WORLD NEWS PAKISTAN - Pakistan suicide bombing kills 'at least 22' in Mardan

A suspected suicide attack at a government office in north-west Pakistan has killed at least 22 people, police say.

The bomb went off outside the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office in the town of Mardan.

WORLD NEWS: US - Laquan McDonald death: Chicago policeman denies murder

A white Chicago police officer has denied murder over the death of a black teenager who was shot 16 times in 2014.
Jason Van Dyke was heckled as he arrived at court where he denied six counts of first-degree murder.

WORLD NEWS: HEALTH - Ebola outbreak ends in Guinea, says WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the end of the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, two years after the epidemic began there.
Guineans are expected to celebrate the landmark with concerts and fireworks.

WORLD NEWS: US - Ex-Glee star Mark Salling held on child porn claims

A former star of US hit TV show Glee has been arrested in Los Angeles over allegations of possessing child pornography, said police.

Mark Salling was taken into custody after a warrant was served at his home, said an Los Angeles police spokesman.

NEWS: NIGERIA - Fake Army Col arrested over alleged N40m fraud in Oyo

A 62-year-old man, Babatunde Idris, who allegedly paraded himself as a retired Colonel in the Nigerian Army, has been arrested by the men of Oyo State police command over allegation of N40 million fraud, and for purportedly obtaining various sums of money from innocent victims.

FOOTBALL: FIFA ex-VP, Figueredo ‘took $50,000 a month in bribes’

Fallen FIFA vice president Eugenio Figueredo received $50,000 a month in “improper payments” from sports marketing companies, authorities in his native Uruguay alleged Tuesday in an indictment.

WORLD NEWS: US - Pentagon: Paris attacks suspects killed in air strikes

"Charaffe al-Mouadan - a Syrian-based ISIL member with a direct link to Abdel Hamid Abaaoud, the Paris attack cell leader - was killed on December 24," said Warren.

NEWS: NIGERIA - President Muhammadu Buhari will host his first Presidential Media Chat tomorrow (Wednesday, December 30, 2015).

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), Mr. Femi Adesina, said the Presidential Media Chat will begin at 7.00pm.

NEWS: NIGERIA - Ijaw elders to Tompolo, Kuku: Honour EFCC invitations

IZON Okosu-Otu, the umbrella body of Ijaw Council of Elders, at the weekend urged kinsmen to honour invitations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In a statement issued by Mr. Bare Etolor, Chairman of the Delta State chapter, the elders asked them to “go and prove their innocence.”

NEWS: NIGERIA - Stop giving oxygen to Boko Haram insurgency - Lai Mohammed appeals to journalists

Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed has appealed to Nigerian media to stop giving oxygen to Boko Haram by glamorizing their activities. He said this while speaking as a guest on Channels TV.

FOOTBALL: Van Gaal insists he will NOT resign after Manchester United's draw with Chelsea

Louis van Gaal insists he will not resign following Manchester United’s goalless draw with Chelsea.

United have now gone eight games in all competitions without a win following Monday's stalemate at Old Trafford, but amid intense speculation over his future, the Dutchman has no plans to quit the club.

ENTERTAINMENT: Lemmy, Motorhead frontman, dies aged 70 after cancer diagnosis

Motorhead frontman Lemmy has died aged 70, two days after learning he had cancer, the British band has announced.

Lemmy formed the rock group in 1975 and recorded 22 albums, including Ace of Spades, as he became one of music's most recognisable voices and faces.

NEWS: NIGERIA - Nigeria earns N413bn from gas export in three months

Nigeria earned N412.983 billion from the export of Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, also known as cooking gas and other gaseous materials in three months, between July and September 2015, according to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.

NEWS: NIGERIA - Police arrest soldier for supplying arms to robbers

A Lance Corporal of the Nigeria Army was among eight persons arrested by the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, SIRT for allegedly supplying arms and ammunition to robbers in Lagos.

NEWS: NIGERIA - Man electrocuted in bid to steal electric cable in Kaduna

An unidentified middle aged man was electrocuted at the early hours of Sunday while trying to steal electric cable at a power supply installation in Kaduna.

The traditional ruler of the area, Dan Iyar Unguwar Rimi, Alhaji Muhammad Gidado, confirmed the incident that happened at Accra Crescent by LEA Primary School, Unguwar Rimi.

WORLD NEWS: AUSTRALIA - AMAZING!!! Rare 'corpse flower' blooms in Australia

 A 2m-tall flower, known for its pungent odour which has been likened to rotting flesh, has bloomed in Australia.

South Australia's Mount Lofty Botanic Garden has been growing the Amorphophallus Titanium, more commonly called the Corpse Flower, for 10 years.

WORLD NEWS: US - CUBA; Stranded Cuban migrants to be allowed passage to the US

Central American nations have reached an agreement to allow several thousand Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica for over a month to continue their journey towards the United States. 

The migrants will be airlifted to El Salvador and put on buses, which will take them to the US.

American legislation gives Cuban migrants preferential treatment.

WORLD NEWS: IRAQ - Iraqi PM vows defeat of IS after Ramadi recapture

Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi has said so-called Islamic State (IS) will be ousted from the country, after government forces recaptured Ramadi.

In a televised address, Mr Abadi vowed to retake Iraq's second city of Mosul, saying it would be "the fatal and final blow" to IS.

NEWS: NIGERIA - FG’ll not sell National Arts Theatre, says minister

The Federal Government on Monday assured that the National Arts Theatre will always remain a national monument and won’t be sold for whatever reason.
“But we are not averse to a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement that will add value to the iconic (National Arts Theatre) complex,’’ the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said during a visit to the complex as part of tour of parastatals under his ministry.

NEWS: NIGERIA - CBN releases N250m agric loan to Lagos cooperative members

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released N250 million to Lagos State Agro-allied Cooperative Multipurpose Societies Ltd on behalf of the Federal Government for on-lending to genuine cooperative societies’ members in Lagos at the single digit nine per cent interest rate to accelerate the eradication of poverty from the state.