Mother of four is jailed for life for arranging fight-to-the-death duel between her ex-husband and her lover to see which of them would win her hand

A divorced mother of four has been jailed for life for arranging a fatal 'fight-to-the-death duel' between her ex-husband and her lover to see which of them would win her hand.



35-year-old Asta Juskauskiene left her husband Giedruis Juskauskas for Mantas Kvedaras, after meeting the 25-year-old online following his release from a Lithuanian prison for rape.



But both men claimed Juskauskiene as their own and she then decided to settle the argument with a fight to the death in an alleyway in Stratford, east London.



Kvedaras, who admitted murder, stabbed his love rival 35 times to the body and neck during the fight on June 17 last year.



He and mother-of-three Juskauskiene then celebrated the next day by ordering pizza, a court heard today.



Juskauskiene had earlier denied but was convicted of conspiracy to murder and perverting the course of justice after a five-week trial at Kingston Crown Court.



Mr. Davies said in a previous hearing: "Giedrius was however still on the scene. He regularly visited the address to see his daughter. He had not wanted the divorce. He was providing financial support for his daughter and maintaining a sexual relationship with the defendant."



"In their different ways, each man felt that they had claims over Asta Juskauskiene. The situation was inevitably going to come to a head. It did come to a head in Whalebone Lane on that Monday morning."



The prosecutor added: "Giedrius Juskauskias and Mantas Kvedaras had obviously met there by arrangement rather than by chance: neither was anywhere near where they lived, and telephone records demonstrate there was repeated communication between them during the day of Sunday 16 June as they travelled from different locations to the scene.



"Juskauskiene is a manipulative and controlling figure central to the orchestration of these events.



"She knew in advance that Mantas Kvederas was intending to use serious violence and cause at least serious harm to Giedrius and she encouraged, assisted and intended to do this.



"Juskauskiene then actively assisted Mantas in removing his important documents from her house.



"She harboured him at her house following the murder, she selectively deleted test messages from her mobile telephones before they were seized by police, she lied repeatedly in an interview.



"The prosecution contends that from the point she was told by Mantas Kvaderas immediately following the murder what had happened she has taken steps to distance herself from both him and the events."



Juskauskas was found bleeding to death in Whalebone Lane, Stratford at 12.30am on 17 June.



Asta Juskauskiene was jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years, while Kvederas was sentenced to life with a minimum off 22 and a half years for murder.



Sentencing her on Friday at Kingston Crown Court, Judge Peter Lodder QC said: 'You deliberately and cynically lured Mr. Juskauskas into a dark alley where just after midnight you, Mantas, slaughtered this drunk and defenceless man.



‘Such was the speed and the surprise of your brutal knife attack, that he suffered 35 individual wounds to his neck, head, arms, and body, by contrast, you, Mantas walked away without a mark.



'The force you used was sufficiently great that he suffered many wounds that were deep enough to cut through bone, and one passed through his neck. He bled to death in but a few minutes.



'That he was taken off-guard is clearly demonstrated by the circumstances of this attack.



'Mr. Juskauskas had been Asta’s third husband and was the father of her five-year-old daughter.



'But you two regarded him as an unwelcome irritation to your relationship and so you resolved to get rid of him.



"It was your joint plan that he would be seen as the victim of a drug deal that had gone wrong."



The judge told her: "Juskauskiene you became increasingly bored by your life with Giedruis Juskauskas.



"Frequently you were overheard to shout at him and the children. You told your friend that you would never "bury yourself at 40 with washing and household chores".



'Mr. Juskauskas had continued to support you and all of your children after divorce, he was described by your eldest daughter as "a good man to you. He always loved you. He took care of you".



"Bizarrely, and pathetically in retrospect, he still loved you. It is clear to me that you Asta Juskauskiene developed a fascination with violent and dangerous men."



The following days Juskauskiene sent her daughter to school without telling her of her father's death and did not even bother to inform her teachers.



"You went to work as if to pretend that everything was normal," the judge continued.



"You are callous and selfish, your conduct in the witness box and throughout the trial demonstrated that the only person you have any sympathy for is yourself."

US singer Ryan Cabrera reportedly dating WWE wrestler Alexa Bliss

American singer, Ryan Cabrera, 37, and Dynamic WWE wrestler Alexa Bliss, 28, are reportedly dating.



According to TMZ, the new couple have apparently spent time together in Los Angeles, Chicago, and St. Louis in recent months. Just last week, they spent a day together at Disneyland and posed for a number of photos together in the Grammy's gifting suite.


Bliss and Cabrera were reportedly introduced to each other at the premiere of WWE Smackdown on Fox last November. Reality star turned wrestling star, The Miz, is said to have played the matchmaker between the couple



Sources also said that after the pair met at the Smackdown on FOX premiere they 'immediately hit it off.'



Cabrera previously dated Lisa Origliasso from The Veronicas, actress Riley Keough, and Audrina Patridge.

FCMB Deepens Empowerment of SMEs in Ogun State, as First Lady Commends Bank

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has restated its commitment to the productivity and profitability of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) through funding, capacity building, advisory and other forms of support that would boost their overall contributions to economic development.



FCMB, which is rated as the number one Bank for SMEs in Nigeria in the latest Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey report by KPMG, gave the assurance at a free and comprehensive capacity building and empowerment programme it organised for women entrepreneurs in Ogun State, in partnership with the Office of the First Lady of the State, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, on February 5, 2020.



The programme, themed, “Supporting Women Businesses to Scale Up in 2020’’ and under the auspices of FCMB’s SME Advisory and SheVentures initiative for women entrepreneurs, was attended by hundreds of existing and start-up entrepreneurs across Ogun State, seasoned professionals from the Bank of Industry (BoI), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), among others. It focused on business and skills development, marketing, finance, taxation, cost and revenue management, business plan writing, in addition to other topical issues.



Speaking at the opening session, the Executive Director, Business Development of FCMB, Mrs. Bukola Smith, said the Bank recognises the increasing role and impact of SMEs, especially women-owned ones. According to her, ‘’it is a fact that in Nigeria, several women have risen through various challenges to become top entrepreneurs. Through resilience and innovation, they have taken the front seat in driving growth in this sector and by extension the larger economy. However, we believe that women can do better in the SMEs ecosystem if provided with the requisite skills and other resources.’’.



Mrs. Smith added that, “as the number one Bank for SMEs in Nigeria, we have built a strong base in this segment by consistently offering various cutting-edge solutions under our key pillars of support, which are, access to capital, capacity building, advisory services, networking opportunity and technology. We are excited that these interventions have tremendously impacted individuals, businesses and the nation’s economy, especially through job and wealth creation.”.



She expressed gratitude to the Ogun State Government and the Office of the First Lady for providing the enabling environment for businesses to thrive, while urging the participants to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the training.



In her keynote address, the First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Abiodun, said, ‘’as a firm believer in initiatives that focus on boosting the economic capacity of women and offering both financial and non-financial support to women-owned enterprises, I consider this programme as a step in the right direction. I was excited when I was informed about the FCMB SheVentures initiative. Financial empowerment remains one of the most important means of eradicating poverty among women in the developing world, as seen in Bangladesh, Kenya and Nigeria’’.



She added that, “we have had numerous empowerment programmes in Nigeria. Many were driven by capacity building programmes followed by loans and grants to women to start-up businesses. However, studies have shown that these initiatives, while having some value failed to reach their full potential because of one missing ingredient, which is financial education as a vehicle to actualise the full value of any business venture. And here today, FCMB through its efforts to ensure that women owned businesses in Ogun state and Nigeria as a whole are not left out in the development of the nation's economy, has delivered this very much sought after Financial Education to us on a first class level amongst an array of financial solutions’’.



FCMB provides numerous offerings to SMEs in Nigeria, including FCMB SME Advisory Services through market intelligence, technical assistance support and access to intervention funds in partnership with Development Financial Institutions. There is also the FCMB SheVentures initiative, which provides enhanced support to women-owned SMEs through access to finance, training and mentoring with the unique benefit of zero-interest rate for an initial period of three months. So far, over 2000 women entrepreneurs have benefitted from this.



The Bank has also automated and digitized its lending process for SMEs through the FCMB Quickloans platform. Since the launch of the platform in July 2019, over N10billion unsecured loans have been disbursed to SME customers within three to twenty-four hours of each application.



For more information about FCMB, please visit www.fcmb.com.



See pictures from the event below:

Actor Orson Bean dies tragically after being struck by a car in Los Angeles

Veteran actor and comedian, Orson Bean is dead at the age of 91 after being struck by a car while crossing a street in Venice, California on Friday night.



The late entertainer was walking in 700 block of Venice Boulevard, between Shell Avenue and Pisani Place when he was clipped by one vehicle and fell. He was ran over by another car driven by a second driver who bystanders tried to warn.







Los Angeles who said Bean was pronounced dead at the scene, added that the driver remained at the scene and was cooperative.







Investigators said the initial indication from the scene is that it was just a tragic accident, as it appeared that Bean came in-between two vehicles when he was crossing the street and was not seen by the drivers.



Los Angeles Police Department's Capt. Brian Wendling said;




"The car coming westbound did not see him and clipped him and he went down. A second vehicle was coming up, was distracted by people trying to slow him down and then looked up and then a second traffic collision occurred and that one was fatal."



The 91-year-old actor and comedian who is best known for being a panelist on various versions of “To Tell The Truth”, also appeared in "Superstore" and "The Equalizer 2" in 2018. Orson Bean is survived by his third wife and actress, Alley Mills.

Celebrity fashion entrepreneur Swanky Jerry pays courtesy visit to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi

The Multiple award winning fashion stylist, image consultant and publicist, Jeremiah Ogbodo popularly known as @swankyjerry, who’s one of the most sought after fashion stylist in the continent, shared on his Instagram his visit to Ife ..and also shared pictures with the king ...



See more photos below...