Arsenal wonder kid scores as England Under-21 book place at European championships

By

-

October 14, 2020

Eddie Nketiah became England Under-21s’ leading goalscorer as they beat Turkey at Molineux to book their place at next year’s European Championship.

Nketiah missed an 84th-minute penalty but coolly clipped in a record 14th goal at this level four minutes later.

England went ahead through Huseyin Turkmen’s own goal, deflecting Ryan Sessegnon’s cross into his net.

Aaron Ramsdale kept out Halil Dervisoglu’s penalty, but the Turkey striker netted a consolation late on.

Unbeaten England’s qualifying campaign has been exceptional, as they have won seven of their eight games, with their only blemish coming in a surprise 3-3 draw at minnows Andorra last time out.

But Aidy Boothroyd’s side finish top of Group Three with two games to spare and reach their eighth consecutive European Championship.

Borussia Dortmund teenager Jude Bellingham bossed the midfield but it was fellow Bundesliga player Sessegnon, on loan at Hoffenheim from Tottenham, who created the opener with his burst from the left – with Turkmen sticking a foot out to turn the ball into his own net.

But despite seeing a goal disallowed for offside and missing a penalty, Nketiah broke through to score a minute from time and take his goals tally past those of former England captain Alan Shearer and Francis Jeffers.

Captain Nketiah told BT Sport: “It is amazing. It is nice to get the three points but to beat the record is a dream come true and a proud moment for me and my family. There are still games left to add to that.

“I was disappointed with the penalty but I made sure I stayed cool when the chance fell to me and it was a nice finish.”

Boothroyd added: “Eddie Nketiah is in esteemed company with Alan Shearer. He is a terrific player and I genuinely think if he can have the career Alan has had, he will have done really well.”

Amid a busy fixture calendar, next year’s tournament – which is to be hosted in Hungary and Slovakia – has been split over two periods.

The group stages will take place in March and the knockout stage – featuring the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final – will be played from 31 May to 6 June.

Havertz and Werner both scored in Germany’s entertaining draw with Switzerland

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 14, 2020

The Chelsea duo linked up expertly to salvage a point for Germany in a game they had trailed for long periods.

Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry scored the final equaliser for the home side with a sensational backheeled shot.

Switzerland had squandered a two-goal lead and finished the game with 10 men, but took a deserved point.

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard will have watched with interest as Antonio Rudiger also featured for the 2014 World Cup winners.

It was a momentous night for midfielder Toni Kroos who earned his 100th cap for Germany, becoming only the 12th player to do so.

Despite allowing 300 fans into the stadium for their friendly against Turkey last week, no fans were present at the RheinEnergieStadion due to a rise in local coronavirus cases.

Switzerland needed a win to avoid the prospect of being relegated to group B, they now sit at the bottom of the table with two points.

Germany will face Ukraine in the next round of matches in November, with both teams level on six points in group A4, after Ukraine beat group leaders Spain 1-0.

Ukrain humbles Spain

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 14, 2020

Spain were made to pay for a host of wasted chances as Ukraine inflicted their first defeat in nearly two years.

Leeds forward Rodrigo spurned two headed chances as Ukraine goalkeeper Georgi Bushchan continually frustrated the former world champions in the stadium where they won Euro 2012.

Spain had 21 shots in total but Ukraine needed just one to score in Kiev.

Substitute Viktor Tsygankov ran on to West Ham forward Andriy Yarmolenko’s pass to beat David de Gea.

The Manchester United goalkeeper was caught out of position on the counter-attack as Luis Enrique’s side lost for the first time since Croatia beat them 3-2 in November 2018.

They now lead Group A4 by just a point from both Ukraine and Germany, who drew 3-3 with Switzerland.

About 15,000 fans were allowed in to watch the Nations League game, which was dominated by Spain.

The visitors had 72% of possession and forced Bushchan into eight saves, but the Dynamo Kiev man was in unbeatable form.

Blaming De Gea is wrong’

Spain manager Luis Enrique: “Blaming De Gea is already wrong, it puts a lot on him. If David is blamed for a game like this, turn it off and let’s go.

“The responsibility for each goal lies with the whole team.

“We have made chances to kill them. It was a game of clear control of us, with Adama Traore we have generated chances with his overlap.

“In the end we went into panic mode. I like the attitude of the players, I like what I see.”

Mount Kenya owes you nothing: Governor Mutua to Ruto

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 14, 2020

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has embarked on a nationwide listening tour to popularize his bid for the top job come 2022 – By Collins Osanya.

The Maendeleo Chap Chap state house hopeful set the stage for his vote hunting mission in Central Kenya, Nyeri where he pled with locals not to allow outsiders to divide them. Mutua addressed members of the press in a live interview on Citizen TV’s mid-morning show: Daybreak on Wednesday, 14 October.

“Mt Kenya residents are very lucky because the region has produced three of Kenya’s presidents. Mwai Kibaki mentored me politically and Uhuru Kenyatta has been there for me as a politician. It is time I scratch the back of Mt Kenya people by giving them the country Kibaki envisioned, ” Mutua declared.

Mutua will tour Laikipia and Nyandarua counties with a bag of ‘goodies’ aimed at addressing unemployment, the concerns of tea, coffee and avocado farmers among other issues.

The governor also threw a jab at politicians harboring and advancing plans to succeed Uhuru come 2022 over an earlier political arrangement.

“As leaders, we owe the people. The people don’t owe us anything. We are servants. No one deserves a helping hand or a pat on the shoulder. Leaders should not have a sense of entitlement.”

While positioning himself as the suitable candidate and also a son of the region, Mutua asked Central Kenya voters to stand united and vote as a block.

“The rest of the country is confused. It’s like the people of Mt Kenya have been mind-controlled. You can’t produce three presidents and then be divided by someone who isn’t even from this region. You are being fed with poison and you are gladly taking it,” the Maendeleo Chap Chap leader argued.

“It’s not a good show when you are used by others to devide the house of Mumbi. You are the people who fought for the freedom of Kenya from colonisers. You are supposed to be united under President Uhuru. The rest of the country is watching and laughing at you,” Mutua fired.

US election: Biden versus Trump hard tackles

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 14, 2020

Biden says Florida seniors ‘expendable’ for Trump

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has criticized Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic while courting elderly voters in the battleground state of Florida.

To the president “you’re expendable”, Mr Biden said at a senior centre in the city of Pembroke Pines.

It came a day after Mr Trump returned to the campaign trail for the first time since his coronavirus diagnosis with a rally in the state.

He told supporters he felt “powerful”.

Battleground states like Florida and Ohio are crucial for gathering the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidential election, which is not determined by a simple count of votes nationwide.

Opinion polls suggest Mr Biden has a 10-point lead over Mr Trump nationally, but his lead in some key states is narrower. In Florida, the Democrat is 3.7 percentage points ahead, according to an average of polls collated by Real Clear Politics.

Mr Trump narrowly won Florida in the 2016 election in a result buoyed by senior voters. But the latest polls suggest a shift away from the Republican among older voters there this time around.

Mr Biden spoke to a group of people at the senior centre in southern Florida on Tuesday, with social distancing measures in place.

The campaign event was in stark contrast to the president’s rally the previous day, where thousands attended, many not wearing masks.

Mr Biden accused the president of dismissing the threat that coronavirus posed to senior citizens.

To Mr Trump, “you’re expendable, you’re forgettable, you’re virtually nobody. That’s how he sees seniors. That’s how he sees you,” said Mr Biden.

The “only senior Donald Trump seems to care about” is himself, he added.

Mr Biden also criticised the president for holding “super-spreader parties with Republicans hugging each other without concern of the consequences,” while senior citizens couldn’t see their grandchildren.

Introducing the Democratic candidate at the event, Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said it was voters aged 65 or over “who will swing elections in the Sunshine State”.

Elsewhere President Trump at a rally on Tuesday night in the critical election state of Pennsylvania, Mr Trump said his Democratic challenger was “not a nice guy”.

“He’s a bad guy,” the Republican president said of his rival. “He’s always been a dummy.”

Mr Biden’s campaign has made much of his childhood in the state, but Mr Trump told the rally in Johnstown: “They say he was born in Scranton. But he left. He left. He abandoned you. Give me a break.”

The president also attempted to woo the key voting demographic of suburban women, many of whom are said in opinion polls to view Mr Trump unfavorably.

“So can I ask you to do me a favour?” the president said. “Suburban women, will you please like me?

“I saved your damn neighbourhood.”

Mr Trump held a rally in Florida on Monday and has others planned this week in Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida again.

New three-tier restrictions come into force in England

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 14, 2020

The new three-tier system of Covid-19 restrictions has begun in England.

Most of the country is in the lowest tier – medium – but millions of people in the North and the Midlands face extra curbs on households mixing.

The Liverpool region is the only area to be under the toughest rules, with pubs and bars not serving meals closed.

Government health officials are due to meet later to discuss the possibility of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and some other areas joining the top tier.

The Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said it was “disappointing” the government was “piling the pressure” on his region “without negotiating”.

“It risks confusing people coming so soon after the tier two announcement,” he said, adding that “unfunded restrictions are unfair and will cause real damage to lives, jobs and businesses”.

It comes after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for a two to three-week “circuit-breaker” lockdown in England to bring the infection rate under control.

The new three-tier system sees every area of England classed as being on medium, high or very high alert.

Areas on medium alert are subject to the national restrictions currently in force, including the rule of six on indoor and outdoor gatherings and the 22:00 closing time for pubs, bars and restaurants.

In addition to these restrictions, in areas on high alert – including north-east England, much of the North West and parts of the Midlands, along with West and South Yorkshire – different households are not allowed to mix indoors.

Areas on very high alert face extra curbs, with different households banned from mixing indoors or outdoors in hospitality venues or private gardens.

Pubs and bars will be closed unless they are serving substantial meals and there is also guidance against travelling in and out of the area.

Further restrictions may be agreed for particular regions in the top tier and in the Liverpool City Region gyms, leisure centres, betting shops and casinos will also close.

Even Noah was laughed at: Havi responds after Occupy Parliament flop

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 14, 2020

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi rubbished statements linking his Occupy Parliament march to a simple tea party. – By Collins Osanya.

The LSK President elicited public excitement when he made the protest order only to show up on Monday, 12 October at Parliament buildings, Nairobi accompanied by 19 lawyers instead of the multitude expected by his supporters and the public.

“As Advocates of the High Court of Kenya we conduct our business in accordance to the law,” Havi responseded before revealing that the he was solely acting in observance of the Covid-19 regulations by showing up with a small number of lawyers.

Havi spoke in an October 13 interview on Citizen TV prime hosted by journalist Wahiga Mwaura. The lawyer responded to accusations of being an all talk and no action President of the LSK among other queries.

“I wrote to the two Speakers and the clerk of the National Assembly on October 9 informing them that a team of 20 lawyers will stage a peaceful protest. And that is why the police received us well. We did not heckle and shout,” Havi stated.

However, the LSK president was quick to maintain that he will lead LSK in the march to Parliament and eject the legislators as planned even after a widely perceived flop sighting the contravening of the two thirds gender rule as his main drive.

“Kenyans have to realise that Parliament became illegitimate when it failed to pass the 2/3rds gender rule. And in 2012 the Supreme Court made it clear that Parliament risks being unconstitutional if it fails to pass these laws in good time,”.

Havi added that the August House had failed to oversight the President so far as appointments of state officers are concerned. “Parliament has refused to sanction the President for flatly refusing to appoint 41 judges.”

Teenage ‘computer geek’ becomes the first millennial saint

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 14, 2020

A teenage “computer genius” could be on the path to sainthood after he was beatified by the Catholic Church.

Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia at the age of 15 in 2006, was beatified on Saturday in the town of Assisi, Italy.

The teenager used his taste for technology to create a website that traced the history of Eucharistic miracles, which has been used by more than 10,000 parishes worldwide, the Vatican said.

According to the Vatican, Acutis was religious from a young age, despite his mother having only been to mass “three times. . .

The Vatican announced that Acutis would be beatified following claims that he cured a Brazilian boy suffering from a rare disease through intercession.

Acutis was born in London to Italian parents before the family moved to Milan, where he lived until his death, the Vatican said.

Acutis, described by the Vatican as a “computer genius with a love for the Eucharist” is believed to be the youngest contemporary person who has been beatified.

Kanye West joins #EndSARS protests in Nigeria

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 14, 2020

US rapper Kanye West has joined a growing list of international celebrities speaking out in support of large protests against police brutality in Nigeria.

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)US rapper Kanye West has joined a growing list of international celebrities speaking out in support of large protests against police brutality in Nigeria.

“I stand with my Nigerian brothers and sisters to end police brutality, the government must answer to the peoples cries #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeria,” West tweeted Monday.

The protests in cities across Nigeria came after weeks of outcry online from young people in the country over claims of kidnapping, harassment and extortion by a police unit known as the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

Using the hashtag #EndSARS on social media, international celebrities joined Nigerians in the campaign to end police brutality in all its forms.

Blessing Timidi Digha, one of the protesters who was present on both days, told CNN the demonstrators’ demands included justice for those brutalized by the police unit, reform of the police and an end to all forms of police brutality.

But protests continued in Lagos, Abuja and Kwara on Monday, with young Nigerians saying they would continue to take to the streets until the entire police force was reformed.

Kenyatta Condoles Karoney over Dad demise

By

Dan Ojumah

-

October 13, 2020

President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a message of condolence and encouragement to Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney and family following the death of her father Mzee Edward Kiprotich Karoney.

Mzee Karoney, 74, passed away Tuesday afternoon at Kapsabet Referral Hospital in Nandi County following a traffic accident along Kapsabet-Eldoret Road.

In his message of comfort, the President mourned Mzee Karoney as a respected elder, a successful farmer and a strong champion for education.

“It is unfortunate that we have lost Mzee Karoney when we still needed his wise counsel as an elder. We have lost a man who cherished and was a strong champion for education in his community as can be seen through his children.

“Mzee Karoney will be remembered by many for his farming exploits and as a mentor for young farmers in Nandi County,” the President eulogised.

The Head of State said death had robbed the nation of a warm, outstanding and gifted elder whose legacy will live on for many generations to come.

“It is my prayer that the Almighty God will give you the strength and courage to bear the loss,” the President encouraged CS Farida Karoney and the family.

Create a free account, or log in.

Upgrade your subscription