Okoye Asked To Be Excused From Eagles –Shorunmu

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June 28, 2022

Fresh facts have emerged on why Watford goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye, missed Nigeria’s squad last four games.

Okoye who last featured for the Super Eagles against Tunisia at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon came under heavy criticism for the team’s exit from the tournament.

The 22-year-old failed to keep out Youssef Mskani’s long-range shot which sealed the Eagles’ exit from the tournament.

Following the backlash from fans, Okoye allegedly pulled out of the Eagles Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Ghana on account of illness. He also asked to be left out of the team to focus on settling in at his new club after being invited for the international friendlies against Mexico and Ecuador as well as the 2023 AFCON qualifiers against Sao Tome and Principe.

The Eagles goalkeeper coach Ike Shorunmu explained that the Watford goalkeeper still has a chance of reclaiming his place in the team once he settles in at the club.

“He (Okoye) was not in the team in their last two games before we came on board but he was called up for the friendlies in USA,” Shorunmu said.

“But the secretary of the team sent me a message he received through a friend that he (Okoye) wanted to be excused for the games as he wanted to focus on settling in at his new club which I rightly understand.

“He is at a new club and he needs to prove himself well with the new coach at the club unlike when he was with his former team where he knew the terrain better.

“I have been in such situations before when I changed club so I understand what he is going through but we hope to have him back in the team in September for the next AFCON qualifiers.

The 22-year-old kept eight clean sheets in 31 games conceding 40 goals. He is tipped to become the Hornet’s first choice in the English Championship.

Anambra State collaborate with Organisation To Co-ordinate Community Children’s Homes Operations

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Olasunbo Okoromi

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June 28, 2022

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An international Donor Organization, Rules of Law and Anti Corruption (ROLAC), in collaboration with Anambra State Government has begun the process of harmonizing operations of no fewer than 40 Community Children’s Homes in the state.

To achieve the desired objective, a combined team from the State Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, ROLAC, Anambra State Child’s Right Implementation Committee(ASCRIC) and Child Protection Network had commenced visits to various Homes.

The team also made a passionate appeal to public spirited individuals, Corporate bodies and government to come to the assistance of over 20 identified children with special needs in some of the Homes.

Speaking during the visits, Mr Emeka Ejide, a Chilld Development Expert and Consultant to ROLAC said, “The team considered it necessary to ascertain the level of compliance of the Homes with the provisions of the Child’s Right law.”

He noted that it was interested to ensure that approved Homes operated within the ambit of the established laws, adding that at the end of the exercise it would come out with a guideline for all Homes in the state.

Mr Ejide, listed some of the areas to look at to include, documentation, staffing, mode of admission, security arrangement, recreational facilities, regulatory framework and related matters.

Some of the Matrons of Homes visited including Rev Sis Augusta Uyanne, Madonn Angels Community Children’s Home, Atani, Sister Francilla M.C, Missionaries of Charity Community Children’s Home, Fegge, Onitsha, and Sister Rose Ndupu, Mother of Christ Compassionate Home, Onitsha, thanked the team for the visit and assured of their support to make the exercise a succeeds one.

Anthony Joshua Looking Deadly Ahead Usyk Rematch

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Emenike Agu

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June 28, 2022

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While there are still two months to go, British heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua showed off his incredibly deadly physique in Saudi Arabi ahead of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

Two-time heavyweight champion Joshua lost his three world titles in surprising fashion when he was comfortably beaten in 12 rounds by Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.

After months of wrangling, AJ will finally get his shot at revenge in their rematch on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The two fighters came face-to-face again last week in the build-up to their second fight in the Middle East and Joshua already looks to be in deadly condition after he shared several snaps of himself working out in the ring.

Many fans and experts are predicting that Joshua, who has brought in new coach Robert Garcia to train him, will come unstuck again against his rival later this summer.

Tyson Fury has said that Joshua will lose again to the Ukrainian no matter what new tactics he tries unless Joshua lets him train him.

However, the 32-year-old insists that he will get the respect he deserves after inflicting a first-ever defeat to Usyk and regaining his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles.

South Korea Experiencing Guerrilla Rainstorms

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Angel Gimalo

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June 28, 2022

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It’s monsoon season in South Korea.

They’re seeing short, localized downpours also called “Guerrilla rainstorms.”

By Wednesday morning, lower-lying streets in the capital area could have 30 centimeters or more standing water.

In the capital region, wind speeds were recorded at 20 meters per second, breaking down trees and streetlights.

The Korea Meteorological Administration says this is due to the growing air pressure gap from winds flowing in from the north and the south.

With the monsoon rain belt quickly moving south the country is going to be under heavy rainfall for the next few days.

Which is why weather analysts are advising extra caution.

“We’re expecting to see most of the rain at night…the hardest time for us to take any sort of measures. We suggest that people should stay indoors and make sure they have an emergency contact list at hand. We’re also asking vacationers near the coast or mountains to be aware of flooding or landslides.”

While rainfall will continue throughout the week, southern regions on the other hand, will see temperatures run high.

Lassa Fever : NCDC Gives Update On Fatalities

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Olasunbo Okoromi

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June 28, 2022

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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), disclosed on Monday that, 797 confirmed cases of Lassa fever have been reported in 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory in 2022.

According to the NCDC, the confirmed cases are in addition to the 5,097 suspected cases reported across 99 local government areas.

The centre’s latest situation report on the disease, as of June 19, 2022, indicated that 158 deaths had been reported.

Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever and an acute viral illness. This zoonotic disease has a high morbidity and mortality rate, as well as economic and health security implications.

The highlights of the report showed that, “In week 24, the number of new confirmed cases increased from seven in week 23, 2022 to eight cases. These were reported from Ondo, Edo, and Plateau States.

“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 24, 2022, 158 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate of 19.8% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (20.5%).”

In total for 2022, 24 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 99 local government areas.

Google Faces New EU Antitrust Complaint

By

faith Jegede

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June 28, 2022

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A Danish online job-search rival has filed an antitrust complaint against Google with EU regulators, alleging the online search giant had allegedly used its market power to push its Google for Jobs service.

Google was hit with a new antitrust complaint on Monday (June 27), filed by Danish online job-search rival Jobindex.

The company alleges the Alphabet unit has used its market power to favour its own job search service.

Google for Jobs launched in Europe in 2018 and triggered criticism from 23 online job-search websites, including Jobindex, the following year.

The latest complaint could accelerate EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager’s scrutiny of Google For Jobs three years after it first came under her microscope.

The European Commission and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Vestager has fined Google more than $8.4 billion in recent years for various anti-competitive practices. Google has previously said it made changes in Europe after complaints from online job-search rivals.

Jobindex founder and CEO Kaare Danielsen said his company had built up the largest jobs database in Denmark by the time Google for Jobs entered the local market last year. But he said it soon lost 20% of search traffic to Google.

He said Google wasn’t just stifling competition, but also harming labor markets. Jobindex said it had seen examples of free-riding, with some of its own job ads copied without its permission.

Qatar State-Owned Oil And Gas Company To Cut Emissions

By

Angel Gimalo

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June 28, 2022

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The state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy said Monday it is joining a new industry-led initiative to reduce nearly all methane emissions from operations by 2030.

It comes as part of a broader global push to tackle emissions from methane, or natural gas, which is the second most polluting climate-changing gas after carbon dioxide, and much more potent than CO2.

Unlike carbon dioxide, though, methane’s leakage into the atmosphere is not the result of combustion or fuel-burning, instead it represents the loss of a marketable fuel.

Methane is responsible for about a quarter of all the climate change already being experienced worldwide.

Technology has allowed energy companies, independent groups and citizen sleuths to monitor methane leakage with cameras, drones and satellites.

This monitoring along with greater climate change awareness is pushing companies to reduce their methane emissions and fix leakages from faulty pipes and other equipment.

With its pledge, Qatar Energy joins an initiative launched in March of this year by 12 other major oil and gas companies, including Aramco, BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell and others.

Qatar is among the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporters and Qatar Energy operates all of the country’s oil and gas exploration and production, making the peninsula-nation among the world’s richest per capita.

The tiny country, which borders Saudi Arabia to the east, shares control with Iran of the world’s largest underwater natural gas field in the Persian Gulf.

French Interior Minister Apologises For Bad Management At UCL Final

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Emenike Agu

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June 28, 2022

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French interior minister Gerald Darmanin has apologised to “everyone who suffered from bad management” at the 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League final match in Paris.

However, the 39-year-old, who had previously made outlandish claims about the number of counterfeit tickets in circulation at the Stade de France, stopped short of saying sorry to the Liverpool fans.

He had blamed them for the problems on the night of the club’s defeat to Real Madrid.

“Should the Stade de France have been better managed? The answer is `yes’,” he said, following the incidence of supporters being locked out and then tear-gassed after serious congestion problems developed.

“Am I partly responsible? The answer is `yes’. Of course, I readily apologise to everyone who suffered from this bad management of the event.”

After the match, supporters complained of being robbed by local gangs, with the police offering no protection.

The police had earlier employed heavy-handed methods in an attempt to deal with the growing crowd issue.

Darmanin said they had learned from that and France’s two recent UEFA Nations League matches and the Top 14 rugby final at the stadium all passed off without any major incident.

“It profoundly changed the organisation of the police headquarters,” he added.

“I changed the organisation to fight against delinquency because, if there was something that went wrong at the Stade de France, it was the fight against delinquency.”

Earlier this month the interior minister apologised to a French Senate committee hearing for “the disproportionate use of tear gas”.

But his claims that 35,000 and 40,000 supporters without tickets or fake tickets were present around the Stade de France were debunked by a UEFA official.

The official had said UEFA’s count of counterfeits was closer to 2,600.

Moon Landing: National Aeronautics And Space Administration To Send Test Satellite From New Zealand

By

Angel Gimalo

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June 28, 2022

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National Aeronautics And Space Administration NASA wants to experiment with a new orbit around the moon that it hopes to use in the coming years to once again land astronauts on the lunar surface.

So, it is sending up a test satellite from New Zealand. The initial stages of the launch went according to plan late Tuesday, with the rocket carrying the satellite reaching space.

If the rest of the mission is successful, the Capstone CubeSat satellite — only about the size of a microwave oven — will be the first to take the new path around the moon and will send back vital information for at least six months.

Technically, the new orbit is called a near-rectilinear halo orbit. It’s a stretched-out egg shape with one end passing close to the moon and the other far from it.

Imagine stretching a rubber band back from your thumb. Your thumb would represent the moon and the rubber band the flight path.

“It will have equilibrium. Poise. Balance,” NASA wrote on its website. “This pathfinding CubeSat will practically be able to kick back and rest in a gravitational sweet spot in space – where the pull of gravity from Earth and the Moon interact to allow for a nearly-stable orbit.”

Placentyne Hair Lotion from Italy dangerous, NAFDAC cautions women

By

Cleopatra Okohai

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June 28, 2022

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has cautioned Nigerian women against the use of Placentyne Hair Lotion for hair breakage, noting that the product has been banned.

The agency said the alert on the product is issued as a result of safety information gotten from the European Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products.

The NAFDAC public alert with No. 0033/2022 signed by NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, was posted on the official website of NAFDAC.

According to the alert, Placentyne Hair Lotion is said to contain a mixture of preservatives Methylchloroisothiazolinone, and Methylisothiazolinone which are not allowed in leave-on cosmetics.

Adeyeye stated the product is sold in a 12ampoules x 10ml cardboard box, manufactured by an Italian company, Linea Italiana di Benazzi Anna & SAS with a barcode No. 8029550000126.

She further noted that Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone are preservatives usually contained in many liquids personal care products, adding that they have been associated with lung toxicity, allergic reactions, and likely neurotoxicity.

“Both chemicals inhibit bacterial growth in cosmetic products on their own, but they are most commonly used as a mixture in products,” she said.

The Director-General implored importers, distributors, retailers, healthcare providers, and consumers to discontinue the importation, distribution, sale, and use of Placentyne Hair Lotion 12ampoules x 10ml by Linea Italiana di Benazzi Anna & SAS.

She also warned members of the public who have the recalled products to stop sale or use and hand over their stock to the nearest NAFDAC office.

“NAFDAC encourages healthcare professionals, consumers, and patients to report adverse events related to the use of this product to the nearest NAFDAC office, NAFDAC PRASCOR (20543 TOLLS FREE from all networks) or via pharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng or the NAFDAC ADR e-Reporting platform available at www.nafdac.gov.ng.”