Monthly Archives: June 2018

16, June 2018

Nigeria, Lionel Messi’s Argentina in action on Day 3 of 2018 FIFA World Cup ⁰

All of Africa will be rooting for Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Saturday as they take on European side Croatia in the opening game of the ‘official’ 2018 World Cup of Death, Group D.

Nigeria who will be fielding the youngest team at the World Cup have had scandal free preparations in the camp, but have been the center of all headlines, thanks to their fashionable jersey and off-the-pitch outfits.

Nigeria’s coach Gernot Rohr said on Friday that the team is ‘physically and mentally ready’ for the opening game at the Kaliningrad Stadium, adding that he hopes to get support from the hosts Russia.

Nigeria’s World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United), Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Enyimba), Francis Uzoho (Deportivo Coruna)

Defenders: Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes), Leon Balogun (Brighton & Hove Albion), Tyronne Ebuehi (ADO Den Haag), Elderson Echiejiole (Cercle Brugge), Brian Idowu (Amkar Perm), Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa), Abdullahi Shehu, William Ekong Troost (both Bursaspor)

Midfielders: Oghenekaro Etebo (Las Palmas), John Obi Mikel (Tianjin Teda), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City), Joel Obi (Torino), John Ogu (Hapoel Be’er Sheva), Ogenyi Onazi (Trabzonspor)

Forwards: Odion Ighalo (Changchun Yatai), Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City), Alex Iwobi (Arsenal), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow), Simoen Nwankjwo (Crotone).

Croatia’s World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic (Monaco), Lovre Kalinic (Gent), Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb)

Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Domagoj Vida (Besiktas), Ivan Strinic (Sampdoria), Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), Sime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid), Josip Pivaric (Dynamo Kiev), Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen), Duje Caleta-Car (Red Bull Salzburg)

Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan), Filip Bradaric (Rijeka)

Forwards: Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), Nikola Kalinic (AC Milan), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Marko Pjaca (Schalke), Ante Rebic (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Argentina vs Iceland

Lionel Messi’s Argentina will be taking on the adored European side, Iceland who were the surprise package at Euro 2016.

Argentina’s coach Jorge Sampaoli has already named his starting eleven for the game, choosing to go with the potenet attacking duo of Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero.

Argentina starting XI: Willy Caballero, Eduardo Salvio, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Rojo, Nicolas Tagliafico, Lucas Biglia, Javier Mascherano, Maximiliano Meza, Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero.

France Vs Australia

In Group C, 1998 world champions France will be taking on Australia and expectations will be weighing heavy on this generation of Frenchmen to replicate the success of their heroes, whose captain Didier Deschamps is back at the World Cup as the coach.

Featuring players like Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and Athletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezman, France are not only group favorites, many fancy them to go all the way and lift the trophy.

Peru vs Denmark

Both teams will play with an unwritten script that they says they are fighting for the second spot in Group C along with Australia.

Peru have been buoyed by news that their all time scorer Paolo Guerrero is fit to start for them in the game aginst Denmark after being freed from a doping ban.

Guerrero missed the play-offs against New Zealand after he tested positive for a cocaine byproduct contained in a tea.

Source: Africa News

16, June 2018

Russia 2018: Ronaldo reigns supreme on Day 2 as Salah-less Egypt, Morocco lose ⁰

After a brilliant opening game by the hosts Russia who thrashed Saudi Arabia by 5 goals to nil, expectations for day 2 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup had been high, especially given the line up of games at hand.

Six time African champions Egypt would be taking on Group A favorites Uruguay and the big question was whether the ‘Egyptian Pharaoh’ Mohamed Salah would play a role in the game.

In the end, Salah didn’t play and Uruguay edged Egypt with an 89th minute winner scored by Jose Gimenez.

“In the history of football we have broken a spell. We either die or we kill, we have to keep progressing,” said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez at the end of the game.

Egypt’s coach Hector Cuper explained that it was too early to risk Salah.

“At the end of the training session we examined him and there was some doubt if he fell or was hit by another player, and we wanted to avoid a risk today,” Cuper said. “We want to have him in top form for Russia and Saudi Arabia.”

Egypt next play Russia in St Petersburg on Tuesday, giving Salah four more days to work on his fitness while Uruguay take on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in Rostov.

Moroccan hearts broken by late Iran Goal

Up next were Morocco who were taking on Iran, in the less fancied game of Group B that also has European champions Portugal and 2010 world champions Spain.

Morocco dominated the game for the bigger part of the 90 minutes, but then in stoppage time, disaster struck.

Iran left back Ehsan Hajsafi whipped in a free kick five minutes into added time and Bouhaddouz launched himself at the ball, flashing a header past his own keeper Munir Mohamedi.

The Iranians, who had not won a World Cup game since their victory over the United States in 1998, celebrated as if they had won the tournament, leaving the field only reluctantly after lengthy and emotional embraces.

“Our strategy was from the first minute to create a mental collapse in the Moroccan players. We tried to do that by creating frustration and blocking all their creative players,” said Iran’s coach Carlos Queiroz, the former assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and ex-Real Madrid coach.

“My players are down, but we can only blame ourselves,” was all Morocco coach Herve Renard could say.

In a group where Spain and Portugal are strong favourites to qualify for the knockout stage, the outcome gives Iran an outside chance of an upset but was a bitter blow for an enterprising Moroccan side.

Ronaldo reigns supreme in 3-3 Portugal vs Spain thriller

The much anticipated match of the day didn’t disappoint as five time World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo scored an early goal from the penalty spot in the 4th minute to give Portugal the lead.

Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa equalised in the 24th minute, before Ronaldo restored Portugal’s lead in the 44th minute, thanks to a goalkeeping blunder from Span’s David De Gea.

Costa scored yet another equaliser in the 55th minute, which was quickly followed by a stunner from Nacho to give Spain the lead for the first time.

But it was Ronaldo who had the last word when he scored a spectacular free-kick in the 88th minute to tie the game and score a career 51st hat trick.

Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday June 20th as Portugal takes on Morocco while Spain will play against the current group leaders Iran.

Argentina, Nigeria in action on Saturday

Day 3 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup will see Ronaldo’s nemesis Lionel Messi step up as his team plays against Iceland in the opening game of Group D. Nigeria will play against Croatia in the other game of the group.

There will also be action in Group C as 1998 world champions play against Australia while Peru will play against Denmark.

Source: Africa News

15, June 2018

Yaounde: Issa Tchiroma says Amnesty International report is “crude and slanderous”. ⁰

Cameroon has accused Amnesty International of disseminating “crude lies” after it said security forces had committed summary killings, arrests and property destruction to try to crush a separatist insurgency.

The report “is stuffed with crude lies, hasty deductions (and) slanderous, unacceptable manoeuvering, which are part of a strategy of harassment and destabilisation of our country in its fight against the terrorist threat,” Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said.

The government “rejects this supposed report with the greatest firmness,” he said in a statement received on Friday.

In a 37-page report, Amnesty said it had catalogued “unlawful killings, destruction of private property, arbitrary arrests and torture” by the security forces in two restive regions of the West African country.

The unrest is unfolding in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, home to most of Cameroon’s English-speaking minority, which account for about a fifth of a population of 22 million.

Years of resentment at perceived discrimination at the hands of the country’s French-speaking majority culminated in protests in October and November 2016, which escalated in the face of a government refusal to make concessions.

In late 2017, violence surged after radicals declared an independent state — an entity named Ambazonia that has not been recognised internationally — and launched an armed campaign, which met with a crackdown.

Amnesty said it had conducted interviews with more than 150 victims of, or eyewitnesses to, violence committed either by the security forces or by separatists.

While accusing government forces of abuses, it also said separatists had killed “at least” 44 members of the security forces, and also targeted ordinary people, including traditional chiefs, whom they suspected to be informants.

Source: Timeslive

15, June 2018

Hong Kong scientists say new research points to universal antibody drug for HIV ⁰

A team of AIDS researchers in Hong Kong says its new research, tested on mice, indicates a functional cure for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, eventually leading to a new antibody that could be used for both prevention and treatment.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, come as China faces a growing epidemic among high-risk groups, such as sex workers and men who have sex with men.

The UN-supported AIDS Data Hub says about 850,000 people in China are infected with HIV, which disables the immune system and makes people far more vulnerable to infections and disease.

A team led by Professor Chen Zhiwei at Hong Kong University’s AIDS Institute says its discovery, tested on mice, shows the new antibody can help control the virus and eliminate infected cells.

The antibody would be able to treat all varieties of HIV – a first, Chen said – as there is no one vaccine to treat the many different types of HIV viruses.

“For our newly discovered bispecific antibody, it works for all of them, so that’s the major difference,” Chen told Reuters.

Chen and his team say they aim to bring the antibody into clinical trials within a timeframe of three to five years.

Chen said a “functional cure” meant the virus level would be so low as to be undetectable in the body, as long as patients kept taking injections of the antibody, perhaps on a quarterly basis, or less frequently.

Those infected with HIV can keep the virus under control with antiretroviral drugs that stop it from infecting new cells.

However, treatments must be taken daily and do not eliminate the infected cells from the body. So the virus can still exist, and symptoms return, if patients stop taking medication properly.

The new antibody would have a significantly longer half-life than current treatments, and could, for example, be administered on a quarterly basis, Chen said, making it easier than the daily treatment most HIV-infected patients face.

Promising results did not mean the treatment would be readily available soon, said Andrew Chidgey, chief executive of the charity group AIDS Concern in Hong Kong.

“Governments are being very slow to implement programmes here,” he added. “So just because a treatment becomes available, doesn’t mean that people will get it, or that it will have an impact.”

(Source: Reuters)

15, June 2018

IG warns Biya: stay clear of Ambazonian refugee camps in Nigeria or face devastating consequences ⁰

The Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is challenging French Cameroun dictator President Paul Biya to ensure that no highly placed Cameroon government official visits Ambazonian refugee camps in Nigeria. Cameroon Concord News correspondent in the US reported that Acting President Dr. Ikome Sako has ordered self-defense forces in the Manyu County to be on the alert and to arrest or kill any Biya regime official visiting Southern Cameroons refugees in the Cross River State in Nigeria.

Confirming the President Sako decision, Ambazonian Communications Secretary, Hon. Chris Anu told Camcordnews that French Cameroun army soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons created the horrific war that forced some 40, 000 Ambazonians to escape into hiding in neighboring Nigeria. Chris Anu further pointed out that the situation has changed as the Ambazonian Self-Defense Council Restoration Forces reasserted control, enabling the Interim Government’s presence to spread throughout Southern Cameroons.

Mr. Anu also warned that any visit of Southern Cameroons refugees in Nigeria by French Cameroun government officials was unacceptable. The Interim Government is expected to issue a strong statement on Monday to the international community condemning any move by La Republique du Cameroun towards the suffering Ambazonian population in Nigeria.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the Ambazonian Interim Government has established a new calculus that has to take place and French Cameroun has to understand that the Federal Republic of Ambazonia will not tolerate any French Cameroun political or military entrenchment in Southern Cameroons. “The consequences of visiting the Ambazonian refugees in Nigeria will not merely be to the French Cameroun government officials and their entourage but to the Biya regime and its forces in Southern Cameroons as well. I think it’s something that Yaoundé should consider very seriously, added Chris Anu.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

15, June 2018

Angola’s president says in talks with DR Congo’s Kabila about political transition ⁰

Angola’s president, Joao Lourenco has said his government is ‘talking regularly’ with the Congolese president, Joseph Kabila as it monitors the political situation in the restive country.

Lourenco, who was speaking exclusively to Euronews, said the talks with Kabila are advisory in nature and that its up to the Congolese president to ‘follow the advice or not’.

‘‘All we want is this agreement to be fulfilled, because we understand that failure to do so can lead to political and social turmoils that will not be very pleasant to the Congolese people and to the neighbors themselves including Angola,’‘ Lourenco said.

Kabila’s final term came to an end in 2016, but he has remained in office via a constitutional provision that allows him to stay until his successor is elected. The government has postponed elections several times, citing logistical challenges. The latest date set for elections to replace Kabila is December 23, 2018.

Kabila keeps the country guessing

The opposition, working together with the powerful Catholic Church in the country has organised protests and demonstrations asking Kabila to declare that he will not seek re-election, but many of these protests have been met with repression by the country’s security agencies.

Two weeks ago, Lourenco met with Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame and French president Emmanuel Macron to discuss the situation in Congo. Authorities in Kinshasa protested the meeting saying they would not accept any foreign led solution reached without their participation.

Congo’s neighbours have in the past expressed fear that should Kabila insist on violating the constitution to seek another term, the chaos resulting from the political fallout could further destabilise the country and the region.

The opposition has expressed concern over several actions of the ruling party including erection of Kabila billboards and posters across the country, and a promotional video released a week ago highlighting the achievements of Kabila’s presidency.

An intervention by DRC’s neighbours?

Asked whether Angola and its partners would intervene in case Kabila violates the agreement and Congo is plunged into great instability, Lourenco said ‘any intervention would be made in the interest of stability for all’.

In the past, political turmoil in the vast nation has drawn in up to 9 countries including Uganda, Rwanda and Angola.

Source: Africa News

15, June 2018

Yaounde: Akere Muna to be barred from election by Biya gov’t over family affair ⁰

Akere Muna, who recently made public his decision to run for the upcoming presidential election to be held between September 14 and October 14, 2018, has accused Justice Minister Laurent Esso of attempting to disqualify his candidacy.

Akere has been quoted as saying that the Yaoundé regime is using a Muna family succession issue involving his younger sister former minister Ama Tutu Muna for political gains. Akere told a group of press men and women on Thursday in Yaoundé that “The only capital I have is my honor. My sister believes that I am a forger and the state supports it, with the Minister of Justice in mind. I will face it here and elsewhere.”

The former president of the Cameroon branch of Transparency International and founding father in the fight against corruption in Cameroon is being accused by Ama Muna of having falsified her signature on a document bearing minutes of a family meeting, in the framework of their late dad Solomon Tandeng Muna’s estate in 2002.

The former minister has sued her brother, whose candidacy is supported by the NOW movement and the Platform for a New Republic.

By Rita Akana

15, June 2018

France’s Sophie Pétronin shown in Mali hostage video ⁰

An agency that monitors jihadist websites says al Qaeda’s Mali branch has released a video of two hostages, including French aid worker Sophie Pétronin, who was abducted in late 2016.

SITE Intelligence Group said the video released Wednesday on Telegram by the Mali-based Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen shows Pétronin and Colombian nun Gloria Cecilia Narvaez.

Pétronin, 75, was abducted in late 2016 by armed men in the northern Malian town of Gao, where she ran an organisation for malnourished children. Narvaez was seized near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso in February 2017. The footage shows the two women together, with Narvaez providing care to Pétronin.

SITE says Pétronin addresses her son and expresses a wish to reunite with her family. She then addresses French President Emmanuel Macron, stating that the footage was recorded on June 7.

Narvaez addresses Pope Francis, asking him to intervene on behalf of the sick Pétronin. In January, the insurgents released a video of Narvaez, with an extremist narrating an appeal for the payment of her release. Pétronin appeared in videos released in March of this year and in July 2017.

In 2012, Mali’s north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda who exploited an ethnic Tuareg-led rebel uprising, though the Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013.

Since then, jihadists have continued to mount numerous attacks on civilians and the army, as well as on French and UN forces stationed there.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

15, June 2018

Russia 2018: Morocco team hold final training session before Iran clash ⁰

Morocco’s national football team held their final training session at the St. Petersburg Stadium on Thursday, before their first World Cup match against Iran.

Morocco are drawn in Group B, alongside Portugal, Spain and Iran.

The FIFA 2018 World Cup kicked off on June 14 with Russia securing a 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the tournament’s opening game.

(Source: AFP)

14, June 2018

Russia begin 2018 FIFA World Cup with 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia ⁰

The Russia’s national football team has started its home campaign at the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup with a crushing victory over Saudi Arabia.

The Russian sportsmen outclassed their feeble Saudi Arabian rivals 5-0 in the tournament’s opening match at the Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital city of Moscow on Thursday evening to put an end to their nine-month winless run, and boost the morale of the host nation’s team and fans.

The spectators were sent into raptures after only 12 minutes, when 28-year-old Russian midfielder Yury Gazinsky headed home for the opener.

Denis Cheryshev showed great skill of his own later on, and unleashed a left-footed piledriver that doubled the hosts’ lead just before half time.

Artem Dzyuba got Russia’s third only seconds after coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute.

Russia’s Yury Gazinsky celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates during a 2018 FIFA World Cup Group A match against Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia, on June 14, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

After that, Cheryshev cleverly steered home the fourth with the outside of his foot just a minute into injury time.

Aleksandr Golovin completed the visitors’ misery by curling his free kick beyond the wall in the the 94th minute to make it 5-0.

On Friday, Egypt will play Uruguay in a Group A fixture at the Central Stadium of Ekaterinburg. Morocco will take on Iran in a Group B match at Saint Petersburg’s Krestovsky Stadium.

Portugal will face Spain in a Group B encounter at Fisht Olympic Stadium of Sochi.

During the official 2018 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony at Kremlin State Palace in the Russian capital city of Moscow on December 1 last year, the host nation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay were put in Group A in the preliminary round of the tournament.

The Iran men’s national football team, nicknamed Team Melli, has joined Portugal’s A Selecção, Spain’s La Furia Roja and Atlas Lions of Morocco.

France is drawn in Group C, and is pitted against Australia, Peru and Denmark.

Russian midfielder Aleksandr Golovin is tackled during the 2018 World Cup Group A football match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, on June 14, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria are drawn in Group D.

Group E consists of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia.

While the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea shape Group F, Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England are in Group G.

Group H has Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15. Russia will open the event against Saudi Arabia in a Group A fixture at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.

A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities.

Culled from Presstv