World's Shortest Man and Woman Meet

For the first time in history, the shortest man and woman in the world have met. The shortest man, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 72, is from a remote area of Nepal and stands 21.5 inches tall. Eighteen-year-old Jyoti Amge hails from Nagpur, India and measures just under 25 inches tall.
It was a match made in heaven for Guinness World Records, which arranged the introduction for a photo shoot to promote the upcoming release of Guinness World Records 2013 on September 13. To provide scale, a record book (12 inches in length) was placed between Chandra and Jyoti for one of the photos.
“It was an extraordinary moment,” says Marco Frigatti, the official Guinness World Records Adjudicator, who also took part in the photo shoot. “They’re both such incredible individuals. Everyone knew this was a special moment, and the atmosphere was magical.”

A Record-Breaking Birthday

Jyoti secured the World’s Shortest Woman title simply by reaching womanhood on her 18^th birthday in December of last year. She has a condition called achondroplasia, a genetic disorder that affects bone growth and cartilage formation. Achondroplasia is the most common cause of dwarfism.
Jyoti won't grow any taller than her current height. Due to her size, she has her clothes specially made. She sleeps in a tiny bed and uses special plates and cutlery to eat. Jyoti is currently pursuing her dream of becoming a successful actress. She has already starred in a number of Indian films.
“Since being recognized by Guinness World Records, I have been able to visit lots of different countries,” says Jyoti. “I love travelling. I have visited Japan and parts of Europe, and now I can’t wait to visit the UK.”

A Record-Breaking Discovery

In February this year, Chandra made headlines around the world when he was crowned the World’s Shortest Man. Until his recent discovery, he had spent his entire life in the remote Nepalese mountain village of Rhimkholi, about 250 miles west of Kathmandu. Because Chandra has never been examined by a doctor, the cause of his short stature is unknown.Doctors suspect he has a form of primordial dwarfism.
Chandra’s 21.5-inch height also snagged him the title of Shortest Man in History, breaking the previous record of India’s Gul Mohammed, who was 22.5 in tall.
“I’m very happy that I’m being recognized by Guinness World Records and that my name will be written in a book,” says Chandra. “It’s a big thing for my family, my village and my country. I am very happy.” 

Olympic---Historic Phelps claims record 19th medal

Historic Phelps claims record 19th medal

LONDON (AFP) – Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time on Tuesday, winning a record 19th medal in the pool as China’s swimming sensation Ye Shiwen grabbed her second gold of the Games.
Phelps anchored the US team to a resounding victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay to secure gold and beat the record of 18 medals amassed by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina between 1956 and 1964.
The American had earlier been thwarted in his bid for a 200m butterfly Olympic treble by Chad le Clos of South Africa, but a silver medal allowed him to match the record medal haul before the relay sealed his place in history.
Phelps, 27, won six golds and two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Games, then collected a record eight golds in Beijing.
He had suffered a testing start to the London Games, slumping out of the medals in the 400m individual medley and then having to settle for silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
But Phelps’ unprecedented 19th medal was never in doubt in Tuesday’s relay as he took over the final leg with a clear lead built up by his team-mates and powered home to leave France trailing in silver and China with bronze.
“I thanked those guys for helping me get to this moment,” said Phelps. “I told those guys I wanted a big lead in the last leg and they gave it to me.
“I just wanted to hold on.”
Ye, just 16, may encounter more speculation about her remarkable performances after she added the 200m individual medley title to the 400m individual medley crown.
The Chinese girl was lagging behind the leaders at the turn in the Aquatics Centre, but produced a powerful final 50m to overhaul Alicia Coutts of Australia in an Olympic record time of 2min 7.57sec.
Her swim came just days after her lightning freestyle leg in the longer medley propelled her to a new world record.
Ye’s feats have raised unproven suspicions of doping, with John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches’ Association, describing her finish in the 400m medley as “impossible”.
But Ye said she had used the row to motivate herself.
“I don’t feel upset or sad about what the media have been saying about me,” she insisted. “I feel calm, but it just encouraged me to prove myself.”
Chinese authorities went on the offensive over the allegations. Jiang Zhixue, the head of anti-doping at China’s General Administration of Sport, told Xinhua news agency it was unfair to point the finger at their swimmers.
“I think it is not proper to single Chinese swimmers out once they produce good results. Some people are just biased,” he said.
Former British swimmer Adrian Moorhouse, a gold medallist in the 100m breaststroke in the 1988 Seoul Games, defended Ye, saying it was possible China had unearthed their own Phelps.
“I think it’s sour grapes,” Moorhouse said. “I think it’s quite insulting actually.”
In the gymnastics arena, the United States won the women’s team final to claim their first gold medal in the event since 1996. Russia had to settle for silver while Romania pipped 2008 Olympic champions China to bronze.
Defending champions Germany won the equestrian three-day eventing, with Michael Jung then becoming the first rider to hold the European, world and Olympic individual titles.
Great Britain finished second in the team event to earn a silver medal for Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter Zara Phillips, but the host nation is still without a single gold medal after four days of competition.
The US basketball Dream Team thrashed Tunisia 110-63 as Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love each scored 16 points, leaving the Americans heading for a date with Nigeria and eyeing the next round.
China lead the United States by 13 golds to nine in the medals table, and the Chinese won their third diving title in three events when world champions Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao clinched the women’s 10m synchro platform.
Chen, the individual 10m platform champion from the Beijing Games and the synchronised 10m platform champion, teamed with Wang to tally 368.40 points from their five dives off the tower.

Budget: Reps insist on impeaching Jonathan

Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal and President Goodluck Jonathan
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INTERVENTIONS by the Peoples Democratic Party notwithstanding, the House of Representatives on Sunday insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan must achieve 100 per cent budget implementation by September or face impeachment.

Apparently reacting to interventions by the PDP and reported overtures by the President to save his job, the House said it would not change its resolution midway.

“A resolution of the House is a resolution of the House; nobody can change it midway,” spokesman for the lawmakers, Zakari Muhammed, told The PUNCH in Abuja.

Muhammed said the only alternative was for Jonathan to achieve a 100 per cent budget implementation by September in accordance with the resolution of the House.

The lawmakers on Thursday frowned on the poor implementation of the 2012 budget and set a September 18 deadline for the Jonathan administration.

“The budget implementation is about 35 percent,” the Chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Mr. John Enoh, had told his colleagues. Enoh said the committee found that only a meagre N200bn had been released to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government in the first two quarters of the year.

The House also directed the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to immediately release all first and second quarter capital votes to the MDAs.

The resolution, which was endorsed by all members, faulted the minister’s decision to withhold the funds of some MDAs on the grounds that they were unable to utilise their first quarter votes.

The House noted that withholding funds under any excuse was a “breach of the Appropriation Act (2012).”

The action of the House gave rise to reported moves by the Presidency and the leadership of the PDP at the weekend to make the lawmakers reverse their threat.

Jonathan and the National Chairman of the PDP, Bamangar Tukur, had reportedly reached out to the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, with a view to influencing the lawmakers to soft-pedal on their threat.

But Muhammed said while the moves were legitimate, nobody could change a stand already taken by the legislators on the floor of the House.

“Our practice is that our resolution, once taken, it stands; it can only be reviewed on the floor of the House, not by an individual. A resolution of the House is a resolution of the House; nobody can change it midway. Not even the Speaker has the powers to change a House resolution,” the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said.

He added, “What the Executive should do is to implement the budget in line with the House resolution.

“Let us hold on to the promise of the House Leader (Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola) that things will improve in the next two months.”

Akande-Adeola, had on Thursday urged her colleagues to wait till the expiration of the September deadline, assuring them that she was confident that things would have improved by then.

According to Muhammed, if funds are released to the MDAs and there is evidence that projects are being executed, members will say so on resumption from break on September 18.

“We have employers; they are the people of our constituencies. If they feel the impact of the budget, they will tell us and members will react accordingly”, he stated.

Meanwhile, the PDP, the party to which Jonathan and majority of members of the House belong to, has said it will not allow the President to be impeached.

The party said it would do everything within its powers to make sure that the frosty relationship between the House and the President did not degenerate into the level of impeachment.

To avoid this, the party said it had started consultations on how to make sure that the House work harmoniously with Jonathan.

Secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jubril, told one of our correspondents on Sunday that the party’s leadership had already commenced the process of ending the disagreement between the members of the lower legislative chamber and the Executive.

Though Jubril declined to give the specifics on the party’s intervention, he however said that the party would not fold its arms and allow the House impeach the President.

The party’s constitution in Article 12.80(f) bestows on the BOT the power to mediate in a conflict between the legislature and the Executive.

Jubril said, “The party is doing everything within its powers to resolve the misunderstanding between the two arms of government.

“Majority of the House members are PDP members and the President is also a member of our party. Therefore, we won’t allow the disagreement between them to lead to the point of impeaching the President

breaking news--Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes appears dazed in court

Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes appears dazed in court

Holmes in court, July 23, 2012. (AP/Pool)

UPDATE: 11:30 a.m. ET: James Holmes, the suspect in the Colorado theater massacre, appeared in a Colorado courtroom on Monday. A judge advised Holmes of his Miranda rights, and that there was probable cause to continue to hold him without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Holmes, who was transported from from a holding cell to the courtroom via an underground tunnel, appeared dazed: his brow furrowed, his eyes opening and closing often. His hair was dyed red. His hands and feet were shackled. He did not speak.
Seated in a jury box next public defender Tamara Brady, Holmes never looked towards a gallery that included about two dozen victims and victims advocates.
The preliminary hearing lasted for about 11 minutes. Holmes' next court appearance is July 30.
A decision on whether to seek the death penalty could be weeks or months away, District Attorney Carol Chambers told reporters as she entered the courthouse.
"It will be a conversation we have with the victims before we make that decision," Chambers said.
He could also face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations stemming from the mass shooting that killed 12 and injured 58 people at an Aurora, Colo., screening of "Dark Knight Rises." The rampage is among the worst mass shootings in modern-day American history.
[COMPLETE COVERAGE: Colorado theater shooting]
Holmes, clad in full body armor, surrendered to officers in a parking lot behind the cinema. He did not resist arrest, but investigators have since described the former medical student as uncooperative.
Authorities and news reports have portrayed the native Californian as smart and shy, but no motive for the shooting spree has surfaced.
Federal investigators were dispatched to assist local authorities with the investigation, but officials have indicated justice will be sought in a state courtroom.

Colorado has a death penalty, but only one inmate has been executed since 1977. Three inmates are currently on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

"If James Holmes isn't executed," former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman told Reuters, "Colorado may as well throw away its death penalty law."

Palestinians seek int’l probe as Al-Jazeera proves Arafat was poisoned

RAMALLAH, Palestinian  (AFP) – The Palestinians want an international probe into the death of former president Yasser Arafat after an investigation showed he may have been poisoned, an official told AFP Wednesday.
“We call for the formation of an international investigation committee modelled on the international investigation committee set up to look into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri,” senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat said.
The call came a day after the Al-Jazeera news channel broadcast the results of an investigation into the death of Arafat, who died in 2004, which showed that the Palestinian leader might have been poisoned with polonium.
The news channel said an analysis of Arafat’s belongings, which were given to his wife by the Paris hospital where he died, showed high levels of the radioactive substance.
Polonium was used to kill Russian former spy turned Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006 after drinking tea laced with the substance at a London hotel.
Francois Bochud, head of the Institute of Radiation Physics at the University of Lausanne, was among the scientists who worked with Al-Jazeera to analyse Arafat’s death and test his possessions.
“The conclusion was that we did find some significant polonium that was present in these samples,” he told Al-Jazeera.
Arafat, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who led the struggle for Palestinian statehood for nearly four decades, died on November 11, 2004, following several weeks of treatment.
He had been airlifted to France from his besieged headquarters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
French officials, citing privacy laws, refused to reveal the precise cause of death or the nature of his condition, fuelling a host of rumours and theories as to the cause of his illness.
At the time of his death at the age of 75, Palestinian officials charged he had been poisoned by long-time foe Israel, but an inconclusive Palestinian investigation in 2005 ruled out cancer, AIDS or poisoning.
To confirm the theory that he was poisoned by polonium it would be necessary to exhume and analyse Arafat’s remains, Bochud said.
“If (Suha Arafat) really wants to know what happened to her husband (we need) to find a sample — I mean, an exhumation… should provide us with a sample that should have a very high quantity of polonium if he was poisoned,” he said.

FG signs $4.5bn refinery deal with US energy firm

ABUJA (AFP) – Nigeria on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with an American energy firm to build six oil refineries, in a project worth 4.5 billion dollars, a government statement said.
Nigeria’s  refining infrastructure has largely crumbled, turning the country into a net importer, which often pays high prices for its own crude that has been processed abroad.
The deal between US-based Vulcan Energy, the Nigerian government and a local firm, aims to build six refineries with a combined capacity of 180,000 barrels per day, Nigeria’s Trade and Investment Ministry said in a statement, which also listed the 697.5 billion naira ($4.5 billion) price tag.
Two of the refineries are to be completed within a year, according to the terms of the MoU.
“This is the beginning of changing our old paradigm from exporting just raw materials and exporting jobs to the Western countries,” Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga said in the statement.
Nigeria produces around 2 million barrels a day of crude, making it the world’s eighth largest producer, but its petroleum industry has for years been riddled with corruption and poor management.
Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan fired the chief executive of the state oil firm NNPC, a move his office said was designed to boost transparency and accountability.
Vulcan’s vice president, Jim Mansfield, said the MoU highlighted Nigeria’s attractiveness as an investment destination.
“The funding for the project will be a non-Nigeria source and is from investors who firmly believe that Nigeria is a good place to do business,” he was quoted in the statement as saying.
Houston-based Vulcan currently operates in several US states as well as Canada.

Julian Assange sent extradition notice by Met Police

Julian Assange's Wikileaks published leaked diplomatic cables

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been served with an extradition notice by the Metropolitan Police.

Officers from the extradition unit delivered a note to Mr Assange at Ecuador's London embassy.
Mr Assange took refuge there last week and is seeking diplomatic asylum to prevent being sent to Sweden where he is accused of rape and assault.
Scotland Yard said the notice required a 40-year-old man to attend a police station "at a time of our choosing".
'Standard procedure' The Wikileaks website published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses.
Mr Assange fears that if he is sent to Sweden he could be sent on to the United States to face charges over Wikileaks and that he could face the death penalty.
In a brief statement to the BBC, Scotland Yard said: "This is standard procedure in extradition cases and is the first step in the removal process.
"He remains in breach of his bail conditions and failure to surrender would be a further breach of those conditions and he is liable to arrest."
Under international diplomatic arrangements, the Metropolitan Police cannot go into the embassy to arrest Mr Assange.
Mr Assange, whose bail conditions include staying at a named address between 22:00 and 08:00 BST, arrived at the embassy in Knightsbridge on Tuesday last week
Ecuador is considering Mr Assange's application for asylum.