Dangote Group reduces cement price from N1700 to N1000

For those of you who the price of cement has been stopping you from building, Dangote Cement Plc has announced a 41% reduction in the prices of cement, with the different grades now selling for between N1,000 and N1,150, exclusive of Value Added Tax. Now, 50kg of the 32.5 cement grade sells for N1,000, while the higher 42.5 grade will go for N1,150 per bag instead of the current N1,700 that both grades were sold for.

The new price structure was announced by the Group MD, Dangote Cement, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, who said 

“We recognise the need for a dramatic increase in the response to the huge infrastructure and housing deficit in the country, and one of the ways of addressing the issue is bringing the price of building materials down to much more affordable levels, especially cement, which is within our own control as part of our contribution to the transformation agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration and the attainment of key milestones in the Millennium Development Goals.”

'INTERSTELLAR' A MASTERPIECE? Review: Matthew McConaughey shines in 'Interstellar'

Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” is almost a masterpiece. Almost.

For a film completely drenched with sentimentality about faith, hope and human-kind’s resolve, “Interstellar” is at times as cold and lifeless as a vacuum, which is mostly the fault of its writer-director Christopher Nolan, whose previous output has generally been dark and nihilistic. All the elements of a syrupy, overly-sentimental “Spielberg-esque” drama are here: a single parent trying to do right by his scorned daughter, an astronaut yearning for a long-lost romance, teary-eyed monologues about love transcending logic and science. With the heaps of sentiment that Nolan throws at his audience, there is a surprising disconnect, as if his arrows just slightly miss the heart every single time and we, the viewer, are relegated to watching an emotional drama unfold from behind a double-sided mirror - never directly involved and always a room away.

Diva Diana Ross snatches fan's phone during performance

Diana Ross performs at the InterContinental Miami 20 year anniversary MAKE-A-WISH Ball on Nov. 1, 2014. (World Red Eye)

At 70, Diana Ross is still a disco diva.

The “I’m Coming Out” hitmaker shocked a socialite on Saturday night at the InterContinental Miami MAKE-A-WISH Ball when she stopped mid-performance and snatched the attendee’s phone because it was distracting her.

3 daily glasses of milk linked to higher mortality rate in women

Milk is often touted as an elixir for bone strength, but new research suggests that those superpowers may be true only to a certain extent.
A study published in the Oct. 28 issue of The British Medical Journal suggests that consuming three glasses of milk per day may double women’s risk of dying in 20 years, compared to drinking less than one glass daily, Medical News Today reported.

Terminally ill woman follows through on decision to end her life, dies in Oregon

A terminally ill woman who had decided to end her life after being told her illness would be long and painful has died, advocacy organization Compassion & Choices has confirmed.
Brittany Maynard, 29, who moved to Oregon, where the “Death with Dignity Act” allows people to choose to die using medication, was diagnosed with a progressive brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme. The average life expectancy is 14 months.

Original "Apple-1" computer could fetch $600,000 at December auction

A fully operational Apple computer that company co-founder Steve Jobs sold out of his parents' garage in 1976 for $600 will hit the auction block in December, where it is expected to fetch more than half a million dollars, Christie's said on Monday.
The so-called Ricketts Apple-1 Personal Computer, named after its original owner Charles Ricketts and being sold on Dec. 11, is the only known surviving Apple-1 documented as having been sold directly by Jobs, then just 21, to an individual from the Los Altos, California family home, Christie's said.
"It all started with the Apple-1 and with this particular machine," said Andrew McVinish, Christie's director of decorative arts.

Qatar pares support for Islamists but careful to preserve ties

Qatar has joined the American-led coalition to fight Islamic State, yet the emirate is a haven for anti-Western groups and foreign diplomats have reported seeing cars with Islamic State logos in an affluent bay district.
Such ambiguity runs through Qatari policy.
When the United States sought allies against Islamic State in Sept, Qatar was among the Gulf Arab states that sent its warplanes into action. But while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates welcomed media coverage, Qatar was silent.
There was talk among diplomats that Qatari planes merely flew a reconnaissance mission on the first night of the attacks.
In fact, a security source close to the government said, its planes did attack Islamic State targets in Syria later in the campaign, although that has not been officially confirmed.
Diplomats and analysts said the episode showed two things: