Black Friday beckons and the promises are glamorous. While some stores are brandishing up to 50 per cent discount on products, some others flaunt a glamorous 90 per cent discount. Ecommerce sites have refused to be left out of the frenzy and are all making plans to outdo one another.
Indeed, online shopping is super cool because it the most convenient of all forms of shopping, especially if you work on a tight schedule. However, because we live in the age of hackers and spammers, it is important to be security conscious as you leap from site to site on Black Friday. While some people are security conscious, they still do not know what to look out for while shopping.
If you love the convenience of shopping online but are worried about theft and shopping wrongly, click the start button below and pay attention to the simple tips for a safe and stress-free experience as well as how to keep your identity and information secure.
The White House was placed under lock down on Thanksgiving Day after a man draped in a US flag jumped over the fence while President Barack Obama and his family were in residence. Joseph Caputo climbed over the fence on the north side of the complex and stood on the North Lawn.
He has been taken into custody by Secret Service officers. Criminal charges are pending against him, authorities said.
The White House has been the centre of several security breaches over the recent years. In September 2014, Omar Gonzalez, who was carrying a knife, climbed over the fence on the north side and ran into the building. He managed to run through several rooms before he was tackled and caught.
The Iraq war veteran made it to the first floor of the residence, where Obama and his family had just left by helicopter. Gonzalez, who reportedly suffered from post-traumatic stress was a former army sniper. A cache of 800 rounds of ammunition and a machete was found in his car nearby.
The Wall Street Journal said the White House perimeter fence was upgraded in summer to add a short "bike rack" fence and sharp spikes over the perimeter fence. Obviously it was not enough to stop Caputo.
In a statement to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream in Abuja, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) explained that the reason for the fuel scarcity was due to activities from vandals and corrupt oil marketers.
Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, a subsidiary of the NNPC stated that Nigeria has lost a total of 531 million litres of petrol valued at over N50 billion to pipeline vandals between January and September, 2015, at the System 2B Pipeline network which covers from the Atlas Cove in Lagos to Ilorin.
Nnamdi-Ogbue said that the continuous vandalization of pipeline at the Arepo to Mosimi axis of the pipeline artery, have made the supply of petroleum products to retail outlets difficult.
She said PPMC is doing everything they can to make sure they supply truck-out from depots in Lagos, Oghara and recently Calabar.
She, however, noted that the efforts to supply enough fuel across the country are being hampered by the activities of some unscrupulous marketers involved in hoarding and diverting of petroleum products for sale in black markets across the country.
She said, “We view this as a distortion to the economy and we have invited the DSS and the EFCC to take action.”
The Senate has given the NNPC a two-week ultimatum to end the fuel scarcity.
Mohammed Audu, the 43-year-old first son of deceased Abubakar Audu, has been nominated to replace his father as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
Abubakar Audu died on Sunday, November 22, after leading in the Kogi governorship election, which was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Consequently, INEC gave the APC permission to conduct a fresh primary election to choose another candidate for the December 5 supplementary election.
On Thursday, after a meeting in Lokoja, the leaders of the APC in Kogi East Senatorial District, nominated Mohammed to take the place of his dead father.
Daniel Isah, spokesperson of the Kogi leaders, said they chose Mohammed Audu after due consultations and were determined to back him during the primaries.
Isah would also appeal to the national leadership of the ruling party to ratify their decision in the overall interest of Kogi state.
Singer, Olamide has lost his dad. The superstar artist wrote a message on Instagram using a photo of a solid black background, which is used to depict the loss of a loved one.
He wrote,
“O God, who hast commanded us to honor our father and our mother; in Thy mercy have pity on the soul of my father, and forgive his trespasses; and make me to see him again in the joy of everlasting brightness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.Rest well Dad.. Forever in my heart”
Olamide’s father has been a topic in his music at least twice. On his ‘Street OT’ album released in 2014, Olamide wrote about his father getting shot by armed robbers on the track ‘1999’. He also raps about his father on his popular song ‘Anifowose’.
Will Smith has been married to Jada Pinkett Smith for 20 years - which is a lifetime in Hollywood.
Two of the pair's children, Willow and Jaden, have even followed in their parents' footsteps in starting their own music and acting careers.
But he's admitted it hasn't been easy. In fact, he's says his marriage has been "grueling" and "excruciating" at times, which takes a brave man to admit...
"We've been married 20 years and we've been asking ourselves [what's the secret to marriage] and really at the end of the day it's just not quitting," he told Entertainment Tonight.
"You can't expect it to be easy. It's like our marriage was the most difficult, grueling, excruciating thing that we have ever taken on in our lives. And you know we're just not quitters."
So that's it according to Smith; don't be a quitter.
Their marriage has been dogged by rumours of divorce in recent months, so Will took to Facebook to end the speculation.
Will wrote: "So, in the interest of redundant, repetitious, over & over-again-ness... Jada and I are...NOT GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sic)"
The South African government has threatened a jail term for Chris Oyakhilome if his church, Christ Embassy, fails to release its financial records, the South African-based News24 reports.
The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CPPCRLC) said several religious leaders in the country could be jailed if they fail to comply with the demands of the commission.
The commission said it was investigating the commercialization of religion and abuse of people’s beliefs and had summoned several churches to appear before it with their ordination certificate, registration certificate, bank statements, and annual financial statements from 2012.
ThokoMkhwanazi-Xaluva said the commission had been forced to take a legal route because some of the church leaders had failed to comply with her commission’s directive.
Some of these religious leaders will face prison if they do not comply and we have been clear about our course of action,” Mkhwanazi-Xaluva told News24.
“Some religious leaders have also threatened the commission, which is leading us towards the legal route.”
Mr. Oyakhilome, the founder of Christ Embassy, had indicated he would take a legal action to stop the commission from forcing it to open his books, according to Ms. Mkhwanazi-Xaluva.
Almost six months after the change of government, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has for the first time congratulated former President Goodluck Jonathan for successfully handing over to President Muhammadu Buhari and commended him for continuing to have faith in Nigeria.
Obasanjo’s commendation was contained in his reply to President Jonathan’s earlier notification of his plans to establish a foundation following the end of his term in office as president.
Obasanjo’s letter dated October 12, 2015, Premium Times reports read:
Dear President Goodluck Jonathan,
“I write to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of September 22, 2015. I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your successful handover to the current President of Nigeria, H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I am happy to note that you had a good rest and time with your family during the break. I hope you also had time to reflect and see what lessons you have learned and what you can bequeath to others.
“All of us who have had experience in our service to the nation and to humanity must not put it under the bushel.
“I have to commend you and your Foundation, Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, for the faith you continue to have in Nigeria.
“Maybe seeking how to be better and more serviceable to the nation and humanity is also a form of penitence and soul-searching to give conscience a relief and to show remorse.
“I wish you well as you continue to forge ahead with your activities in the coming months and years. If there is any area you feel I can be of help, you should not hesitate to call on me.
Yours Sincerely, Olusegun Obasanjo
Recall that ex-President Jonathan on September 22, wrote his god-father, Obasanjo, informing him of his plans to set up a foundation through which he would continue to service humanity.
Bonang Matheba was recently awarded as South African’s Style Icon on Sunday and we totally see the reason why.
The TV personality and socialite is pretty in everything and anythings she wears, even a swimwear.
Bonang who is currently on vacation in an unknown island, shared some interesting swimwear photos with her over 600k followers and it has left us drooling.
The wife of a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, Bode George, Mrs Roli Bode George has been appointed as the acting chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), hence becoming the first woman to head the anti-narcotic agency.
She was appointed following the retirement of the former chairman of the anti-drug agency Ahmadu Giade on Wednesday November 25th after serving the agency for 10 years.
Recall, Mrs Bode George was appointed DG of the agency in June 2014 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Social and political pundits have attributed the appointment as a shift in gender balancing as the President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed few women in position of high authority compared to his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.
Speaking on the appointment, Chairperson of Women Initiative Group (WING) Tinuade Joseph described the appointment as a step in the right direction in “redressing the gender imbalance in the recent appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari.”
The President of Nigeria and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Muhammadu Buhari has been given a two-week ultimatum by the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to resolve the issue of fuel scarcity bedevilling the nation.
The deadline came on the heels of a disclosure by the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), that Nigeria lost an outrageous N50 billion in ten months
Chairman of the Petroleum committee, Senator Uche Ekwunife, who gave the directive on Thursday, November 26 in Abuja, during the committee’s meeting with top officials of Ministry of Petroleum Resources, insisted that the petroleum minister must not only end the scarcity but ensure that fuel was sold to the public at government’s controlled price of N87.00 per litre.
Senator Ekwunife, who was representing Anambra South, on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, frowned at the ongoing fuel crisis, saying Nigerians were suffering untold hardship following the development.
Fuming over what was described as unnecessary fuel crisis, Ekwunife, said:
“We are mandating the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Permanent Secretary and heads of agencies to stop this fuel scarcity in two weeks.
“We are giving a target now, we don’t want to know how you would achieve it. Nigerians want to see an end to this fuel scarcity,”
A group of Muslim youths under the aegis of Muslim Youths in Da’wah on Tuesday at the headquarters of the National Youth Service Corps in Abuja protested against the ban on the use of hijab by female Muslim corps members, especially during orientation camps.
But the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier-General, Johnson Olawumi, insisted on the ban, saying it was “for security reasons.”
The national coordinator of LMYiD, Luqman Hassan; and the Deputy Coordinator, Kamarudeen Adefila, had told the NYSC DG
“We are here to discuss with you about the incident that happened recently in various camps across the country. We have a guiding principle which is based on the Holy Q’uran. We are all Nigerians and the principle which guides us is the constitution and the African Charter on Human rights.
“Members of the NYSC are Nigerians who have contributed to the development of this country; female corps members deserve protection by the NYSC. We don’t believe that a female corps member putting on hijab has done any wrong against the Act establishing the NYSC. So they deserve the respect of the NYSC. We have travelled far and wide and visited different camps. Why are the rights of female corps members being infringed upon. We are here to register our displeasure.”
“Many Muslim organisations wanted to protest, but we said wait a while. In fact, we have to intervene to avoid the situation and if Muslims march on the streets, it will attract a lot of negative comments, but people won’t know why we are protesting,” Adefila had added.
In his response, Olawumi said,
“Under my leadership, the NYSC will accord respect to every corps member, irrespective of tribe and religion. The incident in Benue State was caused by the use of long hijab. The security situation in the country is tough. There is the danger of somebody using hijab for other reasons.
“There have been cases where young girls put on hijab and eventually turn to suicide bombers. Boko Haram members know how to get at whoever they want as target. That is why we frown at the wearing of long hijab. Please call on all your Muslim youths to be patient and adhere to it, just for a short period during the camp. We frown at long hijab because of the security implication.”
The NYSC DG expressed disappointment in the allegation by the visiting youths.
“Why are you so particular on your alleged infraction on the rights of youths without mentioning any one of such on Christian youths? Produce your evidence, write to us and I can assure you that we will act fast. When the incident in Benue State was reported to us, I swung into action and ensured that the camp commandant was decamped immediately. We are not magicians; if you have any evidence, write to us and we will not hesitate to act.”
The NYSC Legal Adviser, Ahmed Tijani Ibrahim, said the incident in Benue State was under investigation.
He said,
“I’m a Muslim and in our camps, I know that we have treated everybody equally. You mentioned the fact that you would have proceeded to protest. Very minor issues could trigger off mass protest.
“We will see the way forward to this complaint. I can assure you that the issue will not be swept under the carpet. The NYSC is very sensitive to the issue of religion and immediately we heard of it, we swung into action and we are on it because issues of religion are very sensitive.”
Kim Kardashian has kept her fans updated with her pregnancy journey and with the due date fast approaching, she has shared her concerns regarding the birth.
On Tuesday, the 35-year-old reality star revealed on her personal website that her baby is in the breech position, meaning his head is up when it is supposed to be down.
Kim Kardashian explained that her baby boy was supposed to have turned by 32 weeks, but never did, which made her worry that she would have to get a c-section.
She wrote;
“I have been doing everything I can to try to turn the baby. I lay practically upside down three times a day for 15 minutes. I play music in the right position and ice my belly in certain spots to get him to squirm out of the breech position. I even started acupuncture where I burn moxa (mugwort) on my pinky toe every day! I am even attempting hypnosis! It’s been hard because I usually go to my mom or Kourtney for baby and pregnancy advice, but they both—with nine total pregnancies!—have never experienced one of these crazy things. Obviously, if it’s an emergency and for the safety of my son, I will get a C-section—but if I don’t need one, I’d rather not. So please wish me luck and pray the baby turns! This whole delivery gives me anxiety, not gonna lie. I hope the baby turns and all goes well but I’m prepared for anything!”
Sexy body-con dresses, cleavage-baring pieces, trench coats and stilettos are some of the things not found in a regular expectant woman’s closet but Kim Kardashian is not regular so we get why that makes up her maternity style.
Pop Sugar editor Lauren Turner who is also pregnant with her second child, tried replicating the sexy stars gorgeous maternity style for a week and the results are super amazing.
A teenage mother has been arrested for trying to hide her new born baby from her parents by throwing it outside a eight floor window.
According to Police in Illinois, the young mother threw her daughter to her death from the eighth floor window of her parents’ apartment ecause she feared her parents would not accept the child because of her mixed race.
The 19-year-old woman, Mubashra Uddin hid her pregnancy from her parents by wearing baggy clothes. She told the baby’s father and a close friend about the pregnancy.
When she threw the baby, a man found the new born with the umbilical cord still attached in the grass outside the high-rise apartment building. The newborn baby was still breathing when the man called for help.
Uddin after denying the baby later turned herself in to police and said that she gave birth to the full term baby and threw her out of the eighth floor apartment window when she heard her mother coming into the room.
Uddin’s lawyer, Adam Sheppard, said she was a straight A student at Devry University. She is being held without bail on a charge of first-degree murder, but she did not attend the hearing because she was hospitalized.
The baby later died from her injuries at a hospital. An autopsy found the baby’s death was a homicide caused by blunt trauma. The baby girl suffered fractures to her skull, spine, and ribs.
The year is coming to an end and we are all happy and glad about it. Well, I am, I don’t know about you. Though happiness just took a gloomy look last Friday for the Wades and Suttons as a mad woman performed the most bizarre act on her best-friend.
Ashleigh Wade, 22, slit the throat of Angelikque Sutton, 22, who was her heavily pregnant best friend, then gutted her womb with the knife and performed a personal cesarean on her, stabbing and cutting her womb open, then ripped her baby girl out, after which she called her boyfriend to inform him she just had a baby.
Proclaiming maniacally, to her boyfriend Angel Praylow, 27, when he finally arrived, “IT’S MY BABY” while still soaked in the dead woman’s blood. She claims self-defense.
The crazy woman who is from Bronx, was desperate to have a child so she feigned pregnant for her boyfriend Angel who was under the impression his girlfriend was really pregnant and expecting to deliver on November 15th.
Ashleigh Wade
Ashleigh who’s being referred to as psychotic following her bizarre actions on Friday, has been friends with Angelikque, the slain mother-to-be since they were kids and is presumed to have invited her into her home (Ashleigh Wade’s house) where the crazy operation had gone down. They had lost touch few years back and had only reconnected recently on Facebook.
Angel Praylow was basking in the euphoria of being a dad soon. He had been posting pictures of baby girl clothes and pictures of the sonograms for months.
Ashleigh Wade and shot of her sonogram
When Ashleigh didn’t give birth on her supposed due date ie November 15th, he posted on his Facebook account, that same day, “She’s not ready to come yet”, probably still believing his girlfriend was going to have a baby.
Angel Praylow, Ashleigh’s boyfriend
He informed the police whom he had called at 2pm that his girlfriend Ashleigh had summoned him to their home in Wakefield after she had gutted Angelikque and was holding unto the baby when he arrived the brainsick scene, still covered in her best-friend’s blood while declaring that she had just given birth and the baby was hers.
He managed to take the baby from Ashleigh and was cradling the healthy newborn outside their home when the police arrived.
When officers got to the gut-wrenching scene, Ashleigh kept insisting to them that the baby was hers, “It’s my baby” though her home which was the set for the maniacal act proved otherwise since the umbilical cord and placenta were lying on the floor next to the slain mother-to-be Angelikque.
She had cut the umbilical cord herself with the knife.
Police at Ashleigh’s house in Bronx
While Praylow was informed his baby girl will drop in on November 15th, Ashleigh had told neighbors (Marrie Sledge, her landlord’s friend) she was due next week. She said “Wade said she’d be due next Monday, she was kind of heavy. I’m really upset because she was such a nice person. Something’s wrong with her. The couple was very nice”.
Others who gave description of Ashleigh’s demeanor after the attack says she was in a state of shock as her face was expressionless while sitting in the back of the police car to be taken into custody. Her hands were still covered in blood.
Her Landlord, Angela Parris, told The Times that Wade said she had gone to the hospital few weeks ago because she had a complication called placenta trivia which is a pregnancy condition where the opening of the mother’s cervix is covered either partially or fully by the placenta.
Angelique Sutton and her daughter’s father, Patrick Bradley had used the baby-gift registry site, The Bump, to solicit for baby gifts. Records had their due date listed as December 2nd 2015. They had hoped to receive a pink flannel receiving blankets, pink bird-debecked crib bedding, and pink folding hamper.
Although the baby survived, Angelikque Sutton was pronounced dead on arrival. A DNA test confirmed Bradley is the father and he named e her Genesis. Bradley and Sutton were supposed to get married that day.
Angelikque Sutton, pronounced dead on arrival
A search warrant needs to be authorized before any tests to decide if Ashleigh Wade was actually pregnant can be carried out as Ashleigh is refusing to give deliberate consent. If she refuses the warrant, she’ll serve time for obstruction of justice.
She was transferred to Elmhurst Center Hospital in Queens to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. She has been charged with murder, man-slaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Ashleigh Wade also claims she acted in self-defense, stating that her best-friend Angelikque had come at her with the knife (in her house ie Ashleigh’s House) and she had defended herself while mistakenly stabbing her Angelikque in the torso and back with the knife.
She only ripped her womb open to save the infant when she felt Angelikque was about to die. Really? Really Ashleigh? Like how dumb do you think we are?
Ashleigh Wade and boyfriend, Angel Praylow
Plus, reports have it that this isn’t the first time Ashleigh had claimed being pregnant, she had as she called family members in 2014 and told them she had been pregnant but had lost the baby only to get defensive when asked what she had given birth in or further details for the miscarriage. She’s said to have an obsession for babies.
Bronx Councilman Andy King said “It looks like the baby was surgically removed. This is unforeseeable. With the holidays approaching, what a bloody way to start the season”.
“Now what do you feel? If she was your sister or daughter or your girlfriend would you want Ashleigh to be set free on grounds of mental issues or she should serve time?”
Moral of this real news, Don’t be desperate for a child else the devil can come in and finger your mind to do something bizarre.
A poor man in the United States who goes by the name Luis Vargas broke down in tears after a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, William Ryan, overturned his rape conviction.
Unfortunately, Luis Vargas had already been in jail for 16 years before he was declared innocent, after new evidence emerged proving his innocence. The judge ordered the case dismissed after new DNA evidence linked the crime to a serial attacker on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Before that, Luis Vargas had been in prison for crimes he didn’t commit since 1999 and was serving a sentence of 55 years to life for three sexual assaults.
When the verdict was announced declaring him innocent, he placed his hand on his forehead, covered his eyes and shed some tears as he was finally free of the shame.
Lara Odoffin, a Nigerian living in the UK had her job offer revoked because of her hair. She was told that her braids were not part of the ‘uniform’
The Bournemouth University graduate Lara Odoffin wrote about the discrimination she had faced in a post on Facebook yesterday and was astonished when it quickly went viral and was shared 3,000 times.
She also posted a picture of the email she had received from the company, which read: ‘Unfortunately we cannot accept braids – it is simply part of the uniform and grooming requirements we get from our clients.
‘If you are unable to take them out I unfortunately won’t be able to offer you any work.’
In her own post, she wrote: ‘So after being accepted for a position within this company, they have TAKEN BACK the offer of a position on the grounds that if I do not take my braids out.
‘Naturally I simply cannot work for the company. This type of discrimination should not still be happening in this day and age and any establishment still condoning such practices deserve to be shamed and criticised.Being a black woman means that to have a long term hairstyle that stays neat is always going to be a problem. Having braids that last for 2-4 months and can be packed neatly and styled to however a workplace requires is the solution to this problem. No workplace has any right to forbid you from this.”
Popular successful Nigerian female blogger, Linda Ikeji has been ranked as one of the 100 most influential persons in Africa, alongside several other dignitaries and leaders.
The New Africa magazine released the list featuring the blogger alongside President Buhari, former president Goodluck Jonathan, Lupita Nyong'o, Trevor Noah and many others.
The magazine also had...
The UN Special Advisor on Post Development Planning, Amina J. Mohammed
AFDB’s new President, Akinwumi Adesina
Nigerian Diasporan, UK MP and Labour Party leadership hopeful, Chuka Umunna
World Bank VP and Treasurer, Arunma Oteh,
Nigerian industrialist, Aliko Dangote
UN Special Advisor on Post Development Planning, Amina J. Mohammed
The annual “100 Most Influential Africans of 2015,” according to a statement from the magazine, presents the continent’s definitive power list and profiles the continent’s top game changers in eight different fields including Politics, Public Office, Arts and Culture, Business, Civil Society, Technology, Media, and Sports."
Rest well Dad.. Forever in my heart
”
