Angela Merkel signals U-turn on gay marriage in Germany

Angela Merkel has signalled a change in her party’s opposition to gay marriage after stating MPs should be allowed a free vote in the German parliament.

Speaking at an event organised by women’s magazine Brigitte, the German chancellor said she felt aggrieved that the gay marriage debate was mainly carried out along party lines and that she hoped the discussion would be “headed towards a conscience vote”.

It is widely believed the Bundestag would legalise gay marriage in a free vote on the issue.

Germany is one of a few western countries where gay marriage is still not legal. Civil partnership has been allowed since 2001, but Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has resisted calls to open up marriage to same sex couples.

The centre-right CDU, which has been governing as senior partner in a coalition with the centre-left SPD since 2013, has said it prefers to boost civil partnerships so that gay couples have the same tax status and adoption rights as married couples.
Coming less than three months before federal elections, Merkel’s comments could take the wind out of her critics’ sails and open her party up to the widest possible range of post-election coalitions.

The Social Democrats, the German Greens and the resurgent liberal Free Democratic party have all signalled they would make gay marriage a red line in coalition talks.
Liberal and conservative wings of Merkel’s party remain torn on the issue, however – a division which her main rival, SPD leader Martin Schulz, is seeking to exploit. Reacting to the chancellor’s comments on Tuesday morning, Schulz advocated tabling a conscience vote this week.

Michael Grosse-Brömer, the CDU’s chief whip, said on Tuesday morning that he did not expect a vote on the subject until after the elections. “I would warn against rushing to a decision”, Grosse-Brömer told journalists. “That would not be appropriate to the subject.”

Merkel’s intervention echoes comments she made in a similar appearance before the 2013 federal elections. Then the chancellor said she had “difficulties” with giving gay and lesbian couples the right to adopt, admitting that this might seem old-fashioned. “I am unsure what is good for the child, and this uncertainty I would simply like to be allowed to express without wanting to discriminate against anyone.”

At this week’s event, Merkel claimed that a visit to the home of a lesbian couple looking after eight foster children in her constituency in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern had led her to reconsider her position. If youth welfare offices were happy to trust same-sex couples to look after eight children, then it was difficult for the state making child welfare part of its argument against LGBT adoption.

In the interview with the editor of Brigitte, Merkel spoke about a range of personal and political issues. She also said: “I laugh at least once a day, otherwise I cannot do this job,” adding that she would “never allow people to take away my holiday from me.” - The Guardian

"Explicit" show at South African prison ignites scandal

AT least 13 South African officials face possible suspension after photos showing scantily clad female entertainers with inmates at a Johannesburg prison circulated on social media.

The correctional services department said Monday that there was a security breach and that the "explicit entertainment" should not have been allowed at a "youth month" event on June 21.

Photos show a total of three women in black leotards or undergarments and knee-high boots. In one photo, a woman is dancing with a smiling man in an orange prison uniform; in another, the women are surrounding a prisoner and seem to have lifted his shirt. Spectators include prisoners and at least one official.

Twitter users responded sarcastically to the scandal. One wrote: "This is the worst punishment I've ever seen in history!!"

Pacquiao eyeing Mayweather rematch, says trainer

A rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao could be on the cards if the legendary Filipino boxer wins his bout against Australian challenger Jeff Horn this weekend, his trainer said Tuesday.

Pacquiao, who was outpointed by Mayweather in the "Fight of the Century" two years ago, will be the strong favourite when he defends his world title against the unbeaten Horn in Brisbane.
But the Horn fight could be critical to whether the "Pac-Man" secures another superfight with his American rival, Freddie Roach told reporters in Brisbane.

"He (Horn) can derail us really badly. Manny is, I think, in a must-win situation. He wants a rematch with Mayweather," Roach said.
"And I mean to get Mayweather you have to look good against Jeff Horn, he has to look good, he has to be impressive.

"I think there is a lot riding on this fight and I feel Manny has to look really good in this fight and the way the training camp went, I think he will."
Pacquiao was coy about a possible rematch, stressing that his focus was on the World Boxing Organisation welterweight title fight against 29-year-old former schoolteacher Horn at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.

"If there's a chance, why not. I'm willing, but let's focus first for this fight," the 38-year-old eight-weight world champion told reporters when asked about fighting Mayweather again.

"We don't want to underestimate Horn thinking about another fight, this fight is not done yet."
Pacquiao, 38, briefly retired last year before making a successful comeback against Vargas in November, and is juggling boxing with his duties as a senator in the Philippines.

Boxing legend Mayweather, 40, is coming out of retirement to fight mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor in August. - AFP

Ransomware virus hits computer servers across Europe

A major ransomware attack on Tuesday hit computers at Russia's biggest oil company, the country's banks, Ukraine's international airport as well as global shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Moscow-based cyber security firm Group IB said hackers had exploited code developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) which was leaked and then used in the WannaCry ransomware attack that caused global disruption in May.

One of the victims of Tuesday's cyber attack, a Ukrainian media company, said its computers were blocked and it had received a demand for $300 worth of the Bitcoin crypto-currency to restore access to its files.

"If you see this text, then your files are no longer accessible, because they have been encrypted. Perhaps you are busy looking for a way to recover your files, but don't waste your time. Nobody can recover your files without our decryption service," the message said, according to a screenshot posted by Ukraine's Channel 24.

The same message appeared on computers at Maersk offices in Rotterdam, according to screenshots posted on local media.
The Danish shipping giant said it had been hit across multiple regions by a computer outage. "We can confirm the breakdown is caused by a cyber attack," a spokeswoman said.

Other companies that said they had been hit by a presumed cyber attack included Russian metal maker Evraz, French construction materials firm Saint Gobain and the world's biggest advertising agency, WPP - though it was not clear if their problems were caused by the same virus.

Food company Mondelez International also said its staff in different regions were experiencing technical problems.

WANNACRY AGAIN
Cyber security firms scrambled to understand the scope and impact of the attacks, seeking to confirm suspicions hackers had leveraged the same type of NSA hacking tool exploited by WannaCry and to identify ways to stop the onslaught.

Researchers with multiple firms identified the ransomware as Petya, malware that makes computers inoperable by encrypting their hard drives and demands ransoms in exchange for a digital key to restore access.

"It's like WannaCry all over again," said F-Secure Chief Research Officer Mikko Hypponen.
He said it was highly likely the attack had exploited the NSA hacking tool and he expected the outbreak to be reported in the Americas soon, as workers turned on vulnerable machines, allowing the virus to attack.

"Nothing is stopping Petya now. This could hit the U.S.A. pretty bad," he said.
The first reports of disruption emerged from Russia and Ukraine, with Ukraine's Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman describing the attacks on his country as "unprecedented".

An advisor to Ukraine's interior minister said the virus got into computer systems via "phishing" emails written in Russian and Ukrainian designed to lure employees into opening them.
In Russia, Rosneft, one of the world's biggest oil producers, said its crude production had not been affected by the outage. The company's website went down for at least two hours but was back up by 1450 GMT.

"The hacking attack could lead to serious consequences, but the company has moved to a reserve production processing system and neither oil output nor refining have been stopped," it said on Twitter.

In Ukraine, Yevhen Dykhne, director of the capital's Boryspil Airport, said it had been hit too. "In connection with the irregular situation, some flight delays are possible," Dykhne said in a post on Facebook.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Pavlo Rozenko said the government's computer network had gone down and posted a picture on Twitter of a computer screen with an error message.
The Ukrainian central bank said a number of banks and companies, including the state power distributor, were hit by a cyber attack that disrupted some operations.

"As a result of these cyber attacks these banks are having difficulties with client services and carrying out banking operations," the central bank said in a statement.- Reuters

Graeme Souness says Manchester United got it wrong by appointing Jose Mourinho

Former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness believes Manchester United made a mistake in appointing Jose Mourinho.

The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss took over at Old Trafford last summer and led the Red Devils to League Cup and Europe League Cup wins last season, qualifying for the Champions League in the process.

But Souness insists he is not the right man for the job, claiming that United were influenced by the appointment of Pep Guardiola at their cross-town rivals Manchester City.
"I didn't think Mourinho was right for United and I said that from day one," he told Yahoo Sport.

"Because Guardiola was coming in at Manchester City, the people making decisions at Old Trafford felt compelled to go and get a big name manager and they ended up with Jose."

Despite becoming the first Manchester United manager to win silverware in his first season, Souness believes that Mourinho is still struggling to establish his first-choice XI.
"He has taken on a very difficult job at United and struggled to find his find his best eleven last season, if he ever found it.

"A big concern for me that their best player for most of last season was a 35-year-old in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with 35-year-old Michael Carrick also one of the top performers."
The Red Devils finished in sixth place last season, with any hopes of a sustained Premier League title challenge long gone.

And Souness says this must change next year.
"Mourinho is used to winning league titles and finishing where he did last season in the Premier League will not be acceptable, but it won't be easy to put it right."

Mourinho has already begun his summer recruitment by signing £31million defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica, while the club are closing in on a swoop for Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic.

The Portuguese also looks set to bring in a new striker, with Alvaro Morata being heavily linked. Mirror

Why Klopp's next move has to be defensive

Whilst the justly hype of Mohamed Salah’s move to Liverpool is still rife, most fans are keeping their feet grounded as they know, in order for his impact to prove dividends, boss Jurgen Klopp must bolster his squad defensively.

This has been a problem for the Reds for a number of years, arguably ever since club legend Jamie Carragher hung up his boots in 2013. The biggest realization of this weakness was highlighted in the infamous 2013/14 season after Liverpool missed out on the title after netting 101 goals but shipping a hefty 50 goals at the other end of the pitch.

In fact, last season was the first since then that Liverpool had conceded less than 48 goals in a league season, finishing with 42 against their name. One interesting point to note is every Premier League winning team from the 2000/01 season, barring Manchester United in 2012/13, have conceded less than 40 goals in a campaign.
It’s clear which area needs the most attention.

With the Virgil Van Dijk saga looking to have finally scuppered Liverpool’s chances of attaining the services of the Centre-back, Klopp must look elsewhere for a solid partner to accompany Joel Matip.

With the former Borussia Dortmund boss looking to get rid of Alberto Moreno as quickly as the player looks to get rid of the ball, it’s obvious the left-back position is high on Klopp’s to-buy list.
Several links to young replacements, such as Leicetser City’s Ben Chilwell, Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon and Real Betis’ Riza Durmisi, failing to materialize the club currently have their eye on Monaco sensation Benjamin Mendy. The 22 year-old played a major part in helping Monaco to the semi-finals of the Champions League this season. If they were to capture him, it would be a massive step forward defensively.

Klopp knows his backline is far from title-winning which is why he will be determined more than ever to make a statement this transfer window. Furthermore, if he doesn’t strengthen this area, his attacking purchases will ultimately be void if the clubs’ intentions are to muster a challenge for the league crown.

Attack can sometimes be the best form of defence but Liverpool have demonstrated this cannot be held up across a whole season.

However, if by the time 12th August comes around if the teams protection of their own goal is as good as the potency at the other end, the Reds could muster yet another title challenge.

Video : Huge infestation of CRABS at airport

Passengers on one plane got a rather bizarre surprise when they turned up to collect their suitcases from the airport carousel.

Most travellers are used to standing beside the conveyor belt to wait for bags to make their way off the plane - but while you might expect the odd pram, or huge musical instrument, it's not every day you spot an infestation of crabs.
The crustaceans appeared to shocked passengers, who were waiting to collect their suitcases after a flight.

As the carousel moved around, crabs appeared on the belt, many clinging onto the bags. 
Others decided to make a break for it, with one crab even managing to make it off the conveyor and leaping for freedom (otherwise known as the airport floor).

It is not known where the bizarre video was filmed, although one user suggested the incident occurred at an airport in New York.
It appears that the crustaceans had escaped from box they were being shipped in.

In the strange clip, you can see man putting the lid back on a wooden crate, filled with even more crabs.
Let's hope he managed to get them all rounded up and to safety after their ordeal.

Watch video below;

Barcelona star Messi’s wedding menu revealed

The wedding of Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo promises to be a star-studded occasion, and guests can expect to eat well at the ceremony.

The Barcelona superstar is set to tie the knot with his long-term partner on June 30 in his hometown of Rosario.
The event is the most eagerly anticipated of the footballing marriages to take place this year, with several stars having already walked down the aisle this summer.

Alvaro Morata, Antoine Griezmann, Phil Jones and Matteo Darmian have all entered into wedlock, while Granit Xhaka and Memphis Depay have got engaged.
Messi is the star attraction, though, and the menu for his wedding – which will be attended by 250 VIP guests – is as classy as he is.

Cheeses, cold meats, bread, salad, sushi - Messi and Roccuzzo will be catering to all tastes.
There will, understandably, also be an Argentine flavour to the food on offer, with several dishes from Messi’s homeland available to the guests – such as pasta balls filled with ricotta, mozzarella and ham and meat/fish empanadas.

Those in attendance will include several of the 30-year-old’s Barcelona team-mates, including Neymar, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets.
Former colleague Xavi is also on the guest list, but former coach Luis Enrique will not be present and eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo did not get an invite – although he is currently away with Portugal at the Confederations Cup in Russia.

Messi and Roccuzzo are requesting that donations be made to his charity, the Leo Messi Foundation, which supports children in health care, education, and sport, rather than receive presents.

Once the celebrations are over, Goal has revealed that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has a new contract waiting for him at Camp Nou which will keep him on Barca’s books until 2021.  - Goal.com

 

Chelsea focussing on Van Dijk after Bonucci snub

Leonardo Bonucci was Chelsea’s number one centre-back target this summer but Antonio Conte may have suffered a fatal blow in his pursuit of the Italian.

Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed that his leading defender will not be leaving Juventus this summer as they view him as the future captain at the club.

“He’s an important player, an extraordinary player and above all he has to understand that he’ll be the future leader of the Juventus dressing room.”
With that in mind, Chelsea have turned their attentions to pursuing a deal for Southampton captain Virgil van Dijk, according to the London Evening Standard.

Liverpool were the leading candidates to sign the £70m-rated defender this summer but have backed away from a deal after being threatened by Southampton for tapping up the player without having a bid accepted.

Chelsea will be going in for the Dutchman this summer as part of a major squad overhaul with Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alex Sandro expected to arrive in the near future for a combined fee of nearly £100m.

Van Dijk is still a target for Liverpool but due to the strained relationship between the clubs, Southampton don’t want to sell to the Reds, putting Chelsea in the driving seat to land the former Celtic defender.

Failed state : Local govt union says 23 states owe council workers

The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) says 23 states of the federation currently owe local government workers salary arrears.

Ibrahim Khaleel, national president of the union, made this known in a statement on Monday.
He said the arrears ranged from one to 16 months.
Khaleel revealed that with between 10 and to 16 months, Bayelsa was leading in states indebted to local council workers,  followed by Kogi which is between seven and 15 months.

Delta state followed closely with eight to 14 months, and Kaduna, 12 months; Oyo, three to 11 months; Edo, 10 months; Abia, five to nine months; Kwara, two to nine months; Benue, nine months and Nasarawa, seven months.
Ondo, Ekiti, Imo have six months each, while Zamfara has not implemented minimum wage; Adamawa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Plateau are owing four months, while Taraba and FCT, three months.

According to the statement, Osun has been paying half salaries for 24 months and a few staff are being owed some months in Enugu.
The union said Ekiti has refused to remit union dues for the past nine months and Ogun has not also remitted its deduction for seven months.
The NULGE president also said that 700 staff members were owed between one to three months in Cross River state.

He called on governors to ensure the salaries and other allowances of local council workers were offset with the second tranche of the Paris loan refund.
He said failure to do so could force it to shut down all local government councils in the country.
Reacting to the statement of governors that the amount released did not conform with figures which were published, he said: “We want to state in strong terms that no governor should either divert or tamper with the fund.

“This should be an avenue where the backlog of arrears of salaries owed the local government workers and some other welfare packages should be settled.
“This is in order to ameliorate the untold hardship they are currently passing through due to this ugly situation.”

Khaleed also commended states that are up to date in the entitlement of local government workers.
According to him, the 14 states are Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Cross River, Niger and Anambra. - Cable Nigeria

Leaked FIFA report claims £1.6m was sent to 10-year-old girl as part of Qatar's bid to host World Cup 2022

Qatar's successful bid for the 2022 World Cup looks set to become mired in fresh controversy after the leaking of a secret FIFA report into the 2010 bidding contests.

That highly controversial process saw Russia beat several European bids, including England's, to win the right to host the 2018 World Cup and the tiny but wealthy Gulf state overcome the likes of the United States for 2022.

After repeated claims about corruption in the run-up to those votes, FIFA asked its then-chief ethics investigator Michael Garcia to compile a report into the bidding nations for both World Cup, which he produced in 2014.
His 430-page investigation has never been published before - FIFA, instead, put out a 42-page summary which Garcia promptly disowned - but now German newspaper Bild has obtained a copy of the original.

It is understood that its contents will be published in two parts on Tuesday and Wednesday but the lead journalist Peter Rossberg began releasing extracts via social media on Monday night - the early indications are that his scoop will heap more suspicion on Qatar's bid, in particular.

Among the early revelations from the Garcia report are claims that the Qataris flew three members of FIFA's executive committee to a party in Rio on a private jet shortly before the December 2010 vote on the 2018/2022 hosts, the Qatari bid used access to its state-of-the-art Aspire sports academy to influence voters and £1.6million was sent to a bank account belonging to the 10-year-old daughter of another ExCo voter.

That last allegation was first made by the Daily Telegraph in 2014 and there is a sense from what has emerged so far that much of this has been heard before - Rossberg himself wrote on Facebook that there are "no surprises" for anybody who has followed this story closely.
In fact, he goes on to write that "the report does not provide proof that World Cup 2018 or 2022 has been bought".

But he then accurately describes the Garcia report as another piece in the puzzle and suggests that only when all those pieces are put together will the complete picture be obvious.
The Bild exclusive also reveals how world football's governing body sanitised Garcia's findings in the summary of his report by FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert.

In a section on how the Qatari bid used Aspire, which had satellite operations in five countries with FIFA voters, to "curry favour with executive committee members", Garcia wrote "those actions served to undermine the integrity of the bidding process".

But Eckert translated this as "potentially problematic facts and circumstances" which "were, all in all, not suited to compromise the integrity of the Fifa World Cup 2018/2022 bidding process as a whole".
It is little wonder that an indignant Garcia returned to the US accusing Eckert of making "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations".

Whether the appearance of his complete work will correct any of those representations enough to threaten Qatar's staging of the World Cup is debatable, as the once-incredible project has withstood everything that has been thrown at it so far and there appears to be little appetite at FIFA to revisit its most contentious decision.

That does not mean, however, Qatar 2022 is out of the woods, though, as criminal investigations into the bid, some fuelled by Garcia's early work, continue in France, Switzerland and elsewhere, while the country's diplomatic row with its Gulf neighbours will raise serious questions about its suitability to stage a major global event if it is not resolved in the coming months.
FIFA has been contacted for comment. - Mirror

Photo : Mourinho’s father buried in Portugal

Jose Mourinho’s father, Felix, has been laid to rest in Portugal.
He passed away at the age of 79 on Sunday, after a battle with illness.

A church service was held upon Mourinho’s arrival in Portugal on Tuesday and the Manchester United manager was seen carrying the coffin into the church.

The coffin was draped with the flags of the two clubs Felix played for – Vitoria Setubal and Belenenses. Hundreds of mourners lined the streets of Setubal for the service.

Ronaldo, Morata and Mbappe futures discussed by Del Bosque

Former Real Madrid and Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has offered his thoughts on the futures of Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata and Kylian Mbappe.

Ronaldo, who is with the Portugal squad at the Confederations Cup, is said to be unhappy and considering an exit from Madrid amid scrutiny over his tax affairs from Spanish authorities.

Del Bosque, who led Spain to back-to-back World Cup and European Championship glory but retired after Euro 2016, admits it would be a blow for the nation if it lost one of the two stars – Lionel Messi being the other – who have taken the game to new heights.

"[Ronaldo] would be a most important loss," said Del Bosque.
"We are in a moment in which, together with Messi, he has defined the last era of our football.
"We are in the era of Messi and Ronaldo and we are lucky in Spain to be able to count on the two best players in the world."

Morata started just 14 LaLiga games for Madrid last season and is reportedly a target for Manchester United, though Del Bosque believes such a transfer would be a "shame".
"What is good for him is mainly that he plays, but I think he is very well at Real Madrid," said the 66-year-old.

"It would be a shame if he leaves, but I have always said that it is a positive for Spanish football that our players have been able to go abroad and have been able to play."
Part of the reason Morata is believed to be heading for the exit is due to heavy links between Madrid and Monaco's teenage sensation Mbappe.

It has been suggested a world-record bid would be required to take the France international away from Stade Louis II, something Del Bosque considers a risk.
He added: "[He] has demonstrated his qualities [and] is a player with very good physical and technical prospects.

"But the process of maturing is not always the same for every player, many times you are running a risk, especially for the amounts of money that is being talked about."

Chief of Air Staff in recruitment scandal as North allegedly gets 80 percent slot

A civil rights organisation, Campaign Against Military Impunity, has raised the alarm over alleged recruitment scandal in the Nigerian Air Force.

The organisation alleged that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, had compromised standards in the recruitment exercise for non-commissioned officers from the core North.

“Presently at the Airforce Base in Kaduna, there is ongoing pre-training formalities and tests for successful recruits, where 80 per cent of them are Northerners”, CAMI said.
Executive Director of CAMI, Victor Coker, told journalists in Abuja yesterday, that the government should carry out an audit of the exercise and courses going on in all the military training institutions.

“To unravel this misnomer, there should be an audit of the courses going on in all the training institutions. The audit should look at the composition and last three batches of those in training”, he stressed.

“They were supposed to take 68 persons in each state; but after the normal recruitment, the Chief of Air Staff now brought over 2,000 names spread across the core Northern States.
“Out of this figure, only 30/40 was given to the South. This is not the first time it is happening. Such things have been done in DSS, EFCC, and even police, Army and the Navy.

“We keep on preaching One Nigeria, One Nigeria. But behind the empty slogan of One Nigeria lies bare-faced hypocrisy and grand design to sentence part of the country to perpetual slavery.”

According to him, Northerners have been so smart to shortchange the entire South even during previous population census exercises conducted by the National Population Commission (NPC),
“How can the desert be more populated than the tropical rain forest? This was how the population census was done before independence”, he queried.

NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, has denied the allegation.
He said, “I think it is most advisable that the list of the people recruited should be made public first. Then, those making the claims can painstakingly go through the list.

“If there is any state that is not fairly represented, then, let them raise the alarm, rather than be speculating. A list is not yet out, yet people are speculating that the North has been favoured.
“Don’t forget that each state should be fairly represented. If you have certified people and everybody in a state are not medically qualified, are you going to disregard everybody in that state?
“We operate with the highest standards and we do not compromise on standard, either medical, physical or academic.” - Daily Post

Billionaire kidnapper: Evans lists states he operated

Arrested billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudubem Onwuamadike, aka Evans, has given reasons he did not operate in South-West states apart from Lagos.
Evans also said he never committed any crime in his home state, Anambra but only collected ransom there.

He listed Lagos, Abia, Enugu, and Edo states as his main operational base.
Evans denied that he met any of his victims on social media, while insisting that his wife, Uchenna did not collect ransom for him in any occasion.
He told New Telegraph, “Police tracking located me in Anambra State, but it was not because I committed robbery or even kidnapped anyone there.

“If I kidnapped someone in Lagos, I sometime go to Anambra State to collect the ransom, just to avoid detention.”

When challenged that he once carried out simultaneous robbery operations in Oyo State in 2010, where three banks were raided, he denied, saying “No! I have never operated in any Yoruba state, let alone Oyo State.
“I have never operated there; Lagos is my state. I mostly operated from Lagos.

“Moreover, I also didn’t like operating in Yoruba states because I don’t know my way around there. I don’t know the terrains.
“It is not right to go where you don’t know, except you have someone that can lead you.
“There was never a time I said I got victims from Facebook or that my wife used to collect ransom on my behalf. I did not also say there are important personalities working with me in the East.”

Our unity negotiable, allow regions tired of Nigeria leave – Yoruba leaders tell FG

The Yoruba Assembly, an umbrella platform for sociopolitical groups in the South-west, has asked the federal government to conduct referendum to enable nationalities constituting Nigeria decide if they still want to remain together or separate.

The group led by Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), comprises leading groups including Afenifere Renewal Group, O’dua Liberation Movement, Yoruba Council of Youth, Coalition of O’dua Self-determination Groups, O’dua Nationalist Coalition, O’dua Peoples Congress Reformed, O’dua National Congress and Agbekoya Reformed Society, among others.

In its five-page communiqué issued on Monday, Yoruba Assembly said it was compelled told hold an emergency meeting due to the rising tension in the country.

It said, “The current agitation lies the altruistic effort to establish a development-oriented and sustainable governance structure for Nigeria on the one hand and on the other hand, the objectionable attempt at sustaining Nigeria’s unitary constitution by the ruling clique that desire to permanently control the leverage of power in Nigeria for egoistic reasons.”

“The modern concept of sustainable development “is a process that must begin with the active consultation and participation of the people – therefore the need for a referendum is imminent.”

The leaders rejected a statement by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, that the unity of Nigeria was not negotiable and argued that the Nigerian unitary governance system “is outmoded”.

“In this age, every federating unit must be able to pilot its own development affair in accordance with its pace and socio-cultural peculiarities and uniqueness. This is unity that is negotiable.
“The on-going methodology of stemming the crisis by the presidency, whilst commendable for at least opening a fresh chapter in crisis management in Nigeria, has not provided any window of redress, as it seems only interested in affirming the worn cliché that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable.

“That statement cannot hold true under a civil setting or democracy. Nigeria’s unity is negotiable. We can negotiate it to remain together or otherwise. If however we choose to remain together, the terms of engagement must be clear and acceptable to all Nigerians.

“The Yoruba nation is and has always been in thought-leading position on nationhood and we will continue with this leadership behaviour, especially at times like this. Hence we will not condone, nor engage with any recklessness that is against our core values and essence as a people.

“We reiterate the need for restructuring of Nigeria’s governance structure as our minimum demand. In our view, restructuring is desirable and currently inevitable. This must be restructuring on the terms that are attractive to all ethnic nationalities and if necessary, fought for.

“At least, we can say so for Yoruba people, but if our reaction had been sublime that would not be to underestimate its consequence couched in some of the desperation and quest exhibited by the Igbos and the high charged ultimatum given by the Hausa/Fulani”.
Yoruba Assembly decried the inability of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) “to stay true to its manifesto tenets on restructuring which is not helpful as it raises questions about their trustworthiness and of this government in itself, regarding adherence to principles and fundamental values and ethos.”

It also rejected a directive by the National Assembly for the executive to present to it the 2014 Constitutional Conference report and declared that a true federal constitution “has to be put together for Nigeria, which is beyond the purview of the National Assembly. Piecemeal amendments of the 1999 Constitution are no longer acceptable.”

The assembly further called on the governors of all South-west states and Houses of Assembly to take proactive steps by initiating dialogues and consultations among their people.
“We are watching them and when the time of reckoning comes, we shall know those who for selfish reasons and love of office refuse to stand by their people”.

“As it is our culture, the Yoruba Assembly will begin a consultative process with all Yoruba people including conducting an internal referendum and their decision will determine the next steps.

“We will take this proactive step to avoid the senseless war mongering. It is our position and advice that all other ethnic nationalities conduct similar consultative and engaging process among their peoples.” - Daily Post

Spain deports 23 Nigerians for various offences

The Spanish Government on Tuesday deported 23 Nigerians for committing various offences in the country, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

They were deported barely five days after 34 Nigerians were sent home from six European countries for committing immigration-related offences.

NAN reports that 34 Nigerians were jointly deported by six European countries on June 22 for committing immigration-related offences.

The deportees were sent back home from Switzerland, Germany, Iceland, Austria, Belgium and Hungary.

NAN gathered that the new set of deportees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMlA) Lagos, at about 6.40 a.m on Tuesday.

The new deportees, comprising 21 males and two females, were brought back in a privilege style aircraft with registration number EC-IZO.

DSP Joseph Alabi, the spokesman of the Lagos Airport Police Command, confirmed the development to NAN.

Alabi said that the deportees were received by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.

He said that others also on ground to receive them were officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

According to him, nine of the deportees, who were deported for drug-related offences, were handed over to the NDLEA.

He said that two others, who were deported for criminal offences, were handed over to the police.

Alabi said that the remaining 12 deportees, accused of breaching the country’s immigration rules, were profiled and allowed to go to their respective destinations. 

North Korea's Kim Jong Un Spends Most Of His Time Eating Cheese And Plotting Against The West

When Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, isn’t busy setting off missiles and laughing gleefully at cameras, his day-to-day life is more mundane than might otherwise be expected. 

North Korea is on everybody’s lips in 2017 after no less than 10 missile launches this year, some of which have skirted dangerously close to other countries — including one in March that landed just 186 miles off the coast of Japan.

Across Asia and the wider world, the concern is that Pyongyang will attach a nuclear warhead onto a long-distance missile — something North Korea claims to be able to do (even if it has not been independently verified). North Korea's inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) may even be able to reach Alaska, which has prompted the United States to step up pressure on its only ally, China, to either increase sanctions against Pyongyang or be sanctioned themselves.

The case of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old who was sent back from North Korea after a year in prison in a coma and subsequently died, has also radically increased tension between U.S. President Donald Trump and Pyongyang. Trump called Kim Jong Un “irrational” and in return, North Korea’s state media said Trump was a “psychopath”.
But to when he's not sparring with Donald Trump or supervising missile launches, how does Kim Jong Un spend his week?

At home with the family
Kim Jong Un usually appears in photographs surrounded by adoring children, the military, or his advisers, but rarely with his wife. Ri Sol-ju, 27, married Kim in 2009. Very little is known about her, and experts even debate the date of her birth. It’s not known if Ri Sol-ju is even her real name.

She is believed to have a PhD in science, while her family is from the political elite. There has been much speculation about Ri in foreign media. Some media speculated that she was actually singer Hyon Song-wol, famous for songs including “Excellent Horse-Like Lady”, and that the North Korean propaganda machine is simply trying to hide her past.

Aiden Foster Carter, an expert on North Korea and honorary senior research fellow in Sociology and Modern Korea at Leeds University explains that the secrecy around Kim Jong Un is because life in North Korea is on a “need to know basis.” “We’ve actually seen his [Kim Jong Un’s] wife more than Kim Jong Il (his father) because he had a very complicated love life,” explains Carter.

It’s believed Kim Jong Un has a daughter, born in 2012, called Kim Ju-rae, but little is known about the child. In 2013, NBA star Dennis Rodman returned from North Korea and  confirmed that Kim Jong Un has a baby girl, but if she exists she has not yet been formally introduced to the nation. North Korean tradition is for the children of leaders not to be introduced formally until they are adults, which was the case for both Kim Sung Il, and Kim Jong Un, explains Foster-Carter.

Where does he live?
Ryongsang Residence, known by locals as “Central Luxury Mansion” is in Pyongyang, and is huge, 4.6 sq miles in total. Facilities at the palace include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, banqueting facilities, a running track and athletics field, a shooting range, and stables. Satellite images show the house also has a giant waterslide. 

Kim has plenty of alternatives to the Ryongsang Palace, should he wish to leave the capital.
In 2013, Kim Jong Un chartered a $7 million 95-foot luxury yacht around the North Korean coastline during a tour, and Kim also calls a palatial complex on the coast near Wonsan his home. Rodman described Kim’s life in Wonsan as a “seven star party” like going to “visit Hawaii except [Kim] is the only one there.”

Foster Carter tells Newsweek that we just don’t know how many palaces he has or how long he spends in each. “You certainly couldn’t describe him as a workaholic like his father, so I imagine he spends more of his time relaxing rather than being in the centre of politics.”

What does he do during his week?
The state newspaper Rodong Sinmun has a special section detailing “Supreme Leader Activities,” which is meant to give the impression that Kim Jong Un is devoted to his people. His public life revolves around parades, factory visits, and discussing missile launches, according to the paper.

“Lavish photographs accompany the activities Kim is purported to be undertaking. Any we know a lot from defectors what these factory openings and other occasions are like. Bluntly, they’re scared when they find out the leader is coming to visit,” says Foster Carter.

“On a practical level production usually has to be stop for a few weeks to ensure that Kim’s visit is incredibly smooth. They also used to have this thing in North Korea called the Midas Touch. Anything Kim Il Sung touched had to be taken out of operation and put in a glass case.”

Factories of note he has visited over the last few months include a Dental Hygiene factory, a Giant Catfish factory, and a mushroom processing plant. Kim has also given advice at a Kimchi factory on how to increase its yield.

At the Dental Hygiene factory, Kim also imparted some important advice. Rodong Sinmun reported: “[He said] the factory makes a positive contribution to the promotion of the people's health, which is viewed seriously by him. He then gave an instruction to be regarded as a guideline in management of the factory.”

Kim also attends parades, many of which celebrate his family and the overthrow of imperialist aggressors (the United States).

What does he spend money on?
A UN report in 2014 found that Kim likes luxury living. He buys bottles of alcohol which cost the state $30 million, electronic goods costing $37 million and watches, which cost another $8.2 million.

In public, he dresses demurely in black or white overalls, smocks, or military attire, but in private, it’s high-end fashion all the way. The report estimates that the total state spending on luxury goods rose from $300 million a year under Kim Jong Il, to $645.8 million in 2012.

He eats his favourite food
In 2012, Kim Jong Un reportedly became so fat that he developed a cyst on his ankle, and required surgery to remove it.

And Kim’s love of cheese and wine is no secret. The U.K.’s Metro newspaper reported that Kim Jong Un had to retreat from public life after eating too much Emmental cheese, after a large shipment of it arrived from Switzerland.
“Kim Jong Un certainly seems to enjoy the good life,” says Foster Carter. - Newsweek