Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has been appointed as the new coach of Austria’s national team, the federation said Friday.

Rangnick joined United as interim manager in November last year and will move into an advisory position after Ajax coach Erik ten Hag comes in as the new permanent manager.

The 63-year-old German “will combine the job with his consultancy role at Old Trafford as planned,” United said in a statement.

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The Austrian federation said Rangnick had been given a two-year deal that will be extended to four years if he secures qualification for the 2024 European championship.

“We are very pleased that in Ralf Rangnick we have been able to attract an outstanding expert in international football,” Austrian federation president Gerhard Milletich said.

United’s already slim hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League and securing a Champions League spot took another blow with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Thursday.

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Man Utd Manager Ralf Rangnick Named Austria Coach

The Federal Government has declared May 2 and 3 as public holidays to mark the Workers Day and Eld-el-Fitr celebrations.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed this in a statement by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Shuaib Belgore, on Thursday.

He commended workers for their hard work, diligence, and sacrifice, noting that their efforts were largely responsible for the greatness of the country and the respect Nigeria now commands in the comity of nations.

The statement partly read, “Labor is the very essence of humanity. We are alive because we work and only the dead are incapable of working."

“I, therefore, enjoin workers to imbibe the culture of productivity. Workers are also urged to raise the bar of their trade in line with the President, Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s drive to rev up the vehicle of governance and make all the people of Nigeria derive maximum benefit from the nation. The end of work is productivity. It is productivity that leads to the satisfactory provision of goods and services and wealth creation. It is therefore the path to national and individual prosperity”.

The minister also congratulated all Muslims on the successful completion of the holy month of Ramadan.

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“The minister expresses confidence that the security challenges in some parts of the country will soon be a thing of the past, noting that the government is putting determined efforts and all necessary measures in place for Nigerians to enjoy unfettered peace all round.

“Aregbesola assured Nigerians that the Buhari regime was fully committed to the security of life and property of every citizen and foreigners alike, urging Nigerians to be part of the nation’s security architecture by being vigilant and reporting suspicious individuals and activities to law enforcement agencies.”

Eid-el Fitr: FG declares Monday, Tuesday public holidays

The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, is expected to visit Ogun State today as part of his strategic consultations with stakeholders for his presidential ambition.

He is expected to visit the Akarigbo of Remo land, the Alake of Egba land and hold consultations with chieftains of the Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress and delegates to the party’s presidential primary.

On Monday, the VP visited stakeholders of the party in Ondo State as well as the Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.

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During the visit, Osinbajo reiterated that having served as Acting President for months, that has given him the needed experience to lead Nigeria come 2023.

According to him, it will, therefore, be a betrayal to the country if he doesn’t contest.

“Many people are dying for the country every day. If with all that has been given to me by the grace of God — all the experience — I now retire to Lagos or Ikenne to go and write my memoir, it would be a great injustice to this country,” the Vice President said.

“Now the opportunity has come, with the experience that I have, the connection and contacts that I have both locally and internationally, it will be a betrayal to the country not to accept to serve the country.

“Nobody can be anything without the endorsement of God. I declare my intention based on the fact that I have served for over seven months as acting president. I was given very serious responsibility as an acting president.”

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Last week he had also visited the Olubadan of Ibadan, Senator Lekan Balogun to officially inform him of his presidential ambition.

The monarch, in turn, offered his blessings to the Vice President saying: “I conclude my contribution to you by handing you over to Allah, let him protect you”.

Osinbajo To Visit Monarch, APC Chieftains In Ogun

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of Chief Afam Mallinson Emmanuel Ukatu, an alleged billionaire drug baron behind the N3 billion Tramadol deal linked to suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.

This was made known in a statement on Monday signed by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy of the NDLEA.

Mr Babafemi noted that the suspect who is Chairman of Mallinson Group of Companies was arrested after months of surveillance and evading arrest.

The NDLEA director said the billionaire was arrested on board a flight at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport Ikeja on April 13.

He said “Investigations reveal he’s been a major importer of large consignments of different brands and high dosages of Tramadol Hydrochloride, ranging from 120mg, 200mg, 225mg and 250mg, all of which are illicit. Ukatu owns pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing companies, which he used as a cover to import illicit drugs into Nigeria. This is in addition to operating 103 bank accounts, most of which are used to launder money.

Speaking further he said “Ukatu came under watch last year after five cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized from his staff on 4th May 2021 when he sent them to sell to undercover police officers (unknown to Ukatu) from the then Kyari-led IRT of the Nigeria Police, Ikeja Lagos. The price of a carton of Tramadol was negotiated at N17million each as against the then black market value that ranged between N18million and N20million a carton in Lagos.

“After the arrest of Ukatu’s staff: Pius Enidom and Sunday Ibekwete, Kyari’s men were then led by the suspects to Mallinson’s warehouse at Ojota in Lagos where 197 additional Cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized by the IRT Team. The monetary value of the 202 cartons of Tramadol seized from Mallinson in one day was over N3billion.”

Mr Babafemi said three weeks after the seizure only 12 cartoons of the seized Tramadol were transferred by the Kyari’s team.

“Three weeks after the seizure, the Kyari’s IRT team transferred only 12 Cartons of the Tramadol with one truck and a suspect to the Lagos Command of the NDLEA, leaving 190 cartons unaccounted for. After over eight months of following the lead, anti-narcotic officers of the Agency eventually arrested Ukatu at the Lagos airport on 13th April 2022. Kyari and four top members of his team are already facing trial for a different but similar offence at a Federal High Court in Abuja,” Mr Babafemi said.

former police man and a Nigerian billionaire 

NDLEA Arrests Afam Ukatu, Over Tramadol Linked to Kyari

Emmanuel Macron has won a second term as French President after winning the run-off election by a clear 58 to 42 percent against his far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

The victory means Mr. Macron, 44, will be able to continue his wave of public service reforms and continue his push for a more assertive European Union.

It will also be greeted with relief across Europe and in Washington, where the prospect of Ms. Le Pen’s presidency would have undermined the EU as a bloc and threatened western unity on Ukraine, NATO and the climate crisis.

Mr. Macron, a liberal centrist, won by a much narrower margin than his 66 to 34 percent victory against Ms. Le Pen, 53, in 2017. However, it was still wider than many forecast two weeks ago, after the first-round vote, when some polls had him just two points ahead.

Speaking at a victory rally in Paris at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, he recognized that many votes were cast less for him than to keep out the extreme right.

“I thank them and tell them that I am aware that this vote binds me for the years to come. I am the custodian of their attachment to the Republic,” he said Mr. Macron, who cast his vote in the seaside town Le Touquet yesterday morning, said he was, “no longer the candidate of a party but the president of everyone,” and promised to work even harder for the environment, for jobs and to address the fractures in France.

Nonetheless, Ms. Le Pen’s score marks a steady rise in the vote for the extreme right over the years, a trend that will worry the mainstream center in France and the rest of Europe. In 2012, in her first run at the presidency, she won 17.9 percent. In 2002, her racist father, and founder of the Front National (National Front) party she inherited, won 17.8 percent in his run-off defeat against conservative Jacques Chirac.

Speaking a few minutes after the results, Ms. Le Pen, 53, hailed her “historic score”, and said, “In this defeat, I sense some hope, a great defiance by the French people.” She said she would keep fighting for, “this forgotten France, we will never forget” and said her score of more than 40 percent of the vote “represents a great victory.

Millions of our compatriots have chosen the national camp and change,” before leading her supporters in a rendition of ‘La Marseillaise’.

Mr. Macron’s victory marks the first re-election of a sitting French president in two decades and the first time since Charles de Gaulle in 1965 that the French re-elected a president who has a majority in the National Assembly. Although there were fears about the record 28 percent abstention rate, it does not appear to have affected the final result.

Mr. Macron is widely seen by the French public as arrogant, aloof and elitist, but is credited with delivering solid economic results over the past five years, despite the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic. His approval ratings dipped to 25 percent in 2018, the year of the gilets jaunes or yellow jacket protests, but is now at 43 percent, boosted in part by his perceived competence in managing the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Mr. Macron was congratulated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who noted that France is one of Britain’s closest and most important allies, and said, “I look forward to continuing to work together on the issues which matter most to our two countries and to the world.”

His victory was hailed by German Chancellor Olaf, who said the result represented “a renewed commitment towards Europe,” by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi as “a magnificent victory for all Europe,” and by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who said, “I am delighted to be able to continue our excellent cooperation.”

The focus now turns to June’s scheduled National Assembly elections on June 12 and 19, where Mr. Macron’s liberal centrist party, La République En Marche, is expected to struggle to retain its majority.

The radical leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who won 22 percent in the first round, has called the parliamentary vote the ‘third round’ of the elections, calling on the broad left of center voters to make him prime minister.

Mr Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise (Unbowed France), a fierce critic of both Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen, says that if elected, he will ensure an uncomfortable parliamentary ‘cohabitation’ with Mr. Macron.

After the result, he noted the abstention rate which meant Mr. Macron was only elected by a third of registered voters, and said, “The third round begins tonight”.

Emmanuel Macron Claims Victory in French Election

Singer T-Classic has shared an update on his health following allegations that he suffered food poisoning while hanging out with friends.

The singer shared a picture from his hospital bed confirming that he had been hospitalized last weekend on Twitter.

Thanks for all the calls, Prayers and messages… Man is finally Getting Better. With Love #ClassicalArmy pic.twitter.com/QWE1Ur9drV

— T-Classic (@Tclassic_MNE) April 24, 2022

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He tweeted, “Thanks for all the calls, prayers and messages.” 

While the singer is yet to confirm these allegations, he reassured fans that he is doing much better writing “Man is finally getting better. With Love #ClassicalArmy.”

The Nobody Fine Pass You singer rose to the limelight in 2019 after his single won Most Popular Song of the Year and was nominated for Most Promising Act of the Year at City People Music Awards in the same year.

In 2020, he was signed to Sony Music West Africa and released his first EP project two days Underrated two weeks after.

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T-Classic Hospitalized Following Alleged Food Poison

Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel, has criticised his side’s performance at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. 

The Champions League winners reject, Eddie Nketiah, exacted revenge on his former side with a double that inspired a dramatic 4-2 win and boosted Arsenal’s bid for a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Despite goals from Timo Werner and captain Cesar Azpilicueta that twice hauled Chelsea level the Gunners pulled away in the second half and claimed an important victory, leaving Tuchel to bemoan what might have been.

Speaking in a post-match interview, an irate Tuchels’ description of the match was that of a “totally wild and open game in the first half”

‘We robbed ourselves of the chance to have six minutes maybe for the equalizer. There is nothing more to analyze. We proved in the last three matches and thought we learned our lessons from Brentford and Real Madrid but obviously not,’ the 48-year-old German coach stated.

‘Look at the penalty. It’s an unbelievable goal, from our ball possession after we had three-ball losses in 10 seconds and then we do a foul when there’s not even the slightest danger.”

A huge miss from Chelsea’s defence was Antonio Rudiger who suffered a knock before the match and has arguably been one of the side’s better players in recent matches.

In spite of strong performances from the German player, Tuchel was quick to wave aside any notion of frailties. in the defensive department with the absence of the 29-year-old stalwart.

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‘We conceded seven goals with Toni against Brentford and Real Madrid so it’s not about individual players. It’s about the defensive performance as a team. You need to have the tactics right, which is doubtful if I had this right, and you need the team selection right, which is also doubtful if I had this right.”

‘Then it’s a game for the players. They get the full praise when they do it as they did in the last three matches so they have to face the reality that it’s simply impossible to win matches like this if you make this amount of mistakes of this caliber.”

Chelsea Haven't Learnt From Its Mistakes, Says Tuchel

The US Capitol was briefly evacuated Wednesday after a false alarm saw police tracking an aircraft they said was a “probable threat” — but reportedly turned out to be carrying parachutists as part of a baseball pregame show.

Police tasked with protecting the complex at the heart of US government in Washington issued an initial statement shortly after 6:30 pm (2230 GMT) saying they had ordered an evacuation as they were “tracking an aircraft that poses a probable threat.”

The news became a top headline within minutes in the United States, where the memories of September 11, 2001 attacks — which saw Al-Qaeda fly passenger jets into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington — are still poignant.

But police swiftly issued a second statement to say the order had been given “out of an abundance of caution” and that there was “no threat” to the complex.

“The aircraft no longer poses a threat to the Capitol Complex and the USCP is now preparing buildings for reentry,” said the update from the US Capitol Police.

Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate, the chambers of Congress that are located in the Capitol, were in session at the time of the scare.

There was no immediate explanation for the order, but unverified reports suggested it came after a parachute display at the nearby Washington Nationals Park, a baseball stadium, part of a pregame show for “Military Appreciation Night.”

NBC’s Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake tweeted that he had “Just watched some people parachute down over/near the US Capitol amid an evacuation order.”

NBC, citing police, said they were part of a demonstration by the Golden Knights at the stadium. The Golden Knights are the US Army’s official aerial parachute demonstration team.

“Seems they might not have told Capitol Police they’d be in the airspace. One officer here told me she saw the small plane appearing to circle before the parachuters jumped,” Haake tweeted.

The stadium is roughly 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) from the Capitol. The Nationals were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks there Wednesday.

The US Capitol was the focal point of an actual violent attack just 15 months ago, on January 6 2021, when supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed the building in an effort to stop certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

Despite Wednesday’s scare being a false alarm, lawmakers and visitors were shaken by the warning.

“We just went through a very stressful 15 minutes, but we are thankful that everyone is safe,” congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández said on Twitter.

Two young Swiss tourists visiting Washington said they were walking towards the historic white domed Capitol to take a tour when police waved them away from the structure.

“They shut the security barriers behind us. They didn’t tell us why and I thought it was better not to ask,” said one of the tourists, who asked not to be named.

People Were Evacuated From The US Capitol Over False Alarm

Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Manchester United’s Premier League clash at Liverpool on Tuesday as the Portugal star mourns the death of his newborn son.

Ronaldo revealed the news on social media on Monday, sparking an outpouring of support for the striker and his family from across the football world.

United confirmed on Tuesday that Ronaldo would not play in his team’s crucial meeting with bitter rivals Liverpool.

“Family is more important than everything and Ronaldo is supporting his loved ones at this immensely difficult time,” a statement on United’s website said.

“As such, we can confirm that he will not feature in the match against Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday evening and we underline the family’s request for privacy.

“Cristiano, we are all thinking of you and sending strength to the family.”

Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodriguez had revealed in a social media post last October that the couple was expecting twins.

They confirmed the birth of a baby daughter at the same time as revealing their son’s death.

“It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away. It is the greatest pain that any parents can feel,” Ronaldo and Rodriguez said in a jointly signed statement.

“Only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness. We would like to thank the doctors and nurses for all their expert care and support.

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“We are all devastated at this loss and we kindly ask for privacy at this very difficult time.”

The couple, who met during Ronaldo’s time at Real Madrid, have a four-year-old daughter together, while Ronaldo has three other children.

Ronaldo’s United team-mates joined the outpouring of sympathy.

“Thoughts are with you and Georgina, brother I’m so sorry,” forward Marcus Rashford wrote on Twitter.

Goalkeeper David de Gea responded to Ronaldo’s announcement with a simple heart emoji.

“All of us here at Liverpool FC send our deepest condolences to you, Georgina and the family,” Liverpool tweeted.

Ronaldo had scored a hat-trick in United’s 3-2 win against Norwich at Old Trafford on Saturday.

His absence will be a major blow to fifth-placed United as they seek to improve their top four prospects against Liverpool, who can go above Manchester City to the top of the table if they avoid defeat.

Ronaldo to Miss Liverpool Clash After Baby Son's Death

Men of the Nigerian army on Saturday killed three gang members of the late Terwase Akwaza, aka Gana led bandits group  at Chito, in the headquarters of Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.

It was reported that the three bandits, under the leadership of one of the lieutenants of late Gana, popularly known as “Full Fire”, had been terrorizing the Sankera area.

The said operation was said to have been carried out on Monday. The troops, during the operation, neutralized three bandits and recovered an undisclosed number of weapons, two motorcycles and three mobile phones. 

The troops also engaged herdsmen in the Katsina-Ala LGA and its environs.

NIGERIAN TROOPS KILL BANDITS AND RECOVERS FIREARMS

President Muhammadu Buhari will be meeting with the Service Chiefs on Tuesday. 

The meeting comes amid the increased security challenges in the country.

The President had earlier on Thursday presided over a meeting of the Council of State at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Discussions in the meeting were said to be mostly centered on the economy and insecurity.

The meeting, which started at 10 am, was attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha, Boss Mustapha; National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.

Former heads of state physically in attendance were Abdusalami Abubakar, Goodluck Jonathan, and Yakubu Gowon. Others attended the meeting virtually from their various locations.

State governors in attendance were Hope Uzodinma of Imo State; Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state among others. Other governors also attended virtually.

President Buhari to Meet With Service Chiefs on Tuesday

Speaker, Sokoto State House of Assembly, Aminu Muhammad Achida, has dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The speaker presented the letter of his defection to the Assembly during the plenary session on Thursday.

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Also, a member of the state House of Assembly representing Wammako 2 Constituency, Murtala Bello Maigona, has dumped the APC for the PDP.

Sokoto House of Assembly Speaker Dumps APC For PDP

Nigerian newspapers,on one page.