Andy Murray crushes Rafael Nadal in Madrid Open final to land second clay title in a week and first Masters crown on the dirt

The freshly wed Andy Murray scrawled ‘Marriage works’ on the TV camera lens immediately after beating Rafael Nadal to register his finest result since winning Wimbledon.

Well something is certainly happening for the 27 year-old Scot, who produced his finest performance in nearly two years to dethrone the king of clay with a stunning 6-3 6-2 victory in the final of the Madrid Open.

It could be wedded bliss, the inspiration of his expecting coach Amelie Mauresmo, the addition of Jonas Bjorkman to his team or all three, but he has not looked this good since that heady afternoon in SW19 back in July 2013.



World No.3 Andy Murray gives a thumbs up posing with the Madrid Open trophy, having emphatically defeated Rafael Nadal in the final

Andy Murray celebrates having landed the Madrid Open title, his first Masters title on clay, by beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets 6-3, 6-2

Murray smiles for the assembled cameras with his opponent Nadal having won his first ever clay court Masters 1000 title on Sunday


Yes it is true that Nadal is below the level we are accustomed to seeing on clay, but his confidence was never allowed to recover as he was buried beneath the clay of the Caja Magica at what is the biggest tournament staged in his home country.

After an hour and 28 minutes of being on the wrong end of relentlessly positive and precision tennis Nadal's adoring public had been reduced to an almost embarrassed hush.

Having gone ten years on the circuit without winning a clay court title Murray has now claimed two within six days, following on from the BMW Open in Munich. It was also his first win over one of the 'Big Three' in twelve matches, having gone through a barren patch against them following the historic Wimbledon win over Novak Djokovic.

His entry onto the European clay court circuit was delayed by his wedding to Kim Sears, and he stated afterwards that was a factor in this sudden spike in clay court form.

'I have always said that when you private life is under control and you are happy that helps you on court,' he told Sky Sports afterwards. 'But also I haven't been in this good physical shape on the clay in the last couple of years so I owe a big thanks to my team.

'I played a very good match and made very few errors, I changed the height of the ball extremely well and that's a reason why he was mis-hitting some of his shots. I dealt with the nervy moments pretty well too.'

IS THE KING OF CLAY SET TO BE DETHRONED?


1st - Andy Murray’s win was his first over Rafael Nadal on clay — he had lost their previous six meetings.

4th - Murray is just the fourth player to beat Nadal in a final on clay, joining Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Horacio Zeballos, who won in 2013 when Nadal was returning from injury.

2 - Murray had never won a title on clay. Now he has won two in a week, in Munich and Madrid.

10 - This is the first time in a decade that Nadal has been ranked outside the top five — he is now seventh.

4 - Nadal has lost four matches on clay this season, his worst record since his debut year in 2003.

9-0 - Murray has made his best ever start to a clay court season, winning nine straight matches.

14 - Nadal was on a 14-match winning streak at the Madrid Open until Murray’s win.

2004 - This was Nadal’s worst loss on clay since 2004, when he lost 6-2, 6-3 to Gaston Gaudio in Sweden



The Scot was in blistering form in Madrid on Sunday evening as he defeated reigning Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets

This was Murray's tenth Masters level title (the tier below the Grand Slams) and his first on clay. A health warning about the result is that Novak Djokovic sat the event out, and that the altitude of Madrid that makes the ball 'fly' a little bit differently to Roland Garros.

But Murray handled it all so much better than a deflated Nadal, who has now lost four times on clay this year and will drop out of the top five for the first time in a decade. He is at a low ebb and this could be the year the guard finally changes at Roland Garros.

That should not detract from the effort of the British number one, who in the past two weeks has just got on with whatever the weather and schedulers have thrown at him.

At the BMW Open he had two days washed out before winning the delayed final on a Monday, meaning he was a late arrival in Madrid. Then he had to contend with a 3am finish in his first match.

Far from rueing his luck, which he might have done in his younger years, he phlegmatically accepted his lot, come torrential rain or eccentric orders of play. It would seem a strange move for him to pull out of this week's Italian Open when he is on such a roll.

From the start last night he dictated matters by often taking the ball early and hitting with a ferocity, especially on the backhand side, that it is hard to recall. Nadal likes to invite opponents to play to his forehand, but found his stronger flank overwhelmed by the depth and accuracy of the balls fired at it.

At 1-4 in the first set he looked to be firing into life but Murray brilliantly choked off his recovery by saving break points. In the second set the Scot missed a simple volley to go 3-0 up but rode his frustration and went on to break him anyway.

There were no alarms in closing it out. Some food for thought for Djokovic, and some real worries for Nadal.

British tennis had two notable weekend successes at lower levels of the men's tour. Aljaz Bedene, the 25 year-old who has acquired British citizenship, won the Rome Challenger – beating experienced Italian Pototo Starace - to score his first title since playing under the Union flag. Birmingham's Dan Evans, who looked poised for the world's top 100 before dropping off the radar last summer, marked a return to action by winning the Futures title in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.


Murray reaches for a block return during his straight sets victory in the Madrid Open final on his way to land a first Masters clay title

Murray and Nadal played out the Madrid Open final in the magnificent 'Magic Box' arena on Sunday evening

The 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal struggled with his forehand in the Madrid Open final against Murray and was very tense



The world No.3 sprints to chase down a Nadal drop shot at the 'Magic Box' arena in Madrid on Sunday night



Murray was in fantastic form to topple the reigning champion in straight sets in the Madrid Open final with a straight sets win

A despondent Nadal looks at the runner's up trophy having suffered a heavy straight sets defeat against Andy Murray on Sunday

Murray thanked all of his coaching team including Amelie Mauresmo (left) after his impressive triumph over Nadal in the Spanish captial



Murray is lost amongst the ball kids during a photo having won the Madrid Open, his second clay court title within a week

Learnt from Mail online

Black boxes of crashed A400M plane found in Spain

Spanish authorities on Sunday found the two cockpit recorders of the Airbus A400M military plane that crashed near Seville airport, killing four people, as Britain, Germany and Turkey grounded their models of the aircraft.

The recorders were found at the scene of Saturday’s crash and turned over to the judge who is leading the judicial investigation into the accident, the public works ministry said in a statement.

The military transport plane crashed in a field and burst into flames just north of Seville’s airport after hitting a power line during an apparent attempt at an emergency landing.






Four people on board died while another two, a mechanic and an engineer, were taken to hospital where they are listed in serious but stable condition.

Dozens of investigators, some wearing a protective white suit, scoured the crash scene on Sunday for clues into the cause of the accident.

Aircraft manufacturers equip all their planes with two black boxes ?- a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder.

The flight data recorder records a stream of flight information such as altitude and air speed, while the cockpit voice recorder stores conversations and other noises made in the cockpit.

The plane, due for delivery to the Turkish air force in June, was one of the new A400M troop and vehicle transporters manufactured by European aerospace group Airbus.

The crash was the first involving one of the aircraft, which Airbus assembles at a plant in Seville.

Britain, Germany and Turkey said they would temporarily stop flying their A400M transport planes until the causes of the accident were known.

France, the largest operator of A400Ms, said it was not grounding its planes at this point.

“We have no reason to lead us to stop our A400 fleet,” said Colonel Jean-Pascal Breton, head of the press service of the French air force.

Malaysia, which received its first A400M plane in March, has not yet announced its position.

There are a total of 12 A400M planes in use at the moment — France has six, Britain and Turkey have two each and Malaysia and Germany each have one.

Learnt from punchng

GEJ:Friends deserted me.

Outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan said Sunday that some of his friends deserted him shortly after he conceded defeat to his rival General Muhammadu Buhari in the March election.

Jonathan publicly conceded defeat to Buhari on March 31, a decision which was commended by local and foreign commentators and doused tension in the country.

“Some hard decisions have their own costs. No doubt about that. It is a very costly decision but I must be very ready to pay for it,” Jonathan said during a farewell church service in Abuja.

Thanksgiving & Farewell service in honour of President Jonathan & First Lady, Church of the Advent, Abuja

Thanksgiving & Farewell service in honour of President Jonathan & First Lady, Patience at the Church of the Advent, Abuja, Sunday.

Jonathan’s public admission of defeat in the nail-biting election came more than six hours after he rang Buhari to concede, earning him widespread praise for statesmanship.

“If you take certain decisions, you should know that people close to you will even abandon you at some point. I tell people that more of my so-called friends will disappear.”

Many party faithful and erstwhile loyalists of Jonathan have either crossed over to Buhari’s All Progressives Congress or made harsh statements against Jonathan’s party or its leaders.

Jonathan said he was not surprised by the desertions or statements by his former loyalists, adding that former South African president Frederik de Klerk faced a similar situation when he decided to abolish minority rule in that country.

Jonathan said that de Klerk’s marriage to his wife, Marike, broke down after he took that decision.

“But that is the only decision that made South Africa to still be a global player. If by this time w still have minority rule in South africa, nobody would have been talking about South Africa in the present generation,” he said.

He said that ministers who served under him should brace themselves for “persecution” following his loss and his decision to concede defeat.

Buhari, a former military leader, is scheduled to be sworn into office on May 29.

Learnt from the Sun

Nigerian Senator elect vows not to travel to US to face drug charges

Kashamu Buruji

The fugitive senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu, has vowed never to travel to the US where he is wanted for drug-related offences.

Mr. Kashamu, elected to represent Ogun East Senatorial District, restated his claim that he was innocent of the drug charges and had been cleared of same by a British court.

“I am not under any obligation to go to the US to answer the same charges after the true judgement of the British court has exonerated me of the same allegations,” he told Sahara TV in an interview. “Asking me to take the next available flight to the US so as to clear my name is like asking me to jump in a fire – may the Almighty rescue me from it.”

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, politician accused American authorities of bias in his trial.

“If the US prosecutor could hide important evidence that later exonerated me in the UK court, only God knows what they will do in their country.

“I have done a lot of things to clear my name. I spent four years in detention at the hands of the US authorities to prove my innocence before I was eventually exonerated. This was also in the presence of the US prosecutors and other agencies in various countries, like the Republic of Benin, Nigeria. It was after a rigorous trial with pictorial and documentary evidence that I was discharged.”

Mr. Kashamu, a close ally of outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, indicated his willingness to face extradition trial in a Nigerian court.

“I have cleared my name and myself in London. If anybody believes that they have any other case against me, they should come through due process. I am ready to challenge it. I am ready to face it without any problem,” he said.

The controversial politician also claimed he had never been to the US and could not have dealt in drugs in the country.

“I have never in my life put my foot into the United States. I have never demanded for their sticker,” he said. “I have been a businessman right from 18 years old. Up till today, I continue doing my business. My last submission is that I know nothing about what they are saying over there.”

Since Mr. Kashamu’s PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan lost the general elections in March and April, he has faced renewed pressure on the drug charges and has made repeated efforts to plead his innocence as well as court leaders of the incoming ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. In April, he courted Bola Tinubu, a leader of the APC, describing him as his role model.

“Truth be told, men like you are made up of sterner stuff and are rare to come by in every generation. Little wonder you are called the Asiwaju and Jagaban of Borgu. I doff my hat,” Mr. Kashamu wrote in an open letter addressed to Mr. Tinubu.

Mr. Tinubu, however, promptly denied the Ogun politician.

“Kashamu may be prodigal but he is no political son of Tinubu,” Mr. Tinubu said in a statement signed by Sunday Dare, his media adviser.

It is expected that the US will demand Mr. Kashamu’s extradition after the swearing-in of the APC led government on May 29; a request, which if made, would face a length legal process in Nigeria.

“I am a Nigerian. I am not running away from my fatherland. If anyone thinks he has a case against me, he should follow due process and we will take it up from there,” Mr. Kashamu said

Learnt from premiumtimesng

Fayose orders verification of 48,977 Ekiti workers

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose distributing chicken, rice and money to the widow and aged in Ado Ekiti Saturday for the Christmas under the stomach infrastructure programme of his administration

As part of measures to rid the public service of ghost workers, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has ordered the verification of the over 48, 977 workers in the state’s payroll.

The governor made this known through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

The verification, said the governor, is meant to block the over N500 million being lost monthly by the government through the e-payment system contracted by the immediate past administration, to a private firm.

Mr. Fayose, however, directed that the April salary be paid as workers are verified, adding that the exercise was not meant to delay payment of wages in the state.

“Those insinuating that the verification exercise was meant to delay payment of April salary are
just playing cheap politics because the arrangement is such that the moment verification is concluded on daily basis, salary of those cleared will be paid,” Mr. Fayose said.

“The implication of this is that those verified on Tuesday, May 12, will receive their April salary on Wednesday, May 13, while those verified on Wednesday will get paid on Thursday. By Friday, May 14, seventy percent of the workers would have received their April salary.”

Giving details of how the exercise will be carried out, Mr. Olayinka said staff of core Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, will be verified from May 12. Staff of the state’s Health Management Board and six local government areas would also be verified on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The six local councils to be verified on Tuesday and Wednesday include Ado, Efon, Ekiti East, Ekiti South West, Moba and Oye while staff of Ise/Orun, Ikere, Emure, Ekiti West, Ido/Osi, Ikole, Ilejemeje and Irepodun/Ifelodun, Gbonyin and Ijero would take their turn on Thursday and Friday.

Also to be verified on Thursday and Friday are staff of the Local Government Training School, Local Government Service Commission, Loans Board and Pension Board, as well as primary school teachers in Ado, Efon, Ekiti East, Ekiti South West, Ekiti West, Emure, Gbonyin, Ido/Osi local councils. Others include staff of the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB and Local Government Education Authority, LGEA.

On May 16 and May 18, primary school teachers in Ijero, Ikere, Ikole, Ilejemeje, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ise/Orun, Moba and Oye local governments, as well as all secondary school teachers in the state would go through the verification process.

Learnt from premiumtimesng

Five killed in Switzerland shooting

Five people have been found dead after a shooting in a town in northern Switzerland, police say.


Residents heard shots in the town of Wuerenlingen shortly after 11pm local time on Saturday, police said.


Officers then found five bodies, including that of the suspected attacker, in a quiet residential neighbourhood.


Police said the attacker was 36-year-old but did not reveal his identity. He was a father of three but no longer living with his family.


He did not have a gun license and did not fire with a military weapon, the police spokesman said.


The suspected attacker first killed three people - a 58-year-old man, a 57-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man - in a house, criminal police official Markus Gisin said.


He is then believed to have killed a 46-year-old neighbour outside the house before shooting himself.


The victims in the house were the parents-in-law and brother-in-law of the suspected attacker, a 36-year-old who lived in Schwyz canton (state), south of Zurich. All were Swiss nationals.


Previously 'investigated'


The shooting appears to have been a "relationship crime", or the result of domestic dispute, Michael Leupold, Aargau canton (state) police chief, said.


Police "were able to rule out a terrorist background" or any other danger, he said.


The assailant's wife and three children were not targeted in the shooting.


The shooter had a record of violence and lived apart from his family in the nearby canton of Schwytz. In 2007, he was investigated for causing bodily harm and in 2012 he was probed after making verbal threats.


Police had searched his home on April 2 this year but no firearms were found.


Saturday's attack came after the man's wife and children left the family home and were housed in a shelter.


"The mother and her children are safe," said local police official Markus Gisin.


He said the investigation into the shooting was made difficult by the fact that there "are several crime scenes."


Wuerenlingen is a town of some 4,500 people northwest of Zurich, near the German border.


Learnt from Aljazeera

Water Scarcity Hits Kaduna Residents

Acute water scarcity has hit Kaduna state, Northwest Nigeria, as a result of the breakdown of services by the state’s water board.


The problem has been attributed to damaged power transmission line to the Malali water treatment plant which supplies water to the metropolis and environs, coupled with the recent strike embarked by electricity workers last Monday.

Although the workers have called off the strike, the scarcity has left residents scrambling for alternative clean water sources for their daily usage.

Some of the areas worst affected by the scarcity include Barnawa, Sabon Tasha, Zaria, Romi, Tirkaniya, Gonin Gora, Taiwo Road, Abubakar Kigo Road, Costain Quarters and environs.

A resident of Barnawa, says most of them in the area now rely on commercial borehole operators and water vendors popularly called ‘Mai Ruwa’ for their daily water supply.

Some of them who spoke to Channels Television blamed the state water board for the scarcity. They said this is not the first time they are facing such situation, and wondered why government cannot find an alternative means of providing them with water pending when it repairs the fault at its transmitting station.

Only few houses are privileged enough to have boreholes within them, and are slightly immune from the problem. But lack of electricity to pump water becomes a problem.

Learnt from Channelstv

Agent: Real team mates not passing to Bale

MADRID (Reuters) – Gareth Bale is suffering at Real Madrid because his team mates are not passing him the ball enough but he has no plans to quit the club, according to the Wales winger’s agent.

Bale’s troubled second season in Spain hit a new low with a poor performance in last week’ Champions League defeat at Juventus and he again failed to spark in Saturday’s 2-2 La Liga draw at home to Valencia.

He has been whistled by disgruntled fans at the Bernabeu, a startling turnaround for a player who scored in the finals of the Champions League and the King’s Cup last term.

Real broke the transfer record to buy the 25-year-old but he has lately been struggling to live up to expectations in a season partly disrupted by injury.

“Real have to work with Gareth and pass the ball to him more,” Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett was quoted as saying in Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

“Give him more of the ball and let him show everybody what he’s good at,” Barnett added.

“He’s going to be the best player at Real Madrid when his team mates work with him and help him.”

Real are in danger of ending the season without defending their Champions League crown or securing a first La Liga title since 2012.

Eliminated from the King’s Cup by Atletico Madrid in January, Real lost the semi-final, first leg at Juve 2-1 and are four points behind leaders Barca in second in La Liga with two matches left.

Bale’s statistics are actually similar to last season, with 17 goals and 10 assists in 46 matches compared to 22 goals and 12 assists in 44 games in 2013-14.

However, he has been criticised for being selfish in front of goal and not contributing enough in defence.

“Most people would have been broken by this but he is determined,” Barnett said.

“He could have screamed and shouted or knocked on the manager’s office door but he doesn’t want to upset anyone.

“Every top club in the world would want to sign him but he will be at Real Madrid next season.

“There’s no way he is going anywhere in the summer. When we said he always wanted to play for Real, it was 100 percent true and he’s determined to be a success there.”

Learnt from pmnewsnigeria

Pensioner dies in Trafford blaze as wife manages to flee to safety out of window

Ellan Brook Lodge

A elderly man has died after a fire tore through his home in Trafford.

Two people were injured after the blaze ripped through a sheltered accommodation property at Ellan Brook Lodge in Brooklands, Sale, at around 7am on Sunday morning.

The fire claimed the life of a 77-year-old man, whose wife was able to escape.

Residents desperately called 999 after reports of smoke coming from the flat window, with a man trapped inside.

Fire crews rushed to the scene, but not before a brave neighbour tried to fight the fire himself.

He smashed a window and attempted to use an extinguisher to douse the flames.

The man suffered burns to his hand and was treated for smoke inhalation. An elderly woman, understood to be the deceased man’s wife, managed to escape out of a window, but her husband was trapped inside.

He was rescued by firefighters, but sadly died.

Station manager Billy Fenwick said: “The crew worked really hard at the scene, they searched the flat and rescued a 77-year-old man from inside.

“They did all they could to help the three people who were injured until paramedics arrived.”

The fire was quickly extinguished and crews remained at the scene to offer support and reassurance to residents. It is understood the flat is surrounded by retirement homes and sheltered accommodation.

A joint investigation between Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Greater Manchester Police is underway into the cause of the fire.

Learnt from manchestereveningnews

Ex-President sacks CEO over $4.9m money-laundering scandal

The Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation has sacked its CEO and Board of Trustees member, Anne Welsh, following a video published online by SaharaReporters on Thursday, May 7, which showed Welsh scheming with a group of ‘Lebanese businessmen’ to launder $4.9 million through the Foundation.

Pulse reported that Welsh, according to the video, exploited the Ebola Virus Disease tragedy in West Africa to help the group, who wished to donate money to the Obasanjo Foundation for some work in Sierra Leone.

Welsh stated at the meeting, held in London, that it was not the first time she would be involved in such deals. In the deal, it was agreed that she would pocket over one million dollars.

In reaction to the development, Chairman of the foundation, ChiefOlusegun Obasanjo said that he, and other trustees of the foundation were sad after learning about the allegation against Welsh.

“Accordingly, the Board of Trustees has asked her to immediately resign, and she has done so,” Obasanjo toldPremium Times.

The former president also said that the matter has been reported to the London Metropolitan Polce and the UK Charity Commission for a full-scale investigation.

He added, “I can never associate myself with anything that has to do with money laundering and corruption, and this is a very disturbing development for us all.”

However, in what seems to be an attempt to escape public scrutiny, Welsh has taken down her Facebook page and Website.







Learnt from Pulseng

9 US cops sacked in connection with death of Nigerian, Mathew Ajibade

ATLANTA (CNN) Nine Georgia deputies have been fired in connection with the death of a 21-year-old student in Savannah, Georgia, authorities announced Friday.

The firings are related to the case of Matthew Ajibade, who died in an isolation cell on New Year’s Day, said Gena Bilbo, the Chatham County Sheriff’s spokeswoman.

Mathew Ajibade

Two of the nine deputies who were fired had been on paid leave.

Ajibade, who was from Nigeria, was arrested on January 1 after police received a phone call about a domestic disturbance.

Authorities arrived and saw Ajibade holding a women under a blanket, according to an incident report. Her “face was bruised, and her nose was bleeding,” the report said.

The Sheriff’s Office said Ajibade “became combative during the booking process.”

His family has hired Mark O’Mara, a CNN legal analyst who represented George Zimmerman in the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

Ajibade had bipolar disorder, O’Mara said.

After Ajibade’s death, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Affairs Division of the Sheriff’s Office began separate reviews. The district attorney is still reviewing the case and will decide if criminal charges are warranted, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office also announced policy changes it intends to pursue as a result of the incident, including procedures that require on-site medical personnel to be notified when a person with medication arrives for booking.

Learnt from pmnewsnigeria

Adaeze Yobo shows off her boys to celebrate mother's day

Adaeze Yobo, the ex-beauty queen and wife of Nigeria ex-international, Joseph Yobo, recently had a swell time with her boys, Joey and Jayden Yobo as the world celebrate Mothers around the world.



Spotting a new look in red hair, the former Most beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Adaeze was spotted enjoying a stroll with her boys in their London home on Saturday, May 9, 2015.

Looking her best in the new look, the WAG is sure going to have a splendid day as she celebrates mothers' day.




Learnt from Pulseng

Tara Durotoye visit Uganda for 14th wedding anniversary with hubby

Top beauty entrepreneur, Tara Fela Durotoye is on her way to Uganda for the celebration of her 14th wedding anniversary with hubby, Fela Durotoye.

According to sources, the couple left the Nigerian shores for the anniversary get away on Sunday, May 10, 2015 for Uganda, where they would be spending an undisclosed days to enjoy some lovely time together as a couple.

Confirming the anniversary get away, the House of Tara took to Instagram account to announce her departure with her hubby, who she refers to as her lover, priest, husband, covering, gardener, coach, groomer and chairman.

The couple would be spending their anniversary at the Uganda beach front this year.

Learnt from Pulseng

Cuba's Raul Castro holds talks with Pope Francis

Castro had already publicly thanked Francis for his role in bringing Havana and Washington closer together 


Cuban President Raul Castro has held talks with Pope Francis, who played a key role in the breakthrough between Washington and Havana aimed at restoring US-Cuban diplomatic ties.

"Bienvenido!" Francis said on Sunday in his native Spanish, welcoming Castro in a studio near the Vatican public audience hall. The Cuban president, bowing his head, gripped Francis' hand with both of his, and the two men began their private talks.

The meeting lasted nearly an hour, a generous amount of time by Vatican standards, especially considering that the Argentine-born Francis and Castro spoke in Spanish, without the need of interpreters that often use up time in other papal-VIP talks.

Castro had already publicly thanked Francis for his role in bringing Havana and Washington closer together after decades of US government policy of strict isolation of the Communist-ruled Caribbean island.

He apparently did so again during the closed-door meeting.

As he took his leave, Castro told journalists, "I thanked the pope for what he did."

Francis was in an upbeat mood, too. "I ruined your Sunday," the pope quipped to journalists after the meeting.

He gave Castro a medal depicting St. Martin of Tours, known for caring for the destitute.

"With his mantle he covers the poor," Francis told Castro, saying more efforts on behalf of the poor are needed.

Papal visit

The pope will stop in Cuba for at least two days in September for a visit, part of a pilgrimage that will then take him to Washington, Philadelphia and New York.

Preparation for the papal's visit has already began in the Carribean Island. Cardenal Jaime Ortega, the leader of the Catholic Church in Cuba, told Al Jazeera: "It's natural that the pope will reaffirm the church’s desire for Cuba to open up to the world and the world open up to Cuba, especially as the pontiff has participated in the dialogue between the United States and Cuba."

Castro's brother, Fidel, the Cuban revolutionary leader who ruled for decades before Raul, met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1996. That Vatican encounter helped pave the way for John Paul's 1998 pilgrimage to Cuba, the first visit by a pontiff to the island.

With the Vatican keen on protecting its Catholic followers in Cuba, Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI also visited the island.

Castro was also due to meet Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi later on Sunday before leaving Rome.

Learnt from Aljazeera

South Africa opposition party elects first black leader

South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has elected Mmusi Maimane as its new leader to succeed Helen Zille.

Maimane, 34, becomes the first black leader of the party.

The part-time pastor is expected to the challenge the African Nation Congress (ANC) which has governed the country since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Zille, a white woman, announced last month she was leaving after leading the party for the last eight years.

South Africa remains deeply divided racially, with most blacks preferring to vote for the ANC.

"Black South African people are scared of being led by a white person. But I don't think it will actually make a difference." Zintle Mabongo, a resident of Port Elizabeth where party delegates elected the new leader, told Al Jazeera.

Learnt from Aljazeera

Here Is A Nigerian Social Network That Allows You Share Prayers With Friends And Strangers

Nigerian-born software developer Adebambo Oyekan Oyelaja is the founder of Prayerbox, a social networking service that allows users to share prayer points, testimonies and religious activities with friends and people from around the world.

Prayerbox, which has been funded by an Angel investor, works like Twitter in the sense that users can create accounts, follow people, post their prayers and view prayers from users they follow in their timeline. In place of a retweet or reply, users can say ‘Amen’ to prayers in their feed. Users can also send private prayers to each other.

Prayerbox was launched in December 2014 and now has over 40,000 users and more than 300,000 prayer points.

Oyelaja, 27, recently spoke to me about his service.

Can we meet you?

I was born in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state. Nigeria. I picked up an uncontrollable addiction to technology and had started writing software at the age of 14. I studied computer science at Babcock University where I was named programmer of the year twice and made headlines for launching my first startup a social network called Waaazap, which didn’t exactly work out

After dropping out of Babcock University to further pursue my entrepreneurial ambitions, I was employed as Chief Technology Officer of Connectnigeria.com, a local search portal. After ConnectNigeria I worked at a few other companies but never really enjoyed it as much as being an entrepreneur, so I decided to start something new and interesting.

Tell me about Prayerbox. What prompted you to set up Prayerbox, and how where you initially funded?

Prayerbox is a simple way through which users can share prayer points, testimonies and religious activities with their friends and people from around the world. Prayerbox users can share prayers, testimonies, pray for each other, stay connected to their churches, and even pay their tithes, offerings and donations directly to their churches through the service.

The story behind the birth of Prayerbox is quite interesting. As a programmer, I would spend most of my Saturday nights writing code and end up waking up late on Sundays and obviously miss church services. My pastor invited me one day and asked why I had stopped coming to church as often as I used to. I told him why and he asked me how technology could affect my religious life. Being a heavy social media user, I had noticed the growing trend of people sharing prayers on social networks but these platforms often come out of context when fused with religion. BOOM! I said I’d build a twitter for religion. In one week, I had built a working prototype which I showed to my pastor who was beyond impressed. Prayerbox initially launched as Ourprayerbox in 2011 but was shut down as I had run out of funds. 440.ng an accelerator based in Lagos launched sometimes in 2014 and after sending in a brief about Prayerbox they invested in the idea.

How does Prayerbox work? What’s the business model and how do you monetize it?

Prayerbox works like Twitter. Users can create accounts, follow one another, post their prayers and view prayers from users they follow in their timeline. In place of a retweet or reply, users can say ‘Amen’ to prayers in their feed. When prayers are answered, users can post testimonies and members of their church and people in their circle can see these testimonies. Users can also send private prayers to each other. Churches are also allowed to create pages through which they can share updates, sermons, prayer points, program schedules, events and much more with their congregation.

At the moment, targeted ads are our main source of revenue. Religion is bigger than we know and there are a lot of options we are exploring to monetize the service without conflicting the sole purpose of the platform which is to connect people religiously.

Is Prayerbox making any money yet? If so, can you provide a hint of revenues?

Yes Prayerbox is making some money at the moment. For a service that launched December 10, 2014 our revenue has been impressive so far even though we can’t provide exact numbers.

How do you imagine Prayerbox’s investors would exit from their investment in this firm? What possible takers do you have in mind, if any?

It’s hard to guess how investors would exit from this but as with fast rising platforms these days, a huge acquisition could be a possible exit for our investors.

There are other prayer request services online already. What is Prayerbox doing differently from the others?

Yes there are other services out there all of which are doing quite interesting stuff but Prayerbox is the only religious platform that is highly social and goes beyond sharing prayer requests. There are a lot of features that sets us apart from these services. Features such as tithes, offerings, donations, religious calendars and much more are unique to Prayerbox. And the social model takes sharing prayer requests further than existing services.

How has the reception to your service been so far?

The reception so far has been great. Over 40,000 users are using the service with more users signing up daily. Churches are also signing up for the service faster than we anticipated. Not to mention numerous media mentions.

How has innovation changed the way you do business?

Innovation changes everything when you start a business. You need to study the industry, validate the need for your product, make sure it solves a problem and most importantly innovation helps you keep your business alive. When you innovate you iterate and make sure your innovation stays alive by constantly tweaking and experimenting.

In five years I see PrayerBox having over five million active users and becoming the destination for religious content online, definitely, we have huge expansion plans. By the end of the year we are targeting over a million active users and signing up over 500 churches on the platform. Partnerships with key players are also a major focus for us right now, and judging from our statistics so far this has been the fastest way for us to grow. My major focus right now is building a product that people find indispensable.

Learnt from forbes

Happy Mother's Day: Famous mothers and their famous daughters

Dakota Johnson and Melanie Grifith

Sharon and Kelly Osbourne

Demi Moore and Rumer Willis

Kris Jenner, Khloe, Kourtney and Kim Kardashian and Kendall and Kylie Jenner

Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson

Lisa Bonet and Zoe Kravitz

Madonna and Lourdes Leon

Gigi Hadid , Yolanda Hadid and Bella Hadid

Meryl Streep and Mamie Gumer

Robin Wright and Dylan Penn

Cindy and Kaia Crawford

Jada Pinkett Smith and Willow Smith

Jerry Hall and Georgia May Jagger

Eva Amurri and  Susan Sarandon

Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow

Photos from nydailynews

Roc Nation betting on Miguel Cotto to make inroads in boxing game

Michael Yormark said he would pack his bags and head to Houston for a fight between Saul (Canelo) Alvarez and James Kirkland on Saturday.

Yormark, the president of Jay Z’s Roc Nation agency, likes boxing.

But he didn’t make the trip as a fan.

Following Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s win against Manny Pacquiao last week, the biggest fight left in 2015 involves Roc Nation client Miguel Cotto and Alvarez later this year.

Yormark didn’t want to talk about the super fight on Friday because there was still unfinished business to attend to — Alvarez vs. Kirkland and Cotto in a middleweight title defense on June 6 at Barclays Center against former titlist James Geale.

But admitting he will be in Houston indicated what was foremost on his mind.

“As (Cotto’s) promoter, it’s important we’re also keeping an eye on what could happen down the road,” he said in a phone interview of making the trip.

And for a company that is vying to become a major player in boxing — much like it has in other sports with Kevin Durant in basketball and Victor Cruz in football — making the fight between Cotto and Alvarez would be a huge triumph.

“Now that May 2 is behind us, (Cotto vs. Alvarez is) the biggest fight in boxing,” said David Itskowitch, chief operating officer of Roc Nation Sports boxing. “There’s no fight in boxing that’s as big as this.”

Making the fight would also likely mute criticism that’s been directed at Roc Nation since it started a boxing division in August, criticism that says it has overpaid for boxers, is way too corporate and may struggle in its attempt to marry live music with the sweet science.

“They’ve come into boxing talking a very big game, but let’s see how long it lasts,” a rival promoter said.

The company quickly made a name for itself — and sparked jealousy within the industry — by inking the super middleweight champion Andre Ward to a deal in late January.

Boxing lifer Gary Shaw then sold his company to Roc Nation Sports a day before Jay Z put on his first boxing show on January 9 at the Garden.

With Jay Z and Rihanna looking on from ringside, the show felt like a coronation.

The longtime promoter Dino Duva was soon brought aboard in January.

Less than a month later, however, Shaw and Roc Nation split over philosophical differences.

Shaw moved out of the Roc Nation offices and took his fighters with him.

The break-up cost Roc Nation a chance to be involved in the heavyweight championship fight between Wladimir Klitschko and the Shaw-promoted Bryant Jennings last month at Madison Square Garden.

“Listen, we’ve got our hands full here,” Yormark said of the missed opportunity. “We’ve got a lot of things to look forward to.”

Shaw declined an interview request for this story.

In March, Cotto signed a rich multi-year pact with Roc Nation, surprising some by spurning his longtime promoter Top Rank.

Roc Nation Sports also hired Eric Bottjer to be its full-time matchmaker on April 20.

Itskowitch now oversees a staff of four that is supported by the larger staff at Roc Nation that also includes public relations and sponsorship departments, among others.

The company’s goal is to meld music, boxing and pop culture.

Think Jay Z with boxing gloves.

Grammy-nominated rapper Big Sean will perform before Cotto’s WBC middleweight bout on June 6 at Barclays.

Yormark said he was also in the process of negotiating “a couple of endorsements right now” for Cotto.

And Ward is scheduled to return from a long absence to face England’s Paul Smith in a non-title fight in the first of a new time-buy venture on June 20 with BET.

Though Cotto (39-4, 32 knockouts), is 34 and is in the back nine of his career, Yormark pointed out he’s still younger than both Mayweather (38) and Pacquiao (36). The future is bright for the company, he said.

“We’ve only been in this thing for what, nine months?” Yormark told the News. “We’ve established ourselves as pretty significant promoters. We’ve got the opportunity in front of us to make a huge fight, assuming Canelo and Miguel get through their fights in front of them. What promoter in basically a year can say that?”

Learnt from nydailynews