shortcut home to New Zealand when it stumbled upon the boys.
The boys were being checked at a hospital but were ecstatic to finally be able to speak by phone to their families.
"They've got a lot of gusto, a lot of strong mental spirit," Fredricsen told the Morning Herald. "Physically they are very [distraught] but mentally they are very strong."
There was confusion Tuesday at Okegbala, Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State as four year old Akin Akinola’s body was found hanging in his home with residents wondering what went wrong..
It was gathered that the mother of the boy, Mrs. Nike Akinola, had gone to the market earlier that day to buy fruits for sale at the Adeyemi College of Education, leaving the boy and her other children behind under the care of a lady.
Akin, a Primary 1 pupil of St Agnes Primary School, Okegbala, Ondo, was said to be later found hanging in his mother’s room. The boy, according to sources, did not go to school that day because he wanted to change his old school uniform. It was gathered that Akinola was said to have earlier that day bought a sachet of milk from a nearby shop. When he got home, he was said to have entered his mother’s room and did not come out until some people were said to have entered the room where they discovered his body hanging. An alarm was raised to attract other residents to the scene. Police Public Relations Officer for Ondo State Command Mr Aremu Adeniran vowed to uncover those behind the incident. He said some suspects had already been arrested over the incident by state CID. The house has in the meantime been sealed off by the police...
In a related development, five year old Feranmi Oloyede was also found hanging on a tree at the back of his home at Moferere in Ajilosun area of Ado Ekiti in Ekiti State Friday.
The St Louis Nursery and Primary School, Ikere-Ekiti primary one pupil was said to be playing with a rope tied to a tree branch, having climbed a table under the tree. The leg slipped and he got hanged, reports said.
Following an alleged intelligence report that there are planned attacks in Abuja by the popular militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), during the 50th anniversary celebrations, the Nigerian government allegedly prompted the South African Police to invade the Johannesburg home of Henry Okah, the leader of MEND, in the early hours of yesterday.
Sources who spoke in confidence with NEXT revealed that over 30 South African police officers smashed down Mr Okah’s doors and gained entry into his home at about 3am South African time, with sophisticated weapons in full display as well as about six sniffing dogs, at the instance of the federal government of Nigeria.
“We have been told that the Nigerian government informed the South African police that it is imperative that Mr Okah’s home is searched yesterday because they would find arms and explosives. The federal government has been sending spurious petitions to the South African government about Mr Okah, alleging all kinds of things..
“They said he is exporting arms and explosives from South Africa into Nigeria. But when the South African police invaded his home, they found nothing. Even with their sniffing dogs, they did not find anything,” a source said to NEXT yesterday in Abuja.
Reports have it that the search at Mr Okah’s home, which lasted for about 10 hours, from 3am till about 1pm, yielded neither explosives nor arms.
Ima Niboro, the spokesman for the federal government neither responded to the phone calls nor the text messages sent to him to make enquiries about the role of the presidency in the role.
Federal government’s gripe
Although the Umaru Yar’Adua led government released Mr Okah from a 13-month long detention and granted him amnesty in 2009, unconfirmed reports state that Mr Okah’s name has been placed on the INTERPOL red alert in Nigeria, in connection with arms and drug trafficking.
Emmanuel Ojukwu, the spokesman of the Nigerian Police, has denied any knowledge of the raid. Mr Ojukwu, who told NEXT in Abuja that he is also the spokesman for the INTERPOL in Nigeria, said that he was unaware that Mr Okah’s name had been placed on red alert by the INTERPOL.
“I have no information. I am not aware of that. I speak for the Nigerian police and the INTERPOL and I am not aware of either the invasion or any red alert,” Mr Ojukwu said in a telephone interview.
Mr Okah, in response, said that he was unshaken but that he was upset that his children were frightened by the police officers who tore down their bedroom doors and barged into their rooms with rifles.
“I am not surprised by the federal government’s actions. What I am surprised at is that the South African government would allow themselves to be used by Nigerians. I am, however, not moved by whatever means the government is trying to use to intimidate me. I am constantly fighting against the oppression of my people in the Niger Delta,” Mr Okah said in a statement obtained by NEXT.
A corpse was allegedly discovered in an Arik aircraft last night, sources told P.M.NEWS today.
Our sources said that the deceased passenger was a man. However, no one is sure if he was a genuine or illegal passenger.
Details about the tragic incident or the deceased were sketchy at the
time of filing this report.
The media officer of Arik Air, Mr. Adebanji Ola told our correspondent
that it was a security issue and did not go into details.
He said: “It’s a security issue beyond the airline’s control.Photo: Passengers praying they survive the flight The
airport security operatives will be in a better position to give
details.”
The Media officer to the Director General of NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye,
sent our correspondent back to Arik when he was asked to comment about the incident.
“Talk to Arik,” he said.
The incident comes weeks after a similar incident happened on an Arik
flight to the United States.
Photo right:One of such wings of crashless death
Tragedy struck at the weekend at the parsonage of the Assemblies of God Church, Laguru, Umuosu Ubakala, near Umuahia, Abia State, when the resident pastor, Monday Jacob, was found unconscious in his living room with his wife and two sons dead. Photo:The ill fated Match that blew No African any good The family was suspected to be watching the Ghana versus Uruguay match in the ongoing World Cup last Friday when tragedy struck.
Mr. Jacob was said to have packed into the apartment on 30 June, and was suspected to be watching the Ghana versus Uruguay match in the ongoing World Cup last Friday when the tragedy struck, as they were found in sitting positions in front of their television.
Neighbours believed that the family must have died from the fumes from a generating set which powered the electrical appliances in the apartment, which was found at the staircase of the one-storey building with its switch button in the on position, though there was no fuel.
Investigations revealed that while Mr. Jacob was found in a sitting position unconscious when the door of the house was forced open, his first son, a final year Political Science student of Abia State University, Uturu, and his second son were also in the same position, while his wife was lying dead on a six-spring foam.
No Sunday school
It was gathered that members of the church became apprehensive when their pastor or any member of the family was not present at the Sunday School at 8am and could not pick calls put across to them. They went to the house to find out why, but were shocked when there was no response from inside.
It was also gathered that members who had called on them on Saturday had found the doors locked and concluded that they had traveled, without knowing that the family were in distress. They were said to have contacted the police at the Ubakala Police Division who accompanied them to force the door of the house open and discovered the shocking scenario.
The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital where the three were confirmed dead, while the doctors battled to resuscitate Mr. Jacob who was struggling to breathe.
It was further gathered that Mr. Jacob has been transferred to a hospital in Enugu, as the resident doctors’ strike at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, made it imperative that he be referred to a competent hospital.
Chidi Okoroafor, the Umuahia District head of the Assemblies of God, expressed shock at the incident and said it was too early to say the cause of the incident, but assured the police have started investigation to unravel the mystery.
Anti-narcotics operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Thursday disclosed the discovery of 1kg cocaine hidden in sandals by a Nigerian based in Spain.
According to the agency, the suspect, Ezeugha Sunny, was detected on an Iberia flight at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos on Wednesday attempting to smuggle the drugs to Europe.
“The cocaine was carefully packed in two 500g parcels and neatly hidden in a pair of sandals he was putting on at the time of screening,” said Mitchell Ofoyeju, spokesperson for the agency.
Mr Ofoyeju disclosed that three other suspects also tested positive to drug ingestion, adding that two of them, Abuku Kennedy, 26, and Oparaji Anthony, 40, live in Spain, while Tochukwu Okeke, 35, lives in Monrovia, Liberia.
Ahmadu Giade, chief executive of the agency said that drug barons have nowhere to hide the illegal substance, stressing that the agency is determined to deal with the peddlers.
“The seizure is unique and the dedication of the officers must be commended. Drug barons will have their drug concealment methods discovered because we are prepared and committed to our duty of drug control,” he said. “Regular training in both interdiction techniques and passenger profiling is also our strength.” The suspect, who claimed to have got the sandals from a resident in Lagos, said that after losing his job in Europe, things became tough and he had no choice but to delve into crime..
“I work in Spain but I lost my job some months ago. Though I am single, it is difficult to cope in Europe without a job. It is joblessness that led me into drug trafficking. I needed money for my upkeep and when they told me that the drug will be inside my sandals, I felt it was a good plan to escape arrest but my desire did no work out,” he said.
Umar Hamza, airport commander for the agency, said that Tochukwu Okeke, one of the other arrested suspects, swallowed 45 pieces of narcotic substances on his way to Liberia.
According to him, the suspect was to board an Arik flight when he tested positive to drug ingestion.
“Oparaji Anthony ingested 71 wraps while Abuku Kennedy swallowed 45 wraps,” he said.
Mr Hamza added that the suspects are still on observation to expel the drugs in their stomachs.
“The suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigation is completed,” he said.
BBC
A 22-year-old man, Chrisdian Johnson, has been found guilty of murdering a 16-year-old Nigerian, Oluwaseyi Ogunyemi, who was mauled by a dog before being stabbed in south London, the British Broadcasting Corporation reports.
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Johnson used his dog as a weapon on Ogunyemi before stabbing him in an attack in a park in Stockwell, the Old Bailey heard.
Oluwaseyi was brought down by one of the dogs as he tried to jump over a fence. He was then stabbed six times.
Johnson's brother Shane, 20, was cleared of murder.
The murder was described in court as unique because dangerous dogs were used as weapons to savage their victims before they were knifed.
Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, told jurors, "At the time of the attack, both dogs were unleashed, and chased and then brought down and savaged their victims, giving their human masters an advantage, enabling them then to access their victims in order to stab them with knives."
One witness said the behaviour of the youths in the attack was "vicious" and "mirrored the behaviour of a pack of wild animals," Mr. Altman told jurors.
Johnson was arrested as he fled from the scene of the murder in Larkhall Park bare-chested and covered in blood.
Johnson, of South Lambeth, south London, had been allowed to keep the animal only when a court imposed strict conditions on his ownership in late 2007.
He was also convicted of the attempted murder of the victim's 17-year-old friend, Hurui Hiyabu, said to have been lucky to survive after he was knifed nine times.
Detective Inspector Mick Norman said, "Seyi Ogunyemi was a young man of slight stature, suffering from Crohn's Disease.
"He was attacked by a dog released by Chrisdian Johnson and taken to the ground. While on the ground, he was stabbed where he lay. He didn't stand a chance."
Johnson was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Friday (today).
