Thursday
Novak Djokovic, wife recover from coronavirus
Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena, who last week both tested positive for coronavirus following his exhibition tournament in the Balkans, have now tested negative, his press service said Thursday. Neither the 33-year-old player nor his partner felt any symptoms, the statement said. The couple had been self-isolating since returning to Belgrade from Zadar in Croatia, the town which hosted the second leg of Djokovic’s ill-fated Adria Tour. Four players — Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki — tested positive for the virus after the event which saw little social distancing and packed stands. The world number one’s coach Goran Ivanisevic also contracted COVID-19. Players had embraced across the net, played basketball and even danced in a nightclub during the week of the f...
Antoine Griezmann ‘a caricature of himself’ in toxic Barcelona environment – former coach
Antoine Griezmann has become “a caricature of himself” at Barcelona, where his former Real Sociedad boss, Martin Lasarte, feels a toxic environment is taking its toll. Quique Setien has named Griezmann on the bench for three of Barca’s past four games, including important meetings with top-four hopefuls Sevilla and Atletico Madrid. The World Cup winner was not sent on until the 90th minute against Atletico on Tuesday, with Ansu Fati introduced ahead of him in the 2-2 draw at Camp Nou. Barca will fall four points behind Real Madrid with five games remaining if La Liga’s leaders beat Getafe on Thursday, with reports suggesting Setien has lost the backing of his players. Martin Lasarte, who handed Griezmann his professional debut as an 18-year-old in the Segunda Division with La Real, believe...
Rivers APC felicitates inaugurated national caretaker committee
The Acting Chairman of All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Igo Aguma, on behalf of the party in the state has congratulated the National Caretaker and the extraordinary convention planning committee led by Malam Mai Mala Buni, Governor of Yobe State. Aguma, who made the disclosure in a statement signed by his media adviser, Livingstone Wedgie, on Thursday, expressed confidence that the new caretaker committee under Buni would work assiduously to bring the much-needed peace and harmony within the party. The Rivers APC acting chairman, also congratulated David Lyon, the South-South Coordinator in the Caretaker Committee, and urged him to transfer the same commitment he showed in the Bayelsa governorship election to the repositioning of the party in the zone. Aguma noted that it was ti...
Angola mulling arrest warrant for Isabel dos Santos – prosecution
Angola’s attorney general said on Thursday that he did not rule out issuing an international arrest warrant against billionaire businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, suspected of corruption in her native country and Portugal. “We are working in cooperation with the Portuguese authorities. And if the need arises… to get to that point, we will see how to proceed,” Helder Pitta Gros said in response to questions at a press conference in the capital Luanda. “These are procedural issues, (and) as you can imagine I cannot say more about a process that is under way. We are working on it,” he said. Dos Santos, 47, described by Forbes as the wealthiest woman in Africa, is accused of diverting billions of dollars from state companies during her father Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s near four-decade rule of th...
Former Oyo Governor Ajimobi passes on
The immediate past governor of Oyo state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has passed on. He died at 70. A source said Ajimobi has been in coma and was placed on life support for some days after a surgery at a private hospital in Lagos. He said his family will make a formal announcement on Thursday evening. Ajimobi was announced as the Acting Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, last week, after the Court of Appeal upheld the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back thei...
Governor Mohammed: PDP has learnt from past mistakes
Senator Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi State and Chairman, Edo governorship Primary Election Committee on Thursday declared in Benin, the Edo state capital that the Peoples Democratic Party has learnt in a hard way from their past mistakes and would not allow history to repeat itself. Speaking at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin while presiding over the party’s governorship primary, Gov. Bala said ‘today, the party wants to prove to the world that the PDP is the only party that they can trust”. He said the primary would be conducted in a free, fair, credible and transparent way to prove a point that the party is the only one that can do that. While describing Governor Obaseki as a role model in Governor’s forum, Bala said Obaseki is one person who is a very resourceful, noting that g...
World Bank: Nigeria faces worst recession in 40 years
The collapse in crude oil prices, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to “plunge the Nigerian economy into a severe recession, the worst since the 1980s”, the World Bank said on Thursday. The World Bank, in a new report, titled ‘Nigeria in times of COVID-19: Laying foundations for a strong recovery,’ estimated that Nigeria’s economy would likely contract by 3.2 per cent this year. “This projection assumes that the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria is contained by the third quarter of 2020,” it said. The bank said if the spread of the virus became more severe, the economy could contract further. It said, “Before COVID-19, the Nigerian economy was expected to grow by 2.1 per cent in 2020, which means that the pandemic has led to a reduction in growth by more than five percentage poin...
Meter manufacturer urges Nigerian government to grant sector ‘special’ forex regime
Sabrud Consortium, an indigenous electricity prepaid metre manufacturing firm, has urged the Federal Government to grant special forex regime to the sector. It also applauded the upward review of metre prices by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) which took effect on June 1. The firm said also that the increase in prices of prepaid electricity meters will boost local production. Chiso Nwangwu, Managing Director of Sabrud Consortium, who spoke to newsmen in Awka on Thursday, said the increase in prices was long overdue as the former rates had become grossly inadequate in view of the prevailing economic realities. Newsmen recall that NERC earlier this month, announced that customers would now pay N44,896.17 instead of N36,991.50 for single phase meters while three phase meter ...
Protesters topple down 120-year-old statue of Confederate general in Washington DC
A group of protesters toppled down a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in Washington, D.C. on Friday night. The protesters gathered in Judiciary Square around the statue of Pike reportedly at around 11 p.m. (0400 GMT Saturday) and tore down the 120-year-old artwork 15 minutes later. The city’s only outdoor Confederate statue, after falling to the ground, was lit on fire before police officers arrived and extinguished the flames. The episode came on Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. President Donald Trump lashed out at the Washington, D.C. police for allowing the incident to happen. “The D.C. Police are not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down & burn. These people should be immediately arrested. A disgrace to our Country!” h...
Minister receives committee report on 2020 national sports festival
Honourable Minister for Youths and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, has disclosed that the organisers will meet with the government and stakeholders to discuss the way forward for the 2020 National Sports Festival. The Minister made this known shortly after he received reports from the 11 man committee of the 2020 national sports Festival in his office on Thursday. The Minister assured that he will get the Government and other stakeholders to round table in order to discuss on when the games will commence. “We’ll not shy away from making decisions based on the reality on the ground. This is a milestone to determine when to start sporting activities, but we would not jeopardise the health and wellbeing of our sportsmen and women.” “We shall study your report, sit down with relevant agencies of gove...
Togo pay tribute to Edem Koudagba after unexpected death
The Togolese Football Federation have paid tribute to ASC Kara striker Kossi Edem Koudagba following his death at the age of 24 on Thursday. The striker, who netted against Nigeria at the 2019 Wafu Cup of Nations, died in his hometown of Davie following a short illness. “In these painful circumstances, the Executive Committee of the FTF wish to salute the memory of the player, whose qualities on and off the field are known to all,” a communique from the federation began. “The FTF Executive Committee would like, on behalf of Togolese football, to express our deepest condolences and express our feelings of sympathy to the family of the deceased, loved ones, the ASCK club, as well as the staff and players of the Togo national team.” Koudagba’s death was announced on Thursday, with the young f...
President Buhari authorises N19.67 billion for completion of East-West road
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate release of N19.67 billion to ramp up efforts in completing sections I-IV of the East-West Road project by 2021. The presidential directive was part of efforts to address infrastructure deficit in the Niger Delta region and boost its economy. Mr Buhari had, in his Democracy Day address, said the funding of the sections of the road project would be duly released to better the lot of his people and would be followed by a forensic audit. “I am determined to ensure that development meant for the people of the Niger Delta get to them so I have authorised a Forensic Audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission,” the president said. The road project, which was first conceived in 2006 by the Obasanjo administration, was meant to be completed ...
