NIGERIA - Reports are flying that Northern leaders who had hitherto supported Buhari may be making a U-turn in the February elections after reports that the general may be having a serious health problem. 

This is following the online rumors that Buhari collapsed during his presidential campaign rally in Calabar. 

Even though the APC denied the report, it has given cause for worry, and the North has become wary, after they were 'sidelined' after Yar'Adua died in May, 2010 before completing his tenure, a development which led to the abrupt shift of power to the South-South under the rulership of incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. 

“The North is beginning to rethink the promised support for Buhari in view of reports that he is suffering from a certain ailme ... Read more »

Meryl Streep has been nominated for 18 Academy Awards and 29 Golden Globes, including one for Into the Woods this Sunday, but she hasn't always been the actress of choice.
On "The Graham Norton Show," the "Into The Woods" star recalled a time when she auditioned for the 1976 film King Kong with producer Dino De Laurentiis. His son had seen a then-unknown Meryl in a play and brought her in to audition for the role of Dawn.

Since Streep, 65, knew Italian, she understood Dino's words as he asked his son, “Why do you bring me this ugly thing?”
She then responded in Italian, saying, "I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in "King Kong."
... Read more »

NIGERIA - A number of powerful emirs have turned down a fellow emir's lobby for President Goodluck Jonathan in readiness for the February polls. 

The emirs, The Nation is reporting, have decided to remain neutral and support anyone who the electorate votes in. 

The newspaper's source said: “The Emir has been telling his colleagues that Jonathan has been fair to the North and to avoid a dent in the North/South south relationship, the President should be allowed to have a second term in office.

“Some of these Emirs and royal fathers pointed to the volatility of Northern politics and opted to take the back seat to await the people’s choice. Remember how a special adviser was burnt to death in the Second Republic for querying the Emir of Kano.

&ld ... Read more »

Police say a shooting has injured five people near a club where Grammy-winner Chris Brown was performing in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Police say Brown escaped any injury in the early Sunday morning shooting. The San Jose Mercury Newssays the shooting happened near San Jose's Fiesta nightclub, where Brown was performing for a private party. Cellphone video posted online by fans appears to show Brown wincing as the shots rang out nearby, then being ushered away by others.
Police say all five people injured in the shootings are expected to survive. Police say they have detained several people. No information was im ... Read more »

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Buses belonging to President Goodluck Jonathan's campaign team were vandalizedand burned down yesterday in Jos. (Buhari has already given his response here)

President Jonathan's spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, has responded on behalf of the President through his Twitter account.

The tweets below capture the Presidency's opinion of the episode:

When Hollywood gathers for the 72nd annual Golden Globes on Sunday night, real-world events may loom over what's usually one of the industry's most carefree and rollicking evenings.
The three-hour ceremony, which NBC will televise live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, beginning at 8 p.m. EST, comes on the heels of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. It also follows Hollywood's own international incident over provocative parody: the hacking attack against Sony Pictures prompted by the North Korea farce "The Interview."
Yet Tina Fey and Amy Poehler can be counted on to exercise their right to free speech in the duo's third year in a row hosting. The night' ... Read more »

Jennifer Hudson will make her Broadway debut in the fall when the musical "The Color Purple" returns.
The Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe winner will play Shug Avery, a sultry blues singer, in the production directed and designed by John Doyle, who received a director's Tony in 2006 for his own Broadway debut, "Sweeney Todd."

It's Hudson's first musical theater role since her award-winning turn in the 2006 film "Dreamgirls." Further casting and a specific theater were not announced in a statement released Friday by the show's publicists.
Doyle opened his production of "The Color Purple" in 2013 in London at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Music and lyrics are by Grammy winners Br ... Read more »

Yesterday, the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters has postponed their meeting with the INEC over the ill-health of the INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega. 

The House Committee, led by Jerry Manwe nad invited INEC, along with other stakeholders to discuss the preparedness of Nigeria for the 2015 general elections. 

“The chairman (Manwe) has just directed me to convey the inability of the INEC chairman to come for the meeting tomorrow (Friday) as a result of ill-health.

“Accordingly, the meeting of tomorrow (yesterday) will not hold. A new date will be communicated please. All inconveniences are regretted,” a statement by the acting clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Oscar Okoro read.

Katy Perry’s romance with John Mayer is officially back on, reports The New York Post. Nearly a year after they broke up, the pair made a dramatic entrance together at Hollywood hot spot the Tower Bar, surprising a room full of A-list stars into silence.
The singers, who confirmed their split in February 2014, turned up together Thursday night at the West Hollywood restaurant in the Sunset Tower Hotel and proceeded to canoodle over dinner before astonished fellow diners.

Perry, who’s preparing for the Feb. 1 Super Bowl halftime show, and Mayer had been rumored to be reco ... Read more »

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The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, on Friday, says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the only party that has the interest of Nigerian women.

The first lady, who made the remark at the PDP Presidential Campaign Rally in Enugu, thanked the Igbo people for casting their votes for President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

She enjoined women to vote for Jonathan for the second term because he would further uplift their status and presence in government.

She added that ''PDP is the only party that has the interests of women at heart.

''Women should vote for a president who gave us 35 per cent affirmative action and the opportunity to be heard.

''Women who are yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) should ... Read more »