January 4, 2020

Spain Electoral Board Disqualifies Catalan President

Spain’s electoral board ordered Friday that Catalan separatist president Quim Torra be disqualified from being a member of Catalonia’s regional parliament, meaning he would lose his presidential post.

The electoral board decision comes after Catalonia’s High Court of Justice last month convicted Torra of disobedience for failing to remove separatist symbols from public buildings during an election campaign and banned him from holding public office for 18 months.

Catalonia’s autonomy statute specifies that the head of the region’s government must be a lawmaker in the regional assembly.

The election board ruling comes as Spain’s acting Prime Minister, Socialist Pedro Sanchez, …

Knife Attacker Kills Man In Paris Suburb Before Shot Dead

A knife-wielding man ran amok Friday in a park south of Paris, killing a man walking with his wife and wounding two other people before being shot dead by police, officials said.

The Paris police department said the man, identified as 22-year-old Nathan C., attacked “several people” around lunchtime in the suburb of Villejuif.

Some managed to evade him but the man claimed at least one life — that of a 56-year-old Villejuif resident, according to the town’s mayor Franck Le Bohellec.

The victim “was walking with his wife when the attacker approached; he wanted to protect his wife” and …

Director ‘Sad’ At Awards Snub Of Female Filmmakers

Top Hollywood woman director Greta Gerwig said she was “disappointed” that she had been snubbed by the Golden Globes, with the producer of her hit film “Little Women” blaming the “unconscious bias” of male movie critics.

With the awards from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association about to kick off the Oscar season on Sunday, Gerwig told AFP she had been saddened to have been “bumped out” of the best director race.

However, her adaptation of the much-loved novel by Louisa May Alcott won nods for best actress for its lead Saoirse Ronan and best music for French composer Alexandre Desplat.…

Bolivia To Hold Presidential Vote May 3: Electoral Tribunal

Bolivians will choose a new president May 3, more than six months after a disputed election sparked violent street protests and the resignation of Evo Morales.

Interim leader Jeanine Anez has been overseeing a caretaker government since then, after Morales fled the country for Mexico.

The new presidential election will be “the first Sunday of May, I can let you know that much,” said the vice president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Oscar Hassenteufel.

Once complete, the electoral schedule will include dates for registration of candidates, the campaign timeframe, rules on advertising, and rules on a potential second round.

Bolivia …

CEO Tim Cook Sees Pay Ebb Along With Apple Performance

Apple chief Tim Cook saw his annual pay slip to $11.6 million in 2019 after the company registered a weaker financial performance compared with the previous year, according to documents filed Friday.

Cook, who took home $15.7 million in 2018, is paid a base salary of $3 million, in addition to a bonus and various compensations.

His 2019 incentive bonus, which is tied to Apple’s performance, tallied about $7.7 million, and was calculated based on the fact that Apple exceeded its sales target by only 28 percent.

That compared with $12 million in 2018, based on the company exceeding its …

Five Things To Watch For At Golden Globes

Hollywood hits the red carpet Sunday for the Golden Globes, the first major awards show of the year, which honors the best in film and television.

Millions of viewers are expected to tune in, but what should you be watching for?

Here is our quick guide to the event, which will take place in Beverly Hills, California:

– Another record for Scorsese? –

AFP / Tatiana MAGARINOSGolden Globes

There are few cinematic worlds left for Hollywood veteran Martin Scorsese to conquer, but the Globes could offer a new record.

If he takes home a fourth best director prize for

Search For Survivors As Cambodia Building Collapse

Hundreds of soldiers and rescuers frantically picked through the rubble of a collapsed building in southern Cambodia on Saturday looking for bodies as the death toll from the disaster rose to seven.

They used excavators, drills and power saws to clear concrete the morning after the seven-storey hotel under construction in seaside Kep province crumbled to the ground with an estimated 30 workers inside, prompting an all-night rescue.

It was the latest deadly accident to mar the kingdom’s poorly regulated building sector even as hotels, high-rises and casinos spring up in a construction boom.

Cambodian leader Hun Sen, who …

Sydney Power Under Threat As Fires Destroy Substations

Electricity supplies in Australia’s most populous state, including its largest city Sydney, were under threat on Saturday after bushfires took out two substations with authorities warning of rolling blackouts if conditions worsen.

The blazes have raged across New South Wales, and they brought down transmission lines in the state’s south connecting with neighbouring Victoria, state energy minister Matt Kean tweeted.

Kean urged people to reduce unnecessary electricity use and “turn off pool pumps, lights in unoccupied rooms and avoid using washing machines and dishwashers”.

TransGrid chief executive Paul Italiano said the system was coping but “under stress”.

Trey Songz Sued For $10 Million Over Alleged Sexual Assault

American singer Trey Songz is facing a $10 million (₦3,615,000,000) lawsuit for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Songz whose real name is Tremaine Neverson is being sued by an unnamed Georgia woman.  According to the lawsuit, the incident took place on January 1, 2018. Songz had reportedly invited her to Miami’s E11even night club after celebrating New Year’s Eve at Diddy’s house. It was in his VIP section at E11even where the assault is said to have taken place.

The suit states;

“This is a lawsuit arising from a sexual assault and

Twitter User Accuses French Montana Of Hacking Spotify

The struggle for supremacy in the music industry is a well-known one as artistes attempt to stay atop their game while competing with the many other talents vying for the top position.

Did one entertainer take his game a bit too far? Twitter user, @Karlamagne seems to think with a series of tweets that accuses rapper, French Montana of cheating the system.

@Karlamangne’s tweets are coming on the heels of Montana’s song “Writing on the Wall” charting on Spotify this week.

The three-months-old song features fellow rappers Post Malone, Cardi B, and Jamaican pop star Rvssian. The song debuted on

Breaking: Scores Feared Dead As Explosion Rocks Kaduna

Several persons have been reported dead in a gas explosion that occurred at a shop along Kachia road in Sabon Tasha, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna.

The reason resulting to the explosion of the gas is not yet known at the time of this report, but the sound of the explosion attracted people within and outside Sabon Tasha to the scene.

As at the time of filing this report, the shop where the gas is being sold and other shops are up in flames.

Only parts of human body were seen

NIPOST, Not FIRS Has Responsibility To Collect Stamp Duty

Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Mallam Ali Pantami, yesterday, insisted that it is the duty of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to collect Stamp Duty for the Federal government instead of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), saying it is selfish and an injustice trying to deny NIPOST of collecting the duty

He argued that Stamp Duty should be collected by NIPOST the way Customs Duty is collected by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

Pantami, who stated this in Abuja, regretted that the FIRS has been working to be the agency collecting the duty, adding that he had presented …