Iron Man 3 premiere rescheduled for Margaret Thatcher’s funeral!

The UK premiere of Iron Man 3 has been rescheduled due to Margaret Thatcher's funeral.

The Marvel movie was set to be screened in London on Wednesday 17 April, but will now take place the following day, in the wake of the former British Prime Minister's service.

Hosting the premiere in Leicester Square in addition to the crowds that are expected to turn up for the funeral at St Paul's Cathedral was deemed too complex to manage.

The stars of the movie - including Robert Downey JR, Rebecca Hall, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle were "most accommodating" about the changed date, according to reports.

Celebrities who have been invited to Thatcher's funeral include Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, Joan Collins and Sir Terry Wogan.

“I want Kardashian foursome”:Russell Brand

Russell Brand has jokingly revealed that he would like a foursome with the Kardashian sisters.

Khloe, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian were interviewing Brand whilst guest hosting Chelsea Lately, when the British comic revealed his desires for the famous siblings.

He said: "I'm vulnerable to the concept of a KKK threesome."

The quip then prompted Khloe to say to pregnant Kim: "Well, I heard pregnant p***y is the best p***y."
The comedian went on to say: "I think pregnant women are radiant and beautiful and the idea of lactation is an interesting one."

Brand then joked that his sexual encounter with the Kardashian siblings would entail a "limitless, foaming river of milk and orgasm".

Brand's appearance on the hit show came on the same day as police were called to his LA home after a fake emergency, making him the latest in a string of celebrities to fall victim to a series of swatting pranks.

Congo suspends 12 senior army officers in probe of mass rape!

The Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended a dozen senior military officers and is interrogating suspects in connection with a mass rape incident in the country's turbulent east, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping department said on Thursday.

The United Nations said 126 women were raped in Minova in November after Congolese army troops fled to the town as so-called M23 rebels briefly captured the nearby provincial capital, Goma, in eastern Congo.

The U.N. special envoy to Congo, Roger Meece, told Congolese authorities in a March 25 letter they had seven days to take action on the rapes. That came after earlier U.N. demands that Congolese authorities prosecute the suspected rapists went unheeded.

"The investigations have been launched, including interviews of victims and interrogations of suspects," said U.N. peacekeeping spokesman Kieran Dwyer.

"The commanding officers and deputy commanding officers of two units, as well as the commanding officers of eight other units, have been suspended and put at the disposal of the military prosecutor," he said. "Interrogations are ongoing."

It was not immediately clear how many suspected rapists the Congolese authorities were interrogating.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, has a mandate to protect civilians and support operations by the Congolese army. There are more than 17,000 troops in Congo, a country the size of Western Europe.

The United Nations previously told Congo that it would end support to two battalions linked to the Minova rapes if it did not try the soldiers involved.

"MONUSCO is continuing to monitor progress in the judicial process," Dwyer said.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said in December that human rights abuses were reported in and around Minova between November 20 and November 30, including the 126 rapes and the killing of two civilians. Nesirky said at the time that two soldiers were charged with rape, while seven more were charged with looting.

Peacekeepers have been stretched thin by the M23 rebellion in the resource-rich eastern Congo. The U.N. Security Council last month established a special intervention force, which one senior council diplomat has said will be able to "search and destroy" the M23 rebels and other armed groups in the country.

M23 began taking parts of eastern Congo early last year, accusing the government of failing to honor a 2009 peace deal. That deal ended a previous rebellion and led to the rebels' integration into the army, but they have since deserted.

M23, which a U.N. expert panel said last year was backed by Rwanda, has struggled with infighting recently.

African leaders signed a U.N.-mediated accord in February aimed at ending two decades of conflict in eastern Congo and paving the way for the intervention force approved last month.

Former Deputy Governor Of Anambra State Killed By Kidnappers!

Information reaching us says that Dr. Chudi Nwike, the former Deputy Governor of Anambra State who was kidnapped on March 19, has been killed by his kidnappers who had demanded a N30 million ransom and actually collected a negotiated amount.

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) said that the body was identified at the Agbor Police Station in Delta State by the Anambra State Chairman of the party), Chief Amaechi Obidike, State Secretary Barr Emeka Ibe, and the victim’s brother, Dr.Bufo Nwike.

The statement noted that the family had negotiated and paid a ransom prior to the discovery of the body, Bufo Nwike handling the negotiations and arranging to pay to the kidnappers N5million at an undisclosed location in Delta State.
That ransom was paid on April 5, but the kidnappers, after collecting the money from the courier, cut off all further communications. The body was discovered thereafter.

“We are tremendously ashamed of the circumstances of his death and wish we could now erase from history that a former Deputy Governor of a State in Nigeria died in this manner,”ACN said in the statement.

The party called on the security agencies, in view of the fact that they did not succeed in tracking down the abductors of the former Deputy Governor while he lived, to“rise and smash all obstacles on the way to unearthing the abductors and killers of ACN’s rare gem, an embodiment of peace and knowledge.”

See full ACN press release below:
Anambra’s Pioneer Deputy Governor killed by kidnappers
Okolo Azu Ogbunike aka ejiem ooo!
Omambalai n’umu Chi ewelu efifie jie !!
Umu Anambra izuzu be zu gbe !!!
Nigeria alu emeee nu moooo!!!!
With a heart full of pain and sorrow, Action Congress of Nigeria, Anambra State Chapter, in consultation with the NwikeFamily of Azu Ogbunike, Oyi Local Government Area ofAnambra State announces the death murder of Dr ChuddyNwike, Ibolo Ogbunike, First Deputy Governor of AnambraState and National Vice President of the Action Congress of Nigeria (South East).

Dr Nwike’s body has been identified by Our State Chairman, Chief Amaechi Obidike, our State Secretary, Barr Emeka Ibeand his brother Dr Bufo Nwike at Agbor Police Station in Delta State.
Dr Nwike, who became Deputy Governor of Anambra State under Gov Chukwuemeka Ezeife in 1991, was abducted by gunmen on March 19, 2013 by suspected kidnappers.

According to the family, the suspected kidnappers made contact with his brother Dr Bufo Nwike shortly after with a ransomedemand of N30 million equivalent, delivered in US Dollars. The younger Dr Nwike, negotiated the sum to N5 million which delivered to a location in Delta State through a courier on Friday April 05, 2013,after rejecting the offer for the wife or the brother to deliver the money.
But rather than release the ex-Deputy Governor, the kidnappers seized the money and the courier on April 05, 2013, cutting off all communication, until the body was found.

All efforts and all contacts made by our party to relevant authorities had not yielded any dividend and have surprisingly not even drawn any concern from quarters we took for granted.

We worked and prayed to see Dr Nwike return safe and alive to continue contributing as he has been doing to our party, but we have not. We toiled and moiled to see our South East National Vice Chairman, play his traditional fatherly role in the tasks immediately before us. But we are crest-fallen that Dr Nwike as gone the way of all mortals, though in a way we would have wished away.
We are tremendously ashamed of the circumstances of his death and wish we could now erase from history that a former Deputy Governor of a State in Nigeria died in this manner.

Our Leader Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige mourns, our committed party faithfuls weep and our overwhelming supporters wail, but Dr Nwike ,Ibolo Ogbunike, distinguished medical Doctor, calculative politician and quintessential statesman is no more.

Since the security agencies did not succeed in tracking down Anambra’s Deputy Governor in life, we urge them to rise and smash all obstacles on the way to unearthing the abductors and killers of ACN’s rare gem, an embodiment of peace and knowledge.

We urge them to leave no stone unturned and not be beaten by any decoy until the nation has the right answers to the nagging questions. For we may know who will it be next.

Expect more power cuts, minister tells Nigerians!

The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, on Wednesday said there would be more power cuts in the days ahead due to ongoing maintenance works on installations across the country.

Nebo, while explaining why there was a sharp drop in power supply at a briefing in Abuja, said the country lost 1,112 megawatts of generated electricity in two days due to the shutdown of the Chevron gas plant.

He said, “A few days ago, precisely last week Friday, Chevron shut down its gas plant for maintenance purposes, which was to take place between Friday and Saturday. And the technical crew in the power sector knew about the shutdown and this was in order to make sure that damages are not done before losing the gas entirely.

“From time to time, there is going to be shutdown and it happened two times recently between Benin and Osogbo. If you don’t shut down these plants in order to have a safe restarting process, you are going to lose the equipment. Once routine maintenance is done, the process of restarting the machines that were shut down takes some time.”

He said two power stations were affected by the recent shutdown, stressing that the oil company and the ministry’s technicians had to maintain the plants.

The minister added, “That is why between two and three days, we lost some 1,112MW. That means Omotoso and Olorunsogo plants were forced to shut down because there was no gas supply. By design, Chevron has to maintain the gas pipelines and it was so.

“You will notice that from Monday, we started seeing some increase that has stabilised. Right now, we have over 3,300MW.”

Nebo gave an assurance that occasional system failures would be addressed.

He said, “With regards to occasional system failures, we are in the process of reviving the huge section of the transmission machinery, especially the lines that are aged, failing, dilapidated and in need of replacement. We are working on that.

“And for that reason, whenever a significant part of the transmission network encounters serious technical problems, you will experience system shutdown. And whenever you have a serious problem, you must shut down in order to make sure that the system is not overloaded at one end and create problems throughout the entire country.”

The PUNCH news papers had exclusively reported on Wednesday that the nation had witnessed a significant drop in power generation from a peak of 4,517MW attained on December 21, 2012 to 3,443MW on Tuesday.

The 1,074MW drop is, however, a slight improvement on the 2,987.6MW peak generation recorded on April 6, 2013, when a whopping 1,529.4MW was lost.

The minister also said that the meeting with labour unions in the power sector over workers’ final entitlements had been cordial and that very soon, private investors would take over the power companies they bid for.

He also said the issue with Manitoba Hydro International over the management contract for the Transmission Company of Nigeria had been resolved, stressing that the transmission infrastructure had received a boost.

“Manitoba has received the schedule of delegated authority and most issues in the sector have been resolved,” Nebo added.

culled from: Punch News papers

US Sea Radar Tracking N. Korean Threat!

 With North Korea's launch of a mid-range Musudan missile believed to be imminent, a U.S. official confirms that the SBX radar has been deployed to the Pacific to assist with tracking the missile if it is launched. That tracking could help bring a missile down if needed.
The Sea-Based X-Band Radar looks like a giant golf ball placed atop a platform that resembles a floating oil rig.
It contains a precise long-range radar that is part of the integrated missile-defense system and helps track launched missiles so they can be brought down by missile interceptors.

 

With North Korea threatening to launch missiles against the United States, the Pentagon reportedly sent the radar system out to sea April 1 from its home port of Pearl Harbor to assist with tracking a potential missile launch.
The next day, Pentagon spokesman George Little denied that was the case, underscoring that the radar had gone to sea as part of previously scheduled sea trials. "They're undergoing semiannual system checks," Little said. "Decisions about further deployments have not been made to this point."
A U.S. official now says the SBX is no longer undergoing sea trials and "has been deployed to the Pacific for an operational missile-defense mission."
"It's up and running and active," the official said.

U.S. officials believe that at least one Musudan missile transported to North Korea's eastern coast last week is ready for launch and has been fueled.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters Wednesday that the United States "is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action that North Korea may take or any provocation that they may instigate."
He said the international community has been very clear that North Korea "with its bellicose rhetoric, with its actions, have been skating very close to a dangerous line." He said their actions and words "have not helped defuse a combustible situation."
He urged North Korea to turn down the rhetoric.
U.S. Pacific Command Adm. Sam Locklear told a Senate panel Tuesday that the United States has the capability to intercept a Musudan missile, but that he would not recommend shooting it down if its trajectory did not pose a threat to the United States or its allies in the region.
With a range of more than 2,000 miles, the Musudan cannot reach Hawaii or the U.S. mainland, although it could reach U.S. bases in Okinawa and Guam.

The U.S. Navy has deployed two Aegis destroyers to the region that are equipped with SM-3 missile interceptors that could bring down a North Korean missile. Both South Korea and Japan have each deployed two similar Aegis destroyers to the waters off the Korean peninsula to provide missile defense.

Lightning strikes SS3 pupil dead on exam day!

It was reported that a 19-year-old female Senior Secondary School 3 student of Muslim College Oworonsoki named Celestina Farotide was struck and killed by a lightning when she was about to start her final examination on that fateful day.
“It cannot be my daughter,” said the victim’s father, who refused to show up to collect his daughter’s corpse.
According to the aunt of the victim, Christiana Idowu, she saw the girl’s corpse in the hospital after the family received an emergency call from one of Celestina’s friends.
According to an eyewitness (name withheld), the tragic incident happened on Monday.
“We had finished with the morning assembly, but some students were still coming in. Celestina had prepared her desk in readiness for the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination’s practical they were to have that morning,” she said.
It was gathered that Celestina went out to buy food and when she was returning to her class with other students, the tragedy occurred.
According to another eyewitness: “The lightning came in their direction and immediately three of the school girls fell down. Two of them rose up and ran and Celestina rose up too. Then the lightning struck the second time, and she (Celestine) fell finally on the floor and did not rise again.
She was immediately taken to the teachers’ staff room, where a teacher was asked to take her to the Gbagada General Hospital. It was there she was confirmed dead.”
The traditional ruler of Oworonski, Oba Bashir Oloruntodupefun, reacted to the girl’s sudden death.
“It’s a pity the girl died. The circumstances surrounding her death are mysterious because the girl was never sick. From what happened, we can all see the gods are making demands.

The shrines that should be used for sacrifices have been swept away in water. And the land we have is being sold by government officials to their friends and they send military men to threaten us.