THE JFT EDIT

The creator of TV show Empire, Lee Daniels, has spoken about the “pain and anger and sadness and frustration” he and his cast have gone through over the Jussie Smollett case.

Posting on Instagram, the writer-director said he and his team  “really don’t know how to deal with it.   ” Jussie Smollett, one of the main cast members of Empire, is accused of faking a racist, homophobic attack on himself in Chicago in January.

The alleged attack happened on 29 January. The actor claimed to have been punched in the face, had an “unknown chemical substance” poured on him and a rope wrapped around his neck.    An outpouring of support from co-stars and fellow celebrities, including Viola Davis, Ellen DeGeneres and Naomi Campbell, followed.

Lee Daniels posted an emotional message on Instagram, where he said: “Hold your head up Jussie. I’m with you”.  He’s since deleted the post and had stayed relatively quiet.

After some investigation, Chicago police arrested Jussie Smollett after he handed himself in. The police said Smollett “took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career”.

But his lawyers issued a strongly-worded statement after the hearing, calling it an “organised law enforcement spectacle”.  The actor is due back in court on 17 April.

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Former President Jerry John Rawlings, has paid tribute to former party chairman, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, describing him as a very strong and passionate man who lived his conviction. The founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said he had a great deal of respect for Dr. Adjei because he stood for  his beliefs and was not a materialist.

Describing the late Adjei as a fighter during a call on his family at his Agboba residence in the outskirts of Accra on Monday, former President Rawlings said the deceased was however very sad and disappointed about a lot of things.

“Adjei was disappointed in terms of our own weaknesses as a party. He was disappointed about the politics of our party and the fact that it had been monetized and held hostage. He was hurt about the loss of the value systems of the party,” Flt Lt Rawlings said.

The former President urged the family to stay strong and united during this difficult period and expressed the hope that his children will carry some of his fighting spirit.An associate of the former President and good friend of Dr. Adjei, Dr. Anthony Dzegede, who knew Dr. Adjei from his Nigeria days said as a thinker and a philosopher, it was only natural that Dr. Adjei became a politician.

Dr. Dzegede described the late Adjei as a genius with brilliant ideas, witty and full of humourous insinuations.The late Dr. Adjei served as party chairman from 2005 to 2014. Prior to that he had a rich political history, serving in several capacities under the PNDC and NDC governments.

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The death toll in Mozambique from Cyclone Idai could be as high as 1,000, President Filipe Nyusi has said. Mr Nyusi flew over some of the worst-hit areas on Monday. He described seeing bodies floating in the rivers.

The storm made landfall near the port city of Beira on Thursday with winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), but aid teams only reached the city on Sunday.A UN aid worker told the BBC that every building in Beira – home to half a million people – had been damaged.

Gerald Bourke, from the UN’s World Food Programme, said: “No building is untouched. There is no power. There is no telecommunications. The streets are littered with fallen electricity lines.”The roofs on so many houses have fallen in, likewise the walls. A lot of people in the city have lost their homes.”

Rescue crews spent much of the night helping people from trees, Jamie LeSeur, the head of the IFRC assessment team, told the BBC.   The official death toll in Mozambique stands at 84 following flooding and high winds. The cyclone has killed at least 180 people across southern Africa.  The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC) described the damage as “massive and horrifying”.

In Zimbabwe, at least 98 people have died and 217 people are missing in the east and south, the government said. The death toll included two pupils from the St Charles Lwanga boarding school in the district of Chimanimani, who died after their dormitory was hit when rocks swept down a mountain.

How bad is the damage in Beira?

Most of those known to have died so far were killed around Beira, the country’s fourth largest city with a population of about 500,000, authorities there said.

More than 1,500 people were injured by falling trees and debris from buildings including zinc roofing, officials in the capital Maputo told the BBC.

“Almost everything has been affected by the calamity,” Alberto Mondlane, the governor of Sofala province, which includes Beira, said on Sunday. “We have people currently suffering, some on top of trees and are badly in need of help.”

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Paris has come top of a ranking of the world’s most expensive cities, alongside Hong Kong and Singapore.

It’s the first time three cities have shared the top spot in the 30-year history of the annual Economist Intelligence Unit survey, which compares prices in 133 cities globally.

The French capital – ranked second most expensive last year – is one of four European cities in the top 10.

The survey compares the cost of common items, such as bread, in 133 cities.

It then tracks whether prices have gone up or down by comparing them to the cost of living in New York, which is used as a benchmark.

Haircut comparisons

Report author Roxana Slavcheva said Paris had been among the top 10 most expensive cities since 2003 and was “extremely expensive” to live in.

“Only alcohol, transport and tobacco offer value for money compared with other European cities,” she said.

The average cost of a woman’s haircut, for example, costs $119.04 (£90) in Paris, compared with $73.97 in Zurich and $53.46 in Japanese city Osaka.

“European cities tend to have the highest costs in the household, personal care, recreation and entertainment categories – with Paris being a good representative in these categories – perhaps reflecting a greater premium on discretionary spending,” Ms Slavcheva said.    The most expensive cities in the world

1. Singapore (Singapore)

1. Paris (France)

1. Hong Kong (China)

4. Zurich (Switzerland)

5. Geneva (Switzerland)

5. Osaka (Japan)

7. Seoul (South Korea)

7. Copenhagen (Denmark)

7. New York(US)

10. Tel Aviv (Israel)

10. Los Angeles (US)

The 10 cheapest cities in the world

1. Caracas (Venezuela)

2. Damascus (Syria)

3. Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

4. Almaty (Kazakhstan)

5. Bangalore (India)

6. Karachi (Pakistan)

6. Lagos (Nigeria)

7. Buenos Aires (Argentina)

7. Chennai (India)

8. New Delhi (India)

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Warner Bros’s chief executive Kevin Tsujihara is leaving amid claims he tried to secure roles for an actress he allegedly had an affair with.John Stankey, chief executive of parent company Warner Media, said that it was “in the best interest” of the firm that Mr Tsujihara steps down.

“Kevin acknowledges that his mistakes are inconsistent with the company’s leadership expectations,” Warner said. The firm is conducting an investigation into the allegations.Earlier this month, the Hollywood Reporter claimed an actress had sought Mr Tsujihara’s help in landing roles after they had sex.

The report included text messages between Mr Tsujihara and the actress, Charlotte Kirk.

Mr Tsujihara’s lawyer said at the time that the executive did not have a direct role in the hiring of the actress in any movie.In a letter to staff on Monday, reported by Reuters, Mr Tsujihara did not address the matter.”It has become clear that my continued leadership could be a distraction and an obstacle to the company’s continued success,” he wrote.

“The hard work of everyone within our organization is truly admirable, and I won’t let media attention on my past detract from all the great work the team is doing.”

Investigation

Mr Tsujihara had worked at Warner Bros for 25 years and had headed the studio since 2013.

In a statement, Mr Stankey said: “It is in the best interest of Warner Media, Warner Bros, our employees and our partners for Kevin to step down as chairman and chief executive of Warner Bros.”

The company said that “it is working with a third party law firm to complete its investigation with Mr Tsujihara’s cooperation”.

Warner Media said it was yet to name a successor for Mr Tsujihara and declined to comment on a severance package.

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