Where do Manchester United go from here? There were good signs, but they were sadly far outweighed by the bad. In some ways, this 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur -- their second in two games in the Premier League -- was more dispiriting than their defeat to Brighton. Against Brighton, they showed a lack of intensity throughout; here, spurred on by six changes to their starting eleven, they nevertheless succumbed to a counter-attacking performance of the most ruthless efficiency. The start of the performance was far more positive, which is what made the closing stages all the more disappointing. Positives Jesse Lingard, save one crucial miss at 0-2, was very, very good, and Luke Shaw was the pick of the team -- he has arguably been his team's best player in each of the first three games of the season. Negatives United started very well, and at a remarkable tempo, but then regressed in both match control and decision-making, their midfielders and defenders caught o...

As British Prime Minister Theresa May visits Nigeria and two other African countries this week, the country reported it had returned £70 million recovered from a Nigerian, who was convicted of fraud by an Italian court. The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright, said in Abuja: “There was an Italian court case with a particular person involved. A portion the fund has been in the UK and that was the portion that was returned recently from the UK to Nigeria.’’ The envoy did not mention the identity of the Nigerian involved in the offence, but said more funds would be repatriated. He stressed that his country was working with the Nigerian government to accelerate the legal process of returning the looted money. “The British government has no intention of keeping one kobo of Nigerian funds in the UK. It all must come back to Nigeria. “Just as in Nigeria, the UK feels that the judicial process is important, and we have to go through those processes before the mon...

Former Manchester United captain, Gary Neville, has insisted that the club will not fire manager Jose Mourinho during the season, despite the tension and bad results. Mourinho watched on as United suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Premier League against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday. Speaking on Monday Night Football, Neville said United should aim to let him see out the remaining two years on his deal. He saw the end of his contract at Inter Milan, he saw the end of his contract at Porto and he saw the end of his contract at Real Madrid. “It’s only at Chelsea, which is a club of madness, where this has happened. At Inter Milan, Porto and Real Madrid he saw it to the end so let’s not rewrite history. At Chelsea, everybody dies a little bit early. It’s that type of club, he’s not on his own there. “It was tough for him at Real Madrid and he got through to the end of the season. I don’t see it happening during the season. To suggest that Manchester United are li...

The trial of 24 people, including a former intelligence agency informant, suspected in the killings of two UN sanctions monitors in 2017 in central Congo resumed on Monday after a 10-month suspension, defence lawyers said. Zaida Catalan, a Swede, and Michael Sharp, an American, were killed in March 2017 while investigating an armed conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region between government forces and the local Kamuina Nsapu militia. Congo’s government has blamed their kidnappings and killings on the militia but some Western governments and rights groups suspect state officials may have been involved as Catalan and Sharp were conducting investigations in an area where the United Nations has accused Congo’s military of war crimes. Congolese government officials initially said no state agents were involved in the killings and that they did not know at the time that the two experts were in the region. But they later said they could not exclude the possibility state ...

Two Chilean tourists facing the death penalty in Malaysia for allegedly murdering a man in a hotel are innocent and acted in self-defence, their lawyer said Monday. Felipe Osiadacz and Fernando Candia are on trial over the killing of a Malaysian in the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur hotel in August last year, less than 24 hours after they arrived in the country on holiday. The young men have pleaded not guilty. Malaysia has a mandatory death penalty for murder, and if convicted the pair will be hanged. “It was all an accident. A person went into the hotel and demanded money from them,” their lawyer Venkateswari Alagendra told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur High Court after a hearing. The Malaysian man then attacked the Chileans and they fought back in self-defence, before calling the police, she said. She said she was confident that the pair, who went on trial earlier this year, would be acquitted. Two women were seen hugging the men after Monday’s court hearing, but decline...

Troops of 82 Division Task Force Brigade deployed in Operation LAFIYA DOLE, on Sunday, while on fighting patrol at Kukawa general area, killed several Boko Haram insurgents in Kalamari area of Borno State. The troops said they got information on the terrorists’ activities in Kalamari village, 30 Kilometres to Kukawa town of Borno State. Texas Chukwu, Director Army Public Relations, said the insurgents met their waterloo while on looting and extortion mission in Kalamari village and were confronted by the gallant troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE.’ He said, “during the encounter following a superior fire power of the troops, three members of the Boko Haram Terrorists were neutralised. “Items recovered include three AK 47 rifle, two magazines, four rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. “Meanwhile, the gallant troops have continued with aggressive fighting patrol, as efforts are on by the troops to track down other fleeing members of the Boko Haram Terrorists from any hideout, after they s...

At least four people have been killed and seven others wounded in clashes that broke out between rival armed groups in Libya's capital, Tripoli, as they attempt to take control of the city. The health ministry declared a state of emergency on Monday, according to local media, after the Sunday evening clashes continued to escalate. The fighting erupted between local militias and al-Kani tribal fighters from Tarhouna, southeast of Tripoli, who are sending reinforcements to the country's north.  Both sides technically operate under Libya's UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). Heavy weapons, including artillery, have been used in the fighting, according to witnesses. Residential areas have been hit by what seems to be random shelling and several families have had to evacuate their homes. Roads were blocked, while tanks and armoured vehicles were seen at several places across the city. The Presidential Council (PC) responded by condemning the GNA for ...

Karim Benzema netted twice and Gareth Bale scored a trademark goal as Real Madrid overcame an early scare at Girona to win 4-1 on Sunday. Seeking their second win of the new La Liga season, the European champions went behind after Borja Garcia opened the scoring for Girona with a superb goal after 17 minutes. Real briefly looked rattled as Girona probed and Marcelo was continually exposed in the Real defence. But the inevitable comeback started when Marco Asensio was sent tumbling to the turf by a clumsy challenge and captain Sergio Ramos scored with an audacious ‘panenka’ penalty on 39 minutes. Asensio won his side’s second spot kick as Pere Pons lunged at the Real forward. This time it was Karim Benzema who stepped up to stroke home the penalty for his first goal of the season. Bale produced a typical finish for Real’s third goal, sprinting away from the Girona defence after being released by a wonderful pass from Isco and calmly steering the ball home. Benzema scored ...

Five children left at home alone and locked in by their parents were killed in a fire in a slum at a district of the Philippine capital on Monday, firefighters said. The victims, four boys and one girl, aged between 1 and 12 years old suffered burns and suffocation, said fire marshall Jones Silvano. An initial investigation showed that the fire began in the victims’ three-storey house in the Tondo district of Manila. Two of the children were reportedly playing with a lighter and ignited some clothes. Their father was at work, while their mother had gone out to buy food and locked the door from the outside, trapping the siblings inside when the fire struck. One of the siblings, a nine-year-old boy, survived by jumping from a window on the second floor, Silvano said. “The boy called out to his elder brother to also jump, but his brother opted to stay with the younger siblings,” he said. The fire quickly spread and damaged a total of 40 houses, leaving about 500 people ...

An outbreak of Ebola in eastern DR Congo has killed 67 people this month, authorities said Saturday, as they roll out a battery of new drugs to tackle the virus amid concerns it has spread to a rebel-encircled area. A total of 105 cases have been reported since the flare-up of Ebola began on August 1 in Mangina in North Kivu province, according to the health ministry, out of which 77 have been confirmed by laboratory tests. It said 11 people have recovered from the virus and 67 had died. Health minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga travelled to Mangina on Thursday and saw two patients being discharged after they were treated with a new prototype treatment called mAb114. “These two people are among the first 10 patients to have received the therapeutic molecule mAb114,” the ministry said in a statement. Developed in the United States, it is the first therapeutic drug to be used in an active Ebola epidemic in the DRC. Earlier this week, the health ministry said four other experimental...

US president, Donald Trump, called his Nigeria counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari, lifeless after their April meeting,  claimed global business publication, Financial Times in a recent publication. Buhari and Trump met at the White House on April 30. Both leaders discussed issues bordering on fighting terrorism and economic growth. However, as Trump is set to welcome President  Uhuru Kenyatta  of Kenya, Financial Times in an article titled  Africa looks for something new out of Trump claimed that the US leader described his April meeting with Buhari as ‘so lifeless’. The paper added that Trump warned his aides that he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again. “The first meeting, with Nigeria’s ailing 75-year-old Muhammadu Buhari in April, ended with the US president telling aides he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, according to three people familiar with the matter,” the newspaper claimed.

Barcelona view Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah as a €250 million (£226m/$291m) successor to Lionel Messi, claims  Don Balon . Salah has established himself as one of the most devastating attackers in world football over the past couple of years and is being lined up by Barca to take over the mantle from Messi, and also to provide support due to concerns over the long-term form of Luis Suarez. Kylian Mbappe is also a player of interest, but Barca are planning to make a move to bring in Egypt star Salah in the summer of 2019.

New York – U.S. President Donald Trump and his predecessors, former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter, have paid tributes in memory of Sen. John McCain who died on Saturday. McCain McCain, 81, a Republican Senator representing Arizona at the congress since 1982, died after failing to battle brain cancer . Eulogies from liberal and conservative figures alike, have been pouring in. The family announced in a statement: “Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28 p.m. on August 25, 2018. With the Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years”. Trump, in a tweet on Saturday evening said: “My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!” The late Arizona Republican, had organised his funeral, and close associates had told the White House in May that he did not want Trump to be invited. In...