France bans paying for sex

French MPs have passed a law that makes it illegal to pay for sex and imposes fines of up to €3,750 (£3,027, $4,274) for those buying sexual acts, reports the BBC.   Those convicted would also have to attend classes to learn about the conditions faced by prostitutes. It has taken more than two years to pass the controversial legislation because of differences between the two houses of parliament over the issue. Some sex workers protested against the law during the final debate. 

The demonstrators outside parliament in Paris, numbering about 60, carried banners and placards one of which read: “Don’t liberate me, I’ll take care of myself”, the AFP news agency reports. Members of the Strass sex workers’ union say it will affect the livelihoods of prostitutes, estimated to number between 30,000 and 40,000. But supporters of the law have said it will help fight trafficking networks. It will also make it easier for foreign prostitutes to get a temporary residence permit in France if they agree to find jobs outside prostitution. “The most important aspect of this law is to accompany prostitutes, give them identity papers because we know that 85% of prostitutes here are victims of trafficking,” Socialist MP Maud Olivier, who sponsored the legislation, told the Associated Press news agency. The law was passed in the final vote on the bill in the lower house of parliament by 64 to 12 with 11 abstentions, France’s Le Monde newspaper reports. It supersedes one from 2003 that penalised sex workers for soliciting. Correspondents say the predominantly right-wing Senate has been opposed to the ban – and parliamentary debates have often ended in deadlock. Those found guilty for paying for sex will have to pay a first time fine of 1,500 euros, which will more than double for a repeat offence. Sweden was the first country to criminalise those who pay for sex rather than the prostitutes. Swedish authorities say the number of women on the streets in the prostitution area in Stockholm has fallen since the legislation was introduced.

Source: Vanguard Newspaper

Terrorist Task Force Alerted of NYPD Shooting

The Latest on two NYPD officers shot in a meeting early Saturday with a shooter who smashed his auto into a police vehicle, as per police.

10:30 p.m.

New York City police have informed the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force around a showdown that left two New York City cops recuperating from discharge wounds.

A representative for the New York Police Department said the notice was made as a safety measure while specialists keep on attempting to sort out precisely what happened early Saturday morning. The FBI didn't promptly react to a solicitation for input.

Officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw were shot around 3:30 a.m. in the wake of drawing nearer a suspect in Brooklyn. Both are required to make a full recuperation.

Police said the officers heard gunfire and after that saw the suspect, Jamal Funes, point a gun before slamming his vehicle into a watch auto.

Funes was shot a few times and was in basic condition. It wasn't promptly clear on the off chance that he had a lawyer who could remark.

—

10 p.m.

A man who police say was included in an encounter that left two New York City officers with gunfire harms had served time in jail.

Records demonstrate the man was discharged from jail in 2010 subsequent to being indicted endeavored strike in Brooklyn. At the time, he utilized the name Fredrick Funes. He's presently known as Jamal Funes.

A police representative affirmed the records acquired by The Associated Press are for the man in authority Saturday.

The trade with Funes started around 3:30 a.m. after officers heard gunfire and saw Funes point a pistol.

Police say he slammed his auto into a police vehicle. Two officers were shot amid the meeting. Both are required to make a full recuperation.

Funes is in basic condition with different gunfire wounds.

—

5:30 p.m.

Specialists are attempting to pinpoint who discharged, when and whether police themselves shot any of the shots that harmed two officers in a meeting with a suspect in New York City.

It's standard for police shooting examinations to investigate the likelihood of what's known as "benevolent flame."

Police Commissioner William Bratton said Saturday's shooting in Brooklyn was intricate and included eight officers.

He says numerous officers shot after Funes pointed a weapon at police, headed out and slammed a squad car.

Officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw were shot. They're in stable condition.

Police say suspect Jamal Funes is in basic condition with numerous discharge wounds.

No working telephone number for Funes' family could promptly be found. It's vague whether he has a legal counselor who can remark.

—

2 p.m.

Powers say one of two New York City cops shot in an encounter with a shooter is the child of another officer who likewise survived a gunfire to his impenetrable vest.

Police say Officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw are in stable condition and anticipated that would recuperate. Police say they were shot early Saturday as officers connected with the suspect, who had slammed his auto into a police vehicle in Brooklyn subsequent to indicating a firearm at officers.

Police say suspect Jamal Funes is in basic condition with numerous gunfire wounds. No telephone number for his family can quickly be found. It's hazy whether he has a legal advisor who can remark.

Yurkiw was shot in his impenetrable vest — 27 years after a vest spared his dad, Officer Paul Yurkiw.

Reddin was shot in the hip.

—

This story has been amended to demonstrate that the name of one of the injured officers is Andrew Yurkiw, not Paul Yurkiw.

—

1 p.m.

Powers say one of two New York City cops shot in a showdown with a shooter is the child of another officer who additionally survived a gunfire to his impenetrable vest.

Police say Officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw are in stable condition and anticipated that would recuperate. Police say they were shot early Saturday as officers drew in the suspect, who had smashed his auto into a police vehicle in Brooklyn in the wake of indicating a weapon at officers.

Police say suspect Jamal Funes is in basic condition with various shot injuries. No telephone number for his family can instantly be found. It's misty whether he has an attorney who can remark.

Yurkiw was shot in his impenetrable vest — 27 years after a vest spared his dad, Officer Paul Yurkiw.

Reddin was shot in the hip.

—

9:30 a.m.

Authorities say two New York City Police officers have been harmed in a shootout with a suspect who slammed his auto into a police vehicle.

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton says the officers were harmed in an encounter in Brooklyn just before 3:30 a.m. Saturday. One officer was struck in his impenetrable vest and endured obtuse power injury. The other was shot in the hip. Both are in stable condition and anticipated that would make a full recuperation.

Authorities say the suspect, Jamal Funes, was shot different times. He was in basic condition.

Officers had heard gunfire and as they drew closer Funes, he pointed a pistol and fled. Authorities say Funes smashed his vehicle into a watch auto. Officers opened flame, striking Funes a few times. A .357 pistol was found in the front seat of his auto.

—

8:30 a.m.

Authorities say two New York City Police Department officers have been harmed in a shootout with a suspect who slammed his auto into a police vehicle.

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton says the officers were harmed in an encounter in Brooklyn just before 3:30 a.m. Saturday. He says one officer was struck in his impenetrable vest and endured gruff power injury, and the other was shot beneath his vest, in the right hip. The officers are in stable condition at Kings County Hospital and anticipated that would make a full recuperation.

Authorities say the suspect, 34-year-old Jamal Funes, was shot different times. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital. There was no word on his condition.

Authorities say officers had heard gunfire and as they drew closer the suspect, he pointed a pistol and fled. The suspect, venturing to every part of the wrong route on a road, smashed his vehicle into a watch auto. Officers opened flame, striking Funes a few times. A .357 gun, containing five spent shell housings, was found in the front seat of his auto.

—

This story has been redressed to show first name of suspect is Jamal, not James, per NYPD.

—

8 a.m.

City authorities say two New York City Police Department officers have been injured in a shootout with a suspect who slammed his auto into a police vehicle.

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton says the officers were shot in a meeting in Brooklyn just before 3:30 a.m. Saturday. He says one officer was struck in his impenetrable vest and endured obtuse power injury, and the other officer was shot underneath his vest, in the right hip. The officers are in stable condition at Kings County Hospital and anticipated that would make a full recuperation.

Authorities say the suspect, 34-year-old James Funes, was shot numerous times. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital. There was no word on his condition.

—

6:15 a.m.

Powers say two New York City Police Department officers and another man have been shot in Brooklyn.

A representative for the NYPD says the officers were shot just before 3:30 a.m. Saturday and transported to Kings County Hospital. The officers' wounds were not accepted to be life-undermining. No other data was discharged.

Authorities said the other shooting casualty was transported to Brookdale Hospital. There was no word on his condition.

Police did not instantly discharge insights about the shooting

The Latest: 14-year-old young lady seventh to bite the dust after shootings

2 a.m.

A 14-year-old young lady is the seventh individual to kick the bucket after a progression of shootings in the Kalamazoo, Michigan territory.

Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas says the young person was one of five individuals lethally shot in the parking garage of a Cracker Barrel eatery.

Matyas adjusted before data discharged by powers that the young lady was nine years of age.

The other two fatalities were in the parking garage of an auto dealership. Police at first trusted a third individual was harmed in that assault however Matyas said that data was wrong.

An eighth casualty is a lady shot various times in the parking area of a flat intricate. She is in genuine condition at a neighborhood healing center.

___

1:30 a.m.

A 14-year-old young lady is in basic condition taking after a progression of shootings in the Kalamazoo, Michigan region.

Michigan State Police Lt. Dale Hinz says she was among the general population shot in the parking area of a Cracker Barrel eatery.

Police say four of the six individuals slaughtered were at the Cracker Barrel. Two others, a father and child, were lethally shot at an auto dealership.

A 45-year-old white male suspect is in authority and being addressed by police.

___

This form of the Latest remedies the age of the young lady to 14 from nine.

___

1 a.m.

Police say the suspect taken into authority by police taking after a progression of shootings in the Kalamazoo, Michigan zone is a 45-year-old white male.

Michigan State Police Lt. Dale Hinz told WWMT-TV says that officers are scrutinizing the suspect, who is from Kalamazoo County.

Hinz calls the shootings at three separate areas, "unlimited." Six individuals were executed.

___

12:40 a.m.

Police say they have caught an associate in an arrangement with shootings in the Kalamazoo, Michigan range.

Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas told WWMT-TV that a man was confined in downtown Kalamazoo.

Matyas says the man did not avoid when drawn closer by law authorization officers. Matyas says weapons were found in the man's vehicle.

Inquired as to whether he was sure that the man caught by police is the individual who did the shootings, Matyas said: "The danger to people in general is over. We now have our suspect."

___

11:45 p.m.

Six individuals have been executed and two harmed in what police depict as a progression of irregular shootings around the Kalamazoo, Michigan zone.

Two of the harmed are in basic condition and one is in genuine condition.

Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas says a manhunt is under route for a suspect depicted as a more seasoned white male, maybe in his 50s, driving a dull blue vehicle.

The shootings occurred on Saturday evening in parking areas at three areas — a Cracker Barrel eatery, a Ford dealership and a condo complex.

Matyas says that police trust the shootings don't give off an impression of being focusing on specific individuals.

"These are arbitrary homicides," he said.

___

11:30 p.m.

Police say various individuals have kicked the bucket from a few shootings that seem, by all accounts, to be connected in the Kalamazoo, Michigan range.

Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas told WOOD-TV that a suspect has all the earmarks of being driving around the region and focusing on individuals.

"We have numerous individuals dead," Matyas says.

Police are searching for the suspectActress marries generally in Port Harcourt [Photos]

American creator Harper Lee kicks the bucket

 

Harper Lee, who composed one of America's most persisting scholarly works of art, To Kill a Mockingbird, around a youngster's perspective of good and bad and held up a large portion of a century to distribute a second book with the same characters from an altogether different perspective, has passed on at 89 years old.

Mary Jackson, the city assistant in Lee's main residence of Monroeville, Alabama, affirmed to Reuters by telephone that Lee had kicked the bucket.

For a considerable length of time it was thought Lee would never catch up To Kill a Mockingbird and the July 2015 production of Go Set a Watchman was an astonishing scholarly occasion - and in addition a stun for aficionados of Mockingbird.

In the primary book, Atticus Finch was the venerated father of the youthful storyteller Scout and a legal advisor who honorably however unsuccessfully shielded a dark man unjustifiably blamed for assaulting a white lady.

Yet, in Watchman, a more seasoned Atticus had racial a perspectives that left the adult Scout enormously disappointed.

Lee purportedly had composed Go Set a Watchman first be that as it may, at the recommendation of an insightful supervisor, put it aside to tell a story of race in the South from the tyke's perspective in the 1930s.

For a long time, Lee, a modest lady with a connecting with Southern drawl, lived unobtrusively and secretly, continually turning down meeting demands.

She rotated between living in a New York flat and Monroeville, where she imparted a home to her more seasoned sister, legal counselor Alice Lee.

In the wake of anguish a stroke and persisting falling flat vision and hearing, she spent her last years in a helped living office in Monroeville.

Lee's perspective would turn into an issue when arrangements were declared in 2015 to distribute Go Set a Watchman.

A few companions said that after the demise of Alice, who took care of Harper's undertakings, legal advisor Tonja Carter, had controlled Lee to endorse production.

Carter had said she ran over the Watchman original copy while doing legitimate work for Lee in 2014 and an examination by Alabama state authorities found there was no pressure in getting Lee's authorization to distribute.

Lee's artistic yield had been a matter of theory for quite a long time before Go Set a Watchman.

She recognized she couldn't best the Pulitzer Prize-winning Mockingbird however companions said she had worked for quite a long time on no less than two different books before surrendering them.

A family companion, the Reverend Thomas Lane Butts, told an Australian questioner Lee had said she didn't distribute again in light of the fact that she would have liked to bear the weight and exposure of another book and in light of the fact that she had said all that she needed to say.

Taking Online payment to the next step

The web's colossal capacity to transmit continuous data presesnts different open doors as far as quality exchange. Today individuals can purchase just about anything from houses to autos over the Internet, and pay for it. This was unrealistic somewhere in the range of three or four years back. In spite of the fact that the Internet was as lively and dependable as it is today, there was no real way to adapt esteem exchange. There was no satisfactory installment framework.
The web was not a cash making apparatus. Today, neighborhood techpreneurs have ventured up to fill the void after outside mammoths such as Paypal and Mastercard departed Ghana exposed to the harsh elements. DreamOval's SlydePay which was once I wallet, Express Pay, Mpower, and others have made online installments conceivable. One of such trailblazers who has taken this to the following level, is Ghanaian conceived American-based techpreneur Paul Miller.
Paul was asked by a companion in the U.S who is presently his fellow benefactor to send some money to her mother. On his approach to convey the cash after landing in Ghana, Paul however that there should be a less complex path for Ghanaians living abroad and outsiders when all is said in done to transmit cash to relatives in Ghana in a more advantageous manner and not experiencing the troubles postured by conventional cash exchange frameworks. That was the means by which Sika App was conceived. " So on my drive to Tema to convey the cash to my companion's mother, I thought about whether there could be a more advantageous approach to send cash without either party leaving the solace of their homes or workplaces, or burdening anyone.
That was the manner by which Sika App was conceived." So this will allow individuals to send cash crosswise over fringes in the solace of their homes, that is the thing that the force of the Internet can give. On the substance of it, Sika App may not resemble the lifeline it is in viable terms, " Transferring cash to relatives or others can be an incomprehensibly important issue. Envision a relative who is debilitated and laid up and can't go out to assert an exchanged asset. This turns into an existence and passing issue.
That relative ought to have the capacity to get that move in the solace of their homes and even go ahead to get whatever medicines they require online", Paul says. Ghana's online installment industry is seeing an expanded measure of action of late, and Sika App, after it is propelled, will push the wildernesses further.
Be that as it may, faultfinders trust that the current jug necks will block Ghana's advancement in turning into a really money lite economy.

CELINE DION'S HUSBAND DIES AT 73

CELINE DION

Celine Dion's spouse Rene Angelil, who found the Canadian pop diva and since quite a while ago dealt with her vocation, kicked the bucket Thursday matured 73, after a battle with tumor.

Dion reported his going in a Twitter message, saying: "Rene Angelil passed away early today at his home in Las Vegas after a long and gallant fight against tumor."

A representative for the artist, Marc Olivier, said more data would be given in the coming days, however for the present the family wished to be left to grieve in private.

News of Angelil's passing set off an overflowing of sensitivity from Dion's fans, with the artist's name inclining on Twitter around the world.

Head administrator Justin Trudeau tweeted his sympathies to Dion and to Angelil's six youngsters, including three from a past marriage.

Angelil's home city of Montreal reported that banners would be flown at half pole in his honor, as leader Denis Coderre paid tribute to "a landmark of the diversion world."

Conceived in Quebec to Lebanese-Syrian outsiders, Angelil began in music fiddling with yeye — French 60s music — before attempting his hand at satire, lastly settling on a vocation in music administration.

As an ability specialists, he marked one of the greatest names in Quebec music, Ginette Reno, yet the plan finished suddenly in 1981, leaving Angelil penniless and edgy.

Simply then, another open door emerged.

At age 12, Dion had recorded a demo tape with her mom and sent it to Angelil. He was so struck by her voice that he marked her to a restrictive administration contract — selling his home to fund her introduction collection.

"I'd never heard anything like it. For me, it was the most lovely voice on the planet," he would review in meetings.

The businessperson set out to make Dion the greatest vocalist on the planet.

His protegee and future wife went ahead to end up one of popular's music's best-known voices, winning five Grammy grants including for the "Titanic" signature tune "My Heart Will Go On," and teaming up with stars from Stevie Wonder to Barbra Streisand.

– 'All my life' –

Off camera, Angelil contributed Dion's profit from shows and 220 million collections sold worldwide in eateries, move clubs and fairways. He dispatched garments lines, fragrances and other Dion marked stock, assembling a realm of riches for them to share.

"There is no other chief like him," Dion once said. "Ninety-nine point nine percent of what's transpired (my prosperity) is a result of Rene."

In 1994, when she was 19 and he was 45, the couple wedded in an excessive wedding service that was broadcast live in Canada, and sprinkled all over reflexive magazines.

"My mom needed to slaughter him," Dion said later.

Inevitably the couple arrived in Las Vegas where Dion played about 1,000 appears, acquiring her more millions.

Their tall tale life, be that as it may, took a turn when Angelil was determined to have throat growth in 2013. After a year he ventured down as Dion's chief — a position he held for over 30 years.

In the wake of enjoying a reprieve from performing to administer to her spouse, Dion came back to performing on the Strip in 2015 at Angelil's encouraging.

In a real to life meeting with USA Today she portrayed managing the pending loss of "the main sweetheart I've had" and "the pioneer of the band all my life."

In a delicate voice, she reviewed: "I'll say, 'You're frightened? I get it. Converse with me about it,'" delaying before including: "And Rene says to me, 'I need to bite the dust in your arms.' OK, fine, I'll arrive, you'll kick the bucket

Former Cardinals Scouting Director Pleads Guilty in Hacking Scandal

Former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Christopher Correa has pleaded guilty to hacking a database belonging to the Houston Astros, according to the Department of Justice.

Correa, 35, was charged with five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer and pleaded guilty to all counts. No other Cardinals employee was charged in the hacking scandal.

The Astros operated a private online database, nicknamed Ground Control, that housed a variety of confidential information, including scouting reports, statistics and contract information. It also housed the email accounts of Astros employees.

As part of a plea deal, Correa admitted that he accessed the database and email accounts of others from March 2013 to March 2014 in order to gain access to Astros' proprietary information.

When an Astros employee who had previously worked for the Cardinals returned his Cardinals-owned laptop to Correa, he also gave him the password, allowing Correa to then access the employee's Astros email account. Throughout 2013, Correa was able to access scout rankings of every player eligible for the draft and viewed a weekly digest page that described the performance and injuries of prospects the Astros were considering, according to officials.

In July 2013, Correa accessed the account during the trade deadline and viewed notes of the Astros’ trade discussions with other teams, the officials said.

After another set of intrusions in March 2014, Astros personnel implemented more security precautions by changing the database's URL and requiring all users to switch to more complex passwords. Correa was able to access the former Cardinals employee's email once again on his old laptop and obtained the new URL and newly reset passwords for all employees, according to the DOJ.

Correa then viewed a total of 118 webpages including rankings of players whom Astros scouts desired in the upcoming draft, summaries of scouting evaluations and summaries of college players identified by the Astros’ analytics department as top performers, according to the DOJ.

Correa joined the Cardinals in 2009 and was made Director of Scouting in December 2014. He was fired in July.

Each conviction of unauthorized access of a protected computer carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine, the Department of Justice said.

Representatives for the St. Louis Cardinals and Major League Baseball were not immediately available. A representative for the Houston Astros declined to comment.
Source: ABCNews

El Chapo the Mexican druglord caught

El Chapo

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted today that the infamous drug lord known as “El Chapo” has been captured.

"Mission accomplished: We have him. I want to inform the Mexicans that Joaquin Guzman Loera has been detained," the tweet states, written in Spanish.

A U.S. law enforcement official also confirmed his capture to ABC News.

An official from the Mexico Marines confirms to ABC News that Guzman was captured after a shootout with Mexican Marines in the city of Los Mochis, in the state of Sinaloa, this morning.

The Mexican Navy has released this photo of the weapons they seized, Jan. 8, 2016, during a raid in Los Mochis, in the state of Sinaloa.

Earlier today, The Associated Press reported that five people had been killed and six people were arrested when the Mexican Marines raided a house in Sinaloa. The government has not confirmed a connection between the two.

There have been other raids in Sinaloa in recent months as part of the then-ongoing search for Guzman, the AP said.

The Mexican Navy has released this photo of the home they raided, Jan. 8, 2016, in Los Mochis, in the state of Sinaloa.

Guzman, 57, escaped from the Altiplano prison near Mexico City July 11 and there has been an active manhunt for him ever since.

When guards realized that he was missing from his cell, they found that a ventilated tunnel had been constructed and had an exit via the bathtub inside Guzman's cell. The tunnel extended for about a mile underground and featured an adapted motorcycle on rails that officials believe was used to transport the tools used to create the tunnel, Monte Alejandro Rubido, the head of the Mexican national security commission, said in July after Guzman's escape.

Attorney Generals Office/Reuters Mexico's Attorney General Arely Gomez Gonzalez looks into the entrance of a tunnel connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary that was used by drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman to escape on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 12, 2015.

Guzman had been arrested five months prior to the July escape.

He had escaped before from a prior prison stint, also using a tunnel.

Source: ABCNews

North Korea readies H-bomb to use it against West -- Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-un

Pyongyang said that it needs the H-bomb to shield against "US hostility".

It is the first run through the isolated domineering state has effectively tried a hydrogen bomb, with the UK joining partners in denouncing the move.

It likewise denote a stage closer to tubby despot Kim Jong-Un's objective of making a rocket that could achieve the US.

Outside Secretary Philip Hammond called the test a "grave break" of UN Security Council resolutions as North Korea was denounced far and wide.

Pyongyang portrayed the test as an "immaculate accomplishment", with the declaration celebrated in the city of Pyongyang, where a substantial group assembled before a railroad station to watch on an extra large screen.

The H-bomb could be many times more capable than whatever other weapon North Korea has already tried, if the cases end up being valid.

South Korean officials detected an magnitude 5.1 "artificial earthquake" this morning, 30 miles north of the base notorious for North Korean nuke tests.

It is the fourth nuclear test completed by the Communist nation and its first effective one with a hydrogen bomb, Pyongyang has affirmed.

North Korean's state news organization said: "If there's no intrusion on our power we won't utilize atomic weapon.

"This H-bomb test conveys us to a more elevated amount of atomic force."

South Korea marked the test a "grave incitement" and "a demonstration that debilitates our lives and future." Japan's PM Shinzo Abe said: "We completely can't permit this."

In Pyongyang, the declaration was welcomed with a surge of nationalistic pride.

Kim Sok Chol, 32, said he doesn't know much in regards to H-bombs, however included: "Since we have it the U.S. won't assault us."

College understudy Ri Sol Yong, 22, said: "On the off chance that we didn't have intense atomic weapons, we would have as of now been transformed into the slaves of the US."

On the off chance that the reports are genuine, it is likely North Korea will confront harder authorizations from the United Nations.

It could take weeks to decide reality of the reports, if by any means, as North Korea is infamous for making a huge effort to hide its weapons testing from the West.

Kim Jong-un said in a chilling New Year's message that North Korea is prepared for NUCLEAR WAR.

The stout despot talked about the need to build his nation's military may, so they can respond to incitement from obtrusive pariahs.