Stephanie Linus-Okereke, Husband Finally Meet Queen of England

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Nigerian popular actress, director and producer, Stephanie Linus along with her husband was a guest of Queen of England last week Monday at the Buckingham Palace.

The couple had pleasant experience as they attended the Queen's Young Leaders Awards, a project that Linus Idahosa, who is the Media Executive and CEO of Del-York International has been actively involved with.

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A few months ago, Stephanie was promoting this campaign using the hashtag #TheSearchIsOn on her blog and Social Media Platforms trying to encourage young Nigerians who are partaking in worthy leadership and charity causes in their communities to register.

Four young Nigerian leaders were however selected to receive this award. They are Isaiah Owolabi of HACEY Health Initiative; Kelvin Ogholi of UNFIRE; Nkechikwu Azinge of The Sickle Cell Aid Foundation and Oladipupo Ajiroba of The Environmental Advocacy and Management Initiative.

These Nigerians are among 60 inspirational young people aged 18-29 across the Commonwealth who received their awards from Her Majesty the Queen on Monday.

The awards, which was initiated in 2014 by Prince William and Prince Harry, is a prestigious ceremony established by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with Comic Relief and The Royal Commonwealth Society.

Hero Sergeant Who Caught Escaped Prisoner David Sweat Is Jay Cook

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A veteran New York State Police sergeant was alone and on a routine patrol when he shot and captured convicted murderer David Sweat Sunday afternoon.

Officials say State Police Sgt. Jay Cook was supervising a perimeter post at about 3:20 p.m.  when he spotted Sweat on a road near Route 30 in the area of Constable.

Authorities believe Sweat was trying to make a final break toward the south of the Canadian border, which is approximately 1.5 miles from  New York.

New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico said Cook ordered him to stop, but Sweat then turned and fled across a field.

He said When Cook, who is also a firearms instructor, realized Sweat might get away, fired two shots.

"He realized Sweat was going to make it to a tree line, and possibly could have disappeared -- and he fired two shots from his service weapon," D'Amico told reporters.

New York Escaped Prisoner David Sweat Shot, Captured After 'Nightmare' Manhunt

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New York prisoner, David Sweat who escaped with Richard Matt, has been shot
and captured more than three weeks after escaped from a maximum security prison in upstate New York.

Sweat is hospitalized in critical condition after he was caught in the area of Constable, New York, approximately 1.5 miles south of the Canadian border, officials said. Authorities believe Sweat was trying to make a final break toward the border.

At about 3:20 p.m. on Sunday, State Police Sgt. Jay Cook was alone on a routine patrol when he spotted Sweat on a road near Route 30 and ordered him to stop, a source familiar with the investigation said. When Sweat started to run, the sergeant opened fire, the source said.

Officials said Sweat was shot twice in the torso. Sweat was not armed, New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico said.

Sweat was in critical condition at Albany Medical Center, an official there said Sunday evening, after being transferred from Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, New York.


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No law enforcement personnel were injured during the capture, an official briefed on the manhunt said.

The man who escaped with Sweat, Richard Matt, was shot and killed by a border patrol SWAT team Friday afternoon in Elephant's Head, New York, just 50 miles away from the prison, after he was spotted by a law enforcement officer in the woods.

Matt and Sweat may have been using picnic-style pepper shakers to throw their scent off the dogs tracking them, D'Amico said today.

Authorities had found Sweat's DNA on remnants of food about a mile from where Matt was shot and killed.

On Friday afternoon before Matt was killed, officials announced they had reason to believe Sweat and Matt were planning to head to the border in a final play for freedom. As a result, U.S. and Canadian law enforcement sent in reinforcements in an effort to both squeeze the escapees and keep them from potentially making it out of the country.

"If you were writing a movie plot, they would say this was overdone," he said. "They were killers," Cuomo said. "Mr. Matt killed at least two people. Mr. Sweat killed a sheriff's deputy ... in a savage, savage way."

Matt was serving 25 years to life in prison after he kidnapped and beat a man to death in 1997. Sweat was serving a life sentence after he was convicted of killing a Broome County sheriff's deputy in 2002.

Pregnant Kim Kardashian Goes Braless, Exposes Nipples in Sheer Top

Pregnant Kim Kardashian left her bra at home as she stepped out to attend the 2015 Glastonbury Festival with husband Kanye West on Saturday, June 27.

Kardashian, 34, wore a tight-fitted skirt and a sheer top, which exposed her nipples. She added a gray jacket and accessorized with her personalized gold "North" nameplate necklace.


"Glastonbury here we come…" North West's mom wrote via Instagram before showing off her revealing look. The twosome appeared to make their grand entrance after flying in a private jet.

Angelina Jolie Denies Divorce Rumor

Popular American actress, Angelina Jolie denies rumor making rounds that she has divorced her husband, Brad Pitt.

Police kill Escaped New York Inmate Richard Matt

​One of the two inmates who escaped from US prison has been killed by the police when he refused to surrender.

 

Richard Matt, who was convicted murderer was shot and killed by authorities in upstate New York Friday twenty days after he made an elaborate escape from prison.

 

Matt, armed with a 20 gauge shotgun, was shot and killed by a border patrol SWAT team at about 3:45 p.m. in Elephant's Head, New York, about 20 miles south of the Canadian border. The location where Matt was killed is just 50 miles away from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY after he was spotted by a law enforcement officer walking in the woods.

 

The Search for his accomplice, David Sweat, is still Ongoing.

Muhammadu Buhari Dissolves NNPC Board

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Nigeria's president Muhammadu Buhari has dissolved the board of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), from which billions of dollars is missing, a move likely preceding an investigation.

 

The head of the civil service, Danladi Kifasi, announced the presidential directive on Friday regarding NNPC, the government agency that is in charge of nearly all aspects of the country's 200 million barrel per day oil industry, whic is the seventh largest in the world.

 

President Buhari took office May 29 with the promise to halt the corruption that keeps the majority of Nigeria's 170 million people in deep poverty. He said last that western governments have promised to help recover looted state funds.

 

Friday's move comes even before he has named a Cabinet and amid speculation that he plans to take charge himself of the petroleum portfolio.

 

The former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Sanusi last year largely blamed the NNPC for missing federal revenues of about $20 billion, an amount the company disputes.

 

Mariah Carey Posts Photo With James Packer: Check Out My New Man!

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Mariah Carey confirmed her relationship with billionaire James Packer. The songstress, who's on vacation with the Australian media mogul and her children in Italy, posted the shot, which also included Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara and her good friend, director Brett Ratner, to Instagram on Tuesday.

"With Kevin Tsujihara, Brett Ratner & James Packer #ratpac @ratpacent @brettrat," she wrote.

The "Infinity" singer, 45, is dressed to the nines in the photo, wearing a low-cut, floor-length gown. Meanwhile, Packer's style completely contrasted Carey's look. He wore a black T-shirt, baggy jogging pants, and a hat bearing the logo of RatPac Entertainment, the movie financing company belonging to Ratner and Packer. In fairness, we can imagine Mariah waking up like that — gown, makeup, sunglasses. That's probably her casual wear.

Carey, who is in her first high-profile relationship since her split with second husband Nick Cannon, touched down in Italy last week, posting a photo in front of a private plane and writing, "Ciao Italia!!! #yay #vacation." From there, they set sail on a yacht, making a stop in Capri.

People Magazine called Carey's relationship with Packer "brand new" though it has "been bubbling for a couple of months." The couple, who was spotted holding hands, is also "enjoying spending time with each other."

The connection between the pair is Ratner. Funny enough, there were rumors linking him to Carey earlier this year, but it seems he was just playing matchmaker for his friends.

Packer, who has also been divorced twice, most recently was linked to supermodel Miranda Kerr. Kerr, Packer, and Ratner all attended the Cannes Film Festival last month.

Next month, Carey returns to Las Vegas, where she is doing a residency at Caesars Palace.

Culled from yahoo news

Pastor Laolu Akande Resumes As Vice President's Spokesperson

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Nigeria vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has choosen ex-North American Bureau Chief of The Guardian, Laolu Akande, as his spokesperson.

Pastor Akande resumed office on Monday in the Aso Villa as President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice officially relocated to the Presidential Villa.

As a journalist reporting for the leading Nigerian newspapers including The Guardian, Pastor Akande is regarded as the longest serving African correspondent at the United Nations, and the only Nigerian journalist so far to have interviewed a sitting American president in the White House when he

interviewed former President George W. Bush. He has also exclusively interviewed American folk hero, General Colin Powell, billionaires like Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Donald Trump and several African leaders and presidents.

His journalism career began as a Reporter in 1989 writing for the Guardian titles and later moved over to the founding team of The News Magazine in 1993, where he became that magazine's Senior Writer. In 1995 Laolu joined Nigerian Tribune titled first as Special Projects Editor and became the Editor of Tribune on Saturday in 1997, before he relocated to the U.S in 1998.

while in the U.S, Pastor Akande is adjunct college professor and he is the founder of Empowered Newswire, and has continuously reported about Nigerians and Nigerian issues especially in the U.S and Canada in the last 13 years.

Pastor Akande had worked with leading American newspapers including the Philadelphia Inquirer, and New York Newsday. He also worked briefly as a Press Officer and later as Advocacy Consultant between 2002-2004 at the United Nations.

He became a pastor in 2007 at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Jesus Friends Assembly in Long Island, New York. Pastor Akande is Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, CANAN's Executive Director.

Members of parliament are evacuated after an attack on the Afghan parliament building in Kabul, Afghanistan

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Taliban Insurgents Killed By Afghan forces

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Taliban Launch Brazen Attack On Afghan Parliament, Seize Second District In North

​A Taliban suicide bomber and six gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday, wounding at least 19 people and sending a plume of black smoke across Kabul, as a second district in two days fell to the Islamist group in the north.

The attack on the symbolic centre of power, one of the most brazen in years, along with a series of Taliban gains elsewhere, raise questions about the NATO-trained Afghan security forces' ability to cope and how far the militants can advance.

Violence has spiralled in Afghanistan since the departure of most foreign forces at the end of last year. The insurgents are pushing to take territory more than 13 years after the U.S.-led military intervention that toppled the Taliban from power.

Spokesman for Kabul police, Ebadullah Karimi, said the attack started when a Taliban fighter driving a car loaded with explosives blew up outside parliament gates, raising questions about how the driver got through several security checkpoints.

Six gunmen who took up positions in a building near parliament, were killed by Security forces after a gun battle that lasted nearly two hours.

Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said all lawmakers were safe. TV pictures showed the speaker sitting calmly and legislators leaving the building, engulfed in dust and smoke, without panicking.

Four women were among the 19 wounded, said Sayed Kabir Amiri, a health official who coordinates Kabul hospitals.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility, saying the attacked was launched there was an important gathering to introduce the country's defence minister.

The withdrawal of foreign forces and a reduction in U.S. air strikes have allowed Taliban fighters, who ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001, to launch several major attacks in important provinces.

The second district to fall to the Taliban on Monday was in the northern province of Kunduz. Officials said it fell after urgently needed reinforcements failed to arrive.

The Taliban captured Dasht-e-Archi district a day after hundreds of militants fought their way to the centre of the adjacent district of Chardara.

Monday's heavy fighting was just three km (two miles) from the governor's compound.

Iran Deal Still Not Clear As Deadline Nears ----France's Foreign Minister

​France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says it was unclear whether an international deal could be reached on Iran's nuclear program by a June 30 deadline.

Fabius has however promised to meet his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday to assess where Iran stands ahead of the final round of talks on its nuclear program, which begin later in the week.

"We need to be extremely firm, at the stage where we are now, things are still not clear," Fabius said in talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Monday's bilateral meeting, on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers' summit in Luxembourg, will be followed by a meeting between Zarif and all the European parties negotiating with Iran.

"Toward the end of next week the ministers will go (to the talks), so I'd like to have an explanation and conversation to see where the Iranians are," Fabius told reporters in Cairo on Saturday, on the first day of the two-day Middle East visit.

Dylann Roof Charged With Murder In Attack On Black U.S. Church

​A 21-year-old white man, Dylann Roof who killed nine persons in Charlston church has been charged with nine counts of murder for an attack on a historic black South Carolina church.

Reports quoted him saying he had hoped his actions would incite a race war in the United States.

The Charleston Police Department said Dylann Roof is due to face a bail hearing later on Friday, where he will appear by video link and also face a charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

The charges come a day after his arrest in North Carolina, 220 miles (354 km) north of the nearly 200-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church where he shot dead nine black worshippers.

U.S. officials are investigating Roof's attack, in which four ministers were killed including a Democratic state senator, as a hate crime. It came in a year of turmoil in the United States, where police killings of several unarmed black men has provoked angry national debates about race relations, policing and the criminal justice system.

Roof confessed to the attack and said he intended to set off new racial confrontations with his attack, CNN reported, citing a law enforcement source.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that she would prefer to see Roof tried on state charges and believed state prosecutors should pursue a death sentence.

South Carolina is one of just five U.S. states that does not have a hate crime law, which typically imposes additional penalties on crimes committed because of a victim's race, gender or sexual orientation.

President Barack Obama said Thursday the attack stirred up "a dark part" of U.S. history and illustrated the continuing dangers of the nation's liberal gun laws, which gun-rights supporters say are protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Charleston Shooting: How a Good Samaritan's 911 Call Led to Dylann Roof's Arrest

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A North Carolina woman's 911 call brought an end to a desperate manhunt for Dylann Roof, the alleged gunman authorities say is responsible for killing nine people in a Charleston, South Carolina, church Wednesday night.

Police has earlier released pictures from surveillance footage showing Roof, 21, as well as the car he was driving.

Debbie Dills, a bookkeeper who works at a florist shop in Kings Mountain, North Carolina said she was leaving church in her car when she looked over and saw a driver next to her with a bowl haircut.

Dills said she then thought there was something about the car that she had heard about somewhere, but couldn't place it. She then spotted the white tag that was in the police description of the shooting suspect.

The observant good Samaritan called her husband and then 911.

Police in Shelby -- about 13 miles west of Kings Mountain where Dills works and 245 miles north of the Charleston church -- said they were informed at 10:32 a.m. today "that a business had contacted them of a possible sighting of the suspect from the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting traveling into Shelby."

At 10:44 a.m., Roof was apprehended at a traffic stop in Shelby. He was taken into custody five minutes later, police said.

Roof cooperated with the officer who stopped him, according to police.

A court clerk confirmed to ABC News this afternoon that Roof waived extradition in North Carolina and is cleared to return to South Carolina.

Culled from yahoo news.

Charleston Shooting Suspect, Dylann Roof Arrested in North Carolina.

MICHELLE OBAMA AND DAUGHTERS GET A ROYAL WELCOME FROM PRINCE HARRY IN LONDON

 
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Michelle Obama kicked off her week-long European tour on Tuesday in London, where she shared a private afternoon tea with Prince Harry.

 

The prince welcomed the First Lady, her daughters Malia and Sasha, and her mother Marian Robinson to Kensington Palace.

Prince Harry and Mrs. Obama discussed her Let Girls Learn initiative to promote worldwide education for young girls.

 

Both Kensington Palace and the White House released a photo of the two engaged in conversation over tea and scones.

A UK BILLIONAIRE IS FUNDING AN INSANE MULTI-STORY SKATEBOARDING COMPLEX

England billionaire Roger De Haan has commissioned construction of a local skateboarding park, in anticipation of keeping young people content in the small town of Folkestone.

It's not the kind of building you'd expect to find in an old town on the English Channel.

 

This will be a futuristic, over-the-top building, featuring the world's first multi-story skatepark, according to recently unveiled design plans.

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Architect Guy Hollaway, who is behind the project, told Dezeen magazine that the park's installation is supposed to prevent "brain drain" as many of the area's youth move elsewhere.

 

If and when the project is completed, skaters (of many types) and other "urban sports"

aficionados will be able to zoom around a giant bowl on the top floor of the building with a five-meter drop.

 

The top floor will connect to the lower levels with a series of ramps and an elevator. Three lower levels full of curving concrete ramps, ledges, and moguls will be encased in a metal mesh for light and ventilation.

 

"It sounds dangerous doesn't it?" Hollaway told Dezeen. "We're shrouding our children in what feels like rubber to protect them all the time, but I think—as the world becomes safer—a controlled adrenaline facility is what people will demand."

 

Hollaway's website says the park, or "centre for urban sports," will be used for skateboarding, rollerblading, BMX biking, and scootering.

 

There will also be a rock climbing wall, a café, and a first-aid office within the cavernous five-story building.

 

The project is scheduled to be completed by 2017.

COURT ORDERS FIRST BANK TO DISCLOSE DETAILS OF LOAN FOR BULLET PROOF CARS

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered First Bank of Nigeria Plc., to disclose details of a loan facility it granted to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, over alleged purchase of some bullet proof cars.

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Presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Yunusa also gave an order of mandamus compelling First Bank to grant access to or make available to Enough Is Enough (EIE) Nigeria, the information it requested, in a letter dated October 30, 2013.

 

The judge issued the order while delivering judgment in a suit instituted by EIE Nigeria against the bank over its refusal to disclose the information to the organization.

 

EIE Nigeria had written an application under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act on Oct. 30, 2013, requesting the disclosure of such information.

 

The suit was filed on behalf of EIE on January 9, 2014 by Mr Ayodeji Acquah of Media Rights Agenda's Network of Freedom of Information lawyers.

 

In that suit, EIE is praying the court for the declaration that the failure and or refusal of the First Bank to grant access to or make available to EIE the information it requested in its letter amounts to wrongful denial of access to information under Section 7(5) of the FOI Act.

 

However, EIE had obtained a similar order in March 2015, where Coscharis Motors Ltd., was directed to disclose details of the transaction.

 

It would be recalled that former aviation minister Stella Oduah allegedly acquired bullet proof cars running into hundred millions of naira for personal use while in the office.

GREECE APPOINTS ECONOMICS PROFESSOR MICHALIS AS NEW IMF REPRESENTATIVE

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Greece has appointed economics professor Michalis Psalidopoulos as its new representative at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

 

Greece finance minister Yanis Varoufakis announced on Wednesday, after a ruling party backlash prompted a previous nominee not to take up the post.

 

Psalidopoulos, a professor at the University of Athens, accepted the proposal to represent Greece.

 

He has also been a professor at the U.S. University of Tufts in 2010-2014 and will take over on June 29.

 

The government had previously nominated Elena Panaritis as their representative, but this prompted a backlash from the ruling Syriza party, which said her views clashed with Syriza's program.

ARAB AIR STRIKES HIT YEMEN AS PEACE TALKS ENTER SECOND DAY

​Arab air strikes hit military targets throughout Yemen on Wednesday and expanded into one western province for the first time, despite peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending almost three months of fighting.

 

The bombings hit army bases in the capital, Sanaa, and Houthi militia targets in Yemen's central desert and the mountainous province of Mahweet, one of the last provinces in Yemen not to be bombed since the Arab campaign began on March 26.

 

A coalition of Sunni Muslim states led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing the Iran-allied Houthis, who hail from a Shi'ite sect, and their allies in Yemen's army since then.

Their aim is to restore Yemen's exiled president to power and head off what they see as Shi'ite Iran's expansion in the region.

 

The Houthis seized Sanaa in September and pressed on into the country's center and south, forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile in Saudi Arabia.

 

The militia denies any military link to Tehran and says it is winning a revolution against Sunni Muslim militants and a corrupt government.

 

United Nations-backed talks among Yemen's warring factions are entering a second day in Geneva, and the U.N's special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, began shuttle diplomacy on Wednesday to bridge differences.

HONG KONG LAWMAKERS DEBATE ELECTION REFORM PLAN

Hong Kong lawmakers have started a debate on Wednesday on a Beijing-backed electoral reform proposal that will define the city's democratic future, which could trigger new demonstration in the Chinese-controlled city.

 

The former British colony has reinforced security after mass protests crippled parts of the Asian financial hub late last year, presenting China's ruling Communist Party with one of its biggest political challenges in decades.

 

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Hundreds of people converged outside government buildings and the Legislative Council issued an "amber alert" before the crucial vote on the reform package, which is expected by Friday.

 

The final round of a poll conducted by three Hong Kong universities showed 47 percent of respondents backed the reform proposal, which would allow a direct vote for Hong Kong's next leader in 2017, but only from pre-screened, pro-Beijing candidates, while 38 percent were against. Fifteen percent were undecided.

 

Police were deployed inside the council complex overnight, and police sources said more than 5,000 specially trained officers would be on standby, while some roads leading to government buildings were closed.

 

Legislators started debate on the blueprint on Wednesday afternoon. Opponents of the plan say they want a genuinely democratic vote for Hong Kong's next leader.

Michelle, Sasha & Malia Obama Wow With 4 Ladylike Dresses in London Again

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