U.S. deploys Navy destroyer to patrol off Yemen amid Iran tensions

The United States has sent a Navy destroyer to patrol off the coast of Yemen to protect waterways from Houthi militia aligned with Iran, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, amid heightened tension between Washington and Tehran.

The USS Cole arrived in the vicinity of the Bab al-Mandab Strait off southwestern Yemen where it will carry out patrols, including escorting vessels, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In 2000, the USS Cole was attacked when al Qaeda bombers steered a boat full of explosives into the side of the American warship while it refueled in the Yemini port of Aden, killing 17 U.S. sailors and wounding about three dozen others.

Why Police sealed Nigerian private station, Core TV, others

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The security operatives who sealed the Abuja office of a cable and satellite broadcaster, CoreTV, early Friday morning were not from the State Security Service, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The operatives were from the Mobile Unit of the Police, witnesses said, out to enforce a quit notice arising from a land dispute decided by the Supreme Court.

Workers had arrived the television station along Sokode Crescent, Zone 5, Wuse in Abuja on Friday morning to discover their offices broken into and their broadcasting and other equipment allegedly carted away.

'He did very bad as Governor' - Trump blasts Arnold Schwarzenegger over "switch jobs" comment

... And the Trump's drama continues. If you miss the earlier state of the drama (READ HERE)

Lol, President Trump is really prepared to take on anyone who wants to try any nonsense ... He is the President of the strongest country in the world and he has time to actually reply such comments.

Obasanjo says those behind Buhari death rumour are ‘abnormal’

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the people behind the death rumour of President Muhammed Buhari as abnormal human beings.

Mr. Obasanjo, in a statement made available to journalists on Friday, said the death rumour was wicked, callous and treacherous.

There have been persistent reports in the new and social media of President Buhari passing away in Europe where he is on vacation.

SSS operatives seal private Nigerian TV, CoreTV

Security operatives believed to be from the State Security Service on Friday broke into the Abuja office of CoreTV, a cable and satellite broadcaster, carting away broadcasting and other related equipment.

Olajide Adediran, the CoreTV managing director, told newsmen the operatives also shut down the station and barricaded the area during the operation around 4:00 a.m. Friday, even though the media house had no history with the secret police.

James Ibori appears in UK court

James Ibori, former governor of Delta state, is currently appearing before a UK court for his confiscation trial.

The trial is presided over by David Tomlinson, a justice at Southwark Crown court.

If found guilty, he might forfeit his assets, worth about 250 million pounds.

Black People Are Dumb - SA Singer, Ntsiki Mazwai lash out over Beyoncé's pregnancy announcement

South African musician Ntsiki Mazwai has lashed out at the overwhelming reaction to Beyoncé's pregnancy announcement, labeling black people "dumb" and "starstruck".

According to her, she blames the media for distracting people from more important issues than Beyoncé's pregnancy news. 

Nigeria lucky to have Buhari now – Governor Ajimobi

Oyo state Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has said that Nigeria is lucky to have President Muhammadu Buhari at the helm of affairs otherwise things would have degenerated.

He added that the alleged deep-rooted corruption that characterized the immediate past administration almost exacerbate the country’s already precarious situation.

The governor spoke at the 2017 Annual General Conference of Cherubim and Seraphim Church of Nigeria held on Friday.

Ajimobi, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Moses Adeyemo, urged Nigerians to be patient with the Buhari administration, saying things would soon improve.

‘Stop this madness’ - MASSOB cautions Obiano, Okorocha

The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra on Friday cautioned Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, and his Imo State counterpart, Rochas Okorocha.

The two governors have been trading insults in the media, accusing each other of incompetence, poor performance and uncouth behaviour.

The ‘war’ started after Okorocha claimed, during the South-East APC statekeholders meeting in Owerri, that three governors in the zone were planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress.

So far, over 100,000 Visas Revoked by Immigration Ban

At least 100,000 visas have been revoked in a single week in response to President Trump's executive immigration order, an attorney for the Justice Department revealed in court Friday. 

The number came to light in a Virginia courtroom Friday as a federal judge granted the state's motion to challenge the immigration ban that caused chaos at airports over the weekend.

'I'm known for fighting - Kemi Olunloyo replies Georgina Onuoha

The social media war is still heating up between actress Georgina Onuoha and controversial journalist, Kemi Olunloyo.

After Georgina Onuoha told her to get ready as he was headed to Ibadan to beat her up, Kemi has replied below:

Ronaldo named highest-paid sportsman of 2016 ahead of Messi, LeBron James

Forbes has named Real Madrid superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s highest-paid sportsman of 2016 for the first time ever.

The 32-year-old also becomes only the second person from a team sport to make it to the top of the list.

Ronaldo reportedly earned $88million last year, ahead of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi ($81million) and NBA star LeBron James ($77million).

Bamanga Tukur: Fulanis never breed trouble, foreigners dress-up like them to kill Nigerians

Former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has joined some politicians claiming that herdsmen allegedly murdering other Nigerians are foreigners.

He stated this on Friday while speaking to journalists on the incessant herdsmen conflict at his residence in Yola.

Usain Bolt confirms he won't be participating in 2018 Commonwealth Games

The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, has confirmed that he will not participate at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Bolt, however, said he will feature in this year’s World Championships in London.

The Jamaican sprinter, who was recently stripped of his 2008 relay gold  destroying his ‘treble treble’ record, said: “To come out here next season, to really train as hard as I need to get to the level I need to win, it’s not going to happen,” Bolt told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

Swedish deputy PM mocks President Trump with all-female photo

Sweden’s deputy prime minister, Isabella Lovin, on Friday published a photograph of herself signing a climate bill surrounded by her closest female colleagues, mocking a photo of US President Donald Trump.

In the photo, Lovin, who also serves as environment and development aid minister, is seated at a desk as she signs the bill under the watchful eye of seven female colleagues, including one who is visibly pregnant.

The shot parodies a photo taken of Donald Trump on January 23 in the White House, as he signs a decree barring US federal funding for foreign NGOs that support abortion, as his all-male colleagues look on.

Moments a 20-year-old Girl is Stripped and Beaten Mercilessly for Sleeping with Another Woman's Husband (Photo)

An angry wife has disgraced a 20-year-old girl by stripping her half-naked and beating her in public for sleeping with her husband. The incident was even recorded on tape. 

Even though Thandeka Sithole denied sleeping with the woman's husband, an allegation the man also denied, Precious Mabuza, the man's wife refused to believe it and gave Thandeka the beating of her life.

The humiliation took place in front of stunned villagers at Langeloop, Mpumalanga area of South Africa.

We Will Not Join You - APC Musicians Distance Themselves From 2face Idibia's National Protest

The APC Northern Musicians Forum have revealed, on Friday, that it would not participate in the planned protest by Nigerian music icon, 2face which is being held to kick againt the alleged sufferings in Nigeria.

Vanguard reports that the Chairman of the Forum, Haruna Ningi, who made the remark at a media briefing in Kaduna, said that the protest was different from the ideology of the forum.

He, however, agreed that Nigerians were suffering, but insisted that the present administration met nearly an empty treasury and had to increase savings, to get Nigerians out of the present situation.

So sad! Another Beautiful Female NYSC Corps Member Dies in Kaduna (Photos)

According to a shocking report which just emerged online, a yet another female corps member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Vivian Wobo, has died.

The Rivers State-born NYSC member serving in Kaduna State, reportedly passed on today, just 3 days after complaining about being seriously sick.

A friend to the deceased, Zinny Blue Stamford, who broke the news on Facebook and shared the photos, wrote;

Devilish! Police Officer Forced Two 14-year-old Girls to Have S3x While He Watched (Photos)

A police officer faces jail for making two 14-year-old carryout sex acts while he watched on Skype. The officer identified as PC Alistair Leiper, 37, also filmed another teenage girl performing a sex act, a court heard.

When his house was searched, officers discovered three sex tapes on his computer when at his home in Streatham, South London. He has now been suspended from duty at the Westminster borough since his arrest in August 2015 and will now be thrown out of the force.

The officer however admitted three charges attempting to engage in a sexual activity in the presence of a child and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, reports Sun UK.

Amazing! Nigerian Female Student Matches Ex-President Obama's Harvard University Record (Photos)

Nigerian Harvard Law student, Imelme Umana, has been elected as the first black woman president of the Harvard Law Review.

Umana, by the election, has matched the record set in 1990 by former US president Barack Obama as the first black male president of the HLR.

Her election was made known via the Twitter account of Harvard Law School’s black law students’ association.

Umana graduated from Harvard College in 2014, and she is now a doctorate candidate at Harvard law school.

Rapper Olamide becomes Globacom Ambassador

YBNL Boss, Olamide Adedeji popular known as Olamide has joined the list of Telecom Giant, Globacom ambassadors. The rapper just shared the above photo of himself repping Glo. 

Reekadobanks also welcome the Rapper, he shared the same photo above and captioned it "Welcome Brother!!! #Glo 💪🏽💪🏽 @baddosneh"

Details of the meeting between Saraki, Dogara and VP, Osinbajo

The President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, on Thursday disclosed why he and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara visited the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo.

Addressing State House Correspondents after the closed door meeting with the Acting President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Saraki said Osinbajo briefed them on the state of Nigerian troops sent to The Gambia.

According to Saraki, “The acting President briefed us on our troops in The Gambia and what the situation is like. And that the Navy and the Air Force will be coming back very soon. And that it is likely some troops will be left behind.”

Benue State | One dead, 4 injured as primary school building collapses

A pupil of Victory International Nursery and Primary School, Daudu in Guma Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state has been reported dead after a section of a block of two classrooms collapsed on Tuesday.

The 7-year-old victim, Nyom Godwin was said to have died on the spot while about four others sustained injuries.

The incident happened at about 11:00am when the school pupils were on break.

They were reportedly eating behind the building when it collapsed.

Goodluck Jonathan: How my administration stopped religious killings

Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has disclosed that his administration was able to contain the menace of religious killing by working with relevant religious stakeholders.

Addressing the United States, US, House Sub-Committee on Africa, Jonathan revealed that his administration’s political will to halt impunity in Nigeria led to the localisation of religious extremism in the Northeast with occasional killings in other zones of the North.

He pointed out that in a bid to contain the spread of religious killings from the North to the Christian domination south, he personally reached out to the then President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, whom he asked to appeal to the Christian community against reprisal attacks.

I do not regret exposing ‘Yahoo Boys’ pastors – OAP Freeze refutes contrary reports

Cool FM On-Air Personality, OAP, Freeze, has cleared the air over a report claiming he regretted calling out ‘fake’ pastors whom he termed ‘Yahoo Boys’.

A report emerged online on Thursday, claiming the OAP said he regrets calling out some Nigerian pastors and that he had lived his life sleeping with every girl.

In a swift response, the outspoken media personality, on his Instagram page @daddyfreeze, said:

2face Idibia announces dress code for nationwide protest

Nigeria music icon, 2face Idibia seems to be standing firm and going ahead with his plan nationwide protest despite the heat coming from politicians and Nigeria Police. 2baba as he is fondly called just announced the dress code for the protest.

Consider your reputation, clear your name of drug allegation in US – Ambassador advises Sen Kashamu

The immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia and Malawi, Folake Marcus Bello, has advised Nigerian senator, Buruji Kashamu, to go to the United States of America and sort himself out on the drug allegation leveled against him, rather than wait until he is extradited.

The diplomat gave the advice in an interview on a live radio programme on Sweet FM in Abeokuta.

She said Kashamu’s lawyers should have told him before now to go and clear his name.

She said, “Crime does not go away, it does not expire. It will continue to rear its head, nobody can claim he is guilty or innocent until he goes to clear this mess.”

State House Perm Sec says no new capital project in Aso Villa in 2017

The Permanent Secretary (State House), Mr. Jalal Arabi, has said no new capital project will be executed in the Aso Villa in 2017.

Arabi disclosed this when he addressed the members of the House of Representatives Committee on Special Duties at the State House.

He said the 2017 capital expenditure budget for the Villa would be used in completing ongoing projects, adding that the management of State House had re-prioritised its projects.

Kanu Nwankwo: Arsenal can beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge

Former Nigeria captain, Nwanwko Kanu, says his former club Arsenal, have what it takes to defeat Premier League leaders, Chelsea in Saturday’s lunchtime London derby at Stamford Bridge.

The former striker featured for the Gunners in several games against Chelsea during his five-year spell at the club.

Kanu scored a hat-trick against Chelsea in 1999.

According to the 40-year-old, the pressure is on Arsene Wenger’s men to get the desired result against Antonio Conte’s high flying team at Stamford Bridge following their defeat at home by Watford last weekend.

No government has right to repress citizens – Oby Ezekwesili reacts to ‘ban’ on Tuface’s protest

The convener of the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG group, Oby Ezekwesili, has reacted to plans by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, to truncate the planned nationwide protest by music icon, Tuface Idibia, against the Buhari-led government.

The nationwide protest, slated for February 6 in the state, has since become a subject of controversy.

Owoseni had vowed to stop the protest, saying the command wasn’t ready for that kind of demonstration and as such would not allow it to hold.