How many girls are in this image?

It seems simple enough, how many girls are in this image?

Yet people are freaking out online as they argue about the number of people actually in the shot.

As with the infamous dress, this Instagram post has taken a life of its own becoming a viral sensation with over 17,400 likes since it was uploaded last week.

We have Swiss photographer Tiziana Vergari (@tizzia) to thank for this latest head-scratching viral snap. She originally posted the image as a contribution to Instagram's weekend hashtag project, a series where the platform sets a weekly challenge for users around a theme.

Last week's topic, #WHPidentity, asked the Instagram community to share images and video "celebrating individuality."

But, the 'optical illusion' of seeing a row of the same faces repeated has caused confusion.

It seems no one can agree. Is it 13? Or 3? Or 2 sets of twins? Or something else entirely?

One user left baffled by the snap resorts to focusing on the little details posting: "Four, two of the girls have bracelets on plus the eye line is different on two of the girls."

But using that same logic, another says: "I see 6 girls when you look at the bracelets."

Vergari, meanwhile, has confirmed that the photograph she took features -- drum roll please -- two sisters looking into a mirror.

Despite this, users continue to debate the number of girls and how the "optical illusion" was captured in the first place.

Looks like this one will continue to attract thousands of comments as the debate rages on.

CNN

Gupta family defends allegations of wielding undue influence through its links to President Jacob Zuma

The family took out two pages in a newspaper it owns to deny the allegations and respond to criticism.

Deputy Finance Minister Mcebesi Jonas has said that he was offered the top job by a member of the Gupta family.

This has led to increasing pressure on President Zuma.

"As the global economic slowdown began to bite, the family became the scapegoat for every calamity and misfortune that South Africa has faced," the Guptas said in a statement, carried in the local New Age newspaper.

The office of the country's anti-corruption watchdog, known as the Public Protector, has said it is considering whether to investigate the involvement of the Gupta family in state affairs.

Questioned by the opposition in parliament on Thursday about Mr Jonas' allegation, Mr Zuma said: "I'm in charge of the government. There is no minister who was ever appointed by the Guptas."

Mr Zuma's presidency has been marred by allegations of corruption, cronyism and incompetence, amid a worsening economic situation.

Last year, South Africa was hit by a wave of xenophobic violence against African migrants.

A senior governing party official warned on Thursday that the country risked turning into a "mafia state".

Gwede Mantashe is the third most powerful person in the governing African National Congress (ANC), and his remarks suggest Mr Zuma may be losing the confidence of influential members of the party as well, correspondents say.

Senior ANC officials are meeting this weekend and they may examine Mr Zuma's relationship with the Guptas.

The Guptas, who arrived in South Africa from India in 1993, have huge interests in computers, air travel, energy, and technology.

In 2013, there was an outcry after a private jet carrying guests to the wedding of a Gupta family member was allowed to land at a South African military air force base in Pretoria.

BBC

Trump again downgrade America

The 69-year-old business mogul told a gathering in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday that America has now become a "third world country" as compared to infrastructures in China and Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

"We have become a third world country, folks!," Trump told supporters at an election rally.

"If you go to places like Dubai, China, you look at the roads, at the rail roads, they have the bullet trains that go 100s of miles an hour. And if you go to New York, they're like 100 years ago," he said.

Trump pledged to change things if he is elected president in the November election.

"We are going to bring wealth back again because our country is a poor country. We have a deficit that you cannot believe. We're sitting on a bubble, very dangerous bubble. We are sitting on a big fat ugly bubble. At some point unless we act quickly and smartly, it is going to explode. You need the right people. We have the wrong people now," he said.

Trump's election campaign in Utah was the first after his victories in three States of Florida, Illinois and North Carolina on Tuesday.

The US presidential primary is due to be held in Utah, Arizona and American Samoa on March 22, which altogether have more than 100 delegates.

Trump now leads the delegate count with 678, followed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz (423) and Ohio Governor John Kasich (143). He needs 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination.

Trump, who has never held elected office, is currently leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination. His campaign has been marked by controversial statements, including disparaging remarks about women, Mexican immigrants and Muslims.

The army had significantly reduced Boko Haram's ability to carry out big attacks - Information minister

Nigeria is on top of its security problems and Boko Haram has been hobbled ahead of elections in the oil-rich River State region, according to information minister Lai Mohammed. 

Mohammed said the army had significantly reduced Boko Haram's ability to carry out big attacks, just days after a suspected suicide attack by the group on a mosque left 22 worshippers dead in the northeastern Maiduguri city.

"The government is on top of the situation in terms of security and I think Nigeria has done really well," Mohammed said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday.

"The Boko Haram insurgency has been massively decimated to the extent that it is no longer in the position to carry out spectacular attacks."

Referring to the attack in Maiduguri, Mohammed said there was a difference between lone-wolf attacks and large-scale ones.

"Before these villagers (in Maiduguri) were under the control of Boko Haram insurgents ... today they have been dislodged, now they're attacking soft targets, which is what happens with a insurgency on its way out."

Mohammed also told Al Jazeera that his government saw the current low oil-prices as an opportunity to diversify its economy. Nigeria has proven oil reserves of more than 37bn barrels and a daily output of more than 2m, according to OPEC.

In February, it entered talks with the World Bank for a loan to shore up its finances after oil prices fell to below $30 a barrel.

The current price of per barrel stands at just above $40, still significantly lower than average prices in 2014 of above $110.

Mohammed became information minister after President Muhammadu Buhari won elections last year.

(Al Jazeera)

Kirikiri Terminal designated as regional port for Sealink project

The Nigeria Export- Import Bank (NEXIM) has requested for the designation of the Kirikiri Terminal in Lagos as the regional port for the Sealink project of the West and Central Africa sub-region.

The Technical Adviser to the Managing Director of NEXIM, Mr Hope Yongo, made the disclosure in a paper presented at the Sub-regional Workshop on Transport Costs and Connectivity of African countries held in Abuja.

In a copy of the paper made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos, Yongo said the status of the terminal would be upgraded for Container Weight Verification in line with the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention.

He said that the Regional Sealink project was aimed at putting in place moderate transport costs for shippers in West and Central African sub-region.

Yongo said that there should be provision of dedicated regional maritime services to promote connectivity and trade frequency.

He said that there should be facilitation of formal and recorded trade prospects and improvement of trade within the sub-region.

"Broadening trade prospects and improving market access for regional goods and services,’’ Yongo said.

The NEXIM chief canvassed cargo support from all member countries and encouraged both private and maritime organisations to support and invest in the regional project.

He said that Messrs Marine Services and Supply Company Ltd. would deploy three ships for the pilot scheme of the Regional Sealink project.

"This is upon confirmation of Notice of Readiness (NOR) from Sealink Promotion Company Ltd.,’’ the NEXIM chief said.

According to Yongo, the Regional Sealink Consortium is proposing ways of bridging infrastructure gap to facilitate trade.

He described the project as an`` integrated maritime logistics services; warehousing facilities with container handling and weighing; deepening coastal maritime activities; and inland waterways’’.

Yongo said that the Sealink project was born out of highest comparative international transport costs and excessive transit time, making
intra-regional trade non-competitive.

He added that West and Central African transport and logistics costs were one of the highest in the world.

According to him, there is absence of dedicated safe and modern fleet to encourage and facilitate Atlantic Short-Sea Trade along the West and Central African sub-region.

"There is inadequate infrastructure among member states and non-tariff measures are barriers to increased intra-regional trade, ’’ Yongo said.

He noted that ECOWAS trade in the past one decade grew from 4.7 million tonnes to 13.2 million tonnes without comparative increase in transport infrastructure.

Yongo also said that there had been low level of African container traffic; less than one per cent of total world container traffic of over 400 million containers.

The Sealink project has been endorsed and financially supported by the ECOWAS Commission for road shows.

It is also being technically assisted by the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA)

NAN reports that the project also has the technical and financial support of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) with Equitorial Guinea and Sao Tome |& Principe.

It also has the technical and financial backing of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa of the African Development Bank (ADB0 to the tune o 302,000 dollars. (NAN)