A Russian actor and a film director have returned to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station shooting scenes for the first movie in orbit.
Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko landed as scheduled on Kazakhstan’s steppe early on Sunday, according to footage broadcast live by the Russian space agency.
They were ferried back to terra firma by cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, who had been on the space station for the past six months.
“The descent vehicle of the crewed spacecraft Soyuz MS-18 is standing upright and is secure. The crew are feeling good!” Russian space agency Roscosmos wrote on social media.
The film-makers had blasted off from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier this month, travelling to the ISS with veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov to film scenes for The Challenge.
Tom Cruise has plans to film in space; Russian actor Yulia Peresild is already doing so on the ISS.
If the project stays on track, the Russian crew will beat a Hollywood project announced last year by Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise together with Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The movie’s plot, which has been mostly kept under wraps along with its budget, centers around a surgeon who is dispatched to the ISS to save a cosmonaut.
Shkaplerov, 49, along with the two Russian cosmonauts who were already aboard the ISS, are said to have cameo roles in the film.
The trials of three Egyptian activists and a rights lawyer, who have been held in prison for over two years on a number of charges, have been postponed.
According to lawyer Khalid Ali, Activists Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Mohamed Ibrahim and Yahia Hussein Abdel-Hadi and lawyer Mohammed el-Baker appeared before judges of the Emergency State Security Court in Cairo.
They will be tried in two separate proceedings in the same courtroom.
The trial of Abdel-Fattah, Ibrahim and el-Baker was postponed until Nov. 1, while Abdel-Hadi’s was postponed to Oct. 25, according to Ali. The judges postponed proceedings to allow defense lawyers time to review trial-related documents, he said.
The four face charges ranging from disseminating false news and misuse of social media platforms to joining a terrorist group, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt designated as a terrorist group in 2013.
Egypt’s government has in recent years waged a wide-scale crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of people, mainly Islamists but also secular activists involved in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Abdel-Fattah and Ibrahim, who is known as Mohamed Oxygen, were arrested late in 2019 while on probation amid a sweeping security clampdown following small but rare anti-government protests.
El-Baker was arrested while attending a questioning session of Abdel-Fattah by prosecutors in September 2019.
Abdel-Hadi is a co-founder of the Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of liberal and left-leaning parties opposing the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
He was arrested in January 2019 ahead of the vote on constitutional amendments that enabled el-Sissi to run for two more four-year terms.
The problem of drug abuse and trafficking in Nigeria is “on its way to being under control”, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, has said.
Marwa told the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that with the support from the Federal Government, foreign partners and stakeholders, Nigeria would win the war against drug abuse and trafficking.
He described the problem of drug in Nigeria as “a ravaging epidemic” saying “it is for this reason that we remained up standing to do our best with what we have and with the support we have been receiving from the Federal Government.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, chair of the West African bloc ECOWAS, has told Mali’s ruling junta that elections announced for February must go ahead on schedule, according to his delegation.
During talks in Bamako Akufo-Addo delivered the message to the country’s strongman, Colonel Assimi Goita, who is behind both Mali’s recent coups, having installed a civilian-led interim government under international pressure.
But a senior member of the ECOWAS delegation told Newsmen that the message was very clear; the elections have to be held on the scheduled dates.
An ECOWAS delegation will return to Bamako at the end of October when they hope to receive the assurances they are seeking.
Earlier Goita, who overthrew the elected president last year, met the Ghanaian leader at Bamako airport, Mali’s presidency announced on social media.
Goita pledged to hold elections in February next year, but his government has been slow to prepare for the poll and the junta has suggested the deadline may not be met.
The ECOWAS visit also comes at a delicate moment diplomatically.
Ghana currently holds ECOWAS’s rotating chair, but Akufo-Addo was accompanied by Nigeria’s ex-president Goodluck Jonathan — who is mediating in the Malian crisis — and Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the ECOWAS commission president.
France is planning to scale back its military presence across the jihadist-ridden Sahel and Bamako has reportedly considered hiring 1,000 Russian paramilitaries from private security firm Wagner.
The Federal Government has announced plans to host the fourth edition of the International Conference on Safe School Declaration (ICSSD) in Nigeria.
Being the first country to host the conference in the continent, Nigeria will be joined by other 112 member states to exchange experiences, learning, and present their strategies, progress, as well as challenges, in making the commitment to safe education a reality for all children in conflict situations.
Announcing the development in Abuja yesterday, Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu who was represented by the permanent secretary, Arc Sonny Echono, said the conference wil build on previous conferences by galvanizing support for the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD) and monitoring UN member states’ progress in carrying out the declarations commitments to better protect learners and learning institutions.
Former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo has launched a new political party, the African People’s Party’s congress,(PPA-CI) which marked his return to the forefront of the political scene, after ten years of absence.
Gbagbo was elected the head of the PPA-CI by some 1,600 delegates on Saturday night as he seeks to “reunite the left” and use the occasion as a springboard to the 2025 presidential election.
Political representatives from a dozen African countries attended this weekend’s congress and for his supporters, it’s a new beginning for social cohesion in Côte d’Ivoire.
The 76-year-old, whose 2000-2011 rule was marked by turbulence and division in the world’s biggest cocoa producer, has been highly visible since returning.
He was removed from office in April 2011 after a short civil war that claimed 3,000 lives, sparked by his refusal to accept electoral defeat by the current president, Alassane Ouattara.
Gbagbo was then flown to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity resulting from the conflict but was eventually acquitted.
Nigeria as hosts will lead 14 other African countries to the second edition of the ITTF Africa Western Region Challenge scheduled to hold from November 1 to 4 in Lagos.
The tournament which serves as regional ranking will have Nigeria staking its pedigree in the region against teams like Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin Republic, Senegal, Togo, Gambia, Liberia, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Niger Republic, and Sierra Leone.
According to the Regional Vice President ITTF AFRICA West, Ferdinand Sounou, the tournament is the first regional competition to be staged amidst the COVID-19 pandemic with all eyes on Nigeria to stage a befitting tournament just like it has been a leading nation organising an elite tournament in the continent.
Sounou who is also the President of Benin Table Tennis Federation said: “I think this regional tournament has come well in order to liven up the region a little because, in 2019, Lagos should have organised until it was moved to Abidjan.
This is just the first regional tournament after my election last June and it is normal that we start the activities of the region from Nigeria which is a great table tennis nation within the region.”
For the chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Wahid Enitan Oshodi, the tournament would afford the players from the region to test themselves against one another, while all eyes will be on Oba Oba Kizitio of Cote d’Ivoire and Fatimo Bello of Nigeria, who are the defending champions in men and women singles events.
Oshodi believes the inclusion of team and doubles events would make the tournament competitive. “I believe this is another chance for the players to compete at the regional level being the second edition after the maiden edition in 2019 in Abidjan.
Lagos is ready to welcome top players from the region and we are hopeful that we can stage the tournament with all the covid-19 protocol in place for teams and players.
It promises to be exciting as the Molade Okoya-Thomas of Teslim Balogun Stadium will come alive for the best of table tennis again this year. We are looking forward to an exciting tournament.”
REAL MADRID and the Rivers State Government have signed a cooperation ratification agreement for promotion of sports amongst children and youths at the Real Madrid Academy, Port Harcourt.
A statement signed by Kelvin Ebiri, Special Assistant (Media) to the Rivers State Governor, says the signing took place over the weekend at the auditorium of the Real Madrid Sport City, Madrid, Spain.
Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, on behalf of the Rivers State Government; Mr. Enrique Sanchez, the Executive Vice President, Real Madrid Foundation and Mr. Jihad Saade, President, Interact Sports, jointly signed the agreement.
Speaking at the event, Wike who was accompanied by the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and the Rivers State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Zacchaeus Adangor (SAN), said the Rivers State Government was pleased to ratify the agreement with the Real Madrid Foundation and assured that everything had been done to fully kick-start the Real Madrid Academy in Port Harcourt.
“We had to stop to include the girls, we are very ready to kick-start the school and we believe that this is a very good opportunity for our people. We are honoured to be identified with Real Madrid, it is a good brand for us.”All the parties acknowledged that they had the necessary legal capacity and authorisation to execute and subscribe to the protocol.
FIFA said on Monday it will hold talks with national team coaches this week over the controversial idea of holding the men’s World Cup every two years.
The consultations about the proposals, which have come in for heavy criticism from UEFA and CONMEBOL, the International Olympic Committee, as well as coaches and players, will take place on Tuesday and Thursday.
“The discussions will be led by FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger and will include a range of talking points, including player health, international windows, the frequency of FIFA World Cup finals and other important issues in the game,” football’s governing body said.
The meetings will be held via online video calls.
“As a coach of the men’s national teams, their input is essential,” former Arsenal boss Wenger said in FIFA’s statement.
“Opportunities for us to come together are few and far between, but we must embrace these occasions as such dialogue helps us all to protect the unique place that football has in the world and to make it truly global.”
The World Cup has been played every four years, apart from cancellations during World War II, since the inaugural edition in 1930.
FIFA also wants major continental tournaments, including the European Championship and Copa America, to be played every two years.
A report from FIFA on the idea is set to be published in November before a global summit by the end of the year.
Nine-time African champions Nigeria are confident they can earn a good win on home ground on Wednesday that will put them at relative advantage in their 2022 Women Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against Ghana’s Black Queens.
Both fierce continental rivals will slug it out at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in the first leg of this fixture, which will eliminate one of the best teams in women football on the continent and render that team inactive for the next two-and-half years.
The 12th Women Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled for Morocco in the summer of next year, will also serve as the qualifying tournament for the 32-team 2023 FIFA World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, meaning that the team that loses out in the Ghana/Nigeria fixture will be without meaningful shooting practice until the qualifiers for the 2024 AFCON finals are activated.
On Sunday, the Super Falcons’ camp opened in Lagos ahead of the double quickfire with the Queens, with the return leg holding in Accra on Sunday. Already in camp are goalkeeper Tochukwu Oluehi, defenders Onome Ebi, Opeyemi Sunday, Ayomide Ojo, Oluwatosin Demehin, Akudo Ogbonna and Rafiat Imuran, midfielders Goodness Onyebuchi and Regina Otu, and forwards Vivian Ikechukwu and Gift Monday. The rest of the invited squad were expected in camp by Monday evening.
Coach Randy Waldrum said: “It is important for us to get a good win at home and then go to Accra and play like warriors. These are two battles that we must be ready for. The Super Falcons just have to be at the AFCON and the World Cup and they are ready to give these two matches their all.”
Defender Onome Ebi added: “These are two battles that we must win. We know that we have to start by winning well in Lagos on Wednesday and then go to Ghana and put up another big performance. We are not looking at this as home-and-away matches. We are looking at two matches that we must win.”
Nigeria and Ghana were two of the six participating teams at last month’s maiden edition of Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Tournament, which also involved South Africa, Morocco, Cameroon and Mali.
Before the Aisha Cup tournament, and as part of their general preparation for the 2022 Women AFCON qualifiers, the Super Falcons participated at the Turkish Women’s Tournament in Antalya in February, where they won all their three matches, and also featured at the USWNT Summer Series in the United States of America, where they played against Portugal, Jamaica and Team USA.
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