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http://ift.tt/2svh5W0 (FILES) This file photo taken on May 24, 2017 shows Bill Cosby arrives at the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Megastar turned pariah Bill Cosby, who goes on trial June 5, 2017 for allegedly drugging and assaulting a woman in 2004, joins a growing list of famous men charged with a sex crime. / AFP PHOTO / Don EMMERT Bill Cosby goes on trial Monday, accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his Philadelphia mansion 13 years ago, with the megastar turned pariah facing prison if convicted. For decades, he was “America’s Dad,” loved by millions for his role as an affable obstetrician and benevolent father on “The Cosby Show,” one of the most popular series in the history of US television. On Monday, the disgraced 79-year-old will walk into Montgomery County Courthouse to face three counts of aggravated indecent assault, which each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and a $25,000 fine. Around 60 women have publ...

http://ift.tt/2squwpl Afghan residents stand near a damaged building near the site of a truck bomb attack in Kabul on May 31, 2017.<br />At least 80 people were killed and hundreds wounded May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital and shattering windows hundreds of metres away. / AFP PHOTO / WAKIL KOHSAR Kabul was reeling Thursday from its deadliest attack since 2001, with anguished residents burying their dead as authorities cleared away mangled wreckage and public anger mounted over the government’s failure to protect citizens in the heart of the capital. No group has so far claimed Wednesday’s attack, launched from a sewage tanker packed with explosives, which tore a massive crater in the ground and killed at least 90 people, mainly civilians, while wounding hundreds. Angry citizens demanded answers from the government over the perceived intelligence failure leading to the assault...

http://ift.tt/2reHKYW Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo Dear Nigerians, I bring you good wishes from President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, who as we all know is away from the country on medical vacation. Today marks the second anniversary of our assumption of office. We must thank the Almighty God not only for preserving our lives to celebrate this second anniversary but for giving us hope, strength and confidence as we faced the challenges of the past two years. Our administration outlined three specific areas for our immediate intervention on assumption of office: these were Security, Corruption and the Economy. In the Northeast of our country, the terrorist group Boko Haram openly challenged the sovereignty and continued existence of the state, killing, maiming and abducting, causing the displacement of the largest number of our citizens in recent history. Beyond the North East, they extended their mindless killings, as far away as Abuja, Kano and Kaduna. But wit...

http://ift.tt/2rXb989 The post Cartoon: Mr & Mrs appeared first on Vanguard News . Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2roajnS

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Oil prices edged up on Friday but markets remained on the back foot after tumbling in the previous session when OPEC and allied producers extended output cuts but disappointed investors betting on longer or larger curbs. At Thursday’s meeting in Vienna, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some non-OPEC producers agreed to extend a pledge to cut around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of the first quarter of 2018. The initial agreement would have expired in June this year. Crude oil plunged 5 percent following the announcement, only inching up a touch on Friday. Gaining back some of those losses, Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $51.83 per barrel at 0708 GMT, up 0.37 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were below $50, at $49.15, though still up 16 cents from their last close. Despite these gains, analysts said markets were on the back foot. “With Russi...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Mr Bayo Yusuf, the Principal of Marafa Comprehensive School, Marafa Estate, Kaduna, says on Wednesday majority of holders of the National Certificate in Education (NCE) cannot deliver quality teaching in classroom. Yusuf said in an interview in Kaduna that 90 per cent of NCE holders he had come across have no mastery of their subjects and cannot therefore impart quality knowledge to their students. “In series of interviews for employment in my school, only one out of 10 demonstrate proficiency in their subject.” Read Also: JAMB mounts CCTV cameras at 624 centres for UTME He lamented that the quality of teachers that come out of teachers training institutions have been on the downward trend in the country. Yusuf blamed the development on lack of adequate and quality teachers at the training institutions and neglect of the teaching profession by government. The principal also attributed the problem to the lack of interest in the teaching profession, as those a...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Anybody that is not happy that 82 Chibok girls were released must be a monster whose humanity should be called into question. I thank God that these girls have been released and I commend the Federal Government for the feat of ensuring that these girls are reunited with their families. May God bless President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the leadership that enabled this to happen. Having said that, there are some factual observations I want to raise. What you are about to read is completely devoid of any opinion. I am just stating facts. You may not like the facts. You may not even like me. But one thing you cannot do is ignore the fact. May 5, 2017: 82 Chibok girls were released by Boko Haram to the Nigerian government after negotiations that involved a prisoner swap and according to some news reports also included substantial payments: But questions about this incidence remain. On May 3, 2017, international news syndicate, AFP News Agency, reported that on ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The UN says war and famine have forced more than two million children in South Sudan to flee their homes, creating the most worrying refugee crisis in the world. The civil war in the oil-producing country began two years after it won independence from neighboring Sudan,when President Salva Kiir fired his deputy in 2013. The fighting that followed split the country along ethnic lines, spurred hyperinflation and plunged parts of the nation into famine, creating Africa’s biggest refugee crisis since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Valentin Tapsoba, the Africa chief for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in a statement said: “no refugee crisis today worries me more than South Sudan.” The UN said in a country of 12 million people, nearly three in every four children do not go to school. The UN also said that no fewer than one million children have fled outside South Sudan while another one million are internally displaced. UNHC...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The South Korean National Election Commission says 11 million people have cast their ballots in early voting for this week’s presidential election. The commission said on Monday that just more than 26 per cent of the country’s 42.5 million registered voters took part in early voting Thursday and Friday. Regular voting begins Tuesday. The South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the high turnout marks a major increase compared to the country’s last general election, the newspaper reported, when early votes made up just 12.2 per cent of ballots cast. This year is the first time early voting has been available in a presidential election. Koreans will be voting for a replacement for former leader Park Geun Hye, who was forced to leave office in March, for her role in a corruption scandal. The country, famed for its technological exports, faces growing youth unemployment, high rates of household debt and fear of poverty among the elderly, as well as esca...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Prof. Michael Faborode, former Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, says current anti-corruption fight in Nigeria would lead to total national rebirth. Faborode, who is the Secretary-General, Committee of Vice-Chancellors made the remark in an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Monday. He said that Nigerians must support the war against corruption which had permeated every facet of life. “ When we say corruption, it is in everything and not just financial corruption. “It is corruption in character, honesty, ethics and everything and so the war on corruption is going to be a total war. “ It is going to be that we have national rebirth in the way we understand things. “ Look when we were in school, we were very ambitious and we have role models we want to emulate and so hope sustains us and we apply ourselves to our studies. “But these days, the children have been made totally hopeless. “They don’t have examples in the nation to emulate, because all ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Mr Taidi Jonathan, former Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Minna chapter, on Monday said the release of the 82 Chibok school girls demonstrated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to the welfare of all Nigerians. Taidi said in an interview with newsmen in Minna that the gesture was also a clear demonstration of the Buhari administration to secure the release of all those in captivity. “It shows that the Federal Government and its partners have the capacity to release the remaining girls. “The release would help to check the emotional trauma the parents of the girls might be facing in the last three years.” Jonathan, therefore, called on Nigerians irrespective of religious and political differences to support the government in its efforts to provide security and set the nation on the path of prosperity. The former NBA chairman urged Nigerians to seek God’s intervention on the challenges facing the nation, stressing that with fervent prayers, a...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J World leaders have reacted positively to Emmanuel Macron’s victory over Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s French presidential elections. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “the decision of the French voters is also clearly a vote for Europe.” Merkel’s Spokesperson Steffen Seibert, said the Chancellor is looking forward to working with the new president in the spirit of the traditionally close Franco-German friendship. “I warmly congratulate @EmmanuelMacron on his success and look forward to working with him on a wide range of shared priorities,” Merkel said. Also, British Prime Minister Theresa May in her tweets said: “Hurray President #Macron A hope is haunting Europe.” Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni also said: “We congratulate Emmanuel Macron on his victory in the French presidential election. “This is a victory for the French people and for European cooperation.” Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in his comment said: “I look forward to working with...

http://ift.tt/2pfA8SE President Muhammadu Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari administration has released additional N35 billion to step-up the Amnesty Programme in the Niger Delta region. The lifeline, according to a release from the Vice Presidential Spokesman, Mr Laolu Akande, on Saturday is in sustenance of the new understanding between the Federal Government and the oil-producing communities. The FG had approved a N20 billion allocation for the Amnesty Programme in the 2016 budget. “President Buhari has now raised the funds, and as appropriated, to N55 billion with a recent release of additional N30billion. “There is also a planned release of another N5 billion later,’’ the release said. The release indicated that the Amnesty Office had paid up all ex-militants backlog of their stipends up to the end of 2016. The release of the additional funds is coming after presidential level interactive engagements in the Niger Delta, where the Buhari administration had enunciated...