November 2019

‘Humble’ Mourinho Not Planning On Big Changes At Spurs

Jose Mourinho is not planning on wholesale changes as he tries to turn Tottenham’s season around and believes he is humble enough to have learned lessons from his failed spell in charge of Manchester United.

Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs boss on Wednesday after the Argentine’s five-and-a-year spell ended in the sack with Tottenham 14th in the Premier League.

The Portuguese has won 25 trophies in a storied managerial career at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and United.

However, his time in charge at Old Trafford ended in the sack 11 months ago having failed to win the …

Xhaka’s ‘Mindset Is Better’ After Spat With Fans – Emery

Arsenal boss Unai Emery said Thursday that Granit Xhaka’s “mindset is better” after he missed four matches following his public run-in with the club’s fans.

The Switzerland international was stripped of the club captaincy after swearing and throwing the captain’s armband to the ground in reaction to Gunners fans booing him as he was substituted against Crystal Palace late last month.

Xhaka, 27, blamed death threats to his family for his furious response, saying he had reached “boiling point”, but Emery said he was training well after playing in both of his country’s Euro 2020 qualifiers in the past week.

Euro

Euro 2020 Confusion Reigns Ahead Of Playoff Draw

The draw for the Euro 2020 playoffs takes place in Nyon on Friday amid widespread confusion over the format and make up of the group stage for next year’s finals.

The last four berths in the tournament, which is being hosted in 12 cities, will be decided by March’s playoffs, with its 16-team make-up based on performances in the recent inaugural UEFA Nations League.

That gives teams that failed in the main qualifying campaign a second chance to bag a spot, such as Northern Ireland and their neighbours the Republic of Ireland.

The Northern Irish will visit Bosnia and Herzegovina …

Montpellier’s French Top 14 Salary Cap Fine Revoked

French Top 14 club Montpellier have had their 400,000 euro ($442,511) fine for salary cap infringements removed by the French Rugby Federation’s appeals commission, according to documents seen by AFP on Thursday.

However the commission increased a previous 50,000 euro fine handed down by the National Rugby League (LNR) to 100,000 euros for “breaches of transparency obligations”.

Montpellier were originally fined for exceeding the cap, at 11.3 million euros, by paying players an additional 428,000 euros during the 2017-18 season when they finished second.

The salaries that had attracted suspicion included those of South African brothers Bismarck and Jannie du …

RUSAF

Russian Officials Suspended For Obstructing Doping Test

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Thursday charged the Russian athletics federation (RUSAF) with “serious breaches” of anti-doping rules, including obstructing an investigation.

The charges relate to the conduct of senior RUSAF officials during an investigation into “whereabouts” violations committed by Russian high-jumper Danil Lysenko.

RUSAF president Dmitry Shlyakhtin and executive director Alexander Parkin, the athlete and his coach have been provisionally suspended.

British newspaper The Sunday Times ran a story in September alleging that RUSAF officials had fabricated documents to show that Lysenko, the 2017 world silver medallist, was too ill to provide his whereabouts after failing to make …

Britain Sneak Into Davis Cup Quarters Without Murray

Great Britain rested Andy Murray and squeezed into the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Thursday after clinching an all-or-nothing doubles rubber to beat Kazakhstan.

Britain will face Germany in Madrid on Friday night in the last eight, which begins later on Thursday with Australia up against Canada. On Friday, Serbia will face Russia and Spain take on Argentina.

The British team knew defeat would ensure an early exit just as France, the tournament’s top seeds, had already crashed out a few hours before at the hands of Serbia and Novak Djokovic.

It made the gamble to leave Murray out of the …

Verona’s Stadium Ban For Balotelli Racist Abuse Suspended

Italian club Verona’s partial one-match stadium closure for racist chants directed at Brescia striker Mario Balotelli in a Serie A game earlier this month was suspended on appeal Thursday.

The Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC) disciplinary commission had ordered Verona to host Fiorentina on Sunday with the “Poltrone Est” section of their Bentegodi Stadium closed.

It followed racist chanting directed towards Italian international Balotelli during his team’s 2-1 defeat on November 3 in Verona.

Despite denials of abuse from Verona, a video published on Twitter by a fan showed a number of supporters abusing Balotelli before the forward kicked the ball …

Presidency

2023: Ndi Igbo And The Nigerian Presidency

The origin of rotational leadership and management of political institutions predates democracy, as a social system for inclusion and stability in any heterogeneous political arrangement. In international system, European Union and Switzerland operate a classic instance of this system – the Presidency of EU rotates amongst its member states every six months, while the Presidency of the Swiss Confederation rotates among the seven Councillors on a yearly basis, with one year’s Vice President of the Federal Council becoming the next year’s Confederation President. 

The political theory for rotating Nigerian Presidency finds its fulcrum on balancing the wheel of social justice, …

Air Peace To Begin Kano-Owerri Direct Flight November 26

Air Peace Airlines said it will commence Kano-Owerri-Kano direct flight from November 26, 2019. The airline’s Corporate Communications Executive, Stanley Olisa, who disclosed this in a statement said the flight days would be Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

He said the airline has provided  direct connectivity between the two destinations and passengers won’t have to travel from Kano to Lagos or Abuja to connect a flight to Owerri.

Read Also: Air Peace Signs Order For 3 E195-E2 Jets, Worth $212.6m

“It is our promise to connect every part of this country. This is our gift to the unity of our nation.

Nigerians To Pay More Tax As Senate Approves 7.5% VAT Hike

The  Nigerian Senate on Thursday passed the Finance Bill which seeks to amend seven acts of the National Assembly related to taxes payable in the country.

The bill titled ‘Nigeria Tax And Fiscal Law (Amendment) Bill (Finance Bill) 2019’, sought the increment of the Value Added Tax (VAT) payable by Nigerians from 5 percent to 7.5 percent. Other amended Tax Acts as contained in the finance bill include: Company Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, Custom and Excise Tax, Stamp Duties Act and the Capital Gains Tax.

A majority of Senators expressed their opinions before voting commenced on the Finance Bill.…

Real Madrid Winger Vazquez Breaks Toe In Dumbbell Accident

Real Madrid winger Lucas Vazquez has broken his toe, the club announced on Thursday.

Vazquez sustained the injury after dropping a dumbbell on his foot in the gym, according to reports in the Spanish press.

“After tests done today on our player Lucas Vazquez, the medical services of Real Madrid have diagnosed him with a fracture in the big toe of his left foot,” read a club statement.

Madrid have not specified how long Vazquez will need to recover.

The Spaniard had just returned

Farmers

Small Scale Farmers Lament Lack Of Insurance Covers

The National President of Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), Mary Afan has bewailed the inability of smallholder farmers’ to access agricultural insurance cover particularly, for women rural farmers in Nigeria.

Afan revealed this at the side line of the Validation of Community Participatory Assessment of Government Expenditure on Agriculture/Community Score Cards on Smallholder Women Farmers Access to Agricultural Insurance Services in Nigeria.

According to her, insurance is a major problem to small holder farmers as many women in the rural area do not have access to insurance covers that will indemnify their projects even those who have,