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Convicted murderer and former NFL star Aaron Hernandez was found hanged in his Massachusetts prison cell Wednesday morning, just days after his acquittal in a double murder case. The 27-year-old former tight end for the New England Patriots hanged himself with a bedsheet attached to a window in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, the Massachusetts Department of Correction said. His body was discovered at 3:05 a.m. "Lifesaving techniques were attempted on Mr. Hernandez, and he was transported to UMass Leominster, where he was pronounced dead at 4:07 a.m.," the correction department's statement reads. Hernandez was visibly emotional when the verdicts were read, embracing his attorneys. "You could tell that he was relieved as well," Ronald Sullivan Jr., his defense attorney, said after the verdict. "He was charged for something somebody else did, and that is a weighty burden for anyone to shoulder." Despite the acquitt...

There was a mild drama at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday following the announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari suspending the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal and the Director General (DG) of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayo Oke. A statement by the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said both officials remained suspended until they were fully investigated. Lawal is being probed over allegations of an award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE). Oke, on the other hand, is facing scrutiny for his agency’s role in the $43 million and other local currencies found in an Ikoyi, Lagos apartment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). By the suspension of these officials, the government seems to have affirmed its commitment to its anti-corruption agenda. But how the matter is finally resolved will determine the strength of the resolve of the government to beam t...

At least two people were killed Wednesday when violent clashes marred what opposition leaders in Venezuela had billed as a massive march on a national holiday commemorating the start of the troubled country's independence struggle against Spain. Hours after the start of competing marches by the opposition as well as supporters of embattled President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's public ministry said it had launched an investigation into the shooting of a 17-year-old man who was struck in the head an hour into the march in Caracas. The teenager, later identified as Carlos Moreno, died while undergoing surgery, a hospital representative told CNN. Moreno's sister, Alejandra, said Carlos studied economics at Venezuelan Central University in Caracas. Instead of joining the marches, she said, he was on the way to play soccer. The ministry later said it was also investigating the Wednesday afternoon shooting death of Paola Andreina Ramírez Gómez, 23, in plaza San Carlos in Sa...