Lets hope is respected by both parties and that it leads to a lasting peace....
“All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.” - John steinbeck
Thursday, 31 July 2014
Breaking- Israel and Hamas agrees to 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire!
The United Nations and U.S. say Israel and Hamas have agreed to 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire to begin Friday.
Lets hope is respected by both parties and that it leads to a lasting peace....
“All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.” - John steinbeck
Lets hope is respected by both parties and that it leads to a lasting peace....
“All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.” - John steinbeck
15 killed as gunmen invade Rivers communities!
Reports says that no fewer than 15 persons were feared killed in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State by some rampaging gunmen.
It was gathered that the assailants, who were all armed with AK-47 rifles, rode into the area with six motorcycles and operated from 9pm on Wednesday till the early hours of Thursday.
A source in the are told The PUNCH that while three persons were shot dead in Ede, one of the communities in the area, one person lost his life in Obite.
In Egite community, two persons were killed by the trigger-happy gunmen while two others were injured.
The source told our correspondent that four persons were shot at close range in Egita community while one also died in Obiosimiri community during the raid.
“In Akabta community, the gunmen killed one person and injured an undisclosed number of people. So far, 15 persons were killed during the night raid by the gunmen.
“They (gunmen) began their operation at about 9pm on Wednesday night till early this (Thursday) morning. As I speak with you, some of our people, who were injured, are in the hospital,” the source from Egi clan in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni added.
The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, confirmed the attack but said eight people were killed. he added that investigations into the killings had begun.
Mexican Drug Lord Taunts the Authorities With Videos!
In his latest online video, Mr. Gómez, known as “La Tuta,” or the teacher, is shown in a video posted this week drinking beer and chatting with the son of a former governor of Michoacán, suggesting his gang’s deep infiltration of the political class. The two men laugh and joke about several public officials. The Mexican authorities said Wednesday that they are investigating the circumstances of the video, which was leaked to the news website Quadrantin, and will seek to question Rodrigo Vallejo, the son of the former governor, Fausto Vallejo, who stepped down in June. His resignation occurred days after a picture of his son with Mr. Gómez was leaked to newspapers.
Rodrigo Vallejo said in a Facebook post that he was forced to attend the meeting and that the video was edited in a manner that made him look guilty. His father said in a letter posted to Facebook and Twitter that Rodrigo was forced to attend the meeting because he had been kidnapped. Michoacán is one of Mexico’s most violent states, in large part because of the killings, kidnappings and extortion by the criminal group Mr. Gómez leads, the Knights Templar.
Vigilante groups, fed up that local and state police had done little to stop the gang, sprang up over the past year to protect the people from the gang violence, leading the federal authorities to swoop in and restore state control. They allowed several members of the vigilantes to join a “rural defense force” to work alongside the federal police, though questions have been raised if the vigilantes themselves are turning into yet another menace.
Several leaders of the Knights Templar have been arrested or killed — Mr. Gómez’s son was arrested last month — and security experts said the gang has been weakened. But Mr. Gómez’s ability to remain at large, and his defiance in the media, has left some in Mexico wondering if he has eluded capture for so long because local officials are protecting him.
“He has political authorities on his side and, even more importantly so, the protection and support from local communities as well,” said Eduardo Guerrero, a security analyst at a Mexico City consulting firm. “It is very difficult to break down a network like that.”
The YouTube videos featuring Mr. Gómez, posted anonymously, show him denouncing leaders of the vigilante movement as criminals themselves, defending himself as an "altruist" handing out money to women and children in town squares, and vowing to die before getting caught.
In January, when the Mexican federal police and the army began an offensive in the western state of Michoacán to restore order and hunt for Mr. Gómez, a crew from Channel 4 News in Britain managed to track him down and broadcast an interview with him from an undisclosed location. He talked about his difficult childhood, his transition from schoolteacher to crime boss and details of his gang’s operations, such as the ingredients used to make methamphetamine.
Michoacán’s chief security official was arrested on organized crime charges after another video surfaced a few months ago, showing him meeting with Mr. Gómez.
Security experts said criminal gangs often corrupt local and federal officials, but the Knights Templar has taken it to extremes in the absence of government authority in Michoacán.
“It is a crime group that highly values a fluid communication and close relation with local politicians, and that is where a big part of their success derives from,” said Mr. Guerrero, who studies organized crime in Mexico.
Still, Mexican officials have promised they will capture Mr. Gómez. “He is cornered and with his hands tied,” said the federal security commissioner for Michoacán, Alfredo Castillo. He made the statement back in March.
See the wedding dress that took a whole year to make!
The dress in making:
This dress - "with a traditional feeling, but using modern techniques," Ralph explained - required 3,900 hours of hand embroidery (162 days if you worked round the clock);
40 different types of bead; and
25 different types of Swarovski crystal.
The underlayers are tulle, hand-printed with a metallic Chantilly-lace effect, to give depth without weight - drawing on the grandeur yet airiness of Listri's work.
This is simply....W.A.O.....
Half Of A Yellow Sun out in Nigeria Cinemas from 1st August!
The film Half Of A Yellow Sun, written by Award winning writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Genevieve Nnaji, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, Onyeka Onwenu, zack Orji, to mention a few.....
will be in every cinema in Nigeria from AUGUST 1.....
Don't miss it!
will be in every cinema in Nigeria from AUGUST 1.....
Don't miss it!
Boko Haram Working To Seize Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi And Nasarawa States—Intelligence Source!
According to SaharaReporters, a high-level Nigerian security source has revealed that Nigeria’s intelligence agencies received “credible reports that Boko Haram has developed an ambitious plan to overwhelm and take over Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa states.”
The source said the Islamist terrorist group plans to carry out its design by intensifying its bombings and choosing locations that would yield high casualty figures.
The source said “Their move is to encircle [Nigeria’s capital city of] Abuja and increase the level of political instability in the country,”.
The high-level intelligence agent disclosed that the shape of the terror group’s plans have emerged from the confessions of some Boko Haram insurgents who were captured recently. “We have also acquired a lot of information about their [Boko Haram’s] plans through our interrogation of Aminu Sadiq Oguche.”
Mr. Oguche, who was recently extradited to Nigeria from Sudan, is accused of masterminding some of the recent high-profile bomb blasts in Nigeria, including explosions at a bus station in Abuja that claimed more than 100 lives.
In addition, security agents have gleaned “significant and useful intelligence” from interrogating one Mohammed Zakari, described as “the chief butcher” of Boko Haram. Mr. Zakari was recently arrested in Bauchi, capital of Bauchi State.
The source said that Nigeria’s security agencies are stepping up counter-insurgency measures to forestall Boko Haram’s plans to spread its tentacles to the states they are targeting.
“Apart from information we have gathered from interrogating suspects, we are also tracking critical conversations by the group’s hierarchy and examining sensitive documents recovered after recent raids on their bases in Bauchi, Jigawa and Borno states,” the source said.
The source added that President Goodluck Jonathan and a few other government officials had been briefed about the new threats by Boko Haram as well as the outline of the plans to counter the group’s ambitious push.
A senior Islamic scholar in Northern Nigeria, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said his group was cooperating with the government to defeat Boko Haram. “We discussed with President Jonathan when we met during the end of the Ramadan fast and told him that we are ready to help stop Boko Haram. But we also told him that this is something the government must take action on. We’re doing our own, but we have limitations,” he said.
Kelsey Grammer forgives man who killed his sister!
Glenn, who was 18 at the time of the murders, was convicted of killing two men and Grammer's sister after kidnapping her from a Red Lobster restaurant in Colorado Springs where she worked, and is serving a life term at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility.
"I want to believe you have actually changed your life," an emotional Grammer said to Glenn.
"Things you say, I accept a lot of it..I accept that you live with remorse," Grammer later continued.
"But I live with tragedy every day."
At one point, Glenn interruped Grammer to apologize. "Thank you," Grammer said.
"I accept your apology. I forgive you. However, I cannot give your release my endorsement. To give that a blessing would be a betrayal of my sister's life."
Glenn said at the hearing. "I thought I would die. I thought I would be killed,"
"I think I deserve a second chance."
He was initially sentenced to death, but his sentence was changed to a life term when Colorado's death penalty was overturned.
Alicia Keys Announces she expecting!
Alicia Keys announced on her forth wedding anniversary that she and hubby Swizz Beatz are expecting their second child together.
"Happy Anniversary to the love of my life @therealswizzz!! And to make it even sweeter we've been blessed with another angel on the way!! You make me happier than I have ever known! Here's to many Here's to many many more years of the best parts of life!".
"Happy Anniversary to the love of my life @therealswizzz!! And to make it even sweeter we've been blessed with another angel on the way!! You make me happier than I have ever known! Here's to many Here's to many many more years of the best parts of life!".
How Awful...father put photo of his beaten baby on Facebook ‘for a laugh’!
French police have charged a father with child abuse after he allegedly shook and beat his month-old baby because he could not bear the infant’s crying – and then posted a photo of the baby’s bruised face on Facebook “for a laugh”.
Police in the town of Tergnier in the Aisne department in Picardy, northern France, were alerted on Monday by one of the couple’s friends who saw the child’s picture on the father’s Facebook account and was concerned at the baby’s “abnormal appearance” and bruised face.
Officers summoned the mother for questioning. When she arrived detectives noted the infant’s injuries were even worse than in the photograph and alerted the emergency services. The mother allegedly told detectives she was afraid to contact police for fear that her partner would leave her.
The father was arrested on Monday evening. Both parents have been formally put under investigation, the equivalent of being charged, for “violence against a minor causing permanent incapacity”.
The baby is believed to have suffered bleeding on the brain. Medics told Le Parisien they feared the child had suffered neurological damage though it was “too soon to say”.
In a case that has shocked France, the man reportedly admitted being violent towards the infant, who was taken to hospital where doctors diagnosed possible brain damage.
A Police officer told newsmen that the father had explained that he hit the child because he could not bear its crying and that he had published the photograph on Facebook “pour s’amuser” (for a laugh).
Both parents were described as young – in their early 20s – and unemployed. They were released on police bail. Their child remains in hospital. The identities of the parents and child have not been released.
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Eastbourne Pier on fire!
A fire has ripped through part of Eastbourne Pier, completely destroying a section of the roof.
The blaze began in a part of the Victorian structure housing an amusement arcade. A section of the pier became engulfed in flames as the fire spread during the afternoon.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue said about 80 firefighters had been sent to the scene of the blaze.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) sent lifeboats from neighbouring towns.
Eyewitnesses said the fire, which started at the promenade end of the 144-year-old pier, appeared not to have affected the sea end of the Grade II listed structure.
I don't need a man to have a baby- Katy Perry!
29-year-old singer and actress Katy Perry wants to be a mom, with or without a man in her life.
“I don’t need a dude … It’s 2014!” she reportedly said in an interview with Rolling stone.
“We are living in the future; we don’t need anything. I don’t think I’ll have to, but we’ll see. I’m not anti-men. I love men. But there is an option if someone doesn’t present himself.”
Although she doesn’t intend to wait around for the right man, she is going to wait for the right moment to have a child.
“I want to be doing that in the right time,”
“And that’s not in the next two years, you know? Maybe it’s in a five-year plan, but I need to really be able to focus 100 percent of my attention on it. I don’t really want to take the child on tour. Not until, like, birth through 5 is over.” she said
It makes sense that Perry isn’t going to hang her parenting hopes on finding the right man, as her dating luck has been anything but good.
In February, Perry and John Mayer called it quits for good after a tumultuous year-and-a-half relationship. And that started just as the pop star’s divorce from Russell Brand, whom she was married to for 14 months, was being finalized.
“It was emotionally traumatic for me,”
“It was the death of a dream. I was in fairy-tale land, and the reality of it wasn’t so. But I don’t really like talking about it anymore, because it feels like a thousand lifetimes ago, and also it makes me look desperate, like I need it for attention.” she said.
Perry also touches on her difficulty in coping with her breakup with the comedian, who reportedly broke up with her via text message, in the interview.
She seems over that now, and has come to the realization that she can’t let a relationship determine whether she’s happy. But that hasn’t stopped her from having fun, the singer having most recently been linked to DJ Diplo.
Boy dies after getting hit by a stray bullet in bed!
According to the Detroit Police, an 8-year-old boy who was sleeping early Wednesday died after a bullet fired from outside went through the home’s wall and into his bedroom, hitting him.
The child was struck once about 1:15 a.m. Wednesday at the Brewster Homes complex on Detroit’s east side, Officer Adam Madera said, and pronounced dead about 45 minutes later at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
“He was sleeping in his room and gunshots were fired from outside,” Madera said.
No arrests were immediately made, but Detroit police were speaking with a “person of interest” in the case, Madera said.
An autopsy is scheduled Thursday, Wayne County medical examiner’s office spokeswoman Mary Mazur said.
 |
| Father of the deceased Jamre Pearson, is held back by a friend outside his home. |
The boy’s name wasn’t released by police, but The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press identify him as Jakari Pearson.
Grief-stricken relatives declined to be interviewed by The Associated Press. But their next door neighbor identified as Tenesha Higgins said there were “five or six” very loud booms — something she said is common in the public housing complex several miles northeast of downtown.
“I was just laying down to sleep,” said Higgins. “I heard the gunshots. It sounded like it was literally in front of the house. I waited, then I heard screaming and police sirens.
“I opened the door and the boy was laying in the street,” she said, adding it appeared the mother’s boyfriend was trying to rush him to the hospital.
“He was a good boy,” Higgins said.
“He liked to play baseball.”
Neighbors and passers-by started a makeshift memorial of stuffed bears, dogs and other toy animals on the front porch of the home. Propped on the toys were handwritten cardboard signs that read: “CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE!” ”GIVE OUR CHLDREN A CHANCE” and “UNITED WE STAND … STOP THE VIOLENCE!!!!”
Late Wednesday morning, police still were at Jakari’s home, a corner unit of several attached row houses. The shots appeared to have been fired behind the home toward the second floor. One tore through an upstairs window, while another appeared to cleanly pass through the exterior brick wall two feet beneath the window.
Jakari was to enter the fourth grade at Spain Elementary this year, friends said.
Higgins is fed up with the crime that has been creeping over the past decade or so into the neighborhood. She’s lived there about 15 years.
“It can get very dangerous,” Higgins said. “These guys get away with a lot of stuff. There have been numerous break-ins.
“I haven’t been to sleep. I don’t feel safe at all. I didn’t go to work today. I didn’t want to leave my baby.”
Jakari’s slaying follows the July 1 shooting death of a 2-year-old girl in Inkster, southwest of Detroit.
Police in that case have said KaMiya Gross was killed in front of her father as retaliation from an earlier shooting. Two men are charged in her death.
President Jonathan appoints new IG of Police!
President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed Suleiman Abba, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 7, as the new Inspector General of Police in Nigeria.
This happened following the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Jonathan on Tuesday.
He would now replace Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, who has completed the mandatory 35 years in service.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity confirmed this in his tweet:
"New IGP Abba replaces IGP Abubakar who proceeds on statutory retirement. IGP Abba's apptment is with effect from August 1, 2014".
Abba was a former Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Maryam Abacha.
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No money was given to Chibok visitors- Doyin Okupe!
Following alleged accusations that the parents of the girls were short-changed, Oga Doyin came out to clear the air with the twitt below:
Convener of the bringbackourgirls campaign Oby Ezekwesili, also chipped in her thoughts on the alleged Presidential largess.
E'heenn.....atleast that air has been cleared.....
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Britney unveils sexy sleepwear range!
Britney Spears has announced the launch of a "sexy, luxurious, and comfortable" sleepwear range. The pop superstar will launch The Intimate Britney Spears collection on September 9 at an event in New York City with retail partner CHANGE Lingerie.
"Every woman should feel confident and beautiful in everything she puts on," Spears said.
"My vision for The Intimate Britney Spears is to create pieces that are sexy, luxurious, and comfortable at the same time. I am excited to introduce this collection, because I feel that we accomplished exactly that."
The range includes lingerie sets, vintage-inspired bustiers and kimonos, and loungewear including jersey camisoles, shorts, and sweats.
Actor James Shigeta dies at 81!
Famed actor James Shigeta who played memorable roles in Die Hard (1988) and musical Flower Drum Song (1961) has died.
His agent confirmed his death in a statement to E! News: "It is with great sadness that I report the loss of my long-time friend and client James Shigeta,"
His agent confirmed his death in a statement to E! News: "It is with great sadness that I report the loss of my long-time friend and client James Shigeta,"
"James was the biggest East Asian U.S. star the country had known. He filled both A-movie starring roles and TV guest appearances with the same cool and classy style. James starred in Ross Hunter's glitzy production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Flower Drum Song, A Bridge to the Sun and Die Hard.
"James passed peacefully in his sleep, July 28, 2014, at 2 p.m. The world has lost a great actor. Sadly, I lost a dear friend." He said.
Born in Honolulu- Hawaii, Shigeta, originally studied to be an actor at New York University, although he initially joined the Marines, and served during the Korean War.
Fani-Kayode returns home to PDP for good, predicts PDP will win Osun elections!
Fani-Kayode said this while speaking to newsmen on Tuesday in Osogbo- Osun state, adding that, his return to the ruling party was a “return home”.
Predicting the PDP will win the 9 August election in Osun state, he said he was optimistic that PDP will win just as it did in Ekiti state, noting that, the people of Ife would vote massively for PDP candidate Senator Iyiola Omisore, whom he described as a true son of Ile-Ife.
“This is an opportunity for the people of Ife to have their own person at the executive level in the state.
“Omisore was a Deputy Governor, my father was a Deputy Prime Minister in the old Western region.
“This time around, we are going for the highest executive level in Osun because Omisore has what it takes to be governor,” he said.
On why he decided to return to PDP, Fani-Kayode said he left the main opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) because he did not like the way the party was being handled.
“Moreover, some of the issues that initially took me out of the PDP have already been addressed". he said.
Body of teen store-away found in the wheel well of U.S. military plane!
According to Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the teen stowaway was a black male who may have been of African origin. The flight originated in Mali but had other stops in between.
Kirby said the body was found during a routine post-flight maintenance inspection of the cargo plane.
He said the body had been turned over to German authorities for autopsy, and the matter is under investigation. He added that it is not known when or where the stowaway entered the landing gear wheel well.
Kirby further said the cause of death had not yet been determined. Lab results from samples taken from the body were negative for communicable diseases, Kirby said.
In addition to identifying the child, Martin reports, officials will now have to determine how a child managed to sneak into the wheel well of an American military aircraft. The fact that an unauthorized person managed to stow away aboard a military plane without being detected was a significant security breach.
The plane had stopped for refueling in Sigonella, Sicily, but it is considered unlikely the child got on there because Sigonella is a secure base.
Woman dies after ex-boyfriend douses her in gasoline and sets her ablaze!
Reports said that the 49 year- old woman, had recently ended her three-year relationship with her ex, Michael Kennedy, he came to her house in a Birmingham suburb early on Sunday and argued with her before setting her ablaze.
“It’s a totally senseless and violent loss of life,” said Sergeant Jack Self, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. “This is a special kind of evil that has no place existing in our society.”
The 48 year- old ex- boyfriend who fled in Prater’s sport utility vehicle, was arrested on Monday about five miles away by U.S. Marshals. He was initially charged with attempted murder – a charge likely to be upgraded with Prater’s death.
Prater, who suffered burns on her head, face, chest, arms and legs, was hospitalized in serious condition before turning for the worse on Monday night, she died just after midnight on Tuesday, he said.
Authorities said that Kennedy, who remains in jail on a $250,000 bond, has a criminal record that includes arrests for robbery and assault.
El Rufai loses son in auto crash!
According to reports, 23-year-old Hamza El Rufai, who was a student of Rochester Institute of Technology- Dubai, was driving the a black Lexus car when he ran into a stationery blue colored Volkswagen Saloon car around the Ningi Barrack along A.Y.A – Kubwa road, Abuja. Two persons were reportedly involved in the crash but only Hamza died in the crash.
According to the Federal Road Safety Corps, his corpse was taken to the national mosque by his parents while the crashed vehicles were deposited at the Maitama Police station.
Confirming the incident, El-Rufai in a statement posted on his Facebook page wrote: “From Allah, we came and to Him we shall return. Please join our family in praying for the repose of the soul of my son, Hamza El-Rufai who died this morning in a motor accident in Abuja.”
We send our sincere condolence to the El-Rufai family, may God grant you the fortitude to bear this lose, Amen.
Presidential fund - Sharing formula causes chaos within Chibok community!
The sum of N100 million, reportedly handed down to parents of the abducted Chibok girls, is currently causing serious argument in Chibok community over the way it was shared amongs the parents.
report has it that on July 22nd, President Jonathan released the money to leaders of the Chibok community in Abuja for onward passage to parents of the kidnapped schoolgirls. But it seems the supposed leaders decided to help themselves with a large junk of the dough, leaving the affected and aggrieved parents with crying foul play over the sharing formular.
A father, whose daughter was among the kidnapped girls was quoted thus: “I got only N200,000 out of the said N100million allegedly received by our leaders in Abuja. Some of us got N300,000 and some less than that”.
“Our leaders in Abuja are using the girls to enrich themselves. In fact, some of the parents were screened out of the entourage by the Chibok leaders in Abuja. Many of them are residents of Abuja, not parents of the kidnapped girls,” He claimed.
Another parent lamented he got only N7,000 out of the money.
“I was at the farm when they brought the N7, 000 to my house and I collected it. Some of us got even less, N300 and below,” he reportedly said.
A Chibok community leader, Pobu Bitrus, who was present at the meeting between the President and the parents explained to the BBC Hausa Service that after meeting, monies were distributed to the parents in envelopes.
“After we met with the presidency, the parents were given monies in envelopes and that’s all. All other things they are saying about N100million, I don’t know about that,” Bitrus said.
It was gathered that Presidential aides, Reuben Abati and Doyin Okupe, could not be reached as at the time of this report.
We believe it was a largess from the President towards the affected parents to put themselves together while the search continues, The Chibok kidnap issue should not be an avenue for some sects to enrich themselves, otherwise, nah blood money una dey chopooooo!
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