Barca return to training as La Liga eyes restart

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This handout pictured made available by FC Barcelona shows Barcelona’s Spanish coach Quique Setien wearing a face mask as he attends a training session at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in Sant Joan Despi on May 8, 2020 as Spain prepares to ease its tough lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease. – The Spanish government announced a deconfinement plan for professional footballers which initially allowed them to train separate from each other, with a maximum of six players on a field. (Photo by Miguel RUIZ / FC BARCELONA / AFP)

Barcelona returned to training on Friday after the La Liga champions allowed their stars to enter their facility to prepare for a potential restart to football in Spain.

Lionel Messi and company took the fields at Joan Gamper training centre for individual sessions, for which the players arrived alone in the kit and took to the three pitches without passing through the changing rooms.

As well as doing their routines, they were also subjected to tests to see what effect two months of coronavirus quarantine has had on their bodies.

“Finally we are getting back to normal. We hope to carry on and that soon we can get back to enjoying what we like to do most,” Arturo Vidal told sports daily Marca.

Sevilla, Villarreal, Osasuna and Leganes also returned to training, while Real Madrid — who were two points behind league leaders, Barca, when play stopped in mid-March — will likely start again on Monday should their players pass virus tests carried out on Wednesday.

That would mark almost two months since Real had been placed in quarantine following a positive test for a member of the club’s basketball team.

According to Spanish media, none of Real’s players has suffered from virus symptoms, but Zinedine Zidane will have to do without Serb attacker Luka Jovic after Real announced on Friday he had to fractured his right heel.

Footballers in Spain have restarted training following the announcement last week of a government plan that aims to end quarantine for professional players.

Individual training sessions are the first step to what La Liga hopes will be a return to action in June that will complete the 2019-20 season behind closed doors.

The first aspect of a four-phase de-escalation programme allows a maximum of six players on the pitch at any one time.

La Liga’s programme will then permit training in small groups before a return to larger team sessions.

In the fourth and final phase, in early June, the government has said outside events can go ahead when attended by fewer than 400 people.

League president Javier Tebas has said, “it is not an option” to cancel the season given the economic fallout, estimating it would cost clubs around a billion euros ($1.08 billion).

On Thursday, Leganes coach Javier Aguirre said La Liga will resume on June 20 and end on July 26, although league bosses refused to confirm his claim they had told him the dates.

“La Liga has just informed me officially and I am very happy about that because we have now scheduled the training sessions,” Aguirre told Marca Claro.

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‘I Am Too Beautiful’, Says Bobrisky As He Teases Fans With Sultry Photo

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Bobrisky

Controversial male barbie, Idris Okuneye simply known and addressed as Bobrisky has taken to his official Instagram page to tease his fans with a sultry image of himself while declaring himself ‘too beautiful.’

He further stated that many ladies are hating on him because they find it hard to believe that someone like him can easily ‘beat them hands down.’

He wrote:

I’m fucking beautiful ❤️
I stand out always.
Many girls hate because they find it hard to believe that someone like me can beat them hand 🤚 down.
1) my hair game is lit
2) Makeup game too much for them to handle
Bobrisky d boss of all QUEENS

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UK coronavirus death toll passes 31,000 ―Govt

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More than 31,000 people who have tested positive for coronavirus have now died in the United Kingdom (UK), new health ministry figures showed on Friday.

The number of fatalities in hospitals, care homes and the wider community rose by 626 on the previous day to reach 31,241.

A six-week-old baby with an underlying health condition was among the new deaths recorded in England, according to the state-run National Health Service (NHS).

The figures include all those who have tested positive for COVID-19 but many more have the virus listed on their death certificates.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data up to April 25 suggested more than 32,000 deaths were linked to the coronavirus in Britain.

The British government warned the public on Friday not to expect any major changes to the nationwide coronavirus lockdown next week, as the official daily death toll topped 31,000.

Britain has lost more people to COVID-19 than any other European country, but there is growing pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ease stay-at-home orders imposed in late March.

The devolved government in Wales on Friday unveiled plans to re-open garden centres and libraries, but said the wider lockdown would remain for another three weeks.

Johnson is due to announce his own plans for England in a televised address on Sunday evening, but one of his top ministers made clear Friday there would be no big changes.

“We have to be realistic that there isn’t going to be any dramatic overnight change,” Environment Secretary George Eustice told the daily media briefing.

“We will be very, very cautious as we loosen the restrictions we have, as the data that we’re outlining on a daily basis shows we are not out of the woods.

“There are still major challenges.

“We will be living with this virus for some time to come and it’s therefore important to avoid that second peak that could overwhelm our National Health Service.”

He said deaths among patients in hospitals, care homes and the wider community who tested positive for coronavirus rose by 626 on the previous day to 31,241.

A six-week old baby with an underlying health condition was among the new deaths recorded in England, according to the state-run National Health Service (NHS).

The true death toll is expected to be higher, as Britain has only recently ramped up its ability to test people for COVID-19.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published on Tuesday, which has a lag of up to two weeks, showed more than 32,000 deaths with coronavirus on the death certificate.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford announced “modest adjustments” from Monday, with people allowed to exercise outside their homes more than once a day, while staying local.

Garden centres will re-open if they can prove they can keep people a safe distance apart, and local authorities will begin planning how to open libraries and municipal recycling centres.

Responsibility for virus measures in the United Kingdom is devolved to its four nations — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — but so far they have all moved in lockstep.

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Friday said the lockdown would remain in place, although she plans to allow people to take more outdoor exercise.

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Kalu’s release: Kinsmen hail Supreme Court’s judgment

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Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu

Dr Orji Kalu’s kinsmen on Friday hailed the verdict of the Supreme Court, which nullified the conviction of the former governor of Abia,  who was handed down 12-year jail term for corruption.

In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), they described the judgment as apt and well served.

Elder Uwakwe Okoronkwo, President-General, Igbere Welfare Union, expressed delight over Kalu’s release from prison and pointed out that the judiciary remained the last hope of every Nigerian.

“Thank God the Supreme Court did not compromise but has shown that it is the last hope of the common man.

“We are happy since he has been released and we urge him to continue to represent the interest of  Igbo people and the country,’’ Okoronkwo said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the court also quashed the conviction of Ude Udeogu, who was a Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia Government House during Kalu’s tenure.

Justice Mohammed Idris had on Dec. 5, 2019, sentenced the former governor and Senate Chief Whip to 12 years in prison for allegedly stealing public funds while in office, and Mr Udeogu sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A third defendant, SLOK Nigeria, Kalu’s company was ordered to be winded up and its assets forfeited to the Nigerian government.

They were convicted for defrauding the government of Abia when Kalu was governor.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had brought the criminal charge against the duo for conspiring and diverting N7.6 billion from the coffers of the state.

Chief Ukaegbu Kazi, President-General, Amankalu Igbere Improvement Union, emphasised the need for Kalu to remain committed to championing the cause of Igbo people.

Ukaegbu a retired principal, expressed optimism that Kalu’s release from prison would enable him to be better focused in delivering good representation for his constituents at the National Assembly.

“The manner he was convicted leaves a big question mark and gave a reason for him to always apply caution.

“Kalu must always look and think carefully because this has served as a big lesson being that the people he helped turned back and stabbed him at the back,’’ Kazi said.

Chief Kalu Ogbonnaya, a Kano based businessman of Igbere extraction, also commended the Supreme Court for the judgment.

He said “in as much as the EFCC intends to re-arraign him, Kalu will still be free at the end.’’

Ogbonnaya said that the arraignment was a plot to destabilise him from contesting for the presidency in 2023.

“It is the work of the enemy and a ploy to stop him from contesting in 2023, but I urge him to go ahead to contest,’’ Ogbonnaya said.

Similarly, Elder Adiele Udeogu, former Chairman, Igbere Welfare Union, Abuja Branch, said that Kalu’s kinsmen would continue to give him the needed support to enable him to accomplish his political ambition.

“We will always support him to enable him to forge ahead and render service to humanity.

“We are also happy that he is out of prison and not disturbed that the EFC plans to re-arraign him,’’ Udeogu said.

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France records 243 new virus deaths

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France reported another 243 coronavirus deaths on Friday, raising its total toll to 26,230, while the number of patients in intensive care continued to fall.

While the country has been one of the hardest hit in Europe, it has seen the daily death rate steadily drop and is due to start emerging from a strict lockdown on Monday.

In Friday's daily update, France reported 93 fewer patients suffering from the coronavirus in intensive care, dropping the total to 2,868. The figure rose above 7,000 at the peak of the country's epidemic in April.

Over the previous 24 hours, 111 coronavirus-linked deaths were recorded in hospitals and 132 in nursing homes.

Nationwide, there were 22,274 patients in hospital with COVID-19.

A member of French civil protection wearing a protecive suit takes the temperature of a migrant in a accommodation center in Nantes, western France, on May 08, 2020, on the 53rd day of a strict lockdown in France to attempt to stop the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

The lockdown in place since mid-March will start to ease on Monday.

The Ile-de-France region around Paris, Hauts-de-France in the north, Grand Est in the east and central-eastern Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes account for 72 percent of hospitalisations, according to authorities.

The first three, as well as the southeastern region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comte, still carry a red classification denoting heightened concern. In those areas, the restrictions will lift more slowly.

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Breaking News: Two Dead As Tanker Explodes, Sparks Raging Fire In Ibadan

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Photo credit: The Nation

Two persons have died in a fire outbreak caused by a fuel-laden tanker which went up in flames at Moniya area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Friday.

The tanker which was conveying diesel lost control while descending the slope beside a filling station at Moniya, crushing a vehicle travelling to Ogbomoso.

It was gathered that several shops, cars, motorcycles, excavator including the motor park close to Akinyele Local Government Area headquarters were destroyed by the inferno which lasted several minutes.

Many traders and residents in the area scampered for safety from the flames after the tanker caught fire.

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WHO admits Wuhan market played role in outbreak of coronavirus

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has revealed that the wholesale market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan played a role in the outbreak of the coronavirus in December, 2019.

Dr. Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO expert on food safety and zoonotic viruses speaking at a Geneva news briefing said that investigations are ongoing to know the exact role played Wuhan played in the outbreak of COVID-19.

“Chinese government closed the Wuhan market in January as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus and ordered a temporary ban on trade and consumption of wildlife.

“The market played a role in the event, that’s clear.

“But what role we don’t know, whether it was the source or amplifying setting or just a coincidence that some cases were detected in and around that market.”

He, however said it is unclear whether live animals or infected vendors or shoppers brought the virus into the market.

DAILY POST recalls that U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said there was enormous evidence to show that COVID-19 came from the Wuhan laboratory.

However, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, debunked the claim that that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan.

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