Headline

Nigerian Student Jailed 40 Months In UK Dor Terrorism Threat

Published

2 years ago

December 23, 2023

A 26-year-old Nigerian Master’s student at Dundee University, Scotland, Somtochukwu Okwuoha, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for making terrorism threats against staff and students of the school, BBC reports Friday.

Okwuoha, an international energy studies student, will also be deported after a Peth Sheriff Court found him guilty of the charge.

Witnesses revealed how the student had claimed to have a military background and was capable of making bombs and unleashing a deadly virus on the city.

Okwuoha, who arrived in the United Kingdom in 2021, also stated that he had enlisted the terror group, ISIS, to help bomb the university and told staff of his plan to target the city in a chemical attack.

Sheriff William Wood said, “Your presence in the United Kingdom is not conducive to the public good, and I make a recommendation for your deportation in due course.”

“You were abusive towards her and tried to have her removed from her university course,” after he had threatened a fellow female student who refused his advances.

“The university decided to suspend you from your course and you turned your attention towards staff.

“You threatened mass murder, terrorism, said you would plant bombs and use biological weapons,” the charge read.

Okwuoha, a prisoner at Perth, was found guilty of threatening to murder staff at the university and committing terrorist crimes between December 2021 and June 2022.

He was found guilty of threatening to commit mass murder, using biological weapons, revealing staff details to international authorities and claiming to have planted bombs.

He was also found guilty of threatening to behead police officers and detonate bombs he had planted at Dundee University.

‘Blood spill’ threat

A witness, Keith Mackle, 58, now a retired director of student services, told Perth Sheriff Court he became aware of “serious concerns” in the autumn of 2021.

He said staff members received emails making terrorist threats.

“Expect a massive bomb explosion at the University of Dundee. I have contacted ISIS terrorists to plant bombs on campus.

“I can assure you staff and students will die in great numbers. 9/11 will be a joke compared to what will happen.

“Blood will spill and flesh will be scattered,” another witness stated.

Accommodation officer, Shane Taylor, told the court Okwuoha accused him of being racist and said he planned to wipe out Scottish people as revenge.

Headline

UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

Headline

Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

Headline

Trump Signs Order For TikTok’s Sale, Valued At $14bn

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring that his plan is to sell TikTok’s US operations to American and global investors.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law that otherwise would ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion.

“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.

The White House on Thursday pushed back the law’s enforcement date to January 20 to allow time for the transaction, investor commitments, and negotiations with Chinese authorities.

The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets.

However, details remain to be worked out, including how the U.S. company would handle TikTok’s most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

According to Reuters, Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. “I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.