Latest news from around the web

• Evacuations, market shutdowns as U.S. braces for storm
• Suicide Bomber hit us during the Holy Communion
• South Africa police fire rubber bullets at miners
  
• Bollywood Fashions' Hits Nigeria With 100% Human Hair
• Serena ends WTA season in style; Federer beaten in basel

Evacuations, market shutdowns as U.S. braces for storm

(Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy, which could become the largest storm ever to hit the United States, is set to bring much of the East Coast, including New York and Washington, to a virtual standstill in the next few days with battering winds, flooding and the risk of widespread power outages.

About 50 million people are in the path of the massive storm, which has already killed 66 people in the Caribbean and is expected to hit the U.S. Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday morning.While the storm does not pack the punch of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, forecasters said it could be the largest in size when it strikes land. Sandy's winds stretched some 520 miles from the storm's eye, meteorologists said.

New York and other cities and towns closed their transit systems and schools and ordered residents of low-lying areas to evacuate before a storm surge that could reach as high as 11 feet.All U.S. stock markets will be closed on Monday and possibly Tuesday, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange said late on Sunday, reversing its earlier plan to close the trading floor but offer electronic trading.

Suicide bomber hit us during Holy Communion – 

The suicide bomber who killed eight Catholic worshippers in Kaduna on Sunday drove into the church as worshippers knelt praying and the priest was serving the Holy Communion, eyewitnesses and survivors said.

The bombing, which happened at the St. Ritas Catholic Church, Ungwan Yero, Malali, Kaduna State, also left  100 injured. However, seven persons were reportedly killed in the reprisals that followed the blast.

A victim, Jacinta Oko, said, “We just heard the loud sound of the bomb blast when we were preparing to take Holy Communion. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself on the ground. I can say that so many people died because it affected the side where the choir members were sitting.

The NEMA Public Relations Officer, Yushau Shuaib, told one of our correspondents in Abuja that over 100 people had been confirmed injured, adding however that the number was inconclusive. He said that the agency’s personnel in Kaduna and other stakeholders collaborated in the rescue efforts at the blast scene.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned  the Sunday incident, saying it has shown that those behind the attacks in parts of the country do not mean well for  Nigeria.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the  Sunday bombing, an Islamic sect, Boko Haram, had taken  responsibility for three suicide attacks on churches in Kaduna State. 

Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has led to more than 2,800 deaths since 2009.

South Africa police fire rubber bullets at miners

Associated Press - Police disperse Anglo Platinum Workers at Olympia Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa, Saturday Oct. 27 2012. 

Police fired rubber bullets at striking miners at the Anglo American Platinum mine in Rustenburg Saturday as the company announced it had agreed to reinstate 12,000 South African workers dismissed earlier this month for staging illegal strikes. 

The police fired on hundreds of miners in the North West province who had gathered near the Olympia Stadium, apparently to block another rally by the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU). It was unclear if anyone had been injured. (AP Photo)

Some of the Amplats miners had been threatening since their dismissal to make the company's three operations in Rustenburg ungovernable if they were not reinstated and their salaries increased. 

They want 16,000 rand (about $1,800) in monthly pay. Amplats only offered them a one-off "hardship allowance" of 2,000 rand (about $230) if they accepted to return to work.
Mpumi Sithole of Anglo American Platinum, or Amplats, said the workers had until Tuesday to return to their jobs "on the same terms and conditions of employment" as before they went on strike.

Sithole said that a meeting Friday of "all parties expressed commitment for a return to work in the interests of the employees, their livelihoods and the company." Amplats' decision to reinstate the fired workers came the day after the chief executive of its parent company, Anglo American, announced her resignation. 

Earlier this month the rating service S & P's had lowered its outlook on Anglo American from "stable" to "negative" because of the turmoil in South Africa. Amplats is the world's top producer of platinum.


Bollywood Fashions' Hits Nigeria With 100% Human Hair

With the love Nigerians have for Indian movies and natural human hair, which has before now been enjoyed by Brazilian hair and its variants, 'Bollywood Fashions' has now come to break into the market and create a healthy competition by hitting the Nigerian market with a bang.

Speaking to Nigeriafilms.com on Sunday, October 14, 2012 at the launch of its 100 percent human hair held at Knightbridge Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Sanjay Sachdev, who is the Managing Director of the company, disclosed that 'Bollywood Fashions' is here for business. 
He stressed that the hair are 100 percent natural hair from living Indians who volunteered to have their hair cut in exchange for money. 

Sanjay assured that hair from his company are not gotten from dead people as some usually believe. He said the hair are from volunteers in Indian who agreed to cut their hair and sell to them.
He also said the hair are cheap and affordable. Sanjay told Nigeriafilms.com that the hair sizes range from 8" to 30".

Where the ladies at?

Serena ends WTA season in commanding style; Federer beaten in Basel

Serena Williams brushed aside Maria Sharapova in straight sets Sunday to claim the season-ending WTA Tour Championship in Istanbul.

Williams has looked unbeatable from the moment she struck her first shot in anger at the Sinan Erdem Dome in the Turkish capital and so it proved again in the final as she triumphed 6-4 6-3.

Sharapova, who beat World No.1 Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals, put up a brave fight, but was outgunned by the 31-year-old American.

The Russian World No.2 did not force a single break point as Williams again served superbly and came under constant pressure on her own delivery.

Crunching ground strokes set up two championship points, finished with an explosive forehand as Williams claimed the WTA Championships for the third time.

Since mid-summer she has claimed the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles before coming out on top in the WTA Tour's finale, despite having not played since her Flushing Meadows triumph.

With golds in the Olympic singles and doubles, with sister Venus, at the London Games, it has proved a glorious finish to the year.

Meanwhile, Juan Martin del Potro shocked World No.1 and home favorite Roger Federer in the final of the ATP tournament in Basel.

The Argentine did not drop his service throughout the three-set match to deny the Swiss maestro a sixth title at the hard court tournament.

He emerged a 6-4 6-7 7-6 winner after two hours and 44 minutes to claim back to back titles after winning in Vienna the previous week.