George Clooney, his wife & Salma Hayek all smiles as they meet Pope Francis at the Vatican (photo)

Hollywood actor George Clooney, his wife, Amal, and Mexican-American film actress Salma Hayek couldn't hide their excitement as they met with Pope Francis who gave them awards after the actors agreed to be ambassadors for one of the catholic church's foundation's art projects in the Vatican city.

"I can not love him more," Salma wrote on Instagram. "When in Rome, speak with your hands. At least I made him laugh."

15yr old girl hanged from a tree after being gang-raped & murdered

The body of a teenager was found hanging from a tree on Saturday, May 28, after she was gang-raped and murdered in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich, India. 

The 15-year-old was allegedly kidnapped and raped by three men before being strangled to death, according to NDTV. 

Police believe she was hung from the tree to make her death look like suicide. Two men have been arrested and a manhunt is under way to find a third. One of the accused was known to the girl had allegedly asked to meet him. He was joined by two more men. They allegedly raped and killed her and later hanged her body from a tree.

The case is one of a spate of horrific attacks that have sparked renewed outrage over the country’s problem with violence against.

The victim went missing on Friday and her body was found on Saturday. Her father alleged the three suspects had tried to kidnap her earlier in the week but police failed to act. Four police officers have reportedly been suspended from duty as a result.

Senior police officer Salik Ram Verma said a post-mortem has confirmed that the girl was raped and strangled.

Source: NDTV

US Based Nigerian Photographer surprises his wife by shutting down the streets in New Orleans for her 30th birthday

Wale Ariztos, a Washington DC based wedding photographer who was primarily raised in Lagos, temporarily shut down the streets of New Orleans for his wife, Lola's 30th birthday party over the weekend. He had a colourful carnival procession escort her from her hotel to the venue of her birthday party.

 

Navas injury raises Copa fears

Real Madrid’s Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas has been hit by a recurrence of an achilles injury, the club said, raising fears he could miss the Copa America Centenario.

Real said Navas, 29, was suffering from the problem in his left foot, without indicating how long he would take to recover. The Copa starts in California on Friday.

“After the tests (were) carried out… he has been diagnosed with an achilles tendinopathy in his left foot,” Real said in a short medical update on Monday.

“His recovery will continue to be assessed.”

Navas’s injury first flared in Real’s Champions League semi-final second leg victory over Manchester City, and forced him to miss the penultimate La Liga game of the season against Valencia.

Spanish media said Real’s physios helped Navas get through last week’s Champions League final, which the team won on penalties, but that he now needed to rest — meaning Costa Rica’s talisman could be forced to sit out the Copa.

“In recent weeks (Navas) was treated by physios in order to play the final of the Champions League, but now he has to stop (playing) completely to recover,” Spain’s AS newspaper said.

Costa Rica’s first game of the Copa is against Paraguay on Saturday, and they will also play the United States and Colombia in the group phase.

Saudi intercepts missile from Yemen

Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen on Monday night, the military coalition supporting the Yemeni government against rebels said.

It was the second missile launch from Yemen since UN-brokered peace talks began in Kuwait on April 21 between the Huthi Shiite rebels and the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition in March last year began air strikes and other military aid in support of Yemeni forces resisting the Huthis who had seized much of the country and are backed by Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran.

Fighting has continued despite a ceasefire that paved the way for the talks in Kuwait.

The Huthi rebels are allied with elite troops loyal to Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The missile launches are designed to “sabotage efforts of the international community to make the peace negotiations a success,” the Saudi-led coalition said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia has deployed Patriot missile batteries to counter tactical ballistic missiles which have been fired occasionally during the war.

The coalition warns that it could retaliate if such strikes continue.

Messi absent as his tax fraud trial opens in Spain

The trial of Argentina star Lionel Messi in tax fraud charges opened Tuesday in Spain in his absence just days before Argentina’s first match in the Copa America tournament against Chile.

Messi, 28, and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, are accused of using a chain of fake companies in Belize and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros ($4.7 million) of Messi’s income earned through the sale of his image rights from 2007-09.

They have been charged with three counts of tax fraud.

Dozens of journalists, from Spain and abroad were on hand at a Barcelona court for the start of the trial which is expected to last until Thursday when Messi and his father will take the stand.

Messi had planned to be in Barcelona for the start of the trial but a lower back injury he suffered during a friendly against Honduras last week prevented him from doing so, defence lawyer Javier Sanchez-Vera said at the start of the proceedings.

Spanish prosecutors are seeking a jail sentence of 22-and-a-half months for Messi and his father if they are found guilty, plus fines equivalent to the amount that was allegedly defrauded.

But any such sentence would likely be suspended as it is common in Spain for first offences carrying a sentence of less than two years.

The first day of the trial will be dedicated to preliminary legal questions and witness testimony.

– ‘Dad handled the cash’ –
The Barcelona striker and his defence team have argued that the player’s father handled his finances without reporting to him, and that the striker was not aware of any wrongdoing.

“My dad handled the cash,” Messi said in September 2013 when he was questioned by a judge investigating the case at a court in Gavia, a town on the outskirts of Barcelona where the footballer lives.

He reportedly told the judge at that hearing that he never looks at the contracts he signs.

“I signed things, but I never look at the contracts. I don’t know what I sign,” Messi said according to the El Periodico daily, which got access to his September 2013 statement to the judge.

According to the alleged statement published by the Barcelona daily, the judge showed him several sponsorship contracts that he signed, but he did not remember them.

“This is something that my dad manages. And I trust him. I devote myself to playing football,” he reportedly said.

“I do what he tells me to do.”

After winning a league and Cup double with Barcelona, the five-time World Player of the Year is due to join his Argentina teammates for the Copa America in the United States.

Argentina take on defending champions Chile in their first game of the tournament at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers, in California on June 6.

Neymar-less Brazil in search of Copa identity

Two years after their traumatic World Cup semi-final exit, Brazil are haunted by the past as they head into the Copa America Centenario aiming for their first title in nearly a decade.

In previous eras, Brazil would arrive at the Copa America brimming with confidence, with the only debate revolving around who they could expect to face — and defeat — in the final.

Between 1997 and 2007, Brazil won four out of five editions of the tournament, helping to make them the most successful nation since 1975, when the Copa America began to be held regularly after an eight-year absence.

Yet as Brazil prepare to embark on this year’s tournament, the familiar swagger is gone.

The humiliating 7-1 thrashing by Germany in 2014 has left a team in search of an identity, torn between a more pragmatic, defensive approach and the hardwired instincts towards flamboyance.

So far, under the second managerial tenure of 1994 World Cup-winning captain Dunga, the results have been mixed.

A quarter-final exit at last year’s Copa America in Chile has been followed by a stuttering start to South America’s marathon qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.

Brazil currently lie in sixth place after six matches, outside the qualifying positions.

Their form has reflected the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Dunga’s team, where they have produced flashes of attacking brilliance only to be undermined by defensive frailty.

They were comfortably beaten by Chile in their opening qualifier and failed to convince in either of their two solitary wins against Venezuela and Peru.

Against Uruguay in Recife in March, the old Brazil appeared to be back as they swept into a 2-0 lead inside the first 25 minutes.

But an Edinson Cavani goal in the 30th minute punctured Brazil’s fragile confidence, and after Luis Suarez made it 2-2 they spent much of the remainder of the game on the ropes.

Four days later, a similarly disjointed display saw them lucky to leave Asuncion with a point. Paraguay romped into a 2-0 lead and Brazil needed a Dani Alves equaliser deep into stoppage time to scrape a 2-2 draw.

– Many happy returns? –
For Dunga, the Copa America represents a happy return to the scene of his greatest triumph as a player. Brazil will kick off their Group B campaign against Ecuador on Saturday at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, where Dunga led his team to victory in the World Cup final against Italy 22 years ago.

“Hopefully now Brazil can get back to winning here,” Dunga told reporters in Los Angeles last week during a training camp.

Dunga’s task has been complicated by the proximity of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Brazil’s determination to win the only international title that has eluded them — an Olympic gold medal — has meant hard choices have had to be made.

Neymar, their talismanic captain, will miss the Copa America in order to be available for the Olympics.

Dunga has made no secret of his desire to concentrate on the Olympics but is adamant that Brazil have enough quality to challenge for the Copa America.

“Obviously we’d like to have Neymar here, but this is a top team,” Dunga said.

“Some of them are very young, but they have quality. This is an opportunity for these players to show they deserve to be on the first team.”

As well as Neymar, other notable absentees include defenders Thiago Silva and David Luiz, who both seem to have fallen out of favor, along with midfielder Oscar and injured Bayern Munich star Douglas Costa.

That could leave an opportunity for emerging talent Gabriel, the 19-year-old Santos prodigy known affectionately as “Gabigol”.

Gabriel scored on his debut for Brazil in a 2-0 win over Panama on Sunday, signalling that he is ready to fill the void left by Neymar.

Weather leaves Djokovic facing hectic Paris schedule

Novak Djokovic will look to conquer both the weather and last-16 opponent Roberto Bautista Agut on Tuesday with more bleak conditions forecast at Roland Garros.

The French Open suffered its first washout since 2000 on Monday when all scheduled matches were cancelled due to heavy rain, and there could be more problems on Tuesday with further rain expected.

The threat of transport chaos also loomed over the tournament after unions in France called for fresh strikes on the national rail network beginning Tuesday and on the Paris Metro from Thursday.

Djokovic, who is bidding for a first French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, finished his third-round match against Britain’s Aljaz Bedene in near darkness on Saturday, with the world number one later calling for floodlights to be introduced at Roland Garros.

“For a Grand Slam you need to have lights. I’m really hoping we can have that very soon for these particular situations, especially considering the fact that forecast for weather is not that great in the following days,” he said.

Those fears were realised on Monday, leaving Djokovic facing the prospect of playing his last-16 tie Wednesday, quarter-final on Thursday and semi-final Friday should there be further delays on Tuesday.

“It’s not good for anybody, you know, waiting the whole day for players, for fans, for tournament organisers. So I’m just — just hoping that, you know, things will go well in the future.”

The Serb, poised to become the first man to win $100 million in prize money, will top the bill against Spanish 14th seed Bautista Agut on Philippe Chatrier court, while Andy Murray is scheduled to take on French ninth seed Richard Gasquet for a place in the semi-finals.

Murray has won the last five meetings between the pair, but Gasquet can draw upon the support of a home crowd hoping to see him become the first Frenchman to win a Grand Slam title since Yannick Noah in 1983.

Two-time former French Open champion Sergi Bruguera, who is coaching Gasquet, believes Murray will provide an even more formidable assignment after notable wins already over Nick Kyrgios and Kei Nishikori.

“Murray is one of the in-form players. He just reached the final in Madrid and he won in Rome. He’s a monster, especially in five sets. He’s proved he can win Roland Garros, it’s an incredibly difficult match,” said Bruguera.

Defending champion Stan Wawrinka is due to face unfancied Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the quarter-finals on Suzanne Lenglen court, two weeks after thrashing the world number 55 by 6-1, 6-1 in Geneva.

Serena Williams continues her quest for a record-equalling 22nd Open era Grand Slam title against Ukrainian 18th seed Elina Svitolina in the women’s last 16.

Venus Williams plays Swiss eighth Timea Bascinszky, who reached last year’s semi-finals, and there are two fourth-round matches still to be completed from Sunday.

Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska leads Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2, 3-0 while sixth seed Simona Halep of Romania was 5-3 up on Australian veteran Samantha Stosur.

Tomas Berdych takes on former finalist David Ferrer in other fourth-round action as 2014 semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis battles Belgian 12th seed David Goffin.

Austrian 13th Dominic Thiem is up against unseeded Marcel Granollers with both players aiming to reach the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Granollers made the last 16 without hitting a ball when nine-time champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament with a wrist injury.

Saudi Arabia executes Nigerian man after he was convicted of killing a police officer

Saudi authorities have executed a Nigerian man after convicting him of murdering a police officer, AFP reports. It was the 95th execution of the year in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, which imposes the death penalty for offences including murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy. The surge in executions has drawn concern from human rights groups.

 

Fahd Houssawi was executed on Sunday, May 29 in the western city of Taif, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. He had been found guilty of strangling a policeman and beating him to death, the ministry said.

Houssawi had knocked the man to the ground before hitting his head repeatedly into the ground, beating him to death. He then injured another man in his attempt to escape.

Amnesty International has warned that at the current rate Saudi Arabia could see more than 100 executions in the first half of 2016.

The London-based watchdog said the kingdom carried out at least 158 death sentences last year, making it the third most prolific executioner after Iran and Pakistan. Its figures do not include secretive China.

The executions this year are higher than at the same point last year, Amnesty said.

Murder and drug trafficking cases account for the majority of Saudi executions, although 47 people were put to death for “terrorism” offences on a single day in January.

Source: AFP

Adele buys LA mansion for $9.5million (photos)

Adele who is presently on tour has splashed $9.5million on an exclusive four-bedroom property located in a gated neighbourhood of LA County.  She is yet to move in because of work commitments but her neighbours include Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lawrence.

The 28-year-old is set to sign a record-breaking $130million contract so this purchase won't exactly burn a hole in her finances.