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Historians might be tempted to suggest that Goodluck Jonathan rose to power without lifting a finger. For 78 days, forces loyal to president-in-absentia Umaru Yar’Adua battled for the soul of the nation, bent on maintaining the status quo. Nonetheless, the clamour began to rise with calls for a handover of power to Jonathan.

The resolve in Yar’Adua’s own Cabinet started to crumble, most glaringly with Minister of Information and Communications Dora Akunyili’s incendiary memo, shot down by her colleagues. According to reports, when Mrs. Akunyili looked for support from the clear beneficiary of her memo, Mr. Jonathan merely told her to follow the process. He would not be seen to help Akunyili or any others calling time on Yar’Adua’s doomed presidency. He could not afford to be seen to be openly disloyal or to be unduly ambitious for himself. Yar’Adua and the totally discredited former ‘First Lady’, Turai – had clearly demonstrated their lack of trust in Jonathan anyway. Why reinforce the paranoia of the Yar’Adua camp? None of that for Jonathan. He kept it under his hat. He kept it cool.

Mr. Jonathan played a clever game, some would say. By why play a game at all when the inexorable march of history is on your side? Memorably, 24 governors went to Jonathan like the ‘Three Wise Men’ of yore and offered their goodwill to the man named Goodluck. They called him ‘Acting President’.

And so it would seem, that the man now declared Nigeria’s ‘Acting President’ did nothing to earn his momentous rise to the highest office in the land. He merely rode the tide. It was just his luck. A more serendipitously named President has never assumed office anywhere.

In just ten years (having joined the PDP in 1999), Mr. Jonathan has risen seemingly out of nowhere to prominence. As deputy to then Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha in Bayelsa State, Jonathan finished off the former’s term of office after he fell from grace. He was only a compromise Vice Presidential candidate to the now ailing Yar’Adua after the dropping of Peter Odili. Now, yet again, Jonathan will finish off Yar’Adua’s presidency. How lucky can one man get?

Born November 20, 1957 to a canoe carver in the Ogbia Local Council of then Rivers State, Goodluck Jonathan had his Primary education in Otuoke and Oloibiri, places synonymous with the troubled history of oil-prospecting in the Niger Delta. He is the first Nigerian ruler to emerge from the Niger Delta, the first not to come from one of the major ethnic nationalities in the country. An Ijaw man in Aso Rock.

Jonathan attended the Mater Dei High School in Imiringi. After a two-year stint as a customs officer, he embarked on a Zoology degree at the University of Port Harcourt, graduating with a B.Sc in 1981. He taught at the Department of Biology at the Rivers State College of Education in Port Harcourt, leaving in 1993 to become Assistant Director in the now defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC). He bagged a doctorate degree in Zoology in 1995.

It is noteworthy that all of the qualified zoologist’s academic and working life was played out in the area of his birth, in the festering sore of the Delta, where ordinary people may now view his ascendancy as their own. 52 years largely spent in one geographical area may suggest a man of limited travel and experience, but this should not mean that we have a George Bush on our hands. Then there is his wife, Patience, who was the subject of a $13.5 million seizure by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in September 2006. We will be hoping that the Acting ‘First Lady’ - who now prefers to be called ‘Dame’ - will engineer no further embarrassments.

Mr. Jonathan’s rise heralds a realigning of the traditional power blocks in Nigerian politics. Some of those now trooping to assure him of their ‘loyalty’ might have sworn just months ago that a South-South Nigerian President would not emerge in their time. None of their certainty holds in the face of so much luck contained one man’s name.

In a highly superstitious land, it is just the kind of story that gets the masses believing again. Just how much of a good luck it is for the Nigerian nation, will depend on Mr. Jonathan’s actions from now on.

A Muslim bus driver stunned passengers by pulling over mid-route and beginning to pray in the aisle.

The driver stopped the bus without warning before removing his shoes and, using a fluorescent jacket as a prayer mat, beginning to chant in Arabic.

Passengers said they feared the driver could be preparing for a terror attack.

No one was able to get on or off the vehicle during the five-minute prayer session.

Passenger Gayle Griffiths complained to Transport for London about the bizarre incident on the No.24 bus in Gospel Oak, north London, this week.

Mother-of-one Miss Griffiths, 33, of Camden, north-west London, had boarded the bus a few minutes earlier on her way home from work.

She says that she even feared at the time that the driver might be a fanatic planning to blow up the bus.

She said: 'I have done the journey a million times before but I was in a hurry to get home to pick my little girl up from school.

'We had just picked up and let off people at a bus stop and moved off again when the driver stopped the bus very suddenly.

'He got out of his cab, leaving the engine running, and walked towards the middle exit door.

'He laid out a fluorescent jacket on the floor and I thought that somebody must have been sick and he was covering it up.

'I didn't really think much of it.

'But then he took off his shoes and began praying. I was gobsmacked and quite bewildered.'

Miss Griffiths said the bus driver didn't give the passengers any explanation as to what he was doing.

'He hadn't addressed the passengers at all,' she said. 'I didn't say anything and nor did anyone else. I thought it would all be over in 30 seconds but it went on for over five minutes.

Passenger: Gayle Griffiths

'It even went through my mind that this might be some sort of terrorist attack with the bus blown up because I had heard that suicide bombers prayed before attacks.

'As the engine was running anyone could also have got in the cab and driven off with a bus full of passengers.

'He was also blocking the exit, so if something had happened we would not have been able to get off.

'Everyone was looking round in a mix of shock and amazement. It was truly bizarre, ludicrous and aggravating.

'We are delayed often enough as it is in London.

'We live in a multi-cultural society but there is a time and a place for prayer and the middle of a journey with a busload of passengers is not it.'

Transport for London said it had apologised to all the passengers for the delay to their journey and said all Muslim drivers are being reminded that they should pray during statutory rest periods rather than hold up services.

A TfL spokesman said: 'A route 24 bus was delayed following a decision by the driver to stop the bus to pray.

'The bus company, London General, has had a word with the driver as this is not something that should be happening.

'TfL apologises to passengers for any inconvenience this may have caused them.

'We understand that there is some flexibility in the Muslim faith as to the times of day that drivers can pray.

'TfL and the individual bus operating companies acknowledge and value the diversity of their staff.

'As diverse employers, TfL and the bus operators provide suitable prayer or quiet rooms at garages and other key locations for staff who wish to practise their faith.

'We have asked London General to remind drivers who have a requirement to pray to use these facilities during their rest periods.'

When David Beckham arrived in Italy for what, at the time, seemed a novelty excursion some 14 months ago, he received a text message from an old friend. It consisted of just seven words: “David Beckham. Manchester United. Real Madrid. Milan.” The point was being made that, long after he stopped being a footballer, he would have a unique legacy: he has belonged to the three most glamorous clubs from what, in the span of his playing career, have been the three most celebrated leagues.http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/rap_sheet/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/david_beckham1_300_400.jpg">

So storied is the life of David Beckham that there is plenty to insert in between the Manchester chapter, the Madrid episode and the coda in Milan; there are debates to rehearse about the ratio of skill to hard-sell that motivated those who have employed him; arguments to hold about the greatness of the actual sides he played in at each of those clubs. But the sequence United-Real-AC gives Beckham a great deal of pride, not just because it reflects professional peaks set across so sustained a time, but because it also shows a sportsman with the dedication to see out and deliver a grand plan.

What he had never quite planned for, he admits, was the moment when the distinguished line of fabled club names had a kink in it, a meeting of the threads, as it does on Tuesday, when Milan face his “ex” — his most loved ex. “You know, I’ve never had to do this before, play against one of my old teams,” says Beckham, struck by the curiosity of that fact. In Madrid, he used to look forward to Uefa draw ceremonies at least twice a season, and the strong possibility that the names Real and Manchester United would be paired and he would be obliged to stand in a line and shake hands before kick-off with Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and perhaps Roy Keane as they filed past him wearing red while he wore white.

As Beckham spent a third and then a fourth season as a Madrid footballer, always in the Champions League, the chance of playing against United became more probability than possibility. It never happened. Once he joined Milan for the second half of the 2008-9 campaign, his adventures abroad were restricted to the Uefa Cup. When Milan did meet Madrid in the senior competition last autumn, Beckham was at the other end of his transatlantic commute, seeing out his obligations to Los Angeles Galaxy in America.

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And so, 15 years and two months after Beckham made his Champions League debut for United, it is United he faces on his Champions League debut for Milan. The occasion will have an extra drumroll and crash of cymbals because it is Milan’s 100th match in the European Cup to be played at their San Siro site.

As Beckham spoke on Friday evening, it was clear that if he was preparing to put on the professional blinkers to safeguard against a confusion of emotions, those around him were readying themselves for an occasion of gravitas. His children, who have continued their schooling in the US while dad does his five-month stint in Italy, have come over. His head coach at Milan, Leonardo, spoke of “a very special moment in David’s life. For any player to play in the Champions League against an old club is special, but for David it is particularly.”

Leonardo was stressing that this was not just a case of an itinerant professional playing against a former club. Beckham is not a peripatetic Nicolas Anelka or Christian Vieri, he is a Manchester United fan, several of whose contemporaries never left Old Trafford. Beckham still sometimes suggests that he would have been equally happy, in the summer of 2003, had he stayed there rather than joining Madrid.

Will there be a knot in his stomach, a lump in his throat on Tuesday? “Obviously there will be emotions,” he says, “but I don’t think it will be a problem. I’ve played in many big games. There has been so much talk about me going back to Manchester United in the second leg, because it will be my first time playing for a club there in seven years. But this tie is not just about me playing against United, it’s about AC Milan. It’s about two great clubs coming together, and that’s what makes it such a big game, for the teams, for the fans.”

There are plenty of grounds for trepidation besides his own butterflies. “United are just on fire at the moment, which means it’s going to very tough for us.” It goes without saying that Beckham — “I love to watch every United game where possible” — has as precise a gauge of United’s form as anybody at Milan, and the same understanding of where the principal menace comes from: Wayne Rooney.

Beckham, a close witness to Ronaldinho’s recent revival in form, has no hesitation in likening Rooney to the Brazilian in his best form. He sees a Rooney liberated this season, operating at the sharpest point of the attack. “I have always thought,” says Beckham of his England colleague, “that Wayne is one of the best goalscorers in football anywhere. He’s proving that. He’s at a great club and doing what he does best, which is scoring goals. United are playing so well for him, too.” Not least Ryan Giggs, whose absence with injury seems a genuine source of personal regret for his former colleague. “It’s a big shame Giggsy’s out. To have played on the same field as Giggsy, but against him for once, would have been really nice for me. Hopefully he’ll be fixed up soon and maybe he’ll make the second leg.”http://www.sportsagentblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/david_beckham_victoria_beckham_boob.jpg">

As for his own fitness, Beckham, 34, is happy with progress since reaching Italy and with his capacity for taking his season all the way into July, as part of the England World Cup squad. Fabio Capello is expected at San Siro as an observer on Tuesday and the understanding between the England manager and Beckham is that the player needs to show sufficient stamina and competitiveness with Milan to earn his ticket to South Africa. Major League Soccer was not a convincing platform for Capello. Milan is.

“My fitness is good, really good,” insists Beckham. “Obviously being back at Milan and working hard with the medical regime they have here has been great. To be part of an England squad, you have to be playing at the top level. You have to be playing with top players and be at the top of your fitness.” And his form? “Good,” he replies. Up and down, say the Italian media, ranging from a beaming 7.5 out of 10 from Tuttosport for his showing on his first game back, to a grumpy 4.5 from Corriere dello Sport for the Milan derby three weeks ago.

Leonardo, appointed head coach last summer, appears pleased to have Beckham back at Milan. “He arrived in December, he already knew everything he needed to, knew the atmosphere, most of the team, and how we play,” says Leonardo. “All of that’s not been a problem for him.”

Of the new teammates, the strikers were especially welcoming. Marco Boriello, who spent most of last season injured, has already profited from Beckham’s crossing. The Dutch international Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, signed last August but more out of the first XI than in it so far, hopes the combination of his alertness in the penalty box and the Englishman’s passing might prove fruitful. “He’s got a real eye for the assist,” Huntelaar thought immediately. “He’s always looking for the strikers and to swing the ball in, in front of you. It’s nice to play as a striker with him there and with Ronaldinho on the other side.”

“I got a great welcome from everybody, fans and players,” says Beckham. But there was one significant change from the last Milan dressing room he had been a member of. “Obviously Paolo Maldini’s retired and a couple of other characters have gone who were here last time. But the team is similar. There’s a great spirit within the club and that’s definitely not changed. We’re just as strong. When we play well, we’re a very good team.” The “when” is heavily weighed. He acknowledges that Milan have had a horribly inconsistent month.

January started superbly as Beckham seemed to have brought his Golden Balls knack with him into the new year: Milan had finished 2009 with just three points from their past three games. Beckham went straight into the starting line-up and they won the next three matches, racking up 12 goals, including a 3-0 win away at Juventus.

Then came the derby with Inter, a 2-0 defeat, and two subsequent draws, the second of which, against Bologna, Beckham watched entirely from the bench. Is he frustrated at being left out of the XI? “No,” he replies, “because I’ve always said when I came to the club, I never expect to start any games here.”

His return to action in Friday’s 3-2 win over Udinese, albeit as a substitute, suggests he will have a senior role on Tuesday. “We needed that win after the past couple of games,” he says, “and we needed also to get players fit again, like Alex Pato, with the United matches coming up. Both are going to be tough, but I’m looking forward to it.”

FIFTH TIME LUCKY FOR UNITED?

Manchester United have a score to settle with Milan. The teams have met in four previous two-legged European ties — three of them at the semi-final stage — and Milan triumphed each time, twice going on to win the trophy — in 1969 and 2007.

May 1958 European Cup semi-final: Man Utd 2 Milan 1, Milan 4 Man Utd 0.

April/May 1969 European Cup semi-final: Milan 2 Man Utd 0, Man Utd 1 Milan 0.

Feb/Mar 2005 Champions League, 2nd rd: Man Utd 0 Milan 1, Milan 1 Man Utd 0.

Apr/May 2007 Champions League semi-final: Man Utd 3 Milan 2, Milan 3 Man Utd 0.

Some quotes from this controversial book which are often cited in discussions about Khomeini's work:

• "A man can marry a girl younger than nine years of age, even if the girl is still a baby being breastfed. A man, however is prohibited from having intercourse with a girl younger than nine, other sexual acts such as foreplay, rubbing, kissing and sodomy is allowed. A man having intercourse with a girl younger than nine years of age has not committed a crime, but only an infraction, if the girl is not permanently damaged. If the girl, however, is permanently damaged, the man must provide for her all her life. But this girl will not count as one of the man’s four permanent wives. He also is not permitted to marry the girl’s sister.” - Ayatollah Khomeini, “Tahrir- ol-vasyleh”, Volume 4, Darol Elm, Qom, Iran, 1990, p. 221.

• 
  
• "If one commits an act of sodomy with a cow, a ewe, or a camel, their urine and their excrements become impure, and even their milk may no longer be consumed." - Ayatollah Khomeini, "Tozih-ol-Masael".

• 
  
• "During sexual intercourse, if the penis enters a woman's vagina or a man's anus, fully or only as far as the circumcision ring, both partners become impure, even if they have not reached puberty; they must consequently perform their ablutions." - Ayatollah Khomeini, "Tozih-ol-Masael".

• 
  
• “A man can have sex with animals such as sheeps, cows, camels and so on. However, he should kill the animal after he has his orgasm. He should not sell the meat to the people in his own village; however, selling the meat to the next door village should be fine.” - Ayatollah Khomeini, “Tahrir- ol-vasyleh”, Volume 4, Darol Elm, Qom, Iran, 1990.

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• "After the wedding, if the husband commits sodomy with the father or brother of the bride, the marriage stays valid." - Ayatollah Khomeini, "Tozih-ol-Masael".

Grand Ayatollah Sayyed^{[citation needed]} Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini (Persian: روح الله موسوی خمینی, pronounced [ruːhollɑːhe muːsæviːje xomejniː] ( listen)^{[add stress]}; 24 September 1902^[1][2] – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Following the revolution and a national referendum, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader—a position created in the constitution as the highest ranking political and religious authority of the nation—until his death.

Khomeini was a marja or marja al-taqlid ("source of emulation", also known as a Grand Ayatollah) in Twelver Shi'a Islam, but is most famous for his political role. In his writings and preachings he expanded the Shi'a Usuli theory of velayat-e faqih, the "guardianship of the jurisconsult (clerical authority)" to include theocratic political rule by Islamic jurists.

Beloved by millions of Iranians ^[3] he was "the Imam, an ascetic spiritual leader whose teachings are unquestioned."^[4] Both his return from exile and his funeral were occasions of great emotional outpouring for millions.

In the non-Muslim world abroad he was described as the "virtual face of Islam in Western popular culture," ^[5] known for his support of the hostage takers during the Iranian hostage crisis ^[6] and his fatwa calling for the death of British citizen Salman Rushdie.^[7] TIME magazine described him as "a fanatic whose judgments are harsh, reasoning bizarre and conclusions surreal,"^[4] and Iranian American scholar Vali Nasr as one who inculcated "fear and distrust towards Islam.^[5]

Named Man of the Year in 1979 by American newsmagazine TIME^[4], Khomeini has been referred to as a "charismatic leader of immense popularity," ^[8] considered a "champion of Islamic revival" by both Shia and Sunni scholars.^[5]

Khomeini is usually known as Imam Khomeini inside Iran^[9] and amongst his followers internationally, and Ayatollah Khomeini outside of the country.^[10]