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Tag: Australia

  • Wizkid defeats Davido, sweeps AFRIMA 2017 award

    Wizkid defeats Davido, sweeps AFRIMA 2017 award

    Wizkid, a.k.a Star boy, has defeated his arch-rival Davido, to become the best African male artiste at the 2017 All African Music Award ( AFRIMA ) held in Lagos on Sunday.

    Wizkid’s award included, Artiste of the Year, for his song “Come Closer’’, Song of the Year for the same song and Best Male artiste in Western Africa.

    This win has once again renewed the battle of supremacy between the two popular artistes and is coming shortly after Davido edged Wizkid out at the 2017 MTV EMA by winning the “Best African Act”.

    Wizkid got a rare international recognition in 2016 after he had a collaboration effort with American international Drake with their Collabo song “One Dance sold in 15 countries including U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia.

    Earlier this year, Wizkid became the first Afrobeat artist to appear in the 2018 Guinness World Records for his contribution to Drake’s hit song “One Dance’’.

    In his acceptance speech, the Ojuelegba crooner thanked 2baba and DJ Jimmy Jatt for their contributions to the African music landscape.

    Wizkid, born on July 16, 1990, a song writer and a solo artiste started his foray into music at the tender age of 11 with his band “Glorious Five’’ a group formed from a church choir.

    He however took the music world by storm with his all-time hit track “Holla at your Boy’’ in 2010 and another hit track “Ayo’’ in 2014.

    NAN

  • Commonwealth Games: Nigeria’s Arinye to officiate Table Tennis event

    Commonwealth Games: Nigeria’s Arinye to officiate Table Tennis event

    Nigeria’s first female University Director of Sports Dr. Cecilia Arinye has gotten an official invitation  to officiate at the forthcoming 21st Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia, 2018.

    Speaking with NationSport in Lagos, Dr. Arinye confirmed the authenticity of the information. 

    “It is true, I got an invitation letter as one of the officials in the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, and by God’s Grace, I will be there”,Arinye simply said. 

    Arinye who qualified as an International Blue Badge Umpire in 2009 is the only Nigerian to get the invitation to officiate in the Gold Coast, Australia 2018.

    The former ex-international first participated in a Commonwealth Games  as a player in 1975 during the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship which took place in Sydney Australia, alongside Babatunde Obisanya, Olawunmi Majekodunmi, Kasali Lasisi, Fatai Ayinde and Ethel Jacks.

    During the 20th Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014, Arinye became the 1st Black Woman to Officiate in the Table Tennis Event and also the 1st Black Woman to officiate in the Summer Paralympics during the Rio 2016 Paralympics Games.

    Arinye made her debut as an Umpire in an ITTF World Table Tennis Championship during the All African Senior Table Tennis Championship in 2007 at Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo. And later in Guangzhou, China (2008), Madrid Spain (2008) and numerous ITTF sanctioned events.

    Since assumption as Director of Sports of the University of Lagos in 2009, Dr. Cecilia Arinye has officiated over 15 International Table Tennis Sporting Engagement, which includes Paralympics, All Africa Games to mention but a few.

    It will also be recalled that Arinye led the University of Lagos to achieve her best ever performance at the NUGA Games in 2014, where UNILAG finished second on the medal table behind UNIPORT with 13 Gold, 10 Silver and 7 Bronze medals.

  • Australian PM to force lawmakers to declare citizenship to end political crisis

    Australian PM to force lawmakers to declare citizenship to end political crisis

    Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced plans on Monday to force all lawmakers to declare that they are not dual nationals as he seeks to defuse a political crisis that saw his deputy ejected from parliament.

    Turnbull’s centre-right coalition government was thrown into disarray in October when the High Court ruled that five lawmakers, who were dual nationals, including Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, were ineligible for parliament.

    The Australian leader has been facing down calls since for a full audit of parliamentarians to ensure they comply with the country’s constitution, which bars foreign nationals from sitting in parliament to prevent split allegiances.

    The High Court ruling expelled three members of the Liberal-National coalition government from parliament, while a fourth resigned days later after confirming he also had dual nationality.

    The other affected lawmakers were from minority parties, with the main opposition Labour Party yet to be ensnared.

    Turnbull said his plan, unlike an audit, would put the onus on lawmakers to check their own situation and anybody found to have made a false declaration would be in contempt of parliament.

    Lawmakers will be required to produce documents to prove any second citizenship has been renounced.

    “Members and senators have been put squarely on notice now and so they will be turning their mind to their own affairs and the issues of citizenship,” Turnbull said in Canberra.

    The new laws would apply to both existing and prospective lawmakers.

    Those already in parliament would be given 21 days to make a declaration from the date it comes into force, while new lawmakers would have the same period of time from their swearing in.

    Turnbull said he hoped to push the changes through parliament in the last remaining sitting days this year.

    That will require support from the Labour Party, which suggested a similar plan last week.

    Turnbull has said previously that the court’s interpretation of the constitution was “very strict”.

    He has flagged potential changes to the constitution, noting that more than half of Australia’s population of 24 million was either born overseas or has a parent, who was born overseas.

    A referendum would be needed to change the constitution.

    All seven lawmakers in the High Court case, two of whom were cleared to remain in parliament, accepted that they were dual nationals at the time of their election but claimed they were unaware of their status.

    Some were conferred a second nationality by birth, others by descent.

    Read Also: Serena To Return for Australian Open in January 2018

  • Australian A-League introduces red cards for coaches

    Australian A-League introduces red cards for coaches

    Leagues accross the globe may consider borrowing a leaf from Australia if the red and yellow card experiment by the A-League works out.

    Referees will be encouraged to issue red and yellow cards to misbehaving coaches and team officials during a trial in Australia’s top-flight men’s and women’s leagues.

    The A-League and W-League would be the first top-tier domestic competitions to receive approval from the International Football Association Board to conduct the trial, starting this Friday, according to Football Federation Australia.

    Coaching and support staff can be barred from the playing area under existing regulations, but the use of the red and yellow cards will allow spectators to see when cautions and ejections have been imposed – just as they do when players are sanctioned on the field.

    Coaches and staff risk being sent from the field for repeated infringements including kicking or throwing water bottles, delaying the restart of the game or for using offensive language or gestures toward match officials, rival teams or fans.

    ‘Referees already have a process which is by way of conversation to coaches to warn them before removing them from the technical area after poor behavior,’ Greg O’Rourke, head of the A-League and W-League, said.

    ‘Essentially, this trial will visualize those steps and as such better communicate to fans that the referees are giving the coaches and others formal warnings.

    ‘It will help fans and viewers better understand the issues that match officials face on a weekly basis and help promote respect toward them.’

    O’Rourke said the FFA would update its regulations so that the consequence of accumulating yellow cards for team officials will mirror those applied to players, and game suspensions can be imposed.

    Other instances of ‘serious irresponsible behavior’ that could warrant a red card for team officials, according to the FFA, include violent and aggressive behavior, spitting at any person or leaving the technical area and acting in a provocative or inflammatory manner.

  • Australia: Man charged after head-butting former PM

    Australia: Man charged after head-butting former PM

    A Tasmanian man was charged on Friday after he allegedly head-butted former Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia in Hobart.

    Tasmania Police said they arrested and charged a 38-year-old North-Hobart man with “one count of common assault following a police investigation into a complaint made by Tony Abbott.”

    “The man was granted bail and is expected to appear in court on Oct. 23,’’ police said.

    Police said the man was wearing a “Yes” badge, in support of same-sex marriage, at the time of the attack that took place when Abbott was returning leaving a meeting at a local newspaper office on Thursday.

    Abbott said that he was left shocked and with a very slightly swollen lip.

    He told newsmen that a man had yelled out his name and asked to shake his hand, but instead, head-butted him.

    Australia is currently holding a legally non-binding postal survey asking 16 million voters whether to change the law to allow gay couples to marry.

    Abbott, a conservative politician, has been campaigning against it stridently for the past few weeks.

    “It is a shock to have a fellow Australian seeking to shake your hand and turn a handshake into an assault.

    “Normally a handshake is a sign of trust and peace,’’ Abbott said outside his hotel.

    According to Abbott, he does not have police protection since 2016 federal election campaign.

  • Cameroonian coach : Lions are more experienced than Super Eagles

    Cameroonian coach : Lions are more experienced than Super Eagles

    The Cameroonian coach, Mr. Hugo Broos, say the Indomitable Lions, having played at the Confederation Cup in Russia, is more experienced than the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

    Broos said this on Thursday in Uyo at a pre-match news conference ahead of FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifying match between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Indomitable Lions of Cameroon on Friday.

    The coach said that the Indomitable Lions, apart from being African champions, had played against difficult national teams of Chile, Germany, and Australia in the Confederation cup.

    “We are four points behind Nigeria and we know that if we lose, we are finished. We will play a very good game even in depression.

    “Everybody knows that tomorrow’s result and that of Monday are very important, I’m not afraid,” Broos said.

    He said that he was alright with the weather in Uyo and would play to win the match.

    The Ccameroonian team captain, Benjamin Moukandjo, said that the team was focused and had prepared hard for the match.

    Moukandjo corroborated his coach’s perception that Friday’s match with Nigeria would be tough.

    “I know tomorrow’s game is important. If we win tomorrow’s game, we shall keep the hope for Russia alive,” the captain said.

    He said that his team was ready for the Super Eagles.

  • Japan qualify for 2018 World Cup

    Japan qualify for 2018 World Cup

    Japan on Thursday qualified for its sixth consecutive FIFA World Cup after defeating Australia 2-0 in Saitama.

    Takuma Asano and Yosuke Ideguchi were on target for the 2002 World Cup co-host.

    Asano steered home a left-foot volley four minutes before half-time and Ideguchi sealed the victory with a stunning long-range strike after 82 minutes as Japan joined hosts Russia, Brazil and Iran as qualified teams for next year’s FIFA premier soccer tournament.

     

  • Court jails 87-year-old priest for abuse in Australia

    Court jails 87-year-old priest for abuse in Australia

    A Court in  Brisbane sentenced a priest, Francis Brophy, 87, of the Catholic De la Salle Brothers, on Monday, to eight years behind bars for sexually abusing orphans.

    Prosecutors said Brophy sexually abused nine boys at an orphanage decades ago at a facility in the Queensland town of Beaudesert, Australia between 1978 and 1983.

    “Your legacy disgusts me and every right-minded member of society,’’ Brisbane District Court Judge William Everson told Brophy, according to Australian Associated Press.

    The De La Salle Brothers said in a statement that Brophy’s actions “amounted to a profound betrayal of the trust of children.’’

    “These actions have caused great pain and suffering and for that we are truly remorseful,’’ the statement said.

    Judge Everson denounced Brophy as “a cowardly, evil peadophile’’ who presided over a “Gulag right in our midst,’’ leaving some of his victims ravaged by nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder as adults.

    “The combination of your depraved sexual offending and the terrifying violence you meted out makes your conduct particularly heinous,’’ Everson said in the court.

    Seven per cent of all priests between 1950 and 2010 sexually abused children, according to a Royal Commission inquiry into the extent of alleged abuse among Australian Catholic churches system.

    The De La Salle Brothers had one of the highest numbers of alleged perpetrators ministering between 1950 and 2010, 328 claims of sexual abuse, as well as 219 claims at its BoysTown facility in Beaudesert in Queensland.

  • Lack of sleep costing Australia $52.48bn annually – report

    Lack of sleep costing Australia $52.48bn annually – report

    Sleep deprivation is costing the Australian economy 52.48 billion dollars  annually, a report released on Tuesday found.

    The Deloitte Access Economics, in a report, found that 39.8 per cent of Australians were not getting enough sleep.

    Deloitte estimated that sleep deprivation accounted for 14.16 billion dollars in lost productivity in the financial year ended in June 2017 while costing Australia’s health system 1.42 billion dollars.

    The report found out that almost 400 Australians die each year as a result of driving or operating heavy machinery while fatigued.

    Dorothy Bruck, chair of the Sleep Health Foundation, said 7.4 million Australians suffered from a lack of sleep.
    Sleep deprivation can be a contributing factor in heart disease, stroke, diabetes and depression.

    “The cost of sleep deprivation is utterly alarming and confirms we need to take urgent action to put sleep on the national agenda,” Bruck told Australian media on Tuesday.

    “Sleep or rather the lack of it is a substantial burden on our economy and the livelihood of Australians, dampening mood, exacerbating health problems, dulling our productivity and making us a danger on the roads and in workplaces around the country.”

  • Australia contributes $2.2m to wfp in Northeast

    The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received AUD$3 million (US$2.2 million) ontribution from the Government of Australia that will provide food and nutritional assistance to tens of thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria, where the Boko Haram insurgency and the current lean season have intensified hunger.

    “The scale of the humanitarian situation in the northeast of Nigeria and the Lake Chad region demands an action-oriented response,” said the Australian High Com-missioner in Nigeria, Paul Lehmann. “The Australian government is proud to be working with our long-standing partner, the World Food Programme, to offer an important contribution to the combined efforts aimed at relieving the suffering of the communities most affected.”

    The funding will support WFP food assistance to nearly 111,000 people, including specialised nutritional food for some 47,000 pregnant and nursing women.It comes as an estimated 5.2 million people faceintense hunger during the period between harvests. Experts believe as many as 50,000 people are experiencing famine-like conditions.