Abbey's Gist

Google's European boss has apologized after adverts from major firms and government agencies appeared next to extremist content on its YouTube site. It came after Marks and Spencer became the latest firm to pull its online ads over the issue, joining others such as Audi, RBS and L'Oreal. Google's European chief, Matthew Brittin, promised to review the firm's policies and strengthen enforcement. But some questioned the company's commitment to tackling the issue. A recent investigation by the Times found adverts from a range of well-known firms and organisations had appeared alongside content from supporters of extremist groups on YouTube's video site. An advert appearing alongside a video earns the poster about £6 for every 1,000 clicks it generates, meaning brands may have unwittingly contributed money to extremists. The Times said that rape apologists, anti-Semites and hate preachers were among those receiving payouts. Analysis: Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC technolog...

Kenyan's actress LUPITA NYONG'o rose to critical acclaim for her Oscar winning role in "12 years a slave". Our own women, our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our own beautiful black women, the bravest, most beautiful, caring, passionate, lovely, strongest, of all women i have ever seen or heard of on the surface of the earth. They are never ashamed of their skin color, never let Racism distract them from their dreams, focused all through. Our own heroes, our own black women who are proud of who they are and became an inspiration and motivation to our own beautiful lovely young damsels. We are proud of you all, our own black shining sparkling gems where ever you are, who ever you are, what ever you are.  ILWAD ELMAN is a Somali-born social activist who lives in the USA. The YALI( Young African Leaders Initiative ) Alum is one of four daughters of the late Somali activist Elman Ali Ahmed. CHIMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE , is a Nigerian prominent Novelist know for "...

Chancelor Johnathan Bennett  (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as  Chance the Rapper , is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from the West Chatham neighborhood of Chicago,Illinois. In his freshman year at Jones College Prep High School, Chance formed the hip-hop duo Instrumentality with a friend. At Jones College Prep High School, some of his teachers ridiculed his aspirations to become a musician. Following a 10-day suspension in early 2011 during his senior year for possessing marijuana on campus, Bennett recorded his first full-length project, a mixtape titled  10 Day .  In 2013, he began to gain recognition following the release of his second mixtape,  Acid Rap . Acid Rap  was listed on multiple 50 best albums of 2013 lists, including 26th for  Rolling Stone ,12th on Pitchfork's list,and ranked 4th by Complex .It was also listed as one of NPR Music's 50 F...

I'm just a big sucker for anything that tastes so good that's why I was persuaded to taste this beans cake (Akara) courtesy a dear cousin, by the way I'm still thinking of how she found out about the akara. I remember we were making sandwich for an Abuja trip and she said she wanted us to keep our bread till we got to that round about that leads to Ife /akure/ilesha.i didn't want to but she made the "mwuese you should taste the Akara"statement. Please if you don't want me to eat a country don't make that statement beside me cos it immediately gives me cravings.  Summary of my story is I finally tasted the Akara that awesome morning and I got stuck. Gosh!!!  I don't know why the inner part is always very succulent like how do they go about it. I've tried to make it but failed ( culinary school here I come) or maybe I should just sit down by the road side with one of the women making this superb beans cake.  I would love to say that Akara Osu i...

CNN's Robyn Curnow celebrates His Africa Hero Desmond Tutu. It was the late 1980s and townships were burning in South Africa. Apartheid's death throes were in full swing, violent and bloody, yet here was Archbishop Tutu, Nobel peace laureate and activist, in the chapel of Curnow's school. "He still took the time to come out and speak to a bunch of teenage girls in the suburbs," she marvels. The voice of a liberation movement, who unlike many of his peers was not in jail, nor in exile, Tutu was out to spread the word of an inclusive, equal society that at the time still lived beyond the horizon for South Africa. "The man that I listened to then was the same that I ended up speaking to and interviewing over the next few decades." Curnow's inspiration, her choice for CNN Heroes' My Hero series, is now Archbishop Emeritus Tutu, having retired from public life. Perhaps unsurprisingly he remains a firebrand and staunch defender of human rights, continu...

(CNN)At least 38 people were killed and 13 others injured in northern Haiti after a bus plowed into a festival crowd before dawn Sunday, in what local authorities said was a hit and run incident. The bus, owned by the transportation company Blue Sky Logistics, was carrying people from the northern Haitian city of Cap Haitien to the nation's capital, Port Au Prince. The bus encountered streets crowded with revelers celebrating Rara, a popular festive season in Haiti that stretches from Mardi Gras until Easter Sunday. Just outside the city of Gonaives, the bus struck two pedestrians, one of whom died instantly. The bus driver continued on for several miles before encountering a Rara band playing music in the middle of the road. The bus plowed through the first group of musicians, then drove through a second and a third band. The driver fled the scene on foot and is still at large, police said. Authorities are actively searching for him. According to one eyewitness, people were still ...

I don't know if i am the only one pondering about the poor state of electricity in First Gate area of the Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu Lagos State. Well, i guess it isn't possible for me to be the only one thinking this, since i ain't the only one leaving in the vicinity, my guess is people most especially students have just decided to keep quite about it or show less or no concern since their representative body (SUG) isn't doing or saying anything about it . For those of us who are in HND (Higher National Diplomat) and had our ND (National Diplomat) here in LASPOTECH, i believe and know you would support me on this, that the state of electricity is now worst, i can't just use the tag "very worst" for the state. Two - Three years ago, electricity bill was more cheaper, and the electricity was constant, we don't have to worry about ironing clothes, charging of phones and systems, fetching of water, nor reading at night. But now, we over worry on ev...

(CNN)Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, tweeted Saturday that he was fired after refusing to resign as requested by President Donald Trump's administration. "I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired," Bharara wrote on his verified Twitter account Saturday afternoon. "Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life." "One hallmark of justice is absolute independence, and that was my touchstone every day that I served," Bharara later said in a statement. Bharara's refusal to resign created a stunning public standoff Saturday, as 46 US attorneys across the country were asked to tender their resignations Friday afternoon. A source told CNN that Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente called Bharara on Saturday to ask if it was true that he was refusing to resign, and Bharara told him yes. Boente then called Bharara back and said Trump was firing him, the source said. This w...

Foluke Atinuke Akinradewo (born October 5, 1987) is a Canadian-American indoor volleyball player, a member of the United States women's national volleyball team and Switzerland club Volero Zurich, a participant of the Olympic Games (2012, 2016), bronze medalist of the 2016 Olympic Games, 2015 World Cup, silver medalist of the 2012 Olympic Games, and a gold medalist of the 2014 World Championship and 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix. She played college women's volleyball at Stanford University. She was named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008. Akinradewo was born in London, Ontario, Canada, to Ayoola and Comfort Akinradewo. Her siblings are Folu and Foluso Akinradewo. She holds a tri-citizenship with Canada, Nigeria and the United States, and used to audition for commercials when she was little. Akinradewo attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she was a three-year letter winner in volleyball and was also on the basketball and track &...

Donald Trump’s revised travel ban is causing turmoil in the courts once again, as one US judge grants asylum to a Syrian refugee’s family, while another has declined to rule on the latest version. District Judge James Robart has come under criticism for claiming that a complaint or motion needs to be filed against the new executive order before he can make a decision. After public outcry against the original ban, the Seattle-based judge ruled in February that Mr Trump's executive was unconstitutional, stopping it from being implemented across the country. But Judge Robart said he would not be able to rule on the second ban until lawyers filed the appropriate paperwork. Nevertheless, a judge in Wisconsin has already circumnavigated Mr Trump’s travel ban by allowing the wife and child of a Syrian refugee already granted asylum to enter the country. The president’s latest executive order, issued on March 6, removed Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens will be subject to a 90...

Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's largest armed group, ends recruitment of children as part of peace plan. Hundreds of child soldiers have been released by the Philippines' main separatist rebel group, continuing its commitment to end the recruitment and use of children within its ranks. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), one of the most powerful armed groups in the country, released the children on Friday as part of an action plan with the UN. Reporting from the disengagement ceremony in Lanao del Sur, Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan said Friday's release did not happen overnight. "This is something that started eight years ago," she said. "It required a lot of ground work, a lot of investigations, a lot of re-education, not just of leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but also of parents who have had their children exposed to combat." In 2009, the group signed an action plan with the UN to end the recruitment of child soldi...

His excellency President Mohammed Buhari is back home as the adage has it, "Ajo, ko le da bi ile" . His excellency left Nigeria for vacation on the 19th of January and was scheduled to return home on the 6th of February, but due to His doctors advice on the President's health, the vacation was extended so further test could be carried out and the president would have a proper rest. It was announced on Thursday by Mr Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the president on media, that the president would return to the country on Friday which is today.   Femi Adesina, the special adviser on media and publicity to the president, said Mr. Buhari’s  plane landed in Kaduna  well after 7.am today in Kaduna, debunking earlier reports that the president flew in at about 4.am.  Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai, said on Facebook: “The President is back. He has landed safely in Kaduna and received by Acting Governor Barnabas Yusuf Bala and senior KDSG officials. The government ...

1. A MONSTER CALLS    Follows 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) who attempts to deal with his mother's (Felicity Jones, who stars in Focus’ fall release The Theory of Everything) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss and faith. 2. SPLIT    An original thriller that delves into the mysterious recesses of one man’s fractured, gifted mind. 3. SLEEPLESS    Jamie Foxx stars as an undercover Las Vegas police officer who will go to extreme lengths to rescue his teenage son from the mob-controlled casino underground. 4. MOANA    In the ancient South Pacific world of Oceania, Moana, a born navigator, sets sail in search of a fabled island. During her incredible journey, she teams up with her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui, to traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and ancient folkl...

His excellency Governor Akinwunmi Ambode graces the Lagos State Polytechnic 25th Convocation, and made it a day worth it. One could tell it from the look on the faces of the parents, grandaunts and the entire people of First Gate, Ikorodu . Nature itself felt a chain has been broken, waoooooooooooo!!! for good 24 convocation ceremonies, no Lagos State Governor ever made it a priority to grace the day with their presence, but this day on the 25th Convocation Ceremony of The Lagos State Polytechnic. the Governor made it His priority to Grace the day and embrace us with His warmth presence. The joy could also been seen on His face "my guess", i am so sure He would be asking Himself  " Am i really the first Governor to grace this Land " well Sir, if you did ask yourself that question, you are right, according to the history revealed, "that no Lagos State Governor has ever been to the school premises". You honored us and showed to us you are a Man For All and t...