West Brom win over Chelsea excites Ideye

West Brom striker Brown Ideye has hailed the team’s 3-0 win against English Premier League champions Chelsea on Monday at the Hawthorns.

Two goals from Saido Berahino and Chris Brunt handed Chelsea their third defeat in 37 games.
Ideye, who replaced Berahino in the 79th minute of the shock win, described the victory as a great one for the Baggies.

The Nigeria star wrote on his twitter page on Tuesday morning: “Great win yesterday.”
Ideye has appeared 24 times for the Midlands team, scoring four goals.
West Brom are 13th in the league table and will face Arsenal in their final league game on Sunday.

completesports

'True face of Shakespeare' appears in botany book

A 400-year-old botany book contains what could be the only known portrait of Shakespeare made in his lifetime, according to an academic expert.

Botanist and historian Mark Griffiths cracked an "ingenious cipher" to identify the playwright in an engraving in the 16th-Century work.

"This is what Shakespeare looked like, drawn from life and in the prime of life," he said.

Details of his discovery are revealed in this week's issue of Country Life.

Mark Hedges, the magazine's editor, hailed it as "the literary discovery of the century".

Speaking at London's Rose Playhouse on Tuesday, he said: "We have a new portrait of Shakespeare, the first ever that is identified as him by the artist and made in his lifetime."

He said Griffiths' "unrivalled specialist knowledge" as an expert in the role of flora in the literature of the English Renaissance made him "uniquely qualified to discover the greatest Elizabethan of all."

It is not the first time such claims have been made about a Shakespeare portrait.

In 2009, a painting known as the Cobbe portrait was put on show by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The trust said it was convinced the artwork - thought to date back to 1610 - was an authentic portrait, but some critics said the picture was not of Shakespeare.

Griffiths made his discovery when he was researching the biography of pioneering botanist John Gerard (1545-1612), author of The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes.

The 1,484 page book, published in 1598, is described as the largest single-volume work on plants that has been published in English.

The title page is illustrated with an engraving by William Rogers depicting four figures, which were thought to have been imaginary.

However, as Country Life reports, Griffiths decoded decorative devices around the figures - such as heraldic motifs and emblematic flowers - to reveal their "true identities".

They are, he says, the author Gerard, Rembert Dodoens, a renowned Flemish botanist, and Queen Elizabeth's Lord Treasurer, Lord Burghley.

The fourth man holds a fritillary and an ear of sweetcorn - plants which Griffiths says point to Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis and his play Titus Andronicus.

Portraits 'at a premium'

Beneath the bearded fourth man was "an ingenious cipher of the kind loved by the Elizabethan aristocracy" which, decoded, confirmed his identity as "William Shakespeare".

Griffiths writes in Country Life: "The Fourth Man is not cartoonish or stylised. It may be monochrome, in fancy dress, and just 3.5 inches tall, but this is something that has been sought for centuries."

He goes on: "By the time that portraits of Shakespeare were at a premium, the significance of the Rogers engraving had faded from memory. Its camouflaged figures, coded plants and ciphers proved too clever for its own good.

"The title page, one of the richest and most important artworks of the English Renaissance, came to be seen merely as a bibliophile's rarity and a fine, if stereotypical specimen of Elizabethan decoration. Nobody dreamed of finding Shakespeare in it."

bbc

Okagbare shines in China, beats Campbell-Brown, Fraser-Pryce

Nigeria’s golden girl and multiple-times African champion Blessing Okagbare was in fine form on Sunday at the Shanghai Diamond League as she beat a strong field to win the 100m race.

Okagbare won the race in 10.98 seconds, setting a new personal season’s best, and beating favourites Veronica Campbell-Brown and Shelly Frase-Pryce.

The win got Okagbare four points in the Diamond League race.

American Tori Bowie came second in 11.07, while Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago was third in 11.13.

The disappointing Campbell-Brown and Fraser-Pryce finished fourth and fifth respectively in 11.22 and 11.25 seconds.

Elderly people who exercise 'live five years longer'

Regular exercise in old age has as powerful an effect on life expectancy as giving up smoking, researchers say.

The analysis of 5,700 elderly men in Norway showed those doing three hours of exercise a week lived around five years longer than the sedentary.

The authors, writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, called for campaigns to encourage fitness in older people.

The study comes as a charity warns about low levels of exercise.

In the study - conducted by Oslo University Hospital - found both light and vigorous exercise extended life expectancy.

Official advice in the UK recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week in the over-65s.

Boost exercise

The trial tracking 68 to 77 year olds found that doing less than an hour a week of light exercise had no impact.

But overall those putting in the equivalent of six, 30-minute sessions of any intensity, were 40% less likely to have died during the 11-year study.

The report said: "Even when men were 73 years of age on average at start of follow-up, active persons had five years longer expected lifetime than the sedentary."

It added that physical activity was as "beneficial as smoking cessation" at reducing deaths.

"Public health strategies in elderly men should include efforts to increase physical activity in line with efforts to reduce smoking behaviour."

The report did not look at how active people were earlier in their lives.

'Too lazy'

However, the study comes as the British Heart Foundation publishes a report warning people are getting too little exercise.

Its analysis shows that the percentage of adults doing no moderate exercise is:

• 69% in Portugal
• 55% in Poland
• 46% in France
• 44% in the UK
• 34% in Croatia
• 26% in Germany
• with Netherlands doing relatively well at 14%

Julie Ward, from the charity, said: "Regular physical activity, whatever your age, is beneficial for your heart health and ultimately can help you live longer.

"However, our latest statistics show that nearly half of people in the UK do no moderate exercise whatsoever - a rate higher than many European countries.

"Our message is that every 10 minutes counts and that making simple, more active changes to your daily routine can set you on a path to improved heart health."

bbc

India rape victim dies after 42 years in coma

A Mumbai nurse who was raped more than 40 years ago, and who had been in a coma ever since, has died, local news channel NDTV reported.

Aruna Shanbaug, 68, was raped in the KEM hospital where she worked and suffered from an irreversible brain damage following the attack in 1973.

No one was charged with her rape. The man who was accused of the assault was charged with robbery.

The country's Supreme Court in 2011 rejected a petition by author Pinki Virani to stop staff at the hospital where Shanbaug was cared for from force-feeding her. Virani also argued for legal euthanasia for Shanbaug.

Kavita Krishnan, a women's right activist said that the widespread attention generated by Shanbaug's case hasn't led to reduction in sexual violence against women in India.

"This case says a lot about the safety of women at the work place. There is a widespread rape culture which has only gotten worse. Women have become extremely vulnerable to violence. Much remains to be done to change this culture." Krishnan, who heads the All India Progressive Women Association, told Al Jazeera.

"I hope while we remember her we also have a serious discussion about the safety of women not just at work but at home and on the streets," she said.

There is been an outpouring of tributes on social media following the death of Shanbaug.

al jazeera

Automatic Shirts For Iheanacho, Success, Simon

Moses Simon

The trio of Kelechi Iheanaho, Isaac Success and Moses Simon has been assured of places in the Flying Eagles squad for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, Complete Sports can report exclusively.

But the trio, according to the head coach of the team, Manu Garba, must be certified fully fit for the competition before they will be picked.

Garba told Complete Sports in an exclusive chat Wednesday night that he has been in constant touch with the trio and that the three clubs Manchester City, Granada and Gent have agreed to release the players the team.

"Success’ team, Granada is battling relegation in the La Liga and they have pleaded with us that they will release him to us immediately on the 24th after their game against Atlético Madrid," he began in a chat.

"Same with Daddy Simon, he will join the team in New Zealand after his team's final game in the play-offs. The problem with Iheanacho is his visa, once that is sorted he will join the team.

"We all know these players and they are not new to the team so they know how we play. They have been with us since the U-17 days and it will be easy for them to fit into the team.

"We all know the kind of qualities these players (Iheanaho, Success and Simon) possess and how they will be of importance to our team for the World Cup. They will add value to our team.

On why he started Taiwo Awoniyi from the bench in his side’s 5-2 win against Hoffenheim; he said: "There have been lots of talks about him lately and we must do everything to ensure he is in top shape for the World Cup because many teams will be watching him to find means and ways to scheme him out of games.

"He scored three goals, yes, but every player here are doing well to represent the team at the World Cup level so we have a team to face the world." he concluded.

completesports

Prostate cancer drug 'extends lives'

Early treatment with a chemotherapy drug extends the lives of patients with advanced prostate cancer by nearly two years, a major study shows.

Docetaxol is normally given after hormone treatment has failed.

But results, to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, will show earlier treatment can extend life expectancy from 43 to 65 months.

Experts said the findings from a trial in Britain and Switzerland were "potentially game-changing".

More than 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and nearly 11,000 die in the UK each year.

During the trial, being run across Britain and Switzerland, 2,962 men took part in the trial and some were given six doses of docetaxol at the start of their treatment.

Overall, patients who received the drug lived 10 months longer, but for patients where the cancer had already spread beyond the pelvis, the increase in life expectancy was 22 months.

'Pleased'

Prof Nicholas James, one of the researchers at Warwick University, called for all patients with prostate cancer that had spread to be given docetaxol when they are diagnosed.

He said the NHS needed to act quickly: "To see a 22-month survival advantage off six lots of treatment given several years earlier is a very big benefit. We are very pleased by it."

Fellow researcher Prof Malcolm Mason, from Cardiff University, added: "In prostate cancer it has been used at a much more advanced stage of the illness, for some years - now we know that this chemotherapy should be added earlier, in fact as soon as hormone therapy starts."

It would be relatively cheap to do as docetaxol is out of patent.

'Alive'

John Angrave, 77, from Hinckley in Leicestershire, was told that he had three to five years to live.

That was seven years ago.

He said: "I am alive. I have a good quality of life and I am alive.

"I walk. I go fishing. I can spend time with my great-grandchildren."

The researchers say they need to monitor patients for longer to see if the drug significantly prolongs life if the cancer has not spread.

There were side effects from the treatment, but the doctors said they were "manageable".

'Game-changing'

Cancer Research UK said the results were "important" and "show that it should be given earlier in a man's treatment".

Dr Iain Frame, the director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: "The findings of this trial are potentially game-changing - we can't wait to see the full results.

"Chemotherapy is currently one of the last-resort treatments for advanced prostate cancer.

"If it is shown to have a much greater impact on survival when prescribed earlier and alongside hormone therapy, that's incredibly exciting, and we would want to see this brought in to the clinic so it can benefit men without delay."

The study is one part of a much the wider Stampede trial which is assessing the impact of using a range of drugs or radiotherapy in conjunction with conventional hormone therapy.

bbc

Honda and Daihatsu recall more cars over Takata airbags

Japanese car makers Honda and Daihatsu are recalling some five million cars globally to replace potentially deadly airbag inflators made by Takata.

The latest recalls come just a day after rivals Toyota and Nissan said they would be recalling 6.5 million vehicles over the same issue.

So far, the six deaths linked to Takata airbags have all been in Honda cars.

In April, Honda cut its profit growth forecast after missing the mark last year on recalls and other issues.

Honda said that the models affected included the Fit subcompact and would not affect its cars sold in the US, where most of the deaths occurred.

It plans to use replacement parts supplied by Sweden's Autolive, Japan's Daicel and Takata in the recalled cars.

Daihatsu, meanwhile, said it would recall the Mira minicar.

Air bag saga

Other than Honda, all other carmakers said the recalls were precautionary and no accidents or injuries had been reported.

But investigations did show that Takata airbag inflators were not properly sealed and could be damaged by moisture. It is alleged that the airbags can burst under pressure, spraying shrapnel inside the car.

The latest announcements bring the total number of cars recalled because of Takata's airbags to about 36 million since 2008.

The car equipment maker faces multiple class action lawsuits and criminal and regulatory investigations in North America.

Following the latest recall, Takata's shares were down 5.6% in Tokyo.

bbc

Toyota and Nissan recall 6.5 million cars over airbags

Japanese car giants Toyota and Nissan are recalling a total of 6.5 million cars globally to replace potentially faulty airbag inflators made by Takata.

Toyota said it was recalling just under five million cars, including the Corolla, Vitz and other models made between March 2003 and November 2007.

Nissan is recalling about 1.56 million cars over the same issue.

Both carmakers said the recall was for investigative purposes and no accidents or injuries have been reported.

Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker, said the recall affected 35 of its models made around the world and that it would include 1.36 million cars in Japan.

The move is the latest in the saga of potentially exploding airbags made by Japanese car parts maker Takata that has been linked to at least six deaths - all in Honda cars.

More recalls ahead

After the recalls by Toyota and Nissan were announced, Honda - Japan's number three automaker - said it was also preparing to announce more car recalls related to the air bags.

No details were given on the number of cars Honda would recall.

In March, Honda had said it was recalling another 100,000 vehicles in the US related to the airbags.

About 25 million vehicles with Takata airbags have been recalled worldwide by 10 different carmakers since 2008.

bbc

Awoniyi scores hat-trick against Hoffenheim

Nigeria's Under-20 team, the Flying Eagles, kick started their final leg of preparations for the 2015 Fifa U20 World Cup in New Zealand by defeating Hoffenheim's U23 side 5-2 in a friendly game on Tuesday.

The game is the first in a three test series to prepare the team for the competition due to start later this month.

Hoffenheim's Ahmed Sassi had the first real chance of the game as his header came off the Nigeria post, as Chidera Eze also missed a one-on-one chance with the Ricco Cymer in goal for the Bundesliga side.

Plateau United's Godwin Savior gave Nigeria the lead but Hoffenheim soon equalised through Allesandro Abrussia.

Eze made up for his miss by putting Nigeria ahead again before the home side equalised again through an Ahmed Azaouagh effort.

In form striker Taiwo Awoniyi will bag a hat-trick to give the African champions a three goal cushion and end the game at 5-2, a positive start to the Flying Eagles camping exercise in Germany.

Coach Garba Manu will have till Friday this week to submit his 21 man list for the championship.

The Flying Eagles have two more test games against the U23 sides of Nurnberg on Friday and Freiburg next Tuesday before leaving for New Zealand via Australia.

supersport

Free mobile voice, text and data plans coming to UK

A US firm is to extend its free mobile data, voice and text offering to the UK from July this year.

FreedomPop will offer Sim cards that offer 200MB of data, 200 texts and 200 minutes of voice calls per month using the cellular network at no cost.

The company already offers a similar free mobile data plan in the US to more than half a million users.

The firm, which is backed by Skype founder Niklas Zennstom, says it will make money by selling extra services.

Making money

The company told the BBC it plans to make money from selling users additional data beyond the amount offered free of charge and additional services for which it will also charge.

These include the ability to roll over unused data to the next month, anonymous browsing to protect online privacy, and the ability to add a second phone number from more than 60 countries so that friends and family outside the UK can call at local rates.

For example a UK subscriber could operate a US-based number from the Sim card in addition to their normal UK number for a £2 per month charge.

"We see ourselves as the no-frills mobile carrier. We want users to feel liberated, getting the basic services for free," FreedomPop co-founder Steven Sesar told the BBC.

"We'll start with around a dozen add-on services that customers can choose to pay for and extend that to 20 or so within a year."

Wipe out competitors

The company already has around one million subscribers in the US, with 51% on just its free package, with 49% paying for additional data and services.

The US free deal is more generous than the one proposed for the UK, offering 500MB data, 500 voice minutes, and 500 texts at no cost.

Explaining the difference Mr Sesar said: "We found users in the US typically use more data and the alternative plans start at around 500MB."

"In the UK there is a lot of interest in the lower-use end of the market which is where we plan to wipe out the guys offering £5-£10 data plans."

Too good to be true?

Commenting on the plans mobile expert at uSwitch.com Rob Kerr told the BBC:

"A free Sim with a free allowance of minutes, texts and data might sound too good to be true, but it could just be enough to appease the truly entry-level customers.

"The more data-hungry users should be careful about out-of-bundle charges and make sure they do their research before they go over their allowance.

"Extra data charges will have to be very competitive with the likes of iD Mobile offering unlimited data at £20 a month.

"Where FreedomPop could be useful is for that emergency phone in the car, where users are unlikely to eat into the limited calls, texts and data."

FreedomPop said it will offer its Sim cards over the internet and wants to hear from people in the UK who would be interested in helping test the service before its official launch.

bbc

South African pro-pot activist lights joint during live news broadcast

A South African marijuana legalization activist became fed up with a debate he was having on broadcaster SABC and sparked a joint on live TV.

Andre du Plessis, a vocal proponent of marijuana legalization in South Africa, was participating in a live debate with David Bayever, deputy chair of the Central Drug Authority, when he became noticeably annoyed by Bayever's statement that "xenophobia" was delaying the agency's position paper on legalizing recreational use of cannabis.

Du Plessis, who was being filmed in a separate location from Bayever and the SABC anchor, then lit a marijuana cigarette and started smoking.

When prompted for closing comments, du Pessis blew a plume of smoke at the camera.
"I think that's all I've got to say," he said.

The campaigner, who is head of the Cannabis Working Group, later confirmed he was smoking cannabis, or "dagga," as it is sometimes called in South Africa.

"The reality is that people smoke it, and I did," he told eNCA. "This is the reality of cannabis while this man continues to blah blah blah."

SABC, which posted video of the incident to YouTube, said it does not support du Plessis' actions.

"The SABC Broadcaster and the SABC Newsroom does not condone the actions of our guest Andre Du Plessis," the company said in the video's YouTube description.

upi

Oldest working U.S. nurse turns 90 with hospital surprise party

The oldest working nurse in the United States celebrated her 90th birthday with a surprise party during her shift at a Washington state hospital.

Florence "SeeSee" Rigney, who started her career as a registered nurse 69 years ago, was treated to a surprise party Thursday, the day before her 90th birthday, by coworkers at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital.

The surprise, which was captured on video and posted to YouTube, featured Rigney being serenaded with a birthday song and presented with gifts including flowers, a tiara and a letter of congratulations from Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who recognized her as the oldest working nurse in the country.

"You are all wonderful," Rigney said through tears of joy. "I know I'm a pain in the you-know-what!"

Rigney temporarily left the profession at the age of 67, but her retirement was short-lived.

"I stayed retired for about five months, then I came back, and here I am," she told KING-TV in a 2014 interview.

Sheri Morris, assistant nurse manager, said Rigney is a valuable asset to the hospital.

"She runs circles around all of us," Morris told Today.com. "She's a wealth of wisdom and knowledge, and we absolutely love her."

upi

‘My wives know I’m a criminal’

A 27-year-old suspected kidnapper, Rasheed Adetunji, who was paraded alongside other suspects, has confessed that his two wives knew he was a criminal and not a kidnapper.

He also revealed that he used part of the ransom money collected from victims to get married to them.

According to the Osun State-born Adetunji, his love for women is responsible for his having two wives at his age and had hoped to marry more before he was arrested.

He told Vanguard that one of his wives had a premonition of his current travails and warned him to stay away from members of his gang.

He regretted that he would miss his wives and family who, he claimed, he was trying to make happy.

On how he joined the kidnapping gang, he said it was Niyi Omosola that introduced and placed him and other members of the gang on an oath administered by a native doctor, known as Baba.

The other suspects are Ifeanyi Chukwuleta, 25, from Oguta in Imo State, and Kolawale Alani, 26, from Ekiti State.

The suspects were arrested after the kidnap of a 62-year-old woman, Kudirat Adeboye, along Eleko-Epe Expressway by six armed men.

It was gathered that the gang contacted the victim’s family and demanded N50 million but eventually accepted N3 million after six days of keeping the victim.

The kidnappers directed the victim’s son to drop the money at a spot on Ijebu-Ode Road, where one of the kidnappers came out from the bush to collect the ransom.

Operatives of Special Anti-robbery Squad, SARS, who were deployed to the area pursued the kidnappers and one of them, Niyi Omosola, was caught.

He said it was Omosola that took operatives to a forest along Epe Road where the victim was rescued. Omosola later died from the gunshot injuries he sustained.

vanguard

Dutch solar road makes enough energy to power household

Engineers in the Netherlands say a novel solar road surface that generates electricity and can be driven over has proved more successful than expected.

Last year they built a 70-metre test track along a bike path near the Dutch town of Krommenie on the outskirts of Amsterdam.

In the first six months since it was installed, the panels beneath the road have generated over 3,000kwh. This is enough to provide a single-person household with electricity for a year.

"If we translate this to an annual yield, we expect more than the 70kwh per square metre per year," says Sten de Wit, spokesman for SolaRoad,   which has been developed by a public-private partnership.

"We predicted [this] as an upper limit in the laboratory stage. We can therefore conclude that it was a successful first half year."

The project took cheap mass-produced solar panels and sandwiched them between layers of glass, silicon rubber and concrete.

"This version can have a fire brigade truck of 12 tonnes without any damage," said Arian de Bondt, a director at Ooms Civiel, one of consortium of companies working together on the pilot project.

"We were working on panels for big buses and large vehicles in the long run."

The solar panels are connected to smart metres, which optimise their output and feed the electricity to street lighting or into the grid.

"If one panel is broken or in shadow or dirt, it will only switch off that PV panel," said Jan-Hendrik Kremer, Renewable Energy Systems consultant at technology company Imtech.

Five years of research

The research group spent the last five years developing the technology but during the first six months of the trial a small section of a coating, designed to give grip to the smooth glass surface without blocking the sun, delaminated.

This was due to temperature fluctuations causing the coating to shrink. The team are now working on an improved version of the coating. More than 150,000 cyclists have ridden over the panels so far.

"We made a set of coatings, which are robust enough to deal with the traffic loads but also give traction to the vehicles passing by," said Stan Klerks, a scientist at Dutch research group TNO.

He said the slabs also had to "transfer as much light as possible on to the solar cells so the solar cells can do their work".

The group behind the project are now in talks with local councils in the Netherlands to see if the technology can be rolled out in other provinces. A cooperation agreement has also been signed with the US State of California.

"Solar panels on roofs are designed to have a lifetime, which is typically 20/25 years," said de Wit.

"This is the type of lifetime that we also want for these types of slabs. If you have a payback time of 15 years then afterwards you also have some payback of the road itself so that makes the road cheaper in the end."

al jazeera

Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

Windows 10 is going to be the last major revision of the operating system.

Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft development executive, said in a conference speech this week that Windows 10 would be the "last version" of the dominant desktop software.

His comments were echoed by Microsoft which said it would update Windows in future in an "ongoing manner".

Instead of new stand-alone versions, Windows 10 would be improved in regular instalments, the firm said.

Mr Nixon made his comments during Microsoft's Ignite conference held in Chicago this week.

In a statement, Microsoft said Mr Nixon's comments reflected a change in the way that it made its software.

"Windows will be delivered as a service bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner," it said, adding that it expected there to be a "long future" for Windows.

'No Windows 11'

The company said it had yet to decide on what to call the operating system beyond Windows 10.

"There will be no Windows 11," warned Steve Kleynhans, a research vice-president at analyst firm Gartner who monitors Microsoft.

He said Microsoft had in the past deliberately avoided using the name "Windows 9" and instead chose Windows 10 as a way to signify a break with a past which involved successive stand-alone versions of the operating system.

However, he said, working in that way had created many problems for Microsoft and its customers.

"Every three years or so Microsoft would sit down and create 'the next great OS'," he said.

"The developers would be locked away and out would pop a product based on what the world wanted three years ago."

Microsoft also had to spend a huge amount of money and marketing muscle to convince people that they needed this new version, and that it was better than anything that had come before, he explained.

Moving to a situation in which Windows is a constantly updated service will break out of this cycle, and let Microsoft tinker more with the software to test new features and see how customers like them, he added.

'Positive step'

Most of the revenue generated by Windows for Microsoft came from sales of new PCs and this was unlikely to be affected by the change, Mr Kleynhans pointed out.

"Overall this is a positive step, but it does have some risks," he said.

"Microsoft will have to work hard to keep generating updates and new features, he said, adding that questions still remained about how corporate customers would adapt to the change and how Microsoft would provide support.

"It doesn't mean that Windows is frozen and will never move forward again," Mr Kleynhans told the BBC.

"Indeed we are about to see the opposite, with the speed of Windows updates shifting into high gear."

bbc