Horre-ndous Video: Catholic priest behe-aded by Rebels in Syria

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A Catholic priest, Father Francois Murad, (left and circled) was killed on 23 June in Gassanieh, northern Syria by jihadist rebels in front of a cheering crowd, the Vatican news agency reported yesterday. The beheading of the 49 year old priest was filmed on a camera phone and recently posted on the internet. The priest had been staying in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land when he was seized by the rebels who accused him of collaborating with Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. 

 See the video after the cut...but we warned, it's extremely graphic.

President to the U.S. Ambassador: Don't come lecturing us about life, law, dignity, or liberty. You don't have the moral right to do so."

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 "Don't come lecturing us about liberty...Here we haven't invaded anyone. Here we don't torture like in Guantanamo. Here we don't have drones killing alleged terrorist without any due trial, killing also the women and children of those supposed terrorists. So don't come lecturing us about life, law, dignity, or liberty. You don't have the moral right to do so.

President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" Over Snowden

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"One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.
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Ekiti State University, EKSU sacks six lecturers for plagiarism and s-èxual harassment, Rusticates 300 Students

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Authorities of the Ekiti State University, EKSU, Ado-Ekiti, have relieved six academic staff of the appointments for plagiarism, fraudulent practices and s-èxual harassment. The institution's Deputy Registrar, Information, Mr. Ajibade Olubunmi, said in a statement that the list included three senior academic staff who were dismissed for manipulating examination scores, plagiarism and failure to serve the university after being sponsored abroad.

Olubunmi said the institution's Governing Council, after the recommendations of the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee, also approved the termination of the appointments of three other academic staff for gross academic misconduct, falsification of employment records and s-èxual harassment.

The Olokuta Medium Security Prison in Akure, Ondo State, which recorded a jailbreak, yesterday. He said the university also expelled 24 students “found guilty of committing offences including examination misconduct to being members of unregistered associations in the university.

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Zimbabwe: Lessons From Land Reform

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No subject is off limits in the first ever global talk show hosted from Africa in which Redi Tlhabi talks frankly to inspiring and intriguing personalities from across the world. In the 1980s Zimbabwe became the poster-child for African independence. Twenty years later, violent land grabs pushed white farmers off their land, and the economic turmoil caused unprecedented hyperinflation, resulting in the ultimate crash of the Zimbabwean currency. Food production collapsed and one of the continent’s strongest economies reduced to half its previous size.

While the West was quick to dismiss Zimbabwe as another failed African state, new research shows that Zimbabwe is actually recovering, and that land reform is working.

This week on South2North, Teresa Smart, one of the authors of the book, Zimbabwe Takes Back Its Land, speaks about the rise of food production in Zimbabwe.

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SEE How This Man Defused This Bomb On A Suicide Bomber [LOOK]

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A member of the Afghan bomb disposal unit approaches a suicide attacker after his vest was defused in Jalalabad province on Sunday.

 Not this time.

An Afghan bomb technician played peacemaker Sunday, donning a heavily armored suit to diffuse a would-be suicide bomber's vest. The risky maneuver, gone Hollywood in the Oscar-winning drama "The Hurt Locker," required a deft touch — and a willingness to go face-to-face with powerful explosives.

Sunday's bomber in Jalalabad attempted to detonate his device before being apprehended and hog-tied. Then, the Afghan soldier, clad in a padded suit topped with a large helmet, approached the subdued terrorist and disabled the device. A photo after the all-clear was given shows the would-be bomber, clad in brown pants and shirt, lying on the ground next to a rifle and three grenades. A red wire is shown threaded through the vest, its three pouches filled with explosives.

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Woman Falls To Her Death While Performing Acrobatics In The Air

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A dancer plummeted to her death in the middle of a Cirque du Soleil performance in Las Vegas — the first such casualty in the acrobatic show's 30-year history.

Sarah Guyard-Guillot, a dancer in the Cirque production of “Ka” at the MGM Grand, died Saturday night after a gruesome fall from the production’s stage, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

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Patience Jonathan’s Excesses Must Be Curbed - Report

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A report written by Punch Editorial Board

Each time the wife of the President, Patience Jonathan, hits the road with her long motorcade, including bulletproof and bombproof limousines, or is having a whale of a time at an event, drivers and commuters who find themselves on her routes always have to live with the bitter experience of the encounter. As police empty the roads of traffic, forcing drivers to wait as her glamorous convoy drifts by, motorists are trapped in traffic for hours on end, while social and economic life of the affected community is brought to a halt abruptly. 

The recent visit of Mrs. Jonathan to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, in which her security details forcibly grounded the movement of residents, is the latest of such excesses that Nigerians have been forced to endure for the past three years. This impunity must stop.

Acording to newspaper reports, Mrs. Jonathan’s security arrangement paralysed activities in the Port Harcourt Government Reservation Area for the four days of her visit. Armoured personnel carriers were deployed at two points, while gun-wielding operatives manned the points leading to her private residence. Many people missed their appointments because they were prevented from moving in and out of their houses. 

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Founder of New Wine Church Dr Tayo Adeyemi dies at 49 - R.I.P.

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Pastor Tayo Adeyemi, the founder and senior minister of UK based New Wine Church has passed on. The bible scholar and motivational speaker died yesterday afternoon Sunday June 30th in a hospital in the UK. He's survived by a wife and three sons. 

Nigeria controls largest construction market in Africa – Lafarge WAPCO boss

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With an estimated market potential of cement consumption of running over 50 million metric tons per annum, the structure behind the growth in the sector could be traced to the cement market where Nigeria’s cement producers and investors alike are spearheading expansion and growth of the country cement sector.
Managing Director of Lafarge Cement  Wapco,  Mr. Joe Hudson, who disclosed this in Abuja,  stated that its financial accounts for three months ended 31 March 2013 show as follows :  Profit After Tax (PAT) grew  49 per cent  year on year ,y/y to N6.1 billion with modest sales of N23.3 billion; Its profit before tax (PBT) grew 21 per cent y/y due to a number of factors such as a gross margin expansion of 181bps to 42.8 per cent, flattish opex and a 35 per cent decline in net interest income.

A lower tax rate of 15.7 per cent compared with 31.8 per cent in first quarter 2012 resulted in profit after tax growing faster than profit before tax, the sales grew 29 per cent  quarter on quarter q/q, while profit before tax and profit after tax advanced by 46 per cent and 56 per cent q/q respectively.
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President Goodluck Jonathan Violates Nigerian Laws, Corners N3Billion

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The Federal Government does not build general hospitals but President Goodluck Jonathan has waived two vital rules to establish a princely N2.8 billion new general hospital for his hometown, Otuoke, effectively placing the coastal community as an exclusive beneficiary of a strange largesse not known to federal laws, according to Premium Times.

It is not clear how and when the federal government first conceived the hospital project, as it was not listed in federal budgets between 2009 and 2011, and even after.  But the Federal Executive Council meeting of August 17, 2011, presided over by Mr. Jonathan, gave approval for the project, and a N2.8billion contract was hurriedly awarded to Messrs Avandale Limited. The job was projected to last only 12 months; and indeed, unlike the usual delay government projects face, it was delivered on time.

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Serving PDP Senator Pius Ewherido 50, Dies - R.I.P

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A serving senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly under the platform of DPP, Pius Ewherido, has passed on. Senator Ewherido died today at the National Hospital in Abuja after suffering a stroke.   The late senator was the Vice chairman Senate committee on Marine Transport, and was a member of the committee on Trade and Investment.