Booker reminded Chimeras of where they’d been

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Martin Booker had a pretty simple goal when he took over the Willingboro track and field program a few years ago.

Simply put, he wanted to restore the Chimeras to one of the top programs in South Jersey.

It was mission accomplished for Booker, the Burlington County Times Boys Track Coach of the Year.

“It feels great, in the sense that Willingboro was always looked at as a top program across the board in track and field, it was pretty much my aim to bring that back,” Booker said. “I didn’t do this myself, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my coaching staff who had a great impact on the kids as well.”

Willingboro was, without question, the most dominant program in the county this year in terms of having a top contender in almost every single event.

The BCT All-County first team features five Chimeras — including the Athlete of the Year — and their 1,600-meter relay team.

Willingboro took home the top spot at the County Open by a comfortable margin, but the real goal was a sectional title and the Chimeras fell just two points shy of that.

“We did everything we could (to win a sectional title), I’m just disappointed because I wanted them to have that title,” Booker said.

And while they fell just short, the goal remains the same.

“All across the board we were successful this year,” Booker said. “And the young kids who’ll be back next year, they say, ‘We want to keep doing this’, so the seed has been planted.”

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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AFRICA GOSPEL MUSIC AWARDS (AGMA) UPS THE STAKES IN LONDON FOR THE SECOND TIME

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When AGMA made a statement that this year’s event will be bigger and better, many were those who doubted that assertion. It turned out on the night of the 9th of July that the assertion was not mere words, empty boasts or media posturing.

Truly a night of excellence was executed, all to the Glory of the Lord, the promotion of Africa Gospel Music and Media and to the excitement of guests at this year’s prestigious event. Increasingly AGMA is establishing itself as the Awards event of distinction and choice and is fast becoming the ‘must attend’ gospel event on the Church’s calendar.

After a week of heavy downpours in the UK, the weather held to give the perfect weather for the occasion..

On entering the venue (The Lighthouse Hall), one was met by a deluge of cameras and VIPs were given the full welcoming VIP treatment. The entire environment was totally welcoming and exuded elegance.

The night kicked off with ministration by the worship trio of Wole Awolola, Gwendolynn Mukulu Chris and Aaron T. Aaron. The music was out of this world and rightly so. This was followed by performances by Chuka Royalty, L Dubzy, Lyrical Soldier, Victizzle, Maheli Selepe, Daniel Idikayi, Diana Hamilton, Rebecca and the final trio of Sonnie Badu, Uche and Tim Godfrey got the audience dancing and asking for more.. The music was interspersed by awards which were handed out in variouscategories (see winners list below)

Dignitaries from various diplomatic missions in the UK including Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia and media personalities from South Africa, USA, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya also attended the event

It was truly a night that was thoroughly enjoyed by standard and VIP ticket holders alike.

The event was supported by Premier Gospel Radio, the UK’s number number Gospel Music Station and other numerous organisations

Once again, we congratulate the organisers, The Africa Gospel Awards Limited for making Africa and African Gospel music proud

With anticipation we look forward to AGMA 2012. Will it be AGMA Nairobi 2012, AGMA Lagos 2012, AGMA Accra 2012, AGMA Freetown 2012, AGMA Jo’burg 2012 or AGMA London 2012? Watch the space..

For further information and to get involved in AGMA email charles@africagospelawards.com , John@africagospelawards.com or allen@africagospeawards.com or log on to www.africagospelawards.com

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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France impatient on Libya but denies Gaddafi talks

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PARIS (Reuters) – France is growing impatient with the lack of progress on reaching a political solution to the crisis in Libya, but officials denied Paris is in talks with Gaddafi’s government or could consider him not quitting power.

The government said Paris has sent messages to Tripoli via intermediaries, making clear the Libyan leader must relinquish power and withdraw his troops to enable a political solution.

“There are no direct negotiations between France and the Gaddafi regime, but we pass messages through the rebel council (TNC) and our allies,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said, asked about comments by Saif al-Islam, one of Gaddafi’s sons, saying Tripoli was in talks with the French government.

“France wants a political solution, like we have always said,” Valero said in an online media briefing.

Concerned about the mounting cost of the military campaign and the prospect of it running on into the start of a 2012 election campaign, France stepped up its pressure at the weekend for opposition rebels to negotiate an end to the conflict.

Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said Sunday the rebels should start direct negotiations with Gaddafi’s camp.

However Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Monday that the NATO-led alliance still needed to keep up its military pressure on Gaddafi’s army and reiterated that Gaddafi’s standing down is a necessary condition for an end to the conflict.

“We need to keep up the military pressure because apparently Gaddafi is failing to understand what is bound to happen for him,” Juppe told reporters during a visit to Mauritania.

“At the same time, and we have been working for weeks and weeks on this, we need to seek a political solution what rests on three or four parameters: a real ceasefire, which means Gaddafi’s troops withdrawing to their barracks.”

NO CHANGE OF COURSE

Al-Islam was quoted in Algeria’s El Khabar newspaper on Monday as saying that Gaddafi’s administration was talking directly to Paris, and not to the rebels.

French officials acknowledged the government was growing increasingly impatient with the stalemate in Libya, but denied there has been any shift in position.

“There is no change of course in the French position,” a Defense Ministry source told Reuters.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office declined to comment.

In an interview with French regional daily Sud Ouest, Juppe left open the possibility of Gaddafi remaining in Libya.

“The question is not to know whether he must leave, but when and how,” he was quoted as saying.

Asked whether that meant Gaddafi could stay in Libya if he stood down, or would be allowed to go to another country with guarantees, Juppe said: “I don’t have the answer to that, but the African Union is working on it.”

After meeting African Union negotiators in Addis Ababa at the weekend, Juppe said the group now accepted Gaddafi must leave power and that meant its peace initiative could move forward.

Leaders of Libya’s rebel transition council are due to meet with NATO and European Union officials in Brussels this week.

(Additional reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; Editing by Catherine Bremer)

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Iran president urges Arab leaders to accept reform

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Arab governments to heed popular demands for reform at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the presidential website said on Tuesday.

“Today, the people of the region must enjoy equal rights, the right to vote, security and dignity, and no government can deprive them of freedom and justice or refuse their peoples’ demands,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that all regional governments can run their countries by introducing reforms and realising their peoples’ demands,” he added in the Monday evening talks.

Ahmadinejad did not explicitly mention Iran’s closest Arab ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has faced unprecedented protests against his iron-fisted rule since mid-March.

But Iranian media had reported that the persistent clashes between security forces and demonstrators in Syria would top the agenda of the meeting.

At a joint press conference with Davutoglu on Sunday, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that Syria’s problems can be solved within “the family.”

“Iran, Syria and Turkey are members of a family and, if one faces a problem, the family as whole should solve it,” Salehi said.

“The path of talks among the family members should lead to dealing with the legitimate demands of the people” and preventing “inappropriate interference,” he added.

Ahmadinejad accused Washington of stirring up confessional rivalries in the region, including between Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority and the minority Alawite community to which Assad belongs.

“The countries in the region should not play into Americans’ hands,” the president’s website quoted him as saying.

“They are seeking through deception to create a fight between Shiites and Sunnis, Alawites and non-Alawites, Turks and Kurds in order to reach their main goal which is saving the Zionist regime.”

Iran itself faced down huge protests in 2009 against alleged fraud in a presidential election that saw Ahmadinejad given a second term of office.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Envoys say Gadhafi ready to go, says French FM

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PARIS (AP) — France’s foreign minister said Tuesday Paris has had contact with emissaries from Moammar Gadhafi who say the embattled Libyan strongman is “prepared to leave.”

Alain Juppe said that while the contacts do not constitute proper negotiations, “everyone (involved in Libya’s civil war) has contacts with everyone else. The Libyan regime sends its messengers all over, to Turkey, to New York, to Paris.

“We receive emissaries who are saying, ‘Gadhafi is prepared to leave. Let’s discuss it.'”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero stressed that the contacts with Libyans close to Gadhafi do not constitute negotiations. He also denied suggestions that France is acting as a go-between for Libyan rebels by passing messages when French officials meet with Gadhafi emissaries or that the French are taking a leading role in such contacts. The rebels, “if they have the intention of sending messages,” can do so themselves, Valero said at a briefing.

He refused to identify the Libyan emissaries other than to say they were close to Gadhafi and travel to various major capitals.

France was instrumental in launching the NATO-led operation of airstrikes against Gadhafi’s forces, in a U.N.-mandated mission to protect civilians resisting his four-decade regime.

NATO flew more than 100 sorties Monday and hit several key targets in western Libya, including a military storage facility, three military facilities and seven military vehicles, according to an operational report issued Tuesday.

French officials have insisted that Gadhafi’s giving up power is key to ending the hostilities, which began in mid-March, and Juppe said that more and more countries are now in agreement on that point.

“There is a consensus on how to end the crisis, which is that Gadhafi has to leave power,” Juppe said. “That (consensus) was absolutely not a given two or three months ago.

“The question is no longer whether Gadhafi is going to leave power, but when and how,” he added.

Parliament is due to vote later Tuesday on whether to continue French participation in the operations in Libya.

French law requires parliamentary approval for all military campaigns lasting more than four months. The Libya operation has wide support among lawmakers from both the governing conservative party and among the opposition Socialists, and the vote is expected to pass with a broad majority.

Juppe insisted the operation was helping shape the situation on the ground in Libya.

“Contrary to what we might hear, things are evolving in Libya,” both from a strategic and political perspective, he said.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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3 killed in bomb blast in northeast Nigeria

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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities say three people have died in a van blast in Nigeria’s restive northeast.

Maj. Gen. Jack Nwachukwu Nwaogbo told The Associated Press on Tuesday that an explosive went off under the van Monday evening as its driver slowed down at a military checkpoint in the city of Maiduguri.

He said the three victims had been riding in the van.

Authorities blame a radical Muslim sect locally known as Boko Haram for the bombing, the latest in a string of attacks which have targeted security officers, local leaders and clerics in the area over the last year.

The group, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege,” has claimed responsibility, in unverified statements, for a series of bombings in northern Nigeria.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A public university says it is closing indefinitely after receiving bomb threats from a radical Muslim sect in Nigeria’s restive northeast.

University of Maiduguri spokesman Ahmed Mohammed said Tuesday the school could no longer guarantee the safety of its 35,000 students.

Mohammed said two letters attributed to a radical sect locally known as Boko Haram threatened bomb attacks on the institution.

Hundreds gathered at bus parks Tuesday morning to leave Maiduguri amid the unrest.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the local Hausa language, is responsible for a rash of killings targeting security officers, local leaders and clerics in the area over the last year. They have also claimed responsibility for a bombing at the nation’s police headquarters that killed two last month.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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UN official says US breaks rules in torture probe

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GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations’ torture investigator on Tuesday accused the United States of violating U.N. rules by refusing him unfettered access to the Army private accused of passing classified documents to WikiLeaks.

Juan Mendez, the U.N.’s special rapporteur for torture, said he can’t do his job unless he has unmonitored access to detainees. He said the U.S. military’s insistence on monitoring conversations with Bradley Manning “violates long-standing rules” the U.N. follows for visits to inmates.

Manning has been detained by the U.S. military for most of the past year in a case pitting the U.S. government against advocates of transparency in government. The Army private stands accused of being the source of a trove of sensitive documents about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

He was transferred to a Kansas military prison in April after being confined alone in a cell for 23 hours a day in a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia, for eight months after his arrest. He faces about two dozen charges, including aiding the enemy. That charge can bring the death penalty or life in prison.

Mendez said the U.S. government assured him Manning is better treated now than he was in Quantico, but the government must allow the U.N. investigator to check that for himself.

Mendez said he needs to assess whether the conditions Manning experienced amounted to “torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” while at Quantico.

“For that, it is imperative that I talk to Mr. Manning under conditions where I can be assured that he is being absolutely candid,” Mendez said.

Pentagon officials have consistently said Manning was being held under appropriate conditions given the seriousness of the charges against him.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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US strikes in Pakistan follow aid cut, kill 38

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DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Three suspected U.S. missile strikes in northwestern Pakistan in less than 12 hours killed at least 38 alleged militants, an unusually heavy barrage at a time when relations between the two countries are badly strained, Pakistani intelligence officials said Tuesday.

The strikes follow the Obama administration’s announcement that it is suspending more than one-third of U.S. military aid to Pakistan until disagreements are worked out. The attacks indicate the White House has no intention of stopping the unmanned drone program even though the attacks have increasingly caused tension with Pakistan.

In the latest strike, suspected U.S. missiles hit a house in Dremala village in the South Waziristan tribal area early Tuesday, killing at least eight alleged militants, said two Pakistani intelligence officials. Two other Pakistani intelligence officials put the death toll from the strike at 13. The village is located close to the border with North Waziristan.

Before dawn Tuesday, suspected U.S. missiles hit a house in Shawal area of North Waziristan, killing 10 alleged militants, said Pakistani intelligence officials.

Late Monday, suspected U.S. missiles hit a house in Gorvak village in North Waziristan, killing at least 20 alleged militants, said two Pakistani intelligence officials. Two other Pakistani intelligence officials put the death toll at 23. The village is located very close to the Afghan border and is often used as a route for militants to cross into Afghanistan.

The Pakistani intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The areas where the strikes occurred are very dangerous, so it is difficult to independently confirm the intelligence officials’ accounts.

Pakistan’s reluctance to target Afghan militants based in North Waziristan who stage cross-border attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan has been one of the main sources of tension with the U.S.

Pakistan says its troops are stretched too thin by operations in other parts of the country, but many analysts believe the government is hesitant to cross militants with whom it has historical ties and who could be useful allies in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw.

In response, the Obama administration has dramatically increased drone strikes in North Waziristan over the past couple of years and has also hit areas in South Waziristan. The U.S. refuses to publicly acknowledge the covert CIA drone program in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed senior Taliban and al-Qaida officials.

Pakistan is widely believed to have supported the strikes in the past, even though officials often criticize them publicly as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. But that support has become less certain in recent months, especially following the covert U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden on May 2 in a Pakistani garrison town not far from Islamabad.

The raid humiliated the Pakistani military, which was not told about it beforehand. U.S. officials said they kept Pakistan in the dark because they were worried that someone would tip off bin Laden.

The relationship between the two countries has spiraled down since then, and President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, William Daley, said Sunday that the U.S. was suspending more than one-third — or $800 million — of its military aid to Pakistan until the two countries can patch up their relationship.

Pakistan’s defense minister, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, said in an interview with Pakistani TV Express 24/7 that Pakistan could withdraw its forces from the border regions along Afghanistan due to the cut off in funds.

But that was contradicted by the army, which holds far more power than the civilian-run defense ministry and which has downplayed the aid suspension.

After a meeting of top commanders Tuesday, the army issued a statement saying it was determined to “fight the menace of terrorism in our own national interest using our own resources.”

____

Dawar reported from Peshawar, Pakistan.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria Shuts University Over Militants Threats, Trust Says

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Nigeria shut the University of Maiduguri in the northeastern Borno state over the threat of violence from the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, Daily Trust reported, citing a statement by the institution.

The students who were to begin their first semester examinations on Aug. 15 were asked to vacate the campus by noon yesterday, the Abuja-based newspaper said. The school will remain closed until the security situation improves, it said.

Nigerian security forces launched an attack on suspected Boko Haram members in Maiduguri over the weekend, Trust said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vincent Nwanma in Lagos at vnwanma@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Several injured by explosion in north Nigeria town

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KADUNA, Nigeria, July 11 (Reuters) – An explosion near a popular nightspot in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna injured several people late on Sunday, the latest in a series of blasts in the north of Africa’s most populous nation.

Witnesses said half a dozen people were wounded by the explosion at around 10:30 pm (2130 GMT) near a hotel in the Obalende district of Kaduna. A senior state security official said investigations were under way.

The explosion came hours after a bomb blast in Suleja, a satellite town on the outskirts of the capital Abuja, which killed three people and left seven badly injured.

Boko Haram, a radical Islamist sect which says it wants a wider application of sharia Islamic law, has claimed many of the recent attacks, most of which have taken place around the northeastern town of Maiduguri.

The strikes, which often target the police, churches and bars, have killed more than 150 people this year. 

The sect is striking more and more beyond its Maiduguri home region — both Kaduna and Suleja are hundreds of kilometres away. It also claimed a bomb which killed at least two people outside the national police headquarters in Abuja last month. 

Authorities said 11 members of Boko Haram were killed and two soldiers injured on Saturday night when the group attacked a military patrol in Maiduguri with explosives. (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Garba Muhammad; Writing by Nick Tattersall)

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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