Geezzyworld's Blog

One hundred and forty three former Turkish soldiers went on trial on Monday in Istanbul over their deadly clashes with civilians on a bridge on the night of a coup attempt in 2016, local media reported. Thirty-four people were killed on the bridge over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul as clashes erupted between civilians and soldiers trying to seal off the bridge at the start of a coup bid by some in the military on July 15, 2016. A close friend of Turkish President Recep Erdogan was among the dead and 318 others were injured in the clashes on the Bosphorus Bridge, which was later renamed July 15 Martyrs Bridge by the government to honour the dead civilians, who resisted the plot. If convicted, the dismissed soldiers each will face aggravated life imprisonment over “murder and attempting to overthrow the parliament and government,” press reports said. Turkey  If convicted, the dismissed soldiers each will face aggravated life imprisonment over “murder and attempting to...

France will not recognise Catalonia if the Spanish region unilaterally declares independence, its European Affairs Minister, Nathalie Loiseau, said on Monday. “If there were to be a declaration of independence, it would be unilateral, and it would not be recognised,” Loiseau said on CNews television. Catalonia, which has its own language and culture and is led by a pro-independence regional government, held a referendum on Oct. 1 over secession in defiance of Spain’s constitutional court, which had declared the vote illegal. “Catalonia cannot be defined by the vote organised by the independence movement just over a week ago,” the French junior minister said. “This crisis needs to be resolved through dialogue at all levels of Spanish politics.’’ A hasty decision to recognise independence following such a unilateral declaration would amount to fleeing France’s responsibilities, Loiseau added. “If independence were to be recognised – which is not something that’s being disc...

Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini suffers ligament damage on Belgium duty Marouane Fellaini suffered knee ligament damage against Bosnia-Herzegovina, says Belgium manager Roberto Martinez. The 29-year-old is now back with Manchester United and a full prognosis on his injury is expected in the next 24 hours. Fellaini had already been ruled out of Belgium’s World Cup Qualifier against Cyprus on Tuesday and Saturday’s crucial Premier League fixture against Liverpool at Anfield. Speaking to the media on Monday, Martinez said: “Marouane Fellaini, it has been confirmed that he has got ligament damage. “He has gone back to Manchester United. “It was a very unfortunate injury for Marouane. I don’t think the state of the pitch played any part. “A collision between two strong players, very committed that they want to win the ball, and unfortunately Marouane ended with a damaged ligament

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has been passed fit to face Cyprus in Belgium’s final Qualifier for the 2018 World Cup. Lukaku, whose United side face Liverpool on Saturday, had been a doubt for Tuesday’s dead rubber in Group H after an ankle injury ruled him out of the 4-3 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday. However, Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has confirmed the 24-year-old has recovered from the injury and is now “100 per cent fit”. Belgium have already secured their place in Russia next summer after finishing top in Group H and Martinez may opt to rest his first-choice striker against Cyprus. The reason that he wasn’t in the squad in the previous game was because he wasn’t 100 per cent,” said Martinez. “Now he is 100 per cent but we need to take into consideration that he has been with the group for only one [training] session. “He’s been working on an individual basis, really good work, but we need to keep that in mind.” United boss Jose Mourinho...

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has ruled himself out of the presidential race in the forthcoming coming election in 2019. Attending the Financial Times AFRICA Summit in London on Monday, he had been reportedly asked if he had considered running, Osinbajo, to which he replied: “None of that is on the card.” However, speaking at the summit, Osinbajo had explained that the present administration was making specific efforts to enable the private sector to thrive specifically by undertaking extensive ‘ease of doing business’ reforms, in addition to on-going investment in infrastructure. He noted that the federal government in the past months has been working assiduously to improve macroeconomic conditions. “After a continuous slide in growth since 2014, the trend of growth in GDP has turned around with a modest growth of 0.55% in the second quarter of this year while inflation, though still somewhat high, has declined from its peak of 18.7% in January 2017 to about 16% today,” he s...

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, on Monday said that two suspected cases of Monkeypox have been recorded in the state. The Commissioner disclosed this at a news conference on Monday, saying that the two suspected cases were currently under observation in health facilities in the state. “Though no confirmed case has been recorded, there is need to sensitise members of the public and provide adequate information on measures for prevention and control of the disease in line with the policy of the State government,” he said.

The United States and Turkey on Sunday scaled back visa issuing services in each other’s countries in a deepening diplomatic row sparked by the arrest of a Turkish staffer at the American mission in Istanbul. The American embassy in Ankara said that “recent events” forced the US government to reassess Turkey’s “commitment” to the security of US mission services and personnel in the country. In order to minimise the number of visitors while the assessment is carried out, “effective immediately we have suspended all non-immigrant visa services at all US diplomatic facilities in Turkey,” it said. Non-immigrant visas are issued to all those travelling to the United States for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study. Immigrant visa services are only for those seeking to live in the US permanently. Turkey responded by suspending “all visa services” for Americans in the US, saying the measures also apply to visas issued online and at the border. In an appa...