Iheanacho, Others Pay Tribute As Aguero Retires From Football

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December 16, 2021

The Nigerian striker played alongside Aguero while at Manchester City.

Super Eagles striker, Kelechi Iheabacho has joined the rest of the sporting world to pay tributes to Argentine striker Sergio Aguero who on Wednesday painfully announced his retirement from football.

Iheanacho played alongside Aguero while at Manchester City for two seasons and shared a couple of fantastic moments with the lethal striker.

The duo played together first under Manuel Pellegrini and thereafter under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola at the Ethihad.

The Nigerian striker on his Twitter handle Wednesday night wrote: Gracias Kun Aguero good luck in the future Legend.

Aside from Iheanacho, the likes of John Terry, Franck Ribery, Kevin de Bryune and many others all paid glowing tributes to the striker whose phenomenal time at Manchester City especially will not be forgotten.

“One of the best strikers ever,” City midfielder Kevin de Bryune wrote on Twitter.

Aguero with 260 goals is City’s all-time highest goal scorer.

The Argentine had a record 12 hat tricks in his total haul of 184 Premier League goals, the most for an overseas player and the fourth most all-time.

Fighting back tears, Aguero confirmed on Wednesday he could not go on as a professional player

“I have decided to stop playing professional football,” the 33-year-old Barcelona striker said in front of an intimate audience of friends, family and teammates.

Aguero, one of the world’s greatest strikers of this generation, underwent tests after leaving the field, holding his chest, during Barcelona’s match against Alaves in the Spanish league on Oct. 30.

“When they did the first test in the clinic, the medical staff called to tell me there was a very big possibility that I wouldn’t be able to keep playing,” Aguero said. “… I was still processing everything when one of the doctors told me straight up, `That’s enough.”’

Aguero started out playing for Independiente in his home country before he was snapped up by Atletico Madrid.

From Atletico, he made the switch to Manchester City before his brief spell at Barcelona, which he joined in May but for whom he only managed to make five appearances.

How it is celebrated – Christmas In Egypt

By

Angel Gimalo

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December 16, 2021

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In Egypt about 15% of people are Christians. They are the only part of the population who really celebrate Christmas as a religious festival. Most Egyptian Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church and they have some very unique traditions for Christmas.

Christmas Day isn’t celebrated on the 25th December but on 7th January (like in Ethiopia and by some Orthodox Christians in Russia and Serbia).

The Coptic month leading to Christmas is called Kiahk. People sing special praise songs on Saturday nights before the Sunday Service.

For the 43 days before Christmas (Advent), from 25th November to 6th January, Coptic Orthodox Christians have a special fast where they basically eat a vegan diet.

They don’t eat anything containing products that come from animals (including chicken, beef, milk and eggs).

This is called ‘The Holy Nativity Fast’. But if people are too weak or ill to fast properly they can be excused.

On Coptic Christmas Eve (6th January), Coptic Christians go to church for a special liturgy or Service.

The services normally start about 10.30pm but some chapels will be open for people to pray from 10.00pm. Many people meet up with their friends and families in the churches from 9.00pm onwards.

The services are normally finished shortly after midnight, but some go onto 4.00am!

When the Christmas service ends people go home to eat the big Christmas meal.

All the foods contain meat, eggs and butter – all the yummy things they didn’t during the Advent fast!

One popular course if ‘Fata’ a lamb soup which contains bread, rice, garlic and boiled lamb meat.

On the Orthodox Christmas Day (7th) people come together in homes for parties and festivities. People often take ‘kahk’ (special sweet biscuits) with them to give as gifts.

Even though not many in Egypt are Christians, a lot of people in the country like to celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday.

Christmas is becoming very commercial and most major supermarkets sell Christmas trees, Christmas food and decorations.

Hotels, parks and streets are decorated for Christmas.

Most Egyptians speak Egyptian Arabic. In Arabic Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Eid Milad Majid’ (عيد ميلاد مجيد) which means ‘Glorious Birth Feast’.

Once Upon A Time – Dec. 16 – 1689 – English Parliament Passes Bill Of Rights Establishing Limits On Crown Powers

By

Angel Gimalo

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December 16, 2021

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755 An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during Chinese Tang Dynasty

1598 Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point – in the final battle of the war Korean navy decisively defeats the Japanese

1653 Parliamentarian General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland

1773 Boston tea party incident – Sons of Liberty protesters throw tea shipments into Boston harbour in protest against British imposed Tea Act

1785 John Marrant arrives at the port city of Shelburne, Nova Scotia. He will pastor at neighboring Birchtown, apparently the first-ever African-American ordained (in Selina Hastings’s Methodist Connexion) with authority to baptize, conduct marriages, and administer Communion.

1873 Birth of Missionary Statesman, Robert A. Jaffray.

1920 8.5 earthquake rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000

1944 Nazi Germany launches a counteroffensive against the Allies in the Ardennes region of Belgium, beginning the ‘Battle of the Bulge’

1998 Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox – the United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq

Today’s Historical Events

Today In Film & Tv

1967 “Playtime”, French film directed by Jacques Tati, starring himself, is released

Today In Music

1893 Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 – “New World Symphony” premieres at Carnegie Hall, New York

Today In Sport

1930 Golfer Bobby Jones is the first to win the James E. Sullivan Award (best US amateur athlete)

Do You Know This Fact About Today? Did You Know?

1689 English Parliament passes Bill of Rights establishing limits on crown powers and requirement for regular elections.

Would You Believe This Fact About Today? Would You Believe?

1937 Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from American federal prison Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.

STEM Education Receives Boost As Stakeholders Seek Improved Infrastructure, Manpower

By

Precious Obazee

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December 16, 2021

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Stakeholders in the education sector have been urged to invest in providing the much-needed infrastructure and manpower to boost Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in Nigeria.

This was the main at the November edition of Ed-tech Monday titled “Getting to the root to strengthen STEM” held recently.

Ed-Tech Monday, an initiative of the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with ccHub Limited featured panelists from the academia and organised private sector, including Dean of Life Sciences, University of Benin, Prof Jerry Orhue, programme manager, Stemcafe, Elohor Udubrae, Founder, Vinsight Technologies, Tomisin Kolawole, and moderated by Joyce Daniel.

Prof. Orhue said there is need to give priority attention to infrastructural and manpower development to halt decline in science enrolment in Nigerian institutions, especially secondary schools.

While admitting that science education was capital intensive, Orhue urged government at all levels to ensure that science education takes the lead in their quest to contribute to national development.

On his part, Kolawole noted that there is need to restructure the sector to pave way for technological inclusion in the curriculum.

Kolawole said it has become imperative for stakeholders to embrace partnership in order to foster the much-needed technological change in Nigeria and the world at large.

According to him, more ed-tech entrepreneurs or start-ups need to be encouraged through policymaking to develop solutions that would make STEM education attractive to young Nigerians.

Udubrae pointed out that having the right resources and enabling environment is imperative to driving the growth of STEM education in Nigeria.

According to him, the onus lies with stakeholders, particularly ed-tech entrepreneurs, to come up with easy-to-access services that can promote STEM education.

Gambia’s Opposition Leader Contests Barrow’s Re-Election

By

Zoe Maven

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December 15, 2021

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The party of Gambian opposition leader Ousainou Darboe says it has appealed to the Supreme Court to annul the proclaimed re-election of the incumbent Adama Barrow in the presidential election.

Adama Barrow was declared the winner by the electoral commission of the presidential election of December 4 with about 53% of the vote, against about 27% for the main of his five competitors, Usainou Darboe.

Darboe had even before the announcement of the results expressed with two other candidates his intention to contest the result, accusing the winner of multiple irregularities including vote-buying.

His party, the United Democratic Party (UDP), appealed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in which he accuses Barrow or his supporters of having distributed money or gifts in various villages.

It claims that Barrow’s party, the National People’s Party (NPP), has infiltrated the electoral commission.

It also alleged that non-Gambians participated in the election as well as various irregularities in the voting and counting process.

In a statement, the UDP called on its supporters to remain calm and assured them of its commitment to using “exclusively peaceful means” to settle electoral disputes.

The international community has signaled that it will be watching to see whether the losers accept or contest the results made official by the commission, as an indicator of the progress made by this young democracy in transition.

Fire At World Trade Centre Leaves Over 100 Trapped

By

Zoe Maven

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December 15, 2021

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More than 100 people have been trapped on the roof of Hong Kong’s World Trade Centre awaiting rescue after a fire broke out on Wednesday.

Hong Kong police confirmed to the BBC that at least eight people were injured and had been sent to hospital.

According to Police Authorities the fire broke out in the machine room and moved to the scaffolding around the building, which is currently under renovation.

No fatalities have been reported and rescue operations are still under way. However, the eight who are injured are aged between 31 and 72. A total of 150 people have been evacuated so far, according to authorities.

All the shops had been vacated during the renovation works, leaving only several levels of the building in operation – mostly restaurants and offices, according to the South China Morning Post.

The fire has been classed as a level three incident, with five being the most severe. The blaze at the 38-storey World Trade Centre on Gloucester Road was first reported at lunchtime.

Among those in the building when it caught fire was Meiling Lai, who was having lunch at a Chinese restaurant on the 12th floor when the building caught fire.

She was trapped along with about 80 people on a podium on the fifth floor, she said, before the group was rescued safely by firefighters.

UN Chief Says Cross-Border Aid To Syria Rebel Bastion Vital

By

Zoe Maven

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December 15, 2021

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The United States and several European nations believe the UN authorization for the crossing between Syria and Turkey should renew automatically for an additional six months, without the need for a new vote.

Moscow has linked any potential extension to Tuesday’s report, as well as a possible new vote but Russia, a key ally to the Damascus regime, has previously opposed the move, invoking Syrian sovereignty.

The cross-border mechanism has been operating since 2020 through Bab al-Hawa, after the Russian-imposed removal in 2019 of three other access points in Syria.

At this point such cross-line convoys, even if deployed regularly, could not replicate the size and scope of the cross-border operation,” he said.

Guterres said some 4.5 million people in Syria need help this winter, up 12 percent from the previous year, because of the economic crisis and the global pandemic.

UN Watchdog Says Iran To Allow New Cameras At Nuclear Site

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Zoe Maven

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December 15, 2021

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The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and Iran have reached a deal to reinstall cameras damaged at an Iranian site that manufactures centrifuge parts.

The agreement will see cameras put back at Karaj, which came under what Iran describes as a sabotage attack in June, although inspectors remain limited on what footage they can access.

Iran had since refused the International Atomic Energy Agency access to replace cameras damaged in the incident, part of an ongoing hard-line tact taken by Tehran at negotiations underway in Vienna over its tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Iranian media first reported the deal without citing a source. IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi later tweeted out a statement detailing the arrangement.

The IAEA said the cameras would be reinstalled at Karaj in the “coming days.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian reportedly said earlier Wednesday that Iran had “reached a good agreement” with the IAEA.

Tehran blamed the Karaj assault on Israel amid a widening regional shadow war since former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Iran’s landmark nuclear accord with world powers.

In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Prwith Newsmen, Grossi warned that limited access to Karaj hurt international efforts to monitor Iran’s program.

Grossi also dismissed as “simply absurd” an Iranian allegation that saboteurs used the IAEA’s cameras in the attack on the Karaj centrifuge site. Tehran has offered no evidence to support the claim, though it’s another sign of the friction between inspectors and Iran.

South African Court Orders Jacob Zuma Back To Jail

By

Zoe Maven

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December 15, 2021

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A South African court has ruled that the country’s former President Jacob Zuma should be returned to prison, stating that his medical parole was unlawful.

Zuma was released on 5 September for an undisclosed medical condition but the Pretoria court ruled that the time he has spent out of prison should not be counted in his 15-month sentence.

He had been jailed for failing to attend an inquiry into corruption during his presidency.

The 79-year-old handed himself in to police in July after a public stand-off, but his jailing, unprecedented for a former president, sparked violent protests and looting.

More than 300 people, mostly in Zuma’s stronghold of KwaZulu-Natal province, died in the protests.

The former leader had testified only once at the inquiry into what has become known as “state capture” – the allegation that government decisions were being taken on behalf of business interests through a corrupt relationship.

Zuma is also facing a separate corruption and fraud trial related to a 2019 arms deal but the former president has repeatedly said he is the victim of a political conspiracy.

Prison authorities say his release on parole was compelled by a medical report, but his ailment has never been disclosed.

He did, however, undergo surgery after he was imprisoned.

The former president’s spokesman said at the time that imprisonment had had “an exponential impact in terms of deteriorating his condition”.

His lawyers also argued that their client’s illness had rendered him incapacitated.

Libya’s Election Faces Uncertainty Amid Challenges

By

Zoe Maven

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December 15, 2021

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Libya’s presidential election, is drawing close and is supposed to help unify the country after a decade of civil war, but there are increasing calls for a delay.

The vote, scheduled for Dec. 24, is to choose Libya’s first president since the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi more than a decade ago.

For close to a year, the election has been the cornerstone of international efforts to bring peace to the North African nation, and supporters are concerned there could be a dangerous void if it is not held on schedule.

However, critics warn that going ahead with the vote now could throw the country into new violence. They say Libya remains too bitterly divided among armed factions that are likely to reject any victory by rivals in the election.

The presence of some of Libya’s most polarizing figures in the race including one of Gadhafi’s sons only makes it more explosive.

Nearly 100 people have announced their candidacies, but the election commission has still not announced a final list of candidates because of legal disputes.

It should have announced the list earlier this month. The rules governing the election are also in dispute, with western Libya politicians accusing the east-based parliament of adopting them without consultations.

Libya plunged into chaos after Gadhafi’s death during a 2011 uprising backed by a U.S.-led NATO military campaign. Control splintered among a myriad of armed militias.

For years, the country was split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each backed by militias and foreign governments.