Guantanamo detainees 'supported Ghana at World Cup'

So now we know: Prisoners at the notorious US military prison in Guantanamo Bay are massive fans of the Black Stars - Ghana's national football team.

That's according to the two former Yemeni detainees, who were recently released from the camp and transferred to Ghana. They've been speaking to state radio station Uniiq FM.

The two men told the station that many of of their fellow detainees at Guantanamo supported the Black Stars at the 2010 Football World Cup.

So, what could be the explanation for this loyal support? 

Well, it was Ghana who dumped the USA out of the tournament at the last-16 stage.

Striker Asamoah Gyan, who the two men say was their favourite player at the tournament, dashed American hopes with a injury-time winner. 

"When Ghana beat America, we were very happy. We made some celebrations. We also told the guards that we've won," Mahmoud Omar Bin Atef, who was held for a decade without charge, told the station.

The best way to wean yourself off sugar

Yep, it seems like a no brainer—a diet high in the white stuff (sugar and refined carbs) is linked to weight gain, diabetes, cancer, depression, and even cognitive problems—but kicking the habit isn't that simple. The holiday season has probably riled up your inner sugar monster, leaving you cranky and craving all the carbs, all the time. So how do you break up with this stuff when it's calling your name?

With the help of Laura Schoenfeld, RD, holistic nutritionist at Ancestralize Me, and Gina Hassick, RD, nutritionist at Eating Well with Gina, we've outlined the most effective way to free yourself from the grips of all things frosted, candy-coated, and caramel-filled.

1) Pick a Plan That Fits Your Personality: Cold Turkey or Gradual Tapering

People who have trouble eating sweets in moderation (i.e. you keep taking slivers of brownie until half the pan is gone) often do really well with a cold turkey approach, says Schoenfeld. For them, three to four weeks of nixing all added sugars and refined carbs—which act like sugar in the body—is often just what they need to reset their taste buds, lessen their compulsion for sweets, and start craving more whole foods. The benefit of doing this for several weeks, not just one, is that you give yourself adequate time to create new healthy habits in place of the old ones. After that, you're at a point when you can safely start reintroducing small amounts of some of the foods you eliminated without going overboard—if you even want too, that is.

If strict dietary rules stress you out and being told to eliminate something makes you want it that much more, gradually tapering your sugar intake while allowing yourself treats in moderation might work better. Hassick suggests gradually diluting your sugar-sweetened drinks with more water over time; adding fresh fruit to yogurts (beware of these high-sugar yogurts) and oatmeal instead of maple syrup or honey; switching from white refined grains and breads to fiber-rich whole grains; and shrinking dessert portions, or only consuming dessert on certain days or occasions.

2) Set Up Your Plate to Banish Cravings


The way you formulate your meals can go a long way in banishing sugar cravings and helping you avoid impulsively eating sweets. "Many of my female clients who are attempting to cut out sugar don't eat enough, which can lead to cravings," says Schoenfeld. "Simply loading up on enough healthy whole foods at all three meals, breakfast in particular, can greatly reduce these. Eating plenty of protein at each meal, especially breakfast, is also crucial, as it helps keep blood sugar stable and is the most satiating macronutrient. Each meal should have at least 20g of protein—about 3 oz of animal protein or 1 1/4 cups beans or lentils."

3) Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth the Right Way


Some people get overzealous and totally eliminate fruit when cutting back on sugar, but that's not necessary, says Schoenfeld. In fact, fruit can be your secret weapon, quelling sweet cravings while delivering healthy nutrients, like fiber, that keep blood sugar stable compared to other sweet foods.

"I really enjoy having frozen fruit with a little heavy cream or coconut milk as a dessert, and bananas are a fantastic portable snack," says Schoenfeld. "Up to three servings a day are fine for someone cutting back on sugar, but try to avoid dried fruit, as that's easy to overeat and contains as much sugar as candy." (Try one of these 9 super sweet fruits.)

4) Don't Rely on Artificial Sweeteners

Finally, don't consider artificial sweeteners a free pass. If anything, these lab-made, calorie-free powders can make you more of a slave to sweet foods. Because they're many times sweeter than sugar, they essentially dull your taste buds and make you crave things with similar levels of sweetness. So after a while, naturally sweet foods like fruit just don't cut it anymore, while high-sugar and high-calorie candy, cookies, and soda will have you salivating. If you're looking for something better than sugar to add to your coffee, skip the Splenda and Equal and try something like cinnamon for a natural, subtly sweet taste and no calories.

7 Things You Must Take Off Your LinkedIn Profile Immediately

Your LinkedIn profile can be the ticket to a better job and career advancement, but if you’ve got the wrong stuff in there, it’s going to just hold you back instead. Career experts say these are the top offenders.

Your unemployed status. Don’t use your headline to write that you’re unemployed, even if you use the somewhat gentler-sounding “looking for my next opportunity,” the blog Things Career Related advises. “This is prime real estate for branding yourself and including some keywords.” The odds that a potential employer will be searching for “unemployed?” Zilch.

A bad picture. The average recruiter spends all of six seconds looking at a resume, according to a study conducted by TheLadders. A weird, unflattering or distracting picture will distract people. “Use a professional photographer to get an image that viewers will find appealing,” Katherine Burik advises on theInterview Doctor blog. We have a hard time seeing pictures of ourselves objectively, she says. Having a crisp, professional head shot can help mitigate that.

The third-person summary. Yes, the summary is kind of like a resume in terms of the information it delivers, but it also needs to convey who you are as a person. Wooden, third person or passive voice will just fall flat, according to aBusiness Insider interview with LinkedIn’s former career expert, Nicole Williams. “This a great place to reflect your professional brand… [but] remember this is a place to infuse personality.”

Dust. Metaphorical dust, that is. Keeping your profile active is one of the most important signals you can send to a prospective employer, says LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher. “A robust and active profile can be your ticket to a variety of professional opportunities,” she says. If you don’t have the time or the writing chops to keep up a blog, don’t worry; there are other ways to show that you’re plugged-in to what’s going on in your industry. “An easy way to do this is to like or comment on the status updates of others in your network,” Fisher says.

Lame cliches. Every year, LinkedIn publishes a roundup of the most overused words people have in their profiles. The current top culprits: motivated, passionate and creative. Although some industries have other words that make the most-overused list — in the sales and talent fields, for instance, “strategic” is the biggest offender — notice what makes all of these words terrible: They’re generic, which means they’ll say nothing about why you in particular would be a good fit for a certain job.

Anything out of date. If you don’t update your resume often, it’s not the end of the world as long as you’re not looking for another job. LinkedIn is different, though; you have to approach it with the attitude that you’re always open to job-seekers, which means keeping your profile up-to-date in every way.

Fibs, white lies and exaggerations. Just don’t. It’s so easy to fact-check almost anything about a person’s work history these days, this is almost guaranteed to be a fail.

7 Things You Must Take Off Your LinkedIn Profile Immediately

Your LinkedIn profile can be the ticket to a better job and career advancement, but if you’ve got the wrong stuff in there, it’s going to just hold you back instead. Career experts say these are the top offenders.

Your unemployed status. Don’t use your headline to write that you’re unemployed, even if you use the somewhat gentler-sounding “looking for my next opportunity,” the blog Things Career Related advises. “This is prime real estate for branding yourself and including some keywords.” The odds that a potential employer will be searching for “unemployed?” Zilch.

A bad picture. The average recruiter spends all of six seconds looking at a resume, according to a study conducted by TheLadders. A weird, unflattering or distracting picture will distract people. “Use a professional photographer to get an image that viewers will find appealing,” Katherine Burik advises on theInterview Doctor blog. We have a hard time seeing pictures of ourselves objectively, she says. Having a crisp, professional head shot can help mitigate that.

The third-person summary. Yes, the summary is kind of like a resume in terms of the information it delivers, but it also needs to convey who you are as a person. Wooden, third person or passive voice will just fall flat, according to aBusiness Insider interview with LinkedIn’s former career expert, Nicole Williams. “This a great place to reflect your professional brand… [but] remember this is a place to infuse personality.”

Dust. Metaphorical dust, that is. Keeping your profile active is one of the most important signals you can send to a prospective employer, says LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher. “A robust and active profile can be your ticket to a variety of professional opportunities,” she says. If you don’t have the time or the writing chops to keep up a blog, don’t worry; there are other ways to show that you’re plugged-in to what’s going on in your industry. “An easy way to do this is to like or comment on the status updates of others in your network,” Fisher says.

Lame cliches. Every year, LinkedIn publishes a roundup of the most overused words people have in their profiles. The current top culprits: motivated, passionate and creative. Although some industries have other words that make the most-overused list — in the sales and talent fields, for instance, “strategic” is the biggest offender — notice what makes all of these words terrible: They’re generic, which means they’ll say nothing about why you in particular would be a good fit for a certain job.

Anything out of date. If you don’t update your resume often, it’s not the end of the world as long as you’re not looking for another job. LinkedIn is different, though; you have to approach it with the attitude that you’re always open to job-seekers, which means keeping your profile up-to-date in every way.

Fibs, white lies and exaggerations. Just don’t. It’s so easy to fact-check almost anything about a person’s work history these days, this is almost guaranteed to be a fail.

Germany Leipzig: hundreds arrested after far right rampage

The unrest came as thousands of activists protested peacefully.

They blame Germany's record influx of refugees for sexual violence against women at New Year's Eve festivities.

Officials say the perpetrators of assaults in Cologne were almost exclusively from a migrant background.

Apparent retaliatory attacks in the cathedral city on Sunday, in which at least 11 people from Pakistan, Syria and Guinea were hurt, were condemned by the government as inexcusable.

Some 2,000 supporters of Legida, the Leipzig version of the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West movement (Pegida), marched through the city on Monday.

They vented their anger at Chancellor Angela Merkel over her government's open-door policy on refugees.

As the protest took place, a group of far right extremists and football hooligans went on the rampage in the largely left-wing district of Connewitz, police said in a statement (in German).

Some 250 rioters smashed windows, burned cars and rubbish bins, and threw fireworks that set a floor of a building on fire, reports say.

Protesters opposing Pegida also held a counter-demonstration in Leipzig on Monday evening.

Left-wing activists vandalised a bus that had been hired by the far-right supporters. The police statement did not say whether any leftists had been detained.

The scale of the assaults on women in Cologne and other German cities on 31 December has shocked the country, and police handling of the events has been sharply criticised.

More than 500 criminal complaints were filed over the events in Cologne, with 40% alleging sexual assault.

An official report said the attackers were "almost exclusively" from a migration background, mainly North African and Arab.

Cologne police also made "serious mistakes" in not calling reinforcements and the way they informed the public.

Around 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in Germany in 2015.

Since October 2014, several German cities have seen large "anti-Islamisation" rallies by Pegida.

The group wants Germany to curb immigration, accusing the authorities of failing to enforce existing laws.

Madaya Syria: '400 residents must leave' for medical treatment

Mr O'Brien was speaking after the UN Security Council held an urgent meeting to discuss the crisis in the rebel-held town near Damascus.

Earlier, an aid convoy brought food to 40,000 town residents who have been under government siege for months.

The UN says it has received credible reports of people dying of starvation.

Monday's aid delivery was the first allowed into Madaya since mid-October, when the UN's World Food Programme took a month's supply of food rations for 20,000 people.

Simultaneously, aid lorries entered two towns besieged by rebel forces in the northern province of Idlib under a deal between the warring parties.

The situation in Foah and Kefraya is also said to be dire, with an estimated 20,000 people trapped there since March.

Siege warfare in Syria

Syria's civilians living a 'life worse than death'

Mr O'Brien said that a humanitarian co-ordinator at the hospital in Madaya saw around 400 people who needed to be evacuated immediately.

"We must seek to do this and put the arrangements in place as soon as possible for medical treatment. Or they are in grave peril of losing their lives and dying with either the causes being from malnutrition or for complications for other medical reasons," Mr O'Brien said.

A few town residents were given permission to leave and could be seen with their belongings awaiting evacuation.

In total, some 44 lorries operated by the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Syrian Red Crescent and the World Food Programme (WFP) reached Madaya from Damascus on Monday.

The convoy brought in food and medicines, as well as blankets, shelter materials and soap, with distribution expected to continue through the night.

Pawel Krzysiek, who is with the ICRC in Madaya, said: "The people... were coming every five minutes asking, 'Listen, did you bring food, did you bring medicine?'

"Some are smiling and waving at us but many are just simply too weak, with a very bleak expression, too tired."

---

Towns under siege

March 2015: Foah and Kefraya in Idlib province are besieged by rebel groups and the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, with an estimated 12,500 trapped.

July 2015: Madaya, near Damascus, is besieged by government forces and their allies in Lebanon's Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement.

September 2015: The situation in Foah and Kefraya worsens after the fall of a nearby government air base, where helicopters had been able to land with food supplies. Reports emerge of people eating grass to survive.

October 2015: UN delivers one month's supply of food rations for 20,000 people in Madaya.

December 2015: Dozens of wounded civilians and fighters evacuated from Foah, Kefraya, Zabadani and Madaya. Reports begin to emerge of people starving in Madaya.

January 2016: UN says it has received credible reports of people dying of starvation in Madaya

Several dead in blast in central Istanbul Sultanahmet district

Foreign tourists are reportedly among those hurt in the blast, which occurred in the city's historic Sultanahmet district, near the Blue Mosque.

Fifteen people were also wounded in the blast, the Istanbul Governor's Office said in a statement on its website.

Some reports suggest the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber.

"The explosion was very loud. We shook a lot. We ran out and saw body parts," one woman who works at a nearby antiques shop told Reuters.

Police have sealed off the area and the authorities are investigating the type of explosive used, the governor's office said.

Norway's foreign ministry said a Norwegian man injured in the blast was receiving treatment in hospital, Reuters reported.

Germany's foreign ministry is investigating reports that German citizens have been hurt in the blast, German media reported.

The ministry has on its website (in German) urged German tourists in the city to avoid large crowds and tourist attractions and warned that further violent clashes and "terrorist attacks" are expected across Turkey.