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As many as 50,000 people have fled separate offensives against rebel forces in northern and southern Syria in recent days, activists say. About 30,000 have left the northern town of Afrin as Turkish forces and their allies stepped up a siege. In the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus, some 20,000 have left areas targeted by Syrian government forces. The mass movements come seven years into a war which has driven nearly 12 million people from their homes. At least 6.1 million are internally displaced while another 5.6 million have fled abroad. Afrin, a city populated mainly by ethnic Kurds near the frontier, has been under bombardment from the air and the ground by Turkish forces and their local Syrian allies. Some 30,000 people have fled the city and nearby villages, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group. They headed towards villages held by Syrian government forces.  Hundreds more families left overnight as shelling c

World-renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking - who has died - leaves three children. Hawking, 76, died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday, March 14. The scientist has three grown up children from his first marriage to university sweetheart Jane Wilde. In a statement on Wednesday, his children, Lucy, Robert and Tim paid tribute to their father: "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. "He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. "His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humor inspired people across the world. "He once said, 'It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love.' We will miss him forever." According to The Richest website he is worth $20million which is a bout £15million from his books and science awards. His children look set to inherit his millions, but

Electronic cigarettes, also called e-cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid solution, which may or may not include nicotine, into a vapor that is inhaled — or "vaped" — by the user. The devices have become a popular alternative to conventional cigarettes in recent years, due in part to the belief that they present fewer health risks than regular ones. The use of e-cigarettes is growing rapidly in the United States. However, this surge in popularity is controversial — not only due to the questions posed by researchers over whether or not vaping is harmful, but also because of concerns that teenagers may be using e-cigarettes as a gateway into regular smoking . The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have banned the sale of e-cigarettes to individuals under the age of 18. But more scientific evidence is needed to inform the public debate about the effects of e-cigarettes at population level. A recent study reported by MNT found that

Nigeria actor Ali Nuhu is a year older today. The handsome actor clocks 43 today Thursday March 15 2018. The birthday actor needs no introduction as he is a popular face in Kannywood (Hausa movie industry). Ali Nuhu who is known as the richest actor in the kannywood movie industry celebrated the 15th year of his marriage to his wife, Maimuna Garba Ja Abdulkadir on Wednesday  the 14th of March 2018. Although there are indications that the actor is likely to take a new wife, he is still happily married to Maimuna. The Kano based couple is blessed with two children, a boy and girl named Ahmad and Fatima Nuhu. He was born Ali Nuhu Mohammed in Maiduguri Borno staste on the 15th of march 1974 to the family of Mr Nuhu Poloma and Hajia Fatima Karderam Digema. The actor who is fondly called the King of Kannywood started his acting career in 1999.                                   

Big Brother Naija 2018 housemate, Cee-C has lamented fellow housemate, Tobi’s attitude towards her. In a chat with Bambam, Cee-C said Tobi suddenly became cold after she informed him she was a virgin. Cee-C also said she had expected two outcomes: either Tobi got closer to her or he stayed away from her. She said, “Tobi has been very cold towards me since I informed him that I was still a virgin. “I had two expectations though, that the disclosure either brings us closer or pulls us apart.” Recall that Cee-C, a lawyer by profession had on Saturday declared that she is a virgin.

Students and school staff across the US are commemorating the Florida school shootings with a walkout, exactly one month after the killings. They are stopping lessons for 17 minutes in memory of the 17 people killed at Marjory Stone-man Douglas High School. A former pupil has been charged with the killings. Organizers of the protest accuse Congress of failing to tackle gun violence adequately. The White House revealed a plan this week to deter school shootings which does not include President Donald Trump's repeated calls to raise the age for buying semi-automatic rifles to 21. Instead, it moves ahead with his controversial proposal to provide firearms training to school employees. The walkouts were scheduled to begin at 10:00 (10:00 EST is 14:00 GMT) across America's time zones. Organizers of the National School Walkout, who were also behind the Women's March in January 2017 against Mr Trump's inauguration, are calling on "students, teacher

Google pulled down 3.2 billion adverts that violated its advertising and publishers policies in 2017, adding that this was more than 100 bad adverts per second in Nigeria and other part of the world. Google explained that it used this approach to block the majority of bad adverts experiences, like malvertising and phishing scams, before the scams impacted people. Google said it took specific actions against violating adverts involved in scraping; tabloid cloaking; malicious activity; malware and trick to click formats. The United States of America’s technology company went on to reveal that it paid publishers $12.6 billion in the year under review. It added that 79 million adverts were blocked on its network for attempting to send people to malware-laden sites, and removed 400,000 of these unsafe sites last year. It equally removed 66 million, “trick-to-click” adverts as well as 48 million adverts that were attempting to get users to install unwanted software.

Paris Jackson’s star is rising. She appears in her first movie, Gringo , alongside heavyweights like Charlize Theron and Amanda Seyfried, and for last night's premiere in L.A., Jackson chose a look that reflected her new status. Her black gown from Valentino with a snake curving up its necklines projected the elegance of old Hollywood. She kept things simple elsewhere with her slicked-back, oversized hoop earrings, and a plum-stained pout, offering a departure from the bombshell vibe of her Oscar-night Versace dress and the hippie chic of her off-duty wardrobe.Of course, Jackson’s foray into classic fashion doesn’t mean she’s lost her inner rock chick.  She let her personality show beneath the layers of tulle and embroidery, from her visible tattoos to her now-signature beaded bracelets. Enjoying the night out with her co-stars and her big brother Prince, she marked the next chapter of her career in style.

Canada and Mexico may be exempt from US plans to impose tariffs on metal imports, the White House says. Other countries may also see "carve-outs" on national security grounds, press secretary Sarah Sanders said. US President Donald Trump has said steel products will face a 25% tariff, with 10% on aluminum goods. But there are fears the plans could spark a trade war, and it reportedly helped lead to the resignation of White House economic adviser Gary Cohn. The EU has proposed retaliatory measures against a number of US goods including bourbon and peanut butter. Despite opposition at home and abroad, Ms Sanders said the US president would sign the measures in by the end of the week. But she added: "There are potential carve-outs for Mexico and Canada based on national security, and possibly other countries as well based on that process. That would be [on] a case-by-case and country by country basis." Mr Trump has railed against the US trade

Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria, has disclosed the lessons he has learnt from the new movie ‘Black Panther’. Atiku Abubakar writes: Over the weekend, I joined my children to watch the much talked about ‘Black Panther’. It was a good film, and I was happy they took me to see it. However, I came out of the movie theater a little upset. When the first scenes came up, and I saw “Sambisa Forest” I was unhappy that the only reference the filmmakers could have for Nigeria was a negative one, but I was later encouraged by the thought of Africans solving African problems. That is a good thing, the kinds of things we used to do. For young people who may not remember, Nigerian civil servants and indeed most able citizens used to contribute money every month to support the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Nigeria was the single stabilizing force across West Africa. Helping to restore peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone are examples of the gigantic st