Messi To Leave Barcelona When Current Contract Expires

Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi, will not sign a new deal with the club as he is prepare to leave when the current deal expires.
According to Madrid-based sports daily, Marca, the Argentina captain has told the club’s hierarchy about his decision, when he was on holiday in July with his family.
Messi is reportedly unhappy about what he sees as a witch hunt , by Spanish tax authorities.
Barcelona president, Josep Bartomeu, has recently sealed extensions for a number of key players including Sergio Busquets, Neymar and Javier Mascherano. Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen are all waiting for improved deals too.
Just last month, Bartomeu insisted he was not worried about Messi’s future and that negotiations would begin in January.
“We will have negotiations with Messi in the next couple of months,” he told The Telegraph.
“Right now Leo Messi has a contract to the end of the Russian World Cup [in 2018] and we are very happy with him. Very happy. He’s the best player in the world, by far.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future but of course we will always try to explain to him that he is at the best club in the world and this is the best place for him to live and he is living the best experience of his life with us.
“He is still only 29. And if you see him playing it seems like he is one of our very young players. Leo Messi reinvented himself two years ago and changed the way he played and he is a better player now than he was then, a much better player.
“So normally players increase and then reduce but he is still growing. So where are the limits? We don’t know.”

Breaking News ASUU Declares One Week Warning Strike From November 16

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared an industrial action against the federal government.
The one-week industrial action is expected to commence November 16 according to a circular signed by its president, Biodun Ogunyemi.
The umbrella body for lecturers in universities said the action was to force the government to meet meet the agreement it signed with lecturers in November 2013.
“The NEC of our union at its meeting of 12th November 2016, declared a one-week warning strike beginning from 12.01 of Wednesday November 16, 2016 to 12 noon of Tuesday 22 November 2016.
It reads, “For the avoidance of doubt, the one week warning strike is to compel the government to do the following:
“Funding for the revitalisation of public universities based on the ASUU-FG MoU of November 2013.
“Payment of Earned Academic allowances.
“Non-release of subvention to state Universities by their visitors.
“Shortfall in salaries leading to payment of fractions of staff salaries.
“Exemption of Universities from Treasury Single Account policy.
“The strike is to hold comprehensively, no teaching, no examination and no attendance statutory meeting of any kind.”

Mikel: Conte wasn't punishing me for playing in Olympic

John Obi Mikel today cleared the air that he is not being punished by Blues manager Antonio Conte for representing in the Olympics.
The Nigerian is yet any game for Chelsea this season and and Nigeria Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr seems to have suggest on Friday that Mikel wasn't playing because he left Conte's pre-season camp for Rio 2016 Olympics in August.
But in a statement today, Mikel said: "I’d like to clarify that the recent media claims I’ve been punished by Chelsea FC for participating at the Rio 2016 Olympics are completely inaccurate.
"Unfortunately comments made by Gernot Rohr before yesterday’s 3-1 win over Algeria were both mistranslated and taken out of context by the Nigerian media, as English isn’t Mr Rohr’s or much of the Nigerian media’s first language.
"To be absolutely clear, Mr Conte and Chelsea were always fully supportive of my captaincy of the Nigerian team at Rio.
"The manager gave me his full blessing to participate at the Olympics, and even encouraged me to bring back the gold medal - something I spoke to the media about at the time.
"It goes without saying there is nothing but absolute respect between myself, the Nigerian national team and Chelsea FC, something that was demonstrated by Mr Rohr’s recent visit to Cobham.
"My only focus now is on winning more silverware with Chelsea and getting Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup, two challenges I can’t wait to face in the coming months."

2Baba wishes all his children were from one woman

Unarguably one of the iconic musicians in Nigeria and Africa, Innocent Ujah Idibia, aka 2Baba says he wishes that all his children were from one woman, reports Sitibe
With seven children from three women including his wife Annie Idibia, Tuface expresses his displeasure at having children from multiple women.
“It is really tough to talk about it. Honestly, when I look back and examine that aspect of my life, I wish it never happened. I wish all my kids came from one woman. I love my children and there is nothing I can do to change the situation . I have moved on and I am married to one of the women who bore me kids. I no longer dwell on that issue.” he said.
2Baba is a recipient of several national and international awards which include an MTV Europe Music Award, a World Music Award, five Headies Awards, four Channel O Music Video Awards, a BET Award, four MTV Africa Music Awards and one MOBO Awards among others.

Sacked ministers warn May: Promote us in a year or there will be 'trouble'

Theresa May has been warned by sacked ministers that she must promote them back into Government within a year or face “trouble” in Parliament.
Senior Tories dismissed by the Prime Minister in the summer have privately warned their “loyalty” only stretches so far after being sent to the backbenches.
Some are ready to increasingly rebel over Mrs May’s grammar schools ban and Brexit priorities unless they are put back on the Government payroll soon.
The ultimatum, made in conversations with The Sunday Telegraph, is designed to make sure Mrs May makes good on indications there is a route back to the Government for those who behave.
“We have said we will be unflinchingly loyal for one year. But if they keep us on the back benches for longer we will start causing trouble,” one former ministersaid.
The warning came as it emerged leading cabinet ministers sacked by Mrs May in her brutal “purge” of David Cameron loyalists are planning for the long haul to rebuild their political careers.
George Osborne, the former chancellor, made clear he plans to stay in politics for “many years to come" at a recent constituency event according to one attendee.
At a celebration of his 15 years as MP for Tatton, Cheshire, Mr Osborne is understood to have said he will continue serving the constituency long into the future. “He made clear he is going nowhere”, said one person present.
Meanwhile Michael Gove, the former justice secretary also sacked in July, has begun re-engaging with British politics after a summer of contemplation and skipping Tory conference in October.
Mr Gove has done a series of high profile interviews making clear he would be willing to serve again on the Government benches if offered a role.
Some 29 ministers left the Government after Mrs May took over as PrimeMinister – a far higher number then her working majority in the House of Commons of around a dozen.
The unexpectedly brutal reshuffle saw Mrs May accused of “purging” allies of Mr Cameron and Mr Gove, who ran against her in the Tory leadership race.
At the time there were warnings that creating new enemies on the backbenches when the Tories only have a slim majority risked undermining her ability to win votes.
It is understood Tory whips and intermediaries for Mrs May’s team have let it be known there are paths back to Government for those former ministers who behave themselves.
However some have grown impatient and are warning that unless they are promoted by July 2017 they will begin to cause “trouble”.
The rebellion could amount to holding back support for votes in the Commons or taking an increasingly hostile line in public, creating unhelpful rows with Number 10.
One former minister said sacked colleagues would remain loyal – providing they are rewarded with a Government job within 12 months.
Others think Mrs May handled the reshuffle badly and created tensions with backbenches who expected promotion and serving ministers whose careers were cut short.
“She did not handle it very well. People weren’t properly told [they were sacked]," said one former minister said of the reshuffle.
“It looked like the message was ‘I’m sacking you for no other reason than for supporting Michael Gove’. If that was right, and I think it was, it is not the markings of a good leader. That was bad.”
“There were people who were dismissed who shouldn’t have been. One example of someone who was more than capable of running a department was Mark Harper [the former chief whip]. He was an excellent minister. I am a big fan of Nicky Morgan [the former education secretary] too. She is a huge talent.”
Not all those who have left office are frustrated. Some say they are enjoying the backbenches as an opportunity to speak out on behalf of their constituents.
Earlier this month, Mr Gove opened the door on a return to Government by saying he would be happy to serve if called upon.
"If the chance came to serve again then of course I would happily say ‘yes’, but I’m very happy being on the back benches at the moment because it gives me the opportunity to do all sorts of other things,” he said.
Mr Gove has also reversed his public position by backing Mrs May’s lifting of the ban on new grammar schools and praised her stance on delivering the Brexit vote.
However his new role on the Brexit committee in the Commons and previously frayed relationship with Mrs May mean there are still barriers to a ministerial return.

Trump seeking quickest way to quit Paris climate agreement, says report

Donald Trump is looking at quick ways of withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement in defiance of widening international backing for the plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Reuters has reported.
Since the US president-elect was chosen, governments ranging from China to small island states have reaffirmed support for the 2015 Paris agreement at 200-nation climate talks running until 18 November in Marrakesh, Morocco.
But, according to Reuters, a source in the Trump transition team said the victorious Republican, who has called global warming a hoax, was considering ways to bypass a theoretical four-year procedure for leaving the accord.
“It was reckless for the Paris agreement to enter into force before the election,” said the source, who works on Trump’s transition team for international energy and climate policy, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Paris agreement went into force on 4 November, four days before last Tuesday’s election.
Alternatives were to send a letter withdrawing from a 1992 convention that is the parent treaty of the Paris agreement, voiding US involvement in both in a year’s time, or to issue a presidential order simply deleting the US signature from the Paris accord, the source told Reuters.
Many nations have expressed hopes the United States will stay.
Morocco, the host for the talks, said the agreement that seeks to phase out greenhouse gases in the second half of the century was strong enough to survive a pullout.
“If one party decides to withdraw that it doesn’t call the agreement into question,” foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar told a news conference.
Despite the threat of a US withdrawal, US secretary of state John Kerry said on Sunday that he would continue his efforts to implement the Paris agreement until Barack Obama leaves office on 20 January.
Speaking in New Zealand following a trip to Antarctica, Kerry appeared to take a swipe at Trump when he listed some of the ways in which global warming could already be seen. He said that there were more fires, floods and damaging storms around the world, and sea levels were rising.
“The evidence is mounting in ways that people in public life should not dare to avoid accepting as a mandate for action,” Kerry said.
“Now the world’s scientific community has concluded that climate change is happening beyond any doubt. And the evidence is there for everybody to see,” Kerry said.
The Paris agreement was reached by almost 200 nations in December and, as of Saturday, has been formally ratified by 109 representing 76% of greenhouse gas emissions, including the United States with 18%.
The accord seeks to hold global warming to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels to limit rising temperatures that have been linked to increasing economic damage from desertification, extinctions of animals and plants, heat waves, floods and rising sea levels.
United Nations climate chief Patricia Espinosa declined to comment on the Trump source’s remarks to Reuters.
“The Paris agreement carries an enormous amount of weight and credibility,” she told a news conference. She said the UN hoped for a strong and constructive relationship with Trump.
The Trump source blamed US president Barack Obama for joining up by an executive order, without getting approval from the Senate. “There wouldn’t be this diplomatic fallout on the broader international agenda if Obama hadn’t rushed the adoption,” he said.

Voters target Electoral College members to switch their Trump ballots, elect Clinton

Voters upset that Republican Donald Trump had been elected president -- or think that the presidency was unfairly taken from Democratic rival Hillary Clinton -- are scrambling for ways to change the results.
Their major focus is trying to get members of the U.S. Electoral College to change their vote, arguing that Clinton should be the next president because 60.47 Americans voted for her, compared to 60 million for Trump.
The college is part of the Constitution and is composed of 538 members, with each state and the District of Columbia having one member, or electorate, for every senator or House lawmaker.
Trump won 290 of the so-called electoral votes, in the race to get a minimum 270.
However, members don’t officially cast their ballots until December 19, which has Trump opponents making long-shot efforts to reverse the outcome, including petition drives to get the electorates to switch their votes.
The largest effort is through the website Change.org, which as of Saturday has about 3 million signatures, getting closer to its goal of 4.5 million.
Petition organizers argue on the site that some states don’t require their electorates to vote for the presidential nominee who had the most votes in their state.
And for electorates in states that by law require them to ballot for the nominee who won the most votes, “their vote would still be counted, they would simply pay a small fine,” the organizers write. “We can be sure Clinton supporters will be glad to pay!”
One online petition signer wrote on the site via Twitter: “It’s our chance of getting Trump out of the whitehouse.”
Another grassroots petition drive is being launched by Faithlessnow.com, as reported by Yahoo News.
Organizers in that drive are targeting roughly 160 Republican electorates in the 15 states that Trump won and don’t have laws bounding the electorates to the winner: Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
The most recent presidential election in which a nominee won the popular vote but lost the election through the Electoral College vote was 2000, when Democrat Al Gore lost to Republican George W. Bush following a days-long recount of votes in Florida and other states.
Clinton and Trump at the time purportedlycalled for an end to the entire Electoral College system. And renewed calls emerged after Election Day 2016, on Tuesday, in large part because voters think the system is no longer needed to safeguard the country from a dangerous president.
A Baltimore Sun editorial this weekend called the college a “convoluted system” and “the product of an 18th century compromise forged over issues that no longer apply and resting on assumptions about the wisdom of the average person we no longer hold.”
“It is not worked the way it was intended almost from the very beginning,” continued the editorial, which also suggests that U.S. states follow Maryland’s lead by essentially joining a movement that could side-step needing a constitutional amendment to change the system.