FIA prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar gunned down!

Main state prosecutor in the 2007 murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Chaudhry Zulfiqar was shot dead in Islamabad en route to court Friday, police said.

Due to the killing, the hearing of Benazir Bhutto murder case has been adjourned till May 14 while lawyers are observing complete strike in High Court and District Court Rawalpindi.

Chaudhry Zulfiqar was shot multiple times after gunmen intercepted his vehicle shortly after he left home in the capital. His bodyguard was also wounded and a woman passer-by killed.

"Chaudhry Zulfiqar was driving his car. He lost control and the car crushed a woman passer-by," police officer told.

"Zulfiqar was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries," he added.

Police said the gunmen fled on a motorbike.

Zulfiqar's white Toyota Corolla was badly damaged in the attack.

Its wind shield was smashed and there were multiple bullet marks on both sides of the car and at the front. Pieces of broken window lay inside and on the road. There was blood on the car seats and on the road.

Police said it appeared the attackers targeted his car soon after Zulfiqar took a U-turn after leaving his street.

He lost control and the car skidded into a depression along the main road after hitting the woman, who died instantly, officers said.

Zulfiqar had been on his way to the anti-terrorism court hearing the Bhutto case in the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was this week placed under two-week house arrest over charges that he conspired to murder Bhutto.

Zulfiqar was also the main government prosecutor who indicted seven alleged conspirators in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people and which were blamed on Pakistan's Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Pakistan indicted the seven in 2009 but has since said it needs to gather more evidence in India before proceeding further.

Zulfiqar was given extra government security last year after he was implicated in threats received by police investigators.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the shooting.

"I cannot comment. I'm in a state of shock," Zulfiqar's deputy Azhar Chaudhry told when asked to comment.

Wasim Khawaja, spokesman of PIMS hospital, told that Zulfiqar's bodyguard was out of danger.

Nobody has ever been convicted or jailed for Bhutto's assassination in a gun and suicide attack after a campaign rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.

The assassination comes just days before Pakistan holds historic general elections on May 11, marking the first time that a civilian government completes a full-term in office and hands over to another at the ballot box.

Musharraf's government blamed the killing on Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.

In 2010 a UN report said Bhutto's death could have been prevented and accused Musharraf's government of failing to give her adequate protection.

Initial Post Mortem Complete

The initial post mortem of the FIA prosecutor in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, Chaudhry Zulfiqar has been completed. According to the report Zulfiqar has 17 injury marks on his body.

The final report will be completed in two days. A six member medical board from the PIMS Hospital conducted the post mortem. The FIA prosecutor died from a bullet wound to the head.

Actress, Genevieve Nnaji Adds A Year!

Nigerian actress Genevieve Nnaji turned 34 today. The beautiful actress was born on the 3rd of May, 1979 in Mbaise, Imo state Nigeria and grew up in Lagos, Nigeria.

The fourth of eight children she was brought up in a middle class environment. Genevieve Nnaji completed her secondary school education in Methodist Girls College in Yaba Lagos before proceeding to UNILAG for her degree.

She began her acting career at the age of 8, when she featured in the popular 80s Nigerian soap opera, Ripples.. She has a daughter whom she gave birth to in her teenage years.

Genevieve has received several awards and nominations for her work, she is referred to as the “Julia Roberts” of Africa according to CNN.

She has starred in over 80 Nollywood movies and considered to be one of the best paid actresses in Nollywood.

The first Nollywood movie, she appeared in was the 1998 movie, Most Wanted. Since then she has gone on to establish herself as a fan favourite and one of the leading actresses in Nollywood. Some other movies, which she has featured in include Mirror Boy, Tango With Me, Bursting Out, Ije: The Journey, Silent Scandal, Beautiful Soul, Letters to a Stranger, 30 Days, and Girls Cot.

Overdose Suspected in Death of Kris Kross Rapper!

The mother of rapper Chris Kelly told authorities in Atlanta her son became sick after taking cocaine and heroin on the night before he died, according to a police report.

Kelly, half of the 1990s teen rap duo Kriss Kross, was found dead Wednesday of a suspected drug overdose.

Kelly’s mother, Donna Kelly Pratte, 54, and his uncle, Lamar Williams, 52, told authorities Kelly had a history of drug abuse and experienced similar episodes in the past, according to the Fulton County police report.

Paramedics found Kelly, 34, unresponsive on a living room couch at his Atlanta home and tried administering CPR. Kelly, who was known as “Mac Daddy,” was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Authorities completed a physical examination of Kelly’s body and a toxicology screening was being done to determine cause of death, said Betty Honey of the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office.

Kriss Kross was introduced to the music world in 1992 by music producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri after he discovered the pair at Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta. Kelly performed alongside Chris Smith, who known as “Daddy Mac.”

“To the world Chris was Mac Daddy but to me, he was a son I never had …,” Dupri said in a written statement Thursday.

“When I think about it, I spent more time with Chris and Chris than damn near anybody in my whole life, so you can imagine how bad this hurts,” Dupri added. “I will always love you Chris, and I will never let the world forget you, may God bless your soul.”

Other music industry fixtures took to Twitter to share their condolences after hearing news of Kelly’s death.

The duo wore their clothes backward as a gimmick, but they won over fans with their raps.

Their first, and by far most successful song, was “Jump.” The hit, off their multiplatinum 1992 debut album “Totally Krossed Out,” featured the two trading verses and rapping the refrain, the song’s title. The duo had surprising maturity in their rap delivery, though the song was written by Dupri. It would become a No. 1 smash in the United States and globally, and one of the most popular of that year.

Their success led to instant fame: They toured with Michael Jackson, appeared on TV shows, and even had their own video game.

The group was never able to match the tremendous success of their first song, though they had other hits like “Warm It Up,” and “Tonite’s tha Night.”

In 2009, after photos surfaced that showed Kelly with bald spots on his head, there were rumors that he had cancer. But in an interview posted on YouTube by Straight from the A TV, he said he suffered from alopecia, a condition in which people lose their hair.

“My health is good, I just got alopecia, I don’t have cancer, not other sort of diseases,” he said.

Earlier this year, the group performed together to celebrate the anniversary of Durpri’s label, So So Def.

Indian Man Arrested After Letting 9-Year-Old Son Drive Ferrari!

A man was recently arrested in southern India after police caught wind he was letting his nine-year-old son drive the family Ferrari.

The Independent's Rob Williams reports authorities moved in on Mohammed Nisham after footage of the young roadster went viral on Youtube. Nisham is described as "a wealthy property tycoon."

Video of ailing Nelson Mandela prompts outrage in South Africa!

A video of a frail and unamused looking Nelson Mandela surrounded by South African President Jacob Zuma and other officials has prompted cries of political exploitation by the government.

In the footage released by the South African Broadcasting Corp., the 94-year-old Mandela sits in a chair at his Johannesburg home, barely moving and never smiling as leaders from the governing African National Congress arrange themselves for a photo opportunity.

At one point Mandela's grandson takes a picture with flash, causing him to close his eyes and purse his lips. The former president is sensitive to flash photography from his years laboring in quarries during his imprisonment under the country's apartheid government.

Zuma says Mandela is in "good shape," but the footage seems to show him looking anything but -- and the stunt provoked outrage from many in South Africa who accused the ANC and SABC of parading the country's anti-apartheid hero on television for their own benefit. "Very sad seeing the footage of Madiba. And who was the idiot who took a pic of him with a flash? Disgraceful. Leave him alone", tweeted Johannesburg radio DJ John Robbie, using the clan name by which Mandela is widely referred to in South Africa. 

Another Twitter user, Brent Lindeque, wrote: "After everything Madiba has done for us this is how they treat him. Like an animal at the zoo. Shame on the ANC!" 

"After months of attacking media for 'invading' Mandela's privacy, ANC today released an invasive video of a clearly ailing and grim Mandela," tweeted journalist Geoffrey York. 

One Johannesburg radio station wrote: "The way #Madiba was paraded on SABC TV this evening was horrible! Grotesque 'journalism'. All involved should hang their heads in shame!" Mandela endured 27 years in prison before becoming the country's first black president in 1994. He has become increasingly frail over the years and has been hospitalized three times in the past five months, most recently for a lung infection in March. The ANC may have been critical of the media in the past for not respecting Mandela's privacy since his withdrawal from public life, but the party rejected any criticism of Monday's house call. "The African National Congress has noted the determined efforts by some sections of our society to degrade the visit of the National Office Bearers to Comrade Nelson Mandela," 

Party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement. Mthembu said the visit "was in line with the accepted norms of Ubuntu that we value our elderly," and the party "stands by its statements that President Mandela is in good health and in good spirits." "South Africans are called upon to appreciate that Tata is 94 years old; he will thus be frail and not as active and energetic as we all fondly remember him. There is no reason to be alarmed by the visuals of an elderly person who clearly is receiving the necessary care and attention." 

Geoffrey York countered on Twitter: "ANC misses point. Criticism was because of its political exploitation of Mandela; not because of 'fear' of the images." Another user, Siya_Ntshoko, wrote: "[T]he #ANC has no compunction about using a 94 year old frail man to canvass for votes - anything for nostalgia." The video released Monday was the first of the former leader since his birthday last July. Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has a history of lung problems dating back to when he was a political prisoner on Robben Island during apartheid. He contracted tuberculosis during his imprisonment. He underwent treatment for a lung infection and had surgery to remove gallstones over the Christmas holiday in 2012, one of his longest hospital stays since his release from prison in 1990.

culled from CNN

Governor Fashola Builds First Suspension Bridge In Nigeria!

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde has finished building the first suspension bridge in
Nigeria. The 1.358km bridge, which will link Ikoyi (Alexander Street) to Lekki (Admiralty Way), cost about N29 billion to build and a toll will be collected to recoup the investment. 

Israel claims ‘proof’ of chemical weapons use by Assad regime!

A senior Israeli official says intelligence services have concrete proof the Syrian military has used chemical weapons against rebels.

According to the official, who remained anonymous, there is unequivocal evidence showing forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have engaged in chemical warfare.

“These are not intelligence estimates . . . rather proof, and even more than proof. There is substantial material about the use of chemical weapons by Assad’s army. It is known to all intelligence agencies. All intelligence elements have been updated. No one has any doubts on the matter.”

The comments were significantly more clear-cut than statements last week by Brig Gen Itai Brun, the head of the military intelligence research and analysis division, who indicated Syrian troops had used sarin nerve gas several times in the past few weeks.

US president Barack Obama has said use of chemical weapons would constitute a “game-changer”, but American officials said last week that although the Israeli assertions were probably true, concrete proof was needed.

The latest comments by the Israeli official came after the security cabinet convened for discussions on how Isreal  should respond to the crisis.

New dangers 
While Israel would welcome the fall of the Assad regime as a serious blow to the Iran-Syria-Hizbullah axis, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned yesterday that Syria was “cracking”, and that new forces were rising that posed two possible dangers – “an attack from the Golan Heights and lethal weapons falling into the hands of Hizbullah and other terror groups.”