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CHELSEA will face holders Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals. Pep Guardiola faces his former club as Manchester City play six-time winners Bayern Munich. Inter Milan face Benfica and Serie A champions AC Milan take on current leaders Napoli. If Chelsea and Manchester City get through, they will meet in an all-Premier League semi-final while AC Milan or Napoli will face Inter Milan or Benfica in the other semi-final. The first legs of the quarter-finals take place on 11-12 April, with the return games on 18-19 April. The first legs of the semi-finals will be on 9-10 May, and…

MANCHESTER United will meet record six-time winners Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Should they advance, Erik ten Hag’s side will face either Juventus – whose squad includes former United midfielder Paul Pogba – or Arsenal’s conquerors Sporting Lisbon in the semi-finals. In the other last-eight ties, Roma face Feyenoord and Bayer Leverkusen meet Union Saint-Gilloise. The first legs take place on 13 April, with the return games on 20 April. Sevilla are serial winners of this competition, having won all of their six titles since 2006 and they defeated the Red Devils in the semi-finals on their…

THE wife of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Katsina State, Dr Dikko Umaru Radda, Hajiya Zulaiha Radda, has stated that her husband will end banditry, kidnapping and terrorrism in Katsina if elected governor of the state come March 18. Mrs Radda made the statement on Thursday at the flag-off of a special humanitarian intervention project for IDPs in Katsina by the Office of the Senate President through the National Productivity Centre (NPC) with MUSVEC, in partnership with GREENADO for empowerment training and support; NEEM Foundation for psychosocial support and trauma healing and Nutri-K for nutritional support. According…

Real Betis 0 v Man United 1 (1-5 Aggregate) MARCUS Rashford was on target again as Manchester United cruised into the quarter-finals of the Europa League with a clinical win at Real Betis. After an open first half Rashford put United ahead in the 55th minute with a thunderous long-range effort dipping into the bottom corner. The hosts had created plenty of chances before United opened the scoring as Betis’ Joaquin saw his early curled effort hit the outside of the post. Erik ten Hag’s side had done the hard work in Manchester last week and advanced as 5-1 winners…

HEAD Coach of the Super Eagles, José Peseiro, has named a 23-man team ahead of this month’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against the Djurtus of Guinea Bissau. Leading the team list are captain Ahmed Musa, in-form forwards Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman. Nigeria and Guinea Bissau clash at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja from 5pm on Friday, March 24, and then make it a second date at the Estadio 24 de Setembro in Bissau on Monday, March 27, also starting from 5pm. Spain-based defender Kenneth Omeruo returns, as midfield enforcers Wilfred Ndidi and Frank Onyeka, and…

ARUNA Quadri defeated world number four Tomokazu Harimoto in the round of 16 of the men’s singles event at the Infinity Arena earlier today. The Nigerian outclassed Harimoto to end his losing streak against the tournament’s 4th seed at 3-0 (11-7, 13-11, 11-7). Aruna is the only surviving African in the competition following the early exit of Egypt’s quartet of Omar Assar, Dina Meshref, Hana Goda and Mariam Alhodaby. Before the historic win, the Nigerian had lost thrice to the Japanese superstar who is ranked fourth in the world. Aruna, who is ranked 14th in the world showed class and…

POLICE in Paris have clashed with protesters after the French government decided to force through pension reforms without a vote in parliament. Crowds converged on Place de la Concorde in response to raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. The plans had sparked two months of heated political debate and strikes. Finally, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne invoked article 49:3 of the constitution – allowing the government to avoid a vote in the Assembly. The decision was taken minutes before MPs were scheduled to vote on the controversial bill, because there was no guarantee of winning a majority. The move…

THE United States has described the China-brokered normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran as a “good thing”, despite the message it may send about waning US influence in the region. The pact between Riyadh and Tehran, announced last week in Beijing, merely cements the reality of China’s growing role as a significant trade — and now diplomatic — partner in the Gulf, analysts say. They add that Washington, with its confrontational approach to Tehran, was not in a position to broker the rapprochement, but it can still benefit from it despite the alarm some US hawks have sounded. “The…

ARMED forces in eastern Libya say they have found about two and a half tonnes of uranium ore that were reported missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Ten drums containing the ore were found near the border with Chad, said the head of the forces’ media unit. The IAEA said it was “actively working to verify” media reports. The agency sounded the alarm after a visit by its inspectors earlier this week to the undisclosed site. The area was not in government-controlled territory. Uranium is a naturally-occurring element that can have nuclear-related uses once it has been refined, or…

AT least 14 primary school children have been injured in the Zimbabwean city of Kwekwe when their classroom collapsed into a sinkhole. Desks and chairs were swallowed up and one girl is reported to have been seriously hurt. The Globe and Phoenix school is close to two gold mines and local authorities have blamed the accident on illegal underground mining. Classes have been suspended and officials are trying to find other schools for the pupils. Earlier the news site ZimLive.com tweeted photos taken at the school in Kwekwe, which is about 200km (125 miles) south-west of the capital, Harare.

GOOD Governance and Transparency Initiative (GGTI), a pressure group is rooting for Hon. Sada Soli’s emergence as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 10th National Assembly. Hon. Soli, a ranking lawmaker who was first elected in 2006 has won his return bid into the National Assembly as the member representing Jibia/Kaita Federal Constituency of Katsina State. National Coordinator of GGTI, Abdulmumuni Dangana, who made this known in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja said apart from his wealth of experience in the legislature, Hon. Jibia is endowed with leadership qualities that stand him out for the…

BOTH holders Real Madrid and Napoli secured their places in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after beating Liverpool and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively. Madrid defeated Liverpool 1-0 in Wednesday’s second leg to go through 6-2 on aggregate while Napoli won 3-0 on the night secure a 5-0 aggregate triumph in the last 16. Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the game in Spain as the record 14-time European champions eased into the last eight following a 5-2 victory at Anfield in February. For Napoli, Victor Osimhen struck either side of half-time and Piotr Zielinski added another from the penalty…

IVORY Coast centre forward Sebastien Haller was recalled to the national squad for matches against Comoros on Wednesday after an absence of several months during which he underwent treatment for testicular cancer. The 28-year-old forward joined Borussia Dortmund in July from Ajax and only managed a few training sessions after which the cancer was detected. He underwent two operations and four cycles of chemotherapy before resuming training in January. He began playing again on January 22 and scored his first goal after his illness on February 4 against Freiburg. Haller, who has scored four goals playing for Ivory Coast’s national…

THE US government says TikTok should be sold or else face a possible ban in the country. The video-sharing app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is accused of posing a national security risk through data gathered from millions of users. A request for a change in ownership, first reported in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), was confirmed to BBC News by TikTok. The company said a forced sale would not change its data flows or access. The White House has not yet responded to a BBC News request for comment. For years American officials have raised concerns that data from…

RUSSIA’s  ambassador to the United States on Wednesday called on Washington to stop “hostile” flights near his country’s border, after an American drone was intercepted by Russian fighters over the Black Sea. “We assume that the United States will refrain from further speculation in the media and stop flights near Russian borders,” ambassador Anatoly Antonov wrote on Telegram. “We consider any action with the use of US weaponry as openly hostile.” A Russian fighter jet on Tuesday dumped fuel on an American drone over the Black Sea and then collided with it, causing the drone to crash, the US military…

TWO and a half tonnes of uranium have gone missing from a site in Libya, the UN’s nuclear watchdog has said. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sounded the alarm after a visit by its inspectors to the undisclosed site earlier this week. They found that 10 drums containing uranium ore had disappeared, the IAEA said. There are fears the uranium could pose a radiological risk as well as nuclear security concerns. In a statement, the IAEA said it would conduct further activities “to clarify the circumstances of the removal of the nuclear material and its current location”. It is…

TWO of four journalists who were detained in January after a video appearing to show South Sudan president wetting his trousers at a public function have been released. The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) said in a statement that it welcomed the release of Victor Ladu and Mustapha Osman. In December last year, a video shared on social media appeared to show Mr Kiir urinating on himself as the national anthem played at a function. Six staff from the state broadcaster were later arrested, but two remain in detention. “[We] urge the government to release Garang John and…

THE Federal Government has confirmed that the 2023 population and housing census earlier scheduled for March 29 will now hold in May 2023. News Point Nigeria had exclusively reported that, the Federal Govt is considering shifting till the month of May. While briefing State House reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, confirmed that the postponement had been ratified. He said the decision was necessitated by the rescheduling of the gubernatorial election to March 18. The minister said council approved…

A GROUP in the National Assembly under the auspices of Legislative Governance Group (LGG) has called on Hon. Sada Soli who is from Katsina State in North West of the country to join the race for the speakership position in the 10th House of Representatives at the National Assembly. Hon. Sada Soli was re-elected to the 10th National Assembly, representing the good people of Kaita/Jibia Federal Constituency, Katsina State. In a statement titled “Happy birthday Hon. Sada Soli: it is an era for service”, by the Secretary-General of the group. Stanley Ekpa, it noted that following the victory of the…

THE  Founder of Divine Head of God International Ministry in Abuja, Prophet Emmanuel Omale, has predicted the victory of President- elect, Asiwaju Bola  Tinubu. Prophet Omale gave the prediction during the church’s Cross Over Service on December 31, 2022 while revealing the outcome of the 2023 presidential election. It is important to note that Omale had prophesied the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and his re-election in 2029. In the vedio during the cross over service, Pastor Omale said, “The Lord told him that the election will come and go and nobody will die.” Even though Omale did…