By Cecilia Ologunagba

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) have congratulated Nigeria on being declared free of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV).

WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, disclosed this in a statement posted on its website.

The independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) for Polio Eradication on Tuesday, officially declared WHO African Region is free of wild poliovirus.

The statement stated that while the UN agencies congratulated Nigeria on the status, they emphasised that achieving the milestone was not the end of the job all children under five years must continue to be vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases.

This is critical to significantly reduce avoidable mortality in Nigerian children under five years old, keep polio permanently out of Nigeria and ensure better health and well being for future generations.

The UN agencies also congratulated fellow Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners in Nigeria who helped reach this achievement: Rotary International; the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

They also congratulated Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) as well as Nigerian traditional and religious leaders and volunteer community mobilisers as the foot soldiers who fought to free Nigerian children from the wild poliovirus.

The statement quoted Dr Walter Mulumbo, WHO Nigeria Country Representative, as saying: WHO rejoices with the people and government of Nigeria and acknowledges that wild polio-free certification is undoubtedly the greatest public health.

It acknowledges that the certification is the greatest triumph in the annals of Nigeria and indeed Africa that will bequeath to posterity lessons learnt and best practices for addressing future public health interventions.

Both UN agencies expressed strong appreciation for the role played by all stakeholders, especially the commitment and support of the Nigerian government at all levels, development partners, donors, traditional and community leaders, health workers and caregivers.

This milestone is a clarion call to urgently rededicate resources to stopping the transmission of all types of poliovirus, strengthening routine immunisation to sustain the gains achieved especially in high risk areas and traditional polio sanctuaries and maintaining high quality surveillance.

Similarly, the statement quoted UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, as saying: It is a momentous achievement that calls for celebration.

This historic achievement not only signifies the end of the wild poliovirus across the entire African continent, but is also a significant springboard towards attaining global polio eradication.

UNICEF joins Nigeria in celebrating this milestone and congratulating Nigerias children, especially but we must remember that the job is not over, said Hawkins.

All caregivers must continue to vaccinate their children against vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, including polio.

Religious and community leaders, as champions of wild poliovirus eradication, should continue to mobilise caregivers to vaccinate their children for all preventable diseases. Children need their help now more than ever, Hawkins added.

Hawkins further said not only was polio vaccination still crucial, all routine vaccinations were critical to childrens survival.

We must all work together to strengthen routine immunisation services and ensure that all children under five receive all vaccines, including the polio vaccine.

This is not the time for Nigeria to take its foot off the accelerator. This is the time for Nigeria to strengthen its primary health care system, and give routine immunisation a vital boost.

UNICEF and WHO pledge to continue to support Nigeria to strengthen its primary healthcare system under the Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCUR) policy initiated by the Federal Government, including the goal to have at least one functional primary healthcare centre (PHC) in every ward in Nigeria.

Nigeria attained wild polio-free status after meeting all the criteria for certification, which include three years of non-detection of any wild poliovirus case in the country.

Before the certification, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan were the only wild polio endemic countries globally.

Source: NAN News

WHO DG, Tedros-Adhanom-Ghebreyesus

By Cecilia Ologunagba

The independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) for Polio Eradication on Tuesday officially declared that World Health Organisation (WHO) African Region is free of wild poliovirus.

WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, disclosed this in a statement posted on its website.

According to the statement, this marks the eradication of the second virus from the face of the continent since smallpox 40 years ago.

The statement quoted Prof. Rose Fomban Leke, ARCC Chairperson, as saying Today is a historic day for Africa.

ARCC is pleased to announce that the Region has successfully met the certification criteria for wild polio eradication, with no cases of the wild poliovirus reported in the Region for four years.

The ARCCs decision comes after an exhaustive, decades-long process of documentation and analysis of polio surveillance, immunization and laboratory capacity of the regions 47 member states, which included conducting field verification visits to each country.

In 1996, African Heads of State committed to eradicate polio during the Thirty-Second Ordinary Session of the Organization of African Unity in Yaound, Cameroon.

At the time, polio was paralysing an estimated 75,000 children, annually, on the African continent.

In the same year, Nelson Mandela with the support of Rotary International jumpstarted Africas commitment to polio eradication with the launch of the Kick Polio Out of Africa campaign.

Mandelas call mobilised African nations and leaders across the continent to step up their efforts to reach every child with polio vaccine.

The last case of wild poliovirus in the region was detected in 2016 in Nigeria.

Since 1996, polio eradication efforts have prevented up to 1.8 million children from crippling life-long paralysis and saved approximately 180,000 lives.

This is a momentous milestone for Africa. Now future generations of African children can live free of wild polio, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

This historic achievement was only possible thanks to the leadership and commitment of governments, communities, global polio eradication partners and philanthropists.

I pay special tribute to the frontline health workers and vaccinators, some of whom lost their lives, for this noble cause.

However, we must stay vigilant and keep up vaccination rates to avert a resurgence of the wild poliovirus and address the continued threat of the vaccine-derived polio, said Moeti.

While the eradication of wild poliovirus from the WHO African Region is a major achievement, 16 countries in the region are currently experiencing cVDPV2 outbreaks, which can occur in under-immunised communities.

The statement also quoted Dr Pascal Mkanda, Coordinator of WHO Polio Eradication Programme in the African Region, as saying:

Africa has demonstrated that in spite of weak health systems, significant logistical and operational challenges across the continent, African countries have collaborated very effectively in eradicating wild poliovirus

With the innovations and expertise that the polio programme has established, I am confident that we can sustain the gains, post-certification, and eliminate cVDPV2, , added Mkanda.

In addition, the statement quoted Moeti, as saying: The expertise gained from polio eradication will continue to assist the African region in tackling COVID-19 and other health problems that have plagued the continent for so many years and ultimately move the continent toward universal health coverage.

This will be the true legacy of polio eradication in Africa.

Thanks to the dedication of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, polio cases have reduced by 99.9 per cent since 1988, bringing the world closer than ever before to ending polio.

The initiative is a public-private global partnership comprising national governments; WHO; Rotary International; the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; UNICEF; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and a broad range of long-term supporters. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Constance Imasuen

Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman says the 6.15 billion dollars (about N2.373 trillion) recently secured by the Federal Government for the power sector will improve electricity supply in the country.

Mamman said this in a statement issued by Mr Aaron Artimas, his Special Adviser on Media and Communications in Abuja on Tuesday.

The minister who assumed office on Aug. 21, 2019 was speaking on the occasion to mark his one year in office.

Mamman said that he was grateful to the President who had continued to discover and inject new talents into the countrys leadership.

According to him,to date, 6.150 billion dollars have been secured for infrastructural development and earmarked for critical projects.

Giving a breakdown of the fund, the minister said
3.2 billion dollars was secured from Siemens, and 1.6 billion dollars from donor agencies for the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP).

The minister said 1.7 billion dollars was secured from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Giving further breakdown of the fund, he said that 550 million dollars was earmarked for the Nigerian Electricity Project (NEP), a rural electrification project being funded by the World Bank and AfDB.

Mamman said with the fund, the ministry has begun implementing critical infrastructure to transform generation, transmission, and distribution of 25,000 Mega Watts (MW) of electricity by 2025.

The Siemens project will raise power to 7, 000MW in the first phase which just began, focusing on quick wins for both Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN ) and the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).

The expected projects under the Siemens deal include 105 substations rehabilitation, 70 new substations, manufacturing and installation of 35 power transformers and installation of 3,765 distribution transformers.

There will also be over 5,000 kilometres of transmission lines to be constructed.

According to Mamman, under his supervision, TCN is also implementing the 1.6 billion dollars Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP) with funding from development partners like World Bank, AfDB,and JICA.

He listed the key projects impacted by the fund to include Alaoji-Onitsha and Kaduna-Kano power line among others.

According to him, work is ongoing to complete the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant worth 1.2 billion dollars aimed at generating 700MW.

Mamman said that the Zungeru project had attained 73 per cent completion presently.

The 3050MW Mambilla hydropower project is expected to increase the national grid by 30 per cent. It is worth 5.7 billion dollars with 85 per cent funding. With 4.85 billion dollars from China while the Federal Government is providing 850 million dollars funding.

The main construction works include four large dams: Nya, Sumsum, Nghu, and API Weir in Taraba state.

Mamman said that the government had also finished the 40MW Kashimbilla hydropower plant in Taraba.

We are currently working on the development and expansion of transmission lines to evacuate power from the project site to areas of distribution.

There is also the 40MW Dadin Kowa hydropower plant in Gombe State, while overhauling the 240MW Afam Power Plant.

According to the minister,the Federal Government isworking to increase energy access for an estimated 80 million Nigerians that are without electricity access through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA),

He said that the ministry was also mapping out unserved clusters to provide a digital database of the distribution grid system.

We have secured 550 million dollars from the World Bank and AfDB for off-grid electrification being used to power universities and rural areas.

With the mini grid regulation, access to electricity is improving through REA. As at 2019, we had four millionoff-grid connections.

We aim to add another five million in the next 18 to 24 months under the recently approved Economic Sustainability Programme, he said.

The mnister noted that efforts were ongoing to close the gap between generation capacity and distribution as a means of reducing losses with individual capacity.

He said that the sector was already contending with a huge loss of more than N254 billion from unutilised power.

Just on August 18, TCN achieved an unprecedented peak distribution of 5,420MW of power to the DisCos, being the third of such milestones.

This is coming even as the ministry has attained a 24 hour transmission period as against the previous eight to 10 hours per day. he said.

Source: NAN News

Gov. Nasir El-Rufai

We are particularly grateful to His Highness, the Agwatyap for his leadership in bringing together the diverse communities in his chiefdom to begin the process of rebuilding trust and restoring peace.

We thank the community leaders and civic-minded individuals that have helped kickstart this dialogue process.

All who seek to replace violent strife with harmony can be assured of the unstinting support of the state government for the peace and concord in all our communities.

The governor reiterated that the ultimate guarantee of peace is the willingness of communities to live in peace and harmony, and their resolve to settle all differences by strictly lawful means.

He stressed that community support was as important as the deployment of security to the area.

What the communities and leadership of Atyap Chiefdom have started is the type of grassroots ownership of the responsibility for peace and harmony in communities that the government has advocated as a critical factor beyond the deployment of police and military forces.

This strong community rapprochement will help to complement security efforts to restore law and order and advance towards sustainable peace.

We welcome the unequivocal repudiation of the violence and killings that have occurred in the Atyap Chiefdom, and the call on all residents of the area to report to the security agencies the criminals that have perpetrated the lawless acts in the area.

This call for accountability is significant, and it represents a positive effort to contain impunity and deter crime, he stressed.

El-Rufai assured the delegation that government would enhance security deployments in the area as the peace process advances.

The Kaduna State Peace Commission will also strongly support this effort at building peace at the grassroots.

He appealed to all the communities to abide by the resolutions with vigilance and commitment, and work towards making it a sustainable accord.

The work of peace is often hard, but it is a human obligation to work always to preserve human life, liberty and livelihoods, he noted.

I call on every person of goodwill to support the Atyap Chiefdoms strong efforts to bring its communities together and stop the bloodshed and destruction of property.

Everyone should reject the temptation to take laws into their hands and instead submit all grievances to the lawful authorities, the governor said.

Source: NAN News

CBN

By Mustapha Sumaila

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers Committee have unanimously agreed to extend special facilities to Nigerian-registered airlines and the media industry in the country to enable them adequately address the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CBN Director Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

Okorafor said the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced this while addressing the Bank Chief Executives at the bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers Committee on Tuesday.

Emefiele urged the banks to do all within their powers to support airlines in the country, noting that such support was critical to helping the industry recover from the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similarly, the apex banks governor also advised the banks to support the efforts of the media industry in Nigeria to cope with the lingering pandemic in order to avoid massive job losses in the industry.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that CBN, in the advent of the coronavirus in Nigeria, announced a N1.2 trillion intervention funds to support critical sectors of the economy, one trillion naira of which was to support local manufacturing sector and to boost import substitution.

The remaining N100 billion of the intervention fund was to support the health sector in equipping laboratories and enhancing research to produce vaccines and test kits in Nigeria.

The Bank, also in March 2020, unveiled guidelines for the implementation of a N100 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: NAN News

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has lauded the pace of infrastructure development at the Nigerian Army University Biu (NAUB) in Borno.

Buratai gave the commendation during inauguration of several projects at the university on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the projects inaugurated include 8.5 kilometers perimeter fence, 10 units of 4 bedrooms terrace duplexes senior staff quarters, faculty of Arts complex and faculty of Social sciences complex.

Others includeICT centre and the Maternal and Child Referral Centre and lecture theatre.

Buratai, who acknowledge the contributions of various governmental and non-governmental organisations in fast-tracking the development of the institution, said the university had witnessed tremendous development within its two years of existence.

He commended the intervention of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TetFund) in providing two faculties complexes for the institution to boost its academic strength.

The COAS also lauded the efforts and support of Zenith Bank towards the construction and equipping of the universitys ICT centre as well as the Total Nigeria Ltd for establishing the health centre.

Buratai assured that the Nigerian Army would continue to invest in the university, adding that it was also designated as one of the barracks and cantonment of the Nigeria Army.

The Army Chief who earlier led members of the university governing council and top army officers on courtesy visit to the Emir of Biu, Alhaji Mustapha Aliyu, commended the emirate for their support.

He also expressed appreciation to the Emir for the cordial relationship between the university community and the people of the emirate council.

The university has progressed so well so far and I am sure that it will serve the people of Biu emirate and the country as a whole.

There are projects sponsored by the Tetfund and the university itself that are completed and would be commissioned and lay foundation for the worship centre, he said.

The Vice Chancellor of NAUB, Prof. Kyari Mohammed, said the two faculties of Arts and Social Sciences complexes projects were funded by Tetfund from start to finish.

He added that other projects were funded by the federal government special grant and interventions from some private organisations.

He thanked the Executive Secretary of Tetfund, Prof. Suleiman Boforo, for his special interest in the university.

The projects were later inaugurated by the Tetfund boss and Buratai.

Source: NAN News

Lionel Messi

Team captain Lionel Messi has told FC Barcelona he wishes to leave the club immediately, a source confirmed on Tuesday.

The development has however deepened the turmoil within the Catalan side, less than two weeks after their humiliating 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich.

The source said the club received a burofax from Messis lawyers declaring that the player, who has spent his entire career at Barca, wished to leave.

A burofax is a service used in Spain to urgently dispatch a document through a certified email, which issues a digital certificate with legal validity.

The club subsequently sent Messi a burofax, stating they wanted him to stay and finish his career at Barca, added the source.

A second source added that the burofax Messis lawyers sent referred to a clause in the last contract the 33-year-old Argentine signed with the club in 2017.

The clause allowed him to leave for free, a clause that expired on June 10 this year.

Under the terms of the contract which expires in 2021, the only way Messi can leave without the clubs consent is if a rival side pays his release clause of 700 million euros (629.7 million pounds).

The club considers that the contract is fully binding until 30 June 2021, added the second source.

The Argentines request to leave Barca comes a day after Spanish media reported that new coach Ronald Koeman had spoken with Messis close friend and strike partner, Luis Suarez.

It was reported that Koeman does not wish the Uruguayan to stay at the club.

Other reports said Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal, Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic and French defender Samuel Umtiti have also been told they are no longer wanted.

Barca are in the midst of overhauling their squad following the 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals earlier this month.

It was a defeat which condemned the club to a trophyless season for the first time in 12 years.

Messi, who has been named world player of the year a record six times, has grown increasingly unhappy in the last 12 months.

He was unhappy with how the club is being run under president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

In February, he lashed out at then sporting director Eric Abidal on social media.

A couple of months later turned his anger on the club hierarchy for the way in which players were forced to take a pay cut to cope with the financial hit of the coronanvirus pandemic.

After Barca surrendered the La Liga title to Real Madrid in July, Messi slammed the team as being weak and vulnerable during an uncharacteristically fiery post-match interview.

Former Barca captain Carles Puyol backed Messis wish to leave the club by writing on Twitter: Respect and admiration, Leo. You have all my support, friend.

Ex-Barca president Joan Laporta blamed Bartomeu for the stance taken by Messi.

Bartomeu and his board should quit immediately. They have undermined Messi to save them from the sporting and financial mess they have created.

If they quit, there might be some hope that Messi stays at Barca, he tweeted.

Catalonias regional leader Quim Torra appeared to accept that Barcas best ever player, who in 2019 was given the Creu de Sant Jordi award for services to the region, was about to leave.

He tweeted: Catalonia will always be your home. Many thanks for all the happy moments and for your extraordinary football.

We have been so lucky to share so many years of our lives with the best player in the world and a noble sportsman.(Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Nigerias Senate under Ahmed Lawan

By Naomi Sharang

The Senate says it is probing the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and StarTimes Joint Venture Agreement over the non-profitability of the venture which had been since 2008.

Chairman, Senate Joint Committee on Finance and National Planning, Sen. Solomon Adeola, said this on Tuesday in Abuja, during an interactive session with some revenue generating agencies of government.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the upper chamber had, on Monday, queried the management of NTA, over 12 years of non-profitable venture with StarTimes.

The Senate asked that the management should appear before the committee along with the Managing Director, NTA TV Enterprises, Mr Maxwell Loko.

The joint venture agreement was that whatever accrued at the end of every financial year, 70 per cent, goes to StarTimes and 30 per cent to Nigeria.

Adeola queried why some of the accounts of StarTimes were in dollars and naira.

If this business is truly owned and it is owned in Nigeria as you profess, this account should only be in naira value.

Why you have structured it to be in dollars and naira, is for easy movement of dollars outside the country.

In 2019, the total revenue for subscription is 36.1 million dollars and in naira terms, it is over N11 billion.

On this note, we are going to set up a special investigative panel to look into this record before us, audited account from the few lines l am able to open and look into, there is a lot of issues, he said

The chairman further called for the stepping aside of the Managing Director, NTA TV Enterprises, chief executive officer of StarTimes and the director of tax, for an independent investigation.

Also speaking, the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. Olubunmi Adetumbi, called for a forensic audit of the process.

He said an independent forensic audit of this exercise is needed so that we can open up where the issues are, if NTA needs to renegotiate its agreement, so be it.

Adetumbi said that the situation and transaction were highly complex and beyond the public hearing to unravel, given the time and the nature of transactions.

I will like to suggest to this committee and NTA that it is in order to open these books to ensure that Nigeria is having a fair deal from this relationship.

We want to be sure that NTA is not taken for a ride and definitely the investment of Federal Government in NTA is also not being abused.

Between 2008 and now, nothing in terms of return except that NTA was borrowing from StarTimes, its partners.

No wonder and we are not surprised that you have not been able to declare anything, he said.

A member of the committee, Sen. Yusuf Yusuf (APC-Taraba) said: Whatever way we look at it, this thing is actually a messy situation.

NTA signed agreement with this people, which is a venture to form Star TV and then to be overlooked by TV enterprises.

However, if you look at the shareholding, the 30 per cent is not TV enterprises.

NTA has 30 per cent and not TV enterprises. Whatever way you look at it, this thing is muddled up.

That is why this venture could not generate income for the country.

All what you are doing is that you are working for StarTimes, pure and simple.

All of you are working for StarTimes. It is very clear why no kobo has come to Nigeria.

I am sorry to say this and my language may be harsh, I dont see patriotism in you working for the Nigerian people.

Responding, Loko, the managing director, NTA TV Enterprises said I dont work for them, I dont manage the company.

We have a chief executive officer, I do not manage StarTimes, that is the truth. I do not manage StarTimes, I do not work for them.

It will interest the committee to know that, it was indeed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) that introduced StarTimes communication of China to NTA.

Loko explained that NBC granted the company licence from August 2011 to 2016 in the first instance.

We were expected to have paid N500 million as licence fee, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Bandits in North West

Abdullahi Shugaba

The Nigerian Army says troops of the Operation Sahel Sanity arrested 158 suspected bandits in the ongoing clearance operations in Katsina and Zamfara States.

Brig-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, Acting Director Media Operations, Operation Sahel Sanity, disclosed this during a news conference at the Special Army Super Camp in Faskari on Tuesday.

Onyeuko disclosed that the troops acting on intelligence information raided an illegal mining site in Bukkuyum Local Government Area of Zamfara State where they arrested 150 bandits and recovered 120 Dane guns.

He said that the troops also raided another bandits camp in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara where a bandit was neutralised and two others arrested while two AK 47 , two magazines and motorcycles were recovered.

At Daki Takwas village in Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, troops intercepted a Toyota Corolla saloon car with 11 locally made rifles hidden at different parts of the vehicle.

We have also succeeded in intercepting another dangerous lorry heading towards Kofar Dinya in Bukkuyum Local Government Area where we made two arrests.

Also; at Dogon Karfe Village of Bakura Local Government Area, troops destroyed another camp and arrested a wanted notorious bandit, Yusuf Ibrahim, aka Bula.

Troops also intercepted seven trucks loaded with rustled cattle on Gurbi-Jibia Road in Zamfara State while two bandits, Masudu Abubakar and Tukur Halliru were apprehended at Daudawa village in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State, Onyeuko said.

He noted that the suspected bandits had been handed over to the Police Command in Zamfara State for further interrogations.

The spokesman commended the communities for providing information to the troops leading to the arrest of the suspects. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Andy Murray

Andy Murray claimed the biggest win of his comeback and a place in the last 16 of the Western and Southern Open on Monday, taking out self-destructing fifth seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 3-6 7-5.

Working his way back to match fitness after undergoing a second round of hip surgery in January, Murray offered hope that he was on the right track with a tidy first-round win over Frances Tiafoe on Saturday.

But it is Mondays win over the big-hitting German on a steamy, hot New York afternoon that will provide a huge confidence boost in the run-up to the U.S. Open that starts next week.

Neither player will include the contest in their career highlight reels, particularly a scrappy third set that was riddled with unforced errors and momentum swings.

Murray would be the first to take control in the third, racing ahead 4-1, but was left mumbling and scolding himself as Zverev broke the Briton twice on his way to sweeping the next four games and taking a 5-4 lead.

But serving for the match Zverev double-faulted three times to gift Murray a break and extend the match.

Murray then held serve and finished off the crumbling German, with the help of two more double faults, with a final break to register his first win over at top-10 ranked opponent since 2017.

It was a big one to get through, said Murray. Im satisfied to get through it against a top player having not played for such a long time and I get another opportunity to compete again tomorrow.

This will give me an idea of where my body is at, said Murray, a past winner of the Western and Southern, which is normally held in Cincinnati but was moved this year in order to move players inside a protective bubble ahead of the U.S. Open.

Next up for Murray is another big hitter, Canadian Milos Raonic, who advanced to the last with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Briton Daniel Evans. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News