Daily manner

Good morning, here’s the word for today, Friday, December 29, 2017.

Divine Appointments!

"We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps." (Proverbs 16:9, NLT)

There are some people that God has placed in your life to help you reach your destiny. They may not know you very well, but they may introduce you to someone or put in a good word for you with someone you need to be connected with. They may have wisdom or advice that will thrust you forward in life. We have to remember that these divine appointments have been orchestrated by God Almighty. Divine appointments aren’t always the people you would expect. In fact, oftentimes they are the people you don’t expect—a woman at the grocery store, an intern at the office, someone who may seem to be less influential. But, God can give anyone an idea. God can use anyone to make a connection. We should always be open to receive from others. We should always treat everyone we encounter with dignity, honor and respect. You never know who God is going to use in your life. So be open, be loving, be kind and sow good seeds that will open the doors to His divine appointments!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father, thank You for ordering my steps. Thank You for divine appointments that keep me on the right path. Help me to discern the opportunities You have placed in front of me and see clearly Your hand guiding me in Jesus’ name. Amen.Have a glorious day.
I celebrate you!

Trump threatens funding cuts ahead of Jerusalem vote

President Donald Trump threatened to cut funding Wednesday to countries that vote against the United States on a motion at the United Nations condemning Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“All these nations that take our money and then vote against us at the Security Council and they vote against us potentially at the Assembly,” Trump said at the White House.
“They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us. Well, we’re watching those votes,” he continued.
“Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”
Nikki Haley, Washington’s UN envoy, had warned countries Tuesday that she would report back to Trump with the names of those who supported a draft resolution rejecting the US recognition.
“Nikki, that was the right message,” Trump said.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki accused Washington of “threatening” member countries of the UN General Assembly ahead of Thursday’s vote.

Eni and Shell to stand trial in Italy over Nigeria kickback scandal

Royal Dutch Shell

Italian giant Eni and fellow petroleum company Shell will stand trial in Italy over allegations of bribery and corruption in the 2011 purchase of an offshore oil block in Nigeria. A judge in Milan ordered Eni, Shell and key figures such as Eni chief Claudio Descalzi and his predecessor Paolo Scaroni to stand trial in proceedings to begin March 5.
The companies are accused of corruption in the 2011 purchase of OPL245, an offshore oil block estimated to hold 9 billion barrels of crude, for $1.3 billion.
“Eni’s Board of Directors has reaffirmed its confidence that the company was not involved in alleged corrupt activities in relation to the transaction,” the Italian firm said in a statement Wednesday.

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“Eni expresses its full confidence in the judicial process and that the trial will ascertain and confirm the correctness and integrity of its conduct,” it said.
It insisted in particular that “chief executive Claudio Descalzi was not involved in the alleged illegal conduct”.
Both companies are charged with corruption in Nigeria over the deal, which allegedly saw Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan and his oil minister pocket bribes.
Both have repeatedly maintained that they acquired the rights to the lucrative block in line with Nigerian law.
source: GNP

‘$9.2billion off-grid electrification opportunity lies in Nigeria’

Babatunde Raji Fashola. PHOTO: Bellanaija

A new collaboration between the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency (REA), the World Bank, and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), has found that Nigeria is the nation that could unlock the nascent mini-grid market in Africa.
The joint analysis found that developing off-grid alternatives to complement the grid creates a $9.2billion/year (N3.2trillion) market opportunity for mini-grids, and solar home systems that will save $4.4billion/year (N1.5trillion) for Nigerian homes and businesses.
These findings were discussed at a five-day “Upscaling Mini-grids for Low Cost and Timely Access to Electricity Services,” summit hosted by REA in conjunction with the World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP), Climate Investment Funds (CIF), and U.K. Department for International Development (DFID).
The forum was designed to push action on scaling up mini-grids to help countries reach universal energy access by 2030, and was the fourth in a series of successful events on mini-grids organised by the global community in the past two years.
However, this is the first time the event was held in West Africa, and was a clear indication of the commitment of the Nigerian Government to support investment in off-grid electrification initiatives, which have a potential market of $9.2billion yearly.
Getting off-grid solutions to scale and commercial viability in Nigeria has the potential to unlock an enormous market opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa, across 350 million people in countries with smaller demand and/or less-robust economies.
A common barrier to mini-grid market growth is investors viewing the market as being too risky, therefore gaining access to project financing is rare, and the market rate debt is expensive.
The event brought together more than 600 global participants from over 50 countries, which included country governments, global organisations, the private sector, academia, NGOs, media, and others to discuss ways to facilitate investment in the sector as well as accelerate the deployment of mini-grid systems.
The summit ended with a site visit to 37.8 kW Bisanti solar minigrid, constructed by GVE Projects Limited, in collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BOI), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers (IEEE), located in Katcha, Niger State, Nigeria.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, said: “I see only opportunities in Nigeria, and not challenges, and policies have been developed to help entrepreneurs fast track energy access for underserved populations.”
Fashola commended the World Bank in developing the power sector, and REA for developing data to help private developers reach the communities they need.
The Managing Director, REA, Damilola Ogunbiyi, said the aim of the Agency is to roll out 10,000 mini-grids rapidly to support underserved communities in Nigeria, “and with the current regulatory landscape, Nigeria is the best market to do mini-grids. The off-grid will be treated as importantly as the on-grid in Nigeria.”
Global Lead Energy, Access, World Bank, Mac Cosgrove-Davies, noted that in Nigeria, 80 million people lacked access to electricity and millions suffer from unreliable service, “the World Bank and the Government of Nigeria are working together to make mini-grids a viable solution to bridge a large share of the electrification gap in the country.
“Rural Electrification Agency will be the implementing agency for the fund,” he said.
To the Managing Director, Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (SEED), Program, Rocky Mountain Institute, Stephen Doig, explained why Nigeria is a viable market. “The large revenue opportunity, supportive government, and dynamic entrepreneurial environment unite to make Nigeria the ideal location to bring these technologies to scale, prove viable business models, meet the needs of millions of people, all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Ekiti, Rivers demand share of $1 billion insurgency fund

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose

The controversy on the Federal Government’s plan to spend $1 billion to combat terrorism in the country took a new twist yesterday as Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and his Ekiti counterpart Ayodele Fayose demanded their states’ share of the money.
This came as 16 local government chairmen in Ekiti State sued the Attorney General of the Federation and governors of the 36 states, seeking an order restraining the aforementioned from giving effect to the appropriation of the sum.
Following a meeting of the National Executive Council last week, state governors had given the administration the nod to withdraw $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to prosecute the campaign against insurgency.
Wike, however, said yesterday that more than anywhere else, the Niger Delta deserves a share of the money to tackle decades of environmental terrorism unleashed by exploitation. He stressed there would not have been excess crude funds without the contributions of oil-producing communities in the region.
“There should be balance in the way the Federal Government handles issues affecting different parts of the country. We are not saying that the Federal Government should not tackle Boko Haram. But as they tackle Boko Haram with $1 billion, they must remember that the environmental challenge facing the Niger Delta is the major security challenge. If something happens or there is a crisis in the Niger Delta, there will be no excess crude for anyone to draw from,” he said.
The governor noted that issues of development and security must be devoid of politicisation, because political parties are mere vehicles conveying people to desired destinations. “This country belongs to all of us. We must work to salvage Nigeria. We shall always talk about the interest of Nigeria,” Wike told members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Local Content when they paid him a courtesy visit in Port Harcourt.
Wike’s view was shared by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
Legborsi Pyagbara, MOSOP president, told The Guardian it was disheartening that the government wants to spend $1 billion from the ECA to fight physical terrorism, while ignoring environmental problems in the Niger Delta.
He regretted that interest groups in the country have allowed the Boko Haram issue to fester, to justify the diversion of funds to the North. He said the directive that the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) should remit $100 million yearly to the North East Development Commission is a pointer.
He added that the approval of the $1 billion smacked of sectionalism and discrimination against the Ogoni people whose land has been devastated and is still awaiting remediation, six years after the United Nations Environment Programme released its findings on the area.
On his part, Fayose said: “Nigerians deserve proper explanations from the Federal Government on the rationale behind spending such a huge sum of money to fight an already defeated Boko Haram.”

The Buhari administration has repeatedly insisted the militant group has been defeated.
In a tweet, the governor notes: “Just read FG’s new position on the $1bn (N367bn) ECA fund that it is not only to fight Boko Haram but for security issues in all the states.” He adds: “Most importantly, Ekiti wants its own share,” saying there was the need for the government to detail “who is getting what and for what reason.”
Also, at a meeting in Abuja yesterday between the Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) and Speakers of state Houses of Assembly, Fayose explained that although the issue of the ECA withdrawal has generated interest from Nigerians, “I did not feature at the meeting of the NGF on Tuesday. I’m not in support of $1 billion and will never be in support. In my state we have agreed to go to court to contest this. It is our legitimate right. All accruals to the federation must be shared by the three tiers of government. And for me to get justice, I have to go to court.”
According to him, “Every state has its own peculiarities in terms of security. Ekiti State has Hunger Haram where hunger is catching people everywhere. A lot of people are being kidnapped daily. Whatever is in that money for me, we should share it. Let everybody go and solve his own problem. I have challenges and they should give me my money. It is Ekiti’s money.”
The Chairman of the NGF and Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Yari, who was also at the meeting, said Fayose was free under a democracy to disagree on the issue. He, however, explained that 32 of the 36 governors actually approved the deal.
Similarly, Osinbajo in Abuja yesterday clarified that the governors approved the fund for security concerns in all parts of the country and not in the North East alone.
In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1264/17, the Ekiti council chairmen asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to declare that the approval of the sum by the governors to purportedly execute the constitutional duty of the Federal Government, which has been sufficiently funded from the Federation Account, without their consent, was ultra vires, unlawful, null and void.
The suit, which was filed yesterday at the registry of the court by counsel to the plaintiffs, Ola Olanikpekun (SAN), also listed the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission as a defendant.
The chairmen are: Deji Ogunsakin (Ado LGA); Bola Alonge (Ikere LGA); Lanrewaju Omolase (Ekiti South West LGA); Dapo Olagunju (Irepodun/Ifelodun LGA); Samuel Adeniyi (Ekiti East LGA); Olumide Falade (Ise/Orun LGA); Sade Akinrinmola (Gbonyin LGA); Tayo Ogundare (Oye LGA); Chief Ayodeji Arogbodo (Ido/Osi LGA) and Taiwo Oguntuase (Emure LGA). Others are: Kolawole Omotunde (Ekiti West LGA); Bolaji Jeje (Efon LGA); Adesola Adeyanju (Ikole LGA); Ganiyu Bakare (Ilejemele LGA); Adeniyi Adebayo (Moba LGA) and Abiodun Dada (Ijero LGA).

source: gnp

Henry Thiery ‘crowned’ Igwe of football

Football legend, Henry Thiery, who is popularly referred to as ‘Igwe’ by Arsenal fans, was on Sunday crowned ‘Igwe of football.’
The Arsenal legend was unveiled as the ambassador for Guinness ‘Made of Black’ campaign held at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

One billion dollars to fight Boko Haram?

Governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum last week after the National Economic Council meeting announced that the sum of $1bn be withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account for fighting the Boko Haram insurgents which President Muhammadu Buhari and his government spokespersons had declared already “technically defeated” some months ago.

This announcement has since generated tremendous anger among Nigerians who mostly believe that it’s another way of raising the campaign money for the President’s All Progressives Party for the 2019 elections.

But before getting to whether it is for political campaign purposes or not, it is important to make it abundantly clear that the ECA in question is an illegal account.

This is because there is nowhere in the constitution that the ECA is either mentioned or recommended as one of the legitimate accounts to be jointly owned by the three tiers of government.

Be that as it may, the fact that the oil revenue is shared at every monthly FAAC meeting, there is no way state governments can unilaterally make that decision to draw $1bn from the same account supposedly owned by the three tiers.

They need local governments to endorse such a drawing decision or else it will only require one bold no-nonsense council chairman to go to court to pray that that decision be made invalid since their local government was neither consulted nor participated in the decision to withdraw such huge sum for fighting Boko Haram. More so, given the growing anger in the land that, after all, there are many other easier ways for government to raise more money than it requires without having to touch the ECA money.

If you have not read my recent piece, “The shocking forex fraud taking place at CBN,” I will invite you to go and do so. For those who have already read it, I invite you to read it again.

Once you do so, surely, you will discover why the $1bn to fight Boko Haram may not necessarily be the major campaign finance source for the APC in the 2019 elections.

All the government needs to do is to ask its forex czar, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, to do the needful, which will be to dry up dollar supply in the forex market.

This will automatically weaken the naira to the level of N500/$ for example. Keeping the official rate still at N305/$ and selling $20bn at N500/$ during the next 12 months will definitely make the kill.

Here is the math. N500-N305 x 20,000,000,000 = N3.9tn. Try to subtract 20 per cent (N780bn) for the “big boys” at the CBN and at the country’s commercial banks, politicians will still have N3.120tn.

Now, from this math, we can see that if politicians want to spend trillions in the 2019 elections, they wouldn’t have any problem raising such an unheard-of-amount.

But, then, is it wholly their fault? Of course, not. Here is why. As hypocrites who believe in having their cake and eating it, by demanding highest bidder upfront payment from politicians for our votes, we have driven our politicians crazy in raising the campaign bribe money.

Now, we have the audacity to insist that our politicians are corrupt, removing ourselves from any form of blame.

That is why I personally think that we all are to blame for Nigeria’s rottenness. No amount of dodging to see ourselves in the mirror will work. As a people, we prefer free and easy money to hard work and honest ways of earning a living.

The day we all stand up against corruption in all its forms is the day our hypocrisy will disappear. It is the day we can then judge our politicians and others for stealing from our commonwealth. I can’t wait to see that day in my lifetime.

New bride attacks husband with razor blade

A newly-wedded bride in Sokoto, Shafa Muhammad, 28, has attacked her husband with a razor blade and injured him on the head.
The couple is resident at Arkillar Liman Area, Wamakko Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The incident allegedly occurred on Dec.16, just three weeks after the couple Wedded.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that Shafa was allegedly forced to marry Umar Shehu against her wish.

A Tillerson Slip Offers a Peek Into Secret Planning on North Korea

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a crowd of people: A celebration this month in North Korea of the nation’s status as a nuclear state. North Korea has defied repeated predictions of government collapse.

1/3 SLIDES © Kim Won-Jin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A celebration this month in North Korea of the nation’s status as a nuclear state. North Korea has defied repeated predictions of government collapse.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson let slip last week a few tantalizing details about one of the nation’s most secret military contingency plans: how the United States would try to race inside North Korea to seize its nuclear weapons if it ever saw evidence that Kim Jong-un’s government was collapsing.
For years, American diplomats have been trying to engage their Chinese counterparts in a discussion of this scenario, hoping to avoid a conflict between arriving American Special Forces — who have been practicing this operation for years — and the Chinese military, which would almost certainly pour over the border in a parallel effort.

And for years the Chinese have resisted the conversation, according to several former American officials who tried to engage them in joint planning. The Chinese feared that if news of a conversation leaked, Beijing would be seen as conspiring with the United States over plans for an eventual North Korean collapse, eroding any leverage that Beijing still held over Mr. Kim.
So it was surprising to Mr. Tillerson’s colleagues in the White House and the Pentagon when, in a talk to the Atlantic Council last week, he revealed that the Trump administration had already provided assurances to China’s leadership that if American forces landed in North Korea to search for and deactivate nuclear weapons, the troops would do their work and then retreat.
North Korea has defied past predictions of collapse, and one does not appear imminent. But if a collapse were to occur, the aftermath could present grave dangers. American officials have envisioned that North Korean officers, fearing the end of Mr. Kim’s government, might lob a nuclear weapon at South Korea or Japan as a last, desperate act — or detonate it on North Korean territory to make occupation impossible.
On Tuesday, speaking from note cards, Mr. Tillerson said at a conference on the Korea crisis that the United States and China “have had conversations about in the event that something happened — it could happen internal to North Korea; it might be nothing that we from the outside initiate — that if that unleashed some kind of instability, the most important thing to us would be securing those nuclear weapons they’ve already developed and ensuring that they — that nothing falls into the hands of people we would not want to have it.”
He added, “We’ve had conversations with the Chinese about how might that be done.”
He repeated his past assurance that the administration was not seeking “regime collapse” or “an accelerated unification of the Korean Peninsula.”
“We do not seek a reason to send our own military forces north of the demilitarized zone,” the dividing line between North and South, he said.
But if America’s hand is forced, he added, “we have had conversations that if something happened and we had to go across a line, we have given the Chinese assurances we would go back and retreat back to the south of the 38th parallel” when conditions allowed.
In other words, the United States would essentially cede North Korean territory to the Chinese military, or let China and South Korea figure out who would control 46,500 square miles of territory and take care of its 25 million occupants, many of whom already do not have enough to eat.
In an interview on other national security issues on Friday, a senior administration official who has been deeply involved in the North Korea contingency planning declined to speak about the issue, even to confirm that the conversations the secretary described had taken place.
The White House has been more focused on the embattled Mr. Tillerson’s public offer to begin talks with North Korea on any issues, even “the weather,” from which he backtracked on Friday in a presentation to the United Nations.
But the reference to planning for North Korean collapse, while not drawing wide notice, caught the attention of those who have been drawing up military plans for a number of possible scenarios, including American pre-emptive strikes. Asked whether Mr. Tillerson had referred by mistake to entreaties to the Chinese that previous administrations kept secret, Steven Goldstein, the new under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, said it was quite deliberate.
“The secretary reiterated the position he has taken in meetings with Chinese counterparts,” he said. “He would like the U.S. and Chinese military leaders to develop a plan for the safe disposition of North Korea’s nuclear weapons were the regime to collapse.” He added: “While the secretary has never advocated for regime change, we all have an obligation to be prepared for any scenario.”
There is no indication that the Chinese have responded, or that military officials have met — though Beijing would almost certainly keep that secret if it occurred.
According to current and former American officials, the contingency plans to seize North Korea’s nuclear arsenal have grown in complexity in recent years — largely because the North Korean arsenal has grown.
There are competing estimates among American intelligence agencies over how many weapons the North possesses. Most estimates range from 15 to 30 nuclear devices, but the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is responsible for protecting American troops on the Korean Peninsula, projected this year that the number could be in excess of 50.
The North is presumed to have undertaken an elaborate effort to hide the weapons. The result, one senior military official said recently, is that even if dozens of weapons were seized and deactivated, there would be no way to determine whether many more were still hidden away, perhaps under the control of surviving members of Mr. Kim’s military.
In the secret American rehearsals of how to execute a seizure of the North’s weapons — more of which are planned for the first half of next year, officials say — speed is of the essence.
Finding those weapons, landing “render safe” teams to disarm them and airlifting them out of the country would be a difficult enough task in peacetime. But the American planning assumes a three-way scramble to seize both weapons and territory, involving Chinese troops who may find themselves facing off against the United States and its South Korean allies.
“Washington should assume that any Korean conflict involving large-scale U.S. military operations will trigger a significant Chinese military intervention,” Oriana Skylar Mastro, a professor of security studies at Georgetown University, wrote this month in the journal Foreign Affairs, in a provocative article titled “Why China Won’t Rescue North Korea.”
China, she wrote, “will likely attempt to seize control of key terrain, including North Korea’s nuclear sites,” most of which are within 60 miles or so of the Chinese border. Because of geographic advantage, they would probably arrive long before American forces.
In the past, American planning was based on an assumption that China would come to the aid of North Korea, as it did during the Korean War nearly seven decades ago. But Ms. Mastro, who also advises the United States Pacific Command, wrote that today “the Chinese military assume that it would be opposing, not supporting, North Korean troops.”
Her analysis mirrors what is increasingly becoming the dominant thinking among American military planners. That has made the secret discussion that Mr. Tillerson alluded to all the more vital. Curiously, some Chinese academics have begun writing about the need for the United States and China to prepare a joint strategy. Such public airing of the issue would have been banned in Chinese publications even a few years ago.
Mr. Tillerson’s public comments prompted memories of a lengthy conversation between the American ambassador in South Korea and a senior South Korean official in 2010. The details were revealed by WikiLeaks in a trove of 250,000 State Department cables that included secret discussions about how to deal with China’s ambitions for North Korean territory in the event of a collapse.
Over a lunchtime conversation, the South Korean diplomat confidently predicted to the American ambassador at the time, Kathleen Stephens, that North Korea would collapse “two to three years” after Kim Jong-il, the dictator at the time, died.
In fact, he died in 2011, but the predicted collapse never came. The diplomat then described plans to assure that Chinese companies would have plenty of commercial opportunities to mine minerals in the northern part of the peninsula. Ms. Stephens’s description of the lunch, sent back to Washington, included the caution that “China would clearly ‘not welcome’ any U.S. military presence north of the DMZ.”

Daily manner

Good Morning Friends! Here Is The Word For Today Wed. Dec. 12, 2017.

When You Become God

Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet - Exodus 7:1

Do you want to become like God? I can imagine some of us thinking what it would be and feel like to play God just for a day. Imagine having supernatural powers and whatever you say comes to pass. Well, the truth is God truly desires to make you like a God just as He made Moses God to Pharaoh. God wants to make you God to the kingdom of darkness. He wants to send you back and forth to that curse that says no one in your family will ever get married. He wants to make you a terror to that idol that says no one will ever amount to something in your family but the question remains ARE YOU READY TO BECOME GOD?

Pharaoah dreaded Moses because everytime Moses shows up, things go bad in his Kingdom. Can the kingdom of darkness say the same about you? Do they tremble and fall on their feet every time you go on your knees to pray? All through the Bible we see men who did extraordinary things. Elijah shut up the sky for three and half years and there was no rain, the disciples healed just by casting their shadow on the sick. We can not become like God or align ourselves to be made like God if we continue to live in perpetual sin. These men lived the kind life that is pleasing to the God. They were righteous men and always in the presence of God; thus their word always agree with that of Heaven. These men were lead by the spirit of God who lives in them. They are ruled by the word of God and it is the power of the word they exercised by doing extraordinary things.

Prayer For Today
Father God I align myself to be made like God to all problems. I'm ready to go back and forth speaking to them until they give way. Help me get rid of unforgiveness, immoral deeds and thoughts. Give me the spirit of humility, love and perseverance in Jesus name amen.

Family drags Bianca, others to court over Ojukwu father’s property

An Awka High Court, presided over by Justice Dennis Mmaduechesi on Monday adjourned till March 12, 2018 for a pre-trial conference on a matter involving  Bianca, the widow of the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and others over the family property.

The case involved the sharing of the late Sir Louis Ojukwu’s property.

Sir Louis Ojukwu, who died in 1966, was the father of late Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, the defunct Biafra secessionists’ leader

Mr. Aloysius Ojukwu and his brother, Mr. Jude Ojukwu, had instituted the suit in 2014 against Dr. Joseph Ojukwu, Dr. Ike Ojukwu, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu and Mr. Lotenna Ojukwu.

When the matter was called up on Monday, counsel for the plaintiff, Mr. Ikenna Egbuna, (SAN), represented by Mr. Chuka Anatogu, informed the court that he was  just served with a motion which would  require sometime to reply.

Mr. Ebuka Ogwu and Mr. Christopher Ezeoka had put up an appearance for the defendants but parties agreed to an adjournment.

The plaintiff among other reliefs was seeking that they be entitled to 25 per cent of the share in the compound of their father (Sir Louis Ojukwu) at No. 73, Owerri Road, Umudim, Nnewi and a “declaration that the plaintiff are entitled to succeed to 25 per cent shares of their father’s company, Ojukwu Transport Company.”

They also sought an order of the court compelling the defendants to account to the plaintiffs the management of the late Sir Louis Ojukwu’s property over the years.

The plaintiffs further asked the court to grant an order of the Will of Sir Louis Ojukwu to be resealed.

Global stocks mixed as bitcoin surges

PHOTO: pixabay.com

Global stocks were mixed Monday, with major US indices ending at fresh records as bitcoin futures surged in their debut on a major exchange.
The Dow and S&P 500 edged to fresh records amid gains by technology shares as investors brushed off concerns over an explosion early in the day near Times Square that injured three and halted activity in key New York transportation hubs for several hours.
In Europe, bourses played the waiting game ahead of a series of central bank meetings, including a two-day session at the US Federal Reserve that is expected to conclude Wednesday with a decision to lift interest rates.
“It’s been another quiet start to trading in what is otherwise going to be a very busy week in financial markets, with a number of central banks scheduled to make interest rate announcements,” said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.
Frankfurt and Paris both slipped around 0.2 percent, while London bucked the trend, showing a gain of around 0.8 percent.
Most analysts expect the US central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee to lift interest rates again.
“The Fed will no doubt provide markets with a central focus this week, where the FOMC are expected to come good on their promise of three rate hikes for 2017,” said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.
Bitcoin marches higher
Even with the US records, stocks were overshadowed by the launch of bitcoin futures on the Cboe, the first mainstream exchange to offer trading in the controversial digital currency.
Bitcoin futures for January delivery finished at $18,850.00 at 2115 GMT, a bit below session peaks but well above $15,000, the initial price when Cboe launched the platform on Sunday night.
“We are quite pleased,” Cboe chief Ed Tilly said in an interview with AFP several hours after the launch.
“We have been anticipating a slow and steady build. I expect to see that continuing.”
Among individual stocks, Apple jumped 2.0 percent following acquisition of song recognition app Shazam, which is seen as a fresh bid to secure an edge in the intensifying battle of streaming services. Financial terms were not disclosed, but leading technology news sites put the deal at around $400 million.
Disney rose 2.5 percent as its animated comedy “Coco” again led the weekend box office list. Disney also is expected to get a lift from next weekend’s release of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” predicted to net a mammoth $200 million in its opening weekend.
– Key figures around 2100 GMT –
New York – DOW: UP 0.2 percent at 24,386.03 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 2,659.99 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.5 percent at 6,875.08 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 7,453.48 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: DOWN 0.2 percent at 13,123.65 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 5,386.83 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.3 at 3,582.21
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 22,938.73 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 1.1 percent at 28,965.29 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,322.20 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1769 from $1.1773
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3340 from $1.3394
Dollar/yen: UP at 113.56 yen from 113.47
Oil – Brent North Sea: UP $1.29 at $64.69 per barrel
Oil – West Texas Intermediate: UP 63 cents at $57.99 per barrel

My mission is to win 2019 AFCON, says Rohr

Gernot Rohr1

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr is aiming to win the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroun after extending his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for two more years. Three-time champions Nigeria missed out on the 2015 and 2017 edition of the AFCON, and trail leaders Libya and South Africa by three points in Group E of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers.
‘’The verbal agreement was reinforced by an official handshake,’’ said Rohr to football365.fr.

‘’We met in Moscow with representatives of the executive committee of the Federation. We agreed on a two-year extension.

‘’I thank my leaders for this trust. Beyond the World Cup, the goal is AFCON 2019. We want to come back and win.’’
The Super Eagles were due to face Seychelles in their next AFCON qualifier in March 2018 but that game has been postponed because of their involvement in the World Cup.
Nigeria first won the AFCON on home soil in 1980, before triumphing in 1994 and 2013.
Rohr still wants to have the former Super Eagles skipper, Vincent Enyeama, in his 2018 FIFA World Cup squad and has opened the doors for the experienced goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, media reports suggest that Enyeama, who announced his retirement from international football in October 2015, had ruled out a return.
However, Rohr says Enyeama could earn a recall as he faces a goalkeeper crisis after first choice Carl Ikeme was diagnosed with leukemia.
“Coach Rohr had a productive chat with Enyeama and made it clear that he should focus on getting fit and enjoy a playing run,” team spokesperson Toyin Ibitoye told BBC Sport.
“Contrary to local media reports, the professional talks between both of them remains unchanged, there are conditions involved and as long as it’s adhered to, Enyeama stands a World Cup chance.”
The BBC reports that Daniel Akpeyi has failed to impress and his replacement Ikechukwu Ezenwa lacks composure, while young Francis Uzoho is inexperienced.
“It’s very important to respect those who are currently with the team. The likes of Akpeyi, Ezenwa, Alampasu, Uzoho and Ajiboye all need the support of our fans,” Ibitoye added.
“Coach Rohr insists we should not let the talk of Enyeama deprive others of their deserved respect. With these goalkeepers and Carl Ikeme we achieved World Cup qualification.

Six-year-old boy accused of rape

A six-year-old boy was accused of rape, according to new figures that revealed children under 10 were alleged to have carried out 20,000 crimes in six years.
Among that figure are children as young as five being suspected of carrying out sexual assaults.
They’ve also been accused of arson, threats to kill, possession of firearms and racially aggravated common assault. However, because of their age they cannot be charged with committing a criminal offence.
Data released by 30 of the 45 police forces that serve England and Wales show that the number of crimes by children under 10 has risen from 1,917 offences in 2012, to 4,209 in 2016.
So far in 2017, police have identified 3,631 young suspects. They can’t face prosecution but can be given a curfew, a child safety order or be taken into care by social services.
The figures were released as a bill was put forward to raise the age of criminal responsibility in the UK from 10 to 12 – meaning the likes of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson would not face the same action.
Solicitor Laurence Lee, who represented 10-year-old Jon Venables in the James Bulger murder case in 1993, said increasing the age limit would be ‘mad.’
He said: “To raise it would be absolutely absurd. I’ll tell you now, if they were to raise it, so many 10- and 11-year-olds would be laughing their socks off.
“What would happen is older criminals would just get the 10- and 11-year-olds to do the ‘shooting.’”
Mr. Lee argued a solution could be a two-tier system, where minor crimes are dealt with in the current manner, but more serious crimes should be prosecuted.
He said: “I don’t believe that every 10-year-old that shoplifts should be arrested, in fact they never are.
“Ten is about right at the moment. The criminal age of responsibility should always be monitored, perhaps on a yearly basis, and if society does get worse, then it has to be looked at periodically.”
In Merseyside, children were mainly linked to drug-related crimes and even the possession of firearms. The rate of sexually related crimes in the area has also risen dramatically over the past six years, increasing from four alleged offences in 2012 to 24 so far this year.
Cambridgeshire Police’s figures revealed an alleged three-year-old thief as well as five-year-olds suspected of sexual assault on children under the age of 13.
The report from Humberside Police showed that the most common age of suspected criminals was nine years old, with 184 of the 401 children’s crimes from the past six years linked to the age group.
At 10 years old, the national age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is one of the lowest ages in Western Europe. Scotland did have the youngest age at eight years old; but last year, the Scottish government decided to raise it to 12.
(Metro)

Bomber Strikes Near Times Square, Disrupting City but Killing None

A would-be suicide attacker detonated a pipe bomb strapped to his body in the heart of Manhattan’s busiest subway corridor on Monday, sending thousands of terrified commuters fleeing the smoke-choked passageways, and bringing the heart of Midtown to a standstill as hundreds of police officers converged on Times Square and the surrounding streets.
But the makeshift weapon failed to fully detonate, and the attacker himself was the only one seriously injured in the blast, which unfolded just before 7:20 a.m.
Law enforcement officials said the attacker, identified by the police as Akayed Ullah, 27, chose the location because of its Christmas-themed posters, a motive that recalled strikes in Europe, and he told investigators that he set off his bomb in retaliation for United States airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria and elsewhere.

It was the third attack in New York City since September 2016, and the second in two months, coming only weeks after eight people were killed in a truck attack along a Hudson River bike path. Like the earlier two, the attack on Monday appears to have been carried out by a so-called “lone-wolf” terrorist.
Explosion rocks New York's Port Authority Slideshow by Reuters
The explosion on Monday morning echoed through the subway tunnels just off Times Square and filled parts of the Port Authority Bus Terminal with smoke as commuters fled. Even as smoke still filled the chamber, Mr. Ullah was subdued by Port Authority police officers
After he was subdued, Mr. Ullah was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, where he was in serious condition with burns to his hands and abdomen, according to Daniel A. Nigro, the commissioner of the New York Fire Department. Three other people had minor injuries, he said.
An immigrant from Bangladesh, Mr. Ullah came to live in Brooklyn through a visa program available to people who have relatives who are United States citizens.
On Monday afternoon, in his first remarks on the attack, President Trump assailed the visa program, known as extended-family chain migration. “The terrible harm that this flawed system inflicts on America’s security and economy has long been clear,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “I am determined to improve our immigration system to put our country and our people first.”
The attack occurred in a long pedestrian walkway connecting the Eighth Avenue, Seventh Avenue and Broadway subway lines. Among the commuters traveling beneath Times Square was a man in a hooded sweatshirt. Then came a deafening boom — from him — and then smoke.
Everyone ran.

Atiku’s exit, not good for APC, says Okorocha

The Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has said that the exit of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from the ruling All Progressives Congress was not a good development for the party.
Atiku who was a former Vice-President recently defected from the ruling party to the Peoples Democratic Party.
Okorocha, who spoke with journalists after receiving an honorary doctorate degree at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State on Saturday, however, described Abubakar as a heavyweight politician.
He said, “I have taken a holistic view of our party, it (Atiku’s exit) is not the best because no matter how anybody thinks, Atiku carries some political weight. His leaving our party is not the best.”
The Imo State Governor, however, noted that since Atiku had decided to move on politically by going to another political party, the APC would make amend and his (Atiku) place will be filled up accordingly.
Reacting to the recent statement credited to the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, which said there would be no automatic ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari ahead the 2019 Presidential Election, against the position of the APC governors, Okorocha maintained that he would support Buhari for a second term.
The chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum had earlier said all the governors would support the party’s sole candidacy of President Buhari in 2019 election but Tinubu disagreed insisting that the APC’s presidential candidate must emerge through a primary.
Okorocha said, “The (Tinubu’s) statement came to me as a surprise, come to think of it, I never referred to him. I refer to the governors of Nigeria including the PDP governors and I said only one or two of them have not joined yet.
“Since I made the statement, no governor has said something contrary to what I said. I am surprised that Asiwaju will now be speaking for the governors. He looks like somebody crying more than the bereaved. I did not see reason for the statement actually. But he commands my respect and I don’t want to join issue with the National Leader of my party.
“What I mentioned was for the governors and secondly what I said is support. The word I use is support that does not mean there will not be primary. Governors can only contribute only 37 votes, we still have over 5,000 votes up there. What I was talking about was governors. I was not talking about other party members. Governors alone do not determine the flagbearer of a party.
“If you recall, I said but for Buhari, I would have run for presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But I found in him a man credible and he still has four years term to do. I will allow him to complete and I will go back to my political trenches because I would still run for presidency anyhow. I consider myself young enough to wait until 2023 and I don’t hide my stand on any issue. But for now, my support goes to President Muhammadu Buhari.”

I hope this will inspire a farmer, says Buhari as he visits farm in Daura

Buhari during a visit to his farm in Daura.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday took time out to visit his farm in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State.
He spent the weekend in the town having arrived there in the early hours of Friday after his two-day official visit to Kano State.
The President is scheduled to leave the town on Monday and proceed to Paris, France where he is expected to participate in “One Planet Summit.”
After inspecting his farm, Buhari shared his photographs on the farm on his Twitter handle.
He expressed the hope that Nigerians would be inspired to embrace farming. The President said his vision was to see Nigeria, under his leadership, grow what its citizens eat.
Buhari wrote, “I’m spending a few days at home in Daura before I travel to France for the One Planet Summit.
“Today (Sunday), I paid a visit to my farm. I grow fruits and vegetables, and keep cattle. I hope this will inspire one more person to take up farming. “My vision is for a country that grows what it eats.”

More than 7000 APC members defect to PDP in Taraba State.

Gov. Darius Ishaku of Taraba

The Taraba State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) suffered a major setback, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) received no fewer than 7000 members of the APC who defected to the PDP in Gassol Local Council. Several members of the APC from Kurmi Local Council, led by the former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Simeon Inusa Dogari, had earlier left the APC for PDP.
Receiving the defected members at Mutum Biyu, headquarters of the council, the state chairman of the PDP, Victor Bala Kona said their coming back to the PDP marks the death of APC in the council and the state at large.
Kona encouraged the people to continue to support PDP saying, “There is no alternative to the party in the state. The PDP is well positioned to recapture power at the national level.”
Deputy Governor, Haruna Manu, lauded the defectors for the honour done to him by returning to the PDP assuring them that they would not have any cause to leave the party again.
He told them that as the representative of the council and as deputy governor, he has been protecting their interests, effectively hence the need for all members of the council still in the opposition party to join hands with the PDP to move the state higher.
He admonished the people, particularly the party faithful to continue to support the Governor Dahiru Ishaku administration as that according to him would pave way for the much more developed.
The defected members, led by Isa Mohammed Tobi and Musulimu Audu Harisu, said the development in the state under Governor Dahiru left them with no other option than to leave the APC for the PDP.
 GNP

Your ‘tenancy’ in Aso Rock ends in 2019, PDP tells Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari

• You can’t change, APC replies main opposition party
• Agbaje, Olafeso urge new party leader to pacify Southwest
Newly-elected National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has told President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) that they have until May 2019 to enjoy power at the centre.
Secondus, at the Eagle Square Abuja national convention, emerged leader of the opposition party that lost power in 2015 on the back of general discontentment and allegations of widespread corruption.
He said in his victory speech that a re-invigorated PDP would reclaim power from the ruling APC, which, the new PDP’s National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan, described as already “jittery.”
Secondus defeated other contestants, including former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran and Chairman, Daar Communications, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi at the PDP national convention held on Saturday in Abuja. His victory, however, angered a few party loyalists in the Southwest, who had insisted it was the turn of the region to produce the national chairman.
But the new chairman described the mandate given to him at the Abuja convention as “clear” and a directive “to return the party to power in 2019.”
According to him, the task has to be immediate, to save Nigeria from disintegration. “We are all witnesses to how the unity of this country has been shaken to its very foundation under the watch of the rudderless and clueless APC.
“We, therefore, have a gigantic task of retrieving this country from APC’s clear lack of direction and confusion starting with the Presidency,” he said.
Secondus said steps would be taken to avoid repeating previous mistakes, and promised internal democracy in the PDP under his leadership. “No more imposition, no more impunity. Every member of this party can from this moment, consider him or herself an equal shareholder in our common destiny,” he assured.
He urged Nigerians, who left the party to “come back home.”
Governorship candidate of the Lagos State PDP in the 2015 election, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who staged a last-minute step-down in the race, enjoined those unhappy with the outcome of the convention to look for a way forward in the interest of the party.
“Whatever might have happened during the convention was not enough reason for anybody, region or group to pull out from the party,” Agbaje told The Guardian.

Agbaje explained that part of the factors that affected the party in the 2015 elections was the anger by the Southwest region that former President Goodluck Jonathan did very little for the zone in terms of appointments and building of infrastructure. Even in the 2015 elections that we lost to APC, the Southwest zone was able to garner 2.1 million votes for the PDP as against the 2.5 million votes that the ruling party had there. It is therefore a big catchment area for the party if it must win in 2019.”
Agbaje urged the new chairman of the PDP to begin the process of appeasing the zone by assuring it that something bigger would come to it, especially against the region’s frustration with the APC.
Deputy National Chairman, Southwest zone, Dr. Eddy Olafeso in line with Agabje’s position appealed to PDP members to act in unity.  He said: “The fact that Secondus from the South South won places a strong challenge on the Southwest to put its house in order and operate in unity. The zone lost the election basically due to internal crises.”
Meanwhile, the APC, in a statement by its national Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, described the PDP as a party that is yet to turn a new leaf since it was tossed out of power in the 2015 poll.  “A leopard cannot change its spot,” Abdullahi said.
He continued: “The abnormalities that trailed the PDP National Convention have further exposed the PDP as a party not ready and willing to change. Indeed, the PDP has once again displayed itself to the generality of Nigerians that it is a party with corruption deeply rooted in its DNA.
“Again, it is tragic that the PDP which used to pride itself as the biggest political party in Africa has now been reduced to a regional party. By frustrating South West chairmanship candidates, it is unfortunate that the PDP has decided to punish the South West for not voting for the party in 2015.
“We urge members of the PDP that can pass the integrity test to join the APC so that we can together bring about the much-needed change the country deserves.”

Bats take over Australian town

Residents in a small town in the north-eastern Australian state of Queensland said they have been “held hostage,” by 200,000 bats.

No fewer than 200,000 flying foxes, the world’s largest bats, have overrun the Charters Towers’ residents since Friday, the mayor of the town told dpa on Monday.
A resident Elizabeth Schmidt said: “It’s an absolute disaster – what we have is a nightmare.
“We have had flying fox problems but never in such huge numbers.”
The local council has already shut down two public parks, a swimming pool run by the council and other public spaces.
Frustrated residents took to the streets over the weekend in a march against the town’s council, saying the problem had reached “a tipping point” and calling for action over the “plague of terror.”
The former gold mining town has housed a massive bat colony because of the region’s abundance of native flowering eucalypts, but residents said they are now being held hostage.
Snow Hearne, a local resident for the past seven years, said bats have been a nuisance, but things have escalated “to an extent where nobody can go outside their houses.”
“The stench is horrific and the screeching sound, especially in the evening, because it is mating season, is unbearable,” she told dpa.
“We can’t even go out to our backyards. We are held hostage.
“Everything in the park is covered in flying fox faeces and you worry about getting urinated on,” Kim Gott, another resident, said.
“It’s affected the town pool – we can’t take kids swimming anywhere. People just don’t go outside because the bats fly everywhere.”
Flying foxes are crucial for the keeping native forests healthy and play an important role in pollinating plants and flowers as well as dispersing seeds over distances.
The animals also can host the Hendra and Lyssa viruses, which can be fatal to humans.
Mayor Schmidt said many people have complained about health-related issues, but not “any serious health risk as of yet.”
pnp.

Saudi Arabia lifts 35-year ban on cinemas

Saudi Arabia on Monday announced a lifting of the kingdom’s decades-long ban on cinemas, a landmark decision part of a series of social reforms ushered in by the powerful crown prince.
The culture and information ministry announced in a statement that “commercial cinemas will be allowed to operate in the kingdom as of early 2018, for the first time in more than 35 years,” adding that the government will begin licensing cinemas immediately.

Recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ‘makes peace possible’ – Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that recognising Jerusalem as his country’s capital “makes peace possible”, after widespread international criticism of the US decision to do so.
Netanyahu said the move by US President Donald Trump “doesn’t obviate peace, it makes peace possible because recognising reality is the substance of peace, it’s the foundation of peace,” as he arrived for talks with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

BREAKING: Madrid to play PSG in Champions League last 16, Barca get Chelsea

Two-time defending champions Real Madrid will play big-spending Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League after the draw on Monday.
Real’s La Liga rivals Barcelona were drawn against Chelsea, while English Premier League leaders Manchester City play Basel.

BREAKING: FG approves six new private universities

The Federal Government has approved the establishment of six new private universities in the country.
The decision was reached at a meeting of the Federal Executive Council held on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, briefed State House correspondents at the end of meeting which was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently on an official visit to Kano State.

Mourinho pledges only ‘the truth’ on injuries

Manchester United’s Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho gestures on the touchline during the UEFA Champions League Group A football match between Manchester United and CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England on December 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFF

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has aimed a subtle dig at Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger by declaring he would only tell “the truth” about the fitness of his players.
United, who beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 on Tuesday to reach the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time since 2013-14, face Guardiola’s Manchester City on Sunday seeking to cut their eight-point lead in the Premier League.
Mourinho suggested Guardiola was being less than truthful by expressing doubts about the fitness of David Silva and hinted Wenger had done the same with regard to Alexandre Lacazette prior to United’s 3-1 win at Arsenal on Saturday.
Asked to provide a fitness update on his squad, Mourinho told reporters at Old Trafford: “Do you want the truth? The truth is Eric Bailly no chance for the weekend. Phil Jones a chance. (Marouane) Fellaini a chance.
“Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) a big chance and (Nemanja) Matic is injured, but will play for sure. I’m telling the truth. He’s injured, but he’ll play for sure.
“(Michael) Carrick no chance. It’s the truth, eh? No stories of Lacazette, David Silva. All the truth.”
Wenger ruled Lacazette out of Arsenal’s meeting with United last weekend due to a groin injury, only for the French striker to play the full 90 minutes and score his side’s goal.
Mourinho joked Arsenal’s medical team had performed an “amazing” feat by turning Lacazette “from a no to a complete 90 minutes”.
Silva, meanwhile, has been left out of City’s squad for their game at Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday due to an unspecified injury, with Guardiola saying he does not know if the Spaniard will be fit for Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford.
One player unlikely to feature for United against City is left-back Luke Shaw, who has been frozen out by Mourinho but produced an enterprising display on his return to the starting XI against CSKA.
‘Better I shut up’
“Very positive performance, especially with the ball going forward,” Mourinho said of the England international.
“Really dangerous, creating a lot, great intensity in his game. No surprise that in minute 80 he’s feeling the consequences of that intensity. It’s normal — first match of the season for him.
“He’s been deserving that opportunity for a long time and he’s going to get more because the performance was really positive.”
United fell behind late in the first half when Vitinho’s shot from Mario Fernandes’s cut-back struck team-mate Alan Dzagoev on its way into the net.
Dzagoev appeared to be in an offside position, but the goal was allowed to stand — credited to Vitinho — because Daley Blind was adjudged to have played him onside despite having slid off the pitch.
United turned the game around with two goals in two minutes from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford to progress to the last 16 as Group A winners.
Bayern Munich, Juventus and Real Madrid are among the teams United could now face in the next round, but Mourinho said his side would advance confident that they will inspire fear in their next opponents.
“I’m not the luckiest guy with draws, so it’s better I shut up and forget it because we only play in February and until then I have to concentrate on the English competitions,” he said.
“But I think it doesn’t matter the team we get in the draw. I think that team won’t be jumping with happiness to play against us.”
gn

Mourinho pledges only ‘the truth’ on injuries

Manchester United’s Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho gestures on the touchline during the UEFA Champions League Group A football match between Manchester United and CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England on December 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFF

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has aimed a subtle dig at Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger by declaring he would only tell “the truth” about the fitness of his players.
United, who beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 on Tuesday to reach the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time since 2013-14, face Guardiola’s Manchester City on Sunday seeking to cut their eight-point lead in the Premier League.
Mourinho suggested Guardiola was being less than truthful by expressing doubts about the fitness of David Silva and hinted Wenger had done the same with regard to Alexandre Lacazette prior to United’s 3-1 win at Arsenal on Saturday.
Asked to provide a fitness update on his squad, Mourinho told reporters at Old Trafford: “Do you want the truth? The truth is Eric Bailly no chance for the weekend. Phil Jones a chance. (Marouane) Fellaini a chance.
“Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) a big chance and (Nemanja) Matic is injured, but will play for sure. I’m telling the truth. He’s injured, but he’ll play for sure.
“(Michael) Carrick no chance. It’s the truth, eh? No stories of Lacazette, David Silva. All the truth.”
Wenger ruled Lacazette out of Arsenal’s meeting with United last weekend due to a groin injury, only for the French striker to play the full 90 minutes and score his side’s goal.
Mourinho joked Arsenal’s medical team had performed an “amazing” feat by turning Lacazette “from a no to a complete 90 minutes”.
Silva, meanwhile, has been left out of City’s squad for their game at Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday due to an unspecified injury, with Guardiola saying he does not know if the Spaniard will be fit for Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford.
One player unlikely to feature for United against City is left-back Luke Shaw, who has been frozen out by Mourinho but produced an enterprising display on his return to the starting XI against CSKA.
‘Better I shut up’
“Very positive performance, especially with the ball going forward,” Mourinho said of the England international.
“Really dangerous, creating a lot, great intensity in his game. No surprise that in minute 80 he’s feeling the consequences of that intensity. It’s normal — first match of the season for him.
“He’s been deserving that opportunity for a long time and he’s going to get more because the performance was really positive.”
United fell behind late in the first half when Vitinho’s shot from Mario Fernandes’s cut-back struck team-mate Alan Dzagoev on its way into the net.
Dzagoev appeared to be in an offside position, but the goal was allowed to stand — credited to Vitinho — because Daley Blind was adjudged to have played him onside despite having slid off the pitch.
United turned the game around with two goals in two minutes from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford to progress to the last 16 as Group A winners.
Bayern Munich, Juventus and Real Madrid are among the teams United could now face in the next round, but Mourinho said his side would advance confident that they will inspire fear in their next opponents.
“I’m not the luckiest guy with draws, so it’s better I shut up and forget it because we only play in February and until then I have to concentrate on the English competitions,” he said.
“But I think it doesn’t matter the team we get in the draw. I think that team won’t be jumping with happiness to play against us.”
GN

Russia banned from 2018 Winter Olympics over doping

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach attends a press conference following an executive meeting on Russian doping, on December 5, 2017 in Lausanne. Russia were banned from the 2018 Olympics on December 5 over state-sponsored doping but the International Olympic Committee said Russian competitors would be able to compete “under strict conditions”. / AFP PHOTO / Fabrice COFFRINI

Russia was banned Tuesday from the 2018 Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee over its state-orchestrated doping programme, but clean Russian athletes will be allowed to compete under an Olympic flag.
The sanction was the toughest ever levelled by the IOC for drug cheating and came just 65 days ahead of the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
In announcing the decision, IOC president Thomas Bach accused Russia of “perpetrating an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport”.
An explosive report by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) and two subsequent IOC investigations have confirmed that Russian athletes took part in an elaborate drug cheating programme which peaked during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Mounting evidence has indicated that the scheme involved senior government officials, including from the sports ministry, with help from secret state agents.
The IOC also banned Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko — who was sports minister during the Sochi Games — for life.
Mutko is currently the head of the organising committee for the 2018 World Cup, which Russia is hosting.
Attention will quickly turn to see if football’s world governing body FIFA allows the scandal-tainted ally of President Vladimir Putin to retain his senior World Cup role.
In a statement, FIFA said it had “taken note” of the IOC decision but it had “no impact on the preparations” for Russia 2018.
Russia ‘apologised’
The IOC also suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and its chief Alexander Zhukov.
Zhukov said he “apologised” to the IOC on Tuesday for the “anti-doping violations” committed in his country in recent years.
The Winter Olympics’ South Korean organisers said Wednesday they would prefer if Russians competed under their own flag, but accepted as “second-best” the IOC ruling.
Lee Hee-Bum, chief of the Pyeongchang organising committee for February’s Winter Olympics, added the decision caught the Games organisers off guard.
“We did not know that it (the punishment) would be this much,” Lee said, adding there was a “heated debate” among the IOC members before reaching the decision.
The move raises the prospect of Moscow boycotting the Games, something that organisers will be desperate to avoid as they battle low ticket sales and concern over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
‘Principled decision’
The IOC had the option of hitting Russia with a blanket ban, the so-called nuclear option that was applied to apartheid-era South Africa from 1964 to 1988.
The IOC’s decision to choose a more moderate path offers some Russian athletes a route to competing in the Games — although that will be by invitation only and dependent on a stringent testing programme.
“The IOC, at its absolute discretion, will ultimately determine the athletes to be invited from the list,” the IOC said in a statement.
No Russian athlete with a previous doping violation will be allowed to compete and no official who had a leadership role at Sochi 2014 will be invited to Pyeongchang.
Those athletes who do go to the Games will participate under the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia” and the country’s flag will not fly at any 2018 ceremony, the IOC also said.
The US Olympic Committee praised the IOC’s “strong and principled decision.
“There were no perfect options, but this decision will clearly make it less likely that this ever happens again,” it said.
For Grigory Rodchenkov, the former Russian laboratory chief and whistleblower who lifted the lid on the cheating scheme, the IOC’s action was a needed step to clean up the Olympic movement.
“It was the most elaborate and sophisticated doping system in the history of sports. If it did not carry the most significant sanction it would simply have emboldened Russia and other countries who don’t respect the rules”, Rodchenkov’s lawyer, Jim Walden, told reporters on a conference call.
Boycott?
Russian officials have previously met doping accusations with defiance.
Mutko has said the allegations were an attempt “to create an image of an axis of evil” against his country while Putin has warned that a Russia ban would cause “serious harm to the Olympic movement”.
He said forcing Russian athletes to compete under a neutral flag would amount to a national “humiliation”.
That has fuelled speculation that Moscow would instruct its athletes to boycott the compromise solution decided by the IOC.
“An Olympic boycott has never achieved anything,” Bach said, insisting that given the window left open for clean athletes to compete, a boycott was unwarranted.
But the IOC expulsion sparked immediate outrage in Russia.
Deputy speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy has already called for a boycott.
“They are humiliating the whole of Russia through the absence of its flag and anthem,” he said in televised remarks.
The president of Russia’s Bobsleigh Federation, Alexander Zubkov told Russian TV that the IOC decision was a “humiliation.”
GN

Here's what Trump's tax plan means for people at every income level from $20,000 to $269,000 a year

Congressional Republicans are touting their new tax plan as a wage-boosting, job-creating boon to the middle class - despite harsh criticisms from the public and experts.
Business Insider's Lauren Lyons Cole reported that while take-home pay is set to rise under both plans, most Americans won't see a ton of extra cash in their pockets. But how much you save also depends on how much you currently earn.
Career site Zippia provided Business Insider with data breaking down how different occupations fare under the Senate's tax plan. The estimated federal tax savings below are for a single, childless taxpayer who claims the standard deduction.
MSN

Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 23, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump speaking during a visit to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on December 6, 2017, upending decades of careful US policy and ignoring dire warnings from allies across the Middle East and the world. A senior administration official said Trump would make the landmark and keenly watched announcement at 1 pm (1800 GMT) from the White House. / AFP PHOTO / Menahem KAHANA

President Donald Trump will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital Wednesday, upending decades of careful US policy and ignoring dire warnings of a historic misstep that could trigger a surge of violence in the Middle East.
A senior administration official said Trump would make the announcement — ignoring frantic warnings from US allies in the region and around the world — at 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) from the White House.
“He will say that the United States government recognises that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“He views this as a recognition of reality, both historic reality,” the source added, “and modern reality.”
Plunging further into a decades-long dispute over a city considered holy by Jews, Muslims and Christians, Trump will also order to begin planning to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“It will take some time to find a site, to address security concerns, design a new facility, fund a new facility and build it,” the official said, indicating that the move would not be immediate.
“It will be a matter of some years, it won’t be months, it’s going to take time.”
The status of Jerusalem is a critical issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides claiming the city as their capital.
In a frantic series of calls, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the European Union, France, Germany and Turkey all warned Trump against the move.
Anticipating protests, US government officials and their families have been ordered to avoid Jerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank.
On Wednesday, further warnings came from Britain, China, Syria and the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process.
“We view the reports that we have heard with concern, because we think that Jerusalem obviously should be part of the final settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, a negotiated settlement,” British foreign minister Boris Johnson said as he arrived for a NATO meeting in Brussels.
China warned the plan could fuel tensions in the region and Syria called it a “dangerous” move that showed US “contempt for international law”.
UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov said “we all have to be very careful with the actions we take because of the repercussions of these actions.”
Trump’s move comes close to fulfilling a campaign promise, and will delight his political donors and the conservative and evangelical base so vital for the embattled president.
‘Red line’
Most of the international community does not formally recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, insisting the issue can only be resolved in final status negotiations.
US officials talk of “threading the needle” — fulfilling Trump’s campaign pledge, while keeping the peace process on the rails.
The White House argues that such a move would not prejudge final talks and would represent the reality that west Jerusalem is and will continue to be part of Israel under any settlement.
“President Trump remains committed to achieving a lasting peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians and is optimistic that peace can be achieved,” a second official said.
Trump “is prepared to support a two-state solution… if agreed to by the two parties.”
Critics say Trump’s approach is more like “splitting the baby” and could also extinguish his own much-vaunted efforts to broker Middle East peace while igniting the flames of conflict in a region already reeling from crises in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Qatar.
The armed Islamist Hamas movement has threatened to launch a new “intifada” or uprising.
Palestinians were calling for three days of protests starting from Wednesday, raising fears of potential unrest.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman warned his close ally that moving the US embassy was a “dangerous step” that could rile Muslims around the world.
“Mr Trump! Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims,” Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a raucous televised speech on Tuesday.
‘Embassy Act’
Israel seized the largely Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, claiming both sides of the city as its “eternal and undivided capital.”
But the Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state and fiercely oppose any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty there.
Trump was pushed to act on the embassy as a result of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, which stated that the city “should be recognised as the capital of the state of Israel” and that the US embassy should be moved there.
A waiver has been repeatedly invoked by successive US presidents, postponing the move on grounds of “national security” once every six months, meaning the law has never taken effect.
GN

PDP rules out special concession for Atiku, others

Ahmed Makarfi

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has ruled out granting special concession to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and others who defected from other parties.
It however declared that Atiku has made no request for any special concession.
Chairman of PDP national caretaker committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, who made this known while inaugurating the convention planning committee in Abuja, yesterday said that the party is committed to adhering strictly to its rules for the convention.
He allayed the fears of PDP members over the possibility of the party imposing a presidential candidate on them in 2019.
Makarfi said: “As you must have read, one of the founding fathers of this party, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar declared for the PDP yesterday. He is highly welcome. We are expecting more people like him. They might not have been former vice presidents but they are weighty individuals in their own rights. PDP will continue to receive both serving and former this and former that.
“But I also want to correct some media reports about his return. His excellency, Waziri Adamawa, did not seek for any special concession. He joined on his own will. And the party did not extend any special concession to anybody other than what is due to him. It is only then that we will accord such people such recognition and status that they deserve.
“Atiku never asked for anything and we never offered anything. Whatever aspirations he or anybody coming to PDP may have, they will be free to pursue them. So are all other PDP men and women are free to pursue whatever political aspirations they may have. The party will give a level-playing field for party men and women to exercise their right.”
Makarfi also warned against attempts by those he called very disloyal party men to sabotage the party’s efforts in conducting a successful convention.
He expressed satisfaction with Tuesday’s judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Ado Ekiti, which nullified the judgment of a High Court that would have affected the smooth conduct of the December 9 national convention.
Makarfi urged all contestants to go about their campaign with decorum.
Also, the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin, declared that the board is ready to partner with the National Working Committee, Governors Forum and other stakeholders to ensure the success of the national convention.
He urged the party members to “run away” from act that may negatively affect the convention.
The chairman of the Convention Planning Committee, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa gave assurance that the “electoral process will be free, fair and credible.”
Meanwhile, the National Secretary of the caretaker committee, Chief Ben Obi, has said that the national convention would deepen democracy and set the tone for its winning the 2019 general elections.
He told The Guardian that the PDP was on the verge of restoring confidence of Nigerians in the leadership of the country, stressing that the party was committed to credible convention that could produce acceptable candidates, despite present challenges.
He said the goodwill and strong imprint, which the PDP has made in the minds of Nigerians
were gradually returning to the party.
Obi stated that the Ahmed Makarafi national caretaker committee has used the opportunity offered to it to reposition the party to the delight of its founding fathers, stressing that the “PDP remains a strong brand”.
The former Presidential Adviser said: “The way we have gone so far is such that nobody can stop us from fielding a candidate in 2019. If you go through the length and breadth of this country, people are already yearning for PDP to come
back.