Author: straightnewsng.com

Croatia thought they had won this World Cup quarter-final epic before they actually did. Domagoj Vida will not rate his extra-time header as the most powerful of his career but it was surely the most precious. When he connected with Luka Modric’s corner, the ball had a long way to travel. It got there in the end. The substitute Vedran Corluka had a nibble after it had bounced while another replacement, Russia’s Fedor Smolov, was on the scene. The upshot was that the goalkeeper, Igor Akinfeev, saw it late and it squeezed into the far corner. Game over? Not at…

Does President Muhammadu Buhari respect the independence of courts particularly obey courts’ judgments? This is the question on the lips of many true democrats as Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Publicity and Media who reacted on behalf of President Buhari to Bukola Saraki’s acquittal, observed that courts should be allowed to do their job. The Supreme Court, Friday, cleared Saraki of the false assets declaration charges leveled against him. In his Twitter handle also, Buhari observed “Senate President @bukolasaraki has persevered through what has no doubt been a tortuous judicial process. “In the end, he has…

England reached the World Cup semi-final for the first time since Italia 90 as Harry Maguire and Dele Alli struck either side of the interval to beat Sweden in Samara. Gareth Southgate’s side will now face either Croatia or hosts Russia in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday after overcoming a stubborn Sweden challenge in this quarter-final, with help from a magnificent display by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Maguire, outstanding once more, broke the deadlock on the half-hour when another England set-piece bore fruit – Leicester City’s powerful defender flashing a header past Sweden keeper Robin Olsen from Ashley Young’s corner. Everton…

A one-time Nigerian Minister of Aviation has called on Kemi Adeosun, the nation’s Finance Minister to resign over alleged forgery of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate. PREMIUM TIMES reported Saturday that Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, did not participate in the mandatory one-year national youth service scheme. Instead, she forged an exemption certificate many years after graduation. Femi Fani-Kayode, who is also a social media commentator and critic writing in his Twitter handle observed, “Only a primitive and savage cow-loving herdsman can appoint a low class cockney-accented peasant from the slums of East-End London and a barely-educated misfit with…

An ex-Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Saturday, pontificated sanctity of human life albeit with caution, saying “Every Nigerian life should matter.’’ This stands looked contradictory to his purported silence over the loss of thousands of innocent lives particulary women, children and the elderly to inglorious activities of the dreaded Boko Haram and rampaging Fulani herdsmen over the years without him offering concrete solution as a one-time No. 2 citizen in the country. Writing against the background of the missing 12 young Thai footballers in a cave, Abubakar in his Twitter handle declared “I am touched by the manpower and financial…

Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, Friday, saw the Federal Government’s case against him ruled in his favour by Supreme Court as a politically motivated and trumped-up one due to his emergence as the Senate President. The Supreme Court, Friday, cleared him of the false assets declaration charges leveled against him. The federal government had filed 18 counts of false and anticipatory asset declaration charges against Saraki in 2015 but Saraki was cleared by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) in 2017. The government appealed the ruling and the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld 15 of the charges against…

Belgium produced a brilliant performance to knock five-time winners Brazil out of the World Cup and reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1986. Roberto Martinez’s side turned on the style in Kazan to clock up their fifth straight win of the tournament and ensure the semi-finals will be contested by four European sides for the first time since 2006. Brazil had conceded just one goal in their past four games in Russia but were behind early when Nacer Chadli’s corner struck Fernandinho’s arm and flew into the net, the 10th own goal of this World Cup. Fernandinho’s Manchester…

Lions devoured two suspected rhino poachers in a South African Games Reserve, officials say. Rangers discovered the remains of two, possibly three, people in a lion’s enclave in the Sibuya reserve, near the South-east town of Kenton-on-Sea. A high-powered rifle and an axe were also found. There has been a rise in poaching in Africa in recent years, to feed growing demand for rhino horn in parts of Asia. In China, Vietnam and elsewhere, rhino horn is erroneously believed to have medicinal properties, even though it is made from the same material as human fingernails. Sibuya reserve owner Nick Fox…

France beat Uruguay 2-0 and are on course for a World Cup semifinal spot, helped by a blunder from Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. Antoine Griezmann extended France’s lead in their quarterfinal in Nizhny Novgorod in the 61st minute with a long-range shot that Muslera got both hands to but deflected into his own net. Griezmann’s shot was straight at Muslera, but the keeper couldn’t hold it and it looped into the net. France took the lead five minutes before halftime with a header from defender Raphael Varane. Griezmann was also involved in the openiner, providing the free kick from the…

A flurry of condolence messages continue to pour in following the death of the 83-year-old Mallam Adamu Ciroma, a one-time Minister of Finance and an elder statesman. President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Olusegun Obasanjo are among the early sympathisers who have expressed sadness over the death of the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Ciroma. In a statement by Femi Adesina, Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, the President condoled the Ciroma family as well as the government and people of Yobe State on the death of the elder statesman. The statement read, “The President believes that…