TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ban

  • UEFA ban Austria player at Euro 2020

    UEFA ban Austria player at Euro 2020

    Austria forward Marko Arnautovic has been banned for one game by UEFA for insulting another player in Sunday’s Euro 2020 win over North Macedonia.

    Arnautovic, who has Serbian heritage, had to be restrained by captain David Alaba as he celebrated his late goal.

    Arnautovic appeared to direct comments at opponents Egzon Bejtulai and Gjanni Alioski, who have Albanian roots.

    Arnautovic responded after the match by saying he he is “not a racist”.

    The 32-year-old was found guilty of misconduct, with Uefa not considering his actions to be discriminatory.

    Arnautovic, who was born in Austria and has a Serbian father, apologised for his goal celebration in a post on Instagram.

    He wrote: “There were some heated words yesterday in the emotions of the game for which I would like to apologise, especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania.

    “I would like to say one thing very clearly: I am not a racist.

    “I have friends in almost every country and I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me is aware of that.”

    Serbia does not recognise the independence of its former province Kosovo, while there is historic tension between Serbia and North Macedonia.

    Austria’s next game is against the Netherlands at the Johan Cruyff arena on Thursday, while North Macedonia face Ukraine.

  • FG didn’t ban Twitter, it’s only a suspension-APC

    FG didn’t ban Twitter, it’s only a suspension-APC

    The National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Ismaeel Ahmed, on Wednesday, said the Federal Government didn’t ban the use of Twitter, it only suspended its operations.

    He said this at a press conference before the rescheduled Progressive Youths Conference now to hold next week.

    Ahmed said, “The government didn’t ban social media as a lot of people will insinuate. It is very important that we know that because Facebook is still in operation, Instagram is still in operation, WhatsApp is still in operation, and a lot of other social media platforms are still in operation.

    “In fact, some people will tell you Twitter is for the elite young people and not necessarily for the general public.

    “I think there are far more subscribers on Facebook in Nigeria than there are on Twitter. But haven said that, it is still a very important medium for people.

    “So, whatever it is that the government felt to suspend Twitter, not even ban, there was a suspension and of course, there is a conversation going on between the government and the representatives of Twitter and I’m sure it will be resolved.”

    Ismaeel who is also a member of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee, also noted while he was personally not happy about the suspension of the operations of the microblogging site, he had no trouble supporting the federal government for taking the decision because the platform crossed the line by deleting a tweet by the President, Muhammadu Buhari

  • FG gives condition to lift Twitter ban in Nigeria

    FG gives condition to lift Twitter ban in Nigeria

    The Federal Government of Nigeria has given Twitter a condition for its suspension to be lifted in the country.

    The condition is that social media platform must ensure it is used ‘responsibly’.

    Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama stated this at a meeting with envoys from UK, US and other countries on Monday.

    He didn’t commit to any definite timeline when the ban will be reversed.

    “The condition would be responsible use of the social media and that really has to be it.”

    “We are not saying that Twitter is threatening the country or any such thing.

    “Why we have taken this measure is to stop them to be used as platforms for destabilisation and facilitation of criminality or encouragement of criminalities”.

  • Facebook oversight board upholds Trump ban

    Facebook oversight board upholds Trump ban

    Donald Trump’s ban from Facebook and Instagram has been upheld by Facebook’s Oversight Board.

    But it criticised the permanent nature of the ban as beyond the scope of Facebook’s normal penalties.

    It has ordered Facebook to review the decision and “justify a proportionate response” that is applied to everyone, including ordinary users.

    The former president was banned from both sites in January following the Capitol Hill riots.

    The Oversight Board said the initial decision to permanently suspend Mr Trump was “indeterminate and standardless”, and that the correct response should be “consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform”.

    Facebook must respond within six months, it said.

    At a press conference, Oversight Board co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt admitted: “We did not have an easy answer.”

    The Board was due to announce its decision last month but delayed the ruling in order to review more than 9,000 public responses to cases, it said.

    In the meantime, Mr Trump, who is also banned from Twitter, launched a new website on Tuesday to update supporters with his thoughts.

    The ruling means that Mr Trump’s suspension remains in place for now.

    The Oversight Board decided that Mr Trump had broken Facebook’s community standards, and upheld the ban.

    But it is the “indefinite” part of the ban that it took issue with.

    “It is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored,” it said in a statement.

    Applying that type of ban to Mr Trump was not following any clear procedure, it said.

    The Board argued that Facebook had essentially issued “a vague, standardless penalty and then [referred] this case to the Board to resolve”.

    It said doing so meant “Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities” – and sent the decision back to Facebook.

    Often referred to as “Facebook’s Supreme Court”, it was set up to rule on difficult or controversial moderation decisions made by Facebook.

    It was established by Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg but operates as an independent entity, although its wages and other costs are covered by Facebook. It is made up of journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and academics.

    The committee has already ruled on nine cases including a comment that seemed derogatory to Muslims. The post from a user in Myanmar, removed for breaking hate-speech rules, was found by the board not to be Islamophobic when taken in context.

    It decisions

    Following the Capitol Hill riots on 6 January, Facebook announced it was banning Mr Trump for breaking its “glorification of violence” rules.

    Hundreds of his supporters entered the complex as the US Congress attempted to certify Joe Biden’s victory in last year’s presidential election.

    Mr Trump was acquitted of a charge of inciting insurrection at the US Capitol in his second impeachment trial in February, after being accused of encouraging the violence in which five people lost their lives.

    The social network had originally imposed a 24-hour ban after the attack which was then extended “indefinitely”.

    Mr Zuckerberg announced that the risks of allowing Mr Trump to post were “simply too great”.

    The former president has also been banned from Twitter and YouTube.

  • FIFA slams additional six year ban on Blatter

    FIFA slams additional six year ban on Blatter

    International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) said on Wednesday it had extended the ban on its former president Sepp Blatter and former secretary-general Jerome Valcke by six years and eight months, in relation to the receipt of huge bonuses.

    Blatter, who is 85, received 23 million Swiss francs ($24.6 million) in “extraordinary bonuses” linked to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as well as the Confederations Cup tournament in Brazil that preceded it, FIFA’s Ethics Committee said in a statement.

    Valcke, the 60-year-old Frenchman who was Blatter’s right-hand man during his 17-year reign at the head of football’s world governing body, received 30 million Swiss francs over the same period, the committee said.

    The Ethics Committee said Blatter and Valcke had broken rules in FIFA’s Code of Ethics including “offering and accepting gifts or other benefits” and “abuse of position”.

    The new bans will only come into force when the current bans on Blatter and Valcke, which last till October this year and October 2025, end.

    The Ethics Committee said it had also fined each man one million Swiss francs.

  • Cryptocurrency ban: FG, CBN just succeeded in moving Nigeria backwards, Nigerians react on social media

    Cryptocurrency ban: FG, CBN just succeeded in moving Nigeria backwards, Nigerians react on social media

    Nigerians have expressed displeasure over the directives by the Godwin Emefiele led Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions in the country to close accounts of persons who are using their systems for cryptocurrency trading.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG, reports that a cryptocurrency is a virtual or digital currency that appreciates or depreciates on the whims of market forces.

    In a statement signed by Bello Hassan,Director of Banking Supervision; andMusa Jimoh, Director of Payments System Management Department, the CBN on Monday said: “Further to earlier regulatory directives on the subject, the bank hereby wishes to remind regulated institutions that dealing in crypto currencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchange is prohibited.

    “Accordingly, all DMBs, NBFIs and OFIs are directed to identify persons and/or entities transacting in or operating crypto currency exchanges within their systems and ensure that such accounts are closed immediately.”

    However, some Nigerians have taken to their social media accounts to express their displeasure with the developments few minutes after it was announced.

    See reactions below:

    https://twitter.com/hunklechu/status/1357719265382715393?s=20

    https://twitter.com/mbahdey4u/status/1357706412168781824?s=20

    https://twitter.com/wolexz_tricks/status/1357715853983236098?s=20

     

  • BREAKING: FG Suspends Emirates Flights From Nigeria

    BREAKING: FG Suspends Emirates Flights From Nigeria

    The Federal Government has placed a 72-hour suspension on outbound Emirates flights from Nigeria.

    This is contained in a circular issued on February 4 by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

    The circular states that the suspension followed a violation of guidelines placed by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

    According to the circular signed by NCAA director-general, Musa Nuhu, the airline has been airlifting passengers from Nigeria using rapid antigen tests conducted by laboratories not approved by regulatory authorities.

    “Based on the foregoing and to enable the Nigerian government to put in place the needed infrastructure and logistics for COVID-19 RDT testing for departing passengers, the PTF has directed that Emirates Airlines should either accept passengers without RDT pending when the infrastructure and logistics are put in place or suspend its flights to and from Nigeria until such a time when the required infrastructure and logistics are fully established and implemented.

    “Emirates Airlines has not been in compliance with the two options given by the PTF as records obtained from Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) indicates that Emirates Airlines operated the flights from both Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja” the circular read in part.

    More to follow…

  • Uruguayan FA urges English FA to review Cavani ban

    Uruguayan FA urges English FA to review Cavani ban

    The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) on Monday criticised their English counterparts for banning Edinson Cavani.

    The association called his three-match sanction for alleged racism “a flagrant injustice that damages the morals of an unimpeachable man.”

    The AUF “exhorts the FA to review its sanction,” it said in a statement.

    “We are convinced, through our profound knowledge of the person and analysis of the incident, that he does not deserve (the ban) nor the consequential moral aggravation.”

    The Manchester United striker was suspended last week by the FA and fined 100,000 pounds (136,330 dollars).

    The sanctions were for a term he used in an Instagram post following his side’s 3-2 win at Southampton on Nov. 29, before taking it down and apologising.

    The FA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

    The Uruguayan FA’s request came shortly after a similar appeal by Cavani’s national team mates.

    The Uruguayan players’ union (AFU) said the English FA “committed a discriminatory act against the culture and way of life of the Uruguayan people”.

    The statement was shared on Twitter by Uruguay captain Diego Godin.

    “Edinson Cavani has never committed any conduct that could be interpreted as racist,” the AFU said.

    “He merely used a common expression in Latin America to affectionately address a loved one or close friend.

    “The sanction shows the English Football Association’s biased, dogmatic and ethnocentric vision that only allows a subjective interpretation to be made from its particular and excluding conclusion, however flawed it may be.

    “We request the FA to immediately overturn the sanction imposed on Edinson Cavani and reinstate his good name and honour in the world that has been so unfairly tarnished by this reprehensible decision.”

    The Uruguayan Academy of Letters, which protects and promotes the Spanish language in Uruguay, also denounced the ban last week.

    It called the sanction an example of English football’s lack of “cultural and linguistic knowledge.”

    Cavani, who has scored four times for Manchester United this season, missed Friday’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa due to the suspension.

    The 33-year-old will also miss their League Cup semi-final against rivals Manchester City on Wednesday as well as Saturday’s FA Cup third-round match against Watford.

    As part of its punishment, the FA also said Cavani must complete “face-to-face education”.

  • Edinson Cavani gets three-match ban

    Edinson Cavani gets three-match ban

    Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani has been given a three-match ban and a £100,000 fine for a social media post containing a Spanish phrase that is offensive in some contexts.

    The Uruguayan, 33, pleaded guilty to a Football Association charge of using insulting and/or improper words.

    Cavani sent the message after scoring a winner at Southampton on 29 November.

    The striker subsequently deleted the post and apologised when the meaning that could be attached was pointed out.

    Along with the ban and fine, Cavani must also complete a “face-to-face” education programme.

    Cavani’s ban will begin immediately, ruling him out of United’s Premier League game with Aston Villa on New Year’s Day.

    He is also set to miss the EFL Cup semi-final against Manchester City on 6 January and FA Cup third-round tie with Watford on 9 January.

    Cavani issued an apology shortly after posting the message on Instagram following United’s 3-2 comeback win against the Saints.

    “It was intended as an affectionate greeting to a friend, thanking him for his congratulations after the game,” said the former Napoli and Paris St-Germain striker.

    “The last thing I wanted to do was cause offence to anyone.

    “I am completely opposed to racism and deleted the message as soon as it was explained that it can be interpreted differently.”

    The FA charged Cavani for the post on 17 December.

    With reference to new guidelines agreed in the summer, it said the post was alleged to be “insulting and/or abusive and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute”.

    It was also alleged “that the comment constitutes an aggravated breach” which “included reference, whether express or implied, to colour and/or race and/or ethnic origin”.

  • Crime: Delta Government speaks on banning ‘okada’, ‘keke’ in Asaba

    Crime: Delta Government speaks on banning ‘okada’, ‘keke’ in Asaba

    Delta Government on Friday said it was not planning to ban commercial tricycle (Keke) and motorcycle (Okada) operations in Asaba.

    Mrs Joan Mrakpor, Director-General, Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency, said this while briefing newsmen in Asaba.

    Mrakpor said the state government would checkmate the operators’ excesses.

    She said that the state government would partner the `Keke and Okada’ union to streamline the operators’ activities to check the new wave of crime allegedly being perpetrated by them in the state capital.

    She noted that the aftermath of the EndSARS protest which led to a huge public and private property destruction in the state revealed that some `Keke and Okada’ operators outside Asaba were the hijackers of the protest.

    According to her, the state government will on Monday in partnership with the Keke and Okada Riders Union commence a process of identification of genuine members of the union to ensure security of life and property in the state.

    “Government is not planning to ban `Keke’ in Delta and it is not government’s intention to allow crime to thrive by not checking the excesses of the operators.

    “After the EndSARS issues, we noticed that things had fallen out of place but we feel that things need to fall in place but unfortunately, there are some criminal activities noticed that are worrisome.

    “Keke has suddenly become a great threat but the real operators in Delta don’t push people out to dispossess them of their belongings. It is strange and it came after the EndSARS protest,” Mrakpor said.

    She urged the unionists to streamline, identify their members and report strange and fraudulent operators who hid their identities to commit crime to the authority.

    She said that the state taskforce would commence ”Operation Clean up Asaba,” saying that all vehicles, private and commercial, must provide waste baskets for their passengers to avoid littering the state capital.

    On his part, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the Commissioner for Information, acknowledged the fact that tricycle and commercial motorcyclists had made good contributions in the partnership with the state government but stressed the need to streamline their activities.

    He called on the various unions to support the government in checkmating the criminal elements and bringing them to book to ensure the safety of passengers.

    According to him, no Keke rider will come in from the neighbouring Anambra State and other communities to operate within the state capital territory.

    “We want to ensure a cleaner capital territory; a 24-hour city life without threat to the people in Asaba.

    “In streamlining the operations, we shall define the routes of the Keke operators and also ensure that nobody intimidates the taskforce and the union from performing their roles,” Aniagwu said.

    Chief Obi Nzete, State Chairman, Keke and Okada Riders Union, represented by its Financial Secretary, Mr Tony Chukwudi, pledged the union’s readiness to partner the state government in fishing out the criminals among them.