Britain's 'first black and white twins' born from same egg

Twins Jasmine (left) and Amelia  Photo: SWNS

These siblings are thought to be the first "black and white" twins born in the UK - despite coming from the same egg.

Libby Appleby, 37, was told her unborn babies would look so similar that they would need to be "marked with ink" to tell them apart.

But she was surprised when Amelia was born with dark skin, black hair and brown eyes - while her sister Jasmine has fair skin, blue eyes and mousey curls.

Despite their contrasting skin tones, the siblings are genetically identical and are thought to be the first of their kind in the country.

Ms Appleby said: "When they were born, we were flabbergasted, even the doctors couldn't believe it.

"They look like they're different races. Amelia is the spitting image of her dad, while Jasmine is a mini version of me."

The 37-year-old, of West Rainton, County Durham, said strangers assume the twins - who have just celebrated their first birthday - are step-sisters.

She added: "We get a lot of funny looks when we tell people the girls are actually identical."

Ms Appleby and her partner of three years, 40-year-old electrical engineer Tafadzwa Madzimbamuto, found out she was pregnant in June 2014.

Three months later, they were told it was twins and medics at University Durham Hospital warned they would be so identical they would be difficult to tell apart.

Ms Appleby said medics "gasped" when they delivered the twins - who are monozygotic - meaning they were formed in the same embryo but developed in separate sacs.

She added: "We put them next to each other in a cot and couldn't believe how different they were. Amelia was so much darker than Jasmine, they barely even looked related.

"Doctors told us the chances of conceiving mixed race twins are one in a million. We were thrilled they were so unique."

A sample of Libby's placenta confirmed the twins are 100 per cent genetically identical, despite them looking nothing alike.

She said: "I don't blame strangers for thinking they aren't sisters, because they do look nothing alike.

"The girls are just noticing the difference in their skin colour now, but they're so wonderful and unique. Looking back, it's funny that we were worried we'd never tell them apart."

Dr Claire Steves, from the Department of Twin Research, said that multiple genes control skin colour and while identical twins are very likely to share them completely, it is not definite.

Dr Steves, who works at King's College London, said that Amelia and Jasmine could look so different if there was a change in the way each developed in the womb.

She said: "However, an exception might be when a change in one of these happens after the twins separate in very early development - so called somatic mutation.

"Alternatively, sometimes markers on the DNA which influence the extent to which the DNA is expressed can be different in the twins. We do have some evidence that skin colour is subject to this kind of 'epigenetic' control.

"Lastly, if the twins have been exposed to different environments, they may differ in skin colour due to this - for example if one has had greater sun exposure or has developed a condition where the pigmented cells are affected, which may happen to one just by chance.

"Despite these possibilities which might explain this intriguing phenomenon, the vast majority of identical twins have very similar skin colouring and this case is very unusual indeed."

Breaking Into San Bernardino iPhone Would Be ‘Bad for America’ – Tim Cook

Tim Cook, Apple CEO 

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday said that complying with a court order to help the FBI break into an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters would be “bad for America,” and set a legal precedent that would offend many Americans.

“Some things are hard, and some things are right, and some things are both – this is one of those things,” Cook told ABC News in his first interview since the court order came down last week. He added that the government was asking for “the software equivalent of cancer” and that he planned to talk to President Barack Obama directly about getting the dispute “on a better path.”

Later asked whether Apple would be prepared to fight this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Cook said, “We would be prepared to take this issue all the way.”

Apple’s chief executive officer also said there should have been more dialogue with the Obama administration before the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to seek relief from a federal magistrate judge in California.

“We found out about the filing from the press, and I don’t think that’s the way the railroad should be run, and I don’t think that something so important to this country should be handled in this way,” Cook said in an interview being aired on “ABC World News Tonight.”

Apple has publicly said it intends to fight the court order and has until Friday to respond.

The iPhone in question was used by San Bernardino shooter Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife went on a shooting rampage in December that killed 14 and wounded 22.

The Justice Department wants Apple to help access encrypted information stored on Farook’s county-owned iPhone 5C by writing software that would disable its passcode protections to allow an infinite number of guesses without erasing the data on the device.

Apple has said the request amounts to asking a company to hack its own device and would undermine digital security more broadly.

“This would be bad for America,” Cook told ABC. “It would also set a precedent that I think many people in America would be offended by and when you think about those, which are knowns, compared to something that might be there, I believe we are making the right choice.”

Some major tech companies have solidly sided with Apple while others have issued more muted statements on the importance of digital security. Verizon Communications Inc Chief Executive Lowell McAdam told Reuters Wednesday his company supports “the availability of strong encryption with no backdoors.”

The government has repeatedly insisted its request in the iPhone case does not amount to “backdoor” access.

President Buhari Hosts Saudi Business Community

President Buhari in a meeting with Saudi Business Community

The level of productivity of Nigeria’s Agriculture and Solid minerals sectors will be enhanced by the Federal Government as a deliberate attempt to save the nation from the hash effects of the falling oil prices in the global market.


President Muhammadu Buhari stated this at a meeting with leading members of the council of Saudi Arabian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh.

Falana wants court to stop United States of America’s dollar as a legal tender in Nigeria

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, praying for an order restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria from allowing market forces to determine the exchange rate of the naira.

The senior advocate also asked the court in his suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/146/16, to direct the CBN to stop the use of the United States of America’s dollar as a legal tender in Nigeria.

The suit was filed on behalf of Falana by a lawyer in his firm, Mr. Wisdom Elum.

The CBN is sued as the sole defendant in the suit, which has yet to be assigned to a judge.

Falana alleged in the suit that the CBN’s monetary policy had led to a situation where too much naira was made to chase a few dollars with an attendant weaker naira and adverse multiplier effects such as rising inflation, closure of factories and high level of unemployment.

He also alleged that the CBN had so “dollarised the economy” that the foreign currency had become a legal tender, with school fees as well as rents now being charged and paid in dollars “to the detriment of the economy.”

He contended that while the CBN had fixed the exchange rate at N198 to a dollar, and President Muhammadu Buhari had continued to restate his promise not to devalue the naira, the apex bank “had allowed market forces to increase the exchange rate to over N400 to a dollar.”

A supporting affidavit deposed to by another lawyer in Falana’s law firm, Mr. Femi Adedeji, stated, “The devaluation of the currency and dollarisation of the economy have made mockery of the yet-to-be-passed 2016 budget of the Federal Government.

“The monetary policy of the defendant (the CBN) has led to a situation whereby too much naira chase few dollars, thereby making the naira weaker in relation to the dollar and instigating an adverse multiplier effect.

“The monetary policy of the defendant has also led to increasing costs, rapidly rising inflation and interest rates, closure of factories and the attendant high level of unemployment.”

The lawyer, therefore asked the court to determine, “whether the monetary policy of the defendant, which allows market forces to fix and determine the exchange rate of the naira is not a violation of Section 16 of the CBN (Establishment) Act 2007 and Section 16 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.”

The SAN asked the court to determine whether the CBN decision to allow the US dollar as a legal tender for payment of any amount in Nigeria was not a contravention of Section 20 of the CBN Act.

He sought the following prayers: “A declaration that by virtue of Section 16 of the CBN Act 2007 the defendant shall fix and determine the exchange rate of the naira by a suitable mechanism devised for that purpose.

“A declaration that the monetary policy of the defendant, which allows market forces to fix and determine the exchange rate of the naira, is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates Section 16 of the CBN Act 2007.

“A declaration that the dollarisation of the economy through the use of the US dollar as a legal tender in Nigeria is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates Section 20 of the CBN Act, 2007.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant from allowing market forces to determine the exchange rate of the naira in any manner whatsoever and howsoever.

“An order directing the defendant to stop forthwith the use of the US dollar as a legal tender in Nigeria in any manner whatsoever and howsoever.”

With The PUNCH

PDP Approves 3 Months Tenure For Sheriff, To Hold National Convention In May

Ali Modu Sheriff, Embattled PDP National Chairman

The Leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has agreed and approved  a three-month tenure for the Ali Modu Sheriff as national party chairman to hold a national convention in may.

This was reached at a caucus meeting which has in attendance the PDP Governors’ Forum, the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), the National Assembly Caucus, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and the state Committees.

The meeting was held at the Ondo State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, the decision was unanimous from all the sections.

Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who addressed the media shortly after the meeting, said the decision taken was in the best interest of the party.

He said Sheriff had been mandated to put in motion preparations for the party’s national convention to elect new members of the NWC to run the party.

The Acting Chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin, also commented, saying that the BoT is in agreement with the decision.

According to him, Sheriff is expected to bring out a timetable within two weeks for the next convention to be convened in May.

He expressed the optimism that the lingering crisis in the party would be resolved within the period.

Commenting on the rejection of Sheriff by the party’s ex -ministers, Mimiko said they are members of the party at the state level headed by state chairmen, according, which in turn makes them automatically a party to the decision.

Mimiko added that the various party organs would still mediate to align they ex-ministers with the view to bringing them on board on the decision.