DRAMA AT TOUR DE FRANCE: Cycling's most popular rider, Peter Sagan, kicked off race after crash; sport's greatest sprinter, Mark Cavendish, forced to withdraw

 

Peter Sagan on Tuesday was kicked out of the Tour de France after he was involved in a nasty crash that sent sprint rival Mark Cavendish flying into a crowd barrier and onto the ground at high speed.

Update: Mark Cavendish was forced to withdraw from the Tour with a broken shoulder. Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe team is protesting the ruling that disqualified him from the race.

It happened on the race's fourth stage in the finish town of Vittel, after a quiet day of racing that eventually saw the sprinters' teams setting up their fast men for the finale.

As the leaders raced for the line at speeds approaching 40 mph, Cavendish tried to come around Sagan but appeared to be knocked into the barriers and onto the ground. Cavendish was taken to the hospital for X-rays.

You can watch the crash in the video clips below:

"We've decided to disqualify Peter Sagan from the Tour de France 2017 as he endangered some of his colleagues seriously in the final metres of the sprint which happened in Vittel," said the president of the race commission, Philippe Marien.

"We will apply article 12.104 of the rules of the UCI ... in which case commissaires (the race jury) can decide to enforce a judgment to disqualify a rider."

26-year-old man charged with raping family friends' one-year-old baby

A Missouri man has been charged with statutory sodomy of a one-year-old, but not before he received a beating from the infant’s father.

Jayson Newlun, a 26-year-old family friend who was babysitting for friends, was caught inappropriately touching the child while pleasuring himself after being left alone with the baby for just 10 to 15 minutes, according to local media.

Court documents show that the mother and father had left Mr Newlun alone with their daughter while they went to the store. After realising that they had forgotten their WIC folder — which contains vouchers to assist low income families pay for food for children — they returned home.

Once they returned, the mother noticed that Mr Newlun wasn’t on the couch where he had been when they left, and that her infant daughter’s bedroom door was open.

Celine Dion, 49, poses naked for Vogue magazine

Yesterday, Vogue magazine shared a naked photo of Celine Dion on instagram, which showed the 49 year old singer sitting on a chair with her arms folded and legs crossed and wearing nothing during a trip to Paris.Vogue wrote;

"Here's a little naked fact to ponder while Celine Dion changes looks between shows: for the past five years she has worn haute couture near exclusively for her own performances (in Las Vegas and on her current "mini-tour" of Europe). She performs a minimum two hours a night, five or six nights a week, dancing and curtseying and generally gesticulating sans abandon, in handmade, hand-beaded delicacies designed solely to walk a catwalk or a carpet (and often with handlers). For Celine's orders, the houses send teams to Nevada for typically three fittings, before the garments are ultimately finished in her local, private atelier. Armani Prive, Schiaparelli, Giambattista Valli, Versace...only a partial list. Everyone,

Depressed student nurse, 22, sent final tragic text to her ex-boyfriend before killing herself at home

A promising young nursing student took her own life shortly after breaking up with her boyfriend, an inquest heard. 

Lucy de Oliveira, 22, who attended Liverpool John Moores University, was described as a bright and caring young woman.

She strangled herself at her student home in Kensington, east Liverpool, on February 27.

Lucy had a history of anxiety and depression, the Liverpool Echo reported.

According to a coroner's investigating officer she sent a tragic message to her ex before she died.

It read: 'I just want it to end, I want it to end.'

The forensic pathology registrar said that Lucy died of asphyxiation but had also overdosed on painkillers before her death.

Area Coroner Anita Bhardwaj concluded that there was no doubt that Lucy took her own life. 

She said: 'Lucy was a bright, intelligent 22-year-old with a medical history of depression and anxiety. It is so tragic - she had a bright future ahead of her.

Lucy's mum, Liz de Oliveira, 59, paid tribute to her daughter. 

She told the inquest: 'She always put everybody else before herself.

American celebrates Independence Day

From flashy firework displays for massive crowds to small-town parades, Americans celebrated the United States’ 241st birthday in both joyous and serious ways.

Crowds of people lined up along New York City’s East River for the annual Macy’s fireworks show. The display involves 60,000 shells launched from up to five barges and performances by Jennifer Lopez, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley and others.

Police set up barriers and checkpoints, and heavily armed officers stood guard.

North Korea claims its has successfully tested a missile that can hit anywhere on Earth

North Korea claims that it has launched its first ever intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and now has the power to deliver a nuclear-capable strike on any location on the planet.

State officials announced the launch early Tuesday morning after South Korea had warned that the test appeared more advanced than usual. The missile's trajectory had an unusually steep angle, suggesting it could travel far further than previous tests.

The launch, which North Korea's state media said was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, sent the rocket 933km (580 miles), with a flight time of 39 minutes. It reached an altitude of 2,802 km, Reuters said.

Officials from South Korea, Japan, and the US said the missile had landed in the sea near the coast of Japan after being launched near an airfield in Panghyon, about 100km (60 miles) north west of North Korea's capital, Pyongyang.

US denies visa to Gambian school robotics team

Five teenage pupils from The Gambia who built a robot for a prestigious international competition in the United States will not be able to accompany their invention to the event after being denied a visa.

The Gambian pupils become the second team of students refused entry to the US to attend the FIRST Global robotics event in Washington, DC, on July 16-18. On Saturday, it was reported that an all-girls team from Afghanistan were also denied a visa to travel to the US to showcase their creation at the same competition.

Moktar Darboe, director of The Gambia's ministry of higher education, research, science and technology, told us that the team, made up of high school pupils aged 17-18, were "very disappointed".

"They put in so much effort into building this, and now, after all the sacrifice and energy they put in, they have been left disheartened," Darboe, who is also the team's mentor, said on Monday.

Boston crash: Car plows into crowd, at least 10 hurt

At least 10 people -- all believed to be taxi drivers -- were hurt Monday after a taxi plowed into the crowd in East Boston, in a crash that investigators described as accidental.

Team Nigeria.Shines @ d just concluded 2017 Ivory Coast International.

Team Nigeria...........Shines @ d just concluded 2017 Ivory Coast International.

Breaking : Ekiti teachers staged a protest against their so called sell fish Kpomo eating Gov Ore Mekunnun Ayodele Fayose

Ekiti teachers staged a protest against their so called friend, Ore Mekunnun Ayodele Fayose today @Ado -Ekiti over the non -challant attitude of the governor to their plight as a result of being owed 7 months salary.

China makes its military more visible in Hong Kong

For years after it took control of Hong Kong from Britain, China kept its military in the city on a low profile.

Its presence was largely symbolic and People's Liberation Army troops were rarely seen outside their main barracks in Hong Kong's Central district or other smaller facilities across the territory.

South Sudan deports three American journalists

The  South Sudan government has deported Three American journalists intercepted at the Nadapal border in Namurunyang State, alleging that the journalists have visa issues.  Foreign Affairs ministry spokesman, Mr. Makol Mawien said the deportation happened last Friday, but did not give their names or the organisations they work for.

‘He colluded or obstructed’: Trump turns Russia suspicions against Obama

Under fire from Justice Department and congressional investigations, President Trump on Monday attempted to deflect suspicion of collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice onto his predecessor.

In a string of tweets, Trump said it was former President Barack Obama who “colluded or obstructed” by not taking more decisive action against Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Woman delays flight with 'lucky' coin-throw into engine

Bad weather, crowded skies and military drills...and now add coin-tossing to the growing list of reasons for China's notorious flight delays.

Police took away an 80-year-old woman Tuesday after fellow passengers reported that she was throwing coins at the plane during boarding of China Southern Airlines flight CZ380 on the tarmac of Shanghai's Pudong International Airport.

Petya ransomware attack: Five questions answered

A major cyberattack via a ransomware virus dubbed Petya has caused widespread disruption across the globe, affecting power grids in Ukraine to hospitals in the United States.

Technology experts are scrambling to prevent more damage following the attack, which experts say bears the hallmarks of Wannacry ransomware, which also caused major problems in May.

Who is to blame for the massive ransomware attack?

3m360 has spoken to Gavin Millard, the technical director at Tenable Network Security, a US-based cyber-security company specialising in spotting vulnerabilities in networks, to find out more about the latest cyberattack and how serious it is.

Dj Bobtee Present *Apala New Skool Mix* @djbobteemedia

Dj Bobtee Media Entertainment
Present

*Apala New Skool Mix*

     Hosted By Dj Bobtee

Track list
1.Intro / Qdot Vs Dj Bobtee Intro
2.Qdot / Apala New Skool
3.Mr Eazi ft Rita Ora & Wizkid / Skin Tight rmx
4.Jaywon Ft Oritse Femi / Banuso
5.kiss daniel / Sofa
6.Wizkid / Holiday Whine like this
7.Seyi shay ft Sarkodie / Weekend vibes
8.Tekno / Pana
9.R2bees ft Wizkid / Tonight
10.Sarkodie ft Runtown / pain killer
11.Runtown/ for life
12.Tekno / Diana
13.Burma boy / Halleluyah

INEC to press ahead with recall despite Dino Melaye’s Lawsuit

Efforts by the embattled senator representing Kogi West in the Senate, Dino Melaye, to halt his recall by his constituents might have hit a brickwall.

This is because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which received the signatories for the recall, on Wednesday, says it would press on with the exercise.

A top-level source in the legal unit of INEC said the electoral umpire has at least three precedents to follow in dealing with the case.

“INEC would go ahead to conduct the referendum in so far as INEC is able to verify or ascertain the genuineness of the signatures. Every lawmaker that had faced the issue of recall in the past, from Plateau, Jigawa to Abia, ran to the courts but such actions never stopped the Commission from going ahead with the referendum”, he said.

‘We’ve not been served’

Messi’s gritty hometown braces for a glam wedding

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates Barcelona’s third goal during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF vs FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on April 23, 2017. 

.On Friday, soccer superstar Lionel Messi will be married there to Antonella Roccuzzo at a lavish celebration bringing together some of the world’s best-paid soccer players, just up the street from one of the city’s poorest and most dangerous neighborhoodsSome 21 members of the hugely popular FC Barcelona team, including Luis Suarez and Neymar, as well as stars like Gerard Pique — accompanied by partner Shakira, perhaps more popular than the Catalan defender himself — will be flying into this port city 180 miles (300 kilometers) north of Buenos Aires.

White House concedes Russia meddled in campaign, but denies it changed the result

The White House Thursday addressed the joint intelligence report that found Russia had attempted to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, more than five months after the report’s conclusions were made public. First, on Twitter, President Trump dismissed the concerns about Russia as a “big Dem HOAX” and suggested that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, did little to confront the problem. White House aides then clarified Trump’s remarks and said he believes there was Russian meddling but is certain it did not affect the outcome of the race.

Trump had previously suggested that the questions about Russia’s involvement in the election were overblown and “fake news.” As recently as Tuesday, press secretary Sean Spicer declined to answer a question at the White House briefing about whether Trump believes Russia interfered in the presidential race. Spicer said he and Trump had “not sat down and talked … about that specific thing.” Spicer and his deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, frequently deflect questions about contentious issues by saying they haven’t spoken to the president about them.

The public version of the intelligence community’s election assessment, which was released in January and was compiled by all 17 of America’s intelligence agencies, concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered the campaign interference. According to the report, the Russian effort included email hacks on the campaign of Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic National Committee. The agencies said information from those hacks was released to hurt the Democrats and boost Trump, but the report specified that it “did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election.”

Suicide bomber plotting to attack Mecca blows himself up

Saudi security forces said Saturday they disrupted a plot to attack the Grand Mosque at Mecca, home to the holiest site in Islam, just as the fasting month of Ramadan concludes.

The Interior Ministry said it launched raids in Jiddah province, as well as two areas in Mecca itself, including the Ajyad Al-Masafi neighborhood, located near the Grand Mosque.

There, police said they engaged in a shootout at a three-story house a suicide bomber, who blew himself up and led to the building’s collapse. He was killed while the blast wounded six foreigners and five members of the security forces, according to the Interior Ministry’s statement. Five others were arrested, it said.

The Interior Ministry “confirms that this terrorist network, whose terrorist plan was thwarted, violated, in what they would have perpetrated, all sanctities by targeting the security of the Grand Mosque, the holiest place on Earth.”

Belgian court finds 8 Arab princesses guilty of trafficking and abuse

Eight princesses from Abu Dhabi's ruling al-Nahyan family were each given a 15-month suspended prison sentence and fined 165,000 euros ($185,000) on Friday after a court in Belgium found them guilty of human trafficking and abusing their servants.

The case dates back to July 2008, when Princess Shekha Alnehayan,  and her seven daughters rented an entire floor of Brussels' Conrad Hotel for several months and brought more than 20 servants with them.

According to the prosecution, the workers were "treated like slaves" and forced to attend to the princesses' every wish 24 hours a day, while not being given enough food or beds to sleep in. Prosecutors said the princesses had also confiscated their passports and refused to pay their salaries.

Arab states issue ultimatum to Qatar: close Jazeera, curb ties with Iran

Four Arab states that imposed a boycott on Qatar have issued an ultimatum to Doha to close Al Jazeera television, curb ties with Iran, shut a Turkish base and pay reparations, demands so far reaching it would appear to be hard for Doha to comply.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have sent a 13-point list of demands apparently aimed at dismantling their tiny but wealthy neighbor's two-decade-old interventionist foreign policy which has incensed them. Kuwait is helping mediate the dispute.

A Qatari government spokesman said Doha was reviewing the list of demands and that a formal response would be made by the foreign ministry and delivered to Kuwait, but added that the demands were not reasonable or actionable.

"This list of demands confirms what Qatar has said from the beginning – the illegal blockade has nothing to do with combating terrorism, it is about limiting Qatar’s sovereignty, and outsourcing our foreign policy," Sheikh Saif al-Thani director of Qatar's government communications office, said in a statement.

A Qatar semi-government human rights body said the demands were a violation of human rights conventions and should not be accepted by Qatar.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani had said on Monday that Qatar would not negotiate with the four states until economic, diplomatic and travel ties cut this month were restored.

Senator Dino Melaye Panics, Hires Mike Ozekhome To Stop His Recall In Court

Senator Dino Melaye of Kogi West Senatorial district has filed a lawsuit at the Federal high Court in Abuja seeking a court injunction to halt his recall from the Senate.

According to SaharaReporters sources, a panic-stricken Melaye had been shopping for a judge in the last 48 hours that could grant an injunction to halt the process after word reached him that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was meeting to decide  on an appropriate response to the submission of more 188,000 signatures to their headquarters on Wednesday from his constituents who wanted him recalled from the Nigerian Senate.

Thousands gather for Otto Warmbier's funeral; the American student who died at the hands of North Korea

This morning, friends and family members gathered in Ohio to say goodbye to an American student who died just six days after being returned to the United States in a coma following 17 months in captivity in North Korea.

22 year old Otto Warmbier was arrested in North Korea while visiting as a tourist in 2016.

Veteran musician Victor Uwaifo’s building burnt by robbers

- In a surprising bit of news, one of the buildings owned by Victor Uwaifo was recently gutted by fire - This was the work of armed robbers - They burnt the building in revenge of an earlier attack These are not the best of times for veteran musician Victor Uwaifo as one of the investment the 76-year-old musician has was completely razed to the ground. His hostel located in Benin City was recently visited by thieves who because the occupants called for help decided to burn the whole building. 

According to various sources, the robbers attempted to break down a door of an apartment at around 9pm. Hearing the commotion, the occupants quickly alerted some guys in the area to come to their aid but the robbers heard them making calls and quickly left before they could be apprehended.