Welcome to Safana's Blog

  The NBA is teaming up with Take Two Interactive to launch a professional video game league based on the game publisher's NBA 2K series. The new eSports league will be the biggest collaboration to date between traditional and digital sports, with components mimicking the actual NBA such as a player combine, draft, regular-season games and playoffs starting in 2018. The founding teams will be composed of five professional eSports players who will compete as user-created avatars, with the teams backed and operated by actual NBA clubs. "We believe we have a unique opportunity to develop something truly special for our fans and the young and growing eSports community," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.

Jamaica — Police assigned to the Narcotics Division and the Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime Investigation (C-TOC) Branch have reported the seizure of 445 pounds of ganja  with an estimated street value of JS2.225 million, and the arrest of a man on the Hellshire main road in St Catherine today. The police say that at about 3:30 am, lawmen were in the area when they intercepted a Toyota Corolla motor car. The vehicle was searched and nine knitted rectangular shaped bags containing compressed ganja were allegedly found inside. The driver of the vehicle has been identified as 52-year-old Patrick Phillips, taxi operator of Baptist Street, Hayes in Clarendon Phillips was charged with illegal possession, dealing in, and taking steps to transport ganja. He is scheduled to appear before the Spanish Town Criminal Court on February 14 JamaicaObserver

Talks aimed to end political violence in strife-torn Burundi resume in Arusha next week under former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa. Sources close to the office of the facilitator of Inter-Burundi Dialogue said some opposition leaders who fled the country after being implicated in the  the May 2015 coup attempt against the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza had not been invited. "They will not show up because they are wanted at home for subversive activities at home," a source speaking on condition of anonymity told the Daily Monitor, adding that the exiled politicians Bujumbura authorities allege were behind the 2015/2016 bloody protests and resultant killings, are also not expected to join the talks. A statement issued yesterday by the office of the facilitator through the East African Community (EAC) announced the commencement of the formal dialogue scheduled for February 16th to 18th at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC). The conveni

A South African pastor has been offering rat poison to his congregation as a test of their faith, the country’s eNCA website reports. Light Monyeki, who heads the Grace Living Hope Ministries in the capital Pretoria, says consuming the poison is meant to show that death has no power over them. Photos on his Facebook page show him seeming to dissolve pellets of a poison used to kill rats before sipping the solution and sharing it with his church members.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to news making waves on the rumoured death of President Muhammadu Buhari. Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin, distanced the party from the rumour. Jibrin described those spreading the rumour as desperate power seekers and urged them to desist from the act and keep praying for the President’s quick recovery. He added that instead, the PDP had been praying fervently for the President’s quick recovery and return to the country. “As a good opposition party, we shall never engage in wishing President Buhari dead, instead, we are engaged in special prayers for Mr. President and we sincerely sympathise with his family and the Acting President”, he said. Jibrin condemned those behind the President’s rumoured death, saying the trend was a dangerous one that must be checked by well meaning Nigerians. He said, “The PDP will like to be completely excused from the rumoured death and speculation on the st

Manchester United’s net debt has increased by £71.6 million in the space of three months to £409.3m, the club’s quarterly financial report has confirmed. The report, which covers three months up to December 31, 2016, shows that the club’s total overheads rose 27.1 per cent between September 2016 and the end of the calendar year. This comes despite the new Premier League TV deal coming into effect, with the gains being offset by the loss of Champions League revenue. United have put the loss down in no small part to the significant drop in the value of the pound since the referendum in favour of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, citing the strengthened US dollar as another factor. However, United do expect to return record revenues once more after topping the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time in over a decade in 2015-16. In delivering the report, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: “We are pleased to be competing for the first available tr

  The management of Arik Air on Thursday said it would challenge the taking over of the airline by the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) in court. Ado Sanusi, Senior Vice President, Arik Air made the disclosure at a joint news conference with the newly appointed receiver manager, Oluseye Opasanya, and the airline’s technical consultant, Roy Ilegbodu. The asset company had on Thursday taken over the airline following its huge indebtedness to local and foreign creditors. Mr. Sanusi said the airline had been served with a valid court order empowering AMCON to take over the company. “As responsible citizens, we have obeyed the court order which appointed the Olaniwun Ajayi (SAN) as the receivership manager. “We will comply but I want to make it clear that we have a right to challenge the court order. “In the coming days, we will make our position known. It is a court order and we can challenge it and we will challenge it to the highest court of authority,” Mr. Sa

Former Katsina Governor Ibrahim Shema has accused the incumbent Governor, Aminu Masari of  master minding last Tuesday's foiled planned abduction attempt at the premises of Katsina High Court. He  described it as an ongoing witch-hunt and intimidation using state and federal institutions. However, Masari was quick to distance himself from the purported planned abduction by advising the former governor to bear and carry his cross and stop looking for scape goat. Reacting to the allegations, Masari through his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Abdu Labaran waved the allegation saying that Masari has no hands whatsoever in the ongoing travails of Shema. "if I remember well there was a time Shema went on air challenging and daring Masari to take him to court and now that the judicial process is taking its course, Shema  is now blaming Masari in a situation Masari has no control or knowledge of" he said Shema should bear his cross or look for other scape g

Barcelona will appeal against the second yellow card given against Luis Suarez in their Spanish Cup semi-final that will see the Uruguay forward miss May’s final, the Spanish champions said on Wednesday. Suarez, whose goal gave Barca a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou on Tuesday that saw them progress 3-2 on aggregate, was sent off late after picking up a second booking for elbowing Koke. It means he will miss the final against either Alaves or Celta Vigo on May 27.  “FC Barcelona will appeal when the competition committee views the referee’s report,” said the Catalans in a statement. After the match, Suarez had said of his challenge with Koke: “It isn’t even a foul.” But he retained little hope of being exonerated. “We already know how these things go. “That is why I am so angry because it was absolutely nothing.” Barca have won the Copa del Rey in each of the last two seasons.

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana believes his side can learn from Premier League leaders Chelsea and put a miserable start to 2017 behind them. The Merseysiders have yet to win a Premier League match in 2017, taking just two points from a possible 12. As a result Jurgen Klopp’s side have dropped out of the top four for the first time since September and are 13 points adrift of table-toppers Chelsea. They managed a draw with Chelsea but their next match saw them beaten 2-0 at Hull on Saturday. Liverpool’s league losses so far this season — to Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea and Hull – have all come against teams currently in the bottom nine. By contrast, Chelsea have dropped just two points in 12 matches against the bottom clubs, with Antonio Conte’s side holding on to 1-0 wins away to Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Sunderland. “You can see they have a lot of experience and that they are used to winning,” Lallana told Wednesday’s Liverpool Echo newspaper. “They k

Kanye West  is being used by a rapper ... who's using  President Trump  to make a name for himself. King Myers dropped a tune called "Propaganda" and slapped Kanye's fingerprints all over it -- using 'Ye's Twitter avatar as his cover art and proclaiming it was produced by 'Ye. Not so. Our Kanye sources tell us West has nothing to do with the track, and he's put his lawyers on the job to get his name and art removed from the project. If nothing else, King Myers has good timing -- precisely timing the release of the song to coincide with Kanye's  move to distance himself  from Trump. The song takes several jabs at Prez Trump -- such as asking Allah why Trump's still alive and the chant ... "Stand up, time to impeach the president!" TMZ

Manchester United have announced that season tickets will be frozen for a sixth successive year. Season tickets for the 2017-18 season will start from £532 for adults following the seventh price freeze in eight years. United have frozen match tickets and introduced additional reductions for young season ticket holders, as well as scrapping booking fees from next season. We’ve frozen season ticket prices at Old Trafford for 2017/18. Manchester United’s group managing director Richard Arnold said: “We recognise the huge commitment shown by our incredible fans, in supporting the team, both financially and the time dedicated to attend all home games. “The price freeze, and in some cases reductions, ensures that our loyal, long standing fans can continue to support the team with the fantastic backing they give the manager and players at every home game. “We are hugely thankful for the unrivalled, sold-out support which plays a huge part in making Old Trafford a tough place

A civil servant, Blessing Ilo, on Tuesday told a Nyanya Customary Court, Abuja, that her husband has been having canal knowledge of his biological daughter. Ilo testified in a divorce petition she filled against the husband, James Akpan. She said, “All the while I was living with my husband and that little girl of 12 years, I don’t know that my husband was always having sex with her when I’m out of the house. “I would not have suspected anything because when my husband brought the little girl into the house, he told me that she was one of his children from another woman. “Also, the girl was still a child that no sane man will lust after.” The petitioner told the court that on a particular occasion, the little girl confessed to the police that her father usually tie her hands before having sex with her. Ilo said that she had to move out of her husband’s house because he was always messing up the house, especially when he was drunk. She said, “My husband always urin

In a federal system like Nigeria, local governments are closer to the people and hence could effectively alter socio-economic and political conditions within their areas of jurisdiction. The delaying of local governments elections in Katsina state has contributed in adding more hardship to the people working in the local level. This game was initiated by the Shema administration. Starting from his first tenure, the katsina stated government couldn’t hold the LGs polls, rather used caretakers till the end of the tenure, it was alleged, before the end of the tenure, through the ministry of local government, N50 million were deducted from all the 34 local government’s federal allocation funds to cushion Shema’s second term bid. it was unfortunate the LGs election were held by almost the end of shema's second term in 2014. When Governor Masari came in power in 2015, he dissolved all the elected PDP Chairmen following the ‘’constitutional provisions’’ according to him.

Ibrahim Shema, former governor of Katsina state, broke down in tears after operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) rearrested him on Tuesday. Shema initially resisted the attempt to arrest him at a Katsina high court where he was arraigned. He is standing a 22-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds. There was a mild drama when he protested being humiliated publicly, but he had no choice than to surrender to the security agency after one hour. In September, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared him wanted for allegedly refusing to honour its invitation. Shema has denied the allegations of corruption levelled against him, accusing Bello Masari, his successor, of witch-hunting him. KatsinaPost

Brig. Gen. Zuleman Kazaure, the Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), on Monday said there was no intention to scrap the scheme. Kazaure, who was represented by the Director of Mobilisation, Chief Frank Ekpunobi, disclosed this at Issele-Uku, Delta , during a visit to the camp. He said that any insinuations about scrapping the scheme was borne out of “poverty of information.’’ He said that the NYSC period in the life of an individual was a period of stop gap and period to differentiate between fantasy and reality. Kazaure said that the scheme was created after the three years of the civil war with the sole aim of national integration and since its creation, NYSC had performed wonderfully well in the area of education, healthcare delivery and increased literacy. He said that there was no where in Nigeria today that you do not find corps members rendering services to their fatherland. The NYSC DG, however, advised the corps members to stay in their pl

Oil prices rose yesterday with traders shifting money into crude futures as the dollar weakened and on concerns that new U.S. sanctions against Iran could be extended to affect crude supplies. But markets were held back by more signs of growing U.S. production and by worries that import demand in China could slow. International Brent crude futures were trading at $57.01 per barrel at 0620 GMT, up 20 cents from their last close. U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 19 cents at $54.02 a barrel.

Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigerian (MACBAN) has traced what it claimed is the origin of the Southern Kaduna crisis. National secretary of MACBAN, Baba Othman Ngelzarma said the crisis was like any other between herdsmen and farmers across the country. He likened the crisis to what is happening in Zamfara State where “Muslim farmers and Muslim pastoralists fight as well as Katsina State where Fulani farmers and Fulani pastoralists fight”. The official recalled that the Southern Kaduna crisis started from simple farm destruction in Godogodo community. Ngelzarma lamented that it was mismanagement of the destruction episode that degenerated to the current situation. Ngelzarma said that MACBAN had commenced the process of ensuring peace through communication with other groups saying the strategy had brought peace back to Benue State. He further told Daily Truat that herders were not only culprits in the crises but also victims. “Media is not balancing

The ‘All Eyes on You’ rapper is offended by speculation that he burglarized his ex-girlfriend’s house, causing him to curse at the media. Meek Mill ‘s ex-girlfriend  Nicki Minaj ‘s house was  burglarized  earlier this week. The thieves took $200,000 worth of her belongings and also cut up some of her designer clothes. That fact led to a speculation that the robbery was personal and some people started pointing at Mill. They suspected Mill since he was rumored to have broken up with the “Superbass” hitmaker because  he used her as his ATM machine . But the “Litty” rapper shot down the rumor immediately. He was spotted by paparazzi while partying in Life nightclub in Houston. As he left the club, those paparazzi asked Mill about his alleged involvement in Minaj’s robbery. “Do I look like I rob people?” he asked back as he grabbed his diamond necklace. The paparazzi still tried to dig more information about Mill’s current relationship with Minaj which caused him to burn out.

Some Nigerians in the United Kingdom, on Monday stormed the Nigerian High Commission, demanding to see President Muhammadu Buhari. The protesters who are currently in front of the country’s High Commission in UK are demanding that the President addresses them in person.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the President of the United States of America (USA), Donald Trump, to attach and release to Nigeria, some $500 million worth of US-based proceeds of corruption traced to former Nigerian dictator, late General Sani Abacha. SERAP, which made this request in an open letter it send to the US President, also urged President Trump to initiate discussions with the Nigerian government to fulfill these objectives within an agreed framework and timeline. The organisation in the letter dated 3 February 2017 and signed by the organization’s US Volunteer Counsel Professor Alexander W. Sierck and executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, also wants the Trump’s Administration to instruct the Justice Department to initiate civil asset forfeiture proceedings in regard to the $500 million in assets. SERAP further stated, “these proceeds are separate from the $480 million of Abacha-origin funds that have been forfeited to the US

Ekiti State governor and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors’ forum, Mr Ayodele Fayose has declared that he will one day become the president of Nigeria . He said the revelation about becoming a future Nigerian leader was made known to him by God. The governor who did not specify when and how the prophesy will be fulfilled, said he believed the prophesy will manifest the same way and manner he emerged Ekiti state governor twice against all odds. Speaking  at an annual media get-together, held at the government house, Ado Ekiti at the weekend, the governor said, “It is according to God’s will that I will one day become the president of Nigeria. “Do not bother to ask me questions as to how this will materialise, I also do not know how it will happen but all I know is that I shall one day occupy the presidential villa, not as a visitor but as president. So many people in top positions will be displaced and removed from their positions for my rising.

Chinese security experts and officials are advising people to be more careful about making a "V" gesture while taking a photo, because it may raise security risks by exposing their fingerprints. "It is theoretically possible," said Pei Zhiyong, a cybersecurity specialist at Qihoo 360, a leading security software provider in China. "Especially when the photos are taken by high-definition cameras or smartphones, or in macro shootings," Pei said. If the distance between the person and a smartphone is less than half a meter, and his or her picture is photographed by a digital single-lens reflex camera, "the possibility of the fingerprint being captured will be bigger", he said. Having fingerprints stolen can cause a lot of difficulty, as they are used in many aspects of people's lives, including identity cards, passports and online payments, according to Pei. "So it's a must to pay attention to their protection and avoid

Ancient bones unearthed in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, have led archaeologists to suggest that the area may have been home to wild crocodiles thousands of years ago. Experts have been excavating the Haojing site since the 1930s, with the latest dig running from 2012 to last year. The site was once the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC), with countless relics having been discovered there over the years. However, the ancient crocodile bones took archaeologists by surprise. The bones were discovered in an ash pit late last year, according to the Shaanxi Archaeology Institute, which is leading the excavation in Xi'an's southwestern Chang'an district. "The archaeologists were surprised because it's the first time crocodile bones have been unearthed near the city," it said. An ash pit is a general term used by experts to describe an ancient cave or cellar. The one in which the bones were found was of an irregular sh

The Chinese government has issued a five-year action plan for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. The government will make the utmost effort to find out HIV-infected and AIDS patients, reduce infections through drug needles, blood transfusion and mother-to-child transmission, minimize the fatality rate and improve patients' quality of life, according to the plan posted on the website of the State Council on Sunday. The plan, to be implemented between 2016 and 2020, has set multiple targets such as reducing AIDS-related activities of male homosexuals by at least 10 percent and decrease mother-to-child transmission rate to less than 4 percent. More than 90 percent of the infected people and patients should receive anti-virus treatment and more than 90 percent of the cases of such treatment should be successful, according to the plan. The plan also promotes the use of traditional Chinese medicine in AIDS treatment. International cooperation on research will be strengthe