Tag: Spain

  • NCSP DG, Tegbe in Spain for Global Cybersecurity Roundtable

    NCSP DG, Tegbe in Spain for Global Cybersecurity Roundtable

    By Michael Onjewu, Abuja

    Joseph Tegbe, the Director-General of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) on Tuesday participated in the Global Regulator Roundtable on cybersecurity held in Barcelona, Spain.

    Tegbe attended the event at the invitation of Huawei Technologies, coinciding with the activities of the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC).

    In his presentation, Tegbe emphasized the importance of balancing innovation with the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) in today’s rapidly evolving landscape. He advocated for the promotion of innovation while emphasizing the need for flexible and adaptable regulations and policies.

    The conference also provided the NCSP team with valuable insights into the diverse solutions and capabilities offered by Huawei Technologies, a global leader in the information and communications technology (ICT) value chain, within the context of the evolving digital economy.

    The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is an annual event that serves as a premier convergence of technology, people, and ideas, shaping the blueprint for future industries and societies.

    Tegbe Visits China Chamber of Commerce, Vows to Attract More Chinese Investments to Nigeria

    Meanwhile,  Joseph Tegbe,  Director-General of the NCSP, has vowed to attract more Chinese investments in key sectors such as agriculture, alternative energy, solid mineral development, and healthcare into Nigeria.

    He made the pledge during a recent visit to the China General Chamber of Commerce in Abuja on Friday.

    Tegbe expressed willingness to work closely with the Chamber to ensure ease of doing business for Chinese enterprises within the extant laws of Nigeria.

    He called on the Chinese Business Community to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s and President Xi Jinping’s efforts to foster a mutually beneficial bilateral relationship between both countries.

    According to him, Nigeria is willing to leverage the comprehensive strategic plan between Nigeria and China to transition from a trade relationship to a developmental partnership where China catalyzes industrialization in Nigeria.

  • Altercation Breaks Out on Ryanair Flight Leading to Ejection of Three Passengers: Video Footage

    Altercation Breaks Out on Ryanair Flight Leading to Ejection of Three Passengers: Video Footage

    By  Milcah  Tanimu

    Disturbance onboard a Ryanair flight has been captured in a video, resulting in the removal of three passengers from the aircraft. According to the airline, the incident occurred on August 21 during a flight from Manchester, England to Ibiza, Spain. The flight faced a delay prior to takeoff due to the disruptive behavior of a small group of passengers.

    The disruptive passengers were subsequently escorted off the plane by local authorities, allowing the flight to resume its journey to Ibiza after a brief pause. A spokesperson from Ryanair issued a statement, acknowledging the situation: “This is now a matter for local police. We sincerely apologize to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of these passengers’ disruptive behavior.”

    The video footage, taken by a fellow passenger, shows a verbal exchange in which a woman can be heard making threats. The recording displays several passengers becoming involved in a physical altercation within the aircraft’s aisle. At one instance, a woman dressed in pink loses her balance as another individual intervenes to separate her from the confrontation.

    Greater Manchester Police reported that “two men in their 30s and one woman, also in her 30s, have all been arrested on suspicion of being drunk on board an aircraft.” Additionally, the woman and one of the men were arrested for allegedly assaulting police officers. All three individuals remain in police custody for further questioning.

    Lyndsay Cash, a passenger on the flight hailing from Wigan, England, recounted the events. She noted that a woman exhibited aggressive behavior right from the moment she boarded the plane. Cash reported, “She was intoxicated, and when confronted, she became confrontational with everyone.” The situation escalated into a physical altercation within the aisle, causing distress among passengers, particularly children.

    Cash expressed dissatisfaction with the handling of the situation by the cabin crew, stating, “The stewardesses weren’t much use and kids were upset. I wasn’t happy with the way it was managed.” She further mentioned that the incident elicited strong reactions from fellow passengers, with applause when the disruptive woman was escorted off the plane. Cash criticized the airline staff’s response and suggested they should have taken quicker action to address the situation rather than leaving it to passengers to manage.

  • Nigerian Newspapers: Monday Morning Update in 10 Points

    Nigerian Newspapers: Monday Morning Update in 10 Points

    Good morning! Here is summary from today’s topstories

    1. Spain emerges victorious over England with a 1-0 triumph in the 2023 Women’s World Cup

    Spain emerges victorious over England with a 1-0 triumph in the 2023 Women’s World Cup

    2. NDLEA Seizes Illicit Drugs Worth N4.8 Billion from Lagos Warehouse

    NDLEA Seizes Illicit Drugs Worth N4.8 Billion from Lagos Warehouse

    3. Burna Boy Expresses Sympathy for Wizkid’s Loss of Mother

    Burna Boy Expresses Sympathy for Wizkid’s Loss of Mother

    4. Former Minister, Shagari, Quits PDP to Join APC

    Former Minister, Shagari, Quits PDP to Join APC

    5. #BBNaijaAllStars: Lucy, Omashola, Prince and Kimoprah Joins Show In Fourth Week

    #BBNaijaAllStars: Lucy, Omashola, Prince and Kimoprah Joins Show In Fourth Week

    6. Igoche Mark Welcomes New Sports Minister, Advises on Pitfalls to Avoid

    Igoche Mark Welcomes New Sports Minister, Advises on Pitfalls to Avoid

    7. BBNaija All Stars: Kiddwaya Evicted From Show

    BBNaija All Stars: Kiddwaya Evicted From Show

    8. CBN’s Loans to Manufacturers and Power Firms Reach N5.6 Trillion

    CBN’s Loans to Manufacturers and Power Firms Reach N5.6 Trillion

    9. Enugu Pastor Onovo Ndubuise Abducted and Bank Account Emptied

    Enugu Pastor Onovo Ndubuise Abducted and Bank Account Emptied

    10. Tinubu Did Not Order Removal of ‘All Eyes on the Judiciary’ Billboards – ARCON DG

    Tinubu Did Not Order Removal of ‘All Eyes on the Judiciary’ Billboards – ARCON DG

  • Spain emerges victorious over England with a 1-0 triumph in the 2023 Women’s World Cup

    Spain emerges victorious over England with a 1-0 triumph in the 2023 Women’s World Cup

    By Daniel Edu

    In a thrilling showdown at Sydney’s Stadium Australia on Sunday, Spain clinched the Women’s World Cup title by defeating reigning European champions England 1-0.

    The turning point arrived in the 29th minute when Spain’s captain, Olga Carmona, seized the opportunity with finesse, slotting the ball confidently into the right-hand corner following a swift counter-attack.

    England’s most promising moment materialized through Lauren Hemp, whose formidable strike thudded against the crossbar, as both teams relentlessly vied for their inaugural World Cup victory.

    The match experienced a momentary disruption when a spectator breached the pitch donning a ‘Free Ukraine’ T-shirt, promptly subdued by security personnel.

  • Morocco Defeat Spain To Book Quarter-Final Spot

    Morocco Defeat Spain To Book Quarter-Final Spot

    Morocco beat Spain on penalties to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history on Tuesday after the match finished 0-0.

    The African side won the shoot-out 3-0 after Spain failed to convert all three of their spot kicks.

    Spain coach Luis Enrique had claimed his players prepared by taking 1,000 penalties as homework but Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets all missed from the spot and Madrid-born Hakimi dinked his home to the delight of Morocco’s raucous support.

    Walid Regragui’s side will face Portugal or Switzerland in what is uncharted territory for them, with their previous best a last-16 exit in 1986.

    Spain had been hoping they could repeat their 2010 World Cup triumph after reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020, where they were also beaten on penalties by Italy.

    The teams were closely matched through a nail-biting clash, with Spain having more of the ball but Morocco creating the better openings, few though they were.

    Luis Enrique trialled his third right-back of the tournament in Marcos Llorente, and benched the team’s top scorer Alvaro Morata for Marco Asensio, after the shock defeat by Japan.

    Spain monopolised the ball, with Morocco’s fans furiously whistling with their side out of possession.

    Morocco, who are the last African and Arab side left standing at the first World Cup held in an Arab country, were intensely backed and their fans greatly outnumbered Spain’s.

    With La Roja playing in a pale blue second strip, they resembled the away team on hostile territory.

    Gavi, who at 18 years and 123 days old became the youngest player to start a World Cup knockout game since Brazil great Pele in 1958, rose to the occasion.

    The Barcelona midfield terrier was at his most intense, smashing into challenges left, right and centre, even diving to make one with his head.

    Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou tipped a Gavi strike on to the crossbar, though it would have been ruled offside, while Asensio drilled into the side-netting, although Spain created little.

    Regragui’s side sat deep defensively and threatened on the counter, with Unai Simon beating away a long range effort from Noussair Mazraoui.

    Toothless Spain

    Sofiane Boufal, who bypassed Llorente like sand slipping through the Spaniard’s fingers early on, carved the best chance of the half for Nayef Aguerd, who headed inches over.

    Bounou pummelled away a Dani Olmo strike from an angle as the tension cranked up after the break.

    Luis Enrique raged at Rodri for choosing the wrong option on the ball, and withdrew the dogged and muddied Gavi for Carlos Soler.

    He threw Morata on too, giving Spain a focal point up top, but they struggled to supply him as Morocco sat deeper and deeper.

    Another substitute, Nico Williams did find the Atletico Madrid striker on one occasion but the angle was too tight and he scraped a shot across the face of goal.

    Bounou made a fine save from Olmo’s free-kick as it almost snuck all the way through, with Spain finally creating stronger chances as the game frayed in the moments before extra-time.

    Morocco responded in the additional period by finding stability and testing Simon, who made a fine save with his legs to deny Walid Cheddira after he broke in down Spain’s left flank.

    Despite heavy pressure by Spain in the final moments before penalties, they could not trouble the Sevilla goalkeeper again, with Pablo Sarabia clipping the outside of the post, although he might have been offside.

    Having been sent on apparently for the shoot-out, Sarabia struck the post again from Spain’s first penalty, after Abdelhamid Sabiri had sent Morocco ahead.

    Soler and Busquets missed, while Hakim Ziyech scored, before Hakimi netted against his birth country to ignite wild celebrations.

    AFP

  • Italy Beat Spain On Penalties To Reach Euro 2020 Final

    Italy Beat Spain On Penalties To Reach Euro 2020 Final

    Alvaro Morata scored but missed the crucial spot-kick as Italy edged out Spain on penalties to reach the Euro 2020 final after their last-four clash at Wembley finished 1-1 on Tuesday.

    Federico Chiesa’s curling strike put Italy ahead on the hour mark, but the much-maligned Morata came off the bench and his 80th-minute equaliser forced extra time.

    Italy, chasing a first European title since 1968, won 4-2 in the shoot-out though to secure a place in Sunday’s final against either England or Denmark, who play on Wednesday, in London.

    More to follow . . .

  • Spain Set To Legalise Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide

    Spain Set To Legalise Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide

    Spain’s parliament will give final approval to a law legalising euthanasia Thursday, becoming one of the few nations to allow terminally-ill or gravely-injured patients to end their own suffering.

    The legislation, which will take effect in June, follows growing public pressure generated by several high-profile cases, including that of Ramon Sampedro whose plight was immortalised in the Oscar-winning 2004 film “The Sea Inside”.

    Speaking to AFP, Ramona Maneiro, a friend of Sampedro’s who helped him die, hailed the move as a victory “for those who can benefit from it” and “for Ramon”.

    At the time, she was arrested but released due to lack of evidence, only admitting her role years later when the statute of limitations expired.

    The move will see Spain become the fourth country in Europe to decriminalise assisted suicide, alongside the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

    Although Portugal’s parliament passed a similar law in January, it was blocked this week by the Constitutional Court.

    The Spanish legislation will permit euthanasia in which medical staff intentionally end a life to relieve suffering, and assisted suicide in which it is the patient who carries out the procedure.

    Various other countries permit the second option, as well as so-called “passive euthanasia” in which life-saving medical treatment is halted.

    – Strict conditions –

    Backed by left-wing and centrist parties, the legislation will allow anyone with a “serious or incurable illness” or a condition which is “chronic or incapacitating” to request help dying, thereby avoiding “intolerable suffering”.

    But it imposes strict criteria: the patient — a Spanish national or a legal resident — must be “fully aware and conscious” when they make the request, which must be submitted twice in writing, 15 days apart.

    The request can be rejected if it is believed the requirements have not been met; it must be approved by a second medic and by an evaluation body.

    Any healthcare professional could withdraw on grounds of “conscience” from taking part in the procedure that would be available through Spain’s national health service.

    The move has been hailed by patients and right-to-die campaigners.

    “It doesn’t make any sense that people… would choose to live an undignified life,” said Sofia Malagon, 60, who has Parkinson’s and worries what will happen if she gets dementia.

    “I don’t want to be left like a vegetable,” she told AFP.

    – ‘Form of murder’ –

    But the move has been roundly rejected by the Catholic Church and Spain’s right-wing parties, with its promulgation also raising questions among some medical professionals.

    Euthanasia “is always a form of murder since it involves one man causing the death of another,” said the Episcopal Conference, which groups Spain’s leading bishops and has accused the government of going from “defending life to being responsible for causing death”.

    “Doctors don’t want anyone to die — it’s in their DNA,” said Manuela Garcia Romero, deputy head of the Medical College Organisation (OMC), expressing doubts over implementation of the law.

    Since the mid-1980s when euthanasia entered the public debate, Spain has experienced several high-profile cases.

    The most famous is that of Sampedro, who became a bedridden tetraplegic after breaking his neck and fought an unsuccessful 30-year court battle to end his own life with dignity.

    He died in 1998 with the help of his friend Maneiro, his story immortalised in “The Sea Inside”, a film starring Hollywood actor Javier Bardem that won the 2005 best-foreign language Oscar.

    Another case was that of Luis Montes, an anaesthetist accused of causing the deaths of 73 terminal patients at a Madrid hospital. A court dropped the case against him in 2007.

    More recently, pensioner Angel Hernandez was arrested in 2019 and is awaiting trial for helping his wife end her life after decades suffering from multiple sclerosis.

    -AFP

  • Spain crushes Germany 6-0 to reach UEFA Nations League final four

    Spain crushes Germany 6-0 to reach UEFA Nations League final four

    Spain forward Ferran Torres scored a first career hat-trick as his side crushed helpless Germany 6-0 at home on Tuesday to storm into the final four of the UEFA Nations League.

    Goals from Alvaro Morata, Ferran and Rodri gave Luis Enrique’s side a convincing 3-0 lead at half-time, while Ferran struck again early in the second half and completed his treble with a classy finish.

    READ ALSO: Giroud doubles as France send Sweden into League B

    Substitute Mikel Oyarzabal tapped in the sixth goal in the 89th minute to adorn an incredible Spain display and deepen four-times world champions Germany’s misery.

    The victory saw Spain finish top of League A4 with 11 points after six games, while the Germans, who only needed a draw to progress to the final phase, came second with nine.

    Spain suffered an early injury setback when Sergio Canales was taken off but his replacement Fabian Ruiz had an immediate impact.

    This was when he sent in a superb delivery from a corner-kick and Morata rose unmarked at the far post to head home in the 17th minute.

    Morata netted again soon after by connecting with a cross from Ferran but his strike was incorrectly ruled offside, with no VAR in operation in the UEFA Nations League.

    However, Spain quickly shrugged off their sense of injustice as Ferran smashed in their second goal on the rebound in the 33rd minute.

    This was after Dani Olmo had glanced against the post, while Rodri headed home a corner-kick from Koke five minutes later.

    Spain lost captain Sergio Ramos to a suspected muscle injury towards the end of the first half, but they grew ever more confident after the break as Germany continued to wilt.

    Dani Olmo spurned a simple chance to add to Spain’s lead, allowing Germany’s Manuel Neuer to make a rare save in a match in which his principal task was picking the ball out of the net.

    But Ferran showed no mercy, making the most of a generous pass from ex-Valencia team mate Jose Gaya to score his second.

    He then showed his confidence by receiving a pass from Fabian and beating Neuer with a first-time finish from outside the box.

  • Ramos has no plans to retire from Spain duty

    Ramos has no plans to retire from Spain duty

    Sergio Ramos has no plans to step away from penalty duties for Spain despite missing two spot-kicks against Switzerland, and insisted he is not considering international retirement.

    Ramos made his 177th international appearance, surpassing Italy great Gianluigi Buffon for the most by a European man, but marked the milestone with two penalty misses in a 1-1 Nations League draw on Saturday.

    The defender had scored a remarkable 25 straight penalties for Spain and Real Madrid before his two misses from 12 yards.

    Ramos, who skipped a news conference on Monday amid links to Paris Saint-Germain, said he would continue taking penalties.

    “If there was another penalty of course that I would take, of course,” he told Spain’s media channels. “If I didn’t approach it that way, I would stop being me.”

    Spain host Germany in Seville on Tuesday, needing a win to finish top of Group A4 and reach the Nations League Finals.

    Ramos, 34, said he was proud of his appearance record, and he dismissed any talk of retiring from internationals.

    “It is a pride to surpass a legend like Buffon in caps. In the end, when you start you don’t think you can get that high,” he said.

    “I have spent many hours running around here through the streets of Seville and there is a lot of effort behind it, perseverance and perseverance.

    “In the end it is that. As long as I feel like it, I will continue. My head is in charge, and for now, it allows me.”

    Ramos was firmly in the spotlight following his blunders from 12 yards, but the gaze intensified when he was linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

    The 34-year-old’s preference is believed to be a two-year extension to his contract at Madrid, but a mega-money offer from the French capital could turn his head.

    Spain coach Luis Enrique does not feel he needs to step in and offer any guidance to his captain.

    “Everything that is generated around Ramos is neither new, nor old, nor is it anything,” the Spain boss told the media.

    “It is what it is and what it means to have a player of this level. It is normal that there is pressure around and you have to live with that. 

    “If there is someone with enough experience to handle this personal situation it is Sergio Ramos.”

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  • Spain boss confident Morata can deliver on international return

    Spain boss confident Morata can deliver on international return

    Alvaro Morata has been recalled to the Spain squad, along with Koke, while Marcos Llorente has earned a first senior call-up.

    La Roja have been short of in-form central strikers in recent months but Morata has enjoyed a strong start to the season with Juventus, scoring six goals in seven appearances in all competitions, including three in his past two games.

    Morata’s last appearance for Spain was in a 5-0 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Romania in November 2019.

    Spain manager Luis Enrique has thrown his support behind Morata on his return, saying the former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid striker has been much improved since his move to Turin.

    Enrique told his press conference on Friday: “I am not worried. I call on Morata because since he returned to Juventus he has been confident and his numbers indicate it, and he has an attitude both in attack and defense as I like it.

    READ ALSO: Lagos judicial panel begins review of CCTV footage from Lekki tollgate

    “Those of us who have watched him can appreciate that in terms of confidence and performance, he is better than the previous Morata, but it is a question for him.”

    Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke has also returned, having last played for his country in a 4-1 friendly defeat of Wales more than two years ago. Team-mate Llorente has earned his first call-up, while Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara is out due to problems with a knee injury and Arsenal’s Dani Ceballos has been omitted.

    With Diego Llorente injured, Inigo Martinez returns, as does Fabian Ruiz. Rodrigo Moreno is left out after testing positive for coronavirus this week.

    Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga keeps his place despite having lost his starting spot under Frank Lampard to new signing Edouard Mendy.