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Something you should know about Groovy Kind Of Love

12:48 PM |
Something you should know about Groovy Kind Of Love Lyrics
Title: Phil Collins - Groovy Kind Of Love lyrics
Artist: Phil Collins Lyrics


When I'm feeling blue
All I have to do
Is take a look at you
Then I'm not so blue
When you're close to me
I can feel you heart beat
I can hear you breathing
In my ear
Wouldn't you agree?
Baby, you and me got a groovy kind of love

Any time you want to
You can turn me on to
Anything you want to
Any time at all
When I kiss your lips
Ooh, I start to shiver
Can't control the quivering inside
Wouldn't you agree?
Baby, you and me got a groovy kind of love

Ooh

When I'm feeling blue
All I have to do
Is take a look at you
Then I'm not so blue
When I'm in your arms
Nothing seems to matter
My whole world can shatter
I don't care
Wouldn't you agree?
Baby, you and me got a groovy kind of love

We got a groovy kind of love
We got a groovy kind of love
Ooh, ooh
We got a groovy kind of love

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12:32 PM |
 Something you should know about Separate Lives Lyrics

Title: Phil Collins - Separate Lives lyrics

Artist: Phil Collins Lyrics


You called me from the room in your hotel
All full of romance for someone that you met
And telling me how sorry you were, leaving so soon
And that you miss me sometimes when you’re alone in your room
Do I feel lonely too?

You have no right to ask me how I feel
You have no right to speak to me so kind
We can’t go on just holding on to time
Now that we’re living separate lives

Well I held on to let you go
And if you lost your love for me, well you never let it show
There was no way to compromise
So now we’re living (living)
Separate lives

Ooh, it’s so typical, love leads to isolation
So you build that wall (build that wall)
Yes, you build that wall (build that wall)
And you make it stronger

Well you have no right to ask me how I feel
You have no right to speak to me so kind
Some day I might (I might) find myself looking in your eyes
But for now, we’ll go on living separate lives
Yes for now, we’ll go on living separate lives
Separate lives
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All Of My Life lyrics - Phil Collins

12:17 PM |

All Of My Life lyrics
Songwriters: Phil Collins

All of my life, I've been searching
For the words to say how I feel
I'd spend my time thinking too much
And leave too little to say what I mean
But I've tried to understand the best I can all of my life

All of my life, I've been saying sorry
For the things I know I should have done
All the things I could have said come back to me
Sometimes I wish that it had just begun
Seems I'm always that little too late, all of my life

Set 'em up, I'll take a drink with you
Pull up a chair, I think I'll stay
Set 'em up, 'cos I'm going nowhere
There's too much I need to remember
And there's too much I need to say

All of my life, I've been looking
But it's hard to find the way
Just reaching past the goal in front of me
While what's important just slips away
And it doesn't come back but I'll be looking, all of my life

Set 'em up, I'll take a drink with you
Pull up a chair, I think I'll stay
Set 'em up, 'coz I'm going nowhere
There's too much I need to remember
And there's too much I need to say, oh yeah

All of my life there have been regrets
That I didn't do all I could
Making records upstairs while he watched TV
I didn't spend the time I should
And it's a memory I will live with all of my life
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New Teen Wolf is darker and sexier

7:14 AM |
Teen Wolf is back, but those expecting a cute teenaged comedy with plenty of basketball scenes are in for a shock.

The MTV series is still aimed at teenagers and young adults but it's darker, scarier, sexier and has swapped basketball for lacrosse.

The Australian director of the series, Russell Mulcahy, says he prefers to call it a reinvention of the Michael J Fox film, rather than a remake.

"MTV talked about reinventing it and giving it a modern twist and heading more in the direction of The Lost Boys from the 1980s," Mulcahy says of the new series to air on Seven.

But he says that's not to take anything away from the original Teen Wolf.

"I think the 80s version was cute, one would even say a little campy." Mulcahy says.

"But when we were shooting we had three words that we sort of lived by: make it scary, sexy and surprising."

And the switch of sports from basketball to lacrosse apparently fitted more closely with the reinvention's new image.

"It's an incredibly fast, somewhat violent game, but it's an incredibly interesting game to watch," he says.

"We wanted a remix (of the original film) so those key elements we wanted to change. We wanted to take it away from basketball because people would be expecting basketball."

While it may be tempting to compare the series to Twilight, Mulcahy says although they're both based on the supernatural, his series is a lot darker than the teenaged vampire franchise.

"They're two different animals and I love both breeds," he says.

"To me it's like going into a bookshop and you're wanting to buy a mystery novel. You don't want just one choice. I think there's enough room and there's enough creative differences in the series to set it apart."

While it is a dark series, Mulcahy says there are still plenty of laughs to be found along the way.

"There is some real humour in it," he says.

"A lot of the humour comes from the dialogue. It's very smart."

Mulcahy says he also re-imagined the lead character, Scott McCall, this time played by Tyler Posey (Maid in Manhattan), as more like Spiderman's Peter Parker.

"It has all those elements of normal teenagers and their trials and tribulations and then you throw in the mix that one of them is a werewolf," he says.

"Then it's really about him having to deal with that."

Mulcahy is full of praise for his young cast which also includes Crystal Reed as Allison Argent and newcomer Dylan O'Brien as Stiles.

"It's very well performed. Your heart bleeds for these characters," he says.

"It's such a rollercoaster of emotions."

Despite only having a few comedic clips on YouTube, O'Brien managed to beat hundreds of actors to the role of Stiles.

"Dylan O'Brien came in with a resume that was a blank piece of paper apart from a few clips on Youtube," Mulcahy says.

"But he did his audition and we we were just blown away with it."

The series premiered in the US a few weeks ago and Mulcahy says it has been well received despite some critics dismissing it before it aired.

"I think there were a few cynics out there who were really hoping to dislike it and I think they're few and far between now," he says.

And while the demographic for the show may be teenagers and 20-somethings, Mulcahy says there's plenty in it for everyone.

"I think from folklore to written stories such as Dracula to early movies and modern shows, people love the genre of the unknown," he says.

"We just hope to deliver that dark fantasy."
Read more…

US tourist abandoned at Great Barrier Reef

7:12 AM |

A US tourist has been forced to swim for help after realising he was left behind on a Great Barrier Reef snorkelling trip.

The case has eerie echoes of the Tom and Eileen Lonergan tragedy, the American couple left behind on a dive off Port Douglas in January 1998.

Their horrific ordeal was the inspiration for the movie Open Water, which told of their desperate fight for survival after they surfaced to find their boat had left them behind.

The incident tightened the headcount regulations for reef tour operators, but these were overlooked on the Passions of Paradise boat, which left US tourist Ian Cole stranded on Saturday.

The 28-year-old told The Cairns Post newspaper he panicked when he pulled his head from the water at Michaelmas Cay and found the boat had left.

He was forced to swim to another vessel owned by the same company, whose employees radioed for Passions of Paradise to come back.

The staff member who failed to properly perform the headcount has reportedly been sacked, and the incident reported to Marine Safety Queensland and Workplace Health and Safety.

Mr Cole's money was refunded, and he was given a $200 restaurant voucher.

It took two days for the Lonergans to be reported missing and their bodies were never found.
It's presumed they drowned or were taken by sharks.

Entertainment4talks.blogspot.com
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In divided Bahrain, students pay price for protests

7:09 AM |

MANAMA (Reuters) - As the summer heat sets in, most university students in Bahrain are eagerly looking forward to getting out of class. But 19 year-old Mohammed and his friends are struggling to get back in.

Local rights groups say over 400 mostly Shi'ite students have been expelled from Bahraini universities in recent months, charged with participating in the "unauthorized protests" which shook the Gulf island kingdom earlier this year.

Mohammed, a second year student at Bahrain University, described a string of student dismissals since March, in which officials used protesters' own Facebook postings and YouTube videos against them to identify students who joined demonstrations or criticized the government online.

"There is an aggressive with-us-or-against-us mentality," he said, declining to give his full name for fear of further government reprisals. "If you went out to the streets to ask for your rights, now you must be punished."

School officials say students crossed a red line by calling for the fall of the government on school grounds. Students insist many of them only protested off-campus, and warn the punishments have increased pent-up anger that could erupt again.

The Sunni rulers of Bahrain, home port to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, quashed weeks of protests led mostly by the country's Shi'ite majority during a March crackdown that also has seen up to 2,000 workers sacked and hundreds arrested.

Bahrain said the protests had a sectarian agenda with backing from Shi'ite power Iran, which the opposition denies.

The education ministry has said students can apply to other schools, but they have complained they were unable to get copies of their transcripts. They were also convinced no other local university would take on students expelled for protests.

Some, under a travel ban for political activities, cannot study abroad. Others are too afraid to leave.

"The situation is very bad. Some of us have parents who were sacked. What if the other parent gets sacked? We have to save everything we have," said 21-year-old Sayed.

Like other students, he met Reuters at a deserted shopping mall out of fear of speaking out. Sayed was less than a semester from graduating when he was dismissed in March.

BUDDING ACTIVISTS

Mohammed fears arrest if he applies for a job and is discovered to be an expelled student protester. Instead, he spends afternoons driving through Shi'ite villages looking for protests and networking with activists by mobile phone.

"I don't have class, I don't have work. So I work for the revolution. They stole my rights, my future, I will fight back," he said. "I have nothing to lose."

Tensions have been high since the crackdown and protests have occurred daily since the government lifted an emergency law on June 1. A national dialogue for reforms, planned to start on July 2, has fallen on deaf ears among younger and increasingly hardline Shi'ite youths.

Across town, 20 year-old Asma Darwish, one of some 40 students expelled from Bahrain Polytechnic last week, has devoted her time to looking for scholarships and activism.

"They have a bunch of smart young people sitting at home with nothing to do. It will ruin the country," said Darwish, her black veil and abaya hanging from a slim frame, frail from finishing a nine-day hunger strike over her brother's detention.

Days after police escorted her off campus, she was briefly arrested for staging a small sit-in at a United Nations office.

Some students face worse sanctions: One woman, who was afraid to give her name, said she was jailed for a month the night after she admitted at a school questioning that she was active at protests.

She said she was beaten with sticks and electric rods in detention, and threatened with rape. The government has denied systematic abuse and said any incidents will be investigated.

"I had never considered myself an activist, I just wanted a better life," she said. "I'm stronger now. I learned what politics are, that we have rights and should speak up for them."

LOYALTY PLEDGE

The University of Bahrain's dean of student affairs defended the dismissals, saying students would be able to appeal, and that those punished clearly broke school rules.

"They disrupted the educational environment with unauthorized protests... if they raised slogans against the regime, that's an additional violation," said Adnan al-Tamimi.

The University of Bahrain now also requires its students to sign a loyalty pledge to Bahrain and King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. The pledge says those who do not sign are giving up their right to university study, and those who break the pledge can be expelled.

University officials said the pledge was not new, but signatures are now required to ensure students know the rules.

One employee, who defended the dismissals, said even he was disturbed by the mood on campus in recent months, where white stickers with bold black letters have been plastered all over the walls: "God will not pardon what has passed."

Not only Bahraini, but Saudi and UAE flags flutter in doorways -- a tribute to the troops from neighboring Sunni Gulf countries that came in to back Bahrain's government during its crackdown.

"You can't say anything, or they will accuse you of being against the government," the employee whispered. "It worries me, they seem to forget: One day you are on top, the next on the bottom. No government lasts forever."
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Suicide Bomber Kills Many At Nigerian Police Headquarters

12:17 PM |


The Nigerian Police Headquarters, Abuja was this afternoon hit by a car bomb killing about ten people according to an eye witness and official sources. The bomber is believed to have died in the attack.

Yemi Ajayi, a spokesman for the police said the explosion occurred at the car park within the compound of the police building.

An eye witness to the blast, a senior police officer told Thetimesofnigeria.com that there are over ten fatalities.

“Over ten people must have died. Bodies are being evacuated as I speak to you. It is not possible to say how many may have died so far.”

The senior police officer who prefers anonymity said he saw the bomber as he drove into the police headquarters’ and parked his Honda Civic (Ash color) car in the area reserved for the Inspector General of Police.

“The bomber parked the car on the spot reserved for the IG and he was immediately accosted and was being questioned when the bomb went over. Everything happened in less than thirty seconds.” The officer said.

“I am not sure if the bomber died in the car or if he made it our alive as we all took cover as the bomb exploded. There was commotion everywhere.”

Authorities in Nigeria’s north have previously blamed the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which draws inspiration from Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, for bomb attacks and killings targeting government officials and security forces. More than 14,000 people died in ethnic and religious clashes between 1999 and 2009 in Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

Boko Haram have set conditions for peace talks with President Goodluck Jonathan, including the introduction of Sharia law in the country’s northern states, Usman al-Zawahiri, a spokesman for the sect, said on June 13.

Militants from the oil-producing Niger Delta have also attacked government officials.

Force spokesman Olusola Amore has fingered the Boko Haram sect as probable culprits in this morning's attack on the Police Force Headquarters.


He said the Boko Haram were the likely suspects because they had been "issuing threats" against the police and other establishments. He also said the IG will not be embarrassed or tender his resignation because it is not the first time such occurrences have happened in Nigeria.

Speaking to media men, he claimed that one suicide bomber and the traffic policeman who tried to intercept him as he drove into the Police Force HQ were the only two fatalities from this morning's explosion. He said the remains of the bomber had been taken for further investigation.
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Tired, Wet Fans Angry With the Black Eyed Peas

11:04 AM |

It doesn't take much to anger a typical New Yorker, so imagine just how pissed the crowd of thousands were after waiting in sweltering heat for six hours -- then two more in the rain -- and then being told that the Black Eyed Peas concert in Central Park simply was not happening.

"What, Will.I.Am can't play in the rain? Is Fergie's hair gonna get wet," said Queens resident Brian Moriarty, 26, who lined up with his girlfriend at 3 p.m. hoping to get a prime general admission spot close to the stage.

The pre-show festivities with performances by Taylor Swift, Carole King and Tony Bennett were scheduled to start at 5 but were delayed due to bad weather, leaving folks like Moriarty stranded in the sopping wet heat. Gates were finally opened to concert-goers at 7:45, but once fans had finally settled into the park the police department announced they were shutting everything down due to lightning.

The Band Sings About Having to Cancel
"We won't go," chanted the crowd of some 20,000 New Yorkers (of the 60,000 originally scheduled to attend the performance meant to benefit the Robin Hood Foundation). And many of them did not. Police had to close in on the groups who believed that by squatting in the meadow they would be treated to the Peas' musical stylings.

In a statement, the Robin Hood Foundation said: "The heat wasn't going to stop them, the rain wasn't going to stop them, but the lightning-it stopped them. It came down to safety for everyone."

They hope to reschedule soon and will be providing more information "in the next week or so" on the foundation's website.

While weather is certainly something entirely out of the Black Eyed Peas control, the canceled concert put another black mark on the band's brand following what can only be described as a disastrous performance at the Super Bowl earlier this year. The Central Park concert was a chance to redeem themselves with fans in a high profile venue. Unfortunately with no rain date on the horizon, the Peas will have to find a new venue to prove their worth.

Taboo told fans in a tweet that Fergie was really bummed about the cancellation. She was probably less bummed than the thousands who packed the streets of the Upper West Side searching for a cab in the downpour with sunburned noses, soaking shorts and nary a Peas song in their heads.
Read more…

Chris Brown: I Influence The World With My Music And Smile

10:56 AM |

Say what you will about Chris Brown. But don't call his recent success a comeback.

The 22-year old R&B star, a controversy magnet whose early promise seemed to go up in smoke with his brutal beating of Rihanna, has maintained great support from a loyal crew of fans since that fateful episode over two years ago. And with his album, "F.A.M.E.," debuting in the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart earlier this year, spawning three number one singles and netting him six BET Award nominations, it would seem that he's back to at least semi-mainstream acceptance. Not that he ever doubted it would happen.

"I don’t really think it’s a comeback album. I feel like it’s an album of triumph, like an underdog type of album," Brown tells The Source magazine in its new cover story. "It’s more of me showing and proving everybody wrong. I don’t think I ever went anywhere. It’s not like I fell off the face of the earth."

Recently, the rapper and Rihanna seemed to be moving toward some small reconciliation; she moved to her her restraining order against him loosened so that he could appear at award shows, and perhaps even more tellingly, began following him on Twitter.

Brown is seemingly humble about his recaptured success. While he got caught in an online exchange in which he he made homophobic comments (for which he apologized) and had a meltdown behind the scenes of Good Morning America after being asked about the Rihanna controversy, Brown seems to understand that his actions have consequences, and is looking to positively influence his fans.

"What I like most about being Chris Brown is being able to influence the world with my music and smile, being able to
inspire the world, fans singing your music, seeing people dressed like you but at the same time them wanting to be
themselves, be individuals," he tells the magazine. "I recognize my music touches people and everything I do negative or positive affects people all over the world. So that’s definitely a blessing and a curse."

He's very adamant about that blessing and curse part; as someone who has experienced the highs and lows of his personal life from underneath the magnifying glass that is the public eye, the lack of freedom does trouble him sometimes.
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Kanye West w/Pusha T, CyHi Da Prince, Mr. Hudson, Big Sean, and Kid Cudi Skylight One Hanson

10:52 AM |
Good Music Empire

Thunder shook Brooklyn, drops of rain fell, and over a thousand people took refuge in One Hanson Place, the old Williamsburg Savings Bank, for a much whispered-about Kanye West show. We were the chosen ones. If the world was going to end, at least we would be safe behind a velvet rope.

Every recent Kanye concert in New York has been an exercise in power and validation. There was last summer's early-hours secret show at The Box, last November's hundred-dollar VIP scramble at the Bowery Ballroom, and now this. Details, few and far between, had been saved for but a few "influencers." Couldn't get a ticket? You probably didn't deserve one.

This was a beautiful space saved for beautiful people. A PR email not-so-casually announced that fourteen celebrities would be in attendance: Diddy, Estelle, and Hype Williams; models of Sports Illustrated, Victoria's Secret, and King (ha) caliber, too. These beautiful people came to see a show of enormous proportions, Kanye outdoing Kanye.

Rumors swirled that Jay-Z would be there—hell, his bodyguard Norm stood upstairs—and that because of a strict-in-name "no cameras allowed" policy, the two of them would perform cuts from Watch the Throne. (Jay-Z never showed up.)

Extending sixty feet in the air, the ceiling probably made even Mr. West feel small and had an unfortunate result for someone who so demands to be heard: the sound was pretty terrible. (It would be no worse than when Q-Tip, during his DJ set opener, said something that might have been a call for people to raise their hands. No one raised their hands.) The issue would be addressed, though never completely fixed; the audio supposedly sounded perfect in the monitors, and high-quality footage will be released on Vevo.

Forgetting the muffled sound, the light show and stage performance were pretty outstanding. Red flashes made the room feel as if it was the inside of a volcano; gold lasers streaming through the ever-present fog recalled aurora borealis. Turrets of smoke would erupt on cue during "Power" while Kanye stood on stage like a god upon Mount Olympus. At times he was Thor, throwing down lightning and watching it strike. Then, with shades removed, he was happier, benevolent, skipping around for the combo of "Good Life" and "Gold Digger." During "Flashing Lights," Kanye stood atop a hydraulic pillar that lifted him ten feet in the air, making it look like he was floating above a thick fluffy cloud. It was awesome (in the most biblical sense of the word).
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The Black Eyed Peas & Friends The Great Lawn

10:39 AM |
sad William I am

Better than: Sitting in Central Park and waiting for nothing to happen before the heat broke.

The confusion started at around 5:15 p.m. last night, when NY1's Pat Kiernan tweeted that the Black Eyed Peas show in Central Park—an hours-long, sponsor-spangled extravaganza benefiting the Robin Hood Foundation that was to be preceded by appearances by the likes of Zach Braff and Tony Bennett, and was rumored to feature a Taylor Swift cameo—had been delayed because of the thunderstorms rumbling into the New York metropolitan area. It was like a bizarro snow-day announcement, with the wry Canadian newscaster breaking the news that things were too wet and wild out there in the early evening on the Internet instead of in the early morning on TV, and coming as it did on a day when the mercury was causing people to drop Do The Right Thing references instead of complaints about how their radiators weren't working. Twitpics of people being herded out of the park and told to come back later started percolating out, and eventually things became official: The gates would open at 7:30 and the show would start at 8:30, because the worst of the storms would have passed by then.

I showed up to the press gate at 7:30 on the dot (after hitting the Upper East Side's Shake Shack outpost, which played host to quite a few people looking to kill time/fill up before the gates reopened) to pick up my lanyard identifying me as media and was eventually led to an area to the right of the stage where there were risers and a bench. (Hooray, a bench!) The park looked gorgeous in the gloom, the green of the trees and plants popping against the gray dusk, and I made a mental note to leave the house on days when the weather seemed lousy more often.

The music started pumping from the speakers at approximately 7:50—"Smooth Criminal" was first, which seemed appropriate given that Michael Jackson is one of the artists whose broad-stroke popularity the Peas continually aspire to with their corporate synergies and willingness to recast songs entirely in order to make their hit probability more likely. It was at around this time that the rain started back up—not the downpour that had greeted my exit from the subway an hour earlier, but a light, pleasant drizzle that washed away any memories of the upper-90s temperatures from earlier in the day.

And then, an "ooh" from the crowd—but it was only because the stagehands were testing the lights that shone in the audience's direction, which were bright enough to illuminate the fact that the rain was starting to come down a bit harder. The first streak of lightning streaked across the sky shortly after, and one of the writers sitting next to me said to her friend, "Let's go under that tree." I was too tired to point out that during a lightning storm "under that tree" is probably the worst place to be, and plus I was sitting right next to a lot of metal courtesy of risers that had been set up for media to watch the show so I really couldn't talk.

Each lightning strike after that was accompanied by an "ohhhh" from the crowd, although I was pretty mesmerized—it's not every day that you get such a great view of apocalyptic weather, and the clear skies proffered by the Great Lawn allowed me to watch the lightning bending and choking across the sky. If it wasn't potentially deadly, it would have been a great addition to the Peas' pyro.

After about the seventh strike or so I noticed a burly security guard yelling into his headset "We're shutting it down, we're shutting it down." Meanwhile, the crowd was getting excited because an actual person holding an actual microphone had come on stage, a milestone that some people had been waiting for since approximately 3 p.m. Alas, he had only bad news, first telling the crowd to listen to the instructions that were about to be doled out—always a bad sign. And then the hammer dropped: The concert was canceled; everyone had to head back out into the Midtown rain in as orderly a fashion as they possibly could.

"How was the show?" a couple of security guards smirked as we tripped out of the park. People on Twitter were similarly wocka-wockaish, thinking that the Peas being held at bay by Mother Nature was hilarious (the words "act of God" were used a lot), but I was kind of bummed out. Not because I was desperate to see will.i.am and Fergie and The Other Two Guys, although quite a few people in the crowd were; it was more that I've never seen a show on the Great Lawn, despite growing up in the New York area and living in the city for nine years and change. Perhaps Robin Hood and the Peas will try again—"Organizers are hoping to reschedule, so ticket buyers should hold onto their tickets," said a statement from the Robin Hood Foundation. I should probably invest in a poncho if they do.

Critical bias: As a kid who spent a lot of time in waiting rooms, I've read quite a few Readers' Digest true-life lightning-strike tales.

Overheard: "They're not rescheduling this for tomorrow. The Black Eyed Peas aren't Diana Ross."

Random notebook dump: The Calvin Klein ad that played on the screens above the stage, in which rich people shot in black and white stalked around an expensive-looking house, seemed like something of an odd fit to precede a show benefiting a poverty-focused charity. Perhaps it was deemed appropriate because it didn't contain much nudity?
Read more…

Bankole weeps

10:10 AM |
Bankole Weeps

Bankole weeps at remand home
Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Speaker, House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole at the weekend burst into tears on sighting the young inmates of a remand home in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

Mr. Bankole who was at the Bortal Remand Home, located in Adigbe area of the town to commission an Information Communication Technology(ICT) Centre he facilitated in the institution, could not hold back tears when being confronted with the bane of juvenile delinquency in the country. Apparently disturbed by the plight of the young inmates, the weeping Speaker found it difficult to address the young inmates, whose age ranges between 8-15 years.

The Speaker who expressed a desire to fully help the delinquents, noted that he wants to be fully briefed on the reform process of the students. Mr.Bankole said that with only three of the institutions in the country, he does not want to believe there are no juvenile delinquents in other parts of the country. He said the Nigerian society will be better off, if its leaders can address the ills afflicting youth at their tender stage before their attitudes are fully formed. ‘‘ICT centre is meant to give the inmates and staff, opportunity to be abreast of what is going on in the outside world as well as equip the children to fit easily into the larger society at the end of their reformation''.

The Ogun State Controller of Prison, Kunle Babalola said there are only three remand homes in Nigeria : located at Kaduna, Ilorin and Abeokuta. He said the humane nature of the Speaker must have accounted for his thoughtfulness in remembering this segment of the society for educational advancement.

Education centre
He noted that the establishment of the ICT centre is aimed at educating, correcting and re-integrating the students into the society will be of great benefit to both the students and staff of this institution. ‘‘The ICT centre is aimed at educating, correcting and re-integrating the students into the society, and I am convinced that it will be of great benefit to both the students and staff of the institution'',Mr. Babalola stated .

The leader of the community where the institution is located, Olayinka Oyesiku commended Mr. Bankole for the project as well as the ongoing construction of Adigbe -Saraki road which is located in the community. He assured the Speaker of the community's support during the election, saying he has fully represented their interest at the Federal level through various constituency projects.
Read more…

EFCC arrests Speaker Bankole

10:07 AM |
Bankole Arrested by EFCC


Nigeria's anti-corruption agency (EFCC) has arrested one of the country's leading politicians on suspicion of defrauding the country, an official said.

Officers arrested outgoing speaker of the house of representatives, Dimeji Bankole, at his home in Abuja on Sunday, after he resisted arrest for more than four hours, said Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the economic and financial crimes commission.

Babafemi gave no additional details about the allegations facing Bankole, other than to say that he would be held "in custody to enable him to have sufficient time to answer questions on the numerous fraud allegations against him".

Bankole apparently refused several requests by officials to be interviewed.

"An intelligence report ... showed that the former speaker was planning to leave Abuja for Lagos on Sunday evening and thereafter flee the country through an illegal route," a statement from Babafemi read.

It was not immediately clear if Bankole had a lawyer. His spokesman, Idowu Bakare, previously issued a statement saying Bankole "never benefited" from his position, including taking a more than $66m (£40m) loan from United Bank for Africa PLC for his office. That was on top of his annual salary and money already budgeted for his office, which runs into the millions of dollars.

Positions in Nigeria's national assembly are highly lucrative, where even low-ranking members earn more than $1m in salaries and benefits, plus the ability to direct a swollen budget in a nation where billions in oil revenues routinely go missing.

Bankole conceded defeat to an opposition party candidate in Nigeria's April elections, one of a number of prominent politicians who lost their seats in the national assembly.

Many pointed to Bankole's defeat as a sign that Nigeria's elections, typically marred by fraud and thuggery, had improved over the country's 12 years as a democracy. However, ballot-box stuffing and violence dominated later polls, with more than 800 people dying in religious rioting after the presidential election.

Nigeria, one of the top crude oil suppliers to the US, has a long history of corruption, with one officials once estimating the country has lost more than $380bn to corruption since gaining its independence from Britain in 1960. Corruption trickles down from corrupt politicians in Abuja to the lowest police officer shaking down bribes from motorists at one of the country's many traffic checkpoints.

Bankole's detention is the highest profile case in many months for the economic and financial crimes commission, founded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003. While critics say Obasanjo used the agency to go after his opponents, officers did make major arrests under then-chief Nuhu Ribadu.

After late President Umaru Yar'Adua's administration forced Ribadu out of office in 2008, the agency largely fell quiet. A US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks shows diplomats have questioned new agency leader Farida Waziri's preparedness and willingness to take on the country's powerful political elite. Waziri has been slow to prosecute many of the high-ranking politicians once under heavy scrutiny – even after Yar'Adua's death last year.
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Geatest Movies that Flopped on released

8:34 AM |
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The archetypal sleeper hit, 'The Shawshank Redemption' was buried by the competition on its release in September 1994. Though critically acclaimed, it opened across the US on the same weekend as 'Pulp Fiction', and also took a beating from money-spinners 'Forrest Gump' and 'Stargate' in following weekends. It took just £9.7 million for the year, not even making the box office top 50. Though it scored a little more cash when re-released during Oscar season in 1995, making just over £17 million in total, it only recouped its budget plus £1.8 million.

Raging Bull (1980)
Though it's considered by many as Martin Scorcese's magnum opus, 'Raging Bull' gave the director more than a few sleepless nights. Both the film's violence and the lack of a decent advertising campaign meant that it took some time to recoup its £10.9 million budget. Coupled with decidedly mixed reviews, Scorcese feared that it could have spelled the end for his career, particularly after its predecessor 'New York, New York' lost money. It eventually made £14 million theatrically, not a percentage that would impress today's studio money men.


Vertigo (1958)
Vertigo is often cited as being one of the greatest films of all time, but its opening in 1958 was far from celebratory. The box office takings were average and the reviews were, at best, mixed. Fans of Alfred Hitchcock were said to be disappointed at the director's departure from his previous 'romantic thrillers', and Hitchcock himself later blamed the film's failure on the fact that his lead man Jimmy Stewart, who was 50 at the time, looked unconvincingly old to be 25-year-old Kim Novak's love interest. Its acclaim only arrived after it was re-issued in the early 80s.

Blade Runner (1982)
Ridley Scott's film may have become hugely influential, but the 'Blade Runner' story couldn't have got off to a worse start. It grossed a bitterly disappointing £3.9 million on its opening weekend (considering its $28 million budget), primarily because its release coincided with sci-fi hits 'The Thing', 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' and 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' which were also released in the summer of 1982. It also split critics who thought that its flashy special effects stood in place of a discernable plot, with the Los Angeles Times famously dubbing it 'Blade Crawler'.


Citizen Kane (1942)
Orson Welles's 1942 masterpiece Citizen Kane became a cinematic benchmark, but it also enraged the powerful media mogul it based itself upon. William Randolph Hearst used his influence to cut it from a chain of 500 cinemas in the US, and even offered the studio behind it, RKO, £490,000 to destroy the negative. He also banned any mention of it from any of his publications. As such, and despite critical applause, it became a relative failure, losing £91,000 on its first run. It wouldn't receive its proper due until its revival in the 50s. It eventually only made double its budget.


The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Coen Brothers' follow-up to the dark and brooding 'Fargo' proved to be a bit of a dog at the box office (it eventually made just £1.2 million in profit), and there were reportedly even walk-outs during its first showing at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Early reviews were also lukewarm. Since then, it has become a bona fide cult classic, spawning various dedicated festivals across the world, and even The Church of the Latter-Day Dude, an online religion preaching the gospel of the film's lead character The Dude, played to the hilt by Jeff Bridges.

Harold & Maude (1971)
Hal Ashby's bitter-sweet odd couple comedy about the relationship between a young man obsessed with death and a 79-year-old holocaust survivor was never going to be a hit from the outset. And true to form, it flopped at the box office thanks to the peculiarity of the relationship at its core, the subsequent bewilderment of a studio who had no idea how to market it and some scathing reviews. It has since, of course, become a cult hit, initially with the US college crowd and then the world over.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
Though it is yet to become a classic, Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is an example of how everything can go right, until you reach the box office. Though it was hyped to the max and critically acclaimed, the likes of Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino declaring themselves fans before its release, it made an eye-watering loss of £7.9 million. Some critics noted the 'Comic-Con' effect as the issue, with the studios taking too much risk on the opinion of a marginal group of tastemakers unrepresentive of the US film-going public. Others, including some of its stars, said it was marketed poorly.
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Top Sport Fraudsters

8:29 AM |
The strange case of the Worcestershire cricketer who recently conned his way into a first XI contract has raised eyebrows - and laughter - in the world of sport.

But Adrian Shankar is far from the only conman who has used his wits to earn an unmerited taste of what it's like to play sport at the highest level.

We take a look at sport's top 10 fraudsters.


Cricket - Adrian Shankar
First class cricketer, junior tennis star who played at a national level, Arsenal academy player signed when Arsene Wenger joined the Gunners, and Cambridge law graduate. On the face of it, it seemed that there was no end to Shankar's talents; in reality, his true gift was for spinning a yarn.

The 29-year-old appears to have spent years trying to talk his way into a proper county cricket contract, and when Worcestershire signed him up in the spring of 2011 (on the back of an apparently stellar spell in Sri Lankan Twenty20) it seemed his years of trying to get a game for various county second XIs was over.

Within weeks his life unravelled, however, as it emerged that he had faked documents relating to his age in order to land the contract (and also qualify for ECB young cricketer aid).

That sparked his sacking by the club and prompted an investigation by West Mercia police that is still ongoing at the time of writing. You can read the full extraordinary story here.



Football - Ali Dia
When you get a call from a man you believe to be Liberian football great George Weah, and that man claims his talented cousin is available on a free transfer, you tend to listen. Which is what Southampton manager Graeme Souness (pictured, with head in hands) did when a university student prankster insisted that hapless non-league 'striker' Ali Dia was a chip off the old block, a possible superstar in the mould of the former World Player of the Year.

Nowadays he would be asked to submit DVD evidence, attend a trial at the very least, but this was 1996 and Saints were in the middle of an injury crisis. After only one training session and a cancelled reserve match Dia - who was not even Liberian but French-Senegalese - was called to the bench for a Premier League game against Leeds United.

When Matt Le Tissier picked up an injury after half an hour, Dia was brought on and his headless-chicken performance quickly showed that someone had been pulling Souey's leg.

Taken off after three quarters of an hour, Dia turned up for some physio the next morning, left, and never came back. It turned out he was not a Senegal international, had never played for Paris Saint-Germain and that Weah didn't have a clue who he was. A short spell back in non-league followed before he did the decent thing and went back to university.



Football - Alessandro Zarelli
The cautionary tale of Alex Zarelli was similar to Dia's but more intricate in its planning and execution - and ultimately more successful. The Italian fraudster briefly managed to take a number of small British clubs for a ride after he faked documents from his homeland's FA saying he was part of an official exchange programme, and had played for Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday.

His claims were readily believed by sides struggling in the lower leagues, who were understandably keen to take on a self-proclaimed flair player willing to work for low wages so long as his accommodation was thrown in.

Whether he just fancied an extended holiday in semi-rural British locations, or genuinely believed he could make it as a pro, the petty larceny that followed saw him fleece hotel and B&B stays from Lisburn Distillery and Bangor City, before Total Network Solutions smelled a rat and contacted his so-called contacts before offering him terms.

In the end a Sky Sports crew was tipped off and, posing as football scouts, they arranged an interview with Zarelli. In an Academy Award-worthy performance, he lied through his teeth before being confronted with the truth. He calmly admitted the whole thing before striding away like Keyser Soze, never to be seen again.



Golf - Maurice Flitcroft
'Maurice Flitcroft, Golfer, England' was all that was needed to send the late conman mail, so notorious was the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard worker turned golfer. Flitcroft tried to wangle entries as a professional to several golf tournaments, and somehow blagged his way into final qualifying for the 1976 Open at Royal Birkdale that saw Seve Ballesteros make his sensational Major championship debut as a 19-year-old.

Flitcroft had seen the game played on TV and fallen in love with it, so he bought some mail order golf clubs and took a Peter Alliss instruction book out of the library.

He was determined to enter the Open Championship despite realising quickly that the game is harder than it looks following some practice in fields near his house. Yet he was still dead set on it, and after realising that he was unable to enter as an amateur because he couldn't prove his handicap he simply decided to enter as a pro.

But not only was he nowhere near professional standard, he couldn't actually play golf at all. His score, a 49-over-par round of 121, remains the worst in the R&A's record books. What makes the con more ludicrous is that he turned up with an imitation-leather bag and half a set of mail-order clubs but still got through unnoticed.

Flitcroft became a sensation, something no doubt helped along enormously by the R&A's embarrassingly po-faced reaction to a game old boy who did nothing more than give a lot of people a good chuckle. Undeterred by his failure, he tried to get into the Open again innumerable times - each time with false names such as Gerald Hoppy, Gene Paceky or James Beau Jolley, and often wearing outrageous disguises that generally involved extravagant false moustaches.

Flitcroft ended up quitting his job and became an average amateur golfer, usually shooting into the low 90s, but his notoriety led to several clubs naming tournaments and booby-prizes after the 'Royal and Ancient Rabbit', as he was nicknamed. Flitcroft died in 2007, aged 87.


Marathon - Rosie Ruiz

Cuban-American Ruiz infamously popped up as a surprise winner of the 1980 Boston Marathon.

The only problem with her achievement? She had not even run the race.

Aged 27, Ruiz 'qualified' for Boston after being timed as coming 11th in the free-for-all New York Marathon with a time under three hours. It later transpired that she had not even run the New York race, having been spotted on the subway during the run, yet somehow wangling a finish time after reporting to a medical station near the finish.

But in Boston she pushed her luck, misjudging her fraud as she hopped over the ropes near the end of the race to win in a world-class time of two hours, 31 minutes and 56 seconds. She even pretended to collapse theatrically as she crossed the line. Nice touch.

But alarm bells immediately rang, with none of the genuine competitors remembering seeing her, organisers puzzled at how they missed her at their checkpoints, and a pair of Harvard students reporting that they actually saw her pop out of the crowd half a mile from the finish.

None of this bothered Rosie: she cheerfully gave an interview to TV sports reporters (pictured) after the finish, talking about her 'achievement'.

Her relatively unathletic build did not go unnoticed either and, after investigation, she was stripped of her gold medal and disqualified from New York too.

Her story led marathon organisers to tighten up the way athletes are monitored - they since became electronically monitored and filmed throughout major races - but she failed to learn from it, apparently involved in a series scams as she returned to a career in sales.

She was arrested on at least two occasions, once for allegedly embezzling $60,000 from a real estate company and another time for alleged involvement in a drug deal. Last heard of working as an account exec in Florida, she still maintains she ran both races.

Football - Spencer Trethewy
Young Spencer appeared from nowhere as a 19-year-old 'property developer' with a loose mouth and even looser ethical code. In 1990 he saved Aldershot Town FC from bankruptcy after producing a £200,000 cheque that soon bounced - it turned out that he was unable to repay the money he had borrowed for the buyout and, four years later, was jailed for just under a year for running up bills when his company was suspended from trading.

The difference between Spencer and others on this list is that it was unclear whether his venture was a deliberate con or just an almighty cock-up from an inexperienced entrepreneur: his success since hints that, while living his life in a morally-dubious grey area, it may well have been the latter.

Having changed his name to Spencer Day, he is now a multi-millionaire real-estate banker and owner (and manager) of Chertsey Town FC.



Athletics - Stanislawa Walasiewicz
Also known as Stella Walsh, the Polish-American athlete was a sprint specialist and double Olympic medal winner, taking women's 100m gold in 1932 and silver in 1936, competing for Poland.

She had a long and illustrious career, interrupted by World War II, and throughout her life there was no doubt about her ability - or gender, which is where the story really begins.

'Stella' was tragically killed in a botched armed robbery in Cleveland, Ohio - she was a bystander, gunned down at the age of 69. The autopsy revealed a scandal - she possessed male genitalia, with some evidence of female characteristics, and a combination of XX and XY chromosomes, a condition that would now define her as 'intersex'.

No action has been taken to erase records - modern gender testing involves complex psychological and physiological analysis, not merely a check of the crown jewels - but it was a benchmark for cases since, including the continued controversy surrounding South African star Caster Semenya.

Athletics - Eva Klobukowska
Another Polish sprinter with Olympic medals, there are two key differences from Walasiewicz: Klobukowska stayed in her homeland, and actually failed a gender test.

Klobukowska burst on the scene at the 1964 Olympics when, having just turned 18, she won 100m bronze and relay gold in Tokyo. A year later she stormed to a world record 100m time of 11.1 seconds, incredibly fast for its time. The following season she cleaned up at the European Championships but never got a chance to compete at another Olympics - in 1967 she failed a gender test, showing an extra male chromosome, and was banned from competing.



Baseball - Danny Almonte
The curious tale of baseball prodigy Danny Almonte has parallels with rumours surrounding many football players from developing countries, whose reported ages are questioned, thus clouding their achievements in age-restricted tournaments that often lead to professional careers.

Almonte was supposedly just 12 years old when he came to public notice, standing 5'8" and pitching like a grown man, and becoming a little league sensation after throwing perfect games as his Bronx Baby Boomers team made the 2001 Little League World Series. They won, and were presented with the keys to the city by Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Their opponents were not impressed, however, hiring a private investigator to look into the young superstar's age, a lengthy process that sparked several other investigations both in the US and Almonte's native Dominican Republic. The 12-year-old actually turned out to be 14, and the Baby Boomers had their achievement stricken from the record books.

There is a great deal of evidence pointing to Almonte being innocent in the whole charade: a recent arrival in the US and unable to speak English, it appears he was exploited by unscrupulous parents, who knocked a couple of years off his birth-date to sneak him into the age group. The scandal that followed dragged out for a while before his native Dominican Republic admitted he was born in 1987, not 1989 as claimed.

Perhaps the saddest part of the story is that Almonte was genuinely a talented player - if not a world beater - and after the scandal became a top college player before carving out a semi-professional career.

Football - Togo assistant coach Tchanile Bana
2010 was not a good year for poor Togo. A terrible incident at the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year saw their team bus sprayed with bullets by Angolan separatists, leading to the tragic death of three staff members and injuries to several players.

But the scandal in September of that year was entirely their own doing. Having already been banned for two years for organising a friendly in Egypt without his FA's knowledge, assistant coach Tchanile Bana arranged a match in Bahrain.

Not only did he break that suspension, but when the time came for the game he took a shadow team to the Gulf state, bearing no resemblance to the squad that briefly appeared at the CAN, losing 3-0 and ringing alarm bells with its ineptitude. Bana was banned for another three years and now has no chance of conning anyone in football - surely?
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Justin Bieber Massage Gives Selena Gomez's Foot

8:18 AM |


After playing coy over their status for weeks, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez have gone public with their romance in an overt fashion.

There was the press conference kiss, followed by the Billboard Music Awards PDA, and now a Hawaiian vacation that is being chronicled by the paparazzi and by friends of the couple.

A Justin Bieber Foot Rub

As anyone who has seen Pulp Fiction knows, it doesn’t get much more intimate than a foot rub.

Days after multiple shots of Justin and Selena frolicking, kissing and straddling in the sand were released, a friend has Tweeted the picture above.

Will these displays of affection just endear this couple to the world? Or might such open touching actually turn off Bieber’s fan base? They are, to put it mildly, quite passionate about the star.
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Mariska On Christopher Meloni: ‘I Love Him Deeply And Will Miss Him Terribly’

8:06 AM |


While Olivia Benson was already preparing to go off the beat and into a supervisor role at the Special Victims Unit, she knew she could always count on Detective Stabler. Until she couldn’t.

After 277 episodes and countless murders solved, Christopher Meloni’s shock “Law & Order: SVU” exit has his 12-year partner, Mariska Hargitay, genuinely upset. In a statement given to TV Line on Friday, her bereavement was clear.

“For the past 12 years Chris Meloni has been my partner and friend, both on screen and off. He inspired me every day with his integrity, his extraordinary talent and his commitment to the truth. I love him deeply and will miss him terribly – I’m so excited to see what he’ll do next,” Hargitay said in the statement (via TV Line) late Friday night.

There’s some irony to Hargitay’s statement, as many thought it would be Meloni who would be the last partner standing; though Hargitay is signed on for season 13, her contract runs up at the end of the year, and the show’s producers have already discussed replacing her, perhaps with Jennifer Love Hewitt, both as detective and female lead.
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costars Michael Fassbender and Zoe Kravitz grabbed brunch in NYC’s West Village

7:57 AM |


X-Men First Class costars Michael Fassbender and Zoe Kravitz grabbed brunch in NYC’s West Village on Sunday morning with pals. Their group of friends at the meal also included Zoe’s actor ex, Ben Foster. Zoe and Michael, who became a couple while shooting last year, have managed to mostly fly below the radar - this is the first time they’ve been photographed together except for on set and promotional stops! The duo stuck around the Big Apple after doing press for their upcoming blockbuster last week. They spent Tuesday afternoon doing separate interviews, then dressed up for a blue carpet premiere. Their film is one of Summer’s most anticipated movies, featuring a colorful cast that includes The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence and January Jones, who’s presently dealing with a great deal of speculation as to who the father or her unborn child is.
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Actor Billy Bob daughter found guilty

7:50 AM |


The estranged daughter of actor Billy Bob Thornton has been found guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child in Orlando.

Prosecutors say 32-year-old Amanda Brumfield was convicted Friday. She is expected to be sentenced in July.

She was acquitted of first-degree murder and aggravated child-abuse charges.

Authorities say Brumfield killed her best friend's daughter during an overnight stay in October 2008.

Brumfield says 1-year-old Olivia Madison Garcia was trying to climb out of a playpen and hit her head. The defense suggested the fall may have aggravated a previous injury, causing her death.

Prosecutors say it's impossible that a fall from that height caused a three-and-a-half inch (9-centimeter) fracture on the back of the girl's skull and the bleeding and swelling found in her brain.

Brumfield's father, Billy Bob Thornton, is best known for the movie "Slingblade" and his marriage to Angelina Jolie.
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Actress Ellen Barkin is in a relationship with the son of Barry Levinson

7:41 AM |


Actress Ellen Barkin is in a relationship with the son of Barry Levinson, the director who launched her career in the 1982 film "Diner," the New York Post reported Thursday.

Barkin, 57, has been living with writer-director Sam Levinson for two years -- but removed all evidence of her 26-year-old lover from her New York City townhouse when she recently opened up her home for a magazine spread.

"It works, but it's weird," a source said of the couple's secret partnership.

Barkin shot to fame in Barry Levinson's critically-acclaimed comedy drama "Diner" and went on to star in hits including "The Big Easy" and "Sea of Love," as well as off-Broadway plays.

Sam Levinson was born three years after "Diner" was made, but Barkin's relationship with him is reportedly serious. She was even overheard saying that she will part ways with him when "they roll me out in a wheelchair."

The actress is currently starring as polio-stricken doctor fighting the AIDS epidemic in Larry Kramer's play "The Normal Heart," which is a favorite to win the Tony Award for best play revival June 12.

Barkin was awarded a $4.3 million payout last year from her magnate ex-husband Ron Perelman following their acrimonious 2006 divorce.
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Jamb Postponed - New jamb date released

7:27 AM |


The Federal Government has approved the postponement of the JAMB Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The new JAMB UTME date is 18th June, 2011. This postponement of the JAMB UTME examinations is to avoid the examination clashing with the NECO examinations set to begin on the 1st of June, 2011

NECO SSCE June/July 2011/2012 Exam Timetable
NECo has released its examination time table for the June/July 2011 NECO examinations.

The timetable shows that the NECO examinations would officially hold between June 1 and July 12, 2011.

The NECO examinations for most students would begin on June 10, 2011 with the NECO Biology practicals.

You can download the full timetable here:
NECO 2011 Exam Timetable
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