ONE WORD

The Manchester Evening News claim that the Red Devils made contact with Brandt's former side Bayer Leverkusen about a potential deal when the Premier League season finished, but they were informed the player had already decided to join Lucien Favre's side. United are on the hunt for a new right-sided attacker this summer and are already said to have agreed personal terms with Swansea City starlet Daniel James. They also retain an interest in current Dortmund wide man Jadon Sancho, although the club's lack of Champions League football next season has scuppered any chance of signing the 19-year-old during this transfer window. Old Trafford boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may well make another attempt to sign the former Manchester City man however, with Brandt and fellow new Dortmund signing Thorgan Hazard playing in the same position as the England international. Sancho, who left City to ensure he got regular playing time, will not want his role reduced next season and t...

They've won the Champions League together, were teammates for three Premier League title-winning campaigns, and stood shoulder to shoulder at World Cups and European Championships. Whether in the blue of Chelsea or the white of England, Frank Lampard and John Terry were often inseparable. Now, with their playing days over, they are going head-to-head as coaches. In a match that has a strong Chelsea flavor, Derby and Aston Villa meet at Wembley Stadium on Monday in the League Championship playoff final. The prize is promotion to the Premier League and a windfall of at least 170 million pounds ($215 million), according to analysis by accounting firm Deloitte — making it the most lucrative one-off match in world soccer. Away from the financial implications of the last match in England's domestic season, the most intriguing aspect might be what goes on in the respective dugouts. The 40-year-old Lampard is the rookie manager of Derby, seeking a return to the Premier Leag...

Governor Aminu Masari on Friday signed into law, the amended penal code of criminal justice system in Katsina State. The amended penal code of criminal justice now makes kidnapping and cattle rustling, capital offences while rape now attracts life imprisonment in the state. Speaking during the brief ceremony to assent to the laws, Governor Masari explained that the state is currently faced with security challenges, hence the need to revisit the penal and procedural laws to deal with suspects. The Governor revealed that the two laws that were signed, particularly the penal code had been amended generally and in particular, the section dealing with kidnappings, cattle rustling, rape and other related offences. He announced that cattle rustling and kidnappings were now capital offences in the state and attract mandatory death sentences. He said the offence of rape now carries the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment in addition to fine and compensation for the victim. The ...

Apple's profits could take a massive hit The U.S. and China have been retaliating against each other in various ways throughout the trade war, and investors and analysts are now worrying that the Chinese government could target Apple in retribution. Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall put out a research note this morning (via CNBC) estimating that Apple's earnings could decline by a whopping 29% under the extreme scenario that its products were banned in China. "Should China restrict iPhone production in any way we do not believe the company would be able to shift much iPhone volume outside of China on short notice," the analyst wrote. Hall cut his price target from $184 to $178 to account for the new risk factor. HSBC had separately cut its price target on Apple earlier this week due to ongoing trade tensions. Of course, Apple contributes significantly to China's economy, as its supply chain and contract manufacturers have long been concentrated in the Middle ...

An Amazon Echo device is displayed at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Amazon and Google are fighting to dominate the multi-billion dollar voice commerce market. Home audio specialist Bose announced its smallest and most affordable smart speaker to date, the $260 Home Speaker 300. Samsung's Galaxy Home Mini was just detailed in FCC filings, even though the full-sized version hasn't even shipped yet. Even Comcast is reportedly working on a health-oriented smart speaker, according to CNBC, although it's not clear what price point the telecommunications and media conglomerate may be targeting. Neither Amazon nor Google have strong positions in China. Amazon just shuttered its Chinese e-commerce operations, and Google's online services have long been neutered due to government censorship and other factors. On the other hand, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a strong presence in the Chinese market, and Siri is one of few voice assistants that can handle Mandarin, one of the mor...

Huawei Matebook X Pro Following US President Donald Trump's executive orders to put Huawei Technologies on a trade blacklist, Microsoft has reportedly removed Huawei laptops from their e-store. A report by The Verge points out that Microsoft has stopped selling Huawei's MateBook X Pro laptop at the company's online store. In fact, it says that in the US, searching for any Huawei hardware shows no results at the Microsoft Store. Notably, though, while Google has pulled back Android services from all new Huawei devices, Microsoft has remained silent on a potential Windows ban. A Windows ban on Huawei could mean a large impact on Huawei's server solutions. Microsoft and Huawei operate a hybrid cloud solution for Microsoft's Azure stack, using Microsoft-certified Huawei servers. Meanwhile, according to a recent report, the US administration is considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision. The restrictions would reportedly li...

Chinese telecom giant Huawei says it could roll out its own operating system for smartphones and laptops in China by the autumn after the United States blacklisted the company, a report said Thursday. The international version of the system could be ready in the first or second quarter of 2020, said Richard Yu, the head of Huawei's consumer business, told US channel CNBC. The company was dealt a blow this week with Google's decision to partially cut off Huawei devices from its Android OS following a US order banning the sale or transfer of American technology to the firm. Huawei. "Today, Huawei, we are still committed to Microsoft Windows and Google Android," Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business, told CNBC. "But if we cannot use that, Huawei will prepare the plan B to use our own OS." The Global Times, a Chinese state-run daily, reported on Monday that the platform - named "HongMeng" - was undergoing trials and will gradu...