Swedish Woman Falls In Love With Nigerian Scammer’s Persona, Befriends Him, Puts Him Through College.

A few years after her divorce, Maria Grette, 62, from Sweden, created a profile on an online dating website where she met a 58-year-old Danish man who seemed like the perfect match. After exchanging messages back and forth, the Dane called her from a UK number, confirming his story as an expat businessman.

“I wanted to meet him because I liked him,” Maria told BBC. “He had a way and a sweetness I had never known in a man before. And he was innocent in a way that puzzled me.” After three months of communicating, the budding couple decided to meet… but that was when things started to get strange.

UN Welcomes Demolition Of Calais 'Jungle'

UN refugee agency says it approves of decision to demolish camp by the end of the year.

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said on Friday that it welcomed plans to demolish a refugee camp in Calais in northern France, but raised fears that lone children were at risk of trafficking if not adequately supported during the transition.

The ramshackle camp has become a symbol of Europe's struggle to respond to an influx of refugees and migrants fleeing war and poverty, and is home to nearly 9,000 people who want to cross the English Channel into Britain, just 33km away.

Multi-Door Court System Transforming Nigeria's Justice System

In a country where court cases often last 10 years and many suspects languish in jails, could mediation be a solution?  The files that will be handled during one morning of Settlement Week [Femke van Zeijl/Al Jazeera]

Lagos, Nigeria - The pastor used the Bible to persuade her not to pay her children's school fees, but to invest $1,500 in his friend's farm instead. "If you can't trust a pastor, who can you trust?" the school director from Lagos asks. Now she wishes she hadn't. For the past three years she has been chasing after her money; going to court nine times already and spending the equivalent of $150 in lawyers' fees.

Senegal New Solar Park Unveiled

Technicians operate electrical cabinets on October 22, 2016 during the opening ceremony of a new photovoltaic energy production site in Bokho

Senegal put into service one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest solar energy projects Saturday as it pushes to become a regional player in renewables on a continent where the majority remain off-grid.

The 20-megawatt Senergy 2 project in Bokhol, close to the Mauritanian border, will serve 160,000 people with electricity, and will contribute to Senegal's target of serving 20 percent of its energy needs with renewables by the end of 2017.

Mapping Africa's Natural Resources

Africa remains a key territory on the global map. Rich in oil and natural resources, the continent holds a strategic position.

It is the world's fastest-growing region for foreign direct investment, and it has approximately 30 percent of the earth's remaining mineral resources.

It's home to more than 40 different nations, and around 2,000 languages. Sub-Saharan Africa has six of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies. North Africa counts with vast oil and natural gas deposits; the Sahara holds the most strategic nuclear ore; and resources such as coltan, gold, and copper, among many others, are abundant on the continent.

Clean Energy With A $5 Device

(Grand prize winner Maanasa MenduAndy King/Discovery Education)

On Tuesday, Mendu, a 13-year-old from Ohio, won the grand prize in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for her work in creating a cost-effective "solar leaves" design to create energy. In addition to winning the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist," she gets $25,000 for her achievement.

The leaves, designed to help developing areas in need of cheaper power sources, cost roughly $5 to make.

Over the past three months, Mendu and nine other finalists worked on their projects alongside a mentor provided by 3M.

Cameroon Train Tragedy

YAOUNDE —  Thousands of Cameroonians have been flooding hospitals in the country's political and economic capitals Yaounde and Douala in search of corpses and survivors after a train crash that left more than 70 people dead and 600 injured. The overloaded train was carrying about 1,300 passengers. It normally carries 600.

Forty-five-year-old Mustapha Abbo arrived at the mortuary of the Yaounde general hospital in search of the body of his younger sister who died in last Friday's train crash in Esseka, 120 kilometers west of the capital, Yaounde. He said his sister's husband, who survived the crash, confirmed she died.

The Bermuda Triangle Mystery!

The Bermuda Triangle Photo: Bermudastyles.com

The mystery of Bermuda Triangle may have been solved according to a new documentary. It blames the "air bombs", which cause fierce winds, for the disappearance of ships and planes inside the "Devil's Triangle".

A documentary by the Science Channel showcases new satellite imagery from NASA over coastal Florida, revealing "a series of hexagon-shaped clouds," which meteorologists say can produce 170 mph (273kmph) wind air bombs above the Bermuda Triangle. These clouds, which can range anywhere between 20-55 miles (32-88.5km) and can produce microbursts that make movement of planes and ships difficult.

Death From Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Man died 'horror-movie' death from flesh-eating bacteria

OCEAN CITY, Md. — On Sept. 11, Michael Funkwas cleaning crab pots at his bayside condominium;four days later he was dead, the victim of flesh-eating bacteria.

For Marcia Funk, his wife of 46 years, his death is compounded by what she called a lack of information here about the bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus.

"I really feel they kept it quiet because it's a tourist resort," Marcia Funk said. "It's like something out of a horror movie."

Kids' Marriages In Egypt married trigger outrage — once again

CAIRO – While celebrating his eldest son's lavish wedding, at which a number of famous singers and belly dancers performed, Nasser Hassan decided to "double the joy," he later recalled.

He announced that his son Omar would marry his cousin Gharam.

At the wedding, held in a province about 75 miles north of Cairo, the guests didn’t find it strange. Some would later tell Egypt’s Al Watan newspaper that there was “nothing inappropriate,” adding that it was only “an engagement, not a marriage".

Egyptian laws prohibit official registration for marriages for anyone under the age of 18. But the practice remains prevalent. According to UNICEF, 17 percent of Egyptian girls are married before the age of 18, the vast majority of the unions taking place in rural areas.

A Amazing Encounter Between A Deer And A Hunter

Hunter Jordan Maxon from New Richmond, Wisconsin, had a very odd encounter with a very friendly deer. 

After setting up a deer stand in a clearing, Maxon looked around to see if any wildlife had wandered into the area before he started hunting. That's when he noticed a buck about 70 yards away.

A 60-day Sentence For A 12-year Old Daughter's Rapist Father

As the judge in the Stanford rape case learned, along with the judge in the “affluenza” drunken driving case, the whole world is watching them. A crowd, an angry crowd, can form in a matter of days of people outraged by what they consider a lenient sentence for a heinous crime.

In the case of Judge John McKeon, as of early morning Wednesday, almost 20,000 people had signed a Change.org petition calling for his impeachment for the 60-day sentence he gave a Glasgow, Mont., man who pleaded guilty to repeatedly raping his prepubescent daughter.

Discrimination 30,000 Feet Above

My experience of discrimination with Delta Airline Flight 2215 last week when I was not allowed to assist a passenger needing medical attention.

By: Dr. Ashley Denmark, D.O.

Dr Ashley Denmark

It was supposed to be a relaxed flight. I’m a mother of two young children with a husband busy in his 3^rd year of law school. By the way, did I mention I’m a physician completing my 2^nd year of family medicine residency? Extremely busy right? So you can imagine as a busy mom and professional like so many, I was in DIRE need of a vacation. So when my college friend decided to have a destination wedding in Hawaii last week, I seized the opportunity to book me and my hubby two airline tickets with Delta to paradise.

Libyans, Missing Kadhafi?

Five years after an uprising killed Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, residents in the chaos-wracked country's capital joke they have grown to miss the longtime dictator as the frustrations of daily life mount (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Tripoli (AFP) - Five years after an uprising killed Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, residents in the chaos-wracked country's capital joke they have grown to miss the longtime dictator as the frustrations of daily life mount.

Those living in the capital say they are exhausted by power cuts, price hikes and a lack of cash flow as rival authorities and militias battle for control of the fragmented oil-rich country.

"I hate to say it but our life was better under the previous regime," says Fayza al-Naas, a 42-year-old pharmacist, referring to Kadhafi's more than four decades of rule.

Mugabe Transition: Need for 'Soft Landing'

FILE - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe arrives for the opening of Parliament in Harare, Zimbabwe, Oct. 6, 2016.

Zimbabwe is in flux. There are regular protests, especially in the capital, over currency and food shortages, unemployment, and alleged government corruption and mismanagement.

Observers say an effective political solution may not be soon in coming.

President Robert Mugabe, 92, and his ruling ZANU-PF party have been in power for 36 years. But the party is breaking into factions, and at least one former member, onetime Vice President Joyce Mujuru, has formed her own party, Zimbabwe People First. The longtime opposition Movement for Democratic Change has new competitors, including more than a dozen new parties and youth-driven protest movements inspired by social media. All are preparing for national elections in 2018.

Trust, Change, and Hope

 Essay by Julia M. Stasch, President, MacArthur Foundation  October 2016

“People and places around the world, as well as the earth itself, face formidable, complex, and connected problems.”

I wrote that a year ago. Events since then have underscored just how challenging those problems are, among them the pervasive loss of trust in major institutions of government and society.

Philanthropy is not immune from that trend. Most large foundations are considered “elite institutions.” Yet to be effective, we must facilitate, and operate in, an environment of trust and goodwill. 

In this essay, I address the task of building trust in a time of flux and challenge. Philanthropy, I argue, must learn from the ways that technology and new modes of communicating are reordering our world. We need to examine critically our history, structures, and practices, and where necessary, take new directions. We must listen more, be more flexible and inclusive, and allow those who experience directly the problems we seek to address even more room to participate fully and lead.

We cannot take trust for granted; it must be earned in all we do, every day.

IT HAPPENED TO ME: At 14, My Parents Paired Me With A 26-Year-Old Man

Laying brick to build a boys dormitory at a Christian camp when I was in my early teens. My parents were just getting to know James at this time

Even though I wanted nothing to do with him, my parents demanded he still be a part of our lives.

In tattered jeans and a Bible study T-shirt, I arrived home to a beautiful three-story house nestled in a gated community of the no-man’s-land of Pasco County, Florida. I had just spent two months in Bethlehem, where I sweated out my summer days shoveling gravel to pave a parking lot for a Bible college. I was 14 years old, cute, chubby, and still figuring out how eyeliner was meant to be applied.

You May Need "Months With A Colostomy Bag"

Student teacher needed emergency surgery after getting seven inch SEX TOY lodged up her bum 
Mum-of-one tried to use a fork handle and BBQ prongs to remove it but to no avail

A STUDENT teacher who got a SEVEN INCH s*x toy lodged up her BUM was forced to have it surgically removed after using BBQ prongs failed.

IT HAPPENED TO ME: A Mother's Hard Chioce To Live For A Little Foursome Family

"I am pretty sure you have an ectopic pregnancy,” the doctor said to me after the empty ultrasound.

“I need your expert opinion on something,” I said a bit hysterically to my mother over FaceTime.

“Uh... OK,” she replied, unsure how to react to my desperate mood. She had just picked up the phone on the second ring and I hadn’t even bother to say hello.

“Does this look like two pink lines to you?”

“Sure does,” she laughed.

Turkey Bans Orthodox Christian Liturgy, As It Builds 9,000 Mosques,

A total of 8,985 mosques were built between 2005 and 2015 by the Turkish government over the last decade in Turkey, according to statistics released by Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet).

The Central Anatolian province of Konya contained the highest number of mosques, Dogan News Agency reported on Sept. 16. Ankara, the southern province of Antalya, the Black Sea provinces of Ordu and Trabzon, and the southeastern province of Diyarbakır were among the other provinces with over 2,000 mosques.

9-month-old Dead After Horrific Sexual Assault

 

A nine-month-old West Virginia girl died after sustaining horrific injuries during a sexual assault at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

Benjamin Taylor, 32, was charged with murder on Thursday morning, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tony Boggs. Taylor was initially charged with first-degree sexual assault and was being held on $2 million bail.

The child’s mother found the nine-month-old covered in blood in the basement of the apartment complex where the couple lived on Monday morning.

Parents Found Dead

Two McKeesport, Pennsylvania, residents were found dead in their home Monday evening after their 7-year-old daughter told a school employee that she was unable to wake them that morning, according to the Allegheny County Police Department.

The girl told a school bus monitor that she did not want to go home because her parents "had not moved" for more than two days and had been "changing colors," according to Lt. Andrew Schurman of the Allegheny County Police Department.

Weird Orange Crocodiles Found Gorging On Bats In Gabon’s Caves

Caves are scary places – especially ones filled with crocodiles. “I was crawling through the cave and suddenly there were two red eyes,” says explorer Olivier Testa. “It was frightening!”

In 2010, he was part of an expedition into Gabon’s Abanda cave system following a tip-off about a population of dwarf crocodiles living there.

While crocs sometimes retreat underground during droughts, this is the first population documented taking up long-term residence in caves.

$22 Million Cash"Saved" In Buckets.

The Miami Lakes man who had $22.6 million cash stuffed in buckets inside a secret room says the money is all legit — earned from sales of equipment to legal marijuana growers in other states.

Lawyers for Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez offered their defense in court as a Miami-Dade judge on Tuesday lowered his bond to $2 million. He remains jailed.

“The prosecution of our client amounts to what we think is a war on marijuana and a war on legitimately earned cash,” defense lawyer Philip Reizenstein said after Tuesday’s hearing.

Lessons From 30 Years Of Counseling Priests Who Fall In Love.

For Catholic priests, love plays a major professional role. They talk endlessly about the love of God, love for God, God's love of man, love of neighbor, even love of self, albeit this last one at times disparagingly. The one that lights them up the most, however, is their love of the priesthood, something every priest I know feels deeply.

But the actual mechanics of love between two humans - the many powerful and often conflicted feeling that arise - create problems that are very challenging and deeply personal.