Judge throws out DJ's case against Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s he-said-she-said groping trial raced to an end Friday with a major victory for Swift: A judge threw out the lawsuit filed against her by the ex-Denver DJ she says groped her in 2013.

U.S. District Judge William Martinez in Denver sent the eight-person jury home for the weekend and then ruled in favor of Swift’s motion to end David Mueller’s lawsuit against her on grounds he failed to prove she was personally responsible for getting his being fired after their encounter.

However, Swift’s mother and management remain defendants in Mueller’s lawsuit and the suit will go to the jury.

The jury will decide whether they find in favor or against Swift – on her claim that Mueller groped her – and also whether they find in favor or against Mueller on his claim that her mother and management interfered with his employment contract.

After the judge ruled, Swift and her legal team hugged, smiled and whispered. Mueller's team did not talk to one another or anybody else.

The ruling came on the fourth and final day of testimony in the dueling-lawsuits case. Mueller’s legal team rested their case Friday and said they would call no more witnesses to testify. Swift’s legal team declined to call any witnesses in her countersuit against Mueller, in which she accused him of indecent assault and battery stemming from their encounter.

1 dead, driver arrested at white nationalist rally in Charlottesville

A 32-year-old woman died and at least 19 were injured Saturday when a car crashed into a crowd of peaceful protesters leaving a "Unite the Right" rally that officials declared an "unlawful assembly."

Charlottesville Police identified the driver as 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio. He is in custody and will be charged with criminal homicide.

The planned rally had already been shut down following bottle-throwing clashes between alt-right demonstrators, counter-protesters, white nationalists, neo-Nazis and supporters of Black Lives Matter.

Al Thomas, Charlottesville police chief, said 35 people were injured in clashes between opposing groups and in the car crash. Their injuries ranged from life-threatening to minor, he said. 

“Our hearts break for the casualties and injuries,” Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said at a press conference.

About three hours after the car crash, the Virginia State Police's Bell 407 helicopter crashed about 7 miles from the scene. Police reports said the helicopter crashed in a wooded area and the two pilots died. No one on the ground was injured. The helicopter had been assisting in police supervision of the protests.

Facebook, Google Lose $123M To Swindler

The Court of Appeal of Lithuania has decided to extradite to the United States a Lithuanian scam artist identified as Evaldas Rimasauskas, who conned $123 million out of FaceBook and Google by sending fake emails.

“Assumption that the damage was done to the companies registered in the United States became the ground for the extradition of Rimasauskas,” the court said in a press release on Friday.

The decision to extradite the scammer was irrevocable, the court said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York accused Rimasauskas of wire transfer fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, news agency Elta reported.

It is alleged that Rimasauskas took part in the scam using e-mail correspondence and posed as an Asian computer hardware manufacturer to persuade Google and FaceBook to accept fraudulent invoices and transfer funds to the company established under the same name in Latvia.

The funds were transferred to the latter company’s accounts in banks in Cyprus and Latvia.

The single reason why some people can't write, according to a Harvard psychologist

"Why is so much writing so hard to understand? Why must a typical reader struggle to follow an academic article, the fine print on a tax return, or the instructions for setting up a wireless home network?"

These are questions Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker asks in his book, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. They're questions I've often encountered--and attempted to tackle--throughout my career as a business writer and editor. Whenever I see writing that is loaded with jargon, clichés, technical terms, and abbreviations, two questions come immediately to mind. First, what is the writer trying to say, exactly? And second, how can the writer convey her ideas more clearly, without having to lean on language that confuses the reader?

Court fixes September 11 for judgment on Melaye’s recall suit

The Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed September 11, for judgment in a suit filed by Senator Dino Melaye, represents Kogi West, seeking an order of court to stop his recall from the Senate.

Also, the vacation judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba has slated September 11, for judgment in a sister suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and 12 others from Kogi State chapter of the Party, against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), challenging the planned recall of Melaye.

Arguing the substantive suit, Melaye’s counsel, Nkem Okoro, urged the court to grant the plaintiff’s reliefs seeking to stop the recall process.

Melaye’s amended originating summon dated August 7, and filed same day, was brought pursuant to Sections 1(1)(3), 36, 68 and 69 of the 1999 Constitution and Order 3, Rule 6 of the Federal High Court Rules.

Standing on his processes, Okoro stated that Melaye was challenging the purported petition for his recall on five grounds. He averred that “the petitioners ought to have availed him with facts and circumstances upon which the alleged lost of confidence was based, prior to submission of the petition to INEC; “That by not giving him copies of the petitions, INEC has violated the rule of natural justice and fair hearing.”

Melaye also posited that even when the petition was submitted, the electoral body failed to give him a copy.

He equally challenged the constitutionality of required numbers of signatories to the petition in line with Section 69 of the Constitution, which requires more than half of registered voters in the constituency.

HORROR .....Suspected knifeman, 27, is arrested after his mother, 66, and sister, 33, were found stabbed to death in bloodbath at their suburban home

A suspect has been arrested after a manhunt was launched when a mother and daughter were found stabbed to death inside their home in north London.

Police were called to the house of Joshua Cohen at 8.50pm on Friday night and found his sister and mother, aged 33 and 66, suffering from stab wounds.

Officers launched a hunt for Cohen, 27, and later arrested him after he was spotted in Golders Hill Park by a member of the public at around 2pm today.

Neighbours claimed that Cohen had recently been to prison for assaulting his sister, who was named locally as Hannah Cohen.

In a public appeal, Met Police said Cohen had shaved his head and eyebrows and suffers from mental health issues including paranoid schizophrenia.

One neighbour, 44, who did not want to be named, said he saw Josh outside the house at around the time of the attack. 

Diplomats react to Trump thanking Putin for expelling US embassy workers

Current and former U.S. diplomats reacted to President Trump's comments thanking Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling U.S. embassy workers with dismay.

“As far as I'm concerned I'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll,” Trump said at a briefing at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey on Thursday.

"We'll save a lot of money," he added.

It's unclear if the U.S. would save any money because of the expulsion. Any diplomats removed from Russia would be sent to posts elsewhere around the world.

The Russian order to expel 755 U.S. diplomats last month came in response to new sanctions imposed by the U.S. A diplomatic row over Russian interference in the 2016 election began last year after President Obama ordered the seizure of two diplomatic facilities used by Russia in the U.S. and the expulsion of 35 diplomats and their families.

One of those compounds, in rural Maryland outside of Washington, was said to be used for espionage, according to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

A State Dept. official who is a foreign service officer told ABC News the message from Trump thanking Putin is "really quite sad."

Trump: US 'locked and loaded' against North Korea

US President Donald Trump is hardening his stand against North Korea in an escalating war of words, warning that military solutions are now "locked and loaded" if the country acts "unwisely".

In his latest post on social media on Friday, Trump wrote that he hopes "North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would find another path", after threatening earlier this week to target the US territory of Guam.

It was the latest exchange in a battle of nerves that has prompted fears of a breakout of war in the Korean Peninsula.

Defence officials and military analysts say any new conflict with North Korea would likely escalate to the use of nuclear weapons, bringing catastrophic casualties not seen since World War II.

Train collision in Egypt leaves at least 28 dead and over 70 wounded

Egypt's Health Ministry confirms that at least 28 people are dead and over 70 wounded after 2 trains collided in Alexandria.

According to Al-Ahram, the collision involved one train that had been traveling from Cairo and another from Port Said. The collision happened in Alexandria, where ambulances and local officials have been deployed.

Alexandria is Egypt's second-largest city, It sits on the Mediterranean coast in the north.

Here are 12 luxury properties Nigeria's ex petroleum minister Diezani spent almost $500m on

Nigeria's former petroleum resources minister, Diezani, allegedly purchased property for fun. Here are some in her name.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has traced at least N47.2Billion and $487.5Million in cash and property to former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

According to the EFCC, a “search of one of Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s palatial residences in Abuja turned up boxes of gold, silver and diamond jewelry, worth several million pounds sterling”.

Diezani's luxurious lifestyle, it appears, wasn’t limited to jewelry acquisition and state-of-the-art automobile.

Here’s a rundown of some of the palatial homes across Nigeria with Diezani’s name on them, according to the EFCC:

1. A Banana Island, Lagos property valued at $37.5M has been traced to Diezani.

playDiezani's Banana Island mansion (The Nation)

2. A block of six units serviced apartments at No. 135 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, has Diezani's name on it.

This house is located just a few metres away from the EFCC zonal operations hub in Lagos.

EFCC says “the apartment has a standby power generating set, sporting facilities, play ground and a water treatment plant. The property was bought at the rate of N800 Million (Eight Hundred Million Naira) on January 6, 2012".

Swedish singer, Tove Lo performs topless on stage to give fans more than what they bargained for in Chicago

Fans who attended this year's Lollapalooza event in Chicago got more than what they bargained for when Swedish singer, Tove Lo, who has been described as the 'Queen of body confidence' for always putting up very racy performance, went topless on stage.

The 29-year-old who this year alone has flashed her breasts at the Coachella, the California Music and Arts festival, and Sydney, performed topless on stage at the Lollapalooza event.

In a 2016 interview with NME, Tove said during her teenage years she was very uncomfortable when her body started developing.

 'I haven’t talked about it a lot, but in my early teens, when my body started to develop I hated everything about it. I was very uncomfortable.'

According to her, being a performer has helped her become comfortable in her own skin.

'It’s a liberating and amazing thing to be comfortable with my body', she told the publication.

Tove also explained that her reason for baring her chest onstage is to dispel the idea that women being naked are inherently sexual, and to promote equality of the sexes.

'I want to get to a place where women can be naked the same way that men can – funny naked or naked just to be naked.' 

See more photos below.

Google fires employee behind anti-diversity memo for 'perpetuating gender stereotypes'

Google has fired a computer engineer who caused a storm in Silicon Valley by asserting that the gender gap among technology workers was down to biological differences between men and women.

James Damore, a Harvard university graduate who had worked at Google for four years, ignited a sexism row last week when he distributed a 10-page manifesto that accused the company of “political bias” against conservatives and said initiatives to encourage female programmers were “unfair”.

On Tuesday Damore revealed he had been dismissed by Google for “perpetuating gender stereotypes” and said he was considering legal action against the company. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, offered him a job and accused Google of censorship.

Damore’s manifesto had accused the company of a “left bias” and a “politically correct monoculture that maintains its hold by shaming dissenters into silence”.

Donald Trump threatens North Korea with fire and fury, North Korea threatens missile strike on US-territory Guam

North Korea said it was "carefully examining" plans to strike the US territory after Donald Trump launched a furious tirade at Kim Jong-un, warning that North Korea would be met with “fire and fury” if the rogue state continued to threaten America.

The North Korean Strategic Commander added: “We are seriously considering an operation plan to carry out the siege of Guam around the strategic ballistic rocket ‘Hwaseong-12’ type.”

Two US B-1B bombers have arrived in Guam and are prepared to “fight tonight”.

The Pacific Air Forces tweeted: “South Dakota airmen arrive on Guam – conduct #bilateral missions with Japan & ROK [South Korea] – US ready to #fighttonight.”

Base and Naval Base Guam housing thousands of American service members and their families. 

Roughly 28 percent of the island is occupied by the U.S. military. The base houses bomber assurance and deterrence missions, including six B-52s which the air force says provide 'strategic global strike capability [to] deter potential adversaries and provide reassurance to allies' and that they are ready to go.

In another statement citing a different military spokesman, North Korea also said it could carry out a pre-emptive operation if the U.S. showed signs of provocation.

Earlier Pyongyang said it was ready to give Washington a 'severe lesson' with its strategic nuclear force in response to any U.S. military action.

The statement from the North comes after Trump told the country's leader Tuesday that additional threats of violence against the U.S. 'will be met with fire and the fury like the world has never seen.'

Base and Naval Base Guam housing thousands of American service members and their families. 

Roughly 28 percent of the island is occupied by the U.S. military. The base houses bomber assurance and deterrence missions, including six B-52s which the air force says provide 'strategic global strike capability [to] deter potential adversaries and provide reassurance to allies' and that they are ready to go.

In another statement citing a different military spokesman, North Korea also said it could carry out a pre-emptive operation if the U.S. showed signs of provocation.

UN calls on Nepal to investigate civil war case of gang-rape and torture by soldiers

he UN human rights committee has urged Nepal to investigate the gang-rape of a woman during the country’s civil war in a landmark decision that is the first to deal with an individual case of sexual violence during the conflict.

The UNHRC’s decision refers to the case of a woman known as Purna Maya, who was raped in 2004 by Nepalese soldiers. Maya, whose name has been changed to protect her, suffered serious injuries during the attack, including a severe haemorrhage of the uterus, which required its removal by surgery.

While there is little documentation of rape and sexual violence during the conflict between Maoist guerrillas and government forces that raged in Nepal from 1996 to 2006, it is believed such crimes were widespread. Research by Human Rights Watch found that women who were relatives of Maoist suspects, or were believed to be Maoist supporters, were targeted by the security forces. Maoist combatants also attacked women who refused to support their party.

Anambra Church Attack: Police Nab Suspects

The Police have apprehended some suspects allegedly involved in the killing of 12 people at the St. Philips Catholic Church in Ozubulu area of Anambra State.

The state governor, Willie Obiano, who visited the scene of the attack had promised that investigations would commence immediately to bring the perpetrators to book.

Giving an account of the incident on Sunday, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Garba Umar, told Channels Television that the gunmen went into the church during an early morning mass and shot sporadically at worshippers.

He further explained that the attack was not unconnected to what he described as gang violence between some indigenes of the state.

“Information further revealed that this is not unconnected to a kind of a ‘gang war’ between indigenes of the state – the children of the same village – who are engaged in a warfare outside Nigeria, precisely in South Africa”.

According to him, many people were injured in the attack while some of the victims died on their way to the hospital.

Reacting to the incident, the President, Muhammadu Buhari also condemned the attack, describing it as an unspeakable sacrilege.