Gist Arena

 These cars are made in Nigeria by Innoson vehicle manufacturing company, a subsidiary of Innoson group. The company, which manufactures cars, buses, tankers and other products, would from August 8, 2014 introduce brand new cars into the Nigerian auto mobile market at the cost of N1.5 million. Chairman and Chief Executive of the company, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma, who announced t his in Enugu and, said the cars which would be fully air conditioned and come with other gadgets were made for Nigerians to have access to brand new cars. Mr Chukwuma says the costliest of the coming cars, would be bought at N3.5 million. Chukwuma, who spoke at the road show organised by Empower Nigeria at the Enugu campus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, told the students of the university how he started venturing into diversified enterprise. He said: “I will launch my own cars in about two weeks time. And the cars will cost between N1.5 million and N3.5 million, depending on the cadre.”...

LAGOS, July 24 (Reuters) - A Liberian man in his 40s is being tested for the deadly Ebola virus in Nigeria's commercial capital of Lagos, a megacity of 21 million people, the Lagos State Health Ministry said on Thursday. Ebola has killed 632 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak began in February, straining a string of weak health systems despite international help. This would be the first recorded case of one of the world's deadliest diseases in Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and most populous nation, with 170 million people and some of Africa's least adequate health infrastructure. (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Writing by Tim Cocks, editing by John Stonestreet) Source

We're guessing that when this married man went to his local doctor complaining of stomach cramps, the diagnosis he received was unexpected to say the least. According to Shanghaiist.com a Chinese man, identified as Mr Chen, visited his doctor with complaints of stomach pain and blood in his urine. The 44-year-old underwent a CT scan, and upon further examination was told he had female genitals and was in fact experiencing period pains. After discovering their 'male' patient had both ovaries and a uterus, the confused doctors performed a chromosome examination which revealed Chen had a pair of XX sex chromosomes, meaning that he was genetically a woman. Although they didn't really need further confirmation, the doctors examined again to conclude that Chen didn’t have an adam’s apple or male genitalia. The chief of the First People’s Hospital of Yongkang said: "He was wearing men’s clothes and had short hair so we didn’t think that he would be a fem...

Sudanese woman, Meriam Ibrahim, who flew into Italy this morning in company of her husband Daniel Wani and their two children Martin and Maya, met with Pope Francis at  Casa Santa Marta th inside the Vatican.  According to the head of the Vatican Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, the meeting took place in a 'very serene & affectionate' environment, and Pope Francis thanked Meriam for her 'courageous witness to perseverance in the Faith.' Fr. Lombardi said Meriam thanked the Pope for his prayers, saying they provided great support and encouragement to her during her ordeal. See more photos after the cut...

An Air Algerie plane has reportedly crashed over Niger with 116 onboard after it was forced to divert due to a sandstorm. Flight AH5017 was flying from Burkina Faso to Algiers across the Sahara when Algerian aviation authorities lost contact with the aircraft, about 50 minutes after take-off,  the APS state news agency reported on Thursday. There have been mixed reports about the location of the plane, with the head of Mali's National Civil Aviation Agency saying that a search was under way for the missing flight. "We do not know if the plane is Malian territory," Issa Saly Maiga told Reuters. "Aviation authorities are mobilised in all the countries concerned - Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Algeria and even Spain." The Air Algerie flight disappeared over northern Mali, France's transport minister said. The passenger airliner was last seen at 0155 GMT, when it was flying over Gao, Mali, the airline added. It should have landed at 0510. Gao is...

ABAKALIKI-UNKNOWN gunmen Thursday morning within Abakaliki metropolis kidnapped the majority leader of Ebony State House of Assembly, Hon. Samuel Nwali. Vanguard learnt that the majority leader was kidnapped at his residence at Watchman street in Abakaliki The House member who represents Ikwo South state constituency is believed to be a strong supporter of the Speaker-elect, Hon. Helen Nwobasi. At the time of filing this report, the whereabout of the lawmaker was still unknown. However, a member representing Afikpo South East, Eni Uduma Chima confirmed the incident. Meanwhile, a source who pleaded anonymity said Nwali’s kidnap may not be unconnected with the crisis rocking the House of Assembly over the impeachment of the Former Speaker, Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku last Monday.

A man used a blunt razor to chop off the testicles of four patients at a Chinese nursing home, state media said Thursday. The suspect, who has been arrested, castrated a mentally disabled man aged 60 and removed one testicle each from two bedridden patients aged 53 and 80, the official Xinhua news agency said. Xinhua originally reported that there were three victims, but later updated its report with another man who was discovered during police enquiries, without giving details. The man tied up the inpatients and “removed their private parts with a dull razor”, Xinhua cited doctors and victims in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province as saying. Xinhua cited a member of staff as saying that the suspect, in his 30s, was mentally ill and housed at the home, but patients claimed he was an employee. A report by the Beijing News newspaper on Thursday said the man carried out the acts following a row over “leftover food”, without providing details. Authorities in the area c...

Surgeons have removed 232 teeth from the mouth of an Indian teenager. Ashik Gavai was admitted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai last week with swelling in his lower jaw. The 17-year-old was suffering from a condition known as complex odontoma or benign tumour of the tooth, head of dentistry Sunanda Dhivare-Palwankar said. “We operated on Monday and it took us almost seven hours. We thought it may be a simple surgery but once we opened it there were multiple pearl-like teeth inside the jaw bone,”  she said in comments reported by the Guardian. As well as the 232 teeth there was another hard, rock-like formation which she could not remove with a dentist’s drill. She told the India Times:  “We had to resort to the age-old, now outdated ‘chisel-mallet’ procedure to break down that formation as it was putting immense pressures on the jaw bone and surrounding healthy teeth.” She said neither her nor her team and seen or heard about anything comparable and added: “We b...

Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who was recently spared death sentence for apostasy was flown to Italy this morning July 24th in company of her two children, and accompanied by Italy's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Lapo Pistelli. Speaking to journalists at Rome's Ciampino airport this morning, Pistelli said the Italian government have been in 'constant dialogue' with Sudan but did not give more details on Italy's role in securing her exit from Sudan. She was received at the airport by the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renziw. See more photos below

  There's been quite a number of suicide bombings in Nigeria for a while now - where hundreds of lives have been lost - but Mrs Buhari didn't believe it was happening until it hit home.

Ex-Niger-Delta militant Asari Dokubo has shared his opinion on yesterday's attack on Gen. Buhari. He believes the former Head of State was attacked to cause calamity in Nigeria to push the military to take over from President Jonathan. See more tweets below

Algeria's national airline says it has lost contact with a plane carrying 110 passengers and six crew members after it disappeared off the radar on a flight from Burkina Faso to Algiers. Air navigation services lost track of the Airbus A320 around 50 minutes after take-off early today. The plane, which is owned by Spanish private airline company Swiftair, was last sited at 1.55am GMT, the official Algerian news agency said.  The flight should have landed in the Algerian capital at 5am GMT. The flight path of AH5017 from Ouagadougou, the capital of the west African nation of Burkina Faso, to Algiers was not immediately clear. A source from Air Algerie told the AFP news agency said contact was lost while it was still in Malian air space approaching the border with Algeria. The source said: 'The plane was not far from the Algerian frontier when the crew was asked to make a detour because of poor visibility and to prevent the risk of collision with another aircraft ...

The National Enquirer published these pics of president Obama with a young graduate at a recent event in a university in the US and according to the tabloid, a body language expert told them that the president was fascinated with the lady's chest. Below is what they reported:  In a heartless slap in the face to wife Michelle, President Obama has been photographed looking down the top of a young woman's dress - and shocking onlookers are calling him "a perv." You can see he was trying to check out her boobs. The poor girl probably had no idea he was perving her. Lol. Was he really checking out her boobs? Oh and please that doesn't make him a perv! *hiss*

A 30-year old man, Mr. Inya-Okoro from Afikpo North LGA of Ebonyi State has been arrested by police for defiling a 2-year-old girl named Favour,  Sunnewsonline  reports   The suspect was alleged to have com­mitted the shameful act when the victim returned from school and was sleeping at the corridor of the house when the suspect, who also lives in the same compound allegedly pounced on her and committed the crime. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr. Chris Anyanwu an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), who confirmed the incident said the suspect was arrested on July 14, 2014 at the scene of the crime when the members of the family alerted the police. Continue... He said that the girl had been taken to hospital for medical examination and treat­ment while the suspect would be charged to court for prosecution, lamenting high rate of rape and defilement in the state. According to Anyanwu, “On Monday 14 th  July, 2014, one Ama Inya-O...

Boko Haram do not release video to claim responsibility of their attacks immediately, sometimes it takes up to a month. The car bomb that went off in Lagos recently, it took over two weeks before Shekau spoke about it. But Alhaji Asari Dokubo and now his wife are making an issue out of the fact that Boko Haram did not come out to claim responsibility for the kidnap of Chibok girls until President Jonathan spoke about it. But is that a good reason for them to continue to denying this sad incident, after over 100 days? #GoFigure

the victim's house A businesswoman, identified as Lizzy, has been found dead at her apartment on the Odusanya Oduguwa Crescent, Green Estate, Amuwo Odofin Area of Lagos State. The incident happened on Saturday morning. Sourcestold PUNCHMetro that the 39-year-old indigene of Anambra State was murdered in cold blood by her boyfriend who also carted away her money, ATM cards, jewellery and a Range Rover Sport. Our correspondent learnt from a police source that Lizzy, an executive in a networking firm, was planning to travel to the United States on Thursday (today) when she was strangled by the suspect. The source said, “She was into networking and owned houses in different parts of Lagos. She was an international businesswoman and travelled round the world. “She had said she would be travelling to the US this week and had gone to the bank with her boyfriend to withdraw N4m. “When they both got to her house, the man tied her hands and strangled her. He took the m...

Former Central Bank Governor, Lamido Sanusi, yesterday visited President Goodluck Jonathan for the first time, since he became the Emir of Kano. Sanusi, who said a special prayer for peace at Jonathan’s residence was one of the northern traditional rulers, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III to join the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja for the breaking of Ramadan fast. Speaking at the occasion, Abubakar condemned the twin blasts recorded in Kaduna yesterday as well as other acts of violence across the country. The Sultan described perpetrators as enemies of humanity, saying they and their sponsors had no Islamic agenda. He requested that the President should grant the traditional rulers an audience in the nearest future in order to discuss issues of national importance. The President granted the request immediately. In his short remarks, Jonathan urged the traditional rulers to join hands with his administration to end insurgency. “It could have bee...

The Federal Government, yesterday, vowed to mete out severe sanctions to perpetual defaulters in the payment of electricity bills. According to a statement by Mr. Benjamin Dikki, Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, government is considering a law stipulating stiffer sanctions for perpetrators of energy theft, perpetual bill defaulters and vandals of electricity equipment. He said those also engaging in other sharp practices considered to be detrimental to the growth of the recently privatised electricity industry in the country will be severely dealt with when the law comes into effect. Dikki, who disclosed this during BPE’s maiden post-privatisation visit to Eko Electricity Distribution Company in Lagos, said this becomes necessary in light of the fact that it is the responsibility of government to provide an enabling environment for the new electricity companies to carry out their business activities without any disturbance or distraction. He disclose...

K ADUNA  –  At least 82 persons were killed yesterday, and several others injured in two bomb blasts in Kaduna, targeted at former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi. Both men, however, escaped unhurt. In a statement he issued immediately after the incident, General Buhari declared that it was an assassination attempt and narrated how the suicide bomber tried to carry out the deadly assignment. Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, in response imposed a 24-hour curfew on Kaduna town after the blasts. In his reaction, President Goodluck Jonathan thanked God for sparing the lives of General Buhari and Sheikh Bauchi, and extended condolences to families of the dead, while commiserating with the injured. The first bomb attack took place on Isa Kaita Road, off Ali Akilu road around 12:30pm, yesterday, when the convoy of Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi was returning home after he gave a Ramadan Tafsir...