South Africa scientist wins US research grant

The University of Cape Town's Professor Valerie Mizrahi was one of only 13 science researchers in the world to receive a Senior International Research Scholar (SIRS) award from American non-profit organisation Howard Hughes Medical Institute last week.
Mizrahi is the director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at UCT and is studying the organism that causes human tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
The institute looks to understand metabolic flexibility and identify vulnerabilities within the disease in order to discover new drugs to combat the disease.

Scientific and technological skills are key to South Africa's competitiveness

Furthering biomedical research

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's (HHMI) International Programme supports scientists working in countries outside the United States where further basic biomedical research can be furthered.
The SIRS programme is the latest of the institute's policies to assist scientists around the world and aims to strengthen the global network of biomedical researchers.
Each senior research scholar will receive an annual grant of US$100 000 for five years and will get the opportunity to present their research at HHMI, which will facilitate the exchange of new ideas, stimulate research and allow for collaboration.
"These senior international research scholars are world leaders in their research areas. They will complement our efforts to support international early career scientists in a positive way," HHMI's vice president and chief scientific officer, Jack Dixon, said in a statement.
  
Professor Valerie Mizrahi from the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town

Mentoring the next generation of scientists

"Scientific research is a global endeavour, and these grants will provide an opportunity for these highly creative and accomplished scientists to explore new avenues of biomedical research and to mentor promising early career scientists across the world," said HHMI president, Robert Tjian.
The opportunity to mentor young scientists falls under the institute's new initiative, the International Early Career Scientist Programme, which provides funding for a select group of scientists who are in the early stages of their careers and working outside the United States.
It was launched earlier this year.
"What inspired me is the focus on mentoring early career scientists," Mizrahi said. "That's where my passion is and that's what I want to throw my energy into."
Mizrahi has won numerous other awards through the course of her work, including the 2000 UNESCO-L'Oreal for Women in Science, the 2006 Distinguished Woman Scientist Award from the Science and Technology Department and the Order of the Mapungubwe: Silver for contributions to biochemistry and molecular biology in the country.
She was also elected into the Fellowship of the American Academy of Microbiology and given an 'A' rating by the National Rearch Foundation in 2009.
SAinfo reporter

Latter-day Saints Gather for General Conference

Thousands of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) will gather this Saturday and Sunday at the Conference Centre in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, USA to attend general conference. Millions more around the world, including the United Kingdom, will watch on the Internet or by satellite broadcast in more than 6,000 Church buildings.

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Presiding at the 183rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be President Thomas Spencer Monson, the 16th president of the Church.

General conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are gatherings of leaders and members of the Church and anyone else wishing to hear messages of faith in Jesus Christ and His gospel. Scriptural doctrines are taught, hymns are sung and prayers are given, all in effort to urge people to live more Christian lives.

source: mormonnewsroom

Film Sliming Obama Parents Hits Swing States

Images of President Obama and Frank Marshall Lewis (Dreams From My Real Father)

With President Obama pulling out ahead of Mitt Romney in some national voter polls, it's no surprise that some right-wing partisans are resorting to tactics of pure desperation. Wild conspiracy theories and attacks on a candidate's dead mother are about as low as anyone can go -- even more troubling when they attract the endorsement of a GOP  official.

For a while now, pictures purporting to show Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, modeling in 1950s bondage and fetish porn have been floating around the darker corners of the Internet. Now, though, they’ve made their way into a pseudo-documentary, Joel Gilbert’s Dreams From My Real Father, which is being mailed to voters in swing states, promoted by several Tea Party groups and by at least one high-level Republican. At the same time, Dinesh D’Souza’s latest book, Obama’s America—the first of all his works to hit the top spot on The New York Times bestseller list—has a chapter essentially calling Dunham a fat slut. If Obama is reelected, it’s hard to imagine where the right goes from here.
It’s tempting to ignore Dreams From My Real Father because it’s so preposterous. The movie claims that Obama’s actual father was the poet and left-wing activist Frank Marshall Davis, who Dunham met through her father, who was a CIA agent merely posing as a furniture salesman....

source: the root

Flamingoes Zoom to Quaterfinal With 3-0 Win Over Colombia

Halimatu Ayinde's second brace of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was enough to send Nigeria into the quarter-finals and Colombia out in a 3-0 victory.

 

Chinwendu Ihezuo went close early on, her bullet header going just wide as she aimed to improve on her tally of six at Azerbaijan 2012. However they had to wait until the 32nd minute to open the scoring, Ihezuo feeding Ayinde to slot beneath Lissa Cardozo.

It was a scrappy game, but one that was favouring the African side. Nigeria were being limited to few chances despite dominating possession, but last-ditch tackles and blocks were keeping Colombia in it.

Maldonado almost swung things back on level terms though, with her looping free-kick from 40 yards crashing off the crossbar on 50 minutes, only for Gift Andy to recover and prevent Marcela Restrepo tapping in.

Moments later Tessy Biahwo then struck a decent free-kick of her own, but Cardozo was equal to it. Nigeria then had the ball in the net 15 minutes into the second period, but it was ruled out for a foul after Cardozo spilled a cross.

Captain Dayana Castillo almost drew Colombia level after breaking clear, only for Andy to deny her and seconds later, they were two down. Substitute Yetunde Adeboyejo combining well with Ayinde before the latter stroked the ball in off the bar.

When Diana Duarte put into her own net with a miscued header, Colombia’s last hopes were dashed, while France await the victors.

Roma Residents in Marseille Forcefully Evicted

A group of ethnic Roma immigrants have been evicted from a makeshift camp in southern France.
 
Angry residents in the 15th district of Marseille forced them out before setting their possessions on fire.
Roma community, who hail from eastern Europe, face hostility from local population, and recently the French government forcibly deported many of them back to Romania and Bulgaria.
Al Jazeera's Charlie Angela reports from Marseille.

Lateef Adegbite Dies At 79

Adegbite, an erudite constitutional lawyer who hails from Igbore in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, was said to have breathed his last yesterday evening in a Lagos hospital after battling with an undisclosed illness for few months back.
 
Before his death, Adegbite, a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the defunct Western State, was the Seriki and the Baba Adinni of Egbaland. Sources close to the family told Saturday Sun that Adegbite had been to London, Canada seeking medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment, which eventually claimed his life. His death, ironically coincided with two other prominent sons of Egbaland, Chief Segun Taiwo, a kingmaker and Action Congress of Nigeria chieftain and the business mogul and renowned banker, Chief Oluwole Adeosun, who were both buried yesterday in Abeokuta, the state capital.
In a condolence statement released late yesterday and signed by his Senior Special Assistant media, Mrs. Funmi Wakama, Governor Amosun, described the late Seriki of Egbaland as one of the icons the state has produced for Nigeria. According to him, Adegbite, in his lifetime, shone like a star in the field of law and was well known across the world as the mouthpiece of Islam in Nigeria. He noted that the late Seriki was a man, who usually offered wise counsel to governments at federal and state levels.
The governor added that the demise of Adegbite is not just a loss to Ogun State but also to Nigeria as a whole. While praying that almighty Allah grants his soul Aljanah Fidaus, the governor commiserated with the Adegbite family, people of Egbaland, the Muslim community and Nigerians in general. “Baba Adegbite was a strong believer in one Nigeria and a motivator of youths who always preached tolerance and peace at all times,” he said. The National President of National Council of Muslim Youths Organisation (NACOMYO), Alhaji Kamaldeen Akintunde, described Adegbite as a distinguished Nigerian, promoter and defender of Islamic and champion of inter-religious harmony.
Similarly, former Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Sarafadeen Tunji Ishola described Adegbite’s death as a big blow to the Egba as a people as well as Ogun State and indeed Nigeria and the entire world. Sarafa, who is the Baba Adinni of Ogun State, said his death came too soon after the death of Sheikh Sodrudeen Bamidele Biobaku and added that the Muslim community would miss him greatly. “It is a sad news, but we pray to Allah to grant him Aljannat,” he said. Adegbite attended Methodist School, Abeokuta.
He also attended Arabic School, before proceeding to St. Paul’s Primary School in Igbore, Abeokuta in 1942, when he was aged nine. He obtained a scholarship to attend King’s College, Lagos, where he was co-founder and first national president of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, graduating in 1956. In 1959, the Western Region Premier Chief Obafemi Awolowo awarded him a scholarship to travel to England for a Law degree programme. While abroad, he attended the University of Southampton, graduating with a B.A. in Law in July 1962.
He thereafter studied at the College of Law for Solicitors, Lancaster Gate in London, and then at Gray’s Inn (1963–1965). Adegbite later won a Commonwealth scholarship for post-graduate studies in England. Adegbite was Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Matters in the old Western Region of Nigeria during the military administration of Brigadier Christopher Oluwole Rotimi. He was then appointed Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the Western Region in 1973.
In October 1976, he founded the legal firm of Lateef Adegbite & Co as the Principal Partner, with main office in Lagos and a branch office in Abeokuta, specialising in Commercial and Corporate Law. Adegbite was president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee from 1972 to 1985.
He was Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Maiduguri from 1984 to 1990. He became a member of the Executive Committee of the Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was a Director of Industrial and General Insurance Plc.

Wiz Khalifa in alleged hit-and-run investigation

Wiz Khalifa is facing a police investigation after a driver alleged the rapper was involved in a traffic accident in Los Angeles last week.
 
A woman filed a report with the Los Angeles Police Department claiming the hip-hop star's car smashed into her vehicle last Wednesday, but alleges Khalifa subsequently left the scene of the accident.
The unnamed female was reportedly working on a music video shoot with the star and the crash allegedly occurred as crew members were leaving the set.
Police officers are now reportedly investigating the incident.