Clinton takes her foot off the gas on Sanders after New York win ……. CNN

Hillary Clinton is trading her direct attacks against Bernie Sanders ahead of this week’s New York primary for a softer touch.

Clinton didn’t take any shots at Sanders during her first post-New York rally on Wednesday night, instead delivering her standard stump speech and casting the April 26 primaries in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maryland as a “great opportunity to start us on the path to the White House.”

Trump surrogates say GOP front-runner ‘projecting an image’ during primaries ……. Fox

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Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s top lieutenants told skeptical GOP leaders Thursday that their candidate has been “projecting an image” so far in the 2016 primary season and “the part that he’s been playing is now evolving” in a way that will improve his standing among general election voters.

In a recording of the closed-door meeting obtained by the Associated Press, Trump’s newly hired senior aide, Paul Manafort, made the case to Republican National Committee members that Trump has two personalities: one in private and one onstage.

Queen’s 90th birthday: Beacons lit amid UK celebrations …… BBC

The Queen has lit the first of more than 900 beacons lighting up across the UK and overseas as part of her 90th birthday celebrations.

Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall then joined the monarch at a private dinner in Windsor Castle.

Earlier, cheering crowds lined the streets in Windsor as the Queen took part in a walkabout.

On Twitter, the Queen thanked senders of “#HappyBirthdayYourMajesty” tweets.

In another tweet, the Queen said: “I send my best wishes to those who are celebrating their 90th birthday… on this shared occasion, I send my warm congratulations to you.”

Mitsubishi Motors office raided over fuel economy tests …….. BBC

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Japanese officials have raided an office of Mitsubishi Motors following the revelation that the carmaker had falsified its fuel economy data.

The officials searched its plant in the central Japanese city of Okazaki.

Mitsubishi has admitted that employees altered data to flatter mileage rates on more than 600,000 vehicles.

A government spokesman said they were treating it as an “extremely serious case” and that it had ordered the company to submit a full report.

Trump has been playing a part, will become more presidential: adviser …… Reuters

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Top advisers to Donald Trump assured Republican Party leaders on Thursday that the New York billionaire would adopt a more presidential demeanor soon, to temper the image projected during his campaign so far.

Trump’s representatives, including newly recruited senior advisers Paul Manafort and Rick Wiley, met privately with leaders of the Republican National Committee at an oceanside resort hotel where the party is holding a three-day meeting.

“The part that he’s been playing is now evolving into the part that you’ve been expecting. The negatives will come down, the image is going to change,” Trump senior adviser Paul Manafort assured the party leaders, according to an audiotape of the session heard by Reuters.

Uber drivers remain independent contractors as lawsuit settled …….. Reuters

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Ride-hailing service Uber has agreed to pay up to $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit which resolves a major challenge to its business model by allowing it to keep its California and Massachusetts drivers as independent contractors.

The lawsuit, over whether its drivers are employees or independent contractors, had claimed that Uber [UBER.UL] drivers are employees and are thus entitled to reimbursement of expenses.

Prince, Superstar And Pioneer of American Music, Dies Aged 57 | Theguardian

The unique and endlessly creative artist Prince has died at his Paisley Park home, outside Minneapolis, aged 57, leaving behind him a gaping hole in musical genres as diverse as R&B, rock, funk and pop.

The death was announced by his publicist Yvette Noel-Schure after police had been called to the premises which double as his music studio in the Minnesota city. No details were immediately given for the cause of death, though last week he was rushed to hospital apparently recovering from a bout of flu that had forced his private jet to make an emergency landing in Illinois.

Buhari’s Boko Haram “menu” for vandals By Ochereome Nnanna

I HAVE been thinking through President Muhammadu Buhari’s threat to “deal with (pipeline vandals) like Boko Haram”. That was the president’s “latest release” from foreign land, when he completed his one-week epic tour of China last week. You see, the typical Nigerian government (not just the regime of General Buhari alone) is very funny. It is only in Nigeria that government issues special “warnings” to lawbreakers to desist or they would be dealt with, as if the criminals did not know the government is charged with that responsibility before embracing their ignoble enterprise. How many times have we “warned” Boko Haram to drop their killing spree and “embrace dialogue”?

Cost of not disowning Saraki By Jide Oluwajuyitan

Again, let us remind ourselves how we got to this sorry pass. For ease of administration, the framers of our constitution expect the ruling party with a majority to produce the Senate President and deputy.  But Saraki after cutting a deal which ceded the deputy senate presidency to the opposition, capitalized on the absence of 51 of his elected APC colleagues to be adopted Senate President by 49 PDP senators and eight APC senators. Itse Sagay described Saraki’s coup as ‘a victory for impunity, a victory for fraud and a victory for political desperation and indiscipline”, while Auwalu Yadudu, former Dean of a Faculty of Law, Bayero University Kano dismissed it as ‘lies in the face of democratic ideals’ since Saraki’s emergence stemmed from ‘a flawed election by a fraction of yet-to-be-constituted Senate.

Increased Chinese loans to Nigeria By Dapo Fafowora

During his official visit to China, President Muhammadu Buhari concluded with the Chinese president a $6 billion loan to Nigeria for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar rail project. Nigeria is to provide some N40 billion as counterpart funding for this huge infrastructure project, the largest since the Chinese built in the 70s the Tan-Zam railway, linking Tanzania with Zambia.  It is the largest ever Chinese loan to an African state. Despite some legislative hiccups here in Nigeria over the counterpart funding, the project will almost certainly go ahead. Nigeria needs it badly to provide a coastal railway between Lagos and Calabar with future possible lateral rail connections on the route. The critical importance of this project to Nigeria is so obvious that it should not evoke any controversy. It should go ahead as speedily as possible.

5 STEPS TO PEN A GOOD SLAM POEM

Penning your own slam poetry isn't as difficult as it might seem. Follow these quick guidelines and you'll have a first draft in no time!
Want to create a truly memorable or powerful slam poem? There are various tricks that you can use to make your slam poem stand out from other spoken work poetry at a poetry slam. Read this cheat sheet to write your own slam poetry—and learn how to wow crowds.

1.  Do Your Homework. To know what makes slam poetry effective, you need to see a lot of it performed. Attend a poetry slam at a local coffee shop or bookstore. If you can't find one, head to YouTube.com, type in "slam poetry videos" and you'll be amazed by the quantity, quality, and variety that you’ll find. Take notes on which slam poems you like best and why they made an impression.

Mrs Buhari’s hustle By Abimbola Adelakun

Last Thursday, the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, launched her book, Essentials of Beauty Therapy: A Complete Guide for Beauty Specialists, an event attended by the familiar gang of the All Progressives Congress big wigs: Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; his wife, Dolapo; senators and state governors; distinguished and ordinary politicians. Coincidentally, the launch date also dredged deeply ugly memories for some Nigerians – the people of Chibok whose daughters were abducted two years ago; Nigerians who still remember them and care, and the girls themselves who, wherever they are, probably no longer have a sense of how much time has passed.

Okonjo-Iweala’s satanic verse By Lawal Ogienagbon

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In a national broadcast to mark the forgiveness of Nigeria’s debt by the Paris Club in 2005, former President Olusegun Obasanjo made some remarks, which I have since held on to. In closing the broadcast, he said: “How about the future? We must learn from the past. We must all show collective responsibility to prevent a return to the past. We must all commit ourselves to protecting, rather than squandering the future of our children. We must all agree not to remove the solid blocks on which our nation stands by accumulating debts that we cannot pay. May God never let us go through this painful path again’’.

Boosting Nigeria’s rail system By Dele Agekameh

In the history of budget making in Nigeria, the 2016 Budget appears to be the most controversial. It all began with claims and counter-claims that the document had grown wings and disappeared from where it was kept. As the controversy gained momentum, two versions of the same document surfaced. At the end of the day, the truth was known to the public – some smart government officials had tampered with the original document and completely bastardised it. The President was enraged. An enquiry was set up which eventually led to the removal and repositioning of some top directors in the budget office.

Preach and be damned? By Mohammed Haruna

 
As far as controversial issues go, the not-so-recent move by the equally controversial Malam Nasir el-Rufa’i, Governor of Kaduna State, to regulate preaching in his state probably ranks on top in the country in recent weeks. A man never afraid to take big decisions, the self-proclaimed “accidental public servant” sent a bill in October last year to amend a somewhat dormant 1984 law which regulated preaching in the state.

Air-Commodore Usman Mu’azu, military governor of the state under the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari in his first coming as military head of state, enacted the law, titled Regulation of Religious Preaching Edict, 1984, in August that year following violent religious clashes in the state. It was subsequently amended twice, first in 1987 by Lt-Col Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, and then in 1996 by Lt-Col Hammed Ibrahim Ali, as military governors of the state.

FAAN Union Disrupts Arik Air’s Operations At Lagos Airport

 
The Federal Airports of Nigeria (FAAN) workers’ union on Wednesday morning blocked the operations of Arik Air at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. Workers of the airline were prevented from gaining access to their duty posts thereby disrupting the day’s operations.
The action by the workers’ union is connected with the long-standing and unsubstantiated claim by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) of spurious indebtedness of the airline to the agency which is now before a Federal High Court in Lagos at the instance of FAAN.

Senate suspends ammendments of CCB/CCT, Criminal Justice Acts

The Senate rose from a three-hour executive session on Wednesday and agreed to suspend further legislative action on the bills to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Tribunal and the Administration of Criminal Justice Acts.
The three bills, which had already passed second reading on the floor of the upper chamber, were intended to whittle down the powers of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, in the discharge of its activities against corrupt officials.

EFCC Rejects Ekweremadu As Anti-Corruption Ambassador, Disowns National Assembly Officer | PremiumTimes

 
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has denied decorating Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy senate president, as its anti-corruption ambassador.
In a statement Wednesday, the commission said reports widely circulated in the media on Tuesday, quoting its National Assembly liaison officer as bestowing the award on Mr. Ekweremadu, was of no consequence as the officer acted on his own.
Read full statement:

Buhari meets ministers over budget

President Muhammadu Buhari.

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over a meeting of the Federal Executive Council where a major decision on the 2016 budget may be taken.
The meeting started at exactly 11am inside the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

 

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; and most ministers are in attendance.

Exotic vehicles divides senators

National Assembly Complex

The secret distribution of the first batch of the brand new 108 Sport Utility Vehicles to 36 senators last Thursday has started generating tension and ill-feelings among members of the upper chamber.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that each senator from the 36 states had collected the keys to the Land Cruiser jeeps.

w Saraki paid for N522m property in seven tranches

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

The prosecution on Monday continued its case against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, with its first witness, Mr. Michael Wetkas, revealing evidence of how the accused allegedly bought a property at 17, Mcdonald Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, in seven tranches.

The prosecution alleged in the 13 counts it preferred against Saraki that the  property was part of those which the Senate President failed to declare to the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was governor of Kwara State. 

Kogi Factional APC dissociates self from vote of no confidence

Gbenga Odogun

A faction of the All Progressives Congress has dissociated itself from the crisis rocking the party in the western axis of Kogi State.

They therefore passed a vote of confidence on the member representing Kogi/Koton-Karfe Constituency in
the state assembly, Hon. Muhammed Zakari Osewu.

Hard times hit Bayelsa as eateries, shops close down

Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

As Bayelsa State workers groan under the heavy weight of unpaid salaries, investigation has revealed that many business concerns, shops and eateries have closed down.

Governor Seriake Dickson has recently been in the eye of the storm over unpaid salary arrears of workers in the public and civil service.

EFCC arraigns Tompolo, Akpobolokemi’s brothers in absentia

Patrick Akpobolokemi

Ramon Oladimeji

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arraigned a former Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, in absentia on 22 counts of N47.6bn fraud.

Also arraigned in absentia in relation to the alleged fraud were six brothers of a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi –  Igo, Julius, Victor, Norbert, Emmanuel and Clement.

Nollywood Actress mocked.

Nollywood Actress posted this picture above after been criticized by fans over divorces