Philippine Man Gets Nailed To The Cross To Re-Enact Christ’s Crucifixion.., Literally.

This Phillipine man has been nailed to the cross annually for 32 years to re-enact Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.

Ruben Enaje is a Philippine man who has been nailed to a cross every Easter for the past 32 years in a Good Friday re-enactment of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion who says he no longer feels any pain from his wounds.

The 58 year old actor again portrayed Christ on Friday in the traditional religious rite in Cutud village, about 76 km (47 miles) from the capital Manila. “In the past, I went home injured and limping, but this year I feel so great,” Enaje said after the ritual held under a scorching sun.

He said he believed his strong Catholic faith helped him avoid pain. “I feel like he is telling me ‘go ahead, keep it up’,” he said, referring to God. Easter is a festival marking the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

US Visa Applicants To Start Disclosing Social Media Handles, Previous Phone Numbers Soon.

Travellers to the United States will soon have to submit their social media identities, previous telephone numbers and email addresses, a measure that could touch 10 million people per year.

According to a State Department plan published Friday, visa seekers — whether visitors or would-be immigrants — will be presented with a list of social media platforms.

Applicants will be required to identify which they use and provide “any identifiers used by applicants for those platforms during the five years preceding the date of application.

Other questions seek five years of previously used telephone numbers, email addresses, and international travel,” the notice, published in the Federal Register, revealed.

When these new rules were first suggested last year as part of what US President Donald Trump has called “extreme vetting” of would-be visitors, civil liberties groups sounded the alarm about privacy.

But officials say they could identify potential extremists, such as one of the attackers in the December 2015 San Bernadino shooting — who got a visa despite allegedly advocating “jihad” on social media.

The measures apply both to the DS-260 “Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Form” and the DS-160 “Application for Nonimmigrant Visa.” In the last fiscal year, 559,536 people applied for US immigrant visas and 9,681,913 for various forms of visitor visa.

Friday’s announced measures will not touch diplomatic or official travelers.

The announcement begins a 60-day period in which interested bodies and members of the public will be allowed to submit comments on the rule changes, which are expected to be approved on May 29.

Police Finally Arrest Man Who Attacked His UNIMAID Girlfriend With Acid.

Police operatives attached to the Borno state command have apprehended one Musa Faisal in connection with alleged acid attack on his 26-year old girlfriend, Fatima Usman.

The Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, Mr Damian Chukwu, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Maiduguri on Thursday. Fatima Usman, a final year student of Department of Nursing, University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) was attacked with corrosive fluid by suspected tricycle operators in Maiduguri on March 16.

The police boss also revealed that the suspect and the victim dated for over four years and Fatima Usman’s parents rejected the marriage proposal by Faisal. She sustained serious injuries on the face and other parts of her body as a result of the attack.

Chukwu disclosed that the suspect, Musa Faisal, was arrested by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Kano. He explained that the police had also arrested one Muhammad Babangida, who conspired with Faisal and attacked the girl.

The commissioner said preliminary investigation indicated that the suspects conspired and assaulted the girl, contrary to the notion that she was attacked by tricycle operators.

The police said that the suspects had admitted committing the offence, adding that they would soon be charged to court.

South African Man Stabbed Through The Eye And Brain Gets His Sight Restored.

Doctors in North West have successfully removed a knife from the brain of a 23-year-old man who was stabbed during a tavern brawl.

According to Tshepiso Mothibi‚ he was enjoying drinks at a tavern in Magogoe near Mahikeng on March 20 when a fight broke out and he was stabbed through the left eye.

With the sharp self-made shank knife still embedded in his brain‚ he was airlifted from the Mahikeng provincial hospital to the Tshepong Hospital where an operation to remove the knife was successfully carried out by Dr Tharun Krishna‚ head of the hospital’s neurosurgery unit‚ assisted by his team.

According to Polaki Mokatsane‚ CEO of the Klerksdorp/Tshepong Hospital Complex it was a “very complex operation” as a CT scan showed that “the whole sharp side of the knife was impacted and buried in the brain with only the handle side of the knife sticking outside”.

“The surgery took five hours to complete successfully and the patient responded well‚” Mokatsane said‚ adding that Mothibi was being kept in hospital for further observation.

Dr Krishna‚ who was assisted Dr. Masedi Mohale; Neurosurgery Registrar‚ Dr. Ben Hameda and Dr. Hilda Mazvhikwa‚ both anaesthetists‚ and Sister Nontsikelelo Mpana‚ the theatre nurse‚ described the operation as challenging.

“The patient underwent craniotomy to open a portion of the skull in order to expose the cranial base and base of brain to inspect the major structures that provide blood supply to the brain‚ namely the two internal carotid arteries‚ and the major cranial nerves‚ to protect and d repair these vital structures” Krishna said.

“In theatre‚ the knife was carefully disengaged and withdrawn from the brain in a controlled manner‚ while being monitored under the magnified vision of operating microscope‚ without causing internal bleeding or injury to the structures of the brain.”

Krishna added that Mothibi‚ who will be discharged on Thursday‚ had retained his vision in the left eye. “Post-operatively‚ the patient is doing very well‚ with vision of both eyes preserved. This patient was very lucky.”

Pope Francis Washes The Feet Of Nigerian Prisoner.

Pope Francis washed prisoners’ feet at a Rome jail on Thursday, including two Muslims, an Orthodox Christian and a Buddhist, once again choosing to celebrate Holy Thursday among Italy’s incarcerated.

“Everyone always has the opportunity to change life and one cannot judge,” said Francis to the prisoners of the city’s all-male Regina Coeli prison. It is the fourth time in the pope’s five year papacy that he has celebrated the Holy Mass in an Italian jail.

“For me, visiting the sick, going into prison, making the prisoner feel that he can have hope of rehabilitation, that is the preaching of the Church,” said Francis in a recent book of interviews.

During the Mass, the Pope washed the feet of 12 prisoners, as he has done on three former occasions.

This year, the inmates included eight Catholics, two Muslims, one Orthodox Christian, and one Buddhist. They came from different countries, including the Philippines, Nigeria, Colombia, Sierra Leone, Morocco, Moldova, and Italy.

📹: Romereports

Former City Mayor In China Gets Death Sentence For Corruption.

The former vice-mayor of a northern Chinese city has become the first corrupt official to be given the death penalty since the launch of a widespread anti-graft crackdown in 2012.

Zhang Zhongsheng was sentenced on Wednesday in Linfen, Shanxi province, after being convicted of accepting 1.04 billion yuan ($165 million) in bribes.

Between 1997 and 2013, he accepted massive kickbacks to help others land lucrative contracts – including in the coal mining sector – while serving as a county head and then vice-mayor of Lyuliang, according to Linfen People’s Intermediate Court.

“The death penalty is only applicable to those whose crimes are extremely serious,” the court said in a statement. “When the amount of corruption is particularly large and the circumstances are particularly serious and have a severe social influence, the defendant can be sentenced to death under the law.

“In the 18 charges against Zhang, two were related to bribes exceeding 200 million yuan.

He also asked others to pay him more than 88 million yuan.”

The court said Zhang’s actions had seriously affected the local economy and had a negative social impact in the province and the whole country. It added that he has yet to return about 300 million yuan in illicit assets.

Zhang will have 10 days to appeal his sentence. If he doesn’t appeal, the ruling will be passed to the Shanxi High People’s Court and then to the Supreme People’s Court for review and approval.

Chinese National Arrested, Arraigned For Concealing $300K At Abuja Airport.

The EFCC, on March 28, 2018 arraigned a Chinese, Li Yanping, before Justice Babatunde Ouadri of the Federal High Court, Abuja on one-count charge of concealing a sum of $300,000 from Customs officers, while attempting to board a flight en route Dubai, on March 15, 2018, at the Abuja airport.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge and Justice Quadri granted him bail in the sum of N10million with two sureties in like sum. He is to be remanded in the custody of the EFCC until the perfection of his bail conditions.

71 Year Old Cleared For Murder After 45 Years In Prison.

An American citizen has been cleared of murder. But this did not come until 45 years after he was convicted.

Richard Phillips, 71, was upbeat, saying the criminal justice system “works — it just didn’t work fast enough.”

A Reddit report indicates that the judge granted a request to permanently drop the case against Phillips, whose conviction was erased last year. Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy said a new investigation by her office backed his claim that he had no role in a 1971 fatal shooting.

She said a key witness lied at his 1972 murder trial.

“There’s nothing I can say to bring back 40 years of his life,” Worthy said. “The system failed him. This is a true exoneration.” Phillips had been free on bond since December. He likely will be eligible for more than $2 million under Michigan’s wrongful conviction law.

No one in the U.S. has served more years in prison before being exonerated than Phillips, said David Moran, director of the Innocence Clinic. “I’ve never carried bitterness around, so I’m not a bitter man,” Phillips told reporters when asked about his decades in prison.

One of his goals: A reunion with two children who were ages 2 and 4 when he went to prison in 1972. Despite publicity about his case, Phillips said he hasn’t heard from them and doesn’t know their whereabouts. “You have seen the worst and best of the criminal justice system,” Judge Kevin Cox told Phillips.

US Rapper DMX Bags One Year Prison Term.

American rapper, Earl Simmons better known as DMX has been sentenced to one year in prison for tax evasion.

The 47-year-old rapper was handed the sentence during a hearing in Manhattan on Wednesday, after having pleaded guilty to the charges last year November.

The rapper who was first arrested in July 2017,  was facing 14 charges of tax fraud. He initially pleaded not guilty and paid $500,000 to be released on bail, but later pled guilty to one count in November as part of a deal with authorities.

According to TMZ, the New York rapper would have faced up to 4 years in prison if the deal hadn’t been struck.

But following the 12 month jail term, DMX will have three years of supervised release when he’s out of prison.

Lady Attacks Her Ex-Boyfriend With Razor Blade After Slapping Her.

A young man has landed in the hospital after his ex-girlfriend injured him badly with a razor blade in Sapele area of Delta state.

According to reports, the man had already broken up with the girl who is said to still have interest in him. The girl was alleged to have been reporting the guy to his mother and sisters which made him more unhappy with her.

The young man reportedly warned her not to report him to his family again since they are no longer together. He allegedy told her that if she tries that again he will slap her. The girl told him he can’t slap her.To prove his point, the young man gave the girl a hot slap only for her to retaliate by attacking him with a razor blade which she used in cutting him around the neck region.

The wounded man was rushed to St. James Hospital, Amukpe for treatment.

The condition of the girl involved is yet to be ascertained as to whether she has been arrested.