The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Belgium

  • Quadri and I have raised table tennis – Assar

    Quadri and I have raised table tennis – Assar

    Omar Assar of Egypt is indeed excited that Africa is presenting two players for this year’s ITTF World Cup in Liege, Belgium and the 2015 African Games champion believes this development has confirmed that the continent is making giant stride in table tennis.

    Assar, who is in Group C alongside Russia’s Alexander Shibaev and Belgium’s Cedric Nuytinck in the first round of the tournament which serves off today at the Country Hall in Liege told NationSport yesterday at the official hotel of the competition – Park Inn that being the first time Africa will be having two players competing at the World Cup, this has shown that Africa is not a pushover globally in table tennis.

    “I think having two African players at the World Cup is no child’s play as it is a long years of hardwork from the players. Unlike before when for years, we have only one player emerging from the hundreds of players in Africa competing either at the African Cup or Top 16 Cup. This goes to show that Quadri and I have raised the profile of Africa in global table tennis as everybody now see the continent as among the best in the world. I am so happy and I just hope we can make things happen in the tournament but I must be sincere that it is the best 20 players in the world that are competing and we should not too complacent but play our best against the best to be able to make some points in the tournament,” Assar said.

    The Egyptian believes the training he had in Dusseldorf, Germany has prepared well for the championship as he hopes to advance from the group. “I have prepared very well for this tournament in Dusseldorf and I am optimistic that with the training I can do well by first of all qualifying from the group,” he added.

  • Quadri gets tricky draw, battles Korean, American stars

    Quadri gets tricky draw, battles Korean, American stars

  • Spain deports 23 Nigerians for various offences

    Spain deports 23 Nigerians for various offences

    The Spanish Government on Tuesday deported 23 Nigerians for committing various offences in the country, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    They were deported barely five days after 34 Nigerians were sent home from six European countries for committing immigration-related offences.

    NAN reports that 34 Nigerians were jointly deported by six European countries on June 22 for committing immigration-related offences.

    The deportees were sent back home from Switzerland, Germany, Iceland, Austria, Belgium and Hungary.

    NAN gathered that the new set of deportees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMlA) Lagos, at about 6.40 a.m on Tuesday.

    The new deportees, comprising 21 males and two females, were brought back in a privilege style aircraft with registration number EC-IZO.

    DSP Joseph Alabi, the spokesman of the Lagos Airport Police Command, confirmed the development to NAN.

    Alabi said that the deportees were received by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.

    He said that others also on ground to receive them were officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    According to him, nine of the deportees, who were deported for drug-related offences, were handed over to the NDLEA.

    He said that two others, who were deported for criminal offences, were handed over to the police.

    Alabi said that the remaining 12 deportees, accused of breaching the country’s immigration rules, were profiled and allowed to go to their respective destinations. 

  • Eight members of UAE royal family convicted for oppression

    A Belgian court on Friday found eight members of Abu Dhabi’s royal family in United Arab Emirate guilty of treating employees they hired in Brussels like “slaves.”

    The court sentenced the women in absentia.

    Each faces suspended sentences of 15 months in jail and fines of 165,000 euros (184,350 dollars).

    The women, the widow of a sheikh and seven of her daughters – were found guilty of human trafficking and treating the workers in a “degrading way” during a 2007 ro 2008 stay in a Brussels luxury hotel.

    However, the judges threw out charges of inhumane treatment and noted that no violations of Belgian labour law could be found, since the members of the UAE royalty were not the direct employers of the workers.

  • Ndidi’s award excites Amiesimaka

    Ndidi’s award excites Amiesimaka

    Ex-Green Eagles Winger, Adokiye Amiesimaka, says recent young player award bestowed on Wilfred Ndidi by English Premiership Club, Leicester, is a big plus for Nigerian football.

    Ndidi, 20, a Super Eagles midfielder and former Nigerian youth international, joined the EPL side from Genk FC of Belgium.

    Amiesimaka told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Port Harcourt on Wednesday that the award by the former league champions showed that Ndidi was a top quality player.

    “For him to be given such an award by Leicester who won the Premier League only last season is obviously a plus.

    “It means he is a top quality player and its impact on us here is good, by virtue of the fact that he is a member of the national team,’’ he said.

    Amiesimaka, former Chairman, Sharks FC of Port Harcourt, said the award was also an indication that Nigerian football had a quality player in one of the best organised leagues in the world.

    “Even more importantly is what we’ll do with that plus, how do we make the most of that in the national team and how will it benefit us?’’ he said.

    He said that the derivation of the award should be translated to his optimal use in the national team to achieve good results in major national and international matches.

    Amiesimaka said that the welfare of Ndidi and other members of the national team should be a priority to excel in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying matches.

    NAN reports that Ndidi started his career playing for the Lagos-based Nath Boys Academy in the Lagos Junior League (J-League) and won numerous accolades.

    He then played as a central defender for Nigeria’s youth team, the Golden Eaglets in 2013 for the African U-17 Championship.

    He later played for the Manu Garba U-20 youth team of Nigeria that played in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

    Ndidi was called up to the Senior Nigeria team, the Super Eagles, on Oct. 8, 2015, making his debut in the friendly game against DR Congo.

    He also played again a few days later in the 3-0 win against Cameroon, when he replaced Mikel Obi in the 63rd minutes.

    He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     

  • 50 Nigerians deported from European countries arrive Lagos

    Some 50 Nigerians were on Thursday deported from eight European countries for committing immigration-related offences.

    The Nigerians were deported from Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Spain and Hungary.

    Their deportation is coming barely 48 hours after another set of 40 Nigerians were deported by the Italian Government, for similar reasons.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fresh batch of deportees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMlA), Lagos at about 7.36 a.m.

    The deportees, comprising of 48 males and two females, were brought back in a chartered Privileged Time aircraft, with registration number EC-L20.

    DSP Joseph Alabi, spokesman of the Lagos Airport Police Command, confirmed the development to NAN.

    Alabi said: “this morning, we received 50 Nigerians who were brought back from Europe.

    “We had three males from Switzerland; from Germany, we had seven males; from Sweden, we had four males, from Luxembourg, we had six males; from Austria, we had 18, comprising of 17 males and one female.

    “From Belgium, we had only one female; from Spain, we had five males and finally from Hungary, we had six males, which makes it a total of 50,’’ he said.

    Alabi said all the deportees were alleged to have committed immigration-related offences in their host countries.

    Alabi said the deportees were received by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.

    Also on ground to receive them were officials the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    NAN gathered that the deportees were profiled by immigration authorities and were allowed to depart to their various destinations.

     

  • NPFL hotshot Odey rejects Barca deal, opts for Belgium

    NPFL hotshot Odey rejects Barca deal, opts for Belgium

    SCORENigeria can  exclusively reveal that NPFL leading scorer Stephen Odey has turned down a chance to try out with mighty Barcelona as he has already agreed to join a Belgian club (name withheld).

    This season, the 19-year-old Odey has taken the Nigeria league by storm with 13 goals so far to spark off a flurry of interests from top European clubs including mighty Barcelona.

    The Barcelona proposal was for both Odey and his agent to visit the Catalan giants to see things for themselves.

    Contacts were made to both the player and his representatives, but the representatives turned down the proposal on the basis that they are already committed to a Belgian club.

    “Barcelona are interested, but his agent said they are already committed to a club in Belgium,” atop source informed only SCORENigeria.

    Odey’s camp have long rejected Russian club Rostov as several other European clubs have continued to show interest in the striker.

    The highly promising striker scored nine goals last season in his first season in the NPFL after he led his secondary school at the Principals Cup in Lagos.

  • Nigeria records increase of 6.5 per cent external trade in 2016 – NBS

    Nigeria records increase of 6.5 per cent external trade in 2016 – NBS

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the value of the total trade at the end of 2016 was N17. 35 billion.

    The NBS said that the figure was 6.5 per cent higher than the value recorded in 2015.

    The bureau announced this in a report on“Merchandise Trade Intensity Index/Re-exports for fourth quarter’’, released in Abuja.

    The report, however, stated that Nigeria’s external trade in the fourth quarter of 2016 was valued at N5.28 billion.

    “The export component stood at N2.98 billion while the import component stood at N2.31 billion leading to a trade surplus of N671 billion.

    “Trade by sector showed that crude oil exports had the largest share of the total trade, accounting for N2.43 billion or 45.9 per cent trade in fourth quarter.

    “The second major contributor to total trade by sector was manufactured goods with N1.17 billion or 22.1 per cent of total trade,’’ it stated.

    The report stated that manufactured goods were followed by the non-crude oil products, which was also a major contributor to total trade in the quarter under review.

    “The non-crude oil products stood at N1.15 billion or 21.8 per cent while Agricultural goods accounted for N212.7 billion or 4 per cent.

    “Raw material goods accounted for N309 billion or 5.9 per cent and Solid mineral goods stood at N13.1billion or 0.3 per cent of total trade in the quarter.’’

    The report stated that Nigeria’s export intensity in the months of October, November and December 2016 was the highest for South Africa with export intensities of 8.9, 7.3 and 4.1, respectively.

    It stated that export intensity in the fourth quarter was also intense with India with export intensities of 5.8, 5.8 and 1.7 for the last three months of 2016.

    “ Spain and Netherlands also had high export intensities with export intensities of 4.8, 2.9 and 2.0 for Spain and 2.2, 1.5 and 2.2 for the Netherlands.

    “Although United States was one of Nigeria’s major trading partners, its export intensity was low with 0.6, 0.6 and 0.2 for the last three months of 2016.’’

    Meanwhile, the report stated that Nigeria imported mainly from China with total imports of N404.1billion or 17.5 per cent of total imports.

    It stated that China was followed by Belgium with N356.46 billion or 15 per cent while import trade with Netherlands which was the third highest was valued at N230 billion or 10 per cent.

    “ The remaining trading partners contributed relatively lower proportion of the total import trade.

    “United States accounted for N205.6 billion or 8.9 per cent while India accounted for N113.9 billion or 4.9 per cent,’’ the report stated. (NAN)

  • Update: Egyptair crashed in Mediterranean- officials

    Update: Egyptair crashed in Mediterranean- officials

    Officials in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday confirmed that the missing Egyptair Flight 804 crashed in the Mediterranean Sea.

    The officials said in Cairo that initial findings showed that that the Airbus A320 has not landed at any nearby airports.

    The Egyptair said the Egyptian military search teams received a distress call from the emergency mechanisms of the missing aircraft at 4:26 am (0226 GMT) almost two hours after it disappeared from radar.

    According to the airline, the flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar at 2:30 am local time (0030 GMT), some 45 minutes before it was expected at Cairo airport.

    It said 30 Egyptians and 15 French nationals were among the passengers on the plane before it disappeared from radar.

    It said the other passengers include two Iraqis, and one person each from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Chad, Kuwait, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

  • Brussels attack; family to sue airport management

    Brussels attack; family to sue airport management

    The family of one of the victims of terror attack in Brussels, Belgium has vowed to sow the management of the airport for negligence of life.

     

    Elita Weah was one of 35 people killed in the bombings – claimed by Islamic State – on the airport and at a Metro station.

    Weah’s family now plans to take Brussels Airport to court for failing to protect its passengers from terrorists.

    Express reports that the family is considering filing a joint complaint with the relatives of fellow Dutch victims and siblings Alexander and Sascha Pinczowski.

    Speaking to Dutch newspaper NRC, Miss Weah’s brother Rasco Weah, “Many questions remain unanswered. We know nothing.

    “Only that she’s dead. The Belgians killed my sister! I’m going to fight against it,” he said

    Single mother Miss Weah, who was afraid of flying, was on her way to a funeral in the United States when she was killed in the attacks.

    Her family have spoken of their shock that she died in “safe Europe” after fleeing the civil war in their native Liberia.

    According to Express, the family’s plans to sue the airport for gross negligence come as police released new CCTV footage of one of the prime suspects behind the attack.

    Belgian authorities have been heavily criticised for a string of errors in the aftermath of the bombings and are appealing to the public to trace the man, who has been dubbed “the man in white” and “the man in the hat”.

    Weah, alongside two accomplices who died in the blast, was seen in CCTV images taken moments before the first bomb exploded on March 22.