The Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, went on her knees to thank her husband, High Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan, for his love and unwavering support during her ‘toughest battles.’
Natasha resumed her duty at the National Assembly last week, six months after she was suspended by the leadership of the Senate.
Taking to her social media accounts on Friday, October 3, 2025, she posted a photo of her kneeling before her husband.
She expressed her deep gratitude for Uduaghan, calling him her safe space.
“In life’s toughest battles, I have found my greatest strength in your love, my dearest Alema. Thank you for standing by me, for holding my hand through every challenge, and for being my safe place. I’m blessed to walk this journey with you. Your Queen, Natasha Uduaghan. By God, your love and our people’s support,” she wrote.
The lawmaker was handed a six-month suspension in March, barring her from all activities of the 10th Senate over alleged misconduct during her protest against the reassignment of her seat by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on February 20.
A Jury selection has begun in the high-profile murder trial of Sarah Hartsfield, the Texas woman accused of k!lling her fifth husband with insulin.
The 50-year-old faces accusations that she murder£d her husband, Joseph Hartsfield, in January 2023. Hartsfield pleaded not guilty.
According to a grand jury indictment filed in February 2023, prosecutors allege she “intentionally and knowingly cause the de@th of an individual, namely Joseph Hartsfield, by a manner and means unknown to the grand jury.”
Joseph’s obituary says he d!ed in a hospital “due to complications of an ischemic stroke, with his loving wife at his side.”
Hartsfield is currently in custody at the Chambers County Jail in Texas and is held on a reduced bond of $2 million.
Prosecutors allege that Hartsfield, an Army veteran, used her husband’s diabetes to cover up a homicide, allegedly injecting him with dangerous amounts of insulin and delaying calling 911 for several hours.
Joseph’s obituary says he d!ed in a hospital “due to complications of an ischemic stroke, with his loving wife at his side.”
Hartsfield is currently in custody at the Chambers County Jail in Texas and is held on a reduced bond of $2 million.
Prosecutors allege that Hartsfield, an Army veteran, used her husband’s diabetes to cover up a homicide, allegedly injecting him with dangerous amounts of insulin and delaying calling 911 for several hours.
Hartsfield’s first marriage was to her high school sweetheart, Titus Knoernschild. The couple married young, but the relationship soon soured.
Knoernschild told ABC13 Houston that Sarah threatened him during their separation, warning him not to be surprised if he didn’t survive their divorce.
According to the local outlet, they divorced by 1995, but he said she continued to harass him for years afterward, including showing up at his Fort Hood office in 2008 until he obtained a no-contact order.
She went on to marry her second husband in the mid-1990s.
According to ABC13, Sarah was arrested in March 1996 for allegedly assaulting him during a dispute at their Rio Bonito home.
The charge was dropped after about a week, ABC13 reported.
By the late 1990s, Sarah had remarried, and her third marriage eventually ended in divorce in 2018. Around that time, she became engaged to David Bragg in Minnesota.
On May 9, 2018, Sarah shot and k!lled Bragg in his home.
Barack Obama is celebrating his 33rd wedding anniversary with wife Michelle by extolling her virtues.
The former United States President shared a photo of him and his wife across all his social media handles.
In the caption, he wrote: "The best decision I ever made was marrying you, @MichelleObama.
“For 33 years, I’ve admired your strength, grace, and determination — and the fact that you look so good doing it all. Happy anniversary!”
The couple have two daughters, Malia Obama and Sasha Obama.
Dad Daniel Gunter, who "crushed" the skull of his own newborn son before heading outside for a cigarette, has been sentenced to life in jail.
Premature baby Brendon Statton was just two weeks old when his father attacked him in his cot at Yeovil District Hospital's special care baby unit in Somerset, inflicting "catastrophic injuries" to his head, neck, legs and jaw.
Nurses were said to be working just five metres away when he carried out the despicable act, breaking the baby's neck.
Gunter, 27, denied harming the vulnerable infant on March 5 last year, but was ultimately convicted of murd£r following a three-week trial.
Today, October 3, Gunter was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years.
Bristol Crown Court previously heard how nurses at the unit tried desperately to resuscitate tiny Brendon, after finding him with horrific injuries.
The court heard how the child's grave condition was discovered after his mother, Sophie Staddon, told nurses that he was cold and asked them to check on him.
Recalling the devastating scene, Charles Row KC, prosecuting, told the trial: "Staff found him lying in his cot with his baby grow open. They immediately saw that he wasn't just cold but that he had suffered catastrophic injuries.
"In plain language, his head had been crushed so as to shatter his skull. He was badly bruised from head to toe, with deep scratches in his neck. He was later found to have, amongst other injuries, a broken neck, a broken jaw, broken legs, broken ankles and broken wrists."
By the time staff realised something was terribly wrong, evil Gunter had already walked out of the unit for a cigarette, leaving his son with fatal injuries.
The prosecution said that staff carried Brendon's "limp, lifeless body" to the resuscitation area, but the baby tragically did not respond to treatment. Gunter and Staddon, 23, were arrested by the police while smoking outside the hospital.
Gunter told police officers: "At no stage did I do anything to Brendon that could have caused him any injury. I was with Sophie the whole time, and she didn't do anything either."
In a separate statement, he said: "I would never hurt my baby boy."
The baby's mother, who was cleared of causing or allowing the de@th of a child, told officers: "I had done nothing to harm Brendon at all. I love him. He was my everything. I would not have harmed him."
A post-mortem examination determined that Brendon di£d of "blunt force impact(s) head injury" with multiple non-accidental head injuries.
During the trial, DCI Nadine Partridge, of Avon and Somerset police, described Gunter as selfish and criticised the defendant for laughing and joking while in the dock, The Guardian reports.
Brendon, who'd been born prematurely at 33 weeks' gestation, weighing just 1.83kg at birth, had already faced many hurdles in his short life, which ended in the most brutal way imaginable.
Ms Partridge told the court that Gunter must have twisted and pulled at the newborn's limbs, and may have even gripped him by the legs, striking him against hard objects.
She said: "You don't want to imagine what happened to him in those last moments".
Although Gunter has not given any explanation for the murd£r, officers believe he could have been motivated by the fear that his then partner, Staddon, might move to a mother and baby unit, where there would be no available accommodation for him.
Gunter and Staddon, who had an on-off relationship, had been homeless and living in temporary accommodation in a former Yeovil pub when she became pregnant with Brendon.
The court heard how Gunter had been "violent" towards Staddon, controlling her finances as well as who she could talk to. A social worker who visited the couple in January 2024 advised them that authorities were planning to remove the child from their care after the birth.
Telling jurors how the couple displayed no emotion at this news, Mr Row said: "The authorities were concerned about many things, including their precarious housing situation, the way Mr Gunter appeared to control Ms Staddon and her finances, Ms Staddon's physical and mental health and their lack of engagement."
Before Brendon's de@th, both social services and Gunter's family had reportedly also expressed concern about the "lack of emotional warmth" the couple showed their baby, who was born on February 20, 2024.
Although attempts were made to persuade Staddon to remain in the hospital, she chose to return to the accommodation she and Gunter shared.
Gunter repeatedly ignored the nurses' advice at the unit, taking Brendon out of his incubator without asking, overstimulating the newborn to the point of causing him distress and removing his nasal gastric tube.
Family members had witnessed Gunter shouting and getting angry with Brendon during hospital visits, and recalled seeing him handling the child roughly.
Louise Besica, Gunter's aunt, recalled: "I felt like he had no patience. He was really rough with him with how he was putting him in his babygrow."
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has stressed the need for Nigerians to understand the true meaning of jihad, noting that it is not about violence but about striving for excellence in all spheres of life.
The Sultan stated this on Thursday, October 2, 2025 in Abuja at the public presentation of “Scars: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum,” a book authored by former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (rtd.).
He cautioned against misinterpretations of Islamic concepts, saying extremists and uninformed commentators had for decades wrongly associated jihad with terrorism and violence against non-Muslims.
“Jihad simply means striving — striving to be a better Muslim, a better Christian, a better citizen, and a better human being. It is not about k!lling anyone. Islam abhors extremism, and no true Muslim can claim to follow the teachings of the Prophet while embracing violence,” the Sultan said.
He explained that Islam, properly understood, promotes peaceful coexistence and good governance, adding that Islamic teachings have over the years helped shape Nigeria’s democratic journey by emphasising justice, accountability, and leadership responsibility.
According to him, Islamic institutions such as mosques, scholars, and traditional councils continue to play a stabilising role in the country by mediating conflicts, guiding leaders, and educating citizens on tolerance and civic duties.
“Islam is not about seizing power; it is about ensuring good governance and accountability in society. Our democracy has benefitted from these values because justice and fairness are principles rooted both in the Qur’an and in democratic practice,” he said.
The Sultan also called for stronger interfaith dialogue, stressing that Nigeria’s unity depends on mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims.
“If I know who you are, and you know who I am, we can live in peace. Understanding one another is the foundation for national security and stability,” he added.
He commended Gen. Irabor for writing the book, describing it as a timely resource that not only documents the scars of insurgency but also provides insights for policy, governance, and national healing.
The launch attracted dignitaries including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, the Minister of Defence, service chiefs, traditional rulers, senior military officers, and members of the diplomatic corps.
A 52-year-old skydiver plunged to her de@th after a "faulty" parachute failed to open during solo jump.
Rosana Mabel Back, 52, did a jump from her regular local centre south of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, when the incident unfolded.
The therapist and professional writer was using different equipment than those she was typically used to.
Tragically, Rosana's parachute reportedly failed to open after she jumped from a plane and fell to her de@th on Miramar, about 200 miles south of Buenos Aires, on Sunday, September 28. Her club sent their condolences following the tragedy.
"Aero Club Miramar deeply regrets the tragic accident that occurred near the aerodrome, in which a skydiver lost her life," the statement read. "We are providing support to her family, loved ones, and colleagues in this difficult time."
The club added: "It is important to note that the Miramar Aero Club has no connection with the skydiving activity that takes place within the provincial premises of the Miramar airport. We reiterate our sorrow for what has happened and accompany the aero nautical and sports community at this time of sorrow."
An autopsy has been ordered and experts are expected to carry out a review of the equipment she used amid concerns it could have been faulty aspects to it. An investigation into her de@th is ongoing.
An Asian gr0oming gang have been jailed for 174 years in total after two white schoolgirls were r@ped as they were used as 's£x slaves' from the age of 13.
Their leader, Mohammed Zahid, 65, father-of-three, now jailed for 35 years, was one of seven Asian men convicted in June by a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Court of committing various s£xual offences against the girls between 2001 and 2006.
They were the first Asian gro0ming gang to be brought to justice since Labour faced accusations of a cover-up for resisting calls for a public inquiry into how a generation of girls were betrayed by police and social services.
Both girls were treated as 's£x slaves', said prosecutors, 'amid deeply troubled home lives' as they were given drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, places to stay, and people to be with.
Soon after, they were expected to have s£x 'whenever and wherever' the defendants and other men wanted, in filthy flats, on rancid mattresses, in cars, car parks, alleyways, and disused warehouses.
The trial also heard how one girl, at the time living in a children's home, was scandalously dismissed by social workers as having been 'prostituting' herself from the age of ten.
Girl A told the jury she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped in the town but said 'there was that many it was hard to keep count'.
Giving evidence, Girl B said she was living in a local children's home when she was preyed on by Zahid and fellow market traders Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, who were all born in Pakistan.
She said she presumed various agencies knew what was going on as police regularly picked her up after social workers labelled her a 'pr0stitute' from the age of 10.
Zahid, of Station Road in Crumpsall, thought he was 'almost untouchable' as he brazenly visited the care home to pick her up and later drop her off, the court heard.
He was convicted of raping Girl A and Girl B, who did not know each other, on multiple occasions.
Jurors also found him guilty of offences of indecency with a child and procuring a child to have s£x.
In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years after he was convicted of engaging in s£xual activity in 2005 and 2006 with a 14-year-old girl whom he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school.
He was one of many men who called her phone number 'out of the blue' and went on to groom the 'extremely vulnerable' teenager.
Now Ahmed, 67, of Corona Avenue in Oldham, and Bashir, 50, formerly of Napier Street East in the same town, have been jailed for 27 years and 29 years respectively after they were found guilty of multiple counts of r@pe and indecency with a child, in relation to Girl B.
Bashir was sentenced in his absence after he absconded while on bail before the trial got under way. He is believed to be out of the country.
Taxi drivers Mohammed Shahzad, 44, Naheem Akram, 49, and Nisar Hussain, 41, all from Rochdale, were all convicted of multiple counts of r@pe against Girl A.
Both Shahzad and Akram were jailed for 26 years, and Hussain was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Roheez Khan, 39, also of Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A.
Social services and police have apologised for their past failings surrounding the victims.
Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Seely said: 'Both girls were highly vulnerable, both had deeply troubled backgrounds and were known to the authorities.
'They were highly susceptible to the advances of these men and others, and both were sexually abused by numerous other men.
'They were passed around for s£x - abused, humiliated, degraded and then discarded.
'Both were seriously let down by those whose job it was to protect them.'
He said Girl B was 'failed woefully' and noted how she was 'chillingly described' in a social services document as having prostituted herself at 10 years old.
The judge said both victims had suffered 'incessant abuse', and as children had been targeted by 'gangs of sexually predatory men'.
Rossano Scarmardella KC, prosecuting, said Zahid had been 'brazen' and 'felt almost untouchable'.
During the trial, he described how both girls were well known to social services and other agencies it was 'no secret' they were having s£x with older, Asian men.
But no reports were made to police, he said, and 'no action was taken' to stop the girls being abused.
The gang's sickening crimes only came to light when one of the girls, who was also sexually exploited by another grooming gang, went to police in 2015.
In a victim's personal statement, Girl A told how her life had been 'destroyed' by the abuse and her 'childhood was taken away'.
She said: 'I meant nothing to these men - they used me for their advantage only.
'They didn't care how their abuse would have an impact on my childhood and adult life. As long as they got what they wanted, that was all that mattered.'
In her statement, Girl B described her experience as 'horrific' and said her life had been 'on hold' for the past 20 years, adding: 'I have never been able to move on from the abuse.
'This has not just impacted my life and what I could have achieved, but also my children's lives. They have become victims of these men too.'
Liz Fell, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service's Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said following today's sentences: 'At the centre of this case are two victims who, as children, were repeatedly abused, passed around and discarded by men who cruelly preyed on their vulnerabilities and exploited their difficult circumstances for their own sexual gratification.
'Both victims have shown an enormous amount of strength and dignity throughout what has been a lengthy and challenging legal process.
'The impact of child s£xual abuse extends far beyond the immediate offending. Both women not only gave evidence during the trial but have assisted the Court further by providing Victim Personal Statements describing in tragic detail the trauma they have carried for decades, and the impact this offending has had on all parts of their lives.
'Our Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, in collaboration with Greater Manchester Police, was able to use extensive evidence to build a comprehensive picture of the defendant's offending to present to a jury who found them guilty and delivered the justice these women deserved.
'All children have the right to be safe and protected. I hope the outcome of this case will encourage anyone who may be in a similar position to come forward to report their abuse to the police, knowing we will do all we can to prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so and offer support throughout the process.'
After sentencing, Sharon Hubber, director of children's services at Rochdale Borough Council, said: 'The council is in a very different place to where it once was more than a decade ago, and our work to improve our safeguarding practice and our response to child sexual exploitation has been recognised in every Ofsted inspection since 2014.
'We will not be complacent, however, and we remain committed to doing all that we can with our partners to protect and support victims and survivors.'
Liverpool legend, John Barnes, has been declared bankrupt after his company ran up debts of £1.5million.
The bankruptcy notice was published in the London Gazette on Tuesday, September 30, after a petition was filed by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in early August. It was issued in the High Court of Justice on September 23.
The Mirror reports that HMRC said John Barnes Media Limited, the former footballer's now-liquidated company, had amassed debts exceeding £1.5m. Liquidators’ reports show HMRC is owed £776,878 in unpaid VAT, National Insurance, and PAYE, alongside £461,849 to unsecured creditors and a £226,000 director’s loan.
The former Reds and England winger, capped 79 times for the Three Lions, has faced multiple bankruptcy petitions since 2010, including one in 2023 over a £238,000 personal tax bill that was settled at the last moment.
Barnes, who lives in Heswall, Wirral , was banned from being a company director for three-and-a-half years in 2023 after an Insolvency Service investigation found his firm failed to pay more than £190,000 in corporation tax and VAT between 2018 and 2020, despite a turnover of £441,798.
Mike Smith, chief investigator at the service, said Barnes’s failure to ensure taxes were paid “should serve as a deterrent to other directors”. The bankruptcy comes just a month after Barnes opened up about his tax nightmare saying: “I’m paying what I owe.”
The former footballer, who was the first £10,000-a-week player, said he has been paying HMRC for the past eight years after suffering heavy losses from poorly advised investments.
He went on the All Things Business podcast to clear up what says are misleading reports about his financial affairs.
Since 2017, Barnes said he had repaid around £2.2million and continues to pay £10,000 each month under arrangements agreed with the tax authority.
Speaking on the podcast, Barnes said: “I was making a lot of money, I was the first £10,000 a week footballer and benefited from that for a few years. Like a lot of elite sportspeople, I got burned because I trusted people, I got caught out a couple of times and ended up losing between £1m and £1.5m over four years.
“In 2017, I began talking to HMRC about what I could do to repay what I owed.”
Barnes added: “I know how hard it is for people out there. I don’t want to say there are loopholes, or that I can get away with this or that, or have people think I can be made bankrupt and keep my assets, because I’ve already sold everything. I don’t have any assets.
“But every time something new comes up, stories appear in the press saying negative things about how I am not paying my taxes, even though I’m going to court, not to be made bankrupt, but to ask for permission to keep paying.
“Football is a working-class sport, and I don’t want hard working people thinking I’ve got all this money and I won’t pay tax. It would be easy to be made bankrupt because they can’t take anything else from me.”
Germany’s world-famous Oktoberfest was briefly shut down on Wednesday, October 1, after a bomb threat linked to an explosion and fire in Munich, organisers confirmed.
Police and firefighters rushed to a residential property in the city’s Lerchenau district early in the morning after reports of a blaze. Investigators said the house had been rigged with explosives before being set alight. Thick smoke could be seen rising over the area.
A man was discovered badly injured near the scene and later died of his wounds, police reported. According to Bild, the suspect may have triggered the blast in his parents’ home and then killed himself, with gunshots possibly fired during the incident. Police, however, have not confirmed those details.
Authorities also said they were probing any connection between the explosion and the Oktoberfest, which takes place annually at the Theresienwiese fairgrounds near central Munich.
In a statement, organisers announced: “Due to a bomb threat in connection with the explosion in northern Munich, Theresienwiese will remain closed until 5:00 pm for the time being.”
This year’s festival, which runs from September 20 to October 5, is the world’s largest funfair. In 2024, it attracted 6.7 million visitors.
Fast & Furious actor, Tyrese Gibson, failed to turn himself in to police after an arrest warrant was issued because his four Cane Corso dogs mauled and killed a neighbor’s dog in Georgia in mid-September, police said Tuesday.
The warrant for cruelty to animals issued for the “Fast & Furious” actor is part of an “ongoing issue” following multiple calls about the dogs in the past few months, Fulton County Police Captain Nicole Dwyer said.
“Our priority is the safety of the community and when there’s so many incidents of dogs, especially large dogs like this, getting out and then killing an animal, you know, what’s next? A child?” Dwyer said. “Our main priority is safety and that’s why we want the dogs in custody.”
Gibson had received multiple warnings before the warrant was issued, and police had attempted to cite him before the attack, but the actor wasn’t at his Atlanta home. Dwyer said she spoke with Gibson’s lawyer last week and informed them the actor had to turn himself in by Friday.
Gibson’s attorney, Gabe Banks, wrote in an email to The Associated Press the actor is “cooperating fully with authorities to address and resolve this matter responsibly.”
Gibson wasn’t home when the incident took place, Banks wrote, and “immediately made the difficult decision to rehome his dogs to a safe and loving environment.”
Just after 10 p.m. on Sept. 18, a neighbor of Gibson’s, whose house is half a mile away, let their dog, a small spaniel, out to their yard and returned five minutes later to find the dog had been attacked. The dog was rushed to a veterinary hospital, but did not survive, Dwyer said.
The four dogs were then seen at the next-door house, where the owner called police, saying she was afraid to leave her house. Animal control officers responded and were able to keep the dogs back while the neighbor went to her vehicle.
Police issued a search warrant for Gibson’s property on Sept. 22, but the actor and the dogs were not at the residence.
Banks wrote that Gibson “extends his deepest condolences to the family who lost their beloved dog to this tragic incident.”
