MAYWEATHER RELEASED

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been
released from a Las Vegas detention center after
serving two months of a three-month sentence for a
domestic violence conviction, a detention center
official said early Friday.
Video from CNN affiliate KVVU showed Mayweather
leaving the facility.
The official from the Clark County Detention Center
said Mayweather was no longer in custody. No
explanation of why Mayweather was released before
the end of his sentence was given.
The undefeated boxer was convicted last year after
the police said he punched the mother of his children
at his home.
The high-profile athlete was to be kept in isolation
from the facility's 3,000 other inmates, the police
said when he was booked into the detention center in
June.
"He will receive one hour free time per day by
himself," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department said in a news release at the time.
Mayweather had been set to go to jail earlier in the
year, but a Nevada judge pushed back his reporting
date so that the boxer could compete last month
against WBA super-welterweight champion Miguel
Cotto.
Mayweather, whose nickname is "Money," won a
unanimous decision in the Las Vegas fight, which
paid him $32 million.










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83 MILLION FACEBOOK USERS ARE FAKE!

The number of fake accounts on Facebook is
roughly the size of Egypt's population and
larger than most of the world's countries, the
company disclosed this week.
In a 10-Q filing, Facebook acknowledged that a total
of 8.7% -- or 83 million -- accounts on the network are
bogus. Of that 8.7%, 4.8% are duplicate accounts,
2.4% are user-misclassified accounts and 1.5% are
"undesirable" accounts, a.k.a. spam.
The figure is a bit higher than the company's
previous estimates. In a March filing, Facebook
claimed about 5% to 6% of its accounts -- or 40.3
million to 50.7 million -- were fake. The company also
says it bans at least 20,000 accounts daily and
estimates about 600,000 accounts per day are
compromised.
Taking the latest figures into account, Facebook's
latest claim of 955 million active users would be
downgraded to 872 million.







Ascology

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CHEVROLET MANCHESTER UNITED STRIKES NEW SHIRT DEAL

Chevrolet will be the new name on Manchester
United's shirts from the 2014-15 season.
Chevrolet, the club's official car partner, will become
only the fifth shirt sponsor in the club's 134-year
history from the 2014-2015 season, in a seven-year
agreement that has been signed for an undisclosed
amount.
United's commercial director, Richard Arnold, told
the club's official website, www.manutd.com: "This is
a fantastic, long-term deal for the club. We have been
partners with Chevrolet for only six weeks, but
already they have produced some fantastic ideas
that will benefit both the partnership and our 659
million followers around the world."
Arnold added: "They are a key partner on our current
tour and I know they have enjoyed experiencing the
buzz generated by our fanatical support and the sell-
out crowds in South Africa, China, and Europe.
"It is a great thrill for those of us who work with
partners all year round when an existing partner
steps up to being one of our principal partners. This
commitment to United and its fans will bring real
benefits to everyone who cares about the club."
Chevrolet will replace Aon, whose partnership with
United began in the 2010/11 season.
Alan Batey, General Motors' North America vice-
president, US sales and service, said: "We are
extremely proud to connect our brand, Chevrolet,
with Manchester United and its passionate
supporters all around the world.
"Manchester United's statistics are impressive, but
this relationship goes far beyond the numbers - this
relationship is about connecting our brand with the
deep-seated emotion that surrounds the team
everywhere it goes.
"When you consider the core values of Chevrolet, our
passionate customers around the world, and our rich
100-year history, the partnership with Manchester
United is a perfect fit.
"And, to be only the fifth name on the iconic red
jersey is a genuine honour. We very much look
forward to the road ahead and the opportunities we
have in partnering with such a legendary club."











Ascology

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FERDINAND CHARGED OVER TWITTER COMMENTS

Rio Ferdinand has been charged by the
Football Association over comments he made
at the end of the John Terry trial.
Following Terry's acquittal for allegedly racially
abusing Ferdinand's brother Anton, the Manchester
United defender responded to a tweet that
characterised Terry's Chelsea teammate Ashley Cole
- a defence witness in the trial - as a "choc ice".
The term is commonly understood to mean "black on
the outside, white on the inside" and was a reference
to Cole's testimony in court, in which he said he
never heard Terry make a racist remark towards
Anton Ferdinand during a match at Loftus Road in
October.
An FA statement said: "The FA has today charged
Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand with improper
conduct in relation to comments posted on Twitter.
"The allegation is that the player acted in a way
which was improper and/or brought the game into
disrepute by making comments which included a
reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race."
Ferdinand has until 4pm on Thursday to respond to
the charge.
The move extends still further a case which has cast
a shadow over the game for more than nine months
now.
Last week, Terry was charged with improper conduct
by the FA for the comments he made to Anton
Ferdinand, a charge he has vowed to contest.
Now, Rio Ferdinand must clear his name or risk a
hefty fine or potential suspension ahead of the new
Premier League campaign.









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50 NIGERIANS EVACUATED FROM SYRIA

Mr Olugbenga Ashiru, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, on Monday said about 50 Nigerians
had so far been evacuated from Syria following the
ongoing crises in the country.
Ashiru said in Abuja that the evacuees complied with
government's directive to leave Syria and he advised
others to vacate the Middle East nation.
"We have evacuated quite a lot of Nigerians from
Syria, it was not an airlift exercise like we did in the
case of Libya because they are very few.
"From the report I got, those moved so far are less
than 50, long before the situation deteriorated we
advised them to move.
"Some have decided to stay behind but it is their
choice.''
The minister also said that the families of the Charge
d'Affairs and officials at the embassy had been
relocated to the neighbouring nation of Lebanon "and
they are very safe there.''
It will be recalled that the Syrian conflict began on
March 15, 2011 with public demonstrations as part of
the wider Arab spring and developed into a
nationwide uprising.
Nigeria and Syria established diplomatic ties in 1961.













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THE ARSENAL TRIO VISITS NIGERIA

The Arsenal players (Photo Source: Bada Akintunde J)

Over the weekend, the trio of Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker and Lukas
Podolski of Arsenal FC of England were in Nigeria to meet with a
select group of fans, at the Malta Guinness Low Sugar Workout launch
in Lagos.

Czech midfielder, Tomas Rosicky who was scheduled to come along,
pulled out of the trip, after sustaining an injury in a pre-season
game.

The Gunners who arrived in Lagos on Saturday morning, were taught
steps of the rave-of-the-moment Azonto dance, by Guinness World Record
holding dancer, Kaffy and her crew, at the launch which took place at
the Ball Room of the popular Eko Hotel, on Sunday.

They were presented Nigerian national team shirts, bearing their
names, upon arrival at their hotel and another with Arsenal manager,
Arsene Wenger's name on it, too

Speaking on the experience, Sagna, described the visit to Nigeria as
wonderful, saying he hoped to visit again next year.

"I am quite happy to be here (Nigeria); it's a homecoming for me. I'm
back to my roots because I am black and from Senegal," Sagna said.

"Even if I am not Nigerian, we are all brothers; we are blacks.
Hopefully I will be part of the team when they visit again next year."

On his part, Mertesacker hailed former Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu,
saying African players were very technical.

"I have only watched Kanu on TV and I believe he can be a role model
to us at Arsenal. I played against a player like Chinedu Obasi in the
Bundesliga; he is very technical, strong and quick," he said.

Meanwhile, Malta Guiness Head of Innovation, Sola Oke, said there were
plans to bring the entire Gunners team to the country in future.

He said, "The rest of the squad are currently on pre-season tour; they
all can't be here at the same time. But sometime in the future, we
will be bringing the team back to Nigeria again because of our
partnership as the official malt drink of the club."

Meanwhile, the rest of the Arsenal senior team were at the time of the
event, being held to a 2-2 draw by Kitchee SC of Hong Kong, in China.

The English Premier League (EPL) team had been scheduled to play in
Nigeria his summer before the trip was cancelled due to certain
complexities in logistics.














Photo:Bada Akintunde J

Story: CitizensPlatform

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CHINA WINS LONDON 2012 FIRST GOLD MEDAL

China's world number one Yi Siling won the
first gold of the London Olympics in the women's
10m air rifle competition at London's Royal Artillery
Barracks on Saturday.
China's Yi Siling
In a tense contest watched by International Olympic
Committee president Jacques Rogge, Poland's Sylwia
Bogacka took silver after a fierce battle for the top
spot while Yu Dan of China clinched bronze.
Yi, 23, who won the title at the 2010 world
championships in Munich, had a total winning score
of 502.9, 0.7 points ahead of Bogacka, on 502.2. Yu
finished with 501.5.
Defending Olympic champion Katerina Emmons of
the Czech Republic finished fourth.
Yi, who was well off her own world record of 505.6,
said it felt good to be the first gold medal winner of
the 2012 Games.
"It's very exciting. Very happy. I'm very grateful to
China. And to my mother and father who I love very
much," she said.
"I am pleased, not nervous like I was in the
competition. I have been up since five this morning.
There was a lot of pressure on me," she added.
And Yi said being Olympic champion would change
her life.
"I think I myself have changed. I feel like I've grown
up and then I think this is going to bring some
changes to my life as well."
Bogacka earlier finished top of qualifying with Yi in
second place and the two were locked together in an
agonisingly tight duel in the final which started with
both scoring 10.8 out of possible 10.9 in the first
shot.
But Yi held her nerve under intense pressure, taking
advantage of some slips from the Pole, grabbing the
title with 10.3 and 10.5 in her last two shots.
Bogacka slipped to third after the ninth shot but her
final effort (10.8) lifted her into the silver medal
position.
"Amazing, really, really amazing. The people were
amazing. I'm very happy," said the Pole, 30. "I have
been shooting for 18 years. This is everything to me."
When asked where she felt she lost the gold medal,
she said: "I shot one 9.7, I think that was the reason I
fell down."
The top eight competitors from the qualification
round reached the final, shooting a further 10 shots,
each fired individually under timed conditions.
The score in the final is added to the score achieved
in the qualification round to determine the winner.
On home soil in 2008, the powerful Chinese took five
of the 15 golds on offer, making them the top
performers ahead of the United States.












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CASH IN OVEN!

A Sydney man who hid $15,000 in cash in his
oven was left with a colourful melted mess
after his wife turned it on.
The Merrylands father-of-two, who did not want to be
identified out of embarrassment, sold his beloved
Toyota Supra sports car for $15,000 on Saturday
afternoon and stashed the wads of notes in his
kitchen oven.
He said he believed the cash would be safe in the
oven because his wife never used it.
It was a decision he regretted yesterday after his wife
struggled to tell him the money had literally gone up
in smoke.
She had turned on the oven to pre-heat some chicken
nuggets for their two girls and inadvertently cooked
the cash.









Ascology

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NUPENG SUSPENDS STRIKE!

The National Union of Petroleum and Natural
Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Jetties and
Petroleum Tank Farm Owners Association
(JEPTFON) on Friday suspended it two-day old
strike.
This is contained in a communiqué jointly signed by
NUPENG, JEPTFON, the Group Managing Director of
NNPC, the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Product
Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the Minister of
State for Finance and the Minister of Labor.
The NUPENG President Igwe Achese and JEPTFON's
Enoch Kanawa, signed for the unions, while Chief
Emeka Wogu, Dr Yerima Ngama, Mr Andrew Yakubu
and Mr Reginald Stanley, signed for government.
The communiqué made available on Saturday stated
the Ministry of Finance had commenced the payment
of the Petroleum Subsidy for 2012.
It also assured the unions that the issuance of
Sovereign Debt Notes for verified and processed
batches would be concluded within two weeks.
The Federal Government assured NUPENG that steps
would be taken on the issue of access roads leading
to the refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri.
The communiqué stated that NNPC said it would
complete the `Turn Around Maintenance' (TAM) of
the refineries as planned and ensure availability of
crude them.
It was further resolved that JEPTFON "shall open the
jetties and depots owned by its members''.
It will be recalled that NUPENG had embarked on
strike over the non- payment of 2012 Petroleum
Subsidy arrears, state of the refineries, bad roads as
well as restructuring of loans of JEPTFON members.












Ascology

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