ONE WORD

FIFA Women World Cup FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants to increase the number of teams due to take part in the footballing showpiece from 32 to 48, bringing forward by four years an expansion which has already been set for the 2026 finals. Details of an internal feasibility study by FIFA which emerged this week gave broad support to expanding the 2022 finals in Qatar. But while the study found that the increase would deliver a financial windfall for FIFA of between $300-$400 million, several logistical and political obstacles to expansion remain. The Qatar World Cup, the first to take place in the Middle East, is due to be held over 28 days in November and December 2022 instead of the usual 32. Officials have said previously that it is not possible for Qatar to change the number of days of the tournament, meaning games would have to be held in neighbouring states. If the template of the 2026 World Cup to be staged by the United States, Mexico and Canada is used, appr...

Facebook grappled with challenges on two fronts Wednesday, an hours-long outage and intensified scrutiny from investigators reportedly probing data deals struck by the world’s largest social network. As the outage continued, gripes flooded rival Twitter as well as a comments section on downdetector.com, which tracks trouble accessing online pages. “I have never seen Facebook down this long,” one user lamented. “And many other sites and apps are having issues too.” A Downdetector map late Wednesday showed Facebook service troubles persisting in parts of Australia, Asia, Europe, South America and North America. READ ALSO: Eight Killed In Brazil School Shooting, Two Suspects Dead “11 hours and still global wide outage continues,” read another comment. “This is very bad. Seriously this is not something funny or worth the amusement to even troll about.” Some media outlets branded the outage as the biggest in Facebook’s history. The outage, of unknown origin, also affect...

According to reports, Mikel Obi would have staged a return to the team for the African Cup of Nations qualifier against Seychelles slated for March 22 and friendly game with Egypt four days later but for the choice of the Stephen Keshi Stadium as the venue for the two games. The Super Eagles captain has not played for the team since the 2018 FIFA World Cup in June but following his remarkable run with his new side Middlesbrough many Nigerians had expected to see the skipper back in the squad for the March matches. Although Eagles’ Manager Gernot Rohr had said the former Chelsea midfielder was not ready to return to the side hence his decision to leave him out of the two tie, New Telegraph correspondent reliably learnt that the midfielder decided to prolong his stay away from the team because of the venue of the two matches. Sources said the player himself got information about the condition of the surface of the main pitch of the Stephen Keshi Stadium and he didn’t want to ris...

Juventus’ Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Marco BERTORELLO / AFP • He is a living football god, says Rio Ferdinand Cristiano Ronaldo was signed to win Juventus the Champions League – and he might yet do just that, writes BBC.com. The Portuguese produced his latest masterclass in Europe’s elite competition to bring the Italian side back from the brink of a last-16 exit against Atletico Madrid and book their place in the quarter-finals. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg in Spain, Ronaldo was facing up to the prospect of failing to reach at least the semi-finals for the first time since 2010 – and only the second time in 12 seasons. But then this happened… Ronaldo joined Juventus from Real Madrid last summer in a £99.2m deal, becoming one of the most expensive players of all time in the process.His remit was, in large part, to help the Turin club win the Champions League. “This was why Juventus brought me here, to help do things that they have never done before,” said Rona...

Barcelona manager, Ernesto Valverde, has said Lionel Messi was “incredible”, as the Blaugrana booked a Champions League quarter-final spot by beating Lyon 5-1. Messi opened the scoring from the spot, before Philipe Coutinho doubled their advantage. Lucas Tousart pulled one back for the visitors, before Messi took the game away from the Ligue 1 side. The Argentine dazzled defenders with a stunning solo run before squeezing a low shot past substitute goalkeeper Mathieu Gorgelin and then set up late goals for Gerard Pique and Ousmane Dembele. “We are all very focused for this competition and Leo too, he has had an incredible match. “It was extraordinary, we dominated the game, we had chances, we scored two goals and we were able to get one more. “In the second half, Lyon risked more, they pushed us up looking for the 2-1 that got them in the game, but our people in attack have finished solving the result. “It was a Champions League match and in this type of game it is nor...

Two former pupils shot dead eight people, most of them students and staff, at a high school near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday before turning their weapons on themselves, authorities said. The two assailants burst into the school grounds in the early morning, armed with a .38 caliber revolver and a “medieval weapon that looked like a bow and arrows,” military police Colonel Marcelo Sales said. After shooting at students in the yard, the killers headed to the language center where several pupils were hiding and “committed suicide in a corridor,” he said. Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world, and the victims in this case were five students aged 15 to 17, two school officials aged 38 and 59, and a 51-year-old carwash owner who was shot by the attackers before they arrived at the school, said Sao Paulo’s Public Security Secretary Joao Pires de Campos. READ ALSO: We Have ‘Full Confidence’ In 737 MAX, Says Boeing Chief Eleven other people were wounded in th...

Justice Turaki Mohammed of the Federal Hgh Court sitting in Port Harcourt,  Rivers State, on Monday,  March 11,  2019 convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment,  Mr David Nimdu,  a fake staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,  EFCC,  arrested and put to trial by the Port Harcourt's Zone of the Commission. The convict was arraigned on one- count charge bordering on obtaining the sum of N250, 000.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) only under false pretences from a petitioner that alleged that he claimed to be an EFCC Staff. Trial commenced in the matter but Nimdu later pleaded "guilty" on a plea bargain arrangement and was sentenced to one year imprisonment.  He was also ordered to make restitution of the money involved in the scam. Nimdu's ordeal began when he struck an agreement with a petitioner to assist in the recovery of a loan of N15,300,000.00            (Fifteen Million, Th...

President Muhammadu Buhari addressing APC Chieftains after INEC declared him President-elect. In 2015, no room was created to interrogate the conduct of the presidential election in which an incumbent president kissed the dust. Both the process and outcome escaped obligatory queries and essential indictments. Had the process and outcome been subjected to painstaking reviews, especially at the court, perhaps, the political and governance arrangements would have been different from what they are today. But through his historic phone call to the opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to concede defeat even before the announcement of the presidential poll results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), former President Goodluck Jonathan and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had responsively and responsibly narrowed the options by foisting a fait accompli on his party leaders and members. By congratulating Buhari ...

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation, JAMB, has fixed a new date for the mock exam which was previously scheduled for Saturday, March 23, 2019.JAMB in a new announcement made by its head of media, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, fixed Monday, April 1, 2019  as the new date for the 2019 mock exam. The exam body which said the postponement was due to circumstances beyond the Board’s control, also told candidates who indicated interest in the mock examination at the point of registration and had since printed their mock examination notification slips not to print another one.The Exam body which stated that all details on the slips remain the same except the examination date which is now April 1, 2019, added that the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation examination (UTME) has been scheduled to begin from Thursday, April 11, 2019 while candidates are to begin the printing of the 2019 UTME notification slips from Tuesday, April 2, 2019. source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/03/j...

Today is World Kidney Day (WKD). The WKD, observed globally today, Thursday, March 14, 2019 is a joint initiative of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) set out to raise awareness of the high and increasing burden of kidney diseases worldwide and the need for strategies for kidney diseases prevention and management. The global awareness campaign with the theme: “Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere” calls for universal health coverage (UHC) for prevention and early treatment of kidney disease and to also raise awareness of the importance of kidneys to overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.Kidney failure/disease is a health condition where the patient’s kidney fails and can no longer function well enough without dialysis or transplant for survival.850 million people worldwide are now estimated to have kidney diseases from various cau...

Adesanmi Several countries were unexpectedly thrown into mourning early last Sunday when an Ethiopian aircraft crashed within minutes of its takeoff. The waves of the tragedy swept through 30 countries including Nigeria, claiming three of our illustrious sons, two of whom very well known. I am referring to Professor Pius Adesanmi and retired Ambassador Abiodun Bashua. The flight was from Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, to Nairobi in Kenya. The pilot was said to have reported difficulty and asked to be allowed to return to Addis Ababa. The aircraft went down before he could do so, near a town called Bishoftu, 60 km south east of Addis Ababa. It is good that the president sent his condolences to the family of the departed. Those in affliction and pains cannot have enough of words of succour and encouragement. In view of safety concerns raised about the 737 Max 8 from the stable of Boeing, Nigeria must go beyond that and take more than passing interest in the disaster. Ethiopia...

A six-year-old boy, Nonso Eneh is a left-hander. His father, Mr. Pius Eneh, a typical African of Igbo descent, a strict disciplinarian find the act absurd and wondered where his son picked it.He made it a duty to compel Nonso to use his right hand especially while eating each time he is around. The act, which he described as bizarre, he vowed, cannot be tolerated, not among his household. Poor Nonso slowly and progressively, started using his right hand after several years of caution and spanking. But the entire scenario displeased the mother.This was her argument; abrupt interference of the left-handedness in Nonso may likely ruin his supposed intellectual ability as a left-hander. “Compelling Nonso to use right hand is a disruption and distortion of the child’s Intelligent Quotient (IQ). The act is capable of altering his intelligence, thereby projecting him as a dull pupil.” Mr. Eneh on his part believes that it is inappropriate for a child or adult to give or take something f...

Firm targets $3.4bn investments in agriculture by 2023 3 days ago  BusinessAgro Food & Beverage West Africa, a free-to-attend three-day trade event, will provide a platform for local companies to build business relationships with industry players from across Nigeria, neighbouring West African countries and from around the world. The premier exhibition dedicated to West Africa’s food and beverage industry will be held at the Landmark Centre in Lagos between June 18 and 20 2019 according to the organisers. Nigeria’s food and drink retailers will have the opportunity to connect with suppliers, distributors and manufacturers at a new globally-recognised business exhibition next year. The exhibition is expected to attract over 4,000 people from the sector. Participants will include food and drink retailers, grocery buyers and hospitality businesses looking to source the best products and business deals from over 150 exhibitors. Food & Beverage West Africa is a new ...

More children were rescued from the rubbles of the school building that collapsed at the Itafuji area of Lagos Island in Lagos state earlier today. The state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, who has since visited the scene of the incident, commiserated with the families of those who lost their lives in this collapsed building. “The first observation is that this is an old building and it is only the Pent House and the other floors that we have been able to use to rescue people. So far, from what I have been briefed also, we have rescued about 25 people and some already dead but we were earlier informed that it was a school, the building is not technically a school, it is a residential building that was actually accommodating an illegal school. “All we are trying to do is to continue this operation. Our response unit are already here; we are getting additional cranes to be able to go deeper than where we are now to rescue more lives. I just want to appeal to people that when we are d...

The qualified teams for the quarter-finals of this season’s UEFA Champions League, after the final last-16 ties concluded on Wednesday: Barcelona (ESP) Manchester City (ENG) Manchester United (ENG) Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) Liverpool (ENG) Juventus (ITA) FC Porto (POR) Ajax (NED) – Draw for quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held on Friday from 1100 GMT; unlike in previous rounds, there are no longer any restrictions on teams from the same country facing each other UEFA Champions League results on Wednesday Last 16, second leg At Barcelona, Spain Barcelona (ESP) 5 (Messi 18-pen, 78, Coutinho 31, Pique 81, Dembele 86) Lyon (FRA) 1 (Tousart 58) Barcelona win 5-1 on aggregate At Munich, Germany Bayern Munich (GER) 1 (Matip 39-og) Liverpool (ENG) 3 (Mane 26, 84, Van Dijk 69) Liverpool win 3-1 on aggregate Played Tuesday At Manchester, England Manchester City (ENG) 7 (Aguero 35-pen, 38, Sane 42, Sterling 56, Bernardo Silva 71, Foden 78, Jesus 84)...

World Wide Web Inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee The Founder of the Internet, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, was in Nigeria on Wednesday as the world marked the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web. To mark the event, Berners-Lee had embarked on a 30-hour flight which ended in Lagos with a meeting with the Nigerian tech community. In Lagos, he explained that his invention was driven by the need to connect the world’s population using innovation and technology. According to him, as the Internet reshapes lives globally, people have a responsibility to make sure it is recognised as a human right. The Internet since its creation has broken boundaries, connected people around the globe, empowered business and availed information to the citizenry at a click. Figures recently released by the International Telecommunication Union shows that 51.2 percent of the world’s population are now online. But that is not enough for the President of the World Wide Web Foundation, Adrian Lovett. “We...

President Buhari has reacts to collapsed school building where over 100 pupils are reportedly trapped in Lagos Island. Buhari also charge Lagos State Government to do all that is needful, so that such tragic development do not recur. He made the statement through his Twitter handle, he wrote: I’m extremely saddened by the news of the collapsed building in Itafaaji area of Lagos. It touches one to lose precious lives in any kind of mishap, particularly those so young and tender. May God grant everyone affected by this sad incident fortitude and succour. I charge the Lagos State Government to do all that is needful, so that such tragic developments do not recur. Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/03/president-buhari-reacts-to-school.html

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (R) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the UEFA Champions League round of 16, second leg football match between against Olympique Lyonnais at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on March 13, 2019. Josep LAGO / AFP Lionel Messi came up just short of matching Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick a day earlier but still scored twice and set up two more as Barcelona beat Lyon 5-1 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals. After Ronaldo’s treble on Tuesday for Juventus sent Atletico Madrid packing in Turin, Messi delivered his own symphony at the Camp Nou, where Lyon were outplayed save for a very brief period in the second half when they threatened a comeback in this last-16 tie. A 0-0 draw in France in the first leg last month meant Lyon always had a chance to make Barca nervous, but Messi’s sumptuously chipped penalty and a simple finish from Philippe Coutinho looked to have finished the tie before half-time. Yet L...

SEE List Of Survivors From Collapsed Building in Lagos(Photo) By Wisdom Nwedene Igbere TV has obtained list of  41 persons that reportedly survived the collapse of a three-storey building which trapped many occupants and students at Ita Faji, Lagos Island, Lagos. Igbere TV reports that the survivors comprise 22 females, 17 males and two persons whose gender was not listed. Two teachers, three adults were clearly stated. Igbere TV had reported that at least 50 children have been rescued by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), as well as other security agencies. See Full List: Rasheed Lasisat Female Ogunsanwo Olumide Male Adeyemo Kehinde Female Adedoyin Rukayat Female Sanusi Rukayat Female Sulaimon Baraka Female Rasheed Shukurat Female Komolafe Saidat Female Unknown Female Unknown Male Unknown Male Hassan Omotolani Female Abimbola Faroq Male Alabi Quayum Male Afolabi Rodiat Female Olawusi Rokiba...

By Udeme Akpan THE price of Bonny Light, Nigeria’s premium oil grade has risen from $66.00 to $67.48 per barrel, the highest in recent times, as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC; continue to eliminate excess oil from the global market. Crude oil This showed an excess of $6.48 against the $60 per barrel reference price of the nation’s 2019 budget. The price of other crude oil grades – Brent, WTI and OPEC Basket – stood at $67.69, $58.45 and $66.30 in the market. Meanwhile, OPEC that has been encouraging members, including Nigeria to cut output has given impression that the market would be stable in the coming months. Speaking in Washington DC, USA, March 8, 2019, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC Secretary General, stated: “We have seen plenty of ups and downs for the oil industry in the decades that followed, too many to fully elaborate on over a lunch! It is clear that cycles are part of the market’s ever-evolving nature and we cannot eliminate the ...

Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has accused the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Imo State, Professor Francis Ezeonu of wrecking democracy in the State with the worrisome manner he has handled the Conduct of the 2019 elections in the State, adding that he has shown that he was brought to Imo after the 2015 election to return PDP to Power in the State. Okorocha The governor who spoke when thousands of youths came on protest over the ugly developments in the Conduct of the 2019 elections, on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at the Government House said that the REC had acted illegally by ignoring the provision of the Constitution that makes it mandatory for a Candidate to have 25% in 2/3 of the Local Governments in the State by announcing the PDP Candidate, Emeka Ihedioha who only met the requirement in 9 Local Governments instead of 18 LGAs which is 2/3 of 27 LGAs winner. The governor also wondered why the REC should accept the outrageous figures from the three Local...