News & Announcements

Barcelona will appoint Holland boss Ronald Koeman as their new manager and the announcement will be expected ‘very soon’, with Quique Setien set to be sacked after the club’s humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern.

Former Everton boss Koeman emerged as the Catalan side’s key target in the wake of the Champions League quarter-final humbling, and the club plan to install him as the new man in the dugout this week after Setien’s departure has been confirmed. 

According to Dailymail, ex-Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino had also been touted as a possible candidate for the role despite vowing to never take over after managing rivals Espanyol, but now Koeman is set to take the side forward into a new era.

The Dutchman played for Barcelona for six years during a highly successful career that saw him win LaLiga four times, as well as the Copa Del Rey and European Cup.

He featured 350 times for the Spanish giants Koeman and continues to carry his Barcelona affections with him everywhere he goes. The 57-year-old even has a personalized ‘BAR’ number plate on his black Bentley Continental to reference his link to the club. The 57-year-old also spent time as assistant manager to Louis van Gaal between 1998 and 200 – only increased his desire to become the main man.

He has made no secret of his hopes to return to the team in a managerial capacity, confirming he had a clause in his contract with the Netherlands team that allowed him to move to Barca after Euro 2020.

Even though the competition has been delayed until 2021, Koeman earlier this year told Marca that the terms of the deal still stood.

“The clause in my contract to go to Barcelona is for after the European Championship. 

“No date has been mentioned, so now it’s after the European Championship in 2021. But I haven’t thought about it for a second anyway.’ 

One of his first jobs after taking control of his beloved side will be to convince talisman Lionel Messi to commit his future to the club. 

The Argentine has become frustrated with the hierarchy during a disappointing campaign and has been linked with moves to Italy and the Premier League.

His rise to one of the top jobs in football marks a spectacular turnaround for Koeman, who was axed as Everton boss in 2017 – leaving the Toffees in the relegation zone after a string of poor results.  

But he managed to rebuild himself after being appointed as manager of his national side the following year – lifting an underperforming the team who had failed to qualify for Euro 2016 and the World Cup 2018 by securing qualification to Euro 2020.

With Barcelona now in a state of crisis, it is their club the icon they turn to as they seek a similar rejuvenation following a miserable campaign. 

After their hammering by the Bundesliga side on Friday night, one of the worst in the club’s history, Barca were left reeling, with Setien left as a dead man walking. His sacking by the club is inevitable and expected imminently.

The former Real Betis manager was only appointed in January to replace Ernesto Valverde. Setien, 61, struggled with the pressures of managing the Nou Camp club as they lost out in the LaLiga title race to Real Madrid and exited the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage to Athletic Bilbao.

It was the first season since 2007-08 that Barcelona failed to win any silverware.

And there was little chance he would be kept on in the wake of Friday night‘s eight-goal hammering at the hands of Bayern in Lisbon as Barcelona’s Champions League hopes were shot to bits.

At the full time on Friday night, Setien told reporters: “Right now we feel enormous frustration and all we can do is make conclusions and think about the future. 

“Barca is a club that is so great that this will cause us a lot of damage and obviously some things will have to change.

“The truth is this is a tremendously painful defeat.

“Barcelona want to recover their identity.  Right now, it’s too soon to think about whether I will stay or not. It doesn’t depend on me. We have to reflect, taking the situation into account and the importance that such a humiliating and painful defeat means.

“I’m hurt, evidently, by such a hefty defeat. The way it came about has been tremendously painful.

“I’m not worried about my future right now, but a defeat that is very painful for the club and the fans.’I know what a defeat of this calibre means.”

Nigerian aviation industry will open up the country’s international airspace on August 29 and this is coming five months after it shut its airports following the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country.
This was revealed by the Ministry of Aviation on Monday.
James Odaudu, Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation, in a statement, said following the development, all evacuation flights which were introduced in the country in the wake of the ban on international flights occasioned by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, will end on August 25, 2020.
Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika, who announced this at Monday’s briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, said Nigeria’s international airports have reached advanced stages of preparedness for the resumption of international flight operations.
He further disclosed that, like it was done during the resumption of domestic flights across the country, the international flights will commence with the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos. 
The emphasis, he stated, will be on the observation of all the safety and technical guidelines as prescribed by global and health authorities which will be communicated in due course. 
“I am pleased to announce the resumption of international flights from the 29th of August, 2020. Beginning with Lagos and Abuja as we did with the domestic flight resumption. Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course. We thank you for your patience” the minister said.

The Bayelsa State Gubernatorial Petition Tribunal has nullified the election of Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State.
The election was nullified based on a petition by the Advanced Advanced Democratic Party (ADP), which argued that it was unlawfully excluded from participating in the election.

The tribunal ruling can, however, still be challenged at the appeal court and we have gathered that Governor Diri is already in contact with his lawyers for a possible challenge of the verdict.

More than 10,000 protesters have gathered in Thailand’s capital Bangkok to demand the resignation of the government, changes to the constitution, and an end to the harassment of opposition activists.

Demonstrators said Sunday’s protest would show broader support for change in the Southeast Asian country beyond the student groups that have organized almost-daily protests for the past month.

“We are here from all different groups, all different ages,” Kukkik, a 29-year-old postgraduate student who only wanted to give one name, told Reuters news agency, as protesters chanted: “Down with dictatorship, long live democracy.”

As well as demanding the departure of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, a former military government leader who won disputed elections last year, some groups have also called for curbs on the powerful monarchy – once a taboo subject.

“The students came out for a few weeks, and I want to support them,” said Thanyarak Suksarard, 50. “I support their call for political change.”

Protesters gathered at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument for one of the biggest demonstrations since Prayuth took power in a 2014 coup. 

Police said approximately 600 officers had been deployed to keep order.

Several dozen royalists also held a demonstration, waving national flags and holding up gold-framed portraits of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and other members of the royal family.

“I don’t care if they protest against the government, but they cannot touch the monarchy,” said Sumet Trakulwoonnoo, a leader of the royalist group, Coordination Center of Vocational Students for the Protection of National Institutions (CVPI).

“We are here to observe the other protest, whether they offend the monarchy or not, and will take legal action if they do,” he said while stressing that the group was there peacefully.

Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay, reporting from Bangkok, said the anti-government protesters did not appear to be backing down from their demands for reform.

“Previous protests have been mainly led by students. However, here today we see a for a more diverse crowd, with many older people also taking part,” he said.

“Reform of monarchy is a very sensitive topic in Thailand because of the protective laws surrounding the royal family. The government is so far just monitoring the protest movement to see where it is going. There is a large police presence at the Democracy Monument, but there is no sign that police will intervene in peaceful protests.”

Anti-government anger has been fuelled by the arrest of three of the student leaders over accusations of breaching restrictions in organizing earlier protests.

The student leaders have been released on bail pending further investigation, but police say arrest warrants have been issued for a further 12 protest leaders.

President Donald Trump’s younger brother, Robert died in a hospital in New York City on Saturday after been critically ill. He was 72.
The President released the following statement over the brother’s death 
“It is with a heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight. He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. 

“He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace.”
Robert was admitted to the hospital on Friday and was described as “very ill,” according to sources.
Further details were not known, but he was said to be in critical condition at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center on the Upper East Side.

“I have a wonderful brother,” President Trump said at a press briefing Friday. 
“We’ve had a great relationship for a long time, from day one. It’s a long time ago. And he’s in the hospital right now. And hopefully, he’ll be alright, but he is pretty — he’s having a hard time.”
Trump visited his brother, one of his four siblings, after flying to New Jersey and then taking a helicopter into Manhattan.
“I am going to the hospital,” Trump said as he landed in New Jersey. “I hope he’s OK.”
The White House did not immediately release details about why Robert Trump had been hospitalized, but officials said that he was seriously ill.

Robert Trump reportedly spent a week in the intensive care unit at nearby Mount Sinai Hospital in June.
President Trump visited his nearby country club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Friday night where he delivered remarks to the City of New York Police Benevolent Association.

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, one of the veterans of the Nollywood, the Nigerian movie industry, has contracted the dreaded Coronavirus.
The screen diva revealed this on Saturday through her verified Instagram handle, where the experienced humanist, 42 years old, said she was currently isolating and treating herself, revealing though that she was getting better.

Omosexy, as she is fondly called, said: “Hello All, I know Mist if you Have been Wondering where I’ve been. “Well, I Contracted COVID. I have been ill, in Isolation and Now getting better. “More on these details of this soon.” 
Omotola who is known for her remarkable humanitarian efforts also commented on the recent killings by trailers on Lagos roads, urging Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to take actions that would stop the sad incidents like that of Immaculate Okochu crushed to death in Lagos, months to her wedding.

Omotola wrote: “However, I have been Reading on the devastating News of How our Youths are Needlessly Dieing getting crushed by Trailers/containers! This is disheartening and has made my heart really troubled! 
This can happen to ANYONE and Enforcements can’t be taken lightly on this Gov @jidesanwoolu !!! Please do something!!!!!”

In the sustained fight against insurgency in Nigeria, the country’s armed forces said on Friday that its Air Task Force of Operation, LAFIYA DOLE, has eliminated scores of fighters of the Islamic States of the West Africa province (ISWAP) in Borno State.
Major General John Enenche, Coordinator of the Defence Media Operations, (CDMO), who disclosed this in an operation update, released to the media in Abuja, said troops also destroyed the terrorists hideouts.

General Enenche said the operation was in continuation of the air offensive against terrorist elements in the North East of the country, by the Operation LAFIYA DOLE.
Accordingly, the CDMO said troops in the airstrikes, “eliminated scores of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters  and destroyed compounds housing them at Tongule in the Lake Chad area of Northern Borno. 

“The air strikes were conducted on 12 August 2020 following credible Human Intelligence (HUMINT) reports indicating terrorists’ activities in the village.
“Accordingly, following confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, which showed presence of a sizable number of the ISWAP elements at designated locations in the settlement, the Air Task Force dispatched a force package of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets to attack  the location.

“The NAF Jets took turns in engaging the location scoring devastating hits on the designated targets leading to the destruction of the structures as well as the neutralization of several ISWAP fighters.

“The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, commends the Air Task Force for their dedication and professionalism and urges them to intensify the air offensive against the terrorists and all other criminal elements in the country”, the Defence Operations spokesman stated.

A group of gunmen, on Thursday, attacked Yargamji Village, which is about 20 kilometers from Katsina, the capital of Katsina Stated, the home state of Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari.

The attack, which was relayed to our correspondent by a serving National Youth Service Corps member, who pleaded not to be named, saw about 15 persons losing their lives.

The female youth corper said the attackers came on a motorbike at about 4 pm on Thursday through the bush part and started shooting sporadically.
“They came into the village and caught everyone unaware.
“They started shooting without looking at where they were shooting.

“Their main target was unknown but they kept shooting and approached a shop where they sell provisions a looted everything as the owner had run away.
“In all, I think they were about ten in number and I saw from the back of a building where I was hiding how they shot a girl of about fifteen years in the head and she slumped.
“After they had gone after about 30 minutes unchallenged, we came out and counted about 15 dead bodies.

“This is very pathetic because this is not the first time such a thing is happening here.
“At times, they will come and rape women and children before escaping,” said the youth corper from Lagos.

Joe Biden has named California Senator, Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential running mate, a historic choice he believes will bolster his chances of beating Donald Trump in an election year shaped by the global coronavirus pandemic and a national reckoning on race.

Harris, a barrier-breaking former prosecutor, is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India and is the first Black woman and the first Asian American to run on a major party ticket.

“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden announced on Twitter.

The impact of the global Coronavirus has continued to be felt in world economies as, The UK has officially fallen into recession for the first time in 11 years due to the impact of the pandemic.
The Office for National Statistics said the UK gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have fallen by a record 20.4% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2020, marking the second consecutive quarterly decline after GDP fell by 2.2% in the previous quarter (Jan to Mar) 2020.

This plunged the UK into its first technical recession, defined as two straight quarters of economic decline since 2009.

Jonathan Athow, the deputy national statistician for economic statistics, said the economy bounced back in June after the monthly gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 8.7% following growth of 2.4% in May 2020, but it wasn’t enough to recover the lost output earlier in the year.

“The economy began to bounce back in June with shops reopening, factories beginning to ramp up production and housebuilding continuing to recover.

“Despite this, gross domestic product (GDP) in June still remains a sixth below its level in February, before the virus struck.”
The ONS said the collapse in output was driven by the closure of shops, hotels, restaurants, schools, and car repair shops.

The services sector, which powers four-fifths of the economy, suffered the biggest quarterly decline on record, the report said.

The construction sector was particularly badly hit, after building sites were shut down during the height of the lockdown.