Author: David Great

FIFA will stage an expanded Club World Cup featuring 32 men’s teams from June 2025, says its president Gianni Infantino. Football’s world governing body also hopes to introduce a women’s version, with both held every four years. ‘World Series’ friendly tournaments to be played between nations of different confederations are also planned. “The best teams in the world will be invited to participate,” Infantino said of the Club World Cup. He was speaking after a FIFA Council meeting in Qatar on Friday and before this weekend’s final two games of this year’s World Cup, the first to be held in…

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday said hunger levels in Nigeria and some other west African countries are at an all-time high, citing insecurity as the main reason for the problem. Nigeria along with Mali and Burkina Faso are the three countries with the highest hunger level and all three countries are battling Islamist insurgencies that have displaced millions of people. The United Nations agency reckon that the number of people struggling to get enough food in West and Central Africa is expected to rise to an all-time high of 48 million by mid-2023. About 35 million people -…

Canada’s government has said it wants to delay expanding medically-assisted dying for people with mental illness. Access to euthanasia was set to expand in March to people whose sole conditions are mental disorders. The expansion has come under fire from some experts, who worry that it offers death as an option to people with suicidal thoughts. Supporters of the measure, however, say excluding people with mental illness is discriminatory. The expansion of assisted dying to people with mental illness would mean that Canada would have one of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world. Canada’s Justice Minister David Lametti…

The Ebonyi State Police Command says it has uncovered the biggest Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) factory owned and controlled by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The police said the uncovered local bomb factory is capable of causing colossal damage to buildings and eradicating any living thing in and around the area if detonated. The IEDs camp controlled by IPOB is located at Obegu, a boundary area between the Onicha-Isu and Ishielu Local Government Areas of the state. Speaking to journalists on the findings by the police on on Thursday, the police spokesman, SP Chris Anyanwu, said officers and…

The EU has threatened Twitter owner Elon Musk with sanctions after several journalists covering the company had their accounts abruptly suspended. Reporters for the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post were among those locked out of their accounts. EU commissioner Vera Jourova warned that the EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom. “Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” she tweeted. She said: “News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying. “[The] EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced…

Harvard University has named the first black person to lead the Ivy League university. Dr Claudine Gay, who is a dean at Harvard and a democracy scholar, has been appointed as the school’s 30th president. She is the second woman to head the elite college in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr Gay will replace Lawrence Bacow as president in July 2023, the university said. She will be the only black person to lead an Ivy League university in 2023 and the second black woman ever to head one of the colleges. Dr Gay has “brought to her roles a rare blend of…

The Nigerian Army Council has approved the promotion of 122 senior officers to the ranks of Major General and Brigadier General in recognition of their meritorious service to the nation. The promotion, comprising of 52 brigadier generals to the rank of major general and 70 colonels to the rank of brigadier general respectively, was approved at the council’s sitting on Thursday. The Director, Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja. According to Nwachukwu, among those promoted to the rank of Major General are Brig.-Gen. A. A. Ayanuga of the Department of Army…

Manchester City’s future transfer plans involve trying to sign Bellingham and Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka, 21. (90min)  Chelsea are on the verge of signing Ivory Coast forward David Datro Fofana, 19, from Norwegian club Molde for more than 10m euros. (Fabrizio Romano, Twitter)  Arsenal are among several clubs in talks over a deal for Ukraine winger Mykhaylo Mudryk but Shakhtar Donetsk insist their president will decide the 21-year-old’s future – once they receive any formal offers. (Mail)  Liverpool would have to pay 150m euros (£130m) for Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder Jude Bellingham, 19, and around 100m euros (£87m) for Benfica and Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez, 21. (Mundo Deportivo – in Spanish)  The agency that represents Fiorentina midfielder…

Fernando Santos has left his job as Portugal’s coach after his team lost to Morocco in the World Cup quarter-finals, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said on Thursday. The Portuguese suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Morocco in Qatar on Saturday, after Santos started the match by leaving the country’s all-time record goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo on the substitutes’ bench. In an emotional video message, Santos said that being Portugal’s coach was a “dream come true” and a “life goal” he fulfilled. “When you lead groups, you have to make some difficult decisions,” he added. “It’s normal that not everyone was…

Lawmakers confirm 85% project completion The chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Transportation, Hon. Temitope Adewale has disclosed that trains in the Red Line of the State’s rail mass transit will move 500,000 passengers daily. This amounts to 3.5 million passengers weekly and 15 million passengers a month. Hon. Adewale made the disclosure on Thursday when he led the committee on an on-the-site visit to the train stations between Ifako-Ijaiye and Yaba. Adewale, who confirmed that the project was at 85% of its completion, said it showed that the State government understands the need to boost…