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Monday 15 May 2017

"Even the Devil can't stop me" - Mercy Aigbe declares as she returns back to work


Mercy Aigbe has fully returned to work after her marriage crashed over allegations of domestic violence. Responding to people saying she should slow down, Mercy captioned the photo above; 
"Did I hear someone say slow down? Even the Devil can't stop me."

South African Generations star Mandla Hlatshwayo killed

Mandla HlatshwayoImage copyrightFACEBOOK
Image captionMandla Hlatshwayo's father was also killed trying to stop a robbery
South Africans are paying tribute to a former actor on popular local TV series Generations who was killed during a mugging on Sunday night.
Mandla Hlatshwayo and his friend were shot after confronting a group of men who had robbed women of their mobile phones in a pub in Soweto.
Those who knew the 40-year-old have described him as a selfless man.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world with more than 50,000 cases reported every year.
Many are using social media to send message of condolences to the family of Mr Hlatshwayo, who was also a disc jockey for local radio station Jozi FM.
The hashtag #RIPMandla has been trending since news of his death broke on Monday morning.
Jozi FM head Mpho Mhlongo, who confirmed the star's death, noted that Mr Hlatshwayo's father was also killed some years ago during a robbery.
Mr Hlatshwayo's death has sparked a debate around how to tackle the country's rampant crime levels but it makes many realise there are no easy solutions, says the BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.
There have been no arrests yet.

South African Generations star Mandla Hlatshwayo killed

Mandla HlatshwayoImage copyrightFACEBOOK
Image captionMandla Hlatshwayo's father was also killed trying to stop a robbery
South Africans are paying tribute to a former actor on popular local TV series Generations who was killed during a mugging on Sunday night.
Mandla Hlatshwayo and his friend were shot after confronting a group of men who had robbed women of their mobile phones in a pub in Soweto.
Those who knew the 40-year-old have described him as a selfless man.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world with more than 50,000 cases reported every year.
Many are using social media to send message of condolences to the family of Mr Hlatshwayo, who was also a disc jockey for local radio station Jozi FM.
The hashtag #RIPMandla has been trending since news of his death broke on Monday morning.
Jozi FM head Mpho Mhlongo, who confirmed the star's death, noted that Mr Hlatshwayo's father was also killed some years ago during a robbery.
Mr Hlatshwayo's death has sparked a debate around how to tackle the country's rampant crime levels but it makes many realise there are no easy solutions, says the BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.
There have been no arrests yet.

Primary school pupils in Kenya block road with desks after their school was demolished

Movement was paralysed along Mbagathi Road, Kenya on Monday morning after pupils of Kenyatta Golf Course Academy, barricaded the busy road to protest the demolishing of their school.

Details are still sketchy but reports indicate that the private school was demolished by unknown persons over the weekend following a land dispute.

The pupils placed their desks across the road and sat on them, blocking traffic in the morning rush hour.
"We want our school, we want our school, we need to study in school" they chanted. I like my class and I like studying. They have now removed our class and there is no way we can study. All the students want to study," one pupil stated.
 More photos below...



Primary school pupils in Kenya block road with desks after their school was demolished

Movement was paralysed along Mbagathi Road, Kenya on Monday morning after pupils of Kenyatta Golf Course Academy, barricaded the busy road to protest the demolishing of their school.

Details are still sketchy but reports indicate that the private school was demolished by unknown persons over the weekend following a land dispute.

The pupils placed their desks across the road and sat on them, blocking traffic in the morning rush hour.
"We want our school, we want our school, we need to study in school" they chanted. I like my class and I like studying. They have now removed our class and there is no way we can study. All the students want to study," one pupil stated.
 More photos below...



Bin Laden’s son Hamza threatens U.S. over father’s death

Hamza, Osama Bin Laden's son threatens U.S.

Hamza, Osama Bin Laden’s son Hamza threatens U.S.


Osama bin Laden’s son reportedly seeks to avenge his father’s death and is poised to become the new leader of Al Qaeda.
Personal letters seized in the raid that killed bin Laden show that his son, Hamza, is set on avenging his father’s death, Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent, told CBS News in an interview that will air Sunday.
“He tells him that…he remembers ‘every look…every smile you gave me, every word you told me,” Soufan said about bin Laden’s son. Soufan also told CBS News that Hamza wrote that he considers himself “to be forged in steel.”
Soufan said that Hamza’s path to become the leader of the terrorist organisation was created years ago when he was used as a propaganda tool in bin Laden’s videos.
He was seen sometimes holding a gun.
The agent added that he has even started to sound like his father.
“His recent message that came out, he delivered the speech as if it’s his father, using sentences, terminology that was used by Osama bin Laden,” Soufan said.
Hamza is believed to be about 28 years old and has been named as a “specially designated global terrorist” by the U.S., as he has recorded four audio messages in the last two years, aimed at the U.S.
“He’s basically saying, ‘American people, we’re coming and you’re going to feel it,” Soufan said.
“And we’re going to take revenge for what you did to my father. Iraq, Afghanistan’. The whole thing was about vengeance.”
Source: Fox News

North Korea says missile could carry large nuclear warhead

(CNN)North Korea says the missile it tested Sunday is capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead, state media said Monday.
The country's leader, Kim Jong Un, supervised the launch of the Hwasong-12 missile that reached an altitude of 2,111.5 kilometers (1,312 miles) and flew 787 kilometers (489 miles), according to state news agency KCNA.
    The test was "aimed at verifying the tactical and technological specifications of the newly developed ballistic rocket capable of carrying a large-size heavy nuclear warhead," KCNA said.
    North Korea warned the United States not to provoke it, saying the "US mainland and Pacific operations" are within range of North Korean missiles.
    Analysts called this North Korea's most successful missile test ever and a significant advancement in its quest to build a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
    An image from North Korean state media Rodong Sinmun shows Sunday's missile launch.
    "North Korea's latest successful missile test represents a level of performance never before seen from a North Korean missile," aerospace engineer John Schilling wrote on the blog 38 North, published by the US Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
    The high altitude and long flight time -- 30 minutes, the US said -- indicate a missile with an extended range, according to David Wright, co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
    Writing on his organization's blog, Wright pointed out that if the missile did reach that height and fly that far, it could reach the US territory of Guam in the Pacific.

    Step towards long range missile?

    Guam is home to Andersen Air Force Base, through which the US Air Force rotates heavy bombers including B-1s, B-2s and B-52s.
    KCNA said the test showed North Korea "has all powerful means for retaliatory strike" should Washington take any military action to stop its nuclear weapons program.
    Tong Zhao, an analyst with the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, said if the missile does have the range to hit Guam, it could give North Korea "a regional nuclear deterrence," meaning it might not need to pursue an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which could reach the US mainland.
    But Melissa Hanham, senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California, said it could be a stepping stone to just that.
    "This may become half or a third of an ICBM," she said, pointing out that ICBMs are built in two or three stages stacked atop of each other.
    An image from North Korean state media shows leader Kim Jong with a missile on a mobile launcher.
    Hanham also said the fact that the missile's re-entry vehicle flew so high above the Earth put it under more stress than a warhead might undergo when fired on a more normal, flatter trajectory
    North Korean engineers "may well be able to draw warhead re-entry data from that which is applicable to their ICBM ambitions," said Euan Graham, an expert on North Korea at Australia's Lowy Institute.
    "Given speculation over the past months about the possibility of military action by the Trump administration to prevent Pyongyang from acquiring such weapons, the possible testing of ICBM subsystems in this low-key manner may be a North Korean hedge against the possibility of such action," 38 North's Schilling wrote.
    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un surrounded by officials on the day of the May 14 missile launch.

    Differing assessments

    US officials said the missile launched near the city of Kusong, in western North Korea, flew across the country and into the Sea of Japan/East Sea, hitting the water about 60 miles from Vladivostok in eastern Russia.
    Russia, however, said the missile fell 310 miles (500 kilometers) from its coast, according to a report on RT.com.
    Russia initially responded to North Korea's test by putting its far eastern air defenses on high alert, according to a report from the RIA-Novosti news agency.
    Russian President Vladmir Putin reportedly discussed the launch with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting in Beijing. "Concern was expressed about the escalation of tension, including in connection with the launch (of the missile of the DPRK)," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying in Russian state media.
    Sunday's test is the first from North Korea since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office last week. Moon has advocated dialogue with North Korea to denuclearize.
    Moon said the missile test violates UN Security Council resolutions and called it a severe challenge to the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula and the world, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said.
    South Korea needs to show the North that even though talks are possible, it will only be possible if North Korea changes its attitude, the President told staff.
    He said South Korea would respond to provocations.

    Messages from Pyongyang?

    North Korea's Kim launched Sunday's test as Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosted a major trade and infrastructure summit with multiple world leaders in Beijing.

    Putin warns against 'intimidating' North Korea after latest missile launch

    Beijing (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned North Korea's latest missile launch as "dangerous" but warned against "intimidating" Pyongyang.
    Speaking in China, Putin called for a peaceful solution to the ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported.
      "I would like to confirm that we are categorically against the expansion of the club of nuclear states, including through the Korean Peninsula," Putin told reporters. "We are against it and consider it counterproductive, damaging, dangerous," he said.
      But in comments that appeared aimed at the US, he said that "intimidating (North Korea) is unacceptable."
      For its part, North Korea said the missile test was in response to the nuclear dangers and threats posed by the US and its followers.
      "We will conduct ICBM tests anytime and anywhere in accordance with the decisions made by our central leadership," North Korea's ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong said at an impromptu press conference at the country's embassy in Beijing Monday.

      US territory in reach?

      North Korea tested a Hwasong-12 missile Sunday which reached an altitude of 2,111.5 kilometers (1,312 miles) and flew 787 kilometers (489 miles), according to state news agency KCNA.
      Analysts estimated its ranged as 4,500 kilometers which would put the US territory of Guam within its reach.
      A small island in the Pacific, Guam is home to Andersen Air Force Base, through which the US Air Force rotates heavy bombers including B-1s, B-2s and B-52s.
      KCNA said the test showed North Korea "has all powerful means for retaliatory strike" should Washington take any military action to stop its nuclear weapons program.
      Putin made the comments on the sidelines of the One Belt One Road summit in Beijing, a meeting of 29 heads of state convened by Chinese President Xi Jinping to push his vision for China's global expansion.
      The Russian president called on all parties to "find peaceful solutions."
      Putin's partial defense of North Korea came after White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested that the missile test may provoke a more forceful response from the Kremlin.
      In a White House statement released Sunday, Spicer said: "With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil -- in fact, closer to Russia than to Japan -- the President cannot imagine that Russia is pleased."
      The US and Russia also offered differing estimates for where the missile splashed down. The US said it terminated flight just 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Russian port city of Vladivostock, whereas the Russian Defense Ministry said it landed 500 kilometers (311 miles) from its Pacific coast line.

      Russia's relations with North Korea

      While Russia and North Korea don't have strong trade ties, they are building on their economic relationship. New ferry services are running between the countries and Russia has given permission for some 50,000 North Koreans to carry out manual work on projects in Russia.
      Russia is one of the few countries that has diplomatic relations with North Korea. Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il, went to Moscow on a state visit during his rule in 2011, and Putin visited Pyongyang in 2000.
      "While Russia is concerned about North Korea and its missiles, it also sees North Korea as an opportunity to gain leverage with the West, the US in particular," said Matthew Chance, CNN's Moscow correspondent.
      "Russia doesn't want North Korea to have nuclear weapons, but the response from officials in Moscow has been minimal because they know Russia isn't one of Pyongyang's targets," he added.

      Usain Bolt helps dig grave for late friend/Olympic silver medallist, Germaine Mason


      Sprinter/100 metre and 200m world record-holder, Usain Bolt was recently filmed in Portland, Jamaica helping to dig the grave for his late friend, Germaine Mason.

      34-year-old Mason, who won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, died in a motorcycle accident in Jamaica on April 20.


      He reportedly fell off of his bike on the Norman Manley highway in East Kingston while trying to swerve to avoid oncoming traffic, and died at the scene.

      Mason had been friends with Bolt since 2002 and is set to be buried on May 21st.

       More photos below...



      Security expert says Boko Haram's threat to bomb Abuja is real

      Security expert says Boko Haram's threat to bomb Abuja is real

      A renowned security expert, Dr Ekhomu Ona, has expressed serious concern over the recent threats by Boko Haram. The Islamist group had threatened to bomb Nigeria's capital, Abuja in a new video clip released by Abubakar Shekau, the sect's leader. While the Nigerian Army has dismissed the two video clips as mere propaganda, Dr Ona argued that the swapped commander now has a better inside knowledge to plot a good attack. 
      Returning commanders of Boko Haram to the battlefield is not a great idea. However, we have no choice in this case because we have to secure release of our girls. And I praise President Muhammadu Buhari for that. But then, we really have to take it as a credible threat. “It is a credible threat because we have active terrorist cells that are all over the country. We have them in the Kogi axis; we have them in the outline districts of Abuja. As someone who just returned to the field, he has better inside knowledge now to carry out the threat. Prison is the prime radicalization ground for many extremists. That is where they meet and share ideas,” Dr Ona told Daily Sun.

      He further noted that freed Boko Haram members were the forerunners of major attacks in the recent past. His words: “Prison gives them opportunity to be together and to plot good attacks. Besides, there is a lot of radicalism in those cells which have not been well infiltrated by our intelligence agencies.” 
      He advised the federal government to focus on effective control of explosives which Boko Haram relied upon in its terrorist activities. He said: “There is a poor control of explosive ordinance in the country. Today, explosive ordinance is available everywhere for people who do blasting and quarrying, for farmers who need fertilizer. “There must be a focus on controlling explosive in the country. “Another thing is that what is bugging them has not been resolved in the society. “These people are saying that there is a lot of corruption in Nigerian society, there is injustice. You are a liar if you say we don’t have corruption and moral depravity in our society today. They believe it is only under Sharia that these can be resolved, which is wrong.”