ONE WORD

After failing to reach the final of the 32nd Africa Cup of Nations with that last thunderbolt by Riyad Mahrez of Algeria that crushed Nigeria’s fourth title ambition, history favours the Super Eagles to beat the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia to claim the bronze medals. Of the seven times that Nigeria has played in this losers’ final, the Super Eagles have never lost a third place match at the AFCON. It was like that in Ethiopia in 1976 (against Guinea), Ghana in 1978 (against Tunisia), Senegal in 1992 (against Cameroon), Mali in 2002 (against Mali), Tunisia in 2004 (against Mali), Egypt in 2006 (against Senegal) and Angola in 2010 (against Algeria). Will Coach Gernot Rohr and his wards keep tradition going or would enter into record books as the first generation that failed in that task of bringing home to football-mad Nigerians what is now termed ‘Golden bronze’ as consolation? With that less than convincing display from the semi final clash with Algeria last Sunday, not even ...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is convinced he can still get the best out of Paul Pogba if the Manchester United star stays at Old Trafford. 'I can give him a new challenge,' said the United manager. 'Paul is a top boy and a great player. He's never, ever been a problem. If we get him playing again like he did when I came in, he will win you over. United will hold onto Pogba unless Real Madrid or Juventus make a massive bid of around £170million for the Frenchman. Pogba and his agent Mino Raiola have made no secret of his desire to leave, but Solskjaer believes he can motivate United's record signing to be a key player for the club next season. 'I've not been upset by anything he's said because we've had many conversations and I know exactly what Paul is thinking. 'I can't dive into hypothetical questions and all that. We've not had offers.' Speaking on the club's pre-season tour in Perth, Solskjaer indicated that he will si...

The Igbimo Odo Yoruba has dared the federal government to arrest ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo over the letter he wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari following the killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin by suspected herdsmen. The ex-president in his letter said, “The main issue, if I may dare say, is poor management or mismanagement of diversity which, on the other hand, is one of our greatest and most important assets. As a result, the very onerous cloud is gathering. And the rain of destruction, violence, disaster, and disunity can only be the outcome.” Reacting, the Miyetti Allah called for the arrest of Obasanjo regarding his position taken on the national issue in the letter. In a counter-reaction, the Igbimo Odo Yoruba through its Secretary General, Olufemi Lawson, stated that the federal government would be calling for a clash if Obasanjo is arrested. The group also berated the Miyetti Allah group for their boldness in making public comments despite attacks done by its member...

Tanko Yakasai, a founding member of Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, yesterday said writing “unpatriotic” letters is a peculiar attitude of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. Tanko Yakasai FOUR YEARS AFTER: Buhari in the eyes of critics, supporters(Opens in a new browser tab) Yakasai said this in reaction to the letter Obasanjo wrote to Buhari on the insecurity in the country. But speaking to journalists in Kano, Yakasai said the content of the letter might cause unrest in the country. He said all letters written by Obasanjo to past Nigerian leaders were never inspired by patriotism but selfish interests. Yakasai said one of the letters Obasanjo wrote during the reign of late Sani Abacha, former military head of state, landed him in prison. He said: “The actions of General Olusegun Obasanjo are, indeed, an open invitation for disaster for this country with the kind of hate speeches and messages that are flying all over the country. “I don’t see patriotism in General Obasanjo’s ...

A group of 10 Turkish sailors has been kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Nigeria, reportedly for ransom. The Paksoy-1 was sailing from Cameroon to Ivory Coast when the pirates boarded the ship in the Gulf of Guinea. It was not carrying freight and eight sailors managed to escape. Turkey says it is working to secure the release of those seized. The International Maritime Bureau says the Gulf of Guinea is the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy. Ömer Çelik, spokesman for Turkey's ruling AK Party, said the ministry was following the case closely and "working on it". Numan Paksoy, operations manager at Kadıoğlu Maritime, said about "12 pirates with heavy guns" had attacked the boat. Crew members hid in a safe room - the citadel - when the pirates boarded the ship, but emerged after "the assailants threatened to burn the ship and kill all of them", he told the BBC in an emailed statement. The attackers then picked 10 sailors and ...

A final year student of the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Cross River University of Technology, (CRUTECH), simply identified as James, was gunned down on Monday morning by suspected cultists while writing his first semester examination in Calabar, Cross River State. An eyewitness, who declined to be named, said the tragic incident caused fear on the campus, pointing out that the incident occurred at the old Engineering block of the CRUTECH, Calabar Campus. He said that James was shot three times but didn’t go down immediately which made his assailants to hack him down with an axe, ensuring he died on the spot. The source said: “After hearing gunshots and being alerted that a student has been shot at the Electrical Engineering Department, some lecturers in the Civil Engineering Department made a mild announcement in the exam halls where Civil 500L students were writing their final paper. “They told all cult members to either leave the hall quietly or bear the secu...

Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) have returned to the streets of Abuja, to demand the release of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky. During the procession, spokesperson for the Academic Forum of the group Abdullahi Musa noted that the Shiites were more resolved than ever to continue the protest until their leader was granted freedom. “This protest is a peaceful protest and it has been peaceful for long, for almost four years,” he told Channels Television on Tuesday. “It only went violent when the authorities caused the violence. They are the violators, they are the people that shoot teargas. “They are the people that shoot live ammunition to kill us, they are the people that vandalised people’s vehicles and properties in Abuja, in order to justify what they did,” he alleged. This time, the Shiites took the protest to the offices of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Public Complaint Commission, both of which share the same fence in th...

More than 821 million people suffered from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition worldwide last year, the United Nations reported Monday — the third year in a row that the number has risen. After decades of decline, food insecurity began to increase in 2015 and reversing the trend is one of the 2030 targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. But getting to a world where no one is suffering from hunger by then remains an “immense challenge,” the report said. “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” was produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other UN agencies including the World Health Organization. “To safeguard food security and nutrition, it is critical to already have in place economic and social policies to counteract the effects of adverse economic cycles when they arrive, while avoiding cuts in essential services, such as health care and education, at all costs,” it said. The authors said a “structural transformation” ...

First left: Late Mr Christian Okoro NAN Director of ICT who recently succeeded My Ajudua (2nd Right) who also died two months ago. Pictire taken in 2018 during the sendoff of a retiring staff A hit-and-run driver on Sunday killed Mr Christian Okoro, the Head of Technical Services of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Okoro, 50, was killed around `Sharp Corner’ area of Mararaba, along the Keffi-Abuja Road, while trying to cross the road to pick his car. His death is coming barely two months after his predecessor  Mr Mathias Ajudua died on May 10. An eye witness account indicated that Okoro had gone to watch the Nigeria/Algeria AFCON Semi-Final encounter at a football viewing centre and was on his way home after the match when the speeding vehicle knocked him down and zoomed off. He was said to have earlier gone for his community meeting and was heading home when he decided to join some friends to watch the crucial match. “The car was speeding, so when it hit Okoro, the ...

Smoke from a blast A utility worker was killed and 15 other people were injured  when a ruptured gas line triggered an explosion that leveled a house and shattered windows in nearby homes in the Southern California town of Murrieta, authorities said. The blast sent flames shooting some 30 feet (9 metres) into the air, and, according to media reports, rocked the surrounding Riverside County neighborhood with such force that some residents initially mistook it for an earthquake. The gas rupture was believed to have been caused by a contractor digging at the home without first calling to have underground utility lines marked, as required by law, according to the Southern California Gas company. City firefighters responding to reports of a gas line breach were already at the house when SoCalGas employees arrived to make repairs. The explosion occurred about 30 minutes later, Murrieta Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief David Lantzer told a news conference. Murrieta is about 80 mil...

Nigerian celebrities have been pictured on camera attending actress, Rita Dominic's lavish 44th birthday party.   RMD, Rita and D'banj   Veteran Nollywood actress, Rita Dominic recently turned a year older and had a birthday party to celebrate her new year privately. The gorgeous screen goddess clocked 44 on July 12, 2019, and a number of her admirers took to their social media pages to celebrate her. The award-winning actress birthday party in Lagos last night Saturday had many of her which had friends, colleagues and a number of celebrities in attendance. Celebrities at the party include Richard Mofe-Damijo, DBanj, Kate Henshaw, Toke Makinwa, Ini Edo, Peter Okoye, Uche Jombo and many others. See more photos below:                       torinews

Twelve American men walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972, with most describing in great detail their experiences on the dusty, low-gravity world lit by the blinding light of the Sun. Here are their impressions, collected from a series of oral history interviews by NASA during the 1990s and 2000s, unless otherwise stated. Right after landing "That's where you experience the most quiet moment a human being can experience in his lifetime. There's no vibration. There's no noise. The ground quit talking. Your partner is mesmerized. He can't say anything. The dust is gone. Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr, the lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the Lunar Module "Eagle" during Apollo 11's first manned lunar landing on 20 July 1969. Image: AFP/NASA. It's a realization, a reality, all of a sudden you have just landed in another world on another body out there (somewhere in the) universe, and what you are seeing...

A colour-enhanced image of millimetre-wave radio signals from the ALMA observatory in Chile shows a disk of gas and dust (right of centre) around exoplanet PDS 70 c, the first-ever observation of the kind of circumplanetary disk that is believed to have birthed the moons of Jupiter more than 4 billion years ago. Image credit: A. Isella, ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) Astronomers have observed a circumplanetary disk forming around a gas giant about 370 light-years from Earth. The disk can form moons and is made of gas, dust and asteroid fragments. The researchers in this study used the world’s most powerful array of radio telescopes, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, to make these observations. Observations from the telescope indicated that dust was present around two planets in the system – PDS 70 c and PDS 70 b – suggesting that they were surrounded by gas disks. Planets with these disks are predicted to disappear about 10 million years into a p...

A Georgian court releases an Israeli woman indicted 11 days ago for stealing a pair of sunglasses from an airport duty-free shop in the resort town of Batumi. The woman was detained after boarding an Israir flight to Tel Aviv on July 1. Shortly before her plane was to depart, a duty-free shop salesman noticed the suspect allegedly snatching the merchandise worth $135 on a security camera. He then called airport police who boarded the plane and removed the passenger, delaying the flight for nearly two hours in the process. She was held under house arrest in a hotel and faced charges with a maximum sentence of 3 years in prison. She confessed to the theft and apologized. The court fines her $337 and releases her with a suspended sentence. Channel 12 says she has landed back in Israel, ending a saga that made Israel’s primetime news in recent days.

Hope as Chinese researchers identify deafness-casing gene Chinese researchers have recently made a breakthrough in discovering a gene responsible for deafness, providing a target for treating hearing impairment. The study published online earlier this month in the international journal Genetics in Medicine described the gene as ABCC1, which has variants associated with hearing loss and plays a key role in maintaining cochlea function. The cochlea is a spiral tube shaped like a snail shell. It is the auditory area of the inner ear and enables effective hearing. Using gene screening, sequencing and other genetic analysis method, researchers from Xiangya Hospital affiliated with the Central South University in China’s Hunan Province, found the variants in gene ABCC1 could work as a pump to extrude toxic substance and metabolic waste products from the inner ear. In experiments done on mice, they found the dysfunction of these variants could lead to hearing loss. Hearing impai...

Senators and House of Representatives members have pocketed a whopping N12.3 billion as welcome package.   National Assembly   Members of the National Assembly have been paid their welcome package, including accommodation and furniture allowances with each official of the Senate and House of Representatives receiving N30m and N25m respectively, according to a report by Punch.   Some of the lawmakers were not happy because the allowances fell below their expectations.   A credible source in the National Assembly management told Punch on Sunday that lawmakers started receiving their allowances and running costs in batches from July 5.   This means that the Senate and House of Representatives numbering 109 and 360 members pocketed N12.3 billion in total.   “The lawmakers have been paid. They were paid on Friday. Members of the House got over N25m each and those in the Senate got over N30m. They were also paid their monthly running ...

……Spent 9 days in two countries at the same time CAF President Ahmad Ahmad Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Ahmad is coming under growing pressure as Fifa investigates allegations against him. Investigation by the BBC can reveal that Mr Ahmad received two sets of expenses, claiming to be in two different countries, for the same nine-day period during the 2018 World Cup. According to documents, the Fifa vice-president twice claimed for payments from African football’s ruling body, CAF, for work carried out between 23 June and 1 July. First, the documents indicate he signed for daily allowances that stated that he was in  Egypt  for this spell – before later adding his signature to a document claiming he was in  Russia  at the same time. As a vice-president of football’s world governing body, Mr Ahmad should have been paid his daily World Cup allowance of $450 by FIFA since they organise the tournament – meaning he may have received three s...

Hyundai has recently launched the Kona electric in India and at a price tag of ₹ 25.30 lakh, it is quite expensive, but we've told you that it is in tune with the prices in the global market. However, Hyundai is watching this space very closely and the Kona EV is just the tip of the iceberg. According to a report in the Times Of India, Hyundai is planning to drive in a ₹ 10 lakh electric car in India. For this it will spend over ₹ 2,000 crore which will be spent on the development of the car as also manufacturing it at its Chennai factory. Hyundai India MD S S Kim told TOI, "We are carrying out studies to determine a totally new and different product, and this will be an India-dedicated platform. All body styles are being evaluated at present. The company recently launched its global electric vehicle Kona SUV in India, but this has been priced upwards of Rs 25 lakh and is not expected to corner significant sales numbers due to its premium tag." The Kona Electric ...

A video has appeared showing Dino Melaye having a swell time as he sprayed money on Ayefele at his mother's burial.   Dino Melaye   Controversial Senator, Dino Melaye has been filmed spraying money on singer, Yinka Ayefele at his mother’s burial.   Ayefele who sang as Melaye and well wishers danced in celebration at the event couldn't hide his joy.   Melaye, who is aspiring to be governor of Kogi State in November threw caution to the wind by spraying Ayefele with money as the musicians showered praises on him.   The senator was seen with bundles of money as he danced with joy and did the needful to Ayefele.   Watch video here: 

The Sharia Court II sitting at Magajin Gari, Kaduna, on Tuesday, remanded a housewife, Adama Arabi, who was dragged to the court for allegedly seducing her friend’s husband. The defendant, Adama Arabi of Unguwan Rimi, Kaduna, is also being charged for tresspass. The Judge, Murtala Nasir, ordered that the woman be remanded until she perfected her bail conditions. The judge ordered her to bring a reliable surety who would deposit N100,000 with the court and ensure that she appears in court on the next adjourned date. He adjourned the case till July 25, for further hearing. Nasir warned both parties to desist from any form of communication that would trigger chaos between them. Earlier, Musbahu Mustapha, counsel to the complainant, Fatima Sulaiman, a businesswoman who resides at Malali, Kaduna, told the court that both parties were friends who discuss their marital problems with each other. “The defendant is taking advantage of the trust between her and my client, she alw...

The Senate has resolved to screen the nomination of Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad on Wednesday. Justice Muhammad is expected to be screened by a committee of the whole of the Senate. The decision to screen the nominee was taken after a voice vote called by the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmed Lawan. President Muhammadu Buhari had last week, forwarded Justice Muhammad’s name to the Senate for confirmation, in accordance with Section 23(1) of the 1999 Constitution. The president forwarded Justice Muhammad’s name for confirmation based on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC). NAN

Nine persons have been confirmed dead while two others have been rescued after a building collapsed in Jos, Plateau State. The three-storey building collapsed on Butcher Street, Dilimi area of Jos North Local Government Area on Monday evening. The figure was confirmed by NEMA’s Head of Rescue Operations, North Central, Mr Nurudeen Musa. He noted that the rescue operation is still ongoing with evacuator machinery mobilised to the site of the collapse. The joint rescue effort is being carried out by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Plateau State Emergency Agency (SEMA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officers, the fire brigade, police officers and members of the Nigerian Red Cross Society. The search and rescue operators, however, lamented that their operation is been hindered by the crowd. See more photos from the building collapse below… Channels TV