The Ringed Planet

Saturn was the most distant of the five planets known to the ancients. In 1610, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first to gaze at Saturn through a telescope. To his surprise, he saw a pair of objects on either side of the planet. He sketched them as separate spheres and wrote that Saturn appeared to be triple-bodied. In 1659, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, using a more powerful telescope than Galileo's, proposed that Saturn was surrounded by a thin, flat ring.

In 1675, Italian-born astronomer Jean-Dominique Cassini discovered a "division" between what are now called the A and B rings. It is now known that the gravitational influence of Saturn's moon Mimas is responsible for theCassini Division, which is 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide.

Like Jupiter, Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen and helium. Its volume is 755 times greater than that of Earth. Winds in the upper atmosphere reach 1,600 feet (500 meters) per second in the equatorial region. (In contrast, the strongest hurricane-force winds on Earth top out at about 360 feet, or 110 meters, per second.) These superfast winds, combined with heat rising from within the planet's interior, cause the yellow and gold bands visible in the atmosphere.

Saturn's ring system is the most extensive and complex in the solar system, extending hundreds of thousands of kilometers from the planet. In the early 1980s, NASA's two Voyager spacecraft revealed that Saturn's rings are made mostly of water ice. They also found "braided" rings, ringlets, and "spokes," dark features in the rings that circle the planet at different rates from that of the surrounding ring material. Material in the rings ranges in size from a few micrometers to several tens of meters. Two of Saturn's small moons orbit within gaps in the main rings.

Many Moons

Saturn has 52 known natural satellites, or moons, and there are probably many more waiting to be discovered. Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, is a bit bigger than the planet Mercury. (Titan is the second-largest moon in the solar system; only Jupiter's moon Ganymede is bigger.) Titan is shrouded in a thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere that might be similar to what Earth's was like long ago. Further study of this moon promises to reveal much about planetary formation and, perhaps, about the early days of Earth. Saturn also has many smaller "icy" satellites. From Enceladus, which shows evidence of recent (and ongoing) surface changes, to Iapetus, with one hemisphere darker than asphalt and the other as bright as snow, each of Saturn's satellites is unique.

Though Saturn's magnetic field is not as huge as Jupiter's, it is still 578 times as powerful as Earth's. Saturn, the rings, and many of the satellites lie totally within Saturn's enormous magnetosphere, the region of space in which the behavior of electrically charged particles is influenced more by Saturn's magnetic field than by the solar wind. Hubble Space Telescope images show that Saturn's polar regions have aurorae similar to Earth's. Aurorae occur when charged particles spiral into a planet's atmosphere along magnetic field lines.

Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by and photographed Saturn in 1981. The next chapter in our knowledge of Saturn is under way, as the Cassini- Huygens spacecraft continues its exploration of the Saturn system. The Huygens probe descended through Titan's atmosphere in January 2005, collecting data on the atmosphere and surface. Cassini will orbit Saturn more than 70 times during a four-year study of the planet and its moons, rings, and magnetosphere. Cassini-Huygens is sponsored by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency.

—Text courtesy NASA/JPL

Our romance with impunity incorporated

JUNE 17, 2013 BY EZE ONYEKPERE LEAVE A COMMENT

Eze Onyekpere
| credits: File copy

The State has the basic duty of protecting lives and property and maintaining law and order. This is the minimum condition for members of society to carry out their legitimate duties and businesses in any sector of the economy. In this context, the legitimate expectation is for sanctions and rewards; sanctions for violating the laws and rewards for exceptionally good conduct. The State as a minimum is expected to investigate violations of rights and legal provisions, prosecute offenders, mete sanctions and punishment after conviction, provide reparations for victims of violations of rights and to extend guarantees of non repetition of violations to victims and the entire society. It also has an obligation to ensure that victims and relatives of victims of violations know the whole truth of the circumstances leading to the violations. Impunity therefore arises when the above duties of the State are neglected.

When current events in the country are examined from the impunity prism, it will be clear that Nigeria is gradually sliding into a state that supports impunity. The basic understanding is that impunity reinforces impunity and creates a virtual circle of actions and inactions and leaves one with the impression that there is no law and if the law still exists, some members of society are above the law. Let me start with the recent killing of security agents including policemen, State Security Service and civil defence operatives by the Ombatse cult in Nasarawa State. So many weeks after the event, a reasonable person would expect that suspects would have been arrested and their prosecution would be in full gear. All available information points in the direction that nothing is happening and nothing, sadly, will happen. The leader of the suspects even had the effrontery to grant press interviews to state irritating and provocative facts justifying the murder.

If the authority of the State is so brazenly challenged through the murder of its security operatives and the message getting out to the public is that you can murder agents of the State, on their lawful and legitimate assignment without prosecution and sanctions, then we are sending a clear invitation to anarchy and disorder. And if this can happen to security agents, then the fate of ordinary Nigerians is better left to the imagination.  No amount of double-speak will assuage Nigerians other than seeing the offenders in chains and letting the law take its full course. Pray, are the lives of the murdered security agents dispensable?

From the public finance management angle, we have witnessed a plethora of violations that has matured into grave impunity situations. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told Nigerians that over N100bn had been saved from the identification of “ghost” workers. But the government is not considering prosecution of the persons who perpetuated the fraud despite the fact that they are well-known. Just last week, the media reported that the accounts of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government had been frozen for their failure to remit over N58bn to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation. Pray, when did the freezing of accounts of the MDAs become the requisite punishment anticipated by law for those caught in the act of defrauding the treasury? From the strict legal angle, offences revealed include the conspiracy and the act of stealing by whatever name used to describe it in the Criminal and Penal Codes and the laws establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission.  As usual, no one is going to be prosecuted.

The key suspect in the police pension scam is still at large. No one is sure whether he is in Nigeria or has left the country. The police claimed they could not find him to arrest and a court used technicalities to quash the warrant of arrest issued against him by the Senate. Now, beyond the technicalities of the law, whose interest is served by the disappearance of this chief suspect of such a heinous crime against the state? And for the police whose pension money has been mismanaged, there is no outrage and feeling of loss. The Senate appeared like the proverbial outsider weeping more than the bereaved. It is clear that some persons high up in the governmental ladder are shielding the suspect. Of course, the message to the Nigerian society is clear: You can steal and mismanage resources and get away with such if you have access to men and women in the corridors of power.

In electoral matters, technical provisions of the law have been used to defeat the ends of justice. When there was no time limitation for adjudication of election petitions, some judges threw caution to the wind and saw it as an opportunity writ large to endlessly delay petitions until the tenure being challenged was about to expire. As soon as a time limit was placed by law, it became a good excuse for respondents to waste the time until the 180 days expired and courts gleefully threw their hands into the air claiming that they had no jurisdiction to continue to entertain the petition. This sends another powerful message. You can rig and use delays and technicalities to get into power- the people’s votes do not count! These messages are all in violation of the basic legal principle that where there is a right, there should be a remedy- ubi jus ibi remedium.

According to Wikipedia, the amended Set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights Through Action to Combat Impunity, submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on February 8, 2005, defines impunity as: “The impossibility, de jure or de facto, of bringing the perpetrators of violations to account – whether in criminal, civil, administrative or disciplinary proceedings – since they are not subject to any inquiry that might lead to their being accused, arrested, tried and, if found guilty, sentenced to appropriate penalties, and to making reparations to their victims.” The First Principle of that same document states that: “Impunity arises from a failure by States to meet their obligations to investigate violations; to take appropriate measures in respect of the perpetrators, particularly in the area of justice, by ensuring that those suspected of criminal responsibility are prosecuted, tried and duly punished; to provide victims with effective remedies and to ensure that they receive reparation for the injuries suffered; to ensure the inalienable right to know the truth about violations; and to take other necessary steps to prevent a recurrence of violations.”

It is in the interest of all including the government and the citizenry that the challenge of impunity is properly addressed. Power is so transient and life’s circumstances change without warning to those who will be affected. Those who think that they are benefiting from the current system may find themselves at the receiving end of impunity in a matter of months or years. Reducing impunity to a minimum is therefore a task and challenge that needs all hands on deck. It will facilitate sound public finance management, the rule of law, electoral reforms and deepen civic responsibility, ethics and patriotism.

Drama In Anambra State, Nigeria as Police Arrest Monkeys For Robbery

A mild drama played out last Friday in Onitsha Magistrate Court 3 when three monkeys and its owners, Mohammed Garuba, 22, Dauda Usman, 25 and Nurah Mohammed, 22 were arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and robbery.

Court proceedings were momentarily halted as the courtroom was thrown into confusion and uncontrollable laughter when the case was mentioned and the giant monkeys and their handlers were docked.

The three men and their monkeys were alleged to have robbed a senior police officer (names withheld) attached to Zone 6 Calabar, who was on transit.  According to the prosecutor, the police officer was traveling when he ran short of cash and went to one of the banks in Onitsha to make some withdrawals.  After the transaction, he was said to have run into the people doing monkey magic, who had been accused of robbing unsuspecting members of the public with their wild animals in the past.

When the case was called, the police prosecutor, Sgt Everest Chike attached to SARS Awkuzu appeared for prosecution, while a counsel announced his appearance for the accused persons and the monkeys.

The prosecution told the court after they had taken plea that the crime was committed against the state around Upper Iweka, Onitsha when the accused, on the pretence of show display, commanded the wild animals and they forcefully pounced on the senior police officer, tore his pocket and  robbed him of N50, 000.

After the robbery, the monkeys, acting like being tele- guided, threw the money to one of the owners, who immediately ran away from the scene and is now at large.

The defence counsel faulted the charge, stating that the charge was only to intimidate his clients, even as he argued that the charge that brought both human beings and wild animals before the court was inconsistent.

The counsel went further to pray the court to strike out the case on the ground that the complainant was not in court and had told him that he was no longer interested but when the prosecution replied him from the point of law, the court, after viewing the matter critically, asked the counsel to seek for the bail of the defendants.

Sgt Chike told the court that the victim was ever ready to come up with his evidence even as he urged the court to temper justice with mercy in giving the bail condition, his appeal was to enable the defendants meet up with the bail condition so that their monkeys could be released unbound to them for safe keep since there was no zoo in the state to shepherd the monkeys by the police.

Mandela showing ‘sustained’ improvement – Zuma

JOHANNESBURG – Nelson Mandela is showing a “sustained” improvement after more than a week in hospital battling a lung infection although his condition remains serious, South African President Jacob Zuma said Sunday.

“As you are aware, president Nelson Mandela is still in hospital in Pretoria. We are grateful that he continues to get better,” Zuma said at a public rally.

“Over the last two days, although he remains serious, his doctors have stated that his improvement has been sustained. He continues to engage with family.”

The frail 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero was admitted to a private Pretoria clinic in the early hours of June 8 because of a recurring lung infection, his fourth hospitalisation since December.

Mandela’s latest health problems have seen South Africans come to terms with the mortality of the man regarded as the father of the “Rainbow Nation” as its first black president.

Zuma was speaking in Newcastle, some 450 kilometres (280 miles) southeast of Johannesburg, at a rally to commemorate the 1976 Soweto student uprising during white minority rule.

Zuma urged the nation to keep Madiba, Mandela’s clan name by which he is affectionately known, in “our thoughts and prayers,” as messages of support from the public continued to pour in.

Several family members, including his wife Graca Machel and ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela have paid visits to his bedside at the Pretoria hospital, where security remains tight and visitors restricted.

His grandson Mandla Mandela said on Saturday that the Nobel peace laureate had “looked good” when he visited him, adding: “It gave us hope that he is going to recover soon”.

Mandela has a long history of lung problems since being diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988 during his 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime.

In December he underwent surgery to remove gallstones as he recovered from a lung infection. In March he was admitted for scheduled overnight checkup before returning to hospital later that month for 10 days, again for treatment for the lung infection.

Ordinary South Africans continued to pray for their hero.

“Today we are going to say a special prayer for our beloved Madiba,” said Patricia Morkel, who stopped outside his Johannesburg home on her way to church.

“We are going to pray that he doesn’t have to endure much more pain. The man has suffered a lot. He needs to be comfortable at home,” she said.

Worshippers at Soweto’s Regina Mundi Catholic Church, which became a focal point for anti-apartheid activists, also said prayers for the town’s former resident.

“He is the first citizen of this country. Our father and icon. Everyone in this country is greatly indebted to him,” said Victoria Dlamini.

However, police guarding Mandela’s rural homestead in the village of Qunu had to chase away one church group after they started taking pictures of themselves outside the house, SAPA news agency reported.

“They were taking some photos outside the house after they were informed not to take any,” said police spokesman Mzukisi Fatyela, but added that they were not arrested.

Mandela, who turns 95 next month, has not appeared in public since the World Cup final in South Africa in July 2010.

He looked frail and distant in a much-criticised April video showing Zuma and other members of the ruling African National Congress visiting him at his Johannesburg home.

On Saturday, one of his bodyguards accused his military medical team of curtailing Mandela’s freedom by imposing unnecessarily tough restrictions on visits.

Shaun van Heerden said Mandela was a very lonely man and that “at times it felt like he was back in prison”.

Nigerian Oil Tycoon Ordered To Pay British Ex-Wife N4.2 Billion In Divorce Settlement

Nigerian Michael Prest has lost a legal battle with his estranged English wife Yasmin over a £17.5m divorce settlement.

The Supreme Court judgement marks the latest round of a lengthy legal cash dispute between the couple over the oil tycoon's fortune.
In October, the Court of Appeal ruled that a High Court judge had earlier wrongly ordered Mr Prest to transfer properties, worth millions of pounds and held in the names of companies he controlled, to Mrs Prest.

She then asked the Supreme Court - the highest court in the UK - to assess the case, where seven judges on Wednesday unanimously allowed Mrs Prest's appeal.

Mr Prest, founder of Nigerian energy company Petrodel Resources, claimed to be worth about £48m. But Mrs Prest said he was worth much more than than that - "tens if not hundreds of millions" of pounds.

She said after the decision:

"I'm delighted and relieved that the Supreme Court has ruled as it did.'m grateful to the judges for the care and thought they gave the case."It is more a case of satisfaction and relief than celebration."None of this would have been necessary if Michael had been sensible and played fair."

Judges heard the couple - in their early 50s - married in 1993, spent most of their time in London, had properties in Nigeria and the Caribbean and lived to a "very high standard".

Lawyers said the new ruling could have significant implications for divorcing couples.

The challenge concerned the position of a number of companies belonging to the Petrodel Group which are "wholly owned and controlled" by Mr Prest.

One of the companies is the legal owner of five residential properties in the UK and another is the legal owner of two more.

The question the Supreme Court had to tackle was whether the court had power to order the transfer of the seven properties to Mrs Prest, given that they legally belonged to his companies, not him.

Allowing Mrs Prest's appeal, the court declared that the seven disputed properties vested in the companies were ones that Mr Prest was "entitled, either in possession or in reversion".

Mr Michael Prest, 51, and his wife, who met twenty years ago in London, enjoyed the fruits of the fortune he amassed, sending their son and three daughters to public school, and alternating their time between a multi-million pound house in London and homes in the Caribbean and Nigeria, where he was born the son of a Itsekiri chief before moving to the UK as a child.

After their separation in 2008 Mr Prest, who lives in Monaco, refused to pay the multi-million pound settlement to his 50-year-old ex-wife - a British-born IT consultant who has dual Nigerian nationality like her husband. The High Court, describing the husband as a manipulative and a “wholly unreliable witness”, ordered the transfer of 13 properties from his companies as part payment

Mr Prest was not in court to hear the judgement being delivered.

Mandela Remains In Serious But Stable Condition

Nelson Mandela was in serious but stable condition in a Pretoria hospital for the third day Monday with a recurring lung infection, and a foundation led by retired archbishop Desmond Tutu described the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero as an “extraordinary gift” to South Africa.

As family members visited South Africa’s first black president in the hospital, the government announced — in only the second communication on Mandela since he was hospitalized on Saturday — that his condition was “unchanged.”

Associated Press reports that A statement issued for the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation described Mandela as “the beloved father of our nation” and offered prayers for a man seen by many around the world as a symbol of reconciliation because of his peacemaking role when white racist rule ended in South Africa.

Mandela “once again endures the ravages of time in hospital,” said the Cape Town-based foundation, which was founded by Tutu and his wife Leah to promote peace. “We offer our thanks to God for the extraordinary gift of Mr. Mandela, and wish his family strength.”

Tutu, 81, was also vigorous campaigner against apartheid, which ended when all-race elections were held in 1994 and Mandela president. Like Mandela, Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on behalf of his compatriots. Mandela shared his prize with F.W. de Klerk, the last president of the apartheid era.

“We send our blessings to the doctors and nurses responsible for his care,” Tutu’s foundation said.

Meanwhile, the African National Congress, South Africa’s ruling party, dismissed as false a report in Monday’s edition of The Star newspaper that Mandela’s family had barred senior party leaders and government officials from visiting the hospital.

On April 29, state television broadcast footage of a visit to Mandela’s home by President Jacob Zuma and other ANC leaders. Zuma said then that Mandela was in good shape, but the footage – the first public images of Mandela in nearly a year – showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to hold his hand.

Some South Africans said that showing images of a clearly ill Mandela was inappropriate and appeared to reflect an attempt by the ruling party to benefit politically from its association with Mandela, a former ANC head, in the run-up to national elections next year. The party denied the accusation.

In its brief statement on Mandela’s health, the presidency said Zuma “reiterates his call for South Africa to pray for Madiba and the family during this time,” referring to Mandela by his clan name.

Mandela has been hospitalized several times in recent months. During a hospital stay that ended April 6, doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and drained fluid from his chest.

Mandela has been particularly vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during 27 years as the prisoner of the white racist government. The bulk of that period was spent on Robben Island, off the coast of Cape Town where Mandela and other prisoners spent part of the time toiling in a stone quarry.

He was freed in 1990, and then embarked on peacemaking efforts during the tense transition that saw the demise of the apartheid system and his own election as president in 1994.

The former leader retired from public life years ago and had received medical care at his Johannesburg home until his latest transfer to a hospital.

D’Banj Finally Ends Speculation Over Olamide

http://stargist.com/2013/06/09/dbanj-finally-ends-speculation-over-olamide/

Posted on Jun 9 2013 - 3:20pm by Reporter

D’banj has finally shutdown stories he’s signed Olamide, saying it’s all just a rumour.

Rumours about the signing were heightened when the pair recorded a collaboration on the DB Records compilation album ‘D’King’s Men‘ and were spotted several times hanging out together.

‘It’s a rumour‘, D’banj told journalists at the DKM Industry Nite held in his honour two weeks ago.

Olamide was however the first person to deny the news stating that he and ‘Eja Nla’ are only friends. The rapper said, in a recent interview that he and D’banj were actually in talks but a lot of ‘negative energy’ surrounded them.