WIFE KILLED IN HEAD-ON CRASH WHILE PURSUING HER HUSBAND IN ANOTHER VEHICLE

HOUSTON (KTRK) --

A woman is dead in a tragic car accident in northeast Houston, after she struck another vehicle head-on. And she was apparently chasing her own husband at the time.

The accident happened late Thursday afternoon in the 13000 block of Wallisville Road. Family members at the scene of the accident tell Eyewitness News that a wife was pursuing her husband, who was in another vehicle with a female companion. The woman apparently lost control of her car and went into a spin, striking another vehicle head-on.

The wife died at the scene, and a man in the vehicle that was struck was taken by Life Flight to an area hospital, suffering from various injuries. The woman's husband and the woman with him were unhurt.

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Shooting Suspect Feared 'Blacks Were Taking Over The World'

A former friend who had reconnected with the man accused of a shooting massacre inside a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, said Dylann Storm Roof had become an avowed racist.

Joey Meek reconnected with Roof a few weeks ago and said that while they got drunk together on vodka, Roof began complaining that "blacks were taking over the world" and that "someone needed to do something about it for the white race."

Roof, 21, is accused of fatally shooting nine people during a Bible study at The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on Wednesday night, ripping out a piece of South Carolina's civic heart and adding to the ever-growing list of America's racial casualties.

Police captured Roof in Shelby, North Carolina, after a motorist spotted him at a traffic light on her way to work. His apprehension ended an intense, hours-long manhunt.

Roof waived extradition and was back in Charleston on Thursday night, authorities said, with a bond hearing pending. On Friday, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told NBC's "Today" show the shooter should get the death penalty.

"We will absolutely will want him to have the death penalty," Haley said.

Charleston officials announced a prayer vigil for Friday evening. The city's mayor described the shooting at the church as an act of "pure, pure concentrated evil."

The victims included a state senator who doubled as the church's minister, three other pastors, a regional library manager, a high school coach and speech therapist, a government administrator, a college enrollment counselor and a recent college graduate — six women and three men who felt called to open their church to all.

President Barack Obama called the tragedy yet another example of damage wreaked in America by guns.

NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks said "there is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people." Others bemoaned the loss to a church that has served as a bastion of black power for 200 years, despite efforts by white supremacists to wipe it out.

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Obama on Charleston: It’s Too Easy To Get Guns In America

President Barack Obama says the Charleston church mass shooting could happen because the alleged killer “had no trouble” getting a gun. 

President Barack Obama on Thursday expressed profound “sadness and anger” at the Charleston church shooting as well as deeply personal frustration that America’s political climate makes it virtually impossible for now to tighten restrictions on who can buy firearms.

“We don’t have all the facts, but we do know that once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun,” Obama said in the White House briefing room, Vice President Joe Biden standing at his side.

“It is in our power to do something about it. I say that recognizing the politics in this town foreclose a lot of those avenues right now,” the president said. “But it’d be wrong for us not to acknowledge it, and at some point, it’s going to be important for the American people to come to grips with it and for us to be able to shift how we think about the issue of gun violence collectively.” 

Throughout Obama’s remarks, Biden stood grim-faced, his hands clasped in front of him, fingers laced, with an a expression of grief on his face. The vice president, whose elder son died of cancer earlier this month, looked worn.

It was Obama’s 14th statement on a mass shooting since taking office, according to CBS News’s Mark Knoller, the closest thing to a presidential records keeper in the White House press corps.

“I’ve had to make statements like this too many times. Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times,” Obama said Thursday.

“Now is the time for mourning and for healing. But let’s be clear. At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency,” he said.

The president had previously called the massacre of schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut “the worst day of my presidency” and the failure of lawmakers in the aftermath to adopt a modest package of restrictions on guns “probably the most disappointing moment I’ve had with Congress.”

But his remarks on Thursday suggested that he has become resigned to the political reality that legislative action is not possible, for now, in the face of opposition from Republicans who hold both houses of Congress as well as from some Democrats.

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Ireland Baldwin Severely Bruised After Being Brutally Attacked By Three Men

This is the picture of beautiful model, Ireland Baldwin who is the daughter of Actors Kim Basinger and alec Baldwin before she was spotted at LA with bruises on her face after been reportedly attacked by three men on Monday

"Three guys attacked Ireland. They were following Ireland around Malibu, tailing her car super close. So Ireland came back to Soba Recovery Center & got one of the bodyguards at the center to come out and say the harassment needs to stop.' a source told DM

Photo credit : Pacific Coast News

Police Release Photos of Charleston South Carolina Church Shooting Suspect

Police and federal law enforcement agencies were in the midst an all-out manhunt Thursday morning for the gunman they say is responsible for killing 9 people in a Charleston South Carolina church Wednesday night in what police described as a hate crime.

The suspect opened fire on a bible study group at the historic black Emanuel AME Church on Calhoun street, killing eight people in an "unfathomable." Two other people were rushed to the hospital where one died.

Early Thursday morning, police released pictures from surveillance footage showing the suspect, a younger white man, approximately 21-25 years old, as well as the car he was driving, police said.

"This is an extremely dangerous individual," said Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen.

The suspect was described as approximately 5-foot-9, wearing a sweatshirt with distinctive markings and Timberland boots, police said. Joining the search was the FBI and state law enforcement.

Police also said the car he was driving had a "very distinctive" license plate. Officials would not elaborate on the make and model of the car.

"This is a all hands on deck effort with the community and law enforcement," Mullen said.

Police said they had set up a tip line - 1-800 CALL FBI, advised the public to be alert and said to call911 and not approach.

"When people go out they should be vigilant," Mullen said.

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Old Age Won’t Affect My Job – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari declared, yesterday, that his age will not affect his job as president of Nigeria.

He said that at 72 he has in quantum, the wisdom, the patience, the temperance and forbearance that age brings and has brought all these virtues to the presidency to make a difference in our national life.

The president said this ,yesterday, in Abuja, in response to reports quoting him as saying while addressing the Nigerian community in Johannesburg, South Africa, that his age will limit his performance.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said the president’s comments in South Africa were totally taken out of context to mean that he was too old for the demands of the office.

The Presidency spoke as Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State urged Nigerians not to politicize the issue, saying that the time for political campaigns was well past. He rather asked Nigerians to pray for the President for him to have the grace to execute the demands of his office.

The governor’s assertion came as a fringe group in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which called itself the PDP Media Watchdogs demanded the President’s resignation upon comments made in South Africa on Monday night.

The PDP Media Watchdogs was immediately disowned by the mainstream PDP which claimed ignorance of the group, saying that the language of the group was strange to the party’s posture, which is to only engage in healthy opposition to the administration. The PDP nevertheless, said that the PDP Media Watchdogs may have been instigated by the kind of bitter language used by the All Progressives Congress, APC, against former President Goodluck Jonathan while he was in power.

The ruling APC equally chided the PDP Media Watchdogs, describing their call as the product of deliberate mischief and a result of their members’ poor understanding of the English language.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, clarifying remarks given by the President to the Nigerian community in Johannesburg in a statement titled- “Like Good Wine, President Buhari Gets Better With Age”, said:

“On Monday evening, President Muhammadu Buhari spoke with the Nigerian community at the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“Speaking extempore, because according to him, he wanted to “speak from the heart,” the President urged them to be good ambassadors of Nigeria, a country he went to the war front to keep together.

“Still extolling the virtues of our country, Nigeria, the President, who had served as a military governor of the then North-Eastern State at 33 years old, declared: ”I wish I became Head of State when I was a governor. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do.”

“The above comments have been reported by some newspapers to mean that the President was saying he was too old to cope with the demands of his office. Far from it.

“As the saying goes, “old wines are tasty” and the President Buhari we have today is a man, like old wine, that has got tastier. At 72, yes, he can’t be called a youth, but he has in quantum the wisdom, the patience, temperance and forbearance that age brings. And all these virtues he has brought to the Presidency, to make a difference in our national life.

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Pastor, 8 Others, Fatally Shot At Church In Charleston, SC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday night, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime.

The shooter remained at large Thursday morning and police released photographs from surveillance video of a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle.

Police Chief Greg Mullen said he could not offer a make and model on the dark colored sedan because investigators were not certain about what is shown in the video.

Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel AME Church was a hate crime. The suspect was described as a white man in his early 20s.

"This is a very dangerous individual," Mullen said during a 6 a.m. news conference.

"We want to identify this individual and arrest him before he hurts anyone else," the chief said.

Mullen said the scene at the church was chaotic when police arrived, and the officers thought they had the suspect tracked with a police dog, but he got away.

"We will put all effort, we will put all resources and we will put all of our energy into finding this individual who committed this crime tonight," he said.

The FBI will aid the investigation, Mullen told a news conference that was attended by FBI Special Agent in Charge David A. Thomas.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley called the shooting "the most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy."

"The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate," Riley said. "It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person."

State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford told The Associated Press that the church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was among those killed.

Pinckney 41, was a married father of two who was elected to the state house at age 23, making him the youngest member of the House at the time.

"He never had anything bad to say about anybody, even when I thought he should," Rutherford, D-Columbia, said. "He was always out doing work either for his parishioners or his constituents. He touched everybody."

The attack came two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighboring North Charleston that sparked major protests and highlighted racial tensions in the area. The officer has been charged with murder, and the shooting prompted South Carolina lawmakers to push through a bill helping all police agencies in the state get body cameras. Pinckney was a sponsor of that bill.

In a statement, Gov. Nikki Haley asked South Carolinians to pray for the victims and their families and decried violence at religious institutions.

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Official: California Balcony Collapse Kills At Least 6 People

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A 21st-birthday party thrown by a group of visiting Irish college students turned tragic early Tuesday when the fifth-floor balcony they were crammed onto collapsed with a sharp crack, spilling them about 50 feet onto the pavement. Six people were killed and seven seriously injured.

Police and fire and building officials were working to figure out why the small balcony broke loose from the stucco apartment house a couple of blocks from the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. But one structural engineer said it may have been overloaded if, as city officials said, it was holding 13 people.

High school student Jason Biswas' family nearby was awakened by the noise.

"They thought there was an earthquake, but then we looked out the window and saw seven or eight people on the ground," the 16-year-old said. "There were piles of blood everywhere."

Five of the dead were 21-year-olds from Ireland who were in the country on so-called J-1 visas that enable young people to work and travel in the U.S. over the summer, while the sixth victim was from California, authorities said.

The accident brought an outpouring of grief in Ireland from the prime minister on down, with the country's consul general in San Francisco calling it a "national tragedy."

Police had gotten a complaint about a loud party in the apartment about an hour before the accident but had not yet arrived when the metal-rail balcony gave way just after 12:30 a.m., spokesman Byron White said. It landed on the fourth-floor balcony just beneath it, leaving the pavement strewn with rubble and the red plastic cups that are practically standard at college parties.

"I just heard a bang and a lot of shouting," said Dan Sullivan, a 21-year-old student from Ireland who was asleep in the five-story building. Mark Neville, another Irish student in the building, said: "I walked out and I saw rubble on the street and a bunch of Irish students crying."

The U.S. government's J-1 program brings 100,000 college students to this country every year, many of them landing jobs at resorts, summer camps and other attractions. The San Francisco Bay area is especially popular with Irish students, about 700 of whom are working and playing here this summer, according to Ireland's Consul General Philip Grant. Many work at Fisherman's Wharf and other tourist sites.

Sinead Loftus, 21, who attends Trinity College Dublin and is living this summer in a different apartment in Berkeley, said Berkeley is "the Irish hub." In fact, she said, "I've heard people complain there are too many people from Ireland here."

"It's student-friendly, it's warm and it's a lot cheaper than San Francisco," she said.

Investigators will look at such things as whether the balcony was built to code, whether it was overloaded and whether rain or other weather weakened it, said Kevin Moore, chairman of the structural standards committee of the Structural Engineers Association of California. On Tuesday afternoon, engineering crews were inspecting jagged broken beams of wood sticking from the building, marking where the balcony had snapped off. Pieces of wood came away, falling to the ground, as the engineers touched them.

Berkeley officials said the building code would have required the balcony to hold at least 60 pounds per square foot. Its exact dimensions were not released, but Grace Kang, a structural engineer and spokeswoman for Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center at Berkeley, said it looked to her to be 4 by 6 feet, or 24 square feet. That would mean it was supposed to hold at least 1,440 pounds.

She said it appeared small for the crowd that had apparently gathered on it, Kang said.

"They were packed like sardines, and then they were moving," Kang said. When people "are moving about a lot or dancing, that impact load may further exacerbate" the strain.

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New Nigerian Leaders To Meet Anti-Corruption Watchdog Head

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari speaks during a news conference after the Summit of Heads of State and Government of The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in Abuja, Nigeria, June 11, 2015. 

ABUJA, June 15 (Reuters) - Nigeria's new leaders will meet the head of a leading global watchdog on corruption to see how billions of dollars in oil revenue leakage can be curbed.

The head of Oslo-based the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is expected to meet Nigeria's president or vice president this week, its local arm said on Monday.

Stamping out corruption was one of the main pledges of new President Muhammadu Buhari's campaign.

Clare Short, the head of EITI, has come to see how its recommendations can be implemented and help with long-term reforms. The intiative sets global standards for openness in the natural resources industries.

The executive secretary of EITI's Nigerian arm (NEITI) said last week that over $7.5 billion between 1999-2011 still needed to be recovered from oil and gas companies in Nigeria.

"The amount represents clear cases of underpayments, under-assessments of taxes, royalties, rents...which have not been adequately addressed in the past," Zainab Ahmed said.

NEITI has suggested selling the state oil company's stakes in producing joint ventures to fix its budget woes, a call echoed by many in the new administration, as well as scrapping the expensive and graft-riddled fuel subsidy.

The government relies on oil sales for the bulk of its revenues but there has been little oversight of how these are handled.

Central bank governor Lamido Sanusi was sacked under former president Goodluck Jonathan after he said that up to $20 billion in oil revenues between 2012 and 2013 had not been remitted to the government by the state oil company NNPC. Buhari said he would re-examine this allegation.

Ahmed also said NEITI audits showed that some $11.6 billion of dividends between 1999 and 2012 from the government's investment in the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company were not remitted by the state oil company.

"NNPC was unable to provide any evidence that the funds were remitted to the federation as required by law," she said.

NNPC said the issue of reconciling accounts had been raised at a previous Inter-Ministerial Task Team and would be discussed at one this week. The team was designed to implement NEITI's findings.

NEITI has also said the sale of eight oilfields to NNPC's upstream arm in 2010-2011 should be reviewed, as they were sold at $1.85 billion of which only $100 million was remitted to the federation account in February 2014.

Before his sacking, Sanusi also criticised some of these deals for being awarded non-competitively to companies that supplied no services.

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Ghana Petrol Station Inferno Kills About 150 In Accra

Some 150 people have died in a fire at a petrol station in Ghana's capital, Accra, officials say.

The fire on Wednesday night started as people in the city were trying to cope with two days of heavy rain, which has left many homeless and without power.

The flooding hampered rescue efforts and may have led to the fire, the BBC's Sammy Darko reports from Accra.

President John Dramani Mahama has announced three days of national mourning to begin on Monday.

It is thought that people were in the petrol station sheltering from the downpours when the fire broke out, our correspondent says.

A further 25 people have died in the floods, officials say.

President Mahama visited the burnt-out petrol station and described the deaths as "catastrophic" and "almost unprecedented".

He vowed to take tough measures to stop people building on waterways, which appeared to have been a factor in the disaster.

"I think that the time has come for us to remove houses out of water and the public should understand that it is necessary to save everybody else," he said.

Following an emergency meeting of cabinet and security chiefs on how to tackle flooding, the government says it will release £9m ($14m) to help flood victims.

Schools were closed across the capital and children asked to stay at home.

Survivor Yaw Aforve said he was sleeping in his car at the petrol station when he heard the fire

Bus conductor Yaw Aforve was sleeping in his vehicle which was parked at the petrol station when the fire started.

He said he jumped into the floodwaters and when he came up for air, the fire burnt his face.

"I was swept away by the water to the other side [of the road]," he added. "I saw so many people screaming and shouting."

One of those who died in the blaze was a child

The child's mother was consoled by bystanders

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Jada Pinkett Smith On Her Marriage: I Trust That Will Is A Man Of Integrity

After 18 years of marriage, Jada Pinkett Smith says her relationship with Will Smith essentially boils down to one thing: trust. 

"You gotta trust who you're with," she told Howard Stern in an interview that aired on his Sirius radio show Wednesday. "At the end of the day, I'm not here to be anybody's watcher ... he's a grown man." 

Married in 1997, the pair have battled rumors about the state of their relationship over the years, although the Magic XXL star, 43, indicates they're as connected as ever. 

"Thank God I have a husband who's just a gangster partner because can you just imagine taking that road together from 25 to 44?" she said. "You've got to be strong ... it takes work." 

Part of that work, she explains, is trusting your partner to make choices he can feel good about. 

"Here's what I trust: The man that Will is, is a man of integrity," she said. "He's got all the freedom in the world ... as long as Will can look in the mirror and be okay, I'm good." 

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Nigerians Upset Over First Lady's Flashy Watch

Photos of Nigeria's first lady wearing an expensive watch led some Nigerians to ask whether they undermine President Buhari's "man of the people" image.

In March, Muhammadu Buhari was elected as Nigeria's new president after a campaign which took a strong anti-corruption stance. Buhari underlined his humble credentials by raising money from ordinary voters. He even had to stretch his finances to pay the fee to register as a candidate.

This image was diluted somewhat when his wife, Aisha Buhari, was pictured wearing an expensive-looking watch after husband's inauguration last week and these images were shared on the Instagram account of the photographer George Okoro.

Nigerian press described it as a Cartier Baignoire Folle 18-carat white gold diamond timepiece that was estimated to cost around $50,000 - more than £30,000 or about 10m Nigerian naira. Others, however, pointed out that knockoff versions are available for as little as $100.

Aisha Buhari's watch - the real version at least - retails for tens of thousands online

Around 3,000 tweets mentioning the first lady's name and the word "watch" have been posted. Many were critical and raised a sceptical eyebrow about where Mrs Buhari might have got the money to buy such an expensive piece of jewellery. "Aisha Buhari will be wearing a N10million watch and her husband told us he borrowed money to buy his presidential nomination form," said Twitter user Kate Vincent.

But others defended her: "Aisha Buhari didn't use Nigeria's money to buy her watch so what exactly is the problem? Am i missing something? Why is it a big deal?" tweeted @SalaudeenNana.

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Nigeria To Step up Military Role In Boko Haram Fight: Buhari

Nigeria's army will take a bigger role in the effort to crush Boko Haram, by taking over from soldiers from Niger in occupying towns liberated from the Islamist militant group, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Wednesday.

Niger and Chad played a leading role earlier this year in driving the insurgents from towns in northeastern Nigeria including Malam Fatori and Damasak, in part because of the weakness of the Nigerian army.

"I renew my commitment to track Boko Haram into a corner, to destroy it. Five years of the presence of this evil sect is enough," Buhari told a news conference with Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou.

He was speaking during a visit to Niger that is his first trip overseas since winning elections in March in Nigeria, which has the biggest population and economy in sub-Saharan Africa. Buhari said he would visit Chad on Thursday.

"On the issue of the Niger military positioned in cities of Nigeria ... I think in the next four weeks we will be able to replace them with Nigerian forces so they can return to their country," he said.

A new multinational force of 8,700 troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin to combat the insurgency in the Lake Chad region will become operational in the coming weeks, Issoufou said on Tuesday. 

Buhari said the other nations would provide weapons and help restore infrastructure destroyed by the insurgents. He also thanked Niger for hosting as many as 150,000 refugees who fled insecurity in Nigeria to Niger.

"Niger is ready to finish with Boko Haram and protect its borders, its people and their property," Issoufou said.

Boko Haram launched its insurgency in 2009, attacking towns and villages and killing thousands of people in pursuit of a state adhering to strict sharia law. The militants' abduction of 200 schoolgirls in April 2014 provoked outrage across the world.

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Caitlyn Jenner Debut Poses Challenges For Media

This photo taken by Annie Leibovitz exclusively for Vanity Fair shows the cover of the magazine's July 2015 issue 

Caitlyn Jenner, the Olympian formerly known as Bruce Jenner, made her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair Monday, a little more than a month after announcing she is transgender in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer.

"Call me Caitlyn," Jenner declared in a quote printed on the cover.

But for some media outlets covering her transition, referring to Jenner as a woman may take some getting used to.

The Associated Press initially referred to Jenner as a "he" in a tweet about her Vanity Fair debut.

"Bruce Jenner makes his debut as a transgender woman in a va-va-voom cover for the July issue of Vanity Fair," the AP tweeted.

The tweet was later deleted.

As Media Matters pointed out, the news service violated its own style guidelines on how to refer to transgender people by not using Jenner's preferred pronoun:

transgender Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth. If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

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Nollywood Star, Omotola Says Any Other Man Would Find It Hard To Control Her...

       (Omotola has said she has a strong personality that any other man apart from her husband would find                                                                                              very difficult to control. 

Nollywood star actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has made it clear that no other man would have been able to handle her the way her husband, Captain Matthew Ekeinde has done through the years of their marriage. Omotola got married to her husband at just 18 while she was at a student of Yaba College of Technology and in a recent interview with Vanguard, has said her husband is the only man who has control over her exceptionally strong personality. ‘I don’t think there is any man that can handle me apart from my husband. ‘Not because I am a bad person, it is because I have a very strong personality. I can understand why a lot of female artistes find it very difficult to find the right person,’ she said. Speaking further on the matter, she said: ‘When you achieve some kind of success, you become really confused as to who really loves you for who you are. It’s not really easy, it is very hard finding those people who really love you. ‘If you are not a very grounded person, you can also contribute in some kind of way to your own problems and so I might have contributed to my own problems.’... 

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