Man mistakes son for monkey, shoots him dead

A farmer in southern Nepal mistook his son for a monkey trying to steal his crops and shot the 12-year-old dead, police said on Sunday.

Chitra Bahadur Pulami had been climbing a tree to chase away macaques that had become a nuisance to the family but his father Gupta Bahadur, 55, spotted the boy and opened fire, wrongly believing him to be one of the animals.

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“The son was hiding in a tree at their farm to chase away monkeys that used to come searching for food in the maize field,” said Arun Poudel, deputy superintendent of police in the remote Arghakhanchi district “The son died on the spot after Gupta Bahadur mistakenly thought there was a monkey in the tree and opened fire. Our preliminary investigation shows that the father was unaware that his son had gone to the maize field to chase the monkeys.

“Both Gupta Bahadur and the gun that he used in shooting his son are now under the custody of the police.” The three species of monkey native to Nepal, the rhesus and Assamese macaque and the common langur, are considered sacred and farmers normally try to scare them away from their crops without injuring the animals.

“I realised my mistake only when my son fell down and got stuck in one of the tree’s branches,” the farmer was quoted as telling police by the Nepali nagariknews.com website

Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi gives birth to Lorenzo Dominic LaValle

This how she broke the news;
"I am SO IN LOVE with my son Lorenzo Dominic !" she tweeted Sunday morning. "I had my little man last night, healthy 6lbs! HE'S MY WORLD!"

Owida Johnson & her son have been accused of sexual abuse and imprisonment of a 19-year-old girl allegedly

Steven Elliot Johnson, 25 and his mother, Owida Johnson, 54, (left) were charged on Saturday in connection with the sexual abused of a St. Louis teenager who sSteven Elliot Johnson, 25 and his mother, Owida Johnson, 54, (left) were charged on Saturday in connection with the sexual abused of a St. Louis teenager who said she was held captive in his home for three years in which time she was raped and gave birth to Johnson's child.

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In 2010 police listed the girl as a missing or runaway juvenile. She was 15 when she disappeared. On Thursday the girl escaped from the Johnson's house and ran to police saying her child was still in the house.

Both are in St. Clair County Jail. Steven Johnson was being held on $2 million bond, his mother on $15,000 bond. No court date has been set and Kelly said no attorneys have been appointed.

Al-Qaeda plots fresh attacks on Nigeria

International intelligence agencies have uncovered plans by al-Qaeda, to launch fresh attacks on Nigeria, Ghana and two other African countries.

Could this be true?

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Al-Qaeda, which was founded by the late Osama bin Laden, has launched attacks all over the world. Investigations by local newspaper, PUNCH authoritatively showed that the targeted countries were receiving help from Western nations on how to prevent the onslaught.

However, it was not clear if the attacks would be launched by al-Qaeda in the Maghreb or the main terrorist organisation in the country. The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, confirmed the al-Qaeda plot to our correspondent. Mba, however, noted that such threats were received in the past, and added that security agencies were determined to ensure the group’s plan did not succeed. According to him, the police are receiving immense support from developed countries that have counter- terrorism expertise. Mba said, “That al-Qaeda and similar groups want to attack some certain countries is not new. As security operatives, we treat information at our disposal with uttermost care.

We test their veracity and analyse them. “Here in Nigeria, we stop most of the domestic attacks before they take place. We defuse more bombs than they detonate. We save thousands of lives daily but we do this discretely and quietly. “More than ever, we have so much support from the international community. We are getting help from both ECOWAS and western countries. We are doing our best with the resources we have and we will continue to do so. “We have stepped up security everywhere but we won’t disclose how we are doing that and the specifics of our mechanisms. “I want to assure Nigerians and the international community that government is irrevocably committed to its mandate of providing adequate security in the country.”

 Ghana, another country on the radar of al-Qaeda, last Tuesday stepped up security at its Kotoka International Airport, Accra, with heavy deployment of soldiers, who frisked passengers using metal detectors. Armed troops are not a regular feature in Kotota and Ghanaians described the movement of troops as strange.

 On Tuesday, Daily Guide, a newspaper in Ghana, had reported that, “Nigeria, three others are said to be on the radar of the terrorist group. Ghana is also said to be on a hit list of an international terrorist group, leading to deployment of soldiers at the Kotoka International Airport, Accra.

“It was learnt that the action of the military was informed by international intelligence fed to Ghana that the country was one of four others being targeted by terrorists for bombing. The presence of the soldiers is therefore a national security response to the alert, a source said.” When the newspaper contacted Ghana’s Director of the Armed Forces Public Relations Directorate, Col. Mbawine Atintande, he reportedly explained that “there are only a few military policemen at the (airport) place.” As to whether the operation was a response to certain international threat, Akintande said he would find out.

Just on August 3, 2012, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom warned travellers to Ghana that there was an “underlying threat from terrorism” in the country. “Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by expatriates and foreign travellers,” it said. Al-Qaeda‘s foot prints abound in Nigerian as it has cells in the northern part of the country and had also claimed responsibility for some terrorist activities.

 In April, the State Security Service arrested Mohammed Ashafa said to be al-Qaeda linkman with a terror group in Nigeria. Ashafa was reportedly apprehended by the Pakistani government through the National Intelligence Agency and handed over to the Federal Government for prosecution. When he was arraigned at the Federal High Court, the SSS told the court that the accused person facilitated terrorist exchange programmes between al-Qaeda and its allies in the country.

 The intelligence agency further said its investigations showed that Ashafa was allegedly the second in command to one Adnan Ibrahim, who was said to be the Resident al-Qaeda chief in West Africa, but based in Kano. Also, in May, al-Qaeda in the Maghreb claimed responsibility for the murder of a German, Edgar Raupach, in Kano. Raupach was killed by his abductors when security forces tried to free him during a rescue operation.

A Briton, Christopher McManus, and an Italian, Franco Lamolinara suffered similar fate in March.

Usher gets full custody of their sons

 The 33-year-old singer gets primary custody of Usher Raymond V and Naviyd Ely Raymond.

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After a long court battle between famed singer Usher Raymond and ex-wife Tameka Foster, Usher has been awarded full primary custody of their two sons. Since Usher filed for divorce in 2009, ending a two-year marriage, the separated couple has been battling in the court wrangling through allegations of drugs, cheating, excessive partying and child neglect.

Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon is dead

 Astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, died at the age of 82, on Saturday.

May his soul rest in peace

Cynthia's parents speak out

Cynthia's dad says "it is stupid to travel to go meet someone you've only been chatting with on social media" and Cynthia's killers demanded N20million says cynthia's Mum

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Major General Frank Osokogu says;

 "Even though I have lost a daughter, her loss might not be in vain because there are lessons other people need to learn from this unfortunate incident. I believe it is stupid for somebody to travel to go and meet people that he or she had not known because you have been chatting with them on social media. I strongly believe that adventure is too risky. You should know people before you begin to visit them. Students especially have a big lesson to learn from this" - Major General Frank Osokogu

 Mother of the Cynthia Osokogu, the 24 year old lady murdered in a Festac hotel by her Facebook/BB friends said;

 The men had demanded N20million from her. Her words below: On Sunday July 22nd, she called me to tell me that she had arrived Lagos to collect some goods that had just arrived from overseas and promised to come and see me immediately she arrived from Lagos.

So when she did not call me on the day she was supposed to arrive, I called her number and it wasn't going. At the time I called my husband who lives in Abuja and my senior son to intimate them of what is happening. So I went to the police to complain. But when we called the number again, it was going and someone picked it up and said she would come back; that we couldn't speak with her because she was in the hospital. They told me she was in Symbol hospital in Benin. It turned out to be a fake hospital.

Then when we called again, they said they had kidnapped her and demanded for N20million. They sent me a fake account number. I told them that you people said we should send N20 million but the account number they sent to me was a fake one. Not until two weeks later they now told me that I should not bother to call again, that she had been killed.

It was after this that I declared her missing.

Apple demands $1.05bn (N165Bn) from Samsung for Copying its Design.

A US jury has ruled that Samsung should pay Apple $1.05bn (N165bn) in damages in an intellectual property lawsuit.

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It said several of Samsung's devices had infringed iPhone-maker Apple's software and design patents. The jury rejected Samsung's claims that several of its patents had been breached and awarded it no damages.

The jury ruled that some of Samsung's handsets, including its Galaxy S 4G model, had infringed Apple's design patents for the look of of its iPhone including the system it uses to display text and icons. However, it dismissed the allegation that the South Korean firm's tablets had infringed the rectangular design used for Apple's iPad . It also found that all the disputed Samsung devices had copied the bounce-back response in the iOS system's user interface, without paying a licence. This makes lists jump back as if yanked by a rubber band when pulled beyond their limit.

Another infringement involved use of Apple's tap-to-zoom feature . Samsung failed to convince the jury Apple owed it money for using technologies it claims to own including listening to music on a device in the background while carrying out another task; and integrating a phone, digital camera and email facility into a single device.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala listed among World’s Most Powerful Women

Nigerian Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was on Friday named among the most powerful women in the world by the influential American publication Forbes.

100 women from different parts of the globe were listed by the publication.

She is one of the three women picked from Africa, the remaining two being President Joyce Banda of Malawi and President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf of Liberia.

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Dr.Okonjo-Iweala is number 81 on the list, just a step ahead of President Johnson- Sirleaf and 10 points behind President Banda. The wife of the American president, Michelle Obama is ranked only seventh.

Michelle , who is arguably more popular than her President husband, creeps up from eighth place last year but is still outdone by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who ranks second and Melinda Gates who commands fourth position. Republican politicians Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann drop off the list completely after failed bids to the White House.

The right-wing women came in at 22nd and 34th respectively last year. Mrs. Obama's mission to end childhood obesity and commitment to military families teamed with her stylish frocks helped secure her top 10 place, Forbes said, adding that she was being used as a 'tool' in President Barack Obama's campaign to cling to power. “She's made more public appearances this year than usual -- not surprisingly the campaign is using the Mrs as a tool to widen the gender gap over Romney -- appearing as a judge on an episode of Bravo's Top Chef, chatting with the ladies of The View and joking with funny guys Jimmy Fallon and Jon Stewart,'’the magazine says.

 Clinton, 64, was beaten only by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who tops the esteemed ranking for the second year running. She was cited as the “lead player in the eurozone economic crisis” and praised for embracing social media by answering citizens’ questions on YouTube.

The U.S. Secretary of State, who has traveled to 42 countries this year alone, was praised for navigating treacherous territory when WikiLeaks released sensitive diplomatic cables in November and for urging Syrian President Bashar Assad to hand over power and leave his country.

Forbes also said her actions to warn North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to chart a different course than his militant father helped her retain her high ranking on the most powerful women list.

The women on the list were ranked according to influence, the amount of money they control or earn, and media presence. Moira Forbes, president and publisher of ForbesWoman, said: “These power women exert influence in very different ways and to very different ends, and all with very different impacts on the global community.”

The average age of the 100 power brokers from 28 countries is 55. They have a combined 90 million Twitter followers. Clinton and Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and wife of Microsoft Corporation co-founder Bill Gates, were joined in the top five by Jill Abramson, the first woman executive editor of The New York Times.