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GHANIANS woke up yester day morning with a happy hangover after celebrating their 1-0victory over Serbia – the first win by an African team at the WorldCup in South Africa.

The streets of Accra were thronged on Sunday evening as fans milled around, waving the red, gold and green nationalflag .

When man of the match Asamoah Gyan drilled home a late penalty, fans exploded from Duncan’s bar on the side streets ofAccra, blowing whistles, cheering and dancing.

Elsewhere, African media reported brass bands and taxi drivers blowing their respective horns noisily through thecapital, while motorcyclists risked life and limb by driving aroundwhile waving the country’s colourful flag.

In one scene of jubilation, wedding guests abandoned a wedding ceremony to take part in the street celebrations,according to reports.

Fans poured hundreds of congratulatory messages onto the websites of news portals, although some were miffed thatGhana’s Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac had not celebrated the victoryover his countrymen as wildly as his players.

Gyan was quick to devote the victory to fans in Ghana and elsewhere in the continent.

“Everyone is happy for us, not only in Ghana.

“Everyone in Africa will be behind us..

“I thank everyone for supporting the Black Stars,” he said.

Fans were confident of qualification, although they are wary of Germany after watching the 4-0 thumping Joachim Loew’smen handed out to Australia in the other Group D match. — Sapa-DPA

After a six-year hia-tus, Nigeria's flagship beauty pageant, ‘Miss Nigeria,' is set to return to the country's social calendar. And for the first time in the history of the pageant, it will be activat-ed in three continents; Africa, Europe and North America.Photo:

Chief

executive officer, and creative director of the pageant, Nike Oshinowo-Soleye, disclosed this at a media parley which held at Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos. According to her, that the new ‘Miss Nigeria Pageant' will once again showcase positive attributes of the Nigerian woman, namely - elegance, poise, talent, intelligence and as well as beauty.She noted that ‘Miss Nigeria' historically has been a role model to the Nigerian society at large, and a spokesperson for national volunteerism and charity, while using her title to educate millions of Nigerians on issues of importance to herself and the society.

Mrs Oshinowo-Soleye added that in years past, pageantry was a family affair, and promised to bring back the family friendly pageant, reminiscent of a time when opportunity came with responsibility, and womanhood was held in the highest regard.Miss Nigeria returns after six yearsFellaz are the 2010 Malta Guiness street dance winnersCast members Montego Glover, David Bryan and Chad Kimball perform after their play Memphis won best musical at the American Theatre Wing's 64th annual Tony Awards ceremony in New YorkMiss Nigeria organiser Nike Oshinowo-Soleye, flanked by past miss Nigeria winnersShe further disclosed that unlike other pageants, the new ‘Miss Nigeria Pageant' will have no swim wear segment, as the contestants would be judged on poise, intelligence, cultural values as well as beauty.

She restated Miss Nigeria's is commitment to empowering young women. This year's winner, she said would win a full scholarship to be educated in any institute of higher learning of her choice, anywhere in the world; a luxury car, one year's salary and accommodation in Lagos, a year's wardrobe from leading Nigerian designers, as well as gifts from sponsors.The winner of the pageant will also spend her year in office working for the Miss Nigeria Foundation. She will also work with federal and state governments' ministries of culture, tourism, health and women affairs.

In addition, she will also work on special projects on behalf of international NGOs like the World Health Organisation and UNESCO. Call for entries into the pageant is expected to last between June and July, with zonal castings in five Nigerian cities, New York and London between July and August. The final event comes up on September 25 in Abuja where the new queen will be crowned.

.Gunmen killed two people and kidnapped a traditional ruler while they were attending church services in the oil-producing Niger Delta, police said on Sunday.

At least five others were injured in the attack on Eze Sunday Njoku, the traditional ruler of the Umuebulu community near the oil hub Port Harcourt in Rivers state.

"The hoodlums, who extracted (Njoku) from his seat inside the church, killed two people who reportedly attempted to block them," said Rita Inoma-Abbey, spokeswoman for the Rivers state police.

"Several others also sustained gunshot injuries from stray bullets.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, with hundreds of incidents reported each year. Most victims are released unharmed after a couple of days.

Foreign firms, ranging from oil to construction to telecoms, are forced to spend millions of dollars on security for their staff because of the high crime rate in the Niger Delta..

The Super Eagles team that would come face to face against the Argentinian side this afternoon includes Enyeama, Odiah, Taiwo, Shittu, Yobo, Kaita, Etuhu, Obasi, Lukman, Aiyegbeni and Nsofor.

The match which is scheduled for 3:00pm today (Nigerian time)would take place at the Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Ooops! What an eye-catching scene over there in South Africa, venue of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which kicks off in less than 24 hours.
If you aren’t feeling the World Cup excitement yet, then the body language of thousands of South African ladies across the country readily puts you in great competition mood.
The babes are baring everything they have; their beauty, curves and poise all to make the visitors feel at home during the mundial.
While many say posing unclothed is a normal way of life amongst young South African ladies, some believe that the trend is restricted to the grossly under-developed areas of the former apartheid enclave. Whatever the insinuations, South Africans are already in a joyous celebration of their country’s readiness to host the world and they are not hiding it.



South African dancers cheer Chile's national football team before their friendly international against New Zealand at the Kanyamazane Stadium near Nelspruit yesterday, two days ahead of the start of the 2010 World Cup football tournament. AFP PHOTO



Only yesterday during the pre-World Cup friendly match between Chile and New Zealand, thousands of South Africans, including their ladies, stripped themselves unclothed and filed out to cheer the teams at the Kanyamazane Stadium, near Nelspruit.
The pretty damsels appeared happy to showoff their bodies as they danced around in Sandton, north of Johannesburg city centre, where a big party was held in anticipation of the beginning of the world showpiece.


Many of the ladies who spoke to international journalists say whatever they do is ‘for the good of the game’ and an honour for their nation. Reports say the presence of the ladies is not only felt on the streets of South Africa, some unsuspecting players are getting distracted, especially when the babes come around their training grounds and near their hotels. It was gathered that security personnel have been up and doing to ensure that the 32 teams, including the host, Bafana Bafana, are focused on the mundial, the first to be staged on Africa’s soil.

A 7-year-old girl (name withheld) is undergoing series of medical tests following the illicit sex a 45-year-old man, Sunday Jacob, had with her.

Mr. Jacob was arrested on June 6th for allegedly defiling the victim at different occasions at his number 4, Benson Otile Street, Ajangbadi, a Lagos suburb.

He was alleged to have defiled the victim, who stayed briefly with with her grandmother a few street away, everytime she went to the suspect's premises to fetch water from a well.

Mr. Jacob allegedly lured the victim into his one-room apartment with N20, and had sex with her when nobody was watching. However, luck ran out on him when the victim began to experience series of stomach aches. When queried by her mother, who is an itinerant trader, she confessed that Mr. Jacob had been defiling her.

Frank Mba, the Lagos State Police spokesperson, said clinical test confirmed that the victim has been defiled.

"On June 6th 2010, there was a report at the Ilemba Hausa Police Station, about 10.30pm, that one Theresa Moses, of Orisan Street, Iyana-Agbede, Ajangbadi, reported that that one Sunday Jacob, a 45-year-old man of number 4, Benson Otile Street, Ajangbadi, was involved in a series of acts amounting to defilement of her 7 years old daughter. The police swung into action, carried out a meticulous investigation, and submitted the necessary documents to the Badagry Hospital.

"The little girl was tested and the medical report said her hymen is not intact, and there is foul odour from her virgina. The police will still proceed with more clinical and forensic investigation to know if the foul odour is a presence of infection, and how badly this little girl has been injured."

The confession

Mr. Jacob admitted to "fingering" the victim. He said loneliness led him to defile the girl. The suspect, a widower and father of an 18-year-old lady, said he has been lonely since his wife died three years ago and his daughter left him for the village.

"I be mechanic for Agboju bus stop. Any time wey this girl and her sisters come my compound come fetch water, I go dey eye her. When nobody dey look, I come tell her make she come my room come collect N20 make she take buy biscuit. When she enter my room, I go lay down for bed come carry her for my lap. I go come use my finger put am for her virgina. I no dey put my penis inside her; na only finger I dey use. I don do this thing like four times and na on Sunday, around say 8 ‘o'clock, when she come fetch water na him I go do this thing to her. I regret wetin I do because e no good."

Mr. Mba said the suspect committed an offence punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code.

"This act is not only an offence, but indeed, morally reprehensible and section 218 of the Criminal Code states that "any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 13 years is guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment for life.

"Also, section 218 states that any person who attempts to have carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 13 is guilty of a felony and liable to 14 years imprisonment. It is a serious offence and the police will investigate and prosecute the suspect accordingly."

"Change grindeth slowly...as slow as the oil that drips dry" One way thinking .

Divisions have emerged within the influential religious establishment, including the religious police body itself, over long-held restrictions that have been enforced in the world's leading oil producing country and key U.S. ally.

An official at the Jeddah court confirmed the filing of the lawsuit for the crime of "openly declaring sin" and said it would take at least one week for the Islamic sharia court to decide whether to proceed with a trial or dismiss the case.

The Saudi judiciary system, based on an austere reading of Islamic sharia law, reserves harsh punishments for such offences that could involve lashes with whip and years of imprisonment.

Aired last month, MTV's "True Life - Resist the Power, Saudi Arabia" followed how three Saudi youths and a heavy metal band cope with the strictures they encounter in their daily life in Jeddah, seen as the kingdom's most liberal city (here).

The kingdom is ruled by the Al Saud family in alliance with clerics from the austere Wahhabi school of Islam who oversee mosques, the judiciary and education, as well as run their own coercive apparatus, the religious police.

Interior ministry police and the religious police work together to make sure unrelated men and women are kept apart, women are covered from head to toe and that sharia law is implemented, including a ban on alcohol.

"We are not free to live as we like," said Aziz, one of the youths who appeared on the MTV show. The episode showed how he tries to meet his girlfriend for a date, a risky endeavor in the kingdom. "I feel great solace when I talk to her."

Fatima, a young Saudi woman, seeks to start a business selling the traditional abaya cloak that women must wear in Saudi Arabia, but in colors other than the standard black.

The show also followed the struggle of a heavy metal band to find venues to play. They explain that when they pray they turn their heavy metal T-shirts inside out to show respect for God.

Saudi rulers have wrestled with whether to moderate Wahhabism since the September 11 attacks in 2001 on U.S. landmarks, carried out by mostly Saudi nationals, and the emergence of al Qaeda militancy against the Saudi government in 2003.

King Abdullah is seen as favoring reforms that water down some of Wahhabism's more controversial tenets. Analysts and diplomats say he is opposed by other senior princes who are closely allied to the powerful religious establishment.

Lawyers following the case fear the first instance court in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah -- where the lawsuit was filed on Monday -- would take the case.

"It will be very difficult to stop the religious clockwork once this gets to court. They may face harsh sanctions like those dealt to Abdul-Jawad," one of the lawyers said.

It is the second time in a year that Saudis got into hot water for appearing on foreign television.

Mazen Abdul-Jawad was sentenced last year to five years in jail, 1,000 lashes and a five-year travel ban after he bragged about his sexual exploits on a TV show aired by Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC).

Finally a big boy gets it for beating the crap out of his wife.The Ondo State government has deposed the embattled Deji of Akure, Oba Oluwadare Adesina Adepoju three weeks after a public altercation with one of his wives.

Oba Adesina had, on Sunday, May 31 led a group of people to assault Bolanle Adesina in a free for all in the public arena in Akure, an act which has been widely criticised by both Akure indigenes and human right groups across the country.

The king of Akure had, on Sunday, been declared unworthy of the throne and his seat was declared vacant by the Akure kingmakers in Akure, the Ondo state capital.

The Inspector General of Police, Ogbonoya Onovo also yesterday ordered a detail investigation of the case and asked the state police command to charge the king to court for assault.

The state government decided on the removal of the king during the its weekly executive council meeting in Akure, the state capital

INSTALLING HUSBAND‏ 1.0

Grammer Politics Again ! If you fail Just Try Again !

Lagos-based pastor, and chairman of the Fresh Democratic Party, Chris Okotie, has indicated that he will run for president in next year's general elections.

Mr Okotie, who has contested the seat twice, said the least the federal government can do to immortalize the sacrifices of the late Moshood Abiola is to enthrone true democracy in the country. He also claimed that the PDP-led federal government is a product of rigging, and could therefore not celebrate the heroes of democracy, who fought for free and fair elections.

The pastor, in a statement signed by his media aide, Ladi Ayodeji, decried the neglect of those who died protesting the cancellation of the June 12, 1993 elections, saying all efforts to ignore their achievement in giving birth to the 4th republic have not succeeded.

The spirit of June 12

"Instead, the spirit of June 12 continues to haunt us", he said. "The democracy martyrs of June 12, led by its flag bearer, MKO Abiola, who won what is still adjusted the best election ever organized in this country, would have died in vain if we fail to put in place viable mechanisms for free and fair elections in the country. One of these is electoral reform, and also transparency and good governance. We can't have true democracy if the peoples votes do not count; where selection instead of election is what produces the leaders."

As regards his political future, Mr. Okotie announced plans to address a world press conference on June 29, 2010 at his party's headquarters, where he will declare his intention to seek his party's nomination for the 2011 presidential election.

Mr. Okotie also called on Nigerians to support the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the World Cup holding in South Africa, promising to reform the sports sector if elected president in 2011. "May I, once again, plead with fellow Nigerians to come all out to support the players," he said. "They need our total, unwavering support, not criticism, at this crucial moment."

The fight against .kidnapping and other related crimes took a new dimension in Benin, the Edo State capital on Thursday, .as traditional priests, herbalists and traditional worshippers gathered at the King's Square to invoke curses on kidnappers and other perpetrators of evil acts in the state.

This was at the instance of the Benin traditional ruler, Oba Erediauwa, who directed that curses be placed on all those involved one way or the other in any form of criminality in Edo State, as a way of cleansing the society. The Oba had recently offered to tackle the menace of social vices in the city through traditional means.

About 60 traditional worshippers gathered at the King's Square where they made sacrifices of animals and poured libation over the animals before placing curses on the kidnappers and other criminals in the land.

The Chief Priest of Benin Kingdom, Nosakhare Isekhure, said the purpose was to ensure that peace reigns in the land.

"The country has been unstable for some time now as a result of kidnapping and violent robberies," he said. "The Benin people are traditionally not Christians. We are traditionalists. In order to put a stop to the state of insecurity, we just have to place a curse on them to stop all these activities that threaten lives and property in Edo State so that there will be peace. Besides, those who want peace must prepare for war. The Oba has said that for peace to reign, we must mobilize the most effective tool."

The Iyase of Benin, Sam Igbe was optimistic that the action of the traditional worshippers would deter criminals from their evil ways and put an end to kidnapping that has almost become a daily affair in the land. "We shall wait and see, but we hope it will put an end to it (kidnapping). But if they don't fear themselves, they probably would be sorry for themselves," he said.

Seeking legal support

He said efforts were been made to give the action of the traditionalists a legal backing, as "we are trying to liaise with the state House of Assembly and the Commissioner for Justice".

Mr Igbe advised the people to give useful information about kidnappers and other criminals to the law enforcement officers because "police are not magicians; they cannot perform without adequate information".

The chairman of Oredo Local Government Area, Omorogieva Gbajumo, welcomed the development and described it as an added measure to the efforts of the police in stamping out criminality from the land.

He told the press that the act was to ensure that peace and tranquillity reign in the land and also called on both the Christian and Muslim bodies to organize their own prayers against the evil acts.

Traditional denominations like the Asigidi, Ayelala, Osokpekan and others participated in the exercise which took them round some major streets in Benin.