First international flight lands in Enugu Airport

ENUGU- FOUR days to the official commencement of international flights at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, billionaire businessman, Chief Arthur Eze, Tuesday, flew into Enugu airport from Senegal.The aircraft marked No 5MPZE, which landed at the modernised airport at about 3.20pm direct from Senegal, became the first international aircraft to touch down at the airport after it was upgraded.

President Goodluck Jonathan gave approval for the upgrading of the airport to an international status two years ago and laid the foundation for the construction of the international wing early this year.Although work on the project is still on going at the various sections of the airport, the Federal Ministry of Aviation has slated the official commencement of international flights from Enugu for Saturday with the Ethiopian airline billed to fly in and out of the coal city.Speaking to Journalists after the four-hour flight from Senegal to Enugu, amid jubilation by residents who thronged the airport to catch a glimpse of the first international flight, Prince Eze praised President Jonathan for living up to his promise, stressing that the upgrading of the airport would boost the economy of the South East.

“Look at me, I flew from Senegal to Enugu for four hours non-stop. I don’t need to go to Lagos or Abuja to catch direct flight again to Europe or Senegal. I can now go from my house to any place of choice. It is a good thing and I thank God for the development. The people of the South East will live to enjoy this because it will grow our economy,” he said.

He said that Ndigbo had been clamouring for an international airport from the military era up to the Olusegun Obasanjo administration all no avail until few years ago when Jonathan came on board and approved the airport and backed the project with resources.

“I am the first beneficiary of this beautiful airport, I am grateful to Jonathan. Jonathan has saved the life of Igbo people by reducing their suffering. Right now Igbo people who are noted for traveling overseas for businesses can do so from their zone. Jonathan has demonstrated that he is a wonderful human being and God will continue to bless him”, Eze said.He commended the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah for seeing to the realization of the airport.






#vanguard

PHOTOS: Transgender Plastic Surgery addict left disabled and disfigured after more than 200 surgeries, speaks out about the dangers

A surgery addict who was left disabled and disfigured after almost 100 unregulated cosmetic procedures now wants to speak out about the dangers facing unsuspecting women desperate for a quick fix.

Monique Allen, who has had more than 200 hundred plastic surgeries, became obsessed with pumping liquid plastic into her body and estimates she has injected almost 12 litres during 75 backstreet ops.

Over the years Monique, 58, has had a staggering 23 nose jobs and nine breast augmentations - taking her to size 38FFF.




Addicted: Transgender plastic surgery addict Monique Allen is registered disabled and can't walk after destroying her body with an estimated 75 illegal backstreet operations







Silicon fan: The retired government worker estimates she has had up to 12 litres of dangerous silicon pumped into her body since she was in her early twenties



The retired government worker said: 'I went in at the deep end with cosmetic surgery and I've ruined the natural good looks I had - I wish I had never done it.


'I've probably had around 200 operations over the years, many of which I can't remember.


'More and more people are dying from illegal silicon injections - many of them young women. I want them to look at me and see the dangers.



'Now I struggle to walk and am registered disabled. I ignored the risks and now I have to live with the results.


'I have severe circulation problems caused by silicon migrating to different parts of my body. Some skin on my legs has died, which I have to cover over with make-up.'


And she admits that even though her surgery addiction has resulted in her extreme appearance, she still craves one more nose job.



Addicted to plastic surgery: Monique Allen tells her story





Just one more: She admits that even though her surgery addiction has resulted in her extreme appearance, she still craves one more nose job





Numerous operations: Over the years Monique, 58, has had a staggering 23 nose jobs and nine breast augmentations





Speaking out: After decades of reckless operations Monique wants to speak out about the dangers facing unsuspecting women desperate for a quick fix










Back in the day: Monique at 28 years old after her gender reassignment in 1982 in Los Angeles, California and (R) aged 37 in 1992




Transgender Monique had gender reassignment surgery aged 22 and soon after achieved the D-cup breasts she desired through surgery.


She next turned her sights on her nose, which has been an obsession over the years.


But after turning to silicon to enhance her curves, Monique became hooked and began seeking out treatment with unregulated doctors.


Twice-married Monique, who is now single, said: 'In my twenties and thirties as soon as I had a couple of hundred dollars I would head to Tijuana to have illegal silicon injections.


'The doctor would numb you then attach a funnel to whichever part of your body you wanted, then screw a vial of silicon on and pump it in.


'I was so reckless but I was obsessed with having more.





As she was: An old photograph of transgender plastic surgery addict Monique Allen at 19 years old as a man in 1974 in Los Angeles, California and at age 18 in 1973 (R)







Augmentation: Transgender Monique had gender reassignment surgery aged 22 and soon after achieved the D-cup breasts she desired through surgery





Splashing the cash: She says that when she had a couple of hundred dollars she would head to Tijuana to have illegal silicon injections


'Once I saw a dark cloud appear under the skin where the silicon was going in - but even that didn't phase me'.

Over the years Monique also had treatment from accredited celebrity doctors including Liberace's plastic surgeon's Dr Jack Startz.

And she was once operated on by infamous doctor John Reginald Brown aka Butcher Brown who was later jailed for manslaughter after one of his patients bled to death.


She said: 'I was completely addicted and unwilling to think of the risks. My family begged me to stop but all I cared about was having more.


'I've destroyed the good looks I had when I was younger. Even now I would like anther nose job but doctors turn me away, but I understand why.

'I've come to the realisation that I have a problem and I'm taking steps to address it.'



Self-destruction: 'My family begged me to stop but all I cared about was having more. I've destroyed the good looks I had when I was younger,' she says

Yet despite being ravaged by her addiction, Monique is celebrated on the LA party circuit where she performs her music as Glamorous Monique.

Monique, who holds the record for the longest serving transgender state employee in US history, said: 'I love to party and everyone knows who I am. I write and perform my own songs at clubs in Los Angeles and have a huge fan base.

'People know me as Glamorous Monique all over the world.'

Over the last few years Monique has spent more than £100,000 having silicon removed from her legs, bottom, cheeks and chin.

She said: 'Silicon was never meant to be put in the body in such large doses as is common now.

'I've heard of "pumping parties" where people go to have vast amounts of silicon injected into their bodies.

'I want young women to look at me before they think about getting unnecessary and dangerous cosmetic work done.

'A lot of this stems from low self-esteem, which is something I am now coming to terms with.'





Growing up: Monique as a 2 year old and aged 35 after her gender realignment in 1990 in Spain




Famous: Monique is celebrated on the LA party circuit where she performs her music as Glamorous Monique







#dailymail

Pregnant women CAN drink alcohol and coffee, claims controversial new book that aims to dispel 'motherhood myths'

• Economist Emily Oster analysed hundreds of health studies and journals
• She found that many studies were flawed and didn't give the true picture
• Coffee, wine and deli meats such as ham are back on the menu
• The Department of Health recommends limiting alcohol consumption
• Netmums founder Siobhan Freegard was cautiously welcoming

 

Pregnant women can drink alcohol and coffee and dye their hair – but should avoid gardening, according to an expert who aims to dispel ‘motherhood myths’.

Economist and author Emily Oster contradicts conventional wisdom and advocates a much more relaxed approach to pregnancy.

In her book, Expecting Better, she claims a glass of wine a day is fine, plenty of coffee won’t harm the baby and gaining too little weight while pregnant is far more worrying than gaining too much.






Safe? According to Emily Oster, a glass of wine a day is fine during the second and third trimesters


The Harvard-educated associate professor of economics at the University of Chicago used her data skills to rewrite the rules of pregnancy.

Last night she told the Daily Mail that food restrictions were ‘overblown’ and that alcohol consumption does not affect the IQ or behaviour of the child.


She said her book – which found the best studies often painted a different picture from official guidelines – was ‘simply to show women the evidence and let them decide for themselves’.

Miss Oster said: ‘Actually getting the numbers led me to a more relaxed place: a glass of wine every now and then, plenty of coffee, exercise when I wanted it.’






Controversial: Oster's research contradicts received wisdom on drinking during pregnancy



Miss Oster’s quest began when she became pregnant three years ago and was advised to give up her four cups of coffee a day.

Unwilling to do so and frustrated by ‘one long list of rules’, she investigated and found that research linking coffee consumption to higher rates of miscarriage was flawed.

She wrote in one article: ‘I ultimately decided that the weight of evidence didn’t support limiting my consumption very much. I decided to continue.’

Her next port of call was alcohol. She looked at a study in the journal Pediatrics, which had concluded that just one drink a day was enough to put unborn children at risk of behavioural problems.

But the research did not reflect that 18 per cent of the women studied didn’t drink at all and 45 per cent of those who enjoyed a daily drink also took cocaine.

She concluded that women should feel comfortable with one or two drinks a week during the first three months and up to one a day after that.

Her research found that dyeing hair was fine and there was little evidence that exercise, while not unsafe, had any benefits. But she found gardening could raise the risks of exposure to a toxoplasmosis parasite living in the soil.

Toxoplasmosis is caused by a parasite and is acquired from contact with cats and their faeces. A woman contracting it just before or while pregnant can transmit it to her baby.

Miss Oster said: ‘There is some risk to increase birth defects if you do a lot of outdoor gardening when you are pregnant. That can increase rates of toxoplasmosis.’

She discovered sushi was fine and sardines and herring were good for a child’s IQ, but advised against raw milk cheese.

Sceptics were less convinced. A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘Drinking during pregnancy can be associated with miscarriage, foetal alcohol syndrome and low birth weight.’

‘Our advice remains that women who are trying to conceive or who are pregnant should avoid alcohol.’

Netmums website founder, Siobhan Freegard, said: ‘Official guidelines may seem stringent but they are there to err on the side of absolute safety.’

Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong-and What You Really Need to Know, £10.04, is released next week by Orion.





#dailymailfemail

PAYBACK TIME!: Angry American ex-wife pays divorce settlement in COINS mixed with rice and beans!

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned - especially when she is armed with loose change and a few plastic containers.

When faced with a court order to pay her ex-husband $50.12 as part of a divorce settlement, the aggrieved spouse ponied up the money in pennies delivered in Tupperware filled with rice and beans.

To add insult to injury, the unnamed woman wrote her husband a stinging farewell note.




Change of pace: When ordered by a judge to pay her ex-husband $50.12 as part of a divorce settlement, an ex-wife ponied up the money in pennies delivered in Plastic containers filled with rice and beans



‘Andy, Here's forty seven dollars and twelve cents in pennies,’ the missive read. ‘The other three dollars paid for the containers that I used. Receipt is included if you want to return them...

‘Oh! one last thing, I added beans and rice to remind you that you married a beaner : ) I hope you have a fab life! B/C I know mines 20x better without you in it!’

Photos of the coins divided into three plastic containers were posted Tuesday by the husband, identified only as Andy from Omaha, Nebraska.

The ex-husband clarified that the ‘beaner’ reference – a racially charged slur used to describe people of Mexican heritage – comes from his wife’s tendency to call herself that in a show ‘pride.’

‘She thought every single person looked at her negatively because she was Hispanic,’ the man claimed.


The story has stirred much interest among the users of the popular site, with many commenters siding with Andy and condemning his ex-wife's stunt.

At least one attorney has even offered to go after the woman to collect the $3 she supposedly owes him, claiming that she had no right to pay him in Tupperware.

In response to several requests from curious Redditors asking him to share the tale of his failed marriage, Andy wrote a lengthy post laying out the facts.

According to the Nebraska resident, he and his ex-wife had a great relationship before they got married, but everything changed soon after they said ‘I do.’

Andy wrote that his once hard-working and dedicated spouse quit her job, failed out of school, started neglecting her chores around the house and morphed into an all-around ‘angry person.’

The first signs of trouble appeared during the couple’s honeymoon, when according to Andy, his blushing bride declared that she is not happy with the location of their romantic getaway and forced him to take her home ahead of schedule.

And that was only the beginning. The already rocky relationship took a turn for the worse when the husband said he discovered that his newlywed wife had invited another man to stay with her for two weeks while he was visiting his parents.

The couple turned for help to a marriage counselor, and for a time things seemed to be looking up for the two, if it weren't for some lingering trust issues.



Note of protest: The unnamed woman wrote her husband a stinging goodbye note, telling him that her life will be 20 times better without him



Andy wrote that a year into their marriage, his spouse revealed that when they first started dating, she had been pregnant with a baby fathered by her old flame, but lost the child.

It all came to ahead when Andy decide to take a peek at his wife’s Facebook account, which she had gone to great lengths to shield from him.

‘I found a conversation with the guy she was pregnant with had been talking our entire relationship,’ he wrote on Reddit. ‘Wat [sic] they were saying was she only married me because he got married, she had already signed divorce papers and was just waiting for me to sign (she didnt).

‘Worst was that I found a conversation about her still planning to “sleep with" him two weeks from when I was reading the messages which was when the relationship was strongest.’

The jilted husband said that the final straw came when his wife threw a glass bottle at him, missing him by a few inches, and then shattered their entertainment center.

However, Andy has admitted that his wife was not entirely to blame for the failure of their marriage, and that he too had issues - like his tendency to play video games for days on end.

*LOL! Can't help laughing....but seriously, how did she think of this kind of revenge?





#dailymail
#reddit

VIDEO: Chris Brown Sentenced to 1,000 MORE HOURS Of Community Service

Click to play video:

 

 

 

 

TMZ - Chris Brown just got his ass handed to him in court -- the judge sentenced him to 1,000 more hours of community labor after the L.A. County D.A. accused him of fudging his records.

As  reported, the D.A. believes the singer violated his probation in the Rihanna beating case by submitting bogus community service reports -- in one case even swearing he was picking up trash in Virginia when he was actually on a private jet to Cancun.

The judge revoked Chris' probation last month in the wake of hit-and-run allegations, but reinstated it yesterday on the condition Chris completes an additional 1,000 hours of community service.

Think of it like a do-over -- because of the discrepancy in Chris' original labor hours, the singer won't get ANY credit for service he may or may not have completed since his conviction. Chris was originally sentenced to 180 days of community labor (1,440 hours).

Unlike last time -- when the judge said Chris could complete his labor in his home state of Virginia -- the judge today ordered that Chris' service must be supervised by L.A. County officials.

Chris can choose between Caltrans (aka highway cleanup), beach cleanup, probation alternative work services (PAWS), or our personal favorite ... graffiti removal.

Chris must also report to a probation officer within the next 48 hours. He did not look happy in court.

The good news ... Chris' probation will finally end in August 2014. One more year to go.

Spain's richest woman and co-founder of ZARA dies at 69

Spain's richest woman, Rosalia Mera, has died aged 69.

She suffered a stroke on the Mediterranean island of Menorca and died Thursday night at a hospital in La Coruna, the city where she was born in Spain's Galicia region.

The self-made billionaire made her fortune by co-founding the High Street brand Zara in 1975 in La Coruna with her then-husband, Armancio Ortega.



Loss: Rosalia Mera died on Thursday after reportedly suffering a stroke


The retail chain specialises in low-priced versions of designer styles - a formula that made it in hit in Spain and other countries around the world.

There are currently 1,763 Zara stores globally and their profits have been boosted by support from trendsetters such as the Duchess of Cambridge and Kim Sears wearing their clothes.

Ms Mera was a major stakeholder in Inditex SA, the owner of the Zara chain that also owns retailers Bershka, Masssimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Uterque and Zara Home.



Success: She co-founded Zara in 1975 and it went on to be a global brand with stores on High Streets around the world





Fans of the brand: Sales soared after Kate wore a Zara dress the day after she married Prince William, left, while Kim Sears wore a dress from the store as she watched boyfriend Andy Murray on his way to victory at Wimbledon this year


She held 5.1 per cent of Inditex, and her fortune was estimated by Forbes at £3.9bn. The magazine said she was the world's 195th richest person but held the number one spot on its list for 'wealthiest self-made woman'.

Her remarkable rise in fortune began after she quit school at the age of 11 and became a seamstress.

She co-founded the first Zara store in 1975 in La Coruna with Ortega, who is listed by Forbes as the world's third-richest person. The couple divorced in 1986.



Started out as a seamstress: Ms Mera's fortune was this year estimated by Forbes at £3.9bn


Saddened: Her company has paid tribute to the businesswoman

They were originally going to call the store Zorba after the 'Zorba the Greek' movie, but as there was a bar with that name not far from the site of their shop, the letters on the Zorba sign were rearranged to spell out Zara.

As well as the co-founder of Zara, she became known for voicing opposition to the Spanish conservative government's plans to change the country's abortion laws.

She also opposed government cutbacks in the name of austerity affecting Spain's cherished education and national health care programmes.

The Inditex Group today issued an statement on their website expressing its condolences.

It said: 'The Inditex is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Rosalia Mera.

'The Group wishes to send its sincere condolences to her loved ones and friends at this extremely difficult time, after the loss of a person who contributed so much to the origins and development of the Company.'



#dailymail

PHOTO: Cheryl Cole posts cute photo of herself when she was little

 

 

What a cutie! Cheryl Cole posted an adorable snap of herself as a youngster at ballet class on her Instagram page

Beside the photo Cheryl wrote: '#Flashbackfriday Aww little us. Me and my dance partner James.'


Awwhhh! How cute!


 

40 pythons discovered in motel room in Canada, where five children - including an infant - were staying

Forty ball pythons were discovered in a motel room in Brantford, Canada Thursday where five children including an infant were staying.

The python owners had rented a room for one night at the Bell City Motel after being evicted from their former residence.

Their landlord called police to inform them that the family had taken the pythons with them when they left. It is illegal to own pythons in Brantford and the motel has a strict no pets policy.




Motel nightmare: 40 pythons were discovered in a hotel room in Brantford, Canada

The family was out for dinner Thursday evening when police and representatives from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals arrived to confiscate the pets.

SPCA spokesman Brandon James said they found approximately 40 snakes ranging in size from 1 foot to 4.5 feet in very overcrowded conditions.

James told CBC News that in the 10 years he's worked in Brant County, he's never seen that many large snakes.






Evicted: The family who owned the pythons were recently evicted from their residence. Their landlord called police to tell them about the pythons, which are illegal to own in Brantford


Brantford police spokesman Sgt Cheney Venn said it appeared that the pythons were being kept for breeding purposes.

'They were not being suitably cared for and were in distress,' he told CNN.



Monumental: An SPCA representative said he had never seen so many large snakes at once in his 10 years working for Brant County





Snake seizure: Authorities believe the snakes were being kept for breeding purposes


The seizure comes just weeks after two young boys sleeping in an apartment above a reptile store were strangled to death by an African rock python in Campbellton, New Brunswick.

The couple, who had five children in the room, are now being investigated by the Children's Aid Society of Brant, according to Sgt Venn

All of the snakes have been transfered to a reptile facility.





#dailymail

Police stray bullet renders man impotent

When Tayo Ajasa, 34,left his house at about 11pm on August 5, 2013 to find something to eat, little did he envisage the danger that lurked around the corner at the Janet Fagbemi street, scene of the incident.

Having returned late from work, it was gathered that the Ogun-state born father of two who is also a driver, went to a food vendor in Diamond estate, Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos, to get something to eat for his late diner.



The victim, when he was first brought to the clinic

He was about being handed a plate of Indomie he ordered for, when a drunken man later identified as Corporal Mohammed Abubakar, attached to Mopol 17, Ondo State, shot indiscriminately at everyone on sight. Like everyone else, he took to his heels. Unfortunately for him, the plain-clothed police man shot him at close range. Bullets pierced his thigh inflicting grave injuries to his groin and left arm.

Consequently,Tayo was rushed to a clinic at Festac Town,Lagos where after obtaining a police report at the clinic’s request, he was admitted and is currently receiving treatment.

When Crime Guard visited Tayo at St. Jude’s Hospital in Festac, his condition has improved.He was seen moving around on his own, although he walked with a little discomfort.He told Crime Guard that he was full of gratitude to God for sparing his life, because he lost hope of surviving.

He also stated that even though his condition had improved, he was saddled with the burden of clearing his medical bills. “As you can see, I am getting much better compared to when I was first rushed here last week. I am thankful to God and also to my friends who spared no time in rushing me to the clinic.

Although when they brought me here, the hospital management asked us to go and get a medical report from the Police station. We went to Festac Police station and they issued us one. They started treatment when we came with the report and the next day, I was operated upon.

My only fear now is the issue of paying up the bills. Without being told and judging by the quality of treatment I am receiving here, the bill must be on the high side. I am just a driver; I can not foot the bill. I need the police authority that the perpetrator represented to come to my aid.

This incident has caused I and members of family much ordeal. As it is now, I don’t know if I will be able to father any more children in future. I did not bargain for this,”the father of two lamented.

The Chief Medical Director of St. Jude’s Hospital, Dr. Jude Mbama who spoke with Crime Guard stated that though the clinic requested for a Police report when the victim was initially brought in at about 11:45pm on August 5, 2013, in a pool of his blood, but they swung into action as soon as he was brought back with the report.

Dr. Mbama also started that Tayo’s situation was very bad when they first brought him “but by God’s grace, we were able to get him to the state he is now.

The not-so-pleasant news here is the damage done to the patient’s productive organ. This is because his right testicle was badly affected. This situation could be challenging in terms of productivity.

Another challenge we face here is the bill settlement,but like medical ethics demands, our main focus is to get the victim back to his feet within the next couple of weeks, then we will decide how best to sort that out,”he said.


 #vanguard

PHOTO: Lifeless Baby Found In Lagos Canal

The lifeless body of a baby was found today in a Lagos canal. The baby, who still had its umbilical cord is suspected to be about 3 days old.

The baby was found floating atop a canal located at Orisan street, by Iyana bus stop, Ajangbadi, Lagos.



Someone did this and is still walking freely....










#informationnigeria

PHOTOS: Chinese Zoo Puts Dog In Cage, Calls It A Lion!

Visitors at the zoo in the People's Park of Luohe in Henan, China, got in an uproar after a Tibetan mastiff was placed in a cage labeled "African lion." According to the AFP, the dog spoiled the not-so-clever ruse when it began to bark.

Judging by pictures of the exhibit that circulated on Chinese Twitter analog Sina Weibo, the so-called "lion" wasn't all that convincing to begin with:


Sina Weibo via South China Morning Post


Lions are cats, by the way. People do seem to have trouble remembering that!

According to AFP, visitors felt cheated out of the 15 yuan ($2.45) they'd spent to see the bogus exhibit, which also reportedly mislabeled "coypu rodents in a snake's cage, a white fox in a leopard's den, and another dog in a wolf pen."

"The African lions will be back. They went to another zoo to breed," a zoo administrator reportedly told the Oriental Daily, as quoted by the South China Morning Post.

Suspect allegedly walked into a bank, asked for access to Mrs. Obama's bank account, claiming the first lady had adopted him into the family...LOL!

                         

            

Johnnie Gooden allegedly pulled the old "Michelle Obama adopted me through Facebook" story
            
While it's true President Obama is well known for giving out stimulus money, he's probably not generous enough to adopt a grown man and give him access to his family's bank account.

But that's what one man hoped a Bryan, Texas bank would believe when he told a teller he was the newly-adopted son of Michelle Obama, according to a report by The Eagle.

Johnnie Fletcher Gooden, Jr. allegedly walked into a Chase bank and asked for access to Mrs. Obama's bank account on Saturday morning, claiming the first lady had adopted him into the family on Friday.

The teller allegedly informed the 29-year-old Gooden that Michelle Obama did not have an account with the bank. According to the Houston Chronicle, Gooden stayed at the bank even after being told such an account did not exist.

When police arrived, Gooden allegedly told them Michelle Obama had personally contacted him on Facebook, asking him to join the family.

Police ran a background check on Gooden and quickly discovered he had an outstanding warrant for resisting arrest and assault of a public servant, according to documents obtained by The Huffington Post. Authorities also found a bag of marijuana in the pocket of Gooden's cargo shorts.

The "commander-in-kief" is currently being held on a $52,000 bail. Assaulting a public servant is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.



#theeagle
#huffingtonpost

How gossiping with friends on Facebook only makes you glum: Scientist claims the more time spent on the site the worse you feel

It is used by millions of people to stay in touch with friends and family.

But far from brightening their day, Facebook could be making its users more unhappy.

Scientists have found the more time individuals spend on the social networking site, the worse they subsequently feel.




Scientists have found the more time individuals spend on the social networking site Facebook, the worse they subsequently feel

More than one in three Britons use Facebook every day, with 24 million logging on to share their latest goings on.

‘On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection,’ said lead researchers Dr Ethan Kross, a psychologist at the University of Michigan.

‘But rather than enhance well-being, we found that Facebook use predicts the opposite result - it undermines it.’ Research carried out earlier this year at the University of Chester suggested Facebook friends are no substitute for the real thing.

It found people are happier and laugh 50 per cent more when talking face-to-face with friends or via webcam than when they use social networking sites.

And the current study backed these findings, with participants who had direct interactions with other people feeling better over time.

In contrast, the more individuals used Facebook during the period, the greater the reduction in their life satisfaction levels.

‘This is a result of critical importance because it goes to the very heart of the influence that social networks may have on people’s lives,’ said co-author John Jonides, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Michigan.

The research, published in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, looked at the browsing habits of 82 young adults, all of whom had smartphones and Facebook accounts.






More than one in three Britons use Facebook every day, with 24 million logging on to share their latest goings on

As well as monitoring their use of social media, the participants all took part in an online survey five times a day, which measured their emotional well-being.

Questions included ‘How do you feel right now?’ and ‘How much have you used Facebook since the last time we asked?’.

They also asked the volunteers to rate their level of life satisfaction at the start and the end of the two-week study. Researcher discovered their happiness levels declined the more they used Facebook.

The reason for the drop in life satisfaction remains unclear, as participants were not more likely to use the social network when unhappy.

‘It was not the case that Facebook use served as a proxy for feeling bad or lonely,’ Dr Kross said.
Further research will now be carried out to understand why time spent on social media can lower moods.

‘This is the advantage of studying Facebook use and well-being as dynamic processes that unfold over time,’ said researcher Philippe Verduyn, from the University of Leuven in Belgium.

‘It allows us to draw inferences about the likely causal sequence of Facebook use and well-being.’ In April, a study by the University of Oxford found couples who communicate using Facebook could be putting a strain on their relationship.

Psychologists found husbands and wives who kept in touch using social media had less satisfying marriages.

Dr Bernie Hogan, from Oxford Internet Institute, suggested marital disharmony could be triggered by the stress and time pressure of constantly maintaining so many different threads of communication.

*So folks, what do you think about this research? What experience do you have in this regards...Do you feel better or worse when you spend so much time chatting away with friends on facebook?






#dailymail

PHOTOS: Heavily pregnant models wearing six-inch pink stilettos strut runway-worthy designs at New York's Lingerie Fashion Week

Finally, sexy maternity bras!

Traditional maternity lingerie, with its frumpy fit and bland designs, is usually far from sexy. But a runway show during New York's Lingerie Fashion Week may have changed how expecting mothers look at lingerie for good.

Featuring heavily pregnant models wearing six-inch pink stilettos, You! Lingerie produced a show-stopping collection specifically with fashionista moms in mind.



Colorful and quirky: Featuring heavily pregnant models wearing six-inch pink stilettos, You! Lingerie produced a runway show specifically with fashionista moms in mind

Colorful bras and underwear featuring decorative bows, nursing clips and cotton lining were modeled by women from Expecting Models Inc., an agency that represents pregnant professional talents.

The visibly surprised front-row were given the opportunity to see for themselves how functionality, support and comfort don't necessarily need to compromise on style or quality.

'No expecting or breastfeeding mom ever has to wear frumpy lingerie or break the bank to feel and look sexy,' You! Lingerie founder and CEO, Uyo Okebie-Eichelberger, said in a statement.




Fashion forward: Colorful bras and underwear featuring decorative bows, nursing clips and cotton lining were modeled by women from Expecting Models Inc., an agency that represents pregnant professional talents





Attention-to-detail: 'No expecting or breastfeeding mom ever has to wear frumpy lingerie or break the bank to feel and look sexy,' said You! Lingerie founder and CEO, Uyo Okebie-Eichelberger

'Beautiful maternity lingerie no longer needs to be a dream, in fact, we demand for it to be a necessity. That was always the goal. This is where we come in!'

Lingerie Fashion Week held its spring/summer 2014 festivities between August 1st and 3rd in New York.

Aside from a designer who created garments with 24-karat gold thread, You! Lingerie's maternity collection piqued both curiosity and guilty glances.



Confident and comfortable: The visibly surprised front-row were given the opportunity to see for themselves how functionality, support and comfort don't necessarily need to compromise on style or quality





Successful publicity: You! Lingerie's maternity collection piqued both curiosity and guilty glances Lingerie Fashion Week

'We are excited to take part in this incredible showcase,' said Ms Okebie-Eichelberger.

'We have worked really hard, so we are very proud to flaunt our gorgeous maternity and nursing products on the catwalk and Lingerie Fashion Week is an impeccable avenue to do that.'





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