₦airaland Forum

Please watch the video below and tell us how you would feel if you were one of the unsuspecting customers at that coffee shop.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syOKD4owy-s

Manchester United’s new teenage sensation, Adnan Januzaj, doesn’t seem to have made a new friend in Jack Wiltshire as the 21-yr-old Arsenal player has protested against the possible inclusion of the teenage Man Utd player in a future England team selection.

Januzaj, (pronounced Yan-a-zai) is in a unique position as he is eligible to play for a total of five different European countries, Belgium, Albania, Turkey, Serbia and England but is yet to lace boots for any.

Born in Brussels 5th February 1995 to Albanian-Kosovan parents Adnan joined Anderlecht Youth in 2005 for six years before he was snapped up by Man Utd for a reported fee of about £300,000.

Januzaj qualifies to play for his birth country Belgium, for Albania through his Kosovan-Albanian parents, Turkey through his grandparents and Serbia as Kosovo’s independence has not been recognised by the United Nations. Kosovo’s national team are not members of Uefa or Fifa.

Also, the sport’s governing body, states a player is eligible if “he has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association”.

That would mean Januzaj would have to wait until 2018 to represent England, assuming he remains in the country until he turns 23, which is exactly what Jack Wilshere hopes will never happen.

Wilshere currently plays as a midfielder for Arsenal and has been selected as part of the England squad to face Montenegro on Friday.

“If you live in England for five years it doesn’t make you English,” Arsenal’s Wilshere, 21, said.
“If I went to Spain and lived there for five years I’m not going to play for Spain.”
“We are English. We tackle hard, are tough on the pitch and are hard to beat.
“We have great characters. You think of Spain and you think technical but you think of England and you think they are brave and they tackle hard. We have to remember that.
“The only people who should play for England are English people.”

Wilshere has denied being a smoker despite being photographed smoking outside a nightclub recently.

“I made a mistake. Players make mistakes, I’m not a smoker,” Wilshere protested on the Arsenal Website.

Let’s hope he will, one day in future, put his “patriotic” outburst against Januzaj down to another mistake.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/januzaj-only-the-english-should-play-for-england-jack-wiltshire

Singer and Britain’s Got talent judge, Alesha Dixon, has revealed in a tweet that she had a baby girl last week.

The singer wrote on Twitter: “I’ve had the best present in the world… My baby girl Azura Sienna was born last week! I’m elated and over-the-moon.”

She made this revelation on her 35th birthday, adding: “It seems quick because I was hiding it for so long! I was in my six month of pregnancy at the Britain’s Got Talent final!”

It may be recalled that she announced in June that she was expecting a child with her partner, Nigerian dancer Azuka Ononye.

The pair met when they worked together on her solo career after she left the girl band Mis-Teeq and only revealed in June that they were expecting a baby.

She has confirmed that she will be returning to Britain’s Got Talent next year.

See her tweets at: http://www.urnaija.com/baby-girl-for-alesha-dixon-azuka-ononye/

Deji Falae, son of Olu Falae, formerly Secretary to the Federal Government and Finance Minister and at least twelve out of the twenty persons that were involved in the Associated Airline plane disaster on Thursday have been confirmed dead.

Deji Falae, a qualified lawyer, graduated from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 1991 and was also until his death the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Ondo State.

Also confirmed dead is MIC Caskets boss Tunji Okusanya.

Feyi Agagu, son of the late Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, whose casket was being flown in the ill-fated plane is said to have survived the crash.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/deji-falae-at-least-12-others-confirmed-dead-in-lagos-crash/

The family of the late ‘King of Pop’, Michael Jackson, have lost the case they brought against concert promoter, AEG Live, that they were negligent in hiring the doctor who was responsible for his death.

According to Sky News, a jury of six men and six women sitting in a Los Angeles Court reached verdicts on 16 questions brought by the pop star’s family following a five-month trial.

They determined that AEG Live did hire Dr Conrad Murray before the singer’s planned comeback concerts but that he was not unfit for his job.
That ruling ended any further consideration on damages and who was at fault for the death.

In a statement read by defence attorney Marvin Putnam, he said: “The jury’s decision completely vindicates AEG Live, confirming what we have known from the start – that although Michael Jackson’s death was a terrible tragedy … not a tragedy of AEG Live’s making.”

The wrongful death lawsuit was brought by Jackson’s mother, Katherine, 83, and his three children over Michael Jackson’s death. The family claimed AEG Live negligently hired Murray as Jackson’s personal physician and ignored signs the Thriller singer was in poor health prior to his death.
Jackson had been due to start a series of 50 comeback concerts in London.

But as the opening date of the shows approached, he is said to have had bouts of insecurity and agonised over his inability to sleep.

The trial heard testimony from Jackson’s son Prince, his ex-wife Debbie Rowe and mother Katherine, as well as details of his struggles to perform, his use of prescription drugs and his relationship with his children.

Jackson family lawyers had suggested in court documents that damages could have exceeded $1bn (£616m) had the promoter been found liable.
Testimony at the civil trial showed only Jackson and Murray knew he was taking propofol.

In his closing argument, Mr Putnam told jurors the company would have pulled the plug on the shows if they knew he was using the anaesthetic.

“AEG would never have agreed to finance this tour if they knew Mr Jackson was playing Russian roulette in his bedroom every night,” he said.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/michael-jacksons-family-lose-aeg-court-case/

According to a Guardian newspaper report, Nigeria’s West African neighbour, Gambia, has withdrawn from the Commonwealth, a collection of 54 nations made up largely of former British colonies, saying it will “never be a member of any neo-colonial institution”.

In an unexpected announcement broadcast by the West African nation on state television on Wednesday it was not immediately clear what prompted the decision to leave the Commonwealth, which is headed by the Queen.

“The government has withdrawn its membership of the British Commonwealth and decided that the Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism,” the statement said.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said: “Decisions on Commonwealth membership are a matter for each member government. We would very much regret the Gambia or any other country, deciding to leave the Commonwealth.”

The Gambia joined the Commonwealth in 1965, when it gained independence from Britain. Although it remains a major tourist destination for British and other foreign holidaymakers, it has long had a troubled political relationship with its former colonial master.

The UK condemned the decision by the Gambia’s president Yahya Jammeh – who seized power in a 1994 coup and who is one of Africa’s longest-running and least democratic rulers – to execute nine death row prisoners, including one woman, without warning.

“I am deeply concerned over reports that nine prisoners on death row in The Gambia have been executed following comments by President Jammeh that all death row prisoners would now be executed,” said foreign office minister Alistair Burt in a statement at the time.

The Gambian government did not give a reason for the decision to leave the Commonwealth. However, it comes amid a greater emphasis by Britain on human rights and increasing pressure to promote equality based on sexuality.

Gambia’s leader, Jammeh on the other hand has been highly vocal in his condemnation of homosexuality, and last week gave a speech at the United Nations calling it a threat to human existence.

The UK ceased bilateral aid to the Gambia in 2011, but still gives roughly £8m per year to the country through multilateral donations to agencies.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/gambia-quits-the-commonwealth

Cash totalling about £17 billion has been left unclaimed at Moscow’s Sheremtyevo Airport since 2007.

Stacks of two hundred million 100 euro notes flown in from Frankfurt have been causing Russian authorities concern for the past six years as they do not know to whom the money belongs.

The cash was flown to Moscow’s Sheremtyevo Airport from Frankfurt in 2007, apparently on the behest of an Iranian named Farzin Motagh but has never been claimed.

The Moscow airport is the same one Edward Snowden, NSA leaker, was holding up for several days before he was granted asylum by Russia.

The latest rumours suggest that it may represent the ill-gotten gains of Saddam Hussein or perhaps Muammar Gaddafi.

If you are the owner or have any suggestions on what the Russians should do with the money if the owner does not come forward please let the Russians know.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/lost-but-found-17-billion/

The President and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria’s Armed Forces, Goodluck Jonathan had the honour of being the first Nigerian leader to ring the closing bell at the end of trading session at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday 23 September 2013.

Ministers who accompanied President Jonathan to the ceremony included Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Minister for Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga and the Minister for Petroleum Resources, Dieziani Alison Madueke. Also present at the ceremony was the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Arunma Oteh.

The President is currently in the United States to attend the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly.

During his visit he has met President Obama of the US and is also scheduled to meet with Hedge Fund managers to discuss possible U.S. and foreign investments in Nigeria’s power, petroleum and agriculture sectors.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUTY4Mdv1ds

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/president-jonathan-rings-nyse-closing-bell-video/

He is only eight weeks old and we don’t have any pictures of him with without any of his parents holding him yet but Kate and Wills tot, Prince George of Cambridge, has won a prestigious award as London’s most influential resident.

In an annual opinion poll conducted in London to determine who is the most influential Londoner Prince George of Cambridge emerged first among the personalities voted as London’s most influential one thousand residents and Cambridge is not even in London.

Prince George was said to be London’s greatest tourist attraction, along with the Queen pushing last year’s winner, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to second place.

The list includes some of the world’s most iconic individuals resident in London. Individuals like his parents, Prince Williams and the Duchess of Cambridge who were voted 11th and 7th most influential persons respectively; his great-grandmother, the Queen, voted 16th most influential and his uncle Prince Harry who was voted joint 11th most influential with his dad.

Other notable personalities on the list were the Prime Minister, David Cameron, who was considered 4th most influential Londoner one place behind newly appointed Bank of England Governor, Canadian Mark Carney who came 3rd in the polls. One Direction band member, Harry Styles voted 17th most influential Londoner is the second youngest person on the list after Prince George. Andy Murray, winner of the last Wimbledon Tennis Championship also made the list as the 8th most influential Londoner and the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby is the 18th most influential Londoner according to the opinion poll.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/prince-george-is-most-influential-londoner/

Nigeria’s celebrity blogger and owner of www.lindaikeji.com, undoubtedly one of the ten most visited websites in the Nigerian community, Linda Ikeji, is 33 today.

Linda, who used to be a model, started her blog on a shoestring budget in 2006 – Her first post is dated 30th December 2006 – now commands a more than respectable income from the same blog she started with. According to her advertisement brochure her blog receives more than 300,000 visits a day and more than half a million page views within the same period.

This year, 2013, “Linda Ikeji” is one of the ten most searched keywords on Google in Nigeria.

As a celebrity blogger, Linda has attracted her fair share of criticisms and controversies in recent times. Her style of blogging and reluctance to switch from a free blogging platform have come under attack on several other blogs and Internet trolls are constantly digging into her on Nigerian Internet fora. There is a long list of Nigerian celebrities whom she seemed to have rubbed up the wrong way. There was the much publicised spat between Linda and winner of the first Face Of Africa contest, Oluchi, who took to Twitter to express her feelings towards Linda in four-letter- word expletives. Other celebrities include RMD, Tonto Dikeh and Jimmy Iyke. Earlier on this year she published a heartfelt post in which she addressed a rumour that had been making the rounds concerning her.

Despite all the criticisms, controversies and rumours, “Teflon Linda” can still be considered as the number one go-to-girl for Nigerian celebrity gossip and many aspiring Nigerian bloggers look up to her as a mentor.

We at Urnaija wish her a very happy birthday and many happy returns of the day.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/linda-ikeji-is-33-today/

The owner of Chelsea football club, Roman Abramovich has reportedly signed a £1.5m contract with Lady Gaga, not to play for Chelsea but to perform at a star studded New Year’s eve concert.

According to The Sun newspaper, the songstress will perform for 90 minutes in one of the Billionaire’s yachts in front of other A-listers like Sean
‘Diddy’ Combs, Beyonce and husband, Jay-Z along with about 300 other guests.

The performance is said to be a gift for Roman’s partner, Daria ‘Dasha’ Zhukova, who is supposedly a big fan of the singer.

“Gaga is one of Dasha’s favourite performers so it was a big deal to land her. He paid a million over her usual asking price to compensate for the unsocial hours,” a source said.

Kings of Leon and Prince have both played at Roman’s New Year’s Eve parties in the past, according to The Sun.

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old singer, real name Stefani Germanotta, confessed she’s bored of being criticised for her behaviour and has worked hard to get where she is.

“Everyone is so cynical – that I can’t purely love my fans, or share an honest story about my past, without someone asking me if I really, truly struggled,” she fumed to the American edition of Elle magazine. “Do you know how much dirt I ate? Do you know the men I had to crawl through, the people that disrespected my body, my mind, my heart?”

The singer insisted she doesn’t want any sympathy and scoffed at the notion the pressure of fame affects her.
“What are you talking about pressure? I’m great under pressure,” she said. “I’m warrior. I’m Rocky, round 12.” The singer remarked.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/abramovich-signs-lady-gaga-for-1-5m/

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has appeared on Russian TV to confirm that his country's chemical weapons will be placed under international control.

Mr Assad told Rossiya 24 the move was as a result of a Russian initiative and not the threat of US military action.

The comments came as the Russian and US foreign ministers prepared for key talks in Geneva.

The US accuses the Syrian regime of killing hundreds in a poison-gas attack in the Damascus suburbs on 21 August.

The government denies the allegation, blaming rebels for the attack.


Mr Assad told Rossiya 24: "Syria is placing its chemical weapons under international control because of Russia. The US threats did not influence the decision."

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov earlier outlined three main phases of Moscow's proposal:

Syria joins the Chemical Weapons Convention, which outlaws the production and use of the weapons
Syria reveals where its chemical weapons are stored and gives details of its programme
Experts decide on the specific measures to be taken
Mr Lavrov, completing a visit to Kazakhstan, said: "I am sure that there is a chance for peace in Syria. We cannot let it slip away."

He did not mention the destruction of the weapons, which is thought to be a sticking point in Moscow's negotiations with Damascus.

Mr Lavrov is due to discuss the plan in Geneva with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who will first hold talks with UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/

Men with larger testicles tend to be less involved fathers than those with smaller testes, a new study suggests.

The findings, detailed in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are correlational, so they can’t say exactly why the trend exists but only that there is a link.

But men who produce more sperm have bigger testes, and sperm production is extremely energy intensive for the body, so it may be that fathers “face a trade-off between investing energy in parenting and investing energy in mating effort,” said study co-author James Rilling, an anthropologist at Emory University in Atlanta.

Scores of studies have shown that children with involved and caring fathers tend to do better emotionally, socially and educationally.
So Rilling and his colleagues were interested in understanding what makes some men stellar dads and others AWOL.

A 2011 study in the Philippines suggested that men who have high testosterone levels are more likely to marry. Even so, those men who are eventually more involved in day-to-day child care duties — such as changing diapers, running the bath or kissing scraped boo-boos — see their testosterone levels drop more than men who remain aloof after having children.

But testosterone has many roles in the male body, so it wasn’t clear whether the drop in the male hormone occurred because men were investing more in parenting than in mating.

Rilling and his colleagues surveyed 70 married men ages 21 to 55 who had between one and four children about their involvement in caregiving. Only four of the men routinely did more caregiving than the mothers.

The researchers then used magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of the fathers while they looked at images of their children. The team also scanned the participants’ testes to assess volume and measured testosterone levels from blood samples.
Men’s testes’ volume varied considerably — from a little more than a tablespoon in volume to about a quarter cup.

Men with bigger testes had a more hands-off parenting style, and the reward centers of their brains activated less when the men viewed their children’s pictures. These fathers also tended to have higher testosterone levels.

The findings are fascinating and provocative, said Sarah Hrdy, an anthropologist at Citrona Farms who was not involved in the study.

“For me, the take-home message is, there is this tremendous potential for nurture in human males, albeit a potential that in different cultural and social situations is not always being tapped,” Hrdy told LiveScience.

But the study also raises a number of questions, added Hrdy, who is professor emerita at the University of California, Davis; associate in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard; and A.D. White professor-at-large at Cornell University.
For instance, no one knows how testicular volume changes over time (although testes do tend to shrink with age).

In addition, scientists aren’t sure whether men who make more sperm are genetically wired to be detached dads, or whether early life experience or the act of caring for children leads men’s bodies to invest less in sperm-making, thereby causing their testicles to shrink, she said.

Another possibility is that the trend reveals a trade-off that varies with men’s mating strategy, said Robert Martin, a biological anthropologist and author of “How We Do It: The Evolution and Future of Human Reproduction,” (Basic Books, 2013).

“A man can either invest in looking after the child of one wife, or he can invest more in sperm production if he has several wives,” Martin, who was not involved in the study, told LiveScience.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/men-with-smaller-testes-make-better-dads/

Tokyo, Japan has been selected by the IOC meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to host the 2020 Olympic games.

The games will be returning to Tokyo for the first time since 1964.

Istanbul and Tokyo were through to the final vote to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics after Madrid was eliminated in the first round.
The Spanish capital and Istanbul were tied in the original electronic ballot, with Madrid then losing out on a second decisive vote by 49-45.

Tens of thousands of people were left dejected in Madrid’s Puerta de Alcala square after the news was announced it had failed in its attempt to win the summer Games for a third straight time.
The Spanish capital’s bid had emphasised providing a “sensible, reliable and trustworthy” Olympics.
Its presentation revealed 80% of potential venues were already built and in use, although the delegation was also keen to stress that “Madrid is fun” and a popular tourism destination.
“We were full of optimism and nobody was expecting this,” said Spanish waterpolo player Jennifer Pareja, who was part of the Madrid delegation.

All three cities had made their presentations and described why they should stage the Games earlier on Saturday.

The winning city was announced tonight by IOC president Jacques Rogge after a final vote.

Jacques Rogge will be retiring after 12 years in the role, on Tuesday.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/tokyo-to-host-2020-olympic-games/

According to latest reports from the US, Rihanna is reportedly back in the arms of her ex but, thankfully, not Chris Brown.

The Bajan singer is said to have reunited with rapper Drake, according to the reports.

Life & Style magazine reports that the couple were spotted getting cosy (kissing) at New York eatery ‘Sons of Essex’ last month, and are officially back together.

Apparently, they were supposed to go public at the MTV VMAs, but a quarrel just before the ceremony stopped them from doing so.
A source explained: “Rihanna really looked miserable while at the VMAs, even when the cameras were on her. That’s what the problem was. She and Drake are dating and they had a fight.”

The couple briefly dated in 2010 and again in 2011, and even teamed up to record hit collaboration ‘What’s My Name’.

It may be recalled that last year, Drake and Rihanna’s other ex, Chris Brown, came to blows in a New York nightclub, apparently, over her.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/rihanna-back-with-ex/

Pictures have emerged showing the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and his wife, Teresa Heinz, dining with President Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma al-Assad, as Mr Kerry continued to push for a military strike on Syria following a suspected chemical attack.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/how-times-change-john-kerry-pictured-dining-with-the-assads-in-2009/

The Indian upper house of parliament has passed a bill known as “The Food Security Bill”, which seeks to make feeding a constitutional right of every Indian citizen.

According to the provisions of the Bill, 5kg of grain will be provided every month to some 800 million poor people.

The bill proposes to provide a kilo of rice at three rupees (about ten Naira), wheat at two rupees and millet at one rupee.

Millions live below the poverty line and many children are malnourished.

The scheme is likely to cost the government 1.3 trillion rupees (about 4 trillion Naira) every year.

The lower house of parliament passed the bill last month. It will now go to President Pranab Mukherjee for assent to become Law.

The bill was passed after a long debate in the upper house with the opposition criticising the government for “repackaging some existing schemes” with an eye on general elections next year.

Food Minister, KV Thomas, said the federal government and the states “will have to work hand-in-hand” to make the scheme work, and that the government would bear the major part of the expenses.

India accounts for a third of the world’s poor and supporters say such assistance will help reduce poverty and hunger.

The bill was an election promise made by the governing Congress party and its implementation is expected to help the party in the elections.

It has had a rocky journey through the legislative process, though.

In July, the cabinet passed the measure as an ordinance using special constitutional powers to enable Mr Mukherjee to temporarily sign it into law but parliamentary approval was needed before 6 September – when the current session of parliament ends – for it to remain lawful.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/right-to-eat-bill-passed-by-indian-parliament/

Policewoman: OK. So the IG now settles domestic matters? SMDH.

Birds of the same feather! In your immature mind this is a domestic matter.
Consider yourself lucky I'm not one of those who resort to using abusive language online.

Meanwhile, kudos to the moderators who have made this a front page post. Big up to you!

The Uefa summer transfer season for the 2013/2014 season closed at midnight. As usual there was a lot of frantic last minute transactions yesterday.

The transfer saw at least three Nigerian internationals switch teams within the Premiership: Victor Moses is on loan to Liverpool; Odemwingie has a new place with Cardiff City while Victor Anichebe will now ply his trade at West Brom.

Below is a final list of Premiership teams and their new recruits:

ARSENAL
Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid – £42.5 million
Yaya Sanogo from Auxerre – free
Mathieu Flamini from AC Milan – free
Emiliano Viviano from Palermo – loan

ASTON VILLA
Libor Kozak from Lazio – £7m
Jores Okore from Nordsjaelland – £4m
Leandro Bacuna from FC Gronigen – £1m
Antonio Luna from Sevilla – £1.7m
Nicklas Helenius from Aalborg – £2m
Jed Steer from Norwich – compensation yet to be agreed
Aleksandar Tonev from Lech Poznan – £2.5m

CARDIFF
Peter Odemwingie from West Brom – £2.5m
Andreas Cornelius from FC Copenhagen – £7.5m
Simon Moore from Brentford – undisclosed
John Brayford from Derby – £1.5 million
Steven Caulker from Tottenham – £8 million
Gary Medel from Sevilla- £8+
Kevin Theophile-Catherine from Rennes – £2 million

CHELSEA
André Schürrle from Bayer Leverkusen – £18m
Mark Schwarzer – free agent
Marco van Ginkel from Vitesse Arnhem – £8m
Willian from Anzhi Makhachkala – £30m
Samuel Eto’o from Anzhi Makhachkala – free
Christian Atsu from Porto – £3.5m

CRYSTAL PALACE
Barry Bannan from Aston Villa – undisclosed
Jimmy Kebe from Reading – undisclosed
Adrian Mariappa from Reading – £3 million
Jack Hunt from Huddersfield – £2 million
Stephen Dobbie from Brighton – £870,000

EVERTON
Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea – loan
Gareth Barry from Manchester City – loan
James McCarthy from Wigan – £13m
Arouna Kone from Wigan – £6m
Joel Robles from Atletico Madrid – £2m

FULHAM
Elsad Zverotic from Young Boys – undisclosed
Ange-Freddy Plumain – free agent
Maarten Stekelenburg from Roma – £5.6m
Fernando Amorebieta from Athletic Bilbao – free
Derek Boateng from Dnipro – free
Adel Taarabt from QPR – loan
Darren Bent from Aston Villa – loan
Scott Parker from Tottenham – £3m

HULL CITY
Mohamed Gedo from Al Aly – loan
Maynor Figueroa from Wigan – free
George Boyd from Peterborough – free
Curtis Davies from Birmingham – £2.25m

LIVERPOOL
Thiago Ilori from Sporting Lisbon – £7m
Mamadou Sakho – £18m approx
Simon Mignolet from Sunderland – £9m
Luis Alberto from Sevilla – £6.8m
Iago Aspas from Celta Vigo – £7m
Kolo Toure from Manchester City – free
Aly Cissokho from Valencia – loan
Victor Moses from Chelsea – loan

MANCHESTER CITY
Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk – £30m
Jesus Navas from Sevilla – £14.9m
Alvaro Negredo from Sevilla – £20m
Stevan Jovetic from Fiorentina – £22m
Martin Demichelis from Atletico Madrid – £4m approx

MANCHESTER UNITED
Marouane Fellaini from Everton – £27.5m
Fabio Coentrao from Real Madrid – loan
Guillermo Varela from Atletico Penarol – £1m

NEWCASTLE UNITED
Olivier Kemen from Metz – £600k
Loic Remy from QPR – loan

NORWICH
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel from Sporting Lisbon – £8.5m
Javier Garrido from Lazio – £1.3m
Nathan Redmond from Birmingham City – £3.2m
Leroy Fer from FC Twente – £4.7m
Carlo Nash from Stoke City – free

SOUTHAMPTON
Dejan Lovren from Lyon – £8.5m
Victor Wanyama from Celtic – £12.5m
Pablo Osvaldo from Roma – £15m

STOKE CITY
Erik Pieters from PSV Eindhoven – £3m
Marc Muniesa from Barcelona – free
Oussame Assaidi from Liverpool – loan
Marko Arnautovic from Werder Bremen – £2mill approx.
Stephen Ireland from Aston Villa – loan

SUNDERLAND
Fabio Borini from Liverpool – loan
Andrea Dossena from Napoli – loan
Modibo Diakite from Lazio – free
Cabral from Basel – free
El-Hadji Ba from La Havre – free

SWANSEA
Alvaro Vasquez from Getafe – loan
Jonjo Shelvey from Liverpool – £5m
Jordi Amat from Espanyol – £2.5m
Jose Canas from Real Betis – free
Jonathan De Guzman from Villareal – loan
Alex Gogic from Olympiakos – free
Alejandro Pozuelo from Real Betis – £425k
Gregor Zabret from NK Domzale – fee undisclosed
Wilfried Bony from Vitesse Arnhem – £12m
Jernade Meade from Arsenal – free

TOTTENHAM
Paulinho from Corinthians – £17m
Nacer Chadli from FC Twente – £7m
Roberto Saldado from Valencia – £26m
Etienne Capoue from Toulouse- approx £9m
Christian Eriksen from Ajax – £11.5m
Erik Lamela from Roma – £25.7m
Vlad Chiriches from Steaua Bucharest – £8.5m

WEST BROM
Stephane Sessegnon from Sunderland – £6m
Victor Anichebe from Everton – £6m
Lee Camp – free agent
Nicolas Anelka from Shanghai Shenhua – free
Goran Popov from Dynamo Kiev – season-long loan
Diego Lugano from Paris St Germain – free
Matej Vydra from Udinese – season-long loan
Zoltan Gera, unattached- free
Scott Sinclair from Manchester City – on loan

WEST HAM
Andy Carroll from Liverpool – £15m
Adrian from Real Betis – free
Razvan Rat from Shakhtar Donetsk – free
Daniel Whitehead from Stockport – fee undisclosed
Stewart Downing from Liverpool – fee undisclosed



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/full-list-of-premiership-transfers-after-deadline/

Swit up: In the early hours of yesterday morning.., in the busy region of elelenwon in port harcourt.., the first train to ply the rail way after so long a time bashed a car parked on d rails to shambles.

I find this rather annoying as am so sure there was little or no information passed as to when the trains would begin to ply the rail..!

Anyway.., there was no lost live
N/B: (am an eye witness to the victim not a reporter so I may not have said it so right)

Good story! Urnaija.com would pay as much as N2,500 for this kind of story.

Los Blancos have finally announced the arrival of the Wales international, who has usurped new team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo as the game's most expensive player

Real Madrid have announced the signing of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for a record-breaking €100 million.

The Wales international succeeds new team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo as the game's most expensive player after penning a six-year contract with the Liga giants.

“I would like to thank everyone at the club, the chairman, board, staff, coaches and players – and most of all the fantastic fans who I hope will understand this amazing career opportunity," Bale told Tottenham's official website.

“I am not sure there is ever a good time to leave a club where I felt settled and was playing the best football of my career to date. I know many players talk of their desire to join the club of their boyhood dreams, but I can honestly say, this is my dream come true.

“I am well aware that I would not be at the level I am today were it not for firstly Southampton and then Spurs standing by me during some of the tougher times and affording me the environment and support they have.

“Tottenham will always be in my heart and I’m sure that this season will be a successful one for them. I am now looking forward to the next exciting chapter in my life, playing football for Real Madrid.

Bale, who will be officially unveiled as a Madrid player at a press conference at 13:00CET on Monday, first came to prominence as a 16-year-old with Southampton before joining Tottenham in 2007.

The then full-back initially struggled at White Hart Lane but he flourished after being converted into a winger, winning the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2010-11.

Bale collected the same prize last year, after scoring 26 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions.

His fantastic form was not enough to earn Spurs a place in the Champions League but the 24-year-old will now feature in the competition this season after finally completing his drawn-out move to Madrid.

Indeed, the deal had been expected to be completed last week but Spurs refused to sanction the transfer until replacements had been signed.

However, after signing Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen, the English outfit belatedly gave Bale's move the green light.


http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2013/09/01/4213730/real-madrid-sign-bale-for-world-record-fee?ICID=HP_HN_1

The Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, granted an interview after his team lost 5-4 on penalty kicks to Bayern Munich in the Uefa Super Cup match played yesterday.

In the interview, ‘the special one’ said, ‘the best (sic) team lost’.

Below is a clip of the interview:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvioIEjCgMw

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/the-best-sic-team-lost-mourinho/

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was defeated in a crucial Parliamentary vote late last night meant to make the United Kingdom join an impending military strike against Syria in a move that was led by Labour leader, Ed Miliband.

It was a surprising and humiliating defeat for Cameron who had to cut short his summer holiday to recall parliament for the emergency vote. The government motion that would have authorised military strike against Syria was defeated by 285 to 272 votes meaning a number of Tory MPs also voted against it.

On the other hand, it was a small but significant victory for Ed Miliband who has been dogged by allegations of inefficiency and incompetence throughout the summer parliamentary break.

The Prime Minister said after that he would always respect the will of the elected members of parliament as it was clear that they did not want to see a military strike on the Syrian government to punish it for an alleged chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus last week.

When asked by Labour leader Ed Miliband whether he would promise not to circumvent parliament and authorise military action, he said:
“I can give that assurance. I strongly believe in the need for a tough response to the use of chemical weapons, but I also believe in respecting the will of this House of Commons.

“It is very clear tonight that while the House has not passed a motion, it is clear to me that the British parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action – I get that and the government will act accordingly.”



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/cameron-defeated-in-parliament/

The websites of the New York Times and Twitter were under attack and the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a pro-Assad group, have claimed responsibility for the attack.

The media organisations were hit after their domain name details were maliciously edited by the hacktivists.

The attack on the New York Times and Twitter would be the group’s most severe attacks till date.

Other major media companies targeted by the group in recent months include the Financial Times, Washington Post, CNN and BBC.

But in this latest attack, the SEA was able to cause more sustained damage with a technique which also saw the Huffington Post hit.

The attacked domains were managed by hosting company Melbourne IT, which has said it is looking at “additional layers of security” for protecting domain details.

The attack focused on editing DNS – Domain Name System – information.

The SEA was able to gain access to Melbourne IT’s system, where Twitter and the New York Times registered their respective domains.

It meant that the hackers could change DNS details so that instead of, for example, “nytimes.com” taking you to the Times’ servers, the domain was instead pointed to a website hosted by the SEA.

In Twitter’s case, the SEA targeted twimg.com – a separate domain that the social network used to store image data, as well as styling code.
While Twitter itself remained active, the disruption to twimg.com meant many pages displayed incorrectly.

Twitter has released a statement, saying that no user data had been affected.

The SEA used its Twitter account to publicise the attacks on both sites, posting images of its work.

“Hi @Twitter,” the group said in one tweet, “look at your domain, its owned by #SEA “

Melbourne IT blamed the breach on a reseller – a third party that sells domains through the company’s system.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/new-york-times-twitter-under-syria-attack/

When I arrived at the O2, venue of the show, realised that the ticket I bought stated that doors will open at 7pm and did not indicate what time the show will actually start I said a silent prayer wishing that the show would start at some point before midnight.

As scheduled, the doors opened promptly and ticket holders started going in a few minutes after 7pm. To my surprise, the first act started less than an hour later: a comedian know as “Feso”. I’ll hazard a guess that it’s an attempt to shorten the word, ‘professor’. He went down memory lane and got the show off to a good start telling anecdotes that sound really funny when being told as jokes but maybe not so funny when he was experiencing the situations he can now tell jokes about.

It was not only a night of stand-up comedy. There were rapping/singing/dancing acts as well who were mostly minor acts with the exception of Kcee. He had the honour of closing the show. Another notable singer/dancer was KWAM 1’s daughter, going by the moniker, honey B.

Julius Agwu himself entered the stage about an hour and-a-half after doors were opened much to the delight of the audience and he acknowledged the presence of the governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Ameachi, who also found himself at the receiving end of some of his gags. For instance, he took a swipe at the absence of his security details with the kind of humour he probably wouldn’t have got away with if he was a military governor. ‘His Excellency’ was a co-sponsor and a public figure who decided to leave his primary assignment of governing a state to attend a stand-up comedy event in London so he should have known what he had signed up for.

Julius was more of a compere, introducing other performers and slotting in gags between acts. He proved himself to be a natural as his jokes did not come across as rehearsed or forced. For instance, we all know that most African women walk as if they are listening to some music but hearing Julius say it in his own way made it sound even funnier. Perhaps his funniest joke of the night was his take on Nigerians who speak ‘bad English with a foreign accent’. The Ibo man returning from Cameroon had us all in stitches. Hilarious!

The dancing/singing/rapping went on for…, a bit too long as the audience roundly applauded the first main stand-up for the night, Dan D’ humorous. The applause was more out of relief that the comedy part of the show was finally starting.

Dan D’ humorous didn’t fail to deliver. Jokes about Sat Navs and Nigerian roads are always a hit. After him came ‘funny bone’ who took a risk with a terrorist opening line. Fortunately for him, the risk paid off. Nigerian comedians realise that ‘political correctness’ simply kills jokes and there wasn’t much of it on the night.

Also performing was ‘Senator’. His adoration of the governor was heckled by the audience so he switched gears. ‘Things that only happen in Nigeria’ quickly made the heckling crowd forgive him.

David Ogboma (didn’t quite catch his stage name) was another natural. He took swipes at the £3,000 visa bond scheme, terrorism, PDP, ACN, Tontoh Dike and Tuface.

Akpororo’s non-pc jokes about gays were a real hit with a Nigerian audience.

The last comedy act for the night was Eddie Kadi, Congolese born British comedian. Nollywood films and African parents were the two topics at the receiving end of his jokes.

Thankfully, there was no report of any fractured ribs but it was a thoroughly enjoyable night. The only mistake Julius made was asking if the audience liked his outfit. The answer was a unanimous “no, we don’t”! The audience wasn’t feeling his fashion sense.

All the acts were funny even the mediocrity of one or two of the singing/dancing/rapping acts was hilarious. Watch out for the energetic female dancers, gyrating what nature generously endowed them with.

Attendance: let’s just say it depends on whether you’re a half-full or half-empty person. It was the first time ‘crack ya ribs’ will be hosted at the Indigo2, however, so expecting a sell out crowd might be slightly over ambitious.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/crack-ya-ribs-thankfully-no-reports-of-fractured-ribs/

According to the Evening Standard, the two women are stranded in China with worsening health, their families have revealed. Mrs Idowu, who is a grandmother-of-five from Hackney, was travelling with her friend Mrs Jubril-Badmos, a mother-of-five from Enfield. They were supposed to return from Guangzhou in southern China in June after a week away.

Their families have complained that they are stuck in a Chinese hotel and the authorities are refusing to let them leave the country as their visas expired during their imprisonment.

Mrs Idowu was advising Mrs Jubril-Badmos, who is a jewellery and clothing importer, on styles when trouble started during a visit to a supplier.
The row started over the authenticity of a pair of shoes and Mrs Jubril-Badmos demanded her £50 deposit back.

The families said that during the confrontation Mrs Jubril-Badmos was struck hard and “dragged out of the shop by her hair” and she used a pair of shoes to defend herself.

The police were called and arrested the women. Mrs Idowu’s daughter, Sarah Murray, 34, said: “They were taken to the police station, questioned for 24 hours and then transferred to a detention centre where they were held for 38 days without being charged.” In a note from her cell, Mrs Idowu told her family: “This is hell, I am not doing well.”

The two women were eventually released at the end of last month and have since been stranded in a hotel.

They are being helped by the British consulate but the authorities have not allowed them an exit visa because they outstayed their original permit.

Ms Jubril-Badmos paid compensation to the wholesaler and police discontinued the case but there remains confusion over the pair’s legal standing.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said the Government was awaiting the outcome of the Chinese investigation and that it was “a matter for them”.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/nigerian-british-woman-lands-in-chinese-prison-over-shoe-shop-dispute/

Simon Cowell has finally confirmed his worst kept secret, that he is to become a father as he appeared at the premiere of One Direction’s film ‘This Is Us’ on Tuesday night.

According to The Huffington Post, the ‘X Factor’ boss said he was ‘proud’ to be a dad, as he spoke to reporters on the red carpet of the event.

“I’m proud to be a dad,” Simon told the BBC. “It’s something I hadn’t thought of before, but now I know I feel good about it.”

Reports have been circulating for weeks that his friend’s wife, Lauren Silverman, is pregnant with his child, but he had neither confirmed nor denied the reports until now.

Simon even said of Lauren Silverman: “She’s a very special girl”.

“Things are changing in my life right now, for the better,” he said.

Simon had earlier joked about fatherhood speaking to red carpet host Will Best, saying of One Direction: “This is like a dream come true… I feel like a father.”

Will was quick to jest back: “We won’t go there!”

Last week, it was revealed how Simon had avoided a court appearance, when Lauren settled her divorce from husband Andrew, after he was named as a co-respondent in legal papers filed by his former friend.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/simon-cowell-finally-confirms-baby-rumours/

Mark Zukerberg, founder of facebook, had his facebook account hacked by a Palestine programmer to highlight a flaw in the company’s code.

According to the BBC, Khalil Shreateh discovered a privacy vulnerability on facebook and used it to hack the account of the founder to raise alarm.

Mr. Shreateh said he tried to bring the attention of the media giant to the problem through their white Hat scheme, which offers a monetary reward for reporting vulnerabilities, but was ignored.

Facebook said it had fixed the fault but would not be paying Mr Shreateh.

When Mr Shreateh discovered a security breach that allowed Facebook users to post messages on the private “walls” of people who had not approved them as “friends”, overriding the site’s privacy features he He wrote to Facebook’s White Hat team to warn them of the glitch, providing basic details of his discovery.

After a short exchange with the team, Mr Shreateh received an email saying: “I am sorry this is not a bug”.
Following this rebuttal, Mr Shreateh exploited the bug to post a message on Mr Zuckerberg’s page.

In the post, Mr Shreateh, whose first language is Arabic, said he was “sorry for breaking your privacy and post to your wall” but that he had “no other choice” after being ignored by Facebook’s security team.

An engineer on Facebook’s security team, Matt Jones, posted a public explanation saying that although Mr Shreateh’s original email should have been followed up, the way he had reported the bug had violated the site’s “responsible disclosure policy”.

He added that as Mr Shreateh had highlighted the bug “using the accounts of real people without their permission”, he would not qualify for a payout.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/mark-zuckerbergs-facebook-account-hacked/

Manchester City have flown to the top of the English premiership league table after their 4-0 drubbing of Newcastle.

The first goal was scored by David Silva in the sixth minute of the match only a minute after Ben Arfa’s shot went over the bar in what could have been Newcastle’s first goal.

The second came about sixteen minutes later from Aguero with Dzerko providing the assist.

After the two goals in the first half there was no doubt that Manchester City new coach, Manuel Pellegrini was determined to make his mark not only as a Premier league coach but as a top flight premier league coach like David Moyes of Manchester United and Mourhino of Chelsea did over the weekend.

Two more goals scored by Yaya Toure in the 50th minute and Samir Nasri in the 75th ensured that Man City collected the three points for the match.
The fact that Newcastle played a man less from the 48th minute, when Seven Taylor got the matching order, could have further ruined their match strategy.

The Ameobi brothers started the match on the bench for Newcastle but Sammy Ameobi replaced Hatem Ben Arfa in the 65th minute and Shola remained on the bench throughout the match.



- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/man-city-tops-premier-league-table-with-only-37-matches-left/