PL news : Jurgen Klopp pays tribute to 'outstanding' Wenger

Klopp has hailed Arsene Wenger as an "outstanding personality" after the veteran Arsenal boss announced he would stand down at the end of this season.

Wenger took charge of Arsenal in October 1996, with his three title-winning campaigns helping him to become one of the defining figures of the Premier League era.

The Gunners last won the top flight in 2003-04 and have faded from the title picture over recent seasons, with attendances dwindling at Emirates Stadium of late.

But Liverpool manager Klopp believes Wenger's legacy should stand untarnished.

"I heard it when I came in this morning. I was surprised but it's his decision and we have to respect that," he told a news conference ahead of the Reds' trip to West Brom on Saturday.

"In football he has had a fantastic career. He is an outstanding personality. Just a really big player in a business where thing usually change overnight – he was there for so long."

When a reporter confirmed Wenger's 22-year tenure, Klopp responded with a chuckle and said: "That's long. And he was very successful.

"Maybe in the last few months not everyone was happy anymore about this and that result, but that's a normal part of the business.

"He brought in some fantastic players and he was a dominating guy in the late 90s and early this century, when he was winning everything.

"I admire his work. In Germany he was always seen as a big role model. It's a bit different now in England because we are competing."

In an interview with Sky Sport News in Germany this week, Klopp insisted he does not envisage being in the dugout into old age.

However, he would not be surprised to see the 68-year-old Wenger take on a new challenge.

"It will be interesting to see if he steps into a new job," he added. "He seems quite fit.

"I wish him all the best and hopefully I can meet him and tell him that in a personal talk." - Goal

Soyinka gives Buhari’s govt ultimatum to end killings

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka has given President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration till the end of July to stop killer herdsmen and return displaced persons to their homes.

Soyinka warned that the federal government would be described as a total failure if it failed to stop the killings by the end of July.

He made the statement during the inauguration of the 2018 OAU Ife Festival of Foods and Identity at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun state.

Soyinka warned that Nigeria’s food security could be jeopardized by the rampant killings, pointing out that farmersweare the most affected victims of the herdsmen and Boko Haram attacks.

He said: “Our mission in life is to beat the sword into ploughshare. This means that machetes, hoes, the instruments of cultivation, planting, and creating sustenance we must fashion out of the instruments of destruction; we must overcome the instruments of destruction.

“And my message to all those who are concerned is that between the launching of this logo and festival today and the outward manifestation of the festival itself (end of July), we should have seen signs that this battle between the sword and the ploughshare is reversed.

“Nigerians would be given fulfillment as a people of culture, peace and harmony, if the instruments of war and destruction are transformed into instruments of production and creativity.

“Between the annunciation of this festival and the manifestation of the festival itself, we want to see from this government a reversal of a seeming triumph of the gun; and if that has not taken place, let us not lie to ourselves, it means we have no government.

“If those who had been displaced, the farmers who have been displaced in their hundreds from various parts of this nation, especially the North, if those farmers have not been taken back and restored to their productive environment, then it means we have no government.

“Let us all join hands to beat the sword, the guns into ploughshares.” - Daily Post

'No job, no money': Life in Vietnam for immigrants deported by U.S.

It wasn't until Pham Chi Cuong saw the plane waiting to deport him from the United States that it sunk in that he was about to be sent back to Vietnam, the country he fled in 1990.

Cuong and at least three other deportees who had lived in America for decades were returned to Vietnam in December 2017 as part of a renewed Trump administration push to deport immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States.

The expulsions were carried out despite a 2008 bilateral agreement that Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to 1995, many of whom had supported the now defunct U.S.-backed state of South Vietnam, would not be sent back.

Cuong and the other men, who spoke to Reuters this week in Ho Chi Minh City, said they spent the 17-hour flight in enforced silence, their hands and legs in restraints.

Adjusting to life in Vietnam, the men all said, has been difficult. They said they were viewed with suspicion by Vietnamese officials and have had trouble finding work.

"If you ask me 'do you want to come back to the U.S?' I'll give you the answer 'yes', but I don't know how," said Cuong, who left a wife and children back home in Orlando, Florida.

Another of the men, who asked to be identified only by his last name of Nguyen, told Reuters he was asked by local police officials when he returned to Vietnam if he worked for the CIA.

He said he was deported to Cam Ranh Bay, a place he had fled after the war because of his family's connections to the losing side. "I ran away from there," said Nguyen.

"There were a lot of Americans there at the time, and my family worked for them," he added. "My uncle died in the war. He was a South Vietnamese soldier".

It is not known how many pre-1995 Vietnamese immigrants like Nguyen and Cuong have been deported so far, but the Trump administration is seeking to send back thousands, Washington's former envoy to Hanoi told Reuters in an interview last week. Vietnam has expressed reluctance to take back pre-1995 immigrants.

Of the 8,600 Vietnamese nationals in the United States that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says are subject to deportation as of December last year, "7,821 have criminal convictions", an ICE spokesman said. The agency said it could not say how many of the immigrants slated for deportation arrived before 1995.

The White House has declined to comment on the Vietnamese deportations. But the Trump administration has labeled Vietnam and eight other countries "recalcitrant" for their unwillingness to accept their deported nationals.

ABUSE AND DISCRIMINATION

The son of an American serviceman stationed in Saigon during the war, Cuong is "Amerasian," which he said subjected him to abuse and discrimination in Vietnam after the war.

He didn't attend school and spent years ostracized and working in rice fields before leaving the country in 1990 on a program that gave Amerasians like him a chance to resettle in the United States.

But despite being born to an American father and raising three American children in Florida, Cuong never became a U.S. citizen.    

It hadn't seemed necessary, he said, since he had come to the country legally and was allowed to work. Then, in 2000, Cuong was convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to 18 months in jail. In 2007, he was given one year probation for driving under the influence.

Both times, Cuong was warned that his crimes made him eligible for deportation under U.S. law, but at the time Vietnam was not accepting deportees back. He was relieved in 2008, when the bilateral agreement on repatriations was signed in which the return of pre-1995 refugees was specifically barred.

After his arrests, Cuong checked in regularly with ICE as he was required to do, and stayed out of trouble.

He held down a steady job as a sushi chef and put his son through three years of college.

But in October, 2017, he was taken into custody by ICE and two months later found himself on a plane back to Vietnam. 

'UTTERLY SHOCKED'

Another of the deportees, Bui Thanh Hung, is also Amerasian, born in 1973 to a Vietnamese mother and an American soldier who died during the war.

Hung was convicted of domestic violence in 2010, which he says came after he walked in on his wife and another man. He spent six years in prison. Last year, he was released into ICE custody and deported in December.

"Over here, I have no job, no one to support me, no house to live in", said Hung. He said he was relying on new acquaintances to stay temporarily at their homes.

Many immigration advocates say they assumed the United States would be particularly reluctant to expel Amerasians like Hung and Cuong, because of their American fathers and the discrimination they had faced in post-war Vietnam.

"Those of us in the Southeast Asian community were utterly shocked," Tin Nguyen, a U.S.-based lawyer, said of the ongoing deportations. Nguyen volunteers with the Southeast Asian Coalition nonprofit and has been working with the deportees.

"It was as if they forgot about the Vietnam War".

Cuong and Bui were deported with around 30 other deportees from Asian countries on a plane that dropped people off in Myanmar and Cambodia before reaching its final destination, Vietnam.

Now back in the country they once fled, the men said they receive little support from the Vietnamese government and were struggling to find work.

"I got no money," said Cuong. "My wife, sometimes she gives me a couple hundred dollars, but nobody helps me, nothing".

(Corrects date to 1990 in paragraphs 1 and 14.) - Reuters

Swaziland king officially renames country Kingdom of eSwatini to mark 50th anniversary of independence

Swaziland’s king has officially renamed the country the Kingdom of eSwatini to mark 50 years since independence from British rule.

The name Swaziland has angered some in the country, since it is a mix of Swazi and English. The new name means “land of the Swazis” in the local Swati language.

King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch, announced the change at golden jubilee celebrations of the 50^th anniversary of Swazi independence and of his 50^th birthday.

The king has referred to the “Kingdom of eSwatini” several times in recent years – in an address to the UN General Assembly in 2017 and at African Union and other international conferences.

Addressing a large crowd gathered in a stadium in the city of Manzini, 25 miles east of the capital Mbabane, the king said Swaziland was reverting to the original name it had before being colonised by the British.

The impoverished southern African nation – a member of the Commonwealth – gained independence from Britain in 1968.

“I would like to announce that from today onwards, our country will be known as the Kingdom of eSwatini,” the king said.

“Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland," he said, claiming the name caused confusion.

The king, who wore a red and black military uniform and rode in an open car into the stadium, said he wanted his country to have a name people could identify with.

Most Swazi people struggle to earn a living in agriculture, often cultivating sugar. There is widespread poverty in a country with the world’s highest HIV/Aids rate.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen attended the event while on a visit to a country, which is one of the few to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan rather than Beijing. - The Independent

Abuja hawkers plead with govt. to provide affordable shops, loans

Hawkers in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have pleaded with the government to provide affordable shops and soft loans for their businesses to curb street hawking within the territory.

Some of these traders, while fielding questions from our reporters on Thursday decried the hazards they encounter while carrying out their trade.

They said a lot of their colleagues have lost their lives, incured severe injuries, lost properties and were arrested by the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and other government officials for hawking on highways and streets within the FCT.

Hassan Inuwa, a cold drink vendor, said providing conducive business environment would go a long way to stop street hawkers, improve the livelihood of traders and the risk involved.

“ We also don’t like the fact that we put our lives at risk in our quest to sell our products on the road.

“A lot of our colleagues have lost their lives or sustained injuries while carrying out their trades.

“ If the government will assist us with low interest loans or shops to sell our things, we will stop running after cars to sell things and stay in our shops,’’ he said.

Simon Emmanuel, a school dropout, who sells wrist watches and eye glasses said he would continue his trade in spite of the risks involved, several arrests and extortion by government officials.

“ I have been arrested several times by government officials and they release me after paying some charges, but I will still go back to the street and carry on with my business because it fetches me money, instead of going to steal,’’ he said.

According to him, assistance from the the government will compel them to leave the streets and all the risks involved, adding that the proceeds from the business enables him support his mother, who is a widow, and other siblings.

“If the government assist us by providing alternative places or money to rent a place, we will definitely move out of the streets,” he said.

Mrs Charity Sikiru, a food vendor, along Area 3, said she sells food on the street because she could not afford renting a shop and with this she supports her husband in providing for the family.

“ We cannot afford to rent a shop and our customers are mostly cab drivers, who ply the road and other hawkers, so it is easier for us to sell on the street, where they can easily access us, while carrying out their businesses as well,’’ she said.

Similarly, Umar Maiwaka, a Compaq Disc seller, said though he owns a shop in his area at Nyanya, but he prefers to sell on the street when there is gridlock.

“ I get more patrongage on the street during traffic hold-ups; that is why I usually lock my shop and sell on the street during traffic hours in spite of the risk involved,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Information, AEPB, Mr Mustapha Ibrahim, said the 1997 Act, Section 35, subsection B establishing the agency, specifies that all types of trading in the FCT requires the authorization of the board.

According to him, the N5, 000 fine or six months imprisonment for offenders is not stringent enough to serve as deterrent for those found guilty of the offence, as they still return to the trade after being arrested, prosecuted or made to pay fine.

“ We had warned members of the public against embarking on street hawking because they also endanger the lives of people coming in and out of traffic in their bid to sell their products, but they still return,’’ he said.

Ibrahim stressed the need for a review of the AEPB ACT to include a more stringent punishment and harsh fine to deter offenders, since the present Act was too soft on offenders.

Fulani herdsmen : Scores killed, 30 houses razed as another Benue community comes under heavy attack

Several persons have been reportedly killed, others declared missing while over 30 houses were razed after suspected herdsmen attacked Anyiin, Mbagber Council Ward in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.

DAILY POST gathered that some heavily armed men invaded the community late last night and opened fire on the villagers.

The development forced many residents, who were already fast asleep to abandon their homes for fear of being killed by the attackers.

A source hinted our reporter that security operatives on ground, especially mobile police force swung into action and chased away the intruders after they had killed many residents.

A resident of the area, who spoke with DAILY POST on Friday, said over 25 persons were killed in the attack.

“As we speak, over 25 persons have been killed while many are still missing. We are homeless at the moment. The government should come to our rescue,” the resident pleaded.

The resident said the attackers also attempted to set ablaze one T.T. Zozo’s Filling Station but failed.

Among those reportedly killed by the gunmen included one Mrs Terwase Osu, Uzenda, Chafu, Mbaya and several others.

Also, an aide to the governor, Ati Tekurla confirmed that over 30 houses were razed down in Anyiin, only last night.

Meanwhile, the police command is yet to react to the incident at the time of this report. - Daily Post

Three children raped, murdered at family weddings - Police

Three girls who were attending weddings in India were allegedly raped before being murdered, police said Friday, amid growing anger over sexual attacks on minors in the South Asian country.

Area police chief Ajay Bhadauria said a nine-year-old who was attending a function in Uttar Pradesh state’s Etah district was sexually assaulted and strangled by one of the cooks hired to prepare food.

Bhadauria said the accused drew the girl away from the function to an isolated place where he committed the crime.

He said that the girl’s body was found in the early hours of Friday and the accused had been arrested.

Medical tests to confirm the sexual assault were being conducted.

In a similar crime in the same district on Wednesday, a seven-year-old girl was taken away from a wedding by an inebriated staff member of the tent-decorators, raped and murdered, police said.

The India Police also said on Wednesday, an 11-year-old girl was raped and murdered at a wedding in Kabirdham district in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Local police said the 25-year-old man, who was arrested, admitted to raping the girl and bashing her head with a stone.

The child rape-murders have been reported as the Indian government faces public anger over the recent cases of rape of young girls.

In Uttar Pradesh, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by a ruling party lawmaker, while an eight-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the government, there were more than 36,000 cases of rape, sexual assault and similar offences against children recorded in 2016. - dpa/NAN