Arsenal v Liverpool: match preview

Emirates Stadium
Kick-off: 17.30 GMT.
TV: Live Sky Sports 1, Highlights, BBC ONE Match of the Day.

Arsenal (Possible 4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Kosclieny, Gibbs; Arteta, Wilshere; Ramsey, Cazorla, Özil; Giroud.
Out: Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee), Flamini (groin), Gnabry (ankle), Podolski (hamstring), Sanogo (back), Walcott (abdomen).

Liverpool (Possible, 3-1-4-2): Mignolet; Touré, Skrtel, Sakho; Lucas; Johnson, Henderson, Gerrard, Cissokho; Suárez, Sturridge.
Out: Aspas (thigh), Coates, Enrique (both knee).

Referee: Martin Atkinson. Matches: 5, R0 Y12

Betting: Home 23-20, Away 9-4, Draw 5-2.
Team News
Arsenal will have midfielder Mikel Arteta back from a one-match suspension for Saturday's Premier League game against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.
Mathieu Flamini remains sidelined with his groin problem, and an ankle injury rules out Serge Gnabry, while Theo Walcott is still recovering from minor abdominal surgery.
Yaya Sanogo, Lukas Podolski, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Abou Diaby all also continue their rehabilitation.

Day I blasted Obasanjo to his face –Atiku

 

Former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Former Vice-President of Nigeria,  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has revealed that he “blasted” his then boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, over his bid to run for a  second term.

Abubakar made the disclosure during an interview with a newspaper published in Hausa.

In the interview published by an online publication on Friday, Abubakar also disclosed that he and Obasanjo argued over his failed third term bid. Atiku said during one of their arguments, Obasanjo gave him a Quran to swear loyalty to him.

He said, “At first we started arguing, and then he (Obasanjo) opened his drawer and brought out a copy of the Quran and asked me to swear that I will not be disloyal to him. There was nothing I did not tell him in that room. The first thing I told him was that I swore with the Quran to defend the Constitution of Nigeria. Why are you now giving me the Quran to swear for you again?  What if I swear for you and you go against the constitution?

“Secondly, I looked at him and told him that if I don’t like you or don’t support you, would I have called 19 northern governors to meet for three days in my House in Kaduna only for us to turn our back on you?

Ignore ASUU’s MOU, varsity unions urge FG

The three major non academic Staff unions in the nation’s university system have called on the Federal Government to ignore any Memorandum of Understanding with striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The three unions are the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions, National Association of Academic Technologists and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities.

The President of SSANU, Mr. Samson Ugwoke, who is also the spokesperson of the other unions in an electronic mail on Friday, advised the Federal Government to ensure implementation of agreement reached with the various unions in the university system in 2009 rather than an MoU with ASUU.

 Ugwoke said that the MoU being referred to by ASUU in the negotiation with the Federal Government was motivated by the selfish interest of the university lecturers while the 2009 agreements with the unions dwelt on issues relating to staff welfare.

He said that the demands of ASUU in the said MoU would generate more crises in the university sub-sector as the non-teaching staff would resist any attempt to ‘sell’ the universities to the lecturer’s union.

At last, FG privatises PHCN, 40% workers retained

Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo

Finally, the Federal Government, on Friday, officially concluded the privatisation of Power Holding Company of Nigeria after it handed company over the 10 successor companies, retaining 40 per cent of the old workforce in the process.

The handling over ceremony was performed in Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Enugu and Abuja respectively.

One of our correspondents learnt that the retained workers are given temporary appointments by the Federal Government to run the newly privatised companies for six months as

It was gathered that two different letters had been dispatch to the power companies across the country for onward circulation to workers as from Monday.

A senior official of the defunct PHCN, who spoke anonymously, told our correspondent that one of the letters was a disengagement letter while the second one is a temporary reappointment letter.

While all the 47,000 workers of the defunct PHCN will receive their disengagement letters, the source said the temporary appointment letters would only go to those that would be retained for operations of the company.

UNDER-21 REPORT: CHELSEA 3 WEST HAM UNITED 3

 

A thrilling league encounter at Aldershot ended with a share of the spoils as Nathan Aké grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser. The young Blues had to come from behind after going 2-0 down inside the first half hour, but Lewis Baker's strike pulled one back just before the interval and John Swift levelled proceedings up midway through the second period.
West Ham looked to have won the contest after Blair Turgott struck a wonderful effort from distance, but Aké's second goal in as many games earned the hosts a valuable point.

Third Gender Law Goes Into Effect In Germany

 

Germany has become the first European country to allow babies to be registered as neither male nor female, after a law went into effect allowing German parents to register their newborn babies as neither male nor female if they were born with traits of both sexes.

Pro-Morsi Protests Rock Egypt Ahead Of Trial

 

A fresh wave of protests have been held across Egypt by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, days ahead of his trial, with clashes being reported between his supporters and opponents.
Security forces, on Friday, fired tear gas to break up protests in Alexandria and arrested at least 60 protesters. Protests also took place in the cities of Cairo and Giza.

Suspected US Drone Strike Kills 3 In Pakistan

 

Intelligence officials in Pakistan say a suspected US drone strike has killed at least three people in North Waziristan.
Two intelligence officials said two missiles hit a house on Friday in the village of Dande Darpa Khel near the main town of Miran Shah.

Pirates-Ahly tickets sold out

Football | CAF Champions League

Tickets for Saturday's Orange CAF Champions League 1st leg final between Orlando Pirates and Al Ahly at the Orlando Stadium are sold out.
Supporters who are yet to secure a match ticket are advised not to make their way to the stadium, but rather watch the match from the comfort of their homes.
  The match will be live on SS4.

Cavani fires PSG to the top

Football | France

 

Paris Saint-Germain were singing in the rain at Parc des Princes on Friday, the French champions making light of the wintery weather to ease past Lorient 4-0 and extend their unbeaten Ligue 1 run to 23 games.
Goals from Lucas, Jeremy Menez and an Edinson Cavani double lifted Laurent Blanc's men three points clear of Monaco at the top of the table.
The performance was a perfect riposte to Blanc's eve-of-match warning about the danger of complacency seeping into his swashbuckling team and their laboured 2-2 draw with Saint-Etienne last time out.

Lewandowski hat-trick flattens Stuttgart

Football | Germany

Striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick as Borussia Dortmund reclaimed top spot in the Bundesliga with an awe-inspiring 6-1 demolition of VfB Stuttgart on Friday.
The Poland forward, who is now the league's top scorer with nine, netted three times in 18 minutes to help lift Dortmund to 28 points, two ahead of Bayern Munich who play on Saturday.
Stuttgart, who suffered their first defeat in eight league games under coach Thomas Schneider, took an unexpected early lead when Karim Haggui headed in Alexandru Maxim's corner but their joy was short lived.

Barca win derby to go four points clear

Football | Spain

Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga on Friday as they overcame stiff resistance from Espanyol to win the Catalan derby 1-0 at the Camp Nou.
Alexis Sanchez scored the only goal of the game midway through the second-half when he tapped home Neymar's pinpoint cross to score for the third consecutive game.
Barça now lead second-placed Atletico Madrid by four points and Real Madrid by nine with both sides from the capital having played a game less.

Everton ready to send message v Spurs

Football | Barclays Premier League

Everton can send out a message that there is more than one team on Merseyside capable of challenging at the top of the Premier League if they beat Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Across Stanley Park, Liverpool's flying start to the season has caught the eye but Everton's, under new manager Roberto Martinez, has been only marginally less impressive.
Everton are sixth, two points behind second-placed Liverpool and four off leaders Arsenal, and their one league loss was at Manchester City where they took the lead before losing 3-1.
They have coped with the sale of midfielder Marouane Fellaini to Manchester United with ease and in Romelu Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, they boast one of the most lethal strikers in the top flight.
Martinez, who replaced Old Trafford-bound David Moyes at Goodison Park, has quickly established the eye-catching brand of passing football he ingrained at Wigan Athletic and Swansea City without sacrificing Everton's steely core.

Obiekwu demands developmental plans for Eaglets

Golden Eaglets players celebrating

Former Nigeria defender, Kingsley Obiekwu, is delighted with the performance of the Golden Eaglets at the  FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

However, Obiekwu called for a programme that will help improve the players to enable them to graduate to the Super Eagles.

The ‘Ultimate Man’: Dennis Okike emerges the 10th Gulder Ultimate Champion

 

The ‘Ultimate Man’: Dennis Okike emerges the 10th Gulder Ultimate Champion

29-year old University graduate Dennis Okike has emerged the winner of the 10th edition of Gulder Ultimate Search.

Iyanya Gets $25K Rolex Watch From His Manager + World’s Most Expensive Perfume From His Lady

 

I reported of how Kukere master, Iyanya marked his birthday and was surprised with a very er*tic customized cake.

Short Stop: Famous Duo, Aki And Pawpaw Stopped From Shooting Movie in Kumasi, Ghana

Infamous comic duo Aki and Pawpaw have been abruptly stopped from shooting a movie in Kumasi with other actors including Kwadjo ‘Liwin’ Nkansah.
The surprising bad news came from the Film Producers’ Association of Ghana (FIPAG), this was due to the fact that the director of the movie had breached some of the association’s regulations.

3 Richest Nigerian Football Players

According to various sources, Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel Obi, is currently the highest earning Nigerian footballer. He joined Chelsea in 2006 from Norwegian club Fc Lyn Oslo on a US$25 million. He is currently on US$120,000,(N20m), per week excluding bonuses, and income from participating at the UEFA Champions League.

Check Out Peter Okoye’s Scary Halloween Costume

 

Yesterday was Halloween and it being a holiday not recognized in Nigeria, there was no sign of any horror parties of any sorts.

Unilorin VC Urges ASUU, FG To End Strike As School Celebrates 26th Convocation

 

VC, University of Ilorin, Prof Ambali

The Vice-Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Professor Abdulganiyu Ambali, has appealed to the federal government and striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to have a change of mind by putting the interests of the students first and embrace dialogue so as to put an end to the ongoing strike.

Ambali made the appeal yesterday in his address at the school’s 26th convocation ceremony titled: “Victory at last,” noting that the need to adopt dialogue became necessary because the interest of the students should always be put first.

What’s This Much Talked About Agreement With ASUU?

 

Prologue
“Listening to the agreement that was signed by the Federal Government as Comrade Uche Chukwumerije read out, I was really wondering whether this was signed or it was just a proposal. But when he concluded, he said it was signed. It only shows the level of people the executive sent to go and negotiate on their behalf because ab initio, people must be told the truth, what can be accomplished and what cannot be accomplished. If a leader says I am going to accomplish this, he is morally duty bound to honour it. But even if you decided immediately after

FG Lied About Releasing N100bn To Universities – ASUU

 

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has alleged that none of the universities had received any money from the N100bn the Federal government claimed to have disbursed to 59 public universities to improve infrastructure.

Secretary John Kerry Admits Some US Surveillance Went Too Far

 

US secretary of state, John Kerry, Thursday conceded that some of the country’s surveillance activities had gone too far, saying that certain practices had occurred “on autopilot” without the knowledge of senior officials in the Obama administration.

“I Was Meant To Be There For Her”: How Bus Driver Prevented Woman From Jumping Off Bridge (VIDEO)

 

In mid-October, Darnell Barton, 37, was behind the wheel of a school bus full of students when he spotted a woman on the wrong side of the guard rail.
He says it did not seem “real” to him at first, because traffic and pedestrians were acting as nothing was wrong.

Israel Jets Strike Syria, As Inspectors Seal Chemical Weapons

 

Israel has reportedly carried out an air strike on a Syrian military installation to stop a shipment to Hezbollah, as inspectors said Syria’s entire declared stock of chemical weapons has been placed under seal.