It is now certain that Brazilian superstar Neymar will undergo surgery on his fractured foot in Brazil, ruling him out of Paris Saint-Germains do-or-die Champions League clash with Real Madrid on 6 March.

The 26-year-old suffered a hairline fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot as well as a twisted ankle late in PSGs 3-0 win over Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

PSG said Wednesday that Rodrigo Lasmar, the surgeon with the Brazilian national squad, will carry out the operation with several Brazilian media outlets reporting that the surgery would take place as early as Thursday.

Radio Tupi said Neymar, his father and surgeon Lasmar left Paris Wednesday night for Belo Horizontes Mater Dei Hospital where the operation is set for Thursday according to O Globo newspaper, one of Brazils leading dailies.

Website UoL also reported the surgery would take place in the southeastern Brazil city but said it was scheduled for Sunday.

On Tuesday, the Brazilians father had claimed the player would be out for at least six weeks.

Speaking to ESPN in Brazil before PSGs announcement, Neymar Senior said: PSG know that they will not be able to count on Neymar for the upcoming matches. His treatment will last six to eight weeks, whether there is an operation or not.

PSG coach Unai Emery had said earlier that no decision had been taken on whether Neymar would require surgery and that there remained a small chance of getting him back in time to face Real next Tuesday, March 6.

PSG lost 3-1 in the first leg in Spain two weeks ago and are in danger of being knocked out of the competition in the last 16 for the second season running.

Neymar appeared to be in tears as he was stretchered off the field at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.

Brazilian newspaper Globo Esporte claimed the former Barcelona player would be sidelined until May while, if his fathers estimate was correct, Neymar would not return before the semi-final stage of the Champions League in late April.

However, Neymar should be fit to play for Brazil at the World Cup in Russia in June and July.

In the meantime, PSG had to do without Neymar for Wednesdays French Cup quarter-final at home to Marseille, the second meeting of the clubs in four days.

Argentine star Angel Di Maria replaced the Brazilian at the Parc des Princesand scored twice in a 3-0 win as PSG stayed on course to win the French Cup for the fourth season in a row.

But Emery was then confronted with another injury worry when striker Kylian Mbappe picked up an ankle injury in the game.

Kylian Mbappe injured his ankle. He asked not to play the second half. I hope that its not too serious, said Emery.

Neymar has scored 28 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions for PSG since his 222 million-euro ($264 million) move from Barcelona last August.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, Neymars foot injury has unleashed sharp emotions and concern, rumours and speculation about the player upon whom so many hopes rest for World Cup victory.

We just might have lost the World Cup last Sunday, one radio commentator, Milton Neves of Bandnews FM, said early Wednesday.

Brazilians care little about the impact on PSG. Their attention is entirely trained on the World Cup, where they have ambitions of walking away with a sixth championship.

Images of Sundays fateful duel between Neymar and Marseille player Bouna Sarr were being shown incessantly on TV, often in slo-mo, before he was stretchered off.

Newspapers featured close-up illustrations detailing Neymars foot and ankle.

I dont think we can really talk about fears of him not being at the World Cup. But there is a noticeable haste to find a solution so that Neymar will have recovered in time, an ESPN Brasil sports commentator, Mauro Cezar Pereira, told AFP.

Source: NAN

Soccer crazy Brazilians are now worried as their superstar Neymar will be sidelined for up to three months perilously close to the eve of the World Cup after undergoing surgery on his broken foot.

Neymars doctor gave the bleak assessment on Thursday.

The worse than previously announced prognosis came as the Paris Saint-Germain striker, 26, arrived in Rio de Janeiro on an Air France flight from Paris for Saturdays operation.

The (recovery) period will be around two and a half to three months, national team surgeon Rodrigo Lasmar, who flew with Neymar, said.

The injury has not only ruled the worlds most expensive player out of PSGs make-or-break Champions League clash with Real Madrid on March 6, but more worryingly for the football-mad public in Brazil, also threatens the much-fancied national sides build-up to the World Cup, starting in Russia on June 14.

Lasmar, who will lead the surgery at a hospital in Belo Horizonte, underlined that there is no quick fix for the striker.

Its not a simple fracture, but a fracture in an important bone in the middle of the foot, Lasmar said.

Dressed in a black hoodie, a black baseball cap and wearing sunglasses, Neymar left the plane in a wheelchair. He smiled and took selfies with other passengers, before leaving on a private jet to an undisclosed destination.

The initial assessment did not appear quite as serious on Sunday, when Neymar was reported to have suffered a hairline fracture of the fifth metatarsal, as well as a twisted ankle late in PSGs 3-0 win over Marseille in Ligue 1.

Neymars father had predicted at least six weeks out, while PSG coach Unai Emery even said there remained a small chance of getting him back in time to face Real.

Lasmars assessment painted a graver picture.

Yesterday we went back to the hospital (in Paris) and made new exams that left the seriousness of the fracture very clear, he told journalists in Rio.

There was no doubt left regarding the treatment. We were unanimous in agreeing that it would have to be surgical treatment. More conservative treatment, without surgery, would present a far greater risk for refracture. We cant run that risk.

The drama is a big personal setback for Neymar who has been at the centre of the worlds footballing attention since his 222 million-euro ($264 million) move from Barcelona last August.

He has scored 28 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions for PSG since arriving. But on Sunday he looked to be in tears as he was stretchered off the field at the Parc des Princes.

PSG lost 3-1 to Real in the first leg of their European tie in Spain two weeks ago and are in danger of being knocked out of the competition in the last 16 for the second season running.

Neymar misses friendlies

Brazilians attention is entirely trained on the World Cup, where they have ambitions of walking away with a sixth title after the humiliation of crashing out 7-1 to Germany in the 2014 semi-finals on home soil a match Neymar missed after picking up an injury in the last eight against Colombia.

Even if Neymar gets back in time, he appears sure to miss two warm-up friendlies against Russia and Germany in March.

Brazilians have high hopes for the World Cup with him and many are afraid he wont be able to take part, said one fan, kiosk owner Gabriel Tavares Barreto in Rio de Janeiro.

I think hell recover in time, but thats what Brazilians are worrying about, the 21-year-old said.

Source: NAN

It may not be officially over but Arsenal are limping along on life support while coaches like Pep Guardiola demonstrate whats required at this level.

Arsene Wengers Arsenal will exist officially at least until the end of this season. But theres no life there. Its gone; all over. Anyone can see that now.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came in January but they are CPR signings. Theres no plan for them. Under this man, this club is limping along on life support. Please, someone, come in June and have enough humanity to pull the plug and let it die. Then the club can rise again.

People like Raul Sanllehi, Sven Mislintat and Huss Fahmy were originally brought to the club to ease the transition from the Wengerian times to the post-Wengerian times. But its too late. Its no longer a transition. Itll have to be a reincarnation; a phoenix from the flames job.

The great irony, though, is that Wenger deserves all of the credit for modern Arsenal but perversely all of the blame. It was Wenger who delivered the trophies, the stadium, Henry, the invincibility, the history. But it was Wenger who oversaw this inexcusable decline.

He was in title terms always second-best to Sir Alex Ferguson, the odd double aside. But one area in which Wenger has thoroughly out-performed his Scottish rival is how to run a club into the ground.

Manchester United are five years into their post-Ferguson era and are no closer to being restored to their perch at the top of English football. Some of the blame for that decline lies with the man himself and his failure to prepare the club for the day he would no longer be there.

Most of the blame, though, belongs to the Glazers, who, for too long, trusted him to pump the clubs chest and give it mouth-to-mouth. When he walked away, it flatlined.

Well, United, if you want to see how to botch a handover, just have a look at whats currently transpiring in north London.

Thursday nights 3-0 loss at home to Manchester City may not mark the end of it all but its certainly a sign of the times. Yes, its cold out, yes, the roads arent in great shape but just look again at the number of vacant seats inside the Emirates.

This ground wasnt built with half-full in mind. It wasnt designed to be a cold, cavernous bowl where fans would come to abuse and make sure the team and Wenger knew how unhappy they were.

But this is Arsenal now: a total laughing stock. Opposition fans chant that they want Wenger to stay. Is there a sadder indictment on one of the most transformative figures English football has ever known?

Arsenal couldnt lay a glove on City here. For the first time ever, they conceded three first-half Premier League goals. City, under Pep Guardiola, ruthlessly demonstrated what the expected standards of a top team should be.

Yes, theres Abu Dhabi energy wealth in the difference between the sides but that shouldnt count for much on a night like this.

Four days ago, Arsenal were exposed to a type of humiliation in a cup final which would make them wish they hadnt qualified in the first place.

Give something, anything, just to show the people you care or that you learned something. They got more of the same. City were good, really good, but it was an occasion when you wanted Arsenal to show they wouldnt roll over again.

The quality of Citys goals showed what they were up against; the gap Wenger would have to breach if he was even to pretend that he had the wherewithal to turn this all around.

Keeping the ball, one-touch passes, assassin-like finishes: City gave everything at a stage of the season where they could probably afford to give nothing and still win the title.

It seems like talk of the top four is irrelevant with Arsenal right now, even if the Europa League is still there as a Champions League failsafe. But its not like Manchester United last year.

Whether you liked it or not, Jose Mourinho had a plan. He chucked the league and went for the Europa instead and it paid off. But you cant trust Arsenal to follow the same path. You cant trust Arsenal to beat AC Milan. You cant even trust them to beat Ostersunds.

But what can be relied upon is their relentless consistency in living down to expectations. Would we get a reaction to Sunday? Would Wenger show hes got the fight left inside? Would Arsenal surprise everyone and give Manchester City a game?

It was 3-0 by half-time and even those who dont support them might have finally had enough. Pointless.

*By Peter Staunton. Culled from Goal.com

Source: NAN

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi on Thursday said that all healthcare facilities in the state would remain shut until all its minimum demands are met.

A communique issued after an Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) of the association in Lokoja, and signed by its Chairman, Dr Godwin Tijani, and the Secretary, Dr Zubair Kabiru, also directed its members in FMC Lokoja, to proceed on sympathy strike on the first three days of every month.

The association said it has allowed,in its magnanimity, some of its members in FMC Lokoja to continue to offer skeletal services, despite declaring an industrial action.

It also said doctors managing the Lassa fever Centre at Kogi State Specialist Hospital Lokoja, were allowed to attend to emergency cases andprivate practitioners in the state rendered healthcare services to the general public without hindrance.

The Congress believes that the Kogi Government has been given ample time and opportunity to resolve the issues at stake.

Congress also noted the unfortunate development where some experienced medical officers were asked to proceed on compulsory retirement for no justifiable reasons, it said.

The association said that the industrial action would be sustained until their minimum demands are met. Among them is the payment of the balance of 40 per cent salary arrears from August to December 2017.

Another is the payment of 100 per cent salaries and arrears for January and February 2018, as well as the implementation of the Revised CONMESS, among others.

Henceforth, all healthcare centres in the state should remain shut until our minimum demands are met.

All private healthcare facilities in the state will subsequently be shut down if there is no response from the Kogi Government in the next few days.

Finally, NMA should not be held responsible for any consequences that may result from this action as the Kogi Government has had adequate time to avert these crises, the statement read in part.

The association expressed gratitude to the medical elders for their counsel, and appreciated all her members especially those who had been going through harrowing experiences, but have strictly complied with the ongoing strike.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the NMA in Kogi on Jan. 7, directed its members to resume a strike they suspended on June 22, 2017. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The President of the Senate Dr Bukola Saraki is set to lead a delegation of lawmakers to address the Ghanaian parliament as part of activities to mark 25 years of uninterrupted democracy in the country.

Saraki who is set to depart for Ghana on Sunday on a two day official visit, is expected to address the Ghanaian Parliament on how to build a stronger African relationship.

The President of the Senate would be addressing the parliament at a symposium with the theme

Saraki would be accompanied by Deputy Leader of the Senate Bala Ibn Nallah, Chief Whip of the Senate Sen. Olusola Adeyeye, Sen. Phillip Aduda, Sen. Rafiu Ibrahim and Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu.

Speaking with our correspondent on Thursday, Special Assistant to Saraki on Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Bamikole Omishore said that trade relations, from a parliamentary point of view was a major focus of the inter-parliamentary meeting.

Omishore said that available information indicate that it is easier to do business in Europe and America than it is to do in Ghana and other African countries.

Once we can get our relationship with Ghana right, we can improve on ECOWAS and then the entire African Union, he said.

Plans are already underway by the executive and the national assembly to review trade treaties and conventions to made doing business in Nigeria and with other countries easier.

In an earlier interview granted by Omishore, he said that the aim of the review is to domesticate such treaties so that they benefit Nigeria first.

Nigeria has different treaties and partnerships that weve signed with different countries.

We are now going through all those treaties to see how we can domesticate them in Nigeria to make sure that Nigeria is getting the best from every agreement that is signed by different countries.

The executive is taking a lead, ours in the 8Senate is to make sure we provide the legislative framework and the appropriate oversight to make sure the interest of Nigeria is protected at all times.

I remember the executive made mention towards the end of last year that they would be reviewing different treaties because as you rightly said, times are improving and changing.

The executive is taking a look at it but at the national assemblys leadership is also looking to see if some of those things favour us or not.

You also mentioned the illicit financial flows thats going on, thats definitely being looked at as well.

The 8National Assembly is looking to make sure that the illicit transactions are stopped but at the same time, create an environment for businesses to be done with ease.

Over the last few months, you might have noticed the bills on ease of doing business and also the bill on NFIU in Senate, those are part of a wide range of legislative interventions to make sure Nigeria conforms with international best practices, he said.

Source: NAN

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the National Assembly has assured that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will be passed by June.

The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, said this at the 2018 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers in Abuja on Thursday.

Baru, who was represented by the NNPC Chief Operating Officer Upstream, Dr Rabiu Bello, said the Bills must be looked into in order to attract the needed N25 billion year-on-year investments to the industry.

In the area of policy, the popular omnibus single petroleum industry bill has been broken into three parts for quick review and passage by the National Assembly.

As you aware, the first part of the bill, the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill was passed by the House recently.

When the other sections of the bill are finally passed, it will unlock more than10 billion dollars of investment held up due to uncertainty.

The promise we got last week from the National Assembly was that before the end of the second quarter of this year which we see as June 30, they promise the three other bills will also be concluded and passed.

So, hopefully, 2018 will see the end of all the discussions around the PIB which started in year 2000, Baru said.

Baru noted that its planned revamp of four of its refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt, would include an upgrade of their collective refining capacities from their present 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) to one million barrels per day (mbd).

It said once the 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery in Lagos come on-stream, Nigeria would become a net exporter of refined petroleum products.

Baru said the Federal Government had completed more than 500 km gas pipelines in eight years.

We have embarked on one of the most aggressive gas reforms and implementation.

Accelerated implementation of gas pipeline infrastructure development, with specific focus on critical pipeline infrastructure to power plants being put in place.

Between 2010 and today, almost 500 km of pipelines have been completed, commissioned and now delivering gas, he said.

He listed some of the completed pipelines to include the Oben-Geregu (196km), Escravos-Warri-Oben (110km), Emuren-Itoki (50km), Itoki-Olorunshogo (31km), Imo River-Alaoji (24km), and Ukanafun-Calabar (128km).

In addition, there is ongoing construction of the very strategic East-West OB3 pipeline (127km) scheduled for completion by Q3 2018.

The expansion of the Escravos-Lagos Gas Pipeline System is scheduled for completion by Q1 2018.

Most recently, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the contract award of the 40-inch by 614 Km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline and associated facilities.

This pipeline is expected to supply natural gas to power plants and industries in the northern part of the country.

Once completed, the nationwide backbone gas infrastructure will be in place.

With the effort in infrastructure development, we would have expanded supply capacity, establishing an integrated gas pipeline infrastructure grid across the entire country, he said.

The lecture had the theme: `The Nigerian Oil Industry in a world of Changing Energy Supply: Are we prepared?

It had panelists from across the sector charting the way forward on gas and renewable energy as oil would soon be phased out with the introduction of electric cars in industrialised countries. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) said evacuation of products, turn around maintenance, insecurity were among the major factors affecting the nations refineries from operating optimally.

Dr Rabiu Bello, the NNPC Chief Operating Officer Upstream, made this known while speaking during a question-and-answer session at the 2018 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum organised by the Society of Engineers.

He admitted that the nations refineries in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt were not performing optimally but expressed hope that it would be a thing of the past soon.

According to him, once the Dangote Refinery comes on stream and the refineries work at capacity, Nigeria could become an enviable exporter of refined products.

He said: Are the refineries working optimally, the answer is no. There a few reasons hindering their optimal performance.

One is the issue of security. Even if one refinery is working perfectly and there is unrest in the region, the products cannot go in or out.

There was a period one did not work for 28 months but thank God weve gone past that.

Second is the issue of investments and turn around maintenance. We are having series of talks with our investors and we are at the stage of discussing terms.

We are not looking for government money but peoples monies are in there. We want to operate optimally but with efficient partnerships.

He said it was a thing of shame that Nigeria, as the largest producer of crude in Africa and 13th largest in the World, was the largest importer of petrol and the only OPEC country that imports refined products.

This costs so much money. It is shameful that we produce and ship out.

It takes 14 days to ship in refined petroleum products from Europe and about 17 days in all to get that product to Maiduguri.

If the refineries were working perfectly, the products would get to as far as Maiduguri in under 24 hours, Bello said.

The Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Mr Aliyu Gusau, said what had emerged from all discussions at the lecture was that the world was embracing renewable energy.

The question is are we ready? Whether we are prepared or not, the journey has commenced. We need to move away from digging oil from the ground and exporting to developing human resources.

Are we ready to develop this capacity? That is why we give kudos to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for placing emphasis on these things, he said.

Also speaking, the Principal, Petroleum Training Institute, Prof. Sunny Iyuke, , called on stakeholders in the industry to support the industry to look the way of renewable energy.

The 2018 Lecture had the theme: The Nigerian Oil Industry In a World of Changing Energy Supply: Are we Prepared?(NAN)

Source: NAN

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi on Thursday said that all healthcare facilities in the state would remain shut until all its minimum demands are met.

A communique issued after an Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) of the association in Lokoja, and signed by its Chairman, Dr Godwin Tijani, and the Secretary, Dr Zubair Kabiru, also directed its members in FMC Lokoja, to proceed on sympathy strike on the first three days of every month.

The association said it has allowed,in its magnanimity, some of its members in FMC Lokoja to continue to offer skeletal services, despite declaring an industrial action.

It also said doctors managing the Lassa fever Centre at Kogi State Specialist Hospital Lokoja, were allowed to attend to emergency cases andprivate practitioners in the state rendered healthcare services to the general public without hindrance.

The Congress believes that the Kogi Government has been given ample time and opportunity to resolve the issues at stake.

Congress also noted the unfortunate development where some experienced medical officers were asked to proceed on compulsory retirement for no justifiable reasons, it said.

The association said that the industrial action would be sustained until their minimum demands are met. Among them is the payment of the balance of 40 per cent salary arrears from August to December 2017.

Another is the payment of 100 per cent salaries and arrears for January and February 2018, as well as the implementation of the Revised CONMESS, among others.

Henceforth, all healthcare centres in the state should remain shut until our minimum demands are met.

All private healthcare facilities in the state will subsequently be shut down if there is no response from the Kogi Government in the next few days.

Finally, NMA should not be held responsible for any consequences that may result from this action as the Kogi Government has had adequate time to avert these crises, the statement read in part.

The association expressed gratitude to the medical elders for their counsel, and appreciated all her members especially those who had been going through harrowing experiences, but have strictly complied with the ongoing strike.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the NMA in Kogi on Jan. 7, directed its members to resume a strike they suspended on June 22, 2017. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Israel will for the first time host an official visit by a member of the British royal family when Prince William travels there this summer, it wason Thursday.

The visit is coming Seventy years after David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the independence of the state of Israel and an end to the British Mandate in Palestine.

Prince William, who is second in line to the British throne, will visit Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories in the occupied West Bank.

No specific date was announced. His father and grandfather have traveled to Israel, but not as part of an official royal visit.

The prince will visit at the request of the government of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, Kensington Palace, his royal residence,.

The lack of a formal visit has long been a sore point for many Israelis.

Some had interpreted it as a snub , aof Israel or, perhaps, the result of in Arab countries.

For now the assumption is that the prince will not travel with his family. He and his wife, Kate, are expecting their third child in April.

Read More at :https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/world/middleeast/prince-william-israel-visit.html

Source: NAN

Gov Samuel Ortom has called forurgent measures to address thedeplorable conditions of the camps hosting people displaced by the incessant attacks on Benue rural communities.

The camps are terrible; the living conditions there are nauseating. Something urgent must be done to assist the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Ortom said on Thursday.

Ortom spoke in Makurdi when he received members of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation, led by is chairman, Babangda Aliyu, at the Banquet hall of the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi.

He said that 60 per cent of the IDPs were children who had missed examinations and did not know when to return to school.

The facilities at the camps are inadequate and too deplorable to provide minimum comfort for these children.

The attacks keep going on and more people are fleeing their homes and taking refuge in the camps, making them overcrowded.

In spite of the presence of Exercise Cat Race, herders are still killing and displacing local farmers from their ancestral homes.

The Benue people are law abiding and have refrained from resorting to violence even at the height of provocation, but we cannot continue like this, he said.

He called on members of the foundation to appeal to the federal government to pursue justice for his people.

All we ask of the federal government is justice, the rule of law and an end to impunity. We have suffered too much in the hands of the herders who carry out these attacks against our people with impunity.

Between 2012 and 2018, we have had 47 attacks on Benue communities. Lives and property worth millions have been lost, but in spite of these attacks, we have remained law abiding.

He said it was difficult to revive grazing routes,and called on herdsmen in the state to obey the anti-open grazing law.

Also speaking, Ortoms predecessor and deputy chairman of the foundation, Gabriel Suswam, commended the people for supporting their governor on the law, and assured them that the foundation would relay their message to the government.

He assured Ortom of his support toward achieving peace in the state.

I will work with Gov Ortom towards achieving peace in the state; our party differences will not affect this commitment.

It was the Tor Tiv that ordered me to work with the governor to ensure peace in the state. As someone who has received so much from the state, I have to obey.

Suswam appealed to the federal government to work out modalities toward halting the influx of foreign herders in the country.

The killings in the country seem to get worse everyday. Government must rise to this challenge, he said. (NAN

Source: NAN