"Bizarre" creatures wash up on Australian beaches after record rainfall

 Animal experts have been left stunned after dozens of "bizarre" creatures washed up on Australian beaches following weeks of record rainfall.

 

Shocked beach-goers have spotted large weedy sea dragons across seafronts in New South Wales

The weedy seadragons have been spotted in Cronulla, Malabar and the Central Coast and they are thought to be 10 times the amount of normal wash-ups to hit the beaches.

 

Dr David Booth, professor of marine ecology at the University of Technology Sydney told the Sydney Morning Herald: "Clearly it’s a result of some combination of the shocking weather, pollutants being washed into the ocean and big surf."

 

 

The creatures can often be found in Australian waters and it is unusual for them to stray so far away from home, with adults being estimated to only move a mere 50-500 metres away from where they were given life.

 

 

"This can make them susceptible to loss of habitat and changing environmental factors," added lead investigator Dr Selma Klanten.

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $41 billion so it can be 'transformed as a private company'

 

Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share, which was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Thursday April 14, represents a 38 percent premium to Twitter’s April 1 close, the last trading day before the Tesla CEO’s more than 9 percent stake in the company was made public.

The filing showed Musk was offering to pay a total of $41.39 billion (€37.92 billion) to buy the platform.

 

That amounts to $54.20 per share, up 38% on the price per share before Musk bought over 9% of shares on April 1. Twitter's share price jumped markedly in pre-market trading, already approaching the value Musk had offered. 

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.

However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company . As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” Musk said.

 

Earlier this week, Musk said he had abandoned a plan to join Twitter’s board, just as his tenure was about to start. Taking the board seat would have prevented him from a possible takeover of the company.

"I shall not die before my time" - Woman cries out after husband allegedly battered her

 

A young woman, Happy Mark, based in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, has asked for prayers after she was allegedly battered by her husband. 

 

The lady took to Facebook on Thursday, April 14, to share photos from what looked like a hospital bed. In the photos, one of her left eye was swollen shut.

 

"I shall not die before my time, instead they will go down before me. May the Almighty hand rest upon me for quick recovery." she captioned the post.

 

Earlier, she shared same photos on a Facebook group and wrote: "Fans please I need your prayer. Look at what my husband did to me." 

 

"We will not change religion for 28 days" Qatar warns those who intend to display LGBTQ lifestyle at the World Cup to stay away

 LGTBQ couples and activists have been warned not to display the lifestyle or rainbow flags at the World Cup in Qatar, to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights.

 

A senior leader overseeing security for the tournament told The Associated Press that rainbow flags could be taken from fans at the World Cup.

Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari insisted that LGBTQ couples would be welcomed and accepted in Qatar for the November 21-December 18 FIFA showpiece despite same-sex relations remaining criminalised in the conservative Gulf nation.

 

However, Al Ansari is against the overt promotion of LGBTQ freedoms as symbolised by the rainbow flag that FIFA and World Cup organisers had previously said would be welcome across Qatar’s eight stadiums.

Al Ansari told AP: "If he (a fan) raised the rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to, really, take it, to really insult him, but to protect him.

 

"Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack (him) … I cannot guarantee the behaviour of the whole people. And I will tell him: 'Please, no need to really raise that flag at this point'."

 

He added: "You want to demonstrate your view about the (LGBTQ) situation, demonstrate it in a society where it will be accepted

"We realise that this man got the ticket, comes here to watch the game, not to demonstrate, a political (act) or something which is in his mind.

 

"Watch the game. That’s good. But don’t really come in and insult the whole society because of this."

 

Al Ansari's warning was condemned by fans and anti-discrimination campaigners.

 

"Often, so-called ‘protections’ are in fact smokescreens to cover up human rights violations," said Julia Ehrt of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and Ronain Evain of Football Supporters Europe in a joint response.

Julia Ehrt added: "FIFA and Qatar must address these concerns immediately, and show the world there is a chance of carrying out a rights-respecting and safe tournament for LGBTIQ fans."

 

Al Ansari said he was not telling LBGTQ fans to stay away from Qatar or warning them of facing prosecution.

 

He said: "Reserve the room together, sleep together — this is something that’s not in our concern. We are here to manage the tournament. Let’s not go beyond, the individual personal things which might be happening between these people … this is actually the concept.

 

"Here we cannot change the laws. You cannot change the religion for 28 days of the World Cup."

 

He added: "I am risking … a minority view against a majority.

 

"We have to be close to the problem before it erupts and gets out of control. … If somebody attacks you, then I have to get involved and it will be too late."

Television personality Jesse James is engaged to former porn star Bonnie Rotten

 American entrepreneur, automotive mechanic and television personality, Jesse James is engaged to former porn star Bonnie Rotten. 

 

The mechanic’s new fiancée announced the exciting news via Instagram on Wednesday, April 6. 

 

 

Rotten (aka Alaina Hicks) who has a 6-year-old daughter from her previous marriage to Dennis DeSantis, wrote; 

 

“I knew the moment I met you I wanted to spend every single day with you. The way you love me and my little one was all I ever dreamed of.

“I can’t wait for the rest of our awesome lives together, I’ve never met anyone who understands me more than you.

“All I want in the entire world is to make you the happiest man in the entire universe. You are perfect for me..I promise to always be by your side.

“The blood sweat and tears you put into this creation that represents our eternity together I love so much.. I love you.

“‘He’s got time to forge you a Damascus ring, but can’t make my $25 keychain??’” James quipped, adding, “(I love you baby!!)”

 

The photos, which were taken at a park, include a snap of the smiling bride-to-be holding up her left hand, as well as a closeup shot of the unique ring.

 

 

This will mark James’ fifth marriage. The former “Monster Garage” host said “I do” to his first wife, Karla, in 1991 when he was 20 and she was 30. The former couple – who share a daughter, Chandler, and a son, Jesse Jr. – divorced in 2002.

 

That same year, James wed former porn star Janine Lindemulder, who famously covered Blink-182’s “Enema of the State” album in nurse attire. They were married for two years and share one daughter, Sunny.

James’ most famous marriage, however, was to Sandra Bullock from 2005 to 2010. After cheating on her, the motorcycle enthusiast told the Daily Mail that he felt like “the most hated man in the world.”

 

Following a failed engagement to tattoo artist Kat Von D – who James allegedly cheated on with 19 women – he tied the knot for a fourth time to drag racer Alexis DeJoria. The two divorced in 2020 amid James’ alleged infidelity.

Ukraine war: Scared mum writes family contact info on daughter’s back in case she gets orphaned (Photos)

A Ukrainian mom was so scared she would lose her life while trying to save her toddler from the war that she wrote a list of family contacts on the young girl’s back to help identify her other family members.

 

Sasha Makoviy, an artist based in Kyiv shared the photo of her diaper-wearing daughter Vira’s back covered in her personal info, including her name, date of birth and a series of contact details.

She said her “hands were trembling,” as she wrote the info on the 2-year-old “in case something happened to us, and someone would pick her up as a survivor.”

She said a “crazy thought flashed through my mind: Why didn’t I tattoo her with this information?”

 

Makoviy said it “hurts” to scroll through the rest of her Instagram feed, with happy images of her, her daughter and the young girl’s father, a painful reminder of “such a wonderful life that we had” before Russia’s invasion.

Sasha Makoviy wrote the info on the 2-year-old's back “in case something happened to us, and someone would pick her up as a survivor.”

The heartbreaking image has gone viral in Ukraine after it was shared by Kyiv Independent journalist Anastasiia Lapatina, who wrote, “Ukrainian mothers are writing their family contacts on the bodies of their children in case they get killed and the child survives.

“And Europe is still discussing gas,” she said dismissively.

Makoviy updated her followers  Tuesday, April 5, saying she and her daughter were now “safe.”

“We managed to cross the border, and now we’re in the South of France,” she said alongside a new photo of a smiling Vira tending to some flowers.

 

“We’ve been staying with volunteers who invited us here and offered accommodation,” she wrote, saying her daughter’s pretty pink dress in the image was a gift from “a caring French family.”

“I’m moved to tears,” she said of the response to her post and offers of support.

 

 

Rape victim, 12, killed herself after police discouraged her from pressing charges

 A 12-year-old rape victim killed herself after police visited her home and discouraged her from pressing charges.

 

Semina Halliwell, from Southport, was allegedly raped by an older boy after being groomed over Snapchat before her death on June 12, 2021.

The schoolgirl broke down when informing her mother Rachel of the horrific ordeal following a self-harm incident.

 

 

However, family members have claimed she was told by detectives she would not "want this thing hanging over her head" as the case "wouldn't go to court for 18 months to two years", The Telegraph reports.

 

The family say Semina was "made to feel like she was an inconvenience" to Merseyside Police and no charges were brought against the alleged offender, whom she had named.

Semina's mother, Rachel Halliwell, and aunt, Clare, said the lead detective investigating her allegations instead "sat there and started talking about all the forms he'd have to fill in if she made the complaint" and the length of time it would take him.

 

Semina's aunt and her mother Rachel

 

The detective is also said to have told the family that it would be "your word against his", with relatives later telling Sky News that the police force did not inform her school of the alleged incident - despite assurances that safeguarding would be put in place.

 

Instead, the family say Semina was forced to stay at home in order to avoid coming into contact with the alleged offender. 

Semina, who had autism and found it difficult to express herself to strangers, was subsequently subjected to online and offline abuse and violent assaults after reporting the incident.

 

Semina and her mother

 

Her family believe these assaults were carried out by associates of the alleged suspect and claim Merseyside Police failed to fully investigate the allegations.

 

Rachel said the family received threats they were "going to get their heads kicked in" if they approached police, with Semina later filmed while being assaulted at school.

But the family again claimed officers did nothing to probe the assaults.

 

Two girls were prosecuted for assault, while Semina's mother was convicted of an offence after her daughter named the alleged offender.

 

In a later interview with police in the living room of the family home, three months after the initial allegations were raised, Semina said "I've had enough of this" and went upstairs.

 

Unknown to her family, she went upstairs to take her own life by lethal overdose.

 

Paramedics rushed to the scene after the family discovered empty medicine packets and Semina was taken to hospital.

She was placed into an induced coma, but suffered multiple organ failure and died. 

 

Rachel said: "It was horrific to watch my daughter pass away. Everybody who is paid to safeguard her let her down. Not one of them told her she was worth their time.

 

"People seem to think that when you take an overdose you go to sleep and you die. No she didn't. She didn't at all. We had to watch her die, her body shut down first. No parent should go through that."

 

After her death, the family endured further suffering when a video emerged on social media offering £10,000 to "trash" Semina's grave.

 

Semina's funeral 

 

And footage of her being bullied at school were also sent to her family around the time of her funeral. 

 

It included edited pictures of Semina "lying in a coffin" sent from fake accounts, but the family say police did not adequately probe further allegations of harassment.

 

Rachel branded Merseyside Police "absolutely disgusting" and attributed her daughter's death to the force, along with "the perpetrator, his family and social services".

 

Semina's phone, which the family claim is a key part of the investigation, is still in possession of the police.

 

The family have asked that it be returned as it contains pictures of Semina not available elsewhere.

 

A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said an inquest is currently being considered by Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens Coroner and it would not be appropriate to comment on the allegations until the inquest process is complete.

 

They added: "However, we have, and are, co-operating fully with the Coroner in this matter."

Girlfriend facing no charges after stabbing her boyfriend to death in domestic dispute

 

An American man of Nigerian descent has died after he was stabbed at a Miami high-rise in what officials are calling a domestic dispute.

 

Miami police are investigating after Christian Obumseli, 27, was fatally stabbed on Sunday night, April 3, at the One Paraiso luxury building at 3131 Northeast Seventh Avenue in Edgewater.

Police said there was a physical altercation between Christian Obumseli and his girlfriend, 25-year-old Courtney Clenney, before he was stabbed.

 

He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital and later died, police said.

 

 

A woman who police said was Obumseli’s girlfriend Clenney had called 911 to report the incident. Clenney was detained and taken to a mental institution, police said.

 

Family members told WFOR-TV that Obumseli had recently moved to Miami with his girlfriend.

 

 

Friends who knew the couple very well detailed a very rocky relationship.

 

 

The friends said Clenney, an OnlyFans model and Instagram influencer, was known to hit Obumseli whenever they had an argument.

 

"We’ve seen her hit him. I’ve never seen him hit her," Ashley Vaughn said as she shared photos she took with Obumseli and Clenney while they were all hanging out together.

 

 

 

Officers say there was a struggle before Obumseli was stabbed in the shoulder.

 

He died at the hospital and investigators are still trying to figure out what happened and if Clenney acted in self-defense.

 

 

But Ashley Vaughn said she doesn't believe Obumseli would ever try to hurt Courtney Clenney.

 

"From what we’ve personally experienced between the both of them, we believe that Christian wouldn’t put her in a position where she would need to stab him to protect herself," Vaughn said.

 

One neighbor says that he has a clear view of the couple’s apartment and said a week before the stabbing, things were off and that Clenney was the one getting physically abused.

 

"I could not tell if it was open-handed or closed-handed, but he was swinging at her," he said.

 

Police say in the past three months, they’ve responded to multiple disturbance calls at the couple’s apartment.

 

Their mutual friends are still trying to process what went wrong.

 

"Even though we really lost Christian only, it feels like we lost Courtney at the same time. We didn’t think this is how far it would have gone," Tahki Banks said.

 

 

Following the stabbing, Clenney was detained and while at the police station, she was threatening to kill herself.

 

Officers took her to the hospital where she was hospitalized under the Baker Act, and at the moment, she is not facing any charges.

Woman wins $10Million lottery after 'rude person' bumped into her and made her press a different button

 A woman who accidentally pressed a different button on a lottery vending machine when someone bumped into her ended up winning $10million.

 

LaQuedra Edwards said she put $40 into a California Lottery Scratchers vending machine at a Vons supermarket in Tarzana, Los Angeles, and was about to pick the game she wanted.

But a "rude person" bumped into her and made her select a number she didn't mean to choose, and the machine produced a $30 200X Scratchers ticket.

 

"He just bumped into me, didn’t say a thing and just walked out the door," said Edwards, according to the California Lottery on Wednesday, April 6.

 

Edwards recalled being irritated because of the bump and spending 75% of the money she set aside to play the lottery on a single ticket. She had intended to select lower-priced games as she usually does.

 

 

She then went to her car and began scratching the $30 ticket, to find that she won the top prize of $10million.

"I pulled over, looked at it again and again, scanned it with my (California Lottery mobile) app and I just kept thinking, 'This can’t be right'."

 

Edwards plans to use the fortune to buy a house and start a nonprofit organization.

 

She said: "I’m still in shock. All I remember saying once I found out how much I just won was, 'I’m rich!'"

 

"I didn’t really believe it at first, but I got on the 405 Freeway and kept looking down at (the ticket) and I almost crashed my car," Edwards stated.

Singer Teni sends message to men who shame women after intercourse with them

 Teni has a message for men who shame women after having sex with them.

 

The singer took to Twitter to speak against sex-shaming.

 

She wrote: "No more fuck shaming, una fuck una sef, which one be sey 'I don fuck am,' una don fuck una sef."

 

Sitting in the toilet for a long time can give you pile - Doctor warns people who spend hours on the phone while using the toilet

 Nigerian medical practitioner, Dr. Olufunmilato has warned against sitting in the toilet for too long. According to him, this can lead to a person developing Hemorrhoids also known as pile.

 

In a Twitter thread, Dr Olufunmilayo explained what could happen to the anus after prolonged sitting on a toilet seat.

 

Read below

Bank of Ghana bans pricing, advertising, receipting or making payments for goods and services in Foreign currency in Ghana

 The Bank of Ghana has issued a directive banning the pricing, advertising, receipting or making payments for goods and services in Foreign currency in the country.

 

The directive was issued in a statement released today April 7. The statement noted that the legal currency in Ghana is the Cedis and should be the only means of exchange. 

 

See a copy of the directive below

 

Meanwhile see reactions from Ghanaians to the directive below...

 

Brother of Browns linebacker, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah found dead at 23

 Police are investigating after the brother of a Cleveland Browns player was found dead in Hampton, Virginia on Tuesday April 5.

 

Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s brother was found dead inside a burned residence in Hampton, Virginia.

 

Joshua Emmanuel Owusu-Koramoah, 23, a former linebacker for William and Mary, is one year older than the Browns’ second-year linebacker out of Notre Dame.

The Hampton Police and the Division of Fire and Rescue responded to a call shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday and found Joshua’s body inside the home, where he lived, police records say.

 

Drew Barker, a Bethel High football teammate of Owusu-Koramoah’s told The Virginian-Pilot he was set to meet Owusu-Koramoah for breakfast Tuesday morning, and became concerned when he was late.

 

“It was automatically heartbreaking when he wasn’t answering phone calls, because he was the most punctual, respectful, humble and reliable person I know,” Barker, the junior varsity football head coach and varsity baseball assistant coach at Kecoughtan High School in Hampton, said.

'I feel so happy and motivated' - Cristiano Ronaldo sends a clear message to critics questioning his future at Manchester United

 Superstar footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo has issued a clear message to his critics after winning Premier League Goal of the Month award.

 

Ronaldo, 37, scored a sublime hat-trick to seal a 3-2 win against Tottenham at Old Trafford on March 12, with his first a long-range shot into the top corner. The strike was named the English top-flight's best goal of the month, and the Portuguese star revealed his thoughts ahead of the campaign's closing stages in the wake of the award.

The Manchester United forward insisted that he is 'so happy and motivated' at the club despite some questioning his future.

 

He said: 'I feel so happy and motivated for the rest of the season. 

 

'I will do my best, like all the time - so thank you to them (who voted for me) and see you soon at Old Trafford'.

 

Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford this summer from Juventus, signing a two-year deal with an option for a third. He has scored 12 goals in 24 league games and 18 in 32 in all competitions.

Burkina Faso's former president Blaise Compaore sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of his predecessor Thomas Sankara in a coup

 

Burkina Faso's former president, Blaise Compaore has been sentenced to life imprisonment for complicity in the 1987 murder of his predecessor Thomas Sankara in a coup, a military tribunal ruled on Wednesday, April 6.

 

The charismatic Marxist revolutionary Sankara was gunned down in the West African nation's capital Ouagadougou at the age of 37, four years after he took power during the 1987 coup d'état that brought Compaoré to power.

 

Thomas Sankara

 

Compaore was charged in absentia along with his former head of security Hyacinthe Kafando, who was also sentenced to life imprisonment. Both have previously denied any involvement in Sankara's death along with 12 other defendants accused of involvement in the plot, three of whom were declared innocent on Wednesday.

 

"The court finds Blaise Compaoré and Hyacinthe Kafando guilty of attack on state security, complicity in murder and concealment of a corpse," the tribunal said in its ruling.

Compaore went on to rule for 27 years before being ousted in another coup in 2014 and fleeing to Ivory Coast, where he is still believed to live.

 

Sankara took power on a promise to thwart corruption and post-colonial influences, denouncing foreign aid as a control mechanism. He rolled out mass vaccination against polio, banned female circumcision and polygamy, and was one of the first African leaders to publicly recognise the growing AIDS epidemic as a threat for the continent.

 

A former fighter pilot, Sankara won public support in the impoverished nation by selling a government fleet of Mercedes, lowering the pay of well-off public servants and forbidding first class state travel.

 

He cut his own salary, refused to work with air conditioning and jogged through Ouagadougou unaccompanied.

Sex cult leader Larry Ray who 'forced victims to wear diapers, suck on pacifiers and sleep nude' after winning their trust as a father figure set to get life imprisonment

  Lawrence “Larry” Ray has been found guilty of racketeering, trafficking, forced labor and could face life in prison after he was convicted on Wednesday, April 6.

 

Lawrence Ray was found guilty of sex trafficking and other crimes for forcing young adults into prostitution or forced labor after winning their trust by posing as a father figure. 

Larry started a cult among his daughter Sarah Lawrence’s friends in her college dormitory 12 years ago and engaged in racketeering, sex trafficking and forced labor on his young adult victims, the court said 

It took the jury just few hours on Wednesday to convict Ray, 62, on all 15 counts.

In the last decade Larry ran a criminal enterprise in which he brainwashed and abused his victims, extracting free labor and a significant amount of “restitution” money. 

The court was shown evidence how Ray took control of a set of his daughter Talia’s college friends after moving into their campus housing in 2010.

One of the victims, Santos Rosario, later brought two of his sisters into the mix; their involvement with Ray devastated the Rosario family financially and psychologically.

 

Both sisters are Ivy League-educated, but Felicia Rosario, a medical school graduate, dropped out of her residency program at a California hospital to be with Ray and never went back

She now works as a tutor; her younger sister Yalitza is unemployed.

The three siblings, who were in courton Wednesday to hear the verdict, left the courtroom with prosecutors.

 

They declined to speak to reporters after.

The court heard how Ray collected blackmail material by routinely filming or taking audio recordings of his victims confessing to non-existent offenses and crimes.

After aome time, he  started to order the young adults to do chores for him and began giving them sexual assignments, including sometimes to have sex with each other.

Claudia Drury, one of his victims, joined his cult aged 19. She testified that she spent four years working as a prostitute in New York hotel rooms, giving about $2.5 million in her earnings directly to Ray. 

 

Also, Santos Rosario worked as a waiter one summer, handing off everything he earned to Ray. He also paid Ray $150,000 in installments, money that he got from his parents, plus another $13,000 he stole from their business.

“When [Ray’s] victims were completely subdued, when they were under his control, he committed crimes to get them to pay — extortion, forced labor, sex trafficking, obstruction of justice, financial crimes,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Bracewell argued .

 “The defendant did all of this for control, for his own greed, and to increase his power, to cement his position in the organized group that he led.”

He moved into his daughter’s dorm and targeted her roommates for sex trafficking, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Ray captivated his psychologically fragile admirers with tales about his life and the contacts he said he had in government, law enforcement and the military. He once was close with former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, serving as as best man at Kerik’s wedding.

 

Ray took credit for sending Kerik to prison on corruption-related charges in 2010. 

 

He told victims that he believed there was a government conspiracy to harm him and that his enemies, including Kerik, were out to get him. He also accused his victims of working with his enemies to poison him, his daughter and others. 

 

Ray’s victims were conditioned to believe they were guilty, and in turn they conceded that they owed Ray favors and a lot of money. They testified that they were scared of going to prison for what Ray told them were crimes, and said he routinely threatened to turn them in.

He is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 16 and faces the possibility of life in prison on his sex trafficking conviction and decades behind bars on the other counts.