Sunday
Jose Mourinho drums support for under-fire Steven Bergwijn
Tottenham Hotspur coach Jose Mourinho said the team are supporting Dutchman Steven Bergwijn who missed two clear chances in Wednesday’s top-of-the-table clash at Liverpool and received criticism on social media after the 2-1 defeat. “I don’t know what I can do apart from the player knowing in this club we are all together,” Mourinho told a news conference ahead of Sunday’s game at home to Leicester City. “We lose, we win and we draw all together. So he has us and we have him. In here we don’t feel any individual criticism, we never feel it that way, it is always about us, so no problem. “He’s one of my boys, period. There is no point to boo, to individualise. He’s a good professional, he works hard for the team, he gives everything he can.” Second-placed Spurs slipped three points behind L...
Senator Musa: Two killed, 30 abducted, 5,000 homeless in Niger East
Chairman, Senate Services Committee, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, All Progressives Congress, APC, Niger East has raised the alarm that the insecurity situation in his Senatorial District is worsening every day, saying that it has been one week of sleeplessness and horror. Senator Musa has reiterated his call on President Muhammadu Buhari to put the security operatives on their toes to ensure they live up to their responsibilities of protecting the lives of the citizens, adding that if security agencies in the country cannot guarantee the protection of lives and property of the citizens, then Nigeria may be on the precipice of anarchy. According to him, the horrible event in the last one week in Niger State and particularly in Niger East Senatorial District has raised tension and uncertainti...
ExxonMobil staff killed, others wounded in gas flaring accident
File Photo Fire explosion from a gas flaring operation at the Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT) process area at ExxonMobil facility in Ibeno local government area, Akwa Ibom State has allegedly killed some staff of the company and left others wounded. It was gathered that the incident happened on Sunday, December 13, 2020, when the victims were about to light up the gas flaring plant. Sources who preferred to remain unnamed said one of the victims who was killed was a supervisor working at the facility’s processing area, while another supervisor injured by the explosion had been rushed to an undisclosed hospital in the state. He said it was possible that the victims who were to turn on the plant shut for maintenance purposes, flouted all safety procedures that would have averted the explosion. “Two ...
First Americans vaccinated as U.S. death toll passes 300,000
An intensive care unit nurse became the first person in the United States to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, calling it a sign that “healing is coming,” as the U.S. coronavirus death toll crossed a staggering 300,000 lives lost. Sandra Lindsay, who has treated some of the sickest COVID-19 patients for months, was given the vaccine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the New York City borough of Queens, an early epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, receiving applause on a livestream with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “It didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine,” Lindsay said. “I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. “I want to instil...
PSG confirm Neymar’s ankle injury
Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain say an initial assessment of key forward Neymar’s ankle injury has been “reassuring”. The Brazilian striker was stretched off in Sunday’s loss to Olympique Lyonnais, with the Paris side saying on Monday that he had sprained his left ankle, adding that further examinations will be carried out in the next 48 hours. In the extra time of the tie, the 28-year-old went down screaming in agony and clutching his ankle after a poor challenge from Lyon midfielder Thiago Mendes, who was thereafter sent off with a straight red. “The medical examinations carried out on Neymar are reassuring following his twisted ankle in Sunday’s game against Lyon,” PSG said. The club, and Neymar in particular, will hope the damage is not too deleterious and does not rule him out of t...
U.S. treasury, others under cyberattacks by hackers
The U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments, alongside other government agencies have been targeted by hackers, several media reports indicated on Sunday. National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot told dpa “the U.S. government is aware of these reports and we are taking all necessary steps to identify and address potential issues related to this situation.” The Department of Commerce confirmed to CNN that hackers had overcome protective measures in one of its offices. The Washington Post reported hackers with ties to Russian intelligence agency SVR were responsible for the attacks on the Treasury and Commerce departments as well as other U.S. agencies. It was unclear what information had been captured, according to the report, which also said the FBI had been brought in to investigate...
Chioma Ubogagu scores first goal of the season for Real Madrid
Chioma Ubogagu scored her first goal in the 2020-21 Spanish Primera Iberdrola campaign as Real Madrid thrashed Espanyol 8-1 at Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque on Sunday. The 28-year-old had starred for the USA at youth level before playing for England at senior level thrice, albeit in friendlies, and still eligible to represent Nigeria due to the new Fifa eligibility rules. Having been handed her second start of the season, the England international put up an impressive display in front of goal as her side extend their winning streak in the Spanish top-flight. Las Blancas made a fantastic start to the encounter as Sofia Jakobsson’s perfect pass allowed Olga Carmona to score the opening goal for the visitors after just nine minutes. In the 33rd minute, Teresa Abelleira set up Ubogagu to double...
Air passengers decry upsurge in fares, seek urgent attention to roads, railway
Nigerians, who travel by air, have decried the “sudden” upsurge in air fares and urged the Federal Government to intervene to avoid poor patronage that could dwindle the fortunes of the aviation industry. Newsmen report that the air fares shot up by about 100 per cent in the last one week, with some airline operators even raising their fares by as much as 120 per cent or more. At Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the fare from Abuja to Lagos, which was N35,300 (Economy Class), rose to between N70,000 and N75,000. Newsmen found that Business Class travellers were charged between N100,000 and N120,000, depending on the airline. Our correspondents, who visited other airports across the country, found that the rise in airfares was the same, a situation that forced some passengers to...
Iran jails British-Iranian researcher for nine years for subversion – report
A court in Iran has handed a nine-year jail sentence to British-Iranian anthropologist Kameel Ahmady, after convicting him of conducting “subversive” research work, the semi-official news agency Tasnim said on Sunday. Ahmady was also fined 600,000 euros ($727,000) – the sum Iranian authorities said he received for his research from institutions accused of seeking to topple Iran’s Islamic government, Tasnim reported. There was no immediate official comment on the sentence, which was also reported by other Iranian news agencies and a human rights groups, as well as by Ahmady’s lawyer, who said that he would appeal. “Ahmady was accused of acquiring illicit property from his cooperation in implementing subversive institutions’ projects in the country,” Tasnim said. Ahmady, an ethnic Kurd who h...
Kwara announces second wave of coronavirus
The Kwara Medical Advisory Sub-Committee on COVID-19 has announced that a second wave of the pandemic has hit the state. The announcement is contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the committee’s chairman, Femi Oladiji. “Now, there are two epidemiological curves of the disease in Kwara. The first curve peaked between July and August, and then plummeted between September and October, at which stage people thought COVID-19 was winding down. “It is important to state clearly that we now have the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Kwara just like a few other states of the country,’’ he said. Mr Oladiji stated that the second curve started early in November with sharp rise in the number of positive cases. He noted that the reasons for the second wave included increase in awareness for vo...
Shiites call for release of Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites, have called for unconditional release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, along with those still in detention. Recalled that the convoy of Army Chief of Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai had clashed with members of IMN in Zaria on December 12, 2015, leading to death of several persons on the fateful day. Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife and some Shiites have been detention, and undergoing court trial since the incident happened. In a statement on Sunday by the IMN media Spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa to mark the 5th anniversary of the Zaria killings, it noted that five years in detention amounted to systematic oppression of Zakzaky and other members of the Movement. “As we mark the fifth anniversary of this Zaria Genocide Memori...
Germany to close most shops from December 16-January 10 – draft proposal
Germany is planning to close most shops from Wednesday until Jan. 10 as it tightens coronavirus restrictions and tries to rein in the spread of the disease, according to a draft government proposal seen by Reuters on Sunday. The draft was prepared head of a meeting later in the day between Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders. She has favoured stricter pan-German measures but was previously unable to get agreement from the nation’s 16 states. However, some states have since clamped down on their own, and momentum supporting stricter harmonized measures has been building. The draft proposal would allow only essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as banks, to remain open. Schools will also be basically closed during the period, and employers will be asked to close...
