Quadri, Toriola move up in ITTF world rankings

 

Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri, who set a record as the first African to reach the Olympic Games quarterfinal stage in Rio as well as the first to make the top 30 in the world, is now the world best 25^thTable Tennis player according to the September ranking released by the International Table Tennis Federation.

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Quadri garnered 152 points from his performance in Brazil to be ranked 25th in the world.

From 2305 points he had in the August ranking, Quadri now has 2457points to become the first player in Africa to be rated in the top 25 in the world.

Apart from rising to 25, Quadri in the latest ranking was also listed among the most active players in the world based on his rise from 40th in August to 25th in September.

Also, a member of the ITTF ‘7’ Club, Nigeria’s Segun Toriola was rewarded for his effort in Rio as the seventh time Olympian moved from 120 to 106 in the ranking, while Egypt’s Omar Assar remains the continent number two. Assar who was edged out in the second round of the Rio Olympic Games by Ukraine’s Lei Kou dropped from 55 to 56 in the world.

Despite dropping to 118 from 110, Egypt’s Dina Meshref remains the top ranked African female player, while Nigeria’s duo of Edem Offiong and Olufunke Oshonaike were not lucky as well with Offiong dropping from 120 to 129 while Oshonaike dropped from 241 to 251.

In the latest ranking, Olympic and World Champion, China’s Ma Long held on to the zenith of the ranking again as the Asian star and his compatriot – Shiwen Liu remain number one ranked male and female players in the world.

Putin better leader than Obama –Trump

 

Republican nominee Donald Trump has made another controversial statement targeted at the Democrats.

He suggested in a statement he made at a televised forum to argue he was best equipped to reassert America’s global leadership, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a better leader compared to US President Barack Obama.

Trump also said at the televised forum that U.S. generals had been thwarted by the policies of Obama and Hillary Clinton, who served as the Democratic president’s first secretary of state.

“I think under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton the generals have been reduced to rubble. They have been reduced to a point that’s embarrassing for our country,” Trump said at NBC’s “Commander-in-Chief” forum in New York attended by military veterans.

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Concerning Clinton’s handling of classified information while using a private email server during her tenure at the State Department, FBI Director James Comey declared her “extremely careless” in her handling of sensitive material but did not recommend charges against her.

How four soldiers died in boat mishap

 

The Nigerian Army’s Operation Crocodile Smile in the Niger Delta ran into troubled waters on Monday, when four soldiers who were part of the operation died in a boat mishap in Brass, Bayelsa State.

The soldiers, who were being conveyed to the Brass Waterfront died after their boat capsized due to turbulent tides at the Atlantic fringes of Brass.
The soldiers also lost their service riffles in the incident.
Sources in the community, who said search was still ongoing to recover the corpses of the remaining soldiers and their riffles after the recovery of initial two, said the incident happened in the early hours of the day some distance from the Brass waterfront.
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 One of the sources further disclosed that occupants of the capsized boat were all military personnel, adding that six of them were rescued with four missing.

The soldiers would not have died if not for the high tide, as youths in the area and other soldiers made efforts to rescue them, the source said.
“In recent times, we have been noticing increased movement of soldiers in our area. The boat that capsized was conveying a new batch of soldiers to the water front. I was going to dispose of refuse at the waterfront when I saw uniformed soldiers struggling to rescue their colleagues in the capsized boat.
“When the confusion subsided, four soldiers were found to be missing with their rifles and other military gear. Some others that were rescued lost their rifles and were struggling to get out of the water.”
Sources in the community also said military authorities have solicited for the help of local divers and youths in the search for the missing soldiers.

Williams’ sister on course for semifinal clash

 

Serena and Venus have been pictured preparing for their respective US Open fourth round matches side by side at Flushing Meadows.
The picture, which was uploaded to Instagram by Venus, shows the sisters hitting their trademark forehand shots on the practice courts in New York.
The pair, if all goes to plan, could face each other in the semi-finals if they both progress past the fourth round and the quarter-final stage.
World No 1 Serena plays Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova in the fourth round.
The six-time US Open champion hasn’t lost a set at this year’s tournament.
Sister Venus faces a much tougher test against 10th seed Karolina Pliskova from Czech Republic.
Venus, who is seeded 6th, hasn’t lost a set since the first round when she beat Kateryna Kozlova.
Serena’s victory over Johanna Larsson in the third round was a record 307th grand slam match win for her.
The No 1 seed, clearly a little overwhelmed, said: ”That’s pretty awesome and what a place to do it, where everything first started.”
It meant that she moved ahead of Martina Navratilova and on level terms with Roger Federer.
She added: “To be up there with both men and women is something that’s super rare, and it actually feels really good.”

Paralympic Games: Team Nigeria arrive Rio in high spirits

Athletes and officials of Team Nigeria arrived in Rio, Brazil for the 2016 Paralympic Games in high spirit and promising to win medals.

A total of 23 athletes arrived in Rio at the weekend with six athletes billed to take part in Para athletics, 14 in Para Powerlifting and three in Para Table Tennis.

The team is accompanied by 12 officials including medical personnel, helpers, loaders and team administrators.
At a short ceremony held before their departure at the High Performance hostel, the Minister of Youth and Sports Barrister Solomon Dalung urged the team to compete fairly and be of good behaviour at the games.
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“Whatever problems you may encounter, let us manage it very well. The idea of escalating our problems does not speak good of us as Nigerians. We at the ministry of Youth and Sports have resolved that any athlete, who goes out to represent Nigeria, will receive his or her bonus directly. All allowances will be paid to you before the games end,” Dalung assured.
Responding, Captain of the team Lucy Ejike thanked the Minister and the Permanent Secretary Christian Ohaa for making it possible for Team Nigeria to be at the Paralympic Games.
“I want to assure you that we will do our best. Whatever we special people do, we put in all our effort so we urge you not to panic. We thank you for getting us new Wheelchairs and we are highly motivated as we ask you to watch out for us at the games.”

The opening ceremony holds on 7th September 2016

Buhari restructuring economy, political side pending –Ngige

 

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, says President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC), is already restructuring Nigeria.
According the him, the present administration is restructuring the nation’s economy, and would move on to restructure it politically at the appropriate time.
He explained that the restructuring process has been kick started with the economy, adding that the effect might not show at present but that Nigerians would in not too long from now begin to feel the impact of the ongoing restructuring by the APC administration.
The minister stated this while speaking to pressmen in Awka, Anambra State capital, noting that Nigerians have positively changed their way of doing things for the better and have become more prudent and judicious in their spending pattern.
He then assured Nigerians that Buhari would look into the political restructuring of the country at the appropriate time.
Ngige said, “It’s one after the other. After economic restructuring to reposition the economy of this country, the Buhari administration will embark on the political restructuring and will set the modalities for the exercise.”
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On whether the restructuring would revisit the 2014 National Conference report, he said, “When we get there, we shall address the issues.”
He called on different agitation groups in the country to sheathe their swords as he noted that “militancy and agitations are not the answer to resolving Nigeria’s myriads of problems, which the Buhari administration didn’t create in the first place.
“What is required is for all to support this administration to meet its set goals for the development and transformation of all sections of the country.”

We are not folding up – FirstNation Airways

FirstNation Airways has promised its traveling passengers that the airline would return to normal scheduled flight operations by Sept. 15.

A statement by the Head, Corporate Affairs of the airline, Mr Rasheed Yusuff stated that the carrier’s current fleet was undergoing engine maintenance for safety operations, in line with global practice in the industry.

It denied reports that the company was on the verge of folding up, stressing that taking aircraft out for maintenance was not the same as winding up operations.

He said, “FirstNation is not on the verge of folding up. In reality, since the airline launched services in 2011, the airline has built a strong followership and has been rated consistently as market leader on safety and schedule integrity.

“This reputation was reinforced by FirstNation’s achievement of International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification, which is the airline industry global benchmark for world class safety standard in record time of 12 months.”

The statement further stressed that the award of IOSA certification, within 12 months of application by FirstNation remains unrivalled in West and Central Africa.

It noted that this international attestation of FirstNation’s safety and operational standard, was contrary to the false and damaging impression that the media attempted to paint in the publications of Sept. 1.

The statement emphasised that the planned maintenance was orderly arranged with advance notification to passengers.

It stressed that service would be reinstated on or before September 15, 2016.

It said, “We are working to grow the fleet as well. All our aircraft have recently undergone C-Check and returned contrary to the blatant lies contained in the said publication.

“We currently have no aircraft undergoing C-Check anywhere in the world. Our first fleet of A320 were orderly returned to the Lessor and we maintained good relationship with the Lessor.”

The IATA Operational Safety Audit programme is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline

Police arrest man for allegedly robbing 81-year-old woman

The Police in Lagos said they had arrested a member of a two-man robbery gang, which allegedly robbed an 81-year-old woman of about N7m and other valuables.

Police spokesperson in the state, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police, who confirmed this to newsmen on Sunday in Lagos, said that the suspect was arrested by operatives of Rapid Response Squad.

Badmos said the suspect had told the police that the leader of the gang, now at large, was an herbalist.

She said that the suspect attacked the old woman at her Oduduwa Street, Itire, Lagos, home at about 8 p.m. and dispossessed her of 10,000 dollars (about N4.7 million), 5,000 pounds sterling (about N1.8 million) and N100,000.

Badmos said, “Other valuables collected from the woman, according to Badmos, were a box containing assorted jewelries.

“The suspect confessed that he was only invited into the robbery by the herbalist, simply identified as Demola.

“He claimed he promised to give him 50 per cent from the loot.

“The ringleader was treating one of the woman’s daughters (name withheld) who had sore on her right foot.

“Whenever the lady visited him for treatment, he was always stylishly collecting information about her mother from her.

“Unknown to the lady, he had collected all necessary descriptions and information needed to rob the woman.”

She said that the command was making effort to arrest the gang leader, vowing that the police “would leave no stone unturned to nip crimes in the bud in the state’’.

“The suspect has been transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad for further investigation,’’ she added.