Year 2014 Was Earth Hottest year on Record

The year 2014 stands as the world hottest year since 1880, despite relatively cool temperatures across parts of the world, two federal agencies responsible for monitoring global climate trends said Friday.

 Climate experts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, working independently, calculated that the globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for 2014 was the highest among all years since record keeping began in 1880. By their reckoning, nine of the 10 warmest years now on record all occurred during the 21st century.
Their finding confirms an analysis by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which announced earlier this month that 2014 was the hottest year world-wide on record. The records used by Japan go back to 1891.

Pakistan clashes over Hebdo cartoon

Protesters have been out on the streets in several Pakistani cities this week.

Pakistani police have clashed with crowds protesting over an image of the Prophet Muhammad published in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a week after gunmen carried out a massacre at its offices.

The protest was part of a nationwide rally called by the Jamaat-e-Islami religious party.

On Thursday, Pakistani politicians passed a motion condemning Charlie Hebdo for publishing the latest cartoon.

Religious leaders openly called for journalists at the magazine to be hanged, and several religious groups called for protests after Friday prayers.

In Karachi, at least three people were injured during the clashes between police and about 200 protesters, who were mostly student activists from Jamaat-e-Islami.

The protesters had tried to get inside the French consulate.

Protest leaders said they wanted to hand a written protest to consulate officials, but were stopped by police near the main entrance.

 Police used batons, water cannon, tear-gas shells and fired shots in the air to disperse the protesters.

Two journalists and a policeman were reportedly hurt in the clashes, though it was not clear how they sustained their injuries.

The area is now quiet, and protesters have been forced away from the consulate.

Pakistan also erupted in protests in 2006 over reports that a Danish cartoonist had published images of Muhammad.

Boko Haram crisis: Chad sends troops to help Cameroon

Cameroon says Chad will send a large contingent of troops to help it fight incursions from the Nigeria-based militant Islamist group, Boko Haram.

The announcement came a day after Chad said it would "actively support" its neighbour against the militants.

No detail was given about how many troops would be sent, or when.

On Tuesday, Cameroon said it had killed 143 Boko Haram militants who attacked one of its army bases at Kolofata near the Nigerian border.

It was the first major attack on Cameroon since Boko Haram threatened the country's leader in a video posted online earlier this month.

The militant Islamist group has seized control of towns and villages in north-east Nigeria in a six-year insurgen

A French-led initiative has called for Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad to contribute 700 troops each to a multinational force against Boko Haram, but no country has taken steps to implement the plan.

Niger and Cameroon have both criticised Nigeria for failing to do more to confront Boko Haram.

Rather  politicians appear more focused on campaigning for elections next month than on security issues, and senior figures rarely comment on the insurgency in the north-east.

Fire Outbreak In Marina

Few days after a fire outbreak was recorded at the popular Balogun market in Lagos, another fire outbreak is being reported in Marina this morning at the popular Mandilas building area.

 

The fire,  started at about 4am in one of the tall buildings at Berlin Market.

 Shops and other buildings have been engulfed by fire as personnel from the Lagos State Fire Service are on ground trying to put out the fire.

The cause of the fire outbreak is yet to be identified.

Millions of Naira have been lost to the ongoing fire outbreak.