WhatsApp has announced the launch of a new feature globally that will highlight when a message has been forwarded and not composed by the sender.

The messaging application made the move public on Tuesday through its official blog following calls from various parts of the world, including India, to tackle the spread of fake news.

In the statement, the platform, owned by Facebook, said, Starting today, WhatsApp will indicate which messages you receive, have been forwarded to you.

This extra context will help make one-on-one and group chats easier to follow, WhatsApp said in a blog.

It also helps you determine if your friend or relative wrote the message they sent or if it originally came from someone else.

To see this new forwarded label, you need to have the latest supported version of WhatsApp on your phone, WhatsApp added.

Recently, while replying a notice by the Indian government to take immediate measures to prevent misuse of its platform, WhatsApp had said that it was testing a new label that highlights when a message has been forwarded.

This could serve as an important signal for recipients to think twice before forwarding messages.

Because it lets a user know if content they received was written by the person they know or a potential rumour from someone else, it had said.

In its blog, the instant messaging application added, WhatsApp cares deeply about your safety.

We encourage you to think before sharing messages that were forwarded. As a reminder, you can report spam or block a contact in one tap and can always reach out to WhatsApp directly for help.

The company had last month also announced unrestricted monetary awards for research on spread of misinformation on its platform to address the problem.

Source: NAN

A family whose teenage son died honoured his memory in an unusual wake: His corpse was positioned in a chair facing a television screen, a video game controller in hand and his favourite snacks next to him.

Renard Matthews, 18, of New Orleans, La., was robbed and shot to death on the evening of June 25 while walking his dog. Matthews, whom a neighbor described as “a nice young man,” loved football and basketball; his favorite athlete was Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, his mother, Temeka, told a local news station, WGNO. On Sunday, his wake presented a faithful reflection of his low-key lifestyle. The family had Matthews embalmed and placed in a stance that was typical for him. He was seated in a chair, wearing an Irving jersey and sunglasses, with a PlayStation controller in his hand, facing a television playing the Celtics. He was flanked by Doritos and soda.

The funeral home where the wake was held is accustomed to unique requests. “One time, we stood a deceased drummer from a grassroots band at a drum set,” a representative from the Charbonnet Labat Glapion Funeral Home in Tremé, tells Yahoo Lifestyle, adding that it recruits specialists to prepare bodies at varying costs, which differ depending on the details of the service.

The funeral home also hosted the 2014 wake of Miriam “Mae Mae” Burbank, 53, who was posed with a beer, a menthol cigarette, and an ashtray at a table. Burbank, a fan of the New Orleans Saints football team, had her fingernails painted in the team colors of black and gold.

Burbank was described by her loved ones as a “party girl” who loved beer and scotch. “When I walked in, I feel like I was in her house and I didn’t hurt so much,” her sister Sherline Burbank told WGNO. “Because it’s more of her, and it’s like she’s not dead. It’s not like a funeral home. It’s like she’s just in the room with us.”

Burbank’s daughter Zymora Kimball also told the news station that not everyone approved of the send-off. “A lot of people didn’t accept what I was doing,” she said. “I didn’t let that stop me, and I know she’s happy with how she’s looking. That’s her, that’s Mae.”

The unique custom has been called “extreme embalming,” reports ABC News, and honors the deceased in personalized ways. It’s particularly popular in Puerto Rico, where a handful of creative services have won attention.

In 2015, Green Lantern fan Renato Garcia, 55, died of an asthma attack and was bid goodbye in the costume he often wore around town. “It is what he would have wanted,” said sister Milagros Garcia, per the Daily Mail.

That same year, the body of taxi driver Victor Perez Cardona, a former cancer patient, was positioned in his cab — with his hands on the steering wheel — a request his daughter says was characteristic of her father, who loved jokes. According to the Daily Mail, some mourners even sat beside Perez Cardona for one last ride.

In 2016, the body of Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato, 26, was seated in a chair with one leg crossed over the other, wearing a black cap, glasses, khaki pants, and sneakers. “Some people say that it doesn’t look good,” his sister Lhizz Díaz Beato told BuzzFeed. “They prefer something more traditional. But if that’s something that the family wants, why wouldn’t you do it?”

Source: Yahoo News

A front line governorship aspirant in Delta state, Chief Sunny Ofehe, has urged leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state to harmonise in order to confront the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election in the state.

Speaking when he led his campaign team on a courtesy visit to Delta APC leader, Olorogun Otega Emerhor, the aspirant particularly called on Emerhor and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to come together to harmonise the party to be prepared for the 2019 polls.

Ofehe said that leaders of various blocs of the party must bury the hatchet of the past and forge a formidable forge ahead the primaries.

I see the need for APC to take over this state. I see the need for every one of us to work together to deliver this state for APC. There is power in unity, he said.

The Netherlands-based activist-turned-politician however urged Emerhor and other party leaders to ensure a level playing field for all governorship aspirant, saying that anyone who is interested in the race should be allowed to go into the field and whoever emergences should be adequately supported without ill-feelings.

According to him, it is a fact that the internal wrangling occasioned by the divided congresses has punched a big hole in the partys political machinery but he insisted that the leaders can heal the wounds if they put party interest above personal interest.

You will agree with me that we have been battling a divided house. And I want to use this opportunity to make something clear; Im not in any of the camps because I am for the unity of the party.

Ofehe said that he decided to visit Emerhor as a leader of the party because he believed he has the capacity to genuinely initial the reconciliation process.

According to him, while the wrangling lasted, he decided not to pitch tent to any of the tendencies because as an aspirants he believe his aspirations would cover everyone, bridge the disunity gap and reconcile the people.

He explained that why he attended the congresses earlier heldon Saturdayfacilitated by other party leaders including Senator Omo-Agege was because of the exigencies of his scheduled, believing that the Delta APC as one party would harmonise no matter where one belong at that time.

However I mandated some of my people to also make themselves present for theMondayone. So my physical attendance of theSaturdayone didnt in any way put me in the camp of anybody.

But the most important thing is that we would unite because in disagreed we get agreement and we will come together because if our house is divided then we are giving Okowa-led PDP a smooth run to a second term which will hypnotize our people for another four year of doom and great recession.

Ofehe said that hes in the race because he cannot continue to watch infrastructure decay in Delta state as a civil society organisation expert after living in Europe for close to 23 years and know hundreds of opportunities that the state can tap into.

He called on the leadership of the party in the state to be fair and bring support a good candidate that can stand the PDP in the election.

Source: NAN

President Muhamadu Buhari on Tuesday asked the electorate in Ekiti not to waste their votes in Saturdays governorship election on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Rather, the president urged voters to elect the candidate of the All Progressives Party (APC), Dr Kayode Fayemi, given the track record of the ruling APC administration in the country.

Buhari, who gave the charge in Ado-Ekiti at the grand finale of the mega rally of the party, told the crowd of party faithful and supporters at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium that there was no better alternative to Fayemi.

He said the people of Ekiti must not be deceived by the stomach infrastructure programme of the PDP government in the state, describing it as at variance with the norms in a functional democracy.

Buhari said he was in Ekiti not only to campaign for Fayemi but also to create awareness as well as sensitise the people on the dividends of democracy so far made available to them.

The president said his administration had so far executed 13 projects in the state, with no fewer than 29 contractors handling them.

He said the initiatives, most of which were road construction projects, had also provided direct and indirect jobs to many residents.

Besides, he said approval had been given by his administration for the construction of a Federal Secretariat in Ado Ekiti to ease the burden of office accommodation faced by federal workers in the state.

He also listed the engagement of many indigenes of the state in the N-Power programme of the Federal Government, granting of bailout funds to the state as well as approval of School-Feeding Programme and Conditional Cash Transfer scheme as some of the achievements of his administration.

The president assured the people of the state of more dividends of democracy if they support Fayemi in the election.

Also addressing the crowd, the National Chairman of the party, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, said Fayemi would redress all the wrongs of the Ayo Fayose administration.

He also gave an assurance that all the salaries and emoluments owed workers by the Fayose administration would be paid.

Speaking in the same vein, the National Leader of the party, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, assured residents that the APC was committed to the progress and development of the country.

He accused the PDP of destroying the countrys economy, urging the people to embrace the change agenda of the APC.

It was the PDP that destroyed the future of Nigeria and those yet unborn. PDP stole all the monies and made life difficult for all the citizens

It is not easy to rebuild what the PDP has spent long years destroying; for many of them that are now complaining, where were they when our economy was being bastardised?

You must not allow anybody to intimidate you, I urge you to guard your PVC and use it wisely on Saturday

It is your turn in Ekiti to get a good government, it is not for you alone but for your children and their future, Tinubu said.

NAN reports that at the rally were 12 APC governors, seven serving ministers and national leaders of the party.

NAN also reports that the high point of the event was the formal defection to the APC by many PDP members including a serving Senator, Fatimah Raji-Rasaki, and a member of the House of Representatives, Oni Olamide.

Source: NAN

Outgoing Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayoses plan to instal his deputy, Professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka as his successor may have been dealt a big blow as several key members of his party switched support to the All Progressives Congress.

President Muhammadu Buhari received the defectors today at the grand finale of the governorship campaign of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the All Progressives Congress, APC gubernatorial candidate in Saturdays election. The mega rally took place at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado Ekiti.

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the two federal lawmakers were among the defectors, along with the chief whip of the state house of assembly. There were indications dropped by the new APC faithful, that many assembly members may also be getting ready to abandon the PDP, ahead of the crucial 14 July election.

Among the defectors was Sen. Fatimat Raji Rasaki, representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District. She is the wife of a former military governor of Lagos. Mr. Olamide Oni, House of Representatives representing Efon/Ijero/Ekiti West Federal Constituency also dumped PDP.

Senator Rasaki represents the largest constituency in the state, the same area where Fayemi picked his running mate, an old political war-horse Chief Bisi Egbeyemi.

Political pundits said if the Ekiti central senatorial constituency vote for Fayemi, the election will be lost by the PDP candidate, Olusola Eleka.

The switching of allegiances by the PDP legislators was one of the highlights of the todays rally and it was seen as a big deal as the APC national leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, telling Senator Rasaki repeatedly: God Bless You, God Bless you, when they met before President Buhari arrived.

The Chief Whip of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Sunday Akinniyi and the Commissioner for Justice and attorney-general under Fayose administration, Mr. Owoseni Ajayi also switched allegiances to APC at the event.

Ajayi was also Fayoses attorney-general in his truncated first term, 2003-2006.

NAN reports that the National Chairman of APC, Mr. Adams Oshiomole, was also on hand to receive the defectors. He assured them of equal treatment in the party.

Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Senator Rasaki, said they had to dump the PDP because of the selfishness of Governor Fayose in the state.

According to her, the PDP in the state has been monopolised by a single individual, who would not allow justice and fairplay in the day-to day running of the affairs of the party.

Former Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye was the first to jump out of the Fayose PDP boat, after a controversial primary election, the outcome of which the lawyer-journalist said was predetermined in favour of Kolapo Olusola-Eleka.

Source: NAN

Dr Kayode Fayemi, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Saturdays election in Ekiti, on Tuesday said he wanted to rule the state again to reduce poverty among the people.

He stated this at APCs final rally ahead of the election at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday.

Fayemi, who was governor of the state from 2010 to 2014, told the crowd that his successor, Gov. Ayodele Fayose impoverished the citizens by not paying salaries and pensions.

According to him, Fayose deliberately deprived civil servants, teachers and pensioners their eight months salaries, pensions and gratuity, because he wanted to punish and make them beg for money on the streets.

He commended Ekiti people for coming out to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari contrary to the directives of the governor that nobody should come out to welcome the president to the state.

Fayemi, who resigned as Minister of Solid Minerals and Steel Development to contest the election, appealed to the electorate in the state to come out en masse to vote for him on Saturday.

I am so delighted with your determination to defy the unpopular order by Gov. Ayo Fayose that nobody should come out to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari to Ekiti.

It is therefore time to send Fayose and his unpopular government out of office.

I want you to vote for me on Saturday and show Gov. Fayose that the power of Ekiti people is much greater than his power, he said.

Source: NAN

The Nigerian Law School on Tuesday said 1,550 students were successful after the April 2018 Bar final examinations while their success rate is put at 68.6 per cent.

The school also called to the Bar 12 other graduates from the previous 2018 final examinations.

The Director- General (DG) of the school, Prof. Isa Ciroma disclosed this at the July Call to Bar ceremony for the successful candidates in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a summary of the examinations showed that two, out of the 1, 550 made second class lower while others had pass mark.

He said that the performance was justified following the approval of the Council of Legal Education that re-sit students for the final Bar examinations must undertake two months revision exercise for eligibility to write the examination.

While presenting the candidates, he said that they took the prescribed examinations as well as the dining terms and met all required conditions set by the Council of Legal Education.

I am happy to affirm that they all exhibited good manners and decorum during their training.

They have also been groomed in the best ethics and ethos of our noble profession, he said.

The director-general said that the members of staff of the school had closely monitored the aspiring lawyer during their training and their records, perused by the screening committee and found them worthy to be called to the Bar.

He congratulated the graduating students and called on them to make the best use of the profession while ensuring strict adherence to the norms of the practice and ethics.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, called on the graduating students to shun all forms of vices capable of denting the image of the profession.

Dalhatu also advised the graduating students to always speak the truth, even if it might sound bitter, than concealing it and leading to an offence.

He also admonished the graduands to abide by the rules and provisions of the profession, adding that it law sacrosanct and required strict adherence at all times.

Where a complaint is made against any practitioners conduct, an alleged offence is put side by side with the provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct, once established, the defaulter is sanctioned accordingly by the disciplinary committee.

The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee has been carrying out its mandate in a just and fair manner without giving room for compromise, affection or ill-will.

From January to July 2018, seven lawyers were barred, 12 suspended, ranging from one year to three years while one lawyer was admonished.

You are, therefore, advised to be of good behaviour and abide by the ethics and traditions of the profession to avoid being brought before the committee, he advised.

Source: NAN

Charlie Rowley, the Englishman who was exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok last week has regainedconsciousness.

According to hospital officials, the 45-year-old Rowley woke up Tuesday at Salisbury Hospital in London, with small but significant improvement.

Report also said Rowley was still in critical but stable condition since he was exposed to the poison.

Charlie is still very unwell, the hospital said.

Rowley, along with his partner, 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess, were on June 30 at a home in Amesbury, London, exposed to Novichok a military-grade nerve agent produced in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Sturgessdied on Sunday, leaving behind her three children, as authorities quickly launched an investigation into her death.

Police have said their working theory is that the couples exposure to the poison was linked to a recent attack on ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer once convicted in his homeland of spying for Britain, was attacked with Novichok at his home in Salisbury, a city roughly 10 miles south of Amesbury, where his daughter had been visiting him.

The two spent weeks in critical condition but have since been discharged from the hospital.

Source: NAN

A public school district in Illinois, U.S. has sent a “cease and desist” letter to an unnamed person who gave away Bibles to boys and girls on a public street owned by the district.

“This individual was warned that law enforcement would be called should he or any affiliated persons come onto the School District campus for the purpose of distributing Bibles to students,” an attorney for the La Harpe Community School District no. 347 wrote in a letter to the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF).

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group of atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers, had filed a complaint with the district over two issues regarding religion at La Harpe Elementary School.

The first involved flyers that Principal Lila McKeown had reported distributed to teachers at staff meetings.

The flyers referenced Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas and included Bible passages.

“Easter is the celebration of God’s greatest gift – salvation through Jesus Christ,” one of the messages read. “Easter blessings! May you feel Christ’s Love in your Heart and be filled with his Peace and Joy this Easter Season.”

“Isaiah 9:6-7 (“For unto us is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,” read another message.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation accused the principal of using her position “to promote her personal religion to teachers and students.”

The school district said they have taken steps to eliminate Bible verses from future staff flyers.

“Principal McKeown will no longer be placing Bible verses in any staff communication or any other School District correspondence or communications in the future,” the district’s attorney wrote in a letter to FFRF.

The other issue involved unnamed individuals who gave away free Bibles to students on April 20. The out-of-town agitators accused the Gideon’s of being behind the Bible giveaway.

The Gideon’s, an international ministry that provides Bibles to school children, hotels and other areas, did not return calls seeing comment.

“La Harpe Elementary may not allow Bible distributions on school property,” the FFRF attorney wrote to the district. “It is unconstitutional for public school districts to permit Gideons to distribute Bibles as part of the public school day.”

The district explained that there’s a roadway that splits the grade school campus in half.

Up until 2013 the city owned and maintained the road. And while the community still commonly views it as a city roadway it is in fact a school district roadway.

While the district cannot ascertain where the Bibles were distributed, the attorneys believe it happened on an area along the roadway.

“Public schools have a constitutional obligation to protect the rights of conscience of young and impressionable students,” the FFRF wrote.

The district responded swiftly – vowing to call the police should anyone come onto the campus to distribute Bibles.

“This individual was clearly informed that North D Street is a part of the School District campus and cannot be used for Bible distribution activities,” the district’s attorney wrote.

Ahead of the arraignment of the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, the police have warned sect members against procession or protests.

The Shiite Muslim leader would be arraigned at the Kaduna State High Court on Wednesday.

The spokesperson in the state, Mr. Mukhtar Aliyu, warns that the police will not hesitate to deal decisively with any person or group of persons who deliberately attempt to violate the ban on unlawful assembly.

The police also advised residents of the state capital to go about their businesses without fear as El-Zakzaky is brought to court after more than two years in detention.

He was held as a result of confrontation of members of Shiite Muslims with the Nigerian military resulting in the death of more than 300 persons in Zaria, in Kaduna state.

He assured the residents of adequate security as operatives have been put in place for the hitch-free court appearance of the IMN leader.

As part of the security measures put in place for a smooth process of the court trial, there will be traffic diversion in some parts of the state, especially the roads leading to the court.

Members of the public should note that the ban on all forms of processions and demonstrations in Kaduna State is still in force. Therefore, the public is advised to remain calm and not to be apprehensive where they observe unusual number of security personnel in town.

The Command wishes to notify the general public to exercise more security consciousness as they go about their daily chores and other lawful businesses by being extra vigilant of their environment, persons around them, activities of suspicious persons etc so as to prevent miscreants disturbing the peace of the State, the statement read in part.

However, the spokesperson for the Islamic Movement, Ibrahim Musa says there is no plan by the Shiite members to cause public disorder during the arraignment of their leader by the Kaduna State Government.

They claimed that their previous protests have been peaceful adding that they have been victims of attacks.

Musa said, we will, therefore, like to assure the public that our history speaks for us, we are always the victims of forceful aggression. We have never killed, maimed nor destroyed anybodys property, and we will not start it now. All that we are saying and will keep on saying is free our leader.

Source: NAN