A musician friend of Chris Brown’s has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent over an alleged nightclub assault, following the singer’s court appearance yesterday.
Omololu Omari Akinlolu, known as Hoody Baby or Hood Boss, is set to appear in court over the alleged incident at Tape nightclub in Hanover Square in London, on Sunday, 19 February 2023. He will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court today.
The pair have released music together in the past, as Hoody Baby featured on Brown’s track No Such Thing, released in 2020. Meanwhile, Brown features on Hoody Baby’s song Flexing, which also has features from Lil Wayne, Quavo and Gudda Gudda.
Omololu Omari Akinlolu, known as Hoody Baby or Hood Boss, has been charged with GBH
Yesterday, 36 year old musician Chris Brown appeared at Manchester Magistrates Court after being charged with grievous bodily harm with intent by the Metropolitan Police. He was arrested at 2am on Thursday at The Lowry Hotel in the city after police discovered he was in the country ahead of upcoming tour dates in Europe and the UK.
Brown has been remanded in custody until June 13 by a judge in Manchester over an allegation of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Following Brown’s arrest, a spokesman for The Metropolitan Police said: “A 36-year-old man was arrested at a hotel in Manchester shortly after 02:00hrs on Thursday, 15 May on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. He has been taken into custody where he remains.
Many of the US singer’s upcoming tour dates had sold out, but now dates hang in the balance ( Instagram)
“The arrest relates to an incident at a venue in Hanover Square on 19 February 2023. The investigation is being led by detectives from the Central West Area Basic Command Unit.”
On Thursday evening, Adele Kelly, the Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London North, said: “We have authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Chris Brown, 36, with one count of grievous bodily harm, contrary to section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
“The alleged incident occurred in London on February 19 2023. He will have his first court appearance on Friday May 16 at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
Following the news Brown had been remanded in custody until June 13, dates for his upcoming tour have been thrown into chaos. His Breezy Bowl XX Tour is due to start in Amsterdam on June 8 – but Brown will be in custody ahead of his appearance at Southwark crown court in London on June 13
In August 2005, the Israeli government officially withdrew from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian coastal enclave it had occupied continuously since 1967. Apart from pulling back its armed forces, it had to undertake the dismantlement of 21 illegal settlements housing 8,000 Jewish settlers.
Israeli troops were deployed to begin the process, which pulled at the heartstrings of international media outlets like The New York Times. The paper reported on the sobbing settlers affected by Israel’s “historic pullout from the Gaza Strip”, some of whom had to be carried “screaming from their homes in scenes that moved a number of the soldiers to tears”.
To be sure, there is nothing quite so tragic as illegal colonisers being uprooted from one section of land that does not belong to them and transferred to another section of land that does not belong to them. It bears mentioning that a majority of the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip are themselves refugees from Israel’s blood-drenched conquest of Palestine in 1948, which killed 15,000 Palestinians, expelled three-quarters of a million more, and destroyed over 500 Palestinian villages.
Since 2005, the myth of a unilateral Israeli “withdrawal” from Gaza has stubbornly persisted – and has been repeatedly invoked as alleged evidence of Israel’s noble willingness to occasionally play by the rules.
And yet objectively speaking, what happened in August of that year was not much of a “withdrawal” at all, given that the Israeli military continued to control Gaza’s borders while subjecting the territory to a punishing blockade and periodic wanton bombardment.
Israeli officials themselves made no effort to hide what they were really up to. In 2004, while the plan was still being discussed in the Knesset, Dov Weisglass, a senior adviser to then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, stated point-blank: “The disengagement is actually formaldehyde. It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the Palestinians.”
By “freezing” the political process, Weisglass went on to explain, “you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem”. Thanks to “disengagement”, then, the whole issue of Palestinian statehood had been “removed indefinitely from our agenda” – and all with the “blessing” of the president of the United States of America “and the ratification of both houses of Congress”.
Since the so-called “withdrawal” from Gaza did not entail ceasing to make life hell for the Palestinian inhabitants of the territory, Israel remained ever-engaged on that front. On September 28, 2005 – the month following the drama of the sobbing settlers and soldiers – the late Dr Eyad El-Sarraj, founder of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, wrote on the Electronic Intifada website: “During the last few days, Gaza was awakened from its dreams of liberation with horrible explosions which have shattered our skies, shaken our buildings, broken our windows, and threw the place into panic.”
These were the effects of Israeli aircraft executing sonic booms in the skies over Gaza, a method El-Sarraj noted “was never used before the disengagement, so as not to alarm or hurt the Israeli settlers and their children”. And that was just the start of the “disengaging”.
In 2006, Israel launched Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, which scholars Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe would subsequently characterise as being thus far the “most brutal attack on Gaza since 1967”. This, of course, was before Gaza was awakened from its dreams of liberation with an all-out Israeli genocide, which has now killed nearly 53,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
But there was plenty of brutality in between, from Israel’s Operation Cast Lead – which kicked off in December 2008 and killed 1,400 Palestinians in a matter of 22 days – to Operation Protective Edge, which slaughtered 2,251 people over 50 days in 2014.
Along with periodic bouts of mass killing, the fluctuating Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip posed additional existential challenges. In 2010, for example, the BBC listed some of the household items that had at different times been blocked from entering Gaza, including “light bulbs, candles, matches, books, musical instruments, crayons, clothing, shoes, mattresses, sheets, blankets, pasta, tea, coffee, chocolate, nuts, shampoo and conditioner”.
In 2006, Israeli government adviser Weisglass – the same character who revealed the “formaldehyde” approach to disengagement – also took it upon himself to charmingly clarify the logic behind Israel’s restrictions on food imports into the Gaza Strip: “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.”
Now that Israel is literally starving Palestinians to death in Gaza with the full complicity of the United States, it seems the “idea” has undergone some revisions. Meanwhile, recent news reports citing unnamed Israeli officials indicate that Israel is also currently plotting the “conquest” and full military occupation of the Gaza Strip.
Two decades on from Israel’s withdrawal-that-wasn’t from Gaza, it’s safe to surmise that “disengagement” paved the way for conquest. And this time around, there’s no disengagement plan.
Olympic triathlon double bronze medallist Beth Potter returned to action with second place in the World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama.
Potter, who was 14th for Great Britain over 10km in last month’s European Road Running Championships, finished four seconds behind Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair with Germany’s Lisa Tertsch in third, two seconds back.
Reigning Olympic and world champion Cassandre Beaugrand of France crashed out on lap six of the bike leg.
Therese Feuersinger of Austria held a narrow lead over Tertsch and Lehair after the swim, with Potter and Beaugrand 14 seconds behind.
Weather conditions resulted in a changed bike course and Potter and the chasing group caught up with the leaders by lap three.
Lehair went clear in the run and held on for victory, despite the Briton running the fastest run leg in the race.
The men’s race was won by Australia’s Matt Hauser, with Ben Dijkstra the leading Briton in eighth and Max Stapley in 11th.
Hauser finished six seconds clear of Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca while Miguel Hidalgo of Brazil, who finished a further 15 seconds back, took bronze.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, has urged Nigerians to buy goods manufactured in the country, describing it as an “act of national pride”.
He made the statement when a delegation of the Innoson Group of Companies, led by its Chairman, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, paid a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja on Friday.
He noted that the President Bola Tinubu government is fully committed to creating an enabling environment where indigenous businesses can thrive.
Akume harped on the importance of strengthening Nigeria’s industrial base and scaling up local manufacturing across key sectors of the economy.
“The visit was a timely reminder that patronising Made-in-Nigeria goods isn’t just an economic strategy—it’s an act of national pride. Government remains committed to creating an enabling environment where indigenous businesses can thrive and lead,” he said.
Akume and Chairman, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, during the courtesy visit to the SGF’s office in Abuja on Friday
According to him, the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda encapsulates every aspect needed for Nigeria’s dream of realising a one trillion dollar economy in the foreseeable future.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle settled into their Montecito home in June 2020, after a stint at Tyler Perry’s residence, who is also Princess Lilibet’s godfather.
Before this, the couple had enjoyed a six-month stay on Vancouver Island in Canada, following a family holiday post their inaugural South African tour with Prince Archie in Autumn 2019. But despite the picturesque setting, the Sussexes’ neighbour shared his experience of being cold-shouldered when he attempted to introduce himself.
The Sussexes’ neighbour shared his experience of being cold-shouldered when he attempted to introduce himself ( Getty Images)
Back in 2023, then-88 year old Navy veteran Frank McGinity, who lives next door to Harry and Meghan’s 15-bedroom Tuscan-style villa, tried to welcome the couple by offering them a collection of films about the local history.
He described his interaction with the couple’s security detail in an updated chapter of his memoir Get Off Your Street, which also covers the community’s ordeal with destructive mudslides prior to the royals’ arrival, reports OK!.
McGinity expressed astonishment at Meghan and Harry’s choice of residence, as the Riven Rock Estate they now call home typically appeals to an older demographic.
Recounting his attempt to connect with the Sussexes, he said: “I have a big house next to Harry and Meghan’s property – [they] live on old McCormick property and I went up to their gate with the films on a CD, but they weren’t interested.
Frank McGinty described his interaction with the couple’s security detail ( WireImage)
“The gate guy turned me away and wouldn’t take the film, just saying ‘they’re not interested’. I was trying to be neighbourly. If they were interested in the neighbourhood I’ve got a lot of information.”
The veteran told the Montecito Journal: “We don’t see them very much around here. It’s surprising they came here. People are typically older. It’s where the elephants come to die.”
In his book, McGinity recounted the impact of the mudslides on the small enclave that sits halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.
He said his own home was heavily damaged in the devastating natural disaster that left 23 people across Southern California dead. Harry and Meghan’s current home was left looking like a “sea of mud or a moonscape”.
McGinity wrote: “We live in Riven Rock, a neighbourhood of 34 homes surrounded by a thick stone wall surrounding 87 acres. This is where Stanley McCormick lived for 40 years..
McGinity expressed astonishment at Meghan and Harry’s choice of residence
“But half of this beautiful estate, which Stanley created, turned to a sea of mud on January 9th, 2018. Four homes were completely destroyed. Our home took a big hit.
“The mud entered the rear of the house and disseminated our office, entry hall, and back bedroom. There were boulders so large in the rooms, our contractor had to chisel them apart in order to remove them.
“I found a TV from the office and a mattress near our front gate – 500 feet away. Can you imagine the fury of that mudslide?”
As fans binge-watch the final season of dystopian series The Handmaids Tale, lead actor Elisabeth Moss opens up on what the role means to her – and playing her now as a mum, herself
The star admits she was more emotional – and tired – playing Offred as a new mum herself(Image: Magnus Sundholm/Shutterstock)
Fans, rejoice! The sixth and final series of powerful drama The Handmaid’s Tale is back on our screens. It’s based on the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood about a futuristic dystopia where a patriarchal regime, the Republic of Gilead, has supplanted the US government. Following an explosive series five finale, in which June (Elisabeth Moss) reunited with fellow refugee Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) and escaped out west, we’re set to follow June as she teams up with the Handmaids and tries to bring about a revolution.
Here, Elisabeth, 42, who plays the lead character and narrator, Offred/June, opens up about the huge impact the show has had on her. She also tells us about becoming a mother for the first time after welcoming a baby in 2024 with her partner, whose identity she has not revealed, confessing that she was “so fortunate” to be have her newborn on set with her while filming the final series in Vancouver.
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The dystopian thriller has had fans gripped since it first hit screens(Image: Hulu)
Hi, Elisabeth. The final series ofThe Handmaid’s Taleis here – what’s it been like saying goodbye?
I love this story. I love playing this character. I still can’t believe that they let me direct the show. I’m so honoured. I still have moments standing on set where I cannot believe that I get to do that job and I get to work with these actors. It’s truly such a privilege.
Also, congratulations on becoming a mum! Has that changed your connection with June?
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I think I’ve done a pretty good job playing a mom without being a mom. But I will say that being a mom, it’s different. It definitely did have an effect. It’s impossible not to think about the real child and to draw those parallels in a very emotional way – plus, I was really tired [laughs]. So it definitely was a more emotional and visceral experience.
What can we expect from this season? Is there a revolution coming?
I can’t tell you what to expect. We promised a revolution and I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that revolution is here. I really feel like it’s from our heart, our finale. So I hope that people think that.
We’ve seen videos of you all dancing between takes.It seems fun, despite the heavy subject matter…
Being a director on the show is like being a kindergarten teacher or a mum. It’s like herding kittens, just trying to get the actors and crew to be serious for two to two-and-a-half minutes – because it’s a serious scene. And I love that, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s so much fun working on our show.
The show has won a whopping 15 Emmys(Image: Getty Images)
Since 2017,The Handmaid’s Talehas had 15 Emmy wins, what’s made it such a career highlight for you?
On a personal level, this show has changed my life and my career. I’ve been doing this [acting] for 30-something years. I’ve stopped counting [laughs]. And I love acting so much, it’s my first love. But after doing it for so long, you do need to grow as an artist and I got to start producing on the show, then start directing. And so, to be able to explore what I do in those two new ways was incredibly fulfilling.
What are you most proud of about being part of the show?
I think, if it in any way, at any time, offers anyone any inspiration, any hope, any idea of a better future for themselves, and their loved ones. If it in any way gives anyone a reason to get up in the morning or a reason to keep fighting for what they believe in, then I think that is something that I will forever, for the rest of my life, be beyond proud of.
Margaret Atwood wroteThe Handmaid’s Taleback in 1985, but its themes still resonate today. You see the Handmaids’ red gowns and white caps at protests in America…
I’ve never said this before, but I was doing another show and I was offered a silly social thing for social media, and given a fake red cloak to wear for it. And I said, ‘No’ – not because I’m afraid of embarrassing myself. But because I really value that costume. I consider it sort of sacred. It stands for something. I think it’s fun for people to dress up their dogs. Super into that. Any pet costume is totally approved. But this, I take it seriously when I wear it. And that’s the best way of me saying what it means to me.
The star also tried her hand at directing in the final season
You’ve said June’s motherhood is central to this season. Is that right?
This season is about choice – each of these characters has to choose whether they’re going to go towards the darkness or towards the light. It’s surprising, I think, which characters choose what. And it’s complicated as to why they choose what they choose. The choices we all make in the show, even the characters that are more flawed, are complicated and are for reasons that are interesting to explore. But I hope that at the end – it’s so hard to talk about without spoiling anything – it is about, ‘rise up’.
Is the message about not staying quiet when something is wrong?
Yes, it is important to speak out. It is important to not rest. It is important to fight for what you believe in and never, ever take it for granted. And it’s important to tell that story, and to tell that story for the next generation. We don’t end in a place of despair. We don’t get everything we want, but we have to hope. And we have to keep fighting, writing and telling our stories. I’m going to get off my soapbox now [laughs]. But that’s what it’s about to me. It’s very personal, I think, to all of us. It’s personal. We’ve all ended shows before that we had personal feelings about. But this is different.
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