Boston Bombing Suspect Charged, See What He Is Charged With

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill - a crime that carries a possible death sentence.

 

Officials have said Tsarnaev, 19, and his older brother set off the twin explosions at last week's race that killed three people and wounded more than 180. His brother, Tamerlan, 26, died Friday after a fierce gunbattle with police.

Tsarnaev was listed in serious but stable condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, unable to speak because of a gunshot wound to the throat.

 

The charges represented a decision by the Obama administration to prosecute him in the federal court system instead of trying him as an enemy combatant in front of a military tribunal. Under the military system, defendants are not afforded some of the usual US constitutional protections.

 

Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen from Russia who has lived in the United States for about a decade, is a naturalised US citizen, and under US law, American citizens cannot be tried by military tribunals, White House spokesman Jay Carney said. 

 

Carney said that since the September 11 attacks, the federal court system has been used to convict and incarcerate hundreds of terrorists.

 

Tsarnaev was charged with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property, resulting in death.

 

He is also likely to face state charges in connection with the shooting death of an MIT police officer.

 

Seven days after the bombings, Boston was bustling Monday, with runners hitting the pavement, children walking to school and enough cars clogging the streets to make the morning commute feel almost back to normal.

 

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick asked residents to observe a moment of silence at 2.50pm Monday (local time), the time the first of the two bombs exploded near the finish line. Bells were expected to toll across the city and state after the minute-long tribute to the victims.

 

Also, hundreds of family and friends packed a church in Medford for the funeral of bombing victim Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant worker. A memorial service was scheduled for Monday night at Boston University for 23-year-old Lu Lingzi, a graduate student from China.

 

Fifty-one victims remained hospitalised, three of them in critical condition.

 

At the Snowden International School on Newbury Street, a high school set just a block from the bombing site, jittery parents dropped off children as teachers - some of whom had run in the race - greeted each other with hugs.

Carlotta Martin of Boston said that leaving her kids at school has been the hardest part of getting back to normal.

"We're right in the middle of things," Martin said outside the school as her children, 17-year-old twins and a 15-year-old, walked in, glancing at the police barricades a few yards from the school's front door.

 

"I'm nervous. Hopefully, this stuff is over," she continued. "I told my daughter to text me so I know everything's OK."

The city was also beginning to reopen sections of the six-block area around the bombing site.

 

Senator Dan Coats of Indiana, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the surviving brother's throat wound raised questions about when he will be able to talk again, if ever.

 

The wound "doesn't mean he can't communicate, but right now I think he's in a condition where we can't get any information from him at all," Coats told ABC's "This Week."

 

It was not clear whether Tsarnaev was shot by police or inflicted the wound himself.

 

After an intense all-day manhunt that brought the Boston area to a near-standstill, he was captured Friday night (Saturday NZT), wounded and bloody, after he was discovered hiding in a tarp-covered boat in a Watertown backyard.

Raped, Beaten, Enslaved For Years – Handed Back To Tormentors After Begging Police For Help

A modern-day slave passed between three middle-class families during years of horrific abuse is suing a police force that returned her to one of her tormentors.

The terrified and illiterate Indian victim, who was beaten, raped and given out of date food that made her ill, made desperate pleas for help to Hertfordshire police as well as charities and other state agencies.

But when officers from the force spoke to her, one of her powerful and well-connected abusers was used as an interpreter.

After she was handed back to her slave master, the victim was attacked, threatened with a knife and told she would be buried in the back garden of their multi-million pound luxury home for spoiling the family name.

The treatment of the 40-year-old woman can be revealed today as three people – a wealthy optician, a butcher and a secretary – were convicted of her abuse that spanned more than three years.

During that time that she was passed like a chattel between the families. She was kept a prisoner, given virtually no money and had her passport confiscated.

However, when she fled, her pleas went ignored by police and other organisations on at least 12 occasions, according to court documents.

The woman's ordeal ended only after she was taken in by a migrant workers' charity and human rights' group Liberty took up her case.

"Various state agencies failed her, ignoring her repeated pleas for help, not adhering to their own investigative practice and it could be said ignoring the obvious," Caroline Haughey, counsel for the prosecution, told Croydon Crown Court.

The woman, described as one of society's most vulnerable people, came to Britain in 2005 to try to make a better life and to send money to her family in Hyderabad, India.

But when she sought help she was threatened by her keepers, rebuffed or failed to make herself understood by authorities. In one case, a professional interpreter told a police officer investigating the case: "She's telling a lot of lies – it's common in her country," the court heard.

Police investigated while she was with three different families but critics say that the incidents did not appear to have been connected.

She was first taken to hospital in 2006 with a gashed foot after her "employer" Shamina Yousuf, 33, hurled a cup at her.

However, no action was taken after she was bullied her into not pursuing matters. She fled after more than two years but returned to work for other relatives of the family to try to secure the return of her passport.

She stayed in a one-room flat in St John's Wood making sandwiches in the shop below for £2-an-hour. She was raped by the husband, butcher Enkarta Balapovi, on several occasions.

The woman finally moved to the home of an acquaintance, Shashi Obhrai and her IT consultant husband Balram, who lived on a private estate in Middlesex.

She was forced to work seven days a week, 17-hours-a-day, cooking and cleaning for eight family members. She escaped and her case was passed to Scotland Yard's trafficking unit which brought her abusers to justice.

Obhrai, 54, of Moor Park, Middlesex and Yousuf, 33, of Edgware, north London, were both convicted of assault. Obhrai, an optician, was additionally convicted of threats to kill.

Balapovi, 54, of St John's Wood, northwest London, was convicted of rape by a jury at Croydon Crown Court.

They will be sentenced next month. Two other defendants were acquitted. The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been left in a wheelchair in part because of the injuries sustained at the hands of her abusers.

She has lodged a claim against the Hertfordshire force which initially investigated the case.

Corinna Ferguson, legal Officer for Liberty, said: "This trial may not have taken place at all had Liberty not reminded the police of their obligations towards victims under the Human Rights Act."

Hertfordshire police said it would be "inappropriate to comment" while elements related to the case were still subject to criminal and civil process.

Source: The Independent

HOT! HOT!! Celebrities At The 2013 AMAA Awards

I hear that the 2013 AMAA Awards which took place in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Saturday April 20, 2013 was an exceptional event of class. The Awards took place at the Glory Hall Cultural Centre in the state capital. See more beautiful photos below...

 

 

PHOTOS: Rihanna Spends Her Weekend In a Bikini, Chilling With a Baby

Rihanna remains a hot chick! see her hanging out with a toddler, seems they went for a swim. see another pic when you continue 

Nigerian Girls Sold Into Séx Slavery & Trapped In Italy's Séx-slave Trade

Naples mafiosi were convicted last week of forcing a Nigerian cancer patient, Lilian Solomon, into prostitution. The situation is worse that we think.

Read a report from Daily Beast about how Nigerian girls, as young as 13, are sold and forced into séx slavery in Italy...

Across Italy, Nigerian women are forced into the séx trade, essentially kept as slaves who are bought and sold and moved according to a moribund supply and demand. Some of the prostitutes are young girls, just 13 or 14 years old. Others are in their 20s or 30s. Many have children. Some are still married to men in Nigeria. They usually sit on white plastic chairs under umbrellas to protect them from the rain in the winter and the harsh sun in the summer. 

The highest concentration of Nigerian forced séx workers is in and around Naples, but they are not limited to the southern reaches. On Thursday, in the central region of Abruzzo, four Nigerian gang members and an Italian taxi driver who allegedly procured prostitutes across the country were sentenced to between nine and 15 years in prison for making 23-year-old Nigerian Lilian Solomon prostitute herself even though she was in the late stages of lymphoma cancer.

The court in Teramo ruled that the Nigerian band prohibited the young woman from seeking treatment and should be held responsible for her death. She was represented in court by members of “On the Road” association against séx trafficking, which alerted authorities about her plight. Solomon testified under oath against the band before she died in 2009. The sentence, four years after her death, won’t bring her back, but it is one small step toward holding the séx traffickers accountable.

According to Renato Natale, a local Neapolitan doctor who is a former anti-mafia mayor of Casal di Principe, the majority of the Nigerian girls and women who are séx slaves were sold for around $50,000 by their parents or husbands in Nigeria, often to pay loan sharks or to get families out of debt. Some women paid sums of more than $13,000 out of their own pockets in exchange for the promise to find legitimate work in Italy with the goal of sending money home or even eventually bringing their entire families over. Natale says when they arrive in Italy, they are often raped into submission and plied with drugs and turned into prostitutes.

Many of the women have scars on their bodies from a voodoo-style initiation ritual where they pledge allegiance to their pimps out of fear of torture. “Frida,” 26, is a former prostitute who now works at a shelter for abused women in Rome. She says her initiation included vaginal penetration with a hot candle. She has scars on her inner thighs from the hot wax. She worked on the Via Domitiana for three years before she ran away with one of her clients who she befriended. She said many of the women on the Neapolitan highway try to convince the clients to take them away, but they often get caught and the men are threatened never to return. “Even the police sometimes pay for séx,” she told The Daily Beast. “There is no protection there from anyone. There is no one you can trust.”

She says she was required to pay the Nigerian mafia dons $400 a month for one-square-meter of highway to work off the $50,000 investment. Natale says the Nigerians, in turn, pay a fee to the Casalesi clan of the Camorra organized-crime syndicate, who run the séx trade around Naples. Natale says the women are not allowed to charge more than $13 a trick—the market rate for street séx in the impoverished south—and they are not allowed to refuse customers. Frida says they were afraid to charge more. “They watched us all the time,” she says. “They would drive by or send spies to make sure we stayed in line.”

Prostitution is not illegal in Italy as long as the séx workers are over 18, but it is illegal to pick up a prostitute on the street. Recently, police have been enforcing the client crackdown on roadside prostitution by fining the clients, so the mob has started buying up apartment blocks along the Via Domitiana and in other parts of the country. They have started moving the women off the streets and into the villas where drugs are sold in the basement and séx is sold upstairs. Natale used to visit the women on the streets and give them medications for STDs. He says the move to put the women in the houses is far more dangerous and life-threatening. “These people are treated like merchandise,” he says. “Now they are being kept in these houses that are protected by armed guards. They were somewhat safer on the streets because at least there we could check on them.”

There is little hope to stop the illegal séx-trafficking racket, says Natale, because most of the women are illegal immigrants and do not have documents and are not in the Italian state system and therefore “nonexistent” in the eyes of the authorities. But there is also a bigger problem in that there is no authoritative government entity currently involved in stopping séx trafficking in Italy. All the work is done by non-governmental organizations with limited funds and virtually no power. “We are like ghosts,” says Frida, who recently legalized her living status in Italy and wants to help other Nigerians get off the street. “We are literally shadows on the highway.”

Interview With D’banj – ‘I Don’t Have Any Regret’

Multiple awards winning Nigerian super star, Dapo Oyebanjo populalrly known as D’Banj is not doubt one of Nigeria’s most resourceful entertainers. His break up with his partner, Don Jazzy generated a lot of reactions both within and outside the music idustry. Many music buffs even took a bet on him that he won’t last more than six months before he goes under. At that point, he became the most underrated music act. He heard all but pretended as if he didn’t and continued pushing his dreams.

Today, D’Banj seems to be very happy with the part he chooses as he declares he has no regret. His earnings have increased and he’s gained more international recognition. His road manager revealed that D’Banj now charges N8,000,000.00 and $100,000.00 outside Nigeria.

In his characteristic funny and lively attitude, he sat down with Seun Apara and speaks about his past and future.

First of all, how much do you worth now?

(Laughs). God has blessed me o. Ah, make I no lie (I won’t lie), Oluwa (God) is involved. I can’t start counting my blessings but I thank God.

The latest project from your stable now is the DKM album and it drops in two weeks. Give us an exclusive insight into it?

The ‘DKM’ Album, D Kings Men is a compilation of songs from the artistes on DB Records and is not a D’ Banj’s Album. It has a compilation of songs and sounds done by DB records artistes comprising myself, Kay Switch and J.Sol. DKM album has already dropped on pre-sales online. This is the first time I will be doing pre-sales of any album and I was surprised that in less than three days, the response was massive. I was in Atlanta and I flew back home immediately. I am actually excited about it and not just for me alone. I’m excited that if by God’s grace this works out, finally, it will curb piracy and provide another means of distribution other than Alaba Market.

Are you trying to set up a distribution channel?

Definitely and is not for the benefit of DB Records artiste alone, is for the benefit of all Nigerian acts. The big thing about this is that the distribution of DKM album is not going to be online alone. We have been looking for a way whereby our fans and the masses can get hold of our product other than on the street because I have heard complaints in the past that they don’t get the original copies of our albums. So now, it has been structured in a way that it will be delivered directly to your house, once you pre-buy the album. Then, it will be available in all GT Bank offices nationwide. I can tell you categorically that Fally Ipupa is on this album, Kanye West is on the album and Olamide is also on the album. Another shocker is that Durella is on the album (laughs)

Durella?

Yes, I know a lot of people will be surprised. Wait till you hear the song.

We heard you are also planning an album cum birthday concert?

We are definitely working on the DKM concert and will feature our friends that featured on the album. Other colleagues of mine will also be coming for the DKM concert scheduled for June 2013. It is such a big thing because my birthday is June 9th and we will be celebrating for the whole month of June. The Lord has blessed me and I need to celebrate. We have made such a big plan that when the album drops, I will go on tour throughout the month of June. Any of my fans in any country listed on the tour that already have the album will have access to the tour. The Koko community card inside the album gives them the chance to meet me and groove with me. The grand finale is on June 24^th at the Expo Hall of Eko Hotel in Lagos where we will be staging the DKM Concert and my birthday bash together. I am bringing 2Chainz from America to perform at the concert.

I’m aware that you have other businesses, how do you manage all of them?

We have a management company called DKM that handles lot of brands and endorsements. So everything is more organized now with the launch of DKM Media last year. We started with the Koko Concert and that is the first time we did a concert and we wanted to do something different. Let me quickly use this opportunity to apologise to all my wonderful fans that trekked that long distance to the Koko Concert last year. I promise them we are not trekking again this year because we have a solid arrangement.

I listened to one of the songs on the DKM album titled Nonsense but I realized the song seems to have a violence theme. How will you explain that?

When I do my music, I do it like a day to day thing. You have heard Suddenly and Mogbona Felifeli. So this new song you are referring to won’t be an exception. When I say ‘egba ojue’ (slap him), it means enough of negative talks around you.

However, how do you end negative talks around you, it’s simply by stopping the negative things. For example, if you have an Ipad that is messing up, the best way to ‘gba ojue’ (slap it) is by repairing it.

With four nominations at World Music Awards including ‘Best Song of The Year and Best World Artiste’, what is more paramount to you at this point of your career?

What is more paramount to me is the same drive from the beginning. Oliver Twist did number 9 in the U.K top chart, number 2 in U.K R &B and number one in Romania. I will be 10 years on stage next year, though am already more than ten years in the industry but I released Tongolo in March 2004. Within ten years, I have been able to take our music and our culture to everywhere in Africa, Canada, America and Europe. With my partnership with G.O.O.D music and Universal Music,  sooner or later, the whole world will hear about D’banj and other artiste like MI, Olamide and many others .We will  showcase ourselves to the world and they are going to buy our music. The Grammy too is very near because we have won several Channel O awards, Soundcity, MTV, NMVA and many others.

Having done stuffs with few African top acts like Fally Ipupa, Sarkodie and 2Face, is there any particular African artiste you have in mind to work with soon?

I have done a lot of songs with 2Face but I still want to do more songs with him, infact do an album together. We will call it ‘Best of Both worlds’.

Having performed at top world concerts like Wireless, Radio 1 Hackney Weekend and few others, is there any particular concert you are eyeing at the moment?

It will be The Live Nation tour and any other major tour that is top class where I can promote African language and culture. I go to some tours and I’ll tell the white people that if you see a rich Nigerian, call him Igwe (King) and they will all shout Igwe. I teach them African languages and culture because I’m an African ambassador. Sometimes they don’t know the meaning until I translate.

What is your utmost possession?

For now, I will say is my distribution. For once, we need to get music distribution right in this country and be able curb piracy. Aside, musicians will be able to make so much money from their works.

What is the true story of your former manager, Bankulli’s exit from DB Records?

The thing is that I won’t really dwell too much on this issue but I want to categorically say everything that everybody has read or heard is a big fat lie.

Infact, I don’t know where that story is coming from. There is a definitely time for everything. Bankulli was a wonderful manager and he is still my brother. He is a good guy but he can’t be flying around with me again as he now does his own things. He still called us for a show recently when we were in South Africa. When people say someone that worked with me for one year is not working with me again, I laugh. My former manager, Sunday Are still gets me shows. People keep spreading unpalatable rumors.

Are you in touch with former partner, Don Jazzy?

Don Jazzy produced four songs on the DKM album coming out soon. I remember when I was in America and they were mastering a song and I heard the one featuring Fally Ipupa which was produced by Don Jazzy and I was like wow!  I called him immediately and he picked up. I said listen to what I’m hearing, this is a music you produced. So don’t get twisted like I said, love is a beautiful thing. I’m a businessman and I do what is right for my business. What I’m doing now is what I have always wanted as an artiste, professionalism and good distribution. I don’t have any regret.

Tell us about your relationship status…

I have dated a lot of women but I don’t really want to talk about them because most of them have moved on and some are married. I don’t have any regret at all because I am still young and am still a bachelor.

Do you feel bothered about it when your mum brings up the issue?

Not at all but it’s a normal thing for mothers. She is proud of me and I do let her understand that it’s not that I don’t want to marry but I have not found the right one. If she finds the right one for me; she can call me.

How do you react to rumors and critics?

It’s a normal thing for people to talk but you don’t have to be distracted. All you need is to stay focused. I want to thank everybody for staying with me genuinely even during the dreadful time. I promise not to let you guys down and you should remember that in everything I do, I’m also human.

Frustration Almost Forced Me Out Of Acting-Grace Amah

Grace Amah is one Nollywood actress that has come a long way in the motion pictures industry in Nigeria. She is also regarded as one of the few actresses that have lived a less scandal-free life in an industry mostly regarded by some as 'dirty.'

For some time now, she been in oblivion with her beautiful face not adoring the movie jackets like she did for many years. Many wondered why she became a scarce commodity in their silver screens. 

While some speculated that Amah might have gone underground because of her child, which she bore out of wedlock, others believed her marital error shouldn't have caused her absence in films. 

But just recently, we caught up with the beautiful screen diva at an event in Lagos. While speaking to us, Amah revealed what she has been doing for some time now.

According to her, “the latest about me is that I am back in the (movie) industry.” 

Speaking further, the mother of one said, “motherhood kept me away from acting.”

She, however, noted that, “there were times things didn't really flow well with me in the industry, roles were not coming in as I expected. I felt a bit down about it, so I had to leave.”

Four Arrested For 'Raping' A Prostitute In Lagos

Four men have been arraigned before Magistrate Demi Ajayi of Ikeja Magistarte’s Court, Lagos, for allegedly harassing a prostitute, Jennifer Uche.

Uche told the court that on the date, she met one of the suspects in a club. He solicited for sex with her for N5,000 per night.

However, when Uche got to the defendant’s place at Abubakar Street, about six other males came out of hiding and forcibly had sex with her.

She said she lost consciousness after the ordeal and when she regained consciousness, the suspects paid her N800.

Uche said she subsequently “walked unsteadily to the nearest police station” and reported the incident.

The two-count read, “That you, Solomon Obaniro, 28; Adebayo Fagbemi, 25; Soliu Obalowu, 27; and Oluwatosin Akomolafe, 22, and others at large on the 13th April, 2013, at about 3:00 am at No. 28, Sule Abubakar Street, Opebi, Ikeja did sexually harass one Jennifer Uche, aged about 27 years; and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 262 of Lagos Criminal Law of Lagos State.”

The suspects were also charged for conspiring among themselves “to commit felony to wit: sexual harassment, and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 409 of Criminal Law of Lagos State.”

They, however, pleaded not guilty.

Police prosecutor, Barth Nwaokoye, argued that the suspects be remanded in custody.

Ajayi, however, set bail at N300,000 each with two sureties in like sum. The case was adjourned till June 17, 2013.

DEEVATUDE: Genevieve Nnaji is Astonishing. Six Reasons Why We Agree to This.

She’s a Diva in all sense of the words but that hasn’t stopped the mother of one from relating very well with her fans especially on social networks which has come to be the closest connection between celebrities and their fans.

Whatever individuals like Pele is to the football world and Brazil, Michael Jackson is to the Americans and the music industry, that is what Genevieve has become to Nollywood, Nigerians, and Africans at large. There are few things that have placed Genevieve in this position and we just have to take a look at them.

Genevieve whose style, talent and amazing performances in several movies and on the red carpet have captivated millions of fans both in Nigeria and all over the world stands out as the finest in the industry even in the latest era of Nollywood.

Genevieve Nnaji & Uti Nwachukwu on set 'Weekend Getaway"

1. TALENT

Genevieve is an embodiment of talent and that is why the American mega show talk host Oprah Winfrey described her as the Julia Roberts of Africa. Genevieve is a figure that emanates fire from the screen. She started at a very young age, but grew to become this talented woman every producer wants in their movie. 

She brings a character to life. Nigerians first fell in love with Genevieve in the movie “IJE” which sold millions of copies that year. So far, Genevieve’s talent has given her over 300 movies and still counting.

2. CARRIAGE

it is not all the actors and actresses that understand the meaning of being a celebrity. As a celebrity Genevieve has taken too many steps but has overtime learned how to live with them. 

This explains why she has amazingly captured the hearts of millions of people. Good dress sense, humility, mild romance with the media are only but few things you can say about the pretty actress that has taking her far. She carries herself like a queen and a role model.

Many young Nigerian women who want to get into the movie industry look up to her. Although Genevieve has topped many gossip magazines with some scandalous stories, most of them are cheap talks/ mere rumours, and that’s what comes with fame. But yet, she has the strength of a goddess and walks around with poise most women her age admire.

There is no doubt that the Nigerian movie industry known as Nollywood has grown to be a force to reckon with in the world today. Behind this emerging and powerful industry lies the exceptional actress whose face has grown and helped to make the industry very more attractive.

3. SENSE OF BUSINESS

The entertainment industry is an open business world where people either play to win or lose. It is not just enough to be in the industry but also knowing how to stay in the industry and remain relevant. 

Genevieve has become even better than she was yesterday with diversity added to her acting business. She has mastered the industry and gives in her best at all times so that she can equally be remain at the top.

When Genevieve’s style started transforming and girls started dressing like her, She felt the need to start up a clothing line – St Genevieve which she later handed over to Zizi Cardow to handle for her because of her busy schedule. 

Although Genevieve hasn’t ventured into the business of making or producing movies unlike some of her colleagues, she picks the movie she appears in. Her PR firm is London based with well trained agents who put all their efforts in making sure Genevieve doesn’t fall into the wrong kind of business. Not so many of our celebrities have understood the importance of P.R.

4. RESPONSIBILITY AND READINESS

This is the area where most actors and actresses miss it all. It is not just about the money but the meaning given to the profession. Genevieve Nnaji shows humility, leadership skills, character, sincerity, honesty, dedication and seriousness to the profession she has heartedly pursued with passion all of her life. 

Amazingly no actress or actor in nollywood has the number of dedicated fans as Genevieve. She has the genuine love and support of her fans that have grown over the years and Genevieve makes sure she doesn’t let them down. She represents Nigerian women in all areas.

5. PERFECTION

Until a celebrity decides to be perfect in the game, then there is never a moment to become powerful. This is not all about business management but rather building on how to be a mentor so that the star can reach out on every occasion as demanded by the profession and then in turn get rewarded. It is the desire for perfection in the game that creates the harmony that is required to record success.

Fans of Nollywood or Hollywood understand why the desire to see some certain persons in movies and this is one of the things that have made Genevieve exceptional.

She has perfected her skills, style, etiquettes, etc as it affects the brand – Genevieve Nnaji.

6. STYLE

Genevieve is the most stylish Nigerian actor. A title that she has held on to for many years. She’s a red, black, yellow carpet favorite with her outstanding fabulous outfits.