Astronomers using a telescope in Chile have discovered 50 previously unknown exoplanets.
The bumper haul of new worlds includes 16 "super-Earths" - planets with a greater mass than our own, but below those of gas giants such as Jupiter.
One of these super-Earths orbits inside the habitable zone - the region around a star where conditions could be hospitable to life.
The planets were identified using the Harps instrument in La Silla in Chile.
The new findings are being presented at a meeting called Extreme Solar Systems in Wyoming, US, and will appear in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Lead author Dr Michel Mayor, from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, said the haul included "an exceptionally rich population of super-Earths and Neptune-type planets hosted by stars very similar to our Sun".
He added: "The new results show that the pace of discovery is accelerating."
Life markers
Of the new finds, a total of five planets have masses that are less than five times that of Earth.
"These planets will be among the best targets for future space telescopes to look for signs of life in the planet's atmosphere by looking for chemical signatures such as evidence of oxygen," said Francesco Pepe, from the Geneva Observatory, who contributed to the research.
One of the worlds, called HD 85512 b, is estimated to be only 3.6 times the mass of the Earth.
It is located at the edge of the habitable zone - the narrow strip around a star where liquid water can be present on the surface of a planet. Liquid water is considered essential for the existence of life.
Observations with Harps have also allowed astronomers to come up with an improved estimate of the likelihood that a star such as the Sun will host low-mass planets such as the Earth (as opposed to giants such as Jupiter).
They found that about 40% of such stars have at least one planet less massive than Saturn.
Harps (High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher) is a precision instrument known as a spectrograph that is installed on the 3.6m telescope at Chile's La Silla Observatory.
The instrument searches for planets using the radial velocity method. This looks for spectral signs that a star is wobbling due to gravitational tugs from an orbiting planet.
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Silvio Berlusconi's lawyers were known to be braced for defeat in the closing stages of the scandalous "Ruby" sex trial, and they needed to be.
In this case that laid bare the former prime minister's so called "bunga-bunga" party lifestyle, the judges delivered a crushing verdict.
Mr Berlusconi was convicted on both the charges he faced, sentenced to seven years in jail and banned from holding public office ever again.
The judges decided that he did indeed pay for sex with underage prostitute Karima El Mahroug, better known by her nightclub dancer stage name "Ruby the Heartstealer".
The court had heard that he slept with her on 13 occasions at a time when he was still Italy's prime minister.
Ms El Mahroug, however, says she has never been a prostitute. And both she and Mr Berlusconi denied they had ever had sex.
The judges also decided that the former prime minister had abused the powers of his office; that he pressured the police into freeing Ms El Mahroug when she was in custody.
'Elegant' parties
Karima El Mahroug denies ever having sex with Mr Berlusconi
The court had heard that Mr Berlusconi had met the dancer when she attended one of his party nights.
These were occasions when aspiring showgirls and models would mix with him and his influential entourage.
Prosecution witnesses talked of raunchy, sexually-charged cavorting.
There were accounts of women dressed as nuns stripping to their underwear for the entertainment of the then prime minister.
Mr Berlusconi has always denied that anything sleazy ever went on at what he has called his "elegant" dinner parties.
And he was furious at the judgement.
"It is not only bad justice, it is an offence to all Italians who have believed in me and trusted in my commitment to the country," he wrote in a statement.
He has always argued that he is being hounded by politically motivated left-wing prosecutors in Milan.
And he said this verdict had been an effort to eliminate him from political life.
Divided opinion
Many of the millions of Italians who vote for Mr Berlusconi will agree.
Among them is a friend of the former prime minister, Diego Volpe Pasini, who used to go to the "bunga-bunga" parties.
"The Ruby case is extraordinary," he said, in the days before the verdict.
"It's a nonsense. How can you be convicted if you can't see a victim? Ruby's not a victim," he said, referring to Ms El Mahroug's denials that she ever had sex with Mr Berlusconi.
Mr Volpe Pasini said that at his parties Mr Berlusconi would sing and tell jokes.
He added that - although showgirls might have tried to impress the media magnate prime minister with dance routines - nothing morally questionable happened.
But many of those Italians who loathe Mr Berlusconi and everything he stands for will believe he is guilty as charged.
And this very high-profile case has probably damaged Mr Berlusconi more than most of his many courtroom dramas.
"Some of the information that's been emerging has been a bit excessive from the point of view of moral behaviour and private behaviour," Professor Franco Pavoncello of John Cabot University in Rome.
"I think that people are a bit disturbed by the kind of images that started to appear from those evenings in Mr Berlusconi's villa."
Bigger threat
But Mr Berlusconi has ridden out countless scandals and legal storms that would have sunk almost any other political career, and he will certainly survive "the Ruby case".
This judgement will have no immediate, practical impact. It was only the verdict of a lower court. Appeals against it could go on for years.
Even if the sentence was eventually confirmed, a man of Mr Berlusconi's age would be extremely unlikely to go to prison for crimes like these in Italy.
Much more serious for the former PM is another case that is fast reaching a conclusion.
This is an affair in which Mr Berlusconi has been convicted of tax evasion.
And if he cannot get the sentence overturned at a final appeal hearing he will be barred from holding any public office as soon as this autumn.
He would see this as intolerable victory for those left-wing prosecutors who, he says, have schemed against him.
And there is intense speculation as to how Mr Berlusconi will manoeuvre to counter the looming threat.
The tensions surrounding this legal battle are already feeding into the political arena.
The veteran Berlusconi-watcher, Professor James Walston, of the American University of Rome wrote in his blog: "If they uphold his conviction... with its bar on his holding public office, then we will see Silvio Berlusconi slip from the statesman role to the rabble-rousing populist with uncertain and dangerous possibilities."
It is even possible to envisage a scenario in which the ructions might eventually bring down Italy's coalition government, of which the former prime minister's faction is a major part.
Monday, 24 June 2013
Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad hands power to son Tamim
1 hour ago
Sheikh Tamim (left) was named heir apparent by Sheikh Hamad (right) in 2003
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, has handed over power to his son, the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
In a speech broadcast on Qatari television, he said it was time for a new generation to take over.
Rumours had been circulating for days that Sheikh Tamim, 33, was preparing to succeed his 61-year-old father.
Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV said Sheikh Hamad told the "ruling family and top advisers" of his decision on Monday.
Diplomatic player
Addressing the nation on what is a national holiday, Sheikh Hamad said: "I announce handing the rule over to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani".
He said his decision opened the way for a "young leadership".
On Wednesday, both Sheikh Hamad and Sheikh Tamim are expected to receive Qatari citizens who want to "swear allegiance" to the new emir.
A cabinet reshuffle is also expected as part of the changes in the government line-up, with younger ministers likely to take charge. It is not clear if the long-serving Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, will also step aside.
Qatar has been dominated by the Al Thani family for almost 150 years.
Sheikh Hamad seized power from his father Sheikh Khalifa in a bloodless coup in 1995, with the support of the armed forces and cabinet, and also neighbouring states.
Since then the emir has introduced some political and economic liberalisation, and in recent years has made Qatar a major player in regional diplomacy.
In 2003, he named Sheikh Tamim - his second son by his second wife Sheikha Moza bint Nasser - as his heir apparent. He replaced his elder brother, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani.
Analysts say the British-educated Sheikh Tamim, who is deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is unlikely to deviate far from his father's policies.
He chairs the 2030 Vision project which outlines the development goals for the country and has a clear liberalising social agenda. The project has had significant input from his father and mother.
Sheikh Tamim is also head of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, which is in charge of preparing the emirate to host the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
In foreign policy, the emirate is expected to maintain its alliance with the West while at the same time pursuing an activist stance in Syria and other Arab countries.
However, he will also inherit strained relations with some of Qatar's Gulf neighbours, notably Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who have been angered by Qatar's perceived closeness to the influential regional Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood.
The emirate has also tried to increase its diplomatic prestige further afield. Earlier this month, Afghanistan's Taliban movement opened its first office in the capital Doha to facilitate peace talks with the United States.
Self-confidence is a critical mix in the brewing of success in life. It means assurance and poise. The opposite of it include timidity and insecurity.
Self-assurance and poise are the marks of someone with sure steps. It is only those who know where they are going that can step out with self-assurance and poise.
Conversely timid and insecure people hardly know where they are going and they step out with unsure steps and are fearful, knowing not where to go.
How can one build the kind of self-confidence being described here? If you are asking this question, here are three basic steps you can use:
Commitment
Courage, and
Action
Commitment:
One of the best words used to describe commitment is dedication. To be successful in life, one must be committed to a good cause. The cause could be social, economic and cultural. Another way to see the cause is to think about your purpose, vision and passion for the achievement of your purpose in and what you see of your life in future.
Let’s take for example that the cause for which you have committed yourself is selling. You think, feel and is motivated to help people find products and services that would improve or simplify their lives and business processes. Your commitment to be the best salesman that ever was through study and application would endow you with the next step to building self-confidence which is courage.
Courage:
Courage also means audacity. Audacity refers to the boldness and the nerve to do what you must do. We all have some inherent fears about venturing out. There are several fear factors but the three core fears are fear of failure, fear of rejection and fear of success. Fear cripples the best ideas. Fear hinders progress. Courage comes when your need to be the best salesman overshadows your fear of failure, fear of rejection and fear of success. At this point you key into the realm of self leadership which involves knowing what needs to be done and going ahead to doing it regardless of the challenges you face. You have that boldness to do the very next thing critical to building your self-confidence which is take action.
Action:
Action also means, exploit, deed and accomplishment. When you develop the courage to exploit the countless opportunities of life regardless of your circumstances, you have keyed into the special character trait of successful people – self-confidence.
Action emboldens the actor. There is an irrevocable law about getting – it is giving. The more you give of yourself into a good cause you believe in, the more you get for yourself and the more confident you become in the overall.
pursuit of its megacity status, Lagos State Government is clearing slums, especially those on the drainage channels and right of way. The Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello, who visited a colony of illegal squatters in Babs Animashaun occupants, Surulere, Lagos Mainland had given the residents in this community 30 days to quit as they “constituted a nuisance”.
Months after receiving this notice, the residents of Adelabu community are still uncertain of their fate.
Illegal ‘colonies’ seem to exist almost everywhere in Lagos making its government to step up its urban renewal and channelization programme to rejuvenate it. The Otumara village in Constain and Ijora Badia has also been asked to leave to make way for the ongoing rebranding, renewal and channelization programmes to complement the beautification of the Constain and Iganmu areas.
Mr Bello said the Otto creek shanties and its dwellers would be expelled to make room for the ongoing construction connecting the drain between Ilu –Eri and the Brewery. He said the channels would have to be cleared to bring relief to residents of Tejuosho, Apapa, Iponri and Olaleye areas.
At Adelabu area in Surulere, behind an elitist school, Fountain Heights Secondary School, the Commissioner scolded the community of over 2,000 inhabitants including women and children, on why they warded off and fought the government officials sent to give them eviction notice to allow for the construction of channels and drainage to check flooding in Surulere, which has been a yearly occurrence due to the activities of these people.
Mega city, Mega Traffic Jam, Mega Agberos, Mega thieves, mega bad roads. We still pray for our country though.
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi says profligacy in front of goal was a big factor in his side's exit from the Confederations Cup in Brazil.
The African champions finished next to bottom in their group after a 3-0 loss to Spain in their last game on Sunday.
Prior to the defeat, Nigeria beat Tahiti 6-1 and lost 2-1 to Uruguay.
"There's so much anxiety in front of the goal-line when we get there. The good thing is we create chances, but we're not finishing them," said Keshi.
"That's something we need to work on. Hopefully it's going to come quickly."
Nigeria needed to win Sunday's game to stand any chance of squeezing into the semi-finals, but Spain took the honours through a pair of goals from left-back Jordi Alba and a Fernando Torres header.
Nigeria had opportunities to get back into the match but Brown Ideye and substitute Muhammad Gambo both spurned good chances in the second half.
Keshi also felt his players had become "unprofessional" after Torres doubled Spain's lead shortly after coming on as a 60th-minute substitute, but he added that his side were hampered by injuries.
Nigeria lost Victor Moses, Emmanuel Emenike and Ogenyi Onazi prior to the tournament, while Nnamdi Oduamadi was injured against Uruguay and centre-back Kenneth Omeruo had to go off with an injury against Spain.
"You look at the other teams in the tournament, and they have a complete XI of first-team players here," he said.
"I lost four, five key players in the team at the last minute. And today I lost one of my key players at centre-half, which is damaging. But it's football. You have to live with it." We cannot keep just trying, we need to make a statement at a world stage that we are the best in Africa!
Despite their Confederations Cup disappointment, Nigeria remain on course to return to Brazil for next year's World Cup.
The Super Eagles will move into the final round of African qualifying if they avoid defeat at home to Malawi in their next competitive fixture on 6 September. NFF needs to buy a sticker in Neymar and give Brazil Ideye, musa, and Mba as collateral. Lol. 9ja for life.....
Globacom’s grip on the second position as dominant operator by subscriber numbers may be coming under threat from Airtel Nigeria which now has 23,6million lines against 23.8million recorded by the former, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission’s latest ranking.
The latest ranking of operators in the Nigerian telecoms market released recently by the industry umpire shows that MTN Nigeria is still in a comfortable lead by subscriber numbers with over 51.2 million active lines at quarter one of 2013.
According to the Q1 2013 operator data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) obtained by Daily Trust the total active connections among players in the market totaled some 117.2m active lines with the GSM sector accounting for 114.1m lines compared to 2,703,604 and 395,023 by their CDMA and fixed line/wireless counterparts respectively.
Overall the relatively bigger subscriber numbers give the GSM sector 97.36 per cent of the overall telecoms market share in Nigeria leaving CDMA and CDMA and fixed line/wireless networks to share 2.31 per cent and 0.34 per cent respectively.
The figures from the release indicates that Airtel Nigeria appears to be warming up to reclaim the number two spot by posting 23,670,986 lines against 23,833,796 recorded by Globacom leaving the Indian company with a difference of 162810 lines separating its catch-up ambition against its arch rival.
Pushing a keen bid to dominate the Nigerian telecoms space, Airtel Nigeria recorded 2.51 per cent quarterly growth against 1.21per cent of Globacom, the lowest within the GSM sector when pitted against 1.35 per cent by Etisalat Nigeria that also finished the race within the period under review with 15,114,484 active lines.
The moribund Mtel posted a static 258,520, believed to be the last market information available to the telecoms umpire from the mobile subsidiary of the pioneer national operator, NITEL which is being slated for liquidation by government.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Indian telecom mogul who also doubles as Chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Airtel, the company that pulled off the $9 billion purchase of the Zain African operations that gave the Indian company an African entry under the telecoms deal.
With control of Airtel Nigeria alongside 15 other operations of Zain, Sunil Mittal has promised to seize control of the local telecoms market from South Africa’s MTN Group.
Prior to the Zain deal, plans by the Mittal to close a $23 billion merger deal with South Africa’s MTN Group fell through twice.
Pitted in competition against MTN Group in Nigeria, and five other countries, Mittal had said at the company brand launch in Nigeria that he is on a mission to wrest control of the Nigeria telecoms market from his South African rival.
It is a major duel believed to be underway in Nigeria regarded as a veritable battleground as the largest African nation by population and mobile-phone subscribers .
and