COUNTERING TERRORISM IN AFRICA THROUGH COLLABORATION

Several regions in Africa have been affected by terrorism, from Kenya to Somalia in the East; Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya in the North and Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali in the West. In response some like Mali and Burkina Faso are collaborating to fight against the threat.

"I guess the only place where there isn’t conflict right now is probably in Southern Africa," said Ona Ekhomu, President of the Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria to CNBC Africa's Onyi Sunday.

Al Shabaab Attacks

"Al Shabaab has become a very big problem for the Kenyan state, primarily because Kenya has been at the forefront of the efforts to combat and contain Al Shabaab in Somalia and that is why you saw all those cross-border attacks,” said Ekhomu.

Catalan police ends Eiye Confraternity sex-trafficking in Spain

Photo: BBC

Catalan Police have busted a sex-trafficking group in Spain known as the Supreme Eiye Confraternity (SEC), or the Air Lords following a raid on their residential building.

BBC’s Sam Piranty was given access by the Catalan police, Mossos D’Esquadra, to an investigation into a Nigerian sex-trafficking gang. He spoke to traffickers and women rescued from sexual slavery before filming an early morning raid in November, which led to 23 arrests. He also discovered that the gang is now using London as a gateway into Europe.

Here’s Piranty’s report on the raid and activities of the group:

It’s 08:00 in the Catalan Police Headquarters on the outskirts of Barcelona and Xavi Cortes, head of the anti-trafficking unit, waits patiently for his 22 teams to confirm they are in position. Finally, he gives the order.

Two-hundred-and-fifty officers quietly climb out of their police vans. Single file, each team approaches a residential building watched by a few surprised neighbours.

On reaching the door, one of the masked police officers uses his fingers to count down. Three, two, one. The door is knocked down, the silence shattered, the officers rush inside.

The raid results in the arrest of the leaders of a Nigerian-based group running an international sex-trafficking ring in Barcelona.

It’s known as the Supreme Eiye Confraternity (SEC), or the Air Lords, and 23 people are now behind bars, with European Arrest Warrants issued for those who have left the country.

This operation was 18 months in the planning and involved monitoring more than a million phone calls, tapping dozens of mobile phones and months of surveillance.

LOVE: Strangers met when their plane delayed and now they are getting married

Love really took off when strangers Kristen Adamson and Darren Ashcroft were stuck at an airport.
They were grounded by a delayed flight but that was just what they needed to meet and fall in love.
Now, 18 months later, Canadian Kristen and Brit Darren have bought a house together and, in September, are to wed.

Their story began in June 2014 at Toronto airport in Canada. Marketing executive Kristen, 26, was heading to Kenya, via Heathrow, to volunteer at an orphanage. She had just been through a painful break-up and had sworn off men.
But then she met ­engineering supervisor Darren, 33, who was ­waiting for the same delayed British Airways flight. 

Chris Rock Will Not Step Down as Oscars Host, But Is ‘Writing a New Show’

Not so fast! Chris Rock will not be stepping down as the Oscars host amid the ongoing controversy over the nominees, the show’s producer told Entertainment Tonight on Saturday, January 23.

Academy Awards producer Reginald Hudlin revealed that Rock, 50, finished his original monologue script last week, but scrapped it for an entirely new script after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy began.

Kim Kardashian finally reveals why Rob Kardashian compared her to the bloodied psycho killer

Getting his own back: Rob shocked fans with the bizarre Instagram post

Rob Kardashian shocked fans when he compared his sister Kim to psychotic killer Amy Dunne from the film Gone Girl last March.

"This is my sister kim , the b**** from Gone Girl,” he wrote next to a picture of Rosamund Pike's character covered in blood, prompting people to question if his account had been hacked.

Fast forward 10 months and Kim has finally publicly addressed the bizarre post which the troubled star later deleted.

Speaking on the latest episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kim asks Khloe why Rob had shared a picture of her with purple hair on his Instagram account.

US reality star Natalie Nunn goes on Twitter rant after Nigerians accuse her of coming to Nigeria for 'runs'

The married reality star, who has been to Nigeria many times, took offense after a Nigerian blog suggested she was coming to Nigeria again to meet her rich 'sponsor'. The whole drama started after the popular video vixen, who featured in Olu Maintain's Nawti video, announced on Twitter that she was coming to Nigeria soon to film 'something big'. Nigerian commenters on the said blog slammed her and questioned her motives for always coming to Nigeria...saying men sponsor her trips. Natalie didn't keep quiet this time. She fired back. Read all the drama after

Kim Richards' Ex-Husband Monty Brinson Dies at 58

Kim Richar

He will be missed. Kim Richards' ex-husband Monty Brinson died on Sunday, Jan. 24, at the age of 58 after a long battle with cancer.

His former brother-in-law Rick Hilton, who is married to Richards' half-sister Kathy,announced the news on Instagram on Sunday night, writing, "We have lost Monty Brinson after a brave battle with cancer. His heart was a big as the moon and he was loved by all he Met. He will be sorely missed. I love You always!"

Richards, 51, and Brinson, who were married for three years and had a daughter, Brooke, divorced in 1988 but remained close and even lived together recently as Brinson's health deteriorated.

picture of British man accused of strangling wife in Spanish holiday hotspot Majorca

Court appearance: Warren Lyttle appears in front of a Spanish judge

This is the first picture of the British man arrested over the death of his wife in the popular Spanish resort town of Majorca.

Warren Lyttle, 50, is accused of strangling his wife with a mobile phone charger cable and has allegedly confessed to the killing.

The car salesman hung his head as he was led into a court hearing with his hands cuffed behind his back.

He was wearing the same brown shoes, trousers and jumper he had on when he was arrested at around 3.30am on Saturday morning.

Two officers drove the British expat to the court in the Majorcan capital Palma from a nearby police station to be questioned by an investigating judge behind closed doors.

Mark Zuckerberg Takes Daughter Max for First Swim: See the Cute Pic

Mark Zu Mark Zuckerberg shared yet another adorable photo of his daughter, Maxima, on Sunday, January 24. In the new snapshot, the Facebook cofounder and CEO takes his baby girl swimming.

“Max’s first swim,” Zuckerberg, 31, captioned the pic. “She loves it!”

Max, 2 months, is dressed in a blue and white striped bathing suit with a red rose across her chest.

Zuckerberg has been sharing sweet moments with Max ever since she was born in November 2015, including a photo of him changing her diaper and another of him and wife Priscilla Chan reading to their precious tot.
“Your mother and I don’t yet have the words to describe the hope you give us for the future,” the couple wrote in an open letter to their daughter on December 1. “Your new life is full of promise and we hope you will be happy and healthy so you can explore it fully.”

Fears ISIS terrorists could soon print 3D guns for just £100 thanks to anarchist weapons fanatic

Taking aim: Wilson and 3D pistol

ISIS thugs could soon be using 3D-printed machine guns that cost £100.

Ruthless Cody Wilson could put the lives of hundreds of innocent Brits at risk by handing terrorists the ability to build 3D weapons .

And the firearms fanatic was tonight branded irresponsible for boasting his world-first printable plastic weapon may be available within weeks – as fears grew that IS thugs may launch a Paris-style massacre on UK soil with them.

While security services battle to prevent such an atrocity, Texan Wilson may be handing murder on a plate to ­terrorists – he claims all that is needed to produce his 3D machine gun is a £15,000 printer and £100 for everyday materials.

And revealing his contempt for potential victims, the anarchist law student said he was “not really” ­bothered if the weapons, which cannot be picked up by airport scanners, fell into the hands of terrorist gangs .

He has already developed a Liberator pistol online along with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

British newlyweds on honeymoon rescued from Caribbean tourist boat tragedy that killed 13 as they ring family to confirm they escaped unhurt from fatal sinking

A British couple rescued from a sinking tourist boat in the Caribbean are said to be 'OK' after surviving the tragedy which claimed 13 lives. 

Edward, 30, and Charlotte Beckett, 28, were among 21 people saved when the Reina del Caribe, Spanish for Caribbean Queen, capsized off the coast of Nicaragua after overturning in strong winds on Saturday.

The pair's names were included on a list of survivors from five countries including the UK, U.S. and Brazil published by authorities, and a family member said the newly-married pair are 'OK'. 

Sperm whales washed up dead on British beaches 'were part of pod which has also lost 12 other members on shorefronts across northern Europe

The four tragic whales found washed up on British beaches are believed to be part of the same all-male group as 12 more found dead around Holland and Germany last week.

British experts say the three males found in Lincolnshire and one in Norfolk are part of a bachelor pod that ventured into the North Sea from deeper water and were unable to feed in shallower depths.

Twelve more sperm whales, also all male, were found washed n or off the coast of the Dutch island of Texel and the German islands of Wangerooge and Helgoland last week.

Pods can include more than 20 of the 30-tonne animals, and it is believed that all of them may die after venturing into a stretch of water that is almost impossible to escape without going back the way they came.

Experts from the Zoological Society of London say that this is a common mistake, but a mass stranding of this scale hasn't happened in decades.

Scroll down for video 

Huge: This picture of two whales at Skegness show the true scale of the mammals, which dwarf the tiny people standing around them

Noam Chomsky on the war against ISIL

In this episode of UpFront, Mehdi Hasan speaks to the renowned American academic Noam Chomsky about his public spat with the Turkish president, the war against ISIL and Russia's annexation of Crimea.

We also look at the ramifications of the Saudi Arabia-Iran feud, and debate the state of Egypt five years after the Arab Spring.

Headliner: Noam Chomsky on ISIL, Turkey and Ukraine

Noam Chomsky has been described as "arguably the most important intellectual alive". And as one of the world's most celebrated academics, he has published more than 100 books and is a leading critic on United States foreign policy. 

In the first of a special two-part interview, Chomsky sits down with Mehdi Hasan to discuss the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, Ukraine and Turkey. 

Chomsky and other "so-called intellectuals" were recently criticised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for supporting Kurdish separatists. The author and activist, who has accused the Turkish government of waging a "terrorist war" against the Kurds, tells UpFront that President Erdogan is "undoubtedly carrying out vicious repressive actions attacking the Kurdish population", adding that he would call him a "murderer". 

Will Smith’s Ex Wife On Rumors Will Is Gay: ‘He Was Straight In 1992, And He’s Straight In 2016

CREDIT: Getty Images

Will Smith’s ex-wife and mother to his oldest son Trey, Sheree Fletcher, took to her Facebook page Thursday (January 21) to slam Alexis Arquette for alleging the reason their marriage came to a end was because Fletcher found Smith in bed with another man.

Fletcher, who has never publicly spoken on her marriage to the Concussion actor, said the only reason why she acknowledged Arquette is because she had to have a conversation with her son Trey about the matter.

FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO USED TO DEAL DRUGS

 Getty Images
Stars, just like anyone else, have skeletons in their closets. And when you’re young and struggling, it can be hard to make ends meet unless you pursue some…extra-legal means. Here’s a list of some celebs who’ve sold drugs. But don’t judge too harshly.


IDRIS ELBA
Before becoming an actor, Idris Elba worked a number of odd jobs: DJ, doorman, and drug dealer. In 2013, Elba told GQ Magazine that he used to push bags of weed while working as a doorman at Caroline’s in New York City. Don’t get him wrong though, it’s not like he’s proud of what he did. He said he sold drugs because he had to, adding, “I know that sounds corny, but this is the truth.” Of course, once acting began to pan out for him, he gave up dealing, but he was able to draw from his experience while portraying the drug dealer Stringer Bell on HBO’s The Wire. Now that’s method acting.