Microsoft Lumia 950 XL

What's Hot: Finally, a new flagship Windows phone! Windows Hello iris recognition, big high res AMOLED display, fast CPU. Great camera.

What's Not: Looks don't match the price tag. Bugs and quirks hold this powerful phone back right now.

You'd think that the XL version of a phone would simply be a larger and perhaps somewhat faster version of the non-XL version. In the case of the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL, that's not quite the case. Yes, it shares a very similar industrial design with the Lumia 950, and it has a larger display and a bit faster CPU. In fact, they both run the new Windows 10 Mobile OS too, and have the same 3 gigs of RAM. Yet the more aspirational and flagship 950 XL doesn't feel significantly faster and in fact it's been less stable for us than its smaller stablemate. Why is that? Our educated guess is Windows 10 Mobile's newness and that it's sold as an unlocked phone with no carrier intervention have given it a case of growing pains. Wait, isn't it better when carriers don't muck with phones and load them with bloatware? Yes, that's often the case. But carriers do have their good points: they stringently test new handsets for reliability and stability, and in this case we think Microsoft could have used that help. Microsoft sells the Lumia 950 XL direct to consumers as an unlocked GSM phone that works on AT&T, T-Mobile and smaller GSM carriers. There's no contract and no payments on the upside, and it works with any GSM nano SIM card in the US and overseas. In fact, it's a dual SIM phone, a feature that's more popular overseas than in the US, so you could use two SIMs (even two carriers) at once.

The Lumia 950 XL has a 5.7" QHD AMOLED display and it runs Windows 10 for phones on the 2.0 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 CPU with Adreno 430 graphics. That's an octa-core processor that's the fastest Qualcomm currently makes. The smartphone has 3 gigs of RAM and 32 gigs of storage plus a microSD card slot that's compatible with cards up to 200 gigs. It has a truly excellent rear 20MP camera with Zeiss lens, optical image stabilization, 4K video recording at 30 fps and a tri-tone LED flash (the same camera as the 950). A solid 5MP front camera with 1080p video recording, WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and a GPS round out the solid feature set. The phone sells for $649, which is as expensive as the flagship Android and iPhone competition. Given Windows Phone's serious underdog position in the market, the price tag hurts a bit unless the phone brings superior features or innovations that the other operating systems lack.

The Lumia doesn't have a fingerprint scanner but it does have an iris scanner on the front that will eyeball your eyes and grant you access to the locked phone (Windows Hello login). We found this worked about 85% of the time (glasses on or off). You can use your self-selected PIN code should it not recognize your eyes. Or if you don't want any sort of security whatsoever, you can ignore the feature.

Design and Ergonomics

Like the smaller 5.2" Lumia 950, the 5.7" Lumia 950 XL has a serviceable and unimaginative design that puts function above form. The back cover is removable, and in fact you can replace it with jazzier backs in bright colors or faux leather thanks to third party offerings. It grants access to two nano SIM card slots, a microSD card slot and a removable battery--valuable features that are fast disappearing from the svelter and trendier handsets from Samsung and Apple in the Android and iOS worlds. The phone is available in your choice of white or black--no playful and vibrant Lumia colors from the Nokia Lumia days.

Our only design quibble other than the somewhat bland, non-premium design is the power button that's nestled between the volume up and down buttons on the side--a sure recipe for accidental power off rather than volume adjustment actions. The USB-C port is at the bottom-- kudos to Microsoft for including that forward looking port that supports fast charging as well as a USB-C to USB-A adapter in the box so you can connect it to your PC for file transfer. The phone has the usual 3.5mm headphone jack and a dedicated camera button that we love. As ever, the Lumia line keeps camera aficionados in mind.

Display

The Lumia 950 XL has a 5.7" QHD 2560 x 1440 AMOLED ClearBlack display that matches other phablets in size. Since it's AMOLED it has rich blacks and infinite contrast along with vibrant colors that will likely please most folks. It has an outdoor brightness mode, though the display isn't insanely bright. It has adequate brightness but it's by no means eye-searing. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 4 and for those who prefer natural colors to extra-vivid OLED, there are several color profiles to choose from.

Performance and Horsepower

With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and 3 gigs of RAM, you'd expect top of the line performance, but the Lumia 950 XL doesn't experientially outperform the slower Lumia 950. We chalk this up to Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile OS, which is a work in progress (they call it "software as a service", which means you'll get improvements and updates as free downloadable updates over the course of time). Clearly Windows 10 can milk more performance out of the Snapdragon 810, but it's not doing so yet. We look forward to seeing what Microsoft can do, but on the other hand you shouldn't have to wait after buying a flagship phone for $650. The Lumia 950 XL is by no means slow, in fact it's mostly spritely, though we saw occasional stutters that were unexpected given how incredibly fast Windows phones have been in the past. We also suffered many stalled app store downloads and a few app crashes (even after downloading the latest OS updates).

 Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Video Review

Software Though the rest of the world might not be, we're still bullish on Windows phones. They're easy to use and the Live Tile interface is intuitive and pleasing. The app selection still can't compete with Android and iOS, and we're still stuck in a "chicken and egg" situation where the developers will come if sales increase but sales won't increase unless developers release more Windows phone apps. Perhaps universal apps, those that can run on PCs and phones alike, will bring more developers, but we're not convinced. The staples are here for streaming music, social networking and cloud file management, but the rest still lag behind or are missing. That doesn't mean your phone will do precious little--there are plenty of apps to keep you entertained, connected and amused. It's just not akin to what the other two platforms offer. The Lumia 950 XL and the Lumia 950. Microsoft is betting on Continuum; the ability to connect wired or wireless displays, keyboards and mice to Windows 10 phones as the special sauce that will sell you. For business users this is a potentially captivating feature--connect these peripherals via Microsoft's Lumia Display Dock ($99 but free via mail in rebate for a time), and you can have a desktop-like experience. Right now, it's mostly Microsoft's own built-in apps that run in Continuum like Mail, Office, the Edge web browser and Groove Music. Over time, we'll have to see how many more apps transition to universal and support the desktop-ish transition that is Continuum. Still, you can get work done in MS Office Mobile (a pared down version of desktop Office), Mail and Edge. It's actually pretty cool, and there's a lot of potential here.

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Phone and Data

Nokia made excellent voice phones and that continues under the Microsoft brand. The unlocked GSM Lumia 950 XL has full and clear incoming and outgoing voice. The speaker is decent enough to carry on a call with the phone on a desk a few feet away, and the mics picked up our voice nicely from that distance. Data speeds on T-Mobile and AT&T's networks in our strong coverage area (Dallas) were good and competitive with carrier phones. The Lumia supports a healthy selection of LTE bands, so you should get good coverage across the US.

This is a dual SIM phone, and that means you can use two SIM cards (even from different carriers) at once and assign the default SIM for data connections. The top status bar provides info about both SIM cards and there are even two different phone Live Tiles for the different lines.

Camera

Like the Lumia 950, the 950 XL has an excellent 20MP camera (they use the same camera and lens). It takes natural and three dimensional photos that look more like a dedicated point and shoot than a camera phone. On the other hand, the same can be said of the LG V10 and even the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Note 5 family of phones. When Nokia made Lumias with high end PureView cameras, they pushed the envelope and did things no one had done before--like 40MP sensors and DNG RAW formats. There's nothing so innovating or daring here, but we'll forgive it because the photos and videos are so darned good. This camera takes excellent photos and very good video in 1080p @ 30 fps and 4K @ 30 fps with OIS and a fast f/1.9 Carl Zeiss lens to keep things bright and sharp in low light. But those specs sound much like the competition's, other than the boost to 20MP from 16MP. That 4MP really doesn't matter much--the sensor, image processing and software are more important rather than a small resolution bump. Happily, both are in top form here, as we've come to expect from higher end Lumia phones.

The camera app has plenty of manual settings, downloadable "Lenses" (bar code reader, background blur, social networking plugins and more), and a nice automatic short animated sequence capture if your subject is moving when you try to snap a photo. It doesn't trounce the top camera phones on the market today, but we'll give it a slight edge for photos. Unfortunately for Microsoft, they need more than a slight edge to draw Android and iPhone owners.

The front 5MP camera has an f/2.4 lens and it can record 1080p video. Like the rear camera, it's very respectable and yielded natural Skype video footage with minimal noise.

Battery Life

The Lumia 950 XL is one of the few phones to sport a USB-C 3.1 port, which allows for faster charging and support for a wider array of peripherals like display out (e.g. Microsoft's own Display Dock). The phone also supports Qi wireless charging, which is an easy way to charge your phone (just lay it on a Qi charging plate), but considerably slower than cable charging. The Lumia 950 XL has a 3340 mAh battery that's easily swapped once you pry off the back cover. Battery life was decent but not stellar--the Snapdragon 810 is a powerful and hungry CPU and the Lumia is driving a high resolution display. The phone managed a full day with light to moderate use (8am-10pm), but it was generally down to 10% power remaining by 10pm.

Conclusion

There's a lot to like about the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL. After all, it's the first flagship Windows phone with a big display and top of the line CPU in some time. The display is colorful and reasonably bright and the phone has one of the best rear cameras on the market. The phone's generic looks and matte plastic back aren't quite fitting for a $650 model when the high end competition is cranking out aluminum and glass phones that look truly stunning. As a consolation, unlike those classy looking phones, the 950 XL's back cover pops off for easy battery swaps and third party colorful and leather backs can significantly improve the look. Our only wish is that the phone were spritelier and stable--it's been on the market for two months and Microsoft still clearly has work to do with Windows 10 Mobile and related software. The hardware is fine, it's a matter of Microsoft getting the hiccups and bugs fixed.

Price: $649

Website: www.microsoftstore.com

 

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OnePlus X

What's Hot: Fantastic looks and materials for the price. Pleasing full HD AMOLED display. Low price.

What's Not: Unabashed iPhone 5 clone, lean selection of 4G LTE bands, single band WiFi and no NFC.

OnePlus disrupted the market with their first Android smartphone, the OnePlus One. It was a big phone with very good specs for a few hundred dollars less than the big name competition at release in April 2014. If that sounds too good to be true, it was. It was insanely difficult to buy the OnePlus One if you lived in the US, Canada or the EU thanks to the company's irritating invite system. We assumed the invite system would go away after a month or two when the company got a handle on production, but it persisted and seems more like a marketing tool for OnePlus to make the phones seem difficult to obtain and thus desirable. The illusive invite, along with some dubious competitions requiring participants to destroy perfectly good smartphones on film (among others), stood in the way of both goodwill with customers and getting the phone out in volume.

Fast forward 1.5 years later and OnePlus now has the OnePlus 2 and the One Plus X, both of which launched under the same invite system (argh!). These are the current models with the 2 being the higher end model and the X being the new really affordable model. Happily, in early December, OnePlus made the OnePlus 2 available without an invite, but unfortunately the X still requires one.

Now that we've gotten the invite system out of the way, let's look at the phone itself. The OnePlus X faces great challenges. When the One came out in early 2014, you either bought a low end phone with mediocre looks and low end specs or you bought a $600+ flagship. Thus the OnePlus One was an exciting phone since it brought flagship specs under $400. 2015 was the year of the affordable near-flagship, with more phones of note coming out in the $225-$450 range than hot new expensive flagships. OnePlus' territory was overrun, and the X is their attempt to attack the even lower price market. It's hard to make a $250 full retail unlocked phone that doesn't look and act like a bundle of compromises. OnePlus managed to make a phone that looks and feels expensive though, and performance is pretty good too.

The OnePlus X is basically the 2014 OnePlus One in a new casing with a smaller 5" screen. It has the quad core 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 801 CPU with Adreno 330 graphics of the One, which was top dog in early to mid-2014. It has 3 gigs of RAM and 16 gigs of storage. For $250, we're pleased with the 3 gigs of RAM and 8 or 16 gigs of storage is standard in lower priced phones. The CPU is old, but it's still a solid performer that's adequate to meet many users' demands. The phone runs OxygenOS built on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. Android 6.0 Marshmallow is out, and we wish that OnePlus would give up on their custom Android builds (they used CyanogenMod on the OnePlus One, but the companies parted ways abruptly). It's not that we don't like OxygenOS- on the contrary, it's tasteful, offers a few nice customizations and has a somewhat stock Android feel. Rather the problem is that their in-house engineers are slow with OS releases and it's a shame that the phone was released with Lollipop with no quick update in sight.

The mainland China model ships with HydrogenOS (also based on Android 5.1.1), which looks and feels a little odd if you're accustomed to US Android builds. That said, the China model is readily available from exporters like GearBest.com who supplied our review unit, since there's no invite system involved. If you're kinda geeky (the core market for OnePlus phones is enthusiasts), then it's not hard to flash it with OxygenOS. Download the ROM image, put it in internal storage and boot up the phone into recovery to flash it. The US OnePlus X sold on OnePlus' website has a surprisingly limited collection of US 4G LTE bands, and the Chinese model includes pretty much none that are useful for the US, so you'll be stuck with HSPA+ 3G if you do buy the Chinese model. The US version covers the basic 4G LTE bands used by T-Mobile and AT&T, but leaves out some newer bands that those carriers have rolled out for better coverage (band 12 on T-Mobile and band 17 on AT&T, for example). That sets the OnePlus X behind the also affordable but not as pretty 3rd gen Moto G. Is it possible to flash the cell radio too and switch to US bands as it was with the import OnePlus One? Maybe, we don't have any radio ROMs to experiment with for the X. Call quality is quite good, even with the Chinese model on US carriers. The phone uses a single carrier to hold your choice of 2 nano SIM cards or 1 SIM card and a microSD card.

In terms of looks, the OnePlus X is unparalleled in this price range. It's clad in glass front and back (Gorilla Glass 3 on the front) and it has metal sides. The US version is available in black with silver sides (called Onyx) and there's a more expensive limited edition with a ceramic back. In China it's available with white glass and gold sides (called Champagne). The phone is an unabashed iPhone 5 clone, right down to the silence slider on the left side that's standard for iPhones but never on Android phones. Copy or no, it's great looking, and casing build quality is excellent with no gaps, creaks or squeaks. The bad news is that it's very slippery, but a silicone case is included that improves grip without making the phone bulky or ugly.

                  

The phone has a standard micro USB 2.0 port, and the 2525 mAh battery is sealed inside. This isn't a Qualcomm Quick Charge phone, nor does it support wireless charging, but that's fair given the low price. Battery life is good and the phone lasted us from 8am to 10pm on a charge (4.5 hours of screen on time). The small 5" AMOLED display is power frugal, and at 1920 x 1080, it looks sharp and has AMOLED's signature vibrant colors and deep blacks. The display is cool (whites tend toward the blue) and there's no software adjustment on the OxygenOS models. Interestingly the Chinese HydrogenOS models do have color temperature settings. Though the Snapdragon 801 chipset supports dual band WiFi, the OnePlus X has single band WiFi 802.11n, either to reduce licensing costs or to give you a reason to spend $70 more on the higher end OnePlus 2 (which I'd recommend if you must have a OnePlus and can afford it). The phone has Bluetooth 4.0 and the usual GPS with GLONASS but no NFC. It has a microSD card slot to expand storage for videos, photos and other files.

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The front 8MP camera provides fairly sharp video chat footage and decent selfies, while the rear 13MP camera is just OK. Again, this is a $250 phone, so we can't expect a Galaxy S6 or LG G4 level camera here. Images have a slightly magenta-green bias and high contrast stymies it, so you'll see white-out in bright outdoor shots. Indoor shots are reasonably good with the flash, and recorded 1080p video seems to suffer from frame drops if the camera or subject moves.

Conclusion

The OnePlus X faces competition not only from the OnePlus 2 (just $70 more) but the very likeable and good Moto G 3rd edition. There are of course other budget choices like the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 (not quite as pretty but more LTE bands and a bigger screen), last year's Samsung Galaxy S5 on discount and some lower end Lumia phones if you're open to Windows Phone. The OnePlus X is by far the most attractive and classy looking of the lot, and it's one of the few that's 5" for those with smaller hands and pockets. Call quality is good, OxygenOS is pleasing, though we wish the phone ran with a new Android base and the phone has expandable storage. For $250, as long as you don't need more LTE bands in your coverage area, it's an impressive phone. We wish we could be as enthused about the company's marketing and inventory mangement practices as we are by the phone.

Website: www.oneplus.net

Price: $250, our unit came from GearBest.com

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Dell XPS 13 (early and late 2015 models)

What's Hot: Incredibly small, light and attractive. Solid build with quality materials, excellent display options with tiny bezel. Low starting price, impressive battery life for non-touch models.

What's Not: Desirable options like a touch screen and 8 gigs of RAM quickly escalate price.

The new Dell XPS 13 is the best new laptop of 2015. Hey, I know I wrote that on January 22, when the year was still very young, but it's December 2015 now and I've updated this review to add the Intel Skylake late 2015 model refresh, and it still stands as the best traditional (non-convertible) design Windows 13 inch Ultrabook on the market. Why? It's a 13.3" Ultrabook that's the size of an 11.6" to 12" model, it weighs just 2.6 lbs. and the 1080p model has insane battery life. A trifecta of portability, light weight and great battery life make this an excellent laptop. Better yet, it has good performance thanks to the Intel 5th and 6th generation U series CPUs. We're thrilled to see U here rather than the slower Broadwell Core M used in the very first 5th gen Intel portables that hit in Q4 2014.

The 2015 Dell XPS 13 starts at $799 and ends at $1,599. For $799 you'll get a 5th (now 6th) generation Intel Core i3 CPU, 4 gigs of RAM, a 128 gig SSD and a non-touch matte 1080p display. Really, it's hard to imagine a cutting edge, high end Ultrabook in 2015 without a touch screen! For $899 you'll move up to a 2.2 GHz Core i5. Want a more modern 8 gigs of RAM? That will set you back a pricey $100. RAM is soldered on board, so you can't upgrade it yourself later. Want a 256 gig SSD? That's also a $100 upcharge. The model many folks will covet is the $1,399 configuration with the QHD+ touch screen, 8 gigs of RAM and a 256 gig SSD. All models have a backlit keyboard, Dell (Broadcom) dual band WiFi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0. We'd be pretty happy with the $999 non-touch Core i5 with 8 gigs of RAM and a 128 gig SSD (you can always upgrade the SSD later if you need more space).

A Modern Look

The latest Dell XPS 13 has a fresh look. Yes, there's some older gen XPS 13 DNA here, including the silver aluminum lid with Dell logo, patterned carbon fiber on the interior and Dell's very good and distinctive keyboard. But the new kid on the block is significantly smaller and the corners are more angular so it doesn't look like a silver lozenge. The bottom is aluminum now rather than carbon fiber, but the bottom zone design cues are otherwise similar to the outgoing model with the two horizontal rubber strips for grip that are raised to provide some room for ventilation. As ever with the XPS line, the machine feels extremely rigid, durable and solid with no flex or creaks.

The XPS 13's footprint and thickness are nearly identical to the Microsoft Surface Pro 4, which is pretty impressive since the Surface Pro 4 is a tablet with flappy keyboard attachment rather than a full-fledged laptop. The sides are tapered from 0.6" at the back to 0.33" at the front, with silver sandwiching black. Thankfully, Dell left enough room for ports and there are two USB 3.0 ports (one on each side), a mini DisplayPort (use a miniDP to HDMI adapter if you need HDMI), 3.5mm combo audio and an SD card slot (a card will stick out with 1/3 exposed). Note that the late 2015 model does away with the mini DisplayPort and replaces it with a USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port-- forward thinking, but it's a bit hard to find USB-C cables and adapters right now. Dell's USB-C adapter sells for $75 and it adds HDMI 2.0, Ethernet, USB 3.0 and VGA when connected to the laptop's USB-C port.

The bottom panel is affixed with several Torx screws, and you'll need to remove that panel to access the battery, M.2 SSD slot and socketed wireless card.

Beyond the size and weight, the show stealer is Dell's Infinity display with impossibly small bezels that remind us more of a newer flat screen TV than a laptop. Those 5mm bezels mean there's no room for a webcam above the display, so it's located at the lower left corner of the display bezel. It's guaranteed to provide unflattering video chat footage--few of us look good from under the chin. Despite the nearly non-existent bezels, the display panel is rigid and strong and relatively thick. The display itself? Gorgeous! Unlike the Lenovo Yoga 900 and HP Spectre x360, it doesn't "yoga" into a tablet nor does it separate into two pieces like the HP Envy x2 13. The XPS 13 has a traditional laptop hinge that tips back approximately 30 degrees beyond upright to target the laptop crowd rather than those in the market for a 2-in-1.

Display

The XPS 13 is available with a retro non-touch 1080p screen or a glossy QHD+ 3200 x 1800 touch screen. The only thing retro about the non-touch screen is the lack of touch. Otherwise it's a thoroughly modern Sharp IGZO full HD 1920 x 1080 matte panel with very good color gamut, good 800:1 contrast, low 0.2 black levels and plenty of brightness. In fact, given the conventional laptop rather than convertible design and Windows 10 making navigation without touch easier, I can understand the appeal of the more affordable display. I also appreciate a matte display since it looks brighter and isn't marred by reflections. While some matte displays have matte coatings that make things look murky or grainy, the XPS 13 looks clear and very colorful. If you look carefully, you'll see a wee bit of grain on white (predominantly white web pages and blank Word documents) but it's very minor compared to many matte panels. Dell claims high brightness and indeed the panel looks bright, though it was impossible to accurately measure with our Spyder Pro colorimeter since the panel dynamically adjusts brightness in zones and for certain colors to save power (this isn't the same thing as auto-brightness or ambient light sensor brightness that can be easily disabled).

For those of you who enjoy the new Windows Start environment (aka Metro) and associated apps from the Windows Store, they won't be a joy without touch. I do wish Dell offered an in-between display option--1080p touch, but alas they don't. If you want touch, you're also getting a 3200 x 1800 display. Big specs sell, and Dell has to combat the Lenovo Yoga 900 running at the same resolution, so QHD+ it is. We have both the 1080p and QHD+ versions in for review and both share a similar color gamut, contrast ratio and brightness levels. Our units measured 78% of Adobe RGB, 99% of sRGB to match the best laptop displays on the market. Note that unlike the XPS 15 late 2015 model with a 4K IGZO display, the XPS 13 doesn't offer near full Adobe RGB coverage (a rare feature in laptops). The glossy QHD+ version is covered with Gorilla Glass NBT unlike the matte version.

IGZO panels use less power, and that helps the 1080p non-touch XPS 13 achieve its stellar battery life. That said, the higher resolution model does consume more power and Dell estimates it at 12 hours of battery life vs. 15 for the non-touch model. Touch adds some weight too, so the touch model weighs 2.8 lbs. vs. 2.6 lbs. for the non-touch XPS 13.

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Buy bulksms in naira in Nigeria from rolexsms.com

The price of dollar has increased radically over the days, prices has increased goods has become more expensive but rolexsms.com still delivers affordable bulksms services.  No price changes. As a matter of facts rolexsms.com would be selling SMS even more cheaper soon.  AFRICA'S leading bulksms provider Rolexsms  has come to stay and 100% satisfaction is guaranteed..visit
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More than 1 million people in Russia are HIV-positive, official says

Russia's AIDS epidemic is at a dangerous tipping point after the number of people registered HIV-positive passed the 1 million mark, the country's top AIDS specialist said on Thursday, warning the rate of infection had reached record levels. 
Vadim Pokrovsky, the head of the federal AIDS center, told Reuters that the prevalence of the disease was on the verge of becoming common throughout the population, instead of concentrated primarily within a certain group. 

Almost 20 percent of the country's drug users and nearly 10 percent of the country's gay people were HIV-positive, he said. Between 55 and 60 percent of cases are linked to drug use and around 40 percent to heterosexual sex. Gay sex accounted for only about 1.5 percent. 

Russia registered its millionth HIV-positive patient - a 26-year-old woman in the south of the country — on Wednesday, said Pokrovsky. But he added the real number of HIV-positive Russians could be as high as 1.5 million, or 1 percent of the population, based on his and other expert estimates. 

"The epidemic is gathering strength. Unfortunately the measures that have been taken have clearly not been enough," Pokrovsky said.

He warned that Russia was "on the threshold" of moving from a concentrated epidemic, where HIV is highly prevalent in one subset of the population, to a generalized epidemic, where HIV rates among the general population are sufficient for sexual networking to drive new infections. 

"We're in a transitional phase," he said. "In separate regions we can say there is already a generalized HIV epidemic."

The Russian epidemic has been driven by very harsh drug laws and a lack of harm reduction and needle exchange programs, as well as repressive homosexuality laws, according to UNAIDS and the World Health Organization. 
A report released by UNAIDS in 2014 called out Russia for its "appalling record" on HIV and drug policy. "The Russian Federation… continues to steadfastly deny the evidence on the effectiveness of harm reduction, and the rates of HIV infection among people who inject drugs in the country are among the highest in the world," it said. 

A federal law banning "gay propaganda" has also hindered access to HIV prevention services among the LGBT community, according to activists. 

 

Pokrovsky said 204,000 people had died of HIV in Russia since the first case was recorded in 1987. He expected the number of new cases in 2015 to be at least 93,000, up from just under 90,000 in 2014. 
That, he said, would be the largest number of new cases since Russia began keeping data almost 30 years ago. 
The escalation comes as Russia struggles financially, beset by low oil prices, Western sanctions and a falling ruble. 
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called last October for a series of urgent measures to respond to the growing epidemic. The government plans to spend 40 billion rubles ($475.20 million) on fighting HIV/AIDs in 2016. Pokrovsky said 100 billion rubles was needed. 

Government data shows 24,000 HIV-positive people died in 2014, the last full year for which data is available. Of those, around 12,000 died as a direct result of AIDS. Pokrovsky said the real number who died from AIDS was likely to be higher. 
He said he expected data for 2015 to show a 5-10 percent increase in the number of deaths. 

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LASG explains boat collision incident in Ibeshie

The Lagos State Government at the weekend confirmed the boat collision incident reported at Ibeshe in Ikorodu axis of the state on Thursday January 21, 2016, just as it restated its commitment to continue to improve on safety on the State waterways.

In a statement signed by the Managing Director of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mrs. Abisola Kamson said the incident which occurred at about 8:05am was as a result of the early morning fog which led to poor visibility for the captains of the two boats. 
She said the Authority was able to ascertain what led to the incident from its information gathering machinery and onsite water guards.

According to her, one of the boats (MV Cherio) which had 20 passengers on board was operating at high speed and by the time it noticed the second boat (Olaoluwa) which had no passengers on board, it was too late to avoid a collision.

She said the impact of the collision claimed the life of a passenger on board and left three other persons injured.

According to her, the three injured persons were immediately rushed to Ikorodu General Hospital and have since been transferred to LUTH for further treatment.

The LASWA boss said the enforcement of lifejackets on waterways reduced the number of casualties as all passengers on board were wearing their life jackets.

She said immediately the incident was reported, LASWA deployed its water guards to monitor and oversight the situation adding that the Marine Police have also been notified and are currently carrying out an investigation.

She also restated the commitment of the State Government to enforce speed limits on the waterways by operators as well as aggressive campaign and enforcement of guidelines for commercial boat operators to stem boat accidents in the future. SIGNED
ABISOLA KAMSON
MANAGING DIRECTOR
LAGOS STATE WATERWAYS AUTHORITY
JANUARY 23, 2016 

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Eight accused over King Tut's beard

Egyptian media say prosecutors have referred eight museum employees for trial over the botched reattachment of the beard on the burial mask of the pharaoh, Tutankhamun. 
It comes a year after officials opened an investigation into how the blue and gold braided beard came to be detached and then hastily glued back on. 
The accused face charges of negligence and violating professional standards. 

The 3,000-year-old artefact is one of Cairo's biggest tourist attractions. 

Conservators at the Egyptian Museum had given differing accounts of the circumstances of the beard becoming detached. 
One suggestion was that it had been knocked off accidentally, another that it had been removed after becoming loose. 
Prosecutors said workers then "recklessly" tried to cover up the mistake, using large amounts of inappropriate glue in an effort to fix it. 
In all, they made four attempts to reattach the beard, on the later three occasions also trying to remove evidence of their earlier failed efforts. 
One report, in the Daily News Egypt, quoted prosecutors as saying: "Ignoring all scientific methods of restoration, the suspects tried to conceal their crime by using sharp metal tools to remove parts of the glue that became visible, thus damaging the 3,000-year-old piece without a moment of conscience." 
Those due to face trial include a former director of the museum and a former director of restoration. 
Last October, a team of conservators led by German experts began work to remove the damage and reattach the beard professionally. 
Following successful restoration, the mask was put back on public display in December.

Source: BBC 

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112-year-old holocaust survivor likely world's oldest living man, Group says

Yisrael Kristal, a 112-year-old Israeli Holocaust survivor, is now believed to be the oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group. Yasutaro Koide, who was also 112, held this honor until his recent passing in Japan. 

Born to a religious family in 1903 in what is now Poland, Yisrael lost his first wife and their two children during the Holocaust. 
He and his second wife made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in 1950, where they settled in Haifa and raised their two children, and where Yisrael started a sweets factory, Kristal’s Sweets. He still puts on tefillin and prays every day. 
His daughter, Shula Kuperstoch, described her father to The Jerusalem Post .  

“My father is someone who is always happy. He is optimistic, wise, and he values what he has,” Kristal’s daughter continued. 

“His attitude to life is everything in moderation,” she says. “He eats and sleeps moderately, and says that a person should always be in control of their own life and not have their life control them, as far as this is possible.”

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$2.1bn arms probe:Nobody can prosecute me for the N100million we collected- Olu Falae

Former presidential candidate of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) Chief Olu Falae, who was allegedly accused of receiving N100m from the $2.1 billion arms money from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki, in an interview said: 

"I want to say with all emphasis that I never took even one naira from Dasuki. Beyond that, I want to assert that I never had any relationship with Dasuki. I knew Dasuki way back in 1986-87,when he was ADC to General Babagida and I was Secretary to the Federal Government. Since he left that government around 1987, I had no contact or dealing with him; absolutely none".

"The N100 million they are bandying about in the media, the one that I know about, it happened as follows: Chief Tony Anenih, a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, phoned me late January last year and said he would like to see me; he would like to come from Abuja to see me in Akure. And he came. He came with someone, and I, too, invited somebody to be with me. The four of us were together in the meeting; and Chief Anenih  said they were observing that my party, SDP, had no presidential candidate and, therefore, they would want us to ask our supporters to vote for his own party’s candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan".

"I told him that, in principle, there was nothing wrong with the two parties collaborating, but that the collaboration must be a principled collaboration: it must be based on principles. I told him that there were certain things we desired the government to do but they had not done for the people, and that if we were going to support their candidate, they must commit themselves to make changes in those areas. He asked for the areas? I said number one, their party must be prepared to restructure Nigeria from the colossal unity system, and the best way of doing that was to fully implement the report of the National Conference 2014".

"Number two, that the party must commit itself to a policy of zero tolerance for corruption because I saw that corruption was monumental in what they were doing. Number three, I said the party in government must destroy Boko Haram and give stability to Nigeria. Number four, there was mass unemployment and youths were getting frustrated, that they must articulate programmes to create jobs for the unemployed. Number five, that I observed that the party in government was spending virtually our entire revenue on recurrent expenditure, that they must reduce recurrent expenditure so as to generate surpluses to finance capital development like roads, schools, hospitals, etc".

"Item number six, that if we accepted this tide and accepted them, then if the party won the election, we will expect reasonable participation in that government. And he said they were totally happy with all these strict conditions, that the conditions were acceptable to them; in fact, he said they were already implementing some of them. So, on that note, he returned to Abuja. But after he left, I decided to write to him in order to document this relationship. The letter I wrote to him, again I listed the six conditions which I had mentioned in our oral discussion. And three days later, he wrote back to me saying that he had consulted all the stakeholders of his party including the President and they were all happy to accept those conditions to work with the SDP in the election’s that were forthcoming".

"So, having accepted our conditions, I proceeded to Abuja to summon the meeting of my party executive and decision making organs and made the presentation to them. There was a very robust debate and, at the end of the debate, the executive committee of my party endorsed their request that we should work with Jonathan in the elections".

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Woman claims £33m lotto ticket was destroyed in the wash, presents tattered paper

As the hunt in the UK for the owner of the unclaimed £33million Lotto jackpot intensified, a woman has reportedly come forward claiming to have the winning ticket. 
But, she claims, there is just one small problem - it has been through the washing machine. 
According to The Times, the blonde-haired woman presented the tattered bit of paper to a newsagent in Worcester on Friday. 

Natu Patel, who runs Ambleside News in Warndon on the outskirts of the city, was Friday revealed to have sold the jackpot ticket. 
The 64-year-old was told by National Lottery bosses that the winning ticket was bought in the area. 
He said that it would be "wonderful" if it was bought in his shop - though he won't know if it is unless he scans it. 

Therein, according to The Times, lies the problem - the all-important date and barcode have been scrubbed off the woman's ticket. 
The woman, who claims to have found the ticket in the pocket of a pair of jeans that had been in the wash, told The Times: "I’ve been a nervous wreck. 
"I haven’t slept all night. Since I found it in my jeans pocket, my daughter and I have been drying it out with the hairdryer. 
"You can see 2016 but not the date. This is one of only two shops I buy my tickets, and I remember coming in here the day, or the day before [the draw], because I had to buy something else. 

There's no way to confirm the woman's claims though. 

The winning ticket holder has until Thursday July 7th to claim the cash or it will go to National Lottery projects. 

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Donald Trump says he could shoot someone and still not lose voters

During a rally on Saturday in Iowa, Donald Trump said he wouldn't lose any support in the presidential race, even if he shot someone... 

"I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" - Donald Trump. 

Donald Trump's comment came during a campaign rally Saturday at Dordt College in northwest Iowa. The 1,500-seat theater completely filled with hundreds more watching the speech from an overflow room. 

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Latest etisalat browsing cheat for january/february 2016

complements of d season.

No long story.

Dust your etisalat sim and be a partaker.

Create New APN settings On Your Phone As Follows:
» Open your phone settings > Go to more > Go to mobile network > Go to access point names > Select Mtn, Then create new APN and configure as shown below:
» APN Type: default
» APN: etisalat
» Proxy: Blank
» Port: Blank
» Save And Activate it as your default settings

Then Launch Psiphon Handler, in the handler menu:
» Proxy type: Reverse Proxy
» Proxy server: instagram.com
» Real Proxy type: HTTP
» Real Proxy server: (leave it blank)

» Select save and click on “tunnel whole device”.
Click on the option tab
» Region: select, USA Server
» Select more option, And check “Connect through an HTTP” then select “Use the following settings:” then configure as.
» Host address: 5.101.168.240 OR 54.194.235.153
» Port: 3128

Save and Click Start, then wait for atlest 10-20minutes

Note : It usually takes time to connect, like 10 to 20mins. So, you need to exercise patient before it shows connected. Once the Psiphon connected, you will feel the speed especially when streaming and downloading.

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Omotola replies fan who criticised her for sharing a sexy throwback pic

Omotola shared this sexy throwback photo of herself on her IG page today and a male fan took an exception to it...saying as a married woman, the actress shouldn't show off thighs and chest to the public. Not only did Omotola's fans slam the man for his comments, Omotola herself was gracious enough to reply him.

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Illinois Christian college seeks to fire professor for comments on Islam

Officials at a Chicago Christian college said Tuesday they are moving forward with firing a professor who was placed on leave after asserting that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

Provost Stanton Jones initiated the termination-for-cause proceeding after Larycia Hawkins refused to participate in clarifying the comments she made about the two religions, Wheaton College said in a statement on its website.

Wheaton College said it placed Hawkins on administrative leave in December because of theological statements "that seem inconsistent with Wheaton College's doctrinal convictions, which she voluntarily agreed to support and uphold when she entered into an employment agreement with the college."

Hawkins began to wear a hijab to show solidarity with Muslims, whom she felt were being persecuted in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting and the terror attacks in Paris perpetuated by Muslim extremists. She told reporters last month her actions were “motivated by a desire to live out my faith.”

“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book,” she posted on Facebook. “And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”

The school insists that is not why she was placed on leave.

The college said it has had frank conversations with Hawkins on doctrinal issues as it pursued the possibility of reconciliation with her but that "Hawkins has stated clearly her unwillingness to participate in such further clarifying conversations."

The Chicago Tribune reported that Hawkins had been asked to affirm the college’s statement of faith four times since she started teaching at Wheaton College nine years go. Hawkins and the school have butted heads over a paper relating the Bible and race relations in America, a photo taken of her inside a home at a party on the same day as Chicago’s Pride Parade and suggesting the college's curriculum should include sensitive vocabulary for talks concerning sexuality, according to the paper.

A spokeswoman for Hawkins, Shelly Ruzicka, said the professor had no immediate comment on the effort to fire her but she "maintains Christian support for the Muslim community amid the ongoing anti-Muslim climate."

Hawkins now faces a hearing with the college’s Faculty Personnel Committee, according to the Tribune.

The panel is made up of nine tenured faculty members. After hearing from both sides, the panel will make a recommendation on Hawkins' continued employement to Wheaton College President Philip Ryken.

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Photos: Man allegedly assaults wife because she greeted her pastor

According to Tolu Meduna who shared the photos on Facebook, Mrs Comfort Oluwaseun Adebowale was brutally beaten by her husband Olorode Abimbola Gbenga for allegedly exchanging pleasantries with her pastor.

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Nigeria to start producing pencil in 2 years, says minister

Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonaya Onu says Nigeria will start manufacturing her own pencil within the next 2 years. Ogbonnaya said this during a facility tour of Projects Development Institute (PRODA) in Enugu State yesterday January 5th. He said the local manufacturing of pencils will provide 400, 000 jobs for unemployed Nigerians

“It is unthinkable that 55 years after independence, Nigeria is still not producing pencils when we have the human and material resources in the country. PRODA has to produce pencils for Nigeria and they have given me the assurance that this can be done and that with pencil manufacture here, we will be creating 400,000 new jobs. The (Muhammadu) Buhari administration is committed to creating new jobs and growing our economy,” he said.

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See what was spotted in traffic in Belgium (photos)

Motorists in Liege, Belgium were stunned to see a sperm whale being transported on a flatbed truck, The whale which appeared to be smiling was being delivered to Liège Theatre as part of the stage dressing for their presentation of Herman Melville's classic whale tale Moby Dick.
The theatre posted an image on Facebook with the caption: 

"If you're in the neighbourhood come take a look at this strange delivery... A whale in a theatre, really?!"

Melville's 1851 literary classic is narrated by a sailor called Ishmael and tells the story of the obsessive quest of Captain Ahab for revenge on Moby Dick, a white whale which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee.

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Yes we collected N53m from Tony Anenih- TankoYakassai

A former Special Assistant to former President Shehu Shagari, Tanko Yakassai has confirmed that he and 8 other prominent Northern leaders received N53 million from former PDP board of trustee Chairman, Tony Anenih meant for advocacy for the party during the 2015 presidential election.

Tony Anenih in a letter to EFCC stated that he collected N260 million from the office of the former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and gave N53 million to Tanko Yakasai's group.
 

"Yes, myself and 8 others collected N53m from chief Tony Anenih to pay advocacy visit to prominent northern emirs to mobilize their subjects for a hitch free 2015 general elections. I want to make it abundantly clear that I didn’t receive money from Chief Anenih in my private capacity as Tanko Yakasai but to a patriotic individuals who are interested in the peaceful coexistence of the polity”he told Vanguard

Tanko said former minister of state, foreign Affairs, Alhaji Mamman Anka, Barrister Bitrus Gwada and Alhaji Suleiman Lawal, Dr Bahago, Chief John Macklink from Plateau, and Senator Sodangi are beneficiaries of the N53 million. He added that the money was meant for their allowance, hotel and transportation to the various Northern traditional rulers.

The list of other first class chief visited by Yakasai’s team includes, Emir of Anka, Emir of Ilorin, Emir of Nassarawa, Minnie, Bauchi, Zuru, Kebbi, Katsina, Dutse, Hadejia, Representatives of emir of Daurawa, The Tor Tiv, the Gwom Gbom Jos, Ohimege Igu, Kotonkarfe, Etsu of Abaji, Etsu Nupe and Atta Igala. Tanko had in an interview last week denied ever receiving money directly or indirectly from any of Jonathan's aides or associates 

"I want to make it categorically clear that no officials of the last regime either Mr. Jonathan, his lieutenant, agents, contractors or person having links or relationship with the last administration gave me cash on behalf of that regime for a reason.”

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Draya's fiance reponds to a fan who implied that the reality star is using him for child support

After Draya announced her pregnancy, a fan commented under her fiance Orlando Scandrick’s Instagram video and said : "I hope you got the funds for the child support check that will be coming” Scandrick responded with a simple: "nope I’m broke"

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Miss Nigeria 2015 Pamela Peter-vigboro Lessi made Chief in her hometown

 

The 22yr old beauty has been conferred with a chieftancy title "Gberebia Eedee Tuaka of Bodo city" rivers state and she shared it on her instagram page.

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