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Governor Aminu Masari on Friday signed into law, the amended penal code of criminal justice system in Katsina State. The amended penal code of criminal justice now makes kidnapping and cattle rustling, capital offences while rape now attracts life imprisonment in the state. Speaking during the brief ceremony to assent to the laws, Governor Masari explained that the state is currently faced with security challenges, hence the need to revisit the penal and procedural laws to deal with suspects. The Governor revealed that the two laws that were signed, particularly the penal code had been amended generally and in particular, the section dealing with kidnappings, cattle rustling, rape and other related offences. He announced that cattle rustling and kidnappings were now capital offences in the state and attract mandatory death sentences. He said the offence of rape now carries the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment in addition to fine and compensation for the victim. The ...

Apple's profits could take a massive hit The U.S. and China have been retaliating against each other in various ways throughout the trade war, and investors and analysts are now worrying that the Chinese government could target Apple in retribution. Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall put out a research note this morning (via CNBC) estimating that Apple's earnings could decline by a whopping 29% under the extreme scenario that its products were banned in China. "Should China restrict iPhone production in any way we do not believe the company would be able to shift much iPhone volume outside of China on short notice," the analyst wrote. Hall cut his price target from $184 to $178 to account for the new risk factor. HSBC had separately cut its price target on Apple earlier this week due to ongoing trade tensions. Of course, Apple contributes significantly to China's economy, as its supply chain and contract manufacturers have long been concentrated in the Middle ...

An Amazon Echo device is displayed at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Amazon and Google are fighting to dominate the multi-billion dollar voice commerce market. Home audio specialist Bose announced its smallest and most affordable smart speaker to date, the $260 Home Speaker 300. Samsung's Galaxy Home Mini was just detailed in FCC filings, even though the full-sized version hasn't even shipped yet. Even Comcast is reportedly working on a health-oriented smart speaker, according to CNBC, although it's not clear what price point the telecommunications and media conglomerate may be targeting. Neither Amazon nor Google have strong positions in China. Amazon just shuttered its Chinese e-commerce operations, and Google's online services have long been neutered due to government censorship and other factors. On the other hand, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a strong presence in the Chinese market, and Siri is one of few voice assistants that can handle Mandarin, one of the mor...

Huawei Matebook X Pro Following US President Donald Trump's executive orders to put Huawei Technologies on a trade blacklist, Microsoft has reportedly removed Huawei laptops from their e-store. A report by The Verge points out that Microsoft has stopped selling Huawei's MateBook X Pro laptop at the company's online store. In fact, it says that in the US, searching for any Huawei hardware shows no results at the Microsoft Store. Notably, though, while Google has pulled back Android services from all new Huawei devices, Microsoft has remained silent on a potential Windows ban. A Windows ban on Huawei could mean a large impact on Huawei's server solutions. Microsoft and Huawei operate a hybrid cloud solution for Microsoft's Azure stack, using Microsoft-certified Huawei servers. Meanwhile, according to a recent report, the US administration is considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision. The restrictions would reportedly li...

Chinese telecom giant Huawei says it could roll out its own operating system for smartphones and laptops in China by the autumn after the United States blacklisted the company, a report said Thursday. The international version of the system could be ready in the first or second quarter of 2020, said Richard Yu, the head of Huawei's consumer business, told US channel CNBC. The company was dealt a blow this week with Google's decision to partially cut off Huawei devices from its Android OS following a US order banning the sale or transfer of American technology to the firm. Huawei. "Today, Huawei, we are still committed to Microsoft Windows and Google Android," Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business, told CNBC. "But if we cannot use that, Huawei will prepare the plan B to use our own OS." The Global Times, a Chinese state-run daily, reported on Monday that the platform - named "HongMeng" - was undergoing trials and will gradu...

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks about iWatch during Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) at the San Jose Convention Centerin San Jose, California on Monday, June 04, 2018.  Tesla shares are down 38% year-to-date. Tesla’s stock stood at $310 on Jan. 2 and $205 as of Tuesday. The stock has plunged 46% from its high in August 2018 when CEO Elon Musk earned the ire of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by saying he had “funding secured” to take the company private at $420 a share. Back in January 2018 when Tesla had a market cap of $58 billion, rumors swirled Tesla was a prime target for a takeover by Apple. At the time, Tesla became a takeover target because its valuation had shrunk, which is the exact same situation it’s in today. it’s long been known Apple Inc. once wanted to buy Tesla Inc. to give it a leg-up in the race to deploy fleets of self-driving cars. That plan didn’t pan out and Apple has since been the laggard among tech firms committ...

NEW DELHI--- “Modi has embedded himself in every Indian’s consciousness,” said Arati Jerath, a prominent newspaper columnist. In contrast, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition Indian National Congress party and the scion of a long political dynasty, is widely perceived as inexperienced and weak. In acknowledging his defeat, Mr. Gandhi said that the country was engaged in a long ideological battle, and “love never loses.” The election turnout was one for the history books — the largest democratic exercise ever. From April 11 to May 19, more than 600 million Indians cast ballots at a million polling stations from high in the Himalayas to the tropical islands in the Andaman Sea. Intense feelings about Mr. Modi, for or against, helped drive turnout to 67 percent, the highest ever. Even some voters who were worried about the economy or did not like the way Mr. Modi had stirred communal divisions said they still saw him as the best leader for India now. “Farmers are in tro...

Barcelona's Anfield anguish had roots in the rubble of their Champions League collapse at Roma last season, according to Gerard Pique. Long-serving defender Pique was unable to stem the tide as Liverpool ran roughshod over Ernesto Valverde's side, winning the second leg of their semi-final 4-0 to overturn a 3-0 deficit from the initial encounter at Camp Nou. It means that, as Liverpool prepare for next weekend's final against Tottenham in Madrid, Barca's season is shrouded in a sense of anti-climax despite them going for back-to-back doubles in Saturday's Copa del Rey final against Valencia. Valverde has been backed by the club to continue in his post despite similar quarter-final disappointment versus Roma last term, where a 4-1 first-leg lead was squandered in the Italian capital. "When something like this happens, everything or almost everything has gone wrong," Pique told El Pais. "I think that on a mental level, some people were affe...

Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation looks likely to make Britain’s looming departure from the EU even more difficult, with some suggesting a hard or “no-deal” Brexit is now almost inevitable. Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May reacts as she announces her resignation outside 10 Downing street in central London on May 24, 2019. – Beleaguered British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Friday that she will resign on June 7, 2019 following a Conservative Party mutiny over her remaining in power. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) Here are the main reactions to the announcement she will step down as leader of the Conservative Party, and hence also as Prime Minister, on June 7. – No change – The European Union said the resignation does nothing to change its position on the Brexit withdrawal deal agreed with Britain. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker noted May’s decision “without personal joy”, a spokeswoman said, adding that the council of EU leaders has “set out it...

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the election of the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi. The court held that the appeal was unmeritorious and it has to be noted that the two courts below are concurrent in their findings and it is only where the appellant has established in laws and facts a breach of the law, that this court can decide otherwise. It, therefore, affirmed the judgment of both the tribunal and the Appeal Court. In a seperate ruling, the court also nullified the elections of all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress in Zamfara State in the 2019 general elections. Delivering the judgement, Justice Adamu Galunje held that the Appeal Court in Sokoto was right when it agreed with the respondents that the party did not conduct primaries in the state. According to him, a party that has no candidate cannot be said to have won an election, hence the votes cast for the APC in the election were waste...

Earlier today, a commercial bus popularly referred to as “Danfo” somersaulted on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. The accident was the result of a burst a tyre suffered by the Danfo. Officers of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) made a timely intervention, as they rescued occupants of the danfo. Those with serious injuries were taken to the hospital. See the photos and Watch the video below:   Photo Credit:  @ rrslagos767   What video below. ⊙Father of dragons⊙¤ @aysliim_ Accident on third mainland bridge... reach out to people you know might be going through there. The woman thanking God tho... 4 11:20 AM - May 24, 2019 See ⊙Father of dragons⊙¤'s other Tweets Twitter Ads info and privacy Video CreditL @aysliim Credit by Autojosh

Julius Assange The U.S. Justice Department unveiled 17 new criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, saying he unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired with and assisted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information. The superseding indictment comes a little more than a month after the Justice Department unsealed a narrower criminal case against Assange. Assange was initially charged with conspiring with Manning to gain access to a government computer as part of a 2010 leak by WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of U.S. military reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He now faces a total of 18 criminal counts, and could face many decades in prison if convicted. “These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken ...

An intense Hindu nationalist, he combines his belief in India being a potential world beater with the conviction that no goal is hard to achieve when pursued with devotion. When  Amit Shah  took over as BJP chief in 2014, the party was still in a celebratory mood over its victory in the  Lok Sabha elections . But the man who played a key role by delivering 73 of the 80 seats in UP for the party, and was adjudged “man of the match” by  Narendra Modi , was in no mood to pause. Even as he harvested Modi’s popularity to lead the party to victories in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, Shah had already set his sights on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He calculated that BJP might find it difficult to repeat its performance in the vast swathes of north, west and central India and, therefore, needed to focus elsewhere to compensate for any dip in tallies in its strongholds.  On Thursday that worry did not come to pass but the safety net Shah had stitched held the ...

The Edo Taskforce Against Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration said  it had received   4,764 trafficked human returnees since its inception more than two years ago. Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, Chairperson of the taskforce and the State Attorney General disclosed this on Thursday at a one-day workshop for female journalists. The worskshop was organised by the Edo Chapter of the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ). Omorogbe said of the figure,  3,261 were male, while female and children were 1,322 and 181 respectively. She disclosed that a survey showed that about 80 per cent of those who migrated overseas did that independently, while 18 per cent were recruited by sponsors and two per cent for other reasons. She also said that the survey showed that the major causes for irregular migration included gender inequality, poor working conditions and unemployment. Other major causes, she said were ignorance as well as decay of societal morals a...

Counsel to Linus Opara, the third defendant in the trial of a suspected billionaire kidnap kingpin, wants the medical director of Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons to issue a medical report on Opara’s health. Opara is being tried alongside Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, the deadly high-profile kidnapper from Nnewi in Anambra. Counsel to Opara, Mr J. C. Jiakponna, brought the application for Opara’s medical report before an Igbosere High Court in Lagos on Thursday. Apart from Evans, Opara is also standing trial alongside Joseph Emeka and Victor Aduba. They are facing trial on charges, bordering on conspiracy to kidnap and for selling of firearms. The charges were filed against them by the Lagos State Government before Justice Adedayo Akintoye. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on the last adjourned date on May 17, Jiakponna, had announced his appearance as the new counsel for Opara, informing court that he had a bail application. However, at the resu...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ​United went out of the Champions League to Barcelona with a whimper, and went winless in their last six Premier League matches, including the damaging 4-0 defeat to ​Everton.  Now, ​the Mirror report that he plans to remedy the situation by clearing out a number of players in the current weeks - and he wants 'four or five' new signings in place before July 1. The report claims that Solskjaer has already informed the club's hierarchy who he feels should be moved on to make room for new signings, and while Ander Herrera and Antonio Valencia are expected to have played their final games for the club, fringe players such as Matteo Darmian and Marcos Rojo could be offloaded alongside some more high profile departures. ​Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has identified the players he wants out of his squad this summer, as he prepares to overhaul his playing staff in order to turn the club's fortunes around. Solks...

Back in March, AJ Styles revealed that, in addition to his family expanding with an adorable new puppy, he had signed a new contract with WWE. Now, in an interview with Newsweek, he reveals that deal will be his last: “I can tell you that this contract that I’ve signed is my last. This is the perfect place for me to be. It’s family-oriented, I have no problem taking my family to the shows. It’s a PG product, which I enjoy. I’m in the best place I can be for my career.” Styles is 41-years-old and has been one hell of a career in professional wrestling. He is, quite possibly, one of the best wrestlers in the history of the industry, at least as far as his work in the ring. He’s also had one hell of a run in WWE, better than anyone could have expected when he signed a few years ago. What else is left to do? Well... “Being the Universal Champion, obviously. There’s a lot of things I want to do and they don’t involve having every belt I can. That’s not what it is. I want to be ...

​The transfer window has opened in England and there has already been rampant speculation about the future of some of the hottest properties in the game. Transfer fees are rising every summer and there may be some record-breaking fees paid in the coming window. We take a look at the most valuable player (transfer fee-wise) from the top seven leagues in Europe - the ​Premier League, ​La Liga, ​Serie A, the ​Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Primeira Liga and the Eredivisie. Eredivisie - Matthijs de Ligt ​The Ajax academy product has been quite possibly the most talked about transfer subject of the season. He has had an outstanding campaign, helping guide Ajax to their first league title since 2014, winning the Dutch Cup and leading them on their improbable run to the ​Champions League semi-final. He has also established himself as a first choice centre-back for the Netherlands and has been integral to them reaching the Nations League finals. He won the Golden Boy award for 2018. He was...

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger Arsene Wenger is eager to return to football, but the former Arsenal boss is unsure if his comeback will be in management. Wenger, 69, ended a 22-year stay with the Premier League side at the end of last season before stepping away from management for this campaign. The Frenchman, who has reportedly turned down numerous opportunities, said he would return, although he is unsure in just what role. "I will go back into football, for sure," Wenger told The Guardian. "In what position I don't know, whether that is as a manager or not. The appetite, the desire, is still there." Wenger, who led Arsenal to three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, said he would quickly decide what kind of position he wanted. "Originally I said I want to manage straight away again. After that I thought maybe I take a little distance," he said. "I came to the conclusion that I want to share what I learned in my lif...

Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed Presnel Kimpembe has undergone surgery on his groin that will end his season. The Ligue 1 champions bring their campaign to a close on Friday with a trip to Reims but will be without the 23-year-old centre-back. "Presnel Kimpembe underwent a procedure on his groin on Thursday morning at the Sports Clinic in Paris," a club statement read. "Led by Dr. Gilles Reboul, the intervention was conducted without problems. His rehabilitation will begin in the next few days." Kimpembe, a World Cup winner last year, has also been left out of Didier Deschamps' France squad for the upcoming matches against Bolivia, Turkey and Andorra as he looks to recover from his injury problems. His last game came at the beginning of May in the 1-1 home draw with Nice but he has missed the last two victories over Angers and Dijon. Kimpembe has featured in 38 of PSG’s 55 games in all competitions this season after first establishing himself as...