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France, European Union Close To Deal On Air France Bailout

Angel Gimalo
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France, European Union Close To Deal On Air France Bailout

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says France and the European Union are close to a deal on a bailout for Air France, which like other carriers has been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, French newspaper said the French government and the European Union’s executive were close to an agreement on the terms of a bailout for Air France.

The expected deal would see Air France give up fewer airport flight slots at its Paris base than initially sought by the European Commission, notably at Orly airport.

The Air France-KLM group recorded a 7.1 billion euro net loss for last year.

It received 10.4 billion euros in loans and guarantees from France and the Netherlands and has been negotiating a state-backed recapitalisation, with EU regulators seeking airport slot concessions at Paris-Orly and Amsterdam-Schiphol.

Nigeria government’s position on fuel subsidy fuels reactions

Henry Williams
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Nigeria government’s position on fuel subsidy fuels reactions

Amid a global race to beat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigerian government is placing priority on funding a wasteful petrol subsidy scheme worth about $ 315 million monthly, an amount capable of vaccinating at least half of its adult population (53m people).

After a year of dilly-dallying on the removal of petrol subsidy, it is now official that the burden that has shortchanged Nigerians the most is real and active as the state oil firm has confirmed spending up to $315 million (N120bn/ exchange rate N380) a month on fuel subsidies.

The expenditure on subsidy for PMS also dwarfs the government’s proposed 2021 spending of N45.19 billion allocated for immunisation against measles, whooping cough, and tetanus to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, despite a UNICEF report showing 4.3 million children in Nigeria still miss out on regular vaccinations every year.

In a period Nigeria has one of the world’s highest numbers of out-of-school children, 13.2 million, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the amount spent on subsidy in one month is also larger than the entire 2021 budget of N94.4 billion meant for the provision of Universal Basic Education (UBEC).

Jurors To Hear Arguments In Floyd Murder Trial

Angel Gimalo
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Jurors To Hear Arguments In Floyd Murder Trial

A prosecutor told jurors in his opening statement at Chauvin’s trial on murder charges on Monday that former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd when he arrested him last May.

Jerry Blackwell, a prosecutor with the Minnesota attorney general’s office, told jurors that officers who wear the Minneapolis police badge pledge to never use “unnecessary force or violence.”

He displayed a still image from a bystander’s cellphone video of Chauvin, who his white, with his knee on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in handcuffs, saying it showed Chauvin “grinding and crushing him until the very breath no, ladies and gentlemen the very life was squeezed out of him.”

Floyd’s death ignited a global protest movement and over the preceding two weeks of jury selection, many jurors told Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill and the lawyers on each side that they recognized the scrutiny their deliberations would come under, not least by those who view the trial as a reckoning for how Black people are policed in the United States.

  • Tony L. Clark holds a photo of George Floyd outside the Cup Food convenience store, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis. Floyd, a handcuffed black man, died Monday in police custody near the convenience story.(Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP)

The service was held in a church a few blocks east of the deadly arrest.

Philonise Floyd, a brother of George Floyd, said before the service began that he had faith that prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney general’s office would see Chauvin convicted.

Traffic In Suez Canal Resumes After Stranded Ship Refloated

Angel Gimalo
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Traffic In Suez Canal Resumes After Stranded Ship Refloated

Canal authority says shipping traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal resumed Monday after a giant container ship which had been blocking the busy waterway for almost a week was refloated.

The 400-metre long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Live footage on a local television station showed the ship surrounded by tug boats moving slowly in the centre of the canal on Monday afternoon.

After dredging and excavation work over the weekend, rescue workers from the SCA and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage had succeeded in partially refloating the ship earlier on Monday using tug boats.

Transmission Company Of Nigeria Installs 40MVA, 330kv Reactor In Kebbi, Jos

Angel Gimalo
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Transmission Company Of Nigeria Installs 40MVA, 330kv Reactor In Kebbi, Jos

Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has installed and energised a 40MVA, 132/33kV power transformer and a new R2 75MVAR 330kV reactor at the Yauri, Kebbi state, and Jos, capital of Plateau.

TCN noted that the commissioned power transformer brings the Yauri substation capacity to 80MVA, saying that with the new transformer, the substation now has six outgoing 33kV feeders.

According to the statement made available by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, she disclosed that the Yauri 2x40MVA 132/33kV substation project was awarded in 2007, saying, however, that the inability of the contractor to complete the project, caused TCN to take over the project.

TCN engineers eventually installed the first 40MVA transformer, which was successfully commissioned in 2019 and to further boost bulk power in the area, equally installed and commissioned the second 40MVA power transformer which was recently energized, she added.

The company furthers said the newly installed transformer has upgraded the substation capacity by 32MW and consequently improved bulk power supply to the southern part of Kebbi State, through KEDC.

Update: Record 5.3 Billion Connect At Global Day of Prayer With Pastor Chris

Koko Lawrence
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Update: Record 5.3 Billion Connect At Global Day of Prayer With Pastor Chris

Worship, prayers, and prophecies characterized the 5th edition of the “Global day of prayer” with president of Loveworld Inc. aka Christ embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

The inaugural day of the program, kicked off by 6pm GMT +1(1pm EST) Friday, March 26th, with the man of God leading the online audience in worship, prayers and the word of God. The nights also witnessed the ministration of the Word from world renowned healing evangelist, Pastor Benny Hinn, from the United States of America.

The 24hours prayer program, had different ministers of God leading sessions of prayers and the word from different parts of the world.

The “Global Day of Prayer” which since inception, recorded billions of participants connected, saw a record breaking participation of 5.3 billion people from all around the world.

The man of God, Pastor Chris led the global audience to pray for nations of the world and their leaders, as he stretched out his hands to a large screen projecting the world map (nations of the world).

Pastor Chris also called out world leaders to have their researchers, doctors and virologists quiz the Covid-19 vaccines that are being produced and sent to their countries, since the safety of these vaccines have not been proven.

The “Global Day of Prayer” which was beamed live on all Loveworld Networks, several terrestrial TV stations, radio stations and various internet platforms had translations in over -3000 languages of the world.

The “Global day of Prayer”, has become a beacon of hope and light for the body of Christ, as the Church experiences a new level of unity never seen before now. The man of God, Pastor Chris, said at the final night of the prayers, how he had wished to see such a day, as he prayed for unity in the body of Christ and the sick when he was a teenager.

With the testimonies recorded from previous “Global day of Prayer” and the 5th edition ending on a high note of victory, the world will experience the impact in nations, governments, institutions, families, and all facets of life.

South Africa knocked off AFCON 2021

Emenike Agu
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South Africa knocked off AFCON 2021

 

For the first time since 1988, the Africa Cup of Nations will hold next year without the national team of the CAF president featuring.

Sudan beat South Africa 2-0 on Sunday to pick the second ticket of Group C. It is the second time they will qualify since a dramatic injury-time induced elimination of Nigeria for the 2012 edition.

Eleven years ago, Sudan were already eliminated on the field after losing their last qualifiers to Ghana at home.

But mother luck ran their way as Nigeria, wrongly thinking they needed a two-goal advantage win over visiting Guinea had their initial 2-1 lead cancelled following a 96th minute injury time equalizer by Guinea in the very last match the Super Eagles has since played in Abuja.

Thus, an already eliminated Sudan came in as one of the best runners-up in the groups and Nigeria got eliminated.

South Africa lost 2-0 to Sudan in their final Group C match in Omdurman, which disqualifies them from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Saifeldin Malik gave the hosts a fifth-minute lead in a clash of former African champions by heading past goalkeeper Ronwen Williams off a free- kick.

Mohammed Abdelrahman doubled the lead on 31 minutes, taking advantage of hesitancy by captain Thulani Hlatshwayo before firing past Williams at his near post.

South Africa coach Molefi Ntseki took off star forward Percy Tau just past the hour and surprisingly replaced him with defender Sifiso Hlanti, given the desperate need for goals.

Ghana defeated Sao Tome e Principe 3-1 in Accra in a match played at the same time to finish first with 13 points, followed by Sudan (12), South Africa (10) and Sao Tome (0).

South Africa have gradually faded as a Cup of Nations force after hosting and winning the competition in 1996 and finishing second and third in the following two editions.

Failure to qualify for the 2021 tournament in Cameroon means Bafana Bafana (The Boys) will miss the finals of the marquee African competition for the fourth time in seven editions.

The latest failure is sure to pile pressure on the national football association to ditch Ntseki, with the group phase of 2022 World Cup qualifying starting on May 31.

South Africa are in the same group as Ghana, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia and only the winners of the six-matchday mini-league advance to the final round.

– Shock choice -Ghana have proved consistently superior to South Africa in recent years, including winning at home and drawing away in 2021 Cup of Nations qualifying.

Former national under-17 coach Ntseki was a shock choice to succeed England-born Stuart Baxter two years ago given he had never handled a senior-level team.

Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew was among the scorers for Ghana against Sao Tome, the only team among the 48 in the group phase to lose all six matches.

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey also started for the Black Stars, whose last of four Cup of Nations titles came 39 years ago.

Tunisia beat Equatorial Guinea 2-1 in Rades in a match between countries who had already qualified from Group J while Tanzania edged Libya 1-0 in Dar es Salaam in the same section.

Both teams conceded an own-goal in Tunisia after Seifeddine Jaziri raised his goal tally to three from two matches by holding off three Equatoguinean defenders to score in the fourth minute.

Guinea, who secured a place at the 24-team tournament earlier this week, surrendered an unbeaten Group A record when losing 2-1 to Namibia in Windhoek.

The CAF Africa Cup of Nations, officially CAN (French: Coupe d’Afrique des Nations), also referred to as AFCON, or Total Africa Cup of Nations after its headline sponsor, is the main international men’s association football competition in Africa.,

Furious Ronaldo ditches captain’s armband, storms off pitch after being denied last-second Portugal winner

Emenike Agu
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Furious Ronaldo ditches captain’s armband, storms off pitch after being denied last-second Portugal winner

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo tore off his armband in anger and went straight to the dressing room after seeing his last-minute winner against Serbia ignored in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier.

The Juventus ace thought that he had salvaged victory for the visitors after they had squandered a two-goal lead.

But his strike was wrongly deemed to have not crossed the line, leaving a relieved Serbia to celebrate a 2-2 draw while Portugal raged at the match officials.

▪︎What happened?

Having opened their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan, the reigning European champions were hoping to make it six points out of six on Saturday.

Diogo Jota proved key, scoring both goals to put the Selecao comfortably ahead before half-time.

Serbia did not give up, though, netting through Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic after the break to level the game.

All those efforts, though, looked set to end in vain when Ronaldo squeezed the ball over the line in the dying seconds, despite Mitrovic’s desperate efforts to clear.

But while television replays showed that the ball had clearly crossed, no goal was forthcoming; and Ronaldo, who had already wheeled away in celebration, began remonstrating with the linesman while play continued around him.

The forward earned a yellow card for his troubles and stormed off the pitch even before the final whistle sounded, tossing his captain’s armband onto the floor for good measure.

▪︎Where is the technology?

Such incidents have been largely consigned to the past in elite football due to the advent of goal-line technology.

The system, which helps officials determine whether the ball has fully crossed the line, first appeared at the World Cup in 2014 and even earlier in certain national leagues, although UEFA were slower to adopt it, finally using the technology for Euro 2016 and the following Champions League campaign.

Neither goal-line technology nor VAR are in place in the qualifiers, however, meaning Ronaldo continues to seek his first goal of the campaign after also drawing a blank against Azerbaijan

German Union Calls 4-Day Strike At Amazon Sites Ahead Of Easter

Zoe Maven
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German Union Calls 4-Day Strike At Amazon Sites Ahead Of Easter

The trade union Verdi has called for workers at six Amazon sites in Germany to go on strike from Sunday evening for four days to try to force the U.S. e-commerce group to recognise collective bargaining agreements.

Verdi said the strikes at Amazon’s sites in Rheinberg, Werne, Koblenz, Leipzig and at two locations in Bad Hersfeld signalled an “unofficial start” to wage talks for the retail and mail order industry, which are due to begin in the next few weeks.

Germany is Amazon’s biggest market after the United States and Verdi is demanding a pay increase of 4.5% for workers in the retail and mail order industry.

Verdi representative Orhan Akman stated that Amazon was making a mint in the coronavirus crisis and for that reason alone, wage evasion must be stopped.

But Amazon says it offers excellent pay and benefits stating that during past calls for strikes over 90% of employees in the logistic centres worked as normal.

Amazon has faced a long-running battle with unions in Germany over better pay and conditions for logistics workers, who have frequently staged strikes since 2013.

Dembélé inspires France to 2-0 win over Kazakhstan

Zoe Maven
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Dembélé inspires France to 2-0 win over Kazakhstan

Ousmane Dembele inspired France to a 2-0 victory over Kazakhstan on Sunday in their second match in World Cup qualifying Group D to mark a successful return to the world champions’ team.

Four days after being held 1-1 by Ukraine at the Stade de France, the French built their win in the first half with Sergiy Maliy’s own goal adding to Dembele’s opener before Kylian Mbappe missed a second-half penalty.

France moved top of the standings with four points, ahead of Bosnia, who they face away on Wednesday, Ukraine and Finland.

Ukraine host Finland later on Sunday. Kazakhstan have zero points after playing their first game of the campaign.

France midfielder Paul Pogba said Kazakhstan proved to be worthy opponents on an artificial pitch in a covered stadium.

Only captain Hugo Lloris and Antoine Griezmann remained from the team who started against Ukraine, with the Barcelona forward setting a new record of 45 consecutive starts for Les Bleus.

He beat the previous mark of Patrick Vieira, who started 44 games in a row between 1999 and 2002.

It was Griezmann’s club team mate Dembele who broke the deadlock on 20 minutes with a right-footed shot after being set up by Anthony Martial following a defence-splitting pass from Pogba.

Dembele returned to the France side as a second-half substitute against Ukraine, more than two years after his previous cap in November, 2018.

His third international goal from 23 appearances, his first since a 3-1 friendly win against Italy in June, 2018, came as a welcome boost less than two months before coach Deschamps names his squad for this year’s European Championship.

(From Reuters)

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