Europe
Paris Saint-Germain sign Alessandro Florenzi on loan from Roma
Paris Saint-Germain have completed the signing of Alessandro Florenzi from Roma, with the defender arriving on a loan deal with an option to buy. The 29-year-old has been contracted to Roma throughout the duration of his career however he spent the second half of last season on loan with Valencia in the Primera Division. The 36-time Italy star will team up with international team-mate Marco Verratti in the French capital. “I’m especially proud and happy to become a PSG player,” he said in a statement on the club’s official website. “It’s one of the biggest clubs in Europe today, as was confirmed with their run to the Champions League final last month. “I’ve got the desire to give my maximum for PSG and the supporters of the club. There are enormous challenges ahead of us this season. It wi...
UN lauds Africa’s success in virus fight
The United Nations has commended Africa for its exceptional management of the COVID-19 pandemic with record low incidences and deaths. The President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Amb. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, said this yesterday while addressing a virtual press conference, adding that the developing countries have done better than developed countries as regards the management of the pandemic. COVID-19 has spread rapidly and extensively to most countries in the world, resulting in considerable mortality in Europe and the United States, as well as in numerous upper-middle-income countries in South America and Asia. Experts predicted millions of COVID-19 deaths in Africa because many countries in the continent rank poorly on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Dev...
83 stranded migrants rescued in Sahara desert
Reuters Eighty-three migrants were saved last week after their smugglers abandoned them in the Sahara desert in northern Niger, the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday. A team from the IOM and Niger’s Civil Protection service found the group 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the crossroads town of Dirkou on September 3, the agency said on Facebook. The 83 comprised 75 Nigerians, 41 of them women, including twin four-year-old girls, as well as four Togolese, three Ghanaians, and a Malian. They had left the Nigerien town of Agadez, the main stepping-off point for African migrants trying to cross into Europe via Libya, a week earlier. On September 1, the migrants were abandoned by their four drivers, after first taking all their belongings, when they spotted military vehicl...
VP Osinbajo: Virus vaccine distribution should be equitable
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), has advised that the deployment of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine should be done in an equitable and affordable manner in order to effectively contain the spread of the Coronavirus disease across the globe. The Vice President stated this on Friday at the virtual 2020 EURAFRICA Forum themed “Towards a realistic Euro-African partnership during and beyond the COVID-19 era”. The summit featured presentations from notable global leaders including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Mr. Ulisses Correia Silva, among other speakers. The EurAfrican Forum aims to foster stronger collaboration between Europe and Africa, and better promote a shared green and inclusive growth, a...
US sanctions 11 entities for aiding Iran’s oil sector
The US imposed sanctions on 11 entities and three executives Thursday for allegedly aiding an Iranian energy firm that was blacklisted in January, and helping Iran export petroleum products . The new designations of companies and executives include six under the Treasury Department’s authorities and five under the State Department. All are based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or China. The State Department’s sanctions target Iran-based Abadan Refining Company; China-based Zhihang Ship Management, New Far International Logistics LLC and Sino Energy Shipping; and UAE-based Chemtrans Petrochemicals Trading. The department also imposed sanctions on New Far executive Min Shi, Sino Energy executive Zuoyou Lin and Abadan managing director Alireza Amin. “All entities targeted today contin...
Premier League terminate £490 million TV deal in China
The Premier League has terminated its TV rights deal with China, its biggest overseas contract, leaving a huge hole in clubs’ finances. The deal with Chinese broadcaster PPTV was worth around £490m and had lasted only one of its three years. The conflict is said to have been around a fee of £160m that the Premier League was owed in March but did not receive. “The Premier League confirms that it has today terminated its agreements for Premier League coverage in China with its licensee in that territory,” a spokesman said on Thursday. “The Premier League will not be commenting further on the matter at this stage.” It is not known if the conflict is based purely on money or involves the escalating political tensions between China and the UK government. Boris Johnson announced in July that Hua...
Best hikes in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany
A selection of the best hikes in Berchtesgaden National Park, from serene day trips to thrilling via ferrata climbs and challenging multi-day tours Berchtesgaden National Park in the heart of the Bavarian Alps accommodates nine lofty mountain ranges as well Germany’s most photogenic body of water, Lake Königssee. Brilliant green meadows, aquamarine lakes, dense dark forests and reams of serrated peaks characterise Germany’s spectacular southern horizon. The UNESCO-designated Berchtesgadener Land biosphere is home to Germany’s finest mountain scenery and the country’s only Alpine national park. The area contains a labyrinth of superb hiking trails: well-maintained, clearly waymarked and supported by the outstanding network of Deutscher Alpenverein (German Alpine Club) huts. It is Germany’s ...
Bayern Munich make Lionel Messi transfer decision
Bayern Munich will not be making an audacious swoop to sign Lionel Messi from Barcelona as they simply can’t afford it, according to club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. On Tuesday, Messi sent a fax to Barca officials indicating his desire to leave the club, requesting that he be let out of his contract. The Argentine is unhappy at the decline of the Blaugrana on the field, as in 2019/20 they failed to win any major silverware for the first time in 12 years. He is also disillusioned with how the club is being run at boardroom level. It was actually Bayern who arguably caused the final straw for Messi as it was the German side’s 8-2 destruction of Barca in the Champions League which led to Quique Setien being fired and then the player handing in his request to leave. Only a handful of clubs arou...
IPOB warns Nigerian government to stop harassment of members
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Thursday, told the Federal Government to halt “the incessant harassment and arrest of its members and their families in South-East.” It also called on South-East and South-South governors, particularly Ebonyi State government, to prevail on the security agents in their states to release IPOB and their family members, particularly its Ebonyi State Coordinator, Mazi Igwe Ogbonnaya, without further delay. The pro-Biafra group said it is particularly upset by the alleged recent arrest of its Coordinator in Ebonyi State; and the intimidation of an innocent woman who recently put to bed in Oji River Council Area of Enugu State by security operatives in the guise of searching for Radio Biafra Station. In a statement by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary...
Lyon return empty-handed with prospect of losing key players
Had Olympique Lyonnais’ Memphis Depay and Karl Toko Ekambi found the back of the net in the opening 16 minutes against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, the Champions League may have had its first ever all-French final. Instead, Paris St Germain will now face the German champions while Lyon return home empty-handed and without the opportunity of righting those wrongs next season after they failed to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition. Ligue 1 was the only top-flight league from the ‘Big Five’ to prematurely end its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Lyon in seventh place on a points-per-game basis — thereby missing out on the Europa League as well. The 3-0 scoreline flatters Bayern as Lyon had their chances but playing in only their second semi-final on the big stage, their ...
Premier League rocked by 14 mystery coronavirus cases at 12 pre-season camps
Premier League has been hit by 14 new cases of coronavirus since teams returned to training, reports claim. According to The Telegraph, the new cases have been recorded at 12 clubs who began preparations for next season last weekend. The figures are unofficial, but the Premier League are only expected to regularly publish test results when the new season starts on September 12. Club officials are said to be concerned cases could continue to rise after players were pictured partying on holiday with pals from rival clubs over the past few weeks. Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli was snapped with James Maddison and Jack Grealish in Ibiza. And Chelsea transfer target Declan Rice holidayed with life-long friend Mason Mount on the Greek island of Mykonos, where Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Chri...
Sebastian Osigwe set to join Swiss Super League side Lugano
Swiss-born Nigerian goalkeeper Sebastian Osigwe is on the verge of completing a move FC Lugano in the Swiss super league. Osigwe left his former club FC Kriens back in April after spending six with the club and helped them secure promotion on two different occasions. The 26-year-old also kept 45 clean sheets in 143 matches for the club for FC Kriens during his six-year spell at the club. Former Swiss champions FC Thuns also made contact with the representatives of the goalkeeper according to reports, but Osigwe has already made up his mind to Lugano. Meanwhile, the deal that will make Osigwe become a Lugano player could be announced next week. Osigwe was born in Switzerland and has represented the country of his birth at the U-15’s, 16’s and U-18’s levels, but wants to follow the footsteps...
