Kennymykel

Riyad Mahrez chose to play for Algeria rather than France, where he was born, in a tribute to his late father, the African player of the year’s brother said. Propelled to global renown by Leicester City’s amazing run to Premier League glory, the 25-year-old will be one of the most watched stars at the Cup of African Nations where Algeria start against Zimbabwe on Sunday. Once considered too small for professional football, he will be one of the biggest names at the tournament in Gabon. Three years ago, Mahrez was making his debut for Leicester in England’s second tier Championship having played for Sarcelles, the French town where he was born. He only made his debut for Algeria in May 2014 a few months after declaring that he wanted to play for the African nation aroiund the same time as serious riots in Sarcelles. At just 1.78 metres (5 feet 10 inches) and a sinewy 70 kilos (154 pounds) nobody at Sarcelles imagined he could soar to such heady prodessional heigh

Youths all around the Kogi state capital city of Lokoja on Saturday were at several beer parlours to celebrate the return of the controversial Mavrodi Mondial Movement, a Ponzi scheme that froze the accounts of 3 million Nigerian members in December, causing panic and anxiety. The scam returned yesterday, a day before it’s initial comeback date of 14th January. Most of the revellers were students of the state owned polytechnic in Lokoja. They expressed surprise about the comeback of the pyramid money investment scheme, that promises players 30 per cent return, a day ahead of schedule. Segun Ademola, a student, said he had invested over N300,000 in his MMM account. He said he was glad to have the operation bounce back. He has a lot of high hopes, that he would reap his investment. He said, “I am the happiest person on earth today, God bless Mavrodi.” Fola Owobo, another student, said she used her school fees to provide help to some other person she did not

Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox, a Ponzi scheme known simply as MMM, on Friday opened for business after one month of break, but investors in the scheme have remained stranded as they still cannot access their funds. MMM had announced the resumption on its Twitter handle, saying it was “now open” even though it had initially promised to reopen today, Saturday, January 14. In the message, the scheme’s founder, Sergey Mavrodi, said because of the likely deluge of requests from participants, payments would be gradual and have limits. He also said it would prioritise payments to participants with small amounts, which were not specified, and that big investors would have to wait longer. “Please, be prepared to wait for a couple of days. We are certain things will then calm down, and the system operation will return to normal. “We’re the ones setting limits, so it’s completely under our control, and we are not expecting any emergencies in principle. Have no fear and go on

The Military says it has successfully repelled attack by the Boko Haram terrorists at Kangarwa in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State. Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, the Director of Army Public Relations, said in a statement in Maiduguri that the operation was carried out on Friday. According to him, the operation was carried out with the assistance of the Nigerian Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance planes. He said “the futile attack, launched by the terrorists group from the shores of the Lake Chad in the evening, lasted till midnight. ““The resilient troops repelled the incursion and in the process killed 10 insurgents and wounded several others.” Usman said the troops recovered one Pulemyot Kalashnkova Machine (PKM) gun with 67 rounds of ammunition, one AK-47 Riffle with 18 rounds of ammunition, two AK-Rifle top covers and three Dane guns with one cartridge. “Others include, one rocket propelled grenade tube with three bombs, one rocket

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona on Monday backed controversial plans to expand the World Cup to 48 teams, a day before world football’s powerful governing council faces a key decision on the issue. “It sounds like a fantastic idea to me,” the 56-year-old told reporters at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters. “This will give more possibilities to countries that have never reached that level of competition,” he added. The hobbled Maradona spoke dripping with sweat after rumbling his way through a mini-tournament involving former football greats and current executives. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has organised a series of so-called “Legends Tournaments” since taking charge of the body last year, playing alongside former football stars in front of assembled media. Infantino has made expanding the World Cup the centrepiece of his young administration, but his plans have faced criticism, including from those

Here are the winners in key categories for the 74th Golden Globe Awards, which were handed out on Sunday: – FILM – Best film, drama: “Moonlight” Best film, musical or comedy: “La La Land” Best actor, drama: Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea” Best actress, drama: Isabelle Huppert, “Elle” Best actor, musical or comedy: Ryan Gosling, “La La Land” Best actress, musical or comedy: Emma Stone, “La La Land” Best supporting actor: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, “Nocturnal Animals” Best supporting actress: Viola Davis, “Fences” Best director: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land” Best screenplay: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land” Best original score: Justin Hurwitz, “La La Land” Best original song: “City of Stars” from “La La Land” Best foreign language film: “Elle” (France) Best animated feature: “Zootopia” – TELEVISION – Best drama series: “The Crown” (Netflix) Best drama actor: Billy Bob Thornton, “Goliath” Best drama actress: Claire F