FRESH 4RM GIM

Images have emerged showing the playing surface in extremely poor condition with just three days remaining before the Group D opener Poor condition: Images have emerged of the pitch at the Amazonia Arena Fears are growing over the state of the Manaus pitch, the venue  for England's World Cup opener. Both the Three Lions and Italy are set to take the field in the rainforest in just three days time for  the first game of Group D. But images have arisen of the playing surface at the Amazonia Arena in extremely poor condition. The grass looks particularly dry and there appear to be yellow lines across it. One of the goal areas is also said to be extremely bare. The 46,000-seater stadium itself is fully functional but is not yet completely finished.

Sophie Dalzell’s explains to magistrates she missed appointments with her probation officer because she was having her breasts enlarged A model who assaulted two police officers in a drink-fuelled attack has walked free from court – despite telling magistrates she missed two probation appointments to go abroad for a boob job. Sophie Dalzell, 20, was found guilty of assaulting the officers last year and ordered to undertake community work and and given a supervision order. She was charged with breaching the order after probation staff claimed she had not provided a reasonable excuse for missing January meetings with them. But Miss Dalzell was cleared by Manchester magistrates after producing a letter from a plastic surgeon in Brussels, the Manchester Evening News reported. John Morris, defending, said: “There certainly seems to have been a breakdown in the relationship between some probation officers and the client.”

The former England captain suffered a setback after officials said his waterfront site was an "inappropriate location" Setback: David Beckham's team said they would come up with "alternatives" in the coming months David Beckham's bid for a Major League Soccer team  in Miami have suffered a setback after officials rejected his plan to build a waterfront stadium. Beckham's business group, Beckham Miami United, issued a statement saying city officials determined the proposed site was an "inappropriate location." The statement said Beckham's group would "spend the coming months weighing alternatives" in the city. Beckham has traveled frequently to Miami in the last few months to explore the creation of an MLS franchise and has stressed the importance of a downtown stadium location. It was the second waterfront site proposed by Beckham's group to run into local resistance. The group headed by the former England, Manche...

He hoarded of bottles of Tabasco sauce, danced alone until 4am, made family book appointments to visit and wore elaborate disguises whenever he went out Close: The two minders say Michael was a good father For the last two-and-a half-years of his life two men were with Michael Jackson virtually 24 hours a day. Bodyguards Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard saw everything, knew everything and were so loyal to the pop superstar they called “Mr Jackson” that they carried on working for four months without pay when his finances went into meltdown. Now they have written a book about their time with the  self-styled King of Pop  and the life they describe is one of a sad, lonely figure who lived for his children. The two minders say that despite his eccentricities, Michael was a good father to Prince, now 17, Paris, 16 and Blanket, 12. “We worked for Mr Jackson. We didn’t work for the King of Pop,” says Bill. “We got to see him as a man and a father. "It was so good to ...

Who has the tightest pants in all of the land? Why J. Lo of course! The  “Luh Ya Papi”  singer, who’s promoting her new album “A.K.A,” visited “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” and threatened the late night host when he tried to come for her “tight pants” title. Yup, Jenny took it back to the block, snatching off her earrings and hissing at the host. It was pretty funny

Another day, another domestic violence report. SMH. When will the violence against women end? “Notorious” star Jamal Woolard was arrested after his 15-year-old stepson called the cops, saying ““My stepdad, he hit my mom and he’s acting crazy.” According to reports , Woolard choked his wife because he didn’t like the way he was talking to their daughter. He allegedly grabbed her by the throat, slammed her against the wall and told her, “Get the f*** off of my daughter.” Woolard was booked on was booked for battery, cruelty to children, and simple assault. In related domestic violence news,  Columbus Short had this to say about his upcoming case tomorrow : *Slaps forehead*

These are hard times for residents of border towns on Borno State following the refusal of the military authorities to heed their calls for the deployment of soldiers to protect the embattled villagers. As a result, the residents, who are said to be in the throes of a serious food scarcity, have started fleeing their homes to hills and caves while reportedly feeding on wild fruits. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Maiduguri, the immediate past vice chairman of Gwoza Local Government, Mr. Francis Nduka, and Caretaker Committee Chairman, Dr. Hamman Ahmadu, said the people of Gwoza East, affected by Boko Haram insurgency in six border villagers, had fled into Gwoza hills and took refuge in mountain caves for safety. They said the people said they would only return if troops were deployed in the area. According to them, staying in the affected villages would be suicidal. Nduka said, “Our people have been gripped with ‘fears and trauma for over two weeks, and have no any o...

Governor Babatunde Fashola Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola says he will not hesitate to stop operators of articulated vehicles from operating on roads in the state if the government does not get the desired cooperation from them. A statement on Tuesday said Fashola spoke during a meeting with the leadership of the state branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the Lagos House, Ikeja. The meeting was convened to find ways of ensuring security and safety in terms of activities of the transporters at motor parks and on roads in the state. The governor said the meeting became necessary after security agencies recommended some measures to end accidents and deaths on state roads. He said, “While it is the primary responsibility of government to ensure the protection of life and property, it also requires the support of the populace to make the state safe and accident-free for the people. “The careless manner at whi...

Stephen Keshi The Stephen Keshi-led Super Eagles team, which has been placed in Group F along with Argentina, Iran and Bosnia & Herzegovina in the 2014 World Cup, may not go beyond the second round. This is the view of the majority of respondents that took part in PUNCH ONLINE EXTRA’s recent poll, with the question, ‘With the quality of players in the Super Eagles World Cup list, how far do you think the team will go?’ Respondents were presented with three choices – Second round, Quarter-finals and Semi-finals. Considering the other teams in the group, particularly Iran and Bosnia & Herzegovina, it is easy to believe that Nigeria has a strong chance of proceeding beyond the first round of the competition. But the outcome of the friendly warm-up matches, especially that against the US, on Saturday, which Nigeria lost 1-2, seems to have raised some concerns. Five hundred and fifteen respondents took part in the poll.

Chocolately actor Taye Diggs was nearly foaming at the mouth when Nicki Minaj walked onto the set of “Kelly & Michael.”  The “Pills N Potions” rapper was promoting her new video  and perfume Minajesty but, it was quite hard for Diggs to focus on any of the talking points with all of her goodies so eloquently protruding in her Dolce & Gabbanna ensemble..

Poor French Montana, he was a fan of “Martin” just like the rest of us… In case you’ve been under a rock, or avoiding social media because your ex requested you on Instagram, you may have missed the viral beef  between French Montana and “Martin” star Tichina Arnold . We know what you’re thinking. How the h*ll did they start beefing? Well, French Montana posted a meme of  Tichina Arnold’s “bee-dee-bees”  (a photo that happened to be floating around Instagram for weeks) that sent Arnold into an uproar. She responded to his insult in a long Instagram post that pretty much ripped apart his existence. Taken aback by her verbose response, French regrouped then replied,  “I didn’t make this picture I just reposted it like a million other people, don’t use me to plug your charity I use to be a fan Pam. I was shocked to see this pic iam not disrespecting you stay blessed.”

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire and it looks like something is burning in T.I. and Tiny’s relationship. After countless rumors surrounding their marriage and T.I.’s alleged infidelities (he was photo’d with another woman on Mother’s Day) , it appears that the modern-day Huxtables aren’t even on speaking terms. How do we know? T.I.’s mom, Violeta Morgan, was being messy on Instagram and commented under Tiny’s picture, saying: Chile, the ish dun’ hit the fan! Tiny is clearly over T.I.’s inappropriate behavior. T.I. even blasted her friend Shekinah on Instgram.

Two suspects, Olisa Igbokwe and Christopher Mba, awaiting trial in prison custody for allegedly attempting to assassinate the late former Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Professor Dora Akunyili, in 2003, have joined millions of Nigerians in mourning her death. This came as Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Anambra State chapter, yesterday joined in mourning late Akunyili. The accused persons conveyed their condolences to the Akunyili family from their prison custody yesterday, when Mr. Okemonwu Akuma, Chairman of Anambra State chapter of Nkporo Youths Association, Ohafia, Abia State, of which one of the suspects, Igbokwe, is an indigene, visited them in the custody. They noted that although they were being falsely accused and detained, they were still expressing dissatisfaction with her untimely exit, even as they recalled that the late Akunyili had told them that she was blaming the court for their incarcer...

Wall Street Journal, VIENNA-Nigeria is pushing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to name the Petroleum minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke as its secretary-general, people familiar with the matter said yesterday, a move that could end a long-running leadership standoff at the cartel. Petroleum minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke According to a report by Wall Street Journal, Nigeria’s delegation at OPEC has put Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke forward as a contender for the group’s top job, OPEC delegates said. If approved by the organization’s other members, she would be the first woman to lead the group. If Alison-Madueke is appointed Secretary-General of OPEC, it implies she will exit her current position as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum, because the OPEC position is a full-time job with its office in Vienna, Austria. Nigeria is proposing to put her nomination as secretary-general on the agenda of OPEC’s semiannual meeting slated for today....

At last, the Military has ceased the war it declared on sales of national newspapers across the country last weekend. Consequently, newspapers restricted from circulation in the past five days have returned to the newsstand. This development came as Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, urged media owners and vendors to demand compensation for losses suffered as a result of the action by the military. The vans of the dailies affected were not intercepted at the usual Military check point along Abuja-Suleja-Minna road where they were usually intercepted, neither were soldiers seen at the distribution centre near Obasanjo Complex where they officially searched parcels of different titles before being circulated. Yesterday morning, all the restricted dailies, including  The Nation ,  Daily Trust  and  Leadership , were seen on the stands, with the vendors freely displaying them for people to pick. The three dailies were worst hit by the military action. Niger Sta...

Suspected members of the Boko Haram sect have reportedly launched attacks in Bilta in the Borno State in retaliation to the army's recent attack. The military killed more than 50 terrorists in the area this past weekend.  Residents of the area said the insurgents were now in control of Bilta after troops withdrew from the area.  While casualties could not be ascertained following the latest attacks, insurgents were said to have destroyed many buildings in the village. Residents claimed insurgents numbering more than 300, armed with rocket propelled grenades emerged from the bushes and attacked the military formation in Bilta. “The terrorists re-mobilized and attacked Bilta after the heavy casualty they recorded at the weekend. Troops withdrew for strategic reasons only and not out of fear. Remember that we recorded a huge success on Saturday and Sunday” one of the residents said.

Reports from the northern Nigeria city of Kano has it that the protest over the choice of Lamido Sanusi Lamido as the new Emir of Kano has gone bloodier as four people were reported to have lost their lives while many got injured. However, Kano Command Police spokesman, ASP Magaji Musa Majiya, however, could not confirm reports of death, dismissing it as a mere rumour. Youths in their hundreds Monday evening regrouped at their hEmir’s Palace vowing never to allow the new Emir gain entrance into the Palace. They are insisting that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is not the people’s choice and called on the state government to reverse the decision. Some that fierce-looking soldiers and anti-riot police men have been drafted to take charge so as to prevent the irate mob from vandalizing the Palace. “We have been sleeping here for the past two days since the announcement of Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the new Emir by Governor Rabi’u Musa Kkwankwaso’s government. We oppose it and we will not acc...