₦airaland Forum

After winning the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea last month, Cote d’Ivoire captain Didier Drogba says he is accomplishing his last international assignments with the Elephants and will say goodbye to the outfit after the 2014 World Cup.

At a press conference in Abidjan on Thursday ahead of the qualifier against Tanzania, Drogba said he would do his best to help the team reach the Brazil 2014 and leave a memorable legacy because it will be the last time local fans will see him in the Ivorian jersey.

“I’m certainly living my last days with the national team, and the match against Tanzania on Saturday will be one of my last games here at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium,” Drogba said.

“However, I’ll do my best to leave something memorable for fans, and after the 2014 Fifa World Cup, I think I’ll be quitting international football for good.”

The 34-year-old striker also revisited their failure to win the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, which Zambia scraped on penalties.

“It’s true winning the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea brought much joy to Ivorian fans, but it cannot blot out the nightmare of February 12 in Libreville (Gabon), the day we bitterly lost the 2012 Afcon to Zambia. It is still very fresh and hurting. We hope to make up for it in the upcoming edition,” he added.

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Baltimore - A 21-year-old college student from Kenya accused of killing a housemate told police he ate the victim's heart and part of his brain after he died.

Alexander Kinyua hid the head and hands of the dead man in his family's basement laundry room in a suburb of Baltimore, according to the sheriff's office. Kinyua, a student at Morgan State University, was charged earlier in May in another attack in which the victim was brutally beaten but survived.

Kinyua is charged with first-degree murder and other charges in the death of 37-year-old Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, of Ghana. He was ordered held on no bail.

His public defender did not return a call seeking comment, and a voicemail left at Kinyua's home was not returned.

Sheriff's spokesperson Monica Worrell said the chief medical examiner had not yet officially identified the body parts, but that authorities believe they are those of Kodie, who was reported missing on 25 May. His cellphone and wallet were left in the home and police were initially told he had gone for a run.

On Tuesday, Kinyua's father, Antony Kinyua, called detectives and reported that another son, Jarrod, found what he thought were human remains in the house where they all lived in Joppatowne.

Jarrod found two metal tins, which held a human head and two human hands. Police say Jarrod confronted his brother, who said the remains were animals.

According to charging documents, Jarrod and his father went to the basement, where Jarrod "observed that the items he observed were gone and Alex Kinyua was cleaning the container he observed them in".

Court records

Detectives obtained a search warrant and found the head and hands in the house. Police say Alexander Kinyua admitted to killing Kodie by cutting him up with a knife and eating his heart and part of his brain.

Authorities say Kinyua told detectives the rest of the body could be found in a trash container at the Town Baptist Church in Harford County where they discovered remains.

The attack comes in the same week as a man in Miami chewed away another man's face along a busy highway and wouldn't stop until an officer shot him to death. Witnesses say 31-year-old Rudy Eugene growled at the officer and continued to chew away. The victim, identified as 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, a homeless man who lived under the causeway, was in critical condition and will be permanently disfigured.

On 19 May, Kinyua beat a man with a baseball bat on Morgan's campus, fracturing his skull and making him lose sight in one eye, according to Baltimore police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi. Kinyua was arrested 20 May and released on $220 000 bail.

Morgan officials say Kinyua studied electrical engineering.

According to court records, the victim, Kodie, was convicted in November 2008 in Baltimore County of sex offense and assault in September 2007 and harassment, stalking and telephone misuse for making repeated calls in 2007 and 2008 to a woman. He was sentenced to at least a year and a half in jail.

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Gunmen abducted an Italian engineer on Monday in Kwara State, central Nigeria, Italy’s foreign ministry told AFP on Thursday.

“We can confirm an Italian engineer has been kidnapped. We don’t yet know why or by whom,” said the ministry spokeswoman. Italian officials were in contact with Nigerian authorities and the man’s family, she added.

The ministry would not confirm the man’s identity. “As in all hostage cases, we cannot risk jeopardising the situation by releasing sensitive information,” said the spokeswoman.

Italian building and civil engineering firm Borini Prono confirmed that one of their employees had been abducted on Monday, but would not release further details.

“We’re waiting anxiously for a development,” a Borini Prono spokesman said. “We have a representative in Nigeria who is working closely with the government, local police and Italian embassy.

Borini Prono works mainly on road-building.

According to Nigerian police reports cited by the Corriere della Sera newspaper, unidentified armed men snatched the engineer as he inspected road-draining works in the city of Ilorin, the regional capital.

The kidnapping comes just two months after an Italian hostage was killed in Nigeria. Franco Lamolinara, who was also an engineer, was killed along with his British colleague Chris McManus during a failed rescue bid.

A faction of the Islamist Boko Haram sect was accused of being responsible for kidnapping the two engineers.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hi6HvMUDzJA7-L3WcydIOVyYByPA?docId=CNG.6c948443674a73ed3c7ca864fc21eea1.191

By Joe Brock

ABUJA, May 30 (Reuters) - Nigeria has already spent half its 2012 fuel subsidy budget on arrears for last year, the finance ministry said on Wednesday, risking Africa's second-largest economy racking up further debt or running out of money to sustain huge subsidy payments.

Nigeria tried to remove gasoline import subsidies in January, but the move more than doubled the petrol price to 150 naira ($0.94) per litre, from 65 naira per litre previously, prompting more than a week of strikes and street protests.

The government backed down and partially reinstated the subsidy, bringing the price down to 97 naira per litre.

A parliamentary probe that followed uncovered a $6.8 billion fraud in the subsidy regime and said Nigeria spent 2.58 trillion naira last year on subsidy payments, more than 900 percent the budgeted amount for the year.

President Goodluck Jonathan, the state-owned oil company NNPC and the finance ministry pledged to clean up any inefficiencies, but the latest data shows spending remains out of control.

Nigeria budgeted 888 billion naira for fuel subsidies this year but it has already spent 451 billion naira on back payments for 2011, the state oil company and finance ministry said, more than double what it had expected to pay in arrears.

"This is clearly not sustainable and the ministry has a responsibility to ensure that the lapses that may have led to this unhealthy situation are not repeated," a statement from the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

Africa's biggest crude exporter will need to dip into its oil savings once the budgeted amount runs dry and with only around $3.5 billion in the excess crude account (ECA) it could be wiped out by the end of the year, economist have warned.

The NNPC also owes about $3.5 billion to oil traders, including Trafigura, according to the parliamentary probe. If that is the case, the excess crude account is essentially empty anyway, so government finances could very quickly go into the red.

The ECA, which is supposed to cushion the economy against sudden oil price falls, contained more than $20 billion in 2007 but has been depleted by continual raiding despite a period of record oil prices.

"The subsidy has prolonged a vicious cycle: Nigeria is the top African oil producer, but the country is forced to import large volumes of refined fuel," Samir Gadio, economist at Standard Bank said in a research note on Wednesday.

"From a macroeconomic standpoint, the cost associated with this distortion is becoming unbearable."

Decades of corruption and mismanagement mean Nigeria sells almost all its 2 million barrels per day of crude oil production rather than refining it for domestic use.

Nigeria's central bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, told Reuters in April the subsidy money would run out well before the end of the year. Sanusi wants the subsidy scrapped but this would be a big risk for Jonathan, given the public reaction in January.($1 = 159.1250 Nigerian nairas) (Editing by Tim Cocks and Helen Massy-Beresford)

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Mogadishu (RBC) At least three government forces were killed as more than six others including senior spokesman were wounded after Al Shabaab fighters ambushed a convoy of president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed returning from Afgoye district on Tuesday, RBC Radio reports.

The attack occurred at Calamada location on the Afgoye corridor which is 19-km south of the capital shortly after the president paid his first visit to Afgoye district which the government forces backed by AMISOM seized from Al Shabaab on Friday.

Three of the president’s special guards were killed in fierce gun battle which lasted for more than twenty minutes between the government forces and Al Shabaab fighters. Senior Ahlusuna spokesman Mohamed Hussein Owliyo was among those wounded.

The convoy which among government ministers, members of the parliament and military officials were later escorted to the capital and none of the high profile people was hurt in the attack, the spokesperson of the transitional government said this afternoon.

“After the consecutive defeat which they are encountering from the government and AMISOM, the extremists tried to attack us but in Allah’s wishes they failed.” Gen Abdulkarim Yusuf Aden told RBC Radio. “Five of Al Shabaab members were arrested in today’s attack.” He added.

Meanwhile Al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis abu Mus’ab said that his fighters killed senior government officials in today’s attack.

He added that the fighters of Al Shabaab have still presence in the area and will maintain attacks against the government forces and the AMISOM.

The situation of the Afgoye corridor was calm this afternoon as the government sent reinforcement troops.

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JEALOUS Kim Kardashian banned boyfriend Kanye West from letting Rihanna into his dressing room during his London gigs.Raunchy Rihanna had joined Kanye and Jay-Z on stage at the O2 Arena. In February she was seen out with Kim’s model brother Rob.

A Kanye source said: “Kim is incredibly protective of Kanye and doesn’t want any women near him unless she is there – even his friends.

“Rihanna wasn’t even allowed to go into his dressing room without Kim being there. The fact she was linked to Kim’s brother probably didn’t help.

“It’s crazy but Kim knows the attention Kanye gets when he’s on tour – and she doesn’t want any competition.”

Kim, 31, jetted back to the US yesterday and claimed her bags had been ransacked.

In a series of tweets the reality TV star wrote: “Very disappointed. Some things are sentimental and not replaceable.

“What happened to the days when you could lock your bags! Shame on you.”

British Airways are investigating.

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https://www.theeagleonline.com.ng/images/resized/images/a%20chiedo_330_300.jpg
Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Lagos Monday granted the request of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), for one Mr. Godwin Chiedo Nzeocha, to be extradited to the United States of America to face criminal charges over an alleged $30 million Health Care Benefit Fund fraud.

Nzeocha, 54, worked with the City Nursing Services in Houston, Texas, US as a Physical Therapist Aide between 2007 and 2009.

In US, he was alleged to have conspired with others and submitted claims worth $45 million to the Medicare and Medicaid for health care services on behalf of some patients who were beneficiaries of the health insurance claims.

Nzeocha and his accomplices were paid $30 million but failed to remit the funds to the beneficiaries.

Consequently, he was dragged before a US District Court in the Southern District of Texas, Houston by the US Department of Justice on October 19, 2009 for offences bordering on conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, money laundering and mail fraud.

Rather than face his trial, Nzeocha fled to Nigeria. In his ruling, Justice Tsoho agreed with the prosecution that the extradition application was competent and that the alleged offences which are the basis of the extradition request are returnable offences.

He therefore ruled that accused be extradited to US to face trial within a period of one month. Nzeocha was arrested in June 2011 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following a petition from the Legal Attaché to the US Consular Office, Lagos, on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Part of his extradition charges read: “Conspiracy to commit health care fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, carrying penalty on conviction of a fine of up to $250,000, or imprisonment of not more than ten (10) years, or both; supervised released of not more than three years; a special assessment of $100.00 for each convicted offence.”

Indictment with health care fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347, carrying penalty on conviction of a fine of up to $250,000, or imprisonment of (10) years, or both; supervised released of not more than three (3) years; and a special assessment of $100.000 for each convicted offence.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/court-extradites-nigerian-to-us-over-30m-fraud/116827/

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Tens of thousands of Moroccans took to the streets of Casablanca yesterday in the largest opposition protest since an Islamist-led government took office, reflecting mounting tensions over unemployment and other social woes.
The protest was organised by trade unions which accuse Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane of failing to deliver on the pledges of social justice that brought his party to power in the wake of the Arab Spring.
“There are more than 50,000 people who are demonstrating to call on the government to start a genuine dialogue addressing our country’s social ills,” opposition Socialist MP Hassan Tariq said.
An official estimated the crowds at between 15,000 and 20,000.
“The trade unions are united and the message to the Benkirane government is clear: he needs to change his strategy,” Mr Tariq said as the crowd marched through the heart of Morocco’s largest city and its economic capital.

Union leaders have been appealing to the government for talks on improving salaries and social conditions in a country where almost half of people aged between 15 and 29 are neither working nor in school, according to a World Bank report this month.
The report said Morocco’s large youth population – 30 per cent of the total of 32 million people – could be an “engine of growth” but that young people faced numerous obstacles.
Morocco’s government is grappling with a crisis caused by drought and a sharp slide in tourism revenues, the country’s largest source of income along with transfers by Moroccans abroad and phosphate exports.
Hundreds of youths from the February 20 Movement – known as M20 – also turned out in Casablanca for the demonstration yesterday.
Their movement was born of the wave of protests which took hold in the kingdom last year after pro-democracy revolts in Tunisia and Egypt toppled long-standing regimes.
King Mohammed VI nipped the protest movement in the bud by introducing significant reforms to curb his near-absolute powers.
The ensuing November 2011 election saw the Justice and Development Party – a moderate Islamist party – win the most seats and head a coalition government.
It had pledged to address the protest movement’s grievances and fight for more social justice in a country mired by high unemployment and illiteracy rates.
But less than six months after it was sworn in, Mr Benkirane is facing renewed discontent from protesters who see no change.
“Benkirane and Fouad Ali El Himma are two sides of the same coin,” was one slogan chanted in the streets of Casablanca, referring to the king’s closest adviser.
In April, parliament adopted a 2012 budget that trims the public deficit but continues efforts to reinforce social spending.
It foresees a public deficit at five per cent of gross domestic product this year, down from over six per cent last year as the previous government splurged on subsidies, notably on food, to defuse the growing protest movement.
Finance Minister Nizar Baraka has said the country’s economy would likely grow by around three per cent this year, less than the 4.2 per cent forecast in the budget because of the drought and the debt crisis in the eurozone, which is Morocco’s biggest trade partner.

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An anti-Boko Haram muslim cleric in Potiskum, Yobe state in Nigeria’s north east has escaped death after gunmen opened fire on worshippers outside his home Sunday evening.
The attack in the northeastern city of Potiskum occurred outside the cleric’s home, where he leads prayers on Sunday evenings, but it was not clear whether he was there at the time of the shooting.
Residents said he was present and unharmed, but the military said he was out of town.
The cleric is known to be critical of Islamist group Boko Haram, but has also criticised a military task force in the area over a recent attack that destroyed the city’s cattle market and left at least 34 people dead.

“Some unknown gunmen attacked Shia worshippers this evening, killing one and injuring four others,” Colonel Dahiru Abdussalam, commander of the task force, told AFP.”Soldiers and policemen deployed to the area and cordoned it off with the hope of finding the attackers.”
Residents and a nurse spoke of two dead and five wounded, saying the cleric’s brother and driver were killed.
“It was around 6:30 when the cleric was leading his followers in evening prayers,” one resident said.
“Gunmen came in four cars … Apparently the cleric was the target, but they mistook his brother for him because of their resemblance. They shot him dead and his driver was also killed.”
The resident said “the attackers then opened fire on the worshippers … The gunmen then entered their cars and drove off.”
A nurse at a Potiskum hospital later confirmed two dead bodies were brought in along with five wounded victims, all with gunshot wounds.
Boko Haram’s deadly insurgency has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009. Nigeria’s military has also been accused of abuses amid the insurgency, including the killing of civilians and the burning of their homes.

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Lady Gaga was supposed to give a concert in Indonesia on June 3rd, but she’s been forced to cancel it due to threats from Muslim extremists. This comes on the heels of similar issues in The Philippines, but ones that Gaga and her team were able to overcome, getting clearance by the Filipino government to perform anyway.

She wasn’t so lucky in Jakarta, Indonesia, however, where the Islamic Defenders Front came out in staunch opposition to the star, calling her a ‘messenger of the devil’ and picketing outside the venue with signs. Local authorities asked Gaga if she wouldn’t mind…you know…like toning down her act or something? Which Lady Gaga of course promptly refused because she’s Lady Effing Gaga.

Granted, this all sounds like stuff she’s dealt with before, but when it was revealed that some of the 52,000 tickets sold had gone to members of the groups opposing her, for the sole purpose to ‘wreak havoc’ inside the stadium, her own team took a stand and decided to cancel the performance, for the security of the performer, as well as her Indonesian ‘little monsters’ in attendance.

One Indonesian fan commented on something that occurred to me as well. He said:

“This only shows to the world how weak security forces are in this country, how police are afraid of a bunch of hard-liners.”

Yeah wait, what? That’s a good point! Why does the concert have to be canceled? Why do the disruptive, threatening protesters get what they want? Why can’t the police, you know…police the situation until it’s safe enough for Gaga to perform? There must be more than meets the eye, here.

I’ll assume that Lady Gaga really is speaking to the devil, because that would explain everything.

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Gunmen shot dead three card players in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, which has been rocked by deadly attacks blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram in recent months, police said Sunday.
Two motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire on a group of card players in the Gaida area of the city on Saturday evening, killing three of the players and seriously injuring another.
“Two gunmen on motorcycles attacked some card players in the Gaida area yesterday evening,” said police spokesman Rilwanu Dutse.
“Three card players were killed on the spot, while another one sustained life-threatening injuries and was admitted to hospital. No arrest was made.”
The gunmen shot in the air for about 20 minutes before speeding away, said one witness.

“The attackers came around 6:00 pm and produced rifles that looked like AK-47s from under their robes and began shooting into the group playing cards under a tree,” he said.
“The shooting caused a stampede, with everyone around running for cover …”
It was the second attack on card players in two weeks in the city.
On May 13, three people, including a prison guard, were killed and four others injured by gunmen on a motorcycle in the Tukuntawa area of the city.
Although it was unclear who was behind the latest attack, Boko Haram has been blamed for a series of drive-by shootings in the city.

A suspect arrested last week allegedly confessed to belonging to a 20-man gang recruited by Boko Haram behind a series of killings, including an attack on church services at a university which killed 19 worshippers.
Source. AFP.

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Gambia and U.S.-based Camac Energy Inc. (CAK) signed a contract for the exploration and production of offshore oil, state-run media said, in the West African country’s first agreement of its kind with a foreign company.
The government selected Camac from among three explorers shortlisted for drilling rights at Gambia’s A2 and A5 concessions, the oil ministry said in a statement broadcast yesterday over state-owned radio and GRTS television. Camac, with headquarters in Houston, has operations in Nigeria and, through subsidiaries, in China.
The company will work closely with Gambia National Petroleum Corp. and the oil ministry, an unidentified Camac official who signed the agreement said from Lagos, Nigeria, according to the ministry. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh assured Camac of a conducive working environment and said the government wants “a mutually rewarding partnership.”
Gambia, with a population of about 1.8 million people, is the smallest country in mainland Africa. Its economic growth may be “slightly negative” this year because of crop failure and anticipated lower tourism revenue, the International Monetary Fund said on March 6.

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Gunmen killed a Muslim cleric and a retired prison guard on Saturday in northeastern Nigeria, residents and a medic said, amid a wave of such killings blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram.

Early Saturday, gunmen forced their way into the home of cleric Usman Muhammad in the Indiski area of the town of Potiskum in Yobe state and shot him dead, a resident said.

The attackers then broke into the home next door and shot dead the former prison guard, according to the resident.

A doctor at the government hospital in the city said two bodies with bullet wounds were deposited at the morgue on Saturday.

“The bodies were identified as a cleric who ran an Islamic seminary and a retired prison guard who were neighbours,” said the doctor on condition of anonymity.

Another Muslim cleric was on Friday wounded by unknown gunmen in the state capital Damaturu, residents said.

Clerics have been targeted in the past due to their criticism of Boko Haram or when they were seen as linked to the government, among other reasons, though the details of the fresh shootings were unclear.

Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe state, has been rocked by deadly attacks and targeted killings blamed on Boko Haram along with other areas of Nigeria’s north.



Despite the imposition of an emergency decree, the deployment of troops and a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Potiskum, attacks persist in the city.

Two people were killed on Thursday when gunmen in a car opened fire at Potiskum’s timber market, according to residents.

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HARARE- Vice President Joice Mujuru indirectly attacked Nigerian prophet TB Joshua, telling a National Day of Prayer gathering at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare that Zimbabweans should be wary of fake prophets who are turning churches into money-making ventures.

Mujuru who was the acting President while Mugabe was away, said local religious groups should not allow foreign pastors and political leaders to dictate the way they should worship. Her audience consisted of thousands of indigenous Apostolic and Zion church members.

“Our churches have come of age and we are people who know what we want on national events. We should not allow foreigners to tell us what to do. I was happy to hear that you conducted today’s event without any interference. People should be on the lookout for fake prophets.

“In Zimbabwean churches, I have never heard people celebrating someone’s death or illness. True Christians assist people by praying for ailments not expressing happiness about it.” Mujuru was referring to TB Joshua’s February 2012 prophecy that an African leader would die within 60 days.

Although TB Joshua did not specify the location, Zimbabwe was abuzz with speculation given Mugabe’s ailing health and frequent trips to Singapore for treatment. It eventually came to pass that the Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika died of a heart attack, not long after the prophecy.

But TB Joshua has since made another prophecy that another old African president will fall critically ill and be hospitalised. These prophecies are not going down well with ZANU PF given Mugabe’s health and surrounding speculation.

Over two weeks ago pro-ZANU PF church leaders were wheeled out by the state media to make claims that TB Joshua was not welcome in the country and that his teachings were allegedly “judgmental, partisan and unorthodox.”

A week after that a senior police officer labelled him a ‘false prophet’ that people needed to be aware of. Officers at the Police General Headquarters in Harare were shown a video that allegedly exposes TB Joshua as a womaniser and sorcerer.”

Next to attack TB Joshua was the excommunicated Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga. The man who forcibly grabbed Anglican Church property and used police and ZANU PF militia to violently target parishioners not loyal to him claimed TB Joshua’s prophecies were driven by Satanism and were “diabolic.”

http://www.izimbabwe.co.zw/news/local/item/15796-zimbabwe-vice-president-attacks-tb-joshua.html
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Stuntman Gary Connery has pulled off a truly amazing feat, jumping 2,400 from a helicopter and landing safely on the ground without the use of a parachute. The 42-year-old Connery made his landing on top of 18,600 cardboard boxes in a stunt captured live on video by the London Telegraph . “I feel absolutely wonderful, I am overwhelmed,” Conner told reporters after he emerged unharmed from the stack of boxes. “I am in a strange zone at the moment. It is an amazing feeling. I feel incredible, just completely elated.” Connery is an experienced stuntman, having performed nearly 900 sky dives and 450 base jumps . He has been working on designing a parachute-free landing for years. He’s even done stunt work in several Hollywood films, including “Batman Begins,” “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull,” and the James Bond film “Die Another Day.” Technically, his flight wasn’t a complete free fall, as he did wear a special wing suit, similar to those worn by other base jumpers, which slowed down his descent and helped him navigate his landing. The Telegraph reports the suit brought his gliding speed down to 50mph and his vertical falling speed down to 15mph. Still, it’s the first time in history that such a feat has been successfully performed. And there’s little doubt that without proper planning, the jump likely would have been fatal. Thousands of spectators turned out to watch Connery pull off the landing. “I am so choked with the turnout,” he said. “It was so comfortable and so soft. I got my calculations absolutely right.

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How many people have called their local police station about a stolen cell phone or laptop, only to be told by the authorities that they have more pressing issues at hand? Well, Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan has opened himself up to a new round of controversy after it was reported that he dispatched 10 officers to look for his son’s missing iPhone. And they didn’t even find it. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that when Meehan’s high-school son announced that his phone had been taken from his locker at Berkeley High School, several officers were dispatched to look for the phone, which was equipped with tracking software. “It is common for BPD officers to actively investigate an in-progress tracking signal from a stolen electronic device,” police department spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss told the paper. However, officers apparently did not actually file a report about the incident, which occurred in January, which Kusmiss described as “an oversight that came to our attention” after questions from the Chronicle. Officers from the property crimes and drug task force departments were assigned to the missing phone case, according to Kusmiss. In addition, four detectives were paid overtime for two hours of the unsuccessful search. Meehan has so far declined to comment publicly on the incident and is already embroiled in a controversy after he allegedly sent Kusmiss to the home of a reporter after midnight, demanding a change to a story reported about the chief.

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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wed his long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan on Saturday in a surprise ceremony even their guests didn’t see coming. However, the happy couple’s nuptials have been somewhat overshadowed by one question: Did they get prenuptial agreement? Zuckerberg was worth $17.5 billion as of March 2012, according to Forbes. That figure could now be closer to $19 billion thanks to his move to take Facebook public on May 19, says Forbes personal finance writer Deborah L. Jacobs. So what does this all mean for their marriage? California law makes premarital property separate property, so Chan wouldn’t automatically be entitled to 50 percent of the Facebook empire in the event of divorce. However, if the company increased in value post-marriage, any gains would be considered community property –a term that refers to everything a couple acquires during the course of the marriage –and she could be entitled to 50 percent of the profits. Unless other terms are stipulated in a prenuptial agreement, that is. Zuckerberg and Chan actually may already have experience with relationship contracts. According to the 2008 book “Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good” by Sarah Lacy, Chan allegedly made Zuckerberg sign a “relationship contract” four years ago, prior to moving in with him in Palo Alto, Calif. where Facebook is headquartered (she was moving from Cambridge, Mass.). Among the rules Chan supposedly laid out: “One date per week, a minimum of a hundred minutes of alone time, not in his apartment and definitely not at Facebook.” (Neither Chan nor Zuckerberg have confirmed the validity of Lacy’s claim.) When it comes to an actual (legally binding) prenup, chances are the couple has one, says celebrity divorce attorney Raoul Felder. “You can bet your last dollar –actually you can bet his last dollar –that he has a prenup,” Felder says. “If he doesn’t, he ought to go to a psychiatrist and not a lawyer.” Some have wondered if the timing of his wedding is suspicious, that somehow Zuckerberg “conveniently” got married right after taking Facebook public to avoid making his company community property. But Felder doesn’t think the timing of Zuckerberg and Chan’s marriage was a calculated monetary move. “My guess is that he was just too busy [to get married before],” Felder says. “Taking a company public is a big undertaking.” In fact, according to the Associated Press, Zuckerberg and Chan’s wedding was planned for months, well before the IPO’s date was set. And while Zuckerberg has kept much of his relationship with Chan private, that hasn’t stopped people from speculating over –and directing their unsolicited advice at –the couple. Prenup veteran Donald Trump weighed in on the situation –quite presciently, actually, as his comments came four days before the couple wed: “So he’s gonna be worth like $18, $19 billion, you’re telling me he’s got a girlfriend … does he get a prenuptial agreement?” Trump said. “They get married, and then for some reason over the next couple of years they get divorced and then she sues him for $10 billion and she hits the jackpot … In New York, she would get a big chunk of what he has.” On this point, Felder agrees. If Zuckerberg and Chan did indeed skip the prenup, he says that the split “might be the mother of all divorces.” Zuckerberg may or may not have protected his online empire with a prenup, but if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be the first billionaire to forgo it. Click through the slideshow below to read about five billionaires who tied the knot without prenups.

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The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, has shut down the Lord’s Chosen Church, two other churches and two mosques across Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, over noise pollution. LASEPA officials, backed up by the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit stormed the affected churches and mosques today and shut them down for refusing to comply with the environmental laws of the state. The affected churches are The Christ Chosen Church, Onipanu and Evangelical Apostolic Church. The affected mosques are Darusalam Mosque at Sabo, Yaba and Ayegbesin Mosque at Mafoluku, Oshodi. The team was led by Mr Kayode Bello, a senior government official at LASEPA. General Manager, LASEPA, Engr Rasheed Shabi said the affected places of worship were shut down over noise pollution as people in their vicinity had complained about the unabating noise. He said they were served abatement notices for them to remove the horns and loud speakers outside their churches in order not to disturb the public. Shabi added that the affected places of worship failed to comply with the abatement notices. He stated that government had no choice than to shut them down. According to him, the affected worship centres would not be opened until they comply with the environmental laws of the state as regards noise pollution. Last week, Shabi had said that some of the churches tended to blackmail the state government for closing down their worship centres for not complying with the laws of the state. He said sensitisation was still ongoing to let the churches know that they do not have to constitute nuisance to their environment and that they could use inbuilt speakers.

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Ghana plans to deport illegal immigrants who were drawn to the country by its economic growth and prevailing stability.

Most of the foreigners are into retail business and illegal gold mining while others are in the oil sector.

Some citizens from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) have, however, read xenophobia in the plans.

Despite this, the Ghanaian authorities seem resolute, and have set a June 30 date to flush out the illegal immigrants engaged in the retail business.

This, they say, is line with the country’s investment regulations. The rules restrict retail businesses to Ghanaians only.

A task force to implement the directive has already been put in place by the Ministry of Trade and those to be worst hit are Nigerians and Chinese who have set up shops in Accra city centre.

On May 16, officials of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) arrested two Chinese for engaging in commercial activities.

After the arrest, the officials said: “It was in line with the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s national policy to get rid of foreigners in the country’s retail business.”

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Law, Act 478, Clause 18, stipulates that “the sale of anything whatsoever in the market, petty trading, hawking or selling from a kiosk at any place is a wholly reserved activity for Ghanaians”.

A number of Chinese have also been busted over the past few weeks for engaging in illegal mining in some parts of the country.

Last month, the police had to step in to avoid a blood-bath when youth groups in the northern region went on the rampage to flush out Chinese they claimed were destroying the environment with their illegal mining activities.

Addressing immigration staff in Accra, Interior minister William Aboah ordered the director-general to conduct investigations into how some immigrants entered the country illegally, while others were able to be issued with work permits though they did not have any arrival stamps in their passports.

“There is a growing perception and reports that the country is being flooded by illegal immigrants,” said Aboah, adding: “The issue of their entry into the country is being questioned. Some managed to acquire work permits through the back door while others continue to stay in the country illegally.”

He said some of the illegal immigrants who were arrested were found with weapons. Investigations showed that most of them did not have the required work and residence permits while others had fake permits in their passports, he added.

“These are serious issues which undermine the security of the country,” said Aboah.

As the authorities try to tighten the laws on immigration, some of the Ecowas citizens engaged in retail trade have complained about unfair treatment.

“The Ecowas protocol is clear on citizens from the community and their rights of abode in member countries and, therefore, what the Ghanaians are doing border on xenophobia,” said Lucky Eze, a Nigerian trader.

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A Nigerian registered articulated truck, with 65 pieces of pump action guns has been intercepted by the Customs officials at the Aflao border, Ghana. The vehicle with registration number XV 163 FST was said to have arrived at the border on Thursday, 17 May at about 1900 hours, on its way to Accra, with no cargo on board. Customs Officers at the last checkpoint who were said to be suspicious ordered the driver to park at the vehicle park for examination the following morning, Friday. Their suspicion heightened when early Friday morning the driver and his “mate”, whose identity was not known, could not be traced for the inspection to proceed. At about 1600 hours, however, the officers commenced the inspection without the driver and the “mate” and the weapons were found embedded in a false apartment on the floor of the vehicle. Some bundles of US dollars and Naira were also found in the compartment. CEPS officials, joined by Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) operatives and officers of the National Security were unwilling to divulge further information.

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Has it ever crossed your mind that some of the children you think are yours may not actually be yours? In Nollywood,as you read this,that is the spectacle that has just unfolded.It is also one topic on most lips in that sector right now.And the reason is this:an actress,a big one at that,who has always found it difficult to put her laps in one place as well as say no to handsome men just got exposed. One of her two children was not fathered by her husband. The biological father of the baby,a girl,is a mulatto actor with whom she once had a whirlwind romance. Their secret shame just came to the open as the girl is getting older.She looks very much like her ‘away father’.And because their romance was so pronounced then,many have begun murmuring about the little girl’s paternity. The sex-crazy actress is very pretty and from South-South. Her hubby,also into entertainment,hails from South-West. The lover boy whose child she transferred to her husband doesn’t know who his father is.Alphabets O, J and B begin the names of the trio respectively. Tracing the love story of the actor and actress,a reliable source told us that movie locations where they usually got paired together did the match making. In fact,tales abound that the two at some point usually insisted that they must be cast together or no show.And because they had so perfected how to go about this,anytime a producer invited one person to work for him or her,the partner in crime must insist on the other also coming on board. And because they were so hot then,most producers had no choice than to do that. It was at one of the locations that the goal which the whole of Nollywood,and even those outside,are now screaming about was scored. All eyes are currently on the two of them-especially as people eagerly want to know how their spouses will react upon hearing the messy story which is fast spreading all over the place.

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The accounts of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC and the Nigerian Mission in New York might have been frozen by the Bank of America and Wells Fargo, two leading financial institutions in the United States of America over alleged money laundering activities. Sources informed African Examiner that the action of the banks was sequel to a suspicious money transfer remitted to the United States from Nigeria. Following the suspicious transactions in favor of the accounts between February and May this year, the two banks requested the mission to explain the source of the funds which the Mission could not immediately avail the financial institutions. Consequently the sanction had adversely impacted on the finances of the Mission which has made it extremely difficult for the Embassy to pay its operational bills and staff salaries. These monies wired from Nigeria were aside from the regular money that normally comes into the embassy accounts to run its operation and other official activities. Our source said the embassy was unable to provide satisfactory explanation for about $3.6 million that was wired into the accounts prompting the banks to freeze the accounts till further notice. African Examiner also learnt that these monies are allegedly wired into the accounts of the embassy by some state governors and other government functionaries, and when they arrive in the US, the embassy would make the money available to them. This perhaps helps these officials to beat some security hiccups which may arise at the point of entry into the US if they are to carry the huge amount of money with them. It is not clear whether the two US leading banks have the right to freeze accounts of a diplomatic mission. In view of this development, our source said auditors have been flown in from Nigeria to reconcile the embassy’s books. In his reaction to the issues, Amb. Adefuye, the Nigerian Ambassador to the US told African Examiner that “It is simply false. How can an account that does not exist be frozen? I know that the New York consulate which is part of my mission has no account with these banks.” Meanwhile Wells Fargo spokesperson could not immediately comment on the issue over the weekend but promised to properly look into the matter and get back to us. However, Bank of America spokesperson did not answer our phone calls and has not replied our email as at press time.

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Nigeria: Woman busted with 180 pellets of heroin, www.africagist.com

D’banj has openly congratulated his former business partner, Don Jazzy for the successful launch of his record label Mavin Records. The two former partners who co-owned Mo’Hits Records broke up their nine year-relationship early this year with efforts to reconcile them proving abortive. D’banj tweeted some hours ago that, “Congrats to my brother and the best producer in Africa Don jazzy on the launch of his new Record Label, MAVIN RECORDS. Wish you all the best.” In a show of love and appreciation to D’banj’s congratulatory message, Don Jazzy replied to his tweet with “Thanks bro[ther]. God bless you.” Don Jazzy announced the launch of his new label Monday and also announced the signing of Tiwa Savage onto the label. He, however, left Mo’Hits with three of its best acts, Dr Sid, Wande Coal and DaPrince.

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Congresswomam michele bachmann write Jonathan over Boko Haram.
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A wedding thrown by members of the radical Boko Haram Islamist group ended in deadly violence Saturday. A Nigerian military spokesman said troops were monitoring the wedding in the northeastern city of Maiduguri when members of the Boko Haram sect opened fire on them. Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa said three civilians were killed and four people were wounded. Musa said soldiers only began firing after they came under attack. The shooting is the latest in a series of increasingly violent incidents possibly involving the radical Islamist group. Officials in eastern Taraba state said gunmen in military uniforms abducted five people from a remote, tied their hands and shot and executed them late Friday. Nigerian officials blamed Boko Haram militants Friday for a deadly jailbreak, also in the country’s northeast. Authorities in Borno state said gunmen stormed the prison and killed two guards, allowing an unknown number of prisoners to escape. Police spokesman Samuel Tizhe said 23 prisoners have since been recaptured. Some Nigerians also alleged the group might have been involved in a brutal cattle raid earlier this week that left 34 people dead. The attack on a cattle market in the northern city of Potiskum also injured more than 20 people. Scores of livestock were killed, stolen or maimed. Witnesses say the attack followed an earlier incident where a gang sought to rob traders at the market. One of the robbers was caught while trying to escape and burned to death. The gunmen returned later that night shooting indiscriminately at the market and throwing explosives. Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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THE founder and General Overseer of Living Faith Church, aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo has inspected the site for the smooth take-off of the Cross River campus of the Covenant University Otta in Ogun State. The proposed University which is expected to take-off soon would offer courses like Engineering, Computer Science, as well as other courses which are not offered by the University of Calabar and the Cross River State University of Technology. Oyedepo who is also the Chairman, Board of Governors of Surefoot American International School, SAIS, Calabar inspected the school’s Science Laboratory, Science Exhibition Hall, School Library, Kindergarten session amongst others. He was taken round some places of interest including Tinapa Business Resort as well as SAIS after visiting the State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke and his wife, Mrs. Obioma Liyel Imoke. Present at the visit to the governor and his wife were the State Commissioners for Lands and Education, Surveyor Raph Uche and Prof Offiong E. Offiong respectively, Resident Pastor of Winners Chapel Calabar and his wife as well as Bishop Josef Bassey of God’s Heritage Church Calabar.

By Ibrahim Mshelizza and Mike Oboh MAIDUGURI/ABUJA (Reuters) -Gunmen threw bombs and opened fire on a cattle market in remote northeastern Nigeria, killing at least 60 people, a spokesman for Yobe state governor said, an attack whose motives remain unknown. “The Yobe State Governor has visited the Potiskum cattle market where he was informed that 60 people had been killed in the attack, while 29 people are receiving treatment at the Hospital,” Abdullahi Bego, spokesman for Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, told Reuters by telephone. It was not clear who was behind the attack overnight on Wednesday in the town of Potiskum. The town has been an occasional target for militant Islamist sect Boko Haram but it also suffers occasional bouts of ethnic violence over land disputes. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. A hospital nurse said he had counted 56 bodies at the Potiskum morgue. “I am sure that the death toll could rise in view of the serious nature of injuries sustained,” the nurse at Potiskum hospital, Babangida, said. “The Potiskum mortuary is made up of a room and a parlor and I counted the 56 in the parlor only. I didn’t go into the inner room.” Police Commissioner Moses Namiri earlier said security forces had confirmed 34 killed and that Islamist sect Boko Haram was suspected to be behind the attack. “Everybody knows the modus operandi of BH (Boko Haram): they threw explosives and used guns,” he said. “The gunfire lasted for almost an hour.” Witness Mama Yusuf, a retired civil servant, said there were bodies on the ground, though he could not say how many. “I saw dead bodies all around the place and the emergency services taking people to hospitals,” he said. Boko Haram has been fighting a low-level insurgency for more than two years and has become the main security threat facing Africa’s top oil producer, although it is far from any oil producing facilities. It usually targets police or authority figures, and although civilians increasingly have borne the brunt of its attacks, they are normally targeted for being a perceived enemy of the group, such as Christians, not randomly killed. Sometimes violence in Nigeria, especially in parts of the north or the volatile Middle Belt -where the largely Christian south and Muslim north meet -is driven by ethnic rivalry over land and resources that has little to do with the Boko Haram. The sect, which wants to impose an Islamic state on Nigeria’s mixed population of Muslims and Christians, has been blamed for hundreds of killings since its uprising against the government began in 2009. A spate of attacks in the past few days, including one against Christians in the north that killed 19 people on Sunday, have dampened hopes that tighter security had significantly reduced the sect’s capability. Nigerian forces killed the suspected mastermind of Sunday’s attack on Christian worshippers, in a raid in the main northern city of Kano on Tuesday that resulted in a gun battle lasting several hours. (Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Michael Roddy)

RevStevenC: I am back and in the mood for a good conversation. I did go to church this morning and the great thing about walking into the church I belong to is the immense feeling of love I feel when I enter the door. No expectations of me from anyone except to be honest with my feelings and faith to God through Christ Jesus. Jesus said if you are ashamed of me before men how can I represent you before my father? I am not ashamed by my faith and the reality we live in now gentleman is just that a physical reality. Spiritual reality is something entirely different and I have personally witnessed evil and good on the spiritual level. Seen it with my own eyes the boogie man hanging over my bed and witnessed by a non believing of any faith person. Now know this we are just a small part of the biggest picture in all of creation, but we have a chance of redemption and forgiveness for trying to make ourselves in a God form, not relying on the truths of who God really is. I feel truly horrible when I know or heard of someone I know who has passed away and did not know a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I who used to serve in the Marines and US Army witness a greater truth in God and his promises to us than what we can manifest through the interpretation of intelligent men and women. Great people cannot even come close to imagining and explaining the infinitesimal existence of God the Father.

I can sit and debate on what we all believe and we would all come up with all different ideas of who we think God is. Can we agree on that? And I know how crazy it sounds how the world was created and went through it's different stages of so called evolution. But I know in my heart the day I leave this earth I am banking on the truth of the promises of Jesus Christ and God almighty. I would rather die with His name on my lips than still remain here today living a lie. Would I impose my will on others to believe what i believe and hurt them to believe what I believe? Absolutely not! Free will is something that is given unto us and it hurts me more to think I wish it was not given to us, but it was, and it has led so called horrific times through Christian and Muslim coexistence. But remember God says he wishes that none would perish that all were made in Hos image. So, how can we in good conscience kill our brothers? How could we even kill our enemies? When God says He wishes none would perish?

You know guys I don't know you but my life before God was chaotic to say the least. But since I have come to know God and Christ Jesus and except through faith what God says there has been more peace in my life than I can understand. I pray God opens your hearts to His knowledge and not the foolishness of the world. Anyways enough of my rambling. I am an uneducated fellow, but i try my best to get my point out there and not be biased in a form or fashion. You know where I stand and I hope we can have further conversations in the near future.

Rev. Steven Chisholm
Service for Jesus Christ Ministries

Rev you made my day, thanks a lot

By SaharaReporters, New York The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed reports linking New York-based pastor and lawyer, Eric Abakporo, to “despicable” fraud: the theft of the life savings of an elderly African-American woman through deceit and lies. Following an investigation by the FBI and the NY State Attorney General’s Office, the federal prosecutor in Manhattan announced the indictment of Mr. Abakporo for a “brazen” and “despicable” fraud scheme –namely the theft of a multi-million dollar property from an elderly African-American woman through deceit and lies. In its press release, the federal prosecutor’s office said that IFEANYICHUKWU ERIC ABAKPORO, a Deeper Life pastor and attorney, and his cohort, LATANYA PIERCE, were under arrest for swindling a 78 year old woman out of her apartment building and stiffing a bank from whom they fraudulently obtained a $1.8 million mortgage loan. Abakporo was arrested Monday in Queens, NY. Pierce surrendered voluntarily and was placed under arrest. “Through lies and deception, these individuals abused the trust of an elderly woman in order to perpetrate a multimillion dollar fraud. Now that their despicable scheme has been exposed, they will face justice,” said New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Abakporo first came across the Sahara Reporters radar screen in 2010 in another controversy involving contracts for renovations at the Nigerian Mission and its living quarters. According to a petition authored by anonymous whistleblowers calling themselves “The Patriots,” the renovation contracts, linked to Joy Ogwu, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, were inflated. Although the Nigerian Mission paid several hundred thousand dollars to a company called St. Cyprian Properties for services in connection with these renovations, Abakporo has vehemently denied that he owns or controls St. Cyprian. Sahara Reporters reported on the Nigerian Mission controversy following articles in the New York Daily News about Abakporo’s alleged fraud of the elderly woman. The SaharaReporters story prompted the now-indicted lawyer to turn his fury on the citizen reporting website with a lawsuit raising libel, emotional distress and other charges for which he demanded $30 million. A U.S. District Court dismissed most of these unsubstantiated claims in an April 2010 decision. The story behind the current criminal charges against Abakporo began in March 2006 when Abakporo and his associate Pierce cultivated a relationship with the elderly victim who owned a Harlem apartment building. According to the indictment, they offered to help her collect rents but actually pocketed them. The indictment further charges that the two alleged con artists then persuaded the woman to sell her property for $3.1 million, giving her multiple fake and fraudulent checks which they later took back, in exchange for a “private mortgage” in the property–which they never recorded. After weaving a web of lies around their actions, the indictment charges, the two accused swindlers brought their act to a local bank, claiming they owned the building “free and clear”. According to the indictment, for this lie they obtained a $1.8 million mortgage which they failed to repay. Ultimately, the criminal complaint asserts, they fraudulently obtained the elderly woman’s apartment building and another $1.8 million by defrauding the bank. Charges against the two include multiple bank and wire fraud counts which together carry a maximum prison term of 100 years behind bars. Meanwhile, Abakporo is cooling his heels in detention where he is confined until he can post a $1 million bond secured by an interest in property and co-signed by three people. *The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven.