A woman in the UK is about to have her leg amputated and she intends to use her own skin to make a handbag.
Joan, from Manchester, is getting ready to have her lower left leg surgically removed due to peripheral arterial disease a circulatory condition in which narrowed blood vessels reduce blood flow to the limbs.
But the 55-year-old isn't letting her upcoming loss get her down -- quite the opposite. She has big plans for her leg or more specifically the skin attached to it.
Joan wants to wear her skin where everyone can see it on her arm in the form of a handbag.
On her search for a designer willing to turn her dream into a reality, Joan approached to Sewport.com -- an online marketplace connecting brands and manufacturers -- who have taken her ~unusual~ request in their stride.
In an effort to connect her with designers willing to work with -- deep breaths -- HUMAN SKIN, Sewport have mocked up potential designs of the quirky accessory.
According to her written request, Joan has a budget of about $5,500 -- or £3,000 -- and is hoping for a medium-sized bag with a short strap.
"I know it is a bit odd and gross, and some might think I'm crazy, but it's my leg and I can’t bare [sic] the thought of it being left to rot somewhere. It's part of me and I want to keep it."
And the people at Sewport are totally chill about it all, writing on their website, "Before you say 'ew gross!', we've spoken with the woman and her reasoning behind it is actually understandable and very personal."
According to them, Joan was inspired after seeing a similar request from a woman who wanted a dress made from her mother’s hair. Plus, as Joan herself pointed out, parents often keep their baby's umbilical cords as a memento, and dead relative's ashes are stored on mantle pieces around the world.
The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has said that the deployment of voting materials to the 774 Local Government Areas of the country will be completed on Thursday.
INEC also said that it has completed 100% the configuration of the Smart Card Readers (SCRs) which will be used for the accreditation of voters on the 23rd February and 9th March 2019.
Updating the media and observers on the preparedness of the commission on Wednesday, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Commission said deployment commenced on Wednesday in ten(10) states. This he said will be completed on Thursday.
He also acknowledged that there are reports of missing materials in some states. The commission he assured has made good progress in the area of logistics and is good to go.
He also said that only accredited diplomats will be allowed to move about as there is restriction on movement.
At the age of 19, a young woman from Hoover, Alabama traveled to Syria to join ISIS -- the so-called "Islamic State."
Five years and three husbands later, she says she regrets what she did and is begging to return to the US.
In a recent handwritten note obtained by CNN from a family representative, Hoda Muthana writes, "When I left to Syria I was a naive, angry, and arrogant young woman. I thought that I understood my religious beliefs."
But after witnessing the devastation of war, including the death of two husbands, Muthana said she became disillusioned.
"During my years in Syria I would see and experience a way of life and the terrible effects of war which changed me. Seeing bloodshed up close changed me. Motherhood changed me. Seeing friends, children, and the men I married dying changed me," the now 24-year-old wrote.
"Seeing how different a society could be compared to the beloved America I was born and raised into changed me. Being where I was and seeing the (people) around me scared me because I realized I didn't want to be a part of this. My beliefs weren't the same as theirs."
Once described as shy and reserved by a high school classmate, Muthana was fiercely outspoken in her support for jihad after joining ISIS. During the height of the self-declared caliphate, Muthana posted tweets calling for violence, according to the Program on Extremism at the George Washington University.
"Hoda was right in the mix for English language propagandists," said terror researcher Seamus Hughes. "We followed her for a number of years. She was a key node."
She demanded more Americans come to the self-proclaimed Caliphate and join the fight with ISIS.
"Soooo many Aussies and Brits here, but where are the Americans, wake up u cowards," she posted in January 2015.
And under the name Umm Jihad, she encouraged attacks in the US, tweeting this exhortation in March 2015: "Go on drive-bys and spill all of their blood, or rent a big truck and drive all over them."
According to Mia Bloom, who tracks female jihadis at Georgia State University, "She was one advocating for extreme violence, especially against American military and servicemen."
He shared the lovely photos on his IG page writing ; Outing 😎 with my partners in 🎤🎼 everything na double double 😘😍. Nathan and Nadia are just so cute.....
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has postponed the mock examination of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination slated to start from Saturday, February 23, because of the rescheduled Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The board also said, on Wednesday, that it may reschedule the 2019 UTME if the country’s elections drag until the earlier fixed dates of Saturday, March 16, to Saturday, March 23.
According to the new timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections slated for March 2 have been rescheduled to March 9, which fuels fears that the UTME slated for March 16 may be affected.
The JAMB Head of Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in an interview on Wednesday, said the board could announce new dates for the UTME if the elections did not conclude by March 9.
Benjamin added that a new date for the mock examination would be announced by the management shortly.
Uganda's ruling party National Resistance Movement (NRM) has endorsed long serving President Yoweri Museveni to vie for the top seat for the sixth time in 2021. The party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) resolved Museveni 74 needed to continue leading NRM and the State beyond 2021 to facilitate smooth transition, two years after successfully scrapping the law capping presidential candidates' age at 75.
A mother and her daughter have been nabbed by the police in Anambra State for allegedly stealing a four-year-old girl.
It was learnt that the woman, whose name was given as Ngozi Ede, and her daughter, Kosiso, arranged and sold the baby for N250,000.
The incident happened at Awada, Obosi, in the Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Haruna Mohammed, confirmed the story to Southern City News.
Mohammed said the baby had been recovered and handed over to her mother in good condition.
He stated, “Police detectives attached to the Awada Division arrested one Ngozi Ede, female, aged 42 years, and her daughter, Kosiso Ede, female, aged 17 years of No. 4 Ukaegbu Junction, Awada.
“The suspects conspired and stolen one Mesoma Ikoko, aged four years, from the custody of her mother, one Nneka Ikoko, of the Mammy Market, Army Barracks, Onitsha.
“Preliminary investigation further led to the arrest of one Ifeoma Okeke, aged 45 years, who collected the child from the above mentioned suspects and handed her over to one Ifeoma Okonkwo of Eke Nkpor.
“The stolen baby has been recovered in good condition and handed over to her mother. Consequently, the sum of N250,000 suspected to be part of the proceeds of the illicit transaction was also recovered as exhibit.”
The PPRO added that the case was under investigation after which the suspects would be charged to court.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has directed the immediate payment of February salaries to enable workers wishing to travel for Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly election to do so without any difficulties.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council.
Gunmen have shot dead Ifeanyi Ozoemena, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Logara/Umuohiagu Ward in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, Punch newspaper reports
According to the report, Mr Ozoemena was murdered on Tuesday night shortly after presiding over a meeting of his party in the ward in preparation for Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
The vice chairman of Logara Development Union, Martin Opara, who confirmed the killing to journalists, said that the community was taken aback by the incident.
An Oyo State High Court in Ibadan, today, fixed March 22 for report of settlement in a suit filed by parents of some female Muslim students of University of Ibadan International School Ibadan (ISI) over denial on use of Hijabs.
Parents of the Muslim students of ISI, filed a suit on behalf of their wards, alleging the violation of fundamental human rights.
Other respondents in the suit are; the University of Ibadan, School Principal, Mrs Phebean Olowe, Chairman, Board of Governors, Prof. Abideen Aderinto and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) office.
Justice Laniran Akintola fixed the date, after listening to the steps taken by parties on the advice given to them at previous sitting by the judge to try to settle the matter out of court.
“We should all salvage the situation together. I am sure the matter can be amicably resolved,” Akintola said.
Earlier, Counsel to the claimants, Dr Abdulwahab Egbewole (SAN), told the court that the parties have been trying to meet to see how the matter can be settled out of court.
Egbewole said that the parties had agreed to meet after the court’s sitting of Wednesday.
Counsel to the 1st and 4th respondents, Mrs Oluwatobi Ola and other respondents’ counsel, confirmed the position of the claimants’ counsel.
The claimants want the court to declare that the continuous denial of the ISI management to allow the female Muslim students to wear Hijabs on their school uniform, was wrong and unconstitutional.
Zimbabwe could run out of bread in a week after flour stocks dwindled due to the country’s failure to pay for imported wheat, according to a confidential letter written to bakers by the country’s grain millers’ group.
The country is in the grip of a severe shortage of U.S. dollars that has sapped supplies of fuel and drugs, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa struggles to live up to pre-election promises to quickly revive the troubled economy.
Zimbabwe imports wheat, which it blends with its local crop to make flour for bread, the country’s second major staple after maize meal.
The Grain Millers Association (GMAZ) general manager Lynette Veremu wrote to the National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe (NBAZ) to tell them the country has not paid for 55,000 tonnes of wheat in bonded warehouses in Mozambique and Harare.
“We regret to advise that the current stocks for foreign wheat for bread flour have depleted to 5,800 tonnes and … we are left with less than eight days of national bread flour supplies,” the letter said.
A military court today convicted Fang Fenghui, former Chief of Staff of China’s Central Military Commission Joint Staff Department, on three counts of crime. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment according to the law.
Fang was found guilty of accepting and offering bribe as well as holding a huge amount of property from unidentified sources.
“He was also deprived of his political rights for life and had his personal properties confiscated,’’ the judgment stated.
Report says the illicit money and properties confiscated will be turned over to the state coffers.
Barely four days to the rescheduled elections, Ms. Eunice Atuejide, the presidential candidate of the National Interest Party has stepped down for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar.
Atuejide who stepped down today is of the opinion that Atiku will select a government that will include the best Nigerians from every corner of the country.
One Olawale Fadipe was, on Tuesday, arraigned before an Osogbo Chief Magistrates’ Court for possession of dangerous weapons.
Fadipe was alleged to be a private security guard to the lawmaker representing Osun West Senatorial District, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
He was arraigned on two counts of possession of dangerous weapons and theft by the police prosecutor, Inspector Joshua Oladoye, who told the court that the defendant committed the offences on Thursday, February 14, 2019, around 12.20am at the Lameco Filling Station, Osogbo.
Oladoye explained that the defendant was caught by the police with dangerous weapons, including a jack knife and an electric shock gun.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened sections 430 (1) and 509 of the Criminal Code cap 34 vol. 11, Laws of Osun State, 2003.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The defence counsel, Mr Sikiru Nurudeen, moved a bail application for the accused and promised to ensure that he would attend his trial.
The magistrate, Mr Ola Olagoke, granted the suspect bail in the sum of N20,000 with two sureties in like sum. He adjourned the case till February 20 for mention.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke government protocol to personally welcome Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to New Delhi on Tuesday.
Ordinarily, the prime minister would not receive a foreign dignitary at the airport, but instead send an official or a junior government minister.
“A new chapter in bilateral relations,” Raveesh Kumar, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, posted on Twitter, hailing Modi “breaking protocol” with a photograph of the pair warmly clasping hands by the steps of the prince’s plane.
Modi is due to hold talks today with the crown prince, who has already visited Pakistan, where he also received a lavish reception.
The trip has taken on extra dimension after a bombing in the disputed Kashmir region on Thursday that India blamed on Pakistan. The neighbors are each keen to cement ties with Saudi Arabia even as tensions between them have risen sharply.
Saudi Arabia is India’s top supplier of crude oil but the two countries have expanded ties beyond energy, and their governments have agreed to build a strategic partnership, India’s Foreign Ministry said last week.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said all electoral offenders will be punished according to the provisions of the electoral act.
The chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu made this known yesterday, reacting to the president’s comment on ballot box snatchers.
“The position of the commission is that all violators of electoral act should be punished according to the provisions of the electoral act,” he said.
The secretary of the Kaduna State branch of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Ibrahim Kufena, has asked the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to avoid making comments based on the last week’s attacks in Kajuru.
Kufena, in a statement yesterday, said: “The position CAN took that nobody was killed is amounting to shielding criminals that committed this dastardly act which is most unfortunate.”
The chairman of the Mobgal Fulbe Development Association, Ahmad Mairiga Yandeh, described the attack as a heinous crime. He said his association would soon come up with the accurate casualty figure.
This is so heartbreaking! This is Nigeria!! Our country!!! The children were seen feeding from the bare ground after a minor accident involving a tricycle and a food vendor at Liberty Junction, GRA, Gombe, Gombe State on Tuesday.