LAWYER SHOT DEAD NEARLY THREE MONTHS AFTER HIS WIFE AND SON WERE KILLED AT THEIR HOME

 

Alex Murdaugh, the descendant of a prominent family of lawyers in rural South Carolina, was shot on Saturday, nearly three months after his wife and son were killed at their home.

For nearly three months, the question of who killed the wife and son of Alex Murdaugh, a prominent lawyer in rural South Carolina, has gripped the state’s Lowcountry region as harrowing details of the crime emerged but the police made no arrests.

On Saturday, the mystery deepened further when Mr. Murdaugh himself was shot in the head while changing a tire on the side of the road, according to his lawyer, Jim Griffin, who said Mr. Murdaugh was conscious and able to speak on the telephone from his hospital bed.

Mr. Murdaugh told one of his brothers from the hospital that he had pulled over to change the tire when someone in a truck drove past him, then drove back around and shot him, Mr. Griffin said.

Tommy Crosby, a spokesman for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the police agency that is investigating the original double killing, confirmed that Mr. Murdaugh had been shot in Hampton County, a rural county that borders Georgia, but said he could provide no more details.

Mr. Murdaugh is a lawyer whose father, grandfather, and great-grandfather each served as the top prosecutor for a broad swath of the southern part of the state over more than eight decades, forming a legal dynasty that has made people wonder whether they were targeted.

On June 7, he returned to his family’s home in Islandton, a hamlet of fewer than 100 people, and discovered his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his son, Paul Murdaugh, a college student, fatally shot.

Since then, questions have swirled about who the perpetrator could be, and the family has received intense scrutiny, particularly over the fact that Paul Murdaugh was, at the time of his death, awaiting trial on charges of boating under the influence related to a 2019 crash that killed a 19-year-old woman who was a passenger.

Documents and videos released since Paul Murdaugh’s death have raised questions about whether the police were sloppy or gave him favorable treatment, though they have denied that. In one case, a passenger on the boat told a Department of Natural Resources officer that Paul Murdaugh had been driving the boat, but the officer wrote in a report that the passenger had said he was not sure who was driving.

In June, Alex Murdaugh pledged a $100,000 reward for information that led to a conviction against whoever killed his wife and son.

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Credit: The New York Times

SINGER AKON'S SENEGALESE 'WAKANDA' CITY UNSTARTED, LOCALS LEFT IN DARK

 

A year after singer Akon laid the first stone of the $6 billion futuristic cities he vowed to build for his native Senegal, the site remains grassland.

The stone itself sits at the bottom of a dirt track in a field; a small placard advertising the megaproject has fallen off it.

Construction of "Akon City," a project due to feature ultramodern twisting skyscrapers, was already meant to have begun near the Atlantic Ocean village of Mbodiene.

But building work is yet to start, prompting residents who were hoping for jobs to wonder about its future.

"They laid the foundation stone with a lot of speeches and promises," said Jules Thiamine, a 35-year-old local who works in the tourism industry.

"Compared to everything that was announced, I don't think we have seen much yet."

Akon -- a Senegalese-American singer-songwriter best known for his R&B hits such as "Smack That" -- launched his eponymous city in September 2020, to great fanfare and international media attention.

The city's otherworldly design is partly inspired by Wakanda, he said at the time, referring to the fictional African city of the "Black Panther" Marvel movie and comic series.

Akon City's planners also say it will be a "beacon of innovation and human development" that will boost industry in the West African state of Senegal.

A stadium, casino, luxury high-rise apartment complexes, and an education district that will "accommodate the most prestigious universities in the world" are also part of the plans.

- Sleepy hamlet -

The glittering vision is a far cry from the existing sleepy hamlet of Mbodiene, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital, where pigs roll in the muck and donkeys amble along the road.

Locals interviewed by AFP said they knew little about Akon City, nor why construction had been delayed.

The ceremonial stone was laid on August 31 2020 and construction was scheduled to begin early this year.

A hospital, school, shopping mall, homes, police station, waste center, and solar power plant are supposed to be completed in 2023 -- and the whole city by 2030.

Speaking on an untarmacked road as horned cattle grazed behind him, 25-year-old student Ahmeth Deme wondered whether the project had been cancelled.

Badara Diakhate, the deputy mayor of the local commune, said he was unaware of the exact reason for the delay but that "people want things to get going."

He welcomed investment in the village and said that delays were common, especially given the pandemic.

- Disillusioned -

At $6 billion, the planned cost of Akon City is huge -- it is not much smaller than Senegal's overall 2020 budget of about $7.5 billion.

The pomp and size of the project elicited skepticism in Senegal at first, where developers and politicians often tout the merits of pet building works.

About 40 percent of Senegal's 16 million people live below the poverty line, according to a World Bank metric.

A lack of clarity regarding Akon City's funding also raised questions.

Paul Martin, from the US-based firm KE International which won the Akon City construction contract, said that Kenyan entrepreneur Julius Mwale is the lead investor.

He added that he could not disclose information on other investors for confidentiality reasons, but said more than $4 billion in funding had been raised.

Construction of Akon City will start in October, Martin said, after a similar Mwale-funded city is completed in Kenya.

"The first 12 months incorporated planning, approvals, procurement and recruitment of sub-contractors," Martin said by email, referring to Akon City.

But tourism worker Thiamane said that he'd grown disillusioned, pointing to earlier failed development projects in Mbodiene.

"What is shared in the village at the moment is the beginning of disappointment," he said.

Akon's team, and the Senegalese state tourism agency SAPCO, which is managing the project on the government's behalf, did not respond to repeated solicitations by AFP for comment.

- 'Still have hope' -

Most Mbodiene residents cited the potential benefits of Akon City and said it could bring jobs.

"This is big for us," said Philomene Bamimba, who heads a local women's association.

David Seck Sene, president of the village youth association, admitted there was confusion around the delays but said: "I still have hope. I don't see how a project like this could stop tomorrow."

He, like other residents, is pushing for education and training so that villagers are not sidelined to laborers' roles in Akon City.

KE International's Paul Martin said the aim is to empower locals to fill high-skilled jobs, adding that training would start when construction does.

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GUINEA SOLDIERS SAY PRESIDENT 'TAKEN' AND GOVERNMENT 'DISSOLVED'

 

Guinea's special forces claimed Sunday to have captured President Alpha Conde and "dissolved" the country's institutions, in a video sent to an AFP correspondent, while the defense ministry said it had repelled their attack on the presidency.

"We have decided after having taken the president, who is currently with us (...) to dissolve the current constitution, to dissolve the institutions; we have also decided to dissolve the government and the closure of land and air borders," said one of the uniformed and armed coup plotters in the statement, which has also been widely circulated on social networks but has not been broadcast on national television.

The coup plotters, with whom AFP's correspondent confirmed the source of these images, broadcast a video of President Conde in their hands. They ask him if he has been mistreated, and Alpha Conde, in jeans and a shirt on a sofa, refuses to answer them.

For its part, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement that "the insurgents (had) spread fear" in Conakry before taking the direction of the presidential palace, but that "the presidential guard, supported by the defense and security forces, loyalists, and republicans, have contained the threat and pushed back the group of attackers.

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GHANA DEPORTS NIGERIAN SINGER, BELLA SHMURDA FOR ATTACKING DOCTOR WHO ANNOUNCED HIS COVID-17 RESULT

 

The “Cash App” hit maker was deported alongside two others namely Ramsey Omeofe and Jubreel Abimbola while they were also fined GH¢2,000 each.

The Adjabeng Circuit Court sitting in Accra, Ghana, has ordered the deportation of Nigerian singer, Bella Shmurda, from Ghana after he was found guilty of attacking a doctor with a fork while in quarantine at the MPlaza Hotel in Accra.

The “Cash App” hitmaker was deported alongside two others namely Ramsey Omeofe and Jubreel Abimbola while they were also fined GH¢2,000 each.

The court also banned the singer, whose real name is Akinbiyi Abiola Ahmed, and his colleagues from traveling to Ghana for a period of three months.

Bella Shmurda and the two others were said to have become agitated and attacked the doctor after being put into quarantine for testing positive for COVID-19.

It is understood that the trio was quarantined upon arrival in Ghana as mandated during the pandemic and underwent COVID tests.

They were quarantined at the MPlaza hotel in Accra and had their swabs taken and reportedly tested positive for the virus which meant they had to remain in quarantine.

Apparently rankled and agitated that the development would disrupt their visit to Ghana, they reportedly attacked the doctor who delivered the news to them with a fork.

The attack, it was gathered, was part of an alleged plot by the trio to escape from quarantine.

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Credit: saharareporters

PASTOR ADEBOYE OF THE RCCG SELLS OFF HELICOPTER OVER MAINTENANCE COST WORTH N123 MILLION

 

It was stated that the helicopter was purchased in September 2020 to ferry the Pastor and other officials of the church across the world for the preaching of the gospel.

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has reportedly sold his helicopter with registration marking 5NEAA.

It was stated that the helicopter was purchased in September 2020 to ferry the Pastor and other officials of the church across the world for the preaching of the gospel.

The helicopter was, however, suspended from flying by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in April 2021 over alleged expired documents and spare parts which needed to be replaced.

According to Church Gist, the total cost of maintaining the helicopter for a single month was about $300,000 (N123 million).

This has caused the renowned gospel preacher to sell off the aircraft, the news site reported.

It was also stated that the managers of the aircraft charged $50,000 (N20 million) monthly for Nav charges.

It was gathered that the 79-year-old man of God has resorted to using the helicopter belonging to Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church for his missionary travels.

Meanwhile, Oyedepo had said that God showed him wings in April 1982 indicative that the ministry he was called to pastor will be operating with ‘aircrafts’. This has led the Living Faith Church to own a hangar to manage her aircraft in order to further reduce the costs of running these aircraft.

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Credit: saharareporters