Headline
Bayelsa: Tarabina Tasks Contractors On Project Completion Deadline

The Chairman, Bayelsa State Directorate for Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Engr. Ebiye Tarabina, has tasked contractors handling government projects in the state to intensify efforts to meet projects completion deadline.
Engr. Tarabina gave the directive during an inspection and evaluation tour of ongoing projects in the state recently.
Projects inspected includes the Igbedi Road; th Glory Drive to Onopa Road; the Igbogene /AIT Road project, the Yenagoa /Oporoma Road and the Elebele Bridge project.
While stating that the projects are very significant for the present and future development of the state, he urged contractors not to relent on their efforts.
The chairman who noted that Governor Douye Diri was committed to the completion of all ongoing projects in the state, charged contractors handling the various projects to expedite action.

Site of one of the road projects under construction.
He said one of the objectives of the prosperity administration led by Senator Douye Diri in embarking on infrastructural development was to create employment opportunities for the teeming youths in the state.
He noted that investment in these projects has been made possible of the government judicious application of state resources to meet the pressing needs of the people.
At the site of the Glory Drive to Onopa and Igbedi Road project, the project monitoring boss expressed delight at the pace and quality of work achieved so far.
He, however, urged the contractors to increase the pace for the timely completion of the projects.
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The site manager of CCECC , the company handling the Glory Drive to Onopa road project, Henry Zhang, assured that the company will do everything within its power to ensure that the project is completed on schedule.
In a similar vein, the General Manager of PAACIE construction company, who is handling the Egbedi road project, Mr. Sarkis Abichmount pledged completion of the project on record time, said more milestones will be achieved on the project in the coming days.

Another site of the ongoing road project.
The chairman was accompanied by members of the board, heads of departments, engineers, news men and support staff of the directorate.
Headline
Woman Wanted Over Mutilation Of Boyfriend’s Genitals In US

Authorities in Toledo, Ohio, United States, are searching for a 45-year-old woman, Jeanita Hopings, accused of breaking into her boyfriend’s home and attacking him with a sharp object, causing serious injuries to his genitals.
As reported by PEOPLE on Thursday, warrants issued for Hopings’ arrest show she faces charges of felonious assault and aggravated burglary in connection with the October 7 incident.
Investigators allege that Hopings “forcefully kicked open the front door” of her boyfriend’s home before entering “without permission,” according to one of the warrants.
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Once inside, she allegedly attacked the victim with an “unknown instrument,” inflicting a deep wound.
“The victim’s testicle was clearly exposed as the result of the laceration,” the warrant stated.
The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, police confirmed.
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Hopings has not yet been arrested and has not entered a plea to the charges. Court records from Lucas County indicate that she has no prior felony history, though she has previously faced several traffic-related misdemeanour offences.
Police say Hopings remains at large as the investigation continues.
Headline
US To Execute Man Convicted Of Rape, Murder Of Teen

A 53-year-old man convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl is to be executed by lethal injection in the US state of Indiana on Friday.
Roy Lee Ward was sentenced to death in 2002 for the murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne at her home in the town of Dale.
Payne was repeatedly stabbed and died of her injuries several hours after the attack.
Ward was arrested at the scene while still holding a knife.
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The execution is to be carried out between midnight and sunrise on Friday morning at a state prison in Michigan City.
Ward will be the third person put to death in Indiana since the state resumed executions last year after a 15-year hiatus because of difficulties obtaining the lethal drugs used in them.
There have been 34 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2014, when 35 inmates were put to death.
Florida has carried out the most executions — 13 — followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.
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Twenty-eight of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.
The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.
President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”
AFP
Headline
Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may go to the Middle East at the end of this week as a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is “very close.”
Trump said during an event at the White House that he would “go to Egypt most likely” but that he would also consider going to war-torn Gaza.
“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually. And we’ll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well,” Trump told reporters at the start of the event.
“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well. So we’ll let you know, if that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe on Saturday.”
READ ALSO:Israeli Forces Strike Gaza Despite Trump’s Ceasefire Call
Near the end of the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unexpectedly entered the room and handed Trump a note.
The US president told reporters the note said that “we’re very close to a deal” and that his presence was needed. “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East,” he added.
Hamas and Israeli officials are having indirect talks in Egypt on a 20-point peace proposal unveiled by Trump to end the two-year-old war.
– ‘Very close’ –
Trump said as he began the event that he had come off the phone with officials in the Middle East, where his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had just joined discussions in Egypt.
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“‘Peace for the Middle East,’ that’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well,” Trump added.
“We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and they’re, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it’s something I think that will happen.”
Asked if he would consider going to Gaza if a deal happens, Trump replied: “I would, yeah. I would. I might do that. I may do that. We haven’t decided exactly.”
Trump said he would insist on the release of hostages held by Hamas before traveling to the region.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that he had received “encouraging” signs and hailed the support of Trump.
Hamas too expressed “optimism” over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.
Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
AFP
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