LG Optimus Vu Heading To Europe This September

LG Optimus Vu

LG has finally revealed that its over-sized smartphone, the LG Optimus Vu, will be coming to Europe and other markets this September.
Originally announced and launched in Korea, the LG Optimus Vu is a beast of a phone, offering a 5-inch 4:3 aspect ratio display, Nvidia Tegra 3 performance and an Ice Cream Sandwich OS.
Here is a review of this amazing gadget.

Cnet: Top 5 Features You'll Want In Iphone 5

Here are the top must-have iPhone 5 features, as voted on by CNET readers.

Cholera Outbreak In Sierra Leone Hits Emergency Levels

Many dead as Cholera levels surge in Sierra Leone.

An outbreak of cholera in Sierra Leone has infected more than 10,000 people and killed at least 176, authorities said as they appealed for international assistance.

Underscoring the severity of the situation in the West African country, President Ernest Bai Koroma declared the outbreak an "emergency issue" on Thursday. Minister of Health and Sanitation Zainab Hawa Bangura told The Associated Press that Koroma has set up a task force to prepare a budget that will be needed to stem the outbreak.

"All of this is the aftermath of the 11 years rebel war when we had a huge rural-to-urban migration and a huge population clustered in the urban area where adequate provision has not been made for water and sanitation. This is what we have been witnessing today, " she said.

She said that in the capital, Freetown, there have been about 100 deaths during the past month, especially in congested areas where there is the problem of water and sanitation.

"It is important to request help from the international community in order to spread the mobilization of resources," she said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said there has been a spike in reported cholera cases since mid-July and the onset of the rainy season. Over the past 5 weeks, 6,000 cases alone have been confirmed and many other cases might not been officially reported.

"This current outbreak of cholera has the potential to be devastating and is proving very difficult to control," said Amanda McClelland, IFRC Emergency Health Coordinator. "We are particularly concerned by the rising numbers in Freetown which suffers from overcrowding, poor sanitation and lack of safe water access — all factors which contribute to this deadly disease."

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine, contracted by eating or drinking contaminated food or liquids, that can cause acute diarrhea and vomiting and can kill within hours. Neighboring Guinea, parts of Mali and Niger have also been affected by the outbreak, the Red Cross said.


Via Global News

Teen Raises $115K With Lake Ontario Swim To Send Kids With Cancer To Camp

14-year-old Annaleise Carr swam across lake Ontario to raise funds for cancer kids.

As metre-high waves crashed down upon 14-year-old Annaleise Carr in the chilly waters of Lake Ontario in the middle of the night, the money she was raising to send kids with cancer to camp kept her going.

The Ontario teenager, believed to be the youngest person ever to swim across the lake, raised $115,000 with her 27-hour swim from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Toronto for Camp Trillium.

Less than 20 hours after she emerged from the water after her marathon swim, Carr stood before a bank of television cameras to talk about her feat.

"As I got into the water on Saturday I just kept thinking about Camp Trillium and what I was doing it for," she said.

"I didn't want to give up when I thought about how much the kids at Camp Trillium have been through and what they have to go through their entire lives."

Through the night the water started to become wavy and the swim got tougher and tougher, Carr said. When the morning light broke a pacer helped lift her spirits by making funny faces, she said.

"Then I started getting updates on how much money I'd raised and it was going up like crazy," Carr said.

"I got told $50,000 and I was already over my goal and I started swimming harder. I got told $60,000 and I didn't want to stop."

The tally kept climbing and Carr said she knew she couldn't stop.

"When I was about a kilometre away I could hear everyone and start seeing lights. At that time the current was really, really bad and it felt like I was going nowhere," she said.

"That's when I heard that I had gotten over $100,000. I was like really excited."

Donations for Carr's swim will send 115 children to camp for 10 days.

Carr, who is from the tiny community of Walsh in southern Ontario, said it took a while to convince her parents to let her do the 52-kilometre swim.

She wanted to help kids at Camp Trillium, but volunteers had to be 18 years old. The idea to swim across Lake Ontario started as a joke, but her parents got behind it once they saw how many rules and regulations were attached, she said.

Via Global News

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Dies

Ethiopia's Deceased Prime Minister Meles Zenawi

Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's long-time ruler who held tight control over this East African country but was a major U.S counter-terrorism ally, died of an undisclosed illness after not being seen in public for weeks, Ethiopian state television said Tuesday. He was 57.

Meles died Monday just before midnight after contracting an infection, state TV announced Tuesday. Hailemariam Desalegn, who was appointed deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in 2010, is now in charge of the Cabinet, state TV said.

Meles hadn't been seen in public for about two months. In mid-July, after Meles did not attend a meeting of heads of state of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, speculation increased that his health problems were serious.

Ethiopian officials gave no details and said the prime minister was in "very good" health and would return to office soon, but international officials said quietly it was unlikely he would recover.

State TV on Tuesday showed pictures of Meles as classical music played in the background.

Born on May 8, 1955, Meles became president in 1991 and prime minister in 1995, a position that is both the head of the federal government and armed forces.

The U.S. has long viewed Meles as a strong security partner and has given hundreds of millions of dollars in aid over the years. U.S. military drones that patrol East Africa — especially over Somalia — are stationed in Ethiopia.

Though a U.S. ally, Ethiopia has long been criticized by human rights groups for the government's strict control. Dissent is met with a strict government response.

During Meles' election win in 2005, when it appeared the opposition was likely to make gains, Meles tightened security across the country, and on the night of the election he declared a state of emergency, outlawing any public gathering as his ruling party claimed a majority win. Opposition members accused Meles of rigging the election, and demonstrations broke out. Security forces moved in, killing hundreds of people and jailing thousands.

In 2010 Meles won another five years in office while receiving a reported 99 per cent of the vote. Meles is the longtime chairman of the Tigray People's Liberation Front and has always identified strongly with his party.

"I cannot separate my achievements from what can be considered as the achievements of the ruling party. Whatever achievement there might have been, it does not exist independent of that party," Meles once said when asked what he thought would be his legacy.

Meles grew up in the northern town of Adwa, where his father had 13 siblings from multiple women. He moved to the capital, Addis Ababa, on a scholarship after completing an eight-year elementary education in just five.

State TV said funeral arrangements would be announced soon.

Via Global News

Eight Killed In Turkish Car Bombing

Fire fighters work in Gaziantep where at least seven people were killed and dozens wounded when a car bomb blew up on August 20, 2012 in the centre of Turkey's south-eastern city of Gaziantep (AFP Photo / Ihlas News Agency)

Eight people have been reported killed and dozens wounded by a bomb attack close to a police station in southeastern Turkey.

Officials said the blast in the town of Gaziantep near the Syrian border on August 20 was caused by a remote-controlled car bomb.

U.S President Threatens To Attack Syria

US President Barack Obama

US President Barack Obama has a stern warning for the country of Syria. In an address made early Monday, the commander-in-chief confirmed that he has not ruled out an offensive strike on Bashar al-Assad and his regime.
Speaking from the White House, President Obama said that if Syria is able to procure chemical or biological weapons, the United States will follow through with its threat of launching an attack.