Monday 13 July 2015

Nicki Minaj wears another raunchy outfit on stage (photos)


Male fans at Nicki Minaj's concerts must really enjoy themselves...she gives them a show! The rapper performed last night at Splash! Festival in Germany, wearing a sheer costume comprising of black lace veil and a sheer wrap skirt, which she later peeled off. See more photos after the cut...



Detained ex Jigawa gov, Sule Lamido and two sons flown to Abuja


Nigerian Prison sources say ex Jigawa state governor, Sule Lamido and his two sons Aminu and Mustapha, have been flown to Abuja this morning ahead of the court hearing for their bail application holding tomorrow July 14th. The former Governor and sons who are standing trial for allegedly collecting bribe totaling N1.35 billion from government contractors when he was governor, were on July 9th ordered to be remanded in Kano Prisons by Justice Evelyn Anyadike.

Lamido and His 2 Sons Set To Regain Freedom


Former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido and his two sons may regain their freedom on Tuesday.

Federal High Court in Kano State had last week ordered that the immediate former governor of Jigawa State , Alhaji Sule Lamido, his two sons and one other person be remanded in prison custody over 28-count charge of alleged money laundering charges.

Information made available to LEADERSHIP through Lamido's spokesman, Malam Kyari J. Madamuwa, revealed that a vacation judge has been appointed and will sit on Tuesday, adding that they were hopeful Lamido and his two sons and one other person would be granted bail.

Lamido was arraigned before the court by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) along with his two sons, Mustapha Sule Lamido and Aminu Sule Lamido and one Aminu Wada Abubakar over alleged money laundering charges to the tune of N1.3 billion.

The accused persons, who were charged under various money laundering prohibition acts, pleaded not guilty to all the charges counted against them in the court.

However, in his submission, last week counsel to the defendant, Mr. Offiong E. Offiong, while seeking for the bail of his clients, told the court that they have applied for the bail since last Tuesday, stressing that the alleged offences are bailable.

Hence, the presiding judge adjourned the case to 28th September, 2015 for continued hearing and ordered that the accused be remanded at the prison custody pending the bail application by the defence lawyer to the vacation judge at the Abuja Federal High Court.

Chelsea confirm signing of 'keeper Begovic


Bosnia-Herzegovina's goalkeeper Asmir Begovic takes part in a training session at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in the Israeli coastal city of Haifa on November 15, 2014
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Bosnia-Herzegovina's goalkeeper Asmir Begovic takes part in a training session at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in the Israeli coastal city of Haifa on November 15, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jack Guez)

London (AFP) - Premier League champions Chelsea on Monday announced the signing of Bosnian international goalkeeper Asmir Begovic from Stoke City.
Begovic, 28, has agreed a four-year deal at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea paying Stoke an undisclosed fee to make the goalkeeper their second major signing of the summer.
British press reports put the fee at £8 million ($12.4m, 11.2m euros).
"I am very happy to be joining Chelsea FC. After speaking at length to the manager, I feel like I can develop here and be an important part of this team," Begovic told Chelsea's official website.
His arrival in west London follows the signing of Colombian striker Radamel Falcao on a season-long loan from Monaco, and the giant shot-stopper will give Thibaut Courtois competition for places between the posts after Petr Cech was sold to Arsenal.
Begovic, who went to school in Canada and represented that country at the under-20 World Cup in 2007, spent more than five years with Stoke after moving to the Britannia Stadium from Portsmouth in 2010.

Signing Charles Aranguiz would make plenty of sense for Chelsea




It wouldn't be unfair to say that 26-year-old Chilean midfielder Charles Aranguiz spent much of his time under the radar, most likely due to career decisions. He started his career at Chilean club Cobreloa, moving to Colo-Colo after three seasons of service in 2009, helping the latter win a Chilean League title. He then moved to Argentinian club Quilmes, but only spent half a season with them before joining Argentinian head coach Jorge Sampaoli in Universidad de Chile in 2011.
Aranguiz was fundamental for the club and especially for Sampaoli's tactics, which were heavily influenced by Marcelo Bielsa. But unlike his colleagues who lost their way after the coach left "La U" for the Chilean national team, Aranguiz found further success.
The midfielder was bought by Spanish club Granada in 2014 but was quickly sent on loan in January of the same year to SC Internacional, a traditional Brazilian club. In Brazil, he also made an instant impact, scoring goals at the State Championship and in the Brazilian League while helping his club achieve a Copa Libertadores berth. He was bought by the Brazilian club after he was named State Championship MVP in June in the same year.
He had been involved with the Chilean national team since 2010, but it wasn't until the last World Cup that Charles Aranguiz started making noise while playing for La Roja. Scoring against Spain in the MaracanĂ£ last year and being a key player for the team that won Chile's first Copa America in 99 years a few weeks ago, he was quickly linked to a number of European clubs - including Chelsea.
Just what is it that has made him so sought after?
First, Aranguiz is a jack-of-all-trades kind of player. He's not a destroyer, nor a deep playmaker and neither a box-to-box midfielder. But he can help a team in all of these roles.
For Internacional, Aranguiz recorded 2.7 successful tackles and 1.4 unsuccessful ones per 90 minutes played, which would bring him to a tackling success of approximately 66% while receiving 7 yellow cards and no reds in 24 matches. He's not as good as Matic in his positioning, but he has more awareness as a pivot player than Fabregas or Ramires.
He's known to be a great short passing player, connecting almost 87% of his passes. He's not as good as Fabregas with killer and pin-point passing, but his cool head will help his team with cycling possession and setting up the tempo.
Aranguiz is also reckoned as an accurate shooter and a good free kick taker. Of his 6 goals scored for Internacional in the Brazilian League last season, none were penalties. He's got a good awareness inside the box, as that is where 5 of those goals came from, but he's also got a powerful shot from outside the box having scored some screamers in his career.
He's also very versatile. A natural pivot midfielder in a 4-2-3-1, Aranguiz has also seen playing time as a wide midfielder and as an attacking midfielder for Chile and also for Internacional.
Second, his cost. With a rumoured price tag of £16 million, Charles Aranguiz might be too expensive for most South American and European clubs to take a look at, but certainly not to English clubs with their new TV deal.
Third, his utility. As mentioned before, Aranguiz can do almost anything in the midfield with mild success at club and national team level. With John Obi Mikel perhaps looking to leave Chelsea and Ramires' lack of technique becoming a glaring weakness, it makes sense for Chelsea to look for an upgrade in the position and Aranguiz seems to fit the bill perfectly.
Moving to get Charles Aranguiz is not without risk. Although he's been quite successful for his national team, he never experienced European football, which might be a huge problem given the gap in quality between South America and Europe at the moment.
Also, at 26 years old, he has practically no resale value. We didn't mind that while buying Willian, Diego Costa and Fabregas and they've been staples in our squad; but we did the same with Cuadrado and Torres. Aranguiz still is a gamble and while he wouldn't be much of a hit on Chelsea's books - his weekly wages in Brazil are probably less than £25,000 - he'd still generate a loss for Chelsea if he fails to adapt to English football.
Finally, there's the risk of unsettling the squad. Mikel's transfer out seems more than ever before, but we have heard of talks between the club and Ramires for a contract extension while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is supposed to be integrated into the first team squad. If Aranguiz manages to adapt quickly to English football like he did in Brazil, I'm sure he'd jump into Chelsea's third preferred pivot player behind Matic and Fabregas, "robbing" playing time from Ramires, RLC and from Mikel if he stays.
Even with those lingering problems, I'm confident in Aranguiz's ability to justify his transfer fee. He adapted to Brazilian football seamlessly, which is something other quality South American players failed at before.  Although he's close to his physical peak, his game is more related to his mental strength and acute technique. He's also quite consistent, and enjoys playing high stake matches as shown by his performance against Argentina in the Copa America finals.


Don't let it slip, Chelsea!

Saudi king shuffles government again



Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud visits the Grand Mosque in Mecca in this photo from the Saudi Press Agency, on July 12, 2015
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Monday named a new housing minister and replaced the head of the royal court in his latest government shuffle.
A decree named Minister of State Khalid bin Abdulrahman al-Issa to replace Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Suwailem as head of the royal court, a type of gatekeeper to the king.
The decree gave no reason for that or the other changes.
Suwailem had held the post since late April when he took over from Salman's powerful son Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of a major shake-up which saw the king's son named Deputy Crown Prince and second in line to the throne.
Mohammed bin Salman is also defence minister and holds other positions.
Concentrating power in his inner circle, the king at that time also named Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef as crown prince.
A day later, King Salman further streamlined administration by merging the royal court with the crown prince's court, based on a suggestion by Mohammed bin Nayef, official media said at the time.
A separate royal decree on Monday named Majid bin Abdullah bin Hamad al-Hugail as housing minister.
The decree described Hugail as a professor.
He replaces an official who temporarily held the portfolio after the previous minister's dismissal in April.
The kingdom is building hundreds of thousands of homes for its citizens in an effort to address a severe shortage.
Another royal decree named Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah bin Musaid bin Jalwi al-Saud as governor of the Northern Frontier Province which borders Iraq to replace the previous governor who died this month.
Prince Mishaal had been serving as an adviser to the king.

Dozens of Russian troops 'flee unit, fearing Ukraine deployment'

An armoured personnel carrier drives on a road near the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in Russia's Rostov region, some 30 km from the border with Ukraine, on August 15, 2014
MOSCOW (AFP) - Dozens of Russian soldiers are facing trial for fleeing their unit, fearing deployment to Ukraine, a news site and a lawyer for five of the men said Saturday.
The popular Gazeta.ru website said several dozen soldiers would be prosecuted after fleeing a training ground in southern Russia where they were under pressure to "volunteer" to fight in Ukraine.
The troops had freely enlisted for the army and are not draftees, it said.
It is the latest report to allege Russian soldiers are being sent to eastern Ukraine despite Moscow's insistence that only "volunteers" are fighting alongside the pro-Russian separatists.
The defence ministry said that only four soldiers named in the report are under investigation for "disciplinary offences", denying dozens were involved, the Echo of Moscow radio station reported.
Gazeta.ru cited mothers of two soldiers from the unit, based in the town of Maikop in the North Caucasus, as saying their sons had fled a training ground in the southern Rostov region, fearing being sent to Ukraine.
- Pressure to 'volunteer' -
A lawyer representing five of the soldiers, Tatiana Chernetskaya, speaking by phone to AFP confirmed the report and said "dozens" of soldiers faced tribunals.
"They all have the same story. They all served together in the same unit," said Chernetskaya, based in the southern town of Krasnodar.
"They weren't directly forced to go to Ukraine. People came to the unit to canvass them to go," Chernetskaya said, adding the recruiters were "not wearing any identification tags."
"According to the soldiers, they offered 8,000 rubles ($142) per day," she said.
The soldiers fled, not wanting "to find themselves in battle," she said.
Since Russia is technically not at war with Ukraine, "if they were sent to Ukraine, it could be seen as a criminal act," she added, calling the soldiers "law-abiding."
"They went back to Maikop and started writing resignation letters but these were not accepted and this all led to the launching of criminal cases."
She said four of her clients are charged with going AWOL while one is charged with the more serious offence of desertion.
She said soldiers started going on trial in March and several had already been convicted.
Gazeta.ru cited the mother of 21-year-old soldier Ivan Shevkunov, who is facing up to 10 years' jail as a deserter.
"He said that soldiers were being forced to go (to Ukraine) as volunteers," said the soldier's mother, named as Svetlana Nikolayevna.
Gazeta.ru also published a handwritten statement by another soldier, Pavel Tynchenko, who has been charged with going absent without leave.
In the statement to the judge of the military tribunal, Tynchenko wrote: "I did not want to go against the oath I swore and did not want to take part in military actions in Ukraine."
Gazeta.ru cited official statistics on Maikop garrison's military tribunal, saying it convicted 62 soldiers of going AWOL in the first half of 2015.
The court's website says a soldier from the Maikop unit on Thursday was convicted of going AWOL and robbery and sentenced to nine months in a prison colony.
The Kremlin's rights council, an advisory body, is due to visit Maikop next week and Chernetskaya said she planned to meet them to raise the soldiers' trials.
"The number of witnesses of this state crime (illegally sending soldiers to participate in an undeclared war) is already such that it is impossible to conceal them," opposition politician Alexei Navalny wrote on his blog.

Eurozone, Greece reach agreement on bailout

Eurozone leaders reach agreement on Greek bailout, removing threat of euro exit for now

Greece reaches deal with creditors, avoids euro exit
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, speaks with French President Francois Hollande, center, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during a meeting of eurozone heads of state at the EU Council building in Brussels on Sunday, July 12, 2015. Skeptical European creditors raced Sunday to narrow differences both among themselves and with Athens, aiming to come up with a tentative agreement to stave off an immediate financial collapse in Greece that would reverberate across the continent. (AP Photo)

BRUSSELS (AP) -- A summit of eurozone leaders reached a tentative agreement with Greece on Monday for a bailout program that includes "serious reforms" and aid, removing an immediate threat that Greece could collapse financially and leave the euro.
Nine hours after a self-imposed deadline passed, the leaders announced the breakthrough early Monday.
If the talks had failed, Greece could have faced bankruptcy and a possible exit from the euro, the European single currency that the country has been a part of since 2002. No country has ever left the joint currency, which launched in 1999, and there is no mechanism in place for one to do so.
For three days of negotiations between Greece and its international creditors, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held out for a better deal to sell to his reluctant legislature in Athens this week, even though financial collapse is getting closer by the day.
A breakthrough came in a meeting between Tsipras, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and EU president Donald Tusk. Details were not immediately available.
The breakthrough came after the threat of expulsion from the euro put intense pressure on Tsipras to swallow politically unpalatable austerity measures because his people overwhelmingly want to stay in the eurozone.
Greece has requested a three-year, 53.5 billion-euro ($59.5 billion) financial package, but that number grew larger by the tens of billions as the negotiations dragged on and the leaders calculated how much Greece will need to stay solvent. The creditors are demanding tough austerity measures in exchange for Greece's third bailout in five years.
Early Monday, a Greek official said the key sticking points were the involvement of the International Monetary Fund in Greece's bailout program and a proposal that Greece set aside 50 billion euros ($56 billion) worth of state-owned assets in a fund for eventual privatization.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the negotiations, said any agreement would provide quick help for Greek banks from the European Central Bank. Without it, they risk running out of money this week.
The negotiations began Saturday with a meeting of finance ministers. The heads of state convened mid-afternoon Sunday and were still negotiating at dawn Monday.
The deal on the table appeared to include commitments from Tsipras to push a drastic austerity program including pension, market and privatization reforms through parliament by Wednesday, and from the 18 other eurozone leaders to start talks on a new bailout program.
Sunday's four-page discussion paper put to eurozone leaders and obtained by The Associated Press spoke of a potential "time-out from the euro area" for Greece if no agreement could be found.
It highlighted the increasing frustration of European leaders during five months of fruitless talks with Greece.
"The most important currency has been lost: that is trust and reliability," Merkel said.
Tsipras insisted his government was ready to clinch a deal.
"We owe that to the peoples of Europe who want Europe united and not divided," he said. "We can reach an agreement tonight if all parties want it."
Hollande insisted it was vital to keep Greece in the euro and said in the event of a departure, "it's Europe that would go backward. And that I do not want."
Greece has received two previous bailouts, totaling 240 billion euros ($268 billion), in return for deep spending cuts, tax increases and reforms from successive governments. Although the country's annual budget deficit has come down dramatically, Greece's debt burden has increased as the economy has shrunk by a quarter.
The Greek government has made getting some form of debt relief a priority and hopes that a comprehensive solution will involve European creditors at least agreeing to delayed repayments or lower interest rates.
Greek debt stands at around 320 billion euros ($357 billion) — a staggering 180 percent or so of the country's annual gross domestic product. Few economists think that debt will ever be fully repaid. Last week, the International Monetary Fund said Greece's debt will need to be restructured.
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Menelaos Hadjicostis and John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels contributed to this story.

Van Persie gets hero's welcome as he lands in Turkey ahead of his move to Fenerbahce



Robin van Persie is getting ready to leave Manchester United and move to Turkey club, Fenerbahce. He arrived in Turkey yesterday afternoon July 12th and was greeted by a fanfare of Fenerbahce supporters who were eager to meet him. The fans arrived in their numbers to have a glance at the Holland international as he arrived in private jet with his wife and two children. RVP, 31, is set to sign a 3-year deal worth about £240,000-a-week at Fenerbahce. More photos after the cut...


Check out this throwback pic of Babangida & Abacha holding hands



Gen Ibrahim Babangida ruled Nigeria from 1985-1993 while Late Gen Sani Abacha ruled Nigeria from November 1993-1998.