Tyra Banks Celebrates First Mother’s Day: ‘I Can’t Believe How Lucky I Am’

Tyra Banks attends the 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on April 26, 2015, in Burbank, California. Credit: Victorochell & Michael Buckner/Getty Images for NATAS

There's nothing quite like that feeling! Tyra Banks celebrated her first Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 8, with a sweet post on Instagram featuring herself, her mom, and her baby boy, York Banks Asla.
“I’m hearing, ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ and I can’t believe how lucky I am!” the America’s Next Top Model host wrote. “Of all the fashionable hats I wear, I love being a #mother the most. #HappyMothersDay from me and my mama to all the wonderful women of the world!”
In the cute snapshot, Banks, 42, looks ecstatic as she cradles her son in her arms while her mom, Carolyn London, smiles over her shoulder at the tiny bundle of joy.

Tyra Banks shared a pic on Instagram with her mom and son on Mother's Day, May 8. Courtesy of Tyra Banks/Instagram

The supermodel revealed in January that she and boyfriend Erik Asla had welcomed their baby boy via surrogate.
“The best present we worked and prayed so hard for is finally here,” she captioned an Instagram photo of the baby’s knit cap. “He’s got my fingers and big eyes and his daddy Erik’s mouth and chin. As we thank the angel of a woman that carried our miracle baby boy for us, we pray for everyone who struggles to reach this joyous milestone. York Banks Asla, welcome to the world.” 
 The former FABLife host has been open about her fertility problems.

On an episode of the talk show last year, Banks got emotional as she sympathized with supermodel Chrissy Teigen’s struggles to get pregnant. (The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model welcomed her own little one with husband John Legend this April and also celebrated her first Mother's Day on Sunday.)
"We're kind of going through this similar thing with IVF," Banks said at the time. “And, you know, putting needles in your tummy every day and having to come to work and smile when you feel like you want to throw up and lay down — I can't believe I'm saying this right now!”
York is the first child for both Banks and her photographer beau, who have been together for two years.

Doctors in Abuja successfully remove dagger stabbed into man's skull

 

The 35-year-old commercial motorcyclist, Muhammed Kabiru, struggled on with the dagger stuck in his head till sympathizers assisted him to a hospital where the surgery was swiftly performed, The Sun reports.
Muhammed's brother, Mustapha Kabiru narrates that his brother had picked up a passenger to Masaka, a town in Nasarawa State that borders Abuja, for an agreed fare of #300.
Upon arrival at the destination, and asking for the fare, The Sun reports that the passenger brought out a dagger and stabbed Muhammed in the head and ran off. It remained in that position until doctors surgically removed it after several hours.
Mustapha, narrating how his brother survived the attack said: “Alas, my brother did not fall off the bike, but instead he rode on with the long dagger stuck in his head.”
“He was later taken to Pan Raf Hospital, Nyanya, where doctors led by one Dr. Odia and other members of staff battled to save his life, through emergency care."
According to the report, when Kabiru appeared to have stabilized, the doctors referred him to another hospital for proper management and care.
“An X-ray of the skull showed the dagger had gone in from the right side of the face just in front of the ear and was nearly poking out from the cheek on the other side,” a source at the hospital said.
Dr. Biodun Ogungbo, who was one of the consultant neurosurgeons who per­formed the surgery, shared the case through an online platform for Nigerian doctors.

Russia threatens to respond to NATO's military buildup along eastern border

Russian officials said on Wednesday that Moscow will create three new divisions to counter NATO’s planned troop buildup in Eastern Europe.
“The Defense Ministry is taking a series of measures to counter the expansion of NATO forces in direct proximity to the Russian border,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
Shoigu said the new Russian divisions would be formed by the end of the year. Reuters, citing Russian media, reported that the Russian divisions would include about 10,000 soldiers each.
Western officials told The Wall Street Journal last week that NATO will send about 4,000 troops to Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday NATO was weighing a decision to place more battalions in the eastern member nations amid rising tensions between the West and Russia.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance’s planned buildup in the Baltics wouldn’t have happened if Russia didn’t insert itself into the Ukraine conflict in 2014. Stoltenberg said NATO’s deployment was a reaction to Russian aggression.
 
The announcement of heightened military measures on both sides comes after a serious of incidents in the skies and the Baltic Sea involving U.S. jets, a U.S. destroyer and Russian warplanes.
Last week, a Russian Su-27 performed a barrel roll over a U.S. spy plane in the Baltic Sea. Russia said the U.S. plane was coming too close to a military base and had its transponder turned off.
Su-27s and a military helicopter also simulated attack passes near the USS Donald Cook, flying up to 75 feet within the Navy destroyer last month in the Baltic Sea.


Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed the alliance would deploy "batallion-sized" multinational units on a rotational basis in the east.
Andrei Kelin, a department head at Russia's Foreign Ministry, said the proposed NATO deployment was a source of concern for Moscow. Russia once held sway in eastern Europe as the Soviet-era overlord.

"This would be a very dangerous build-up of armed forces pretty close to our borders," Kelin told the Interfax news agency. "I am afraid this would require certain retaliatory measures, which the Russian Defence Ministry is already talking about."
Russia announced in January it would create three new military divisions and bring five new strategic nuclear missile regiments into service.

On Wednesday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the new divisions would be formed by the end of this year to counter what Moscow saw as NATO's growing strength.
Russian media, citing unnamed military sources, said the new Russian divisions would most likely be motorized rifle ones and number around 10,000 soldiers each.

"The Ministry of Defence has adopted a series of measures to counter the growing capacity of NATO forces in close proximity to the Russian borders," Shoigu said in televised comments.
The new divisions are likely to be deployed in military districts close to Russia's borders with Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states and Finland as well as Georgia and Azerbaijan.

NATO TO KEEP COURSE
"What we do is defensive, it's proportionate ... And therefore we will continue to respond," Stoltenberg said.
"There can be no doubt that what NATO does is a reaction to the Russian behavior in Ukraine. We didn't have any troops in Baltic countries ... before the illegal annexation of Crimea and Russia's destabilizing activities in eastern Ukraine."
He was speaking at news conference with NATO's new Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Curtis Scaparrotti, who said he intended to continue NATO's response so far to what the West sees as a more assertive and muscle-flexing Russia.

13 year old boy confesses he keeps guns for robbers

A 13-year-old boy was saved by the timely intervention of some officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), from certain death as angry traders at the popular Idumota Market were bent on setting him on fire after he was caught with stealing in the market.

The young lad who is said to be the leader of a gang of street urchins terrorising traders in the market, allegedly confessed that keeps guns for senior armed robbers who collect them from him anytime they are going on an operation.
The boy who was beaten with all manners of weapon, told the traders that he was forced into stealing after his parents abandoned him.
“I was born in this market. My father and mother are also selling in the market, but they don’t cater for me. I roam about to eat and fend for myself. About 40 children sleep with me in shops at night. We wake early to leave the shops before people start coming for business.
Sometimes last year, while I was playing football with other children, some guys from Jankara area called me and gave me a gun. They  said I should help them keep the gun.
They also called one of my friends called Daniel and also gave him guns to keep. We hid the guns in our clothes.
There was a day that they took us to Agege to rob. Daniel and I kept the guns they used for the robbery operation that day. They have taken us to other places to rob too. They don’t give us anything."

Prince Harry Reveals He Went Through Psychological Testing After Tour of Duty in Afghanistan

Prince Harry revealed on Wednesday, April 27, that he received psychological testing after being deployed to Afghanistan in December 2007.

Prince Harry returns from his Afghanistan tour in 2008. Tim Graham/Getty Images

The British royal had been secretly serving in the British Army for 10 weeks when journalist Matt Drudge revealed the Prince's location on the Drudge Report. According to The New York Times, the defense ministry immediately had Harry return home for fear that his presence would make the British soldiers serving with him a target. Though his tour of duty was cut short, the royal's encounters in the war zone still haunt him.
Harry, 31, opened up to Sky News on Wednesday about how he was scarred by the "images [he has] been unfortunate to see" during his deployment while discussing his upcoming Invictus Games, a multisport event that helps bring attention to wounded soldiers and their journeys toward recovery and rehabilitation.
"You know, I described it to someone ages ago as one of those slide shows that go through your mind," he told the outlet. "If you've got a good imagination as well, everything that you see, especially if it's something that is quite powerful, then that slide is in there. It's always in there and if you have dark moments in your life, those slides will pop up."
Harry explained that during his debriefing session in Cyprus, he went through mandatory psychological tests. "The army put you through a day, two-day course on the way back through Cyprus, which is crucial to everybody," he explained. "There are images I've been lucky enough not to see, but there have been images that I've been unfortunate to see, nothing like some of these guys, but, yes, there is a percentage of me being able to relate to exactly what they go through."

Prince Harry during a visit to RAF Honington in England. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

This isn't the first time Harry has opened up about his time serving in the military. The handsome royal told Good Morning America last month that he was "broken" when he was forced to leave the war-torn region. “I didn’t know what was going to happen to them," he said of his squad members. "And then suddenly I find myself on a plane that’s delayed because a Danish soldier’s coffin was being put onto the plane."