The Lagos State University, Ojo, says it will refund over N69m to its students who paid tuition fees for the 2013/2014 academic
session.




This is coming three weeks after the Lagos State Government authorised a reduction of between 34 and 60 per cent in tuition paid in
the university.




The state government in 2011 jerked up tuition in the university from N25, 000 to N198, 000 for humanities and education students, while medical students paid N350,
000.




The action attracted severe criticisms and protests from civil society groups and the students, resulting in the occasional closure
of the school.





But in a statement on Monday, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Kayode Sutton, said the decision of the state government to reduce the tuition fees prompted the initiative to refund the excess
sum to the students.





The statement added, "During
consideration, the management of the university noted the directive of the Governing Council that all payments in excess of the new approved school fees regime should be refunded to students.



"In compliance with this directive, the Bursary Department is to commence the compilation of the list of affected students, the amount involved and to proffer an
appropriate mode of refund.




"After an extensive deliberation on the refund, the university authorities concluded that refunds will be made to students by cheques and the comprehensive list of the
beneficiaries, the amount to be refunded to each student will be uploaded onto the university website, while roster for the distribution of the cheques to beneficiaries will be made available in due course."



In the new fee regime, for instance, a final year student in the Arts Department is to pay N76, 750 (49.3 per cent reduction) while a 200 level Engineering and Medical
(Direct Entry) student is to pay N158, 250 (representing a 36.4 per cent reduction).

**Like I earlier reported, it seems the coach of the Super Eagles has decided to throw in the towel. And it seems he is off to South Africa.**









Super Eagles coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi has resigned his appointment after leading the team to the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.



Speaking after the Eagles were eliminated by France in the round of 16 match in Brasilia, Monday, the
Delta State-born tactician said it was time to move on after leading his country's national team to the Africa Nations Cup trophy last year and the ongoing World Cup in Brazil.




"I have to go back to my family and face fresh challenges," Keshi said.



Similarly, Super Eagles Captain, Yobo Joseph said he has had enough and can go no further as national
team player. "I think I should give the younger ones the opportunity to forge ahead. I have nothing new to offer."











Source: Vanguard Newspaper

Adaeze has become the butt of twitter and instagram jokes after
her husband, Joseph Yobo's accidental goal against his team, Super Eagles..They took out their annoyance on her and not one to back down, She fired back on instagram.
















"All you hateful people that didn't even realise it was own goal at first Heck, most of y'll didn't even watch that last minute part of the match that's if Nepa gave yu light to watch the game at all but as soon as they confirmed it was own goal by yobo' Y'all be like let's go ham on his wife (that bitch) steady posting Louboutin pics on ig. #theirisgodo
#toobadwelost #butgoodgamefromyoboandtheteam
#teamnigeria moving on, congrats to Joseph yobo for being the first Nigerian player to get to 100 caps. #recordholder
#idontbreak #idontevenbend #ijustlaughatyourbitterness"

According to a statement by the Defence headquaters, the major facilitator of the Chibok girls kidnap has been arrested.







The statement by Major General Chris Olukolade, Director Defence Information reads:


A terrorists' intelligence cell headed by a businessman who participated actively in the abduction of School Girls in Chibok
has been busted by troops. The man, Babuji Ya'ari who is also a member of the Youth Vigilante Group popularly known as Civilian JTF which he uses as cover while remaining an active terrorist, also spearheaded the murder of the Emir of Gwoza. His main role in the
group is to spy and gather information for the terrorists group.




Babuji has been coordinating several deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011, including the daring attacks on Customs and military locations as well as the planting of IEDs in several locations in the town.




The arrest of the businessman who is known to deal in tricycles has also
yielded some vital information and
facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists' intelligence cell who are women.

One of them, Hafsat Bako had earlier escaped to Gombe State to
avoid suspicion but was tracked and
arrested.



Prior to her arrest, Hafsat coordinated the payment of other
operatives on the payroll of the group.



In her confession, she disclosed that a minimum of N10,000 is paid to each operative depending on the enormity of his task.




Another female suspect named Haj Kaka who doubles as an armourer and a spy for the terrorists group has also been arrested. Until their arrest, all the suspects actively operated a terrorists' intelligence cell in collaboration with others still at large.




In another development, troops deployed in Goniri, Yobe State, over the weekend, had an encounter with terrorists, resulting in casualties on both sides after the attack was successfully repelled.

Skipper of the Super Eagles Joseph Yobo, has announced his retirement
from international football, after
the team were knocked out of the 2014 World Cup by France.



The defender scored an own goal, after Paul Pogba headed Les Bleus into the lead, as Nigeria once again failed to reach the last eight of the tournament.






It was Yobo's 100th – a national landmark and he feels it is the right time to draw the curtains.




"It was a bitter-sweet moment for
me but I think it is time to focus on my family," Yobo told reporters. "It
has been a long road."




Yobo played in three World Cups and won the Africa Cup of Nations last year in South Africa, since he made his debut in 2001.




"We've won the Africa Nations Cup and we came here and were not disgraced," he continued.




"I never thought that I'd be here because I missed the last six games of the season through injury. They gave me an opportunity but it is unfortunate what happened.
"I gave my all."




Yobo also said that he's leaving able
deputies behind in Kenneth Omeruo and Godfrey Oboabona.




"They would grow," he said. "Omeruo has done very well.



Oboabona was injured but he got his chance at the Nations Cup.



They're going to get better, the experience is going to come and one of them has to take the responsibility and be a leader."

This is to register my utmost pleasure and appreciation to all Nigerians for the remarkable show of love to me and my family in giving my father, Hon. Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, a most befitting
burial.









I am very happy and indeed, very grateful to all.






My special gratitude goes to the Federal Government and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Imo State Government and Governor Rochas Okorocha, Rivers State
Government and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, for their immeasurable support and participation.




May I use this medium to clear the air concerning news making the rounds. There is no ill feeling between me and His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha (SAM).

I did not snatch microphone from him, no such thing happened at all.

I do not put out as portrayed by these news reports; I believe I am a very cultured individual, not one to rubbish a good gesture.









Once again, thank you all Nigerians.

Signed:

Charles Emeka Oputa (CharlyBoy)

Areafada.

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica has called FIFA 'a bunch of old sons of b*****s' in another attack on football's world governing body following Luis Suarez's lengthy ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.





The 79-year-old also described the Liverpool striker's four-month suspension from all football, plus nine international matches and a
£65,000 fine, as a 'fascist ban'.




Mujica, who had said previously that Suarez was being punished by FIFA because of his humble background, continued his verbal assault at a reception for the Uruguay team after they returned home from the World Cup following their 2-0 defeat to Colombia in the last 16.




Asked by a journalist what his lasting memory of the World Cup would be, Mujica said: 'FIFA are
a bunch of old sons of b*****s.'



The president then covered his mouth to feign shock at what he had just said, but when asked by the journalist if he wanted to rectify his comments, he responded: 'Publish it.'



Mujica then conceded that Suarez deserved to be punished for his bite on Chiellini during last week's World Cup Group D clash in Natal - the third such incident in the Uruguay striker's professional career - but criticised the severity
of the ban.




'They could have punished him, but not given him this fascist ban,' added Mujica.



The Uruguay football federation has informed FIFA it will appeal against Suarez's ban.




On Saturday, it emerged that Suarez's defence against a charge of biting an opponent was that he lost his balance and hit his face on Chiellini's shoulder.




Those claims were dismissed by FIFA's seven-man disciplinary committee before imposing the punishment on the 27-year-old.

All is now set for the mining of the
first gold in Ilesha, in the State of Osun as the Governor Rauf Aregbesola, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an
Australian mining firm, Andalusian Mining Industry.








This came as the leader of the mining firm, Colin Miller, told the governor that his company would
present the first raw gold to the people of the state before the end this year.




The signing ceremony took place at the Government House, Osogbo yesterday with a moderate ceremony with the governor in
attendance.







The governor said the Australian mining firm had conducted a geological survey which confirmed that there was a huge deposit of gold in Ilesha.






Aregbesola said the discovery had presented the state with a wonderful opportunity to partner with Andalusian in the breakdown,
exploration and mining of gold in the state.





He said the people and the state look forward to having maximum advantage of the mining firm's
presence in the state.



The governor described gold mining in state as a major breakthrough to the government and a business opportunity for the state.





He said the government looked forward to speedy operation and intervention in the prospecting for gold before the end of the year.





The governor expressed hope that the state has joined the league of mining of non-oil mineral producing states in the country.














Source: www.vanguardngr.com/2014/06/osuns-first-raw-gold-end-year/

Kevin-Prince Boateng has accused the Ghana Football Association of breaking promises it made to persuade him to return to international football.
Kevin-Prince Boateng has hit back at the Ghana Football Association after being sent home early from the World Cup, describing the Black Stars’ organisation during the tournament in Brazil as “amateurish”.

The Schalke midfielder and team-mate Sulley Muntari were expelled from the Ghana squad on the day of their final match against Portugal after Boateng was accused of making “vulgar verbal insults” towards coach James Appiah. Muntari was also accused of an “unprovoked physical attack” on a member of the Ghana FA, with both players asked to leave the camp before the 2-1 defeat to Portugal in Brasília which consigned them to bottom spot in Group G.

Boateng – who only returned to the Black Stars’ set-up last year having retired from international football after the last World Cup – is now back at his home in Germany. In an interview with newspaper Bild published on Sunday, he accuses the GFA of having failed to live up to promises it made to him before the tournament.

“Everything – the hotels, the flights – everything was amateurish,” he said.

“The GFA president visited me in Milan begging me to play for Ghana again. He gave me his word that we would have better travel, better organisation and preparation. He has not kept his word. In the end I was just still dissatisfied.

“It was a nightmare from the first day of the preparation to the end,” Boateng added. “We flew to the first training camp from Amsterdam to Miami. However, we travelled in two groups, since there was no space. One group flew through Atlanta, the other New York. We sat for around nine hours at the airport - a total of 19 hours on the road.

“The flight from Miami to Brazil a week later took 12 hours and we sat and concentrated in economy class. The legs ached. It sounds strange for an average citizen, but for a competitive athlete that is a disgrace. The Ghana FA president sat in business class with his wife and two children. And then in Brazil, we finally had a charter flight but my luggage was lost. Two days without football boots – it was a disaster.”

Appiah was the first homegrown coach to lead Ghana to a World Cup. But asked his opinion on whether he had a clue about tactics, Boateng gave a less than ringing endorsement. “No. But I have respect for him [as a] person,” he said. “I have always behaved positively. But if someone asks me about him, whether he is a good coach, I’d say no.”

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama spoke with captain Asamoah Gyan on the telephone to resolve a dispute over player bonuses ahead of the Portugal match, with $3m in cash flown to Brazil on a private jet. However, Boateng claimed that was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of issues that dogged the squad.

He said: “That was the smallest problem. Everything had accumulated over a month. It was pure disaster. Poor training conditions and sleep options, I just wonder where all the money was flowing too.

“The association get so much money from sponsors and Fifa - it was certainly not used for hotels, flights, the team and the preparation.”

Boateng also insisted that there was a lack of team spirit among the squad in direct contrast to the last World Cup in South Africa, when Ghana came within a missed penalty of becoming the first African nation to reach the semi-final.

“We were not a real team. Everyone was busy with themselves,” he said.

“There were two or three players who were just glad Sulley Muntari and I were suspended. They said it to my face. We all know that I have never insulted the coach. Nevertheless, they have turned the manager against Sulley and me. I am very calm and relaxed, because I definitely know that I did no such thing.

“I have represented my opinion. There was no player who was happy. We had 100 meetings with the delegation. We told them that we need tens of change things. because of this I am an easy victim.”












Source:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/29/kevin-prince-boateng-ghana-world-cup-disaster

About 250 members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, NFSC, will miss watching the match between Nigeria and France in Brasilia today as they had to leave Brazil yesterday for Nigeria due to paucity of funds.

According to some aggrieved members, the return ticket for most members of the club was for June 29 and others for July 1, but the leadership did not notify the affected until Saturday, even as their flight was billed for 12:40am yesterday.

Only 100 members of the club left Sao Paulo yesterday for Brasilia, about 16 hours drive by road.

A member, who gave her name as Uju, said: “We have enough funds. Most of us paid N300, 000. I paid N300, 000 as money charged. I spent N80, 000 as visa fee, but I was left in Nigeria and had to spend another N350, 000 to get to Brazil.

“President Goodluck Jonathan gave the club N50m and our major sponsors – Globacom, Guinness and even Alhaji Aliko Dangote.”

Another member of the club, who gave his name simply as Oba, said: “I paid N300, 000, but since I got to Brazil I have been feeding myself.

“I have also spent my pocket money for all the trips on the road to Curitiba, Cuiaba, Porto Alegre and back to Sao Paolo. How can the leaders arrange that we are leaving after the group stage? Were they pessimistic about the Super Eagles’ performance?”

Another member, who also gave her name simply as Titilayo, said: “Even though they had made such arrangements, now that the Super Eagles are in the Round of 16, the leaders are supposed to reschedule our flights by extending it. When we get home, the President- General and the national chairman must explain to us what they did with our money.”

A member from the Lagos State chapter of the club, however, noted that the crisis had resulted from what he called internal crisis in the club.

He alleged that a faction of the club had hoarded funds donated by some multi-national organisations.

But the President-General of the club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, who admitted the crisis, said: “Some members have to go for some of us to still stay to support the Super Eagles.”














While speaking on Channels TV's breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, this morning June 30th, former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who recently dumped the APC for PDP, said the founder of terrorist group, Boko Haram, is an indigene of Borno state and is also a key official of the opposition. He also said Boko Haram is the armed wing of the opposition. Some of what he said below...
"It is very clear that the founder of Boko Haram, the person that actually founded Boko Haram when he was in office...and I won't mention his name on Television but everybody knows who it is, is from Borno state. He is alive and well. He is a key member of the opposition. Again I look at the utterances of the official spokesman of the opposition last year, that is Lai Mohammed, where he protested at the fact that Boko Haram was proscribed by the federal government where he said it was unconstitutional for the federal government to do so. He needs to explain why it is he would want to protect and support an organization that has killed almost 15,000 Nigerians as at that time and is against the fact that they were being proscribed to protect Nigerians.
"If you compare what’s happening in Nigeria to what happened in Ireland some years ago, you had Sinn Fein on the one hand and then you had the IRA on the other. The IRA was the armed wing of Sinn Fein and as far as I’m concerned, Boko Haram could well be described as the armed wing of the opposition, today.”

From latest information coming out in actress Uche Ogbodo's marriage break up saga, it appears she dumped her husband because the man is battling with some challenges. Uche had told SDK that the man lied to her and she even claimed that he never married her, adding "we did only introduction".






But the man, who is based abroad, has just went through a brain surgery and he is still recovering.



He almost cried when he heard
all that the actress he married as his wife said about him.








Details below…

According to SDK, Ato, her now estranged husband, is presently recovering from brain surgery, his friends said his only mistake was falling in love with "a wrong woman" in the person of Uche Ogbodo.






The man's father, a Pastor, said he was shocked when he heard Uche's lies.





His words:

"We went to her village and paid the bride price and after that she was still bearing her fathers name, I dont know why she didn't change it. If she is saying now that she is not married then she has divorced
herself. Marriage is not by force. I am the father of Ato and I am telling you now that what she told you is a lie .


I am a servant of God and I cannot tell lies, if she is saying that "she is not married that means she has rejected us. If she has problems with my son this is the wrong way
to go about it but we leave it all to God. I am a veteran Journalist, thank you for balancing this story by calling us because we were shocked when people started calling us to say Uche has denied marrying our son."

There is a viral circulation on BBM warning you all to stay away from certain places in Abuja this week.





The spots are Nyanya-Mararaba
road, Durumi,Wuse Market, Garki area 1/2,Kubwa et al....






I don't know how true this is but after the last bombing, there was also a circular alerting that
people were warned before the bomb went off, but no one took it serious.




This is just in case, to warn all Abuja blog visitors to be careful and keep alert for any suspicious movement.

A panel of mental health experts has concluded that Oscar Pistorius was not suffering from a mental illness when he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home last year.

Pistorius' trial resumed after a break of one month during which a psychologist and three psychiatrists also assessed whether the double-amputee runner was capable of understanding the wrongfulness of his act when he shot Steenkamp through a closed toilet door.

The panel's reports were submitted to Judge Thokozile Masipa, and prosecutor Gerrie Nel referred to key parts of the conclusions, noting
that the experts believed Pistorius was 'capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act' when he killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model.


The evaluation came after a psychiatrist, Dr. Merryll Vorster, testified for the defence that
Pistorius, who has said he feels vulnerable because of his disability and long-held worry about crime, had an anxiety disorder that could
have contributed to the killing in the early hours of February 14.


He testified that he opened fire after mistakenly thinking there was a dangerous intruder in the toilet.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has alleged that Pistorius, 27, killed Steenkamp after a Valentine's Day argument, and has portrayed the Olympic athlete as a hothead with a love of guns and an inflated sense of entitlement.

But he requested an independent inquiry into Pistorius' state of mind, based on concern the defence would argue Pistorius was not guilty because of mental illness.

Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder, and could also face years in prison if convicted of murder without premeditation or negligent killing.


He is free on bail.


Pistorius was evaluated as an outpatient at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria, the
South African capital. He has been staying at the upscale home of his uncle.


Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2674814/Oscar-Pistorius-not-mentally-ill-killing-model-girlfriend-Reeva-Steenkamp-health-experts-conclude.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Over the weekend, former Zamfara State governor Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, who is planning to contest again as Governor of the state in 2015, shared bags of rice to his people for Ramadan, making sure to let them know that he's contesting again.





Shinkafi was governor of Zamfara State in 2007 to 2011 and was Aisha Babaginda's second husband.

The Greece players have showed just how admirable they are after rejecting their World Cup bonuses – and instead asking for the money to be used to build a new training
centre for the team.



The squad detailed their request in a signed letter to the Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, on Sunday after qualifying for the last
16 of the tournament in Brazil for the first time in their history.




'We do not want extra bonus, or money. We only play for Greece and its people,' Greek media reported the players as writing.



'All we want is for you to support our effort to find a land and create a sports center that will house our National team.'




The team's commendable request comes after Cameroon and Ghana were embroiled in rows over their World Cup bonuses recently – with
the Ghana FA having to send $3m (£1.8million) to Brazil to resolve the issue.




Greece will be hoping to make it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup when they play Costa Rica in the last 16 in Recife.

A Pastor, simply identified as Abimbola has been arrested by the Ogun state Police Command, for allegedly murdering a 54-year-old man, Yusuf Kamilu.

Kamilu, a theatre practitioner was found dead by the roadside after paying a visit to Pastor Abimbola – his eyes and tongue were removed.

According to Punch, Kamilu who had several lacerations on his body after been found dead, had told his wife on Tuesday morning that he
was going to see his Pastor friend, because they had a very urgent meeting at an undisclosed place.


When he however failed to return home by evening as he had promised, his wife, Adijat, raised the alarm. She called the Pastor, only to be told that he was out of
town.

In her statement to the police, she said "At about 10am when he left the house on Tuesday, Abimbola called him on phone, and my husband
replied that he was already about leaving. He promised to come back at about 6pm.

"By 3pm that same day, I called him on phone again. He still answered me and I heard the voices of about four persons laughing in the background. He made me to know that he was still at the pastor's place.


"Then in the evening, when he did not return as he promised, I called his phone at about 10pm, but his line was switched off. The following morning, at about 6am, two men came to our house to call me that they saw my husband at the junction. Even before leaving the house, I called the pastor's number, and he said he would be with us in 30 minutes time, but he did not show up. Later, after I had seen Kamilu's body, and we had rushed him to the hospital, we called him again and he said he had travelled."

The following day, the pastor was arrested by policemen from the Ayinla Police Division.


Fuelling suspicions, when Abimbola was being interrogated at the police command headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta, he was said to have given contradictory answers to the police.


When a search party was sent to his home, some fetish things including black calabashes were allegedly discovered in his compound.

Confirming the incident, the Ogun State Police Command spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said
the suspect was still with the police, adding that investigations
are ongoing.

President Jonathan has promised to travel to Brazil to watch the Super Eagles live if they make it to the quarter-final stage of the 2014 World Cup. Nigeria will play France
in the Round of 16 tomorrow Monday June 30th (5pm Nigerian time) and if they beat France, GEJ and some members of his govt will travel to Brazil to watch their next
match.






This was revealed by Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo, who said the additional incentive from the president has motivated the players to beat France at all cost.





Nigeria has never reached the quarter-final stage of any World Cup.


"He assured us when he called that he's behind us and if we beat France and qualify for the quarter-final, he will come and visit us and watch the next game. That's a very
big motivation for us to know that the president will come and visit us.


It's better than money and we are determined to go there and fight and give our best. It's a morale booster." Yobo told kickoffnigeria.com

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Sunday, raised the alarm that some impostors have opened Facebook accounts in his name to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.





Ekweremadu, in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Mr. Uche Anichukwu, said the intention of the criminals was to engage in shady deals and defraud innocent Nigerians.





The statement reads in part, "Our teeming supporters and members of the public are hereby warned not to have anything to do with any of such Facebook accounts, as they have absolutely nothing to do with Senator Ike Ekweremadu or Office of the Deputy President of the Senate.






"Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu has no Facebook account and anyone dealing with
or communicating with anyone who claims to be the Deputy President of the Senate on any matter, including contracts, appointments, scholarships, sponsorship, etc is certainly doing so at his or her own
risk.




"The person is obviously dealing with
fraudsters. His scholarship scheme and other empowerment programmes are handled by the Ikeoha Foundation, a nongovernmental and not-for-profit
organisation he founded in 1997.




"The Annual scholarship programmes and bursary awards are usually advertised and the beneficiaries selected based on pre-determined criteria."

The Police in Lagos State, weekend, burst a kidnap gang operating at Ajah area of state and rescued a female banker and one other, while a member of the gang was arrested.






It was gathered that the female banker identified simply as Ladi and the other victim, identified as Patrick, were kidnapped by the gang last weekend at Elemoro area of
Ajah while driving into their houses.






The kidnappers were said to have double crossed the victims with a Toyota Camry car and whisked them away in separate operations.





Police sources disclosed that the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N100 million for the release of the victims but it was later reduced to N6 million.





A source further added that a combined team of SARS and SIB operatives were deployed to Ajah in search of the victims, but they succeeded on the sixth day as they
found them abandoned in a forest at Elemoro area of Ajah.






According to the source, "the operatives tracked the kidnappers to a forest and while they were combing the place for the victims, they spotted a man who looked
suspicions and arrested him. The man posed as a bricklayer, but after a short interrogation it turned out that he was a member of the kidnap gang and was taken into the forest in search of the victims who were later found while their kidnappers
escaped."




It was gathered that the suspect, whose name was withheld as the policemen were still on the trail of other members of his gang, confessed that his gang was based in Delta State but relocated to Lagos three weeks ago. Our source also added that the suspect said the gang had planned to use the
N6 million ransom to rent an apartment they would use as hideout.

France are hot favourites to progress to the quarter-finals of the World Cup when they tackle Nigeria in their round of 16 clash at
the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia on Monday.

Didier Deschamps' side, who lifted the World Cup on home soil back in 1998, impressed as they topped Group E with comprehensive and goal-laden victories over Honduras and Switzerland before drawing 0-0 with Ecuador.


Nigeria, meanwhile, finished second in Group F behind Argentina and are targeting their first-ever World Cup quarter-final berth in their first knockout match since 1998.

Deschamps made a number of changes for the Ecuador clash and is expected to recall some key players, with Yohan Cabaye set to return from suspension in place of Morgan Schneiderlin.


Defender Mamadou Sakho is a doubt due to the thigh injury which forced him off in the 61st minute of their final group game, meaning
Laurent Koscielny and Raphael Varane could start in central defence.

Moussa Sissoko could start ahead of Paul Pogba, Mathieu Valbuena is set to return after being rested, while Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann are battling to start up
front alongside Golden Boot hopeful Karim Benzema.


Arsenal defender Koscielny is keen to play down France's hopes of global glory in Brazil, particularly as Deschamps' side had to overturn a 2-0 first leg play-off defeat against Ukraine just to qualify.

He said: "The first objective was to get through the group phase. Now it's to go as far as possible.


"We are competitors and we are ambitious, but we know that we have opponents against us and that we might lose.


"We're aware of our qualities. Something changed after the Ukraine game, but anything is possible in a knockout match and for the moment we're only focusing on the last 16."

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi will hope to have Chelsea's Victor Moses available again after he returned to training with the squad on Saturday following the muscle complaint that
kept him out of the 3-2 defeat by Argentina.

Keshi's only confirmed absentee is winger Michael Babatunde, who sustained a fractured wrist after being struck by Ogenyi Onazi's shot in their final Group E fixture.

Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo will earn his 101st cap when he leads his side out against France, and having just faced Argentina ace Lionel Messi, he claims that they will not fear Monday's opponents.


He told fifa.com: "We won the Africa Cup of Nations, booked our place in the World Cup without any trouble and now we've qualified for
the second round. It's not often that I've experienced so many pieces of good news in a row.


"That shows you we're improving. This team is young, but it's growing fast and learning quickly.


We're taking confidence from our campaign so that it can help us in our next match.


"We've just played against the best forward in the world, so we're ready to measure ourselves against anybody.


"I don't see what we should be afraid of. I believe in this team, and I think we can do it."

President Jonathan wrote to the New York Post:


I have had to remain quiet about the continuing efforts by Nigeria's military, police and investigators to find the girls kidnapped in April from the town of Chibok by the terrorist group Boko Haram. I am deeply concerned, however, that my silence as we work to accomplish the task at hand is being misused by partisan critics to suggest inaction or even weakness.

My silence has been necessary to avoid compromising the details of our investigation. But let me state this unequivocally: My government and our security and intelligence services have spared no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are returned home and the thugs who took them are brought to justice. On my orders, our forces have aggressively sought these killers in the forests of northern Borno state, where they are based. They are fully committed to defending the integrity of their country.

My heart aches for the missing children and their families. I am a parent myself, and I know how awfully this must hurt. Nothing is more important to me than finding and rescuing our girls.

Since 2010, thousands of people have been killed, injured, abducted or forced by Boko Haram, which seeks to overwhelm the country and impose its ideology on all Nigerians. My government is determined to make that impossible. We will not succumb to the will of terrorists.

The abduction of our children cannot be seen as an isolated event. Terrorism knows no borders. This month, Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Britain and the United States established an External Intelligence Response Unit to share security information on such threats in West Africa. I propose that we build on this step to establish an enduring, worldwide commitment to destroying terrorism and those who finance or give safe haven to the terrorists.

In September, I will urge the U.N. General Assembly to establish a U.N.-coordinated system for sharing intelligence and, if necessary, special forces and law enforcement to confront terrorism wherever it occurs.

In Nigeria, there are political, religious and ethnic cleavages to overcome if we are to defeat Boko Haram. We need greater understanding and outreach between Muslims and Christians. We also know that, as it seeks to recruit the gullible, Boko Haram exploits the economic disparities that remain a problem in our country. We are addressing these challenges through such steps as bringing stakeholders together and creating a safe schools initiative, a victims' support fund and a presidential economic recovery program for northeastern Nigeria. We are also committed to ridding our country of corruption and safeguarding human and civil rights and the rule of law.

Something positive can come out of the situation in Nigeria: most important, the return of the Chibok girls, but also new international cooperation to deny havens to terrorists and destroy their organizations wherever they are — whether in the forests of Nigeria, on the streets of New York or sanctuaries in Iraq or Pakistan. Those who value humanity , civilization and the innocence of children can do no less.


However, the international media organisation is less than impressed with President Jonathan's editorial as they reply.

Below is the scathing New York Post editorial read by millions of New Yorkers, and other Americans, in the last 36 hours.

"When in April the Islamist group Boko Haram abducted nearly 300 girls from their school in northeast Nigeria, it commanded global attention and sparked a #BringBackOurGirls movement.


"But the girls are still missing. The campaign seems to have moved from hashtag demands to 'newspaper column diplomacy.' On Friday, The Washington Post carried an op-ed by no less than the president of Nigeria himself, Goodluck Jonathan.

"In it he wrote, "Something positive can come out of [this situation] in Nigeria." He says, "Most important, the return of the Chibok girls, but also new international cooperation to deny havens to terrorists and destroy their organizations."

"And he says he's going to ask the UN General Assembly to establish and coordinate a system to share intelligence, etc.

"Remember, this is the same leader whose military initially claimed it had freed the girls, whose wife's anger was directed at Nigerians
protesting the government's inaction, rather than the kidnappers, and who presides over
Africa's largest economy and fourth-largest armed forces.


"Meanwhile, this week Boko Haram kidnapped another 90 Nigerian children and set off a massive bomb in the heart of the nation's capital.


"Apparently the government's secret plan to get the girls back — which President Jonathan says he has to "remain quiet about"
— isn't much impressing them.


Nor is the New York Post impressed with President Jonathan's contract with Levick, or
first salvo in rehabilitating his international image. At press time, the Chibok students from Borno and now, an additional 90 women, remain missing in spite of the Washington
Post editorial that appeared in Thursday's newspaper.

A German salesman 'sawed, hacked and sliced up' a bank clerk who had suffocated to death in a bizarre sex game gone wrong - before leaving his head 'bobbing in a stewpot'.

Michael Schneider, 45, left 37-year-old Carsten Schmidt's severed head cooking on the stove at his apartment in Berlin, in what police described as a 'horror show'.


After the sordid incident, remains of the victim's body were also found strewn around Schneider's home, wrapped in baking foil and
paper.


Now Schneider has now been jailed for less than four years, after being found guilty of bodily harm resulting in death.

A police official, who said the men knew one another, said: 'It was a horror show. The body parts had been sawed, hacked and sliced.


'He put them all over the apartment as if saving them up for a rainy day.

'But only the head was cooked, bobbing in a stewpot on top of the cooker.'


During the hearing at the Berlin Regional Court, the court heard how the victim had invited Schneider to his apartment in Marienfelde, south Berlin, for sex in January 2012.

In court, the defence claimed Schmidt asked the defendant to tie him to the bed and cover his mouth and nose with tape.

The victim then died of suffocation, the court was told. It was then that Schneider cut up Schmidt's corpse.

Schmidt, who was openly gay, was due to go on to a party that evening with his friend. When he did not show up, the friend alerted police.


'The body parts had been sawed, hacked and sliced. He put them all over the apartment as if saving them up for a rainy day'


When it became clear Schneider was a suspect, the defendant slashed his wrists with a knife, but was saved by paramedica.


During the trial, prosecutors argued that the defendant should have been sentenced to six years and nine months for manslaughter.


But his defence team called for their client to be found guilty of bodily harm resulting in death
rather than manslaughter.

They successfully argued that the victim had wanted to die and that the accused was used simply as 'a tool in that process'.

In the court judgement it reportedly said: 'He is responsible for the death but he didn't want to
kill his sexual partner.'


Cannibalism as a sexual fantasy is widespread in Germany. It first hit the headlines in 2001 when Armin Meiwes killed, butchered and ate a
computer technician called Bernd Brandes at his remote farmhouse home in Rotenburg near Kassel.

At his trial, several men who harboured fantasies of eating human flesh testified that there was a large network of like-minded
individuals who connected through cyberspace in a bid to satisfy their fantasies.


Culled from: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2672701/German-cooked-severed-head-victim-sex-game-went-wrong-jailed-four-years.html?ito=social-facebook

President John Dramani Mahama has reassigned Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the Youth and Sports Minister, to the Presidency as Minister of State, after a woeful World Cup campaign.




The Information Minister, Mahama Ayariga (MP) is to replace him. Even though no mention of the issues at the World Cup was mentioned, it is
widely believed that these play a major role in the reshuffle.





There has been talk of a major ministerial reshuffle for months, but this does not appear to be part of President Mahama's wider ranging plans to reorganize his government.






Media commentators have been calling for the dismissal of the embattled Sports Minister after
what seemed like a badly planned Brazil 2014 campaign. Social media was awash with pictures and commentary of stranded Ghanaians in Brazil, some of whom were sleeping on the floor, and in semi dilapidated rooms. Then there was the issue of the players threatened boycott, which prompted the airlifting of $3million in hard cash
to pay them for their appearance fees.





Even though he had nothing to do with it, the rumors of alleged attempts to fix matches by some officials of the GFA, and also the verbal and physical assault brouhaha in the Black Stars camp, seem also to have added to the woes of Mr. Afriyie Ankrah.






A statement issued by the Presidency said as part of ongoing changes in his administration, President Mahama has also designated Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Joseph Yammin,
to the Ashanti Region to take over from Joseph Alexander Ackon, who has been reassigned to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection as the second Deputy.





Fifi Fiavi Kwetey (MP), a Minister of State at the Presidency has also been moved to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.





Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Vincent Oppong Asamoah, will be
moving to the Ministry of Youth and Sports as Deputy Minister.
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