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‘No Goalkeeper Would Have Stopped The Goals Scored By Iheanacho’ Argentina GK confesses

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Argentina international goalkeeper Agustín Marchesín was surprised that he was not invited by manager Jorge Sampaoli for the national team’s pre-World Cup friendlies against Spain and Italy and it has been suggested that he was snubbed for conceding four goals in the loss to Nigeria last November.

Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi and Brian Idowu were on target for the Super Eagles in the friendly that took place in Krasnodar.

The CF América netminder has argued that no goalkeeper would have stopped the balls from entering into the net even though he has been blamed for at least two of the goals conceded.

”I do not think that this match should be the only parameter to decide whether or not you can be in the Albiceleste,” Marchesín lamented to Closs Continental

“I play every weekend, I think I’m doing things well to continue in the National Team.

”I am not stupid and I know that Nigeria’s match was not a normal game, but I know how the goals were, I do not think any other goalkeeper could stop those balls.

”It’s my dream to play at the World Cup and I still do not consider myself off the list.”

Coach Sampaoli called up three goalkeepers Sergio Romero (Manchester United), Wilfredo Caballero (Chelsea) and Nahuel Guzmán (Tigres UANL) for the friendlies this month.

NPFL SIDE HEARTLAND SUSPEND COACH MADU

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Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Heartland FC has suspended its coach Ramson Madu.

This was after the Naze Millionaires endured a four-match losing streak in the league and the club has decided to ask Madu to ‘temporarily step aside’.

The tactician has been replaced by Goodfaith Chibuzor Etuemena, who guided Heartland to a 2-1 league win over Nasarawa United at home on Sunday.

The Naze Millionaires released the following statement:

A club statement read: “The management of Heartland Football Club of Owerri, the Naze millionaires under the leadership of Goodfaith Chibuzor Etuemena has directed the technical crew of the team lead by it’s Head Coach Ramson Madu to temporarily step aside.”

“The decision according to the club is due to the recent poor performance of the team in the on-going 2017/2018 Nigeria Professional Football League. In the place of the Ramson Madu’s led crew, the management has directed that Coach Eziekel Onyegbule should take charge of the team and will be assisted by Coach Isaac Mbaegbu who is recently in the club’s youth team (the team B.).”

“The decision takes place with immediate effect. The Coach Eziekel’s led crew will be in Charge of the team in it’s Matchday 15 home game against visiting Nasarawa United this Sunday at the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri.”

“We therefore urge all our fans and supporters to give Coach Ezekiel Onyegbule all the support he needs to succeed in this daunting task. Coach Ezekiel Onyegbule is a Caf License B Coach with years of experience.”

MMM founder, Sergei Mavrodi, dies from heart attack.

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The former deputy of the Russian Duma and one of the most prominent fraudsters in Russia’s modern history was 63 years old.

According to media reports, founder of the MMM series of financial pyramid schemes, Sergei Mavrodi, died in Moscow. Mavrodi was taken to a city hospital from a bus stop overnight Monday after he felt weakness and pain in the chest area, reports Moskovsky Komsomolets. The emergency team has failed to save his life. “He died this morning,” the report said.

In 2007 Sergei Mavrodi was convicted in a Russian court of defrauding 10,000 investors out of 110 million rubles ($4.3 million). Mavrodi claimed he is not the beneficiary of the donations and he is not used to flamboyant lifestyle. His true charges of which he was later convicted of is tax fraud though he claimed that MMM scheme is not a business, but a mutual donation program of which there is no law against such.

Pope Francis hits out at those who ‘twist’ the truth

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Pope Francis blesses the faithful with holy water during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 25. (CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters) See POPE-PALM-SUNDAY March 25, 2018.

‘Spinning’ facts is to disfigure the face of Jesus and turn him into a ‘criminal’, Pope Francis said on Palm Sunday

Pope Francis has condemned those who “twist reality” and “invent stories” in order to gain power.

Delivering his Palm Sunday homily in St Peter’s Square in Rome, the Pope referred to the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem,  surrounded by his people and a cacophony of singing and shouting.

“We can imagine that amid the outcry we hear the voice of the forgiven son, the healed leper, or the bleating of the lost sheep. Then too, the song of the publican and the unclean man; the cry of those living on the edges of the city,” the Pope said. “How could they not praise the one who had restored their dignity and hope? Theirs is the joy of so many forgiven sinners who are able to trust and hope once again.”

Pope Francis described this joy and praise as “a source of unease, scandal and upset” for those who consider themselves righteous and “faithful” to the law and its ritual precepts.

“How hard it is for the comfortable and the self-righteous to understand the joy and the celebration of God’s mercy.”

Pope Francis holds palm fronds as he celebrates Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican March 25. (CNS photo/Maria Grazia Picciarella, pool) See POPE-PALM-SUNDAY March 25, 2018.

This is where the fierce cry of those who shout out: “Crucify him!” comes from, he continued.

“It is not spontaneous but already armed with disparagement, slander and false witness.

“It is the voice of those who twist reality and invent stories for their own benefit, without concern for the good name of others. The cry of those who have no problem in seeking ways to gain power and to silence dissonant voices. The cry that comes from ‘spinning’ facts and painting them such that they disfigure the face of Jesus and turn him into a ‘criminal’. It is the voice of those who want to defend their own position, especially by discrediting the defenceless. It is the cry born of the show of self-sufficiency, pride and arrogance, which sees no problem in shouting: ‘Crucify him, crucify him’.”

This is how the celebration of the people ends up being stifled: “Hope is demolished, dreams are killed, joy is suppressed; the heart is shielded and charity grows cold.”

Faced with such people, the best remedy is to look at Christ’s cross and let ourselves be challenged by his final cry, the Pope said. “He died crying out his love for each of us: young and old, saints and sinners, the people of his times and of our own.”

The Pope also referred to a temptation to silence young people that “has always existed”

He said: “There are many ways to silence young people and make them invisible. Many ways to anaesthetise them, to make them keep quiet, ask nothing, question nothing. There are many ways to sedate them, to keep them from getting involved, to make their dreams flat and dreary, petty and plaintive. On this Palm Sunday, as we celebrate World Youth Day, we do well to hear Jesus’ answer to all those Pharisees past and present: ‘If these were silent, the very stones would cry out’ (Lk 19:40).”

 

Malaysia seeks 10 year-jail terms for ‘fake news’

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Malaysia’s government has proposed new legislation to combat “fake news”, with offenders facing up to 10 years in prison.

Under the Anti-Fake News Bill, those convicted of disseminating false content would be jailed or fined up to RM500,000 (£90,400, $128,000), or both.

The bill was tabled in parliament on Monday, ahead of a national election that is expected within weeks.

Critics have called the bill an attempt by the authorities to stifle dissent.

According to the bill, the term “fake news” is defined as “news, information, data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false”.

An offender would be anyone who “by any means, knowingly creates, offers, publishes, prints, distributes, circulates or disseminates any fake news or publication containing fake news”.

Blogs, public forums and social media accounts are also covered by the bill.

It applies to anyone inside or outside Malaysia, as long as the “fake news” published concerns the country or those in it, which means foreigners can technically be sentenced in absentia.

True or false?

The move has been described as an attempt to silence opposition ahead of the general election. It must be held by August, but is widely expected within the next few weeks.

“The bill is 100% intended to muffle dissent… the punishment is extremely high and what amounts to fake news has been loosely defined,” Eric Paulsen, co-founder of Malaysian human rights group Lawyers for Liberty, told the BBC.

“It also looks like they are rushing through the bill… before the elections. It’s likely that it will be passed.”

He added that the bill could affect reporting stories such as the scandal surrounding 1MDB, Malaysia’s state development fund. It is alleged that hundreds of millions of dollars were “misappropriated” from the fund

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had in 2015 reported it had seen a paper trail that allegedly traced close to $700m from the fund to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts.

Mr Najib has denied taking any money from 1MDB.

Just days ago, a Malaysian minister said any news relating to 1MDB that was not confirmed by the government was false.

“If this is [the government’s] benchmark, then we will have a situation where only the government can determine if things are true or false,” said Mr Paulsen.

China’s footballers ordered to cover tattoos as state tightens up on moral values

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China’s much-ridiculed footballers are ranked 65th by FIFA, they have never won a match at a World Cup Finals and they were roundly thrashed 6-0 by Wales in their most recent game.

But instead of introducing new measures to help a country of 1.4 billion people produce 11 men who don’t embarrass themselves on a football pitch, Chinese sports officials are instead clamping down on tattoos in order to promote “socialist values’.

Real Madrid star Gareth Bale grabbed the headlines as Wales swept aside China in the southern city of Nanning last Thursday, scoring a hat-trick in the Chinese team’s latest humiliation.

But fans and media also spotted how the Chinese players sported bandages over their arms and legs to cover tattoos.

Chinese players at the training sessions were also covering up their skin with long-sleeved attire and running tights.

Reports then began emerging in Chinese media that tattoos had come under scrutiny from authorities.

It appears to be the latest salvo in a war on morals that has been launched in recent years across China, where anything from kissing at university campuses to having a trendy haircut at school is frowned upon.

Sohu sports said “detailed measures” on tattoos will be issued by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) in the coming weeks.

A senior CFA official told the media outlet: “China promotes cultural confidence among nationalities and core socialist values, so as the national team, it has a responsibility to provide a healthy football culture for society and work as an example in this respect.”

A report from Shanghai-based outlet thepaper.com said the new measures will be implemented across Chinese football, from all levels of the national team, to professional league matches in the Chinese Super League to “teenage football matches”.

Gao Lin in action against Serbia in November, left, and Wales on Friday

China’s U23 national team also covered up their tattoos in a match against Syria on Saturday.

Footballers are not the only entertainers to fall foul of China’s strictly Conservative authorities.

Musicians and performers with tattoos are also reportedly banned from appearing on television shows.

Singer Dou Jingtong covered up her jaw-to-neck tattoo when she appeared on Chinese TV last year.

The restrictions on footballers’ tattoos are not expected to apply to overseas footballers, which is good news for heavily-inked David Beckham, a huge star in China who often visits the country.

During a 2013 visit , after being prompted by journalists, the former England captain lifted up his shirt to reveal Chinese characters tattooed on the left-hand side of his torso.

But Bale, China’s current footballing darling, has no tattoos, apparently due to his father, Frank, being opposed to the glitzy side of football.

Jia Xiuquan, head coach of China’s U19 team, appeared to echo those views in comments which the more traditionally-minded English Premier League managers might agree with.

“I dislike any form of dyed hair or tattoos,” Jia told thepaper.com.

“Any team player who wants to be selected for the next match should wash their tattoos and the colour out of their hair. They should focus on the game rather than their image or appearance.”

This is how to stop Facebook logging all of your calls and texts

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Facebook is freaking people out, yo. The Cambridge Analytica thing – which is reasonably confusing, amongst other things – has everyone rattled, and people are shutting their accounts down in droves. Where will they see confusing memes about wine o’clock now?

Some people are taking the option of downloading all of their data from Facebook as a zip file, so they can keep hold of treasured memories (the time you drunkenly messaged your uncle to call him corrupt and he got really angry! The embarrassing, unsuccessful copy-and-pasted flirty messages you sent to everyone you fancied and thought you might have a chance with after you got dumped and kind of lost your mind! The time you checked in to cassablanca, Booze in one morning because you thought it was funny but then your mum got worried about you!).

Some Android users have found that the data contains some pretty surprising and worrying stuff, though. What kind of worrying stuff? Call records, for one.

According to Facebook, though, it’s your fault if they have this data, because you opted into letting them have it. They said: “People have to expressly agree to use this feature. If, at any time, they no longer wish to use this feature they can turn it off in settings, and all previously shared call and text history shared via that app is deleted. While we receive certain permissions from Android, uploading this information has always been opt-in only.”

The thing is, of course, that we don’t read or think about things when agreeing permissions on apps – we go along with whatever comes up because it’s easier, vastly easier, than curtailing what the app can do. But then Facebook knows everything about you. The best thing to come out of all of this might be that we start thinking about what we’re agreeing to when we allow companies access to intimate details of our lives.

If you’re an Android user and want to make sure Facebook doesn’t have your call records, open the Facebook Messenger app and tap on your profile picture, then tap on People and make sure the ‘Sync contacts’ option is turned off.

Job done, now Mark Zuckerberg will have to resort to other ways to spy on you, probably by renting the house next door and putting a glass to the wall. That’s what we’d do anyway.

Interview: APC will set up a parallel Neighborhood watch- Chris Finebone

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The All Progressive Congress, APC has stated the party’s reasons for opposing the Neighborhood Watch Law.

The Rivers State Publicity secretary of the party, Chris Finebone said during an interview with Punch that the party will form a parallel Neighborhood watch corps in the state as a countermeasure against the Governor Wike’s Neighborhood watch.

He said: The APC is against the Neighbourhood Safety Corps because of several reasons. Principally, the Neighbourhood Safety Corps bill, which the governor recently signed into law, is fraught with several noxious, obnoxious and toxic clauses that will turn Rivers State into a killing field. For example, the law empowers the members of the Corps to carry arms and this is in conflict with the powers given to the police and other federal security agencies. In other words, the Neighbourhood Safety Corps is a state police established through the backdoor without the necessary safeguards. There are other provisions of the law which make it a time bomb that will incinerate the state. The control of the agency is totally in the hands of the PD, making it an armed wing of the party.

On the claims by Governor Wike that the law will provide jobs for the youth, he said:

“This is the most horrendous story to come from a governor of a state. This is beyond being a false statement, it is pure mischief and dangerous. Governor Nyesom Wike is anti-people and has no record of employing a single youth in Rivers State since he became governor. We challenge him to name a single young man that he has legitimately employed or caused to be employed since he became governor. Arming youths under a highly questionable and noxious agency laws to bear arms is merely sending youths to their early graves. This is not the type of jobs youths of Rivers State desire and deserve. Truth is that Governor Wike simply wants to recruit those he said will act as ‘peoples’ army that he would use for the 2019 elections. Remember, he keeps saying that the people will resist the Nigeria Police for him during the 2019 elections, those to do that are members of the Neighbourhood Safety Corps. I am sure that you can foresee the danger in that situation.

On whether the law will affect the outcome of the 2019 election, he maintained:

“Our disapproval and eventual shooting down of the evil Neighbourhood Corps will avert the imminent danger that may mar the 2019 elections in Rivers State. More than anything else, doing away with the corps will avert the likely and needless bloodshed that may result from their involvement in the elections which is the real reason Governor Wike set up the corps. He seems not to have seen the wider dimension to an armed Neighbourhood Corps; he is only looking at the electoral gains he will harvest from it.

“APC members cannot get involved in that charade called Neighbourhood Corps. Of course, we have already advised them to distance themselves from the corps. We have our own idea of steps we will take against the corps and this includes, but not limited to robustly resisting it with our own parallel corps, and you can take that to the bank.

On the argument that it was an APC lawmaker that presented the bill at the house of assembly, he said:

“If the argument is about Hon. (Frederick) Anabraba, I would not want to delve into whether he is still an APC member or not. What I can tell you is that the Neighbourhood Corps bill was an executive bill. In any case, it is an enactment of the Rivers State House of Assembly. If it were a popular bill, will anyone begin to talk about who presented it or were part of it? The government will lay claim to it. So, that’s like begging the question. Who and who are part of it don’t make it right neither is it wrong because some lawmakers were not part of it. It is an evil creation that cannot stand and that is the position of the Rivers APC.

“We are already in court challenging that evil corps. Beyond that, we shall set up a parallel corps whose sole duty will be to watch the Neighbourhood corps across the 23 LGAs of Rivers State. We will sell the goat the same way it was sold to us”

NNPC, Enugu Govt Partner to Restore Enugu Depot

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…As Gov Ugwunyi Pledges to Rally S’ East Govs to Secure Aba-Enugu Pipeline

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Enugu State Government have pledged to work together to revamp the strategic Enugu Depot towards meeting the petroleum products demand of the entire South-East region and beyond.

This was made known when the Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru paid a courtesy call on the Enugu State Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, at the Government House, Enugu on Thursday.

Dr. Baru who lamented the incessant acts of vandalism on the Aba-Enugu products pipeline said at some point, about 700 breaches were recorded on the pipeline, a situation that has hampered efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products not only in the state, but in the entire South-East region.

The GMD explained that even after the Aba-Enugu pipeline was repaired, it still had to be shut down as the corporation hardly gets up to 50% of the products pumped.

He described Enugu Depot as a major NNPC supply and distribution infrastructure in the entire South-East region which requires the support of all stakeholders bring back to life.

According to the GMD, the Osisioma and Nsirimo areas (both in Abia State) as well as Ishiagwu (in Ebonyi State) were the major vandalism flash points along the line where illegal connections for diversion of products had been observed almost on a daily basis.

He, therefore, called on the governor to rally his counterparts in the region to work with the NNPC and security agencies to secure the strategic pipeline, which he said would go a long way in reviving efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products in the area.

“This depot is not only strategic to the South East, it also serves as a bridge to Makurdi Depot in the North Central as well as the Yola Depot in the North East,” he noted.

The GMD also charged the governor to collaborate with relevant government agencies to enforce the sale of petrol at filling stations in the state at the government-regulated price of N145.

“You wouldn’t want to watch as unpatriotic marketers profiteer over your innocent citizens. We still believe marketers anywhere in this country can make profit selling at the official pump price,” Baru added.

Responding, Governor Ugwuanyi assured the GMD that he would rally other governors from the region to ensure that the Aba-Enugu pipeline is secured from the unwholesome activities of vandals.

Describing the GMD’s visit as timely, Governor Ugwuanyi said he was now better informed as to why the Enugu Depot was not in operation.

He assured that the Enugu State Task Force on Petroleum Products would work with NNPC officials and relevant security agencies to ascertain the exact incident spots with a view to securing the pipeline.

Boy, 9, has his hands rotten and chopped off after teacher ties them up (Graphic Images)

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A 9-year-old boys’ hands has been amputated in Gombe following his teacher’s cruelty.

Zubairu, an ‘almajiri’ whose hands rotten after his teacher Malam Shuaibu tied them up with a rope had his lower arm cut off when it could not be salvaged

Both hands were chopped off when a hospital found that they could no more be useful. The incident happened at Kagarawol, Gombe State.

A source who spoke to TPCN said that the teacher has been arrested and will be charged to court for the dastardly act against a minor.

The source said that such cruelty against the almajiri children by their Islamic teachers has become a regular occurrence of late, saying that most of the children are sexually abused by their teachers too.

He maintained that individual states in the north should work hard to stop the almajiri system as it leaves children vulnerable to those who would abuse them.

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