Senate passes anti-Tobacco bill, culprits could get up to 6 months jail term

The Senate yesterday passed the Tobacco Control Bill. According to the deputy senate president Ike Ekweremadu who presided over the plenary session on Tuesday May 12th, the bill will ensure effective regulation and control of production, manufacture, sale, labeling, advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco and tobacco products in Nigeria.

The bill among other things specifies the places cigarette smokers could smoke and areas where smoking is forbidden and also the punishment to be meted out to defaulters when they smoke in non-designated areas. Culprits could get up to six months in jail



The bill states that owners of public places where smoking is not allowed will be penalized if they fail to put up a "no smoking sign" on their properties. The bill was sponsored by Delta state governor elect and Senate Committee on Health Chairman, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa. The bill now awaits the assent of President Jonathan.

Photos: Karrueche & Christina Milian stun in white as they celebrate Kae's birthday

Chris Brown's ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran looked lovely in a white draped dress with a very low plunging neckline, while her BFF, singer Christina Milian looked sexy in a figure-hugging white dress as they headed out to a restaurant in LA yesterday to celebrate Karrueche's 27th birthday. See more photos after the cut...

BOKO HARAM ATTACK: - 3 soldiers, 6 vigilante group members killed in Maiduguri

3 soldiers and six local vigilante members died during the Boko Haram attack in Maiduguri yesterday May 13th.

A senior official of the state Vigilante group who spoke to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity said the six vigilante group members who died were killed while trying to help 3 women who ran to them for help when the attacks started. Unknown to them, the women were suicide bombers who had bombs strapped under their clothes which later exploded, killing 6 and injuring 12 others.

 "The six vigilantes were killed by female suicide bombers who pretended to be in distress while the fight was ongoing between troops and the terrorists. The three women were all suicide bombers because they strapped their bodies with explosives and pretended that they were trapped in the ensuing confusion. And out of sympathy, our members approached them with a view to taking them to safety but sadly, they (women) detonated their explosives," he said.

A military officer also confirmed that three soldiers died during the attack while many members of the insurgency group lost their live

Aggrieved PDP aspirants demand refund of money paid for nomination forms

Aggrieved members in PDP in Adamawa state who failed to secure their party's ticket in the last general elections have demanded a return of the money they paid for the party's nomination forms.

Addressing newsmen in Yola, the Adamawa state capital today May 14th, the leader of the aggrieved politicians who gathered under the aegis of PDP Aggrieved Aspirants Forum, Liazaru Aliada-Gugu, threatened to drag the party to court if their money is not returned.

“We the aggrieved PDP aspirants bought forms to contest the primary election and since they did not conduct any primary election, it is only natural for them to return our money. We have made our request known to the leadership of our party both at the state and national level. They have promised to address the issue but up till now they have not done anything. When we met the national leader of the party and the national chairman of the party, they agreed to do something about us and we were satisfied with that meeting. But after several weeks of waiting without response we are left with no other option than to take our case to court.”he said

Plus size model releases super hot pics of herself in her underwear

Gorgeous model Tess Holliday, who became the first size 26 woman to be signed to a top UK modeling agency earlier this year, has released photos from her recent photo-shoot which is aimed at 'challenging the world's perception of beauty'

The 29 year old, who is 5ft 4in, stripped to her underwear to prove to the world that being overweight can be sexy too. See more photos after the cut...

[NEW MUSIC] - "Follow Me Craze" by Playa 1 | @p1fk | DOWNLOAD HERE

Sequel to the street demand, fast rising Nigerian singer,  superstar entertainer popularly  known as  "Playa 1" decided to release this  amazing dance tune to entertain his fans and music lovers all over the world. The song is titled Follow Me Craze. Yes! Follow me craze is the song that will make you swing to the beat, and  is currently on airplay within and outside Africa. Listen, Download and Share #Follow_Me_Craze by #Playa_1 ( follow on twitter @p1fk)

DOWNLOAD HERE 

For Music Promo/Hypes

Call +2348181964195

Photos: Britney Spears hurt her ankle, cancels remaining shows

Britney Spears hurt her ankle badly during her Las Vegas show on Wednesday night, and she's been forced to cancel two shows.

Video footage of the performer shot by an audience member shows Spears kicking and high-stepping on high-heels during her single "(You Drive Me) Crazy" before her left ankle gives way.

Spears took to Twitter Wednesday night to thank her fans for the well wishes, saying she "had a little scare on stage tonight with my ankle but I'm ok!"

Her shows for this coming Friday and Saturday will be rescheduled after doctors advised her not to perform ... opting instead to rest her injured ankle so it can heal.

FG plotting to sabotage smooth handover – APC alleges

The All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday accused the out-going President Goodluck Jonathan administration of plotting to hinder a smooth handover of power to the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) on May 29. President Goodluck Jonathan had, on Wednesday, accused the APC of acting like a parallel government and trying to stampede his administraton out of office by making impossible demands in the terms of reference of the President-elect’s transition committee.

Briefing newsmen after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, Minister of National Planning, Abubakar Suleiman, a member of Jonathan’s transition committee, said the council frowned at the terms of reference of the in-coming government and warned that the President’s magnanimity should not be construed as cowardice. He said the council agreed that Dr Goodluck Jonathan remains the President of the country until May 29 and the in-coming government should avoid creating a parallel government.

Justifying its claim that the Jonathan administration was plotting to hinder a smooth transition of power, APC said: “While the outgoing government had earlier issued a memo to all ministries, departments and agencies to make sure their handover notes are ready by April 20, the same government has now reversed itself and said the handover notes will not be ready until May 14.

“With the new date, the Buhari transition committee will have little or no time to take a thorough look at the handover notes or seek clarification on knotty issues, effectively handing it (Buhari Transition Committee) a fait accompli as far as the handover notes are concerned. This does not augur well for a smooth transition and gives the impression that the outgoing administration is trying to hide something. “By its dilly-dallying on the date for the readiness of the handover notes from the MDAs, the administration’s posturing that it is ready to hand over has been exposed as nothing but a smokescreen.”

Responding yesterday to President Jonathan’s accusation, the APC in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it was becoming apparent that the Jonathan administration will not fully cooperate with the incoming government, despite its public posturing in that regard.

The party also described as “an act of hostility and a patently-misplaced aggression the unnecessary vituperation against the incoming Buhari administration by the Jonathan government, ostensibly because of the terms of reference of the Buhari transition committee but in reality part of an orchestrated plot to sabotage the transition.” It rejected the continued blackmail by the Jonathan administration as a result of President Jonathan’s concession of defeat, wondering whether the concession, gracious as it was, has now become a shield for all wrong doings. The party said: “We are sick and tired of being blackmailed by the Jonathanians.

Gen. Buhari won the March 28th Presidential elections fair and square, having satisfied both constitutional and other statutory requirements. “We have no apology for our victory, and the concession of defeat – while it may have increased the political stock of President Jonathan – has by no means diminished the historic and emphatic victory of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress.”

ISIS smashes thieves’ heads with concrete blocks as part of sick brand of justice | SEE PHOTOS

ISIS have been pictured dropping concrete blocks onto the head of two thieves as a retribution for their crimes. Watched by a massive crowd, the masked killers slammed the blocks of stone onto the men’s heads in ‘qisas’ – meaning ‘eye for an eye’ – retribution.

The militants raise their hands to the sky as the blocks rain down on the men, who are bound and had their heads hung over a kerb.

They had reportedly robbed and murdered women in the Nineveh province in northern Iraq.
The notoriously media-savvy organisation released the images on social media which were shared by ISIS supporters

French soldiers accused of raping homeless and hungry children in Central African Republic - UN report

French peacekeeping troops have been accused of raping homeless and hungry children in Central African Republic. Some of the children included boys as young as 9 who were allegedly sodomized.

UK Guardian reports;

A senior United Nations aid worker has been suspended for disclosing to prosecutors an internal report on the sexual abuse of children by French peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic. Sources close to the case said Anders Kompass passed the document to the French authorities because of the UN’s failure to take action to stop the abuse. The report documented the sexual exploitation of children as young as nine by French troops stationed in the country as part of international peacekeeping efforts.

The abuses took place in 2014 when the UN mission in the country, Minusca, was in the process of being set up.

The Guardian has been passed the internal report on the sexual exploitation by Paula Donovan, co-director of the advocacy group Aids Free World, who is demanding an independent commission inquiry into the UN’s handling of sexual abuse by peacekeepers.

It was commissioned by the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights after reports on the ground that children, who are among the tens of thousands displaced by the fighting, were being sexually abused.

Entitled Sexual Abuse on Children by International Armed Forces and stamped “confidential” on every page, the report details the rape and sodomy of starving and homeless young boys by French peacekeeping troops who were supposed to be protecting them at a centre for internally displaced people in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic.

Donovan said: “The regular sex abuse by peacekeeping personnel uncovered here and the United Nations’ appalling disregard for victims are stomach-turning, but the awful truth is that this isn’t uncommon. The UN’s instinctive response to sexual violence in its ranks – ignore, deny, cover up, dissemble – must be subjected to a truly independent commission of inquiry with total access, top to bottom, and full subpoena power.”

The UN has faced several scandals in the past relating to its failure to act over paedophile rings operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo and Bosnia. It has also faced allegations of sexual misconduct by its troops in Haiti, Burundi and Liberia.

The treatment of Kompass, a Swedish national, threatens to spark a major diplomatic row.
This month, the Swedish ambassador to the United Nations warned senior UN officials “it would not be a good thing if the high commissioner for human rights forced” Kompass to resign. The ambassador threatened to go public if that happened and to engage in a potentially ugly and harmful debate.

The abuses detailed in the internal report took place before and after Minusca was set up last year. Interviews with the abused children were carried out between May and June last year by a member of staff from the office of the high commissioner for human rights and a Unicef specialist. The children identified represent just a snapshot of the numbers potentially being abused.

The boys, some of whom were orphans, disclosed sexual exploitation, including rape and sodomy, between December 2013 and June 2014 by French troops at a centre for internally displaced people at M’Poko airport in Bangui.

The children described how they were sexually exploited in return for food and money. One 11-year-old boy said he was abused when he went out looking for food. A nine-year-old described being sexually abused with his friend by two French soldiers at the IDP camp when they went to a checkpoint to look for something to eat.

The child described how the soldiers forced him and his friend to carry out a sex act. The report describes how distressed the child was when disclosing the abuse and how he fled the camp in terror after the assault. Some of the children were able to give good descriptions of the soldiers involved.
In summer 2014, the report was passed to officials within the office of the high commissioner for human rights in Geneva. When nothing happened, Kompass sent the report to the French authorities and they visited Bangui and began an investigation.

It is understood a more senior official was made aware of Kompass’s actions and raised no objections. But last month Kompass was called in and accused of breaching UN protocols by leaking details of a confidential report, according to sources.

Kompass’s emails have been seized as part of the investigation into the alleged leak. One senior UN official has said of Kompass that “it was his duty to know and comply” with UN protocols on confidential documents.

Bea Edwards, of the Government Accountability Project, an international charity that supports whistleblowers, condemned the UN for its witch-hunt against a whistleblower who had acted to stop the abuse of children.
“We have represented many whistleblowers in the UN system over the years and in general the more serious the disclosure they make the more ferocious the retaliation,” said Edwards. “Despite the official rhetoric, there is very little commitment at the top of the organisation to protect whistleblowers and a strong tendency to politicise every issue no matter how urgent.”
UN sources confirmed an investigation by the French was ongoing – in cooperation with the UN – into allegations of a very serious nature against peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.
On Wednesday the French government confirmed that authorities in Paris were investigating the allegations. A statement from the defence ministry said the government “was made aware at the end of July 2014 by the UN’s high commission for human rights of accusations by children that they had been sexually abused by French soldiers.”

An investigation was opened shortly after by Paris prosecutors, it said. “The defence ministry has taken and will take the necessary measures to allow the truth to be found,” the statement added. “If the facts are proven, the strongest penalties will be imposed on those responsible for what would be an intolerable attack on soldiers’ values.”

The ministry said the abuse was alleged by around 10 children and reportedly took place at a centre for internally displaced people near the airport of the capital Bangui between December 2013 and June 2014.
The ministry said that French investigators had gone to the CAR from 1 August last year to begin their inquiry.
A spokesman for the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights confirmed an investigation was under way into the leaking of confidential information by a staff member.

Kompass, who is based in Geneva, was suspended from his post as director of field operations last week and accused of leaking a confidential UN report and breaching protocols. He is under investigation by the UN office for internal oversight service (OIOS) amid warnings from a senior official that access to his case must be “severely restricted”. He faces dismissal.
The treatment of the aid worker, who has been involved in humanitarian work for more than 30 years, has taken place with the knowledge of senior UN officials, including Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the high commissioner for human rights, and Susana Malcorra, chef de cabinet in the UN, according to documents relating to the case.

Robert Mugabe refuses to shake hands with Zulu king

Here's a pic of President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe as he refused to shake hands with one of the kings of Zulu because he passively watched his people kill other Africans.

Tameka Raymond claps back at Usher + says she was duped by a Nigerian

A few days ago, a new song by Rico Love titled 'Somebody Else' featuring Usher and Wiz Khalifa was released. In the song, Usher begged his ex to please find somebody else and leave him alone.

"I’m really hoping she finds somebody else. And it won’t get better til you try somebody else. She be all in to the drama, But I just want us to close. She all about the commotion, I swear she gotta heart of stone" - Usher sang.

Well, his ex-wife Tameka Raymond was not amused and took to Twitter to let him know. She also revealed she was duped by a Nigerian Real Estate agent. What? Lol. See the tweets after the cut..

KISS DANIEL DROPS FOLLOW UP SONG "LAYE" PRODUCED BY DJ COUBLON | @iamkissdaniel @gworldwideent

New Song "Laye", the much anticipated follow up to mega hit song "Woju" finally drops!

G-Worldwide Entertainment recording Artist and Woju crooner Kiss Daniel finally releases his follow up single titled "Laye". Kiss Daniel continues in the tradition of giving his fans "Good Music". The build up for Laye has shown that the fans want to see more music from the young man who stormed the music industry by surprise in 2014. The wait is over!

Laye is produced by DJ Coublon who also produced Woju. The two have struck a good working relationship that seems to bring out the best in both of them.

Laye, like Woju, will showcase why many have said this kid is "Next to Put Africa on the Map".

DOWNLOAD HERE