Zinedine Zidane has been unveiled as the new coach of Real Madrid. The club's president, Florentino Pérez, revealed the appointment at a press conference held at the Santiago Bernabéu otoday following the conclusion of the meeting of the club's Board of Directors:
"Good evening, first of all thank you to everyone for being here at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. I appear before you to announce the agreements just reached by the Board of Directors of Real Madrid. Today we have made the difficult decision, particularly for me, to terminate the contract of Rafa Benítez as first-team coach.
I wish to underline that he is a great professional and a magnificent person, and I would like to take this opportunity to place on record my gratitude to him for his hard work and dedication during his months as coach of Real Madrid".
I would also like to announce that the Real Madrid Board of Directors have decided to name Zinedine Zidane as the new coach of the first team. There can be no doubt that Zidane is one of the game's all-time great figures. He knows better than anyone just what it means to lead the Real Madrid first-team squad. He's fully aware of how tough and at the same time how exciting this demanding position is. Furthermore, Zidane knows the players, as many of them lifted the club's tenth European Cup in Lisbon with him as assistant coach".
Teachers in public primary and Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in Kwara state yesterday went on strike despite pleas from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.The teachers started the indefinite strike action yesterday over unpaid three months salaries.Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) classes went on as usual because the state government did not owe SSS teachers.Speaking with journalists, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Alhaji Abubakar Musa, said the strike hd to take place due to non payment of October, November and December 2015 salary of the affected teachers.He said:
“There is no way the hungry teachers could deliver effectively, it is better for teachers to stay at home until the Government is capable of paying them.” he said.
The Kwara state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has appealed to the striking teachers to suspend the strike.In a release by its Publicity secretary, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, said:
“As a party, we wish to state that we feel the concerns and share in the pains of primary school teachers in Kwara State. Quite unfortunate, this issue is chiefly caused by the dwindling allocation from the federation account.
“Therefore, it is not about non-payment of teachers’ salaries but non-availability of funds to pay salaries. It requires collective efforts to address rather than strike action, if the resources are available today, the Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed-led Kwara State Government will pay all teachers like it has always done in the past five years.”
Real Madrid have made the controversial decision of sacking head coach Rafa Benitez after the club's unimpressive 2-2 draw against Valencia last night. The club had endured a poor set of results under the Spaniard and fans not happy with the team's defensive style of play, the club has moved quick to sack the former Liverpool and Napoli coach to replace him with club legend Zinedine Zidane.Zinedine Zidane is expected to take over first team duties as the club's head coach.
Many Colombians are still upset with Steve Harvey for his mistake during the Miss Universe pageant in which he announced the wrong winner. They used an old New Year Eve tradition "Ano Viego" to show their anger. It's a Colombian tradition to burn dolls at New Years day. Thousands of dolls get made but this time some people decided to add a Steve Harvey effigy to the mix.
In fact Harvey was the most popular doll this year. Also burnt were effigy of Miss Universe, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. The term, "Año Viejo," literally means old year in Spanish. In Central and South America, the tradition is to make a doll that represents things you hate from the previous year and thus, you’re burning it away at midnight and basically letting it go. It is believed that the act wards off bad luck in the coming year.
According to a fan (@thisisweber) who was in attendance at the game between Jahlil Okafor's team the Philadelphia 76ers and the LA Clippers on Saturday, January 2, Chukwudi Okafor said he would take a photo with him only if covers GM Sam Hinkie's face on his shirt.Hinkie is the General Manager Operations of the Philadelphia 76ers (also commonly known as the Sixers). He was the one who drafted Jahlil into the NBA. Seems there is no love lost between both men.
"I asked Jah's Dad to take a photo with me." He said, "Only if you cover Hinkie's face on your shirt," he tweeted alongside a photo with Chukwudi. He also alleged that Chukwudi was harassing the Sixers's coach, Breth Brown until his 20-year-old son told him to cut it out.
Former Premier League footballer Steve Gohouri has been found dead in a river in Germany. The 34-year-old, who played defence for Wigan Athletic between 2010 and 2012, had been reported missing two weeks ago.Ghouri attended his German team's Christmas party on December 11 and was due to travel to see his family in Paris.When he failed to turn up his family filed a missing persons report and a police appeal for his whereabouts was issued.German media confirmed today his body had been found in the River Rhine, with no indication of violence.
Gohouri was born on the Ivory Coast, but moved to France as a young boy and grew up in Paris.During his career he played for teams in Israel, Switzerland and Germany before joining Wigan in 2010.He was released at the end of the 2011/12 season and went on to join a Greek side in 2013.
Gohouri played for his national Ivory Coast side in 2006, scoring three goal during his appearances.Tributes have been paid to the player online and on social media, including one from his former UK side.
Source: UK Mirror
The Address Downtown Dubai hotel near the worlds tallest building ( Burj Khalifa) was gutted by fire this evening. At least 16 people were injured after a huge blaze broke out from the 20th floor of the hotel. This happened hours before New Year’s Eve fireworks was supposed to start at the nearby Burj Khalifa. Guests at the hotel have been evacuated and fortunately no life was lost even though the fire spread very quickly.A witness said it went from just a small fire at the foot of the building, shot up to the middle and the top of the building in five minutes. That didn't stop the fire work celebration nearby though.
