Prince William attends wedding of his first love over the Easter weekend

by Jeff Spicer - WPA Pool/Getty Images (Prince William, left); by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images (Jecca,right).

Kate Middleton did not make the trip.

This is the kind of story that will no doubt sustain the British tabloid industry for the next five years: Prince William attended the wedding of his ex-girlfriend over the weekend. And it was over Easter weekend. And it was in a different country. And Kate Middleton wasn’t there. This is the not-actually-scandalous story that still feels scandalous which the Daily Mail and friends love to sink their teeth into.

Jessica (who goes by “Jecca”) Craig married Jonathan Baillie, a conservationist, on Saturday at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, located in Kenya. William dated Craig during his “gap year” before he enrolled in university, and he is said to be on very friendly terms with Craig and her family: he attended the wedding of her brother in 2008, and actually proposed to Kate on the Craig family safari reserve in 2010. Jecca also reportedly accompanied William and Harry on a hunting trip to Spain in 2014. William is a patron of Tusk Trust, and, perPeople, the trip to Kenya was made primarily so that William could see “first-hand some of the longstanding conservation and anti-poaching initiatives.” William met Craig when he was 16, during one of his trips to Africa, and she is frequently referred to in the press as “William’s first girlfriend.”

Per the Telegraph, William attended a “champagne reception” on Friday evening, attended by 150 people, and was seen “laughing and chatting with friends” (he reportedly “stuck to Coca Cola” and did not drink). Now, there is nothing, in of itself, strange or inappropriate about going to the wedding of an ex-girlfriend—many people remain close to their exes—and there is nothing particularly odd about attending a wedding solo—but we would not exactly be surprised if Pippa and Carole Middleton exchanged a flurry of texts over the weekend about it, or if Kate couldn’t help but ask, “So, how was your trip?,” upon William’s return, with a bit of a look.

VF

UPDATE: Shooting at US White House, Congress

Capitol shooting suspect was known to police.
 U.S. Capitol Police shot a Tennessee man Monday afternoon after he pulled out a gun at the Capitol Visitor Center, law enforcement officials said.
A female civilian bystander was injured by shrapnel, but no U.S. Capitol Police officers were injured.
"We believe this is an act of a single person who has frequented the Capitol grounds before, and there is no reason to believe this is anything more than a criminal act," U.S. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa said.
He said the gunman, who law enforcement officials identified as Larry Russell Dawson, is currently in surgery at a hospital and that a weapon was recovered on the scene. Verderosa also described the woman's injuries as "minor" and said she was transported to a hospital.
The gunman attempted to go through the metal detectors at the Capitol Visitor Center entrance. When those magnetometers beeped, he was stopped by security and then pulled out a gun. A Capitol police officer then shot him, sources told CNN.

Dawson was arrested on a charge of assaulting a police officer in October after an outburst in the chamber of the House of Representatives. Court documents from that 2015 incident describe Dawson as a 66-year-old man from Tennessee. In that incident, according to the documents, Dawson "loudly stated to Congress he was a 'prophet of God.' "
The Capitol complex was locked down for nearly an hour following the incident. The Senate Sergeant at Arms has told staffers and others to "return to normal operations."
"Per USCP, shelter in place has been lifted and the Capitol is open for official business only. Capitol Visitor Center remains closed," the Senate Sergeant at Arms tweeted
, CNN

Updated 2240 GMT (0540 HKT) March 28, 2016











WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: U.S. Capitol police stand guard outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)














new video capitol visitor center lockdown bash sot nr_00001004
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02:12
New video shows witness inside Capitol Visitor Center 


Emergency personnel respond during a lock down after shots were reportedly fired at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC.

05:31
U.S. Capitol suspect shot & in custody 


A barrier blocks traffic on East Capitol Street Northeast leading to the U.S. Capitol on November 14, 2015 in Washington, D.C.

01:05
Separate security incidents at Capitol, White House 


capitol lockdown report shots fired raju nr_00002908
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01:24
U.S. Capitol on lockdown, reports of shots fired 


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: U.S. Capitol police stand guard outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
01:43
Police: Suspect 'frequented the Capitol grounds before' 


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Emergency personnel and law enforcement officers gather outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
01:05
Capitol shooting suspect was known to police 


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Emergency personnel and law enforcement officers gather outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

02:25
One bystander injured during Capitol incident 


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: U.S. Capitol police stand guard outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

02:38
Comparing past Capitol Hill shootings to today's scare 


new video capitol visitor center lockdown bash sot nr_00001004

02:12
New video shows witness inside Capitol Visitor Center 


Emergency personnel respond during a lock down after shots were reportedly fired at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC.

05:31
U.S. Capitol suspect shot & in custody 


A barrier blocks traffic on East Capitol Street Northeast leading to the U.S. Capitol on November 14, 2015 in Washington, D.C.

01:05
Separate security incidents at Capitol, White House 


capitol lockdown report shots fired raju nr_00002908

01:24
U.S. Capitol on lockdown, reports of shots fired 


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: U.S. Capitol police stand guard outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
01:43
Police: Suspect 'frequented the Capitol grounds before' 


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Emergency personnel and law enforcement officers gather outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
01:05
Capitol shooting suspect was known to police 


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Emergency personnel and law enforcement officers gather outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

02:25
One bystander injured during Capitol incident 


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: U.S. Capitol police stand guard outside the U.S. Capitol after at least one person was shot in the Capitol Visitor Center March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Capitol was placed in "lock down" following the shooting. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

02:38
Comparing past Capitol Hill shootings to today's scare 
.





Story highlights
A female civilian bystander was injured by shrapnel
No U.S. Capitol Police officers were injured


Washington (CNN) — U.S. Capitol Police shot a Tennessee man Monday afternoon after he pulled out a gun at the Capitol Visitor Center, law enforcement officials said.
A female civilian bystander was injured by shrapnel, but no U.S. Capitol Police officers were injured.
"We believe this is an act of a single person who has frequented the Capitol grounds before, and there is no reason to believe this is anything more than a criminal act," U.S. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa said.
He said the gunman, who law enforcement officials identified as Larry Russell Dawson, is currently in surgery at a hospital and that a weapon was recovered on the scene. Verderosa also described the woman's injuries as "minor" and said she was transported to a hospital.
The gunman attempted to go through the metal detectors at the Capitol Visitor Center entrance. When those magnetometers beeped, he was stopped by security and then pulled out a gun. A Capitol police officer then shot him, sources told CNN.




Dawson was arrested on a charge of assaulting a police officer in October after an outburst in the chamber of the House of Representatives. Court documents from that 2015 incident describe Dawson as a 66-year-old man from Tennessee. In that incident, according to the documents, Dawson "loudly stated to Congress he was a 'prophet of God.' "
The Capitol complex was locked down for nearly an hour following the incident. The Senate Sergeant at Arms has told staffers and others to "return to normal operations."
"Per USCP, shelter in place has been lifted and the Capitol is open for official business only. Capitol Visitor Center remains closed," the Senate Sergeant at Arms tweeted

BREAKING: The White House, American seat of power, on lockdown

Washington (CNN) — The U.S. Capitol and White House are on lockdown following reports of shots fired at the Capitol Visitor Center.
Congressional staffers were sent a notice to shelter in place, instructing them to lock doors and move to assigned shelter areas. Those outdoors were told to "seek cover away from the area."
"We are aware of reports of shots fired and the shelter in place. We are working with the Capitol Hill Police Department to investigate the situation," D.C. Metropolitan Police spokesperson Alice Kim said.
The Supreme Court, across the street from the Capitol Visitor Center, has now closed its entrances, but according to a spokesperson the court is not "sheltering in place

The Jenner/Kardashian/West make fresh Time's list

Jenner, second right, Kim, third right and West, crouching

KEVIN MAZUR VIA GETTY IMAGES

Three of these people 

Love them or hate them, the Kardashians are a force to be reckoned with --especially when it comes to the Internet and social media. Time magazine knows this and once again included Kim Kardashian on its annual list of the most influential people on the Internet. 

Kardashian's inclusion is a no-brainer, since the reality star has amassed more than 130 million followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook -- and that's not including the millions more who followed her when she joined Snapchat last week. There's also something to be said for a woman who can launch 1,000 think-pieces with the push of a share button. What's more, Kardashian is an entrepreneur. Her mobile video game raked in millions and launched two successful paid apps with in the last year, including her Kimoji app, which "broke" the Apple's App Storedue to the number of people who rushed to buy it.

The new Kimoji update is here! A whole new vibe! Now available in Android and iOS!

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Feb 4, 2016 at 12:16pm PST

But Kim isn't one in the Kardashian empire with internet prowess, as husband Kanye West and her step-parent Caitlyn Jenner also made this year's list (SistersKendall and Kylie Jenner made Time's list of the 30 Most Influential Teens two years running.) Before publicly transitioning, Jenner had no social media presence. These days, Caitlyn is a social media queen. Though the 66-year-old only has 3.8 million followers on Twitter, she broke records when she joined Twitter on the same day she introduced herself to the world on the cover of Vanity Fair.

FRAZER HARRISON VIA GETTY IMAGES

And then there's Kanye. Like his wife, the 39-year-old rapper makes news with the help of less than 140 characters. Twenty-million people follow him on Twitter (West follows only one), which he uses as much as a way to communicate with the publicand the media as he uses it as a personal sounding board.  And like his wife, he mastered the art of the celebrity feud.

HuffPo

US store starts selling T-shirts promoting rape

9

Sometimes, finding cheap, affordable fashion that reflects the real you can be a challenge, you know? But it's a challenge that gross date rapists don't have to deal with anymore, thanks to a new, extremely rape-y, extremely disturbing T-shirt from Forever 21.

The shirt, which is black and white and depressingly boring (outside of the text, of course), reads, "DON'T SAY MAYBE IF YOU WANT TO SAY NO."

So, let's discuss. Rape-y, right? Right. Maybe on a lady it'd be some kind of empowering reminder, but on a dude, it feels like an excuse to go ahead with nonconsensual sex. Which, of course, is rape.

Also, the text leaving the box feels like some statement on "breaking boundaries" and "being revolutionary," but it could also just be sloppy design. Your call.

Forever 21 was called out big-time for this one, and here was its response:

Forever 21 strives to exemplify the highest ethical standards and takes feedback and product concerns very seriously. With regards to the t-shirt in question, upon receiving feedback from our customers, we took immediate action to have it removed from our website. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by the product.

It's not the first time we've seen something like this -- it feels like just yesterdayZara was releasing concentration camp–like outfits for kids and Urban Outfitters sold a blood-spattered Kent State sweatshirt. It's not new, but it's still appalling -- how many people had to look at this shirt and give it a hearty thumbs-up for it to get all the way to the store?

Even if the shirt doesn't have to be read as rape-y garbage (the other interpretation is that it's encouraging you to be true to your thoughts and say no when you feel it), the fact that it's still promoting the idea that a "maybe" could be anything but a "maybe" is dangerous, especially in a world that doesn't want to take women at their word. 

It could also be read as berating women for being "teases," which would be victim blaming and equally problematic. So, no. When there are so many dangerous subtexts to this, I don't care what you intended it to mean. Don't sell it, especially to men.

Yunusa Dahiru, Rape and the Re-victimisation of Victim X

Yunusa Dahiru

Modupe Ogunbayo

It is worrisome on all levels. It is, that Yunusa Dahiru Bala undertook the long distance travel from Kano to Bayelsa just for satisfying his bacchanalistic instinct of getting a young Kaffir girl as bride, August 12, 2015. Beyond the obvious condemnation, I recoil at the more blood-curdling aftershocks of this surreal incident.

Upon the liberation of Yunusa’s forced captive, the name and pictures of this innocent girl’s full frontal face were prominently blasted all across our print, electronic and social media. Now, I am a proud member of the Nigerian media and I often glory in its effort in bettering this society and holding wrongdoers accountable on the people’s behalf despite tough limitations and often under hazardous conditions.

But, with this, we crossed the line. Publishing Victim X’s name and pictures is a breach of the craft’s ethics; I suspect the breaking nature of the story led to an unconscious obliviousness to its ills because ideally, this should not be. Otherwise, her names should have been withheld and print and new media should have redacted her face in photographs and television crews would have used moving images of her shadow or back of her head instead, according to best global Journalism practices employed in such situations.

We just got the man hitherto called Yunusa Yellow’s full name. We do not know if this is his real identity. Regardless, with his recent arraignment, his face is revealed. Yunusa is the one that should be facing immense publicity for his hateful act and from his bent head at his pre-trial, he knows too. Splashing his image everywhere is not glorifying Yunusa Yellow, but serving his head on a plate as a deterrent to other minds with twisted twin passions.I said it years before when rape of increasing number of pre-school children were becoming alarming, that this is the best course of action for all victims of molestation and rape. Not doing this is re-victimisation of the victim.

Doing this may provide some emotional closure for Victim X despite the unfortunate long future awaiting her of constant re-victimisation even without this robbery on her anonymity and innocence.Now 14, she was 13 when she was reportedly kidnapped from her mother’s shop in the Yenagoa Local Government area of Bayelsa State. I never knew her before her ordeal but as I mortifyingly beheld her stony, vacant eyes and pursed lips that stared back at the lens like someone told to empty a faeces-filled potty right after a meal, I am unsure of her elation at regaining her freedom. It belies bemusement at having her life of forced child-bridehood, to Yunusa, interrupted. I hope she is not suffering from Stockholm’s Syndrome.

After viewing the self-righteous postulations of Yunusa’s father on the “lovers”, as he called Yunusa and Victim X on Africa Independent Television, it is clear her re-victimisation is worsening.The wheel of justice is stalling on her behalf. Yunusa’s father is spinning that she is a willing party to her own abduction and rape. Without any witnesses, Yunusa backed by her father now could claim she eloped with him. And without a medical report to back up rape charges, her case looks grim. Even if all those were done, the criminal justice system ominously re-victimises victims of rape worldwide. I once witnessed a case. The victim had to contend with intrusive medical examination of her genitalia. And answer degrading questions on whether there was actual penetration into her anatomy according to legal terms in a filled, public courthouse. She struggled to produce minimally, two credible witnesses who would place their hands on the Bible or Koran and swear that verily, verily, they were there, in the room with the couple, where they saw actual copulation. They must then gauge if the joining was consensual or forced. Did the victim shout for help? On further demeaning cross examination to the vulnerable victim, it is very easy for the accused’s lawyer to aver that the screams are in fact, ecstatic moans.

In this case, Victim X has no medical report which should have been got immediately after her initial rape. That does not guarantee a positive verdict for rape victims but at least, it is a game changer. According to Tunji Abayomi , SAN, and a doctor of law, even in advanced societies like the United States, the ratio of rape convictions versus that of complaints or prosecution is very few and similarly horrendous.

I hear Victim X is five months’ pregnant. More re-victimisation.I am pro-life but even if pro-choice arguments prevail here, she is beyond the threshold of terminating the pregnancy. Regardless of all odds, she is now irrevocably yoked with Yunusa forever. The prevailing culture of our country means families of rape victims, and the victims themselves, are ironically scorned more than the rapists’. The victims themselves are never candidates of choice for marriages because, once a suitor hears a whiff of such an incident, he is most likely to abandon that relationship. She cannot hide since her name is so immortalised.

I hear mentions of her name 10 times more than her abuser’s who rightfully merit that humiliation. Henceforth, anywhere she has to give her name, she would hesitate. In forced remembrance, pain, shame and regret. In these days of social media, the interlinked web means her name is immortalised and so, an employability name check by a diligent HR department would find that about her life and even if she is employed, that fact remains stored in her personal file for possible abuse by any faultfinder later in life.

This is starting at 14 for Victim X. At that age, one is just casting off the blind naiveté and toga of childhood to embrace the self-aware and assertive teenage years. At that stage, one needs assurance, lots of love and understanding. At this age, the illusions of Victim X are shattered by a brutal man.

Most men do not understand rape. Many, including the so-called educated ones, firmly disbelieve its existence because their misogynistic logic interprets a woman’s objections to mean she actually wants it. Cynical and grandiose factors such as her dressing or body language or even, encouragement are listed as mitigating factors. Moot points considering women in hijab and veils also get raped. A rape occurs when a female says no against sex yet, the man forcefully has his way even if she is in bum shorts or her eyes are literally overflowing with lust just like when a residue of an over-poured eye-drop medication gushes out.

For the female of the homo sapiens, her self-image, self-worth and total essence of who she represents lies at the juncture of her thighs. Minus some prostitutes or nymphomaniacs, that is how every sane woman feels. A broken psyche of that regular girl being picked up at night clubs or street corners leads her to hawk her feminity when she could sell sachet water or recharge cards. Any doubter reading this only needs call a prostitute, ashewo. Such a mindless word, abi? You would think a thunderstorm flashed across the skies as she slaps you or after waking up in a hospital with a stitched scalp after she cracked it open with a broken bottle. The glorified call girl or mistress would never admit it even to God in her private moments but she secretly battles inner demons at being sexually objectified despite possessing fat bank accounts or exotic cars.

Those were consensual. Now, imagine that essence of self-worth and image forcibly taken from a woman as it is during a rape. Mental health experts say a schism occurs in the woman’s mind, soul, spirit and body, giving her a negative self-image of uselessness and filthiness. She needs constant re-assurances of self-worth. Her rage and pain at being overpowered and her self-worth rudely taken from her lead to a burning anger that fuels all manner of deviant behaviour like nymphomania, prostitution, wild-partying, drug abuse and so on. Some get frigid, are afraid of all men or to leave their homes. Therapy helps in lessening these effects but that intrinsic low self-esteem never totally leaves regardless of heights of successes they attain. In the end, they mostly battle depression all their life. It could be why Victim X pursed her lips.

Her father said he would get her spiritual help at a popular church. Well. In the absence of help from hitherto loquacious women and children NGOs surprisingly now mute or visible assistance from the Bayelsa State Government, parents of Victim X, please approach the US Embassy and seek asylum for her based on humanitarian grounds. It is best she starts life afresh, possibly with a new name, in a developed land devoid of rape stigmatisation and which is well-equipped to treat her visible and inner trauma.

It would lessen the re-victimisation of Victim X.

• Ms. Ogunbayo, a journalist, wrote in from Lagos. Follow her on Twitter via @themodupe