Kim Kardashian may have baby in Paris

For many people Paris, France, is a romantic, exotic vacation. But Kim Kardashian said she may jet over to Paris to give birth.

“We’re thinking of having the baby in Paris, maybe,” she told ET. “We’re still deciding.”

She said she and boyfriend Kanye West are also still mulling over names for their baby, due in July.

“We have ideas but we haven’t picked out a name,” she said.

Kardashian also opened up about her seemingly never-ending divorce from basketball star Kris Humphries.

“I guess everything take time,” she said. “I am just anxious and excited just to close that chapter in my life.”

In the meantime, the fashionista is keeping busy by working out and shopping for pregnancy gear—including some more baby friendly shoes.

“I went to go get flats this weekend…and I just cannot wear them,” she said. “Flats are just uncomfortable to me.”

EFCC arraigns Atuche

Lagos:



 The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday arraigned a former Managing Director of Bank PHB, Francis Atuche, over alleged forgery.

Atuche was charged before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of an Ikeja High Court on nine count charges of forgery.

He was arraigned alongside two employees of the Central Shared Services Centre of Keystone Bank Ltd., Joachim Nnosiri and Uguru Onyike.

EFCC counsel, Ben Ubi alleged that the accused had on March 4, in Lagos, forged board resolutions, purportedly emanating from Futureview Securities Ltd.,Tradjeck Ltd. and Extra Oil Ltd.

Ubi said the board resolutions were said to have been duly signed by the Managing Director of the three companies, Mrs Elizabeth Ebi and addressed to Keystone Bank.

He said the forged board resolutions, was the request of a N10.9 billion credit facility from the bank.

According to him, Nnosiri and Onyike, acting on behalf of Atuche, had attempted to smuggle the board resolutions into Keystone Bank headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Ubi said the documents were allegedly forged by the accused persons to weaken EFCC's case against Atuche in another criminal matter that alleged he granted hoax loans to the companies.

He said the offence contravened Sections 361 and 409 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

The accused all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Counsel to the accused, Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), Clement Onwuenwunor and Bamidele Adewunmi, urged the court to grant them bail on liberal terms.

Ubi told the court that he was served the bail applications in court and needed time to  respond.

The judge, therefore, directed the accused to go home and come back for arguments on their bail applications.

He, then, fixed Wednesday, March 27, for hearing of Atuche's application for bail while those of the other two accused would be heard on March 28.

News Agency of Nigeria recalls that Atuche is standing trial in two other cases before the Ikeja High Court.

He is being prosecuted alongside his wife, Elizabeth Atuche and a former Chief Financial Officer of Bank PHB, Ugo Anyanwu, before Justice Lateefat Okunnu.

The EFCC alleged that Atuche and his co-accused had allegedly stolen N25.7 billion, belonging to the bank, through the granting of hoax loans, including the N10.9 billion transaction.

The former bank chief is also being tried before Onigbanjo for allegedly conspiring with two former directors, Funmi Ademosun and Lekan Kasali, to steal N4.2 billion and N7.2 billion from the bank. 

Henry Okah gets 24 years jail term

A SOUTH African court on Tuesday jailed Nigerian national, Henry Okah for 24 years after he was convicted of 13 terrorism charges over twin bombings in Abuja in 2010.

“Effectively, the accused Okah is therefore sentenced to 24 years imprisonment,” said Judge Neels Claassen.

He was found guilty of 13 terrorism-related charges over twin car bombings during Nigeria's independence day celebrations in 2010. At least 12 people were killed and 36 others injured.

Okah led a group which said it was fighting to help Niger Delta residents gain a greater share of the oil wealth.

Meanwhile, The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it  received with incredulity the 24 years sentence planned on Henry Okah after a sham trial in a South African kangaroo court.

MEND's spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo said the group is  disappointed but not surprised that the South African judiciary have allowed itself to be compromised by the highly corrupt Nigerian government.

 "The governments of South Africa and Nigerian should realise that this planned sentencing of Henry Okah would not in any way, shape or form, change our struggle as we will remain dedicated to our cause until we achieve full justice and emancipation for the Niger Delta and its people,".

The court established that Okah was the former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, {MEND}. He also received a 13-year jail term for threats made to the South African government after his arrest in October 2010 but this runs concurrently with his 24-year sentence.

The judge found that the state had proven Okah's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt because he didn't testify in his own defence during the trial.

He had repeatedly denied any involvement in the bombings.

Prosecutors have argued that although Okah is not a South Africa citizen, the country had the jurisdiction to try him under the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Act.

Analysts believe it would have been too dangerous for him to be tried in Nigeria because of the presence of his militant supporters.

Okah is thought to be the first foreign national to be tried for terrorism in South Africa. He has been in custody since his arrest in October 2010, a day after the Abuja bombings.

Okah was arrested on gun-running charges in Angola in 2007 and then transferred to Nigeria but never convicted.

He was released after two years under an amnesty for oil militants and he returned to South Africa, where he had lived since 2003.

The 48-year-old was first arrested in February 2008 in Angola and then deported to Nigeria on a 62-count charge of treason, terrorism, illegal possession of firearms and arms trafficking.

 Okah accepted late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s Presidential Amnesty Programme and was consequently freed on 13th July 2009. But he was rearrested on 2nd October 2010 — a day after the 2010 Independence Day bombing — in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the trial began on 1st October 2012, exactly two years after the bombing.

Middleton's impersonator is Fake Pregnant!

Proving an intense devotion to her craft, Kate Middleton impersonator Heidi Agan has purchased a series of fake baby bumps so she can accurately portray the Duchess of Cambridge throughout her pregnancy. 

 Proving an intense devotion to her craft, Kate Middleton impersonator Heidi Agan has purchased a series of fake baby bumps so she can accurately portray the Duchess of Cambridge throughout her pregnancy.

These are the kind of on-the-job issues Agan never would have imagined a few years back. In 2009, she was a waitress at a burger joint in Northamptonshire, who happened to look a lot like the girlfriend of Prince William. Then Kate and Will got engaged and Agan decided to make the career move from waitress to celebrity impersonator. She does bear an uncanny resemblance to the Duchess, with the same long brown curls, blue eyes, and smile—and the two are nearly the same age: Kate is 31, Agan is 32.




 
She embarked on her new career by purchasing the blue Issa dress Kate wore for her engagement announcement in November 2010 and then purchased a $450 dollar copy of the Alexander McQueen evening gown the Duchess wore shortly thereafter. Agan tells the BBC is she constantly monitoring the news for information about Kate and working to copy her mannerisms.

Now Agan can afford the expense of being “the UK’s most realistic Kate Middleton lookalike,” as she says on her website. She makes nearly $1,000 dollars a day masquerading as Kate Middleton, by attending charity events and making regular television and radio appearances. In October 2012 she appeared on "Good Morning America" and Kate Couric’s talk show accompanied by Prince William lookalike Tyler Brasfield.

It’s a role that Agan takes very seriously, not only in person but online. Agan has been keeping fans in the loop with social media updates about her fake bump. "The 'bump' and I had a great time filming outside today. But it was cold outside, brrr," she tweeted earlier this month, along with a retweet of a photo with her fake bump. On March 5,  she tweeted about acquiring the prosthetic tummy, "picked up my 'baby bump' today. How strange :)."

It may be strange but it's a living, and a lot more lucrative than her former gig pushing burgers for $9 an hour. "It's just been incredible and I feel so blessed with it and without the support of my family I just couldn't do it,"  

Agan, who has an 11-year-old and four-year-old, said. "Appearing as Kate has given me the opportunity to spend more time with my own children than if I was doing my waitressing job and that's priceless."

Mikel Obi denies marriage preparations with Sandra Okagbue!

This week's City People reports that, Mikel Obi and Sandra Uche Okagbue's introduction will hold this Sunday March 31 in Onitsha, but Mikel Obi has come out to deny it.
The Chelsea star told Kick Off sports reporter, Colin Udoh, that he's just friends with Sandra

"I don't understand where this is coming from. I know her. We're friends, but we haven't spoken in a long time and definitely not about marriage."

Sandra Okagbue won Miss Delta Soap beauty pageant in 2010 and she's the daughter of the late Obi of Onitsha, Obi Ofala Okagbue.





we'l keep our fingers crossed as event unfolds. 

Ex-Zambian president arrested over Nigerian oil deal; pleads not guilty!

Former Zambian president, Mr. Rupiah Banda, was arrested on Monday by the country’s law enforcement agents over allegations of corruption and abuse of office, following a crude oil import deal with Nigeria.

Banda, according to an online news agency, hotnaijanews.com, was also alleged to have misappropriated about $11m during his three-year reign as President of the country.

The country’s authorities are accusing him of procuring oil which did not benefit the country.

He was said to have imported crude oil from Nigeria without actual deliveries, despite the fact that the funds were deposited into the bank account of his son.

Banda, who was released from police custody and is due to appear in court on Tuesday, however, said the moves against him are politically motivated.

He was questioned for close to three hours after his arrest related to the oil deal Monday before he was released on bail.

Banda denies the charges, and his lawyers claim the arrest is an attempt by current President Michael Sata to silence him.

After his release, Banda appeared before his supporters and told them to remain calm, reassuring them he would win his case in court.

Earlier this month,   parliament lifted Banda’s presidential immunity, clearing the way for him to be prosecuted for several corruption and abuse of office charges.

Banda lost to President Michael Sata in 2011 elections. The new government has been pursuing the corruption investigations against the former leader and his political allies.

Banda, born 13 February 1937, was President of Zambia from 2008 to 2011.

During the Presidency of Kenneth Kaunda, Banda held important diplomatic posts and was active in politics as a member of the United National Independence Party. Years later, he was appointed as Vice-President by President Levy Mwanawasa in October 2006, following the latter’s re-election.

He took over Mwanawasa’s presidential responsibilities after Mwanawasa suffered a stroke in June 2008, and following Mwanawasa’s death in August 2008, he became acting President. As the candidate of the governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy, he narrowly won the October 2008 presidential election, according to official results.

Opposition leader Michael Sata defeated Banda in the September 2011 presidential election, and Sata accordingly succeeded Banda as President on September 23, 2011.

 His Plea in court:

Rupiah Banda has pleaded not guilty to a charge of abuse of power during his time in office.

The charges relate to an oil deal signed with a Nigerian company, which prosecutors say was meant to benefit Mr Banda and his family.

"No my Lord, I deny the charge," Mr Banda told the court, AFP reports.

The ex-president says the charges are part of a political witch-hunt against him and his allies.

He is due back in court next month to answer further allegations when his trial starts.

African nations increase farm spending, winning poverty battle

U.S. President Barack Obama hosts the leaders of four African nations this week, all of which are cited in a new report for effectively increasing spending on agriculture to combat extreme poverty and hunger.

The report by the ONE Campaign, an anti-poverty group co-founded by Irish rockers Bono and Bob Geldof, said Senegal, Malawi, Cape Verde and Sierra Leone either met or were close to meeting targets for increased budget spending on agriculture.

All of the countries, except Cape Verde where there is little data, are also on track or close to meeting a U.N. target of halving extreme poverty by 2015, the report said.

The African leaders will visit the White House on Thursday to showcase their fledgling democracies, but also their potential in a region where strong economic policies are attracting increased investment.

 

A recent World Bank report said Africa's agricultural sector could become a $1 trillion industry by 2030 if farmers modernized their practices and had better access to financing, new technology, irrigation and fertilizers.

"Despite record improvements by select African countries, Africa overall is still far from realizing its agricultural potential," said the ONE Campaign report, which assessed progress by 19 African countries and donors that send them aid.

"For African governments, donors and the private sector alike, 2013 is the year to deliver on these building blocks that impact farming and expand economic opportunities for farmers," the report said.

This year marks a decade since African governments committed to allocate 10 percent of national spending to boost agricultural production, reversing decades of under investment in the sector. The so-called Maputo commitments expire this year, giving world leaders the opportunity to lay out a bold new plan with targets, the report said.

According to ONE's analysis, at least four of the 19 African countries analyzed - Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Malawi and Niger - met or exceeded the target of 10 percent total expenditure on agriculture. Senegal and Sierra Leone are close to the target.

Meanwhile, the laggards are Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana, which spend less than 2 percent of their budgets on agriculture.

The report also called on industrialized nations - the United States, France, Britain, Canada Japan, Germany and Russia - to make good on their various funding promises to help African nations increase agricultural production.

The G8, which meets in June this year, has repeatedly promised to support Africa-led initiatives, yet G8 agriculture investment plans have only secured about half of their required financing, and many donors contribute only a small fraction of their agriculture aid to poor countries, the report said.

The report shows that European Union institutions, Canada and Germany increased their share of foreign assistance to agriculture, while Britain, Japan and France cut theirs.