Guardiola plays for time over Hart future…See full details

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English goalkeeper Joe Hart / AFP PHOTO / Anthony Devlin

Pep Guardiola has tried to play down talk of Joe Hart’s Manchester City future, despite previous indications that the goalkeeper is set to leave at the end of the season.

Hart told the BBC on Thursday that he is “surplus to requirements” at the Etihad and does not expect to play for City again, having joined Italian Serie A club Torino on a season’s loan last August.

The England international was effectively frozen out because, in the view of Guardiola, he is not suited to a possession-based style of football.

Claudio Bravo was brought in from Barcelona for £17.1million ($20.8 million, 19.5 million euros) as Hart’s replacement, but the Chile international has been unconvincing, losing his place to Willy Caballero, the veteran back-up goalkeeper.

Guardiola said at the end of February that he would be happy to go into next season with Caballero and Bravo as his two senior goalkeepers, and it is widely expected that Hart will be sold at he end of the current campaign, for a fee of around £20 million.

Yet asked to respond to Hart’s comments, the City manager told a news conference on Friday: “I said many times we will explain at the end of the season about all the cases.

“There are the cases of the players that are here, the players that are happy or unhappy and the players that are loan.

“Joe is a player for Manchester City and we are going to decide that at the end of the season.”

– Attack better, defend better –
Guardiola is happier that his team’s defensive record has improved of late, with four clean sheets in their last six matches in all competitions.

City struggled defensively earlier in the season, keeping just one clean sheet in 17 matches between mid-September and mid-December.

“I’ve said many times before as well that football is not a game where now it is defending and now it is attacking,” Guardiola explained.

“When you attack better, you defend better, When you defend better, you attack better,” the Spaniard added.

“But of course, it’s important for us to concede as few goals as possible, and as few chances as possible.

“I think the average is quite similar for the whole season. We didn’t concede too many chances to opponents during the games, but in the past, they would arrive two or three times, and every time it was a goal.

“In the last game, Stoke arrived for the first time and they didn’t score a goal. The important thing is that they don’t create too many chances.”

Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager Guardiola, meanwhile, has declared that one of his ambitions as City manager is to lead the club out at Wembley, a venue he describes as “beautiful”.

A victory over Middlesbrough in the FA Cup on Saturday would secure a semi-final place at Wembley in April.

Failing that, Guardiola will aim to take City there next season, and rekindle the fond memories of Wembley he has from his time as both a player and manager at Barcelona.

Guardiola won the European Cup as a player at Wembley in 1992, and the Champions League at the London venue as Barca’s manager in 2011.

“It’s so beautiful and that’s why I’d like to be there,” Guardiola said.

“As a football player I won our first Champions League in Wembley, the old Wembley, and as a manager I won my second Champions League there. So of course Wembley is special for me.

“When I was a kid seeing English football played at Wembley in all competitions, important games, the tradition there with the two managers going out, I loved that,” he added.

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US embassy assures Nigerians they are welcome to travel (Read full details)

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The US embassy in Nigeria said Wednesday that Nigerians were welcome to travel to the United States following confusion over President Donald Trump’s new immigration rules.

A foreign affairs adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday warned citizens against non-essential travel to the United States, as some Nigerians had been denied entry at the border.

“The US embassy in Abuja wishes to clarify that there is no reason for Nigerians with valid visas to postpone or cancel their travel to the United States,” said the embassy in a statement.

“There is no prohibition against Nigerian lawful permanent residents or persons with a valid visa or other US government authorisation from entering the United States.”

Trump signed a revised ban on refugees and on travellers from six Muslim-majority nations on Monday. Nigeria, which has a majority Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, is not on the list.

Nigeria’s foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama told a news conference it was “business as usual” with the United States, despite the earlier advisory from a presidential adviser.

Of the 2.1 million African immigrants living in the United States in 2015, 327,000 were born in Nigeria, according to data from the Pew Research Center, published in February.

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Hamsik sights Maradona record, Zeman conjures magic at Pescara…See full details

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Napoli's midfielder from Poland Piotr Zielinski (not seen) celebrates with Napoli's Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik (R) after scoring during the Italian Serie A football match Chievo vs Napoli at "Bentegodi Stadium" in Verona on February 19, 2017.
GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

Napoli's Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik acknowledges the public at the end of the Italian Serie A football match Chievo vs Napoli at the Bentegodi stadium in Verona on February 19, 2017.
GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

Marek Hamsik moved to within three goals of Diego Maradona’s Napoli record in a 3-1 win at Chievo as veteran Zdenek Zeman steered Pescara to a first win since August in a 5-0 rout of Genoa on Sunday.

Slovakia midfielder Hamsik had moved to within four goals of Maradona’s 115-goal club record with his maiden Serie A hat-trick in a 7-1 rout at Bologna two weeks ago taking his tally to 111.

And the 30-year-old attacking midfielder moved a step closer to becoming the southerners’ all-time top scorer with an easy tap-in seven minutes before half-time.

Lorenzo Insigne, who hit Napoli’s only goal in a 3-1 Champions League defeat at Real Madrid in midweek, broke the deadlock on 31 minutes with a superb curling strike that beat Stefano Sorrentino at his far post.

Piotr Zielinskini had Napoli 3-0 to the good before the hour with a deflected strike and although Riccardo Meggiorini beat Pepe Reina with a stunner for a 72nd-minute consolation, it proved too little too late.

Napoli’s 16th win moved Maurizio Sarri’s men up to second place, one point above Roma before they host Torino later Sunday.

Chievo remain in 11th spot, 31 points behind Juventus but well clear of a relegation zone from which Pescara will now harbour hopes of escaping.

Zeman, a legendary figure in the Italian game who has coached Roma, Lazio, Napoli and Cagliari, felt compelled to return to Pescara following the sacking of Massimo Oddo in midweek because he said he “owed” the club something.

The 69-year-old, until last year the coach of Swiss side FC Lugano, famously coached Marco Verratti, Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne at his previous spell at Pescara, whom he quit to begin the first of two spells at Roma.

The chain-smoking Czech is known for a particularly offensive game built around a 4-3-3 formation, and Pescara were on fire from kick-off.

Alberto Cerri chased a long ball down the left, got past his marker, kept the ball from onrushing ‘keeper Eugenio Lamanna and, from an impossible angle, saw his strike somehow deflect off Lucas Orban and into the net.

Pescara’s only previous win this season was a shock 3-0 away defeat of Sassuolo last August, but Zeman’s revived side were 3-0 in front by half-time thanks to goals by Gianluca Caprari and Ahmad Benali.

Caprari secured his brace in the 81st minute and Cerri finally got on the scoresheet six minutes later.

Pecara remain rooted to the bottom on 12 points, 49 behind Juventus and 10 adrift of fourth-from-bottom Empoli while Genoa dropped to 16th.

Elsewhere, Seko Fofana sent Udinese fans into raptures with a superb long-distance volley after coolly flicking Duvan Zapata’s pass into the air in the seventh minute.

But hopes of dominating a mid-table battle with Sassuolo were tempered by Frenchman Gregoire Defrel, who came off the bench to hit a second-half brace in the space of nine minutes.

Hosts Sampdoria conceded a sixth-minute opener when Chilean Mauricio Isla hit a superb angled drive at the Luigi Ferraris stadium.

Sampdoria got back on level terms soon after, Fabio Quagliarella staying on his feet to connect with Luis Muriel’s deflected punt from deep on the left to beat Gabriel on the volley to secure a share of the spoils.

Earlier Sunday, 20-year-old Brazil international Gabriel ‘Gabigol’ Barbosa came off the bench to hit his maiden Serie A goal for Inter Milan to secure a 1-0 win at Bologna that has boosted their Europa League qualifying hopes.

Inter sit fourth, 15 points behind Juventus and five points behind Roma.

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Leipzig down Gladbach to trim Bayern’s lead…See full details

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Leipzig´s striker Timo Werner celebrates scoring the 0-2 goal with his teammates during the German first division Bundesliga football match Borussia Moenchengladbach v RB Leipzig in Moenchengladbach, western Germany, on February 19, 2017.<br />PATRIK STOLLARZ / AFP

RB Leipzig cut Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to five points on Sunday as Emil Forsberg and Timo Werner netted in a 2-0 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Leipzig brushed off consecutive defeats with an impressive display at Borussia Park to trim the lead of Bayern, who had needed a 96th-minute Robert Lewandowski goal to draw 1-1 at Hertha Berlin on Saturday.

Germany hopeful Werner, who is in contention for a call-up when die Mannschaft play England next month, and Forsberg were involved in both goals as RB returned to winning ways after defeats to Hamburg and Dortmund.

Second-placed RB took the lead when Forsberg, who signed a new deal until 2022 earlier this month, slammed home Werner’s pass on 31 minutes for the Swedish play-makers sixth league goal this season.

Leipzig’s Hungary goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi then saved Thorgan Hazard’s penalty on the stroke of half-time sending Leipzig into the break at 1-0.

Werner, who is just 20, doubled RB’s tally with his 12th league goal of the season when he swept Forsberg’s final pass past Gladbach’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer on 55 minutes to put the visitors 2-0 up.

However, Leipzig endured a nervous final 10 minutes as the hosts turned up the pressure.

Gladbach pulled a goal back nine minutes from time when towering Danish centre-back Jannik Vestergaard beat Gulacsi with a header from a corner.

Leipzig’s Austria midfielder Marcel Sabitzer forced Sommer into a diving save in added time as RB chased a third goal.

The result leaves Leipzig eight points clear of nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund, who beat Wolfsburg 3-0 at home on Saturday to go third, while Gladbach are tenth in the table.

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France warns Russia against meddling in election…Read full details

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault speaks during a session of questions to the government at the French National Assembly in Paris on February 15, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / FRANCOIS GUILLOT

France on Wednesday issued a stern warning to Russia against meddling in its upcoming presidential elections, after US intelligence accused Moscow of interfering in that country’s vote to boost Donald Trump.

“We will not accept any interference whatsoever in our electoral process, whether by Russia or any other state,” said Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

“After what happened in the United States, it is our responsibility to take all steps necessary to ensure that the integrity of our democratic process is fully respected,” he told parliament.

The warning came as aides to one of the leading French candidates this week accused Russia of trying to derail his bid.

A spokesman for the staunchly pro-Europe Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday accused Moscow of being behind a flurry of cyberattacks on Macron’s campaign website and email servers over the past month.

“Half of the attacks, and there are hundreds a day, come from Ukraine, which is known for its links to hackers and people responsible for cyberattacks in Russia,” Benjamin Griveaux said, accusing the Kremlin of trying to boost conservative nominee Francois Fillon and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, both of whom urge closer ties to Russia.

Macron’s aides have also accused the state-owned Russia Today (RT) channel and the Sputnik news agency of waging a smear campaign against the 39-year-old former economy minister.

They have pointed to a Sputnik interview with a pro-Fillon lawmaker titled “Ex-French Economy Minister Macron Could Be ‘US Agent’” as an example of Russia’s alleged bias. The article also quoted the lawmaker as saying Macron was backed by a “wealthy gay lobby”.

Macron, who is married, last week denied rumours of having had a gay affair.

– Denials from Moscow –
Moscow on Tuesday vehemently denied the Macron camp’s allegations of meddling.

“We never had, and do not have, the intention of interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries, and especially not in their electoral process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

RT and Sputnik echoed the denial.

In December, the country’s digital security service, ANSSI, had warned of the risk of cyberattacks during the campaign. Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had also warned against the “massive dissemination of fake news”.

Earlier Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande asked his security cabinet to brief him on the “specific vigilance and protection measures being taken during the electoral campaign, including in the cyber domain”, the presidency said.

Hollande, who is not himself seeking re-election, did not say what kind of threat the two-stage April 23-May 7 presidential election faces, nor did he point the finger at any group or country.

But the call comes in the midst of a furore over Russia’s alleged interference in the US campaign that has already forced out one of Trump’s top aides.

Trump’s national security advisor Michael Flynn resigned on Monday after it was revealed that he misled top officials over his contacts with Russia during the campaign.

The revelations have added to suspicions over Russia’s role in the election.

US intelligence agencies had already accused Russian intelligence of hacking Democratic Party emails that embarrassed Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country will hold a general election in September, has also voiced fears that Moscow could try to influence the vote through cyberattacks or disinformation.

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Two journalists shot dead during live radio broadcast…Read full details

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A police officer takes fingerprints at a radio station after an unknown attacker killed its director, shot dead and a commentator while he was transmitting live and wounded a secretary, in San Pedro de Macoris, eastern Dominican Republic, on February 14, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / STR

Two journalists were shot dead during a live radio broadcast in the Dominican Republic, police and media said.

Unidentified attackers burst into the 103.5 FM studio as presenter Luis Manuel Medina was reading the news on air on Tuesday and shot him dead, station employees were quoted as saying by local media.

Moments before that the station’s director Leonidas Martinez was killed in his office, they said.

In a video of the broadcast, which was streamed on Facebook, gunfire is heard as Medina reads the news and a woman’s voice is heard calling “Shots, shots!”

“Two people have died and one has been injured,” national police spokesman William Alcantara told reporters. He identified the injured person as the station’s secretary.

The attack occurred at the radio station’s office in San Pedro de Macoris, east of the capital Santo Domingo.

Medina was presenting the influential investigative news show “Milenio Caliente,” or “Hot Millenium,” on Tuesday morning in the Caribbean nation, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and is a popular beach destination for foreign tourists.

The Miami-based Interamerican Press Society (SIP) condemned the 103.5 FM “tragedy” in a statement.

Its press freedom chief Roberto Rock urged investigators “to shed light on the killings and bring those responsible to justice, to prevent impunity from protecting those who want to keep generating violence against the media.”

Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders says that journalists who tackle corruption and drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic often fall victim to attacks.

“Freedom of information is also weakened by continuing impunity for crimes of violence against media personnel and the concentration of media ownership in few hands,” it said in a 2015 report.

The watchdog noted that Blas Olivo, press director of the Dominican Agribusiness Association, was found murdered that year.

A television cameraman was shot dead in broad daylight in 2014 and a newspaper reporter was shot at but not hurt days before that.

Other journalists have said they were victims of hate campaigns after speaking up for the citizenship rights of Haitians born in the Dominican Republic.

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White House considering new immigration order

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The White House confirmed Sunday it is considering issuing a new order on immigration now that President Donald Trump's travel ban has been halted as it makes its way through the courts.

The White House confirmed Sunday it is considering issuing a new order on immigration now that President Donald Trump’s travel ban has been halted as it makes its way through the courts.

“Right now we are considering and pursuing all options,” presidential aide Stephen Miller told Fox television.

He said the next step would be either filing an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, defending the merits of the order in lower courts or issuing a new one.

“The president’s powers here are beyond question,” said Miller, who is considered one of the driving forces behind Trump’s first actions on immigration. Miller insisted the president has the power to keep some people from entering the United States.

“We are contemplating new and additional actions to ensure that immigration is not a vehicle for admitting people into our country that are hostile to its nation and its values,” Miller said.

The order that Trump issued abruptly on January 27 halts resettlement of all refugees for 120 days and that of Syrian refugees indefinitely.

It also bars for 90 days the entry of nationals from seven mainly Muslim countries.

A federal judge in Seattle issued a stay against the order on February 3. Then a three judge appeals panel in San Francisco voted unanimously last week against reinstating Trump’s ban. Among other things, it rejected the argument that the president’s actions in the area of immigration cannot be reviewed by the courts.

The Trump ban was supposed to be in place while the government comes up with a new system of so-called “extreme vetting” of people seeking entry visas. This could include checks on their social media accounts, according to John Kelly, the secretary of homeland security.

“Our immigration system should not be a vehicle for admitting people who have anything but love in their hearts for this nation and this constitution,” said Miller, who is 31.

“It is a message that I want the world to hear today. This country will protect its borders. It will protect its people,” Miller said.

The idea of the White House issuing a modified immigration order that would survive scrutiny in the courts does not convince Democrats, who from the outset have charged that Trump’s order is simply anti-Muslim and plays into the hands of extremists.

“It will be used as a recruitment for terrorist organizations. It will put Americans at greater risk traveling abroad,” said Democratic Senator Ben Cardin.

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KaySwitch Ft. Davido – Giddem [Mp3 + Lyrics]

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Produkt Republic boss, KaySwitch links up with acclaimed coolest kid in Africa, Davido to share a solid banger titled “GIDDEM“. The track sees both acts taking turns to display their braggadocios tactics. The tune is right for the night Check on it.

Download and enjoy below…

DOWNLOAD

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SoundQuest – Waiting (On Your Love) [Mp3 + Lyrics]

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New single by SoundQuest titled Waiting (On Your Love).

Listen below…!

DOWNLOAD

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Zimbabwe protest leader detained at Harare airport

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Evan Mawarire "was escorted into another room by three men even before he went through immigration or customs", his sister Telda Mawarire told AFP.

The Zimbabwean pastor who led protests last year against President Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian government was arrested at Harare airport Wednesday as he returned to the country after several months abroad.

Evan Mawarire “was escorted into another room by three men even before he went through immigration or customs”, his sister Telda Mawarire told AFP.

Last year, Mawarire emerged as leader of the #ThisFlag protest movement that quickly grew into the largest street demonstrations against Mugabe in several years.

The pastor fled to South Africa in July and then to the United States in fear for his life after being publicly denounced by Mugabe, whose ruthless security forces crushed the protest movement.

The cash-strapped government has struggled to pay civil servants and the military on time as the economy has suffered a severe meltdown with more than 90 percent unemployment.

Mawarire was also detained last July for allegedly trying to overthrow the state, but a court dropped charges against him — triggering rare celebrations on the streets of Harare.

The 92-year-old president, who is increasingly fragile, has vowed to stand for re-election in 2018, though ZANU-PF party seniors have long been jockeying to step into the role when he dies.

The national flag became a symbol of anti-government protests after Mawarire, a little-known evangelical pastor, posted a Facebook video last April in which he appeared with the flag wound around his neck as he bemoaned the country’s worsening economic crisis.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kVVJwg

Patience Jonathan: court strikes out suit against SERAP

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Former First Lady of Nigeria, Mrs Patience Jonathan

A Federal High Court in Lagos, has struck out a suit by a group, the Union of Niger Delta Youth Organisation for Equity, Justice and Good Governance, against the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

The group had filed the suit on behalf of former first Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, seeking to stop SERAP from prosecuting Mrs Jonathan over allegation of money laundering.

Justice Mojisola Olatoregun on Wednesday struck out the suit after the group applied to court for a withdrawal of the suit. The plaintiff had accused SERAP of using online, print and electronic media to publish malicious allegations against the former first lady, accusing her to having stolen 15 million dollars.

The group, in the claim, had prayed the court for an order of interim injunction restraining SERAP from taking any further steps in condemnation of the former First Lady either in all public media or through judicial process

It said the campaign by SERAP was in breach of Jonathan’s right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty under Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).

In response, SERAP had argued that the group was not registered as provided by the Companies and Allied Matters Act, and therefore lacked the legal right to institute an action. Counsel to SERAP, Mr Timothy Adewale, had described the suit as a complete “waste of time”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that five companies had on Sept.15, 2016, pleaded guilty to laundering about 15.5 million dollars after their arraignment before Justice Babs Kuewumi.

The companies are: Pluto Property and Investment Company Ltd, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Ltd, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Ltd, and Avalon Global Property Development Ltd.

Following the companies’ plea, a prosecuting counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo prayed the court for an order of forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government. But the former first lady, who lay ownership claim of the monies in the companies’ accounts, has also filed a suit seeking to unfreeze the accounts.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jVDWFm