US Marine Who Killed Transgender Woman After He Mistakenly Touched Below 'Her' Has Been Jailed

A US Marine was jailed for 12 years by a Philippine court after being found guilty of killing a transgender woman. The Olongapo City regional trial court sentenced Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton after finding him guilty of homicide.

He was also ordered to pay the family of Jennifer Laude more than 4.5 million pesos (£63,196, $95,350) who was found dead in 2014 in a cheap hotel outside a US navy base north west of Manila. He was found guilty of killing Laude by first strangling her, then submerging her head in a toilet bowl in a hotel they checked into after meeting in an Olongapo disco, AP reported.

A US Marine was jailed for 12 years by a Philippine court after being found guilty of killing a transgender woman. The Olongapo City regional trial court sentenced Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton after finding him guilty of homicide.

Pemberton, an anti-tank missile operator from New Bedford, Massachusetts, was one of thousands of American and Philippine military personnel who participated in a joint exercise.

He and a group of other Marines were on leave after the exercise and met Laude and her friends at a bar in Olongapo, a city known for its nightlife located outside Subic Bay, a former US Naval base. At least two witnesses testified that Laude was a s3x worker.

Pemberton can appeal against the verdict and the sentence. He will be temporarily held in the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa, south of the capital, until US and Filipino authorities agree where he should serve the sentence as prescribed under the visiting forces agreement.

Pemberton had earlier admitted in court choking but not killing Laude. He said he acted in self defence after finding a man and not a woman giving him oral s3x.

Pemberton had testified that when he discovered Laude had a male s3x organ after Laude performed oral s3x on him, "he was so disgusted and repulsed" that he pushed Laude who slapped so hard "his ear started ringing". He punched Laude as she was about to hit him again and then choked her with an arm lock until she stopped moving.

He told the court he brought Laude to the toilet to try to revive her using the water in the toilet bowl because the shower was not working. He claimed she was still breathing when he left her.

Laude's mother, Julita, said that while she was happy the verdict detailed everything that had transpired, she was not pleased with the sentence because she had hoped Pemberton would be found guilty of murder, a more serious crime than homicide. "But the important thing is he will be jailed," she said. "My son's life is not wasted."

The case has reignited calls in the Philippines for US soldiers to be kicked out of country. In August, the Philippines asked for increased military assistance from the US amid an escalating dispute with China over territory in the South China Sea.

culled from ibtimes.co.uk

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Check Out Photos Of Ooni Of Ife In Preparation For His Coronation

Here are new photos of the Ooni of Ife, HRH Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi in preparation for his coronation. See more after the cut. 

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David Mark's Rice, Tomatoes Flood Benue State Ahead Of Election (Photos)

Foodstuffs branded in the name of former Senate President, David Mark, are being distributed across Benue state by his supporters, The Nation online newspaper is reporting.

This is as a result of the ruling of the Court of Appeal Makurdi Division, which nullified the election of Mark at the weekend.

Meanwhile, the sticker on the items (branded rice, salt and tin tomatoes) indicates that they were made for campaign during the last election but diverted by some of his key supporters who were in charge of distribution.

The items were seen distributed free of charge to the people in Otukpo area of the state.

The Nation, however, observed that while some people rejected it, others collected with excitement on their face. Those who spoke to The Nation wondered why the items were not distributed before the 2015 senatorial election saying it is a act of desperation and an after-thought to give the people of Benue south rice meant for six month back after the annulment of his election. See another photo after the cut...

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FG Urged To Ban Use Of Veils

A human rights activist in Sapele, Delta State, Mr James Idoghor, has called on the Federal Government to ban the wearing of veils across the country, noting that hoodlums were perpetrating crimes with them.

Idogho, who expressed concern over the inability of the Federal Government to find the over 200 missing Chibok girls, and the continuous killings and unleashing of mayhem on innocent citizens, particularly in northern parts of the country, said, “Most of the perpetrators of the heinous crimes usually wear veils to disguise their gender and motives.”

Adding that, “No democratic country will tolerate any religious norm that has turned dangerous to the precious lives of her citizenry. This government should not pay deaf ears to the cries of her citizens. People are dying in their dozens by the day. The wearing of veils must be stopped.”

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UNN Students Kick Against Buying Compulsory N75,000 Laptop From School Authorities

UNN students at the moment are very angry and have rejected the new compulsory fees bestowed on them, asking that each student must pay a compulsory N75,000 to own a laptop.

The students called on the new Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu asking him to intervene because if they are made to pay the money, they will be paying N200,000 in total. They added that most of their parents live on the N18,000 minimum wage which governors are about to scrap, which has made most of them helpless. However, some other students were of the opinion that it was nothing but a business strategy and therefore asked the VC to go into the sales of laptops and leave them out of his business.

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Faleke Sues APC And INEC Over New Choice Of Candidate

The running mate of the late candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi governorship election, Mr James Faleke, has sued the INEC and his party, APC a day after the late candidate was substituted.

Mr Faleke’s suit is consequent to the replacement of the late Abubakar Audu with  Mr Yahaya Bello on Monday, retaining Mr Faleke as the new governorship candidate’s deputy. Mr Faleke has however expressed his displeasure with the choice and had gone to court.

He filed a separate suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the registry of Federal High Court in Abuja. The matter is however yet to be assigned to any judge.

Mr Faleke is asking the court to declare him the Governor-elect of Kogi State based on the outcome of the election. Indeed more dramas will still play out.

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2nd December: Today In History

Today is 2nd December,  the 336 day of 2015. There are 29 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight In History; 
Birthdays:
1859 Georges Seurat, French painter
1885 Dr George R Minot, American discoverer of a treatment for anaemia
1889 Sir John Barbirolli, English conductor with the 'Halle Orchestra'
1906 Peter Carl Goldmark, American inventor of the long playing record
1956 Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Heir to the Duke of Norfolk
1959 Gwyneth Strong, Actress; appeared in 'Only Fools And Horses'
1960 Rick Savage, Guitarist & founder member of the group 'Def Leppard'
1960 Sydney Youngblood, Pop singer

Events:
1697 The newly re-built St Pauls Cathedral was opened
1804 In Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France
1805 Lord Nelson was killed during the Battle of Trafalgar
1942 The first successfull nuclear chain reaction was created by physicists, Enrico Fermi & Arthur Crompton
1982 The British actor and comedian Marty Feldman died in Mexico City, aged 49
1982 A 61 year old American dentist, Dr Barney Clark, was the first human to receive the worlds first artificial heart
1982 The film 'Gandhi' received it's premiere in London attended by the Princess of Wales
1991 The seat of the Federal Government formally moves to Abuja.
1992 A decree - National Assembly (Basic Constitutional and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Decree No. 53 of 1992 - spells out specific areas on which the National Assembly can pass bills. No-go areas

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EFCC Nabs Ex-Gov Bafarawa Over His Role In Arms Purchase Scandal

This can be rightly classified as a politically hot Tuesday in Nigeria's federal capital territory, Abuja. In the move to bring all those allegedly involved in the sharing of Nigeria's money to book. the EFCC has also nabbed former Sokoto Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa.

He was finally arrested in Abuja after he lost his hide-and-seek game with the agency over allegations that he was used by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and ex-NSA Col. Sambo Dasuki to launder over N4.1bn meant for purchase of arms that should have been used to defeat Boko Haram.

Bafarawa’s son was earlier arrested on Monday, and security analysts speculate that he may have revealed his father's location to the EFCC.

The former governor was thus trailed by secret agents and arrested on Tuesday. 

According to a reliable Source who told us that Bafarawa and a former governor of Adamawa State played big roles in the deals, and security agents have gathered enough evidence on what they did for Jonathan.

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Lupita Nyong'o glows for Essence Magazine's January 2016 Issue

Lupita Nyong'o is still slaying covers .The Kenyan star covers the January 2016 issue of Essence magazine on her fame, she says.



 "After 12 Years a Slave and the quote-unquote meteoric rise, I felt like there was a moment where I was suffering from whiplash. I had talked so much about who I was that I’d forgotten who I was"

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Boko Haram Not Responsible For Bombing Of Shiite Muslims In Kano - Sheikh Zakzaky

A Shi'a muslim cleric and the Head of Nigeria's Islamic Movement, Sheikh Zakzaky has said that the recent bomb attacks on Shiite Muslims in Kano participating in the Arba'een symbolic trek, which led to the death of over 24 persons and injuring more than 60 was not carried out by Boko Haram has claimed.

He disclosed this at the end of Nahjul Balagha study session which held at Hussainiyyah Baqiyyatullah, Zaria, Kaduna State yesterday.

He said, 'We know the names of the contractors and those contracted to commit the massacre. Their identity is not hidden from us. Therefore we cowed by an imaginary Boko Haram tale. Let them tell it to the fools and ignorant. They should know that they are dealing with those with foresight, wisdom and intelligence and above all with the real religion,"

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