27 DEAD AFTER ANOTHER MIGRANT BOAT CAPSIZES OFF ITALY ISLAND

For the second time in a week, a smugglers' boat overloaded with migrants capsized in the Canal of Sicily on Friday as it made the perilous crossing from Africa to Europe. At least 27 people drowned, but 221 people were rescued in a joint Italian-Maltese operation, officials said.

Helicopters ferried the injured to Lampedusa, the Italian island that is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and the destination of choice for most smugglers' boats leaving Tunisia or Libya. It was off Lampedusa that a migrant ship from Libya capsized Oct. 3 with some 500 people aboard. Only 155 survived.

Friday's capsizing occurred 65 miles (105 kilometres) southeast of Lampedusa, but in waters where Malta has search and rescue responsibilities.

TRIPLE TRAGEDY- MOTHER OF PLANE CRASH VICTIM LOST 3 FAMILY MEMBERS IN 5 MONTHS

Samson's mother

Losing a loved one is tragic enough but losing three(3) in about 5 months is least explainable. The holy book urges us to give thanks in all situations, words that might just be sufficient to relieve the pains of Mrs. Hassan, mother of the MIC Photojournalist who died in the ill-fated Associated Airlines Plane in Lagos about 2 weeks ago. 

Read as reported by PUNCH below............

GIRL JUMPS IN FRONT OF SPEEDING TRAIN IN A SUICIDE ATTEMPT BUT WAS UNHARMED

This happened in India..... Only GOD knows why she attempted suicide. Amazing video.....

Click HERE.

SPEEDING PASSENGER TRAIN KILLS ELEPHANT

An adult male elephant was Friday mowed down by a train in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district of India.

“The incident happened Friday morning. There is a need to further restrict the speed limit of the trains on the Siliguri-Alipurduar stretch. We are discussing on lowering the speed limit to below 25 km,” said Chief Wildlife Warden N.C.Bahuguna.

#SAVEPAKUSUMU - AILING NIGERIAN ACTOR NEEDS N12M FOR TREATMENT

KASUMU

Veteran actor, Pa Kasumu is in dire need of our help to battle his health challenges.

He was quoted as saying;

‘The problem is with my heart and liver. It had been there for a long time but for God who so love me, when I met that doctor at LUTH, he was able to curb the ailment from getting to the kidney. So now it’s just the heart and the liver.’

LAGOS PLANE CRASH - PILOT ERROR AND FAULTY ENGINE IDENTIFIED AS CAUSE IN PRELIMINARY REPORT

Recall the Associated Airlines plane crash in Lagos that took the lives of 13 people about 2 weeks ago,the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) in its preliminary report of the plane says pilot error and a faulty engine might have been responsible for the crash, but the bureau said it was yet to conclude investigations on the crash.

The report says investigations unveiled hints that the aircraft was already faulty before the cockpit crew decided to embark on the journey but the captain in command, Capt. Abdulraham Yakubu insisted that the crew must continue with the journey even when the co-pilot suggested that the flight should be aborted. The aircraft crashed exactly 31 seconds after take off from the runway.

EID-EL-KABIR - FG DECLARES TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY AS HOLIDAYS

THE Federal Government has declared Tuesday and Wednesday, October 15 and 16 respectively, as Public holidays to mark Eid-el-Kabir sallah celebration.

Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, made the declaration on behalf of the government, in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Fatima Bamidele, in Abuja, on Thursday.

ARIEL CASTRO MAY HAVE DIED FROM AUOT-EROTIC ASPHYXIATION

Convicted Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro may have died by pulling a David Carradine ... hanging himself while masturbating -- an act known as AUTO-EROTIC ASPHYXIATION -- according to a new investigative report that was just released by the prison.

Castro was discovered in his cell by prison guards Sept. 3rd ... hanging from a hinge in the window of his cell ... with a bed sheet wrapped around his neck.  His death was initially ruled a suicide.

THE VIRGIN AUCTIONS

In Colombia, street gangs are recruiting girls as young as ten in a sickening trade that sees their virginities auctioned off to drug barons and foreign tourists.

The youngsters are plucked from the slums - or communas - into a life of organised crime with the promise of stylish clothes, cocaine and financial help for their families.

TWO MEN TO DIE BY HANGING FOR KIDNAPPING AND ROBBING MAGISTRATE

Two men were yesterday sentenced to death by hanging by an Asaba High Court having found them guilty of kidnapping and robbing a female magistrate at gunpoint on Boxing Day two years ago.

The convicted persons, Saidu Haruna and Raphael Egwuba, who claimed to be phone technicians and welder at Osubi, respectively, were arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping and armed robbery on charge no A/37C/2012. 

WONDER KID - 9 YR OLD BECOMES ONE OF THE YOUNGEST MICROSOFT CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL

A BRIGHT primary six pupil of Role Model School, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, has emerged one of the youngest pupils to obtain the Microsoft Certified Professional certificate. The nine-year-old pupil of Role Model School, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, Jomiloju Tunde-Oladipo, has emerged the youngest Nigerian Microsoft certified professional.

He came tops among 21 pupils who sat for the professional examination in Lagos. He is now a Microsoft office specialist in office word 2010. Jomiloju scored 769 out of 1,000 in the examination held in August.

BATCH C 2012 NYSC CORPS MEMBERS PASSES OUT - URGED TO CREATE JOBS

The National Youth Service Corps on Thursday organised a passing out ceremony for the 2012 Batch C NYSC members across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory with  some governors advising them to deploy their energies towards nation building. They also advised them to create jobs for themselves.

41 MOST POWERFUL ENTERTAINERS IN NAIJA

A Naija entertainment magazine has done the hard work of putting together a list containing the names of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry. 

They cut across different areas of the entertainment industry.Read the remarkable list of the most popular people in the industry, whose actions actions carry a lot of weight with the hope of the future resting on their shoulders.

Read the full list below. The thing long sha ooooooooooooooo

KIDNAPPED LIBYAN PRIME MINISTER HAS BEEN FREED

Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been freed several hours after being kidnapped at dawn by gunmen at the Tripoli hotel where he is living.

The brazen abduction seemed to be in retaliation for a raid by US special forces in the capital over the weekend that seized a suspected al Qaeda leader. Government spokesman Mohammed Kaabar told the state news agency that Mr Zeidan, 63, had been "set free" and was on his way to his office. It appeared Libyan forces had intervened in some way and the abductors did not free Mr Zeidan voluntarily.

MEXICAN WOMAN GIVES BIRTH ON HOSPITAL LAWN AFTER NURSES DENIED HER TREATMENT

Mrs Lopez, a married mother of three, said that she and her husband were turned away from the Rural Health Center of the village of San Felipe Jalapa de Diaz by a nurse who said she was only eight months pregnant and ‘still not ready’ to deliver, even though the woman was reportedly fully dilated.

The couple, who are Mazatecs and do not speak Spanish, could not understand much of what the nurse was telling them beyond the word ‘no,’ so they went outside. Addressing the controversy later, the nurses blamed the incident on the language barrier and claimed that they did not have enough staff on hand to treat the woman due to a partial work stoppage.

OOU GRADUATE, TWO OTHERS ARRESTED IN LAGOS FOR KIDNAPPING SEVEN YEAR OLD BOY

A university graduate and two other suspects were on Wednesday paraded by the Lagos State Police Command, following their arrest, by a tip off from a seven-year-old victim.

The graduate of Economics of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Gbenga Sholaja; Olalekan Benjamin and Samson Shomorin, who specialise in kidnapping little boys, were arrested by men of the Igando Police Division and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos. The victim (name withheld) was said to have been held hostage at Benjamin’s father’s house at Ikotun, Lagos.

POLICE APPREHENDS TENANT WHO KIDNAPPED LANDLORD'S DAUGHTER FOR 3 YEARS AND IMPREGNATED HER

The Lagos State Police Command has apprehended a 37-year-old man, Ajibola Idowu, for allegedly kidnapping the daughter of his landlord for three years. The suspect was also said to have forcefully impregnated the victim, Modupe Brown, during captivity.

Modupe had given birth to the child who became cripple because Ajibola refused to allow the child access to immunisation. Ajibola, was arrested along with his mother, Ebun, who allegedly conspired with him to commit the act.

IBADAN POET WINS N16,000,000($100,000) NLNG LITERATURE PRIZE

TADE OLOPADE , an Ibadan, Oyo State-based lawyer and poet has won the 2013 Nigeria Prize for Literature.

Ipadeola, who is also the President of the PEN Nigeria, won the prize worth  $100,000 with his collection of poetry, ‘The Sahara Testaments.’ The prize is sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited.

LIBYAN PRIME MINISTER KIDNAPPED

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was kidnapped from his Tripoli hotel at dawn on Thursday by armed men and taken to an unknown location, the government and sources said.

The abduction comes five days after US commandos embarrassed and angered Libya's government by capturing senior Al-Qaeda suspect Abu Anas al-Libi off the streets of Tripoli and whisked him away to a warship. "The head of the transitional government, Ali Zeidan, was taken to an unknown destination for unknown reasons by a group" of men believed to be former rebels, the government said in a brief statement on its website.

PLATEAU SPEAKER RESIGNS WHILE HIS DEPUTY WAS IMPEACHED

The  Plateau State House of Assembly has elected a new speaker. This follows the forceful resignation of John Clark as the Speaker on Wednesday.

Mr. Clark resigned after pressure was mounted on him by his colleagues who asked him to quit or be impeached. Another lawmaker, Titus Alarms, from Bokkos constituency, was promptly elected as the new speaker. Both the old and new speaker are from the Plateau Central Senatorial District where the office was zoned.