Former Premier League footballer found dead

Former Premier League footballer Steve Gohouri has been found dead in a river in Germany. The 34-year-old, who played defence for Wigan Athletic between 2010 and 2012, had been reported missing two weeks ago.


Ghouri attended his German team's Christmas party on December 11 and was due to travel to see his family in Paris.

When he failed to turn up his family filed a missing persons report and a police appeal for his whereabouts was issued.

German media confirmed today his body had been found in the River Rhine, with no indication of violence.

Here's what we think is going to happen in 2016

In 2014, when Business Insider's Military &Defense team got together to guess the state of the world a year down the line, we thought we were embarking on a slightly embarrassing endeavor.

It turns out several of our predictions were correct.

ISIS proved it could strike beyond its "caliphate" by bombing a Russian passenger jet and carrying out multiple attacksinside a European capital as well as inspiring several "lone wolf" attacks.

Meanwhile, Iran signed a landmark nuclear deal in July that has the potential to reshape the Middle East and the larger issue of global nuclear-arms control.

Here are 15 big geopolitical events that we think are in store for 2016.

Two-year-old girl tragically dies just two days after Christmas from swallowing a battery

The day after Christmas, 2-year-old Brianna Florer was laughing and jumping around with her older brother and two sisters opening presents at her grandparents' home. The next day the precocious blond-haired toddler was dead.
An X-ray of her tiny body showed the "killer" was a shiny, silver button battery.

“On Saturday she was fine,” maternal grandfather Kent Vice said. “It was a perfect Christmas.”

Brianna had not been feeling well for a couple of days, throwing up and running a low-grade fever, he said.
Late Sunday, Brianna threw up blood, and her body turned a blue color. Her parents, Brian and Stephanie Florer, who live in rural Delaware County, called the Jay ambulance, which met them at a convenience store to check Brianna's condition.

Full list of winners of 2015 Headies Awards (olamide violent Rant & don jazzy reply) video

Below is the full list of winners of the very interesting Headies awards which held last night in Lagos.

Best Street-Hop Artiste

Olamide (‘Bobo’)

Best Pop Single

‘Godwin’ by Korede Bello

Best Male Performance

Timi Dakolo (‘Wish me well’)

Best R&B single

‘Wish me well’ by Timi Dakolo

Best rap single

‘King kong’ by Vector

Happy New Year From #3M360 #Chaperon Group #Forever Records #Dj Led

South African king sentenced to 12yrs in prison for cruelty towards his subjects

South African king Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has been sentenced to 12-years in prison for arson, kidnap and assault of his subjects. King Dalindyebo handed himself over to the Mthatha Correctional Center in Eastern Cape province minutes before midnight on Wednesday, December 30, after failing in an 11th-hour bid to evade incarceration by seeking a retrial or a presidential pardon.

In a statement, Justice spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said:

"We confirm that King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo handed himself to the head of Mthatha Corresctional Centre at 23h40 in the presence of the Regional Commissionerof the Eastern Cape"

In 2009, the controversial king was convicted of manslaughter, arson and assault charges for offenses committed more than two decades ago. He was sentenced to 15 years in 2009, but in October the Supreme Court dropped the manslaughter charge and reduced his sentence to 12 years on appeal.

This week he sought to further extend his bail, but a High Court judge in Mthatha threw out the request. The king's daughter, Yasmin Omar, stated that the judge had not given them reasons for his decision.

"No indication was given for when we can expect the reasons for the dismissal of the application and we will continue with the case," said Omar.

He is expected to serve his sentence in Wellington Prison, outside Mthatha.

The 51-year-old king, a self-confessed marijuana smoker, was found guilty of torching dwellings that housed some of his subjects and tenants who had resisted eviction.

He was also convicted of publicly assaulting three young men who had already been brutally beaten by his henchmen, and of kidnapping a wife and children of one of his subjects whom he considered a dissident.

The Supreme Court concluded that the king "ruled with fear and trepidation" and that "his behavior was all the more deplorable because the victims of his reign of terror were the vulnerable rural poor." It also accused him of "obstructive" action for changing his lawyers 11 times, causing 34 postponements of the case.

Dalindyebo became king of the Thembu, a Xhosa ethnic group that boasted Mandela as its most prominent clan member, in 1989. The royal family will meet next week to discuss whether a successor should be chosen due to their monarch's imprisonment.

Rwandan pastor sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide crimes

A Rwandan pastor accused of leading and coordinating attacks on minority Tutsis during Rwanda's 1994 genocide has been jailed for life, Rwanda's high court said on Wednesday, December 30.

An estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by dominant Hutu forces in the genocide in 100 days.

Jean Uwinkindi,64, who once led the Kayenzi Pentecostal church in the rural outskirts of the capital Kigali, was convicted of crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the slaughter.

"The court finds that there were killings of the Tutsi at Rwankeri and Kanzenze hills and that the attacks were led by Uwinkindi," said Judge Kanyegeri Timothee.

Uwinkindi was arrested in Uganda in 2010 and the following year his case was referred from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in Tanzania, to the Rwandan national court system. It was the first such referral. The pastor said he plans to appeal.

Source: Reuters

Breaking news: Fire engulfs Dubai tower before New Year celebrations

The fire started on the 20th floor of the building and only affected the outside structure [AP]

A huge fire engulfed a Dubai skyscraper on Thursday just hours before New Year's celebrations were to be held in the city. UAE's Civil Defence officials said there were no casualties.

The massive blaze quickly shot up the 63-story Address Hotel in the downtown area of the Gulf metropolis, covering nearly the entire structure and sending hundreds of people fleeing for safety.

The founder of one of Mexico's most violent cartels was found tortured to death

The body of the founder of one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels, La Familia Michoacana, has been discovered on a motorway with signs of torture. Carlos Rosales Mendoza's body was found with three others near a motorway in the western state of Morelia, after he was shot dead.

Rosales Mendoza founded the cartel, infamous for its extreme violence. He was one of the world's most wanted criminals, featuring on the US Drug Enforcement Agency's most wanted list. La Familia's violent hit men were said to believe they had a "divine right" to kill and dismember their enemies.

There are disturbing and detailed allegations in the new criminal case against Bill Cosby

On Wednesday, Bill Cosby was charged with aggravated indecent assault, a first-degree felony.

The charge relates to a sexual assault alleged to have happened more than a decade ago. The 78-year-old comedian previously admitted under oath that he had sexual contact with the woman, as part of the lawsuit she filed claiming that Cosby drugged her and forced himself on her at his home near Philadelphia in 2004.

The woman, former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, reported the alleged assault in 2005.

Skeletal remains found in a shallow grave in Soweto confirmed as that of a girl who went missing three years ago

South African police on December 17, uncovered a human skull and bones buried in a shallow grave in the backyard of a house in Phiri, Soweto where a missing University of Johannesburg student Palesa Madiba was last seen alive. A police officer at the Moroka police station said he received a call in the early hours of that day about a buried body in the house. There, they found a grave in the house and bricks that was laid on top of the body.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un cries at funeral of trusted aide

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un showed rare public emotion as he openly cried at the funeral of his most trusted aide, Kim Yang-Gon. Kim touched the face of his late comrade and confidant during his state funeral today, describing him as a 'close comrade-in-arms whom nobody can replace'.

Breaking News: Bill Cosby Booked on Sexual Assault Charge, Bail Set at $1 Million

Bill Cosby has been booked on a sexual assault charge in suburban Philadelphia, marking the start of criminal proceedings and another milestone in his fall from grace after dozens of women have come forward to accuse the 78-year-old entertainer of drugging and raping them.

Cosby pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated indecent assault at a brief arraignment, where bail was set at $1 million. After his booking, Cosby was released after arranging for a wire transfer of his bail money earlier in the day.

A haggard-looking Cosby arrived at the tiny courthouse in Elkins Park, Pa., around 2:30 p.m. ET. He shook his head “no” when pressed by reporters for comment as he walked into the building, led on either side by attorneys. He carried a cane and a leather satchel and wore a gray flecked hooded sweater and black sweatpants.

Best Of 2015: 15 Things That Took Internet By Storm And Went Viral!

These are some of the things that went viral on the Internet in 2015. Twitter

Twenty-fourteen was all about Kim Kardashian "Breaking the Internet" with her nude cover on Paper Magazine, it was all about the Ice Bucket Challenge and all about Alex from Target. Though last year had some great moments on the web, we must honor the fact that 2015 was even a better year for the Internet! Without further ado, here are the top 15 things that went viral this year and took the World Wide Web by storm! Did we leave anything out? Sound off in the comments below.  

Rich Kids of Instagram share photos of their extravagant gifts, decorated mansions and tropical winter vacations

Along with the warmth of family and friends, holiday vacations often conjure up painful memories of flight delays, freezing temperatures and more than one baby crying in economy class. 

But alas, these are never problems for the Rich Kids of Instagram, who spent their December sunbathing on yachts, jetting off in private planes and showing off their new Christmas toys. 

Zach Rothman, son of wealthy Californian restaurateurs Harold and Wendi Rothman, skipped the airport chaos entirely and made use of his private jet, flying to Las Vegas with fellow passengers Patron and, of course, Dom Perignon.