Europe
Oil prices slide in lockdown-driven rout
Oil prices dived Thursday on demand fears as more nations go into lockdown to staunch the spread of the coronavirus, while stock prices attempted a modest rebound. Both main oil contracts fell five percent for part of the day before clawing back some of their losses, extending this week’s meltdown to plumb four-month lows on virus-driven demand fears. “The new lockdowns have since yesterday caused a carnage in the oil market,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy. “Oil demand will lose ground as a result of the new lockdowns… Prices now naturally decline on this grim prospect,” he added. The drop in oil prices will increase the pain on oil companies. Exxon Mobil announced Thursday it was eliminating 1,900 US jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive necessitated in part ...
How fans pushed Al Nassr to sack Super Eagles skipper
More facts are emerging as to how Ahmed Musa suddenly became clubless. On Monday, Al Nassr confirmed that the Super Eagles captain was leaving. The 28-year-old is now a free agent after parting ways with the Saudi Pro League outfit on ‘mutual terms’. However, speaking with newsmen, Mohamed Hamdy Ahmed who writes for Merca Today in the Gulf State, gave more details on Ahmed’s departure. “There was great anger that caused this decision. The fans are sad about the player’s performance with the team. “The fans were not satisfied with the level of the player so the management took this decision,” Ahmed said. The Nigerian winger in 58 appearances scored 11 goals and got 14 assists, while helping the team win the 2018/2019 Saudi top-flight diadem and the 2019 Saudi Super Cup. But it was not enoug...
European Union backs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for WTO role
The European Union has endorsed former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation, Bloomberg reported. The business news outlet cited anonymous officials familiar with the matter that all the 27 EU member countries agreed on Monday in Brussels to support Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala. Bloomberg also reported that the United States has decided to back Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s trade minister, for the role. The position has been fiercely contested amongst candidates of different countries since Roberto Azevedo resigned in August. Last month, Okonjo-Iweala and Myung-hee were selected as the last two candidates in the contest. The EU’s endorsement is seen as a significant boost for Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy, with the final winner expected...
Italy closes theatres, gyms as virus cases mount
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte tightened nationwide coronavirus restrictions Sunday after the country recorded a record number of new cases, despite opposition from regional heads and street protests over curfews. Cinemas, theatres, gyms and swimming pools must all close under the new rules, which come into force on Monday and run until November 24, while restaurants and bars will stop serving at 6pm, the prime minister’s office said. Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the pandemic and impose a nationwide lockdown, on Saturday clocked nearly 20,000 new cases in a 24-hour period. “Semi-lockdown for a month,” said the Repubblica daily, noting Conte had done little to appease regional heads who had appealed for much softer measures to save ailing businesses devastated ...
Fenerbahce monitoring Mesut Ozil situation at Arsenal
Fenerbahce are monitoring Mesut Ozil’s situation at Arsenal. Frozen out of both the Premier League and Europa League squads by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, Ozil won’t play any first team football until January – at the earliest. A move to the USA with DC United has been floated for the former Germany international. However, it’s understood Ozil would prefer to remain in Europe and with his contract inside the final 12 months, he would be willing to negotiate an affordable agreement with long time suitors Fenerbahce. For their part, Arsenal would be willing to grant Ozil a free transfer in January if Fener can settle personal terms. 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...
Manchester City flight redirected ahead of West Ham clash
Manchester City’s flight to London had to be rerouted after a technical issue on the plane meant that they could not land at their scheduled destination. The first-team squad flew to the capital on Friday ahead of City’s lunchtime Premier League clash with West Ham United. But their flight had to redirected from City Airport to London Stansted more than 30 miles away. Goal reports that there was a problem with the plane’s anti-skid system which meant that it could not land at an airport with a short runway. The team suffered a slight delay ahead of travelling to the hotel before Saturday’s clash. It is understood that there was no fault on the part of the airport but the flight would not have needed to be rerouted had it been scheduled to land at a major airport. In 2016, a City team fligh...
Thibaut Courtois: Real Madrid are always favourites for the Champions League
Thibaut Courtois has insisted Real Madrid are “always the favourites” for the Champions League while expressing his confidence that the Blancos can conquer Europe again in 2020-21. Madrid have won the competition a record 13 times, six more than any other club, but an underwhelming start to the La Liga season has hardly served to inspire confidence they can claim a 14th title come May. Madrid are third in the early La Liga standings, one point behind early leaders Real Sociedad having slumped to a 1-0 home loss to newly-promoted Cadiz last time out. Zinedine Zidane’s side failed to reach the quarter-finals last season, losing in a two-legged last-16 tie to Manchester City with a five-month interval between the games due to the suspension of football amid the Covid-19 crisis. Drawn in Group...
A first-timer’s guide to hiking the Highlander Velebit
Our Q&A-style guide to hiking the Highlander Velebit covers everything you need to know to get the most out your first Highlander adventure I just returned from trekking the Highlander Velebit in Croatia, an invigorating journey through a lesser-known region of Europe. The event proved to be a new way of hiking for me and has the potential to transform the future of hiking holidays. The Highlander Adventure treks offer a perfect introduction to multi-day trekking, striking a balance between guided trek and self-sufficient expedition. With most of the logistics taken care of, participants can hike their own hike and really focus on enjoying the trail. Whichever Highlander trek you choose, our Q&A-style guide to hiking the Highlander Velebit covers everything you need to know before ...
Highlander Velebit gear list: what’s in my pack
Our Highlander Velebit gear list includes everything you’ll need for five days of hiking across Croatia’s highest mountain range I recently completed the Highlander Velebit, a 104km 5-day trek across the Northern Velebit and Paklenica national parks in Croatia. The Velebit is one of Highlander Adventure’s collection of organised treks and therefore requires a slightly different mix of gear than what I’d pack for an independent trek. To help future trekkers get the balance right, I’ve put together my usual post-trip gear list of everything I packed. Where possible, I’ve included links to the gear I carried for reference. [embedded content] Highlander Velebit gear list As the trek is only five days long with four nights of camping, I encourage trekkers to go as light as possible. I kept...
Trekking the Highlander Velebit in Croatia
The Highlander Velebit is an ideal introduction to multi-day trekking and offers a true taste of European wilderness My first post-lockdown trip was to Croatia to take part in a Highlander Adventure, one of a collection of organised treks through some of Europe’s classic hiking regions, all home to magnificent expanses of wilderness. The routes – in Austria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece and Serbia – explore some of Europe’s less-visited but no less captivating areas of natural beauty. Next year the franchise is expanding with treks added in a number of destinations including Germany, Portugal and Montenegro. I joined the Highlander Velebit, a 104km 5-day trek across the Northern Velebit and Paklenica national parks. The route journeys southeastwards through the Velebit...
Lyon set deadline for Memphis Depay’s departure
Olympique Lyonnais have set Barcelona an ultimatum on signing their forward Memphis Depay this transfer window, as per Diario AS. The report cites how Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has told French media outlet Telefoot: “I think I will tell the players that all those who did not leave on Friday will remain at Lyon. As of Friday there will be no more departures.” It is reported how he is referencing both Memphis and midfielder Houssem Aouar – who has been linked with a switch to Arsenal. The Blaugrana are keen on a move for Memphis but it remains unlikely that they will be able to finance a deal, despite clearing Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez from their wage bill. Memphis, 26, netted 11 goals across his last 18 matches for the Dutch national side and has also developed into ...
Deportivo La Coruna sign Uche Agbo from Standard Liege
Segunda Division B side Deportivo La Coruna has announced the permanent signing of Uche Agbo from Belgian First Division A club Standard Liege. The centre-forward put pen to paper on a four-year deal with the Spanish third-tier club after successful medicals. The 24-year-old spent the second half of the 2019-20 season with the side and featured in nine league games but his efforts were not enough to help Fernando Vazquez’s men avoid relegation after finishing 19th on the table. Swayed by his performances during his short stint with the club, the Blues and Whites have decided to secure the forward permanently. “Uche Henry Agbo will continue in the ranks of the Real Club Deportivo,” read a statement from the club website. “The Nigerian midfielder, who played for Depor in the second half of l...
