Update

Kin of Japanese abducted to N. Korea want Trump's help TOKYO (AP) — Families of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea decades ago on Friday urged Japan's leader to persuade President Donald Trump to help win the abductees' release during his summit with North Korea's leader. Trump expects to meet Kim Jong Un by the end of May, though North Korea hasn't commented on the South Korean report that Kim wanted to meet Trump. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit the U.S. in April for talks with Trump, likely after Kim's summit April 27 with South Korea's president. The abductees' families urged Abe to seek Trump's help as this could be their last chance to win their loved ones' release. "Please ask President Trump to discuss (with Kim) how to achieve the abductees' return," Shigeo Iizuka, 79, head of a group representing the families of abduction victims, told Abe. "We would like President Trump to ask ...

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told a former governor of Lagos State, Mr Bola Tinubu, that Nigerians have accepted its apology.      The party said this in a statement on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan, hours after the former governor called on Nigerian’s not to accept the apology of the party. PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, had on Monday apologised to Nigerians for what he called that mistakes of the party prior to the 2015 general elections. In his reaction at a colloquium, Tinubu, who is the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said, “Dear Nigerians, don’t take their (PDP) apology. They lied, they falsified for 16 years, they made fake promises.” The PDP spokesman, however, cautioned the APC chieftain to stop playing god, saying Nigerians have the faculty and freedom to determine the leadership that best suit their desires. He also advised him not to allow himself to be used a second time, clai...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Thursday urged priests to be spiritually close to their flocks and not insist only on preaching laws when they sin. Francis issued the guidance during Holy Thursday Mass, which is meant to show the unity of the Catholic Church during its most solemn, pre-Easter period. In his homily, Francis warned priests to not be tempted to "idolize" church law and doctrine when preaching, since that can distance ordinary faithful from Jesus. Even when people commit adultery, he said, priests should not condemn with legalisms. Rather, he said, priests should help adulterers to look forward, even if they have to tell them not to sin over and over.   The admonition came as conservatives have complained that Francis is dividing the church with his opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion. Critics say Francis is disregarding church law about the indissolubility of marriage by effectively allowing adulterers access...

#PMBinLagos: Residents ‘Blow Hot’ Over Traffic Congestion Lagos residents on Thursday morning took to social media to narrate their ordeal in the traffic gridlock which gripped the state in the wake of preparations for President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit. The gridlock according to the residents started from  Wednesday night as residents hurriedly  went about the daily activities sequel to the work-free day declared by the state government. The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, had announced on Tuesday that declaring Thursday a work-free day to enable residents to come out and welcome the President when he arrives. Also in line with the President’s visit today, March 29 and tomorrow March 30, the government said movement will be restricted to certain areas but alternative routes will be provided. Many who were stuck in traffic on Thursday morning due to the restriction of movement were left with no other o...