Nigerian removed from plane over whatsapp prayer group called ISI

Armed police removed a British man from an easyJet plane after a passenger saw a WhatsApp message on his phone about 'prayer' and feared he was a terrorist.

Devout Christian Laolu Opebiyi, 40, from London, was ordered off the flight at Luton Airport and asked if he was converting to Islam as the 6.45am flight to Amsterdam took off without him.

A fellow passenger had been spying on his phone from over his shoulder and may have misread the title of the group 'Isi men' as 'Isis men', he says.

His accuser then asked him: 'What do you mean by "prayer?"' before walking towards the cockpit and asking to get off. In the minutes that followed another six passengers also left the plane.

Two armed police officers then arrived and told Mr Opebiyi to pick up his belongings and get off the plane too.

They then repeatedly questioned him about his faith, which church he attended in London and whether he was considering converting to Islam. 

He told reporters 'Even if I was a Muslim, it was pretty unfair the way I was treated. I don't think anyone, irrespective of their religion should be treated in such a way.

'If we keep on giving into this kind of bigotry and irrational fear, I dare say that the terrorists will have achieved their aim.'

He explained to police the WhatsApp group was called 'ISI' because it is short for 'iron sharpens iron' - a Bible passage about prayer which says: 'As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another'.

The police then released him but he was further shamed because as he returned to the easyJet desk to get to Holland the seven passengers refused to travel with him.

Ray Tomlinson, the creator of email is dead

Ray Tomlinson, widely credited as the creator of email, has died, his employer, Raytheon, told CNN on Sunday. He was 74.

Tomlinson invented direct email messages in 1971. Before his invention, electronic messages could be shared only on a very limited network.

Among those paying tribute was Gmail, one of many offshoots of Tomlinson's creation."Thank you, Ray Tomlinson, for inventing email and putting the @ sign on the map," Gmail's Twitter account said.

Delta Community to Partner Security Agencies in Fight Against Crime

Worried by the high rate of insecurity in the country, Okpare-Olomu community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State, has promised to collaborate with security agencies to track down hoodlums in the area.

They condemned the spate of kidnappings in the country, particularly the kidnap of the octogenarian mother of Senator Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, Mrs Sarah Aguariavwodo.

Expressing gratitude to God for her release, the people, in a statement by the community's President General and spokesman, Chief Joseph Oluku, Pa. Onosevwe Barnabas respectively, warned criminals to stay away from the community henceforth.

They said the community was no longer safe for criminals, as the people abhor all forms of criminality.

Iran Sentences Billionaire to Death for Corruption

An Iranian court has sentenced a billionaire businessman to death for corruption linked to oil sales during the rule of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a judiciary spokesman said on Monday.

The businessman, Babak Zanjani, and two of his associates were sentenced to death for money laundering, among other charges, the spokesman, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi, said in remarks broadcast on state television. He did not identify the two associates. Previous reports in the state news media said the three had been charged with forgery and fraud.

“The court has recognized the three defendants as ‘corrupters on earth’ and sentenced them to death,” Mr. Ejehi said. “Corrupters on earth” is an Islamic term referring to crimes that are punishable by death because they have a major impact on society. The verdict can be appealed.

 Mr. Zanjani was arrested in 2013, shortly after the election of President Hassan Rouhani, who ordered a crackdown on alleged corruption during the eight-year rule of Mr. Ahmadinejad, his hard-line predecessor. Mr. Zanjani owes about $2.25 billion for oil sales he made on behalf of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s government, Iran’s Oil Ministry has said.

US Rapper Shot Dead At Studio

A rapper has been shot dead outside a popular recording studio in Atlanta, Georgia, says a coroner investigator.

Bankroll Fresh, whose birth name was Trentavious White, was found outside Street Execs Studio on Sunday night according to reports.
The 28-year-old up-and-coming artist was pronounced dead in hospital.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan is dead

Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan has died at her home in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, aged 94.

The cause of death was congestive heart failure, according to a statement from her office.
She will be buried at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, next to her husband, former US President Ronald Reagan. He died in June 2004.