Month: June 2018

Ball from Space used in World Cup opening match

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The official FIFA Telstar-18 ball, which was brought down to Earth from orbit on Sunday, was used during the opening ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, a spokesperson for Russia’s State Corporation for Space Activities, Roscosmos, told Sputnik on Thursday. “The official FIFA Telstar-18 ball, [that had] traveled to the ISS, was used in the opening ceremony, [that] took place at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium…” the spokesperson said. The ball was taken to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 21 and returned to Earth on…

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World Cup: Spain united ahead of clash with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal

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Spain captain Sergio Ramos and new coach Fernando Hierro displayed a united front as they looked ahead to Friday’s World Cup opener against Cristiano Ronaldo’s European champions Portugal following an extraordinary 48 hours. Hierro and Ramos posed together, smiling for the cameras, at a press conference inside the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, the venue for the Group B clash between the Iberian neighbours. Coming into this World Cup, Spain had been seen as one of the outstanding favourites to lift the trophy in Russia after a two-year unbeaten run…

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Apple steps up encrytion to thwart police cracking of iPhones

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Apple said Wednesday it was strengthening encryption on its iPhones to thwart police efforts to unlock handsets without legitimate authorization. The move by Apple, the latest in an ongoing clash with law enforcement, comes amid reports of growing use of a tool known as GrayKey which can enable police to bypass iPhone security features. Apple said the new features are not designed to frustrate law enforcement but prevent any bypassing of encryption by good or bad actors. “At Apple, we put the customer at the center of everything we design,”…

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Julen Lopetegui: Spain firing was ‘saddest day of my life’

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Julen Lopetegui says being sacked as Spain coach two days before their opening match at the World Cup was possibly “the saddest day of my life” — but he was thrilled to be introduced as Real Madrid boss. Real Madrid unveiled their new manager at the Bernabeu on Thursday, one day after Spain unexpectedly informed him his services would not be required at the World Cup following the announcement of his agreement with the club. “Yesterday was the saddest day of my life since the death of my mother, but…

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US House Speaker against separating migrant families at border

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US House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday he opposes separating undocumented immigrant families at the border and wants Congress to end the controversial practice through immigration legislation. President Donald Trump has defended his administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their parents, but some Republican lawmakers are growing uneasy about such border security rules implemented to deter other migrants. When speaking to reporters Ryan was asked if he was comfortable with the tactics. “No I am not,” he responded. “We believe it should be addressed in immigration legislation,” he said.…

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Forex: Central bank boosts Retail SMIS with $343.06 million

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The retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) has received a boost of $343.06 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), following the Bank’s intervention in the Foreign Exchange market on Thursday, June 14, 2018. Figures obtained from the Bank indicate that the amount released was for requests in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors. Confirming the figures, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, noted that the continued interventions of the Bank were in line with the assurances made by the…

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‘Dead man’ returns home alive after a year

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man whose family thought he was dead after wrongly identifying a body has turned up alive. The man’s wife and her relatives mistakenly told police in Japan that the body of a man found in a river was him and officers even handed it over to them. The mix-up only came to light when the woman’s husband, who is in his 40s, returned alive to Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, last month. It turned out the body, which was found about a year ago, was actually that of a missing Tokyo man…

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USA, Mexico, Canada to host 2026 World Cup

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In a long-anticipated vote on Wednesday, the joint bid of the United States of America (USA), Mexico and Canada defeated Morocco its only challenger, to win the hosting rights for the 2026 World Cup. The result was determined by more than 200 national soccer federations, who cast their ballots to cap FIFA’s annual Congress. “This is an incredible, and incredibly important moment for soccer in North America and beyond,” Carlos Cordeiro, the president of U.S Soccer said. The 2026 tournament will feature an expanded field of 48 teams, an increase…

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‘I would have arrested Obasanjo’ – Oshiomhole

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The former governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomhole yesterday said he would have arrested and prosecuted former President Olusegun Obasanjo if he were President Muhammadu Buhari. This came as the former Edo State governor received more endorsements from the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, as well as governors elected on the platform of the party ahead of the national convention of the party. Oshiomhole, who weighed in over the faceoff between President Buhari and Obasanjo, urged Buhari to investigate and jail the former president, should he be found to…

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Apple bans developers from selling, sharing users’ contacts

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Apple has quietly tightened its App Store rules to better protect users from developers who want to harvest their data or sell it to third parties. Previously, developers would ask for users’ phone contacts and sometimes then sold that data without the explicit consent of the users or their contacts, according to Bloomberg, which spotted the change. The changes to the rules, which were made last week, explicitly state that developers are banned from turning address books into a database of contacts and from selling that database. They also can’t…

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