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Asaba town. PHOTO: nairaland Landlords in suburb of Delta State capital, Asaba are presently living in fear as the State government threatened to demolish over 8,700 houses, if the homeowners fail to regularize their property. The Guardian learnt that the State’s Ministry of Land and Surveys recently set up a task force that marked the affected buildings and issued notice to property owners. The property owners were given three months moratorium to perfect the documents such as land allocation, plan approval and Certificate of Occupancy, while those that pays before the order expires are expected to get 30 per cent discount. Advertisement The affected houses, include private schools, churches, estates and cooperative buildings situated at Ogbeowele Quarters New Layout at Okpanam in Oshimili North Local Council of the State. Owned mostly by civil servants who are indigenes of the state, the homeowners amongst, who are lawyers, traders, retirees as well as journa...

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola addresses the media during a press conference at the City Football Academy in Manchester, northern England, on October 31, 2016, ahead of their UEFA Champions League group C football match against Barcelona on November 1. / AFP PHOTO / OLI SCARFF Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted his players must keep their discipline and produce the “perfect” performance to beat Barcelona in the Champions League at Eastlands on Tuesday. Guardiola’s side lost 4-0 in their Group C encounter against the Spanish giants at the Nou Camp on October 19 –- their fifth defeat in as many meetings with the Catalan club. City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was sent off in that match and Guardiola acknowledged the importance of keeping 11 players on the pitch against a side of Barcelona’s class. “We know we need to play almost perfectly,” Guardiola, who guided Barcelona to two Champions League titles while manager from 2008-12 after starring for ...

PHOTO:AFP Lebanon’s parliament on Monday elected former general Michel Aoun president, ending a vacuum and political stalemate of more than two years. After four rounds of voting, including two unexpected repeat votes, Aoun won support from 83 lawmakers, easily clearing the 50-percent-plus-one majority required. The final tally included 36 blank votes and eight void ballots. Aoun, 81, failed to achieve the two-thirds majority necessary to win a first round of voting, and a second round was repeated twice after the number of votes exceeded the 127 MPs present in the session. But the former army chief’s victory had been all but assured after two longstanding political rivals offered him their support. Aoun’s election ends a vacancy for the post since May 2014, when his predecessor Michel Sleiman’s mandate ended. The country’s deeply divided political powers were repeatedly unable to reach consensus on a candidate for president, a post reserved in Lebanon for a Maronite C...

PHOTO:AFP Manchester United brought former Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger back in from the cold by recalling the midfielder to first-team training on Monday. The 32-year-old has not been on the field for even a minute of United senior action since Jose Mourinho was appointed manager of the Old Trafford club in pre-season. The Portuguese boss even went as far as removing the World Cup-winner from the club’s Europa League list and the former Bayern Munich star was also written off as an asset in the club’s financial results for the year ending June 30, 2016. But Schweinsteiger was back pictured training with the first team-squad at United’s Carrington complex on Monday in images posted by the club on social media. Advertisement Add us on BBM 7B3E0875 for more updates

Mohammed Kari The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) said it would open six branches before the end of 2016 as part of efforts to improve insurance penetration and relationships with state governments. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Mohammed Kari, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that the number of branches was reduced by 50 per cent due to the present economic crises. “One fundamental development in the opening of the branch is, because of the recession, we had earlier budgeted to open 12 branches. “But we will reduce it by 50 per cent now because the year is already gone. “We will try and achieve at list 50 per cent of that before the end of the year so that at least next year we can make up for more,’’ he said. Kari urged state governments to domicile the laws of insurance in their various states as was done by Lagos Government to allow for easy enforcement of the regulator. The commissioner said that some states, including Gombe, had...

The Nigeria Army says suspected Boko Haram terrorists ambushed and killed five soldiers, three vigilantes and one Civilian JTF in Borno on Saturday. A statement by Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, on Sunday said that 19 other soldiers and one Civilian JTF sustained various degrees of injuries during the attack. Usman said the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole were ambushed by the terrorists at Ugundiri village, Damboa Local Government Area, while returning to base after clearance operations on suspected Boko Haram terrorists hideouts in Talala and Ajigin in southern Borno Advertisement “The bodies of the late soldiers and civilians have been evacuated to Maiduguri, while the injured are receiving commensurate medical care and are in stable condition,” he said. Usman said that the troops destroyed the terrorists Gun truck and recovered two Anti-Aircraft guns, two spare Gun barrels, one General Purpose Machine Gun, one Rocket Propelled Grenade,...

ice’s Italian forward Mario Balotelli celebrates a goal of his team during the French L1 football match Nice (OGCN) vs Nantes (FCN) on October 30, 2016 at the “Allianz Riviera” stadium in Nice, southeastern France. VALERY HACHE / AFP Mario Balotelli starred once again as clinical Nice opened up a six-point gap at the top of Ligue 1 with a 4-1 thrashing of Nantes on Sunday. The maverick forward, back in form after a nightmare spell at Liverpool, scored one and was involved in two other goals as Nice took their unbeaten run since the start of the season to 11 matches. Wylan Cyprien scored a brace and Alassane Plea also netted while Emiliano Sala replied for the out-gunned visitors at the Allianz Riviera, as Nice played with panache and incision. Advertisement The league leaders were quickly in control of proceedings and Balotelli was at the heart of it as they opened the scoring. The Italy star ran onto Younes Belhanda’s chip over the top and although he was s...

Everton’s Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between Everton and West Ham United at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on October 30, 2016. PAUL ELLIS / AFP Ross Barkley’s excellent goal sealed an impressive 2-0 win for Everton over West Ham in their Premier League clash on Sunday ending a four match winless run in the league. For Barkley — who had been dropped both from the England squad and the Everton starting line-up this season as his form dipped — it was his first goal since the opening day of the season against Spurs. Belgian international Romelu Lukaku — who set up Barkley for his goal — had opened the scoring for the hosts with his 50th for the club. Advertisement It also maintained his extraordinary record against the Hammers as it was his ninth goal in as many Premier League matches against them since he moved to Everton. Everton stay s...

US Secretary of State John Kerry / AFP PHOTO / Matthew Healey US Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that neither he or his department had been contacted by the FBI over its renewed investigation into his predecessor Hillary Clinton’s emails. “No, I haven’t been notified of anything, no, I haven’t been requested of anything, no, I’m not aware of the department being requested,” he said during a visit to Tipperary in southern Ireland. Kerry said it would be up to the US Department of Justice and the FBI to respond to further questions about the probe, which has rocked the race for the White House in its final stretch. Advertisement “By the way, obviously as an American citizen — not to mention as a former nominee of the party — there’s a lot I’d love to say about what has been going on. But I can’t and I’m just going to remain out of this,” he said. Throughout her campaign, Clinton has been battling allegations she put US secrets at risk by using a privat...

Italy’s coach Antonio Conte / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA Chelsea manager Antonio Conte insists it is too early to talk about a potential Premier League title challenge. The 2014-15 champions moved to within a point of leaders Manchester City with a 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Former United boss Alex Ferguson did not name Chelsea among the title contenders when asked for his view this week, despite having witnessed the emphatic defeat of his old side last weekend. Advertisement Yet with just a single point separating the top five after only nine matches, Conte believes it is pointless to discuss who will be challenging for the trophy in May. “A win or a defeat does not change my ideas or the confidence of the players. This system is a good fit,” Conte, whose side were knocked out of the EFL Cup by West Ham on Wednesday, told a news conference. “We shouldn’t look at the table but just concentrate on training and the next ma...