President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed to capture the South-East region in the 2015 governorship election as he and his party, the PDP, launches obvious political campaigns.

Jonathan, who spoke at the Unity Rally organised to reconcile some aggrieved party members in the zone on Friday, said come what may, the PDP would capture Imo State in 2015 and other South-East states.

He said, “In the South-East, the PDP is total. Every state has a maximum of three senators and a minimum of three senators. It is now clear the South-East is a PDP zone.” But this is a big lie as the PDP does not have the said three Senators in all the South-East states.

President Jonathan was boasting while some of the security personnel drafted to provide security at the venue of the rally in Enugu on Friday exchanged blows... 

The exchange of blows, which involved members of the Nigeria Police and officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, was as a result of complaints of alleged harassment of policemen drafted to the rally venue by the members of the civil defence corps.

It took the intervention of members of other security agencies like the SSS and Army to prevent the police and NSCDC fight from escalating.

Reacting to all that President Jonathan said at the rally, the All Progressives Congress, APC, declared that he has lost the moral authority to lead the nation by violating all electoral laws and campaigning ahead of time.

APC Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said:
“When a President who is the number one citizen violates all electoral rules by campaigning well ahead of time, that President has lost the moral authority to lead a country. 

"It is sad that the President cannot speak about issues but personalities. We would have been interested if he talks about the jobs he has created, how many roads he has built, how he is tackling health care and the insecurity in the nation and above all, how he is tackling corruption.

“He [Jonathan] is doing none of these, we are not surprised because no one can rise above his capacity.”

READ MORE

Monday April 7th, the University of Connecticut basketball team, the UConn Huskies defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 60-54 to win the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Final four title as the best college team in the United States.

The UConn Huskies were the underdogs in this competition and no one saw their win coming.

Among the super UConn team was college freshman, Amida Brimah, #35, standing tall at 7 feet; the team Center. Averaging 2.3 shot-blocks, he is a powerful defensive center.

Born 1994, Amida, 18, who only moved to the United States 3 years ago at age 16, could not be happier. His story is quite impressive. Read it below...

A certain day while he was in Ghana, then playing soccer and going to school, a certain Nana Baafi, who is now his guardian, saw him walking and called to him. Upon seeing how tall he was, Baafi who had played and coached Basketball in the US, told him he was wasting away in Ghana playing soccer and should move to the United States.

Living with Baafi in Miami Florida, Amida joined the school basket ball team and kept strengthening his game. His team mates described him as someone who at the time could not even catch a basketball.

Baafi dropped Brimah at school earlier than class time, as he had to go to work early; this gave Amida, a teenager with dedication, early morning extra training time.

The latest West African basketball phenomenon, in the humble path of the Hakeem Olajuwaon’s, Amida Peregrino Brimah who comes from Ghana of a prestigious Nigeria origin family, had this to say about his experience coming to America:

"Back home, they raise you to be alone," Brimah said. "Even though your parents love you and everything, they raise you, especially if you're a boy, to be like a man as soon as possible. They teach you to cook. From the age of 5 you wash your own clothes — they don't give you a lot of clothes. You don't use a machine, you wash with your hands. So when I came here, it was easier."

"The culture is different," he said. "How they talk [trash] here, if you talk like that back home, it's disrespectful. When I first got here and guys would talk to me like that, I got mad. I had to adjust to it." [The Courant]

Son of Barikisu and Rashat Peregrino Brimah, Amida Brimah who has three sisters has a bright future ahead in the NBA, but wishes to complete college first before getting into the draft.

This was the 4th title for UConn. Another great African legendary player, Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi "Emeka" Okafor, from Nigeria who now plays in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns, was a title winning team MOP (Most Outstanding Player) at UConn.

UConn was placed under a one-year ban in postseason, 2012 due to low academic pass rates. The team called itself ‘hungry;’ with dynamic team guard Napier bragging of their win: “This is what happens when you ban us."

by Dr. Peregrino Brimah
http://ENDS.ng Email: drbrimah@ends.ng

Twitter: @EveryNigerian

READ MORE

A 49-year-old pastor, Friday Arthur, has been charged before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for the alleged defiling of two under-aged sisters aged 10 and 11 in Lagos.

The Prosecutor, Sgt. Victor Eruada, told the court that Arthur committed the offence between March 28 and April 6 at the Ikota Housing Estate area of Lekki, Lagos.

Sgt. Eruada said the pastor had, at various times, lured the girls into his room and defiled them...

He said that the offence violated Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2011. Section 137 prescribes life imprisonment for anyone convicted of the offence of defiling a child.

Arthur, who resides at No. 856, Ikota Housing Estate, Lekki, Lagos, is facing a charge of defilement.

The two sisters and their female guardian were in court. 

Surprisingly, when the charges were read to him, Pastor Arthur pleaded not guilty. The Magistrate, Mrs Linda Balogun, granted the pastor N500,000 bail with two sureties and adjourned the case till May 27.

READ MORE

I guess President Obama is a gentle man and he just wanted to cover his "property" as a bad wind was trying to blow his wife's skirt open and show her ikebe to the public. Check out the front view pix below...

...and the wind came again as they were coming down from the flight.

READ MORE

There has been series of warnings against having any contact with fresh bush meat as they are easy agents for the spread of the killer Ebola Virus that has no cure. But it seems nobody has told Mercy Johnson about the risk and it's possible there is even no insurance for her while acting this movie. More photos below...

...I just hope Nollywood wont abandon MJ if anything should go wrong with her?

READ MORE

Sometimes when we report the stories of pastors that are misbehaving, it is because these things are strange to us and they are not suppose to be the norm. A pastor is suppose to be above board, a person who can say no to any strange woman, even if she was sent to seduce him by marine spirit. Read the story of Bishop David Oyedepo and his wife below and learn from it.

20 Facts About Bishop David And Faith Oyedepo's Marriage That You Should Know:
1. She met him at a Motor Park...

2. She was a university student - GREAT IFE while he was only a Polytechnic student in Kwarapoly (Remember the discrimination) – she could have snubbed him - but she responded.

3. His friends complained that he was carrying Christianity too zealously as if he was the only Christian - she became zealous too. 

4. He took her to church in 1976 and made her sign an agreement (SAILING UNDER SEALED ORDERS) to marry and follow him whether he becomes blind, lame or handicapped… she signed. 

5. Just before he married her, he told her God had sent him to LIBERATE THE WORLD (while he was still hopping between jobs) and went on to resign his job; his elder brother lambasted him, she stuck to him. 

6. He told her God had shown him the key to prosperity - she believed. 

7. He told her they would build a 50,000 capacity tent and preach the gospel from private jets-she believed
her dreamer lover. 8. He was too ‘buoyant’ to afford a hotel room on his wedding eve, he slept in his rickety Volkswagen Beetle – she married him. 

9. During a moment of insane faith, he ordered a mad man to be put in his car alone with her while she was
pregnant; she remained. 

10. She saw she was dripping blood while pregnant and explained to him that she had a miscarriage, he shouted “It CANNOT Happen, Can I have my food please” – she served him food. 

11. She just had their first baby and there was no food or money at home. He refused to borrow or ask or take church money and they were drinking/eating “CERELAC Baby food’ for 3 days – she ate with him. 

12. She came to church one day and saw him so excited with few members while waiting for service to start; he explained to her that service was actually over – she laughed. 

13. People kept praying for her and her husband as they seemed to be crazy and needed deliverance-she kept faith. 14. He announced a new Bible school and she knew there was no facility; she asked him and he replied “Is it your school”? She kept quiet. IT DOESN’T END THERE! 

15. She didn’t know they were going to be flying in customized jets round the world. 

16. She didn’t know he will pastor and she, co-pastor the largest church auditorium in the world. 

17. She didn’t know he will be a father to millions all over the world. 

18. She didn’t know he will be hosted by Presidents and Heads of States of nations. 

19. She didn’t know he will be a Chancellor and Pioneer of one of the best Private-owned Universities in the
world…..and six others. 

20. She woke up one day on her sick bed in the USA and unexpectedly saw her hubby who had flown in quietly from Nigeria and had refused to wake her up….. he was kneeling on the floor by her legs and crying ‘Lord, heal her and prove that you sent me”- She got healed miraculously… …TWICE!. She didn’t know. #All she saw was a Man with A BIG GOD inside him. Her name is “FAITH”! 

From the source: 
It is sad to see that many ladies of these days can't stand by a man with purpose and vision like this today. Most ladies want a man that has 'arrived' but forget that most men that walk with God need to grow in Him
even as they (The ladies) grow with him (The husband).

Some of our mothers married our fathers when they had nothing to their names and together they grew to where they got to. Sadly, some of those parents will not accept a spouse that doesn't have much to his or her name when their child wants to be joined with one. Who upturned our values? Who said you need to 'arrive' before taking a helping hand and obtaining blessings from God? 

Hey, marriage is not an achievement like one of ur degrees or acquisition like a car or landed property. Some marriages bring the completeness a man or woman needs. Let's get our priorities right. Thanks mama Oyedepo for not forming #Tushgirl now we all see the #TushQueen you have become to that king - Bishop David Oyedepo.

READ MORE

What used to happen is that when two adults are in love, dating and the lady gets pregnant, the next thing that is expected from them is marriage. But it seems something is wrong with this equation in the case of beautiful actress Damilola Adegbite and Ghanaian actor Chris Attoh who fell in love while acting in Tinsel.

Damilola has been going to spend days with Chris Attoh in Ghana and they were even flaunting their love, and we were even told that they are planning to get married soon. But the story now is different...

In fact, they have scheduled their wedding for April 12. Suddenly, what we are hearing now is that wedding has been postponed because Damilola is pregnant. Does this make sense? Is her pregnancy not suppose to be a good reason for Chris Attoh to bring his family members from Ghana down to Nigeria and marry this cute Naija actress the right way?

Please, when has pregnancy become a prerequisite to postpone a wedding?

READ MORE

Sarah Jakes, daughter of the popular Bishop TD Jakes a respected pastor has finally opened up about some bad spots in her past and the struggles she had when she got pregnant at the age of 14.

“I was terrified. You have this idea of ‘I’m going to get in trouble,’ like ‘I’m going to be grounded forever’ because you have nothing else really at that point to compare it to. 

“My parents were speechless. I mean, my father was a preacher, who speaks for a living, and he was speechless. And that’s when it dawned on me that this was so much bigger than being grounded. [I was] bringing a life into the world and while I certainly had other options, whether abortions or adoptions, there was something inside of me that said I could do it.”

Sara finally revealed how difficult it was to break the news of her pregnancy to her father...

Rather than telling her parents the news, she left a letter in the family mailbox and her sister told her parents for her. She says that their reaction really hit her to the core and that they were shocked.

Sarah who is married now, wrote a book called “Lost and Found: Finding HOPE in the Detours of Life” and she details the troubling teenage years she had to endure as a young mother. She says at the time she summoned courage to talk about her past, her husband was having a child with another woman.

“I started blogging about three years ago and at the time, I was married and my husband was expecting a child from another woman. I really wasn’t sure that I wanted to make the decision to divorce or to even put that part of my life out on a blog but I knew I had this pain and these emotions,” Sarah told theGrio. “I was angry with God, I was bitter, and I just wanted to write about it.”

The African American community are supporting because they are happy that she is willing to share her story.

“In my case, you’re pregnant at 14, your stomach is growing, you’re sitting in a church, within service and people want to know who the father is and how it all happened. I mean that pressure very much made me want to hide and I became comfortable being an introvert,” she added.

Sarah says her morality was questioned by other church-goers who felt she was a hypocrite for having a child at such a young age. She says she knows she is going to be judged but she move forward anyway.

Her father, Bishop TD Jakes tried his best for the scandal not to affect his career and today they are all ok

READ MORE

It seems that all the "rough" things Afro Candy has been doing with her body to make money is not working as much as she had expected. She invested all her money in making her movie "Destructive Instinct", with the hope she would get a huge turnover to send her daughter to school.

Afro Candy said she didn't make money from the nasty movie. She is crying out. Her words below:

“I am a single mother of 2. Well behaved, intelligent, smart girls. Moved from Africa in 2005 to join their father who abandoned us after one year of living together. Since then I've been struggling on my own without support from any particular person except some friends that help out sometimes...

I am not on welfare, don't get child support and not on unemployment. I'm highly talented, I write songs and scripts, edit, produce and even direct. All I need is an opportunity to be discovered. 

I've done so many different jobs to sustain us but no matter what I do, it seems like I haven't even started. So I went back into showbiz which is what I was doing b4 I migrated, acted and produced my own movie, after investing all my money with the hope I could get a turn over before my first daughter's time for college, I was messed up by the partners I trusted. Movie was released since January, up until now, not even a dime from the distributors I handed over in Africa.  

Now my daughter has been accepted into college, I am going crazy trying to fit the bills, rent, tuition and all other expenses. Please help me now that I am still alive before I lose it.
Thank you and God bless you.”

...what is the benefits of this exposing if you can't pay your bills?

READ MORE

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has raised alarm over the inordinate use of soldiers to cause mayhem and outright brigandage in Lagos. It fingered the Minister of State for Defence, Musliu Obanikoro as the arrowhead of this illegal use of soldiers to cause a breach of public peace and launch mayhem in Lagos.

In a release in Lagos, signed by the Interim Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos, Joe Igbokwe, the party says that the latest employment of soldiers to disrupt a state mass housing project in Lagos Island, coming barely a week after such similar perpetration of illegality in Ilubirin is signaling the launching of a state of terror by the PDP federal government using Obanikoro as the arrowhead. It warns that Lagosians would be forced to resist such illegality and stop the bizarre development by all legal means at their disposal.

“It is now certain that Obanikoro was made a Minister of state for defence for the sole purpose of deploying illegal military force to cause total mayhem in Lagos. It is certain that the PDP is bent on disrupting the pace of development in Lagos in the face of its shameful failure in the last fifteen years. It is certain that PDP and its agents want to arrest the progress and development of Lagos by all means as such reifies its own colossal failure in government for fifteen awful years.

“For us, stopping mass housing schemes on sudden and spurious claims of ownership of some parts of Lagos is wicked...

"It is inhuman; it is sadistic and speaks of the character of PDP as a party. We are sure that Obanikoro and those he is working for do not bank of using such means to win Lagos but to disrupt as much as possible the acclaimed progress of Lagos, which has been sustaining millions of Nigerians and accounting for the biggest chunk of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

“We see the stupid war Obanikoro is wedging on Lagos as just an expression of his political failure in Lagos. He is allowing himself to be used to impede the progress of Lagos as a way of showing his angst against Lagosians for continuously rejecting him in all the elections he has entered into since he joined the retrogressive forces. We urge Lagosians to take notice of what Obanikoro is doing in Lagos today and ensure that he is not allowed to but a wedge on the progress and interests of Lagos. We urge Lagosians to stand up and resist this noxious employment of outlawry to run a parallel government in Lagos.

“Lagos APC is calling on the military high command to arrest this dangerous trend of using soldiers illegally to cause mayhem in Lagos. We warn that the military risks being negatively branded if it allows the military to be dragged into prosecuting the selfish political interests of Obanikoro. We call on the military to urgently address this illegal use of soldiers to perpetrate illegalities by the so called minister before it plunges Lagos into anarchy and bloodletting. We warn Obanikoro and whichever dark interests he serves that enough is enough!”


Joe Igbokwe
Interim Publicity Secretary,
Lagos APC.

READ MORE

I hope President Goodluck Jonathan and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who are deceiving Nigerians with re-basing of the economy can now see that their deceit is not working? No jobs anywhere for graduate youths:

An unemployed engineering graduate, Mr. Sunday Omotayo, tried to end his own life on Wednesday but for the timely intervention of a police woman along Wellington Bassey Way, Uyo, Akwa Ibom. Sunday Omotayo caused a stir in the area, when he jumped out of a speeding Toyota Hiace bus, expecting to be crushed to death by any vehicle. He is tired of life after searching for a job for 10yrs after graduation.

Speaking on his predicament, Sunday Omotayo said: “There is no state that I have not gone to in search of a job in the past 10 years. I came to Akwa Ibom because of the stories of Governor Godswill Akpabio and his publicized uncommon transformation.

“I came with the hope that with what is going on in the state, getting a job would be easy so that I can begin to be a man. But since I came, I discovered that many people from Akwa Ibom are also crying because of poverty and joblessness.”

Nigeria is where government focus on deceit rather than create jobs or infrastructure for jobs...

Some policemen, who were on patrol at the time of the incident, told Punchh that the frustrated graduate had in the morning gone to the state prison asking the officials to kill him or open the prison for him to enter.

A prison officer also confirmed that they saw him – well dressed and wearing a tie – running towards them. And added that his action forced them to become alert with their guns. 

He said, “The next thing he said was ‘shoot me, shoot me, I want to die, I am tired of this world’. He added that otherwise, we should allow him to enter and die inside the prison.”

The official stated that Omotayo was later overpowered by the police, who counselled him and forced him into a bus heading towards the Ibom Plaza roundabout.

An eyewitness, Effiong Bassey, said Omotayo jumped from the bus into the major road for other vehicles to run over him. Lying on the main road leading to the Government House, It took a while for policemen to get him out of the road. He insisted he must put an end to his poverty-stricken life in a rich country like Nigeria.

This guy was trained as an Engineer, never exposed to entrepreneurial training in school. Sorry, Nigerians!

READ MORE

Beautiful actress Rukky Sanda is still flaunting what she's got for you guys. Check out her séxy swag below...

READ MORE

This is really sad. A source said the guy got mad and decided to expose the big woman because after he took his time to "service" her well, he later discovered that she is not as rich as she claimed and can't be giving him the kind of money he had expected to be getting from a sugar mummy. Such a big mess...

Please, these pix are not for young people. Click Below:
See Photo 2 ---> HERE

See Photo 3 ---> HERE

See Photo 4 ---> HERE

READ MORE

Voney Dolce is one of the "rough" babes who go to any length to seek attention, damning the consequences of whatever anyone may say. As you will see in the photos below, she doesn't give a damn at all...

...I just wonder who she is trying hard to impress with these pix!

READ MORE

This babe was born with no eyebrow at all but with make-up she can make herself more beautiful than your cute girlfriend that you will be tempted to follow her. Guys, if your babe is ok without make-up, respect her!

READ MORE

"Rough" things are happening in the House of the new Big Brother in South Africa. Two of the house mates, Lexi and Mandla, were caught doing the "thing" live in the bathroom. See the Photos and Video below...

Many in South Africa are complaining seriously about the "things" going on in the show but they still continue.

Click HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE VIDEO

READ MORE

Thai PM supporters kick off days-long rallies

Protesters pledge to deter any move to dismiss Shinawatra Yingluck, who faces legal challenges that can end her rule.

Organisers of the protests expect more than 500,000 people to join the three-day rallies [EPA]

Thousands of supporters of Thailand's prime minister have massed in the capital, as part of a three-day rally countering months of anti-government protests, pledging to deter any move to dismiss Prime Minister Shinawatra Yingluck, who faces a growing list of legal challenges that could bring down her administration. Up to 20,000 Red Shirts were already gathered by Saturday morning, several hours ahead of the official start of the rally, according to Paradorn Pattanatabut, a security adviser to the premier. "The authorities expect more than 200,000 Red Shirts to turn out," he told AFP, as supporters of the movement poured into the capital in buses and trucks for what is expected to be their biggest show of strength in the months-long crisis. Paradorn said the authorities did not expect any clashes with rival anti-government protesters who have been holding daily rallies at a park in the city centre, far from the site of the Red Shirt rallies. "What we are concerned by is third parties," he said, alluding to unidentified assailants who have launched a series of gun and grenade attacks around the capital in recent months, often targeting opposition protesters. 'Judicial coup' Thailand has been shaken by more than five months of anti-government protests that snowballed after the ruling party tried to ram an amnesty bill through Parliament that would have allowed Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, to return from self-imposed exile and avoid serving a jail sentence for corruption. Thaksin, a billionaire former prime minister who now lives in Dubai, was overthrown by the army in a 2006 coup after being accused of abuse of power. The struggle pits the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother against anti-government protesters from middle class in Bangkok and the south backed by the conservative elite. Yingluck's opposition want her government replaced by an unelected "people's council" of notable worthies before a new election is held. Although protests targeting Yingluck have dwindled, judicial pressure has been on the rise. On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court accepted a case against her lodged by 27 senators who say Yingluck abused power when she transferred the national security chief in 2011. Yingluck has been given 15 days to defend herself before the court. If found guilty, she faces removal from office. She also faces charges of negligence brought against her by the National Anti-Corruption Commission in connection with a government rice-buying scheme that has run-up huge losses. She could be impeached if the case is forwarded to the Senate. Most analysts predict her administration will eventually fall in a ``judicial coup,'' because Thailand's courts and independent state agencies are widely seen as biased against Thaksin's political machine. There are fears that if that happens, violence will follow as Yingluck's backers react. Earlier this week in the northeastern province of Udon Thani, about 1,000 Red Shirt members took part in a martial arts training that organizers said was intended was aimed at protecting democracy and the elected government. Twenty-four people have been killed and more than 700 injured since the anti-government protests erupted in late November.

Source: Agencies

READ MORE

Two Italian priests kidnapped in Cameroon

The two priests and a Canadian nun were kidnapped from their place of residence by armed men in the north.

Two Italian priests and a Canadian nun have been kidnapped by gunmen in northern Cameroon, Italy's foreign ministry and media reports said, in the latest kidnapping incident targeting Christian clergy in the African country. The attack occurred overnight in the north of the west African country, which borders violence-wracked Nigeria, according to Italian Ansa news agency's report on Saturday. The Italian foreign ministry said that two priests from Italy's northern Vicenza region had been seized, but gave no other details. Armed gunmen pulled up to the buildings where the priests and the nun were staying around 2:00 am (0100 GMT) and ransacked them before taking the hostages, added the Ansa news agency. Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported on its website that the victims were staying in the northern Maroua region, which borders the part of northern Nigeria, a stronghold of the Boko Haram group. The attack comes three months after the release of French priest Georges Vandenbeusch, who was kidnapped in the same region in mid-November 2013 and then held in neighbouring Nigeria by Boko Haram. One of the two priests taken on Friday night had been in Cameroon for more than six years, while the second had arrived around a year ago, Ansa reported. Authorities in Vincenza, where the priests were from, were not immediately available for comment.

READ MORE

Jailed Venezuela opposition leader charged with public incitement

 

People shout insults at police Tuesday, April 1, during clashes between police and anti-government protesters in Caracas, Venezuela. For months, protesters unhappy with Venezuela's economy and rising crime have been at odds with security forces.

A Venezuelan prosecutor on Friday formally charged opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez with public incitement, property damage, arson and conspiracy.

General Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz announced the charges at a press conference in Caracas, a day before the legal deadline to keep Lopez in custody expires.

Lopez, 42, a former mayor and presidential candidate, has been held in a military jail for well more than a month. The government of President Nicolas Maduro originally accused him of terrorism and murder, but those charges were later dropped.

He is accused of inciting anti-government protests throughout Venezuela that began February 12.

Venezuela's state run news agency said that 39 people have died and more than 600 injured in clashes.

The government blames the protests on "a wave of violence fostered by right-wing leaders in the country."

If found guilty, Lopez could face nearly 14 years in prison.

Lopez, a fiery speaker and charismatic leader, has long been a threat to the socialists in power in Venezuela.

Back in 2008, the government of then-President Hugo Chavez banned him from running for public office, accusing him of corruption and misuse of public funds.

Lopez countered that it was all political retribution and that he had nothing to hide. He took his case all the way to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, where he was cleared three years later.

Earlier this year, Lopez organized protests demanding better 
 security, an end to shortages and protected freedom of speech.
>>>>>(CNN) 

READ MORE

U.N.: Soldiers from Chad killed civilians in neighboring Central African Republic

(CNN) -- Soldiers from Chad entered a market in the Central African Republic capital of Bangui last week, killed about 30 civilians, wounded another 300 and returned to Chad, according to preliminary findings by the United Nations Human Rights Office.

The incident reflected the growing complexity of the situation in the Central African Republic, a former French colony plunged into chaos last year after a coalition of mostly Muslim rebels ousted President Francois Bozize.

They have since been forced out of power, but Christian and Muslim militias continue to battle for control.

Human rights investigators said the March 29 incident began when Chadian national army soldiers entered Bangui in a convoy of several military pick-up trucks.

They entered a crowded market where shoppers included women and children, and opened fire, a U.N. report said Friday.

"As panic-stricken people fled in all directions, the soldiers allegedly continued firing indiscriminately," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N.'s office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"Several sources told the investigating team that they believed the Chadian force had entered Bangui to extract remaining Chadians and other Muslim inhabitants in order to save them from further attacks by (Christian militias)," Colville said.

The U.N. said the soldiers who were responsible for the Bangui attack were Chadian soldiers but not among those who are part of the African-led International Support Mission peacekeeping mission that's trying to stabilize the Central African Republic.

"It seems they have gone straight back to Chad without being apprehended," Colville said of the attackers.

About 850 Chadian soldiers are part of the 6,000-strong peacekeeping presence, but on Thursday, Chad's foreign ministry issued a statement saying the country planned to withdraw its troops from the force, according to CNN French affiliate BFMTV.

"Despite the sacrifices we have made, Chad and Chadians have been targeted in a gratuitous and malicious campaign that blamed them for all the suffering in (Central African Republic)," said a statement from Chad's foreign ministry.

READ MORE

11 North Koreans missing after cargo ship sinks

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Two North Korean sailors are dead and 11 missing after a Mongolia-flagged cargo ship sank off the southeastern coast of South Korea.

Three sailors were rescued by the South Korean Coast Guard after the distressed ship, Grand Fortune 1 sank early Friday.

"The sunken ship sent the rescue signal at around 1:19 a.m. from some 130 kilometers away a

READ MORE

Strong storms, tornadoes barrel through central U.S.

Storm damages cars and campuses in Texas

(CNN) -- A powerful storm system brought drenching rains, hail and -- in a few cases -- tornadoes to a wide swath of the central United States on Thursday evening, causing damage but no known fatalities.

The National Weather Service reported a number of twisters across several states.

That includes a tornado spotted around 8:16 p.m. (9:16 p.m. ET) on the ground in St. Louis County, Missouri, near Glendale. About an hour earlier, the agency reported a "damaging" twister with quarter-size hail about 50 miles west near Washington. And a tornado was earlier reported in the Osage County community of Rich Fountain.

It was not immediately clear whether there was any related injuries or damage in any of these Missouri locales.

The weather service also

READ MORE

Sir Bruce Forsyth steps down from Strictly Come Dancing

 He said it was the "right time to step down from the rigours" of hosting the live shows.
The 86-year-old entertainer has co-hosted Strictly since it began in 2004. The BBC One series celebrates its 12th series later this year.
"Strictly's success is due

READ MORE