Author: David Great

Newcastle United have rejected an approach from Bayern Munich for 33-year-old defender Kieran Trippier. (Sky Sports) Trippier is keen to join Bayern this January if they can agree a deal with the Magpies. (Times – subscription required) Newcastle have also rejected a loan enquiry for England striker Callum Wilson from Atletico Madrid but could sell the 31-year-old if a permanent offer is made. (Mail) Manchester City are ready to reward Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne with a contract extension, with the 33-year-old attracting interest from the Saudi Pro League. (Mirror) Former Chelsea and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is in talks with Saudi club Al-Shabab about taking over as their manager following his sacking by Roma. (Sportitalia -…

Sierra Leone’s ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma left the West African country by plane and flew to Nigeria on Friday, two Reuters reporters said, after a court allowed him to travel abroad on medical grounds despite treason charges. On Jan. 3, 70-year-old Koroma was charged with four offences for his alleged role in a failed military attempt to topple the government in November, but a high court on Wednesday ruled he could leave the country. The decision came amid concerns his indictment could stoke domestic tensions linked to the 2023 election, which saw President Julius Maada Bio reelected for a second…

Four civil society organisations have urged the National Judicial Council to investigate Appeal Court president Monica Dongban-Mensem and the judges involved in the Plateau State election case. The justices are Oluwayemisi Williams-Dawodu, Abdulaziz Waziri, and Okon Abang, who are all Court of Appeal justices. At the appeal court, no fewer than 16 lawmakers who ran for the Peoples Democratic Party in the state’s 2023 elections were dismissed. The court based its ruling on the PDP’s inability to comply with an injunction mandating it to hold ward and local government congresses before selecting candidates for various elective positions. The governor of…

A United Nations report shows that between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in one city in Sudan’s West Darfur region last year in ethnic violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militia. In the report to the UN Security Council, independent UN sanctions monitors attributed the toll in El Geneina to intelligence sources and contrasted it with the UN estimate that about 12,000 people have been killed across Sudan since war erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The monitors also described as “credible” accusations that the United Arab Emirates…

Arsenal have rebuffed approaches for Emile Smith Rowe, 23, with Aston Villa, West Ham and Newcastle all expressing an interest in the England midfielder, who has started just two games in all competitions this season. (Mail) Newcastle have identified Everton and Belgium midfielder Amadou Onana, 22, as a good option to bolster their ranks as concerns grow over the future of Brazil midfielder, Joelinton, 27, who is yet to agree on a new deal at St James’ Park. (Telegraph – subscription required) West Ham are looking to make two loan signings after opening talks with Manchester City over a deal for England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, 28, and approaching Arsenal about Smith Rowe. (Guardian) Tottenham will shelve…

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said troops of the air component of Operation Hadin Kai, on January 10, eliminated three top commanders of the Islamic States of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in Borno. The director, defence media operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Baba, gave the assurance in the weekly report of the operations of the armed forces on Friday in Abuja. Mr Buba said the three commanders, identified as Abou Maimuna, Abou Zahra and Commander Saleh, with their lieutenants in a canoe, were targeted and destroyed by the air strikes. He said troops had, during the week, in other operations, neutralised 43…

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has urged opposition protesting his victory at the Supreme Court to respect the ruling of the apex court. Sule who was at the State House, Abuja to meet with President Bola Tinubu and thank him for his victory called for peace from all residents of Nasarawa State. Joined by his predecessors, Umar Tanko Al-Makura, and Abdullahi Adamu, he noted that the number of voters. “Nasarawa is a state where we had over 600,000 votes and we won with over 340,000 votes, so you will know that over 200,000 people did not vote for us.…

Jordan Henderson, who joined Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday, has apologised again to anyone he might have offended six months after the England midfielder was the target of scathing criticism for his move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq. The 33-year-old met with media a day after he signed with the Dutch side having terminated his contract with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq after six months. Unveiling his jersey, Henderson said, “I’m not sure how many you’ll sell but they look nice anyway, adding, “I love them all. I love red and white. Obviously those where the colours have started in as…

Men of the Nigerian Police Force have arrested Chinaza Phillip, a notorious kidnapper terrorizing residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He was arrested by officers of the Kaduna State Police Command. According to a statement by the FCT command spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, posted on the verified X handle of the force, the kidnapper has since been handed over to the men of the FCT command. “The FCT Police Command wishes to confirm the arrest of one Chinaza Phillip, a notorious Abuja kidnapper, by police operatives of the Kaduna State Police Command on Thursday 18th January, 2024. “The suspect…

Iraq claimed their first victory over Japan in 42 years when they won their Asian Cup Group D encounter 2-1 on Friday to qualify for the knockout stage thanks to a first-half double from Aymen Hussein at the Education City Stadium. Japan were unbeaten against the West Asian side in their last nine games and Iraq’s victory propelled them to the top of the group standings with six points from two games while Hajime Moriyasu’s side have three points. “Today is a great day for Iraqi people but for us it’s just a win. We have six points, but the…