FRESH 4RM GIM

Two persons have died in Edo State after consuming some quantity of locally-brewed gin popularly called “Ogogoro’’, believed to have been contaminated, a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports . The correspondent, who visited Ugieda, South Ibie, in the Etsako-West Local Government Area of Edo on Thursday where the incident took place, reports that three persons were hospitalised at an undisclosed health facility, after taking the substance. An eye-witness, Mr Lukman Rilwan, told NAN that the five persons who consumed the local brew, had complained of stomach ache afterwards.

President Muhammadu Buhari declared late Wednesday in Nairobi that he was yet to be convinced that Nigeria and its people will derive any tangible benefit from an official devaluation of the Naira. Speaking at an interactive meeting with Nigerians living in Kenya, President Buhari maintained that while export-driven economies could benefit from devaluation of their currencies, devaluation would only result in further inflation and hardship for the poor and middle classes in Nigeria’s import-dependent economy.

Scott Disick appeared to be on a downward spiral in the months after his split from Kourtney Kardashian last year, but luckily, he eventually got help. After photos of Scott Disick and his ex-girlfriend, Chloe Bartoli, in the South of France hit the web last July, his nine-year relationship with the reality star came to an abrupt end, and as fans have seen on Keeping Up With The Kardashians saw, he didn’t handle the split very well. Instead, he was seen partying around Los Angeles, and stars of the show spoke of his wild ways. Then, in early October of last year, Scott Disick entered a 30-day treatment plan at the Cliffside rehab center in Malibu, California.

Scientists in Brazil believe the devastating Zika virus may have already crossed over to the common mosquito, dramatically increasing the risk of it spreading worldwide. The Brazilian government is already struggling to contain a growing public health disaster. There are suspicions the mosquito-borne virus is linked to more than 4,000 babies with brain deformities in South America’s largest country. The authorities have called troops out on to the street and deployed teams of health workers to try to combat the spread but so far those at the forefront admit they are nowhere near succeeding.

Despite the ongoing war against corruption being waged by President Muhammadu Buhari, global anti-corruption agency, Transparency International, TI, has retained Nigeria in its 136th position out of the 170 countries in its latest ranking of global corruption perception index. Chairman of TI, Jose Ugaz, who disclosed this yesterday after the anti- corruption watchdog released a list of its 2015 corruption perception index, observed that corruption remains a blight around the world. Ugaz stated that 2015 was also a year when people around the world sent a strong signal to those in power that it was time to tackle corruption with various protests across the globe, stressing that more countries, however, improved in 2015.

Sweden’s Interior Minister says the government is planning to expel as many as 80,000 failed asylum-seekers. Anders Ygeman said that charter aircraft would be used to deport the migrants over several years. Some 163,000 migrants applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015, the highest per capital number in Europe of approximately 58,800 cases processed last year, 55 per cent were accepted.

   In this report, BODE GBADEBO revisits some issues raised at the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee into the Refined Product Exchange Agreement/Crude Oil Swap involving a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and some oil companies. In what may become a trigger for a possible overall oil sector probe by the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari after the ongoing Defence sector probe, the revelations coming out of the several days of public hearing, which is still ongoing, organised by an adhoc committee of the House of Representatives under the chairmanship of Hon.

Days after ex-Plantashun Boiz member, Blackace accused 2face Idibia and Wizkid of song theft, 2face has responded describing the statements by Blackface as ‘unfortunate’. In an interview with Channels Television, he said, ‘It is just so unfortunate. I do not know where it is coming from (but) I am trying to think of different reasons. At first I though his account was hacked’. Asked if they are still friends, he said: ‘Blackface does not consider me his friend anymore. We will trash the whole matter but I got nothing but love and respect for him and it is just so unfortunate that he is coming at me like that’

The Android 5.1.1 run BlackBerry Priv comes with a 5.4-inch QHD display. NEW DELHI: BlackBerry, the Canadian enterprise solution provider and smartphone maker, has launched its first ever Android OS powered by smartphone, Priv, in India, and priced it at Rs 62,990. The device will be available from January 30, 2016 The Android smartphone, which comes equipped with security and productivity features, was originally launched by BlackBerry in western markets in November last year.

The world’s biggest social network notched another record period, with fourth-quarter sales jumping 52 percent as the company capitalized on its reams of user information to serve up more ads. The shares rallied 12 percent.  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during his keynote address at Facebook F8 in San Francisco, California, in this file photo taken March 25, 2015. The company now has 1.59 billion users who log into the service every month, especially on smartphones and tablets. That expansion in turn generates more profit, giving Mark Zuckerberg leeway to invest in the company’s future. On a call with investors Wednesday, the chief executive officer spent most of his time talking about virtual reality, artificial intelligence and connecting the rest of the world to the Internet. While those initiatives won’t contribute meaningfully for years, they’re aimed at making sure that more people put Facebook at the center of their digital lives.

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission last Tuesday arrested Jide Omokore, an ally of former president, Goodluck Jonathan, and Chairman of Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited in connection with a series of multi-billion dollar petrol import and crude export deals. Security sources told Premium Times that Mr Omokore, who is still in EFCC custody, has made revealing statements. Atlantic Energy Limited was one of the companies that received multibillion dollar worth of public assets without due process by the Jonathan administration in 2011.

   Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed that it would soon begin dialogue with MTN for an out-of-court settlement over the N1.04 trillion fine imposed on the telecommunications company for not deactivating 5.1 million unregistered subscribers. The executive vice chairman, Umar Garba Danbatta, during his first world press conference on Wednesday said that the NCC’s lawyers on Tuesday evening officially communicated to the telecommunications regulator the decision of the presiding judge, Mohammed Idris, handling the suit instituted by MTN against NCC to grant both parties 60 days leave to discuss for an out-of-court settlement.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday called an employee of Diamond Bank, Eno-Mfon Effiong, as its fourth witness in the ongoing trial of the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, on charges of money laundering and fraudulent receipt of N400m from the Office of the National Security Adviser in November 2014.

  Eritrean ladies: law compelling men to marry two wives false The Eritrean government has dismissed reports that it has mandated all men to marry a second wife. The news report has become a major talking point in Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa and other African countries. But when P.M. News wrote Eritrea, Ministry of Information, wanting to get a clarification on the matter, they wrote back stating that the alleged law was a ‘hoax’

Facebook community announced thier quarterly results and shared an update on their community's progress to connect the world. Facebook now has more than 1.59 billion people. More than 1 billion people use Groups. Almost 1 billion people use WhatsApp. More than 19 million people who previously had no internet access are now connected through Internet.org.