THE WORLD.... 200 MILLION YEARS AGO.

Ever wondered how the world looked like 200 million years ago?

A map aged 200 years ago shows that it was possible to walk from China to Australia without getting your feet wet.

India was nestled against America, Spain was next to Canada and the USA bordered North Africa.

Britain was at the heart of the super continent named Pangaea which would have been 20°C hotter than nowadays, touching France to the South and Norway to the North.

Fossil evidence shows that Pangaea was formed 300 Million years ago as the Earth’s tectonic plates joined up, before starting to break apart 100 Million years ago.

Geologists say that this happened several times before and since and will happen again but not for a few hundred million years.

WILL ARSENE WENGER SURVIVE AT THE EMIRATES?

The Emirates Stadium club suffered a 3-1 defeat in north London through goals from Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Mario Mandzukic, with only Lukas Podolski responding.

And Arsenal, who were dumped out of the FA Cup by lower league Blackburn Rovers at the weekend, are now facing an uphill task to recover at Bayern in the second leg on 13 March.

"Let us not hide the truth, it will be very difficult," Wenger, whose own future has been questioned, told Sky Sports after seeing his side beaten by the Bundesliga leaders.

"But we will try to make the impossible, possible.

"We have to go there and play completely like we play at home. We have to try to change the score. The third goal makes it very difficult but we have to try.

Wenger had spent his pre-match press conference angrily responding to criticism and reports about his own future, claiming, 'you will miss me when I am gone'.

It has become a regular occurrence for Arsenal to be scrutinised in an inconsistent campaign but the Frenchman has indicated he could relish a siege mentality ahead of the second leg against Bayern.

"We are the underdogs - you just need to read the English press to understand that," Wenger said on Arsenal's official website.

"What is important is that when you play to win a competition, at some stage you have to play a big team.

"If I listen to your questions, we are not favourites but I trust our quality, our spirit and our mental strength."

ASSISTANT REFEREE JOHN BROOKS STOOD DOWN.

Assistant referee, John Brooks, who was caught on camera asking Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott to thank the traveling support at the end of game against Arsenal, has been axed from Tuesday’s FA Cup third-round replay between West Bromwich Albion and Queens Park Rangers.
Brooks was seen urging Lescott to acknowledge the traveling supporters and was filmed by TV crew telling  Lescott, “they’ve paid 62 quid over there, go and see them”

Pressure from discontent supporters over spiraling English Premier League ticket prices is mounting, as fans attempt to make their voices heard. Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the body which controls the assigning of officials for matches, was unhappy about this incident and has removed him from duty for Tuesday’s match.

Dave Bryan will replace Brooks along with other assistant Darren Cann, fourth official Martin Atkinson and referee Neil Swarbrick.

Gervinho: 'I will score the winner'

Ivory Coast striker Gervinho has promised to erase the bitter memory of his country's last African Nations Cup and score the winning goal in the tournament which kicks off in South Africa later this month.
He was distraught after his failure from the penalty spot in last year's final in Libreville allowed Zambia to beat the Elephants 8-7 in a shoot-out after the match had ended in a 0-0 draw. Gervinho had scored the winning goal in the semi-final against Mali but the Ivorians then blew their chance of becoming African champions for the first time since 1992.

They also lost on penalties in the 2006 final in Egypt but this time Gervinho believes things will be different, although avoiding the stress of penalty shoot-outs will be a priority. Ivory Coast, who also have Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure in their squad, are again one of the fancied teams for the title although they must survive a tough-looking group which includes Togo, Tunisia and Algeria.

Sir Richard Branson calls for decriminalisation at premiere of son's film.

Sir Richard Branson has urged David Cameron and other world leaders to decriminalize all drugs. The Virgin tycoon claimed it was the only way to end a “failed” global 40-year war against narcotics gangs which has cost £1.5trillion. Sir Richard, 62, said that addicts need help not prison.

In the movie, produced by Branson’s son, Sam, footage of the brutal violence in Mexico sparked by a crackdown on drug gangs is interspersed with interviews with politicians including Bill Clinton, who admit a new approach is needed. Narrator Morgan Freeman explains that “illegal drugs are cheaper, purer and more available than ever before”.

“I’ve known people who’ve been arrested whilst they were actually being helped trying to get themselves off heroin,” Sir Richard added.
He claimed Boy George was arrested at his house while getting off heroin. “It set him back two or three years,” he said.
“What we are arguing is that drugs should be treated as a health problem, not a criminal problem.
"If your children had a drug problem, would you rather they were locked up in prison or helped?
"It costs the state a third less to help people than it does to lock people up.
"If you lock them up they will end up in a far worse state.
“In countries where they already do that like Portugal and Spain they are getting on top of the problem.

Sir Richard went on: “They should announce immediately that nobody will be sent to prison for taking drugs; that anyone who has a drug problem will be helped and the state will do everything they can to rehabilitate people, and possibly they should legalize and regulate marijuana.
"It could be taxed, with warnings about the dangers of taking it in excess.
“I think it’s more likely they’ll get a decrease in use this way, as has happened with cigarettes in recent years.
“My own personal feeling is that countries around the world will do it one day

ONLINE FREEDOM.

Delegates from 193 countries are meeting in Dubai to discuss the future of the internet. They will be negotiating a new International Telecommunications Treaty, which hasn't been updated since 1988. The main debate at the conference is over internet freedom. The US and Europe want less internet regulation, while countries like Russia and China are accused of wanting more. But the possibly bigger question of who controls the internet is also in play.

In Belarus, the government has noticed the opposition's use of the internet. Websites are sometimes blacked out, opposition voices are monitored and the government even uses websites like Twitter to intimidate journalists and activists. And last month, the United Arab Emirates showed where it stands on internet censorship. It issued a decree making it a crime to insult or criticize the country's leaders online.

Should there be limits on the web? and if yes, by whom and how?

M-SHWARI AN INSTANT HIT.

Safaricom and commercial Bank of Africa launched an adults only product (M-shwari) this week and it immediately caused a stir in the market. It stormed the market instantly beating the Faulu Kenya and Airtel's Kopa Chapaa service through which subscribers  access loans from Faulu micro finance.
'' We brought you M-pesa, which single-handedly revolutionized how 15million Kenyans move money around and now we are creating solutions to savings and credit'', Said Bob Collymore at the launch.
M-shwari is an innovative tool that enables people to save and borrow money using their mobile phones. The difference from other bank accounts is that you can move money in and out of your M-shwari savings account at no charge, save as little as Sh 1 and earn interest on your saved balance. There are no ledger fees, no limit of frequency of withdrawals, no minimum operating balance and no charge on deposits from M-pesa to M-shwari account.

You can borrow loans of a minimum of Sh100 and a maximum of Sh20,000 anytime through the phone and receive the money instantly on your M-pesa account. In order to qualify for a loan you will have to be an active M-pesa user for at least six months, save regularly on M-shwari account and continuously use other Safaricom services including voice, date and M-pesa. During the time you owe them money, your M-shwari account will be frozen. The loan must be paid within 30 days together with the 7.5 % facilitation fee. To know how much you can borrow, dial *234*6#.

To gain access, you go to your Safaricom menu on the phone, M-pesa, go to ''My Account'', select ''update menu'' enter M-pesa PIN and when the updated menu appears, choose M-shwari and click accept.