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UEFA League: Barca eye yet another famous comeback

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Online Editor

Little over a month after producing the greatest comeback in Champions League history, Barcelona need another special turnaround as they face Juventus in the second leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday. Luis Enrique’s side were taken apart in the first leg in Turin, losing 3-0 to a Juve team inspired by Paulo Dybala, who scored twice. In the last 16 they became the first team ever to overturn a 4-0 deficit when they beat Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in the return at the Camp Nou, so fans are hoping…

Documents show Prince’s painkiller habit

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Online Editor

Numerous opioid painkillers were found at US singer Prince’s home shortly after his death last year, unsealed court documents show. Some of the pills discovered at Prince’s Paisley Park estate in Minnesota had prescriptions in the name of his friend and bodyguard. But the documents do not offer evidence about the source of the fentanyl that killed the singer on 21 April 2016. Medical examiners have concluded that he died from an accidental overdose. No-one has been charged over the death of the 57-year-old singer. The court documents were…

Trump congratulates Erdogan on poll win

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Online Editor

Donald Trump has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in Sunday’s referendum that gave him sweeping new powers. In a phone call, the US president also thanked Erdogan for supporting America’s missile strike on a Syrian government airbase on 7 April. In the poll, 51.4% of Turkish voters backed the changes. Erdogan rejected criticism from international monitors who said he had been favoured by an “unequal campaign”. “Know your place,” he told the observers. The narrow victory was ruled valid by Turkey’s electoral body, despite claims…

US court halts two executions

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Online Editor

The top court in Arkansas has halted two executions that were due to start a series of seven in 11 days. The state’s Supreme Court acted hours before convicted murderers Don Davis and Bruce Ward were due to die, but the Davis decision could yet be reversed. Their lawyers had argued they were mentally unfit to face execution and were denied proper assessment. But there was a victory for the state when a federal court lifted an order that blocked all seven executions. A blanket ruling made on Saturday…

Football fan dies after push from stand

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Online Editor

An Argentine football fan has died of head injuries – two days after being pushed from a stand by an angry crowd who thought he was a rival supporter. Emanuel Balbo, 22, had reportedly quarrelled with a man during Saturday’s derby between his Belgrano team and the visiting Talleres in the northern city of Cordoba. Witnesses said the man had shouted that Balbo was a disguised Talleres fan. He was then pushed over the edge of a stand, video images showed. He fell onto concrete stairs from a height…

EPL: Arsenal survive Boro scare

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Online Editor

Arsenal kept alive their hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League with a narrow victory at second-bottom Middlesbrough. A dull opening was brought to life when Alexis Sanchez’s superb free-kick gave Arsenal the lead just before the break. Middlesbrough responded soon after the restart when Alvaro Negredo volleyed in Stewart Downing’s pinpoint cross. However, Mesut Ozil secured the much-needed three points for Arsenal with a first-time strike at the near post, reports the BBC. The win – only Arsenal’s third in their past nine league…

Malabu probe: Reps backpedal on Jonathan’s invitation

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Philip Nyam

Barely a week after the House of Representatives’ ad hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption, malpractices, and breach of due process in the award of oil prospecting licence (OPL 245) better known as Malabu oil scandal, said it planned to invite former President Goodluck Jonathan, there are indications that the committee will no longer insist on the appearance of the former leader. New Telegraph reliably gathered that the ad hoc committee, led by Hon. Razaq Atunwa (APC, Kwara) may have considered the implications of the invitation of the former president…

Cashless: Nigerians transfer N10trn in two months

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Kunle Azeez

Banking customers in Nigeria transacted about N10 trillion deals on their electronic fund transfers platforms within the first two months of this year. This is according to the latest industry epayment data released by the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlements System Plc (NIBSS). The N10 trillion transactions were carried out only on two major platforms, which are accessible to banking customers either on the mobile devices or on other Internet-enabled devices. The two platforms are the NIBSS Electronic Fund Transfers (NEFT) and the National Instant Payment (NIP). According to the data, in…

Local oil firms walking a tight rope

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 Online Editor

Indigenous firms are the worst-hit by myriads of challenges bedeviling the oil and gas industry. ADEOLA YUSUF reports on how many of them are running into bankruptcy Aiteo, an indigenous oil firm, made the headlines penultimate week; basking in the euphoria of its new status as the biggest Nigerian- owned oil firm in terms of production, hitherto known by many as the petroleum product trading firm, it announced the production of the largest share of the 313,602 barrels per day output from indigenous companies. The firm’s management cannot…

Karamajiji: A forgotten beggars’ colony

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 CALEB ONWE

Some years ago, the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Nasir el-Rufai considered beggars a nuisance on the streets of Abuja and decided to forcefully evacuate them to a “special location”. The idea was to give Abuja, the Capital City, a facelift. However, many years after, the vision appears to have been derailed. CALEB ONWE reports Karamajiji, a sprawling ghetto is home to both Gwari aborigines and other tribes, especially, low income earners. It is hidden right behind the National Military Cemetery, a few metres…