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Messi has agreed a new deal with Barcelona but that contract remains unsigned amid uncertainty over the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's future at Camp Nou. With the 30-year-old yet to put pen to paper, Manchester City - managed by former Barca boss Pep Guardiola - have emerged as a possible destination. Raiola does not represent Messi but the Italy-born Dutchman - whose list of clients includes Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Marco Verratti, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - believes the time is right for a change. "A player like Messi must try another experience with a different club and prove how great he is," Raiola said via Marca. "Barcelona must be reinvented again." Raiola also shared his views on Neymar's world-record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.     "The market, as such, no longer exists. Now it is countries who are signing players and that isn't football," Raiola added. To read full article  Here

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) today withdrew the quit notice handed down to the Igbos living in the Northern part of the country, noting that the group came under intense pressure from concerned Nigerians. This announcement was made in Abuja at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja on Thursday by the spokesperson of the group, Abdulazeez Sulaiman. Read the full text of the group's statement  here

SOME Vice-Chancellors and the Academic Staff Union of Universities have rejected the decision of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to peg admission cut-off mark at 120 for universities and 100 for polytechnics, and colleges of education. ASUU said the action, which it described as a “sad policy decision,” was in tandem “with the dream of the present government to destroy public universities in the country.” Most of the vice-chancellors our correspondents interviewed on the issue maintained that they would not lower admission standards in their respective varsities. The vice-chancellors stated that the decision would add no value to the nation’s university system. For instance, in a statement issued by the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, on the issue and released by his Media Assistant, Mr. Sunday Saanu, on Thursday, the premier university stated that it would never admit any candidate that scored 120 in the UTME. To read full article -...

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has commenced an indefinite nationwide industrial action. The National President of the union, Dr. Biodun Ogunyemi, announced this on Monday at a meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU in Abuja. He said during the strike, there shall be no teaching, no examination and no attendance of statutory meetings of any kind in any of the union’s branches across the country. Dr. Ogunyemi declared a ‘total, comprehensive and indefinite’ nationwide strike after a nationwide consultation with members at an emergency NEC meeting held on Saturday, August 12, 2017. He explained in a statement issued after Saturday’s meeting that their decision followed the failure of the government to fully implement the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement and the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Get the detail  Here

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended for five matches after pushing the referee following his red card in Sunday's Clasico. The Portuguese forward reacted angrily to being dismissed during the second half of a 3-1 victory for Zinedine Zidane’s side over Barcelona in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. He was booked after removing his shirt in celebration, with the 32-year-old going on to mimic Lionel Messi’s iconic jersey-holding celebration at the Santiago Bernabeu from April. A second booking followed for diving, under pressure from Samuel Umtiti, and Ronaldo did not take too kindly to the decision of match official Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea. The Spanish Football Federation have now delivered their verdict on the incident, with a five-game ban and fine handed out. Read more:  Here

With both Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo playing in their 30s now, the time is near for someone else to topple them – and here are 5 reasons why Hazard could be that man come January 2019 Morata link-up The only thing that stands between Eden Hazard and the Ballon d’Or podium is goals. The Belgian maestro is not really much invested in goal-scoring feats like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are: Hazard is more than happy to sit back and play the assist. With Alvaro Morata, things might be a little different. The Spaniard might not be among the best of finishers, but he has the ability to build plays in attack. Champions League point to prove Antonio Conte's record in Europe is far from convincing. At Chelsea, he will be determined to fix it. And for Hazard, he joined the club due to the fact that they were the European champions, so the hunger for winning the greatest club competition is always there. Premier League favourites? Despite that Burnley game. Antonio ...

Cristiano Ronaldo could be suspended for as many as 12 matches after referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea included the Real Madrid star's shove in his match report. After scoring and removing his shirt to earn a yellow card in the Spanish Super Cup first leg against Barcelona, Ronaldo was shown a second yellow card for an alleged dive in the box just minutes later, prompting him to momentarily lose his cool and shove the referee. Bengoetxea included the altercation in his post-game match report, writing: "Player: Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro. Once the red card was shown, the player pushed me slightly in a sign of disagreement." The shove could trigger a ban of up to 12 matches under Article 96 of the Spanish federation's rule book, which deals with "Slight violence towards referees". Article 96 applies to players who "grab, push or shake" a referee in a manner that is "slightly violent", and recommends a suspension of 4-...

Neymar celebrated his Paris Saint-Germain debut in style with a goal and an assist for Edinson Cavani in a 3-0 win over Guingamp.   The Brazil star took his place on the left-hand side of a front three alongside Cavani and Angel Di Maria and looked lively throughout against opponents who were happy to sit deep and defend in numbers until PSG found a breakthrough thanks to Jordan Ikoko's bizarre own goal. Right-back Ikoko, a PSG academy graduate, hit a mis-directed pass back towards goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson and it was too strong and crept in via the upright. Not to be upstaged, Neymar had a more direct influence on PSG's second as his delightful throughball released Cavani to coolly beat Johnsson. And the most expensive footballer on the planet was not done there as he tapped home into an empty net with eight minutes remaining following good work from Cavani. WATCH  Here

Exiled Chelsea star Diego Costa has given a withering assessment of head coach Antonio Conte and accused the Premier League champions of treating him as if he were a "criminal". Costa was Chelsea's top scorer with 20 goals as they secured a second league title in three years last season but Conte has since informed the Spain international he does not feature in his first-team plans. A return to former club Atletico Madrid remains the desired option for Costa, who is presently racking up fines as he refuses to return to Chelsea and train with the reserves. "I wouldn't be allowed access to the first-team dressing room and I would have no contact at all with the guys," he explained. "I'm not a criminal! I don’t think it is fair after all I have done to be treated like that. "They gave me a week extra off [at the start of pre-season training] but since then it's fines all the way. "I am open to being a year in Brazil without p...

Ongoing police investigation of suspected kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, has revealed that he was also involved in crimes in South Africa, it was gathered yesterday. That is besides his alleged illegal procurement of a Ghanaian passport that bears his passport photograph but a Ghanaian name. Police spokesman, Mr. Moshood Jimoh, told The Nation that the investigation has also led to the arrest of more associates of Evans who were found to be probably wealthier and living bigger than him. Evans is spending his second month in police custody and is expected to be formally charged within the next one month, Jimoh said. He said: ”You may recall that a Federal High Court granted us a three month remand warrant for Evans. We are just into the second month now and before the expiration of the third month, it is expected that we should be taking him to court. The little time is to ensure that we conduct a thorough and detailed investigation." To read fu...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says unless Nigerian youths come out to contest elective positions, old generation politicians will not quit the stage for them. The former president spoke on Saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the Youth Governance Dialogue organised to mark International Youth Day 2017. The programme was organised by Youth Development Centre of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta. Obasanjo, however, was quick to add that the youth who would occupy leadership positions in the country must have carved a niche for themselves through hard work. Obasanjo, who warned that leadership is not just for the asking, said youths have to work for it. To read full article -  Here

Our very own Wizkid has gone beyond doubt, he never ceased topping his game for a second. Unarguably, the most successful and popular African artist of the moment. Up to game with the world A-list stars, been with Future lately but now with the baddest Barbie, the Queen of Rap, Nicki Minaj. They both had a nice time together and posted picture on IG respectively. Holla at your boy, just put a respect on Wizkid's name. See below

The GhanaSat-1―Ghana’s first satellite―began its orbit recently, with a little help from some friends. The cubesat, built by a Ghanaian engineering team at All Nations University, was delivered to NASA’s International Space Station in June on a SpaceX rocket that took off from pad 39a at Kennedy Space Center, a NASA spokesperson confirmed. The GhanaSat-1 deployed into orbit from the Center in July, and is now operational, according to project manager Richard Damoah, a Ghanaian professor and assistant research scientist at NASA. “This particular satellite has two missions,” Damoah told TechCrunch. “It has cameras on board for detailed monitoring of the coastlines of Ghana. Then there’s an educational piece―we want to use it to integrate satellite technology into high school curriculum,” he said. GhanaSat-1 will send a signal to a ground station at All Nations University’s Space Systems and Technology Laboratory. That’s where it was developed by a team of engineers that included ...

A fossil found in northeastern Nevada shows a newly discovered fish species that scientists believe looked, and ate, like a shark. The fossil is what remains of a bony, sharp-toothed fish that would have been about six-feet-long (1.83 meters) with long jaws and layers of sharp teeth. The type of jaw and teeth on the fish suggest it would have chomped down on its prey before swallowing it whole, like a shark, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported “The surprising find from Elko County in northeastern Nevada is one of the most completely preserved vertebrate remains from this time-period ever discovered in the United States,” said Carlo Romano of the University of Zurich, lead author of a Journal of Paleontology article about the find. The fish, which researchers called Birgeria americana, predates Nevada’s most famous fossil, the Ichthyosaur, by more than 30 million years. The Ichthyosaur was a 55-foot-long (16.76 meters) reptile. One of the largest concentrations of Ichthyosaur fossi...

The MIT Technology Review published on Wednesday a news report about the first-known experiment to create genetically modified human embryos in the United States using a gene-editing tool called CRISPR. Shoukhrat Mitalipov, director of the Oregon Health & Science University's Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy, reportedly led the new research. Mitalipov and the university would not confirm details of the research to CNN. "Results of the peer-reviewed study are expected to be published soon in a scientific journal. No further information will be provided before then," according to an emailed statement from the university's press office. Another researcher cited in the MIT report, the Salk Institute's Jun Wu, did not reply to CNN's request for comment. Mitalipov also declined to comment in the MIT Technology Review report, referencing that the research results have not been published yet in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, which is consider...

There are strong murmurs for the NYSC to be done away with. The National Youth Service Corps was established in 1973 . General Yakubu Gowon in an attempt to work on the 3R principles (Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation) created the NYSC scheme under Decree no. 24. This was three years after the civil war. REASON WHY THE NYSC SCHEME WAS CREATED According to the Decree No.51 of June 16, 1993, the NYSC scheme was set up to achieve these objectives:- a. To inculcate discipline in Nigerian youths by instilling in them a tradition of industry at work, and, of patriotic and loyal service to Nigeria in any situation they may find themselves; b. To raise the moral tone of the Nigerian youths by giving them the opportunity to learn about higher ideals of national achievement, social and cultural improvement; c. To develop in the Nigerian youths the attitudes of mind, acquired through shared experience and suitable training, which will make them more amenable to mobi...

From today, bus conductors in Lagos will start wearing uniform as part of efforts to promote the Smart City Initiatives, SCI, of the state government. This was disclosed by the National President of the Bus Conductors Association of Nigeria, BCAN, Comrade Israel Adeshola, in an interview with Vanguard. According to him, the Lagos State government has approved the association’s uniforms and badges with name tag and identification numbers for easy identification of registered conductors. He said the use of badges on uniforms is to address criminal tendencies by some bus conductors, calling on Lagosians to support the initiative.

In less than seven months, the transfer record for a Nigerian player is set to be broken, with Manchester City starlet Kelechi Iheanacho on the brink of a move to Leicester City. The Super Eagles striker has appended his signature to a five-year contract with the Foxes, with City expected to pocket a minimum 28 million euros in transfer fees, which will make him the most expensive Nigerian player of all time, surpassing the record currently held by former Watford star Odion Ighalo. Before Ighalo had the honour of being the most expensive Nigerian player, it was previously held by ex-Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel for eleven years after the Blues splashed out €20m to secure his services from Lyn Oslo, with Manchester United also compensated. The third and fourth most expensive transfers involving Nigerian players were completed in the last thirteen months. Former Premier League champs Leicester City signed Ahmed Musa and Wilfred Ndidi for €19.5 million and €17.6 million ...

Chelsea forward, Eden Hazard, has reached out to Barcelona about replacing Neymar. On Thursday, Neymar completed a world-record €222million to Paris Saint-Germain, breaking up the attacking trio he forged with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. Don Balon reports that Hazard is now very keen to replace the Brazilian at the Camp Nou. Hazard is believed to be one of the players Barca is eyeing. Liverpool playmaker, Philippe Coutinho is a well-documented target, and the Catalans have seen their first bid rejected. The Catalan club has identified Tottenham’s Dele Alli as another option. The La Liga giants will likely spend most of their windfall, to prise any of the three Premier League stars from their clubs.

Neymar is now the highest-paid footballer in Europe, after he completed his world-record move to Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday night. The Brazilian was released from his Barcelona contract, after the La Liga giants accepted a €222m bid from the French side, that triggered his release clause. According to Sky Sports, PSG will pay him £90million (€100million/$119 million) per season in salary in bonuses. However, that amount will not enter his account due to France’s 75% tax on its highest earners. Neymar will earn £26.7million (€29.8 million/$35 million) per season after taxes, plus other on-field bonuses and off-field marketing opportunities. This translates to £515,000 per week for the 25-year-old. He has now overtaken former Barcelona team-mate, Lionel Messi, who earns £500,000-a-week after tax at the Nou Camp.

Positive news from Abuja reveals the Nigerian local economy is gradually strolling out of recession which has impoverished the people.  The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, on Thursday said that the country is already moving out of economic recession. Udoma stated this in Abuja while inaugurating the Joint Planning Committee for the 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit. The summit to be held in October this year is the single largest gathering of economic and financial experts from the private and public sector. The theme of this year’s summit is“Actualising the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan: Opportunities, productivity and employment.” Udoma said that while national debates in the past had centred around how the country could get out of recession, such was no longer the case with the adoption of the ERGP. He said as the country is already on its way out of economic recession, the current efforts of the Federal Government is on how to build ...