March
Bayern coach bemoans lack of fans at ‘special’ Dortmund clash
Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick says the absence of spectators for Tuesday’s top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash at Borussia Dortmund will be a “missing factor”. Reigning champions Bayern thrashed second-placed Dortmund 4-0 last November in front of 75,000 fans at the Allianz Arena. But the teams will meet again in Dortmund with the stands at Signal Iduna Park — usually packed with 82,000 people — empty after the Bundesliga became the first top European league to return, behind closed doors, following the coronavirus lockdown. “It is a very special game,” Flick said on Monday, with Bayern heading to Dortmund with a four-point lead. “As a coach, there is no question that the fans are a missing factor.” Ten of the 18 league games since the restart have been won by the away team. “The atmo...
UEFA gives Romania another week to submit restart plan
European soccer’s governing body, UEFA has given the Romanian football federation (FRF) until June 1, to submit plans on how it intends to complete the domestic season, the FRF has said. UEFA last month gave European leagues an initial May 25 deadline to submit plans but the FRF requested an extension after the Romanian government said it was assessing the COVID-19 situation every two weeks. “UEFA has approved FRF’s request – the deadline for announcing the resumption plan has been extended until June 1,” the FRF said. The federation added that the extension would allow them to analyse how current medical protocols would impact team training, etc. The FRF hoped to resume the domestic top-flight on June 13 but the decision needed government approval. The FRF suspended all football competiti...
NBS: Inflation rises to 12.34 percent in April
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased by 12.34 per cent year-on-year in April 2020. The NBS made this known in its latest CPI and Inflation Report for the month of April released on Thursday. It stated that this figure showed 0.08 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in March 2020 which was 12.26 percent. It explained that month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.02 per cent in April 2020 and this was 0.18 per cent rate higher than the rate recorded in March 2020 which was 0.84 per cent. According to the bureau, the composite food index rose by 15.03 per cent in April 2020 compared to 14.98 per cent in March. “This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of potatoes, yam and ...
NBS: Nigerian annual inflation at 12.34 percent in April
Annual inflation in Nigeria stood at 12.34% in April, compared with 12.26% in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. A separate food price index showed inflation at 15.03% in April, compared with 14.98% in March. 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 their fair share of Internet revenue.
Customs intercept N13 million bales of clothes on train
File Photo The Nigeria Customs Service, Oyo/Osun Area Command, has made a total seizure of 180 bales of second hand clothes from a train operated by the Nigerian Railway Corporation with a total Duty Paid Value of N13,252,311. The Area Controller, Oyo/Osun Command, Helen Uche-Ngozi, disclosed this during a press conference at the Command’s headquarters in Ibadan on Tuesday. Uche-Ngozi said, “During our anti-smuggling activities of March and April 2020, the Command made a seizure of 310 drums of 100 litres each and 180 kegs of 25 litres each of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise called petrol, at different points and axis of the Command. “They will be auctioned and the proceeds will be remitted accordingly. We were also able to identify a petrol station carrying out illegal activities within i...
Senator Lawan: Why privatisation of power sector must be reviewed now
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has called for the immediate review of the privatization exercise of the power sector by previous administrations. Lawan gave the charge in his concluding remarks on a motion considered on the floor during plenary on Tuesday. The motion titled: “Power Sector Recovery Plan and the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic” was sponsored by Senator Gabriel Suswam (PDP – Benue North East). The Senate President, who bemoaned what he described as the “inefficiency of Power Generating and Distribution companies” in the country, called for a review or eventual reversal of the terms of privatization. According to Lawan, parties involved in the shared purchase agreement with the federal government can only seek the intervention of the latter when sufficiently justified. “The...
Victor Moses delighted to be back in training
Nigerian winger Victor Moses is delighted to be back in training with his Italian club Inter Milan. The former Nigerian international flown back to Italy last week after the Italian government agreed to allow teams to return to training as they prepare to restart the season. The 2019/2020 Italian Serie season and other sporting activities were suspended back in March, following the coronavirus pandemic which have ravaged the country. Teams were allowed to train the first time since March, but under strict conditions, in order to reduce the risk of the spread of the virus. It would be recalled that the Inter Milan hierarchy announced that none of their playing staffs tested positive for the dangerous virus. Meanwhile, it is unclear when the league will be allowed to return, but the Italian ...
ICC recommends rule to ban use of saliva on balls
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has recommended rules to ban the use of saliva to shine cricket balls in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. A statement on ICC website on Tuesday said that the age-old trick of using saliva to shine a cricket ball could be a thing of the past when the sport resumed due to the recommendation by ICC executive committee. The committee, chaired by Anil Kumble, a former Indian spinner unanimously agreed to recommend a ban on saliva while, allowing players to use their own sweat to try and achieve the fabled ‘reverse swing’. Cricketers have for long used saliva and sweat to shine one side of the ball while allowing the other to become increasingly scuffed over the course of an innings. The technique alters the aerodynamics of the ball, allowing pace bow...
Emirates plans to cut about 30,000 jobs amid virus outbreak
Emirates Group is planning to cut about 30,000 jobs to reduce costs amid the coronavirus outbreak, which will bring down its number of employees by about 30 per cent from more than 105,000. A media reported on Sunday that the company was also considering speeding up the planned retirement of its A380 fleet. An Emirates spokeswoman said that no public announcement has been made yet by the company regarding “redundancies at the airline”, but that the company is conducting a review of “costs and resourcing against business projections”. “Any such decision will be communicated in an appropriate fashion. Like any responsible business would do, our executive team has directed all departments to conduct a thorough review of costs and resourcing against business projections,” the spokeswoman said....
Egypt editor detained outside Cairo jail
Egyptian security services on Sunday detained the editor-in-chief of prominent independent news outlet Mada Masr, its lawyer said, the latest in a crackdown against journalists. Lina Attallah was arrested outside Cairo’s Tora prison as she was interviewing rights activist Laila Soueif, mother of jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah who recently began a hunger strike. “The prison security guards asked Attallah to show her identification card and later called her in for an investigation that lasted three hours,” lawyer Hassan al-Azhari told AFP. He said she was later taken a police station and was expected to appear before the prosecution Monday morning, adding the reason for her arrest and charges remained unclear. Later on Sunday, Mada Masr tweeted that the prosecution ordered Attallah’s rele...
Borno governor directs enrolment of 552 retired workers into pension payments
552 Borno ex-workers who retired from 2016 to April 2020 have been enrolled for pension payments following the directive of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum. Borno State Head of Civil Service, Barr. Simon C. Malgwi, stated this at a press briefing on Saturday in Maiduguri. Mr Malgwi stated that Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, having been considerably disturbed by the pension problems in the state, had to personally intervene in order to address the problem and ensure a hitch-free system of pension administration in the state. The Head of Service explained that the 552 pensioners enrolled are inclusive of the 387 complaints received from the Nigerian Union Of Pensioners received on Thursday, 12th March, 2020, during a public hearing that was presided by Governor Zulum in Maiduguri. He noted tha...
No masking it: Joe Biden eyes stark contrast with Donald Trump over virus
Joe Biden squared off with Donald Trump on Tuesday over the wearing of masks one day after the White House challenger emerged from coronavirus-imposed lockdown donning one while the president attended two events bare-faced. By wearing a mask at a Memorial Day ceremony in Delaware — and by changing his Twitter profile to a photograph of him donning the black covering — Biden signalled he is putting the coronavirus front and center during the US presidential race in a nation increasingly divided over the pandemic. After the president mocked him for his protective mask, Biden hit back, blasting Trump as an “absolute fool.” It appeared to mark a new front in the war of words between the rival politicians. Trump also attended a somber Monday ceremony honoring America’s fallen, in Baltimore. Ins...