Category News

Liverpool held meeting after Man Utd loss – Van Dijk

By in News, Sports News
Images courtesy of Getty
  • 104 Comments

Following their defeat at home to Manchester United on Sunday, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk claims to have convened a players’ meeting, but insists it wasn’t a “crisis” summit.

Liverpool lost their fourth straight defeat to United at Anfield on Sunday, falling to United 2-1.

The Reds finished joint third in the Premier League, four points clear of Arsenal.

Van Dijk said the squad had an opportunity to come together and open up about their recent form while acknowledging the club’s “low” mood at its Kirkby training ground on Monday.

    • two days ago
    • 14 hours ago

“We came together on Monday because the circumstances were difficult, but it wasn’t a crisis meeting.” We all understand the potential for change. October is only one month away.

We obviously had a proper debrief with the manager, but we also had a separate one as players. I wanted to say something. I don’t do it after every game. Let’s continue with that.

Liverpool’s emphatic 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday put an end to their losing streak.

Hugo Ekitike, Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Cody Gakpo scored for Liverpool’s first victory in a month, but Mohamed Salah was dropped from the starting lineup.

The only way to escape such a situation is to remain composed, focus on the task at hand, strive for improvement, maintain confidence, and embrace the present. They are all things that are more straightforward to say than to actually do. However, you must do it if you want to leave, Van Dijk said after the victory in Germany.

We live in a world where there is always someone who is better, always someone who knows better, and always something to be said. We must maintain our self-awareness.

“Everyone was happy after my meeting, but yes, the mood was low”!

Jeremie Frimpong and Alexander Isak both suffered injuries in Liverpool’s victory.

Isak was substituted at half-time with a groin strain, while Frimpong from the Netherlands was substituted in the first half with a hamstring issue.

related subjects

  • Liverpool
  • Premier League
  • Football

More on this story.

  • Anfield
  • Ask Me Anything logo

Trump sanctions Russian oil giants after Putin summit cancelled

By in News, World News
NewsFeed

Rosneft and Lukoil, two of Russia’s top oil companies, are under US President Donald Trump’s pressure to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Russian gas exports are the subject of a 19th round of sanctions, which the EU has approved. The actions, which Russia has labeled as “counterproductive,” were welcomed by President Zelenskyy.

Published On 23 Oct 2025

Agbakoba Pushes For Devolution To Rescue Nigeria’s Democracy

By in News, Nigeria News

Olisa Agbakoba, the senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has reiterated his call for decentralization of power, arguing that democracy will remain fragile without the transfer of power and resources to local governments and states.

Agbakoba made the call at a press conference in Lagos, Nigeria, where he presented a policy document titled “Devolution is the Solution – Foundational Reform Agenda for Transformation” (Francoise version).

Before the 2027 presidential elections, he referred to the blueprint as a blueprint for restructuring Nigeria’s political and economic systems.

Agbakoba criticized what he termed Nigeria’s “fatal illusion” of federalism, noting that the Federal Government is in charge of 97% of all revenues while the majority of states rely on bailouts.

Without federal assistance, “five out of thirty-six states cannot pay their salaries.” He claimed that there are more than 76 local governments and 36 states that serve as distribution centers for federal aid and are not development engines.

Read more about Western Democracy in Nigeria: Agbakoba and Defections Won’t Help.

He warned that because of this extreme centralization, millions of Nigerians are trapped in an unproductive informal economy, which only allows for three or four percent of GDP growth as opposed to the ten to twelve percent needed to escape poverty.

Political rather than economic

Agbakoba praised President Tinubu’s economic reforms, including those aimed at reducing fuel subsidies and liberalizing foreign exchange, but argued that they needed political reform to succeed.

“Political is the root of the problem,” not economic. Because you can’t patch a cracked foundation, he claimed, twenty-five years of constitutional amendments failed.

To formally impose federalism through a significant devolution of powers, the senior lawyer emphasized that Nigeria needs a new constitution rather than additional amendments.

Agbakoba argued that states should retain 60% of the nation’s internal revenue while maintaining control over their resources, including policing, electricity, and solid minerals.

He further stated that local governments must be granted constitutional authority in terms of community development, including education, healthcare, water, sanitation, and health.

The senior lawyer argued that the federal government should concentrate on foreign affairs, including currency, defense, immigration, and defense.

He claimed that a multi-centred economy with more people-centric governance would emerge from a centralized redistribution system.

Untapped Wealth , pp ,

Agbakoba noted that poor legislation and regulatory failures continue to stymie Nigeria’s 25 to 35 trillion-percent untapped revenue potential.

He revealed that illegal fishing, untaxed oil rigs, inefficient ports, and untaxed oil rigs cause annual losses of 11 trillion.

Additionally, the SAN claimed that unexploited resources like lithium, cobalt, and rare earths, valued at up to 45 trillion, are present. Agbakoba argued that the implementation of these reforms would set Nigeria on its way to a development boom.

“If these reforms are put into place, Nigeria could have $500 trillion in its budgets.” In terms of infrastructure, education, and healthcare, we might rival Asian economies.
He predicted that a strong middle class would emerge, agriculture would feed Africa, industries would create millions of jobs, and there would be global competition for technology hubs, he said.

If Nigerians reject the current system, which benefits a few while impoverishing millions, then this transformation, he claimed, could take place in five years with solid foundations by 2030.

According to Agbakoba, political and economic restructuring is necessary to safeguard Nigeria’s democracy.

Russian drone kills two Ukrainian journalists on Donetsk eastern front line

By in News, World News

According to their outlet and the Donetsk region regional governor, a Russian drone has attacked two Ukrainian journalists and injured another in the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.

A Russian Lancet drone was used to kill Olena Gramova, 43, and Yevgen Karmazin, 33, according to Freedom Media, a state-funded news agency. Alexander Kolychev, a different reporter, was taken to the hospital following the attack.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

The Donetsk regional governor earlier provided details about the strike and posted images of the journalists’ car’s burned remains, the AFP news agency reported.

Prior to joining the media in 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and began arming a separatist movement in Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbass, Gramova, a native of Yenakiieve in the Donetsk region, had a “finance specialist” degree.

Karmazin was born in Donetsk, Kramatorsk, and elsewhere. He “joined Ukraine’s international broadcasting channels as a cameraman in 2021,” according to the outlet.

They were present from day one, covering war crimes, soldier stories, and evacuations, according to a post on X from the Kyiv Post.

One of the few remaining civilian hubs in the Donetsk region that is still under Ukrainian control is Kramatorsk, which had a population of about 150 000 before the war.

Russian forces are about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the city, where officials earlier this month mandated the evacuation of young people from some towns and remote villages.

Unreal number of journalists are killed in conflict

Reporting from Ukraine’s front-line regions is becoming more dangerous as a result of the proliferation of cheap, deadly drones used by both Russian and Ukrainian forces.

A drone struck Antoni Lallican earlier in October in the eastern city of Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region, killing him.

According to Ukrainian forces cited by the European Federation of Journalists, a “targeted strike” from a first-person-view drone had killed Lallican, according to Ukrainian forces.

The exact number of journalists killed since the start of the 2022 war varies. According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, 17 journalists have been killed so far, both domestically and internationally. That number would increase to 19 with the deaths of Gramova and Karmazin.

At least 23 media workers were killed on both sides of the front lines, according to UNESCO earlier this month, including three Russian state media journalists in March. Russian correspondent Ivan Zuyev was killed in a drone strike in the southern Zaporizhia region in mid-October, according to state news agency RIA.

In recent years, there have been record journalists killed in conflicts, with deaths disproportionately higher in Gaza, where Israeli forces purposefully targeted media executives like Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri and freelance journalist Mariam Abu Daqqa.

Again, there are different reports regarding deaths since the two-year-old Gaza war started. By August of this year, 242 journalists had been killed, according to the UN. Shireen’s tally. More than 270 journalists and media workers were killed by Israeli forces over the same time, according to Ps, a monitoring website named after murdered Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Week of the wonderkids – who shone in Champions League?

By in News, Sports News
Images courtesy of Getty
Emily Salley

journalist for BBC Sport
  • 186 Comments

Six teenagers scored the most points in a single competition round this week, making it the highest total for youth in the Champions League.

Lamine Yamal of Barcelona and Myles Lewis-Skelly of Arsenal were the two stars who surprised, but those names need no introduction right now.

Chelsea kids leave a legacy

JavaScript must be enabled in your browser to play this video.

Given how successful their young players were in a 5-1 defeat of Ajax, this article could be made up entirely of Chelsea players.

The Blues became the first Champions League team to have three teenager scorers and gave 10 players under the age of 21 the first.

The 19-year-old Spaniard, known as a powerful, quick number nine, fired home to briefly become the club’s youngest goalscorer in the competition with Marc Guiu scoring first.

Estevao Willian, who is one year, three months old, and 20 days younger, recorded a penalty for his record on Wednesday night, which was only 33 minutes long.

Ex-England striker Wayne Rooney once referred to Estevao as a “special talent” when he scored a late winner against Liverpool earlier this month, while his Chelsea team-mate Jorrel Hato, another teenager who started against Ajax, said Barca sensation Yamal is the only player of comparison.

The 19-year-old is already a household name after a breakthrough season with the Blues last term when he played 750 minutes as they won the Europa Conference League title.

    • 21 hours ago

Viktor Dadason

Viktor DadasonImages courtesy of Getty
Age: 17. Striker as a Position. Icelandic nationality
Viktor Dadason scored a consolation goal for Copenhagen in the 90th minute of their 4-2 defeat by Borussia Dortmund, making him the third youngest player to score in the modern Champions League era at just 17 years and 113 days old.

He made his debut in the Danish Superliga on Friday, scoring his first goal for the team.

Karl Lennart

JavaScript must be enabled in your browser to play this video.

Age: 17. Attacking midfielder is the position. German as a nationality.

Karl Lennart wasted no time in showcasing why he is one of Germany’s brightest prospects on his first start for Bayern Munich.

After five minutes, Bayern scored their first goal against Club Brugge by wallowing past two defensemen with a left-footed shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.

JavaScript must be enabled in your browser to play this video.

Dr. Fernandez

Dr. FernandezImages courtesy of Getty
Age: 17. Midfielder is my profession. Spanish as a nationality.

The latest talent from the famed La Masia academy production line, Dr. Fernandez made his first senior competitive start last month after taking part in Barcelona’s pre-season tour of Japan.

In Tuesday’s 6-1 victory over Olympiacos, the 17-year-old Spaniard added an assist after receiving the ball on the half-turn before flying into space and slamming a perfectly weighted pass into Fermin Lopez’s path.

Roony Bardghji

Roony Bardghji of FC Barcelona plays in front of Bruno Onyemaechi of OlympiacosImages courtesy of Getty
Age: 19. Winger as the position. Swedish as the nationality.

Another teenager, Roony Bardghji, who helped Lopez score a hat-trick, recently joined Barcelona from Copenhagen.

Lopez fired home from the penalty spot after the 19-year-old fizzed in a cross from an Olympiacos defender with the “elastico” talent.

Bardghji, who was born in Kuwait to Syrian parents, moved to Sweden at the age of six and made his Swedish debut earlier this month. He is said to have “similar characteristics to Mohamed Salah.”

    • August 16

related subjects

  • UEFA Champions League
  • Football

FIFA tournament featuring Afghan women’s refugee team relocated to Morocco

By in News, World News

Published On 23 Oct 2025

The world’s largest football organization announced that the Afghanistan women’s refugee team’s tournament, which was organized by FIFA and was to take place in Morocco, will be held on Sunday.

The UAE, Chad, and Libyan national women’s teams are also competing in the “FIFA Unites: Women’s Series” tournament, which was originally scheduled to take place from October 23 to October 29 in Dubai.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

The Taliban’s ban on women’s sports, which led to the formation of the Afghanistan women’s refugee team, led to the Taliban’s 2021 invasion, which caused players to flee the country for fear of persecution.

FIFA thanked the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FMRF) for their support of a successful tournament, according to a statement from FIFA.

Following consultation with FIFA, the Afghan women’s refugee team has come up with the name “Afghan Women United,” according to the governing body.