Saudi Arabia and Egypt announce Red Sea bridge

Saudi Arabia's king has announced that a bridge linking the country to Egypt will be built over the Red Sea.

King Salman said in a statement that the bridge would boost commerce between the two allies.
He made the announcement during the second day of his visit to the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have supported Egypt with billions of dollars since President Sisi took power in 2013 following mass street protests.
Saudi Arabia regards Egypt as a crucial partner in efforts to build a bloc of friendly Sunni Muslim states as a bulwark against growing regional influence of Shia-led Iran.

Turkey, Israel make progress towards deal to restore ties - Turkish ministry

Turkish and Israeli teams made progress towards finalising an agreement to mend ties between them in talks in London and agreed a deal will be finalised in the next meeting to be convened very soon, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Friday.
The ministry said in a statement its undersecretary, Feridun Sinirliolu, the Israeli prime minister's special envoy, Joseph Ciechanover, and acting chairman of the National Security Council, General Jacob Nagel, met in London on Thursday.
Turkey was once Israel's closest regional ally but ties collapsed in 2010 over the killing by Israeli marines of 10 Turkish pro-Palestinian activists who tried to breach the Gaza blockade. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Improve Your Business by Checking Out Your Competitors

Make your business even better by looking at what your competition is doing. Learn what new services you can offer, look for areas of improvement, and explore your pricing. 

While keeping up with the Jones in the real world may not always be a wise choice, keeping up with your competition as a virtual assistant is. It’s even better, though, when you can find ways to stand out from your competition. One of the best ways to begin that process is by exploring competitor websites. This will help you improve your own business in all the ways below and more.
Learn New Services to Offer
As a virtual assistant, you’re essentially a “Girl Friday” for your clients. You’re the person they turn to to get all kinds of things done. The more skills and talents you have to offer, the more in demand you will be. That’s why it’s important to check out your competition and see how your service offerings compare.
Look for Areas in Need of Improvement
You should also be able to determine which skills seem to be in higher demand according to prominence or placement on your competitor's site. Do these high-demand areas represent weaknesses in your own offerings? Are they skills you could stand to brush up on or improve? You should become a perpetual student as a VA – always expanding your knowledge and skill base in order to offer your clients more valuable services. It will improve your demand and allow you to command a more lucrative fee for your services.
Explore Pricing and Structure
It’s important to make apples to apples comparisons when checking out your competition. You’re looking for people with similar skills who are going after a similar slice of the market. This will help you determine if you’re price is within the average range or a little on the low or high side of the market.
This is not all about your fee for services, but also about learning what kind of pricing structure your competitors are using. Do they have different prices for each service? Do they charge an hourly rate? How do they determine their rates and how does your system stack up?
Explore Differences in Services Offered
It’s important to know if you offer services your competition does not so you can look for ways to capitalize on the differences. You want to stand out as someone who has more to offer. Pointing out your unique skills and talents is an important way to make yourself more appealing to people in need of a full-service VA.
Do Your Competitors Specialize?
Are your competitors specializing in one field? If so, could you benefit by expanding your offerings to multiple fields? If not, should you consider offering specialty services in a field you have a wide range of experience working within, such as banking, bookkeeping, real estate, legal services, medical services, etc.? Will that make you more valuable as a virtual assistant?
The key when exploring the websites of other virtual assistants is to find ways to be the more attractive option for potential clients. Keep that in mind above all else when checking out the competition.

Written by Stephanie Watson
twitter.com/stephaniewatson
With more than 20 years experience working from home in a variety of roles such as HTML Website Designer, Internet Marketer, Template Bender and Virtual Assistant, today Stephanie is an author and content strategist who organizes, plans, writes and implements content strategies for business owners through her business Barry Publishing.

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Music school

One great choice for a work-at-home mom business is to be a music instructor. This is a lucrative career move when you do your research and take the right steps toward success. It's a mistake to think you can be successful without the necessary music experience. There are also other mistakes to avoid.

Mistake 1 - Using Rote Teaching Methods
One mistake to avoid is to teach in one linear way, with no variation. If you think that starting every student with the theory of music and then moving to the history of music and so on will work, this is a mistake. It is boring for students, doesn't take into account the experience level of the student and does not engage the student.
Mistake 2 - Teaching Music Instead of People
A second mistake to avoid is to think of yourself strictly as a 'music teacher' instead of a coach, a mentor or even a creative guide. The point is to remember that your students are all individuals and have come to you for the purpose of learning something beautiful.
Each student is there for their own reason and has their own learning style. It is up to you to discover that purpose and learning style and to guide them on their individual journey. Along the way, you get to be creative too, by tailoring each lesson to the individual.
Mistake 3 - Only Teaching One-on-One Lessons
Whether you are a piano teacher or teach violin, avoid the mistake of offering only individual lessons. There is much to be said for providing group lessons. Students gain more by learning from their peers, as well as from you.
Group instruction is more fruitful for you and less expensive for the learners, which is motivation for them to continue lessons longer than they normally would. Don't discount one-on-one lessons all together, but be open to different instruction formats.
Mistake 4 - Ignoring the Business Aspect
A very common mistake of work-at-home business owners is that the business aspect often gets ignored. What this means is that you end up spending so much time doing other things, you forget to market yourself and grow your business.
In order to be fully successful, you have to spend time each week planning for your success. This means having goals and revisiting those goals regularly. Have a marketing plan. Work with other small businesses in your community on collaboration efforts; offer to teach a group class at their facility if they provide the referrals, etc.
Mistake 5 - Not Spending Time Reviewing Your Recidivism Rate
The one thing you want to do is to keep your music learners as long as possible. It's a mistake to believe that your students will stay engaged in music lessons without any effort or thought on your part.
The more you engage your students and the more they learn and progress with you, the higher the likelihood of them continuing lessons. Besides repeat business, this is where your referrals will come from (an important part of any business).
Working to avoid these mistakes and focusing on growing your business will bring the success you want.

Culled from the internet

Court Sacks NFF President Pinnick, Orders Giwa To Take Over

                                                     Amaju Pinnick

A Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, has nullified the election that brought NFF President, Amaju Pinnick and his board
Justice Musa Haruna Kurya delivered the ruling on Friday over the re-listed suit challenging the election process of September 30, 2014 in Warri.
Before the elections in Warri, Christopher Giwa, in controversial circumstance had been declared new President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) through another congress in Abuja.

In 2015, Justice Ambrose Allagoa, who presided over the hearing, had ruled that the election as well as the congress preceding it were against his orders and ordered the plaintiff Christopher Giwa to return to office.
But FIFA was watching and warned Nigeria will be banned if the court ruling stops the newly-elected executive committee of Amaju Pinnick from working.
Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, had called parties to a peace meeting where he pleaded for the crisis to end and prevent Nigeria from an imminent FIFA ban.