Apple's CEO Tim Cook - 'I'm proud to be gay'

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook on Thursday became the most prominent American corporate leader to come out as gay, saying he was trading his closely guarded privacy for the chance to help move civil rights forward.

The 53-year-old Alabama native and self-described "son of the South", who has spoken out against discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, declared his sexual orientation in a magazine editorial, confirming a fact widely known in the close-knit Silicon Valley tech community but rarely discussed.

Cook's announcement comes as gay marriage is becoming widespread, but the nation remains divided over gay rights. Same-sex marriage is legal in thirty-two U.S. states and in polls a majority support same-sex marriage, with a clear generational divide between younger Americans who are more likely to support it and older ones who are less likely.

"I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me," Cook said in an article he wrote in Bloomberg Businessweek. (http://buswk.co/1DBoBfo)
He invoked civil rights luminaries Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King in his long essay.

"I don’t pretend that writing this puts me in their league. All it does is allow me to look at those pictures and know that I’m doing my part, however small, to help others. We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick."

The fact the chief executive of the most valuable U.S. publicly traded company felt he could disclose his sexual preference in such a public way, and with the backing of his company's chairman, shows how times have changed.

Former BP Chief Executive Lord Browne, who kept his sexual orientation secret for decades, was forced to come out after a boyfriend made it public in 2007. He later resigned.

"By deciding to speak publicly about his sexuality, Tim Cook has become a role model, and will speed up changes in the corporate world," Browne said in an email to Reuters on Thursday.
Cook, who cuts an easy-going figure at Apple's product launches, is an intensely private person. On Thursday, he wrote that it was this desire to keep his personal life private that had held him back until now.

"If hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it’s worth the trade-off with my own privacy," he wrote.
Even in the United States, it's a tough decision for a public figure to be open about being gay, civil rights advocates say. More than half of LGBT workers in the country are not open about their orientation, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

While never commenting on his sexual orientation, Cook has frequently spoken out against discrimination of the LGBT community, most recently when he journeyed back to his home state, which bans gay marriage, where he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor.

At an award ceremony, Cook criticized his state's lack of progress on rights for gay people, as well as minorities. Local news reports of his comments drew hundreds of negative comments, many saying Cook had betrayed his roots.

"What a slap in the face to the Alabama Academy of Honor by such an ungracious recipient," GE123 wrote in comments to a website report by the Alabama Media Group. "Common decency should have prevailed, but instead he uses this occasion to denigrate Alabamians and further an immoral agenda."

EFF says Malema will never apologise for taking on racists who swear at black workers

The EFF have released a statement in which they confirm the altercation between Malema and Cassie Moller at Steers restaurant in Tzaneen in August.

According to the statement, Malema heard Moller shouting swear words which allegedly included f*** and the derogatory term ka***r at black cashiers. Malema confronted Moller about his behaviour, urging him to allow the cashiers to do their job.

"The CIC strongly indicated to him that he must be mindful that workers are overworked and underpaid and that he must immediately desist from insulting workers.

"After Malema together with other customers removed Moller physically from the position of shouting and insulting workers he left the shop, he shortly returned to get his order from his lady friend. The man was then seen aggressively spinning off in a car in which he even almost crashed into petrol tanks risking the lives of everyone," read the statement.

The EFF went on to commend Malema for his swift action in apparently attending to Moller whom they deem a racist, arrogant bully. The party, which is known for it's outspoken views added that Malema was merely defending the workers from abuse.

"It is also the duty of EFF members everywhere to defend the dignity of black vulnerable workers without any apology or hesitation as the policies of EFF state."

On the physical assault case brought forward by Moller, the EFF said it was simply a cover up to protect racism. The political organisation likened AfriForum to the American Ku Klux Klan who lynched and killed thousands of black Americans, explaining that the organisation only reacts when a 'racist' is collectively put in it's place. AfriForum assisted Moller to lay charges against Malema.

W.H.O Has Officially Declared Nigeria Ebola Free

The World Health Organisation on Monday declared Nigeria free of the deadly Ebola Virus. Nigeria has not recorded a new case of Ebola for 42 days or two incubation period of 21 days.
The disease gained entry into the country in July when Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, came in on diplomatic assignment.

The diplomat had fallen ill and was admitted at the First Consultants Hospital, Obalende, in Lagos.

Power Generation Drops By 1,000MW Due To Gas Pipeline Vandalism

Speaking in Abuja on Monday, the minister said the poor electricity supply across the country in the past one week was due to the 1,000MW drop in power generation.

Nebo said this during the Presidential Expert Group Meeting on Infrastructure Ranking and Scorecard Roadmap organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

The minister, who attributed the drop to the menace of gas pipeline vandalism said, “We want to be very sure that this is nipped in the bud with regards to gas supply and we are doing everything possible to minimise the incidences of vandalism.

“Now, look at what vandalism has cost us; nearly 1,000MW of power in the past one week on a daily basis. And this means that every Nigerian is cringing in pain because of the loss.”

Earlier, during the meeting proper, Nebo explained that two major gas plants were severely affected and this had warranted the fall in electricity generation.

Chika Ike Shows Off her Sexy Body As She Sails On Luxury

Nollywood actress, who is currently vacationing in Dubai, said she rented a yacht for two days to kill hotel boredom. She wore a sheer cover-up over her bikini.

Athletics - Pistorius 'will serve just 10 months of five-year sentence'

Oscar Pistorius will be in jail for just 10 months of his five-year sentence for culpable homicide.

After the proceedings one of Pistorius's legal team, Roxanne Adams, told Sky News that Pistorius will serve just a sixth of his sentence in prison, due to the terms of the law under which he was sentenced.

He will serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest, she added.

A sixth of his sentence equates to just 10 months' jail time.

FULL COVERAGE: Pistorius jailed for five years for killing girlfriend

After the initial widespread acclaim for the five-year sentence, with Reeva Steenkamp's family saying that "justice was done", news that the athlete will serve so little jail time after a brutal killing outraged many.

Nigeria Declared Ebola-Free After Containing Virus

ABUJA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation declared Nigeria Ebola free on Monday after a 42 day period with no new cases, in a success story with lessons for countries still struggling to contain the deadly virus.

"Nigeria is now free of Ebola," WHO representative Rui Gama Vaz told a news conference in the capital Abuja, prompting a round of applause from other officials.

"This is a spectacular success story ... It shows that Ebola can be contained but we must be clear that we have only won a battle, the war will only end when West Africa is also declared free of Ebola."

The first case in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, was imported from Liberia, when a Liberian-American diplomat called Patrick Sawyer collapsed at the main international airport in Lagos on July 20.





Because the country was ill prepared and had no screening procedures in place, Sawyer was able to infect several people, including several health workers in the hospital where he was taken, which did not have proper protection equipment.

Ebola has killed 4,546 people across Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the three worst-affected countries.

Nigeria had 20 cases in total, of which eight died.

The announcement that Africa's biggest economy has, for now at least, stamped out the deadly hemorrhagic fever, follows a similar declaration in much smaller Senegal, where one case was imported from Guinea.

Why Arsenal will specialise in failure until Arsene Wenger is replaced (Read More)

Jose Mourinho suggested that had any other manager pushed another manager in the middle of the match, as Arsene Wenger had done to the Chelsea man in their recent game, he’d have been treated more harshly.

It’s probably true - but the reason is more damning than some kind of pro-Arsenal bias

It’s more likely to come from the fact that Wenger, and by extension Arsenal, are no longer really seen as a threat.

In the past, Wenger’s Arsenal side would have been happy to exchange more than glances on the pitch, and now you know there’s going to be little more than a shove.

Arsenal are a spent force, forever playing catch up, but at a pace far slower than those ahead of them are moving.

Before the match against Hull City, when the side were gearing up for yet another disappointment due to yet another injury crisis, Wenger said he would move for a defender in the January transfer.

For reference, we are now in October, and Arsenal started with Nacho Monreal in central defence.

Monreal is an adequate back-up full-back for a Champions League team, and yet under Wenger he is regularly considered as a worthwhile option in the middle for the next three months.

As the transfer window closed, Arsenal weighed up making some kind of move for William Carvalho, the Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder, but with Wenger abroad refereeing a charity match, the side were only able (or perhaps truly willing) to sign Danny Welbeck, unable to break into United’s first team as a striker.

This came after Wenger elected not to sign Cesc Fabregas, who has proven himself to be perhaps the best midfielder in the Premier League at the moment, firing Diego Costa and therefore Chelsea to the top of the table.