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Harry Kane: Tottenham Striker Fails To Show Up To Spurs’ Training Ground

By
Emenike Agu
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Harry Kane, a transfer target for Manchester City, has not returned to the Tottenham training ground as expected on Monday morning amid speculation over his future.

The striker was scheduled to have coronavirus testing on Monday before starting training on Tuesday.

Kane has had a three-week break after helping England reach the Euro 2020 final.

Spurs have offered no explanation for why the 28-year-old did not turn up.

It is understood Kane felt he had a gentteman’s agreement with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy that he could leave the club this summer.

A pre-Euro 2020 move did not materialise as he hoped, but Manchester City remain keen on signing the England captain.

Kane’s international’s team-mate Jack Grealish is also a target for City, who have a made a 100 m pounds bid for the Aston Villa midfielder, and he turned up for pre-seaspn training with the Midlands club on Monday.

Kane’s contract with Spurs runs until 2024 after he signed a six-year deal in 2018.

He scored 23 top-flight goals last season to claim the Premier League golden boot for a third time, having previously won the award in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

He also has 221 Tottenham goals to his name, which puts him second in their all-time goalscorers’ list behind Jimmy Greaves, who scored 266 times for the club between 1961 and 1970.

Spurs play Chelsea and Arsenal in high-profile friendlies this week and new manager Nuno Espirito Santo has already spoken optimistically about the prospect of working with Kane.

Speaking at his first news conference after being appointed as manager, Nuno said last week. “Harry is our player. Period. No need to talk about anything else, I am looking forward to him joining the group.

“Harry is one of the best players in the world. That is all I need to say.”

Analysis – winning trophies is the attraction for Kane

Without official clarification over why Harry Kane failed to turn up, there is room for misinterpretation. Did Kane have an agreement from his club to stay away or was it his own doing?

However, given he was expected to be at Tottenham for COVID testing and there has been no legitimate reason put forward for why he wasn’t, it seems clear Kane wants out of Tottenham – and he wants in at Manchester City.

City won trophies last season – Premier League and Carabao Cup – which is the attraction for Kane. He supplies guaranteed goals as a number nine, which is the attraction for City.

Evidently, the fee is not a problem. Neither are the wages. City have operated well within Financial Fair Play limits for some time now. And while Sergio Aguero had been reduced to a peripheral figure in Pep Guardiola’s squad by the end of last season, he remained one of their highest earners.

In addition, it is expected at least one senior squad member – probably Bernardo Silva – will leave this summer if, as seems highly likely, Kane and Jack Grealish arrive.

The big unknown is the thoughts of Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.

Of all Premier League executives, he is the least obvious candidate to cave in to player power.

But Levy did say in June that Tottenham had to be ‘sensible’ in the transfer market this summer.

They have already spent £20m on one player, are set for another near £50m outlay on another in Atalanta defender Cristian Romero, and have been strongly linked with Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic, even though the 21-year-old Serbian striker would also cost over £40m.

Is that the kind of sensible spending Levy was talking about – or is it getting new arrivals in ahead of a significant departure?

Without clarification on his absence, it is impossible to know for certain, but the debate around Kane will only get louder for the fact he is not there.

At Last, A Blessing For Nigeria At Tokyo 2020!

By
Emenike Agu
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Blessing Oborodudu’s feat of qualifying for the final of the  68 kg female wrestling  event of the 2020 Olympic  has been  described  as a blessing to Nigeria.

Minister  of Youth and sports Development Mr Sunday said ” You are a Blessing to  Nigeria and Nigeria’s Athletics family.Team Nigeria is proud of you. Nigerians are proud of you

The display is typical  of the never say die Nigerian spirit. Keep the tempo going until we reach the ultimate  which is the gold.

Blessing becomes Nigeria’s first medallist in Wrestling. Her qualification for the finals  guarantees a  gold medal or silver.

Odunayo Adekuoroye , Ese Brume and are still in the running for medals.

Oborodudu defeated Azerbaijan’s  Elis Manolova  and  Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan to advance to her first Olympic finals.

Zambia deploys army to curb violence ahead of polls

By
Henry Williams
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Police officers patrol the streets as supporters of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema march in the streets as he was being questioned at the Lusaka Police Force headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia, on December 23, 2020. - Two demonstrators were killed on December 23, 2020 in a protest outside the police headquarters in the Zambian capital Lusaka, where opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was being questioned. (Photo by SALIM DAWOOD / AFP)

Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu has ordered the deployment of the military to suppress electoral violence ahead of the 12 August general elections – amid criticism by the opposition and other groups.

“I have allowed the Zambia Army, Zambia Air Force and Zambia National Service to help the Zambia Police in dealing with the security situation,” Mr Lungu said.

He said troops had already been deployed to some areas in the capital Lusaka and would be sent to other areas in the country “if the situation demands so”.

The All People’s Congress (APC) party says the move to involve the army is intended to cause “fear and intimidation” among the opposition.

There have been incidents of violence by ruling party and opposition supporters across the country in the run-up to the vote.

The president, in deploying the army, cited the killing of two ruling party supporters in the capital, saying he would not allow that to be repeated elsewhere in the country.

The electoral body has said it is investigating the incident and will take action against those found responsible.

The president is running for a second term in the elections.

His main opponent is Hakainde Hichilema who has unsuccessfully contested for the presidency five times.

Mozambique’s state-owned fuel distributor, Petromoc

By
Henry Williams
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Mozambique’s state-owned fuel distributor, Petromoc, has denied links to an oil spill that happened over the weekend at the port of Pemba, off the coast of Cabo Delgado province.

The company’s board chairperson Hélder Chambisse said there was little information about the origin of the fuel found at sea.

He said that if the company was responsible, the local authorities would have informed them.

Mr Chambisse said investigations were ongoing to find out the origin and reason for the spillage.

It was estimated that the spillage caused the loss of at least 10,000 litres of fuel.

The incident attracted large crowds, including women and children, who risked their lives as they filled their jerrycans with the fuel.

Police were deployed to address the situation.

Jigawa to Immunize 1.7m Children against Polio

By
Olasunbo Okoromi
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The Jigawa State Primary Health care Development Agency (PHCDA) said, it has targeted about 1.7 million children for inoculation against polio in the second round immunisation campaign in the state.

The Executive Secretary of the agency Dr. Kabir Ibrahim stated that adequate personnel had been deployed to facilitate smooth conduct of the exercise across the state.

“The gesture was to ensure that all children less than five years old were immunised against the disease.

“The agency had received enough Oral Polio Vaccines (OPVs) to facilitate the successful conduct of the exercise.

“Parents should co-operate with immunisation officials for a hitch-free exercise,” Ibrahim said.

According to him, such co-operation will facilitate a quick response in combating the disease and address other emergency situations in the state.

The Secretary, who sought the support and co-operation of community and religious leaders as well as other stakeholders for the smooth conduct of the exercise, urged parents to present their wards for the immunisation at designated centres.

Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis: Rebels vow to fight on until blockade ends

By
Henry Williams
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The commander of the rebel group in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray has told correspondents they will continue fighting until their terms for a ceasefire are met.

Gen Tsadkan Gebretensae said the group aims to force the federal government to lift a blockade in the region and agree to a political solution to the crisis.

The government has not reacted to the rebel’s conditions.

Thousands have been killed since war broke out in November last year.

Millions of people have also been displaced by the fighting which both sides have been accused of committing human rights abuses and war crimes.

At least 400,000 people are living in famine conditions, according to a UN estimate, with access to the region still being hampered. UN World Food Programme lorries did manage to reach Tigray at the weekend after a long delay because of security concerns.

Despite the government announcing a unilateral ceasefire in June after the rebels made significant gains, including the recapture of the region’s capital, Mekelle, it has continued to mobilise militia from other parts of the country to help stall the rebels’ advance in neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions.

Moroccan athlete ends Kenya’s dominance in the 3,000-meters steeplechase

By
Henry Williams
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Soufiane el-Bakkali of Morocco won the 3,000-meter steeplechase to end more than 40 years of Kenyan Olympic dominance.

El-Bakkali won in 8 minutes, 8.90 seconds on a wet track at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. He finished well clear of Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia, who took the silver.

Benjamin Kigen claimed bronze for Kenya after Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale, who was third heading to the final straight, fell. Wale struggled back to his feet and clung on for fourth.

The 25-year-old el-Bakkali was fourth at the last Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and on the podium at the last two world championships, but this was his first major title.

Kenya had won nine straight Olympic golds in the 3,000 steeplechase since 1980. Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto, the leading star of the steeplechase, didn’t defend his Olympic title in Tokyo after failing to make the Kenyan team at the national trials.

Doctors in Nigeria’s state-run hospitals have began a strike over pay

By
Henry Williams
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Doctors in public hospitals in Nigeria began Monday a strike to protest against the non-payment of salary arrears and lack of resources in hospitals as the country, faces a third wave of coronavirus.

This strike, the latest in a series of medical staff work stoppage is led by the National Association of Interns (Nard), which represents 40% of doctors in Nigeria.

The union is asking the government to honor its promise to pay compensation to the families of doctors who died while fighting the coronavirus.The association says Nigerian doctors were ill-equipped and under-funded for the job while the facilities in state-run hospitals “are deplorable”.

Nigeria, a country of 200 million people, had 42,000 registered general practitioners in 2019, according to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), or two doctors for about 10,000 people.

Nigeria’s idle gas projects can leverage $53trn fund

By
Henry Williams
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In a world where funding for fossil fuel investment is waning, global Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) fund projected to hit $53 trillion by 2025 can present a system of autarky for over billion dollars’ worth of idle clean energy projects stranded across Nigeria.

Across the world, investors are now shifting attention from traditional funds to sustainable funds like ESG investing or strategies that consider a country’s environmental, social and governance ratings alongside traditional financial metrics.

For a country with proven gas deposits of 206.53 trillion cubic feet, most asset managers say the ESG initiative can be an escape path for many of Nigeria’s clearer energy projects, many of which are mired in obscurity due to paucity of funds.

They say the ESG initiative can breathe an air of fresh ideas to projects such as the $20 billion Brass LNG project in Bayelsa State; the $9.8 billion Olokola LNG in Ogun; the 5000km Nigeria-Morocco offshore gas pipeline, which in the current market price would cost an estimated $20 billion.

A report by Bloomberg shows ESG funds recorded the highest flows last year, and by 2025, ESG investing is projected to reach $53 trillion in assets. This equates to roughly a third of all investment assets under management.

Simone Biles To Return To Olympics For Final Event

By
faith Jegede
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American gymnast Simone Biles returned to the olympics on tuesday for the last leg of the competition. Biles had dropped out on the grounds of mental health after faring less than expected, doing a 1.5 twist on an “amanar” instead of the 2.5 and landing in a stumble.

Biles, who was expected to be one of the headliners of the Tokyo games bidding for six gold medals huddled up with her coach and teammates right after and decided to pull out of the competition. A day later, she pulled out of the individual all-round final and on saturday, she also withdrew from the vault and uneven bars medal events.

Simone was however in the stands to watch teammate Sunisa Lee become the fifth consecutive American to win the Olympic title, as well as the event finals for vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.

Biles came to Tokyo as the biggest star of these Olympics, projected to win a record five gold medals but developed a case of the “twisties”- a loss of air awareness that can have catastrophic consequences for a gymnast.

After the event, Biles told reporters: “I just don’t trust myself as much as I used to. I’m a little bit more nervous when I do gymnastics. I feel like I’m also not having as much fun.” She also mentioned experiencing the ‘twisties’. “They saw it a little bit in practice..having a little bit of the twisties,” she said

Her return was announced by a spokesperson for the USA gymnastics.

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